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THERE has been much debate over smart motorways in recent years, but rural roads, where the greatest dangers lie, have been excluded from discussions. The youngest, least experienced drivers are at highest risk on these roads, so it is only right that the AA – which both runs a driving school and has been a vocal critic of smart motorways – is now turning its attention to the roads where the greatest dangers lie. But safety applies to every road and driver, and it’s concerning that up to 73 per cent of us flout 30mph limits. Training has a role to play in tackling these issues, but with the widespread disregard of speed limits coming as accident statistics plateau, authorities may increase the number of speed cameras to tackle the…

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 makers…

Alex_Ingram@autovia.co.uk @AxleIngram Electric motor Power/range 181bhp/145 miles MINI has refreshed its range for 2021, and among the models to receive a host of updates is the all-electric version – a car that’s going to become ever more important for the brand in the coming years. MINI expects that by the end of 2021 17 per cent of its sales will be taken up by plug-in models – including both this electric Hatch and the Countryman PHEV. The updates to the latest version are mainly cosmetic, plus a few tech upgrades. Outside, there’s a new, even larger grille, which has a body-coloured strip through its centre. The foglights are now incorporated within the main LED lamp units, and are replaced by vents that channel air around the car’s sides. As before,…

Running costs 49.9mpg (on test) £55 fill-up/£150 or 25% tax Practicality Boot (seats up/down) 596/1,232 litres Performance 0-62mph/top speed 11.1 seconds/112mph MODELTESTED: Suzuki Swace SZ5 PRICE: £29,299 ENGINE: 1.8-litre 4cyl, 120bhp THE Suzuki Swace is a newcomer to the estate car class, although its Toyota origins make it quite a familiar prospect, as we’ll see. This top-spec SZ5 trim costs from £29,299, but Suzuki currently offers a hefty £3,000 discount for the Swace range, dropping that figure to a more-competitive £26,299. Design & engineering YOU can be forgiven for looking at the Swace and feeling a hint of déjà vu. That styling is familiar for good reason: this is the second rebadged Toyota to join the Suzuki range, following on from the RAV4-derived Across SUV. The Swace is based on…

Suzuki Swace Multimedia audio system Key features: Smartphone connectivity THE Swace’s infotainment tech can’t compete with the best systems rivals offer. The eight-inch screen is easily visible from its location high up on the dash, but the graphics look fussy and dated compared with the Skoda’s. Even the physical controls around the screen – normally a good thing – are small, fiddly buttons, which take a conscious glance at to work properly. Built-in navigation isn’t available on either Swace trim level, but fortunately smartphone integration is, so the clunky proprietary interface can be skipped in favour of Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. The system’s main menu has shortcuts to the audio functions, phone connectivity and a hybrid-system monitor. This shows real-time data of how energy is flowing to and between…

6 ISSUES FOR £1 Then if you continue to subscribe after your trial you pay from just £24.99 every three months (saving you 47%). If for any reason you’re not satisfied you can cancel at any time and receive a refund on any unmailed issues. WELCOME TO THE FAMILY We offer every subscriber a free welcome gift when they come on board. This month get a Simoniz Cleaning Essentials set. DELIVERED FREE Every issue is delivered to your door, free of charge. It’ll arrive in paper packaging, too, making it easier than ever to recycle. YOUR FREE GIFT Simoniz has more than 100 years’ experience; guaranteeing results from top to bottom, inside and out. ■ 2 in 1 Shampoo & Snow Foam 1L – RRP £5 PH Neutral. Removes dirt…

NEW PRODUCT Diamondbrite Ceramic Blast Prices: from £8.95 Contact: www.diamondbrite.co.uk CERAMIC coatings are all the rage in the car-care world, but they have traditionally needed professional levels of care and attention when applying. That is changing as the tech is developed, and Diamondbrite has launched what must be one of the easiest ways to get ceramic protection on your car. Ceramic Blast goes on as a pre-wash via a pressure washer snow-foam lance as the first step in the cleaning process. The thick white foam is designed to be left to work for a few minutes, clinging to paintwork and loosening grime. The soaking allows grime and contaminants to be blasted away by a pressure washer or hose, but leaves a ceramic-infused, water-repellent film once the cleaning process is completed and…

