OURCARS.
2018 I The Best Cars as Your Choices 2
OURCARS. SEAT ARONA FR
PEUGEOT 5008
AUDIRSS
TESLA MODEL S 85D
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Two months into Arona ownership and, as a daily driver, we're sold. But can Wales help see off the fug of pointlessness that dogs it?
After four months we know it's practical family transport, but won't it feel ungainly, heavy and slow in this more driver-focused company?
Ours since late last year, the RS5 remains an enigma - it's good, but is it good enough? Wet roads and a long drive should help its cause.
This will be the Tesla's biggest challenge in its six months with us: an overnight trip to a part of the country light on fast chargers.
Price as tested £21,270 Engine
Price as tested £36,940 Engine
Price as tested £80,015 Engine
Price as tested £57,510 (approved used) Engine twin e-motors, 510bhp Transmission1-spd auto, awd Performance 5.2sec 0-62mph, 155mph, Og/km CO2 Miles this month 527 Total 20,511Our energy consumption 392Wh/mile
1498cc 16v turbo 4-cyl, 148bhp, 1841b ft Transmission 6-spd manual, fwd Performance 8.3sec 0-62mph, 127mph, 115g/km CO2 Miles this month 1382 Total 3878 Our mpg 37.7 Official mpg 55.4
1997cc 16v turbo 4-cyl, 181bhp, 4001b ft Transmission 6-spd auto, fwdPerformance 9.1sec 0-62mph, 131mph, 124g/km CO2Miles this month 1908 Total 7501 Our mpg 39.8 Official mpg 58.9
SUZUKI SWIFT
BMW MS
It's spent 11 months impressing us with its flickability and disappointing us with its low-rent interior. Will Wales change anything?
After making us almost explode with pleasure when it arrived last month, can the all-wheel-drive saloon possibly keep it up?
After an encouraging first couple of months, Snowdonia gives the Kia a chance to show what it can do on some proper driving roads.
Our vRS has spent five months showing us that - like generations of hot Skodas before it - it's a blend of fun and function. But is that it?
Price as tested £14,984 Engine
Price as tested £102,825 Engine
Price as tested £41,180 Engine
Price as tested £36,850 Engine
998cc 12v turbo 3-cyl, 108bhp, 1251b ft Transmission 5-spd manual, fwdPerformance 10.6sec 0-62mph, 121mph, 97g/km CO2 Miles this month 847 Total 10,858 Our mpg 58.8 Official mpg 65.7
4395cc 32v turbo V8, 591bhp, 5531b ft Gearbox 8-spd auto, awd Performance 3.4sec 0-62mph, 155mph, 241g/km CO2Miles this month 1286 Total 4870 Our mpg 16.9Official mpg 26.9
JAGUAR XF SPORTBRAKE
VAUXHALL INSIGNIA COUNTRY TOURER
2894cc 24v turbo V6, 444bhp, 4431b ft Transmission 8-spd auto, awdPerformance 3.9sec 0-62mph, 155mph, 197g/km CO2Miles this month 1476 Total 6920 Our mpg 23.8 Official mpg 32.5
KIA STINGER GT S
SKODA OCTAVIA vRS
3342cc 24v turbo 6-cyl, 360bhp, 3761b ft Transmission 8-spd auto, rwd Performance 4.9sec 0-62mph, 168mph, 225g/km CO2 Miles this month 1254Total 3213 Our mpg 23.3 Official mpg 28.5
1984cc 16v turbo 4-cyl, 242bhp, 2371b ftTransmission 7 -spd auto, fwd Performance 6.5sec 0-62mph, 156mph, 146g/km CO2 Miles this month 1216 Total 11,766 Our mpg 29.7 Official mpg 44.1
HYUNDAI i30N PERFORMANCE
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Now five months into our time with the Jag it's proved solid but uninspiring. Still, that huge boot should be great for getting lunch.
Championed by Ben Whitworth when it debuted last month, but will the Vauxhall estate survive exposure to the rest of us?
