When Peugeot launched the latest 208 in New Zealand, the car came across as a pleasant enough little vehicle, with a few glaring faults. Chief among them was that it was not only saddled with an automatic transmission with only four gears, but that it was a French automatic transmission with only four gears. Gear […]
Category: First Drives
Redesigned to look far more like a member of the X family, the smallest BMW SUV is now sitting on a new platform. It is the same platform that sits under the 2 Series Active Tourer and the new Mini three- and five-door models. In other words, the X1 is now also front-wheel drive. Well, […]
The revamped 3 Series range starts with the $72,000 320i sedan and the $75,000 Touring (wagon), both of which get the same 135kW/270Nm 2-litre petrol turbo engine and come standard with 18-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights, front fog lights and taillights, front and rear parking sensors with Park Assist, satellite navigation, a backing camera, […]
The Skoda Superb has always been car that – to use an over-used cliche – has earned its name. And when you think about it, it really does take some balls to call your car “superb” no matter how old a nameplate it actually is. I mean, you are really not making life easy for […]
When you think of a brand such as Maserati, your mind doesn’t immediately head towards fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. Instead you think of power, noise and looks. But Maserati wants to stay relevant in a world increasingly concerned about fuel economy, so has introduced a new version of the Quattroporte into the local market, […]
Fear is a funny thing. It’s defined as “an unpleasant, often strong, emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of perceived danger. It causes a change in brain and organ function and in humans and animals is regulated by the process of cognition and learning.” So the narrow strip of asphalt that winds through a grassy […]
For a while now Mercedes-Benz has lagged behind obvious rivals BMW and Audi in one key area — SUVs, particularly those in the fast-growing small and medium segments. But Mercedes are determined to fix that particular weak spot in the most German way possible — to jam as many different variants into as many segments […]
When Mercedes-Benz decided to crash the AWD Hot Hatch party with its sensational small AMG offerings, it was always fairly certain that Audi wasn’t going to take things lying down. After all, Audi had been doing the grunt AWD Hot Hatch thing for quite some time and isn’t the sort to go down without a […]
Someone at Hyundai must like cowboys. Nothing wrong with that, cowboys are cool. But, seriously, someone at Hyundai must really like them. Why else would they have chosen to name their SUVs Santa Fe and Tucson after towns in the cowboy states Arizona and New Mexico? From this naming convention, we can assume that if […]
Once upon a time Jaguar made a mid-size car. It was called the X-Type and it was crap. It wasn’t crap because it was based on the Ford Mondeo – which it was – and neither was it crap because it was FWD – which it also was, although 4WD models were available – rather […]
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