The demands on a city car are generally straightforward – it needs to be affordable, peppy on urban roads, easy to handle and easy to park. The new Hyundai i10 is all of those, and more. While the new model is still not the prettiest of cars, it is much better looking than its...
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How about 0-100kph in 6.4 seconds in a car you’d be comfortable bringing to any occasion? Meet the Volkswagen Golf GTI Performance (Mark 7). It’s a fabulous car. While it’s not particularly good looking, it is stunning to drive. Those in the know will recognise the GTI badge, the large red GTI brake calipers...
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The Skoda Yeti is a car I always look forward to driving. To paraphrase Blur, it has always given me a sense of enormous well-being, and the new model is no different. Few would describe the Yeti as a beautiful car, but its solid and squat exterior and sparse looking interior yield some very...
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Peugeot is making no secret of its plan to take the brand upmarket, and the new Peugeot 308 is a further step in that direction. It’s far more attractive and sophisticated looking than the outgoing model, and that’s both inside and out. Our test car was a stunning ruby red colour, which beautifully complemented...
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Drivers who find parking a traumatic experience should check out Nissan’s Around View Monitor – one of the options in the Nissan Note, this week’s test car. This excellent feature offers a 360 degree bird’s eye view around the car, so you can see exactly what you’re doing, from above. A five-door mini-MPV, the...
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The Renault Mégane has had a facelift, giving it a super-stylish exterior with smart looking LEDs and a sleek, bullet-like body. Inside the cabin of the GT Line test car there was a strange juxtaposition of expensive looking sports trim and less expensive looking plastics. Playing on its sports credentials, the leather gearbox and...
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Mazda totally lives up to its zoom-zoom spirit with the new Mazda3. Available in both saloon and hatchback body types, we had the latter on test. The new Mazda3 hatch looks like a stubby Mazda6, with the distinctive Mazda nose and a truncated rear. It’s a beautiful vehicle and our ruby red review car...
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How about a cute little crossover for less than the price of a supermini? That’s what Dacia is promising with the new Dacia Sandero Stepway, which has just arrived on our shores. The Romanian brand landed in Ireland last year offering ‘shockingly affordable’ cars, and it now has four in the range – the...
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