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John_McIlroy@autovia.co.uk @johnmcilroy ● All-new platform, more tech and space, multiple powertrains ● We get behind wheel of 201bhp pre-production prototype EV THE Kia Niro has been a key ‘transitional model’ for the Korean brand – a vehicle sold as a hybrid, a plug-in hybrid and a pure EV, and thus one that has appealed to customers at various stages of the electrification journey. In the UK, it’s been Kia’s second best-selling model since it went on sale in 2016. But now, with increasing numbers of bespoke EVs on the market (not least Kia’s own excellent EV6), it’s time for an all-new Niro. The core principles remain; this is a car with a variety of powertrains, including two that feature combustion engines. But it gets an all-new platform plus more in-car…

PREVIEWING the tech that will underpin the next generation of its Cayman and Boxster – which will be all-electric – Porsche has revealed its 718 Cayman GT4 ePerformance, a track-only 1,073bhp monster that could also form the basis of a one-make race series for the brand. Based on the same chassis as the current Cayman GT4 Clubsport racer, the ePerformance uses a pair of electric motors delivering all-wheel drive, while power is supplied by a battery that holds enough energy for a 30-minute race stint. Power runs from 604bhp in a race setting up to a 1,073bhp maximum, while 900-volt tech means a five-80 per cent recharge takes 15 minutes. The muscular body panels are made from natural fibre composites and together with a huge rear wing help to produce plenty…

Steve_Fowler@autovia.co.uk @stevefowler THINGS move quickly in the car business. Within days of us catching up with Vauxhall managing director Paul Willcox, he had a surprise call from his boss, Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares, asking him to unite all of the group’s brands in the UK under his leadership. Previously, Willcox had been running Vauxhall, which accounts for over 40 per cent of Stellantis’s business in the UK and includes factories in Ellesmere Port and Luton. Meanwhile, Alison Jones oversaw the remaining eight brands. But with Jones moving to a global role within Stellantis, Willcox has been charged with bringing the UK operation even closer together and growing a total of nine Stellantis brands. Auto Express caught up with Willcox for the second time in a week to talk about Stellantis,…

mail@autoexpress.co.uk BMW’S M division might well be 50 years old this month, but to begin with it made only racing cars – hence M for motorsport in the name – its first-ever creation being the outrageous 3.0-litre CSL ‘Batmobile’ from 1972. At the start, the M division employed a mere 35 people. In 1978, however, everything changed. In the same year that Britain birthed its first test-tube baby, BMW Motorsport GmbH – as it was known back then – also produced its first-ever road car, the M1. Since then, it has never looked back. Five decades on, the M division has built more than half a million cars, at the same time underwriting BMW’s reputation as a creator of some of the world’s finest driver’s machines. It’s a reputation that…

Alastair_crooks@autovia.co.uk Performance 0-62mph/top speed 7.6 seconds/146mph THE recent facelift of Peugeot’s family favourite, the 308, ushered in hybrid power for the first time, but the inclusion of this tech also means that the car is more expensive. Here we’re testing the new Hybrid 225 in GT Premium SW estate guise. This body, engine and trim combo is the most expensive 308 you can buy, and while the family hatchback-based hybrid estate segment might sound niche, the 308 SW has plenty of rivals. Plug-in hybrid versions of the SEAT Leon and Skoda Octavia estate models remain strong contenders, and from within the Stellantis group (Peugeot’s parent) there’s the new Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer PHEV. The new 308’s interior feels as upmarket as any of its competitors’ and seems on par with…

Alastair_crooks@autovia.co.uk THE Fiat 500 was one of the top 10 best-selling cars in Europe last year, and with good reason. The retro city car has oodles of charm, is fun to drive and is now offered as a pure-electric model. In theory, then, the larger but still pretty fashionable 500X crossover should be even more popular thanks to its extra practicality. And although there’s no all-electric model, there is a mild-hybrid. This (RED) special edition, developed with the international AIDS charity of the same name, costs an additional £1,000 over the already high-spec Dolcevita trim, but features the Comfort Pack, red piping on the seats, a red dash and red electrically adjustable door mirrors. Our car uses Fiat’s latest ‘Firefly’ mild-hybrid 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder unit mated to a 48-volt belt-driven…

