Table of contents for 1724 in Auto Express

sean_carson@autovia.co.uk • Compact EV arrives in 2023 • Claimed range of 273 miles SMART’s reboot as a premium compact electric car maker has begun with the Smart #1, which represents a totally fresh start for the city car marque. Arriving in 2023, this compact EV is the first Smart developed under joint Daimler-Geely ownership, and is based on an all-new electric architecture from the latter, called SEA. This will underpin Smart’s forthcoming new range, while the #1 sets the template for the brand’s future design direction. Auto Express understands all of the firm’s future cars will use the same ‘#’ hashtag numbered nomenclature, which will position models chronologically rather than by size. From launch the #1 has a 66kWh battery, for a claimed range of up to 273 miles. It’s…

POLITICAL commentator and broadcaster Iain Dale was making headlines instead of reporting them last week, with a newspaper column focusing on the problems he encountered driving an electric Audi e-tron to East Yorkshire being widely shared on social media. As well as gripes about poor availability and reliability of public chargers, and the consequent difficulty in planning his journey, Dale expressed shock at the cost of using high-powered public chargers en route. While many EV drivers top up their cars at home to make big savings on their fuel bills, it’s a very different picture out on Britain’s motorways and A-roads, where fast charge point providers can, and do, set much higher tariffs. We checked prices from major providers last week, to compare the cost of motorway recharging for a…

Jaguar F-Pace 300 and 400 Sport on their way TWO new versions of the Jaguar F-Pace are coming. The 300 and 400 Sport models sit beneath the V8-powered F-Pace SVR super-SUV range-topper. The 300 makes use of a 3.0-litre straight-six diesel, while the 400 Sport features a straight-six petrol unit – both with mild-hybrid tech. Standard kit includes 21-inch black wheels, a black styling pack, Windsor leather upholstery and Amazon Alexa integration. Drug-drivers facing rehab under new law THE Transport Secretary has launched a call for evidence as part of a new drug-driving crackdown. Grant Shapps wants the law to change so that convicted motorists are required to go through a rehabilitation course – in addition to any ban, prison sentence or fine – before getting back behind the wheel,…

John_McIlroy@autovia.co.uk @johnmcilroy ALBERT Biermann, Kia’s Executive Technical Advisor, is sitting at the wheel of the new 577bhp, all-electric Kia EV6 GT – the brand’s highest-performance model to date. And Auto Express is alongside him. The twin-motor set-up enables 0-62mph in 3.5 seconds and a top speed of 162mph. But as we pull out of a basement garage at Kia’s HQ, Biermann is quick to point out the positioning that he and his engineering team have been aiming for. “The idea is for this to be a fast car, but not necessarily a true high-performance model,” he says. “That sounds strange, I suppose, but my definition is that a fast car is, well, fast, while a performance car is one that can do lap after lap at a race track. That’s…

Legal AA: 0345 850 1130 (m) RAC: 0330 159 1446 (m) Citizens Advice Consumer helpline: 03454 040506 Local Trading Standards Local Citizens Advice Bureau Used car inspections AA: 0800 056 8040 RAC: 0330 159 0720 Technical advice AA: 0370 142 0002 (m) Driving licences DVLA: 0300 790 6801 Car registration/history HPI: 0113 222 2010 AA: 0800 316 3564 DVLA: 0300 790 6802 RAC: 0808 164 1923 Traffic information AA: 0906 888 4322 RAC: 09003 444999 (p) Problems with dealers The Motor Ombudsman: 0345 241 3008 Consumer Ombudsman: www.consumer-ombudsman.org RMIF: 0845 305 4230 Scottish Motor Trade Assoc. 0131 331 5510 Problems with makers The Motor Ombudsman: 0345 241 3008 Financial problems Financial Ombudsman: 0800 023 4567 Safety concerns/recalls www.check-mot.service.gov.uk…

