Table of contents for 1804 in Auto Express

THE following provide help with motoring problems. Some services are free, others charge a fee or operate on premium-rate lines (p), while some offer advice for members only (m) 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…

Alastair_Crooks@autovia.co.uk @AllieCrooks ● Toyota holds top two places ● LMP2 title also up for grabs THE World Endurance Championship is approaching its final race in Bahrain this weekend with everything to play for. The eight-hour event means 38 points to the race winners – plus another for pole position – and 36 points separate the top four cars. A 2pm start time will see the race run late into the night around the 3.3-mile circuit. Leading the way in the championship is Toyota, as the team looks to continue its recent domination by taking a fifth straight title and sixth overall drivers’ and manufacturers’ championships. The number eight car of Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa sits 15 points clear of its closest challenger, the fellow Toyota of Mike…

John_McIlroy@autovia.co.uk @johnmcilroy “We’re constantly being pushed by clients who want something just that little bit different”PHILLIP DEAN Design manager MY head is beginning to hurt. We’re in an office suite in the grounds of Bentley’s headquarters in Crewe, and Phillip Dean from Mulliner is walking me through what his team could do to make any of the British brand’s models really special. Frankly, it’s proving rather a lot to take in. Mulliner, a name founded in coachbuilding in west London, is better known these days as the division that helps Bentley’s well heeled clients to make their cars truly unique. In lots of cases this comes through pre-curated option packs or model lines; in others it can mean bespoke paintjobs or interior trim; and at the top of the tree…

Richard_Ingram@autovia.co.uk @rsp_ingram “It undercuts its longer-range sibling by £8k, but sacrifices only around 60 miles on a full charge AS well as launching the all-new i5 (Page 22), BMW has been bolstering its range of electric vehicles by increasing the battery and motor options for existing models. The most recent example of this is the new i4 eDrive35. A new entry-point to the i4 line-up, the eDrive35 sits below the eDrive40 and M50, featuring a less powerful rear-mounted motor and a smaller battery for a slightly shorter range. If maximum mileage isn’t a concern, could this be the best i4 yet? The headline price appeals. Starting from £49,995 in Sport trim, the eDrive35 undercuts its longer-range sibling by almost £8k, yet only sacrifices 60-odd miles on a full charge. It…

Running costs 37.6mpg (official) £101 fill-up Performance 0-62mph/top speed 3.5 seconds/170mph THE new Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 S shares the vast majority of its new technical hardware with the C 63 saloon launched last year, controversially dropping the previous V8 engine for a cutting-edge plug-in hybrid powertrain packed full of future-proofed technology. The addition of ‘E Performance’ might create a clumsy name, but it also produces a substantial 671bhp maximum output. It does this by pairing a turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine – one shared with the A45 S hot hatchback – with a plug-in hybrid module. The battery pack and electric motor are located on the rear axle, the latter producing 201bhp in boost mode for a maximum of 10 seconds, or 107bhp at a constant level. In typical AMG style,…

MODEL TESTED: Clio E-Tech Esprit Alpine PRICE: £24,095 POWERTRAIN: 1.6-litre 4cyl petrol hybrid, 143bhp 143bhp Powertrain 1.6 litre 4cyl 39 litres Fuel tank £61 fill up 9.3 seconds Performance 112mph 301 litres Seats up/down 1,006 litres THE last Clio we group tested was a 1.0-litre petrol model in a mid-range trim level, and it emerged victorious. Will this revised car, in top-spec Esprit Alpine trim and with a hybrid powertrain (priced at £24,095), still come top? Tech highlights THE revisions for the Clio focus on areas such as the styling, trim levels and equipment, which we’ll come to in the ownership section. Mechanically, the updated version is largely the same car as the model that has won the supermini class in our New Car Awards for three years in a…

ONE of the most impressive things about the Clio is that the perceived quality, standard kit and hybrid powertrain will leave you thinking that it’s one of the most expensive cars in its class, when the exact opposite is true. Place just under six grand up front on a three-year PCP finance deal on each car, and the Clio weighs in at £211 per month – for the most expensive model in the line-up, remember, compared with £280 a month for the Fabia and £319 per month for the Jazz on matching terms. With so much performance in hand, you can argue that the Fabia with a smaller 1.0 TSI petrol is a valid comparison, but even this costs £21 per month more than the Renault. The Jazz gains ground…