Running costs 41.5mpg (on test) £66 fill-up/£165 or 35% tax Practicality Boot (seats up/down) 287/1,079 litres Performance 0-62mph/top speed 6.5 seconds/149mph MODEL TESTED: Volkswagen Polo GTI DSG PRICE: £27,805 ENGINE: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo, 204bhp THE revised Volkswagen Polo GTI is priced higher than its rivals here, and that cost can spiral further with a few choice options. With the optional Kings Red paint with black contrast roof (£965), heated front seats (£315) and a Driver Assistance pack that includes lane-departure warning and a semi-autonomous parking system (£520), the car you see in these pictures costs £30,135 – up from the base price of £27,805. Design & engineering THE Polo’s transformation to full-blown GTI comes with some key mechanical upgrades. The basic layout is much the same as the standard Polo’s –…

1st HYUNDAI VICTORY goes to the Hyundai by the narrowest of margins. True to the hot hatch formula, its sharp handling and strong straight-line speed make it hugely thrilling – yet it still feels special even on a regular drive. It backs up its engine and powertrain with the i20’s usual strong points of a spacious cabin and great infotainment tech. Throw in a long warranty and strong residual values, and it’s a worthy winner. 2nd FORD BASED on pure driving enjoyment alone, the Fiesta ST still edges the i20 N. Its chassis remains the benchmark: enormous fun on the limit, yet with the sophistication and feel that mean it’s always on your side. Now that it only comes in ST-3 trim following the facelift, it’s not quite as good…

John_McIlroy@autovia.co.uk @johnmcilroy Charging Battery (usable) 83.7kWh Max charging 270kW DC Performance 0-62mph/top speed 4.1 seconds/149mph WHEN a new fleet car arrives, we usually spend a few hours going through the cabin, learning the different features. We may even read the manual (yes, really), while there’s a lot to be said for a good, long journey to help us settle in. But visiting a test track, accompanied by an instructor? That’s a rarity. However, that’s just what we’ve done with the latest addition to our fleet – the Porsche Taycan 4S Cross Turismo – and it’s the same approach that we’d have taken if we’d actually bought the car. Anyone who purchases any new Porsche in the UK gets a complimentary half-day driving experience, you see – regardless of whether they’ve…

AS the cost of living and motoring soars, it’s more important than ever that your money is spent wisely. Thanks to our extensive programme of product tests, conducted by people with decades of experience in the sector, we can ensure that whether you’re buying a cleaner for under a fiver or improving your chances of safe winter driving with a set of all-season tyres, it will be money well spent. Our Product Awards are also a celebration of the aftermarket, which has had a lot to cope with over the past 12 months as lockdowns made way for stock shortages and soaring prices. We’d like to give huge thanks to everyone who put in the extra effort to ensure our test programme could continue. Supply chain problems made access to…

CLEANING your car is a great way of getting up close and personal with the paintwork and spotting any blemishes that may well be missed during everyday use. Looking at the bodywork from different angles can reveal the light marks that will take the edge off any shine you add with a wax or coating. Removing them requires a scratch remover, although anything you can feel with a fingernail will probably need a machine polisher or professional attention. Returning a shine to the clearcoat can be done by hand, and to find the top products, we marked long-neglected paintwork with a plastic ice scraper and added a fine line with a knife tip. These were tackled with 20 and 30 wipes and progress assessed after each attempt. Price was also…

CAR DIY is mostly about twisting and turning nuts and bolts, but when rust or over-enthusiastic tightening has made them impossible to shift, it’s time to reach for an impact wrench. This used to mean owning an expensive compressor to power a pneumatic tool, and having yards of air hose snaking dangerously around the garage. But thanks to the advances in motor technology and battery life, the best option today is a cordless electric version. We put eight to the test, focusing heavily on their torque abilities by using them to remove wheel nuts and a large hub nut, and driving large hex-head screws into wood. As well as looking at their performance, we logged the battery state at the end of the tests. Marks were also awarded for practical…

WHEN this test started over a year ago in frozen Finland, we weren’t certain it would be completed because strict travel restrictions were still in place. Just as with our summer tyre test, we had to make changes to ensure that, if and when we could travel, we’d done all we could to prepare. Hankook completed the objective tests on snow at its Ivalo facility, and Continental did the wet and dry braking, plus aquaplaning. As soon as restrictions eased, we flew to Germany to complete the handling tests. All-season designs may be popular, but the ultimate way to cope with weather extremes is to change tyres for the season. We looked at the big-selling 225/45R17 size on snow-covered, wet and dry surfaces, taking into account fuel economy and price.…

