Innholdsfortegnelse for 1722 i Auto Express

• Hybrid hatch on sale in autumn • European range fully electrified FOLLOWING its debut in US and Chinese specifications, Honda has revealed the all-new Mk11 Civic family hatch that we’ll get in the UK, and at launch all cars will be powered by a petrol-electric hybrid engine. Badged e:HEV, as on the Japanese firm’s HR-V compact SUV, the new technology will sit under the skin of all but the future range-topping Civic Type R hot hatchback, which will continue as a petrol-only model. We’ve already seen the 11th-generation Civic in US-market form as a saloon, but the fresh hatchback variant shows us what UK buyers can expect when the Honda goes on sale this autumn. Compared with the car it will replace, the 2022 Civic is somewhat toned down,…

@johnmcilroy • Blurred shot previews new design to be unveiled in September • New language has been geared towards electric vehicles SKODA will introduce a new design language for its vehicles this autumn – and it has given a sneak peak at how the look could apply to an electric SUV. At the Czech brand’s annual press conference last week, outgoing CEO Thomas Schäfer reported a tough second half of 2021, as the global semiconductor crisis hit Skoda’s manufacturing. But the firm still reported an improved margin on sales of 6.1 per cent, and made over a billion Euros of profit – up from 756m Euros in 2020. Schäfer revealed that Skoda is targeting further modernisation of its brand in 2022, and said that a new design language – labelled…

Toyota previews hot Corolla in GR86 video IN a new advert for its GR86 sports car, Toyota has teased its full-fat GR Corolla hot hatch. In the Youtube video, the Gazoo Racing-tuned Corolla fires up with a deep burble from its exhaust. It’s tipped to use the 1.6-litre three-cylinder turbocharged engine from the GR Yaris. This could offer up to 268bhp, but is likely to be linked to an automatic gearbox only. It’s also thought that the GR Corolla could be destined solely for the US market, which doesn’t get the hot Yaris, so Europe may miss out. Updated rules restrict use of phones in cars THE law has been changed to close a loophole that saw drivers able to escape prosecution for using their mobile phones while driving, on…

THE Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has renewed calls for a ‘universal right to charge’ overseen by a regulator, as the ratio of public chargepoints to electric vehicles dropped by half over the last year. Today there is one chargepoint per 32 plug-in vehicles, compared with one per 16 in 2021. SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said that drivers now have “charge anxiety” rather than range anxiety, as the UK’s infrastructure struggles to keep up with sales. He said if the UK is to meet future targets, drivers need “the right chargers, in the right places, ahead of time”. While as many as one in 20 cars registered in 2022 so far this year is electric – up from one in 1,700 in 2011 – the SMMT suggests…

@AutoExpress HOT TOPIC Limiting car use FROM: Matt Hunter PEOPLE do things on Sundays and that usually requires travelling somewhere to do them. So no. It’s a stupid idea by stupid people who don’t understand how life works outside of a city or suburb. FROM: Paul Michael I’M very aware of how much my cars are costing to run at the moment, but that is and should remain my choice. People needing to save costs and therefore fuel will act accordingly, leave the rest of us to it. Join the debate at www.autoexpress.co.uk “Ridiculous idea. So long as I pay my VED, buy petrol, etc then it’s my choice whether I drive.”Doug Hall “Maybe when politicians stop flying everywhere for no real purpose…”Magnus Torell “Two hours on public transport instead…

IF you want a fast, family-focused Volkswagen that combines pace and practicality, you have lots of choice in 2022. There’s the T-Roc R, or the larger but pricier Tiguan R if you need more space. But with the rise in popularity of the performance SUV niche giving birth to that pair, does VW’s Golf R Estate still have what it takes? Priced from £43,175, in budget terms the car sits between the hot T-Roc and Tiguan; it offers 20bhp more than the former and just four litres less boot space than the latter, yet it costs £4,035 less. If you want to define an all-rounder, the Golf R Estate lays a strong claim to this tag. Let’s recap the recipe: under the bonnet is a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol engine…