Once Steve Moody clicked with his C-Class coupe he wouldn't let anyone else near it. Time for the rest of us to finally get a drive.
Now in its fifth month with CAR, there's been barely a dissenting whisper. But will this outing reveal its hidden flaws? {Spoiler: no.)
Price as tested £49,615 Engine
Price as tested £35,685 Engine
Price as tested £56,870 Engine
Price £28,550 Engine 1998cc
1999cc 16v turbodiesel 4-cyl, 178bhp, 3171b ft Transmission 8-spd auto, rwd Performance 8.8sec 0-62mph, 138mph, 120g/km CO2Miles this month 1773 Total 9190 Our mpg 43 Official mpg 61.4
1956cc 16v diesel 4-cyl, 207bhp, 3541b ft Transmission 8-spd auto, awd Performance 7.7sec 0-62mph, 142mph, 39.8mpg, 188g/km CO2 Miles this month 869Total 2898 Our mpg 31.7 Official mpg 39.8
2996cc 24v twin-turbo V6, 360bhp, 3781b ftTransmission 9-spd auto, awd Performance 4.7sec 0-62mph, 155mph, 183g/km CO2Miles this month 984 Total 7377 Our mpg 28.4 Official mpg 35.3
MERCEDES E·CLASS ALL-TERRAIN
V W ARTEON
VOLVO XC60
Supremely practical, hugely desirable, comfortable and sensible - but the Mere hasn't faced any challenging roads until now. Price as tested £61,260 Engine
2987cc 24v turbodiesel V6, 254bhp, 4571b ft Transmission 9-spd auto, awd Performance 6.2sec 0-62mph, 155mph, 179g/km CO2Miles this month 1324 Total 7790 Our mpg 34.7 Official mpg 41.5
2018 I The Best Cars as Your Choices 3
Price as tested £40,600 Engine
1984cc 16v turbo 4-cyl, 187bhp, 2361b ftTransmission 7 -spd DSG auto, fwd Performance 7.7sec 0-62mph, 149mph, 135g/km CO2 Miles this month 1186Total1750 Our mpg 36.5 Official mpg 47.1
16v 4-cyl turbo, 271bhp, 2601b ft Transmission 6-spd manual, fwd Performance 6.1sec 0-62mph, 155mph, 163g/km CO2 Milesthis month 705 Total 5837 Our mpg 20.9 Official mpg 39.8 HONDA CIVIC TYPE R
After four months chugging happily around the Cotswolds, time for Volvo's middle SUV to stretch its legs and test its sat-nav.
Initial styling-related reservations have disappeared over our six months with the Type R. All we see now is a very talented hot hatch.
Price as tested £49,535 Engine
Price as tested £32,995 Engine
1969cc 16v turbodiesel 4-cyl, 187bhp, 2951b ft Trans 8-spd auto, awd Performance 8.4sec 0-62mph, 127mph, 136g/km CO2Miles this month 809 Total 3857 Our mpg 32.4 Official mpg 54.3
1996cc 16v turbo 4-cyl, 316bhp, 2951b f tTransmission 6-spd manual, fwd Performance 5.8sec 0-62mph, 169mph, 176g/km CO2 Miles this month 2004 Total 9034 Our mpg 32.0 Official mpg 36.7
THE VOLVO'S TORQUE BONUS IS NULLIFIED BY ITS EXTRA WEIGHT AND HEIGHT
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Medium-sized posh SUV smugness
Ben will, in just 17 miles or so, complete this overtake
Arteon versus the SUV takeover Families used to drive cars like the VW Arteon, being run by Ben Pulman. Now they drive cars like Anthony's Volvo XC60. Progress? HENEVERASELECTION OF cars gath
er i11 a windblown lay by, their keys up for grabs in a Tupperware box of opportunity, some fobs will prove easier to purloin than others. Unmissably bright though its paint • is, such is the case with Ben Pulman's VW. The M5's keys are nowhere to be seen; ever. The Arteon's are always there. So I grab them. The Phaeton was a great car. Quite why such a sublime machine sank without trace is still baffling. (In 2014, VW sold 31 Phaetons in the UK. In 2015... eight.) But, in the context of a mass manufacturer of 'people's cars' having des idees au dessous de sagare, it is entertaining to speculate on how the Lexus LS400 might have fared badged as a Toyota. I mention this because, at a time wherein the top-heavy SUV/crossover mould - ably personified by our Volvo XC6o do1ni11ates our auto1notive topography, Volkswagen is having another stab at the original prestige saloon format in the form of the Arteon. Happily, the Arteon is a much better fit in the Volkswagen line-up than the ill-fated Phaeton. It's spacious enough to allow the unfeasibly long Mr Pulman to sit comfort ably behind himself, comprehensively appointed and with no W12 powerplant in sight. Lest we forget, as presented here, the
