IT’S a bit like Transformers meets 21st century traffic….
The all new Toyota C-HR could turn the compact crossover market on its head, simply because it doesn’t really look like one.
While Nissan’s Juke is to my mind just plain ugly, Toyota’s pensmiths have followed similar lines but have created something that actually has a purpose about it, a sense of having a reason to be on the road and not just a piece of bulbous metal, the motoring equivalent of the Elephant Man.
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.
IT says Fiat on the boot and bonnet, and 124 Spider on the bootlid, so yes, you do have a two seater Italian sport car on your drive.
A car with a lusty little 1.4 litre turbocharged Italian engine under the bonnet, some Latin styling cues in the shape of the twin power bulges in the bonnet – and underneath, some good old fashioned Japanese DNA.
IF we were handing out commendations, then the Suzuki SX4 S-Cross would be driving off stage with quite a few.
A car that effectively took the compact crossover battle head on with the then class leading Nissan Qashqai has had a major facelift – and it’s made it an altogether more purposeful looking piece of kit than before.
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.
PICASSO: a name that conjures up on the one hand some surreal and memorable paintings – and on the other a car that fell from the top of the ugly tree and got a damn hard slap from every branch on the way down.
The latter is not something you’re going to get all dewey-eyed and nostalgic about, but in years to come the latest Citroen Grand C4 Picasso might leave more of a lasting and appreciative impression on motoring history.
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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(!).
HR-V is a name that’s been used before by Honda on a unique looking vehicle, but now it’s not quite so unique, being in a very crowded sector of the market.
Medium sized SUVs are all around and there’s a lot to compete with.
THE wait was excruciating. Having to sit around for hour after hour waiting for one of the finest – if not THE finest – offerings from Audi to arrive.
But then that distinctive burbling of an idling V10 came into earshot as it pulled up on the drive, the R8 resplendent in crystal effect paintwork and visibly sporting as much carbon fibre as you’ll find on an out and out race car.
Which is what this can be, in the right hands on the right track. But not for the purpose of this appraisal.