Road Test: Volkswagen Golf 1.4 TSI ACT Highline

Price as tested: €33,642

+ Solidity, comfort, technology, refinement, styling, desirable
– Not as economical as a diesel, not sporty to drive
= Golf cements its position as the best family hatch around

News: Renault ditches Scenic, launches XMOD

Renault has decided to stop making the Scenic. That might sound like a bit of a shock, but hang on, the devil is in the detail. The seven-seat Grand Scenic will continue on as one of Europe's best-selling medium-sized MPVs, but the five-seat Scenic is now going to be dropped, and replaced by a new model called the Scenic XMOD. 

Road Test: Skoda Rapid 1.6 TDI Elegance

Price as tested: €24,265

+ Simplicity, quality, reliability, space, practicality, price, styling, comfort
– A few rough edges showing through to go with that price tag, indifferent handling
= As practical and sensible as they come but we'd save up the extra for the new Octavia

If I were to say that the new Skoda Rapid is both and at once a return to classic form for Skoda and something of an unfortunate step backwards, would that be too confusing? Possibly, so let me explain.

Pre-1998, Skoda was to most people a joke and not an especially funny one. Decades of decrepitude under communist rule meant that Skoda had been starved of development funding and any reason to produce competitive, interesting cars. That changed, dramatically, with the launch of the original Octavia, funded and developed by Skoda's new owner, Volkswagen. At once, the yoke of communism was thrown off, and Skoda marched happily forwards into a new capitalist reality. Successive models, from the Fabia to the second generation Octavia to the Superb to the utterly brilliant Yeti underpinned that reality with success, both critical and financial. And with sophistication. In fact, sit into a Yeti or a Superb today and you'd be hard-pressed to tell the difference between affordable Skoda and aspirational Audi. They are that good.

But there is now an increasing trend in the motor industry towards making cheaper cars, something that the car buying public is lapping up, as the success of Dacia shows. Make something simple and affordable, and you will capture the wallets, if not the hearts, of many. So it is with the Rapid. Skoda has taken a step back from its shiny, sophisticated recent past and looked further back, to the eighties and beyond, when it made simple, affordable, useful cars. (Never mind the inept comedians of the eighties who castigated Skoda – its cars even then were better by far than their reputation would have you believe.)

The Rapid is a family-sized hatchback that occupies an unusual middle ground between the likes of the Polo and Fiesta on one side and the Golf and Focus on the other. It's narrower by far than a Focus, but also much longer, the upside of which is a cabin that, while not very broad, has lots of leg and head-room for tall passengers in both front and rear, and a massive 550-litre boot that makes the trunks of even cars like a Mondeo or Passat look underfed.

So, it pushes all the practical buttons and it's not short of sophistication either. The engine in our test car was the cutting-edge VW Group 1.6 TDI diesel, and with 105bhp and 250Nm of torque, it's both swift and economical. Skoda claims 4.4-litres per 100km fuel consumption (64mpg) and if we didn't quite manage that, we easily broke the 50mpg barrier. 114g/km Co2 emissions is a touch high though, especially when you consider that a VW Golf with essentially the same engine gets closer to 100g/km, and that means your annual tax bill will be €200. It's here that you'll find the first chink in the Rapid's armour though. The engine (or possibly its installation) is fine, but nothing more. Acceleration feels noticeably slow-witted unless you push the oddly-weighted throttle pedal all the way to its stop, and refinement isn't terrific until you settle down at a chosen cruising speed.

Inside, Skoda has made great efforts to make the cabin look and feel as sophisticated as its bigger brothers, while still costing less. It's a neat trick, and Skoda almost pulls it off. The dials are clear and look like expensive watch faces. The steering wheel feels pleasant to hold and the driving position is both comfortable and well sited. But you'll notice that there's no switches in the front to control the rear windows, the grab handles in the roof clang back into position without a nice, soft motion and the plastics on the doors and dash-top, while still of good quality, don't have that nice touchy-softy-squishy feeling.

Because of all that, the Rapid feels a distinct degree less sophisticated than its Skoda cousins. Now, that's fine in the sense that it's also much cheaper. Prices start at just €16,515 (for the 1.2 MPI petrol; an engine best avoided if you want to (a) accelerate or (b) save fuel) and the pick of the range, the 1.2 TSI turbo petrol in Ambition spec, is just €19,550, with almost identical Co2 emissions to the diesel. All well and good, and those prices include standard electronic stability control – a significant benefit.

But it just doesn't feel as good to drive as it either should or could have. The rear suspension has been done on the cheap, relatively speaking, and uses simple torsion bars instead of the more modern multi-link setup as found on most Octavias. That means the boot is massive, but the Rapid does tend to clatter over bumps, and it never feels very well sorted at the front, either. Cornering is a somewhat lazy, imprecise process with vague steering and a sense of detachment. It's a good motorway cruiser, mind, with well suppressed engine noise and only a small amount of road and tyre noise.

I guess it depends what you want from a car. The Rapid is keenly priced, practical, spacious, ruggedly built, should prove reliable and hits its marks in terms of economy and emissions. It even looks quite nice. But I reckon Skoda buyers, by and large, have moved on recently and are enjoying the sheen of quiet luxury on recent models. So, perhaps it would be best to hold off buying, save up a little more, and get your hands on the impressive new Octavia that arrives in March. The Rapid's backward glance to a simpler, more practical time is appealing in many ways, but we all want to feel a little more sophisticated these days, don't we?