PEUGEOT claims to have distilled a wealth of its motorsport knowledge into the 508 Sport Engineered road car. To find out more about what this means in light of the brand’s current racing activities, we spoke to François Wales (below), director of Peugeot Sport. “Clearly this 508 translates all the know-how and the experience of Peugeot Sport’s engineers on hybrid and electrified powertrains,” said Wales. “What has been put into this car is coming from the experience we had when we developed the 908 Hybrid (Le Mans racer) in 2010-2011. Peugeot unfortunately withdrew from the world championship at that time, but the car was ready and performing very well. “Our aim, of course, is to continue feeding our next sports vehicle project with the know-how we are getting now from…

James_Brodie@autovia.co.uk @JPBrods Performance 0-62mph/top speed 8.2 seconds/119mph Running costs 256.0mpg (official) £68 fill-up IN February, the Kia Sportage was the most popular new car in Britain, and Kia topped the sales charts for the first time after 31 years in the UK market. In 2021 the Sportage was Britain’s third most popular SUV, and when we tried this new fifth-generation version for the first time, we hailed it as “the best Sportage yet”. Lofty expectations are set, then, and as part of the latest model’s powertrain selection – which also incorporates petrol, diesel, mild-hybrid and full-hybrid options – there’s the company car tax-friendly plug-in hybrid driven here. On paper, the Sportage PHEV is off to a strong start. There’s an official EV range of 43 miles, while CO2 emissions of…

Chris_Rosamond@autovia.co.uk IF you’re currently considering entering the world of caravanning, you’re probably aware of recent driver licensing changes that mean everyone now has the freedom to tow a trailer of up to 3,500kgs without needing to take an extra towing test. But with freedom comes responsibility, and if you’re new to the science of towing, the first thing you’re going to want to know is how to do it safely. While you can gen-up on basic principles, towing tips and speed limits easily enough online, it’s the ‘manoeuvring’ bit that tends to make people nervous. For the majority of would-be caravanners who didn’t grow up twirling tractor trailers around a farmyard, or who have no other means of acquiring the necessary skills and experience, signing up for towing training is…

What to look for IF you’re buying new, you’ll want to consider things such as interior layout and storage – particularly if you’re planning on taking bikes or other bulky kit – but buying a used motorhome requires a bit more thought. Perhaps the most obvious is the condition of the van. People often live in them for weeks on end, and that can take its toll. Make sure all the specified kit is present and correct, be that cushions or mattresses, or even discs for factory-fitted navigation systems. Many vans have removable gas tanks. These aren’t always expensive to fill, but the canisters are sold on a deposit basis, so you’ll need one to hand back to avoid paying twice. Ensure these are where they should be, and knock…

BUYING a caravan or motorhome is just the start – next, you need to kit it out appropriately. There’s a dizzying array of caravan accessories out there, some more useful than others. The items you see on this spread are ones we’d consider must-haves for most caravan and motorhome holidays – and once you’ve ticked off these items, you can think about using your remaining budget for the luxuries. Some of these basics will involve the purchase of touring-specific products, but at other times – for instance for certain tools – this isn’t mandatory. The popularity of touring means there’s an abundance of choice out there when it comes to the equipment and where to buy it from. There are many online options, plus numerous bricks-and-mortar retailers, making it easy…

Running costs 54.1mpg (on test) £65 fill-up/£145 or 12% tax Practicality Boot (seats up/down) 410/1,420 litres Performance 0-62mph/top speed 5.9 seconds/139mph MODELTESTED: BMW 330e xDrive M Sport Pro Touring PRICE: £50,985 ENGINE: 2.0-litre 4cyl PHEV, 288bhp LAST time the BMW 3 Series took on the latest Mercedes C-Class, they were both in four-door diesel form. On that occasion, the BMW narrowly scraped a win, but will things be any different with this plug-in hybrid powertrain? Here we have the 330e xDrive Touring in M Sport Pro trim. Prices for this top-spec variant start from £50,985, but our car’s options, including the £1,900 Tech Pack and £1,950 Comfort Plus Pack, bump the total up to 56,675. Design & engineering WITH a plug-in hybrid powertrain, the BMW 330e has the most complicated…

