Innholdsfortegnelse for 06/01/2016 i Autocar

DID SOMEONE MENTION the winter blues? Fear not, because news to put a spring in the step of many motorists is that filling up the fuel tank of the average family car should cost roughly £10 less than it did in January last year. The price of diesel has followed that of petrol in dipping below £1 per litre at major supermarkets, which tend to use low fuel prices as bait for luring customers to buy groceries. Motoring organisations are predicting that fuel prices will remain low for most of the year, thanks to the oversupply and depressed cost of crude oil, and it will be interesting to see whether that has an impact on the growth of the market for alternatively fuelled vehicles. Together with tax and environmental advantages,…

LATEST PICTURES OF Chiron prototypes reveal that it adheres closely to the Vision Gran Turismo concept (above) revealed last year. Despite retaining many of the classic Veyron design cues, the exterior has been thoroughly revised for both styling and aerodynamic reasons. Key elements include larger cooling ducts up front, a more aggressive splitter, a prominent horseshoe-shaped grille, thinner LED headlight assemblies, a flatter bonnet, tauter surfacing for the front wings and greater structure to the doors. Farther back, the air ducts behind the doors have been increased in size and now form part of a single structure that incorporates the roof and rear section in one. The two individual air ducts above the engine bay have also been replaced by a large NACA-style duct to vastly improve cooling. While we’re…

You might have to scroll down quite a list, even to listen to a DAB station that starts with an ‘A’ I hate to start the new year with a rant, but, well, my only resolution this year was, as ever, never to write a listicle. So I haven’t started 2016 with any good intentions to avoid having a moan. And I’m going to have one about DAB digital radio. Not the absence of it from too many new cars – although there’s still no excuse for that, even though the analogue switch-off is not imminent – but because when it is fitted, car makers often make it all but unfathomable by insisting that you get involved in the selection of an ‘ensemble’. What’s one of those? As far as…

THE F-PACE MADE quite an entrance into the world. On the eve of the Frankfurt show in the German Big Three’s own back yard, stunt driver Terry Grant drove the F-Pace through the world’s largest loop-the-loop, in the dark, in the rain, at 53mph and pulling 6.5g. If that was impressive, the F-Pace became even more so when the rain had been wiped off and the roll cage removed to allow the car to take centre stage on Jaguar’s show stand the next day. It emerged that this is a car with the footprint of a BMW X3 but the boot space of an X5, allied to the driving dynamics, apparently, of a Porsche Macan — which is the world’s best driver’s SUV bar none. A potentially killer combination, then,…

JAGUAR F-TYPE SVR SUMMER Another exciting new Jaguar for this year is the F-Type SVR. The SVR is the work of Jaguar Land Rover’s Special Vehicle Operations unit, the newly formed department charged with putting fettled V8s in JLR products. For the F-Type, we can expect a version of the 5.0-litre supercharged unit producing as much as 600bhp and hooked up to an all-wheel drive system. The usual performance upgrade boxes will also be ticked, including suspension, brakes and styling.…

CHEVROLET CAMARO SUMMER No right-hand drive, but imports should be possible. CITROEN C3 PICASSO LATE 2016 The C4 Cactus’s Airbumps seem ripe for a fun, funky MPV. DS 3 SUMMER New look for the DS 3 will bring it in line with the DS 4 and 5 models. FERRARI FF FACELIFT SUMMER Practical Ferrari gets a deep facelift and Geneva motor show debut. FORD EDGE SUMMER Big US SUV will make its first European appearance this year. FORD S-MAX VIGNALE SUMMER Sporty MPV will be the latest Ford to get the posh Vignale treatment. FORD RANGER FEBRUARY Facelift for the pick-up that, Ford claims, is almost car-like to drive. HYUNDAI i20 ACTIVE SPRING Beefed-up Allroad-style looks and other changes to i20 supermini.…

