Car group tests

Car group tests

The UK's most popular cars head-to-head against their key rivals...

If you really want to know how a car performs against its key rivals, this is the place to find out. The Auto Express group test is an automotive institution decades in the making that gets right to the heart of the questions that car buyers want answered. 

While our in-depth reviews and long-term tests are usually done with the car in isolation, albeit by experienced journalists with detailed prior experience of hundreds of other cars, the group test puts two or three direct rivals head-to-head in the same place, on the same roads and in the same conditions. There is nowhere to hide. 

As a means of slimming down your car buying shortlist these exhaustive tests are great. We drive the cars over long distances, interrogate the control systems, load and unload the interiors, and take our own precise measurements to make comparisons easier. Sometimes there’s an obvious winner but often what emerges is a picture of two cars with qualities that would suit different kinds of buyer - a picture that only becomes clear after this kind of detailed side-by-side testing. 

Our team brings you at least one two- or three-car group test every week, building up a clear picture of the cars we rate and those that we don’t... 

Scroll down to find all our group test pages… 

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Volkswagen Golf

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Vauxhall Astra vs Ford Focus
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8. Toyota Land Cruiser
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10. BMW X5
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8. Volvo XC90
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9. Land Rover Defender
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Car group tests
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VW Golf vs Ford Focus
Volkswagen Golf front tracking

VW Golf vs Ford Focus

We've been impressed by the Mk7 Volkswagen Golf, but how does it compare to the Ford Focus?
Car group tests
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Skoda Rapid vs rivals
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Ford B-MAX vs rivals
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