Innholdsfortegnelse for 12/10/2016 i Autocar

THE ANNUAL INTERBRANDS Best Global Brands study, a list of the 100 most influential brands on the planet, offers a valuable insight into how car makers are perceived. Little surprise that Apple and Google topped the list. However, the car industry was the best-performing one in this year’s survey, revealed last week. Those included were: Toyota (fifth in the top 100), Mercedes-Benz (ninth), BMW (11th), Honda (21st), Ford (33rd), Hyundai (35th), Audi (38th), Volkswagen (40th), Nissan (43rd), Porsche (50th), Kia (69th), Land Rover (78th) and Mini (88th). Creeping into the rankings in 100th position for the first time was Tesla. The study states that car makers can’t afford to rest on their laurels. Transportation is evolving, it says, and current models of car use and ownership could soon change dramatically.…

VOLKSWAGEN PLANS TO rename its Polo R WRC (World Rally Championship) contender the Polo GTI, according to an official with close ties to the German car maker’s chairman, Herbert Diess. The move is intended to provide a closer link between VW’s motorsport engagement and its second best-selling model line. The renaming, to be made public at an official unveiling of the new 2017 Polo-based WRC car later this month, adds momentum to a third-generation Polo GTI currently under development. Set to crown the new Polo line-up, the front-wheel-drive hot hatch will go on sale in the UK in early 2018. It will feature a more powerful engine than the 189bhp turbocharged 1.8-litre four-cylinder petrol unit used by today’s model. Earlier plans for the introduction of a four-wheel-drive Polo R, hinted…

Research company Nanoflowcell, which revealed two electric car concepts powered by liquid-battery technology last year, is in talks with a “large manufacturer that is not German” about putting the Quantino concept into production. The German/Swiss company’s technology boss, Nunzio La Vecchia, said the car could be rebranded and the technology could be licensed for other vehicles. “The car and the availability of refuelling could be a reality in four or five years’ time,” he said. According to Nanoflowcell, which has administrative headquarters in London, the technology used by the Quantino and Quant FE concept cars could eclipse all others in a future minimal-carbon world. It uses positively and negatively charged liquids, stored in separate tanks as ‘fuel’, to generate electricity. These non-hazardous, easy-to-manufacture and easy-to-store electrolytes can be dispensed to…

The launch of Seat’s all-new Ibiza supermini and Arona baby SUV next year will drive profits and give the Spanish brand time to define its future, according to boss Luca de Meo. Both the Ibiza and the Arona, a Nissan Juke rival, will sit on the Volkswagen Group’s new MQB A0 platform. The Ibiza is set to be the first car in the whole group to be launched on it next summer, with the Arona following by the year’s end. De Meo said: “It is a key opportunity for us, to have not just the latest platform but also the latest powertrains, dynamic tuning, infotainment — everything that comes with it. For a time, we will have the best car in this class from the group and possibly the segment.…

Next year’s Mercedes-AMG E63 will use 4Matic four-wheel drive as standard and have a newly developed Drift mode, according to AMG boss Tobias Moers. Drift mode will provide more torque to the rear to enable the car to slide. The combination of four-wheel drive and Drift mode — a feature also fitted to the current Ford Focus RS — is claimed to elevate the handling of the E63 to a new level. “It’s faster on the Nordschleife than ever,” said Moers. “It will be under 7min 50sec on standard tyres.” He hinted that at least one version of the new E63 will top 600bhp.…

Henrik Fisker, the man behind the original Fisker brand and designer of the BMW Z8 and Aston DB9, is to launch a new company, Fisker Inc, to produce a luxury EV next year. A design sketch of the car, which is said to be a spiritual successor to the Fisker Karma, shows a two-door coupé. It will use “ground-breaking battery technology”, according to Fisker, developed by Fisker Nanotech, Fisker Inc’s sister company. “We have technology that nobody else has,” said Fisker. “There is nobody even close to what we are doing.” More models are planned for the future, suggesting Fisker Inc could become a rival to the likes of Tesla and the electric brands from mainstream manufacturers.…

