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WE’RE a nation of car lovers unlike pretty much any other. New and used, we buy a disproportionate number of hot hatches, and a ridiculous number of convertibles, given our temperamental climate. We’re agnostic and illogical in our love of all types of car. In general, albeit with exceptions, we also love to take care of our pride and joy, whether it’s a Fiat or Ferrari. Which is why I enjoy reading our product reviews and picking up tips – no-one else goes to the lengths we do. The annual Auto Express Product Awards bring together 20 categories to pick out the products that will help you keep your car in the best possible shape, looking at value for money as well as overall quality. Several of our winners cost…

HOT on the heels of its smaller sibling, the Elroq vRS, the Skoda Enyaq vRS has been revealed with the same pure-electric powertrain and 84kWh battery, but a slightly larger boot. Prices have been announced and first deliveries are expected later this summer, although orders don’t open until 12 June. As with lesser versions of the Enyaq, the vRS shares everything with the Elroq, from its platform and battery to its styling and cabin layout. Skoda has even revealed the Enyaq vRS in the same ‘Hyper Green’ paint, and from the front, the two cars are almost indistinguishable. The Enyaq’s ‘Tech-Deck’ face – a dark, blanked-off grille hiding myriad sensors and radars – is identical to the Elroq’s, while both cars have the same lighting signature, with the main and…

WE last saw the Volvo XC70 name on the back of a high-riding estate car back in 2016, but now the Swedish firm has given us a teaser of the badge’s return, this time on an SUV. The new XC70 is expected to be launched in the coming months, but initially at least it will be offered in China. A Volvo spokesperson told Auto Express that “there are no current plans to sell the XC70 in the UK market”. However, the firm says it will be “exploring potential additional markets at a later stage” and if there is demand, it’ll look into bringing the new model to the UK. While the original XC70 was conceived when the V70 XC (or Cross Country) estate was rebadged in 2003 to bring it…

THE MINI Countryman is targeted more at the glamping crowd than those who like to get properly dirty, but a new concept version looks ready to take on the Dakar Rally. The creation comes from German company delta4x4, which produces off-road parts and accessories for cars including the Jeep Wrangler and Mercedes G-Class. This more extreme, but still road-legal, version apparently started as an April fools’ joke, but we’re told that if there’s enough demand, delta4x4 will build a small number for people to buy. The concept, known as ‘the beast’, gets a 50mm increase in ride height and more aggressive all-terrain tyres on 18-inch beadlock wheels. The wheelarch extensions and presumably wider track will help off-road too, and should make this Countryman more stable across rough terrain. There’s also…

CHARGING issues notwithstanding, the new Mercedes CLA with EQ Technology has a vast range of up to 484 miles and it’s available to order now, from £45,615. The only powertrain available for the moment is the entry-level Mercedes CLA 250+ with EQ Technology. It manages to achieve its huge range figure by using a big 85kWh battery pack and efficient e-motor set-up, plus ultra-slick aerodynamics. There are three specifications to choose from: Sport Edition, AMG Line Edition and AMG Line Premium Edition. Standard equipment across the range includes a 14-inch central touchscreen, 10.25-inch driver’s display, a panoramic glass roof, an illuminated ‘iconic’ grille, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, and an energy-saving heat pump, along with heated front seats and 18-inch alloy wheels. The CLA even comes with facial-recognition technology…

WITH the implementation of bidirectional charging, your car could soon act as a portable power bank, standing by to redirect electricity from its own battery into your home. And certain technologies could let your car to act as a power supply for tools and appliances, as well as other electric vehicles. But how does this work, what technology is already out there, are there really any benefits, and what challenges do we face to implement bidirectional charging? These are the questions we’ll answer below, with the help of some industry experts. What is bidirectional charging? In a nutshell, bidirectional charging is exactly what it sounds like; energy is able to flow both ways – meaning, for example, that your home can power your EV, and your EV can power your…