1st HYUNDAI THE fact the Ioniq 5 can be compared with two of Germany’s finest compact executive estates is high praise, but its EV powertrain helps it beat them, too. Ignore running costs and it still has enough to stand its ground, with brilliant practicality, great refinement and strong value for money. Ride and handling are sufficient, but it’s the impressively low running costs that help the Hyundai seal the win. 2nd BMW A SECOND-PLACE finish for BMW – and plug-in hybrid technology in general – comes with a caveat. If you can’t maximise range through constant charging, then the cost benefits over a modern diesel are very small. Practicality compromises aside, the 3 Series remains as brilliant as ever, with sharp handling, great technology and fantastic build quality. It…

Alfa Romeo Giulia New arrival Audi Q4 e-tron Issues 1,711, 1,717 BMW 3 Series Issue 1,723 Citroen e-Berlingo Issue 1,718 Citroen e-Dispatch New arrival DS 7 Crossback New arrival Ford Ranger Iss. 1,694, 1,701, 1,713, 1,721 Hyundai Ioniq 5 Issues 1,710, 1,715, 1,720 Lexus UX 300e Issues 1,713, 1,719 Mazda CX-5 New arrival Nissan Qashqai Issues 1,707, 1,716 Peugeot 508 SW Issue 1,714 Polestar 2 Issue 1,719 PorscheTacan Cross New arrival Renault Capture-Tech Issues 1,705, 1,712, 1,720 ToyotaYaris Cross New arrival Vauxhall Mokka-e Issues 1,696, 1,706…

SNOW foams are one of the more active car care categories, with new products hitting the market and more producers including one in their range. These foams were once primarily used by enthusiast detailers and professionals, but household names now include a snow foam, and lances cost well under £20. Our test has changed to match developments. What was once a test of shampoos used with a pressure washer has now morphed into being solely for snow foam, although some can be used by hand or through a pump sprayer. The appeal of snow foam is that it reduces the risk of damaging paint by removing as much grit as possible with a pressure washer before you even touch the car. Spray on, leave to dwell, then power wash off.…

WHENEVER you’re giving your car a full valet, don’t pick up the glass cleaner until all the other jobs have been done. Given that it’s used both inside and outside the car, the application of any other cleaner to cabin, paintwork or trim could end up smudging or coating your newly cleaned glass. You can prevent the glass cleaner doing the same to just-waxed paint or buffed trim by spraying it directly on to a microfibre towel. Then use a second, dry cloth to buff the window. Don’t forget to drop sliding windows an inch or two to get to the unseen section held in the frame, and make sure wet streaks haven’t been created at their bases by the seals when they’re closed. Using the back of the hand…

Steve_Fowler@autovia.co.uk @stevefowler IN over 50 years of the Range Rover, this new model is only the fifth iteration of the iconic 4x4. To put that into context, in roughly the same period of time, there have been 11 versions of the Honda Civic, while plenty of other legendary models – including many other 4x4s – have been and gone. The original Range Rover was conceived as the ultimate lifestyle SUV; luxury came later. This new car is tasked with reinventing the genre yet again, with luxury, tech and design to the fore. And this is our first opportunity to get behind the wheel and give our verdict. Look at the newcomer, from the front at least, and you’d be forgiven for thinking this is a design evolution. But stand it…

THREE trim levels will be offered in the UK when the #1 goes on sale later this year, ahead of deliveries in 2023. Alongside the top-spec Launch Edition, Smart UK CEO David Browne told Auto Express that a Pro+ and a Premium trim will be available, simplifying the line-up with very few options. Asked if an even more affordable version to slip in under the plug-in car grant threshold was possible, Browne said that “the market has moved so quickly with EV adoption and pricing that we have to keep watching to see if it’s somewhere we can get to.” He also said that despite the shift in focus for the brand, “Smart still stands for iconic design, innovation and utilisation of space” and the #1 lives up to this.…

