Description

It’s beginning to look alot like Christmas… according to the Johnny Mathis yuletide tune. And that’s certainly the case here at Diesel Car towers, as we have just wrapped up the special Christmas issue and sent it off to the printers. It’s a really packed issue, with eight first tests, including the Volkswagen T-Roc, SEAT Arona, Skoda Karoq and Kia’s new muscle car, the Stinger. Iain Dooley put the Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace through its paces, and we’ve also tested the Citroën C3 Aircross, Kia Stonic and Vauxhall Insignia Country Tourer on UK roads for the first time.

Land Rover’s Discovery battles against the Audi Q7 in our seven-seat SUV shoot-out, and we drive Peugeot’s facelifted 308 SW and what is a budget Allroad, the Dacia Logan MCV Stepway, albeit with just two-wheel-drive. We welcome Audi’s A5 Sportback to the long-term test fleet, and also take delivery of a top-of-the-range Ford Kuga Vignale. We also managed to prise the keys from Simon Thompson to watch him wave goodbye to his long-term Kia Optima Sportswagon, having covered more than 27,000 miles in just 10 months.

This month’s delights include our traditional Christmas Product Inspector gift guide, giving you motoring themed ideas for friends and family, as well as our annual Christmas crossword. This month’s used car buyer’s guide focuses on the sensational Audi SQ5 and SQ5 Plus and in Reader’s Drives, we’ve got a fantastically unique Fiat Coupé with a 1.9-litre Tipo-sourced turbodiesel engine under the bonnet.

Tested:

• Audi Q7 S line 3.0 TDI quattro
• Citroen C3 Aircross Flair BlueHDi 120
• Dacia Logan MCV Stepway Laureate dCi 90
• Kia Stonic First Edition 1.6 CRDi
• Kia Stinger GT-Line S 2.2 CRDi Automatic
• Land Rover Discovery HSE 3.0 Sd6 Automatic
• Peugeot 308 SW GT Line 2.0 BlueHDi 150
• SEAT Arona FR 1.6 TDI
• Skoda Karoq Edition 2.0 TDI 4×4
• Vauxhall Insignia Country Tourer 2.0 Turbo D Automatic
• Volkswagen T-Roc SE 2.0 TDI 4Motion DSG Automatic
• Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace SE Navigation 2.0 TDI 4Motion DSG Automatic

Long-term test reports:

• Audi A7 Sportback S line 2.0 TDI ultra Automatic
• Citroen C3 Flair BlueHDi 100
• Ford Kuga Vignale 2.0 TDCi AWD Automatic
• Kia Optima Sportswagon GT-Line S 1.7 CRDi Automatic
• Mazda CX-5 Sport Nav 2.2 AWD
• MINI Countryman Cooper D
• Mitsubishi ASX 4 1.6 DI-D 4WD
• Peugeot 3008 Allure BlueHDi 120
• Renault Scenic Dynamique S dCi 130
• SEAT Leon ST SE Dynamic Technology 1.6 TDI DSG Automatic
• Skoda Octavia SE L 2.0 TDI
• Suzuki Ignis SZ5 SHVS 1.2 Dualjet Mild Hybrid

Features:

• Fiat Coupe Diesel Reader’s Drives
• New elements of the revised driving test introduced
• Audi A7 in the news
• BMW X2 in the news
• Citroen C4 Cactus facelift in the news
• Range Rover facelift in the news

Used Car Buyer’s Guide

• Audi SQ5 and SQ5 Plus