Facts & Figures
Skoda Octavia 1.6 TDI 105bhp Elegance
Price as tested: €24,265
Range price: €16,515 to €24,265
Capacity: 1,598cc


Power: 105bhp


Torque: 250Nm 


Top speed: 190kmh 


0-100kmh: 10.4sec


Economy: 4.4l-100km (64mpg) 


CO2 emissions: 114g/km
 VRT Band: A4. €200 road tax


Euro NCAP rating: 5-star; 94% adult, 80% child, 69% pedestrian, 71% safety assist

Road Test: Honda Civic 1.6 I-DTEC SE

Price as tested: €23,795

+ Terrific engine, quality, space, practicality
- Dynamically not as sharp as it should be
= Lovely engine but doubters will still need convincing




Just over a decade ago, Honda didn't make Diesel engines. In spite of the great advances that, even that long ago, had been made in making diesels smoother, gruntier and more refined, Honda regarded them as anathema. Too noisy, too smelly and just not us, old boy. We'll stick to high-revving, lightweight VTEC petrol screamers, thanks.

Given that, it was a pleasant surprise that the original 2.2-litre i-DTCi engine was, and remains, so good. And if it has taken this long to get a second, more compact, Honda diesel to the market then at least, as with John Mills' pint at the conclusion of Ice Cold In Alex, it was worth waiting for.

Honda's new 1.6-litre i-DTEC engine makes its debut in the Civic, a car which pushed Honda Ireland's sales up by a healthy 12% last year, against the background of a stagnant market. And given that the Civic's lonely 2.2-litre diesel, even with its Band A emissions, excluded Honda from the bulk of the c-segment market, its expectations for the new engine are commensurately high. It's expected not just to expand overall Civic sales, but to do so while simultaneously taking over most of the 2.2-litre's sales.

Just as well then that Honda's engineers haven't simply sleeved-down the old 2.2 to make a 1.6. The engine is new from the sump up and Honda claims that it's the lightest engine in its class. So sylph like is its weight that Honda has retuned the Civic's front suspension and steering to take advantage, with claims for improved feel and agility being made.

Honda makes great claims for its refinement, even fitting an active acoustic damping system in the cabin, and the result is indeed hushed; you only get a distinct diesel clatter when you venture beyond 2,500rpm. Better again is the performance. The 120bhp Honda gets from its 1.6 makes mincemeat of the similarly sized engines in the rival Ford Focus and VW Golf (95 or 115bhp and 105bhp respectively) and the i-DTEC engine makes a decent fist of convincing you that it's much larger in capacity,thanks to largely lag-free delivery and solid mid-range punch.

We doubt you'll ever match the claimed fuel consumption of 3.6-litres per 100km (78mpg) in real world driving, but on our brief test drive, we got 4.6l/100km (61mpg) so it's not what you'd call thirsty. 94g/km bests the standard Golf (albeit not the BlueMotion model) and Focus and means you can tax your Civic for €180 a year.

So, with the engine now bang-on the par for the class in terms of size, and potentially even class-leading in terms of its overall performance, can the Civic now meet the mighty Golf and Focus head-on?

Well, not quite but it's closer than it was before. The current Civic, when launched, seemed too detached in its driving style and too crude in its ride quality. Honda's decision to continue with a simple torsion bar rear suspension brings boons in weight, affordability and space efficiency, but it's simply not at the races when compared to Ford and VW's more complex multi-link rear ends.

So what happens is; you barrel happily into a corner in your shiny new Civic, enjoying the recalibrated steering which, while still a touch too light, feeds back a little better than before. You also notice, and enjoy, the fact that the lightweight engine means the front end is more eager to sniff out the apex. The Civic lacks the outright driver involvement of some rivals, but it's still a fun drive.

And then you hit a mid corner bump and feel the rear end bang, hop and skip. It's not as bad as the reaction you'd get from the VW Beetle (which we tested this week also and which has a similar rear suspension arrangement) but it still feels unacceptably crude compared to the best of the competition.

Which is a shame, as the rest of the Civic feels so sophisticated. I've heard some colleagues complain that the cabin feels 'too Japanese', and I can kind of see the point. The multi-level displays, a mix of analogue and digital, won't be to all tastes and yes, the surfaces and materials don't have that final Volkswagen-esque sheen of touchy-feely niceness. But the sense of sheer quality in the assembly is easily noticed. Honda has better chops when it comes to bolting together cars that last than most (even the vaunted Germans, and notwithstanding the 2.2 diesel's habit of having an expensive flywheel-related off-day) and you can feel that sense of quality in the cabin. It's very much a love/hate thing (as is the exterior styling) but for what it's worth, I like both. It's more distinctive by far than either a Toyota Auris or Mazda 3 and feels more special than a Focus or Golf. It's also more versatile, with a big cabin and those clever back seats that either fold flat horizontally or flip up vertically, like cinema seats. The payload options are almost infinite and it's the only mid-size hatch with which you'll feel truly smug in the IKEA car park...

Prices start from €23,975 for the SE model; a touch more than a Focus or Golf but it is better equipped, including climate control, stop-start and alloys as standard. If you buy into its quirkiness, or Honda's engineering-led image, then it's a more interesting alternative to the mainstream masses, and one with a deeply impressive new engine. John Mills was right, all those years ago...