Arteon is also a cool nine grand less than the XC6o. Followi11g Pul111an across fa1niliar yet endlessly enjoyable Welsh roads, the sun quickly drying the tarmac just as soon as the fast-moving cloud base stops throwing down rain, it strikes that in the VW, for the money, you are well rewarded. Ben rightly describes the Volvo's interior as 'lovely', but so, in a somewhat more Teutonic fashion, is that of the VW. Indeed, so comforta ble and spacious is it that, but for the lack of evil-smelling dog accommodation the ff-Cs would happily be prised from one to t'other. Arteon estate, anyone? Botl1 VW and Volvo major in suspension compliance focused very much on. ride quality, a definite bonus from tl1e perspective of other family members. However, while the XC6o may still be hustled along at a respectable lick, the torque bonus it enjoys over the Arteon is nul lified by extra weight and height. And when it comes to B -roads, the perceptibly quicker, more responsive and agile latter actually entertains while the farmer merely copes. You'll have to take n1y word for all of this, though, because garnering feedback from colleagues at our gathering proved a tad tricky: 'Have you tried the Volvo or the VW yet?' 'No not yet but I willWHO'S GOT THE Ms KEYS?' ► ANTHONY FFRENCH-CONSTANT
2018 I The Best Cars as Your Choices 4
OURCARS.
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BMW MS Brilliant. But £103,000 brilliant?
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KIA STINGER GT S Korea's 4-series Gran Coupe
JAGUAR XF Some space, some pace, some grace
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2018 I The Best Cars as Your Choices 6
Proof, were it needed, that the 5008 did no real off-roading (snapper Al.ex did)
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THE ROAD RUNS UP HIGH OVER BOGGY MOORLAND IN WAVES LIKE I T'S MELTED - --
2018 I The Best Cars as Your Choices 7
OURCARS.
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THINGS WE ARGUED ABOUT
The point of the VWArteon Notoriously hard to-please Ben Barry put the Civic Type R down just long enough to take the Arteon for a spin. And 20 minutes later it was back, brakes hot like an F1 car's after Q3. The verdict? 'It's just transport, isn't it?' Ouch. But true. While the Arteon's fine lines promise similarly fuzz-free dynamics, the driving experience actually ---- majors on languid progress. Thrills • are in short supply, so frenzied Welsh blats don't do the VW any favours. But
with time, according to its keeper Ben Pulman, comes understanding.
the 5cm slimmer M2 makes for far fewer cold sweats and involuntary gasps.
The XC60 is actually better than the XC90 Nicer proportions, less cash, less intimidatingly massive and nicer to drive how badly do you need that third row of seats?
Are Audis detached on purpose? Time and again we wish Audis - and particularly RS Audis - were more talkative, less buttoned-up and a little more alive. Last month it was the TT RS; this month the RS5. But with the livewire R8 RWS it's become clear that, when Audi wants to, it can do it: ergo, most of the time it doesn't want to. Shame. RS5 RWS please.
