Suzuki Swift AllGrip Ultra Hybrid Review

Affordable, economical, all-the mod-cons, clutch pedal and manual box, old-school handbrake and all-wheel drive – the last most logical car left on the market?

Some cars are more than the sum of their spec sheets. Some cars are hidden gems. Some cars are unexpected delights. Some cars actually make sense on multiple levels. Some cars are the new, £22k, 2025 Suzuki Swift AllGrip Ultra Hybrid tested here.

If you like eager little hatchbacks that will dart in and out of city gaps, provide usable passenger and boot space, engage you with heel-and-toe downshifts and cheeky handbrake turns, sip fuel while being refined at motorway momentum, and even scrabble over churned-up gravel while wading through rain pools. Then you’ve landed on the right road (off-road) test!

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11/07/2025 0

Review: 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser J250

Retro-Cool Legend or £78k Madness?

The new 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser J250 has arrived – and if you’re in the UK, this is your Land Cruiser. While much of the world gets the full-sized 300-series Big Daddy Land Cruiser, we get this slightly smaller, slightly leaner sibling, also known globally as the Land Cruiser Prado, or simply the Prado. But don’t dismiss it as the runner-up – because, frankly, by our standards, it really ain’t small, plus this might just be the best-looking Land Cruiser of the modern era.

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10/06/2025 0

REVIEW: MG Cyberster GT

The 496bhp Electric Roadster That’ll Make You Believe in MG Roadsters Again!

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!

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27/05/2025 1

REVIEW: Classic Fiat 500e

A Tiny Italian Bundle of Fun Rebooted by Silent Classics

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?

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20/05/2025 0

BMW M235i xDrive Gran Coupe Review

Slick and Quick, But Worth £55k?

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!

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19/05/2025 0

Hyundai Inster Review

Small EV, Big Personality

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.

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18/05/2025 0

REVIEW: Renault 5 E-Tech

Is this the Coolest Electric Car of 2025? And at UNDER £23k!!

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.

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10/04/2025 0

REVIEW: Volkswagen Golf GTE PHEV

Like a hybrid GTE that will go 80 miles on electric power alone!

The 2024 Volkswagen Golf GTE is a plug-in hybrid that’s as much about efficiency as it is about delivering a fun drive. Think of it as a Golf GTI, that’s actually a hybrid, and that can drive over 80 miles on electric power alone! Finished in a pastel egg-shell (or Crystal Ice if you’re being official) Blue, this GTE looks the part with subtle blue accents on the grille and badging, setting it apart from its petrol-powered siblings. But is it just another Golf with a plug, or does it bring something special to the table? Let’s take it for a spin and find out.

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25/11/2024 0

Review: 2025 MG ZS Hybrid+

A Great Affordable and Fun SUV – But No EV?!

This is the all-new second-generation MG ZS, tested here in Hybrid+ form in the top-of-the-range Trophy spec. Slightly bigger, with more features, and prices only up by around £1,000, it remains a competitive B-segment SUV.

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24/09/2024 1

2024 BYD Seal Design RWD Quick Drive Review

Do you really need the all-wheel drive Seal?

Recently, I had the pleasure of visiting BYD’s new UK headquarters in Uxbridge, where I got up close and personal with their latest models. Among the range was the BYD Seal, which I’d previously reviewed in its all-wheel-drive (AWD) form. This time, though, I had the chance to take the rear-wheel-drive (RWD) version for a spin. Is the RWD variant just as good, or does the AWD offer something more? Let’s dive in and find out.

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18/08/2024 0