Performance 0-62mph/top speed 4.2 seconds/171mph nning costs 40.9mpg (off icial) £75 fill-up Practicality Storage (total) 196 litres ALPINE’S future, like every other car manufacturer, is electric, and we’ve documented the firm’s plans for EVs – including a big SUV. With all that in mind, it’s tempting to praise the range-topping new A110 S simply for being a lightweight, raw sports car that’s designed with driving engagement at the top of its list of priorities. But there are a few issues with this, mainly in the shape of rivals such as the excellent Porsche 718 Cayman and BMW M240i, to name just two. The French car still doesn’t have this segment to itself. On paper, the new Alpine A110 S gets off to a good start. The 1.8-litre turbocharged four-cylinder unit…

MODELTESTED: Dacia Jogger TCe 110 Comfort PRICE: £16,595 ENGINE: 1.0-litre 3cyl, 108bhp THE new Dacia Jogger slots between the Sandero Stepway and Duster SUV in the firm’s line-up, and the most that you can spend on one – even with the only available add-ons of metallic paint (£595) and a spare wheel (£300) – is just £18,290. The car we have here is in mid-spec Comfort trim, which starts from £16,595, but has both of those extras for a total bill of £17,490. Running costs 45.4mpg (on test) £83 fill-up/£155 or 31% tax Practicality Boot (7/5/2 seats) 212/699/2,085 litres Performance 0-62mph/top speed 11.2 seconds/108mph Design & engineering DACIA says that the Jogger is part-estate, part-SUV and part-MPV. Of those, it’s the SUV claim that’s the biggest stretch; sure, there’s some…

SEATS IT’S a similar process to fold the seats in both the Sorento and Jogger, with little levers and hoops releasing the backrests to let them drop. Both have their own unique qualities; the Jogger’s back seats can be removed completely to vastly improve load space, while the Sorento’s middle row has an adjustable backrest, letting passengers recline into a more relaxing position. WHEELS A BIGGER car means bigger wheels and pricier tyres – and that’s the case for the Sorento. Depending on spec, the rims measure from between 17 and 19 inches, while the Jogger, on the other hand, has 16-inch items on every model. Base versions get steel wheels, while the Comfort here gets steel items that are designed to look like alloys, but are cheaper to produce.…

WITH some long-term tests, you pretty much know what you’re going to get. Experience with the brand, its dealerships and the other models in the range gets you most of the way there; what’s left are often nuances or little details. But with the Cupra Formentor, we were completely in the dark. Of course, we know that Cupra is the posher, more focused sub-division of SEAT (one that could, in time, replace the Spanish marque completely). But this is also its first standalone model – how would it stack up? The answer, I’m pleased to report as the car leaves us, is very well indeed. We chose our Formentor off the back of the UK launch, following our road test team’s advice to avoid the range-toppers and go for a…

Audi Q4 e-tron Issues 1,711, 1,717 BMW 3 Series New arrival Citroen e-Berlingo Issue 1,718 Citroen e-Dispatch New arrival Cupra Formentor Issues 1,695, 1,702, 1,714 DS 7 Crossback New arrival Fiat 500 Issues 1,699, 1,710, 1,718 Ford Ranger Iss. 1,694, 1,701, 1,713, 1,721 Hyundai Ioniq 5 Issues 1,710, 1,715, 1,720 Lexus UX 300e Issues 1,713, 1,719 Mazda CX-5 New arrival Nissan Qashqai Issues 1,707, 1,716 Peugeot 508 SW Issue 1,714 Polestar 2 Issue 1,719 Renault Capture-Tech Issues 1,705, 1,712, 1,720 Vauxhall Mokka-e Issues 1,696, 1,706 Volkswagen ID.3 Iss. 1,698, 1,704, 1,711, 1,717 Your ultimate guide to buying and owning an electric car…