HYUNDAI i10 SUMMER A light nip and tuck for the city car that was launched in 2014. HYUNDAI i30 LATE 2016 Range renewal continues apace with all-new, third-gen family hatch. INFINITI QX30 SUMMER British-built SUV is 45mm higher than Q30 hatch on which it’s based. INFINITI Q60 LATE 2016 Expect twin-turbo V6 power for this Audi A5 and BMW 4 Series rival. JAGUAR XE AWD EARLY 2016 All-wheel-drive XE will be key in the US; we get it with a 181bhp diesel. KIA OPTIMA EARLY 2016 Only one choice of engine — 139bhp diesel — but generous kit levels. KIA OPTIMA ESTATE AUTUMN Estate version of the Optima will otherwise mirror the saloon’s spec. KIA SOUL FACELIFT LATE 2016 Oddball hatch’s refresh is set to add a warm ‘GT’ trim…

SETTING ASIDE THE modern styling of the DB10, as driven by everyone’s favourite not-very-secret agent and recently road tested in these very pages, the DB11 marks the start of a new chapter for Aston Martin road cars. We like what we know so far: the DB11 is likely to retain many of the attributes that appeal to traditional Aston buyers, but it will be an all-new model with fresh underpinnings, interior and engines. The DB11 is believed to have a newly engineered chassis, albeit one created on the same principles as the outgoing VH platform. It will be a bonded and riveted structure versatile enough to form the basis of future models such as the DBX crossover. As confirmed this week, the engine line-up will include an all-new 5.2-litre V12…

IMAGINE, IF YOU can, a time in the future when the current furore surrounding Volkswagen is a fading memory. A time when the majority of affected cars are fixed. A time when VW executives can get back on a stage at a motor show without having to begin the address with, “We’re sorry”. The time will be this September and the place the Paris motor show. If ever there was a launch to wipe away the humiliation of what will by then be the past year, surely it is that of a new generation of Golf, a car so crucial to VW’s reputation that it can’t afford to get it wrong in this new, Mk8 form. VW won’t get it wrong, of course. Anyone who thinks the emissions scandal can…

TESLA HAS THE premium manufacturers rattled. How has a start-up company managed to get a luxurious, brilliant-to-drive electric saloon, the Model S, into production and given it an anxiety-eliminating range and a price that’s not as out of this world as the technology? Yet Tesla has done it and plans to do it all over again this year with the Model X, an SUV with even more appeal on paper than the Model S. Let’s start with the dramatic ‘falcon wing’ rear doors. They need only 30cm of space either side to open, and sensors stop them from banging into ceilings in underground car parks. The wow factor continues with the Model X’s powertrain. It uses the same twin electric motor set-up as the Model S P85D. In range-topping P90D…

MITSUBISHI OUTLANDER FACELIFT SUMMER Light styling and interior upgrades for Mitsubishi’s family SUV. PEUGEOT 5008 SUMMER Spacious MPV will morph into more of a conventional SUV. PORSCHE 911 JANUARY The 911 gets turbocharged power across the range for the first time. PORSCHE 718 CAYMAN AUTUMN Refreshed Cayman will receive a new name and a four-pot engine. RADICAL RXC SPYDER EARLY 2016 Open-top racer for the road will get a 560bhp Ford V6 engine. RENAULT MEGANE RS LATE 2016 A 2016 reveal is possible for the new hot hatch ahead of 2017 sales. RENAULT SCENIC SUMMER It will be reinvented as a crossover, with more practical styling. ROLLS-ROYCE DAWN SPRING Ghost-based Wraith coupé will spawn a convertible version.…

WE’VE BEEN MADE to wait for this one. By the time the M2 goes on sale, it’ll have been very nearly four years since BMW sold a proper junior M car. There has, of course, been plenty in between to sustain us — not least the extremely likeable M235i — but nothing to quite compete with the memory of its (sort of) predecessor, the 1 Series M Coupé. Which is curious, really, because the 1M — as it became better known as — was not actually the complete package. It was too stiff and ultimately a bit under-endowed in feel to ascend to the legendary status automatically ascribed other past M division products. What it was instead was bonkers. It looked bonkers, and when you really pushed on, it felt…

