BMW created a new vehicle segment a decade ago when it launched the X5. That vehicle received critical acclaim at its launch and continues to this day as a market leader with 1.5million sold worldwide. The popular X3 followed in 2004 and the X6 spawned a new niche in 2008. Now BMW is poised to introduce the next derivative of the X model line-up with the X1. The new BMW X1 takes its key styling cues and practicality from the X5 but shrinks it into a more compact and affordable package. The vehicle's elegant lines and command driving position echo its larger stablemate, while the five-seat configuration and 1,350-litre boot space provide outstanding load-lugging capability. Power comes from a choice of three diesel engines and, for the first time on a BMW X product, the option to have rear-wheel drive (sDrive) or four-wheel drive (xDrive). The new BMW X1 goes on sale in the UK on 24 October 2009...
»
Read more...
A limited number of Ultimate Yellow Nissan 370Z cars will be available from September with prices from £31,650 (manual gears) or £33,050 (automatic)
The new BMW X1 goes on sale in the UK on 24 October 2009 with a choice of three diesel engines and the option to have rear-wheel drive (sDrive) or four-wheel drive (xDrive)
Having made its international public debut at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show in March, the new Fiat 500 C, a convertible version of the iconic Fiat 500, goes on sale in the UK on Thursday 2 July
Land Rover today announces prices for the new 2010 Range Rover Sport and the new Discovery 4 - on sale in the UK from September 1
Tesla Motors, which sells the world’s only highway-capable electric vehicle, opened its European flagship store in the heart of London’s exclusive Knightsbridge district on June 25
Citroen has released first details of the new C3, a completely redesigned successor to the popular C3 supermini, set to arrive in the UK early in 2010
The revised Peugeot 207 range will be launched in August, with twelve different power-plants, revised exterior and interior styling, new standard equipment, and lower CO2 emissions
Aston Martin has developed a new luxury commuter concept - the Cygnet - which will offer customers a distinctive, intelligent and exclusive solution for urban travel in style and luxury
Camouflage and disguise are crucial when new model prototypes first leave the well-protected confines of the design studio or workshop and head out onto the test track or open road. We spend some time with the team responsible for disguising the new Vauxhall Insignia ahead of its debut at the British Motor Show on July 22nd, as they prepare for the new model’s road test programme
As 2007 staggers into the Gents to vomit itself quietly into oblivion, we take a look back at the cars that have defined the year for us. As with last year, we’ve highlighted not just the models that impressed us the most, but also our biggest disappointments - and this year, there were quite a few. Let’s get to it
Now we’ve made it past the turkey and the family feuds, it’s time for us to take a look back at our favourite cars of 2006. It’s been an interesting year for us: while many of our categories have clear winners, there have been some real disappointments this year. Where we feel these losers deserve a special mention, we’ve included them here
As 2005 draws to a close, we take a look back at the best cars of the last twelve months. There have been plenty to choose from, too, with a bumper year of new models released into the market, as a result of consumers demanding more and more from their everyday transport. However, what has proved surprising is that some of last year’s models still rank so highly in comparison to the newcomers in their respective categories. We’ve picked winners and runners up in nine categories - supermini, family car, estate car, MPV, 4×4, executive car, sports car, luxury car and supercar - in a selection that ranges in price from a lowly £6,745 to a stratospheric £810,345. Thankfully, we’ve got plenty to choose from in-between
It’s fair to say we took something of a shine to the previous generation Honda Accord Tourer. It made a regular appearance in our Estate Car of the Year awards category, and everyone else’s it seems, and in its final year of production it sold more than ever. With the arrival of the new Honda Accord, just five short years later, we had been expecting great things. We expected all the strengths of the old Accord to remain, and a few new ones to be added. Unfortunately, we can’t help feeling disappointed. Let’s start off with the positives – the new Accord looks great. The old model, while taught and aggressive at the front, did have a rather awkward rear overhang. The new Accord has a much more unified design, with a pert rear and bold flared wheel-arches. Inside, there’s more occupant space, particularly for taller drivers, and the cabin’s wider, too. The seats are just as comfortable and supportive as before, but it’s while you’re sitting in them, looking around the interior, that the first doubts begin to seed themselves.
For 2008, the Abarth name is back – and in some style. Fiat has pumped a considerable sum of money into re-launching Abarth as a stand-alone brand, and that includes the construction of a new, purpose-built, Abarth HQ with its own sales, marketing, design and engineering facilities. The cars themselves will be sold through a dedicated dealer network, with their own brand identity. The Abarth Grande Punto is the first of those cars to arrive in the UK, with the Abarth 500 due next year. Although based on the standard Grande Punto, the Abarth features a series of modifications that improve the looks, handling and power delivery of the car, which now boasts 155bhp and an 8.2 second 0-62mph time. That said, the Abarth Grande Punto is still somehow greater than the sum of its parts. We set out to discover why.
In the face of rocketing insurance claims, local authorities across the land have re-defined what constitutes a pot-hole. What you and I would consider to be a wheel-buckling crater is now simply a surface feature. Before a man with a tin of spray-paint will even consider marking out a pond in the middle of the A31, it must be allowed to grow large enough to accommodate several outdoors-types equipped with head-torches and a stripy rope. In any other culture, you could be forgiven for contemplating buying a vehicle designed to cope with the Third World-nature of our transport infrastructure. But in these times of knee-jerk environmentalism, SUVs have been all but outlawed. Luckily, there is still one option left, and it comes from the maker of heavy plant machinery - the Subaru Legacy Boxer Diesel
The arrival of the Porsche Cayman S confused many people. Porsche believed they had identified a niche between the Boxster and the 911, whereas logic dictates that the soft-top version should be the more expensive. When the Cayman S first arrived in late 2005, it debuted the company’s new 295bhp 3.4-litre flat-six and, at this point, we thought we understood what Porsche were trying to do. The Cayman, then, was a harder, more powerful, tighter-focused version of the Boxster, and that performance benefit justified the increased price. Our reasoning fell apart, however, when Porsche replaced the Boxster S 3.2-litre engine with the Cayman S’s 3.4. And introduced a non-S Cayman 2.7. With identical power and performance figures, what exactly do you get for £4,000 extra?
