Drive - March 2019

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Drive

FORD FIESTA

ISSUE 1: MARCH 2019

BRITAIN’S ONLY FREE MOTORING NEWSPAPER

ACTIVE Urban warrio r with bags of attitude

SKODA FABIAr set to

ve Mid-life makeo stomers win over more cu than ever

Family Favourites The latest Ford Focus and Honda Civic want to change the way you think about hatchbacks. But can either of them beat the evergreen VW Golf?

SECOND-HAND: Nissan Qashqai buyers’ guide

CLASSIC: When Beetles run in the family…

RACING: The all-electric future of motorsport

INSIDE 2 News 4 Road Tests 16 Buying Second-Hand 24 Modifying 26 Classic Car Calendar Suzuki Jimny is the coolest new car of 2019 RenaultSport Megane pushed to the limit for maximum racetrack thrills Old-school Grand Cherokee exploring the battlefields of northern France

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Issue 1: March 2019

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CONTENTS Issue 1 • March 2019 2 News Latest on new models, offers and promotions

4 Road Tests New Suzuki Jimny, revised Skoda Fabia, insane Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk and more

Hatchback market braces itself as Skoda unveils Scala Golf-sized hatchback • New-generation multimedia Natural gas powered version on sale later this year

8 Ford Focus v Honda Civic v VW Golf Three of the best do battle for the bragging rights in the in the family hatch market

12 Jaguar XE v Alfa Romeo Giulia Left-field options proving there’s more to the executive car market than just the big three from Germany

Kia

New ProCeed estate on sale now The shooting brake version of Kia’s Ceed, the ProCeed, has been revealed. The estate, which has a 594-litre luggage capacity, offers a choice of two petrol and one diesel engines, all of them turbocharged.

There is also a large suite of safety tech and driver aids. The vehicle is on sale now, priced from £23,835.

14 Our Cars A journey into the unknown aboard a pensionable Skoda Fabia, and unwanted sideways action in a Toyota GT86. Plus, guilty pleasures from our browsing history

Renault

16 Second-Hand Nissan Qashqai buyers’ guide, Vauxhall Corsa factfile and four of the best family cars for under £2000

20 The Big Story An emotional journey to the battlefields of northern France, aboard a vehicle that evolved from the spoils of war

24 Modified If the RenaultSport Megane isn’t fast enough for you, here’s one that’s been turned into a trackday superhero

25 Motorsport Why electric propulsion is the future of racing

26 Classics Life with a much-loved Volkswagen Beetle. Plus, classic car shows and events coming up this month

THE NEW SCALA is set to become the face of Skoda’s compact car lineup, embodying the company’s design language and introducing a new infotainment system. It’s also the first Skoda to be built on the Volkswagen Group’s MQB A0 platform.

A wheelbase of 2649mm is marginally bigger than that of the Golf, with Skoda citing class-leading rear headroom and boot space – which comes in at 467 litres. There will also be the first example of a new-generation multimedia system, featuring a free-standing screen on the dashboard, and the virtual cockpit will be available with the largest display in the segment at 10.25 inches.

There are five engines on offer at launch – three petrol units and a diesel, plus one that runs on compressed natural gas (CNG) which is due to come in later this year. All five of the units are turbocharged with direct injection and meet the latest Euro emissions standards.

The TSI petrol engines on offer are a duo of 1.0-litre three-cylinder units, offering 95bhp and 129lbf. ft or 115bhp and 146lbf.ft, and a range-topping 1.5-litre four-cylinder that combines 150bhp with 184lbf.ft.

A solitary 1.6-litre TDI gives 115bhp with 184lbf.ft, while the 1.0-litre G-TEC gas unit has an output of 90bhp and 107lbf.ft.

The entry-level petrol engine comes with a five-speed manual as standard, while the others are mated to six-speed units. These can upgrade to a seven-speed DSG box, except in the case of the G-TEC. The Scala will offer an optional sports suspension set-up with a pair of chassis settings. It comes with LED headlights and tail lights as standard and has a host of safety tech included.

This includes Lane Assist, Front Assist and City Emergency Brake, with a load more available as options. An electric tailgate is also on offer for the first time in the compact class.

Finance offers on range of models Renault currently has a range of offers available, running until 1 April.

Deals include a new Clio for £169 a month and either a Captur or Kadjar for £199. You can even get the tasty Megane RS as part of the promotion, at a tempting £239 a month.

Volkswagen / Ford

Global giants join forces in Alliance Volkswagen and Ford have formed the Global Alliance, a collaboration which aims to keep both brands competitive and boost efficiency.

The alliance means that by 2022, the two giants will be collaborating on medium-sized pick-up trucks as well as working together on EV and autonomy collaborations.

01283 553243 enquiries@assignment-media.co.uk www.facebook.com/@DriveUK Group Editor Alan Kidd

Editorial Executives

Mike Trott, George Dove

Contributors

Dan Fenn, Rob Ronson, Robert Bracegirdle

Photographers

Vic Peel, Richard Hair

Advertising Executive Abigail Cooper Tel: 01283 553246

Advertising Sales Manager Colin Ashworth Tel: 01283 553244

Group Advertising Manager Ian Argent Tel: 01283 553242

Publisher

Sarah Kidd Email: sarah.kidd@ assignment-media.co.uk Every effort is made to ensure that the contents of Drive are accurate, however Assignment Media Ltd accepts no responsibility for errors or omissions nor the consequences of actions made as a result of these When responding to any advertisement in Drive, you should make appropriate enquiries before sending money or entering into a contract. The publishers take

reasonable care to ensure advertisers’ probity, but will not be liable for any losses incurred as a result of responding to adverts Drive is distributed through a network of supermarkets and other outlets. It is free to readers Where a photo credit includes the note CC-BY-2.0 or similar, the image is made available under that Creative Commons licence. Details are available at www.creativecommons.org Drive is published by Assignment Media Ltd, Repton House, Bretby Business Park, Ashby Road, Bretby DE15 0YZ

© 2019 Assignment Media Ltd

Kia

New Kona Iron Man Edition launched

New from Hyundai is the Kona Iron Man Edition – which is styled inside and out in homage to the suit worn by the Marvel superhero. Powered by a 1.6 petrol engine mated to a seven-speed auto box, it’s available in a limited run of 300 units, priced at £27,995 on the road.

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New hybrid headlines revisions to Ford Mondeo 2.0-litre petrol hybrid joins range • 2.0-litre diesels also new, offering 150 or 190bhp and all-wheel drive

Dacia

Cut-price finance deals until 1 April Looking to buy a Dacia? Now is the time to do so. The manufacturer has announced finance deals which run until 1 April.

The Sandero and Sandero Stepway can be yours from just £79 and £99 per month respectively, as part of Dacia’s four-year Dimensions PCP packages. The Logan MCV and new Duster can be bought from just £109 per month – and certain models even benefit from an additional £250 deposit contribution.

Vauxhall

All-inclusive peace of mind package

THE FORD MONDEO has received some mid-life enhancements – chief among which is the introduction of a new petrol-hybrid estate version.

Unlike the now-common plug-in variants, the Mondeo system is capable of self-charging while on the move, harnessing up to 90% of lost brake energy before regurgitating it back into the battery.

Combining a 2.0-litre petrol engine with a 1.4kWh motor and lithium-ion battery pack, the hybrid Mondeo can drum up 187bhp while emitting only 98g/km of CO2 in four-door form (103g/km for the estate). The hybrid wagon also boasts a clever flat-floored

loadspace above the battery pack, giving owners up to 1508 litres of space when the rear seats are down.

‘

There’s a pair of green diesels joining the range, too

There’s going to be a pair of green diesel engines joining the Mondeo range, too. Ford’s EcoBlue 2.0-litre unit becomes available with a choice

of 150bhp or a more potent 190bhp.

Both engines can be mated to Ford’s latest eight-speed automatic gearbox, which comes complete with a rotary control dial and offers neat features such as Adaptive Shift Scheduling and Adaptive Shift Quality Control.

Both these features are designed to adjust gearshifts in relation to the situation and driving style, meaning they should be delivered more smoothly and at moments which won’t unsettle the vehicle – for example during aggressive cornering. This promises to make the Mondeo safer and more pleasant to drive – as will all-wheel drive, which can be specced

on automatics powered by either of the new diesel engines.

Ford has also given the Mondeo new technology in other areas, with new Intelligent Speed Limiter and Adaptive Cruise Control functions.

The latter is able to operate alongside the engine’s Stop & Go feature to make heavy traffic less of a chore.

Tie in the usual revisions to the grille, bumpers and lights and you end up with a Mondeo that looks a little tidier and should move more frugally – as well as a cabin that gives the driver a few extra toys to make it nicer than ever to sit in. First deliveries are scheduled for March.

Production underway on new Corolla Toyota brings back one of its most famous nameplates – and every European model will be made in Britain YOU MAY HAVE heard that the Toyota Corolla is making a comeback – essentially reverting back to its old name after a generation as the Auris.

Toyota’s Burnaston plant, near Derby, will be the only production location for the new models throughout Europe, and the assembly lines here have recently started to roll.

The new Corolla will be Toyota’s first European model to offer more than one hybrid option, with 1.8 and

2.0-litre units both available. In addition, there’ll also be a conventional 1.2-litre petrol alternative.

The Corolla will come with plenty of tech, including heated seats, touchscreen infotainment, adaptive cruise control and LED lighting. Hatchback, saloon and station wagon variants will all be available.

The Corolla is set for release across Europe throughout February. Prices for UK models start at £21,300.

Vauxhall is offering three years’ servicing, two years’ roadside assistance and the first MOT for new or nearly new vehicles for £19 per month for petrol cars and £22 for diesels. This includes home start and recovery, and can be purchased in one payment or 35 monthly instalments.

Volkswagen

Match edition rejoins Golf range Volkswagen has replaced its SE and SE Nav trim levels on the Golf by bringing back the Match edition.

This comprises more kit than both predecessors, with new wheels, tinted windows, sat-nav and fog lights as standard. Pricing starts at £20,545 OTR.

Continental

Research begins into dandelion rubber Tyre giant Continental has opened a 30,000 square metre plant dedicated to research into dandelion-based rubber. It will look into the viability of dandelions as an alternative to rubber from tropical regions. The plant’s aim is to develop techniques for the extraction process.

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Issue 1: March 2019

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‘We’ve no doubt that the new Fabia is going to retain much of its loyal following’

Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross 4

High-spec version of costconscious medium SUV

SKODA FABIA 1.0 MPI SE

Mid-life facelift and boost in equipment bring Skoda’s budget supermini up to date SKODA REFRESHED THE Fabia late last year, with a styling update giving it looks that fall into line with the rest of the company’s family. The popular supermini also has increased levels of equipment on offer; across the five-model range, LED running lights are now standard, as are Front Assist and a multifunction computer.

One up from entry-level, the SE spec gets rear parking sensors, front fog lights and air conditioning. It’s a fairly basic interior – smart nonetheless – with cloth seating and an infotainment unit that does offer smartphone connection but not satellite navigation. Standard wheels are 15” alloys. It’s not groaning with kit, but it’s not sparse either and it’s a nice place to be.

A to B

The 1.0 MPI engine is a three-cylinder unit with 75bhp and 70lbf.ft. Figures like those suggest it’s going to be at its best around town, and so it is; hard acceleration isn’t its forte and at cruising speed it feels overworked. The five-speed manual transmission seems to age the experience somewhat, too.

What this means is that you drive with your foot flat to the floor quite a lot. As a non-turbo unit, however, the engine should get fairly close to the quoted 57.7mpg in the real world.

That’s the trade-off: this isn’t the Fabia to buy if you want to go fast, but if you’re happy just to get from A to B and you want to spend the minimum in the process, it’s the one.

It feels agile and handles sweetly, too, with neat steering and a compliant chassis which mean that even though it’s not fast, it’s not stodgy either. You do need to wring its neck to achieve any pace on the open road, but that can certainly be seen as part of the fun.

Despite the amount of revs the engine requires, the cabin is rather refined, with wind and road noise at a minimum. As a consequence, once you’re eventually up to speed this Fabia is a surprisingly adept cruiser.