LAST we heard, Audi was planning to become a pure-electric brand by 2033. That date is still a long way off, or could easily be pushed back if EV demand isn’t at the level the company wants it to be by then. But either way, the all-new, third-generation Audi Q5 will be the last to feature internal-combustion engines. Sitting at the top of the range again is the SQ5, which in the past has been offered with both petrol and diesel power. Unsurprisingly, the diesel option hasn’t returned, and instead the new SQ5 comes only with a 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 petrol engine. It’s paired with a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, quattro all-wheel drive and Audi’s latest hybrid tech, which uses an electric motor to give a small boost in performance and…

CITROEN is wading into a segment that has two very established rivals: the Volkswagen California and the Mercedes Marco Polo. It’s been very clever with its market positioning, though; knowing that those vehicles are the default choice for many buyers, Citroen is offering a product that offers much of the same usability for a significantly lower price. Mechanically, the Holidays uses the SpaceTourer people mover as its starting point, which in turn is derived from the Dispatch van (also badged as various Peugeot, Vauxhall, Fiat and Toyota vans, among others). Mid-life facelifts to each of those models aimed to give them more distinct front ends, and that’s carried over to the Holidays; the three-line LED lighting signature maintains a family look with the C3 hatchback and the C5 Aircross. ENGINES…

OF all the electric cars that I’ve tested, this Volvo seems to have finally killed off any lingering range anxiety. And the more I drive our EC40 the more I like it. I’ve added a couple of thousand miles since my first report back in February, the majority of which have come via home charging using my 7.4kW charge port. I’ve heeded the in-car advice and limited the battery charge to 90 per cent. Based on my standard home electricity tariff of 27.03 pence per kilo-watt-hour (kWh) a full home charge of the Volvo’s 75kWh battery (usable) would cost £18.24. That gives me about 240 miles based on my average efficiency of 3.2 miles per kWh, although I’m increasingly aware that EV efficiency is a grey area and the key…

RATCHET spanners might not be an essential part of your toolkit, but they are undeniably desirable, because they can take the grind out of removing difficult-to-reach fasteners. And there are few downsides to deciding to upgrade or simply add a set alongside your conventional spanners; the bulky mechanisms of old are now history because manufacturers have managed to combine the necessary ratchet strength in a much more slender housing. Indeed, the only real negative to buying them is the extra cost. We checked the size of both the ratchet and open ends of the 10, 13 and 17mm spanners, then took the larger two to 20 per cent over the torque figures required by DIN899 plus to simulate misuse. We looked for the essential 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 17 and…

OUR winter tyre test focused on a VW Golf using the popular 205/55 R16 tyre size. To test the contenders, we headed to Hankook’s Technotrac facility at Ivalo, Finland, situated 200 miles inside the Arctic Circle. Track temperatures ranged from -7C to -12C. We tested braking from 22-6mph and acceleration from 6-22mph, while the handling test was on a gently rising and falling 1.2km (0.75 mile) track, which brought a challenging variety of corners to test handling, stability under braking, and traction exiting turns. We then carried out the wet and dry assessments at Continental’s Contidrom near Hannover in Germany, where temperatures were around 7C. WINNER Continental Winter Contact TS870 Price: £100.19 Contact: continental-tyres.co.uk MAKE no mistake, the Continental is a genuinely exceptional tyre. It took multiple wins in the snow and…

THE current Mazda MX-5 has always been the antithesis of increasingly heavy electric sports cars, but this could change soon, because Auto Express has uncovered patents of an electric MX-5, and our exclusive images show how it might look. The patents, filed last month in the United States, show batteries located in the transmission tunnel section in what is clearly an MX-5-sized vehicle. This is at odds with the ‘skateboard’ architecture seen on most pure-electric vehicles, which would make it difficult to create the MX-5’s usual low driving position. Placing the batteries in the tunnel is designed to retain the traditional size, shape and weight distribution of the MX-5. Mazda has also put batteries in front of the passenger seat and behind both seats. The battery in front of the…

UNIQUE British motors that slash size and weight and are more powerful than rivals are the heart of AMG’s new EV super-saloon – and Auto Express has the lowdown from their inventor. Oxford graduate Tim Woolmer founded Yasa in 2009 to commercialise the axial flux electric motor he designed for his PhD. Almost a decade later, he clinched a deal for Yasa to supply Ferrari’s SF90 hybrid, and last week Auto Express toured the all new £12million Oxfordshire factory also producing e-motors for Lamborghini and McLaren. The plant is scaling up to produce 25,000 motors a year, and another major breakthrough comes this summer when Yasa starts powering its first pure-electric production car, the AMG GT 4-Door – although its motors will be made in Berlin after Mercedes’ acquisition of…