Car-seat cover coating tackles coronavirus AUTOMOTIVE accessory firm Hanabu has launched a new rear-seat cover, which aims to combat the ‘throwaway’ culture of car accessories as well as protecting motorists and passengers. Karasu has an eco-friendly coating that Hanabu claims will kill up to 95 per cent of bacteria and viruses on contact, including coronavirus. It’s also water and stain-resistant, and Hanabu will help buyers recycle the product at the end of its life, too. Karasu is available exclusively through Amazon, at £69.99. Ohme leads the EV charge with Octopus OHME, the electric-vehicle charging provider, has joined forces with energy supplier Octopus to provide chargers for its Electric Dreams salary-sacrifice scheme. This aims to get company-car drivers into an EV in as cost-effective a way as possible, taking advantage of…

PRODUCTGROUP TEST 19|5|2021 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 LONG journeys on hot summer days can be a nightmare for rear-seat passengers, especially if your car doesn’t have tinted glass. The glare from the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) A/B rays will often be unpleasant and can cause sunburn in the short term and even skin cancer in the longer. With nothing to block the effects of the sun, the car’s interior will heat up, despite air-con, so fitting rear sunblinds makes a lot of sense, even more so when children or pets are in the car. Make sure you check the size of the blinds you buy and that they…

CO2/tax 126-165g/km £155 Running costs 39-51mpg (Cooper) £65 fill-up Performance 0-62mph/top speed 9.6 seconds/126mph Search more than 60,000 cars with competitive finance Order online, delivered to your door, 14 day money-back guarantee THE Austin and Morris Mini of 1959 rewrote the rulebook when it came to brilliant packaging, affordability and a great driving experience. But the motoring world had moved on by the time BMW launched its all-new MINI in 2001, with buyers expecting much more in terms of comfort and safety. As a result the new MINI hatch was much bigger, not so efficiently packaged and less affordable thanks to BMW’s aspirations to take the MINI brand upmarket. But BMW had only just got started, because a raft of bigger cars followed, the largest of which was the Countryman…

Stephen_Errity@autovia.co.uk ● Hamilton builds a strong lead ● Many already focused on ’22 MERCEDES’ Lewis Hamilton takes a 14-point lead over Red Bull’s Max Verstappen into this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix, following back-to-back wins at the last two events in Spain and Portugal. The Monaco race marks F1’s return to the streets of the Principality for the first time in two years, after an enforced absence in 2020 due to the pandemic. On track, Red Bull continues to struggle with turning very strong qualifying pace into consistent race runs, with Mercedes’ better tyre management seen as key to its edge on Sunday afternoons so far this year. Reflecting on the race in Spain, Hamilton said he was “continuing to love this battle we are having” and that in the early…

THE biggest, brightest, most respected and convincing motor industry CEO I’ve met in recent years? Carlos Tavares. Despite his gentle demeanour, nutty professor(ish) grin and effortless approach to working life, he’s the heavyweight champion of the automotive world. So fighting-fit and tactically aware is he that rival bosses can at best only consider themselves contenders, with little chance of snatching the title from him anytime soon. We’re talking about a man who, as Stellantis’ CEO, has around 14 household-name makers (including Peugeot, Citroen, Fiat and Vauxhall) in his hands. But he also holds brands that are into everything from finance to parts, commercial vehicles to quadricycles – including the glorious little Citroen Ami, which you’ll see at the British Motor Show this August. He’s clever, of course – the master…

James_Brodie@autovia.co.uk @jimmybrods “This is the most powerful Manta A ever, with the ‘e’ in the GSe’s name standing for electrification” OPEL is blending classic looks with cutting-edge tech with its Manta GSe ElektroMOD, and has revealed the retro EV coupé’s full specifications. The classic Manta A Opel selected for the project was in need of restoration and has had its four-cylinder combustion engine replaced by a 145bhp electric motor. This sends power to the rear wheels through the car’s original four-speed manual gearbox, so it can be driven as a manual or, thanks to 255Nm of torque, drivers can leave the car in fourth gear and use it as a single-speed vehicle, like many other EVs. It has a 31kWh battery delivering a claimed range of 124 miles, while an…

New four-wheel-drive models join EQA range MERCEDES has broadened its EQA compact electric SUV line-up (above) with the addition of two new dual-motor four-wheel-drive variants. The EQA 300 4MATIC (£48,495) and EQA 350 4MATIC (£49,995) both use a 66.5kWh battery and deliver up to 264 miles of range. The EQA 300 offers 255bhp, while the 350 delivers 288bhp for a 0-62mph time of 6.0 seconds. Toyota marks parts in bid to fight car crime TOYOTA is spending £1million covertly marking 100,000 parts on older cars vulnerable to catalytic-converter theft. Risk management firm Smartwater is providing an initial batch of 50,000 police-approved marking kits, which Toyota and Lexus owners will then be able to have used on their cars’ catalytic converters for free by contacting their local dealer. This will make…