Facts & Figures
Honda Civic 1.6 i-DTEC SE

Price as tested: €23,975
Range price: €21,895 to €30,395
Capacity: 1,598cc


Power: 120bhp


Torque: 300Nm


Top speed: 207kmh


0-100kmh: 10.5sec


Economy: 3.6l-100km (78mpg)


CO2 emissions: 94g/km

VRT Band: A2. €180 road tax


Euro NCAP rating: 5-star; 94% adult, 83% child, 69% pedestrian, 86% safety assist

News: Ford claims B-Max MPV is child-proof

Ford is claiming that its newly-launched B-Max MPV has a child-proof interior. They obviously haven't met my kids...

Every parent is familiar with the challenge of keeping a new car clean in the face of everyday use by children and pets. Ford has now tried to make that job easier for mums and dads by “child-proofing” the new B-MAX.

Engineers subjected the new B-MAX to laboratory tests that simulate the toughest treatment that children and pets can dish out, including soaking materials in milk and fizzy drinks; testing fabrics 0with a “mace”; and pounding plastics with a heavy rubber ball.

“By testing for everything from soft drink spills to muddy boots, we’ve made sure the B-MAX interior is ready for anything,” said Mark Montgomery, senior materials engineer, Ford of Europe. “I’ve got young children myself, so I’m very familiar with the mess they can create.”

Samples of all leathers and fabrics used in the Ford B-MAX’s interior were tested for stain resistance and ease of cleaning after being soaked for 24 hours in the liquids and being smeared with soil and grease.

Engineers also tested resistance to damage that can be caused by abrasive zips and fasteners found on children’s clothing and bags. The “mace test” used a metal ball with needle-sharp spikes to brush fabrics 600 times and replicate the effect of snagging zips and studs. Engineers also carried out a special test to repeatedly rub the seat material with Velcro.

Impact tests – conducted at temperatures as low as -30 degrees Centigrade when plastic is more brittle – used a rubber ball 10 times heavier than a regulation football to ensure that plastic parts could withstand bumps and knocks. Fabrics were also rubbed 60,000 times in a 17-hour non-stop wear test; metal spikes were scraped across plastic parts to test scratch resistance; and carpets were checked for durability on a special test rig fitted with rough abrasion wheels.

“These tests make sure we’ve done everything possible to make sure the car looks as good the thousandth time that families sit in it as it does the first time,” added Montgomery.

News: Renault's Captur wants to box the Juke

They may be part of the same group, and even share a chassis, but the new Renault Captur is most definitely muscling in on the Nissan Juke's compact SUV territory.

Teased earlier this week and now revealed here in full, the Captur takes both chassis and styling cues from the just-launched new Clio but bulks everything up into a much more muscular shape. Is it just us or are there hints of the old Avantime in the overall shape and stance? Maybe just us. Whatever, it's a handsome beast and that is just as true on the inside, where again Clio elements have been taken, put on a bit of muscle and are looking pretty darned good.

Renault is claiming best in class fuel economy and the two key engines will be the TCe three-cylinder petrol turbo and the long serving 1.5 dCi diesel, an engine which should see the Captur's emissions fall as low as 96g/km.

The Clio has already been much praised for its dynamic performance, so we can hope that the Captur will prove as invigorating to drive. Will the fact that it's shorter (slightly) the the Juke compromise interior space too much though? We'll find out when the Captur makes its public debut at the Geneva motor show.

Between this the and Peugeot 2008, it's looking like a good year for compact French SUVs...

Road Test: Hyundai i30 Tourer Deluxe 1.6 Diesel

Price as tested: €24,295

+ Spacious, practical, comfy, well made, economical, handsome
– Cabin could do with a touch more flair
= As sensible as it gets


Sensible gets a bit of a bad rap. It’s never the sensible guy who gets the girl in the movies. It’s always the maverick hero, swinging in on a bullwhip, with his hard-drinking, hard-living ways who walks off with the heroine at the end. The sensible guy is left behind, with nothing but his nice suit and steady job to keep him happy. C’mon Hollywood, can’t we do a movie where, just once, sensible comes out on top?

Certainly when it comes to buying a car, sensible is what should (and largely does) take priority. We Irish tend to buy our cars on the basis of longevity and practicality, not style and sex appeal. It’s why Toyota was a top-selling brand in Ireland long before it was a big hit in the rest of Europe.

And it explains, partly anwyay, the meteoric rise of Hyundai. Solid, Korean-built reliability, backed up by a five-year, unlimited mileage warranty and usually with a sensible, practical body shape. What’s not to love? OK, not love, perhaps, but certainly sensibly appreciate.

The good thing is that, on top of that solid layer of sensible engineering and reliability, Hyundai has of late been adding just a touch more visual and tactile appeal to its cars and the i30 Tourer we’re testing here is a good example of that.

For a start, it’s better looking than the hatchback on which it’s based, with those flowing, sharply defined lines given a little more real estate on which to strut their stuff. And yes, I know, many of you still think of estates as commercial traveller’s cars, but come on; it’s time to wake up to the appeal of an estate, and this i30 is more appealing than most.