OUR top products award has always celebrated innovation above all else, and it does so again with a design that breaks fresh ground. The CS One represents something of a new dawn for battery charging specialist CTEK, which made a similar impact on the market when it introduced the MXS series more than a decade ago. The traditional ‘toaster’ charger, which whacked current into a battery no matter what state it was in, was made redundant overnight. Rivals soon came up with their own versions of the multi-stage charging cycles that monitored battery state and adjusted their input to suit, finishing up with a maintenance mode that allowed the units to keep littleused cars ready to go for months without problem. They even mimicked the design of the CTEK’S casing,…

CO2/tax 134-177g/km £165 Running costs 36-48mpg (P’tech 225) £103 fill-up Performance 0-62mph/top speed 8.3 seconds/141mph PREMIUM brands have been hot property for quite a few years now, so it’s no surprise that many mainstream car makers have been trying to move upmarket and shake off their bargain-basement image. One brand that took a slightly different path was Citroen, leading to the 2014 creation of its premium sub-brand, DS Automobiles. For the first three years, all that was on offer were rebadged Citroens (DS 3, DS 4 and DS 5) – but after three years we got our first stand-alone product, the DS 7 Crossback. With a focus on stylish design inside and out, along with generous kit levels, DS is trying to differentiate itself from the usual premium suspects. The…

Stephen_Errity@autovia.co.uk • Castroneves going for five • Three Brits on 33-car grid SUNDAY 29 May is the date for the 106th running of the Indianapolis 500 – the centrepiece event of the US IndyCar series and the biggest single-day sporting event by attendance numbers in the world. A grid of 33 drivers will take to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the race, with seven former winners among them. A total of 33 is the traditional maximum for the event, meaning this year will have no ‘Bump Day’ qualifying that sees potential starters eliminated before the lights go out. The grid order is set across two days of qualifying on Saturday and Sunday before the race, with the final pre-race practice session, also known as ‘Carb Day’, taking place on Friday 27…

James_Brodie@autovia.co.uk @JPBrods ● Scenic nameplate to return as brand-new, all-electric family SUV ● Eco concept previews latest production and powertrain tech RENAULT has confirmed that it will reboot the Scenic name in 2024, applying the famous small MPV nameplate to a new family-sized SUV. The latest car will be pure electric, and is previewed by this: the Scenic Vision Concept. Penned by lead designer Gilles Vidal, the Scenic Vision represents Renault’s future on three fronts. Its exterior design is representative of what the 2024 Scenic will look like, and is “more than 90 per cent production car” according to Vidal. However, the powertrain technology is more a preview of what Renault thinks it could offer commercially post-2030, while the interior is pure concept-car indulgence. The Scenic Vision is not merely…

THE plug-in hybrid version of the Niro will have greatest appeal to those who are trying to minimise their company car tax while still retaining the ability to travel longer distances without stopping for recharges. Its technical credentials are solid enough, with a 1.6-litre petrol engine and an 83bhp electric motor giving a combined output of 180bhp. Kia is finalising the figures, but the aim is for the car to manage 40 miles of electric-only running – enough for it to drop into the eight per cent tax band. This could come down to your choice of trim level and wheel size, however. On the road, the experience is a little patchy. The Niro PHEV feels comfortable enough running in EV mode around town – slower than the pure EV,…

Alastair_crooks@autovia.co.uk ● Vision AMG EV study revealed ● Previews next-gen sports cars THE future of Mercedes-AMG’s performance cars has been teased by the brand with the unveiling of its new Vision AMG concept car. Mercedes calls the Vision AMG a four-door, all-electric supercar – and the design certainly backs up this statement. There are plenty of elements taken from the Vision EQXX concept revealed earlier this year, with the AMG sporting an aerodynamic shape with a low, flowing roofline, huge flared wheelarches and a long wheelbase. The Vision AMG also includes an AMG-specific grille with the sub-brand’s trademark vertical bars, albeit blanked off to improve aerodynamic performance and reduce drag. The Vision AMG features 22-inch aerodynamically clad wheels and digital wing mirrors to further improve the drag coefficient. As a…

UK PRICES and specifications have been revealed for the Citroen Ami, which will go on sale in the summer from £7,695. Given that it’s a quadricycle, it can be driven by holders of a full AM motorcycle licence; a full UK car licence isn’t needed. Buyers can choose from three £400 colour packs, while Pop and Vibe models add customisation kit for £8,495. A single-seat Ami Cargo model with 260 litres of storage space is offered from £7,995. Range stands at 46 miles; top speed is 28mph for all versions.…

mail@autoexpress @Autoexpress FROM: Jim Barker I’VE not been fond of recent BMW designs, such as the iX and newly unveiled 7 Series, but the current 3 Series is a good-looking car and this facelift doesn’t change that. Modern, sleek and sharp – if only the whole range reflected this. FROM: Peter Keane IT’S not an ugly car by any means, but it doesn’t excite me. I find this is the case with a lot of mainstream modern cars – they can be dynamically and technically very capable, but there’s a lack of imagination in the styling. Join the debate at www.autoexpress.co.uk ■ “Now there’s a gaping maw in the bumper to match the large grille. It’s like a basking shark!”  Kyle Ellis ■ “At least the kidney grille hasn’t been…