Richard_Ingram@autovia.co.uk @rsp_ingram CAST your mind back to 2011 and the launch of the original Nissan Leaf. Widely regarded as the first truly mainstream electric car, the Leaf, even with its sub-100-mile real-world range, set the benchmark all future EVs had to meet, and which most modern electric cars have now long since surpassed. Indeed, the Ford Mustang Mach-E, one of the latest models on the market, has an official range of up to 335 miles. But while Nissan may have opened the public’s eyes to electric motoring, and the Mach-E has built significantly on the ground broken by that firm, the Leaf was far from the earliest foray into zero-emission transport. For that, you’d have to look to electrical engineer and Victorian inventor, Gustave Trouvé, the man responsible for what…

MINI Electric Level 2 Price: £28,000 Battery/engine: 32.6kWh/single motor Power/torque: 181bhp/270Nm Transmission: Single speed auto, front-wheel drive 0-60mph: 7.3 seconds Top speed: 93mph Range: 145 miles Charging: 50kW (5-80% in 36 mins) ONSALE Now Verdict NOT much has changed with the MINI Electric during this latest round of updates, so it remains a fun-to-drive EV with a stylish design inside and out. The revised infotainment system is still among the best in the class, and performance is lively. As before, the car’s limited range will restrict its flexibility for many, but city dwellers will still find plenty that appeals to them here.…

Running costs 53.3mpg (off icial) £61 fill-up Performance 0-62mph/top speed 8.1 seconds/134mph sean_carson@autovia.co.uk MAZDA is a solid example of a company improving its offerings through constant evolution, and the latest round of updates focuses on the brand’s 3 family hatch. The car was launched in 2019 sporting a super-sharp design, with Mazda’s clever SkyActiv X engine technology that uses a compression-controlled spark ignition process adding to the package. This tech basically combines some characteristics of a diesel engine for extra torque, with the cleanliness and revvy nature of a petrol unit. Now with mild-hybrid power and even more updates, the engine is being branded ‘e-SkyActiv X’ to reflect the revisions. These include an extra 6bhp and 16Nm more torque, up to respective outputs of 183bhp and 240Nm here from the…

Running costs 44.2mpg (on test) £60 fill-up/£180 or 28% tax Practicality Boot (seats up/down) 640/1,700 litres Performance 0-62mph/top speed 10.6 seconds/124mph MODELTESTED: Skoda Octavia Estate 1.0 TSI 110 e-TEC DSG SE Tech PRICE: £24,510 ENGINE: 1.0-litre 3cyl, 108bhp THE Skoda Octavia bagged our 2020 Car of the Year award, with the Estate taking the Estate car class victory. Here, we’re driving it in SE Technology spec, powered by a 1.0-litre mild-hybrid engine paired with a dual-clutch automatic gearbox. It’s priced from £24,510, while our test car adds a driver-fatigue monitor (£45), metallic paint (£595) and a space-saver spare wheel (£185). Design & engineering THE latest Skoda Octavia has a near-identical length and wheelbase to the model it replaces. Most of the similarities end there, though, because the cosmetics, in-car technology…

NEW: MG5 EV Exclusive PRICE: £27,595 ENGINE: single e-motor, 154bhp IF you want to make the switch to electric, then the estate choice is slim. But the MG5 looks a bit of a bargain. It has a 578-litre boot, a 214-mile range and smooth, silent drive from a 154bhp motor for £27,595. The entry-level Excite trim costs £2,500 less. USED: Mercedes E 220 d AMG Line Estate PRICE: £27,000 ENGINE: 2.0-litre 4cyl diesel, 191bhp WITH its 640-litre boot, the E-Class is one of the few estates that can compete with the Octavia’s practicality. It doesn’t take a long search of the classifieds to find a bargain; for less than the price of the Swace, you can pick up a smart 18-month-old diesel with fewer than 5,000 miles on the clock.…