It’s spacious for a supermini, too.

Boot space measures up at 330 litres with all five seats accessible, but put the back row flat and you’ll be looking at an extra 820 litres of capacity.

Standard tech may not be too high all things considered, however the

whole of the Fabia range, not just this particular SE trim, can be bolstered by adding full LED headlights, adaptive cruise control, a rear-view camera and blind spot detection to make life easier. If you need navigation, however, you’ll have to find your own solution, be it an aftermarket unit or an app on your smartphone.

SKODA FABIA 1.0 MPI SE Seats Fuel Engine Performance Economy PRICE

5 Petrol 999 cc, 3-cyl 15.2 secs, 105 mph 57.6 mpg, 111g/km £15,590

Engine upgrades

Rather than shelling out on a higher trim level in light of this, we’d be more likely to upgrade to the 1.0-litre, 95bhp TSI engine. This increases the purchase price from £14,425 to £15,155, but the engine will be just as frugal and much more relaxing to drive. There is also a 110bhp version of the turbocharged petrol unit, however this increases the price further.

We’ve no doubt that the new Fabia is going to retain its loyal following, and that this latest version will reel in yet more converts to Skoda. We suspect that only a small proportion will be S or SE models – but if it’s a choice between a better engine or more toys, we’d recommend the former.

George Dove

VERDICT These revisions build on the strengths that already made the Fabia a winner.

Extra equipment and a fresh new look mean it’s now better value than ever, and the 1.0 MPI model tested here is a fine choice – if low running costs are your main priority.

★★★★

MITSUBISHI’S RANGE OF SUVs includes some of the most credible off-roaders around. The Eclipse Cross is towards the other end of the scale; it’s a family wagon with eye-catching looks and a load of kit, but most versions don’t have four-wheel drive.

These include the model here, which is in range-topping 4 trim.

All-wheel drive only comes with the optional auto box; ours is a manual, meaning it costs £25,240.

First impressions are of a lot of car for your money. It looks funky inside, with a sweeping dash design. The driving position is quite low, but you get a good view out.

Equipment levels are good, though the seat leather is quite hard and shiny. Far more impressive is the infotainment system, which uses an excellent mousestyle controller to operate a screen with crisp, clear graphics.

On the road, the 1.5-litre petrol engine needs to be revved but doesn’t raise its voice unduly when you’re whisking it through the gears. You do get a lot of wind and suspension noise at speed, however, and bumps in the road can jog the body around whether in town or on the motorway.

This doesn’t interrupt the flow of the steering in corners, though this may be because it doesn’t have much feel. It’s weighted well enough but doesn’t feel very natural, to the extent that you can run wide in corners – something that’s not helped by a similar lack of feel in the brakes.

Thus we don’t think the Eclipse Cross will appeal to keen drivers.

It is, however, worth a look if you fancy a loaded family car whose looks will encourage your kids to pretend they’re in a spacecraft. It doesn’t have the polish many of its rivals possess – but yes, it is a lot of car for your money.

Alan Kidd

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Mini Cooper S Convertible Warm version of the three-door Mini loses its top but keeps its cool WHEN WE DROVE the Mini Cooper S Convertible, the weather was bitter.

Which on the face of things was a shame –because despite the weight of its stifferned-up body. it’s a lot of fun.

Based on the three-door Mini, the soft-top is surprisingly agile. It makes good use of the 192bhp from its 2.0litre petrol engine, too.

Tested here with the standard sixspeed manual gearbox, the Cooper S Convertible is entertaining to drive on winding roads. It’s nippy around town, too, where the typical owner will have bought it with visions of being seen out and about with the wind in her hair.

Either way, you have to rev hard for maximum power. But that’s no chore,

as it gives you an opportunity to work that gearbox – which is polished and crisp. And when you hit pot holes, or start throwing it around in corners, you don’t feel any scuttle-shake or shimmying from the chassis.

Clear and cool

Even when you’re not pretending to be Charlie Croker, or Lily Allen, the Mini is nice to sit in. Its cabin is well made and stylish, with the trademark round screen dominating the centre of the dash. This is clear and cool, and the airplane-style switchgear below it is satisfying both to behold and to use.

Due to the weather, and our dislike of hypothermia, we didn’t drop the

top. But that wasn’t a bad thing. What the bad weather actually forced us to do was examine what it’s like outside of the nine days a year when it’s worth owning a convertible in the UK. The answer is that it’s louder, unsurprisingly, as cloth is nowhere near as good at soundproofing as sheet metal and

headlining. But that’s not to say it becomes intolerable. There’s a surprising amount of refinement and you can still converse at a reasonable volume without straining your voice.

It isn’t as warm as a tin-top, either.

But the heating is thankfully quick to kick into action, as are the heated

seats that are keen to ensure your rump is well done.

At around £25k, this car is in its own niche. Neither is a performance cabrio, nor is it a roadster. But it copes with admirably with its compromises – and still offers plenty of charm.

George Dove

JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE TRACKHAWK Supercharged V8 engine gives large luxury SUV the pace, power and noise to leave you completely speechless PERFORMANCE SUVS ARE nothing new. Neither are Jeeps with V8 engines. But the iconic American brand has always led with its off-road expertise. Until now…

The new Grand Cherokee Trackhawk is a performance SUV like no other. There’s nothing like using a 6.2-litre supercharged V8 with 710bhp to create a huge, thundering off-roader that can eat Ferraris for breakfast.

Jeep says this £89,999 monster is good value for money. Its reasoning is that you get 1bhp for every £127 – whereas the Lamborghini Urus, the closest thing to it in terms of performance, works out at £257 per horse.

Performance, yes. The Trackhawk blasts from 0-60mph in 3.7 seconds.

Keep your foot in and it won’t stop pulling until you hit 180mph.

‘The soundtrack rips through the atmosphere with a visceral, dandelion-murdering psychosis’

Pure muscle

It’s not just about speed, though. The theatricals that go with it are just wonderful. The brutal soundtrack is that of a pure muscle car as it rips through the atmosphere with a visceral, dandelion-murdering psychosis. You can feel it trying to cave your chest in at a hundred yards.

That 0-60 time is just the beginning, though. It just keeps on accelerating, and accelerating, and accelerating. You can be cruising at 120mph and bury the throttle, and it’s still like being kicked in the back of your head. The Trackhawk is rapid, and rabid.

It’s also about as big as a cruise liner, though, and on all but the biggest, widest and emptiest British roads the main thing waiting for you is frustration. To use this much power for

anything more than the odd burst of lunacy, you need a racetrack.

In day-to-day road use, the Trackhawk is like any other Grand Cherokee – big, luxurious and packed with kit.

Its suspension is firm, though, and it doesn’t have the adeptness of a Range Rover Sport in the way it smoothes out bumps in the road. The cabin isn’t as classy as the Sport SVR’s, either – it does cost around £10,000 less, though, if that doesn’t sound like a detail.

For Jeep, at least in the UK, the Trackhawk is mainly a branding exercise. Should you fancy a 3.7-second

goliath, you’ll be in exclusive company – just 20 of them were made for the UK last year and there will only be another 100 arriving in 2019.

JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE TRACKHAWK Seats 5 Fuel Petrol Engine 6166 cc, 8-cyl Performance 3.7 sec, 180 mph Economy 16.8 mpg, 385 g/km PRICE £89,999

We got about 12mpg, but the Trackhawk says So What. People will buy it as a second, third or fourth car and have huge laughs in it.

It’s a toy, this. And a statement. It’s a bonkers, unruly beast, and it will win the heart of any true petrolhead.

Mike Trott

VERDICT The Trackhawk’s power, pace and noise are overwhelming. It’s a hilarious way of showing off on the road, though you can’t get close to its potential without taking it to a racetrack. This can make it frustrating to drive, and its appetite for fuel is vast, but it’s a big, boorish and absolutely addictive delight.

★★★★

6 BMW M3 CS

Issue 1: March 2019

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“They’ve done the impossible: they’ve gone and created the perfect car”

Ultimate version of the M3 is a trackday superhero THE CARBON - FIBRE dressed, highest-powered version of the M3 is all of the obvious things.

Its 460bhp is 30 more than the standard M3 and ten more than the M3 Competition pack, and in addition it also gains 35lbf.ft.

That’s one obvious thing.

Another is that weight has been lost, thanks to the carbon-plastic compound used in the bonnet and the centre section of the roof. The interior has been made from less dense materials, too, while the wheels are light in weight and inspired by DTM racers.

Other M3s have true manual boxes. But behind the 3.0-litre six-pot engine it shares with them, the CS is fitted with a dual-clutch auto operated by paddles.

Enormous pace

The stats say the CS will nail the 0-62 sprint in 3.9 seconds, compared to 4.3 for the base M3. But that’s just the start. Its steering responses are pin-sharp and it darts through corners with supreme body control. In doing so, it managed to make travelling at enormous pace feel like the most natural thing in the world.

The different drive modes add a surprising level of flexibility for a rear-wheel drive super saloon that could easily be perceived as one-dimensional. Most certainly, the obvious dimension we’re referring to is the one in which it is happiest. And despite the carbon gurney on the boot lid, the tail can be a tad twitchy on roundabouts.

But for anything more than that, you’ll need a race track.

With fuel economy of 34mpg, the CS isn’t beyond consideration for regular use. This is the most extreme M3, though, and most will be bought as second cars.

What they’ll be bought for is £86,365. That’s upstairs of £26k more than the standard M3, and if all you’re after is a super-saloon for the road it’s hard to see the point. If what you want is a truly superior trackday hero, on the other hand, and you have the wherewithal to add the ultimate fast Beemer to your fleet, the CS couldn’t be a more natural choice.

George Dove

SUZUKI JIMNY 1.6 SX5

All-new retro-styled traditional off-roader is set to be one of the year’s most wanted cars THE SUZUKI JIMNY is one of the very few traditional off-road vehicles left on the market. This new model is the first in two decades: it’s massively improved over the old one, has cute retro styling and comes with a handy slew of equipment for prices ranging from £15,499 to £18,999.

Off-roaders like this can’t help but be compromised on the road, though.

So if you just want a cool car and you like the Jimny’s Tonka-toy retro looks, are those compromises a turn-off for everyday use on the road?

To get technical for a moment, the Jimny’s ladder chassis, beam axles, dual-range transfer box and minimal reliance on electronics make it ideal for off-roaders. If that’s your bag, or you think it might be, there’s simply nothing else to touch it at even close to the same money.

Surrogate van

For everyone else, first you have to get past the Jimny’s size. There’s enough room in the front seats, but the rears are pretty cramped – and the boot behind them is tiny. If you rarely carry more than one passenger, on the

other hand, they fold down to create a cargo bay with a tough, waterproof base that’s accessed through a huge rear door, making this a surrogate van whose practicality is through the roof.

Kit-wise, the base-spec SZ4 model has air-con, cruise control, DAB radio, Bluetooth and front fog lamps. Move up to the SZ5 and you get alloys, LED headlights, climate control and heated front seats, as well as a media system with sat-nav, Apple CarPlay and so on.

The SZ5 also offers more options, including an auto box and a wider range of paint colours. If you want a funky truck-about-town, it’s definitely worth the extra money.

Always fun

Either way, power comes from a 1.5-litre petrol engine. It’s not what you’d call fast, but it romps around happily in town and manages to bowl you along on the motorway without deafening you.

That’s not to say it’s the last word in refinement. Whether at speed or in town, it’s neither whisper-quiet nor silky smooth, but it’s not raucous or harsh either.

Most of all, it’s fun. Always. You can chuck it around in corners and the body will roll about happily, making you feel part of the action – helped by a directness to the steering which, once you’re used to it, is really engaging.

You do have to work the engine on A and B-roads, but doing so is no chore thanks to a manual gearbox that’s light and precise to use. The box is only a five-speeder, however, and it could definitely do with a sixth to let the engine spin more calmly up top.

That’s one of very few things we’d change about the Jimny. The seats could do with more support around the shoulders and the paint finish on our test car was patchy under the bonnet, but there’s very little about this vehicle to disappoint a prospective buyer.

