Gareth Butterfield tests the posh and pretty Range Rover Velar
I CAN remember the days when, if you walked into a Land Rover Showroom you’d have a choice of the Defender or a Range Rover. Simple, clear-cut options that...
Origami ID.3 may have insufficient identity for the VW brand
IAIN ROBERTSON As the biggest car company in the world, Volkswagen has a notional responsibility to lead the new car market, opines Iain Robertson, although he is concerned that...
Merc indulges in diesel with its latest GLE/GLC plug-in hybrids
IAIN ROBERTSON In a genuine case of ‘if Merc doesn’t know better, nobody will’, writes Iain Robertson, its latest hybrid development relies on diesel as its core resource, while...
Back-to-basics for brilliant Jazz will pay dividends to Honda
IAIN ROBERTSON Convinced that Honda has actually heard his criticisms and pleas over the past couple of decades, Iain Robertson delights in the latest Jazz model, which winds back...
With new 3-Series Touring, BMW polishes an untarnished and popular model
IAIN ROBERTSON Popularity counts for a lot in today’s new car scene and the BMW 3-Series Touring, of which over 500,000 examples of the previous iteration found contented homes,...
Gareth Butterfield tests the Toyota Corolla, Toyota’s new British-built stunner
THE Toyota Corolla bears the best-selling badge in the world. We might not have seen a new one pootling around the UK for a long time, but this genuinely...
No surprises from Mitsubishi, with its latest bargain basement Mirage
IAIN ROBERTSON It is an inescapable fact that some new car buyers just want a cheap motorcar and, suggests Iain Robertson, with Suzuki having withdrawn its ‘not so green’...
Honda adopts a different and defiantly attractive slant to the ‘EVolution’
IAIN ROBERTSON Japanese carmaker Honda has performed a magical ‘volte face’ with its all-electric contender for mini-car honours, states Iain Robertson, and it is one that reflects everything unsurprisingly...
Gareth Butterfield enjoys a week in the new Toyota Rav4
LOOKING back over the evolution of this, Toyota’s very latest Rav4, is a bit like taking a wander through the company’s highs and lows. Back in the 1990s, when...
Under-fire Land Rover proves that it can over-endow in tech terms
IAIN ROBERTSON Over the past few months, Land Rover has responded to its critics by introducing the remarkable new Defender, highlights Iain Robertson, which is armed with advanced technology...
Dacia, whether pronounced ‘Dacier’, or ‘Datcher’, is an automotive gift
IAIN ROBERTSON Every industry needs its ‘Poundstretcher’, its entry-level to whichever, to gain market traction and to provide a perception of good value, where none may exist, and Iain...
Gareth Butterfield tests the smart new apostrophe-free Kia Ceed
IF you’ve never bought a Kia before, prepare to be surprised. And if you’re already a fan of the marque, prepare to be delighted. The new Ceed is really...
Crash testing reveals problems that some carmakers prefer you did not know
IAIN ROBERTSON The European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro-NCAP) is a destruction-test procedure that takes place in several European countries, reports Iain Robertson, including Thatcham Research, in Berkshire, all...
Toyota’s ‘inner sanctum’ produces rally-bred hot-rod in Mark Two form
IAIN ROBERTSON To an enthusiast, the frisson of excitement surrounding a motorsport developed road car is palpable, as Iain Robertson pulls back the covers on a more refined, more...
Gareth Butterfield picks out the changes in the new Kia Sportage
THE Kia Sportage, one of the brand’s best-selling cars, has been given a bit of a nip and tuck. But while you have to look hard to spot the...
Who is Polestar, what is she? Flagship or frippery?
IAIN ROBERTSON Fearing that his anti-China stance will restrict his access to Volvo’s intriguing offshoot, Iain Robertson having already criticised Polestar’s retail presence takes an askew view of Polestar...
Let’s all go electrification CrAzY!…or not, as the case may be
IAIN ROBERTSON It does appear as though, during this period of ‘transition’, the entire motoring scene has gone haywire for electricity and battery power, states Iain Robertson, while introducing...
Gareth Butterfield hangs on for dear life to the fast and furious Renault Megane RS Trophy
THERE’S a certain list of criteria a hot-hatch must meet these days. If a car hasn’t got 300bhp, it doesn’t seem to cut it, and if it doesn’t have...
Hyundai wants and needs you to be i10 impressed
IAIN ROBERTSON Like all the best coming-of-age parties, reports Iain Robertson, the innocuous, smaller member of the family blossoms into something worthier and makes you wonder why you had...
E-Pace might be the cat’s whiskers for Jaguar Cars
IAIN ROBERTSON While it has taken some time to obtain a test example, Iain Robertson has now managed to put the current Jaguar E-Pace under his intense scrutiny, from...
