http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Shared/Handlers/RSSHandler.ashx?&N=503&Ns=P_Publication_Date|1CAR Online | Reviews RSS Feed(c) 2012, Bauer Media. All rights reserved.30This is the new 2012 BMW 6-series Gran Coupe – and it’s been a long time coming. Such is the pace of the modern automotive industry that as soon as one (usually premium German) manufacturer finds a new niche, its...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/BMW-640d-M-Sport-Gran-Coupe-2012-CAR-review/Fri, 25 May 2012 08:00:00 GMTReviews‘JESUS CHRIST… WHAT THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU DOING?’ yelled the missus as we gleefully fled the gloriously under-briefed baby sitter the other evening… Mea culpa; the last time I drove the VW Golf GTI 35 was in hot pursuit...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/VW-Golf-GTI-35-2012-CAR-review/Thu, 24 May 2012 17:41:00 GMTReviewsThis is the Nissan GT-R Track Pack, a stripped-down, pumped-up Japanese coupe with designs on the 911 GT3. A GT-R GT3? Isn’t what the Spec V was all about. The GT-R Spec V was certainly the hardcore GT-R, but it was...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/Nissan-GTR-track-pack/Thu, 24 May 2012 09:59:00 GMTReviewsAMG has dropped its new bi-turbo V8 into the boxy old G-class to transform the G55 into the even more powerful G63 AMG. It’s certainly rapid, but don’t cancel that Cayenne Turbo order just yet More power for the 2012...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/Mercedes-G63-AMG-2012-CAR-review/Tue, 22 May 2012 10:29:00 GMTReviewsAudi’s first new A3 for nine years is also our first glimpse at the new MQB platform, the building block of every major transverse-engined car in the VW empire for the next few years. It’s been nine years since the...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/Audi-A3-18-TFSi-S-Line/Mon, 21 May 2012 13:55:00 GMTReviewsSo absolutely has the company hung its hat on the environmentally-conscientious peg of hybrid drive technology of late that, until the arrival of this new 2+2, the fastest accelerating production Toyota was… Ta-daaah! The Land Cruiser V8. Mercifully, and not...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/Toyota-FT86-2012-CAR-review/Fri, 18 May 2012 10:20:00 GMTReviewsThe Porsche Panamera GTS makes all the right noises, feels almost as fast as a Panamera Turbo and is kitted out accordingly. If your budget does not stretch to the Turbo S, this is the Panamera to have. But beware...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/Porsche-Panamera-GTS-2012-CAR-review/Fri, 11 May 2012 10:31:00 GMTReviewsAfter a few years on the naturally-aspirated temperance wagon, the AMG-fettled SL V8 is back on the boost, with a downsized twin-turbo engine and all-new aluminium clothes. Read on for CAR Magazine's first drive review of the new 2012 Merc...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/Mercedes-SL63-AMG-2012-CAR-review/Wed, 09 May 2012 11:44:00 GMTReviewsBit of a surprise, Chevrolet's new Aveo supermini; pretty good looking inside and out, and, on an all-new platform, a rather tidy performer to boot. I must confess to having quickly given up the frantic, five-speed stick stirrings necessary to...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/Chevrolet-Aveo-12-2012-CAR-review/Wed, 09 May 2012 11:00:00 GMTReviewsFord’s Australian outpost has built its most powerful car ever: the Ford Performance Vehicles Boss 335 GT. That’s 335 kilowatts, by the way: 450bhp to you and me, from a supercharged five-litre V8 engine shoe-horned into the bodyshell of Ford’s...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/Ford-FPV-Falcon-GT-2012-CAR-review/Mon, 07 May 2012 08:00:00 GMTReviewsMercedes updated its M-class SUV in 2011, offering a fresh take on its Alabama-built 4x4 with new platform, styling and notably-downsized powertrains. Have they leapt to the head of the premium SUV class with the latest edition? Anthony ffrench-Constant evaluates the...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/Mercedes-ML250-BlueTec-Sport-2012-CAR-review/Thu, 03 May 2012 06:28:00 GMTReviewsLotus stopped building the four-cylinder Exige a little while back, but the name returns with this, the new 2012 Exige S. It uses the old Exige’s basic tub and centre section, but combines it with new front bodywork and –...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/Lotus-Exige-S-2012-CAR-review/Wed, 25 Apr 2012 01:01:00 GMTReviewsFerrari has revised its entry-level car, the front-engined and folding-hardtop California, stripping out weight, adding power and introducing an optional handling package. Pass me the electron microscope, I’m struggling to see the difference between this revised Ferrari California and the one you drove...