We’ve read critical reviews that miss the point of the Jimny by a mile. But if you can get your head around what it is, Suzuki has done the impossible: they’ve gone and created a perfect car.

It’s great value, too. And Suzuki has been swamped by initial orders – meaning the only cloud on the horizon may be a very, very long waiting list.

Alan Kidd

SUZUKI JIMNY 1.5 SX5 Seats 4 Fuel Petrol Engine 1462 cc, 4-cyl Performance 90 mph Economy 41.5 mpg, 154g/km PRICE £17,999

VERDICT The Jimny looks great, has a neat cabin and comes with plenty of kit. It’s fun to drive in town, a good laugh on the open road and perfectly adequate on the motorway – and it’s unbeatable off-road without spending at least twice as much money. Just brilliant.

★★★★★

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Ford Fiesta Active 1.0T 100 Auto

SUV-styled supermini will appeal to urban warrors THE FIESTA ACTIVE is not trying to be an off-roader. But it rides on raised suspension, features protective lower-body cladding and has a drive mode for slippery surfaces – as well as an all-important dose of SUV style.

The version tested here has the entry-level engine, a 1.0-litre petrol unit putting out 100bhp, mated to the optional auto gearbox. It’s the mid-range B&O Play model featuring premium audio to go with the rest of its kit.

This includes Ford’s top-option Sync3 multimedia, as well as cruise, climate, sports seats and unique alloys. It all goes together to create a car with plenty of appeal both inside and out.

Positively eager

The 1.0-litre engine has plenty of zest around town. The Fiesta feels positively eager at city speeds, with taut body control, direct steering and firm but pliable suspension letting it stomp around without hindrance.

A wider track helps here. It’s only 10mm over standard, and it corresponds to an 18mm suspension lift, but the Fiesta does feel very stable in this form.

What happens it you take it off the tarmac? No need to expect any miracles, but with the slippery drive mode engaged it can fight its way across moderately wet grass or get you out of a muddy car park.

In reality, though, it’s the image that people will go for. Just as they do with ‘proper’ SUVs, so you might as well see this Fiesta as one – and at £20,795, it dishes up plenty of image for your cash.

The same engine comes in 125 and 140bhp form for not much more, and if you do a lot of faster work it would be money well spent. For urban warriors, however, it’s spot-on just the way it is.

Alan Kidd

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13.08.18 14:58

8 In the family way…

Issue 1: March 2019

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Ford Focus 1.5 EcoBlue ST-Line X Auto List Price £27,800 Economy 60.1mpg CO2 122g/km

Honda Civic 1.6 i-DTEC EX List Price £25,450 Economy 83.1mpg CO2 91g/km

Volkswagen Golf 2.0 TDI GT DSG List Price £28,130 Economy 62.8mpg CO2 117g/km

The new Ford Focus has arrived to quite a fanfare, but if you want to top the family hatchback class first you have to master the VW Golf. Will one of these heavy hitters take the crown… or will the quirky Honda Civic come from left-field to upset them? Mike Trott is the man with the clipboard

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EQUIPMENT

IN THE CABIN THE GOLF HAS long been the benchmark in this sector, and its cabin is the most predictable of our trio. Its boxier shape means taller windows, which pave the way for the lightest cabin here, and build quality is the best of a good bunch.

There’s a polish to the controls and everything is logically laid out and easy to operate. This is a cabin that will keep you satisfied, and comfortable, on longer jaunts. Leather can be a practical material, but the suede-effect Art Velours seats in this GT-spec Golf are very welcoming.

Refinement-wise, the Golf suffers the least interruption from wind and

FOCUS

tyre noise, while the engine only really makes itself heard if you poke the throttle with vengeance. And even then it sounds pleasant enough.

The Golf’s interior design is easily the most conservative here. That’s doesn’t sound like a byword for excitement – but Volkswagen is a past master when it comes to getting the basics right, and as always it’s difficult to beat.

That’s the challenge for the Civic and the new Focus. Both vehicles offer interior improvements compared to their predecessors, but that’s particularly true in Ford’s case.

The Focus has a more concise layout

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FOCUS ST-Line X trim brings a sporty feel to the cabin, whose overall styling and refinement on the move are as good as you’d expect in a new model

CIVIC

than previously, with all the climate controls located neatly under a redesigned infotainment panel.

The ST-Line X model tested here has part-leather seats, highlighted with red stitching that alludes to the Focus’ more sporting edge. They also hug you that little bit tighter than in the other two. On the move, this is a hushed cabin if perhaps lacking the gloss of the Golf. There’s also a touch more engine noise making its way into the interior, but on the whole the Focus is a good place to dwell.

The Civic matches its rivals in most ways. Its seats are comfortable and offer a good driving position,

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CIVIC Quality and refinement are spot-on, as is seat comfort, but the layout and ergonomics aren’t quite as polished as the other two

GOLF

build quality is right up to scratch and cabin refinement on the move is excellent. It gets edged out by a few finer details, however, such as a layout that doesn’t come quite as easily to the fingertips and a steering wheel whose ergonomics don’t have quite the same polish.

The location of the cup holders isn’t as convenient, either, which is the sort of detail that sounds churlish to talk about but can make a big difference to an owner. The body’s sleeker silhouette and shallower windows mean it has the darkest cabin, too; it’s not gloomy, but in comparison the Golf is full of light.

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GOLF VW doesn’t try to write any new rules, because it doesn’t need to. It’s conservative, but refinement and perceived quality are top-notch

PRACTICALITY LET’S BREAK THIS down into numbers. The Golf plays it straight down the middle here, with the second-best capacity for its boot, both with the rear seats up (380 litres) and down (1270 litres).

It also has a good, flat load space.

This however is affected, albeit only to a minor degree, by intrusion from the wheelarch blisters, which isn’t a problem in the Focus. That nudges Ford into the lead here, aided by a total cargo capacity of 1320 litres with the rear seats folded down.

However, there’s more to the story than just this. When it comes to

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day-to-day practicality, that is with the back seats in place and things like the supermarket on the agenda rather than a full-on house move, at 341 litres the Focus actually has the smallest boot. The Civic’s on the other hand is vast.

Open the rear lid on the Civic and you’ll see where its lengthier body comes into play. With an impressive 478 litres of space (rear seats up), it has almost 100 litres more than the next-best Golf.

When the rear pews are down, on the other hand, you’re left with the smallest space to play with (1245

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CIVIC

litres), and there is a slight lip for items to hurdle. For the majority of the time, however, the Civic will be more than enough for all your needs – possibly to the point of striking the best balance between bums on seats and cargo in the hold.

The Civic also has an extremely handy hidden compartment beneath its rear boot floor. For the ultimate in capacity, on the other hand, none of the three offer a totally flat cargo bay when the seats go down. But all have wide rear apertures and well shaped load spaces, with the Golf’s perhaps the best in this area.

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GOLF

For carrying people rather than cargo, the Civic has the best rear legroom. The Golf and Focus are both very good – but if you want to put a six-footer in the back, it’s the Honda that will put the least pressure on their knee joints.

Their necks might not thank you quite as much, however. The Civic’s sloping roofline means those of a vertically blessed nature are more likely to find themselves having to stoop to get in – whereas in the Golf and Focus, you’d have to be usefully taller to find yourself troubled by such an eventuality.

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FOCUS A well shaped cargo area,

CIVIC A long body allows excellent rear

GOLF Rear seats fold as flat as any for

accessed through a gaping rear hatch, offers 1320 litres of capacity with the rear seats down

legroom, though a sloping rear means carrying long items. Overall capacity is limited headroom. Cargo space is best of middle of the road both with the seats the three with the seats in place up and down

THE CIVIC EARNS no small amount of praise here in terms of what it gives you for your money. The top-spec EX model tested is equipped with parking sensors, 17” alloys, a 7” touch-screen with Garmin sat-nav, heated front seats and adaptive dampers, just to name a few highlights. There’s an optional Tech Pack to finish things off, too – giving you wireless charging, heated rear seats and LED headlightsfor an additional £600.

With the Focus, Ford too is fairly forthcoming but not quite as generous as Honda. This ST-Line X version gives you part-leather trim, a flatbottomed steering wheel and red brake calipers, but you’ll pay extra for the likes of a rear parking camera and clever retractable door protectors. That said, navigation and heated seats are included, and the infotainment screen is an inch bigger than the Civic’s, while the driver also gets a 4.2” TFT coloured panel.

The Golf tested here is in GT spec, meaning it gives you 17” alloys, tinted windows and Adaptive Cruise Control.

It also has a lowered sports suspension set-up, as does the Focus.

You get sat-nav, too, however it comes as standard with an 8” touchscreen. The impressive 12.3” Active Info Display is an optional extra – as are a rear-view camera and heated front seats. The Golf does have some very nice features, but it gives you the least as standard.

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Honda gives you the most for your money, while Ford plays the sport card and VW dishes up quality rather than just a big list of kit

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ON THE ROAD THIS IS WHERE each of these hatchbacks really starts to display its individual character. The Honda may look like the odd one out with its rather alternative styling, but sit behind the wheel and it will show you a set of skills that everyone can appreciate.

Driving the Civic reveals a competent cruiser that can also offer some entertainment when you show it a set of bends. The general manners of its ride can’t quite match the Golf for comfort, but it deals with poor road surfaces very well.

When you get to the twisty stuff, there is plenty of grip to exploit – and

lovely, weighty steering to help you make the most of it. This would have been even better with a more usable degree of feedback coming through to your hands, but the manual gearbox fitted on our test car is slick and precise, making it a pleasure to use.

The engine is more about frugality than fun, with the best economy here.

But there’s enough performance for everyday scenarios, with maximum torque being delivered from 2000rpm.

The Golf is its usual conservative self, playing the percentages to please as many people as possible most of the time. In terms of ride quality, it wins

this round; if you had to jump in one of these cars for a long slog on the motorway, you’d be reaching straight for the keys with a Volkswagen badge on them. It deals with potholes and imperfections with real proficiency, too and its steering is predicable and nicely weighted.

In terms of drivetrains, we’re not comparing like for like (our scores take that into account, naturally).

Whereas the Civic is a manual, for example, the Golf and Focus are both autos, Volkswagen’s seven-speed DSG unit edging it ahead of Ford’s eight-speeder.

Engine-wise, the Golf has a 2.0 TDI unit. Volkswagen also offers a 1.6 TDI, which would have been much closer to the others in this test. Again, our scores take this into account.

Either of these engines will deliver maximum grunt from lower down the rev range than the Civic’s, at any rate.

Performance from the Golf’s 2.0 TDI is very satisfying, with lots of torque and the sweetest harmony of all the engines here. The brakes are very strong, too, if a little grabby until you get used to the pedal.

For keen drivers, on the other hand, the Golf feels content with nailing the art of the A to B journey. There is nothing wrong with that in this sector, and good ride quality will always have a bigger role to play in athletic handling than boy racers are willing to

admit, but the other two are more agile in bends.

In particular, the Focus feels eager to entertain. Ever since the first model was launched, Ford has shown the world that a good family car can also be a great laugh to drive – and this is emphasised with the new model,

HANDLING Which is the most fun?

FOCUS

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FOCUS Sports suspension adds real agility in corners without ruining ride quality. This ST-Line X model feels eager from the moment you set off

CIVIC

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CIVIC Beautifully weighted steering is a highlight of a car that’s enjoyable in corners and deals comfortably with poor road surfaces

SAFETY FOCUS

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GOLF The best ride quality of the three reminds you of the role this plays in handling. It’s not as eager, but just as brisk from A to B

which has lost several kilos compared to its predecessor. The result is a hatchback that feels light and, even more significantly, alive.

Ford’s steering doesn’t hide the fact that it’s an electrical system. But as soon as you start moving in the Focus, its agility and keenness for corners become apparent. We have the ST-Line version here, whose lowered sports suspension helps give it this verve – but that doesn’t come with a side order of terrible road manners.

Yes, you can feel what’s going on underneath the Focus. But there’s a real compliance to its suspension, putting it in that sweet spot where a car can cover miles in comfort and tool around town without pain but also keep you smiling through a set of hairpins.