Got a query? products@autoexpress.co.uk Q Best way to fix wheel chip? COULD you suggest the best product to repair my wheel, a standard 20-inch alloy fitted to a Mercedes S 500 L. The black gloss has a tiny stone chip and from experience, if untreated, moisture and corrosion will eventually take hold. Paul Gonzalez, E-mail A A PROFESSIONAL refurb will guarantee a good colour match and the repair should be invisible, but it’s unlikely to be cheap. You could do a DIY job, preparing the surface then using a touch-up brush and lacquer, but a match may be tricky. A wheel-paint specialist should offer a suitable kit. Q Where can I find lost code? WHEN I bought my car new I upgraded the head unit. I’ve now sold the car…

IF there’s no mains power in your garage or the lighting is not the best, a work light designed to brighten areas rather than small gaps under a bonnet can be a big help. When we last compared these products in a mini test, NightSearcher took the win with its Galaxy Hazard, but now it has taken its work and emergency-light combination a step further with the HazStar. This combines a powerful work light with three magnetic LED strips that can flash red or illuminate small areas, but can it score a second win? We put it up against its closest challenger, the Philips PJH10, to find out. We compared light output, beam width and run time, as well as looking at mounting options, power-saving modes and price. Philips takes…

AUDITT Price from: £33,795 AUDI’S style-focused TT has been on sale for seven years, but is arguably the new BMW’s closest rival. It offers two small rear seats and is available with a fairly conventional petrol-engined line-up, with the hotter TTS and five-cylinder TT RS sitting at the top of the range. The Audi is either front-wheel drive or quattro four-wheel drive, so it might not be quite as agile as the new 2 Series. TOYOTAGR SUPRA Price from: £46,010 TOYOTA will replace the compact rear-drive GT86 with the GR 86 in 2022, and it will come with 232bhp and a six-speed manual gearbox. In the meantime, the larger GR Supra is available. It shares its 2.0 and 3.0-litre engines with the 2 Series Coupé, but the GR Supra is…

Hugo_Griffiths@autovia.co.uk @hugo_griffiths • Urban speeding spike in 2020 • All roads see increased speeds THE UK’s first national lockdown in March 2020 brought with it a significant increase in the proportion of drivers breaking 30mph speed limits, according to official government statistics. Some 73 per cent of car drivers on 30mph roads exceeded the speed limit on one day in April 2020, while April as a whole saw 68 per cent of people speed in 30mph zones. For comparison, 53 per cent of drivers broke 30mph limits in 2019 as a whole. Urban roads, which typically have 30mph limits, take 37 per cent of all traffic, but are the roads on which 63 per cent of casualties occur. Data from individual police forces had previously shown that the frequency of certain…

James_Brodie@autovia.co.uk @jimmybrods A NEW lease of life will be granted to Volkswagen’s Passat in 2023, after the German firm gave the green light to the introduction of an all-new B9 generation. It will be built in Bratislava alongside the Touareg SUV, although it will continue to use the brand’s MQB underpinnings. Eventually the Passat will share the same production line as the next-generation Skoda Superb, which is being developed alongside it. VW’s family car has been moved from its traditional home at Emden in Germany to make way for the ID.4 SUV and production versions of the Vizzion saloon and ID.Space Vizzion estate concepts. Auto Express understands that the new Passat could be offered as a spacious estate or a more practical hatchback, in place of the current saloon. Versatility…

Contact Tristan Shale-Hester mail@audioexpress.co.uk @AutoExpress FROM: Jack MoRudy LOOKS really good – a clear step up from the previous model, but it’s bigger than I was expecting. Definitely room for a smaller model to slot into Skoda’s range between this and the Citigo. We need more small cars, not SUVs. FROM: apolloa LOOKS really nice, but it’s a competitive segment. Might be tricky to win Peugeot buyers over, because the new 208 is an amazing-looking thing. Would also be nice to see a vRS version to take on the likes of the Ford Fiesta ST and Hyundai i20 N. Join the debate at www.autoexpress.co.uk ■ “Bland styling – hardly any different to the previous model. Skoda needs a new designer.” LRATB ■ “It’s not frumpy like some older Skodas. Seems…

Performance 0-62mph/top speed 2.9 seconds/203mph JUST six years ago a Maserati supercar would have been strictly off limits for the famous Trident brand. Back then it was managed by Ferrari, which forced its former arch-rival to give up on fast cars and turn its attention to luxury saloons, laid-back coupés, convertibles and, latterly, SUVs. Now, however, the Prancing Horse is out on its own and Maserati has its mojo back, to the point where it has managed to convince new owner Stellantis to let it once again battle it out in the supercar class – including, yes, Ferrari. The MC20 is an astonishing achievement, and that’s even before you’ve seen one in the flesh. Going from the first sketch to the car being launched in Modena, Italy, has taken just…