Out back, where it counts, there’s a 528-litre boot, which is more than big enough for most growing families’ needs, and easily the equal or better of most of the more fashionable compact SUVs on the market. We’d avoid the option aluminium boot divider though. It has its uses, but it eats us a crucial inch or two of loading space, which could cause some fraught scenes in the IKEA car park...

Up front, the cabin is identical to that of the i30 hatchback, so you get cleanly designed, clear instruments, comfy seats and plenty of space. Rear seat space is good too, certainly enough for any lanky teenage offspring and, as ever with Hyundai, the build quality is exceptionally good. Just one criticism; the layout and style could do with a touch more visual flair, if it’s to match the appeal of the exterior.

No arguing with the engine though, which is the latest version of Hyundai’s 1.6 diesel. With 110bhp, it’s right on the money for the class, and a combination of 109 g/km of Co2 and claimed average fuel economy of 4.1-litres per 100km (we managed around 5.5 overall) means that it’s suitably efficient for 2013 Ireland. A little more torque would be nice, as it never feels quite so fleet of foot as, say, a Focus or a Golf, but you’ll pay just €180 a year to tax it, which isn’t bad for a car this versatile.

Versatile? In a world of MPVs and SUVs? Yes, really. The trouble with SUVs and MPVs is that they’re all great ideas and very little substance. The great thing about estates is that what they lack in whizz-bang concepts, they make up for in genuine usefulness. Fold down the back seats in the i30 and you have yourself a well-upholstered van, complete with 500kg payload. Get it up on the motorway and set the cruise control and you have as refined and comfortable a car as you could wish for. Head out on a favourite back road and you have a chassis that’s both capable and entertaining, but also one which is sadly held back by Hyundai’s three-mode steering set-up. Being able to choose between Sport, Comfort and Normal steering settings looks good in the showroom, but we’d have preferred it if Hyundai just went for one setting that satisfies, rather than three that don’t.

Still, when the €24,295 price tag for our Deluxe model test car includes air conditioning, cruise control, Bluetooth phone connection, iPod connection and every safety system you could think of, it might be rather churlish to complain about the steering setup.

What the i30 is, in the final reckoning, is a really solid and fine family car. Spacious, comfortable, reliable and useful, it pushes all the right buttons for an all-rounder that can please both kids and parents. Sensible? Yup, and this time, sensible wins.

Facts & Figures
Hyundai i30 Tourer 1.6 Diesel Deluxe
Price as tested: €24,295
Range price: €21,995 to €27,745
Capacity: 1,582cc
Power: 110bhp
Torque: 260Nm
Top speed: 185kmh
0-100kmh: 11.8sec
Economy: 4.1l-100km (68.8mpg)
CO2 emissions: 100g/km
VRT Band: A2. €180 road tax
Euro NCAP rating: 5-star; 90% adult, 90% child, 67% pedestrian, 86% safety assist
 

News: Citroen's free fuel free for all

During the upcoming Citroën 10 Day Free Fuel Giveaway, from Thursday 17 to Sunday 27 January, every customer who orders a new Citroën can drive away with €500 Free Fuel, and look forward to free trips to the fuel pump.
 

Retail customers who take advantage of this high value offer across the Citroën passenger range will receive, on collection of their new Citroën, a pre-loaded Topaz Gift Card to cover the cost of €500 fuel.  This equates to over 9,000km* of free-driving in Citroën’s most fuel efficient engines.

Citroën boasts an ever cleaner, greener and more efficient range, so even after all the free fuel has been used, future petrol or diesel costs can be kept to a minimum.  Models such as the stylish C3 and New C4 already deliver impressive fuel economy of up to 3.4L/100km (83 mpg) and 3.8L/100km (74 mpg) respectively. 

What’s more, if you take a test drive during the 10 Day Free Fuel Giveaway you can avail of a free Winter Vehicle Health Check in any participating authorised dealership.

Fredéric Soulier, Managing Director of Citroën Motors Ireland, commented; "We are committed to giving our customers more for their money with our incredible €500 Free Fuel Giveaway, and with a wide range of quality passenger cars to choose from our customers can be confident that it is a great time to buy a new Citroën.”

Terms and Conditions apply - for more information or details of your nearest participating Citroën dealer log onto www.citroen.ie

News: Peugeot's crucial crossover revealed

Peugeot's crucial new 2008 crossover has broken cover for the first time and it it couldn't be coming at a more significant time for the beleaguered French car maker.

Peugeot's woes over the past 12 months have been well-publicised, and even it's much-anticipated (and critically well received) 208 supermini simply hasn't sold in the numbers Peugeot needs it to. Which makes the 208-based 2008 more important than ever, as compact SUVs are one of the few growth markets in Peugeot's traditional European heartland right now, and is just the right segment to be entering if it wants to break into Asian and American markets in the future.

The 2008's 4.1-metre length pitches it straight against the likes of the Skoda Yeti, Nissan Juke and Opel Mokka, and although the range-topping engine will be the 150bhp 1.6-litre petrol turbo, expect most to be sold with either 1.4 or 1.6-litre HDI diesels.

No official figures yet, but it's safe to assume that there will be at least one sub-120g/km model, and possibly, given the 208's frugal nature, even a sub-100g/km version. Production starts at Mulhouse in France later this year, and the 2008 will also be built in burgeoning markets like Brazil and China.