tristan_shale-hester@autovia.co.uk @tristan_shale • Over one in seven tickets were cancelled, say 28 UK police forces • Reasons include administrative errors and stolen vehicles MORE than one in seven speeding tickets issued in Great Britain last year were cancelled, new official data has revealed. The 28 police forces in England, Wales and Scotland who responded to a Freedom of Information request from Auto Express issued a total of 1.87million speeding tickets in 2021, of which 287,554 (15 per cent) were cancelled. There’s a range of reasons why a fine might be cancelled – for example if the offending car was an emergency-service vehicle on a blue-light run. Administrative issues caused a lot of cancellations, too. Forces told us that a shortage of speed-awareness courses due to the pandemic led to many…

sean_carson@autovia.co.uk • Latest one-offs revealed at 4x4 maker’s Easter Safari get-together JEEP’S annual pilgrimage to Moab, Utah, for the Easter Safari gathering has once again offered up a collection of brand-new Jeep concept cars. An evolution of one of last year’s showings is the new Magneto 2.0. It uses the same battery set-up as before, with a total of 70kWh of energy split over four separate packs placed around the vehicle. For 2022 this powers an electric motor pumping out 616bhp and 1,152Nm of torque. A 2.0-second 0-60mph sprint is claimed. The Magneto 2.0 is joined by the ’41, a military-inspired Wrangler concept that is said to recognise the brand’s combat heritage and “off-road-capability leadership for more than 80 years”. Shining the spotlight on the original Willys Jeep, the ’41…

tristan_shale-hester@autovia.co.uk @tristan_shale THERE’S some debate around what constituted the world’s first motor race, but many people believe it was the Paris-Bordeaux-Paris event in June 1895. A total of 30 vehicles entered, of which 21 qualified and, after more than two days of driving, only nine finished. A Peugeot driven by Paul Koechlin was crowned the victor, albeit in light of a technicality (see panel, opposite). More than 125 years later, we decided to retrace the route of this landmark race in a modern Peugeot. And not just any Peugeot, our weapon of choice for this quest being the Peugeot 508 SW Peugeot Sport Engineered; with a 355bhp hybrid drivetrain it’s the company’s most powerful production car ever (see panel, page 20). Naturally, we began our journey in Paris, where the…

sean_carson@autovia.co.uk Running costs 44.8mpg (official) £73 fill-up Performance 0-62mph/top speed 8.3 seconds/127mph WE Brits love convertibles. Despite the decidedly dodgy climate that often brings inclement weather, there’s a certain section of the motoring public that loves convertible cars and to get the roof down. With the recent spell of sunshine however, it seems that spring has sprung, so what better time to test Mazda’s new-for-2022 MX-5 in affordable 1.5-litre Sport form? The alterations for this update aren’t all that extensive, but then the old adage of ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ rings true here. Mazda has added a system called Kinematic Posture Control (KPC) that is designed to improve cornering stability without impacting the car’s purity. It does so by applying a small amount of braking force to…

A-FRAME: The triangular-shaped protrusion from a caravan that carries the jockey wheel (see below) and the towing hitch BERTHS: Beds/the number of occupants a caravan or motorhome can accommodate CASSETTE: A tank for a chemical toilet that can be removed and emptied CDP: Chemical disposal point – where a chemical toilet’s cassette can be emptied CORNER STEADIES: Four legs that wind down from the corners of the caravan to keep it stable CRIS: The UK’s national register of caravans DINETTE: A table and chairs that can be folded away to create a sleeping area when not in use GREY WATER: Waste water from the sink and shower drains HARDSTANDING: A kind of campsite pitch with a more weather-resistant surface than grass, e.g. pebbles HOOKUP: An electrical point on a campsite…