FOOD FOR THOUGHT The Clio wins here, but forthcoming rivals (plus a recently deceased one) are worthy of consideration Richard Ingram Deputy editor “THERE is one elephant in the room we haven’t talked about here, and that’s the Ford Fiesta. One of the best superminis around and one of the UK’s best-selling cars is no longer available. It was one of the few cars in this class that gave the Clio a properly stern test.” John McIlroy Editor-at-large “ONCE again, Renault’s finance deals hammer home a victory. You can save even more on a base model, too; match the terms to those on the costs page, and the entry-level Evolution comes to just £180 a month. There are zero per cent deals to be had on two-year agreements, too.” Dawn…

Paul_Adam@autovia.co.uk @paul_adamjnr Running costs 39.7mpg (on test) £78 fill-up/£180 or 30% tax Practicality Boot (seats up/down) 510/1,360 litres Performance 0-62mph/top speed 10 seconds/124mph “A 240mm increase in length over the C4 hatchback provides a superior 510-litre boot space” FAMILY life can be pretty hectic, so when news arrived that I was to be the custodian of a new Citroen C4 X, it seemed the perfect fit. With two sporty kids and a lively Labrador to keep entertained, I was quietly confident that the clan’s new wheels would be just the ticket to help smooth along the organised chaos at la maison Adam. My first experience of Citroen was my dad’s XM way back in 1990; I still remember thinking its Bertone-designed exterior looked stunning and a cut above next door’s…

mail@autoexpress.co.uk Performance 0-62mph/top speed 6.9 seconds/151mph THE Audi TT’s 2.0-litre turbo engine is now nicely run in, and I was enjoying the car’s all-round loveliness until a terrible thing happened to it at Gatwick airport. I handed the keys of our still-shiny new TT over to a pleasant enough chap from Maple Parking, with whom I left the car for a couple of days while away on a launch event. On my return, with the TT’s odometer still showing fewer than 600 miles, I noticed there were two whopping scrapes around the rim of its 20-inch ‘Diamond Cut’ front right alloy wheel. So I pointed this out to folks at Maple, they apologised profusely and handed me details for their customer service department. I drove home feeling oddly violated. “For…

A sound move for McLaren and B&W MCLAREN and Bowers & Wilkins have furthered their partnership with a new wireless speaker in the car maker’s colours. The McLaren Edition Zeppelin speaker has a Galvanic Grey finish and Papaya Orange highlights. There is also a limited-run 60th Edition (above) with an orange body and a Speedy Kiwi logo in honour of the brand’s founder, Bruce McLaren. The McLaren Edition is available for £799 from bowerswilkins.com, while the 60th Edition can be bought from selected McLaren dealerships. Charging boost for Volvo EV owners VOLVO has partnered with Digital Charging Solutions to offer buyers of its electric vehicles a simpler experience. Customers can now use the Volvo Cars app to access and pay for charging through a network of more than 590,000 public…

Wheels: The big fun book of vehicles Tom Schamp (Prestel) Price: £18.99 Rating IT’S difficult to know who this book is aimed at. The beautiful artwork means it’s a pleasure for all ages to flick through, while the facts that litter the pages are both interesting and insightful. The content is quite busy, however, there’s little flow to the book, and certainly no storyline. But if you or your kids like all things wheeled, it’s worth a look. Pontiac Firebird: The Auto-Biography Marc Cranswick (Veloce Publishing, veloce.co.uk) Price: £35 Rating: ONE of the US’s more celebrated muscle cars, the Firebird has an enduring legacy and multiple titles written about it, but this isn’t our absolute favourite. While it’s nicely detailed for the first couple of Firebird generations, it seems to…

mail@autoexpress.co.uk IN this year’s Driver Power New Car survey, 26th place overall isn’t quite enough to get the Picanto into the top third of the rundown, but it’s a decent result nevertheless. While a 63rd ranking for powertrains is poor, a 51st place for practicality is hardly unexpected for a city car. Sluggish acceleration, at 63rd, and rear legroom, at 62nd, don’t do the Picanto any favours, but while there’s only a 55th for driving pleasure, owners say the car has responsive steering, at 18th, and reasonable handling, at 25th. A strong 12th for user-friendly controls is backed up by ninth for touchscreen sensitivity. Economy (16th), servicing (14th) and reliability (12th) complete the picture. WE SAID “All of the key ingredients for a winning city car are present here, making…