Alastair_crooks@autovia.co.uk Performance 0-62mph/top speed 3.8 seconds/155mph Electric motor Power/range 611bhp/348 miles BMW revealed in 2017 that it plans to make all-electric M cars. We’ve still yet to see one, although last year’s i4 M50 gave us a good indication of what to expect. Now there’s the iX M60. It also bears the M division’s logo, just like the i4 M50, and has been tweaked by BMW’s sporting arm, but this is not a full-blown M car. Just like the iX xDrive50, the M60 uses a 105.2kWh battery. With 195kW charging capability, it’ll take 39 minutes for a 10-80 per cent top-up – or 11 hours from a home socket. What BMW’s M division has done is to release more power from the electric motors – 611bhp, in fact – along…

Running costs 42.5mpg (on test) £66 fill-up/£165 or 36% tax Practicality Boot (seats up/down) 352/1,165 litres Performance 0-62mph/top speed 6.2 seconds/143mph MODEL TESTED: Hyundai i20 N PRICE: £25,250 ENGINE: 1.6-litre 4cyl turbo, 201bhp THE Hyundai i20 N is the only car of this trio to not have received a nip and a tuck – so is our 2021 Hot Hatchback of the Year still able to hold its own? When it comes to price, it’s off to a very promising start; at £25,250 before this car’s optional Performance Blue paint, its on the road price is £995 less than the Fiesta ST’s and £1,555 cheaper than the Polo GTI’s. Design & engineering SOME hot hatchbacks use their appearance to shout louder about their performance than others, and the i20 N’s deep…

NEW: MINI Cooper S PRICE: £26,765 ENGINE: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo, 176bhp THE Cooper S succeeds where the Polo doesn’t quite hit the mark, because it offers both a premium interior and an exciting chassis. Its rivals here are more powerful, but try not to be drawn into the options list and it’s surprisingly good value for money. USED: Honda Civic Type R (2018) PRICE: £27,500 ENGINE: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo, 310bhp THE Civic Type R sits a size up from these superminis, but still deserves consideration - it will go down as one of the greatest hot hatches ever produced. Incredible straight-line speed combines with wonderful handling, steering and gearshift.…

James_Brodie@dennis.co.uk @jimmybrods Running costs 54.6mpg (official) £59 fill-up Practicality Boot (seats up/down) 397/1,097 litres AMONG all the talk of the 2030 ban on sales of new petrol and diesel cars, one key element of the landmark change is consistently overlooked. Fully electric cars will likely dominate new-car sales come the end of the decade, but hybrids won’t be totally off the table. The exact rules around what will be allowed post-2030 haven’t been ironed out just yet and are subject to further Government consultation, but some hybrids will be sold until 2035. Perhaps that’s music to Toyota’s ears, because the brand boasts the sort of prowess in hybrid tech that other makers can only dream of. The Yaris Cross is the brand’s latest effort to be powered by the technology,…

THE rise of the SUV has also seen increased interest in all-season tyres. In many ways they have a similar role – the SUV is neither a full-on offroader nor an estate, while the latter isn’t a winter specialist or a dry-road star. For our look at the latest all-season tyres, we relied on test hosts Hankook and Continental for the objective results, because travel restrictions kept us in the UK. As with the winter test, restrictions lifted just in time for us to complete wet and dry handling. Again we had to ask producers to supply tyres, but we compared the top two against purchased tyres. Winner Hankook Kinergy 4S2 Price: £81.50 Contact: hankooktire.com IT was mighty close, but in the end Korean brand Hankook just did enough to secure…

WITH luxurious interiors, a degree of off-road ability and the promise of a sporty drive, coupé-SUVs could be the jack of all trades in motoring. For some, however, the limited practicality and mammoth kerbweights of these machines make them the master of none. Nevertheless, the original BMW X6 defined the sector when it was launched back in 2007. We’re now on to the thirdgeneration version, which retains the same recipe – take the architecture of an X5 SUV, cloak it in a swoopier body and tweak the suspension for slightly sharper responses. The latest version has been on sale for three years, so used prices have dipped below £60,000. But does the X6 have the measure of Audi’s premium coupé-SUV effort, the Q8? As with the BMW, the Q8 can…