DOWNSIZING IS everywhere. Up next for the downsizing treatment is the Porsche Boxster, or rather the 718 Boxster, as the company will call this facelifted model (No one else will.) The new name is in reference to a series of four-cylinder-powered sports cars made by Porsche in the 1950s and 1960s. The Boxster’s (sorry, 718 Boxster’s) core engine will now be a turbocharged 2.0-litre flat four producing about 295bhp and 258lb ft. The engine will have a larger bore and stroke in the Boxster S, increasing engine capacity to 2.4 or 2.5 litres and making about 355bhp and 295lb ft. This all means better fuel economy for the Boxster but, surprisingly, the smaller engine does not bring with it a lower kerb weight. The additional parts for the turbo are…

The updated DS 4 is perhaps a bad car by which to judge the new, out-on-its-own DS premium brand. It’s a car based on a platform that many Peugeot and Citroën models have already left behind, one designed for the most part when crossovers and the DS brand were in their infancy. But right now, the 4 is the freshest indicator we have of this emergent brand’s calibre and direction – and it speaks more loudly of strides yet to be made than of progress achieved. The 4’s all-round quality, on-board technology and habitation levels still leave a lot to be desired. And although its ride and handling show improvement, a drab powertrain and some under-developed controls put a lid firmly on the car’s dynamic appeal – and then screw…

Oddly, I’ve got a sudden hankering for a Tiguan R using the Golf R’s oily bits. mr_pushrod Did someone pop into Munich on the way to the design studio? Side profile is pure BMW X5. The Cabbage The Touareg has only a 580-litre boot. How is that going to pan out then? Is the Touareg going to get bigger? S2bear Looks like a mini Audi Q7, with the square frontal features, front airdam plastic, straight character line and bluff rear end. Stinhambo Dull as dishwater. The Apprentice An improvement on the outgoing model, but that’s not difficult. erly5…

Premium hatches 1 BMW i3 From £30,000 An electrified statement of intent. With a generous budget and modest miles in mind, the i3 is simply unbeatable. 2 Audi A3 Sportback From £19,000 The VW Golf is our regular hatch champ, but its premium-brand sister car is almost as good if only an Audi will do. 3 Volvo V40 From £19,000 No, the V40 isn’t perfect, but it’s handsome, brilliantly well packaged and different — rare commodities. 4 BMW 1 Series From £20,000 It looks desperate from certain angles, but the BMW is still a sure bet. Arguably offers the most sporting drive. 5 Mercedes-Benz A-Class From £20,000 We’re warming to the A-Class, although caution is still advised on how you spec it. Looks and cabin top notch. Large SUVs 1…

No one produces as thorough a judgement on a new car as Autocar. As well as acceleration, braking, fuel economy and noise tests, we carry out benchmark limit-handling tests, setting lap times if appropriate. But we don’t just drive at the track, essential as it is for finding the limits of performance; we also drive on a wide range of roads. We aim to produce the most complete, objective verdict in the business, so you can be sure how good a car is. Where we have tested more than one model in a range, the rating is for the range overall; where a model within the range meets our coveted five-star standard, it is highlighted in yellow. 30-70mph Indicates overtaking ability through the gears 50-70mph Recorded in top gear (*kickdown…

REVIEW Bentley Continental GT Speed Bentley’s luxurious coupé is now super-fast, too NEWS CES 2016 All the top stories from this tech-laden show BLOG Darren Moss Why driverless cars are dominating CES NEWS Faraday Future First all-electric concept from Tesla rival revealed NEWS Detroit motor show First motor show of 2016: catch it all here FIND US AT autocar.co.uk youtube.com/autocar autocar.co.uk/facebook twitter.com/autocar at the Apple App Store Download our Car Name Game and Car News apps autocar.co.uk/mag Download the digital edition of Autocar wherever you are in the world every Wednesday Autocar magazine is also published in Greece, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Middle East, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. autocar.co.uk/subscriptions For all our latest subscription offers…