THE insurance industry urgently needs to take out a new policy – against itself. The reason? Just as the Volkswagen Group and a few other offending car manufacturers lost customers (some of them forever) who were cheated when purchasing diesel vehicles, a growing number of heinously greedy insurers are now losing motorists unable or unwilling to pay the absurdly high prices they’re being charged for their motor policies in 2023. No doubt about it: countless drivers are now saying of the great insurance rip-off, enough is enough. But it’s not what they say, it’s what they do that matters. Some are being forced to scrap cars on the grounds that the cost to insure them per year is not far off the value of the actual vehicles. And that’s madness.…

Richard_Ingram@autovia.co.uk @rsp_ingram ● Revised Model 3 launches with claims of ‘improved fit’ ● Sub-£40k price tag to entice business and private users TESLA doesn’t really do facelifts. Since the company came to the UK (for the second time) in 2014, only one of its four core models has been given a nip and tuck. But apparently a leopard can change its spots. The updated Model 3 was revealed just before the Munich Motor Show in September, and now here we are driving arguably the most important car of the year. Let’s quickly run through the changes. Externally, the most notable difference is at the front, where the slightly blobby-looking headlights have been slimmed down for a much sharper appearance. The rear end has been tweaked, too, with new C-shaped light…

Ellis_Hyde@autovia.co.uk @EllisDrives ● Concept harks back to MR2 ● Two seats and steering yoke TOYOTA has headlined its quartet of Tokyo Motor Show concepts with a potential successor to the MR2 roadster. The FT-Se (right) suggests the brand isn’t ready to quit the sports car game just yet, previewing the first EV from its Gazoo Racing division and a zero-emissions successor to much-loved models from the past. The FT-Se is, in effect, an evolution of the unnamed electric sports car concept that Toyota unveiled in 2021. The new model gets a short bonnet, plus thin vertical running lights and enormous air intakes that should help cool the brakes and floor-mounted battery. Towards the rear there are flared arches, a gently sloping roofline, and a ducktail spoiler similar to that of…

Uprated dampers for facelifted Mazda MX-5 THE Iconic SP (above, right) might hint at the future of the Mazda MX-5, but the maker hasn’t neglected the current car – revealing a host of changes for 2024. There are new LED lights front and rear, while Aero Grey has been added to the list of exterior colours, and inside there’s a larger 8.8-inch screen, a frameless mirror and USB-C ports. Bilstein dampers and an uprated differential feature on 2.0-litre cars. Subaru reveals rugged SUV-style EV coupé NOT to feel left out, Subaru also showed its take on a future coupé – alongside a flying car concept, of all things. Subaru says the Sport Mobility Concept embodies “the pleasure of going anywhere, anytime”. No technical details have been revealed other than its…

Chris_rosamond@autovia.co.uk “Having kept a key, criminals have both opportunity and motive to nick the vehicle back again”Philip Swift MD, Claims Management and Adjusting A “WORRYING increase” in the number of unsuspecting drivers purchasing a cloned vehicle, only to have it stolen again within days by the same gang that sold it to them, has been reported by one of the UK’s most experienced motor loss adjusters. Former detective Philip Swift, now managing director of Claims Management and Adjusting, says the so-called ‘re-steal’ scam is prevalent in the north of England, where gangs are using the same car repeatedly with a new cloned identity each time to net big illicit profits at the expense of innocent buyers. In many cases the bill ends up with insurers, causing everyone’s premium to rise.…

BMW is in the throes of updating its range of SUVs, and the latest member to get a refresh will be the new X3, which we’ve spied testing with less disguise. With the X1 growing in size, the X3 will be larger-still to help separate it from its sibling. The image above shows it’s likely to take styling inspiration from the i5 (top), and not the i7. We’ll also see a new cabin with BMW’s latest tech, plus a wider choice of powertrains. The decision to retain petrol and PHEV options alongside an iX3 EV means the X3 will be underpinned by two platforms.…

