Camouflage and disguise: the fight against prototype paparazzi
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...
TestDriven Cars of the Year 2007
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...
TestDriven Cars of the Year 2006
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...
TestDriven Cars of the Year 2005
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, 4x4, 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...
Honda Accord Tourer John o'Groats road-trip
Emerging from the house in a caffeine-free stumble, he peers at the expanse of silver paintwork before him. "Couldn't you have found a smaller car?" my passenger jests, through bleary eyes. It's true, Honda's five-door version of the Accord is probably visible from space. In a market full of 'lifestyle estates' barely commodious enough to play host to a surfboard, the Japanese have created a truly gargantuan rival to the ubiquitous Volvo estate. Strange, then, they settled on the 'Tourer' moniker rather than 'Cargo' or 'Warehouse', given its epic 1,707 litre luggage capacity. Can an estate car perform like a grand tourer without feeling like a mobile barn conversion? We decided there was really only one way to find out - we would point the Honda badge north and stop driving when we'd had enough...