TO win awards you have to impress the judges – and Mitsubishi‘s Outlander PHEV certainly did that.
It’s green credentials caught the eye of those picking the winners in the Green Apple awards for cars that are a bit more Eco friendly than the rest. Those judges were my colleagues in the Midland Group of Motoring Writers who made it a class winner and the top performer overall.
WHO would ever have thought that naming a car after a desert dwelling nomadic tribe from South West Iran would bring Nissan sales success they had probably hitherto only dreamed of.
But the Qashqai did just that.
it brings together in one package the best of all worlds: the fun-to-drive dynamic abilities more usually associated with conventional passenger cars as well as the tough stance, excellent interior packaging and commanding seating position of an SUV.
A FEW years back Honda were pushing the point that their new Civic was a car for the Playstation generation.
So that would make Toyota’s new Aygo one for the X Box generation, right?
It must be. Just take a look at the front with its distinctive Toyota family face and you’ll get the link.
A FEW years ago, Citroen made a few cars that were – let’s be charitable here – aesthetically unpleasing, the old Picasso being the major culprit.
But there’s been a bit of a coup in the design studio at Pierre’s pad, because all of a sudden they’re turning out cars that are altogether more pleasing on the eye. The DS3, the new C4 Picasso.
Now the sporty DS version of the C4 hatch has been parked on the drive for a few days and it too is getting admiring glances from passers by in our quiet cul-de-sac.
‘ARE you sure that’s a Golf?’ mused one weekend visitor.
He had a point but as it says Golf on the hatch lid then we must treat it as one, even though after that comment I began briefly to look on it as a shrunken Touran.
Based on the standard Golf hatchback, it gives you more space and a bit more versatility.
176mpg and just 37g/km of co2 emissions – you can’t really argue against figures like that.
Audi‘s A3 Sportback e-tron is a new plug in hybrid that successfully dispels the ‘range anxiety’ fears that might otherwise put you off.
The range on pure electric power from the 75kW motor is just 31 miles but coupled with the thriftiness of the excellent 1.4TFSi petrol engine it’s got a range of a claimed 580 miles.
TOYOTA’S little favourite has seen a lot of changes and upgrades over the years but the good news is that still got its full quota of Yarisness.
It remains one of the most compact cars in its class but at the same time manages to give you commendable load space and a decent amount of room for passengers.
They’ve maximised that interior space, which is very good indeed for a car with such a compact footprint on the road, and given it a bolder Toyota family look at the same time.
ANOTHER week, another crossover, and this time it’s one that a lot of people seem to have taken an instant liking to.
Peugeot’s 3008 has been extensively re-styled and its ability to combine the best elements of an SUV, hatchback and MPV have made it as much of a family favourite as the radio show of old ever was.
Launched to the UK market back in 2009, the updated version now has more equipment as standard, but a lower price tag.
IF you’ve been around a bit and I’ll hold my hand up to that then you’ll remember the Polo being the small entry level model into the burgeoning VW range.
Not any more. Well, not small anyway. Today’s Polo has an equivalent size to the Golf as it used to be.
It’s grown into a decent sized family offering, the five door model sampled here offering decent space for the modern man about town and his growing clan.
ENGINE in the back, rear wheel drive – sounds like a recipe for something a bit different.
But if you’re thinking along Porsche lines here, forget it. For this is the set up of the new Renault Twingo. And a Porsche pounder it ain’t.
What it does do, though, is up the stakes in the city car class, and it has a large dose of undoubted chic to woo buyers with.
