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What’s it about? Volvo have got canny with presenting a big SUV with a small 2litre, 4-cylinder engine and making it so stylishly desirable and fantastic to drive that you’ll want one… if you’re happy to pay the hefty price tag that is. We tested the T5 Inscription, an upper power level version of the new XC90 and were suitably impressed.
What it is: A bright orange with black short wheel base Landy. Unfortunately unavailable for purchase (unless you can bribe someone to sell you theirs second hand) as they’ve all been snapped up!
It is said that first impressions count for a lot and are made within the first 30 seconds of entering a place. If I were to have based this review of Audi’s new A4 1.4T FSI purely on first impressions, I’d have the following to say of it:
I’ve always associated an Opel Corsa with those vibrant sea-green or metallic purple bubble-like cars that almost every acquaintance and student seemed to drive at some point in the late 90s. The new Opel Corsa is a far cry from these simple cars and I absolutely loved our recent test model.
As a city kid that was transplanted to a farm at the tender age of 10, a bakkie has always held a certain kind of magical fascination for me. I think it stems from those early days of embracing farm life on a massive estate that mixed dairy, sheep, fruit and grape farming into one fabulous whole and which was managed by friendly farm managers who didn’t mind nosy kids tagging along for a ride on the back of their sturdy farm bakkies.
I’ve been so looking forward to testing the latest offering from Volvo. There’s been massive hype around the launch and I was privileged enough to get an early insight into this rather impressive SUV during August of this year, but it’s always even better to be able to poke around, fiddle with new knobs and dials and really get to grips with a new vehicle during a test week.
I always liked the Toyota Yaris. I thought it was funky. Great lines, clever, economical car. So many people I know drive one of the older versions and are happy as Larry with their choice. So it was with no small amount of anticipation that I accepted the keys to my bright blue test vehicle. Post testing views are a bit dampened however.
You know, there’s something about a big, powerful vehicle that absolutely thrills me to bits. I can see the attraction of an elevated seat, ultra wide breadth and 335 straining horses packed inside a growling 4.2l V8 engine (250kW for those preferring metric).
What did we like? Subaru seem to be on a winning ticket with their Outback. It’s a spacious SUV type that offers impressive handling with superb road holding. The 3.6l CVT Lineartronic offers sublime acceleration through a super-smooth gearbox without the accompanying whine so prevalent in most CVT ‘boxes.
Add a big Diesel engine to a small car, tweak it with a turbo, raise the suspension a wee bit, clad it in a bit of plastic and voila – a spunky softroader is born. Volvo, what have you done?