FIRST TEST Gran Turismo 7 Price: PS4 (£59.99)/PS5 (£69.99) Contact: store.playstation.com Rating: IT has been 25 years since Gran Turismo was released on the original PlayStation, and now GT7 is here on PS4 and PS5. How has the latest version moved the game on? We tried it on a PS4 to find out. After loading the game data (and a 1GB-plus online update) you begin with an arcade-style race that is set to music, where you must complete a distance before the song finishes. It’s a nice introduction to the look and feel of GT7, which on the PS4 is broadly similar to its GT Sport predecessor. The PS5 version of the game reduces the load times and ramps up the graphics considerably. Dip into GT7 proper, and the initial gameplay…

The Book of the Mazda MX-5 Miata Brian Long (Veloce Publishing, veloce.co.uk) Price: £30 Rating: THE follow-up to the book of the same title we reviewed in Issue 1,715 is about the NC-generation MX-5. As with its predecessor, it’s interesting, informative and well written. It’s great if you’re thinking of buying an MX-5, but the poor print quality spoils the effect of the well chosen photos. How To Design And Apply Automotive And Motorcycle Paint And Graphics JoAnn Bortles (Motorbooks, quartoknows.co.uk) Price: £28 Rating: CUSTOMISING your car with flames down the side or racing stripes has been overtaken with easy-to-apply vinyl wraps. But if you want to do things properly, perhaps for a hot rod, then this book covers things quite well. It’s thorough and well illustrated with colour imagery. Mini…

Got any car queries? Tristan_Shale-Hester@autovia.co.uk Q Gap insurance offer stumps me as a first-time buyer I’M BUYING a new car for the first time and I’ve just come across something called gap insurance which I’d not heard about before. Is it another rip-off for unsuspecting buyers? Vivian Davies, E-mail A GAP insurance is optional, covering the amount of value a car loses in the months/years between you buying it and writing it off. It’s designed to ‘top up’ a comprehensive insurance payout so you can replace your write-off with a brand-new car. Whether you want gap insurance depends on how you weigh up your own risk of a write-off, and whether you can afford to bridge that gap yourself should the worst happen. Q Is it better to use a…

● Chadwick to defend title again ● Five rookies in 17-strong field “Alice Powell has previously credited the W Series with reigniting her racing career” FIVE British drivers are among the 17 women who’ve been selected for the third season of the W Series female-only single-seater racing championship. The 2022 schedule begins in Miami on 8 May, where they’ll race on the support bill of the inaugural F1 Grand Prix in the Florida city. Two-time W Series drivers’ champion Jamie Chadwick will defend her crown once again, this time at the Jenner Racing team owned by reality TV star Caitlyn Jenner. The 23-year-old faced criticism when her return was announced, having previously said she wanted to move on to Formula 3 or Formula 2, but said in a video posted…

WHAT Rishi Sunak said to motorists on Spring Statement Day last week was just fine. Chancellors rarely cut duty rates on petrol and diesel. So for him to bite the bullet and reduce it by 5p per litre (23p a gallon) was certainly helpful. At least Sunak is willing to talk cars, drivers, pump prices and the like. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps rarely does. Private cars and drivers are almost taboo for a man who prefers talk of buses, trains and bicycles – used daily by a minority. That said, it’s the topics that Rishi Sunak didn’t address in his statement last week that are of far greater long-term significance than his 5p cut in duty. True, prices at the pumps probably rank as the major motoring concern, and via…

• Twin electric motors for four-wheel drive and at least 592bhp • Battery uses 800-volt charging tech and targets 373 miles of range LOTUS is entering a new era and a new sector of the market with its first-ever SUV, the all-electric Eletre. Retaining the British brand’s naming convention of models starting with an E, this new model has been described as “a momentous point in our history” by the brand’s managing director, Matt Windle. Based on an all-new 800-volt platform called Electric Premium Architecture, the Eletre is powered by a battery of more than 100kWh (an exact figure for available energy hasn’t been confirmed) that feeds a pair of electric motors – one on each axle – for a targeted minimum total power output of 592bhp. This will rise…