Lamborghini readies top-class WEC entry LAMBORGHINI will join the World Endurance Championship (WEC) from 2024 with a new car built to the same Le Mans Daytona Hybrid (LMDh) rules as Porsche and Alpine’s entries. The news is a boon for WEC bosses, following Audi’s decision to suspend its LMDh programme as it looks to enter Formula 1 alongside fellow VW Group brand Porsche from 2026 onwards. McLaren to take over Mercedes Formula E MCLAREN is adding a Formula E entry to its expanding motorsport portfolio. The British company will take over the current Mercedes EQ team following the German brand’s withdrawal at the end of the current season. McLaren’s move coincides with the beginning of the electric series’ third generation, which sees the debut of a radically styled and more…

HERE at Auto Express Towers we make no apologies for banging on about the rocketing price of petrol and diesel – the fuels that power around 98 per cent of the roughly 40 million cars, vans and trucks on UK roads today. Pump prices always have and always will be one of the greatest financial burdens for private motorists paying their vehicle-related bills out of their own hard-earned salaries, savings accounts or pensions. And as with interest charges on new cars purchased, vehicle depreciation, insurance, plus servicing/MoT/repair charges, expenditure on fuel is right up there in the top five annual motoring costs. Trouble is, two years ago virtually to the day, Asda and Morrisons forecourts were charging as little as 99p a litre (£4.50 a gallon), yet just last week…

sean_carson@autovia.co.uk ● Hardcore version of coupé ● Only 100 examples for UK IN its 50th birthday year, BMW’s M division is revealing a bonanza of new models to celebrate. And the latest in a long list for 2022 is the new M4 CSL, a hardcore version of its sports coupé. Securing its status as the most aggressive offering from the division is a tuned engine pumping out even more power, as well as chassis tweaks to contain the extra performance, and an aggressive bodykit. The L in the name stands for Lightweight, and key to the CSL’s focus is its reduction in mass. The car tips the scales at 1,625kg, which is 100kg lighter than a regular M4, while a carbon-fibre boot lid, roof, bonnet and other elements help save…

Ultra-rare Mercedes sets auction record A 1955 Mercedes 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé (above) – one of two in existence – has sold at auction for a record £114m. At the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, the opening bid for the 300 SLR was higher than the old record of $48.4million (£38.8m) for a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO sold in 2018. Based on the two-time Grand Prix World Championship-winning W 196 R, the SLR has a 3.0-litre straight-eight engine developing 302bhp, enabling a top speed of 180mph. Speed to be blamed for more accidents A NEW system to be introduced by the National Police Chiefs’ Council will result in speeding being reported as a contributing factor in vastly increased numbers of road accidents. Out of the UK’s 1,500 deaths each year on…

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…

Matt_robinson@autovia.co.uk @matt_201 Performance 0-62mph/top speed 6.1 seconds/145mph Running costs 35.6mpg (official) £132 fill-up “A clear focus on comfort doesn’t come at the expense of handling” THE original Range Rover kick-started a whole new genre when it launched more than 50 years ago. The automotive world has changed considerably since then, of course, and the SUV sector has, too. As such, the originator must now cut it in a more crowded marketplace than ever. An all-new version is just what Land Rover needs to stay relevant. Except, while the MLA Flex platform is fresh, from the front this car doesn’t look all that different. The changes are there, however, including new LED light clusters and a different-shaped grille. At the rear, the deviations are more obvious, with the most radical aspect…

Steve_Walker@autovia.co.uk IF the appeal of a van-based MPV is space and utility at a modest price, why would you spend thousands extra to get one with a Mercedes badge? This is the big question around the T-Class, a people carrier based on the new Citan compact van, which shares its platform with Renault’s Kangoo. Mercedes is confident that it has an answer that will resonate with buyers, namely that the T-Class receives the full three-pointed-star treatment. No cynical badge-swap exercise, says the Stuttgart PR machine; Mercedes engineers have had a hand in T-Class development from the start. Soundproofing and the mapping for the engines and seven-speed gearbox have all come in for attention, as has the cabin – the design of which is perhaps the biggest difference over its Renault…