Cars do not lose desirability just because they’ve been in previous ownership MONDAY If you were looking for an optimistic headline to kick off a happy new year, it’d be hard to improve on ‘Jaguar returns to racing’. Officially, we jumped the new year gun two weeks ago when we revealed that Jaguar is using Formula E to publicise plans for a range of advanced, long-range all-electric Jaguars and Land Rovers, the first of which is tipped for next year. What struck me over Christmas was the extent to which Jaguar consciousness guided my behaviour. Found myself reading Jaguar history, pricing XKRs on Pistonheads, clocking affordable Jags (of which there are many) on the road and taking much more notice of Formula E than before. I’m now hoping this promising…

ABARTH 595 FACELIFT SPRING Last year’s Fiat 500 facelift prompts similar for Abarth’s model. ALFA ROMEO MITO FACELIFT SUMMER Last round of changes for the Mito, with no replacement likely. ALFA ROMEO GIULIETTA FACELIFT SUMMER As per the Mito, but the Giulietta will live on by switching to rear drive. ALPINA B7 SPRING Super-saloon will get a 4.4-litre V8 producing around 600bhp. ARIEL NOMAD SUPERCHARGED SPRING Supercharger added to the 2.4-litre Honda engine makes this brilliant. AUDI A3 FACELIFT SUMMER Styling tweaks and the deletion of the engines on the naughty step. AUDI A4 ALLROAD AUTUMN Rugged looks, raised ride height, all-wheel drive: usual Allroad fare. AUDI A5 LATE 2016 The two-door A4 is tipped to get sportier, more aggressive styling.…

A BRAND-NEW Ford Focus RS is to hot hatchback fans what a fresh Star Wars epic is to science fiction movie buffs. They don’t come along often, they’re more hotly anticipated than almost anything else of their ilk and they transcend the normal reach of their rivals in fuelling feverish excitement. In a similar way that ‘Episode VII’ has made spoddy, giggling sixth-formers out of so many of the otherwise mature, refined adults we all know, so a new RS has the power to bring the petrolhead out of the least expected of your acquaintances. People who wouldn’t bat an eyelid if you rattled their double-glazing with an AMG V8 or a Mezger flat six will stop you in the street and demand to know everything about a new RS.…

VW GTI CLUBSPORT MARCH In the Golf GTI’s 40th year, the seminal hot Volkswagen gets bigger teeth: up to 287bhp on overboost, 19in rims, downforce-generating styling changes and Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres. It’s quite a transformation but still a very usable road car. LOTUS ELISE SPORT JANUARY Hethel is coming over all retro with its entry-level models, reintroducing the ‘Sport’ tag not seen since the Esprit. Modest weight savings have been made, with new tartan sports seats ramming home the retro theme. Engines make 134bhp, or 217bhp in the case of the 1.8-litre Sport 220. AUDI TT RS LATE 2016 Sources suggest there’s a lightweight all-aluminium engine in store for the next TT-RS, upping its output to almost 400bhp and giving it the upper hand on performance next…

KIA CEE’D LATE 2016 Second-gen hatch gets new look, cleaner engines and uprated cabin. KOENIGSEGG AGERA RS SPRING Only 25 of these hardcore, £1.3m, 1144bhp Ageras will be built. LAMBORGHINI HURACAN LP580-2 MARCH This rear-drive Huracán is the least expensive model on Lambo’s books. LAMBORGHINI HURACAN LP610-4 SPYDER SPRING This £205k cabrio is said to be 40% stiffer than the Gallardo Spyder. RANGE ROVER EVOQUE CONVERTIBLE SPRING Divisive SUV blends go-anywhere versatility with top-down glamour. LEXUS GS F JANUARY This £70k super-saloon is an interesting alternative to an M5. LEXUS GS FACELIFT SPRING Luxury saloon gets styling tweaks and improved infotainment. LEXUS RC JANUARY Neat-looking Japanese coupé will come with a £35k price tag.…