“This 3008 is a marked improvement in the ride and handling department” Peugeot’s previous 3008 had elements of crossover about it but always leant more heavily towards being a five-seat MPV. However, the tides have since changed, with buyers now wanting the ground clearance and chunky styling of an SUV without compromising on practicality. So the new 3008 you see before you is now quite firmly in the SUV camp, but while it has the increased ground clearance and enlarged wheels and arches of an SUV, it is, in fact, lower than before by around 20mm. Still, it is 80mm longer, allowing for a longer wheelbase and more rear leg room, and despite losing some height, it offers more head room. On average, it’s 100kg lighter, too. The majority of…

“It fills the space between 2500rpm and 7000rpm like poured concrete in a mobster’s boots” Almost a decade after its launch, Nissan’s asphalt-shredding GT-R has been given its most comprehensive revision yet. Early cars – limited to just 479bhp – were far from faithful to their ‘GT’ prefix, with low-speed awkwardness, high-speed noise and a brittle ride among the compromises made to fulfil the car’s shock and awe performance mandate. But with such responsibilities now ceded to the much pricier GT-R Nismo and, to a lesser extent, the ‘Nismo-lite’ Track Edition, Nissan claims the standard GT-R has finally been ushered into true GT territory. Yet to the plusher interior, gentler ride, added refinement and friendlier gearbox mapping, there’s an almost obligatory power hike for the familiar 3.8-litre twin-turbo V6, with…

It’s so tempting to award the Vantage GT8 a resounding five stars, as much for what it represents – everything we’ve loved about Aston’s sports cars for decades, come at a time of profound, DB11-led change – as what it is. For its wonderfully purposeful, balanced and tactile track handling, its jaw-dropping supermodel-in-Nomex looks and its staggering abundance of charm, the GT8 deserves nothing less. This is ostensibly a decade-old sports car, operating at a considerable disadvantage on power and torque, that went more than a second quicker around our dry handling track than Aston’s new DB11. That’s both a staggering achievement and a powerful statement of intent. And yet it’s impossible to ignore the fact that, elsewhere, Aston could have done a more complete job. It could have given…

“It challenges conclusions about what car we should own, and for what purpose” If all petrol-powered cars were like the diminutive Shell Concept Car, we’d all be getting an effortless 100mpg-plus on the way to work, while our cars’ tailpipes emitted a third less CO2 than even the cleanest city car. These are the conclusions of a two-year project that has produced a three-seat prototype combining the talents of Gordon Murray’s prolific Guildford-based automotive design group, Japanese engine consultant Geo Technology and Shell’s own advanced lubricant engineers, based in Belgium. The car, powered by a 660cc in-line three-cylinder engine that started life as a regular Mitsubishi offering but has since been heavily revised, sits under the tiny car’s boot floor, driving the rear wheels. It is so frugal that it…

“The Clio’s fattened and firm chassis is absurdly well sorted” We’ve never needed an excuse to like the Suzuki Swift Sport. Japan’s dinkiest hot hatch turned up in 2005 and, in the unassuming manner so typical of its maker, took the decade by tiny, localised storm. Its mantra – endlessly extolled by us but never claimed by its maker – was that you could neither go faster nor have more fun for less. That remains true to this day: an entry-level Ford Fiesta ST is almost £4k more; a Caterham Seven 160, £2k – and you have to build it yourself. The Swift’s recipe, commensurate with the price, has remained irresistibly basic: zappy four-pot petrol engine up front, lean, low-tech chassis underneath, hollow-sounding body on top. Because it weighs about…

“The 2.0 diesel engine is relatively hushed at idle and quite capable of revving out” “A Mini?” I said. “I’m a photographer. Don’t you know how much stuff I need to carry? I’m not some trendy young Islington estate agent who can get away with a branded, dark green three-door supermini you spend £20,000 on.” “Stan,” they said, “no estate agents have run branded Minis since 2004 and the Mini isn’t just a three-door supermini any more. They’re much bigger now. Proper cars. This one is a five, well, actually, technically a six-door hatchback. Actually, technically it’s not a hatchback, either, more of an estate, and although this one’s price starts with a two, that’s only because it’s so carefully optioned that it’s £175 away from starting with a three.”…