These photos were not due to be released until the 2008's official debut at the Geneva motor show in March, but French website L'Argus got hold of them and once something's on t'internet, it's leaks ahoy...

Road Test: Toyota Auris 1.4 D4D Luna

Price as tested: €23,995

+ Slick new styling, comfort, ride, refinement, quality, space, economy
– Steering still too detached, engine a bit underpowered
= We were hoping for GT86-like driver appeal, we actually got the quietest, comfiest car in the class


Toyota generally gets a lot of flack for being dull and middle of the road. Indeed, influential US website Jalopnik.com has made the words Toyota and Beige almost indivisible. But it’s an unfair rep, especially considering cars like the original Celica (and its subsequent versions), the Supra, the MR2, the brilliant new GT86, all those World Rally Championship victories and the amazing Le Mans racing cars. Beige Toyota ain’t, no matter what some snarky bloggers might say.

In fairness though, some of Toyota’s mainstream models have been a bit too quiet for their own good down through the years, and the last generation Auris was a case in point. Too subtle on the outside, with a cabin that even Toyota now admits wasn’t up to snuff means that while it always sold well, the Auris fell well behind the likes of the Ford Focus and VW Golf in critical terms.

But what’s this? A new Auris with a sharp-looking body (check out that beaky nose with the dramatic bottom grille and big cut-outs for the foglights)? Has Toyota finally injected some flair and drama into its mid-size hatch?

Well, you won’t find much drama in the engine room. The 90bhp D4D Diesel engine is about 20bhp down on most of its rivals, and you can tell that as soon as you put your foot down. Performance never quite descends into being sluggish, but neither does it have the effortless punch of, say, Ford's 1.6 TDCI. Toyota, of course, has a grunty, efficient 2.0-litre diesel already in the Avensis. What hope of it being fitted to an Auris? In the meantime, the 1.4 D4D is at least a sweet-natured unit, and very economical. Toyota claims 3.8-litres per 100km on the combined fuel cycle (around 74mpg) and that seems entirely believable, as we were gettting close to 4.0-litres per 100km when driving mostly around town. 99g/km Co2 emissions (as long as you go for the basic 15" wheels) should keep you in the lowest two of the proposed four-way-split Band A tax ratings.

It settles quickly from idle into a distant thrummy noise, and fitting in with the Auris' generally refined nature. Cabin noise levels are very low, whether you're thinking about engine, wind or road noise and the ride quality, especially around town, is truly exceptional. It all adds up to make the Auris one of the most refined, comfortable cars in its class.

It is not, however, much of a drivers' car. Off the back of the brilliant little GT86 coupe, we had hoped that some of that car's DNA might seep through into the Auris and allow it to have a tilt at the sort of pin-sharp driver appeal as displayed by the Focus and Golf. Alas, no. The Auris' steering is light, verging on over-light (think of an early seventies Jaguar XJ6 steering and you're getting there) and it leaves you feeling distanced and separated from the car. That's a shame, as beneath the mush, the chassis feels well-balanced and controlled. There is, possibly, an engaging driving tool in there somewhere, but its light is being kept defiantly sub-bushel.

Such considerations are compensated for by the fact that the cabin is spacious, bright and airy, the boot a decent size and shape (although the boot floor is made of the most unpleasantly cheap flooring material we've yet seen) and of course, the fact that the famed Toyota quality seems to be present and correct.

It is also rather handsome. Possibly less so at the back, where it descends into generic hatchback-ness, but up front, the beaky new nose with its scowling lights, LEDs and aggressive trapezoidal grille looks rather striking, certainly by Toyota standards. It seems to owe no debt to any other Toyota (save perhaps a passing resemblance to the Avensis) and if so, hopefully it is the vanguard of a new family of sharper-looking Toyotas.

Prices start at €18,995 for the 1.33 99bhp petrol in Terra trim (which notably does without such items as air conditioning or Bluetooth phone). Our bells-and-whistles 1.4 D4D Luna comes in at a very competitive €23,995 and includes climate control, Bluetooth, reversing camera, touch-screen stereo and much more.

So while the Auris might be lacking in the final sheen of GT96-like driver appeal we were hoping for, its comfort, spaciousness and its likely reliability score very highly with us. The new found style is welcome, the rest are welcome returns. No drama then, but equally, no crisis.

Toyota Auris 1.4 D4D 90 Luna
Price as tested: €23,995
Price range: €18,995 to €27,990
Capacity: 1,364cc
Power: 90bhp
Torque: 205Nm
Top speed: 170kmh
0-100kmh: 12.6sec
Economy: 3.8l-100km (74mpg)
CO2 emissions: 99g/km*
Road Tax Band: A. €160
Euro NCAP rating: Not yet tested


*When fitted with 15” steel wheels
 

Road Test: BMW X1 18d Sport

Price as tested: €47,670

+ Sharp chassis, more welcoming interior, practical, plenty of poke from smaller engine
– Still looks a little awkward, pricey
= Really quite a sweet car
In just two and a half years, the BMW X1 has notched up sales of more than a quarter of a million units, and that it without it being sold in the massive US car market, a situation BMW is well on the way to rectifying. If you ever doubted the massive current global appetite for classy, compact SUVs, then doubt it no more.