The BMW MS being just too big Moaning about cars getting bigger might be nothing new, but it's still entirely valid, and narrow Welsh roads make it a live issue. The M5 is right on the cusp of being too wide at 1903mm;
Mercedes is on one hell of a roll right now Alright, so the All Terrain didn't shine here. But, by contrast with the Audi RS5, the C43 impressed everybody. The Mere range may
be confusing in its breadth and variety, but this is no problem when so many of its cars work so well.
The hot hatch as blunt instrument Hot hatches used to be about balance, playfulness and just enough power to make life interesting. You only need 130bhp when most of the time you're mucking about with lift-off oversteer and four-wheel drifts. Now they're like supercars: deadly serious, insanely fast and too grippy to get out of shape unless you're very brave or very talented. ►
2018 I THE BEST CARS AS YOUR CHOICES 8
'You just don't get it, that's all' Championed by their impassioned owners, the wider CAR jury is more reserved about the Audi RS5, Hyundai i30N and Peugeot 5008 SUSPECTED MY lo11g-term part11er l1ad a drinking prob lem, but a trip away to Wales confirmed it. The i30N glugs fuel at the best of times, but after a pasting at the hands of the CAR team it has an estimated eight miles left in the tank to get back to base. Not ideal when the nearest petrol station is 13 miles away. Nursing it there is an adventure in itself: aircon off, lift and coast, and Jake Groves following behind in his Swift as emergency support. When we reach the Shell station in Betws -y-Coed, the estimated range has been displaying hyphens instead of numbers for some time and the needle's wrapped around the bottom of the fuel gauge. But we make it. Tl1at tl1e N ends the day running on vapours isn't a surprise; demand for its keys runs high from the get-go. Ben Whitworth returns particularly impressed: 'Feels perfectly judged. I like the way the engine doesn't just dump all its torque in your lap at 2ooorpm; the mapping cleverly meters it out, encouraging you to wring the engine, rather tl1an drive it like a diesel.' He adds: 'The steering's weighty and direct, but not exactly fizz ing with feedback. Name me a 25obhp plus front-drive hatch that is, though.' If the i30N's so busy we should have bought a fuel bowser, that's not the case for Alex Tapley's 5008. A few venture behind its miniature octagonal steering wheel to drive it while it's being deployed as a camera car, but few fancy jumping into the big Peugeot purely for the fun of it. Tapley, who's no slouch, reckons we're missing out. 'It's your loss,' he tuts, quietly. 'Get the hang of it and there aren't many cars it can't keep up with.' Maybe, but even Alex has to admit the Pug's lacking the legs to bother Ben Miller's Audi, the steroidal, Hulk-green Audi RS5 squatting next to the 5008 at half its height. It's a funny one, the RS5. In some ways, deeply appealing: wickedly fast, looks a million dollars (if a tad fussy in detail) and unstoppable in any weather-but still it leaves people cold. Wales should be the RS5's natural habitat, and sometimes its adaptive dampers feel right at home-Ben Oliver in particular reckons it strikes a nice balance between shrugging off bumps and giving the driver a
good connection with what's beneath them -yet at other times it can feel flummoxed, alternating between washboard-firm and beachball-bouncy. Titanically fast, though, as Oliver notes, and he's a fan of the steering too: 'Okay, not a lot of feel, but really well judged -fast and responsive off-centre, and very accurate.' And Miller can't stop telling people how brilliant it was on the lon.g drive over: 'So comfortable, so grippy and so, so fast when you need to pass slower traffic.' In contrast with the sometimes fidgety RS5, Peugeot l1as judged the 5008's ride perfectly - taut and composed on the M6, with enough pliancy to absorb big bumps subtly. There's body roll on windier roads, inevitable in a car of this type, but it handles tidily for a such a big bus. I'm not suggesting it's n1ore fun than the RS5, but faced with a long motorway drive I'd plump for the Pug. Few are convinced the 5008's exterior will age well, but hats off to Peugeot's design studio for the bold interior, a cabin that looks like it's gone straight from a motor show concept car to the street without being diluted. It's not a paragon of ergonomic good practice, and it could lear11 