Author: Robin Roberts

Cupra is inviting you to join the Q-car queue with its latest Leon 2.0TSi. Based on the family-friendly SEAT Leon, the tuning arm’s version is a return to the hot-hatch era with a car which pushes out 245ps, can exceed 150mph and covers the indicative 0-62mph mark in under 6.5 seconds. Q-cars are essentially “sleeper” or quiet cars which are not overtly sporting but which nevertheless pack a punch and fully reward drivers with a smile which extends across the face. Cupra Leon comes both semi-estate and the Hatch version we tested but they are mechanically the same. Our test…

The world’s first rating system for the safety of autonomous cars is being developed by accident experts in Britain. Crash testers at Thatcham Research outside Reading have worked with global systems engineers, car makers and the Law Commission to draw up the safety ratings which could be applied to models in the same way as the familiar Euro NCap stars. The development comes as Mercedes-Benz in Germany announced that it will accept legal responsibility for collisions that occur in its cars fitted with an ‘L3’ Automated Lane Keeping System, when directly caused by a fault with its technology but not…

It’s official, Kia’s new generation pure-electric EV6 is the top-performing Car of the Year 2022. Earlier this month it beat 60 other new cars, electric and with internal combustion engines, to the coveted CoTY award judged by 59 motoring journalists from 22 European countries. It is the first Kia to win the internationally acclaimed award and set a very high standard for the new generation all-electric car built on an entirely new platform, which we’ll see developed for other Kia, Hyundai and Genesis models in the near future. Launched late in 2021, we really liked the car when we had…

Seven years from launch and two years after it added a mild hybrid model to the Vitara range, Suzuki has not skimped on kitting out their new-age full hybrid Vitara SUV. The wait has been worth it as it represents much better value than its closest eight rivals. Every model gets braking assistance, blind spot monitor with rear cross traffic alert, traffic sign recognition, adaptive cruise, seven airbags, Smartphone connectivity, remote key, navigation and climate control. On top of this standard SZ-T trim you can select SZ5 with big sunroof, polished alloys, suede upholstery, parking sensors both ends and Allgrip…

The Ceed has sown success for Kia in Britain. Launched at the end of 2021, this third generation five-door hatchback to be built in Slovakia gives nothing away to rivals and beats most with its equipment and value. But that’s almost doing it an injustice because it actually drives extremely well too with front strut and rear multi-link suspension putting it in a sporting class which doubles as a load lugging family hold all as well. The third best seller in the Kia range comes in a selection of seven versions based on two petrol and one hybrid diesel, three…

Britain is a very lucrative if sometimes specialist car market and that’s what newcomer Genesis is counting on with a small model range which includes the G70 Shooting Brake. This semi-estate designed for the European market and no-where else appeared in late 2021 alongside a saloon and two larger SUVs with simple choice of petrol or diesel engines. The G70SB can be specified in any of three trims and the upper level with the most powerful engine get four-wheel-drive as opposed to the standard rear wheel drive transmission. The standard price of the G70SB is £40,700 but ours came with…

The new Honda HR-V is a step-change for this conservative car-maker. While its head-turning but now discontinued NSX and still  in production hot Civics stand out from more run of mill models in showrooms, they made progress with the new Jazz but have really ramped up styling in the new HR-V launched last autumn. The latest Honda HRV appeared towards the end of 2021 and replaced the model that first appeared in 1998 and refreshed in 2013 but had disappeared in 2018. Of course, Honda never stands still and the newcomer uses a self-charging hybrid powertrain in conjunction with a…

The coronavirus pandemic masked a lot of changes made by car-makers last year and the SEAT Ibiza was one of them. SEAT was well advanced with giving the highly popular Ibiza family hatchback a mid-term make-over before the pandemic virtually paralysed production and it has raised the bar for the car against more expensive rivals. There is a new look to the car front to back with revised apron on some models and the latest high performance headlights while inside it benefits from a carefully integrated sound system and media interface. There are SE, SE Technology, FR, FR Sport, Xcellence…

A new high performance 193mph Aston Martin DBX will go into production in the company’s St Athan, South Wales plant. The introduction of the new generation luxury SUV will boost work at the plant two years after it opened in December 2019 to make their first SUV. The newcomer builds on the qualities of the original DBX with the 4.0V8 engine boosted to 707ps and 900Nm with upgraded, faster acting 9-speed transmission, sports suspension and competition style carbon ceramic brakes, all under an enhanced body with distinctive styling elements. The flagship sporting DBX707 takes 3.3 seconds to accelerate from standstill…

Collaboration to cut costs but not quality is very evident in the Suzuki Swace. There’s a lot more component sharing going on throughout the global motor industry than many realise but it’s not been a feature of UK in recent years, with just a few exceptions. We had extensive badge engineering across Midlands’ factories between the 1950s and 1980s but with the disappearance of the British Leyland group that also ended swopping brands’ models. Until fairly recently anyway and in 2019 Toyota and Suzuki entered into an agreement to badge engineer models in the former’s Derby car assembly plant. The…