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First Drives

2016 DS 3 Performance review by Giles Smith for Sunday Times Driving

First Drive review: 2016 DS 3 Performance

DS has split from Citroën. You didn’t hear? It’s like when Robbie left Take That: helplines, bewilderment, distraught car fans...
Published 11 April 2016

First Drive review: 2016 Mercedes-Benz SLC (the new...

Twenty years after its 1996 debut, the SLK charges on, albeit with a change of name.
Published 06 April 2016
2016 Jaguar XF S review by Dom Joly for Sunday Times Driving

The Dom Joly Review: 2016 Jaguar XF S

I really shouldn’t like Jaguars. I mean, what’s with that name for a start? You might as well call your car Le Tigre or Sexy Lady...
Published 06 April 2016
First Drive review of the 2016 Porsche 718 Boxster S

First Drive review: 2016 Porsche 718 Boxster S

Porsche sports cars and flat-six cylinder engines go together like Spring time and the dawn chorus, chocolate brownie and ice cream, beer and...
Published 04 April 2016
First Drive review: 2016 Range Rover Evoque convertible

First Drive review: 2016 Range Rover Evoque convertible

Land Rover is calling this addition to the Range Rover Evoque range the “world’s first luxury compact SUV convertible”, which sounds like an...
Published 04 April 2016
First Drive review: 2016 Skoda Octavia vRS 4x4

First Drive review: 2016 Skoda Octavia vRS 4x4

The Skoda Octavia has always seemed such a reasonable car — reasonably shaped, reasonably constructed, reasonably priced...
Published 31 March 2016
Toyota Prius Excel

First Drive: 2016 Toyota Prius Excel

Originally the torchbearer for ecologically sensitive road use, the Toyota Prius is entering a phase of midlife ubiquity as the jobbing Uber operative’s...
Published 22 March 2016
Mini Cooper convertible review

First Drive review: 2016 Mini Cooper convertible

Britain loves a convertible. Any car manufacturer will tell you: the UK is a soft touch for a soft-top. It’s Europe’s second-biggest market for...
Published 15 March 2016

First Drive review: 2016 Kia Cee'd 1.6 CRDi

Once upon a time, I drove a Kia Cee’d into the car park of a Premier League training ground. This was in the course of my duties as a journalist
Published 29 February 2016
DS 3 review

First Drive review: 2016 DS 3 Prestige PureTech 130...

Take a good look at the new DS 3 and you'll notice that the little French fancy has done away with its Citroën badges...
Published 25 February 2016
The Sunday Times Driving Placeholder

First Drive review: Volvo XC90 T8 Twin Engine plug-in...

More middle class than a skiing holiday, and twice as Swedish as meatballs, the Volvo XC90 has always offered high status enhancement...
Published 23 February 2016
The Sunday Times Driving Placeholder

First Drive review: 2016 Porsche 911 Turbo S

There's a reason the Porsche 911 Turbo is nicknamed the Widowmaker. It stares down other sports cars, pushes in front at queues and leaves rivals...
Published 15 February 2016