THE Department for Transport (DfT) has revealed how it plans to speed the rollout of public chargepoints for electric cars, including a £450million fund available for local authorities. That money is on top of the £950m Rapid Charging Fund for the rollout of 6,000 high-power chargers across the motorway network. Both sums have previously been announced, and form part of a total Government investment of £1.6bn which aims to ensure delivery of 300,000 public chargers by 2030, or five times the number of UK petrol pumps. In a statement announcing the plan, the DfT said the Government’s aim is to expand the UK’s charging network so it’s robust, fair and covers the whole country. “No matter where you live – be that a city centre or rural village, the north,…

THE following provide help with motoring problems. Some services are free, others charge a fee or operate on premium-rate lines (p), while some offer advice for members only (m) Legal AA: 0345 850 1130 (m) RAC: 0330 159 1446 (m) Citizens Advice Consumer helpline: 03454 040506 Local Trading Standards Local Citizens Advice Bureau Used car inspections AA: 0800 056 8040 RAC: 0330 159 0720 Technical advice AA: 0370 142 0002 (m) Driving licences DVLA: 0300 790 6801 Car registration/history HPI: 0113 222 2010 AA: 0800 316 3564 DVLA: 0300 790 6802 RAC: 0808 164 1923 Traffic information AA: 0906 888 4322 RAC: 09003 444999 (p) Problems with dealers The Motor Ombudsman: 0345 241 3008 Consumer Ombudsman: www.consumer-ombudsman.org RMIF: 0845 305 4230 Scottish Motor Trade Assoc. 0131 331 5510 Problems with…

Performance 0-62mph/top speed 5.2 seconds/149mph THE Alfa Romeo Giulia Estrema – or ‘Extreme’ in English – is a logical progression for the Italian brand. Its slimmed-down Giulia range is offered in, among other specifications, both sporty Veloce and red-hot Quadrifoglio versions, and this new car uses the former for its technical basis while adding some racier trim inspired by the latter. It’ll replace the UK-specific Veloce Ti trim level, so expect prices for the Estrema to be around the £47,000 mark when the car goes on sale here towards the end of April. The Estrema uses a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine producing 276bhp and 400Nm of torque, driving an eight-speed automatic gearbox. The car’s chassis inherits the adaptive dampers that were previously discontinued on the Veloce, as well as…

@AxleIngram CITROEN’S commercial vehicle department is planning to phase diesel engines out of its line-up sooner rather than later. As a result, we’ve recently seen an influx of fully electric powertrains to sit alongside – or completely replace – the old combustion options across the brand’s range, which includes its van-based people movers such as the e-SpaceTourer. Based on the Dispatch van, the electriconly e-SpaceTourer comes with nine seats, making it an alternative to a vehicle from the dwindling MPV sector for large families looking for transport, or much more likely, a zero-emissions option for private hire firms. For this, Citroen has tapped into the Stellantis group’s electric car know-how; the electrical architecture here is the same as you’ll find beneath the skin of the Vauxhall Corsa-e and Peugeot e-2008,…

MODELTESTED: Kia Sorento 2.2 CRDi KX-2 (2015) PRICE: £17,000 ENGINE: 2.2-litre 4cyl diesel, 194bhp Running costs 35.8mpg (on test) £113 fill-up/£250 tax Practicality Boot (7/5/2 seats) 116/515/1,530 litres Performance 0-62mph/top speed 9.5 seconds/118mph THE car in our pictures is part of Kia’s heritage fleet, and is an early version of the Sorento Mk2 with roughly 80,000 miles on the clock. For similar money to the Jogger, it’s possible to get a slightly newer car; we found a face-lifted 2015 Sorento in KX-2 trim that had covered just 37,000 miles with an asking price of just under £17,000. Design & engineering KIA was undergoing a significant transformation in the early 2010s, turning itself from a brand that previously occupied a similar budget sector to Dacia today, and towards a manufacturer that…