MAZDA MX-5 HARD-TOP SUMMER For those who can resist the lure of Britain’s four-day summer. MERCEDES-BENZ CLA FACELIFT SUMMER Blink-and-you’ll-miss it facelift will give the CLA the latest family look. MERCEDES-BENZ C-CLASS CABRIOLET LATE 2016 Interior is the standout feature, so why not let everyone see inside? MERCEDES-AMG E63 LATE 2016 A 600bhp V8, four-wheel drive and bald tyres. Joyous. MERCEDES-BENZ E-CLASS ESTATE AUTUMN For luxury car lovers who can’t resist the lure of their local tip. MERCEDES-BENZ GLC COUPE SUMMER The rise and rise of the sports-coupé SUV continues — oddly. MERCEDES-MAYBACH S600 EARLY 2016 Want über-luxury without the ostentation? Step right this way… MERCEDES-MAYBACH S600 PULLMAN SUMMER Six-seater chases Chinese sales. Chairman Mao would want one.…

FORD ECOSPORT JUNE Ford’s baby SUV gets revised steering and suspension in a bid to make it more Euro-friendly. KIA SPORTAGE FEBRUARY Kia has taken its Nissan Qashqai rival upmarket to try to get a larger slice of the crossover pie. TOYOTA AURIS CROSS SUMMER Nissan Juke rival takes inspiration from the bold C-HR concept (right). MINI COUNTRYMAN WINTER It will be more of an authentic SUV this time and come with four-wheel drive. NISSAN JUKE LATE 2016 The next Juke will focus on improving its technology and the perceived quality of its cabin. PEUGEOT 3008 SUMMER New 3008 gets more conventional SUV styling. Expect three-pot engines for the first time. AUDI Q5 LATE 2016 Second-generation Q5 will get frugal plug-in hybrid power. A rapid RS Q5 is also planned.…

SEAT LEON LATE 2016 The Leon is due a facelift next year, ahead of an all-new version in 2018. SKODA ROOMSTER LATE 2016 New small MPV will be based on the passenger version of the VW Caddy. SMART FORTWO CABRIO SPRING It gets a three-stage folding fabric roof and will be at dealers in spring. SUBARU XV FACELIFT JANUARY XV is due a mid-life facelift, mostly involving a cosmetic touch-up. SUZUKI VITARA S SPRING New S grade gets Boosterjet engine and styling enhancements. TOYOTA RAV4 HYBRID SPRING RAV4 is set to gain the Lexus RX450h hybrid drivetrain. VAUXHALL ASTRA SPORTS TOURER SPRING Estate version of Vauxhall’s new hatch arrives early this year. VAUXHALL ZAFIRA TOURER SUMMER Facelift is planned for the seven-seat Zafira Tourer.…

‘I could not have imagined what it would take to provide more pure driving enjoyment than a Caterham, until I drove the Elise’ To say a lot was riding on the Elise when it appeared in the mid-1990s was an understatement. Hethel’s previous model, the Esprit V8, had met a muted response. The company needed reinvigoration, and the back-to-Chapman’s-basics Elise had to deliver. To test its mettle, Autocar pitched the £19k Elise against the Caterham Seven – then the most effective route to driving exhilaration – and Renault Sport Spider, appointing Andrew Frankel as referee. “The introduction with the Lotus does not go well,” wrote Frankel. “A public car park, a large crowd and a wide and high sill to step over and lower myself into the driving seat; my…

