Keith Ward test drives the latest Mazda6 saloon, in potent 2.5 litre Sport form… THIS has been a busy year for Mazda, with almost every model updated, including the respected Mazda6 looked at here. Priced from £23,195 to £33,585, the latest combined Saloon and Tourer 6 range runs to 25 models across four trim levels, in ascending order: SE-L Nav+, SE-L LUX Nav+, Sport Nav+ and GT Sport … [Read more...]
Features by Keith Ward
Volvo XC40 – Road Test
Keith Ward assesses Volvo’s award-winning XC40… OFF to a flying start is Volvo’s new XC40 compact SUV – already named European Car of the Year among its crop of early gongs and with UK sales quickly racking up to 2,000 a month, making it the company’s most successful new model launch ever on these shores. While there is an immediately striking family resemblance to the already established … [Read more...]
Skoda Karoq – Road Test
Keith Ward assesses Skoda’s impressive five door mid-size Karoq SUV… SUCCEEDING the successful Yeti in Skoda’s expanding SUV line-up is a very different-looking animal. The Karoq is more conventionally good looking and rounded than its boxy predecessor with the big windows, and a lot less distinctive. You may be hard-pressed to pick it out from many other SUV’s in the office or supermarket car … [Read more...]
Volvo S90 – Seasonal Road Test
Keith Ward gives his assessment of Volvo’s executive saloon… LIVING in the snow-prone Pennines and planning a winter weekend among the peaks of the Lake District, I was comforted by the 4WD capability of this version of the Volvo S90. It was also good to see it came with a £525 optional Winter Pack – electrically heated windscreen, heated steering wheel and washer nozzles, plus a headlight … [Read more...]
Mazda 6 Tourer – Road Test
Keith Ward test drives the Mazda 6 Tourer (estate car). WHILE a new, fourth generation Mazda 6 is on the far horizon, with a global unveiling at this month’s Los Angeles Motor Show, the current version continues to hold respect here. That is particularly in estate form, an old faithful which accounts for 70 per cent of the model's 8,000 UK sales to date (end of October) this year and is looked … [Read more...]
Volvo XC60 – Road Test
Keith Ward puts Volvo’s latest compact SUV through its paces… VOLVO’s original XC60 compact SUV sold nearly 1m around the world in its nine-year production run, claims to be currently the best-selling premium mid-sized SUV in Europe, and attracts as many as 30 per cent of the Swedish brand’s customers. Thus this second generation version, new for 2017, commands interest. It reflects Volvo’s … [Read more...]
Skoda Kodiaq – Road Test
Keith Ward test drive’s Skoda’s seven seater family SUV… UNLIKE some classier brands, Skodas seem to be designed by people who actually drive their cars in everyday situations. It is to their credit. Take the big new seven-seat family SUV, the Kodiaq. Ours came with a pair of umbrellas concealed in the front door armrests. Open the passenger doors and a sort of hairy rubber caterpillar on … [Read more...]
New Audi Q2 – Road Test
Keith Ward assesses Audi’s latest Q2 SUV. TWO additions recently announced are set to lengthen the queue of “Q” models from Audi in increasingly popular high-stance SUV style. Audi reckon as many as half their best-ever global sales last year of 1.8 million were SUVs. Already on offer are the Q2, Q3, Q5 and Q7. Now we are promised a big, top-end Q8 next year (2018) followed by a compact Q4 in … [Read more...]
Skoda Octavia SE Technology Estate – Road Test
Keith Ward test drives a spacious Octavia estate from Skoda… Keen to maintain its status as their best-selling model in the UK – the choice of almost 30 per cent of their customers – Skoda this Spring (2017) gave a mid-term facelift to the popular Octavia. It’s a familiar formula: outwardly a restyled front end (wider grille, re-shaped lights) and indoors an obligatory catch-up with the … [Read more...]
New Peugeot 3008 – Road Test
New Peugeot 3008 – Road Test. Keith Ward puts Peugeot’s latest 3008 through its paces… AFTER the euphoria back at the start of the year over the annointing of the Peugeot 3008 as Europe’s 2017 Car of the Year, plaudits have continued to pile in. Recent baubles (to June) have included Best Mid-Sized SUV (Auto Express) and overall Car of the Year (Diesel Car). Peugeot themselves describe it as … [Read more...]