To be fair, that’s a sweet spot in which all three of these cars are placed. Witness the fact that each provides a brilliant base for their respective hot versions – that’s a testament to how good each of them is on the road.

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THERE’S NO BEATING about the bush here. All three of these family hatchbacks are bristling with safety equipment, and each was awarded five stars in its respective EuroNCAP safety tests.

In the final scoring here, however, the Civic has one point less than the Golf and Focus. That’s because, when

comparing the final percentages, it doesn’t quite reach the heights of safety for child occupants – which, if said child occupants are the most precious thing in your life, could certainly help decide which car you’d rather see on your driveway.

Aside from that, the Golf has the best driving position of the three when it comes to giving you a view of the road ahead. Its more relaxed, less eager character encourages you to drive calmly, too.

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INFOTAINMENT SYSTEMS ARE more important than ever to today’s car buyers. It’s probably fair to say that for the majority if drivers, the way a car keeps you connected on the move is more important to what it’s actually like to drive.

That’s why it’s more important than ever for car makers to get it right in

this area. Which, by definition, means this is an increasingly place in which to trip up.

Unfortunately for the Civic, that’s what it does here. Its system lacks the finesse of its rivals’, both of which boast better graphics, and its interface lacks their overall cohesion. Its processing speed isn’t as sharp, either.

The system in the Golf, meanwhile, has lovely graphics, quick response times and the same organised, logical layout as the cabin in which it’s

housed. It’s very, very good overall; the only downside is that the process for entering a postcode in the navigation screen is rather illogical, which is a little annoying.

In the Focus, Ford uses its latest Sync 3 system – which is a solid advance over the old technology, with a simple design and a set-up that is easy to configure. It’s good but not quite as elegant or visually pleasing as the Golf, and also lags a touch behind in terms of response times.

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VALUE AND RUNNING COSTS FOCUS

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that’s subject to a limit of 60,000 miles, the Civic allows to cover 90,000 during those 36 months, which would take some doing.

Those service intervals come around sooner with the Focus and Golf, too; both require a once-over at 10,000 miles, while the Civic can go 12,500 miles between check-ups.

Bear in mind, too, that a major service with Ford or Honda is likely to average out at around £300, whereas a Volkswagen dealer will more likely charge you closer to £350.

The Golf is also the most expensive to buy. Our test model, including its options, comes to £32,495 – a whole £5920 more than the Civic.

Admittedly, the Golf is a closer match in 1.6 TDI form, which lists at some £1450 cheaper, and we wouldn’t bother with all the options fitted to the one we drove, but you’re still paying significantly more money for a car with less standard kit.

Ford places its Focus neatly in the middle. If you want a basic ST-Line X model with no options and this

wrong with it, but the other two sneak ahead by dint of their extra polish.

Ford has brought itself back towards the top of the class with the new Focus; placing fun above other concerns, it’s the best driver’s car here. This is the best all-rounder in that it has the most strings to its bow; as well as offering the greatest driving pleasure, it’s a good day-to-day family car with plenty of space and kit for your money.

In some ways, the Focus’ arrival is reminiscent of the time, five years ago, when Volkswagen came along and shook up the hatchback market with the then-new Mk7 Golf.

But that, really, is the point. Even though the Golf is significantly older

than these two young pretenders, it has still claimed victory in this test.

What sets it apart is its excellence as an overall package. It may falter in a couple of places now that the competition has had half a decade in which to catch up – but when you’re taking your kids to school, hairpin bends are not likely to enter your thought train.

Familiarity breeds contempt, they say, and we have to admit that the Golf was the car we were least excited about as the date of this test approached. But by the time it came to leave, it was the one we had come to respect the most, for how capable it is at simply nailing what an everyday family hatchback is there to provide.

ALL THREE OF these cars could be on your shortlist, but there may be a few additional details here to sway your mind. Servicing, for instance, is something you may not have considered, but it can be a big factor if you will be covering a lot of miles.

First off, all three cars here come with a three-year warranty. Whereas on the Golf and Focus, however,

engine, gearbox and colour, you’ll pay £27,500. You’ll have pretty much all the gizmos you could want, even if the Civic may offer a few extra bits of equipment for less.

Whichever of these cars you like best, you should be able to secure a hefty discount by playing dealers off against each other or getting an online broker on the case. The strongest savings are likely to be on the Focus – we were quoted between £3500 and £5300 by well known brokerage websites – but even the Golf has plenty

CONCLUSION EACH OF THESE cars offers a practical alternative to the uber-fashionable crossover, with all the mod cons you could generally want on a modern vehicle. But each excels in slightly different areas – and some perform well across more departments than others.

The Honda Civic is divisive in its looks, but is well mannered and fun on the road. You get loads of kit for your money, the boot is massive and there’s real solidity to how it is built.

It’s also frugal and generally cheaper to run, and Honda’s build quality and reliability are famous.

The Civic lags behind in terms of its multimedia system and general cabin ambience, however. There’s little

Honda Civic 1.6 i-DTEC EX

Cabin Equipment Multimedia Practicality Performance Handling Ride Economy Safety Value

8/10 8/10 8/10 8/10 7/10 9/10 8/10 8/10 10/10 7/10

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TOTAL

81/100

79/100

85/100

Volkswagen Golf 2.0 TDI GT

Ford Focus 1.5 EcoBlue ST-Line X

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/100

85

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81

/100

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of room for chunky four-figure deals.

The Civic sits somewhere between them, but in each case there should be no need to pay anything even close to list price.

Reliability should be strong all round, with Honda in particular boasting a rock solid reputation here.

The Golf is highly regarded in this area, too – and few cars of this size hold their value better. You might pay more for it to start with, but Volkswagen promises the least pain come sell-on time.

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Executive alternatives

The executive car market is one of the few places where saloons still rule. So too do the big three German brands – but there are plenty of exciting options if you want a premium motor with a less familiar badge on the bonnet. George Dove weighs up two of the likeliest contenders from Jaguar and Alfa Romeo ARE SALOON CARS dying? They’ve been battered by the relentless rise of the dastardly SUV, but in the executive segment a traditional three-box design still carries a lot of clout.

So too does a badge you can boast about. Most of the premium action in the UK market is hoovered up by Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz – but if you don’t want to follow the herd, there are some very credible alternative ways of getting behind the wheel of a prestigious saloon car.

Jaguar and Alfa Romeo are two brands with rich heritage. They’re both in different stages of being reborn, and both have viable options in the junior exec class.

Those options are the Jaguar XE and Alfa Romeo Giulia. Each aims to lure you with a heady dose of sporting pedigree; which has the substance to go with its style?

CABIN The Giulia’s interior feels as if much more craft has gone in to its design and construction. The centre console arches towards the driver, offering a more cocooned driving position with-

out making you feel cramped, while the screen on the dash is angled just enough for comfortable viewing.

This particular Giulia had an added dose of Italian panache thanks to the walnut trim added by the Lusso pack – although at £2750, it is costly panache.

It also had beige leather upholstery which, while to some tastes stylish, would leave the owner in constant dread of getting a mark on it.

The cup holders are elegantly hidden beneath a sliding panel and the storage spaces available about the cabin are generally good.

If you’re the sort to prod every fitting in the cabin, however, you won’t be a fan of the binnacle surround as this stands out as being flimsy and plasticky compared to the rest of the dash area. Not that it’s a part you ever really need to touch.

Otherwise, the Giulia’s build is solid and of quality materials – as is the case in the XE. There’s a tad more room for occupants across the XE’s cabin. However leg room doesn’t really gain any meaningful advantage – it’s more elbow room. The door pockets are more accommodating, too.

Overall, there’s a functional simplicity to the Jag’s interior. Drive modes are controlled by buttons on the transmission tunnel and the multimedia screen is positioned centrally on the dashboard, while the centre console houses a sea of piano black trim centred around the pop-up gear selector.

If the Giulia’s beige leather trim looked vulnerable to getting marked, meanwhile, the XE’s looks vulnerable to getting marked down. A two-tone black and dark blue colourway is the stuff of brave choices – again, it’s a matter of taste, but don’t forget that when you come to sell a car with such an out-there interior, you’ve got to find someone else with the same taste as you. As it is, the dark colours combine with rear privacy glass to give the XE an interior that’s dark to inhabit.

PRACTICALITY This is an area in which, being saloons, neither car excels. It’s probably the reason why people started switching to hatchbacks, crossovers and so on. Nonetheless, both do get by.

Boot space is plenty across the board – 455-litres in the XE to the

Above: Giulia’s cabin feels crafted and looks stylish – aided in no small measure by the £2750 Lusso pack on this car.

Build quality and materials are generally very good, and there’s a sporty ambience to it Below: XE looks simpler and more functional, but build and material quality is as good as the Alfa’s. It doesn’t feel as light and elegant, but is laid out with commendable logic

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A tale of two leathers. The Giulia’s interior is clad in a sumpuous looking light beige, which is certainly classy but might scare the wits out of you if you regularly have children (or sandwiches) in your car. It shouldn’t come back to bite you come sell-on time, though – whereas the two-tone blue and grey upholstery in the XE is definitely an acquired taste. Combined with privacy windows it tends to make the Jag’s interior feel rather dark, too

Giulia’s 480. But in neither model can you drop the whole back row of seating – depriving you of the kind of practicality you’d find in a hatchback.

As always with saloons, at any rate, the difficulty lies in loading the boot space through the narrow aperture behind it. A ski hatch is present in the Alfa, which may come in useful for a few niche-shaped flatpacks (as well as actual skis), but this is a costed extra.

Talking of options, our Jag had a towing hook fitted. You could certainly haul a decent sized caravan behind either of these, but the XE is stronger here with an 1800kg limit compared to the Giulia’s 1600.

EQUIPMENT Both vehicles offer a good level of kit, with climate, cruise, satellite navigation, digital driver displays, automatic headlights and wipers, leather upholstery and rear parking sensors all standard. Both also have Bluetooth connectivity and DAB radio, as well as an array of switchgear mounted on their steering wheels.

On the all-important multimedia front, the Alfa’s angled 8.8” screen is easier to digest and, thanks to an intuitive rotary control set-up, much easier to navigate on the move than the Jag’s touch-screen counterpart. Working through the system in the XE isn’t complex – quite the opposite – but it requires higher hand-eye co-ordination and this gives the Giulia the edge in our book. We didn’t always find the graphics on its sat-nav screen very clear, but it’s still our preferred system of the two.

Naturally, safety features are similarly generous, with autonomous

emergency braking and lane departure warning fitted as standard on both vehicles. The Alfa we tested had the optional Driver Assistance Pack Plus fitted, adding a rear-view camera with a grid, blind spot detection, automatic high-beam control and parking sensors at the front.

Extra safety features on our XE came in the form of the Advanced Park Assist pack – adding front sensors and a rear camera, plus 360-degree parking aid and park assist.

Another option (and an ever-popular one) fitted on both cars was heated seats. The XE scores highest here, with rear passengers getting a toasty tushy as well as those up front.

ON THE ROAD In our book, the Alfa is already edging it at this point. But its performance on the road sees it break clear and gain some breathing space over what is a very competent rival.

Both have 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engines with an output of 200bhp. Torque figures are roughly comparable – the Giulia has 243lbf.ft from 1750rpm, while the XE’s 236lbf. ft is delivered from just 1200rpm – but the Alfa feels punchy whereas the Jag comes across rather breathlessly.

Engine noise in both cars is hushed – as is wind noise. Both offer civilised rides but the Jag is quieter at cruising speeds, making it easier to relax in.

Both manufacturers trade on their thoroughbred heritage, but Alfa categorises the Giulia more overtly as a sports car – and out on the road, it shares multiple characteristics of one. Switch into Dynamic mode and instantly you can feel the suspension

become stiffer, the throttle more sensitive and the steering more eager.

Even in Natural mode, it handles sharply, with quick steering response and agility complemented by excellent body control.

The Giulia is 145kg lighter than the XE and driving them back to back this shows – on twister roads, in fact, the difference feels like it could be more.

It feels narrower on the road, too, giving you added more confidence in placing it.