The Tivoli proved to have quite an appetite when it was pressed into service for a camping trip in the West Country recently. First, the Ssangyong swallowed a week’s worth of camping supplies for two, even when those two chose an extravagant six-man tent. Still hungry, it ate the 160 miles to Devon, being relaxed enough on the motorways and A-roads to lull my navigator to sleep. The sat-nav came in handy, too, rerouting quickly when my sense of direction failed me. Still not full from all the miles and camping gear, the Tivoli then gobbled up five tall adults and their beach gubbins twice daily on the way to Saunton Sands and back, drawing praise for its roomy rear. Come leaving day, the weather turned for the worse. No…

The teenager’s toy car has followed in the footsteps of Autocar’s Smart long-termer and got itself a car park scrape. It’s not the first time it has happened, but this one is more noticeable than before. The miscreant misparker’s car was red, judging by the mark that has been left on the Polo’s black paintwork. It’s also the end of the world, apparently, but it’s still difficult to see the damage in the picture. Anyway, lots of products have been deployed, including a clay bar (basically Play-Doh), which all the so-called detailers use at the moment. Seemed to work: car crisis over, end of the world averted.…

“It was enough to propel the stripped-down Supersports from zero to 62mph in 3.9sec” Engineered by Germans, assembled in Crewe and, in Bentley terms at least, a bargain when new, the Continental GT is that rare thing: a cracking used car buy. Yes, it has a 6.0-litre twin-turbo W12 engine that will struggle to better 17mpg, and if something goes badly wrong, you may need to sell your home to pay for repairs. But just look at the upsides: that engine produces 479lb ft at just 1600rpm for effortless wafting and 0-62mph in 4.8sec without breaking sweat. The chassis boasts air suspension and four-wheel drive. Best of all, the neighbours will hate you. The price of all this? Less than £21,000. That’s what one private seller is asking for his…

“The new structure significantly increases torsional rigidity” BMW is preparing itself for the launch of its crucial new, seventh-generation 5 Series saloon ahead of the car going on sale in February next year. Codenamed G30, the latest incarnation of what remains the German manufacturer’s most profitable model sticks closely to the design language established by the latest 7 Series luxury saloon, despite featuring sharper creases down its sides and a more traditional take on BMW’s L-shaped tail-lights. Overall, the new car is not as distinct from other BMW saloons as the 5 Series has been in the recent past but, according to 5 Series project director Johann Kistler, this was a deliberate move that was based on feedback from customers. Even so, the new 5 Series appears wider and more…

What makes the launch of a new 5 Series so significant? “It’s widely regarded as the world’s leading executive saloon, and that’s a reputation we intend to strengthen. Since the first generation, we’ve sold 7.5 million 5 Series, and the outgoing F10 has sold close to two million alone. It is the segment leader by a big margin, in almost every country in the world. And of course, it accounts for one in five dollars of profit we make, which means it is hugely significant to us.” Does that success force you to take an evolutionary approach? “Obviously, we thought long and hard about what we wanted the car to do as a result of that success. When you have a car that is still being produced at full capacity…

AUDI PROMISES THE prospect of “oversteer” potential in its new SQ5 performance SUV. The new SQ5, due next year, is deep into development and significant attention is being paid to the handling to make it more involving to drive. One senior engineer involved in the project promised the car would be able to oversteer and be a much livelier drive than the standard Q5. As with today’s SQ5, there will be V6 petrol and diesel versions for different regions around in the world. Europe will get the 3.0-litre V6 diesel. Its power will be increased significantly from the 282bhp of the initial range-topping Q5 V6 diesel, thanks to revised turbocharging and new tuning. The SQ5 is likely to get steel springs and passive dampers as standard, with air springs and…

