IN true Blue Peter style, Vauxhall could have been saying ‘here’s one we made earlier’ when the wraps came off the all new VIVA at the UK launch.
For alongside it was the 1960s HA Viva, a car with the same value for money mindset that got many of us on the road all those years ago.
Thankfully the quality has improved immeasurably, and the revival of the name means Vauxhall now has a trio of offerings in the small car sector, the VIVA lining up alongside the Corsa and Adam.
IT might have a name that makes it sound like a salad ingredient, but in reality there’s a bit more meat to the Suzuki Celerio.
For starters there’s its new Dualjet engine that makes it the cleanest and most fuel efficient new car on sale under 10 grand. A lot under that figure in fact, as you can buy one for just £8499.
And for that you get a compact car that has a decent amount of interior space, making it a worthwhile option for round town family usage and beyond.
IS there really any car that can be the master of all normal roadgoing situations?
One that can close the gap between performance and caring for the environment at the same time? Be fun to drive but leave you with a big smug grin on your chops because you’re also doing your bit for the general wellbeing of the planet?
Here’s one. It might look like any other Volkswagen Golf at a quick glance, and it’s as smart inside as any Golf has been in the past. Only it’s a bit different when you lift the bonnet.
IT’S been one of Britain’s best selling cars for yonks and quite how it’s managed it is beyond me.
Cutesy looks are fine but when the engine under the bonnet is wheezier than a fat lad on a school cross country run you begin to question the wisdom of those buying it.
But now, thankfully, there’s been a ‘hallelujah’ moment at Vauxhall and the Corsa now has a small engine that does the business.
WHEN they set out to do something a bit different you can’t say Citroen don’t come up trumps.
The Picasso was a case in point. Probably the most aesthetically challenged MPV to hit the roads, it became an undoubted hit for Pierre and his pals.
Daring to be different, they seem to have another winner with their C4 Cactus – the wacky offspring of a design team that put pencil to paper only AFTER a long liquid French lunch.
How else would you end up with a car that gives you the option of washing it or dry cleaning it.
HONDA might be suffering a touch on their return to the Formula One fold, but when it comes to road cars they appear to be in pole position.
2015 is going to be a big year for the Japanese manufacturer. As well as the just revealed new Civic and CR-V models, Jazz and HRV also get serious revisions in 2015, so it’s a fair assumption that things are going to get pretty busy down in Swindon, Honda’s UK manufacturing plant that has just had a £200 million investment.
FACED with a choice of either Kia’s successful Optima saloon or a VW Passat, a friend of a relative tossed a coin and took the keys to the German.
He was allegedly swayed by the greater engine choice available with the VW – a point hard to overlook when the Kia has but one on offer – but dismissing the Korean out of hand is a mistake.
It’s a car configured to catch the eye of the UK business driver, and while you can only have that 1.7 litre 134bhp version, it comes with an awful lot of equipment to make the buying decision that much harder.
STICK ‘COD’ in the name of a car and you can be forgiven for thinking there’s something fishy going on…
But when it comes to VW Group products the abbreviation has its plaice (sorry…)
I’ll stop carping on and explain that Cylinder On Demand (COD) is the rising star of the latest refettled Audi Q3 range, now on sale.
SKODA’S latest Fabia is proof, if it were needed, that you really can have your cake and eat it.
Their recipe for success is building a car that’s one of the best value for money machines in its class.
Although some might question whether the Fabia is really a supermini, because there’s not a lot miniscule about its dimensions.
A FEW damp laps round a racetrack can do little else than whet the appetite for a car that has undoubted performance on tap – but what’s it like to live with one for a week?
SEAT’s latest Cupra model, crafted into the three door Leon SC bodyshell, wears the badge of being the fastest and most powerful car the Spanish manufacturer has ever built – but while its get-up-and-go credentials are unquestionable, so is it’s ability to behave as sensibly and sedately as any of the other offerings in the Leon range. You just don’t want it to.