Running costs 3.4mi/kWh (on test) £20 recharge/£0 or 2% tax Practicality Boot (seats up/down) 527/1,587 litres Performance 0-62mph/top speed 7.4 seconds/115mph MODELTESTED: Hyundai Ioniq 5 73kWh RWD Premium PRICE: £43,090 POWERTRAIN: 73kWh battery, e-motor, 215bhp OUR 2021 Car of the Year has seen off a range of fully electric rivals, but does it have the quality to compete with combustion-powered competition from prestige manufacturers? Here we’re testing the Ioniq 5 in Premium trim; at £43,090 before options, it’s the most affordable car in this test. Design & engineering THE Ioniq 5 was the first car in the Hyundai group to make use of the brand’s E-GMP platform that’s designed exclusively for electric vehicles; the technology has since been used by both the Kia EV6 and Genesis GV60. It allows for…

Pete_Baiden@autovia.co.uk @PeteBaiden WHEN I first found out that I would be getting a new Nissan Qashqai to test for an extended period, there was one person I immediately thought would be interested: Ian Jebson. Who? Well, Ian is my next-door neighbour, and he currently drives a second-generation Qashqai. In fact, he’s a serial Mk2 owner, having run one before trading it in for a Renault Kadjar, a car that shares its running gear with the Qashqai. Ian now has a 21-plate version of the Nissan, and I was interested to see what he thought about our new model. Ian’s Qashqai is an N-Motion DCT, a special edition that was ‘limited’ to 2,000 examples. Nissan offered him a great deal on it, too, with more than £10,000 off the list price.…

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IT was a decade ago when we first tested a wheel cleaner that changed colour as it worked shifting brake dust. It was visually startling, and so was its performance. These ‘red’ cleaners have won every test since. Some years, these formulas have locked out the top-four finishers, with just a few acid or alkaline-based cleaners making it through. We tested 21 in 2022, and all but five changed colour. The technology has since been developed to work on paintwork, where it performs much like a chemical clay bar, lifting away metal particles. Some products double up and can be used on wheels and bodywork. To see who has developed the technology the best, we grabbed a pile of wheel trims from a breakers yard, so that several cleaners could…

AS you clean your car after the rigours of winter, it won’t take much sunlight to reveal any imperfections in the paintwork. On a dull day an LED work lamp can make the tiny swirls and marks in the clearcoat all too visible. Professionals use a specialised range of compounds and machine polishing pads to get the right degree of cut to shift those marks (see p94). For DIY enthusiasts though, the range of options is not always as obvious. Heavy-duty scratch removers are most often at the more abrasive end of the scale before you need to move on to a machine polisher. A polisher massively speeds up correcting paint, but can also lead to damage in novice hands, so it pays to practice on a scrap panel before…

Got any car queries? Tristan_Shale-Hester@autovia.co.uk Q Should MoT have spotted car’s suspension corrosion? A USED car I bought a couple of months ago supposedly came with a new MoT. But at a service, a mechanic has just found the car has corrosion damage to its suspension. Should this have been spotted at the MoT? George Daniels, E-mail A YES, but it will be tricky to prove that the damage was there when you bought the car. You could ask your mechanic to put their opinion on the age of the corrosion in writing and take this to the dealer to request compensation in some form. The DVSA does investigate questionable MoTs, but these need to be reported within 28 days, or three months for corrosion-related complaints. Q Bluetooth glitch has…

Stephen_Errity@autovia.co.uk • New partnership comes together for Maserati works Formula E effort • Powertrain shared with DS MASERATI has announced a title partnership and powertrain supply deal with the ROKiT Venturi Formula E team for its debut in the electric single-seater championship from next season. The multi-year agreement will see the Monaco-based Venturi squad operate as the works Maserati team. The entry will use the same Stellantis electric powertrain hardware as the factory DS outfit, although the two brands are set to diverge in the key development area of control system software for the motor and battery. In addition, Maserati’s entry will be run out of Venturi’s existing Monaco base, rather than Stellantis’ motorsport HQ in Satory, near Paris. Commenting on the news, Maserati’s CEO Davide Grasso said: “Returning to…