a thing or two from the Audi about fit and finish- the 5008's dash and door cards don't line up, as if designed using different units of meas urement, and I swear the facia is higher on one side of the cabin than the other. But likewise the son1bre RS5 interior could af ford to take a leaf out the 5008's brave design sketchbook-and its chassis a leaf out of the i30N's driver engage1ne11t playbook. Whitworth isn't convinced by the RS5 either: 'It feels con fused - not raw and rabid enough to be a real BMW M4 or Alfa Giulia Quadrifoglio rival, and not special enough to be a want one GT. There's no emotional attachment, nothing that has me mentally storing it in my fantasy garage when I eventually pick the right lottery numbers.' I'd far rather go for a good drive in tl1e i30N than the RS5, but it's the 5008 I find myself warming to most. Practical and striking, it deserves more attention than it gets. ►
THE STEROIDAL, HULK-GREEN AUDI RS5 SQUATS NEXT TO THE 5008
Everything that's_ thegreat .about .'. . . 5008 s design stayed on the inside
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2018 I THE BEST CARS AS YOUR CHOICES 9
JAMES TAYLOR
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PEUGEOT 5008 Big Peugeot, tiny steering wheel
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2018 I THE BEST CARS AS YOUR CHOICES 10
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VAUX HALL INSIGNIA Luton's only gone and done an Allroad
2018 I THE BEST CARS AS YOUR CHOICES 11
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SKODA OCTAVIA vRS Fuss-free speed for the Joneses
HONDA CIVIC TYPE R Ugly and brilliant like Velcro
OURCARS.
Flash, fast, feasible You like the finer things in life but you also like rear doors and a boot. Chances are you're looking at one of these three F THERE'S A connection it's real-world desirability; a heady
blend of space, practicality, affordability and, from two of our three at least, a pretty compelling lick of speed. Let's turn to young Master Moldrich's bewinged, blistered and butchered Type R first. During the 48 hours in which we turn swathes of Snowdonia into our private test track, every one hates the way the Civic looks but returns to base time and again wearing toothpaste-advert smiles. I think the Civic looks like a grotesque joke, inside and out, but eventually I succumb to the i11evitable, take the Honda out and wring it. It's good; if 3oobhp-plus front-drive hatches are your thing, that is. Low-slung driving position, chunky and tactile steering, brilliant gearshift, heroic brakes and superb body co11trol - they all support tl1at ma11ic blown engine per fectly, allowing the Civic to careen, scrabble and slither across these punishingly sinewy Welsh roads with a level of driver engagement that sweats your palms and dries your mouth. But good enough to excuse its retina-scarring looks? Hell no, though others are more forgiving. 'I really don't know what all the fuss is about,' says Ben Miller, who's had plenty of seat time in Curtis's Civic. 'That said, I think the Mercedes Unimog is a design classic. The Civic is, however, a sensational car to drive; much of the precision, thrill and speed of a 911 GT3 for a fraction of the money. The new Renault Mega11e RS, when it finally shows up, will have to be extraordinary.' Chris Chilton's vRS 245 sits at the other end of the taste spec trum to the Honda. Primer-like Meteor Grey paintwork and flash alloys aside, it all looks and feels VW Group: crisp lines, spacious accommodation, generous levels of equipment and an intelligently configured dash layout. Very class-swot neat and tidy; very Skoda. And so it proves on the road. If the Civic is rash and brash, then the fast Octavia is mature and controlled. Irrespective of pace and road conditions, it always feels delightfully poised and balanced. There's enough power and torque to ensure you cover ground at indecent -if sub-Type R -rates but then the Skoda never feels ragged or uncouth, even when you're squeezing every last drop of go-faster juice from it. And on the roads that
