Have you ever been to Lincolnshire? Many people haven’t. For a county that remains resolutely motorway free and is largely bereft of major, dual-carriageway trunk routes, it tends to be the sort of place you come to if you’ve a specific reason for visiting. Which is a pity, because as a county it’s spacious and countrified, with idyllic hamlets and villages, busy seaside resorts, twee market towns and a beautiful, cathedral city at its epicentre.
Space for seven in Peugeot's 5008
MPVs are the Lincolnshires of the motoring set. People acknowledge their existence but most will only consider buying one if they’ve a specific reason for doing so. Rarely are the words multi-purpose vehicle uttered with a lustrous mystique that invokes a craving from potential customers to pore over one at the nearest showroom. For some, MPVs represent nothing more than an opportunity for manufacturers to charge a price premium for a tall estate, or even worse, a van with windows.
Such blinkered vision misses the point, for the reality is that for many families, MPVs are ideal methods of transportation for people and clutter – although rarely both at the same time.
Peugeot’s 5008 is one of the newest entrants in the seven seater market, occupying the same territory that Vauxhall laid claim to back in 1999 with the Zafira. Like the popular griffin-badged MPV, the Peugeot features a third row of seats that slot neatly and easily into the floor, providing space for larger families in a relatively short footprint. But does it offer anything new to buyers in this hotly contested market segment?
Continue reading
Leave a comment | tags: 5008, C4 Picasso, Citroen, Grand C4 Picasso, Keith Jones, Peugeot | posted in Road Tests
For the newest edition of Tomorrow’s Classic, Stephen Catlow waxes lyrical about his pride and joy – a 1982 Cortina Crusader. The Ford repmobile is Steve’s first, and likely only, foray into classic motoring; on a day to day basis he enjoys the 21st Century modernity of a Peugeot 508.
Stephen Catlow and his 1982 Ford Cortina Crusader
Continue reading
3 comments | tags: Cortina, Crusader, Dagenham, Ford, Mark 5, Mark V, Mk 5, Mk V, Steve Catlow, Taunus | posted in Tomorrow's Classics
A round up of the week’s new car launches in bite-sized chunks.
News this week from from Audi, BMW, Chrysler, Ferrari, Jaguar, Lexus and Mazda.
Continue reading
Leave a comment | tags: 6 Series, A1, Artisan SE, Audi, Avant, Black&Red, BMW, California, Chrysler, CX-5, F Sport, Ferrari, GS, GS250, GS450h, Handling Speciale, Jaguar, Lancia, Lexus, M6, Mazda, MX-5, quattro, Roadster-Coupé, RS 4, RS4, SKYACTIV, TwinAir, Venture, XK, Ypsilon | posted in News Bites
These are interesting times. We’re at a juncture where technology and lifestyle are becoming ever more interlinked; products are coherently designed to complement one another. Gradually form and function have ceased being polar opposites and are becoming one and the same.
Peugeot's entry in the crossover market - the 3008
Where once a family portrait might have hung on the wall, in many homes a slimline television now resides; not simply broadcasting the output from a digital satellite receiver, but also acting as a 50” portal to the delights of the internet. The expensive smartphone that calls your pocket or bag home, doubles not just as a device for talking voice-to-voice but as a communication tool across a multitude of social media platforms, video links and for organising your whole daily schedule.
This crossover in technology and lifestyle is finally bearing more fruit in the automotive world too. It seems that a growing band of manufacturers have listened to what many car buyers actually want and the result is the crossover. It doesn’t trip off the tongue like a trio of letters like MPV or SUV but it does seem to be a term that more car consumers are embracing and understanding.
One of the more recent entrants in the crossover market is Peugeot with its bold 3008. Does it make sense in the modern motoring landscape?
Continue reading
Leave a comment | tags: 3008, Allure, Crossover, HDi, HYbrid 4, HYbrid4, Keith Jones, Peugeot | posted in Road Tests
On 26 February, the 84th Annual Academy Awards ceremony will take place at the Kodak Theater, Hollywood, broadcasting glitz, glamour and (melo)drama into living rooms across the globe. By the Monday morning, the newsreels will be wall to wall Best Picture this, Best Actor that, but spare a thought for those lesser awards that garner little coverage. You know, the ones that barely get a mention like Best Performance by a Ukulele-Playing Actress in a Foreign Language Silent Picture.
