Author: Robin Roberts

Suzuki has a knack of bringing to market just what buyers want at the right time. It has built all manner of models including city cars, sports cars, lightweight offroaders and pickups and more recently SUVs which will not tip the bank balance into the red. Essentially applying good design and engineering but keeping it simple to reduce cost has paid dividends for Suzuki and given them a strong customer base with a high retention loyalty. Their move into the SUV sector with models such as the S Cross brought five-seats and good carrying capacity to the masses but if…

The coming of the electric car age is going to make us all re-evaluate our motoring lives and what we expect from them, much in the same way as the diminutive Mini drove a change in our lives over 60 years ago. So it seems reasonable that the MINI Electric might just do what its petrol forebears did and change our views towards electric cars of today. While some brands are locked in stretching the range, padding up features and weight and asking a lot of money for what is essentially a very simple technology, the MINI Electric takes a…

To those of a certain age there was only one sporting car, a rear-wheel-drive coupe, and this simple formula mix are the ingredients in the BMW 220d M Sport we have just tested. Front wheel drive hot hatches largely replaced the iconic ideal must-have for enthusiasts but they never replaced the balanced handling and driving satisfaction of a RWD coupe. BMW itself has built some memorable FWD hatchbacks but for a lot of their owners they are in a different class to RWD car and the seductive curves of a coupe. The thoroughly practical hatchbacks contrast with the stylish sportsters…

While most car makers want to get us into their small to medium sized hatchbacks and crossover models, Honda e is unashamedly a model intended for commuters and staged longer journeys. It’s essentially a city car with style and sophistication. With a maximum 125miles between recharges it’s not going to be suitable for regular long runs but the fact it takes only 30 mins to charge to 80% on a 50kW point means it can cover ground in a more relaxed manner. In July 2021 we had a first drive in the Honda e Advance and were generally impressed by…

While not having a huge range, Mazda has a well-defined line up in significant sectors. Most people will blurt out MX-5 if asked to name their most identifiable model, so you may be surprised to learn that the crossover CX-5 has been their global best seller since 2014. Over 70,000 are now on UK roads and it makes up 25% of Mazda British sales. Produced from 2012, in the UK it replaced the smaller Tribute and larger CX-7 and was the first model to introduce the Kodo design language for the styling and their Skyactiv engines which included cylinder deactivation…

UK new car registrations fell -24.3% in June, according to the latest figures released today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. The month saw 140,958 new vehicles registered, the weakest June performance since 1996. Last year, Welsh car dealers were coming through the pandemic with 6,130 registrations but last month slumped to 4,924 new cars recorded. Year to date their running just over 2% below the first half of 2021. Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) continued their growth streak, however, with a 14.6% increase in volume, as market share continued to grow, reaching 16.1%, up from 10.7% a year…

With more people than ever now living in urban areas car makers are considering how they meet their requirements and the Toyoto Aygo X is the latest from one of the world’s biggest manufacturers. It first gave us the Aygo in 2005 but time and tastes change so Toyota has updated its original model and created the Aygo X, which has a chunkier and stronger look, better equipment and retains the agile abilities of its namesake. The Toyota Aygo X crossover comes in a choice of 8 models based on four trim levels, five-speed manual or automatic transmission and priced…

Volkswagen is an inherently conservative car maker which has thrived on compromises to please its customers and its latest line up is no exception, but excels nevertheless. Broadly similar in style to its Volkswagen crossover stablemates, Taigo actually falls between the shorter T-Cross and larger Golf-sized T-Roc in dimensions and a lot of the space is put to good use with a bigger boot. Volkswagen has poured through its parts bins and utilised petrol engines from the T-Cross and Polo and offers both manual or automatic transmissions in five, six or seven speed configurations including a dual clutch automatic. There…

The World Rally Championship is all about clipping seconds off your competitors, but the Toyota GR Yaris took years off me. Built to permit the company to take part in motor-sport’s toughest rally series and winning in 2018, the GR Yaris is probably the closest a driver will come to sitting in one of the actual WRC cars. For those of a certain age, or older, the GR Yaris rekindles the racy hot hatchbacks of the 70s and 80s, but with a lot more refinement and a bigger safety margin despite a lot more power to boot. Literally. Toyota worked…

It’s that time of year when parents and grand-parents don’t always pack into their car the holiday gear but rather the more mundane “stuff” accrued by offspring in universities and need to head home. What the students actually learn during a year at university seems to slide into the background and doesn’t include what to throw away or store so a family car can struggle to accommodate a student and their baggage. A few trips home in a year ensure the student’s stuff is regularly added to but come the day of reckoning and return to home for the summer…