There is a massive slice of my brain that rails against these cars though. Take the specific car we’re testing here; €47k’s worth of X1 18d Sport. Yes, it’s chunky, good looking (if you appreciate the current BMW design idiom) and both decently spacious and practical. But for the same money, you could be in a lower-slung, better looking, better-driving BMW 3 Series Touring, a car that I believe to be just about perfect. Yet people will continue to flock to the X1.

Which should be abhorrent to me (I just love estates) and yet, with a few days in the X1’s company it easily charmed its way into my affections.

The styling has been updated for this year, with a new bumper, front airdam, tweaked lights and some other small adjustments. Cleverly, the converging lines of the bonnet’s power bulge and the upsweep of the front bumper actually makes a subtle X-shape. Clever, that.

Inside, the quality of materials used and the fact that the centre console has been redesigned (it now faces more obviously towards the driver) is genuinely welcoming. The Sport spec helps here, with figure-hugging seats that, in spite of a distinctly offset driving position, mean long journeys are very comfy experiences. In spite of being an X1, it’s pretty close to the 3 Series in space terms, and the boot out the back is large (420-litres), deep and square. A shame that the X1 doesn’t get a separate opening glass window in the tailgate (as does the 3 Touring) but hey, you can’t have everything.

Having some cake and eating it is the very point of the newly-fitted 18d diesel engine though. In spite of the name, it’s actually a de-tuned 2.0-litre (1,995cc to be exact) and pumps out 143bhp and 320Nm of torque. Those aren’t exactly ground-shaking figures, but actually the X1 feels plenty brisk and only starts to struggle when you get into the upper reaches of the rev band. Happily, with that much low-down torque, you won’t need to do that very much, so progress is swift and relaxed.

Thanks to BMW’s clever EfficientDynamics systems (a battery of fuel-saving tech including stop-start, brake energy recovery, a low-drain air conditioning compressor and more) the X1 18d returns impressive official figures of 5.4-litres per 100km (that’s 52mpg) and 143g/km of Co2. Impressively, those figures are attained with the optional 8-speed automatic gearbox fitted, as it was to our test car. It costs a whopping €2,191 but it’s so smooth, unobtrusive and effective that it just might be worth it. An auto that genuinely calls the need for a manual into question.

BMW has also clearly been at work on its suspension setups. A few years ago, a large-wheeled (17” alloys), stiffly-sprung BMW SUV in Sport spec would have been a recipe for loosened fillings and shattered spines. This time around though, although Germanic firm-ness is still the name of the game, there is a subtle suppleness that makes everything much more relaxing. And yet the BMW traditions of sharp handling and a balanced chassis are still there in spades. Meanwhile, the X-Drive all-wheel-drive system gives you terrific confidence in changing conditions. Or just when it’s chucking it down with rain. You can get a cheaper S-Drive version with rear-wheel-drive, but if you’re buying an SUV, shouldn’t it be 4wd?

One caveat though; the steering, which although communicative and brilliant at speed just weights up too much around town and at lower speeds. It’s just too darned heavy and surely that’s not good for the likely target market for these cars.

Still, with that one small flaw in the diamond, I’ve come away from the X1 really rather liking it. No, it’s not perfect and yes, I’d still overall have a 3 Series Touring for similar money, but if you’re into the whole SUV thing (and many, many of you are) and you fancy the famed Blue and White flag of Munich on your driveway (again; many, many) then this is a good place to start.

BMW X1 X-Drive 18d Sport
Price as tested: €47,670
Price range: €35,160 to €49,010
Capacity: 1,995
Power: 143bhp
Torque: 320Nm
Top speed: 195kmh
0-100kmh: 10.1sec
Economy: 5.4l-100km (52.3mpg)
CO2 emissions: 143g/km
Road Tax Band: C. €330
Euro NCAP rating: 5-star; 87% adult, 86% child, 64% pedestrian, 71% safety assist

News: Honda's new Civic diesel to hit 78mpg

Honda is at last starting to reveal technical details of its upcoming Civic 1.6 iDTEC diesel and the first figures to emerge are somewhat startling. How does 94g/km and 78mpg grab you?

Honda's official figures are 3.5-litres per 100km (which translates as 78mpg) and 94/km, putting it well ahead of the current Ford Focus 1.6 TDCI in emissions and consumption terms too. It's ahead on power too, with 118bhp, against the Ford's 115bhp and the Volkswagen Golf BlueMotion's 105bhp. Mind you, the new MkVII Golf will beat the Civic's Co2 figure, with an 88g/km average, but the Civic's rating is still a massive step forwards for Honda.

You can currently buy a Civic only with a 2.2-litre diesel engine, which is frugal enough to emit just 110g/km of Co2 and set a 4.2-litres per 100km average (64mpg).

Sales of the new 1.6 diesel Civic will start in the new year, and they'll be followed by a version of the new CR-V SUV using the same engine, which is expected to record equally startling emissions figures of just 99g/km.

Road Test: Citroen DS5 Hybrid4

Price as tested: €43,645

+ Style, technology, comfort, improved ride over standard car
– Still too firm, cramped in the back, not economical enough
= The best of the DS5 range by far

If ever you find yourself down the pub, debating whether or not cars can be considered as a form of art (I know, I know, not again...) then wait for everyone to exhaust their arguments and throw in the hand grenade that is the Citroen DS5 Hybrid4. It combination of looks (stunning enough that you’d seriously consider buying one just to be able to look at it every day) and technology (cutting edge diesel hybrid drivetrain) mean that it walks so deftly the line between art and science that everyone will have to re-set their arguments back to zero.

