Winter Warmers

Well it’s that time of the year again; dark evenings, Christmas ads dominating the TV schedules, grey days with drizzle punctuated by crisp mornings when you lose all sensation in your hands whilst chiselling ice from your windscreen. As you may be able to ascertain, I’m not the biggest fan of winter. It’s also the time of year when many people’s minds turn their motoring minds to cars with all-wheel drive so it seems the ideal time for me to pick my favourite three all-wheel-drive cars.

SUZUKI JIMNY

The previous incarnation of the Jimny has been for a long time one of my favourite little cars. It was almost unchanged in design from its launch 1998 up to very recently. Its only direct competitor, The Daihatsu Terios, was killed off a while ago and since then has had the market virtually to itself.

It came as no surprise therefore when Suzuki recently announced that it was about to launch a brand new Jimny, going on sale from January. Continuing the growing trend to move away from diesels, the new range will be powered solely by a 1.5-litre petrol lump producing 100bhp. Economy is officially listed as 41.5mpg and this will no doubt be helped by the fact that the drivetrain can be switched between two and four wheel drive as well as the option of switching between high and low range depending on conditions.

Inside, the new Jimny has been given a fresh look, although most of the gubbins come straight from the Suzuki parts bin and are shared with other models, there are toys available such as air conditioning, Bluetooth connectivity and cruise control as standard. The range topping SZ5 adds

15-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights, climate control and satellite navigation.

At the time of writing, prices are yet to be officially announced but are expected to start at around £16,000 when the range launches early in the New Year.

KIA NIRO

Times change and the motoring world moves with it. The prized family car 25 years ago was a Cavalier or a Sierra. These days, many people prefer to be sat higher up with more cabin and boot space that the now well established genre of SUV’s provide. Kia have long been a favourite of the private buyer and earlier this year launched the Niro, their first car, let alone SUV, that comes with a hybrid drivetrain.

I’ll leave it up to you to decide if the Niro is a looker or not but it can certainly be said it’s striking and stands out from the crowd. Inside is more toned down and whilst you will find all the gizmos and technology you need, you will need to plunder the options list to get all those nice little bells and whistles you want on a car in this day and age.

The clever part is underneath the car though. The Hybrid powertrain consists of a 104bhp 1.6-litre petrol engine combined with a 43bhp electric motor mounted which are mated to a six-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox. Kia claim combined fuel economy of 74.3mpg, although this came in much closer to 55mpg on the non-scientific run around town and country I did. An allelectric model plug in model is about to be added to the range which has a claimed range of over 300 miles.

LAND ROVER DISCOVERY

When it comes to off roaders, Land Rover has become as eponymous to the genre as Tannoy and Hoover have to their associated products. Although the brand has moved away significantly from its roots in utilitarian working vehicles to the luxury end of the market, the underpinnings, the bits that really matter, are still as suited to mud trails and fording rivers as it is to parking in the supermarket.

I have to admit, I wasn’t a fan of the fifth incarnation of the Discovery when it launched early in 2017 but since then, as more have appeared on the road it has softened me as the rest of the Land Rover and Range Rover range have adopted the same design cues.

Once you climb inside a Discovery, the quality of the finish and feel of the controls give you that instant confidence in the product. The seating

position can be infinitely tuned to perfection and the vast array of electronic wizardry is instinctive to use. Once you get under way the ride is forgiving and magic carpet smooth making this such an easy car to drive whether it’s popping to the shops for some milk or popping to Naples for a Pizza.

There is a choice of two petrol and two diesel engines but my power unit of choice has to be the extremely clever, highly tuned 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol option which churns out a phenomenal 298bhp with enough torque to make the planet move backwards a little each time you set off.

Land Rover have just unveiled the 2019 Model Year car which makes some styling adjustments but unfortunately doesn’t address the one flaw that really lets the Discovery down, the placing of that rear number plate.

Mark D’Apice