THE Nissan Micra is set to be this year’s comeback king, and we’ve spied it testing on the road for the first time. The original Micra arrived in 1982, and we bade farewell to the fifth generation in 2023. But it’s on schedule to return in all electric form in 2025 (see p114). Nissan has given us a few teasers of the new model, and it even revealed the front-end design back in March, but these spy shots are the first we’ve seen of the new supermini testing on the road. And despite the camouflage, it confirms plenty of the car’s design details, as well as its overall proportions. The new Micra sits on the same platform as the recently launched Renault 5 and uses the same basic bodyshell, but…

EMERGENCY stops on the driving test, once the bane of nervous learner drivers, could be almost phased out if a new DVSA pilot scheme is successful. Under the new test regime being trialled for three months at 20 locations across the country, the number of tests in which an emergency stop is demanded could be reduced to just one in every seven. The emergency stop has been part of the UK driving test since its inception in 1935. Back then, being able to slow a vehicle safely with the feeble brakes and skinny tyres of the day was a potential life-saver. Nowadays, the ubiquity of anti-lock braking and advanced driver-assistance systems may mean drivers no longer need to hone their skills for stopping safely. However, this is the first time…

THE latest Aston Martin Vantage is a fearsome sports car. Think of it as Britain’s answer to a Porsche 911 Turbo, with more panache but a little less performance, and you’ll be getting the picture. Well now Aston has gone one better by removing the coupé’s roof to give us this, the Vantage Roadster. It has even more style, not an ounce less performance, and more reasons than ever to go wobbly at the knees. At £175,000 before options, it’s not cheap, and its 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 engine makes only the thinnest of attempts to be ecologically responsible. But in this part of the market, does that even matter? Certainly not to Aston Martin’s customers, who might otherwise be considering rivals such as the Ferrari Roma Spider, Lamborghini Huracán Spider,…

PEOPLE like fast estate car. Models such as the Audi RS 2 Avant, Volvo 850 T-5R and even the recent BMW M3 Touring have gained cult status, while brands continue to combine practical bodies with big power outputs, even with the arrival of electrification. We’ve seen the latest BMW M5 Touring resort to plug-in power, and now the Mercedes-AMG E 53 moves from the last version’s mild-hybrid set-up to a full PHEV powertrain. While cars such as the Audi RS 6 Avant add a big chunk of visual aggression to the mix, the E 53 is a subtle-looking performance machine that’s likely to go unnoticed by all but the most ardent AMG fanatic. The E 53 is just 22mm wider than the standard E-Class Estate, with subtly flared wheelarches at…

THE Vito is the starting point for the Marco Polo in its transformation from rugged van to posh camper, and Mercedes has packed it with tech to feel as luxurious – both to live in and to drive – as possible. ENGINES & PERFORMANCE WHILE electric powertrains make a superb case for themselves in certain circumstances in large, heavy vehicles such as these, where towing might be a possibility and a convenient range will make road trips much easier, diesel is still very much the fuel of choice. And in this instance, the Marco Polo is very well catered for. The 2.0-litre unit makes 234bhp and 500Nm – both comfortably more than the diesel engines in either the California or the Citroen Holidays. Unlike them, the Marco Polo is rear-wheel…

THE product testing team at Auto Express knows that you want to take good care of your car – but want to make sure you are not wasting your time or money. So for nearly three decades we have been doing the most comprehensive car care tests in the business, putting more than 600 products through our rigorous regimes every year. Each item is assessed from the point of view of a consumer, so if a polish costs twice as much as its rivals but you can’t see the difference without the help of a microscope, it’s not going to be a winner. The winners of the 2025 Product of the Year Awards represent the very best in their categories, from simple tyre dressings that cost only a few pounds…