Land Rover Disco Sport MODEL: 2.0 TD4 SE Tech 4WD PRICE: £17,000 ENGINE: 2.0l 4cyl diesel, 178bhp MPG: 53.3mpg (NEDC) WHILE the percentage of people who ever venture off road in their SUVs is very small, those who might will be well served by the Discovery Sport. Its remarkable mudplugging capability doesn’t come at the expense of on-road manners, though; the Sport rides and handles admirably, and its refinement is a step ahead of the Jogger’s. For £17,000, there are a range of four-cylinder diesels available. We’d steer clear of the less refined 2.2-litre and 148bhp manual examples, and aim for the 178bhp 2.0-litre Ingenium motors. It’s likely that Discovery Sports at this price will have already covered quite high mileages, but one or two listings had cars displaying distances…

@rsp_ingram Electric motor Official range/BiK 338 miles/1% Practicality Boot (seats up/down) 385/1,267 litres “But what does an electric car service consist of if there’s no oil to change?” ANYONE who owns a car will be familiar with the concept of servicing. Usually dependent on time or mileage, you book your car in with your local dealer and they give it a once over. All before relieving you of your hard-earned cash. Some people set reminders, others wait for the letter to drop through the door or for the timely message to pop up on their car’s trip computer. For most owners, this is an annual occurrence, but for some electric car drivers it’s a different story. Or at least that’s what I discovered recently when I went to book our…

“These new products are designed to make spring cleaning your car easier” NEW PRODUCT Auto Finesse car cleaning range Price: from £13 Contact: autofinesse.com AS the weather gradually improves and drivers think about spring cleaning their cars, Auto Finesse has added a range of new products to make the job easier. To get rid of winter road grime, there is Washn Gloss. Cleaning agents lift away the soiling, while the gloss comes from ceramic rinse agents, which leave behind a waterbeading coating. It costs £20 per litre. For rims there’s Reactive Wheel Cleaner (500ml £14, 1,000ml £20), which dissolves brake dust and lifts away road film. With the car clean, Eliminator Scratch Remover (250ml £13) will correct swirl marks and fine scratches without using a machine polisher. Also designed for use…

Virtual reality takes a back seat in Audis AUDI will introduce a new virtual-reality feature for rear-seat passengers in June. Models fitted with MIB 3 infotainment (almost all Audis from the A4 upwards) will be capable of providing passengers with a holoride experience, viewing content in VR that mirrors the car’s driving movements in real time. Passengers will be able to fly through space, or even just enter a virtual office for a work call. Customers will only need a headset and the latest infotainment software to join in the fun. Falken Tyres gets to grips with sim-racing FALKEN Tyres has linked up with online sim-racing platform iRacing to create the Falken GT4 Challenge. The sim-racing championship gives gamers a chance to put their skills to the test and win…

PACKING a work light in your tool box is as essential as spanners, sockets and screwdrivers, because you won’t be doing many tasks around the car without needing help to see the job in hand. And the explosion of new LED and battery tech shows no signs of slowing, with makers developing creative ways of using it and constantly refining designs. None of the eight lights here was in our last test in 2020, but the family lineage is clear to see. So which of the current crop is the one you need to charge before tackling your next maintenance or repair job? We turned out the workshop lights to find out. Howwetestedthem OUR test was split in to three main elements: light output, charging and ease of use. The…

Search more than 50,000 cars with competitive finance Order online, delivered to your door, 14 day money-back guarantee CO2 /tax 159-194g/km £275 Running costs 32-43mpg £142 fill-up Performance 0-62mph/top speed 10.8 seconds/112mph IT’S easy to think of the pick-up truck as an American phenomenon, because they’re sold in such huge numbers in the Land of the Free. But in the UK, the majority of used pick-ups are Japanese, thanks to the efforts of Nissan, Toyota, Mitsubishi and Isuzu. One of the most popular is the Nissan Navara, the original version of which made its debut 25 years ago. But it was 62 years before this that Nissan (then Datsun) produced its first pick-up, so by the time the third-generation Navara was unveiled in 2015, the company knew what it was doing.…