THE NEXT GENERATION of Renault Sport cars will focus on chassis and electronics development, according to the brand’s boss, Patrice Ratti. “Our competition has turned out cars that are better [than previously],” Ratti said. “We want to keep our leadership in chassis. It is the basis of the RS brand.” Renault Sport will continue working on electronics, further developing the RS monitor, which shows real-time driving performance and dynamics. “There are some very interesting features with the RS monitor,” he said. “We want to keep the RS spirit. A lot of our engineers come from racing. All of the competition is very good, so we want to make something even better.” Ratti wouldn’t be drawn on details of the next Mégane RS. However, he said he was finding it difficult…

GENERAL MOTORS’ controversial decision not to offer the all-electric, second-generation Ampera in the UK is down to several factors, according to Opel/Vauxhall design chief Mark Adams. “It makes a big difference on the timing,” he said. “It adds a lot in to engineer right-hand drive, and we wanted to have a leading edge.” Adams also pointed out that the Ampera’s 310-mile range is not only better than most of the existing competition but also of models already announced but not going on sale for some time. “In spring 2017 this is on the road,” he said. However, that won’t be the case in the UK, where poor sales of the original Ampera and Chevrolet Volt discouraged investment in right-hand drive. Insiders have said the UK won’t have to wait the…

 If the C4 Cactus represents Citroën’s reinvention for a lateral-thinking, post-premium world, this new C3 writes the next sentence. Both models major on bluff-nosed, ‘urban capsule’ looks that, with their bash-proof Airbumps, are recognisably different from their rivals, and both woo a tech-savvy clientele through the use of touchscreen controls, coolly minimalist dashboard designs and proper co-ordination with everyone’s hand-held devices. “It’s an easy, restful travelling companion, with all its control efforts well matched” As well as aiming to do things differently from other manufacturers by returning to its past specialities of original thinking and ensuring its cars are recognisable as Citroëns, the company cites the likes of Ikea and John Lewis as examples of the brand values it is chasing. The new C3 is intended to offer something not…

We’ve already driven BMW’s revised i3 on its launch in Munich, but now we’re trying it in the UK. To recap, the new ‘94Ah’ part of the name refers to a new battery pack. It’s the same size as before, but its energy density has been improved by 50%, resulting in a 33kWh capacity that significantly improves the claimed electric range from 118 miles to 195 miles. The charging system has been upgraded, too, with a specialist DC charger that can charge the new battery to 80% capacity in around 40 minutes. A standard Type 2 charging cable is also provided. Here we’re driving the Range Extender, which uses a 650cc two-cylinder petrol engine as a generator to provide back-up charging. Together with the new battery, this model has an…

“The Q5 is an exceptionally well-engineered, smooth-riding, refined car that’s lovely to sit in” Audi simply has to get this new Q5 right. Of course, the launch of any new model is important, but when it’s one that has recent history as your global best seller and you’ve constructed a whole new factory in which to build it, the pressure is ramped up on you quicker than you can say ‘Dieselgate’. The second-generation mid-sized SUV’s vitals are quite easy to guess – new modular platform, lighter weight, more efficient engines, high-tech interior – but it’s the context of the car that intrigues most, and why we’ve flown halfway around the world to Mexico for an early drive of it before it enters full-scale production early next year. Mexico is where…

“A pre-match mindset is what they need before they drive” This September, the Premier League summer transfer window closed with clubs having spent a record £1 billion on new players. Doubtless, in luxury car dealerships closest to the major clubs, the potted palms are being dusted off as dealers anticipate a surge of young, cash-rich footballers keen to own the sport’s traditional badge of honour: a supercar. Especially for those players elevated from the lower leagues, such a car is likely to be a lot more powerful than anything they have driven before. This heady cocktail of wealth and inexperience doesn’t always have a happy ending. Seven years ago, Cristiano Ronaldo, then 23 and playing for Manchester United, lost control of his Ferrari 599 GTB in a tunnel near Manchester…

