Description

It’s the first issue of a new year, and we’ve got Porsche new Cayenne plastered over the cover, with the Turbo version developing an eye-popping 1,140bhp. The German sports car brand has thrown down the gauntlet to every other maker of electric cars to put a vehicle on sale that beats it. Place your bets on who will try to eclipse the mighty Cayenne…

Rubbing shoulders with the Cayenne in the news pages are the new Mercedes-Benz GLB and Kia Seltos, while Toyota’s GR GT and all-electric Lexus LFA are cutting a dash, too. There’s news of the new MG S6 EV and the leaked S9 plug-in hybrid, alongside the Leapmotor B03X and the hot new Genesis GV60 Magma. There’s also updates from the budget, some changes to the Euro NCAP crash testing and reforms for Motability.

We’ve been testing Mercedes-Benz’s new CLA electric, got behind the wheel of Toyota’s new Urban Cruiser, and driven the refreshed Peugeot E-308. We’ve also been piloting the new Jeep Compass, the facelifted SEAT Arona and the sporty new Vauxhall Mokka GSE. Completing our tests this month is the upgraded Nissan Qashqai ePower produced at Nissan’s UK factory in Sunderland, proving that this country has much to be proud of. The long-term test fleet has expanded with the addition of a Toyota Yaris Cross GR Sport to the fleet, as well as a Jeep Avenger 4xe The North Face and Renault Symbioz Hybrid.

Elsewhere we look at Kia’s plans to dominate the van world, like it has been doing with its cars, we look at why new cars bong all of the time and examine the minefield that is the police breath test. We’ve got a fresh postal sack of letters that the Doctor has answered and, in this month’s used car buyer’s guide, it’s all about the DS 7 BlueHDi 130 diesel. We examine three generations of the Range Rover, pitch Audi’s A4 Avant up against the Mercedes-Benz C-Class Estate and look back at the Dodge Caliber and Cadillac BLS.

This is in addition to all of your other favourite features including Motorgrump, Fully Equipped, Bright Spark, and the most up-to-date data section in the magazine business. Don’t forget to check out one of our newest columns, Grand Designs, that looks back at The Skoda Joyster concept car, as well as an interesting look at past prototypes, clay models and design sketches, some or all of which you may never have seen before. Finally, don’t forget to read the column from our resident legal expert, Neil Sargeant, in Legal Lane.

Tested:

• Jeep Compass First Edition Electric FWD Automatic
• Mercedes-Benz CLA 250+ AMG Line Edition Automatic with EQ Technology
• Nissan Qashqai Tekna+ e-Power 205 Automatic
• Peugeot E-308 GT 156 Automatic
• SEAT Arona SE Technology 1.0 TSI DSG Automatic
• Toyota Urban Cruiser Excel Automatic
• Vauxhall Mokka GSE Electric Automatic

Long-term test reports:

• Abarth 500e Turismo Automatic
• Honda CR-V e:HEV 2.0 i-MMD Advance AWD Automatic
• Jeep Avenger 4xe The North Face Edition 1.2 e-Hybrid Automatic
• Mazda CX-80 PHEV Homura Plus Automatic
• Peugeot 3008 GT 145 Mild Hybrid Automatic
• Renault Symbioz E-Tech Iconic Esprit 160 Automatic
• SEAT Leon FR e-Hybrid DSG Automatic
• Skoda Octavia Estate SE L 2.0 TDI DSG Automatic
• Toyota Yaris Cross GR Sport Hybrid 1.5 VVT-i Automatic
• Vauxhall Mokka Electric GS Automatic
• Volvo V90 Plus T6 AWD Automatic

Features:

• Bright Spark – eVED
• Current affairs – Why do cars bong all of the time?
• Gadget Inspector
• Insight – How Kia plans to dominate the van world, like it has with cars
• Motorgrump – Dads
• Technology explained – wireless smartphone charging
• The Doctor – advice column
• You, the jury – should dashcams be standard?

Buying, selling and maintaining

• Generation Game – Range Rover – three generations examined
• Hero or zero – Cadillac BLS
• Product watch – all-season tyres
• Remember this – Dodge Caliber
• Secondhand shootout – Audi A4 Avant vs Mercedes-Benz C-Class Estate

Used Car Buyer’s Guide

• DS 7 1.5 BlueHDi 130 (2022 to 2025)

Data Files

• Denied diesels – Audi A6 3.0 V6 TDI quattro
• Forgotten Concept – Skoda Joyster
• Joy of Lists – Diesel cars with the lowest insurance groups
• Under development – BMW Group, Sokolov, Czechia
• The most comprehensive and up-to-data in the business

Regulars

• News and views
• News in pictures
• Motoring Morsels
• Refuelling Costs
• Day trip to…
• What’s On
• Gadget Inspector
• The Doctor
• This Month
• Current Affairs
• Techzone
• You, the jury
• Motorgrump
• Fully equipped
• Bright Spark
• DM@il
• Tuning specialists directory
• Buying. Selling and Maintaining
• The Generation Game
• The Doctor’s Hero or Zero
• Marketplace Statistics
• Marketplace In The Pipeline
• Marketplace What’s New
• Data Files
• Next month
• Grand Designs
• The Legal Lane