In the raunchiest of the drive modes, you can thoroughly enjoy a B-road romp and forget that you’re in a sensible saloon. In short, you can tell the Giulia has been set up with driving thrills at the forefront.

Part of its success in delivering an effervescent drive becomes its biggest downfall when the roads deteriorate and the traffic builds. The Alfa’s ride is firm, to the extent that we found ourselves using the Advanced Efficiency (aka comfort) setting on the drive selector fairly regularly.

Driving modes played a much less significant factor in the XE. In Sport, its shift points allow more revs and the dashboard changes to place the rev counter centrally, but while engine response does improve we were hoping for it to gain greater bite and verve.

Eco mode does the opposite, softening the throttle and prioritising frugality over frivolity. However, nothing we could detect changes in the way it rides.

Nonetheless, the XE is a much more settled cruiser than the Alfa. It’s much softer on poor roads – though it stops short of cosseting you the way an archetypical Jaguar should. The engine doesn’t help here, either, as the

demands you find yourself putting on it can’t help but impact upon the car’s overall refinement.

OWNERSHIP COSTS Turbocharged petrol engines are a modern-day marvel, achieving impressive economy figures under laboratory conditions and underwhelming ones in real-world driving. Suffice to say that neither of these saloons reached their quoted figures. On the combined cycle, Alfa says the Giulia can achieve 47.9mpg and Jaguar claims the XE will return 39.8mpg: under our stewardship, they came back with 30.1 and 26.2mpg respectively.

Servicing costs won’t find a difference between the two vehicles,

VERDICT

and both offer the same three-year, unlimited mileage warranty. The XE is slightly poorer on emissions and sits one group higher for insurance, but again the difference in costs is unlikely to change your mind if it’s already the Jag that you fancy.

On the road, the Giulia begins at £31,575, compared to the XE’s £34,565, but both cost considerably more as tested. Add on the extras and you’d pay £39,195 for the Italian and £40,575 for the Brit.

Differences in depreciation are unlikely to be significant – unless, of course, you order one with a paint colour or interior treatment that makes it hard to sell on. Do that and it doesn’t matter which you bought – you’re still going to regret it.

Both these cars have presence, class and luxury. The Jaguar is more tranquil and comfortable, but a harder-worked engine means it doesn’t do calm as well as the Alfa does exciting.

Execuitve cars cost strong money. That gives you the right to expect a sense of occasion and a sparkling drive – and it’s the superbly set-up Giulia that takes a clear lead here. It’s the one that feels really special, both in the panache with which its interior is carried off and the entertainment it gives you when you want to cut loose behind the wheel.

The fact that the Giulia is cheaper only serves to heighten our conviction that it’s the one to have. We’re confident that if you watch what you’re doing with the options list, you’ll be able to spec a Giulia, with which you’ll be very happy, for around the price at which the XE starts.

Will it give you reason enough to turn your back on Audi, Merc and BMW? Maybe that’s a question for another day – but if you want a weapon with which to repel the German hordes, Alfa Romeo has it.

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Break for the border Vehicle: Skoda Fabia 1.2 Classic Year: 2004 Run by: Alan Kidd WITH ALL THE various test cars we have coming and going, it could be argued that there’s not a lot of need for us lucky lot to have wheels of our own. That’ll be why I’ve got five of the things, obviously, even if three of them are long-term non-runners.

The latest addition to the motley crew has been in the family since it was six months old. My Mum, who was already in her mid-70s, wanted something cheap and simple to replace an ancient Honda Accord that had finally rusted itself into the ground, and I used a contact at Skoda to get mates’ rates on a Fabia 1.2 Classic that was being sold out from the fleet at HQ. That was almost a decade and a half ago. Mum decided late last year that it was time to give up driving, though with only about 36,000 miles on the Fabia’s clock it could be argued that she’d already done that. Either way, I’m not going to be corny and call it a time-warp car, but it’s a very low miler indeed and, rather than selling it for the price of a fancy washing machine I thought it would be handy as a runabout for when I’m between testers.

I also figured that by putting my bike rack on the back, I might actually get round to using said bike more often. Very me, that. Want to get fit?

Buy another car.

So we did the paperwork, and I set out to drive the Fabia home. Did I mention that Mum lives in Edinburgh, I live in Burton on Trent and the car hasn’t seen upstairs of 40mph since Tony Blair was in power? This was going to be interesting.

Not as interesting as it would have been had I tried doing it on what were still the factory-original tyres, however. None of these were looking very healthy (three were packing advisories, indeed), so I ordered up a set of Kumho Ecowings and got them fitted the day before the journey. As an aside, I did this using Asda Tyres; I was sceptical about how well the system would work but, as things turned out, it went as smoothly as you like.

So, did the journey home, at least for a while. I took the scenic route to the M6 via Moffat, which if you don’t

know it is an absolutely lovely drive (code for watch out for speed cameras), though having hit the M6 itself I was met by a wall of rain that didn’t ease for about the next hundred miles.

Then, as I ploughed through the spray, the engine warning light came on and the ECU went into limp mode.

As hiccups go, that’s a big one, obviously, but after a couple of minutes in the hard shoulder I hit on the idea of turning it off and on again… and to my enormous relief, it fired up perfectly. There was no further sign of trouble, though I did keep a lid on the revs the rest of the way.

Once home, I took the Fabia to a local garage for its MOT and a general check-up. Their diagnostic kit came back with a cylinder misfire as the source of the problem, so we kept calm and carried on and since then it’s been thrashed up and down the motorway several times without issue.

So that’ll be fixed, then.

Talking of the MOT, a clean pass with no advisories was testament to

the quality of the Fabia’s build (and of the way it’s been looked after). It didn’t reflect very well on the garage Mum was using laterally, though, because the aforementioned paperwork included a long list of very lucrative jobs they’d said needed done before the next test. I showed it to the main man at my workshop, who I’ve got to know well over the years, and he just laughed, so you can draw your own conclusions as to what was going on.

With my bike rack now in place, the Fabia is doing a sterling job as a runabout and all-too-occasional accessory to my lame efforts at exercise. One infuriating problem I’ve encountered is that the tailgate can only be opened remotely, using a lever by the driver’s door – but with the rack in place, it’s too heavy to pop up, meaning this is now a two-man job. So I now access the boot by dropping one of the rear seats, which is less than graceful.

Scuffed plastic wheel trims are less than graceful, too. I’ve thought about sourcing a set of OE alloys off a

scrapper, and between this and a good going over with some T-Cut I reckon the Fabia would look bang tidy. Trying to find an actual second-hand set on eBay, however, as opposed to endless pages of adverts for brand new ones, has proved pretty much impossible,

Confessions of a Car Maniac

Terrible ideas we’ve been lusting after in the classifieds this month…

There are several reasons for my undying lust for the mid-noughties French pocket rocket. Firstly, I think there’s something really cool about it. And secondly, I’ve been led to believe that it’s really, really good. Its performance figures aren’t dissimilar to those of the previous-gen Fiesta ST, it’s light and it’s very reasonably priced on the second-hand market.

So why haven’t I bought one? I think I might have missed the boat. They’re all so good they’ve been driven to the moon and back, and they’re French so the cliché tells you they’ll break down.

I did consider the prospect of running one into the ground and then simply replacing it. But instead, I’ve began courting the even more revered, certified classic that is the Trophy version. Because, you know, neither logic or common sense should be a factor.

George Dove

and you hear stories of insurance companies counting this as a modification, so I’m not rushing it. This IS meant to be just a cheap runabout, after all – and having passed down through family, it’s proving as good at that job as ever.

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A winter’s tail-happy Vehicle: Toyota GT86 Year: 2012 Run by: George Dove I ABSOLUTELY LOVE my GT86. It’s sharp-edged, agile and fun to drive.

But as winter began to set in, its personality began to change. Much like last year, we haven’t had too much winter to worry about until, well, spring. But as autumn left, though things didn’t change too much, the temperature dropped just enough for the 86 to become what you don’t want in a playful, rear-wheel drive coupe: untrustworthy.

In the mornings, I’d drive to work without having had to defrost the windscreen – yet still the traction control would kick in without fail at T-junctions. I changed the way I drove it, taking a more point-and-shoot approach as opposed to gently pushing towards the edge. But still, it would give me more than I bargained for in faster corners when I wasn’t even looking for trouble – and by more, I mean much less. Less grip. Hence my diminished trust.

Perhaps this had been in part down the fact that I’d just enjoyed my first summer with the car, which is undoubtedly the most flattering time of year to drive such a vehicle. But nonetheless, I decided to call in reinforcements. The reinforcements I’ve called upon are a set of Nokian WR A4 tyres – winter rubber designed specifically for sporty cars.

They feature plenty of features to cope with everything from snow and ice to rain and the avoidance of aquaplaning.

This is achieved by integrating several different grooves, tread technology and a non-toxic compound made of natural rubber, silica and canola oil.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that a tyre with so many aspects to it could fall short of the mark. But while the WR A4 isn’t focused on a specific job the way, say, a sticky slick might be, it IS focused on allowing a sports car to remain a sports car all year round, and at this it is very effective.

While I haven’t faced much ice or any snow since the Nokians were fitted in December, they’ve restored a large portion of my faith in my pride and joy. They’re not completely unflappable, but they do show a remarkable range of abilities. In the cold, they’ve tamed the wayward back end, which now steps out very rarely – even when, ahem, given a little prod – and the amount of feel they transmit from the road surface is remarkable.

One of the reasons I love the GT86 so much is that it’s very raw and gives me a wonderfully analogue driving experience – and a big part of this is the feedback that comes through the steering wheel. Perhaps this information isn’t quite as expressive as it was on my old non-winter tyres; it’s still communicative, though, and the car remains both confidence inspiring and, more than that, entertaining to drive.

The Nokian rubber handles wheelspin impressively, too. With the 86 being rear-wheel drive, if you try to nip out from a junction with any urgency you’re often greeted with a dab of tyre squeal and a fleeting moment of stationary slip. However, the WR A4s have quelled that significantly, proving resistant to both the slowed progress and the noise that goes with it. Smoky burnouts? No, no, I’m way too grownup to do that…

Despite so far only encountering a spattering of light frostings and a few downpours – in which the WR A4s again felt sure-footed – the new tyres have shown all the flexibility they promised. If this winter does follow last year’s pattern and bless us with another late snowfall, I’ll be ready. Not as ready as the Editor in his Land Rover 90, maybe, but there won’t be many Toyota GT86 drivers looking forward to the prospect the way I am.

Over the last few weeks, for reasons that are far too lengthy to explain here, I’ve got it into my head that the solution to all life’s ills will be to buy myself an economical mile-muncher that lavishes me in luxury. Needless to say, I don’t want to spend any more than £2.99 on it.

Remarkably, this isn’t easy to find. But where there’s an idiot with an idea, there’s usually a ridiculous solution.

Ladies and gents, I give you the Skoda Octavia. Which is not ridiculous at all. Specifically, I find myself poring over ads for the Octavia 1.6 TDI Elegance. The latter it is not: but when you get nav and heated seats in a 60+ mpg package, all for £2900 (yep, I found one), how can you complain?

Mike Trott

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BUYING USED

CABIN

SEATS

Stout fabrics pass the test of time. Rear seats not as spacious as you might expect. Seven-seat Qashqai+2 model, available from 2008-on, added flexibility for carrying people and luggage alike

Stout and well laid out in general, with good, clear switchgear.

Watch out for damaged trim – fittings that look as if they’re made of metal are in fact plastic with a chrome-effect film that can peel off over time. Listen for rattles and look for signs of damp coming in from around the windscreen. Check air-con is working correctly, as faults have been reported

SUSPENSION

Listen for graunches and knocks, particularly from the rear. Bounce every corner to check shock absorbers are in working order

NISSAN QASHQAI 2007-2013 The original urban crossover has come to be seen as a great-value family runabout on the used market. It’s not immune to problems, but the choice is enormous

THE MK1 QASHQAI is known as the vehicle that redefined the crossover market. It pretty much redefined the notion of popularity, too – the radical new British-built Qashqai sold in absolutely huge numbers.

As a result, there’s a wide choice of second-hand Qashqais around. The earliest are more than a decade old, and some have racked up vast mileages, but a well chosen example will give you a lot of car for your money.