“The new maps have been tweaked to take into account information that can be found online” In 2009, Ordnance Survey killed off its OS Road maps, a series of eight glovebox-friendly, 1:250,000-scale maps designed to help motorists plot a course around Britain. It seemed like a natural progression. The maps harked back to halcyon days when the motor car and an improving road network liberated the population, but as satellite navigation became ubiquitous in family cars and online digital mapping services and smart phones developed, there was deemed to be less of a need to wrestle with old-fangled paper equivalents and their tricky folds. Now, though, the OS Road series has been reintroduced due to customer demand. It would appear that many motorists want a bit more than a computerised…

The BMW i8 I usually report on in this space has been temporarily snaffled by my office-based colleagues, as well it should be: when something that brave, innovative and different comes to stay, it’s important that as many of us as possible have the chance to understand what it can and can’t do. Which means the 320d of deputy ed Mark Tisshaw has been holidaying at my place in the Welsh borders these past few weeks. I am a huge fan of the oil-burning 3 Series and have been since the mid-1990s, when a 325tds was first to prove that the words ‘fun’ and ‘diesel’ no longer need sit as strangers in the same sentence. And for the breadth of their performance and fuel consumption envelopes, successive generations of 320d…

NICK SMITH HAS had a string of Saabs, including a 1995 900 bought for £94 and sold for £295. Next was an immaculate 1995, 52,000-mile Saab convertible, bought for £300 and later sold for £950. “My everyday driver now is a 2000 9-5 turbo, manual, fully loaded, 116,000 miles, bought from a GP for £229,” Nick says. “I bought a similar Aero as a donor for £170, took its wheels and leather interior and sold it for £280. That’s Bangernomics, not spending thousands of pounds buying something, then driving it for quite a few years with all the depreciation that occurs and saying it’s only cost servicing each year.” SEND YOUR USED CAR TALES TO james@bangernomics.com…

An expert’s view BEN TOWNSEND, MERESIDE MOTORS “I’ve just sold a 2005 GT with 72,000 miles and one owner for £25,000. My customer will put a private plate on it and only someone who knows their GTs will know it’s older than it looks. He’s very fortunate. Most GTs have had as many as five owners and are a bit tired. This one was immaculate. Condition really is everything with these older cars. Performance is secondary.” Buyer beware… • MILES BEST A high-mileage, frequently used GT is better than one that has been left standing gathering dust. The two batteries, especially, suffer. • ELECTRICAL Telltale sign of imminent coil pack failure is lumpy idling. Check keyless entry and soft-door closure (2006 model year on) and park distance control, where fitted.…

Porsche 718 Cayman From £39,700 Scalpel-blade incisiveness, supreme balance and outstanding driver involvement. A practical two-seater, too. Mazda MX-5 From £18,495 Brilliantly packaged, brilliantly priced and even more vibrant and perfectly poised to drive than the original. Toyota GT86 From £22,700 Who knew Toyota had another dynamic masterstroke in it after the Lexus LFA? The GT86 is it. BMW M235i From £35,100 Towers over most German rivals. Outstanding engine, characterful handling, strong usability. Lotus Elise S From £30,800 If you want a delicate, vivid and unfettered drive, none does it better. If you want a daily driver, shop elsewhere.…

Maserati has revised its future product plans and switched the launch dates of the new Granturismo and Grancabrio 2+2 GT cars with the two-seat Alfieri sports car, Autocar understands. The Granturismo and Grancabrio are now slated to be replaced in 2018-2019, followed by the Alfieri in 2020-2021, as Maserati rejigs its forward planning. At one stage, the Alfieri, shown as a well-received concept at Geneva in 2014, was scheduled for a 2016 launch and the future of the Granturismo was in doubt. However, Giulio Pastore, general manager of Maserati Europe, has told Autocar the Granturismo and Grancabrio are vital elements of the Maserati line-up. “The Granturismo and Grancabrio will not be dropped,” he said. “We won’t forget that Maserati is very well known in its history for beautiful 2+2 GT…

