Review Peugeot has been criticised for losing the plot with its small and medium cars over the last decade, but that shouldn’t obscure the fact that it has made some fine D-segment motors in the same period, including the 406 and 407.
The 508 Active e-HDI: Peugeot’s latest micro-hybrid stop-start system on board
The newest inheritor of this fine tradition is the 508, which replaces both the 407 and 607, and comes with Peugeot’s latest micro-hybrid stop-start system and electronically controlled six-speed manual gearbox.
In simple terms, micro-hybrid means a start-stop that’s been at the Shredded Wheat. In the 508, the system – called i-StARS (Starter-Alternator Reversible System) – consists of a 2.2kW starter-generator and a set of ultra-capacitors which provide a boost to the 12V battery. Read the rest of this entry »
Review If the key to making a good e-car is keeping the size and weight down then the Smart Fortwo – a fine example of what can be achieved with a clean sheet of paper, an open mind and no regard for such bourgeois eccentricities as rear seats or a boot – should make an ideal candidate for electrification.
Smart’s Fortwo ED: the ultimate urban runaround?
Before anyone gets too excited, I should come clean and clarify that you can’t actually buy a Smart ED at the moment. The cars currently rolling off the Hambach production line in France with Tesla-supplied battery packs are limited run demonstrators for use in field trials and for lease to select commercial customers. Read the rest of this entry »
Review As a rule, I loathe retro car design. The people responsible for VW’s re-imagining of the Beetle, and BMW’s not-that-mini Mini should have passed water on the graves of Dr. Ferdinand Porsche and Sir Alec Issigonis, and had done with it. Such is the intellectual perfidy of this despicable and lazy philosophy of car design.
Fiat’s Cinquecento TwinAir: back to its roots
Altogether less objectionable is Fiat’s 500 because the bargain price and classless spirit of the original has survived the resurrection and now, three years after launch, you can even buy the little Italian runabout with a two-cylinder engine, just like the original Cinquecento. Read the rest of this entry »
Review In the last 10 years, Honda has shifted over 3.5m examples of its Jazz hatchback, and now the evergreen runabout so beloved by the over-60s is getting hybrid power. Presumably, Honda, like Toyota with its Auris Hybrid, thinks a familiar exterior will prevent hybrid-fright among it’s more conservative customers.
Honda’s Jazz Hybrid: relaxing urban ride
Unsurprisingly, the Jazz Hybrid uses the same power train as Honda’s Insight, which pairs a 1.3 litre i-VTEC petrol engine with Honda’s Integrated Motor Assist hybrid system. This uses an electric motor to add another 10kW (13.8bhp) of power and 78Nm (57.7 lb ft) of torque to the engine’s 86bhp and 121Nm (89 lb ft). Read the rest of this entry »
Review With Ford’s consumer research showing that drivers regard its cars as fun to drive and reliable to own but not particularly hi-tech, it’s playing the technology card heavily with the third-generation Focus. The new car comes loaded with sort of driver assistance kit that just a few years ago would only have been found on a high-end Mercedes.
Ford’s third-gen Focus: packed with technology
What we’re talking about here is a long list of driver aids with names like Low Speed Safety, Lane Departure Warning, Lane Keeping Aid, Traffic Sign Recognition, Adaptive Cruise Control and Parking Assist all of which take data feeds from a Camera that sits in front of the rear-view mirror; side-, rear- and forward-looking radars; and side-mounted ultrasonic detectors. Read the rest of this entry »
