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Motorists back more restrictions on new drivers
More than eight out of ten motorists believe newly qualified drivers should be more closely supervised.
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Chevy’s making Trax
THE Chevrolet Trax is a compact SUV in the Nissan Juke/Skoda Yeti mould. As well as chunky looks and a tempting price tag, the lil’ Chevy also has heritage on its side – its maker claims to have got the sport-utility vehicle ball rolling in the 1930s, with the Carryall Suburban, an eight-seater car the size of a bread van and built for the North American market in the days before anyone thought of calling SUVs “SUVs”.
BMW Z4: On the roadster again
WELCOME to Monaco. Park your yacht over there and join me for a couple of laps of the world’s most celebrated F1 venue. With race weekend just a few days away, the barriers, grandstands and banners are in place and the circuit is ready for action.
Back on track at Ingliston
“YOU lucky sod” was the first of many similar, albeit more colourful and less printable responses I received when I told people what I was up to last weekend.
Yamaha XJ6: Follow Diversion
THE Diversion feels like an old friend. The faithful sort that knows just what you need, when you need it. It doesn’t need expensive technology or to shout about how cool it is. There is no pretence; just honesty – and its integrity is what keeps the Diversion competitive in the middleweight market.
Volkswagen Touran: A new family edition
VOLKSWAGEN really should be good at MPVs. The German manufacturer’s output is almost always simple, sturdy and user-friendly, which is just what most of us want in a family car. If any model falling below those standards did slip out of a VW factory’s gates and into dealerships, you get the impression that heads would roll at Wolfsburg in short order.
Volkswagen Beetle Cabriolet is a roofless operator
THE Beetle reboot continues with Volkswagen taking the car to the next, and logical, step in its evolution – going roofless. Of course, Volkswagen has been here before; previous iterations of the “new” Beetle boasted a Cabriolet variant. However, as you would expect, evolution has brought a number of welcome improvements.
Kia is taking Carens of business
AS CONVERSATION killers go, mentioning “mid-size seven-seat people carriers” is right up there. But before your dinner party guests look at their watches and start moving to the door, they might like to know that there’s more to the new Kia Carens than its snooze-inducing nomenclature suggests.
Suzuki Vitara’s vital spark
I admit I’m a bit of a softie. I’ll happily walk away from any sign of trouble and I’ve never taken up golf for much the same reason. I can’t see the point in getting soaked just to sink a wee white ball into a hole out of my line of sight somewhere far in the distance. A yachting friend keeps inviting me to join him on a cruise round the west coast. I’m sure it would be lovely, but unless he can guarantee wall-to-wall sunshine and flat-calm waters, then I’ll just stick to dry land, thank you.
Testbench: Bikers’ Britain (£12.99, AA Publishing)
I’m guessing this is a book for bikers And I’m guessing I can call you Sherlock.
But you don’t like bikes That’s not true. I’m just a bit... scared of them.
Peugeot 208 GTi clocks up the smiles
I SUSPECT winning the lottery would do it. An original joke should bring it on. Maybe just a kind word from a good friend is all it would take. For some people it would require a visit to the dentist and then they might have to wait a few weeks before it appeared.
BMW’s M6 Gran Coupe in a different class
PURISTS might well wince at BMW’s decision to focus as much of its attention on luxury as it does performance, but this slight change in direction is also a realisation that an increasing number of buyers are seeking high levels of refinement to match their car’s capability.
Capturing the essence of Renault
The Renault Captur launches into a market of compact crossover vehicles such as the Nissan Juke and the Skoda Yeti but brings with it some genuinely clever interior touches and no small dose of style. Some super-economical engines also feature. Expect the Captur to attract the sort of buyer who likes the way the Nissan Juke drives but who would prefer prettier styling.
Kawasaki ER-6f handles with care
LAUNCHED in 2005, the ER-6f and its naked sibling were set to take on the world of budget middleweights and, to a large extent, they succeeded. But the early models had a tendency to feel just that – budget. Seven years on, and the ER6 bikes are much more sophisticated.
Paying homage Linwood’s Hillman Imp 50 years on
BOASTING an idiosyncratic design and eminently affordable price tag, it was envisaged as the homegrown motor car that would propel Britain out of the post-war doldrums, and bring car ownership within the reach of ordinary families.
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Rolls-Royce unveils most advanced model to date video
IT is billed as one of the most advanced Rolls-Royce ever built and even has a GPS tracking system that ensures its driver will always be in the correct gear.
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Motoring: Subaru Forester
The mostly all-new Subaru is longer, wider, lower and roomier. Frederic Manby puts it through its paces and likes what he finds
1 commentJoy for drivers as insurance premiums hit the brakes
But young women suffer from EU rules on gender equality, writes Jeff Salway
Two cultures create King Leon
Trapezoidal. It’s not a word I’ve come across much in my scribbling career but it seems to have entered my vocabulary with increasing regularity in recent times. The strict definition is something “quadrilateral having two parallel sides of unequal length”. Still with me? No? Well take a look at the lighting on the new Leon from Seat and there it is.
Gadget review: Karcher K7 high-pressure washer, £519.99
What is it? It’s a high-pressure washer. And it goes by the nickname of “Eco Beast”.
Volvo V60 Hybrid juggles the fuel figures
THE fair city of Perth can boast many famous sons and daughters who’ve made their way in the world. I’ve every reason to believe that one of them, Iain Howat, is an honest chap but I suspect he had his fingers crossed metaphorically when he spoke to me just down the road from his home town of Auchterarder about Volvo’s revolutionary new hybrid, the V60 D6.
Audi SQ5 takes diesel on a power trip
ACCORDING to the 1978 edition of The Observer’s Book of Automobiles (unearthed by a colleague during a tidy-out), anyone in the market for a car with 300 or more bhp back then was limited to a smattering of V12-engined Ferraris and Lamborghinis.
Skoda’s Octavia set fair to fill big market hole
IS SENSIBLE enough? Probably not. If you want a purely functional vehicle, there are many cheaper than Skoda’s third-generation Octavia. If, on the other hand, you want good common sense mixed with a warm feel-good factor that reminds you how wise your purchase was, Skoda’s now Mondeo-sized and much-improved mid-ranger could be just the ticket.
Volkswagen Golf GTI just got groovier
THE Volkswagen Golf GTI returns and, with each generation, becomes just that bit more polished. The slightly underwhelming Mk 6 model makes way for a car new from the ground up. It’s a big step forward but little of the original GTI DNA remains.
Jaguar takes a leap
WELL, this has been a long time coming. More than half a century after its last two-seat sports car pounced from the designer’s sketchpad to the production line, Jaguar has made the leap from E-Type to F-Type. The former changed the face of sports cars forever. The new car can’t promise to do that, but it does fill a gaping void in Jaguar’s line-up. Has the 52-year wait been worth it?
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Weather for Edinburgh
Wednesday 22 May 2013
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 3 C to 15 C
Wind Speed: 22 mph
Wind direction: West
Tomorrow
Light showers
Temperature: 5 C to 10 C
Wind Speed: 24 mph
Wind direction: North