IMAGINE being able to put a coating on your car that will keep it protected from the elements for years rather than weeks. The latest ceramic coatings can achieve this, warding off dirt, bird droppings, brake dust and tar, as well as preserving the paint’s shine and making it easier to clean. While some ceramic sealants are designed to be applied only by professionals (because they need careful surface preparation and time to cure in a dry environment), there are also formulas that are suitable for DIY application, and these have fallen in price and become easier to apply. Testing them required a six-month trial where we stripped any previous coatings from the paintwork of a scrap car’s bonnet with a panel wipe and machine polish. We then applied the ceramic…

A PRESSURE washer will make cleaning your car much easier, adding a kick to the flow. It will also allow you to use snow foam without touching the car, which means fewer scratches. Over the past year we have tested machines at every budget level, assessing their power, quality, features and value. While a powerful jet is welcome if cleaning oil stains from concrete or stripping paint from parts, it could potentially damage a car – so we looked for adjustability and a good flow rate. The ability to use foams and detergents was also an essential, and we loved any features that made the task of setting up and tidying away easier. Our winner and recommended choices also show that you don’t need to spend a fortune to get…

NOT before time, there’s growing evidence that vehicle makers accept they’ve pushed their luck as far as they dare with the naughty, inflationshattering price hikes that force some customers out of the new-car market. The latest, logical plan is to start pricing them back in again. Understanding this better than most are manufacturers in Europe’s eastern quarter and on mainland China – thus their latest, circa £15k models. The Best Bargain Car of the past few months (the Dacia Spring) has just been succeeded by the marginally more convincing Leapmotor T03, which in turn might be beaten by BYD’s Dolphin Surf later this year. But genuine bargains don’t have to be the absolute cheapest models, as Dacia’s Duster (from £19,380) and Bigster (£24,995) prove. France-based firms are the current champs…

A TRADE agreement between the UK and US has been struck, reducing tariffs for exports of British-made cars to America. But there’s a catch – a limit to the number of cars that can be exported before the original tariff is reimposed, stifling the growth of UK car makers. In February, President Trump announced sweeping 25 per cent tariffs on foreign made cars imported into the US. This led to ructions in the UK car industry, because America is one of its largest export markets; both Jaguar Land Rover and Aston Martin paused US exports in response. The new deal cuts tariffs to 10 per cent for the first 100,000 cars exported from the UK to the US each year. Anything beyond that will incur 27.5 per cent (25 per…

NO, the headline isn’t clickbait; the new Mercedes CLA is incompatible with the majority of UK public electric car chargers, because the firm has scrimped on incorporating a 400-volt DC converter. Without this feature, the new CLA that was revealed back in March is unable to use many of the 14,000 rapid public chargepoints around the country. The new CLA is being offered in hybrid and fully electric forms, with the latter sitting on bespoke 800-volt EV underpinnings. While older EVs using 400-volt tech can plug-in and use most electric-car chargers with no issue, those with 800-volt architecture must incorporate a converter to adjust the voltage of the incoming electricity so it matches the car’s battery and other systems. Look at the CLA configurator on the official Mercedes-Benz UK website…

IN recent years, it seems that Volkswagen has been trying to make MPVs cool again. The likes of the new Multivan, with its car-like road manners combined with van-like practicality, was a great step forward, and then the all-electric ID. Buzz showed off a modern electric interpretation of the brand’s original iconic campers. However, many people prefer the look of an SUV. There are also those who need seven seats only on rare occasions, and would rather not look like they’re driving a van the rest of the time. That role was previously filled by the VW Tiguan Allspace, but following some tinkering with its MQB platform, the addition of a little more interior space and a complete exterior glow-up, it has emerged, based on the MQB Evo platform, with…

NOW in its seventh generation, this Volkswagen camper is smarter than ever. Unlike most other alternatives of this size, the California is based on a car-derived platform rather than van-based architecture; it’s adapted from the Multivan people-mover, which itself is based on the same MQB Evo underpinning that is used by everything from a Volkswagen Golf to a Skoda Kodiaq. That has let it adopt not only advanced in-car tech and driver-assistance systems, but also a more refined chassis set-up and the option of a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) powertrain. ENGINES & PERFORMANCE CALIFORNIA buyers get lots of choice under the bonnet, with petrol, diesel and plug-in hybrid powertrains to choose from. The most affordable is the diesel; the 2.0-litre TDI makes 148bhp and 360Nm of torque. The 2.0-litre petrol offers…