varicose-vein their way between Ffestiniog and Bala much squeezing is t1ndertaken. Zesty engine, satiny gearshifts from the seven-speed DSG, sound body control from the DCC adjustable dampers and a ride quality just on this side of firm all work harmoniously together. Pity the hefty steering isn't chattier, but that electron ically controlled LSD means you can sling the Octavia through corners that would send open-diffed rivals into a wheel-turning orgy of understeer, and into the sheep-speckled Welsh country side. It's a surprisingly compelling package. If I said the same about my new long-term Insignia, you might have to coax your eyebrows back down from the ceiling. Bt1t in a very different way this big family estate - a veritable rarity in our SUV-obsessed times -has plenty going for it. The Vauxhall's playing to its core strengths when it wafts me up from Chichester to Wales in the pre-dawn dark in high speed, low-stress comfort. With LED lights scything through the gloom, muscular bi-turbo diesel ticking over at a lazy 2ooorpm, adaptive dampers on their plumpest setting and the Bose audio punching out Old Dominion, we cover the 300 miles in four hours dead. And then when it arrives at the other side of the country, this load-lugger puts its best dynamic foot forward and makes a pretty good fist of masquerading as something sporty. Sure, 110 one poured themselves out of its driver's seat begging to hold on to the keys for another B4391 strop -such unseemly fawning was reserved for the Ms -but the combination of entertainingly high levels of wet-weather grip from its savvy GKN-sourced Twinster torque-vectoring all-wheel-drive layout, and surprisingly taut body control meant it isn't the understeering blancmange most expect. Needless to say, the return trip to the sun11y south coast the following day was dispatched with equal ease. So, the11 - a determinedly unhinged hot hatch, a convinc ing and punchy estate, and a family car that's surprisingly accomplished when the roads get interesting. Three seemi11gly disparate cars united by embodying the best their makers have to offer. Now, what's your poison? ►
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BEN WHITWORTH
2018 I THE BEST CARS AS YOUR CHOICES 12
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MERCEDES AMG C43 The perfect AMG! (For most of us)
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Not the Sport, but surprisingly sporty
SEAT ARONA
High-rise 'Beefa is sooooo2018
Small. Perfectly formed? Neat, lovable and good to drive, the only thing more fun than an Arona on Welsh B-roads is a Suzuki Swift HE TWO LEAST powerful, least expensive cars
here. But- hats off to the CAR extended family neither is neglected or looked dow11 upon. In fact, both get a good amount of thumbs -ups. Albeit son1e of that's inspired by the just-right height of the Arona's boot when deployed as a pic11ic table, or its easily accessed USB slots for phone chargi11g. And at the end of the two days, Jake ends up back with his Swift and I end up back with my Arona, without anybody attempting to wrestle them from us. We're both perfectly happy about that. Jake's always liked tl1e Swift, and finds new ways to like it in Wales, where the narrowness of many of the roads favours small cars. But the speed of said roads - and tl1e excellence of some of the other cars here-makes the steering seem slightly less sharp. Mark Walton leads the cheerleading for the Swift. Yes, the same Mark Walton who arrives in Wales at 150mph in the Ms, sideways. 'I think the Swift's the real, unexpe c t ed treat of this trip,' he tells n1e over a refreshing Crunchie. 'Blasting around in tl1e 592bhp BMW Ms is a bit like ta1ning lions or walking a tightrope - there's always an edge to the fun you have it in. But in the Suzuki you can pedal along joyfully, foot mashed to the floor, flat out
and completely fearless. The shape of the thin steering wheel in your hand, the way it turns in so confidently, the fizzy engineit's all so much more lively and engaging than you expect. Not entirely sure about the styling, but otherwise I really love it.' Anthony ffrench-Constant's not quite so sold. 'Like so many these days, it isn't half as good looking as the car it replaces; the perils of feeling the need to facelift every 20 months whether it needs it or not. And the interior detailing is poor - everything seems to be at least partially obscured by everything else. For all that, it's a blast to chuck around - takes me back to my first car days. No power, so you learned to drive everywhere without touching tl1e brakes in fear of how long it would take to re kindle the speed scrubbed off.' He's keener on the Arona: 'Phil McNamara told me tl1is is the worst car Seat makes. In which case they really are on a roll because I think it's pretty spiffing. Looks good, both inside and out. Comfortable and nicely kitted out with last-ge11eration VW tech that you can still understand and use intuitively. 'I don't know what's under the bonnet [the VW Group's fine 1.5 Eva four] but it biffs along with alacrity. I haven't had so much fun in something small and tall since that wardrobe incident with the Batman costume and the Swarfega .. .' ►