IN the Summer of 2012, the editor of a national newspaper asked me to nominate and write about the car company of the decade. I named Kia. Oh, how some ‘experts’ laughed. But who’s laughing now? Precisely 10 years later, guess which firm has just taken over the No.1 slot in the UK new-car sales charts? Only little ol’ Kia. During the first quarter of 2022 it outsold Ford (market leader here for almost half a century) and Volkswagen (the heir apparent – or maybe not), plus far wealthier parent company, Hyundai (oops – that wasn’t supposed to happen). Collectively, Japanese-owned Nissan, German-owned MINI and Indian-owned Jaguar – firms with state-of-the-art-plants and design studios in Britain – aren’t selling as many cars to UK motorists as Kia of South Korea…

sean_carson@autovia.co.uk • Tech and tuning tweaks aim to boost Lamborghini Huracán THIS is the new Lamborghini Huracán Tecnica, which the brand says is designed to offer “driving fun and lifestyle perfection on the road and track”. Based on the rear-drive Huracán Evo RWD, the Tecnica is powered by the STO’s 5.2-litre naturally aspirated V10 engine, producing 631bhp and 565Nm of torque for a claimed 0-62mph time of 3.2 seconds. The car’s top speed stands at 202mph. Key to the Tecnica’s balance between usability on the road and performance on track is a recalibrated Lamborghini Dinamica Veicolo Integrata (LDVI) driving mode system. The car has a rear-axle steering set-up and specifically tuned suspension damper profiles, and more downforce and less drag from the revised styling. Specially designed cooling ducts channel air…

mail@autoexpress.co.uk @AutoExpress FROM: Julian S I’M not sure about that triple-exhaust arrangement. The rest of the car is amazing, however. Toyota is having fun here, something I feel is starting to fade away in cars. I almost wouldn’t expect to see a fun, fiery version of the Corolla nowadays. FROM: Joseph Lynn THIS is a seriously cool car. Toyota would be foolish not to bring it to the UK and Europe – we’re a really big market for hot hatches. Will many Americans buy one? They seem obsessed with pick-up trucks the size of houses! Join the debate at www.autoexpress.co.uk ■ “Can’t decide if I like the design. I reckon it looks better in darker colours.”Craig Burland ■ “The exterior looks great, but the interior is a bit of a…

mail@autoexpress.co.uk Running costs 19.9mpg (official) £142 fill-up Performance 0-62mph/top speed 3.3 seconds/193mph THE world almost certainly doesn’t need a new 697bhp, £190,000 version of the already exclusive Aston Martin DBX. But as the popularity of the über-fast SUV grows – hence rivals announced from both Ferrari and Lotus, to name but two – Aston Martin has elevated the DBX to the top of a very tall tree with this ‘707’ model. That figure is the car’s power output in PS, and means it’s the fastest production SUV money can buy, with a top speed of 193mph. Given that it also weighs a fair bit less than its competition – the Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT and the Lamborghini Urus – it’s hardly surprising that Aston Martin claims such monumental performance for…

Stuart_Milne@dennis.co.uk CARAVANNING is back. Along with camper vans and motorhomes, there’s been a resurgence in people taking to the road to discover new and muchloved destinations. It’s not hard to see why; being locked down and stuck indoors for months at a time has led to renewed interest in the great outdoors. With 385,000 households currently signed up, the Caravan and Motorhome Club is now enjoying record membership numbers, and this year’s Caravan, Camping and Motorhome show in February attracted a 100,000-strong sell-out crowd. Interested in taking the plunge? Over the next 24 pages we’ve covered the absolute basics of caravanning and the kit you’ll need, plus learning to tow and what to tow with. We’ve highlighted the very best new and used caravans, and we’ve recommended campsites across the…

Richard_Ingram@autovia.co.uk @rsp_ingram SO you’ve decided you’re ready to take the plunge and buy your own motorhome. But where do you even start? What kind of camper, conversion or van do you need, and what should you look out for if buying used? The market can be a minefield, but Auto Express is here to help with some wise words from our very own CEO. CASE STUDY Q&A Nicola Bates CEO Autovia What type of van do you have and why did you buy it? WE’VE got an Adria Supreme SL. We went through phases of working out what we needed and decided that this particular van was going to be perfect. How often do you use your van? WE’RE away all the time – even in winter. We’ve used it…