THE more time I spend in ‘my’ BMW 530e Touring, the more I gel with it, and any issues I do have all feel a bit trivial. I really appreciate the new 5’s interior. The panoramic iDrive infotainment system is crystal clear and full to the brim with the latest tech – plus it’s becoming easier to navigate with every use. I’ve configured the digital instrument cluster just so, too, and its graphics are slick and easy to read. Then there’s the driving position, which is spot on, although I resent having to rake my seat back and forth manually in a car that costs the best part of £65,000. On a cold morning, the heated seats (and heated steering wheel) activate automatically, which keeps me and my passenger toasty.…

HAVING dirt under your fingernails used to be quite the badge of honour for DIY car mechanics, but times have changed. These days we’d always recommend wearing gloves, particularly if you’re working with oils and other chemicals for prolonged periods of time. But whatever measures you take, you’re going to end up with grubby hands and arms. Rather than scrubbing with normal soap until your skin is raw, the chemicals in a workshop hand cleaner will shift the dirt and prevent your skin from drying out. We tested them using a special mucky mix of car chemicals and common grime, checking the effectiveness of the cleaners and seeing how our skin felt afterwards. WINNER Rozalex Zalpon Zorange Price: £6.49/£29.99 Size: 500ml-4,000ml Contact: rozalex.co.uk ROZALEX’S Zalpon Zorange takes this award category once…

UNLESS your car is kept wrapped in cotton wool, its paintwork will age. Even driving the car on a sunny day will create minuscule scratches on the surface of the paint as dust swirls around it at speed. Add in the sun’s rays and the effects of car washing, and that showroom gloss is gradually going to fade. The way to bring it back is a colour restorer, sometimes called a polish or by the best-known brand name - ‘T-Cut’. These potions include tiny particles suspended in the liquid which gently smooth the rough top layer of paint or lacquer, making it shiny again. For our test we polished a tired panel by hand, using equal pressure and effort. We awarded points for the results, value, and ease of use.…

FOR our summer tyre test we tested 225/45 R17 designs from various manufacturers – recording cabin noise, refinement, road noise and ride comfort, on top of the handling tests we carried out to measure their capabilities. Our evaluation looked at the overall performance of the tyres in both wet and dry conditions on a 2023 Volkswagen Golf, taking into account their braking and cornering, as well as the resistance to aquaplaning in deeper water. The EU tyre labels describe drive-by noise (how loud a tyre is from the outside), but we assessed noise in the cabin. We also judged each tyre’s noise and bump absorption. All contributed to the ‘noise and refinement’ score. Results for each category were then converted into percentages. WINNER Vredestein Ultrac 5 Price: £78.72 Contact: vredestein.co.uk DUTCH…

WE live in an incredibly polarised society, with people demonised for even the most trivial thing. Now, while I condemn this type of behaviour, there is one group of individuals that I, as well as I’m sure many other car enthusiasts, think are fair game: those who ‘upbadge’ a car. For those unfamiliar, ‘upbadging’ is the act of affixing the logo of a more premium model on your car in order to trick passersby into thinking your vehicle is more expensive than it is. These badges are easy to come by, and they cost a lot less than the actual step up to a more luxurious model. Now this all may seem harmless, if a tad conceited, but it’s also pointless. Your average person won’t be able to tell the…

LARGE SUVs are among the UK’s most adaptable and capable cars, with everything from a family-friendly cabin to a big boot and plenty of luxury and safety tech. Our expert road testers have examined and driven every on sale, and these are the best of the breed. 1 SkodaKodiaq Pricesfrom£39,000 THE Skoda Kodiaq embodies all that the Czech firm stands for: solid value for money, quality, practicality, and a few little surprises that add to the ownership experience. You can have the Kodiaq as a fiveor a seven-seater, and we’d go with the latter to have as much flexibility as possible. There’s 845 litres of boot space in five-seat mode, but even with all seven seats occupied you’ve got some luggage room to play with. The Kodiaq is a little…