Kia Optima estate – Road Test
Keith Ward test drives a spacious Optima estate… GRABBING most attention in auto circles these days are hatchbacks, SUVs and Crossovers, but estate cars continue to enjoy an appeal to both business users and private family buyers. So while in the repeatedly record-breaking Kia range the new-this-year cheeky little Picanto and Rio supermini hatches give spirited backing to the flagship SUV … [Read more...]
New Mazda CX-5 First Impressions
Keith Ward samples the newest version of Mazda's CX-5 SUV… In the ever-expanding SUV market, Mazda UK boss Jeremy Thomson is counting on his CX-3 and CX-5 models for 33 per cent of his total sales here this year. (2017). Not surprising when the run-out CX-5 itself currently attracts one quarter of Mazda’s global customers, is their top seller in Europe and has notched 32,000 sales in the UK … [Read more...]
Suzuki Ignis Road Test
Keith Ward gives his assessment of Suzuki’s latest city car… ON sale in the UK from the start of this year (2017), the little all-new Suzuki Ignis city car can pack an awful lot for relatively little money into its light and compact SUV frame. Prices start at £10,249. On top of a generally generous kit level, the top SZ5 version we drove, at well under £15,000, came with the Japanese firm’s … [Read more...]
Mazda MX-5 RF Road Test
Keith Ward test drives Mazda’s latest MX-5 with a retractable roof… SUMMER ahoy and here is the latest version of what has long been billed, virtue of its rave reputation in the huge market of the USA, the world’s all-time best selling two-seater sports car, with a crop of awards to its name, including World Car of the Year 2016. The RF (for Retractable Fastback) is a new eye-candy hard top … [Read more...]
Kia Niro Hybrid – Road Test
Keith Ward test drives Kia’s first hybrid, in the form of the Niro… While accelerating sales of alternatively fuelled vehicles (AFVs) in the UK have eased with the gearing down of Government support grants, reaching 89,000 last year out of a record total of nearly 2.7m cars, they were still up by more than 20 per cent, according to official SMMT trade figures. They include petrol-electric … [Read more...]
New Citroën C3 Road Test
Keith Ward assesses a quirky and well-equipped newcomer from France… It’s not very big, but it could be useful to have on your side if you get into an argument on the road. New for 2017, the small but beautifully formed Citroën C3 claims a world premiere for an onboard HD camera, standard with the top Flair trim, that allows drivers to share their road trip photos and videos directly. It also … [Read more...]
SEAT Ateca Road Test
Keith Ward test drives SEAT’s Leon-based Ateca SUV… Drivers in Europe reportedly experience a puncture every 75,000 miles on average. Well, it happened to me recently and turned out to be a happier experience than it might have been. Lucky break number one: It was nothing as dramatic as a night-time blowout at motorway speed. I was only made aware by a tyre pressure drop warning symbol on the … [Read more...]
New Kia Rio First Impressions
Keith Ward samples the 2017 Rio from Kia… (Note from Kim: Wheels-Alive is deliberately covering the new Rio from two different perspectives, offered purely in alphabetical order. Therefore, in addition to read Keith's assessement, for David Miles' equally insightful thoughts, please click HERE). Although vastly overshadowed in the UK by its Sportage and c’eed stablemates, the Rio small … [Read more...]
Best Christmas Car? Volvo V90 Road Test
Best Christmas Car? Keith Ward nominates the Volvo V90… FIRST sign of a change in season – you are grateful for the optional Winter Pack fitted to this Volvo V90. So – heated windscreen and washer nozzles, a headlight cleaning system and, really spoiling yourself, a heated steering wheel. That’s a total £525 to you sir, madam. That other winter boon of heated front seats is fitted as … [Read more...]
New Audi A5 and S5 Coupé First Impressions
Keith Ward samples the latest A5 and S5 Coupé models… YOU may think at a glance that the new Audi A5 Coupe looks pretty similar to the still-stylish nine-year-old outgoing version. In fact it is billed as “all-new from the ground up”, being 47 mm (1.85 in) longer but up to 60 kg (132 lb) lighter on its new platform. It also has a bigger boot at 465 litres (16.42 cu.ft), claiming to be the … [Read more...]
