Road tests

Replacing popular cars is a tough task at the best of times, but when it comes to legendary saloons such as Mercedes' S-Class - universally acclaimed …

In two generations, the car has established itself as one of the UK's favourites, lining up with the Ford Fiesta and Vauxhall Corsa at the top of the …

As Mercedes rolls out new engines across its entire range, it was only a matter of time before the SLK was offered with a new and updated powerplant.

With diesel prices averaging nearly £1 a litre, and hi-tech petrol cars proving almost as frugal as oil-burners, the argument for filling up from the …

Together with bumper-mounted machine guns and ejector seats, the idea of a supercharged and turbocharged engine sounds like something James Bond's 'Q'…

Times aren't good for Saab. The Swedish firm has struggled to turn a profit over the past few years, and its fortunes have floundered under the owners…

At last! Honda's charge for honours in the family car market has begun. The new Civic hits the road this week, spearheaded by an innovative hybrid - a…

As tough jobs go, the new Fiat Grande Punto has its work cut out! Not only is it expected to top the supermini class, but it has also been tasked with…

High performance plus family-friendly practicality. With such a mix of abilities, the popularity of fast estates is no surprise - so why haven't high-…

The cute Swift supermini may well be making inroads into the supermini market, but for Suzuki there's one new car which is even more vital - the Grand…

With small engines and a sharp body, the 1-Series was supposed to provide basic entry to BMW ownership - but the engineers simply couldn't stick to th…

You simply can't underestimate the importance of the Vectra to Vauxhall. After all, the firm hopes to sell nearly 50,000 of them in the UK alone this …

The DTM German touring car championship is spectacular stuff. With grids full of 450bhp, slick-shod super-saloons driven by ex-grand prix stars such a…

Diesel is the fuel of choice for today's executive car drivers, thanks to a blend of economy & ever-improving performance.

Say hello to the new Mitsubishi Eclipse, an American coup� aiming for a bigger slice of the sports car sector. Launched this week in the States, it is…

It is not only sports cars and coup�s that are turning on the style these days. Family hatches are discovering fashion, too! First there was the dynam…

There's no doubt the S60 is one of Volvo's landmark models, after it banished the Swede's boxy styling to history in 2000.

In terms of showroom success, Jeep's Commander is unlikely to register much of a blip on arch rival Land Rover's radar when it arrives here in the spr…

There is no doubting the popularity of VW's Golf - the latest MkV model is one of the best-selling hatchbacks in the UK. But in a measure of how fussy…

In decades gone by, open-top two-seaters such as the MG Midget gave drivers big thrills at small prices. These days, only Smart is staying close to th…

Smart has taken action, and launched a new version of its ForFour with the focus on value for money.

When Porsche created the original Boxster, the development cost was £350million in all. That was enough to produce what is generally regarded as one o…

As the maker of some of the fastest small cars of the decade, Renault is the king of the high-performance supermini. However, the company is about to …

Not so long ago, cars that drove themselves were the stuff of Hollywood fantasy - but not any more.

If we had one complaint about Jaguar's 2.0-litre diesel X-Type, it was that the car seemed capable of handling more power.

High-performance estates are making a comeback, but how many does one car firm need? Subaru has built hot load-lugging versions of its Impreza for yea…

Better looking and cheaper to run: That's the promise being sold with the facelifted Peugeot 307 CC, so we took the car for a spin to see if it lives …

Britain's top-selling budget MPV is back, and with a new look the maker says will finally propel it into the big time. Auto Express is the first magaz…

It's a tough brief. The new 3-Series Touring must offer class-leading practicality and space, and yet still manage to deliver the marque's legendary d…

People carriers and off-roaders now come in all shapes and sizes, but traditional family hatchbacks still account for one in 10 new cars sold in the U…

Don't be fooled by the mild-mannered exterior. This MINI might appear familiar, but it eats Subaru Imprezas for breakfast and snacks on BMW M3s for lu…

Cute roadsters like Mazda's MX-5 are great for image-building. However, when it comes to profits, there's nothing like a big-selling family car. And t…

Style is as important as storage in the ultra-competitive estate sector, which is why VW says it's expecting big things from the load-lugging version …

The transition from show car to showroom is complete! When Honda's Civic concept stunned visitors at the Geneva exhibition in March, few believed the …

Now the new 3-Series has been launched, the M3's days are numbered. Even so, with a V8 replacement not due until next year, BMW is keeping performance…

We have traced every step of Jaguar's design and testing programme for the all-new XK, but the firm is not finished with the old model yet. To mark th…