Infiniti is hoping its QX70 SUV sales, currently minuscule in the UK, will improve with the launch of an all-new version next year. Closely based on the QX Sport Inspiration concept, the new model will tackle the current one’s claustrophobic cabin. “There is a lot of London influence in the interior,” said Infiniti design boss Shiro Nakamura, referring to the contribution from the brand’s Paddington studio. “It’s light and spacious, but with a cockpit feel for the driver. This is the layout we want to use for Infiniti,” he said of the concept’s interior, with its sweeping architecture and high-grade leather.…

The Nanoflowcell system powers a car’s electric motor, or motors, by means of ion exchange between a positively charged liquid and a negatively charged one. The liquids — mainly water carrying an as yet undisclosed mix of organic and inorganic salts (“engineered by nanotechnology”) as an electrolyte — are kept in separate on-board tanks and circulated by pumps into the flowcell, in which a semipermeable membrane, like a fuel cell’s, keeps the liquids separate while allowing ions within them to cross. This creates an electric charge at the membrane. The water in the spent electrolyte is either vaporised or, under conditions of lower load, temporarily stored in a tank for later vaporisation. By making the electrolyte single use with an irreversible chemical reaction, rather than rechargable, as it is in…

MERCEDES LOOKS POISED to enter the 2018-2019 FIA Formula E race series following the signing of an agreement with the series organisers. Pending approval from the FIA, Mercedes Grand Prix Ltd will be able to take one of the two new team slots due to be made available for the electric single-seater championship’s fifth season. That season will be the first to require drivers to use one car for a race’s entirety, rather than the two-cars-per-race format that is currently employed. Mercedes’ announcement came from its grand prix headquarters in Brackley, suggesting the electric outfit could make use of the team’s Formula 1 facilities. F1 engines are made at Mercedes’ High Performance Powertrains site in Brixworth, as was the electric drivetrain of the Mercedes-AMG SLS Electric Drive, so it’s already…

VOLKSWAGEN HAS AXED the Golf Cabriolet, despite only updating the model last year. The Golf was the UK’s third best-selling car in September, but the soft-top version sold just 1621 examples last year. A VW spokesman said the model had been discontinued to make way for production of the new Tiguan. Customers after a four-seat convertible will be steered towards the Beetle Cabriolet, which sold 1284 units in the UK last year. According to market analyst JATO Dynamics, registrations of convertibles in Europe have posted a near-continuous annual decline since 2007. The 45,000 units registered in 2015 represented the lowest sales since 2002, with year-to-date data showing a 24% decline. The Golf Cabriolet and its mid-size rivals sold 8900 units last year, up by 31% on 2014, but this was…

This mildly updated Mazda 3 hatchback is a rival for almost everything in the C-segment. Mazda names the Kia Cee’d and Hyundai i30 as the cars against which it most wants to compete but, in truth, the 3 is taking on everything from Ford’s Focus to Skoda’s Octavia. So far, the 3 has been well received. We like its interior space, economical diesel engines and agile handling, but with the car having been on sale since 2013 and the next-generation 3 not due until 2018, updates were needed to keep it competitive. Changes to the styling are minor and include a new grille, different LED headlights and a revised rear bumper, but it’s in the chassis where most of the work has been done. Mazda’s G-Vectoring Control (GVC) system is…

MODEL TESTED VANTAGE GT8 Price £165,000 Power 440bhp Torque 361lb ft 0-60mph 4.6sec 30-70mph in fourth 7.2sec Fuel economy 19.8mpg CO2 emissions 299g/km 70-0mph 42.1m Skidpan 1.27g History may judge last year’s Aston Martin Vantage GT12 special edition as a car of even greater significance than it had aggressive, bespoilered purpose: a turning point for Aston, possibly, and a real confidence builder. Before it, the car maker couldn’t be sure it’d be worth its while pouring closely guarded development budget into an extra-focused track-day special version of any of its cars, to rival the madder motorsport-inspired Porsches and Ferraris of the past decade or so, in case buyers scoffed at them. And yet 100 feverishly snapped-up GT12s later, Gaydon can absolutely rely on that fact – depend on it, should…