Performance 0-62mph/top speed 5.7 seconds/155mph Running costs 37.2mpg (off icial) £60 fill-up “The chassis balance in corners inspires plenty of confidence” LOOK beyond its clumsy name and the Cupra Leon Hatchback TSI 300 DSG VZ2 is a highly appealing hot hatch for an unusually wide variety of reasons. One, it is essentially the same mechanically as the excellent new VW Golf GTI Clubsport. It comes with exactly the same 296bhp 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine and seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox as that car, yet offers more kit, for less cash. Two, its front-wheel-drive chassis has been tuned by Cupra’s engineers to deliver a very well judged balance between handling precision and ride refinement on the road. Back when hot Leons were badged as SEATs (Cupra’s parent company) and Cupra was…

HYBRID TECH BOTH the Suzuki Swace and the Skoda Octavia Estate are hybrids, but the pair exploit the tech in different ways. The Swace’s electric motor makes 72bhp and 163Nm of torque, while a 1.4kWh battery allows it to cover short distances using electric power alone. The Octavia gets a 0.6kWh battery, while the 50Nm boost from the integrated starter/generator unit doesn’t ever drive the car by itself. WHEELS IN the trim levels tested, both the Swace and the Octavia were fitted with 16-inch alloy wheels. This is a fairly modest size by new car standards, and what they lack in subjective kerb appeal, they make up for by delivering a smooth ride. For those who want to enhance the style, the Octavia SE Tech is available with optional 17-inch…

FIRST TEST Cybex Pallas G Price: £265 Contact: cybex-online.com Rating: NOT many ‘shield’ child seats are sold in the UK, but with exceptional ease of use and claims of a 40-per-cent reduction in neck injuries, the Cybex Pallas G could change that. It swaps the traditional harness arrangement for a large padded shield, which secures younger passengers in place. Despite its bulky looks, the shield holds the youngster snugly, and a three-position reclining headrest helps prevent their head from tipping forward. The front-facing seat conforms to R129 regulations and is suitable for children between 76cm and 105cm with the shield, and 100cm to 150cm using the car’s own seatbelt, making it suitable for children from 15 months to around 12 years. The seat feels robust, and is very easy to fit…

Ferrari Formula 1: Every Race Car Since 1950 Stuart Codling (Motorbooks, www.quartoknows.com) Price: £40 Rating: THIS book is a thorough guide to all of Ferrari’s F1 cars. The period photography is beautifully chosen and presented, and high print values show it off to its best. Really good for any Ferrari or F1 fan, and not too pricey, given its quality. Off-Road with Clarkson, Hammond & May Phillipa Sage (Ad Lib, www.adlibpublishers.com) Price: £8.99 Rating: A REALLY interesting look behind the scenes with probably the motoring world’s best-known presenters. Coming from the trio’s long-suffering PA means candid stories that you won’t have heard before, focusing on the touring and live shows rather than the TV side. Great if you’ve read everything TG-related and want a new viewpoint. Desert Rider Available for:…

Got any car queries? Tristan_Shale-Hester@dennis.co.uk Q Outdated emissions figures have left me out of pocket MY employer gives a larger allowance for cars with lower CO2 emissions. I bought a car advertised at 114g/km, but the V5C says it’s 142g/km, with the difference due to the older NEDC figures used on the advert and order form. Is the dealer in breach of regulations? Name withheld, E-mail A DEALERSHIPS have been required to display more accurate WLTP economy and emissions figures since January 2019 but, regardless of this, it seems that the car you have bought is not “as described” in its sales literature, as set out in the Consumer Rights Act. Put this in writing to the dealer, and see if you can reach a resolution that makes up for…

Portugal next up for WRC title challengers TOYOTA’S Sebastien Ogier holds a narrow eight-point lead over his closest championship rival, Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville, going into this weekend’s Rally Portugal (above). The event was one of several WRC rounds cancelled outright rather than rescheduled as a result of Covid during 2020, so this is the first time since May 2019 that the drivers will have tackled the stages, which are located near the northern city of Porto. World RX issues revised calendar WORLD Rallycross’s 2021 season will kick off in Barcelona, Spain, on 23-24 July, with the championship having issued a revised calendar last week. The Swedish round has been moved from July to August in a bid to allow fan attendance, while the round at Hell in Norway has been…