THE FIRST MINI Countryman has been much derided, but there’s an argument that it actually rescued the Mini brand. Despite the hype surrounding the brand, Mini was nearly nine years old in 2010 but selling just 200,000 cars each year. It was a business case that did not add up. The arrival that year of the Countryman — an awkward styling project because it was based on the Clubman platform — immediately added another 100,000 units to Mini’s annual sales. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say the Countryman played no small part in saving the brand. However, that car is now ageing, and fast. Sales figures from the US make particularly interesting reading. Between January and November last year, US Countryman sales fell by 30% to 14,538 units.…

ONE FEATURE ON the new Volvo S90 that came late in the car’s development was the ‘Power Pulse’ compressed air-driven turbocharger on its diesel engine. “It was quite late in development when I tried it and I was a big fan of it straight away,” Volvo R&D chief Peter Mertens recalls. “The team said it was impossible to include because it was so late in the day, but I pushed like hell for it to happen, and it did.” THINK THE SCREEN in the new Volvo XC90 trumps your iPad? In some ways it does. The display in the centre of Volvo’s latest fascia is three times brighter than the one on Apple’s creation, according to the Swedish firm. It also comes with a coating on it that makes it…

THE FIRST PROTOTYPES of BMW’s next-generation 5 Series GT have hit the roads in preparation for a planned launch in 2017. The car is based on the all-new 5 Series saloon, which will hit showrooms first. The second generation of BMW’s more practical 5 Series variant will eschew some of the hatchback-inspired styling features of today’s car. The new GT has a more clearly defined rear deck and the sloping roofline appears to be steeper than before.…

AUDI R8 SPYDER SPRING A 602bhp V10, that noise and open to the elements. What’s not to like? AUDI S4 SPRING Hotted-up A4 gets 349bhp turbo V6 and hits 62mph in under 5.0sec. AUDI S8 PLUS JANUARY A 597bhp V8 lifts the super-limo to sub-4.0sec 0-62mph territory. AUDI SQ5 JANUARY It gets Audi’s harder-hitting BiTDI unit first — and it’s good for 335bhp. AUDI RS6/RS7 PERFORMANCE FEBRUARY Same 597bhp 4.0-litre V8 as the S8 Plus, with added boot space. BAC MONO UPDATE EARLY 2016 Atmo 2.5-litre tops 300bhp. Car weighs less than a crisp packet. BENTLEY MULSANNE FACELIFT LATE 2016 Expect up-to-date infotainment tech and even richer interior materials. BMW 225XE ACTIVE TOURER SPRING Three-pot petrol, two electric motors and 23 miles of battery-only range.…

“THIS IS A complete renaissance for Alfa,” says to the brand’s boss, Harald Wester. It needs to be. Alfa Romeo wants to sell 400,000 cars a year by the end of 2018 and the Giulia is the first of eight new models that, it thinks, will help it do it. That number of sales is a sixfold increase on today’s Alfa Romeo production and includes a relaunch in the United States, too. The intent is a strong one: to produce a range of lightweight, sporty and rear-wheel-drive cars. Such a dramatic reboot is “the only opportunity” for Alfa to prosper, according to Sergio Marchionne, the boss of Alfa parent company Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. The Giulia is a good place to start because it’ll have arguably the toughest brief of any…

TWO OF THE car industry’s most enduring models get all-new variants this year, as BMW and Mercedes revamp the 5 Series and E-Class respectively. These won’t be modest tweaks, either; both cars sit on new platforms and each will get all-new technologies as they aim to take on ever-improving rivals from Audi and Jaguar, plus the new Volvo S90. The seventh-generation 5 Series switches to a version of the Oberklasse platform used by the latest 7 Series, and the car gets a lot of its bigger brother’s features, including the use of carbonfibre and aluminium in its construction and the 48V electrical system that future-proofs it for possible autonomous driving functionality. The new 5 Series will be around 100kg lighter than the current car, so it should be more comfortable…