The Nürburgring-conquering Mégane RenaultSport 265 Trophy
Fastest Lap by a Front Wheel Drive Car Around the Nürburgring sounds like one of those non-awards, the sort of thing that nobody other than car manufacturers’ marketing teams particularly care about. Which is a shame, because the current holder of that record did so in a time that was bested by the Porsche Cayman (a mid-engined, rear drive sports coupé if you’re unfamiliar) by a mere four seconds. The vehicle in question? The limited edition Mégane RenaultSport 265 Trophy.
With its yellow paint, and red Trophy graphics, the Mégane 265 is not a car for shrinking violets
Continue reading
Leave a comment | tags: Keith Jones, Megane, Renault, Renault Sport, RS, Sport, Trophy | posted in Road Tests
Raider. A name in Renault hot hatch folklore that sends tingles down the spine in a way that only the Alpine name can surpass. Forget your striped Gordinis, decontented Cups and the more recent Trophy specials, for Raider is a moniker so revered that Renault has only used it once before. The predecessor? A run-out special edition of the legendary 5 GT Turbo from 1990.
The second coming of the Raider - now a limited edition Clio RenaultSport 200
Apt then, that the Raider badge makes a reappearance on a small, fast Renault as a run-out limited edition of just 50 examples. The basis now? The vaunted Clio RenaultSport 200. At a not inconsiderable £21,820, the latest Raider is the most expensive Clio since the demise of the mid-engined V6 models. Does it live up to the Midnight Blue tinted memories of its legendary namesake?
The original, but still the best? The legendary 5 GT Turbo Raider
Continue reading
Leave a comment | tags: Clio, Keith Jones, Raider, Renault, RenaultSport, RS, Sport | posted in Road Tests
Could Renault be on the brink of pulling off one of its master strokes yet again? The French giant has a history of being an early adopter, rather than inventor, of new market categories and popularising them before other mass-market brands jump on the inevitable bandwagon. Is the Fluence the latest outmanoeuvring of the competition?
The electrically powered Renault Fluence
If it’s not immediately obvious, under that regular four-door saloon body, isn’t a car propelled by conventional means at all but rather one powered by an electric motor. And that relative ordinariness could be the key to its success or failure on the market. Whereas other electric cars sold here are either purpose designed (like Nissan’s LEAF) or look unusual anyway (see the i-MiEV/C-Zero/iOn triplets), the Fluence is essentially a typical family saloon that happens to be electric. Is this the passport to acceptance for EVs?
Continue reading
Leave a comment | tags: Electric Car, EV, Fluence, Keith Jones, Renault, ZE | posted in Road Tests
Although Renault didn’t create the mid-sized MPV market sector, it did help to popularise it in the late 1990s as the Mégane-based Scénic captured the imagination of European buyers who appreciated both its compact dimensions and innovative maximisation of interior space.
Renault's Grand Scénic has been facelifted for 2012
Now in its third generation, the Scénic, together with the Grand seven-seater version driven here, has been mildly facelifted in an attempt to generate interest as buyers have migrated towards rivals’ offerings. But is it enough to stem the flow?
Continue reading
Leave a comment | tags: dCi, Dynamique, Grand Scenic, Keith Jones, Renault | posted in Road Tests
Patrick le Quément. If his name isn’t immediately familiar, then you need to know the highlights of the Frenchman’s biography are that he designed the jelly mould Ford Sierra and led the styling renaissance that was Renault’s 1990s model range. And his crowning glory amongst all that shiny new metal? The seminal 1992 Twingo.
Renault's Twingo has been facelifted for 2012
Whilst the French giant had the small car market covered with its then still relatively fresh original Clio, the entry-level Renault 4 was now so old that arthritis was setting into the suspension joints. Enter the Twingo. A new small car designed to be fun, practical, classless, appealing equally to either gender and, inexplicably, not designed to be built with right hand drive.
Continue reading
1 comment | tags: Dynamique, Keith Jones, Renault, Twingo | posted in Road Tests
