MAZDA’S MX-5 has allofasudden taken on the persona of a bus – you don’t see one for ages, and then two come along in quick succession.

Following in the wheeltracks of the revised ‘regular’ soft top two seater, launched last year, comes the MX-5 RF.
It’s 28 years since the original MX-5 appeared, and it’s not changed much at all in that time, still basically the same car that ramped up the cult status tag back in 1989.

Little more than a handful of changes have been made to the smart and stylish two seater over the years. OK, it’s a little roomier, more comfortable and has far more kit these days, but basically it’s just been allowed to mature over the years.

Until now.

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THE name smacks a bit of American – we used to call them estate cars here – but Fiat’s extended version of its neat new Tipo offers plenty of space for your bucks. Or euros. Or pounds.

The Tipo Station Wagon gives you a choice between the hatchback and a lot more space and hence increased practicality.

It helps that it’s a neat looking piece of equipment from the outside, having a distinct touch of Italian style about its lines and not merely being a hatchback with a box welded onto the rear.

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LIKE most things that come out of a Kia factory these days, the Rio is now a full-on worthy addition to any potential car buyers shopping list.

Kia’s become very much a design led company since the day they persuaded Peter Schreyer to say auf wiedersehen to Audi and hang his coat on the back of the door marked Chief Design Officer.

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AN SUV for the price of a supermini? Don’t mind if I do.

Dacia’s Duster is a small and tough SUV that costs about the same as a small hatchback, but offers a bit more space along with some Tonka toy looks.

It’s at the opposite end of the spectrum from the class leading SEAT Ateca and Nissan Qashqai, but offers pretty decent value for your money.

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AUDI continue to prove that when it comes to doing business, motorists are still beating a path to their showroom doors, evidence that the German premium brand remains relatively unaffected by the downward pressures in the high street.

Indeed, the march to the top of the wish list for both business and private buyers is given a helping hand by a range that not so very long ago boasted just 10 models but which now has a dizzying choice on offer.

Take the latest A5 Coupe. A decent number of motorists will, and won’t be too disappointed with their choice.

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A CITROEN C3 might not be the car you’d turn to to travel back and forth from your ‘other’ house in France on a regular basis, but we have friends who did just that – on a regular basis.

A competent little car in the past, the main bugbear being that while you could load it to the gunwhales, they were pretty compact and bijou gunwhales.

How they would have loved the new middle age spread and slightly porkier C3 you can exchange your cash for.

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PEUGEOT pandered in the past to the French obsession with creating MPVs – cars that could transport Rene and his growing family around in a spacious and safe motorised environment.

But times change – and so have Peugeot. Now 3008 stands very much for a car of the 21st century that is much more SUV than MPV in looks and all round ability.

What we have here is a chunky looking crossover that has its own distinct stand-out look to set it apart from the mass market medium-sized SUVs that just about every other manufacturer has in its brochure. This one has a muscular presence that you’ll have to look long and hard to find in any other showroom and its high sides and smallish window area give it a sporty hint too.

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FOR a car so small, it’s perhaps surprising that Suzuki’s IGNIS is catching so many eyes.

It’s dimensions are so compact you could easily miss it in a queue of traffic – except for the fact that it has a highly distinctive look and cheeky appeal.

A scaled down Tonka toy off roader look in a car that will earn its crust plying the Queen’s highways and byeways with a full complement of adults and offspring aboard.

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