“I want the fastest possible, new RS/AMG/M car!” That’s something that I, and probably lots of you, have thought when considering which new model to go for. For enthusiasts like us, it’s the natural way to think about your next purchase. So, when I was testing, not the second most powerful, but third down the list of quickest Audi A5 based models, the 2.0l TFSI, I was surprised to start thinking that it might be the pick of the bunch.

You’re probably already thinking that I should hand in my V-Power card, but bear with me.




Audi’s latest A5 is a striking bit of design from a company that has been ultra-conservative over the last 10 years. Plum for the RS5 or S5 variety and they do look more purposeful, but the difference is nowhere near as large as it was on say they B5 RS4 compared to a rep spec model.

Let’s start by looking at the stats for three of the petrol models:
A5 2.0 TFSI, 252 PS, 370Nm 1,390 kg, 181PS/ton (remap to 300PS = 215PS/ton)
S5, 354PS, 500Nm, 1,660 kg, 213PS/ton
RS5, 450PS, 600Nm, 1,665 kg, 270Ps/ton

There’s no denying how much of a monster the RS5 is, however with a simple £500 remap the 2.0 TFSI can achieve a higher PS/ton then the S5.

Stats are all well and interesting but it’s how the cars feel on the road that counts, and this is where the 2.0l impresses most. While I’ve not driven the current RS5, what the smaller engined A5 has going ...

Seven years is a long time for any model of car, but at the top end of the luxury segment it’s an eternity. That's how long it's been since the last generation Audi A8 was launched, but now we have news of its replacement.

When you’re spending upwards of £65,000 on a luxury saloon you expect it to not only drive well and be the ultimate palace of comfort, you also expect state of the art technology that those buying further down the food chain can’t even dream of.

To meet these uber high demands, Audi has just announced full details of their new, fourth generation 2017 A8 featuring “new design language, an innovative touchscreen operating concept and systematic drivetrain electrification”.

The real headline for this new flagship A8 is that it’s Audi’s big step towards a world of automated motoring with it being: “developed for highly automated driving”. With software updates coming in 2018, the A8 will have features such as parking pilot, garage pilot and traffic jam pilot.



Unlike the BMW 7 Series, the new A8 will be able to park itself into a space or garage while the driver just clicks a button from their smartphone – no actual remote control driving is required, which if you have tried the BMW system, you will know is a good thing.

Parking itself almost seems like quite a basic feature compared to Audi’s next bit of tech, the traffic jam pilot. This system allows, through the pressing ...

The Skoda Yeti is a real people’s car, owned as daily driver for those with supercars to families who just need to be able to fit three children’s seats in the back. As its production run, starting in 2009, is about to come to an end, we take a look at the end of the line car to figure out if it’s going to be missed.

With the Karoq arriving soon, Skoda’s compact SUV line-up will be changed forever. With the Yeti, Skoda offered a car with the abilities of a four wheel drive SUV, but without too much compromise in driveability. The looks may have been divisive, but if you get past that, then you could get a real ‘do anything’ vehicle for just over £17k.

To fill the gap left by the Yeti, the Volkswagen group can now offer you an updated VW Tiguan (the comfortable option), a SEAT Ateca (the sporty option) and soon, the Skoda Karoq (the good value option). The thing is though, all of those are genuine compact SUVs, and that’s not necessarily what everyone wants to drive.

The Skoda Yeti is built on the VW A5 (PQ35) platform like the old MK6 Golf and MK2 Audi TT, and it was given a body that’s part hatchback, part MPV and small part SUV. This results in the Yeti having a few odd angles, and a hint of Popemobile, but with many real car people loving it. Perhaps it harks back to a time when manufacturers made curio models, like the Renault Vel Satis, and these were held dear to owner’s hearts. Unlike curios, however, the Skoda Yeti ...

As a collective who are fond of the VW Group cars, we can quite often pigeon hole the brands; Audi = posh, VW = quality family vehicles, Skoda = value and SEAT = young and sporty. What happens, however, when the brands cross over into each other’s territory, for example, when SEAT makes a compact SUV? Can they really make it young and sporty?

To find out, we drove the new SEAT Ateca for a week and lived with it as a family car.

Our SEAT Ateca was a XCELLENCE 2.0 TDI 4Drive 150 PS 6-speed manual with the XCELLENCE Pack (top-view camera, Park Assist, and electric tailgate with virtual pedal), SEAT Sound System (135W/six-channel amplifier,10 speakers, boot mounted subwoofer and 18-inch space saver spare wheel) and 19-inch ‘Exclusive’ machined bi-colour alloy wheels.

Although the Ateca might look familiar, if you are used to the VW Tiguan, SEAT have given it a slightly sportier edge with some crisper lines. It’s also slightly smaller too, so I prefer to think of it as a raised up SEAT Leon.

The sporty intentions continue on the inside where there’s a decent level of bolstering on the seats - more than you’d anticipate of a car in this segment. Other than that, the interior is clearly well made but a tad bland. SEAT used to have a bit more flare with their interiors (not always in a good way) but they have played it fairly safe with this model.


In terms of space, the Ateca has room for five with ...

Reinvention is something you usually do when you’re fed up with your old life or have made some catastrophic mistake that means you need to change everything. For Skoda, there have been no such issues; in fact, they are making more cars and larger profits than ever.

What has changed is the public’s perception of car ownership. With cars now mostly bought via monthly payments, just like your electricity bill, many people just see them as a way to get from A to B. Nobody chooses to pay more than the minimum for their electricity so car manufacturers had to make sure this never happens to them. Thankfully, Skoda has come up with a solution

To prepare Skoda for the coming decades they are about to release the second of their SUVs, the Karoq, and they chose that coolest of countries, Sweden, to show it off to the world’s motoring press.

With many of the journalists present wondering why Skoda had chosen Sweden, I thought it was a smart move rather than going to a country hotel in South East England or a spa resort in the Czech Republic. While many countries have swathes of luxury hotels, Sweden is always seen as being hip with a great outdoor culture – that’s what Skoda wants to associate itself with.

Travelling by boat through the Stockholm archipelago, you can’t help but be impressed with the surroundings. As well as the parks full of people enjoying the sunshine, Sweden has the highest boat ownership per capita ...

Now that SEAT have established the Ateca as the sportiest and most car like compact SUV from the VW Group, they are ready to do the same with a seven seat version.

This being the internet, SEAT have wisely put in place some restrictions so as not to have a Boaty McBoatface incident on their hands: the name must be taken from Spanish geography

If you are a SEAT fan, or just love Spain, then why not make your mark on automotive history and choose the name for what's going to be a top seller across Europe and beyond.

Here's the rules and how to get involved:

The initiative, which kicks off today, consists of four stages:

1. Proposals for names. Beginning today and running until 22 June, anyone can propose their favourite name for SEAT’s new model. In addition to the Spanish geography criteria, SEAT has included, among others, that the name matches the company’s brand values and product characteristics and that it is easy to pronounce in different languages. Each of the proposals received will be taken into consideration during this stage, regardless of the number of participants that submit each proposal.
2. Shortlisting of entries. In view of the established set of criteria, experts at SEAT and in naming will be involved in the pre-selection stage, as well as customers from different countries in the focus groups organised by the brand, and tests will be carried out in the markets to shortlist at least

...