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/Ferrari-California-Handling-Speciale-2012-CAR-review/Thu, 19 Apr 2012 10:00:00 GMTReviewsWe pitted the new Porsche 991-spec 911 Carrera S Cabriolet against the Audi R8 V8 Spyder in the new May 2012 issue of CAR Magazine. And we've bolted together a quick video from our thrash around Wales to whet your appetite for the full...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/Porsche-911-Cabriolet-vs-Audi-R8-Spyder-on-video/Wed, 18 Apr 2012 17:50:00 GMTReviewsThis is the new S6 Quattro saloon, Audi’s rival to the BMW 550i and Jaguar XF V8. It costs £53,995, comes only with Quattro all-wheel drive and a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox, and serves up 414bhp and 406lb ft. That’s a...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/Audi-S6-Quattro-2012-CAR-review/Wed, 18 Apr 2012 10:39:00 GMTReviewsThis is the new Mazda CX-5, and it really is new. The Mazda CX-5 ushers in a whole raft of new technologies – under the SkyActiv banner – aimed at cutting weight, consumption and emissions. The two engines, the two...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/Mazda-CX-5-22D-2012-CAR-review/Tue, 17 Apr 2012 10:46:00 GMTReviewsKia’s new Ceed hatchback – which goes on UK sale on 1 June 2012 – wants to make you doubt yourself. Should you really buy that Vauxhall Astra, Renault Megane, Toyota Auris or A.N.Other family hatch, when you could switch...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/Kia-Ceed-14-2012-CAR-review/Wed, 11 Apr 2012 10:29:00 GMTReviewsLie back, and think of China. Relaxing in the back of this new Audi A8 Hybrid, amid all the luxurious trappings of smoothed chrome, deep leather and pin sharp sound systems, I ruminated on the likely buyer of this car....http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/Audi-A8-Hybrid-2012-CAR-review/Thu, 05 Apr 2012 07:00:00 GMTReviewsThe new 2012 Audi A6 Allroad is an unusual brew of contradictions and adaptations. On the one hand, this model, now in its third iteration, is a darling of the Middle England red-trousered brigade, that most conservative of social sets....http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/Audi-A6-Allroad-2012-CAR-review/Tue, 03 Apr 2012 09:46:00 GMTReviewsThis is the new 2012 Subaru BRZ coupe. Developed in conjunction with Toyota (which will sell its version as the GT86, and as the Scion FR-S in the USA) it’s a rear-wheel drive sports car that does things a little...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/Subaru-BRZ-2012-CAR-review/Wed, 28 Mar 2012 10:10:00 GMTReviewsThe Audi Q3 has only been around for a year, but the company continues to spin off variants at an alarming rate as it scatters new product into every which niche in the market. So here we have the latest...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/Audi-Q3-20-TDI-138bhp-FWD-SE-2012-CAR-review/Tue, 27 Mar 2012 15:21:00 GMTReviewsWhen the Focus ST launched back in 2006, it served up something genuinely different in the hot-hatch segment. Yes, there's that unique 2.5-litre, five-cylinder turbocharged engine, endowing the ST with a beautiful, Ur Quattro-like warble and bags of easy torque....http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/Ford-Focus-ST-2006-2010/Tue, 20 Mar 2012 09:00:00 GMTReviewsFor a car THAT is so obviously very different to the original 1959 Mini, BMW's new-millennium replacement successfully transfers much of its predecessor's feel into an all-new car: the go-kart handling, the eager steering, the perky performance, even the clear...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/Mini-Cooper-SJCW-2006---2012/Tue, 20 Mar 2012 09:00:00 GMTReviewsWhile Peugeot dropped the hot-hatch ball after the 306 GTi-6, Renault never really let it go. Based on the third-generation Clio, the 197 debuted in 2006, and immediately went to the top of the class. Its fizzy, naturally aspirated 2.0-litre...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/RenaultSport-Clio-197200-2009---2012/Tue, 20 Mar 2012 09:00:00 GMTReviewsAfter kickstarting the hot-hatch thing 36 years ago, VW spent much of the '90s and early '00s doing its best to squander its headstart, turning out the lacklustre Mk3 and Mk4 Golf GTIs, which traded on a name instead of...