To start with, the Qashqai came with a choice of 1.6 and 2.0-litre petrol

engines, and 1.5 and 2.0-litre diesels.

In each case, the smaller units are a bit weedy and by now they’re likely to be showing the signs of being thrashed, while both 2.0-litre engines are thirsty.

Most engines were available with an auto box, but be warned that the unit on the 2.0-litre petrol is a pretty nasty CVT job. Both 2.0-litre engines could be specced with four-wheel drive; it’s a rarity, and you’ll still pay a premium for it even now, but if you want a car with added traction for grubby country roads it’s worth considering.

FOUR OF THE BEST £2000 FAMILY CARS 2008 Renault Laguna 2.0 Hatchback 93,000 miles, £1995 The Laguna was a bit of a Marmite car, in both styling and performance, but you can pick up a tidy manual model with handy kit for very little money. This one returns 45mpg and has ISOFIX fittings, as well as a 462-litre boot with the seats up – or 1377 litres with them folded.

The cheapest Qashqais you’re likely to find are in Visia trim, which is pretty basic. We’d always recommend the mid-range Acenta, which has most of what you’re likely to want. At the top of the range, Tekna models gained leather and sat-nav, neither of which are options that age well.

If all you want to do is spend as little as possible, high-milers worth having currently start at around £1500.

If you want an Acenta with less than about 100k on the clock, however, you’ll come close to doubling that.

The best Qashqais, however, are those with the 1.6-litre diesel engine that was introduced in 2011. This is a smoother unit than the 2.0-litre diesel it replaced, and it’s far better on fuel – which in turn means you’ll pay a lot less in tax.

By now, the Qashqai had had a mid-life facelift, so all 1.6 diesels have a more modern look. This, and the fact that they’re both better and newer, means you’ll struggle to pay any less than about £6000 for anything other than a high-miler, but if you can

2008 Toyota Avensis 2.0 D-4D Estate 82,000 miles, £1950 A firm favourite with taxi drivers, thanks to its comfort, economy and reliability. The Avensis is capacious to say the least – the estate’s boot is big enough start a new civilisation. The one we found has a higher mileage than maybe you’d want, but again Toyotas are famed for being reliable and even with those digits on the clock it will still have plenty of miles left in it for sure.

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Classic INSTANT INFO

ENGINE

1.6 diesel from 2011-on by far the best in the range. Previous 2.0 diesel was strong but thirsty. 1.6 petrol and 1.5 diesel rather sluggish, 2.0 petrol quick but expensive to run. CVT auto box on 2.0 petrol costs a fortune if it goes wrong; conventional auto on diesel engines is better

VAUXHALL CORSA Ë YEARS 2006-2014 Ë PRICE RANGE £750-£6000

Tailgate release is in a plastic strip whose catches are prone to breaking. If it’s loose, it’s on the way out

OVERVIEW The fourth-generation Corsa represented a huge step forward for Vauxhall’s supermini. Based on a new platform, it was far more modern looking, safer and better equipped than the previous model, and it sold in enormous numbers for the next eight years. The range of engine and trim options is almost endless.

IN THE CABIN The Corsa’s cabin looks and feels snug and surprisingly well made. Its design is quite simple but none the worse for it, and its construction has stood the test of time – materials tend not to go off with age, and you don’t need to fear being driven mad by trim rattles. Its spacious enough up front to accommodate more or less any driver, and your kids won’t object to riding in the back

BODY

Protective lower trim can get pulled away from the panels it’s attached to. Tailgate catch prone to breaking away; replacement is very expensive

Above: Flaking trim on chrome-effect door handles can leave sharp enough edges to draw blood Below: Facelifted model from 2010 on feels more modern. Pictured is the 7-seat Qashqai +2 version

EQUIPMENT There’s an epic range of trim levels, which means you can get more or less whatever you want on the used market – for much less of a premium than it would have cost the original owner. At the top of the range, comforts like heated seats and steering wheel are available, as well as the sort of sat-nav and connectivity options the era had to offer.

PERFORMANCE The engine range is every as baffling as the number of spec levels on offer. There are 1.0, 1.2, 1.4, and 1.8-litre petrol engines, and 1.3 and 1.7-litre diesels, as well as a turbocharged 1.6 petrol in the (very) hot VXR model. The latter is hilariously fast, however all but the smallest petrol engine are quick enough.

ROAD MANNERS The Corsa rides smoothly and handles very tidily on the open road. It’s dead easy to drive around town, too, and is quiet enough on a long cruise.

PRACTICALITY You can get 3-door and 5-door versions; both are adequate, but rear legroom is limited and the boot floor is uneven with the back seats down.

RELIABILITY By and large, the bigger engines tend to be more reliable, and they don’t add much to the purchase cost on the used market. Look for evidence of a full service history, though, as without it both engine and gearbox issues can crop up.

Suspension wear and sticky brakes are not unknown, but electrical gremlins are rare.

stretch to that it’s worth making the initial investment.

If you want the greatest possible practicality, you might also want to think about the Qashqai+2. This was longer and had seven seats, with a third row which folded flat when not in use to create a huge boot.

This model didn’t sell very well, at least by Qashqai standards, and it’s more of a 5+2 than a full seven-seater.

But if the extra space is worth it to you, a 1.6 diesel on sensible miles will see you right from about £7000.

RUNNING COSTS The Corsa is very affordable to run; the smaller engines cost peanuts in tax and fuel, and even the VXR is pretty cheap for such a fast car. While expensive engine and gearbox failures and not unknown, by and large your parts spend will be low – and there’s not a mechanic in the world who can’t fix one.

BUYING USED The Corsa is a bit anonymous, and certainly won’t stand out in a crowd (unless you get one in a lurid colour). But it’s an honest little runabout that’s well kitted, fun to drive and cheap to both buy and run.

VERDICT Vauxhall Corsa Mk4

+ Loads of choice, good interior, drives well, all-round affordable to own - Limited practicality, smaller petrol engines a bit gutless SUM-UP One of the best superminis. Worth spending to the top of your budget

2005 Vauxhall Signum 3.0 CDTi 70,000 miles, £1990

2005 Volkswagen Passat 2.0 TDI 97,000 miles, £1895

The Signum was an executive car created by taking the Vectra estate and putting a hatchback bottom on it. The example we found comes with cruise control, full electric windows and a leather interior that includes an armrest. This is a quirky but classy alternative to a proper estate – but some only had a two-seat rear, which you might want to avoid for family duties.

This Passat offers plenty of space, smart looks and reliability. That’s why, on the used market, it can be considered a low-miler compared to its contemporaries. In saloon form, it had a 485-litre boot – although it’s a true saloon, not a hatchback, so you’ll have to pack it thoughtfully. With a large fuel tank and 47.9mpg, it’s a solid all-round family car that’ll go on and on.

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Issue 1: March 2019

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War and peace THE BIG STORY

Most people have heard of the Maginot Line, which failed to prevent France from being invaded by Germany at the start of WWII. But sixty years earlier, the French had built an even more badly conceived line of defence in the same area. Most of it is still there today, abandoned and forgotten… and linked by unsurfaced roads that make it ideal for exploring aboard a vehicle that evolved from the trucks that fought the war – the Jeep Grand Cherokee Words and Pictures Robert Bracegirdle AS YOU MAKE your way along a quiet unsurfaced road in the western part of Lorraine, with a sweeping hillside to one side and a leafy wood to the other, there’s little to suggest the horrors that have occurred so often in the past on the ground beneath your wheels. Yet there, standing silently in a sun-dappled glade, is a seemingly forgotten reminder of a terrible, turbulent history.

From the trenches of the Great War to the Maginot Line that followed, the landscape of north-eastern France has

been shaped by war. But to understand this abandoned fort being slowly reclaimed by the forest, you have to go a little further back into history.

In 1870, France fought a brief and disastrous war with Prussia. This ended in it losing Alsace and much of Lorraine – meaning that if hostilities were to break out again, the Prussian army would have an unchallenged route towards Paris.

Stung by defeat, France’s new government vowed not to let this happen. No matter that it had agreed to

pay the Prussians five billion francs in reparations: Paris was to be defended at all costs.

The plan it came up with was to build a massive network of forts along the whole of the Prussian frontier. It was a hugely ambitious scheme, every bit as much as the Maginot Line that followed sixty years later. And, like the Maginot Line, it fell victim not to hostile fire but to flawed thinking on an epic scale.

Masterminded by the impressively named general Raymond-Adolphe

Séré de Rivières, these forts turned out to be obsolete even before they were complete. In effect, Séré de Rivières was trying to win the battles his nation had just lost – not the wars it would have to fight in the future.

Effective weapons

Thus France found itself locked into two world wars, entering the nuclear age and even witnessing man’s first ventures into space with a system of defence whose ramparts were built from… soil. What its plans failed to

anticipate was that mankind would invent more effective weapons some time in the future – and the future came as early as 1885, when Eugene Turpin invented melinite. Suddenly, explosives had become 25 times as powerful – and France had become 25 times as vulnerable.

Ironically, the forts’ lack of military value is why so many of them remain intact today. Whereas the Maginot Line was a flop because the German invaders simply went round the side, Séré de Rivières’ plans fell apart

‘The forts’ lack of military value is why so many of them remain intact today. Séré de Rivières’ plans fell apart because his forts weren’t even worth bothering to shoot at’

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because his forts weren’t even worth bothering to shoot at.

This in turn is why, when D-Day came and allied forces started pushing the Germans back towards their own border, these forts were among the first military emplacements on mainland Europe to throw their arms open to the earliest Jeeps. So it’s fitting that we were visiting in a descendant of those first Willys MBs, in the shape of a 2003 Grand Cherokee Overland.

Glorious ride

This vehicle’s age makes it a late example of the Mark 2 Grand. Which means live axles front and rear, to help keep it clear of the ground when nego-

Top: The WJ Grand Cherokee went out of production in 2005, but it’s still sought after today by people who want to use their Jeep off-road. It was the last of the Grands to be built with a beam axle at each end, making it ideally suited to this kind of work – and with a 4.7-litre V8 engine dishing up a lazy 255bhp, the example you see here was a glorious (if thirsty) way of covering the countryside Right: Maintained by the American Battle Monuments Commission, Butte de Montsec stands as a tribute to the US troops killed in World War I. The graceful, symmetrical hilltop on which it stands overlooks the actual fields on which the war was fought – from within the monument, one of 25 such edifices in France, you can actually see the marks left by the trenches on the plains below

Used

Feature

tiating ruts which, who knows, might have been started by a GI in a Willys all those decades ago.

In this case, it also meant a 4.7-litre V8 engine. It’s a sad comment on the way the world is that your reaction to this is probably one of pity rather than envy: 255bhp and 314lb.ft do make for a glorious ride on the autoroute as you punch your way south into France after crossing the Channel, but in this day and age 17.1mpg means pain whatever way you look at it. Just as well France’s service stations are so much better than Britain’s.

The section of Séré de Rivières’ fortifications we were heading for was in the Val de Meuse, between the

Modified

Sport

towns of Commercy and Toul – a short Panzer ride from the German border, and an area of tremendous strategic importance given its position on the confluence of three major rivers.

Pointing the Jeep north on a smooth gravel track leading into the hills overlooking Vertuzey, we followed wooden signs taking us along a bumpy field edge towards the Fort de Gironville.

Those live axles proved their worth every step of the way here, keeping us out of danger in ruts and easing their way in and out of potholes left by heavier vehicles in wetter times.

We navigated our way past a section through trees whose branches would have left their marks on the Jeep’s

Classic

paintwork, finding our way back to the track and fetching up outside the fort’s quietly decaying ramparts, now shaded by tall deciduous trees and slowly being reclaimed by nature. This is how many of these forts and emplacements have ended up, destroyed by time rather than warfare. Amid the carnage of two world wars, many of them remained intact.

Gironville is a perfect example.

Abandoned but not ruined, we found it resting quietly in the dappled sunlight at the end of our field-side track. There’s a car park of sorts, but no ticket booth, no souvenir shop, no multi-lingual tourist information plaques… and no barriers telling you

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where you can and can’t go. There is no Fort de Gironville Experience. And in many ways, that is the experience.