Skoda drops a fragrant hint of its Indian intended SUV
IAIN ROBERTSON Many carmakers have invested heavily in the fast-developing Indian subcontinent, as their other markets either stabilise, or experience decline, reports Iain Robertson, and with Skoda empowered to...
Gareth Butterfield tests the Toyota Corolla, Toyota’s new British-built stunner
THE Toyota Corolla bears the best-selling badge in the world. We might not have seen a new one pootling around the UK for a long time, but this genuinely...
Gareth Butterfield’s trip down Memory Lane in the Honda Integra Type-R was one of his most memorable reviews of the year
DAY ONE THE car I’ve been testing this week is something of a personal indulgence. The nice man at Honda asked me if I’d like to try one of...
2019, a most extraordinary motoring year!
IAIN ROBERTSON Changes have been weighing-in to alter the UK motoring environment for the future, highlights Iain Robertson, some that upset the industry and the consumer, with others designed...
Mildly refreshed Mazda2 affirms user-pleasing stance
IAIN ROBERTSON If the latest CX-30 is a tad too costly, reports Iain Robertson, yet the idea of living with a Mazda is compelling, perhaps you ought to try...
Where the US leads, we often follow and pickups are a typical pursuit
IAIN ROBERTSON The growth of the pickup truck market segment is no less strange than that for the ubiquitous SUV, highlights Iain Robertson, and despite various stipulations related to...
Peugeot-Citroen and Fiat-Chrysler agree to a merger
IAIN ROBERTSON French carmaker PSA Groupe and troubled US-Italian FCA has made a strategic agreement to join forces, explains Iain Robertson, which will make the new combine the world’s...
Tried and tested or tired and tossed aside? Why Gareth Butterfield thinks the Nissan Qashqai is worthy of its place at the top of the crossover sales tree
BELIEVE it or not, the innocuous little Nissan Qashqai deserves a place in history as one of the great automotive trendsetters. Nissan took a punt, back in 2007, on...
GLA completes the ‘compact’ circle for Mercedes-Benz
IAIN ROBERTSON In a new car market now predominated by SUVs, writes Iain Robertson, Mercedes-Benz is well entrenched with models in every relevant class and the latest GLA model...
Citroen’s hybridised C5 Aircross loses none of its SUV practicality
IAIN ROBERTSON While believing that fully electric vehicles are an inevitability of present and future transport legislation, Iain Robertson welcomes hybrid technology not just for its ‘best of both...
VW launches its most disappointing Golf (VIII) model in years
IAIN ROBERTSON While happy to accept a designation of Mark for the current version of the ever-popular Golf model, reports Iain Robertson, apart from some pointless slats, leaner...
Gareth Butterfield takes a drive in the latest version of an old favourite – the Subaru Legacy Outback
WHILE the world has been turning to the crossover and SUV market in droves, there’s been one pioneer of this sector that’s been quietly evolving in the background. Before...
Mazda slots CX-30 between CXs 3 and 5 for its future intended best-seller
IAIN ROBERTSON In a move that could be described as ‘opportunistic’, perhaps even ‘overkill’, reports Iain Robertson, Mazda has introduced a middle-ground SUV that surprises with its brilliance and...
There is no avoiding either the long or tall arms of Ford’s automotive ‘fuzz’!
IAIN ROBERTSON The build and preparation of specialist vehicles is exceptionally lucrative for several carmakers, as Iain Robertson discovers at a secret Essex facility operated by Ford Motor Company,...
Hyundai’s hydrogen car beats all expectations
IAIN ROBERTSON Hindered by a lack of refuelling infrastructure, not aided by poor public perception about the storage of hydrogen gas, let alone its sourcing as a by-product of...
Cracking new Clio suggests that Renault has finally got it right
IAIN ROBERTSON Growing from a lineage that commenced with the original Renault 5, reports Iain Robertson, the latest Clio can be said to have ‘come of age’ in its...
Impressive new Design Centre for Jaguar Cars provides inside peek
IAIN ROBERTSON Provided with an exclusive ‘behind closed doors’ appreciation of one of our nation’s important car brands, Iain Robertson agrees that the right creative environment is essential to...
Ford’s extraordinarily average all-electric SUV succumbs to aping Tesla
IAIN ROBERTSON According to Ford, its new SUV is inspired by the archetypal Mustang, although Iain Robertson reckons that the Mach E will be its ultimate Marmite machine, to...
Gareth Butterfield takes a drive in the latest version of an old favourite – the Subaru Legacy Outback
WHILE the world has been turning to the crossover and SUV market in droves, there’s been one pioneer of this sector that’s been quietly evolving in the background. Before...
The all-but-perfect Honda CR-V Hybrid warrants seriously high praise
IAIN ROBERTSON Achieving perfection is the aim of every carmaker but very few of them have been as capable as Honda and its latest hybrid CR-V model has made...