Alastair_Crooks@autovia.co.uk @AllieCrooks ● First sight of new Skoda ● On sale early next year THE world premiere of the new Skoda Superb will take place this week (2 November). But before the covers come off its next-generation family car, Skoda has issued a set of sketches to give us our best look yet at its new Peugeot 508 rival. We’ve already driven the Superb in prototype form (Issue 1,790) and came away very impressed. Now, we can piece together how the new car will look in both bodystyles. It will be available as an estate and hatchback, but this generation will not see the return of a saloon option. Still, Skoda’s decision to offer the Superb in two bodystyles gives it a wider appeal than the closely related Volkswagen Passat,…

MERCEDES junior driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli has been given the opportunity to bypass Formula 3 and head straight into Formula 2, retaining his relationship with the Prema Racing team. The 17-year-old Italian has been part of Mercedes’ programme since 2019 and has impressed in recent years, winning the ADAC F4 championship and Italian F4 series in 2022 before securing the Formula Regional European Championship with two races to spare this year. “I’m very happy [to take] this opportunity,” said Antonelli. “From Formula Regional to Formula 2, it will be a huge jump. I will try to learn as much as possible in testing to be ready for the first race.” In 2024 he’ll have to get to grips with a new car, but Prema is one of the top teams,…

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Ellis_Hyde@autovia.co.uk @EllisDrives Running costs 282.5mpg (official) £77 fill-up Performance 0-62mph/top speed 9.1 seconds/87mph WE first drove the innovative rotary-powered Mazda MX-30 R-EV only a few weeks ago (Issue 1,801) and, overall, felt the powertrain finally did the quirky crossover justice, elevating it from urban errand-runner, to a proper premium small car. Now we’ve been thrown the keys to the range-extender version on UK roads, to see if our initial impressions ring true. To recap: this is the first Mazda in more than a decade to feature a rotary motor. While conventional combustion engines use circular pistons that move up and down a cylinder, Mazda’s set-up gets triangular-shaped rotors that spin around a central shaft. In the case of the R-EV, there’s just one rotor, with the tiny 830cc engine producing…

MODEL TESTED: Fabia 1.5 TSI Monte Carlo PRICE: £25,270 POWERTRAIN: 1.5-litre 4cyl petrol, 148bhp 148bhp Powertrain 1.5 litre 4cyl 40 litres Fuel tank £63 fill up 7.9 seconds Performance 138mph 380 litres Seats up/down 1,190 litres AT £25,270, the Fabia sits slightly closer to the Clio in price than it does the Jazz. However, our test car added a range of optional extras that pushed the total up to £26,430, which is at the pricier end of the supermini spectrum, especially for a model without a hybrid powertrain. Tech highlights THE Mk4 Fabia was released towards the end of 2021, and it received the Volkswagen Group’s latest MQB-A0 platform to put it on equal footing with the current VW Polo. The overall layout remains much the same as its predecessor’s,…

Skoda Fabia MONTE Carlo trim has a sportier look than the rest of the Fabia line-up. The front bumper gets a subtle splitter, the side skirts are lowered, and the chrome detailing is replaced with black trim. Monte Carlo badging on the front wings completes the changes. VS Honda Jazz THE Jazz’s look comes from its functionality more than desirability; the square shape, short bonnet and high roof line all contribute to its practical interior. Sport models get a larger rear spoiler and a more prominent tailpipe, among other subtle tweaks. VS Renault Clio WHETHER you prefer the looks of the Clio pre or post-update, it’s still a distinctive supermini. Neat detailing, such as the rear door handles integrated into the C-pillars, combines with a tidy, flowing design that is…

WINNER Renault Clio THE Renault Clio was our Supermini of the Year multiple times before its facelift, and the subtle updates have only made an already excellent package even better. The way it drives has barely changed, so you still benefit from a great blend of a smooth ride and keen handling, while the hybrid system sips fuel around town. In most areas, the Clio is either close to, or the best in its class, so the fabulous finance deals seal its win. ● Ride and keen handling  ● Premium feel at a great price ● Average cabin space  ● No Google-based tech 1st RUNNER-UP Skoda Fabia RENAULT’S punchy PCP rates have often proved to be the clincher in a group test, and so it is here. The Skoda matches…