NASCAR Chevrolet to enter Le Mans 2023 A CHEVROLET NASCAR racer entered by Hendrick Motorsports will join the grid of the 2023 Le Mans 24 Hours, taking the ‘Garage 56’ slot reserved by race organiser the ACO for experimental entries outside the normal rules. NASCAR machinery previously raced at Le Mans in 1976, when two cars entered a specially created ‘Grand International’ category, to mark the US bicentennial. It’s expected that the 2023 car will run a hybrid powertrain of some kind, as a precursor to the main NASCAR series embracing electrification within the next few years. The championship’s current ‘NextGen’ car, introduced at the start of 2022, was designed with the addition of hybrid technology in mind. Red Bull names Fraga and Cassidy for DTM KIWI Nick Cassidy and…

THE man who heads up the Coventry-based Lotus Tech Creative Centre talks us through how the brand has applied the Lotus ethos to a new class of car. Q Some fans of the brand will say an SUV can’t be a proper Lotus. What do you say to them? A “The Eletre is a Lotus through and through. The brand is changing and it’s a new vehicle for us in a new category, so it has a slightly different focus, but it’s still a Lotus at its core. We’ve applied the Lotus DNA – lightweight engineering and innovation – throughout the car in an EV context. The lightweight motor system, the materials, the aerodynamics, lots of clever technical solutions.” Q This is a new era of design for Lotus too,…

PORSCHE has given one of its own models the restomod treatment, creating a 996 called the Classic Club Coupé. Commissioned by the Porsche Club of America, the car is based on a 1998 911 that was found in neglected condition on a US forecourt. It has 18-inch Fuchs forged wheel rims and a fixed ducktail spoiler, while the engine is a secondgen 911 GT3 unit producing 376bhp. Inside, there’s a plaque confirming that the car is number 001 of 001 – because the Classic Club Coupé is a one-off. Even the prototypes used during its development have been dismantled to ensure its unique status.…

INSTALLATION grants for home chargepoints end from April, so electric car buyers face big bills if they missed the Department for Transport (DfT) deadline. The Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS) contributed up to 75 per cent of the cost of installing a home chargepoint. Now the EVHS has been scrapped, home owners face paying the full market rate. It typically costs around £1,000 to have a charger installed, but one way to avoid the outlay might be to consider a new chargepoint subscription service from Egg. For £30 per month and no down-payment, it’ll install a 7kW charger on your property – but that could prove to be an expensive option in the long run if you don’t intend to move house for a while. Meanwhile, there are still EVHS grants…

Tackling the motoring issues that matter I ENJOY going to exclusive car shows featuring velvet-roped, static displays of unobtainables as much as anyone, but too often they can feel unwelcoming, sterile and expensive. Motorsport is also notoriously costly and difficult to get involved in, but for Toyota owners there’s a solution to both problems. It’s the Toyota Parallel Pomeroy Trophy, and it’s the antithesis of all those stuffy car clubs. The event was set up three years ago and it’s been gaining momentum ever since. It’s a day for owners of all Toyotas to turn up, take part in some grassroots motorsport and have a relaxed meet with fellow Toyota enthusiasts. The location? Silverstone Circuit. I rocked up in what can only be described as the most exciting and unexpected…

Running costs 192mpg (off icial) £72 fill-up Electric motor Power/range 108bhp/39 miles Performance 0-62mph/top speed 8.9 seconds/140mph THE 1.2-litre Turbo petrol version of Vauxhall’s updated Grandland SUV might still be the big seller, but to compete in the incredibly crowded mid-size SUV sector in 2022 you have to offer a hybrid, too. One in six cars sold here last year was an SUV in this class, and electrification is more important than ever for a model’s success. That’s something the British brand knows only too well, which is why this new Grandland is being offered in plug-in Hybrid-e form to cater for company car userchoosers and private buyers looking for more electrification to lower their running costs. In fact, Vauxhall says that factoring in monthly finance deals, what you’d spend…

