Shahzad Sheikh Automotive, reviews

Audi A3 40 TFSi e (PHEV) Sportback Review

The new Audi A3 is the best-looking it’s ever been, but does the Plug-In hybrid appeal?

This is the Audi A3 Sportback 40 TFSI e – let me translate that for you: it’s the A3 hatchback with a 1.4-litre four-cylinder engine producing 150bhp,though that’s not it’s only power unit. As the ‘e’ in the title signifies, this is a plug-in electric hybrid (PHEV) which also packs an 85kW electric motor integrated into the six-speed dual clutch automatic gearbox producing 107bhp.

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Shahzad Sheikh Automotive, reviews

Ford Ranger Raptor Review

The Ranger Raptor is the Ford Mustang of the pickup world, and I’ll prove it.

This is the Ford Ranger Raptor – I like to give it its full name wherever possible, because there is of course, The Raptor, (no, not the theropods from the Cretaceous Period) I mean the big bad Ford F-150-based monster pickup. That comes with a 450bhp, 3.5-litre V6, though not to the UK, it doesn’t.

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Shahzad Sheikh Automotive, reviews

BMW Z4 sDrive30i Review

Convertibles and roadsters still have life in them yet – you all have to go tell BMW

This BMW exists thanks to Toyota. Yep! BMW has had the Z1, the Z3 and even the Z8. Then they replaced the Z3 with the Z4, which subsequently got a successor. Soon though, the Munich massive lost interest and were looking to send the Zs to sleep permanently – ‘nobody buys roadsters anymore’ came the edict from the bean-counter department.

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Shahzad Sheikh Automotive, reviews

Honda Jazz e:HEV Review

This is voodoo. This is jazz. There is magic within this little car

The Honda Jazz loves to riff, innovating with magic seats that mixed ample cargo height into the capacious cabin, through the simple idea of lifting its rear seat base for more room. For the latest fourth generation edition it’s playing a new hybrid tune – the only flavour you can have it in. A 1.5-litre petrol e:HEV which is like a hybrid of hybrids. It features innovation not so simple in concept, but still devilishly clever.

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Shahzad Sheikh Automotive, reviews

Honda E Review

Is this the city-wise electric car we’ve been waiting for?

Honda has previously said that it plans to provide an entirely electrified range in Europe by 2022 – yes that’s next year. By electrified we mean either hybrid or fully electric. However the only fully electric vehicle from the Japanese car manufacture is the little Honda E introduced last year.

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Shahzad Sheikh Automotive

Peugeot 2008 SUV Review

It’s the compact SUV brother to the 208 – but should you get this instead?

The Peugeot 2008 was not released in 2008 as some have suggested… er… the ‘00’ is part of Peugeot’s SUV taxonomy. Apply logic and it follows that the 2008 is the SUV companion to the 208 hatchback range. Not that it’s obvious from the looks. The SUV is a taller, more upright and bluff design, that nonetheless retains Peugeot’s family styling cues including the distinctive and aggressive face that sports either fangs (as I see them) or claws (as the manufacturer presumably would like you to perceive).

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Shahzad Sheikh Automotive, reviews

Suzuki Vitara Hybrid Review

Does hybridisation improve an already-great family SUV?

The immensely likeable and usable Suzuki Vitara is now a hybrid. However those that know, know that the Vitara is normally a surprisingly enjoyable drive, with good steering, decent dynamics and useful around town performance – plus it comes with an excellent manual gearbox. So should the alarm bells be ringing?

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Shahzad Sheikh Automotive, reviews

Kia Sorento Review

It’s big, it’s bold, it’s…bravely priced!

This is the all-new fourth generation Kia Sorento 7-seater large SUV. Forget the previous editions, some of which weren’t the best looking SUVs around let’s be honest. Forget what you remember of the quality of the early models. Forget delicate tech and fragile fabrics of history past. In fact forget everything you thought you knew about the Kia Sorento. Prepared to be wowed by the Korean car company’s latest offering.

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Shahzad Sheikh Automotive, reviews

Audi Q3 Sportback 45 TFSI Quattro

Better looking than an Q3 – but is it less practical?

The Audi Q3 Sportback is a sleeker, sportier looking version of the Q3 family SUV – you could go as far as to describe the Sportback as a Crossover rather than a SUV. The coupe-like profile reveals bulging flanks that give it a more meatier and muscular stance. It looks bigger than a Q3, but while it is indeed slightly longer, it’s actually, somewhat surprisingly, narrower. However lowering the roofline by nearly five centimetres appears to have done the trick of radically altering its visual presence and certainly enhancing its appeal.

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Shahzad Sheikh Automotive, reviews

Isuzu D-Max XTR Review

When a D-Max pick-up truck gets exposed to Gamma Radiation

Watch the video or look closely at the pictures of this D-Max XTR and you’ll notice splashes of vibrant green on the badges, brake callipers, badges and even on the stitching inside. It particularly stands out on this beefy truck’s cosmic mica black paintwork, boasting 17-inch black alloy wheels shod with huge 32-inch all-terrain Pirelli Scorpion tyres.

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