Cows and cactii. They’re probably the chief differences between driving on Mexico’s roads and our ones in Britain. The thing is, the road surfaces are rather similar, which actually makes it a good place to form an impression of a car before we have a go in Britain. You might stumble across the odd cow on a main road, but head onto a side street in the countryside or a dusty track and our milk-giving friends at some point will inevitably impede your progress. Cactii, of course, are par for the course wherever you look, fulfilling the Mexican stereotype. But their green colour doesn’t stand out as much at this time of year after the rainy season, when Mexico looks lush in colour rather than barren and desert-like. It also…

“I was tempted to loor it to get into second gear, but I had nowhere to go” Can driving at 220mph ever be easier than driving at 15mph? It can be if you’re trying to thread a 900bhp Le Mans prototype through rush-hour traffic around Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square in central London. That was the task facing Porsche Motorsport racer Mark Webber, who set his alarm for 4am one Tuesday morning in September to drive his 919 Hybrid LMP1 car around the streets of the capital. Le Mans prototypes are designed to go very quickly. Their cooling ducts need a plentiful supply of air. Their downforce-generating aerodynamics only become fully effective at high speeds. They don’t enjoy inching along with buses, taxis, bicycles and joggers on public roads strewn…

I WAS AMUSED by the opening paragraph to your McLaren, Honda and BMW comparison test (‘Back With the Future’, 28 September). You noted a lack of animals on the makers’ badges in contrast to Ferrari, Porsche and Lamborghini. I was disappointed that McLaren decided to ditch its heritage by not using the Kiwi on its badge. Some irony, with the Kiwi being a flightless bird, that they replaced it with the McLaren wing. Thankfully, the Bruce McLaren Trust makes a lovely replica key fob featuring the original McLaren badge. It sits proudly on my 12C’s key. WIN Letter of the week wins this ValetPRO exterior protection and maintenance kit worth £58.95…

THE GOLF HAS gone back to school. With my daughter starting her crucial last year of GCSEs, I’ve swiftly discovered that a suite of modern exams demands a lot from a car. Every Monday morning the Golf is loaded up with an A2 art and textiles folder containing two heavily laden A1 books, along with a guitar, a huge pile of coursework and revision books and some PE kit. The Golf’s boot copes admirably. Its 380-litre capacity is more than a Ford Focus’s and the load bay is low and wide. If we’re running late, which we often are, it also needs to act as an impromptu café for our breakfast. At these times, the two cupholders in the centre console and big pockets in the front doors have proved…

A Mk2 MX-5 with added value There’s no end to the number of special-edition MX-5s in circulation, and although they don’t add ability to an already brilliant car, they do add spec. With this Trilogy model, you get a Nardi steering wheel, a fancy gearknob and a plaque saying it’s number 117 out of 333. It recently had the belts done and the mileage is a reasonable 89,000. A good buy at £1500 for a tidy Mk2. A Citroën without portfolio I picked this because the ad had no description whatsover. It’s a Citroën C-Crosser, for sale at a dealer, and the only salient fact about it worth mentioning seemed to be that it had enjoyed three previous keepers. These are okay to drive, as I remember, but at least…

1 Hyundai i30 The outgoing i30 isn’t particularly involving to drive but is fuss-free, dependable transport. What’s more, the five-year warranty means that used examples can be found with a couple of years’ factory cover still left, which is a real bonus. Not much goes wrong with the i30, and diesels are so common that they’re barely any more expensive to buy, making them the ones to have. Pay around £7000 for a 40,000-miler with a full history from a private seller, or pay a little bit more for a car from a dealer. 2 Nissan Micra The current one is a bit of a dud, but the 1992 model that made the Micra famous in the UK is now in banger territory and all the better for it. These…