BIGGER CLASS Ford Focus AROUND £22,000 gets you the brilliant Ford Focus in fully loaded ST-Line X trim with barely 5,000 miles on the clock. At two years old, it still has a little time left on its manufacturer warranty, too. It has loads of space inside, and it benefits from a 153bhp 1.0-litre turbocharged EcoBoost petrol engine with mild-hybrid technology. It’s fantastic to drive, too, with sharp handling and a decent ride. ● Great to drive  ● Loads of space ● Hybrids more frugal  ● Sluggish auto LESS MONEY Toyota Yaris THE Toyota Yaris has offered buyers petrol/electric tech for longer than Renault or Honda in this segment, and used examples of the previous-shape model from 2012 start from £6,000. The current car is a better match for the…

Pete_Gibson@autovia.co.uk Running costs 48.6mpg (on test) £84 fill-up £180 or 35% tax Practicality Boot (seats up/down) 588/1,810 litres WHEN I was told I was going to take delivery of a long-term Skoda Karoq, I already knew it was going to be good. Skoda has been knocking it out of the park in recent years with its whole model line-up, but I’ll admit that I wasn’t quite prepared for how well suited our Phoenix Orange 4x4 would be to life as a photographer’s assistant. Whether it’s cleaning test cars, shooting them or editing my pictures, the Karoq has been able to carry all my kit and be a comfortable home from home on location across the UK. The thing that has struck me recently is the quality of the materials inside…

Got a query? products@autoexpress.co.uk THERE’S no reason why you should pay a professional detailer to improve your paintwork for you, but there are risks and you do need to take some precautions. The upside is that spectacular improvements can be made in significantly less time than polishing by hand and at little cost after the initial outlay for the equipment. When it comes to kit, a dual-action machine where the pad oscillates in a random orbit is the safest device to start out with, although a rotary polisher is faster and can be used by a beginner if you follow the guidelines. Because a rotary can be more aggressive, there’s less working time for untrained muscles, which may be the difference between finishing the job, having to return to it,…

NEW PRODUCT Halfords Advanced PW50 Price: £224.99 Flow: 7.0 litres/min Rating: Contact: halfords.com WE were a little baffled by the Halfords PW50. It has some parts which seem to be of a professional standard, with chunky brass connectors and interchangeable nozzles that give different spray fan patterns. The package also includes one of the best snow foam bottles we’ve tried, with adjustments for the spray and fluid concentration, again featuring solid metal connectors. But the rest of it seems to have been designed by someone who has never washed a car. Changing the nozzles is time consuming and complicated compared with the simple twist needed with the rivals here. The trigger is stiffly sprung and the snow foamer can only be attached at the end of the full lance, making it…

PRODUCTGROUP TEST 1|11|2023 Every week, we extensively test all the latest car kit from tyres to trim cleaners. Log on to www.autoexpress.co.uk to look through our huge online test archive MAKING time to thoroughly clean your car’s interior can be difficult, but leaving it merely allows the grime and dust to build up. A good interim answer is to use cleaning wipes, which are quick and handy. These come in tubs or resealable packets, and while the former generally contain more and cost less, they also prove more difficult to store in the car. But if you keep your wipes in the car, they are to hand whenever your trim or fabric needs a quick going over. They’re also good for keeping under-bonnet trim looking smart. So which is the…

Alastair_Crooks@autovia.co.uk @AllieCrooks ● Sharp-looking concepts showcase new design direction ● Hyper Punk SUV points to next-generation Juke NISSAN has gone big at this year’s Tokyo Motor Show, revealing a range of concept cars (above) that paint a strong picture of the brand’s future, hinting at upcoming model plans, too. Among them was the Hyper Punk small SUV – a small crossover that points directly to the forthcoming Juke EV. While the Tokyo concept is a bit bigger than what will eventually see the light of day as a successor to the current petrol Juke, it has plenty of styling cues that should make production, many of which are shown here in our exclusive images. Nissan recently announced it would go fully electric by 2030, and that it will launch only…

