#BrownCarGuy – News, Views & Reviews!
It’s been a long time coming, but I finally got my hands on the all-new MG Cyberster GT – and yes, it was worth the wait. I missed the launch, missed the press events, nearly missed this drive too, thanks to a temporarily closed track at Millbrook. But I’m stubborn (or mildly obsessive), and I wasn’t going to leave until I got my go behind the wheel of what is arguably the most important sports car of recent times!
There are many questions in life for which we have thus far failed to find a satisfactory answer. For example: why does toast always land butter-side down? Or what precisely is the purpose of a rubber chicken? And most pertinently on this occasion, what happens when you take a classic Fiat 500 – a car only marginally larger than a ripe melon – and stuff it full of EV batteries and magnets instead of a noisy two-pot and Italian expletives?
This compact 2025 BMW M235i xDrive Gran Coupe has more horsepower than the 1992 E36 BMW M3. So does that make it a bona fide junior ‘M’ car? With the keys to the turbocharged four-door in my hands and the Hill Route at the Millbrook Proving Ground beckoning, there is only one way to find out!
Sometimes a car doesn’t need to scream to make a statement. It just needs to show up with a cheeky grin, a bit of charm, and enough clever thinking to stand out in a sea of lookalike electric boxes.
There’s a new EV player in town – and it goes by the name Xpeng. If you’ve never heard of them, don’t worry, you will. Xpeng is one of the latest Chinese electric vehicle brands to enter the UK market, and their first offering here is this: the G6, a mid-size coupe-SUV aimed squarely at buyers considering a Tesla Model Y, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6 and even the BYD Sealion 7.
I don’t often say this about electric cars, but I’ve been waiting to try this one for a while. Ever since Renault first dropped images of a retro-fabulous concept that looked like it’d teleported straight from a 1970s disco into a new Star Trek movie (The Roads of Khan!), I’ve been itching to tickle its torque and see if the drive matches the desire.
A new affordable electric SUV that’s more refined and packed with greater tech than its predecessor, the all-new MG S5 EV is essentially the replacement for the best-selling MG ZS EV. The S5 EV steps up the game in terms of style, performance, and practicality – while still offering astonishing value – so should it be on your shortlist?
Usually, when you arrive at a media drive event for a new car, you’re greeted by some PR, there may or may not be a presentation, and then you jostle with the other journos for some keys and take the new car for a drive. However, BYD did things a little differently for the launch of its new Sealion 7 electric family SUV.
Subaru doesn’t do things like everyone else. While most brands chase style over substance, dazzle you with tech, and try to convince you how sustainable-savvy they are, Subaru quietly gets on with making tough, dependable all-wheel-drive SUVs that outlive most of their owners’ vegetable patches (as they witness weeds reclaim their allotment ambitions).
Mazda want to do it all. They want a big new flagship luxury SUV. That’s also hugely practical and a versatile seven-seater. Plus, thrifty economy and the ability to emit slightly tanked-up butterflies at most. It also needs to be relatively punchy when it comes to performance and can prove a tasty steer despite it breadth and width. Meet the new 2025 Mazda CX-80, the brand’s new top dog three-row SUV for Europe. This isn’t just Mazda’s largest and most spacious SUV – it’s a bold statement aimed at premium rivals like the BMW X5, Audi Q7 and Land Rover Discovery. But does it have what it takes to challenge the establishment?