Completely intact

Further along the same set of tracks, an opening in the trees to one side leads to the Fort de Jouy Sous-lesCôtes. Unlike Gironville, this has been closed up, perhaps to stop local children from using it as a playground, but it too is still almost completely intact. Even the stout woodenplatformed bridge leading across what appears for all the world to be a moat looked like it would happily bear the weight of the Jeep. Not that we were reckless enough to try.

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Issue 1: March 2019

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Having picked your way along a track through picturesque woodland to the Etang de Ronval, a quaint little lake on which locals fish patiently for brown trout, you rejoin the tarmac towards Marbotte – and almost immediately come upon a military cemetery where the French tricolour flutters over a sea of simple white crosses. It’s a sight that puts a lump in your throat – and brings home the contrast between the quiet, idyllic countryside here and the hell on earth it was turned into by war

Two subsequent generations of Grand Cherokee, culminating in the glorious Trackhawk model you can read about elsewhere in this issue of Drive, have left our WJ model looking old. But that’s just progress. The same kind of progress that France’s military planners were forced to try and keep up with in a desperate attempt to prevent their bank-breaking showpiece from turning into an instant relic. Yet it wasn’t until 1897 that modernisation work began; some of the 166 forts, 43 small emplacements and 250-plus gun batteries gained cast-iron turrets, while others, particularly on the German

border, had concrete shells laid over their earth walls.

Mouldering relics

Just what you need when the rest of the world is away inventing tanks. By the time France’s fortifications were called upon to defend it against invasion from the east, the world had once again left them behind. Forts built to withstand columns of slow-moving foot soldiers, primitive artillery and cavalry on horseback found themselves pitched into a war of shells and mustard gas. The trenches of the Great War are a century away now, but

even in those dark times the bodged fortifications Séré de Rivières left as his legacy looked like little more than a quaint anachronism. Which is, of course, why Gironville, Jouy and the rest are now mouldering relics, rather than annihilated piles of broken stone, fading into old age amid a gentle landscape where the guns have at last fallen silent.

Beyond Gironville, a rough, rockily surfaced track leads to a quiet crossroads on which stands the Fort de Liouville. This is only accessible in groups – though once again there’s nothing commercial about the volun-

teers who show visitors around in their twos and threes.

The quiet, bucolic feel of the area is in such clashing contrast to the awful sound and fury that has roared out around here so many times in its history. This is brought starkly home as you descend through picturesque woods to the Etang de Ronval, a quaint little lake on which locals fish patiently for brown trout. Rejoining the tarmac towards Marbotte, you almost immediately come upon a military cemetery where the French tricolour flutters over a sea of simple white crosses.

And if any further reminder was necessary of the price so many of the earliest early Jeep drivers paid for the follies of politicians, one need only turn north towards the Butte de Montsec. Overlooking the Lac de Medine, this is a graceful, symmetrical hilltop on which stands a monument to the US troops killed in World War I. One of 25 such tributes maintained by the American Battle Monuments Commission, Montsec is approached from the car park via a long, open stairway.

From within it, you can actually see the marks left by the trenches on the plains below.

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‘As we travelled back towards Reims, the day’s watery sunshine gave way and the sky turned the colour of ink as a massive thunderstorm gathered its forces for an assault on the plains around Verdun’ As we travelled back towards Reims, the elegant, cosmopolitan capital of the Champagne region in which we were based, the day’s watery sunshine gave way and the sky turned the colour of ink as a massive thunderstorm gathered its forces for an assault on the plains around Verdun. Never being averse to a bit of sledgehammer symbolism, I imagined the storm that engulfed this whole area from 1914 to 1918. However sanctimonious it must sound from the pampered existence of a comfortable middle-class life, it doesn’t half send a chill up your spine to think, as you drive through the quiet countryside, there’s a very good chance that at any given moment, you’re passing over the exact point at which someone’s life was snuffed out.

Profound reminders

War gave us marvels like the Jeep, as well as hastening the dawn of jet travel and encouraging many other technological advances which have brought countless benefits in peacetime. In many ways, the landscape of

modern life has been shaped by the horrors of the past – and there are few places where the physical landscape bears more profound marks of war than in the north-east of France. The trenches may be gone, but the scars still remain.

So too do those ill-conceived forts, an absurd relic of a time when France was ruled by war mongers and governed in ignorance. Like them, our old-model Grand Cherokee was left over from another time: but quite unlike them, though it’s a product of a bygone era it’s a former technological leader that’s still very relevant, and much sought-after, today.

Of course, those old, abandoned forts will still be there, maintaining their unchanging silent vigil, long after our WJ and almost all those like it have gone. Which is exactly how it should be. But today, they’re no more than a window on the past: and for as long as they continue to be used on and, more importantly, off the road, these live-axled old Jeeps will always be much more than that.

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Issue 1: March 2019

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‘Ringing the changes

Some people modify cars just for the sake of it. Sam Johnson isn’t one of them – though his RenaultSport Megane is more modified than most look-at-me motors you’ll ever see. No, he’s modified it for the sake of something altogether more interesting – shaving seconds off his lap time at the mighty Nurburgring…

Words and Pictures George Dove QUITE OFTEN, YOU’LL come across a car enthusiast who simply can’t help themselves. Their whip will have a list of modifications so long you’d need a fresh bog roll to itemise it – often with no end goal aside from just standing out in a crowd.

But that’s not the case here. While Sam Johnson’s RenaultSport Megane 225 has seen many tweaks, its purpose is absolutely clear: it’s a hardcore trackday toy ‘I’ve always been into cars, but my favourite are touring cars,’ says Sam. ‘There’s a few cars I’ve taken inspiration from, and eventually I want my

Meg to drive like a touring car racer – and look like one too!’

The owner of a Mk5 Volkswagen Golf GTi at the time, Sam was converted a little over a year ago after being introduced to a group of RenaultSport enthusiasts. And he hasn’t looked back since.

‘The Golf went and was replaced by this,’ explains Sam. ‘At the time, it was running a very mild spec and cost about £1500. I’ve spent plenty on it since, and I like to think it’s quite hardcore now.’

Sam learned his spannering skills from a few years spent working as a

mechanic, a trade he entered straight from school. He found run of the mill servicing and repairs too dull, however, so these days he only works on his own car – along with his mates in the RenaultSport crew. They use a lock-up in Ripley, Derbyshire to enact performance enhancing surgery on their various Clios and Meganes (and a Honda Integra Type R, because no man with a good car needs to be justified) – and, while it’s all good fun, it can be hard work too.

‘One Bank Holiday Monday we did two engine swaps in a day,’ recalls Sam. ‘It was difficult, and we were

beat when we finished – but both cars drove away from it.’

Working together

The crew have learnt from that day, however, and haven’t been scared off.

Without them all working together, Sam’s Megane wouldn’t be in its current racy spec.

What does that spec involve? It’s pretty serious stuff. The rear axle is now an R26 number, and there’s an anti-roll bar from the same source at the back. BC BR Coilovers have been fitted at the front, Powerflex black series bushes are used both front and

rear and the Megane’s ride height has been set to favour the corners.

‘I can’t tell you how much it’s been lowered,’ Sam chuckles. ‘But it’s as low as it’ll go. It was measured from the ground up and all four corners are the same height. It handles really well, and I think the handling modifications are my favourite changes.’

But another thing that Sam loves about his Megane is the torque it has on tap. The ‘225’ in its name comes from the 225bhp its engine produced… which we say in the past tense because it ended up in a scrap bin somewhere after Sam blew it up.

‘I can’t tell you how much it’s been lowered. ‘But it’s as low as it’ll go. It was measured from the ground up and all four corners are the same height. It handles really well’

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25

How electric racing is set to light up the future of motorsport

The engine, which was swapped in from the later, more powerful Megane, has been extensively worked over to boost its output. Inside, the car’s trim has been stripped out to save weight; additions include a strut brace to stiffen it at the rear and Corbeau bucket seats to keep its occupants in place on the racetrack

Repairing it was going to be a major job, and for that you can read expensive. But then a solution presented itself in the shape of a later Megane 250 which had been written off.

‘Me and one of the lads went down to look at it the next day and brought it back on a trailer,’ says Sam. ‘It had been rear-shunted so the engine block was absolutely fine.

‘I bought it for about £2500 and the engine is worth £1500 itself. After selling some other parts from it, I ended up getting the engine for much less than the going rate!’

Peak performance

So, strictly speaking it’s still a Megane 225 – but with the upgraded 250 engine. A bonus 25bhp – that’s enough, right? Of course it’s not.

While installing the new engine, Sam and Co fitted a custom induction set-up and top boost pipe, a CGR ceramic decat and turbo back exhaust with a Scorpion Exhausts centre silencer, Siemens DEKA 630cc injectors, an Airtec 95mm intercooler and an aluminium radiator. It was fitted using uprated mounts from Powerflex (as was the modified R26 limited-slip gearbox) before the vehicle was taken to specialist outfit EFI for mapping.

As a result of all this, the engine now puts out a healthy 300bhp. Better still, the turbocharger has been

calibrated to offer peak torque of 330lbf.ft from 3000rpm through to the redline. Fast, it is.

Touring car heroes

If you want to go, you’d better be able to stop, and uprated Megane 250 front brakes, HEL braided lines, PFC-Z pads and Castrol SRF fluid all help make sure that happens. Tasked with bringing the best out of the Megane on track are a quartet of Yokohama AD08R tyres, which are semi-slick – meaning Sam can still drive legally to and from track days.

To make the Megane resemble his BTCC touring car heroes, Sam has made a few exterior changes. A Rhino lip splitter has been fitted at the front and an R26.R spoiler at the rear, where the bumper has been cut into a custom design. The rear wiper has been deleted and all badging is now in black.

Inside, everything from the dashboard back has gone, barring a pair of Corbeau Clubsport racing seats sitting on lightweight VBD bases and laced with Oreca Turn One harnesses.

There’s an OMP Targa steering wheel and boss, and out back you’ll find a struct brace.

‘I managed to strip 110 kilos from the weight,’ beams Sam. ‘Although I’m about to put about a quarter of that back in as I’ve just ordered a roll cage!’ Can’t see anyone begrudging him that.

As it stands, Sam is very pleased with the project all around – not just for how it drives but what it has helped him experience. ‘We went on holiday to the Nürburgring, he says, ‘and it was incredible. I drove the Meg there, on track and then on the way back without any issues.’

The trip saw Sam and his mates take their cars to the world-famous circuit for a week: ‘It was incredible!

With the group having a few Clios in it, there was one part where the Meg really came into its own. There’s an uphill section and they were all really pushing up it, but I just put my foot down and with all its torque the Meg just flew by them as I laughed!’

Follow-up trips are already in the pipeline, as well as a trackday in October. ‘It’s an amazing trip,’ says Sam. ‘For anyone who is into their cars, it is something you must experience!’

The ‘Ring has indeed had such an affect on Sam that he’s scaled back on his plans for UK trackdays to concentrate on removing yet more weight and getting it as fettled as possible for its next excursion to Germany. What were we saying about car enthusiasts who simply can’t help themselves?

Not that modding for the sake of it is Sam’s thing. This is a Megane that’s been built for a purpose – and however more hardcore he reckons he can still take it, he’s already built a track car he can be very proud of.

WHEN NEW TECHNOLOGY crops up in motorsport, it usually hits the mainstream car market a decade or so later. That’s not the case with electric propulsion, however; Formula 1 has only been using hybrid units since 2014, but the Toyota Prius is currently going strong at 22.

F1 has still made the step, however – possibly encouraged by the arrival of Formula E that same year.

The all-electric series endured a slightly tenuous start, but over the first five seasons it has really grown and started to find its groove. In the second season, manufacturers could develop their own batteries and this year, the second-generation car is being raced – for the first time negating the need to switch batteries halfway through a race.

Along with the technological progress it represents, Formula E has also been innovative in terms of entertainment with the invention of Fanboost and Attack Mode. Fanboost allows fans to vote online for their favourite racer, whose electric motor then gets a power-up to be used during the race, while Attack Mode gives drivers the opportunity to gain similar power advantages by driving over designated sections of the track. Are you thinking it sounds like real-life Mario Kart? Because basically, that’s what it is.