Running costs 38.9mpg (on test) £69 fill-up/£165 or 35% tax Practicality Boot (seats up/down) 292/1,093 litres Performance 0-62mph/top speed 6.5 seconds/143mph MODEL TESTED: Ford Fiesta ST-3 PRICE: £27,245 ENGINE: 1.5-litre 3cyl turbo, 197bhp ONE of the most obvious changes to the facelifted Fiesta ST is the introduction of the Mean Green paint that features on our test car. It’s a £775 option, which brings the total cost of the ST-3 model in these pictures to £28,320. Design & engineering FOR 2022, Ford has applied a range of updates to the ST which align it with those introduced to the rest of the Fiesta range. Chief among the changes is the styling, particularly at the front, where there’s a reshaped grille with a big Ford logo placed in its centre. The headlights…

Ford Fiesta Ford SYNC 3 Navigation Key features: Apple CarPlay, Android Auto DIGITAL dials represent a tech boost for the ST, but it’s a pity that the recent facelift didn’t introduce a revised touchscreen at the same time. Ford has elected to stick with the SYNC 3 infotainment system instead of its latest SYNC 4 software (as fitted to the updated Focus), which means that what you get here is nothing more than okay. The blue graphics are a little monotone and the resolution of the eight-inch display can’t compete with its rivals here. Nor can the interface itself; the menu pages aren’t as intuitive as the i20’s or Polo’s, and the loading times are slower. As with the other two, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard, so it’s easy…

SAVE 43% ON THE SHOP PRICE After your initial 6 issue trial, your subscription will continue at £26.99 every 13 issues representing a saving of 43% on the shop price. FREE DELIVERY Never miss an issue with every copy delivered straight to your doorstep. FULLY FLEXIBLE You are able to cancel at any time using a dedicated customer portal or by getting in touch. There are more options than ever to subscribe to Auto Express with both print and digital versions available, or perhaps you’d like a combination of both, the choice is yours OK I’M IN! HOW DO I SUBSCRIBE? 1 ORDER ONLINE AT autoexpress.co.uk/subscribe (or call 0330 333 9491 if you prefer the human touch). 2 ENTER THE OFFER CODE DMAY22 and select the offer you’d like to take.…

DS 7 Crossback OUR DS 7 Crossback has had an eventful time of it recently. First it paid a visit to the excellent tank museum in Bovington, Dorset, where it cosied up to something from the opposite end of the utility-vehicle scale. Then we learned first hand one of the reasons why tank designers tend to favour tracks over tyres – by picking up a slow puncture. The initial sign of trouble was a tyre-pressure warning light pinging into life on the DS 7’s instrument cluster. The system doesn’t identify a particular culprit, and none of the tyres was noticeably low on pressure, so a few extra PSI were added, the monitor was reset and the car was on its way. It was a week before the light returned; this…

WE introduced big changes for our bulb test this year, conducting it using a camera rather than a light tunnel. The beams from the H4 twin-filament bulbs were still shone on a marked wall, but then a high-res image was taken and analysed. The system, developed by Ring, gives comparable results to owner Osram’s light tunnel. As before, we measured light levels at 50 and 75 metres down the road to get our Figure of Merit (FOM), plus the brightest point, the area with light levels over 30 lux, and beam length. We checked that the output was within E-mark limits, too. When we last tested bulbs, just one promised 200 per cent more light within the beam. This time, all bar one made the claim, so we were keen…

THE choice of dash cams has never been so bewildering, and this year we’ve tested more of them than ever before. They range from basic, sub-£50 devices to high-resolution, multi-camera units that instantly upload footage to the Cloud via mobile networks. We attached the newcomers to our windscreen alongside our defending champions, and went for a drive in a variety of conditions. We checked how the lenses and processors coped with changes in light and weather, then rated the downloaded footage. We particularly valued images that capture crucial detail such as number plates. We looked for a unit that’s easy to use, represents good value, has the most useful features and records exceptional footage. Winner Ring RSDC3000 Price: £89.95 (plus SD card) Contact: ringautomotive.com RING is a newcomer to the world…

Got any car queries? Tristan_Shale-Hester@autovia.co.uk Q Could I have a car inspected before I buy one privately? I’M looking to buy a used car privately, but my mechanical knowledge is limited and I’m worried I’ll pick a bad one. Would a seller be likely to let me get a car inspected at a garage before I commit to buying it? NH, E-mail A THIS will vary between sellers. Some private individuals with nothing to hide might be willing to let you do this, but understandably they could have concerns about their car being taken to an unknown garage. A better option might be to see if they’ll agree to one of the dedicated vehicle inspections offered by firms like the AA and RAC. These range from around £100 to £240…