FERRARI has quite a history of making bespoke cars for its most devoted clients, and the latest one to roll out of its ‘One-Off’ series is the SP-8. The name comes as part of Ferrari’s Special Projects programme, with the number eight considered lucky in Chinese culture (the customer is from Taiwan). Based on the F8 Spider, the SP-8 uses a 3.9-litre, twin-turbo V8, over which sit bespoke body panels, Roma-inspired rear lights and unique F40-style alloy wheels. The paint is a two-tone effect with matte grey at the rear and a carbon-fibre section to the front. Inside, there are bucket seats upholstered in navy blue Alcantara, plus yellow detailing.…

mail@autoexpress.co.uk @AutoExpress HOT TOPIC EV vs ICE ownership FROM: Bea Wood AT last, a comparison of the total cost of ownership. If you compare two similar cars, such as the Corsa, you can see that even if your cost of electricity is zero over three years, it is cheaper to run the petrol version. FROM: Peter DeBeaux THREE years is a short time in the life cycle of an ICE car, whereas it is probably in the realms of 30 to 50 per cent of an EV’s lifespan cycle of batteries, which will incur massive cost to replace. This will be reflected in resale prices of EVs. Join the debate at www.autoexpress.co.uk ■ “So what if they are? Is a Porsche cheaper than a Fiesta to run? Wouldn’t stop me…

Richard_Ingram@autovia.co.uk @rsp_ingram “The ride and handling are excellent, and here BMW’s associations with the 7 ring most true” A QUICK online search suggests the E34-generation BMW 520i cost around £22,500 when it went on sale in 1988. Fast forward 35 years, and we’re looking at the first all-electric 5 Series, staring down the barrel of an eye-watering base price of £74k. But include inflation, and there’s only about £80 in it – with the older car slightly more expensive like-for-like. So are cars one of the few luxuries that have resisted the uncontrollable spike in the cost of living? Yes, and no. Spending this kind of cash on a family saloon – albeit an electric one – will still be impossible to justify for most. It’s a pill no less…

Ellis_Hyde@autovia.co.uk @EllisDrives Running costs 57.6mpg (official) £78 fill-up Performance 0-62mph/top speed 10.8 seconds/107mph THE Arkana is one of the more recent additions to Renault’s line-up, having arrived in the UK in 2021, yet it’s being facelifted anyway, as the French company overhauls its range. The styling tweaks to the Arkana are pretty minimal, to the extent that it’s hard to tell it’s been facelifted at all. Changes include a new pattern for the coupé-SUV’s grille, as well as Renault’s redesigned logo. The tail-lights now offer a smoked finish, and the exhausts are darker. To be fair to the Arkana, it was hardly lacking presence to begin with, thanks to the sloping roofline and enormous headlight units with their C-shaped lighting signature. The new range-topping Esprit Alpine model we’re driving also…

MODEL TESTED: Jazz Advance Sport e:HEV PRICE: £27,915 POWERTRAIN: 1.5-litre 4cyl petrol hybrid, 120bhp 120bhp Powertrain 1.5 litre 4cyl 40 litres Fuel tank £63 fill up 9.5 seconds Performance 108mph 304 litres Seats up/down 1,205 litres AT £27,915 in range-topping Advance Sport trim, the Honda Jazz is the most expensive of this trio. However, it’s also the best equipped, and one or two colours aside, there are very few extras that will add to that figure. Tech highlights MIXING petrol and electric in the Jazz offers three distinct ways of driving the front wheels, depending on the type of road that you’re on. Around town, it tries to operate in electric mode as much as possible, a process taken care of by a motor that offers up 121bhp and 253Nm.…

SAME CLASS Dacia Sandero THE Dacia Sandero is one of the cheapest new cars on sale in the UK. When a model held that title previously, it’d often mean that owners would have to make many compromises, to the point where we’d suggest simply buying something second-hand for the same price. That’s not the case with the Dacia Sandero, because under the skin, it shares its mechanical make-up with the Renault Clio. Sure, cost cutting means that the interior isn’t quite as posh, and it has fewer concessions to refinement and tech. But the bottom line is that the Sandero is a spacious supermini that’s good to drive at a class-leading price. ● Bargain price  ● Smooth ride  ● Spacious cabin ● Cheap cabin plastics  ● Basic equipment levels  ●…

WITH winter just around the corner, keeping your pride and joy clean could become a weekly task. A decent pressure washer will make that job much less of a chore. Paying a little bit extra to get a better machine will bring you more power. But more importantly, it will also give you features such as a snow-foam bottle, a longer hose and better-quality fittings. Buying an own-brand product usually means cheaper prices, so Halfords’ £224.99 for its new PW50 could be a surprise, because the firm’s washers have previously been priced at less than £75. The PW50’s specification and features seem to stack up against rivals’, however, and it is cheaper than two of our recommended machines: the innovative AVA Go P55 and Nilfisk Core 150. However, the Halfords…