I THINK THE SWIFT IS THE REAL, UNEXPECTED TREAT OF THIS TRIP
COLIN OVERLAND
2018 I THE BEST CARS AS YOUR CHOICES 14
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Possibly the only ____ time an Arona and a Model Shave hunted down a Civic Type R
The Snowdonia verdict: What two days in Wales revealed about 16 very different cars SEAT ARONA FR
A generic VW Group compact crossover, but a good one Spritely engine, practical. and easygoing It's a heavier, costlier Ibiza
PEUGEOT
5008 Quirkily designed . spacious crossover with a Gallic flavour '
Ride quality, cabin design, vast and versatile Interior quality not the best
AUDI RS&
Straddling the gran turismo and sports no man's land ,-
Fast, refined and a top-notch cabin quality Thirsty, patchy ride quality
TESLA MODELS
As a big saloon the Model S scores highly, but there are issues
OK to drive, wonderful to live with
Emotional engagement just isn't there
2018 I THE BEST CARS AS YOUR CHOICES 15
Affordable small car from a long line of dynamic liveliness I
Rapid, roomy and refined, and just plain different Charging compromises
' Impressed in Wales with its happy usability
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The world is still not quite ready for Tesla
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Too much crude cost-cutting
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BMW MS
2018's version of supercar-bashing performance from a big saloon
KIA STINGER
A Korean car playing the German game very well
SKODA OCTAVIA vRS
A generic VW Group fast estate car, but a good one •
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Astonishing. Don't fear the changes
Quick, comfortable and different
Wonderful blend of poise, power and practicality
Price, lack of an estate version
Steering takes getting used to
Steering could be more talkative
They didn't engineer .out the passion
Impressive newcomer, but it's no 440i
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RS Audi anyweather ability without the cost
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JAGUAR XF SPORTBRAKE
Family transport with the promise of dynamic engagement
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VAUXHALL INSIGNIA
Largely unprom1s1ng combination of ill-matched bits
MERCEDESAMO C43
Reined-in by AMG standards, pumped for a Mercedes
HYUNDAI 130N
Like the Stinger, a great and sudden departure from the norm
MERCEDES E·CLASS
4x4 practicality without SUV size and weight . compromises
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ARTEON
Somewhere between a Jetta and a Conti GT, if that helps
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VOLVO XC60
All the class of the XC90 but in a better sized package I•
HONDA CIVIC TYPE R
Hot hatch stakes keep rising; Type R badge means it must be usable
Roomy and comfortable, with a decent chassis
Soaks up the miles, happy to attack the bends
Responsive, easily accessible performance
All the stuff we love about hot hatches
Most of what makes an E great, and more rugged
Spacious, stylish, well equipped, not slow
Delightfully refined way to get around
Gearshift, body control, engine, steering ...
Oddly lacking . . 1n magic
Not the sharpest or cheapest
A bit restrained for some tastes
Needs refilling sometimes
On the wallowy side
Dull engine choice, pricey
Tall and heavy when pushed
Distractingly wrong styling
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Makes more sense on paper than on Welsh hill roads
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Go in with low expectations, get . . a nice surprise
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I
£48k C43 makes the £63k RS5 look nuts
A driver's delight chock full of character
Regular E-Class is the better buy for most of us
A lot more fun than we suspected
Lacking thrills, but plenty to compensate
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There's a beauty in tools this good at their job
2018 I THE BEST CARS AS YOUR CHOICES
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