Which is not to say that it’s perfect. The DS5, as a whole, suffers from two significant issues. One; its ride quality is just too harsh and jittery for it to ever truly live up to its luxury billing (especially in an era when the formerly-rough-riding BMW 3 Series now glides over obstacles like a limo) and two; it’s a Citroen. Now, I count myself as a true fan of the great French marque, a Citroenista if you will, but the harsh fact of the market is that against the German ‘Big Three’ Citroen is a brand with a lot to prove in the premium segment.

This DS5 Hybrid4 is bringing some seriously cutting edge technology to the party though, and that might just be enough to allow it to jam a foot in the door. Up front lies Citroen’s familiar 163bhp 2.0-litre HDI diesel engine, which is, and always has been, a very fine unit. Behind, under the boot floor, lies a 37bhp electric motor, driving the rear wheels and fed by a stack of rechargeable batteries. We’ve become used to hybrids ever since Toyota introduced the Prius, but the DS5 (along with its cousin, the Peugeot 3008 Hy4) is the first to tie the potential fuel savings of battery power to an already frugal, low-emission diesel engine.

The result is mostly rather pleasing. There’s a rotary control switch that watches over the hybrid system mounted between the front seats. Leave it set in Auto, and the computer will effortlessly shuffle around power from the diesel, the batteries or both as needed. Keep an eye on the fighter-jet-style heads-up-display, which projects ghostly speed and sat-nav information onto the windscreen, and you’ll notice the frequency with which the speed figure turns a light blue, meaning that you’re running on pure electric power.

Flick the controller around to Sport, and suddenly you remember that 200bhp is still quite a lot of grunt, even in a car weighing a not inconsiderable 1,800kg. Now the DS5 feels very fleet of foot indeed, and what other car can you think of that can combine 99g/km Co2 emissions (depending on which wheels you specify) with an 8.3-sec 0-100kmh time?

All of that is being done while you recline in a sumptuously comfortable seat, with optional leather trim that mimics the shape of a high-end watch strap, surrounded by a battery of instruments and buttons that make you feel like you’re the pilot of a rather avant-garde jet fighter. An F-15 by Hermés, if you like.

Sadly, there are still a few flies in this otherwise lovely ointment. The ride quality, although better than in other versions of the DS5 we’ve driven, is still too harsh-edged and you really need to keep to perfectly smooth roads for the DS5 to feel at its best. Fuel economy isn’t as god as advertised either; Citroen claims that you can hit just 3.8-litres per 100km on the combined cycle (a massive 74mpg) but we could only manage a test average of around 6.5-litres per 100km (43mpg). It’s so often the case that hybrid cars are never as economical in real world driving as they claim to be, but it’s disappointing that Citroen’s combining hybrid with diesel couldn’t liberate any extra efficiency.

That love-hate relationship continues in other areas. I love the little individual sunroofs above the driver and passenger – they make you feel as if each seat should come with a massive yellow handle marked 'eject.' I love the switches mounted on the roof and I adore that swept-back chrome blade that runs from the back of the headlights to the base of the windscreen. But I hate the robotised six-speed gearbox (too... slow... at... changing... up) and the fact that the hybrid batteries really chew into your boot space.

Still, while the DS5 has to climb the steep hills of being to thirsty, too rough-riding and too French in a corner of the market that only seems to want German, the fact that it does so is testament to two things. On the one hand, its quality and technology are right up there with the Germans. On the other, it is a truly beautiful car, and in a world that seems to be a touch uglier every day, that’s a beauty that would be most welcome on the streets of Ireland.

Of course, if you wanted to buy a striking looking Citroen that can mange 40-odd-mpg and is actually a huge amount more fun to drive, you could save yourself around €10,000 and go for the DS3 Racing, the latest version of which we got to try in the same week we were driving the DS5.

Now, while our affection for the DS5 is tempered by our criticisms of its ride and economy, out love for the DS3 knows few, if any, bounds. The first premium hatch to convincingly take the fight to the doorstep of the mighty Mini, in standard form, the DS3 combines gorgeous looks, decent practicality and a peachy chassis of rare balance and deftness.

The Racing version is something else again. Based on the standard 155bhp 1.6 THP model, it and its 1.6-litre turbocharged engine are taken away and tweaked by the same people that design and build the DS3 rally cars for the unstoppable Sebastian Loeb, a man who has almost literally won more rallies than we have had hot dinners.

So the Racing looks more butch, thanks to a 15mm suspension drop, a 30mm track widening and a gorgeously subtle carbon fibre exterior trim spruce-up. Inside, there are hip (and everything else) hugging sports seats, more carbon fibre (the real thing too, not just appliqué) and a squared-off steering wheel. It’s a delightful environment in which to sit, and thanks to this being a Citroen, comfort hasn’t bee thrown out with the sporty bath water. In fact, even on those chunky 18” rims, the DS3 actually rides better than the DS5 Hybrid...