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/Volkswagen-Golf-GTi-Mk5-2004-2009/Tue, 20 Mar 2012 09:00:00 GMTReviewsCAR's first review of the new 2012 Peugeot 208 comes at a crucial time in the French company's history. For much of the past decade, the something-oh-seven cars have failed to excite us, or many other enthusiasts. Blame the big-mouthed,...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/Peugeot-208-16-e-HDi-2012-CAR-review/Wed, 14 Mar 2012 10:56:00 GMTReviewsThis is the all-new Porsche Boxster, the third generation of Porsche’s mid-engined drop-top. Just like its big brother, the 991-gen Porsche 911, there are big changes afoot: a new aluminium/steel hybrid bodyshell, significantly tweaked vital stats, a base engine that...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/Porsche-Boxster-S-2012-CAR-review/Fri, 09 Mar 2012 07:00:00 GMTReviewsThis is the new Mercedes-Benz SL, only the sixth SL generation to launch in six decades. And because they don’t release one very often, you can typically expect a new SL to mark a giant leap on from the last...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/Mercedes-SL500-2012-CAR-review/Wed, 07 Mar 2012 12:15:00 GMTReviewsThis is the BMW M550d xDrive. It's the first of a new line of BMW M Performance Automobiles, set to sit above the bodykit and suspension-focused M Sport models, but below the full M-cars. But rather than sporting some sort of detuned...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/BMW-M550d-xDrive-2012-CAR-review/Thu, 01 Mar 2012 11:30:00 GMTReviewsTo mark CAR Magazine's Porsche special in the new March 2012 issue, we've also looked back - to when we first drove the 911 at launch in 1965. This is our first review of the very first 911, taken from...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Community/Car-Magazines-Blogs/Greg-Fountain-Blog/March-1965-CARs-first-drive-of-the-first-ever-Porsche-911/Thu, 23 Feb 2012 11:51:00 GMTReviewsIn the UK, we still think of Hyundais as being cheap little runabouts and, really, that’s true – a large number were shifted during the scrappage incentive, and you rarely see anything bigger than an i30 on our roads. These...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/Hyundai-Genesis-50-R-2012-CAR-review/Wed, 15 Feb 2012 09:00:00 GMTReviewsThis is the new Hyundai i30. And it was only in late 2007 that Hyundai launched the first i30, so the fact another one is already upon us rubbishes the industry standard of 6-7 year lifecycles. The first Hyundai i30...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/Hyundai-i30-16-CRDi-2012-CAR-review/Tue, 14 Feb 2012 13:00:00 GMTReviewsBack in June 2010, right in the middle of the Toyota unintended acceleration scare, Lexus LFA test driver Hiromu Naruse died when his LF-A Nürburgring ploughed into a 3-series carrying BMW engineers on the 410, one of the public roads...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/Lexus-LFA-Nurburgring-2012-CAR-review/Mon, 13 Feb 2012 13:30:00 GMTReviewsA Ford Focus with a 1.0-litre engine! Isn’t that like getting Charles Hawtrey to compete for World’s Strongest Man, or sending Samson into battle after a crewcut? In one of the most extreme downsizing examples yet, Ford has plumbed an...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/Ford-Focus-10-Ecoboost-review/Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:15:00 GMTReviewsThis is the Jaguar XKR-S Convertible, a 542bhp drop-top with a £100,000-plus price. A Jaguar XKR-S Convertible? Sounds a bit wrong to me. Can you imagine Porsche doing a GT3 cabrio? No, but then the XKR-S coupe and GT3 are very different...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/Jaguar-XKR-S-Convertible-2012-CAR-review/Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:00:00 GMTReviewsThis is the Volkswagen Up, a little city car we’ve been excited about ever since the first rear-engined and rear-wheel drive concept was unveiled in 2007. Alas a layout akin to the original people’s car (the Beetle) proved too expensive...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/Volkswagen-Up-5dr-2012-CAR-review/Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:00:00 GMTReviewsThis is the new 2012 BMW ActiveHybrid 5. And if you haven’t guessed already, that means it’s a hybrid version of BMW’s 5-series executive saloon. Essentially it’s an electrified 535i, and rather idiosyncratically the addition of 150kg of extra weight has...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/BMW-ActiveHybrid-5-2012-CAR-review/Wed, 01 Feb 2012 10:45:00 GMTReviewsThis is the new Mini Roadster, and it’s the penultimate Mini model (the Countryman-based Paceman arrives in 2013) before a whole new range of baby Brits start to appear in 2014. The Roadster is a mix of what we already...