A PUMPED up Clio doesn’t necessarily have to be one with a breathed-on engine under the bonnet.
Renault’s Captur is built on the same platform but employs jacked up suspension and a higher driving position to turn it into a small SUV that has proved a very popular addition to the range – a car for those who find the Clio too cramped but don’t fancy a Megane or Kadjar.
Category Archives: What’s new
SKODA KAROQ: worthy addition to popular range
A NOSTALGIC moment the other week as the all-new Skoda Karoq had me wistfully recalling my late father-in-law’s Mk1 Escort 1100.
Not by any way, shape or form for comparison purposes obviously, both being as far apart as our friend in North Korea is from reality, but merely because Skoda have brought back to mainstream car production a colour I last saw on said Ford in the last century.
VOLKSWAGEN T-ROC: a different kind of VW
WITH the rest of the Volkswagen Group brands on lap two, Volkswagen themselves have just laced up their trainers and headed for the starting line.
Only now are customers being offered a compact VW SUV in the shape of the T-Roc, to compete for sales against the SEAT Ateca, Skoda Karoq and Audi Q2.
The latest VW challenger sits below the Tiguan in the range, their only other current SUV being the rather larger Touareg. But it’s the start of a major push by the German brand with the Tiguan Allspace due next year, followed by the T-Cross Polo sized crossover.
KIA STONIC: a good Korea move for newcomer
KIA have pulled off something of a coup with their new small SUV – they’ve designed it in Europe for sale here, but it’s gone down so well back home the Koreans are getting it too.
And while they’re not expecting super-Stonic sales, as this is a rapidly growing and well contested sector of the market, they expect to sell up to 15,000 here in the UK.
Given the way people have been queueing for the bigger Sportage at dealerships, that could turn out to be an under-estimation.
VAUXHALL CROSSLAND X: going for the X factor….
VAUXHALL really are going for the X factor with their latest models to hit the market.
Hot on the wheels of the all wheel drive Mokka X comes the Crossland X – more compact and bijoux, looking a bit like a fatter and pumped up Adam because it shares that floating roofline from the small hatchback.
But Crossland is pure SUV, albeit on the smaller end of the spectrum, easily picked out by its two tone paintwork and styling.
New VOLKSWAGEN GOLF: new engines, new tech, more reasons to like it.
SPANDAU Ballet gave us Communication back in the heady 70s – and now another well known German name is giving it a new slant.
The accent in Volkswagen’s latest incarnation of the multi million selling Golf is very much on communication – ironically at a time when motorists are being urged to abandon our mobile phones on the move (which is a pretty stupid thing to do in any event) and concentrate fully on being the nut behind the wheel.
The 2017 Golf, with its new engines, new technology and revised styling – though it still looks very much like a Golf – is on average around £650 cheaper than the model it replaces.
New SEAT Leon: no need to fix what isn’t broken….
IF we were to indulge in a game of ‘Spot the Difference’ we could safely use the SEAT Leon as the subject matter.
I’ve looked long and hard, underneath and inside out, and bearing in mind the fact I’ve owned one for the past three years, I can’t for the life of me find too much has visibly changed with the Leon, 2017 version.
And why should it? No one ever attempted to reinvent the wheel, so when you’ve got a package that is to all intents and purposes one of the best medium hatches out there, you’d be a fool to invoke widespread changes just for the hell of it.
VOLVO S90: big Swede is, like Zlatan, Premier class
VOLVO’S growing reputation for buliding fine cars means that radar screens in all sectors are lighting up to their presence.
And none more so than in the big executive saloon class, where their latest S90 lays its cards firmly on the boardroom table as a viable alternative to the BMWs, Audis and Mercs that have occupied the prima parking spaces in the corporate car park for quite some time.
S90 is a replacement for the ageing S80, but there are few similarities, the newcomer being a very significant leap forward in terms of quality.
KIA OPTIMA SPORTSWAGON: cloning the best of the best
HATS off to Kia – they’ve taken a long hard look at what fits the bill over here, gone away and, like the Koreans have done with the mobile phone industry, cloned the best.
So now, as well as a pretty decent all round range of cars, they’ve added a newie to the list – their first estate version.
KIA NIRO: the gloves are off!
IT’S Kia’s first ever UK market hybrid car and they’ve found a simple way to make it appeal to the British motorist – a heated steering wheel.
And purely by coincidence, the arrival’s of the Korean manufacturer’s latest offering saw the first really cold days of winter, giving us the chance to sample it at first hand(!).