SIT behind the steering wheel of the all new Mazda3 and you’re immediately confronted by a problem. And that is, how to start the thing up.

You’ve got the key, but there’s no ignition barrel to slot it in. So you scratch your head, look around and then realise that lurking directly behind the stubby indicator stalk – and thus out of sight – is the start/stop button.

And you’re left thinking ‘if they can build what is otherwise a very fine car, one that’s already proving a hit, why did they do that?’

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THERE’S nothing quite like an assault on the nostrils from a hot engine – unless it’s accompanied by a bit of even hotter clutch action.

That’s one of the perils of trying to get out of a field that is over-populated with cars and which has just one exit – which has been abandoned by the car park stewards.

Black mark to the Goodwood Festival of Speed there then for the ensuing free-for-all, where human temperatures were also going off the gauge…..

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SCRATCH your head and rub your eyes in disbelief but yes, you can still buy a decent sized brand new estate car for less than £7,000.

Dacia’s Logan MCV might appear like a throwback to motoring 1970s style, but if your budget can only run to the cost of a decent second hand car, why not take the plunge and consider something new that comes with plenty of space for the family, decent economy and an industry standard three year warranty.

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THE car that held the record for the fastest front wheel drive lap set round the legendary Nurburgring race track (until Renault recently beat it) is now available to you, me and anyone else who wants to buy into the Cupra cult.

That’s what SEAT unwittingly started when they unleashed their first car to carry that name back in the year 2000 – a car that was then perceived to be an acceptable alternative to the ubiquitous Golf GTI for those on a tighter budget and not driven by badge snobbery.

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THERE are some things you just don’t do.

Like visiting the Vatican city with your shoulders disrespectfully uncovered; asking for tomato sauce in one of Gordon Ramsay’s gourmet eating establishments; and ticking the option box for a roof like this on your new car.

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THINGS are stirring in the garden, but after a dry spell of a couple of days, it’s hammering down with rain.

Not just any old little shower, mind you, but the sort that hurts your face as it drives into it.

Must be time to test a cabriolet then, and with ill-advised optimism, and impeccable timing, Audi’s neat new A3 Cabriolet arrives on the drive for appraisal, at around the same time the first UK customers were getting their cars.

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FOUR-time Formula One World Champion Sebastian Vettel played an active role in the testing and evaluation programme of Infiniti’s new  Q50 in his capacity of Infiniti’s Director of Performance.

So he was likely to be totally nonplussed by the fact the car brings to motorists a world-first steer-by-wire system – or to put it another way, a system with no physical link between the road and the steering wheel.

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THE last time I had a ride in an Audi S1, rally legend Hannu Mikkola was in the drivers seat (no, honestly, he was) and he was holding the drivers door shut while changing gear, steering, and hooning round Goodwood race track for all he was worth.

Thankfully Audis flex significantly less these days so you and I needn’t worry about bits opening when they shouldn’t.  The latest S1 is therefore a worthy successor to that short wheelbase S1 quattro from the 1980s that Mr Mikkola and I found ourselves in that day.

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IT might not have had a rear wiper when it first went on sale, but it wasn’t long before the new Hyundai i10 was wiping the floor with some of its serious opposition.

Now there’s Son of i10, and it’s an even better proposition for anyone looking for a small, tidy, well equipped family car.

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