Running costs 70.5mpg (on test) £117 fill-up/£155 or 29% tax Practicality Boot (seats up/down) 490/1,510 litres Performance 0-62mph/top speed 7.4 seconds/150mph MODELTESTED: Mercedes C 220 d Sport Estate PRICE: £44,835 ENGINE: 2.0-litre 4cyl MHEV, 197bhp THE fifth generation of the C-Class is packed with more tech than ever, and as we’ll see with this diesel model, Mercedes hasn’t given up on this form of propulsion just yet. Here we have the C 220 d in Estate form and entry-level Sport trim. With this test car’s optional metallic paint (£685) and trailer coupling (£750), its price comes to a total of £46,270. Design & engineering WHEN you first set eyes on the latest C-Class Estate, it really doesn’t seem like a radical departure from its predecessor. And there’s a reason for…

Mercedes C-Class Estate MBUX Key features: Over-the-air updates THE latest MBUX set-up in the C-Class borrows tech from the S-Class limousine and even in this company, it feels incredibly slick. The 11.9-inch portrait display is standard on all models and it looks fantastic. Functions are displayed three at a time on the intuitive main menu, with further options available by swiping left or right on the responsive touchscreen. Sat-nav destinations are easy to input thanks to a large on-screen keyboard, and routes load faster than in either rival. While there aren’t any physical climate controls, the large on-screen keys are easy to read, so it’s less fiddly to use than Hyundai’s separate touch-sensitive climate panel. If you get lost in a deep sub-menu, the home page shortcut remains on screen,…

WE’VE just had one of the mildest winters on record, but one look around a supermarket car park reveals that there were enough wet days for grime to build up on neglected cars. While temperatures didn’t hit new lows, it has been chilly enough to send many of us heading for the local car wash rather than donning the rubber gloves and digging out the hose and bucket ourselves. So as temperatures rise and the optimistic among us start to think of dining al fresco and uncovering the barbecue, it’s time to make sure the winter dirt is banished and your car is ready for those tempting long spring breaks and road trips for the Easter holidays. Over the next eight pages we reveal the top products for your car’s spring…

EVERYONE wants a leather interior – it looks good, feels great and has a premium image. But not everyone wants to look after it properly and invest in the correct products to maintain it. Our test focuses on cleaning, but also looks at how well each leaves the surface protected from spills and marks. While an all-purpose cleaner can work, some can be aggressive and damage the protective top coat that seals the coloured layer underneath. A specialist product should be sufficiently powerful to get the job done, but have a pH level that will not harm the hide. How much you preserve any protective surface is also affected by the way you clean. A microfibre cloth can work well, but a specialist brush should provide the correct level of…

products@autoexpress.co.uk AT Auto Express, we tend to focus on the performance side of car care, by seeking out the products that will make your cleaning as easy and cost-effective as possible. But for many people, there’s another side that’s driven by the rise of detailing and made possible by social media. At its best, it allows like-minded enthusiasts to share techniques and skills, and has become a key part of any car care producer’s operation. Many companies have expanded from simply making and selling car care products to establishing their own training programmes for customers. To see how this element works, we joined detailing company Autobead for one of its training sessions. While some courses will be aimed at detailing professionals or DIY enthusiasts, Autobead’s are open to both. It…

CO2/tax 119-125g/km £155 Running costs 60-62mpg (D4 auto) £106 fill-up Performance 0-62mph/top speed 7.9 seconds/137mph VOLVO and estate cars are inextricably linked. The Swedish brand (now Chinese-owned) led the way with the introduction of the Duett in 1953, and in the intervening years, Volvo became the brand of choice for those who wanted a safe and supremely practical family car. More recently, Volvo discovered its styling mojo, with its current crop of cars offering some of the sharpest looks on the road. Even better, the Volvo V60 is as good to drive as it is to look at, and it doesn’t lack any of the qualities that have made Volvo estates so appealing for so long. History THE second-generation V60 arrived in September 2017. Buyers could choose between 148bhp D3…