Add into all of this the fact that the racing takes place on street circuits, generating a carnival atmosphere, and it’s fair to say that Formula E has been a breath of fresh air for motorsport since its inception.

But while Formula E is the most famous example of electric motorsport on a wide scale, more and more events and disciplines are witnessing the rise of electric power. The 2017 Dakar Rally was completed by a pure EV racer, and the World Rallycross Championship is set to go all-electric from next year. Several teams have gone at least some way down the road towards entering electric vehicles in the Le Mans 24-hours, too, and a new series using Tesla-based race cars is slated to start during 2019.

Then there’s the famous Pikes Peak hillclimb, which over the last few years has been illuminated by an absolute lightning bolt. Volkswagen was already investing heavily in electric technology before diesel gate, but the German company strongly ramped up its efforts in this area to win back public sympathy – and one result is the stunning I.D R, an all-electric race car which last year set a new course record on the hill.

With two motors producing 670bhp and 479lbf.ft, the I.D R weighs in at a mere 1100kg. These figures give it a 0-60 time of 2.25 seconds, allowing the vehicle to carve a full minute off the previous best achieved by an EV. It took 16 seconds off the overall record, too, which was previously held by a Peugeot 208 driven by rally legend Sebastien Loeb.

Volkswagen’s next plan for the I.D R is to take a pop at the lap record on the Nurburgring – and with the pedigree it’s got, you wouldn’t bet against it. Elsewhere in the world, an off-road series called Extreme E is under development, again with a launch date planned for 2020.

Given the benefits of electric propulsion, which include immediate torque and the potential to design cars with a very low centre of gravity, it should be no surprise that motorsport has embraced the technology brought about by our need to drive greener. But none of this is new – as long ago as 1989, the land speed record was being fought over by cars powered entirely by electricity. Motorsport’s past is greener than you might think – and so, certainly, is its future.

Are you thinking it sounds like real-life Mario Kart?

26 CLASSIC CAR CALENDAR Shows and events around the UK during the coming month

Mini Fair

Issue 1: March 2019

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From rust to lust

27 January Staffordshire County Showground One-day indoor Mini show organised by the British Mini Club, now in its 20th year. Trade and club stands, autojumble, premier concours, show and shine, charity auction, car sales.

200-seat restaurant and bar.

Doors open 9.30am £12 per person (£10 in advance).

Under-12s free Tel: 01384 897779

Footman James Great Western Classic Car Show 9-10 February Bath and West Showground, Shepton Mallet, Somerset Trade and club stands, autojumble, vehicle display, classic car auction.

9.30am – 4pm each day £10 per person (£8 in advance). Half price when arriving in a car aged 25 or older Under-16s free Tel: 01507 529529

London Classic Car Show 14-17 February ExCel, London Major international show with trade and club stands, vehicle displays, historic motorsport and theatre with celebrity interviewees. Features this year include aero-engined cars and the 30th anniversary of the Italian Job. Includes live action indoor classic car parades (grandstand tickets £10 per person).

14 Feb: 4.30 –9.30pm 15/16 Feb: 10am – 6pm 17 Feb: 10am –5pm £30 per person (£25 in advance) Age 6-16s £22 (£20 in advance) Under-6s free Preview: £47 per person (£42 in advance) info@thelondonclassiccarshow.co.uk

Race Retro 22-24 February Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire Major international classi motorsport show with trade stands, memorabilia, autojumble, vehicle displays, interview theatre, vehicle auctions and live outdoor rally stage.

22-23 Feb: 9.30am – 5.30pm 24 Feb: 9.30am –4.30pm £27 per person (£22 in advance) Age 5-16s £8 (£7 in advance) Under-5s free Preview: £47 per person (£42 in advance) info@raceretro.com

Morris Minor Show 24 February Museum of Transport, Manchester One-day indoor show organised by the Morris Minor Owners’ Club.

10am – 4.30pm £5 per person (£3 concessions) Under-16s free Tel: 0161 205 2122

Neil Baker goes ‘phwoarr’ a lot when he’s talking about his 1969 Volkswagen Beetle. That might be a worrying sign… but as it turns out, he has plenty if reasons for getting excited about this quirky but beautifully presented classic Words Rob Ronson Pictures Vic Peel ‘PHWOAR!’ GET TALKING to Neil Baker about his 1969 Volkswagen Beetle, and that’s a noise he’ll make before much time has passed.

Men getting turned on by cars is always a bit of a thorny subject, so we should say right now that Neil is cheerfully ironic about the passion he feels towards his Bug. All the same, as passions go it’s an extremely serious one – and it’s been in his blood from the very, very beginning.

‘When I was born,’ he says, ‘my journey home from hospital was in a Beetle.’ Have you ever heard anything more cool?

‘My mum and dad were great Volkswagen fans,’ he continues. ‘So I had twenty years of them. Then my older brother bought a Beetle. So of course then I had to buy one too!’

He did, from a local garage. ‘It was a rot box,’ he says. I drove it for a couple of years, but by then if had no floors. So I had to look for another.’

He did, and the one in these pictures is what he found. It was love at first sight. Well, lust: ‘I saw it and thought “phwoar, I want to drive that!”’

That was in 2001. Since then, he’s improved the Beetle little by little, keeping it standard in lots of ways that people often don’t and turning it into a very cool classic that’s totally in keeping with its times.

Rock’n’roll

He’s had some fun with it along the way, though. Inside, for example, he made and fitted a plywood shelf which he sticker-bombed using front covers from NME. Then he colour-coded the engine bay in homage to the White Stripes’ De Stijl album cover. Very rock’n’roll.

The car started life as a 1500, as evidenced by its front disc brakes. It’s had at least five engine swaps in its life, however – the last being a 1641cc unit which Neil and his brother built

from a bare block. Not just any old bare block, though: ‘It was from my dad’s first Beetle. We used a second-hand head, cleaned it up and put in new pistons and barrels.

Beetle enthusiasts are as guilty as anyone when it comes to wringing the last drops out of their engines, but Neil didn’t want to do that. He did, however, want to make his newly built lump appear standard – and here he hit upon a nice bit of serendipity.

‘We built it with a single port,’ he recalls, ‘so it looked like a 1500 when you open the lid. Then we found out that a single port gives you high compression, so it motors very nicely!

It was a trick they used to do in the 70s – we just did it to make it look right, and that’s what we discovered!

The acceleration is really amazing, and it’s so clean, it’s not lumpy at all.

Phwoaaar!’ Uh-oh.

Neil’s only interested in making changes that are sympathetic to the era

the Beetle hails from. ‘I’m trying to always bear in mind the year it’s from.

So for example the wheels are period Empi 8s – that’s the whole idea of what the car should look like.’

He’s had it resprayed twice, too – but without taking it away from the classy two-tone black and cream that looks so in keeping with the style of a standard-height Beetle. ‘The only thing I didn’t like about it was that the cream went higher than the chrome line,’ he says. ‘It’s got that swage on the bodywork and it went to there.

Where the line on the door comes down, it reached to the bonnet and then it was under it, and it didn’t know where to stop beside the wing. So I had it resprayed down to the chrome, and it looks much better.’

Surrogate van

The cream colour continues on the dash, where it’s set off very nicely by striking orange upholstery on the

‘I got stuck in an avalanche of Volkswagen parts yesterday. I was crouched down and all these carpets and back seats and goodness knows what slid over the top of me – and that was it, I was stuck!’

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seats. These were donated by a Beetle Neil picked up for £200, as was an engine… suffice to say the seats have lasted longer than it did.

In front of them, that original NME-covered shelf had to be replaced after it started to bow. This time, he’s used thicker plywood – and, rather than going as lairy again, he’s just used a dark wood stain on it. ‘It did look really good, but I’ve done that now. I’ve finally grown up…’

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Classic

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Sensible. Ish

You could argue that he’s always been pretty grown-up about his Beetle. ‘I like them stock,’ he answers when asked why he hasn’t followed the herd and lowered its suspension. ‘Volkswagen put them at that height for a reason. If they’re stuck in the ground they don’t want to go round corners.

They handle really well at this height – you can actually drive the car!

Sensible? Ish. Out the back, keeping it in the family in a splendid sort of way are twin Car Tunes exhausts.

‘They were my dad’s and I kind of pinched them. He was going to take them off because they were too loud for him! They do sound really good, with a lovely deep sound. When you fire it up in the morning, you think… phwoarr! Not that I’m passionate about this car or anything!’ Whatever you say, squire.

Elsewhere, you’ll find various nice touches – not big, full-on modifications, just personal quirks that add to the Beetle’s character. There’s a pair of pop-out rear windows, for example, which Neil brought in from California, and clip-on mesh grilles over the headlamps. Why? ‘I dunno. I saw them…’

Neil admits that he managed to crack a few lenses while fitting these.

The wire has to go round to the back of the unit to be held in place, but Beetle lights are such a tight fit that they weren’t impressed by having to share their space. ‘It kind of defeats the purpose of putting them on there, which is to protect the lights from getting cracked!’ Just be sure to lay in a stockpile of spare lenses if you fancy the look of them…

Neil’s three-word verdict on having the Beetle in his life, indeed, is ‘many, many parts.’ It’s been welded once, sprayed twice, repowered four times and looked after non-stop. And in the process, he’s collected ‘many sheds full of parts.’

Get this, in fact. ‘I got stuck in an avalanche of Volkswagen parts yesterday. I did actually have to dig my way out. I was crouched down and all these carpets and back seats and goodness knows what slid over the top of me and that was it, I was stuck!’

Hoarding parts is one of those things that becomes instinctive when you own a classic car. And Neil is very good at it. Even if he’s not that great at piling them up, it would appear.

Great things come in small packages…

Neil Baker: ‘When I was born, my journey home from hospital was in a Beetle’

How much fun can you handle? The Abarth 595 and Suzuki Swift Sport are two of the most entertaining small hatchbacks around – we compare them back-to-back to decide which makes most sense in the real world… and which of them will simply put the biggest smile on your face

Traditional people carriers have gone out of fashion – so how does the latest Ford S-Max fare in the current market?

‘I’ve got a set of genuine wings stacked up just in case. It was quite hard work finding one of them, but I got there in the end. But then when you find a genuine wing at a show and ask the price and they say ten pounds, sometimes you can’t get your money out quickly enough!’ This actually happened to him – and, if you’re not already jealous of his Beetle, you should now be jealous of his luck. ‘It’s not on the car yet, but it’s there when I need it.’

Together forever

That might be tomorrow, or it might be never. But one thing you can be sure of is that owning this Beetle is something Neil intends to keep on doing as long as he lives. ‘At school, I was always saying “I’m going to have a Beetle.” And then I kind of got the

ultimate Beetle that I’d always wanted, within the first few years.’

The time may come when a family of his own demands something more sensible as his daily transport, but he’ll always have his second car. ‘It’s always going to be around, yeah. I think my girlfriend knows that the Beetle will always be there!’

For now, he’s got it made. A glorious daily drive and a cool show car in one, a workshop full of parts and a family that approves. That’s the life. ‘I really enjoy driving it,’ Neil reflects. ‘I just really enjoy Volkswagens.’

And then, for once, he doesn’t go ‘phwoar.’ That’s the gentle satisfaction of a long-term relationship. Neil found his dream car unusually early in life.

And with a Beetle like this in your garage, who wouldn’t feel moved to let out a quiet sigh of contentment?

Fresh from being named Pick-Up of the Year, the Volkswagen Amarok demonstrates the skills that won over the judges

By name and by nature… the Mk2 Skoda Superb was every bit as good as its reputation suggests. But it was right at the heart of the VW Group diesel emissions scandal. So, what do you get for your money on the used market – and what should you watch out for?

PLUS!

• Restoring a classic car – but leaving out the rulebook • Cruising the country in a bona fide Range Rover limousine • Pioneering drivers who scaled Ben Nevis on four wheels

The April 2019 issue of Drive is published on 22 February – and it’s 100% FREE!

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