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/Mini-Roadster-Cooper-S-2012-CAR-review/Tue, 31 Jan 2012 09:00:00 GMTReviewsThis is the huge Volkswagen Group’s smallest hot hatch, the VW Up GT. First unveiled as a concept car at the 2011 Frankfurt motor show, CAR has just driven a prototype version of the 108bhp baby GTI. Click here for more...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/VW-Up-GT-prototype-2012-CAR-review/Mon, 30 Jan 2012 09:00:00 GMTReviewsThis is Fiat’s third-generation Panda, which goes on UK sale in February 2012. Fiat has buffed up interior quality and features over the outgoing car’s, and plumbed in the TwinAir two-cylinder turbo engine, which was the version we drove. This...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/Fiat-Panda-TwinAir-2012-CAR-review/Fri, 27 Jan 2012 11:03:00 GMTReviewsColdplay: with their catchy melodies and inoffensive lyrics, those lovely British lads epitomise mainstream rock music. Now I reckon there’ll be a lot of Coldplay-ed in the new 2012 Mercedes B-class. Both are middle-class, family-friendly and rather safe. Apparently, the...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/Mercedes-Benz-B200-Sport-2012-CAR-review/Tue, 24 Jan 2012 09:36:00 GMTReviewsMercedes claims to have invented the original performance 4x4 with its ML55 AMG in 1999. This Mercedes ML63 AMG is the third generation of the German firm’s hot off-roader and, despite the eye-watering fuel consumption and price tag, its predecessors have...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/Mercedes-ML63-AMG-2012-CAR-review/Wed, 18 Jan 2012 10:00:00 GMTReviewsThe new Subaru XV is a curious thing. Despite the styling iniquities visited on the likes of the once-wholesome Forester and Impreza of late, there is still a tremendous groundswell of goodwill towards Subaru out there. Which makes it all...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/Subaru-XV-20-D-2012-CAR-review/Mon, 16 Jan 2012 10:19:00 GMTReviewsThis is the Mercedes C63 AMG Coupe Black Series, a £100k rival for Porsche’s 911 GT3, Maserati’s MC Stradale and BMW’s M3 GTS. The C63 Black has a more powerful 6.2-litre V8, unique motorsport-inspired suspension, and that Black Series badge...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/Mercedes-C63-AMG-Coupe-Black-Series-2012-CAR-review/Wed, 04 Jan 2012 07:00:00 GMTReviewsThe DS5 is Citroën’s most innovative car since the 1970s. It’s a beautiful, five-seat family car that looks like the lovechild of an MPV and an estate, and it bloods Peugeot-Citroën’s unique diesel/hybrid powertrain. The result should be a hatchback...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/Citroen-DS5-Hybrid4-2012-CAR-review/Thu, 29 Dec 2011 19:00:00 GMTReviewsSwindon’s most famous export (aside from Billie Piper) has had a re-boot. The all-new, ninth-generation Honda Civic will go on sale in January 2012, and gently evolves the space-age Civic of 2006 – itself a radical departure from the safe,...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/Honda-Civic-22-i-DTEC-2012-CAR-Review/Fri, 23 Dec 2011 06:00:00 GMTReviewsA new BMW 3-series is a big deal. The default sports saloon accounts for one third of BMW’s sales so the Munich firm can’t afford to get it wrong. Read on for CAR's first drive review of the new BMW...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/BMW-320d-SE-2012-CAR-review/Thu, 22 Dec 2011 09:54:00 GMTReviewsThis is the fourth generation Lexus GS, but it’s not about to take on the hegemony of Audi, BMW and Mercedes in Europe as there are still no plans for a four-cylinder diesel. There /is/ a new 2.5-litre V6 petrol...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/Lexus-GS450h-F-Sport-2012-CAR-review/Mon, 19 Dec 2011 10:47:00 GMTReviewsSo this is the electric version of Mazda’s Demio (that’s the Madza 2, to you and I), the company’s first modern all-electric car. It’s a development tool, and not aimed at production yet. If you’re reading this with a fair...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/Mazda-Demio-EV-First-Drive-2011/Tue, 06 Dec 2011 12:20:00 GMTReviewsSeat's not built a city car since the Arosa (itself twinned with the VW Lupo). Now history's repeating itself, with the simultaneous launches of the VW Up, Seat Mii and Skoda Citigo. Here we review one of the toppier Seat...http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/Seat-Mii-10-SE-74bhp-2011-CAR-review/Tue, 29 Nov 2011 09:06:00 GMTReviews