BMW 330E PHEV APRIL Plug-in hybrid 3 Series mixes 2.0 petrol power with an electric motor. Expect a CO2 figure below 49g/km. BMW 3 SERIES GT SUMMER 3 Series hatch gets the same styling tweaks as the refreshed saloon. Engines include a 1.5 turbo triple. BMW 740E PHEV SUMMER Plug-in 7 Series combines a 2.0 turbo four with an electric motor for 321bhp and just 49g/km of CO2. C-CLASS COUPE EARLY 2016 Two-door C-Class blends front end of the saloon with an S-Class Coupé rear. C63 Coupé is due before spring. S-CLASS CABRIO SPRING High-end drop-top gets turbo V8 in the S500 and S63 and a turbo V12 in the S65. S63 hits 62mph in 3.9sec. SL FACELIFT APRIL Refreshed cabrio gets tidier front end and standard nine-speed auto. SL400…

MG MADE WAVES with the GS when it was first unveiled at the Shanghai motor show in April. The GS is MG’s first SUV and the result of collaboration between the firm’s design teams in Shanghai and Longbridge. Designed to become a truly global product, the GS has stayed close to the look of the original CS concept while also fitting in with MG’s 3, 5 and 6. It’s no surprise to see MG cashing in on the continued success of crossovers and compact SUVs globally. If the GS is well received in Europe, it could quickly become the firm’s best-selling model. The GS is marginally longer, wider and lower than Volkswagen’s Tiguan and will be powered initially by a turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine developed in-house. The new engine…

CITROEN C3 SUMMER Citroën’s next family hatchback will use an evolution of the Peugeot 208’s platform and feature styling inspired by the C4 Cactus. FORD KA AUTUMN First previewed in concept form in 2013, Ford’s smallest car will come with more space than its key rivals in a bid to lure new customers. NISSAN MICRA LATE 2016 The new Micra will major on improved perceived quality. The car’s styling was previewed by the Sway concept at last year’s Geneva show. SUZUKI BALENO SPRING New hatchback gets 1.0-litre and 1.2-litre power alongside a mild hybrid version. It is expected to cost from around £12,000. VOLKSWAGEN UP FACELIFT SUMMER Refreshed supermini will get new styling and a more efficient 1.0-litre engine. A Geneva show debut in March is likely. RENAULT CLIO FACELIFT…

MODEL TESTED BlueHDi 120 • Price £23,495 • Power 118bhp • Torque 221lb ft • 0-60mph 12.0sec • 30-70mph in fourth 18.3sec • Fuel economy 49.3mpg • CO2 emissions 103g/km • 70-0mph 51.3m • Skidpan 0.82g The recent past has not been particularly rosy for Citroën and its parent company, PSA. Only last year, Europe’s second-largest car maker had to be bailed out of dire financial straits by the French government and its Chinese partner, Dongfeng Motors. Tepid demand in Europe for new cars was blamed, although the group’s equally tepid product line-up could be rightfully identified as doing it no favours. One remedy to the patent lack of elan was the formation of DS Automobiles, a large-scale rebranding exercise intended to inject some Parisian-style flair to proceedings. The exercise…

For full reviews of every car listed here, visit our website, autocar.co.uk Autocar’s star ratings explained Inherently dangerous/unsafe. Tragically, irredeemably flawed. Appalling. Massively significant failings. Very poor. Fails to meet any accepted class boundaries. Poor. Within acceptable class boundaries in a few areas. Still not recommendable. Off the pace. Below average in nearly all areas. Acceptable. average key areas, disappoints. Competent. Above average in some areas, average in others. Outstanding in none. Good. Competitive in key areas. Very good. Very competitive in key areas, competitive in secondary respects. Excellent. Near class leading in key areas, and in some ways outstanding. Brilliant, unsurpassed. All but flawless. Any car that has had a full Autocar road test is highlighted in yellow.…