1st DACIA THE Jogger has no direct rivals in the new-car ranks, and used rivals struggle to match it in many key areas, too. It holds its own against larger SUVs for cabin space, and the frugal engine, low finance payments and competitive service rates make it incredibly cheap to run. Factor in the peace of mind that comes from buying a new car, and for what you get for the cash, it’s incredibly hard to fault. 2nd KIA EVEN as a seven-year old vehicle, the Kia has its advantages, key among them that CRDi diesel, which makes it the perfect tow car. Loaded with seven people, it drives fine, too. It’ll need more maintenance than the Jogger, but at least Kia’s dealer network is excellent. However, the Jogger is…

6ISSUES FOR£1 Then if you continue to subscribe after your trial you pay from just £26.99 every three months (saving you 43%). If for any reason you’re not satisfied you can cancel at any time and receive a refund on any unmailed issues. DELIVERED FREE Every issue is delivered to your door, free of charge. It’ll arrive in paper packaging, too, making it easier than ever to recycle. WELCOME TO THE FAMILY We offer every subscriber a free welcome gift when they come on board. This month get a bottle STP® Complete Fuel System Cleaner worth £14.99. For convenience, scan our QR code with your camera phone for quick access to our secure online store! YOUR FREE GIFT Subscribe to Auto Express today and get a free STP® Complete Fuel…

Audi Q4 e-tron ELECTRIC car users owners tend to be split between the haves and the have nots: those with home charging and those without. Editor-in-chief Steve Fowler has rarely had to make use of the public charging network with his Audi Q4 e-tron, but stopped off at Beaconsfield Services just off the M40 in Buckinghamshire for a fast charge on the new Ionity network. Of the four chargers there, one wasn’t working while the other three were in use, in spite of the app saying one was free. Thankfully, a van driver who was plugged in was just finishing his McDonalds meal before handing the charge point over to Steve. Then the experience couldn’t have been better. The Ionity app worked well, the Audi and charger got into full…

Got a query? products@autoexpress.co.uk Q can tyres boost economy? I NEED to change the tyres on my car and wonder, with rising prices, if I should go for tyres that promise low fuel consumption. Would this make much difference? Will Lines, E-mail A IT will help. The difference between top and bottom EU tyre label rating bands is around 7.5 per cent. Combine the new tyres with keeping the pressures at the right level, driving more smoothly and not so fast, plus keeping the car as light as possible, removing roof boxes, bikes and the like. Also consider using your climate control (if fitted) as little as possible. Q Will broken DRL fail MoT? ONE of the daytime running lights on my car is not working and I’ve been told this…

IF you can’t get mains power to your car, the solution for keeping the cabin grit and grime-free is a cordless vacuum. There’s a new vac on the block in the compact form of the AutoBot, which has just been released through Amazon. It’s easy on the arms and pocket, but how does it match up to our previous test winner, the Gtech MK2 K9 and Car Kit? To find out, both vacuums had to cope with a mix of grit and dirt ground into a car mat, which proved a tough test of their power to pick up unwanted mess. We looked for practicality inside the car, particularly in the awkward areas down the sides of, and under, the seats. Points were awarded for accessories, power, run and recharge…

Search more than 50,000 cars with competitive finance. Order online, delivered to your door, 14 day money-back guarantee YOU may not naturally gravitate towards a model from SsangYong when searching for the best used midsize SUV. But you could be missing out if the Korean brand isn’t on your radar. SsangYong has made great strides in recent years, raising its game in terms of design, technology and dynamics to draw closer to more established marques. The Korando SUV is the perfect example of this improvement. It arrived in 2019 based on a new platform and boasting a stylish, practical body and good off-road performance. It represented great value when it was a new car, and prices have now dipped below £20,000 for second-hand examples in the classifieds. By contrast, the Skoda Karoq…