It’s got the same 200bhp as the Hybrid too, but with only 1,165kg to haul around, it goes a good bit harder. 0-100km comes up in just 6.5secs, which is decidedly brisk. Interestingly though, this DS3 Racing feels a touch different to the last version we drove. It feels a bit less manic, less unruly. That is until you push the throttle all the way to the stop, and then it feels plenty manic enough, thanks, but there’s definitely a sense that Citroen has tried to build-in a little more day-to-day useability into what was originally supposed to be a short-run special edition. It’s a well-judged move, leaving enough mental-ness at the top end, while making the Racing feel more sensible around town. And yes, it really will do 43mpg on a long run.

Citroen DS5 Hybrid4 200 Airdream DStyle
Price as tested: €43,645
Price range: €33,195 to €46,695
Capacity: 1,997cc + hybrid battery drivetrain
Power: 200bhp
Torque: 300Nm
Top speed: 210kmh
0-100kmh: 8.3sec
Economy: 3.8l-100km (73mpg)
CO2 emissions: 99g/km (on 17” wheels)
Road Tax Band: A. €160
Euro NCAP rating: 5-star; 89% adult, 83% child, 40% pedestrian, 97% safety assist

Road Test: Honda CR-V 2.2 iDTEC SE

Price as tested: €37,785

+ Space, quality, comfort, steering, off-road ability, styling
– Cabin too plain for this price level, some refinement issues
= A solid SUV from Honda, but will find life tough against sharp competition

It seems almost crazy to think of it now, but back when the original Honda CR-V was launched, the Japanese brand controlled one quarter of the Irish SUV market. Back in 1998, it seemed, we just couldn't get enough of one of the original soft-roaders.

Spool forward to 2012 and things have changed rather a lot, not least of which, the CR-V itself. The outgoing generation was larger than before, and centered around a Diesel engine rather than the petrol-focused original. High in quality and comfort, it was a rival to the likes of the BMW X3 and Audi Q5 as much as its more obvious sparring partners, the Toyota RAV 4 and Ford Kuga. But good car though it was, the outgoing CR-V had to content itself with a much smaller slice of the market, not least because instead of the mere handful of rivals the 1998 original had to contend with, now there is an army of them.

With this new generation model of CR-V, Honda will be trying to claw back some of that original sales dominance and it's going about that in three distinct ways.

For a start, the new CR-V carries over the previous models' two most successful features; its cabin space and its 2.2-litre 148bhp diesel engine. The spacious interior and cavernous boot mark the new CR-V out as one of the few SUVs that can actually boast proper Utility; you can really cram it full of people and cargo, not something you can say for all  of its rivals.

Meanwhile, the still-excellent 2.2-litre iDTEC engine, while it lacks outright power compared to such rivals, is still smooth, punchy and impressively economical. It has even managed to drop a tax band, from Band D to Band C, saving owners a significant amount in annual motor tax.

The second strand to the CR-V's strategy is its styling, which looks much bluffer and more striking than it did before. The old CR-V always looked a touch apologetic. This new one is much more assertive, and all the better for it.

Finally, Honda has realised that it must compete on price, and the most affordable version of the new CR-V clocks in with a €37,795 price tag – within €1,000 of its most significant new rival, the new Hyundai Santa Fe.

The CR-V can even trade equipment and specification blows with the Hyundai, for while it lacks some toys as standard (such as Bluetooth phone connection, and it also lacks the Hyundai's seven seat layout) the CR-V comes with four wheel drive as standard.

And that all-wheel-drive is not just there for show. Honda was quite happy for us to take our test car off into the muddy outback, slipping and sliding over surprisingly tough terrain. Few owners, if any, will put it to the test, but the CR-V can certainly tackle the rough stuff.

On the smooth, it's as good as ever, retaining the old CR-V's combination of tidy handling, a comfortable ride quality and sharp, alert steering. Again, it's very close to the Hyundai in dynamic terms, and that's a good ball park to be in.

There are two let-downs to the CR-V though, and both of them are inside. We've already mentioned the excellent space, and the seats, both front and rear, are comfy and supportive. But there's a lack of flair to the cabin design and layout, a sense of plain-ness that disappoints, especially given Honda's premium-status aspirations.

That's not helped by a distinct, bassy boom that comes up from under the boot floor, and makes its presence known throughout the cabin from speeds as low as 70kmh. It's a black mark against the CR-V's refinement, which is a shame.

Those two issues apart, though, it's hard not to like the CR-V. The new styling is pleasingly distinctive, the engine and chassis as good as ever and the cabin and boot as spacious as you could hope. We can't think of a good reason why it wouldn't be close to the top of your SUV shopping list.

Well, actually, there is one good reason. It's that this 2.2-litre, 4WD CR-V might not be the best CR-V to buy. Later in 2013, there will be a front-wheel-drive CR-V, using Honda's all-new 1.6-litre Diesel engine, that will be more affordable again and will, apparently, boast astonishingly low 99g/km Co2 emissions, putting this large, spacious SUV on a tax band par with the likes of a Volkswagen Golf and Ford Focus. So while we like this new generation of CR-V, it might be worth holding off on buying one for a while yet...


Honda CR-V 2.2 iDTEC SE
Price as tested: €37,795
Price range: €37,795 to €50,095
Capacity: 2,199cc
Power: 148bhp
Torque: 350Nm
Top speed: 190kmh
0-100kmh: 9.7sec
Economy: 5.6l-100km (51mpg)
CO2 emissions: 149g/km
Road Tax Band: C. €330
Euro NCAP rating: Not yet tested