Car review

Original military-chic civilian off-roader enters a fourth Wrangler-badged generation The Jeep Wrangler story dates back to 79 years ago. At around the time Enzo Ferrari and Alfa Romeo conclusively parted ways, the United States Department of War sought to commission the design of a rugged reconnaissance vehicle for duties in febrile Europe.Out of more than 130, just two companies, Willys-Overland and Bantam, stepped up, and it was the latter’s BRC 40 that formed the basis of not only a bona fide military icon but also, with the advent of the CJ-1 just four years later, an enduring post-war civilian sales success.The Jeep Wrangler JL is the fourth generation of this remarkable machine since the ‘Wrangler’ name was first applied to the recipe in 1986, and back in the US it remains a customer favourite and something of a global commercial powerhouse for its Fiat Chrysler Automobiles parent company.Of course, over here the Wrangler has been, and will always be a more niche offering, but it still has a very important role to play for Jeep. The brand is finally starting to garner some actual sales numbers with the Avenger, but that means that most of the cars Jeep sells in the UK are now small crossovers that send most or all of their power to the front wheels.Does that dilute the brand? Well, Jeep’s people talk about “protect the core, broaden the reach”. In other words, it’s no good keeping the brand pure if it’s not commercially viable, but the Wrangler is still a very important part of the range – not because of the sales numbers it generates but because it legitimises the whole operation.To succeed, any new Wrangler needs to radiate its Rubicon Trail-conquering capabilities at a standstill, which is why the Wrangler's looks are still more than reminiscent of the original Willy's. And yet with the JL more than any previous generation of Jeep Wrangler, the real challenge has been not only to maintain and enhance this aura but also make the car a far more amenable daily companion.Time to find out whether it has succeeded.The Jeep Wrangler range at a glanceThe JL Wrangler launched in the UK in 2019 with two engine choices, a 197bhp diesel and a 268bhp petrol, but the diesel was discontinued in 2021. A Wrangler 4xe plug-in hybrid is available in other markets, but won't be coming to the UK because its hybrid hardware is incompatible with right-hand drive. The Jeep Wrangler 392 is only available through grey imports.A two-door model was offered to appeal to those after a more classic Wrangler look, but was axed in 2023, leaving just the four-door. The Wrangler-based Jeep Gladiator pick-up truck also isn't offered here.Two trim levels are offered in the UK: the entry-level Sahara and the more off-road focused Rubicon. A more luxurious Overland trim was offered for some model years. Various roof styles are available for open-air motoring, including a three-piece removable roof.

Does an extra 67bhp and a host of dynamic upgrades give Mercedes' new two-door the edge over rivals? Serving as an indirect successor to the E53 Coupé, the hot new CLE 53 Coupé wears the AMG badge but isn’t quite a full-bore, Affalterbach-made model. A new CLE 63 is on its way, but it remains to be seen what it will power it; the C63 saloon fell way short of the mark after it swapped its roaring V8 engine for a four-cylinder plug-in hybrid powertrain.The CLE 53 is a closer rival to the BMW M440i than the BMW M4, but it still looks a lot meaner than regular CLE models and gets a suite of powertrain, suspension and interior upgrades to give it a more dynamic and sporting character. But does this amalgamated C-Class and E-Class AMG model feel like more than just a warmed-up range-topper? Let's find out. 

MPV turns SUV. Does the new Peugeot 5008 offer the best of both worlds, or neither? When it was launched in 2010, the first-generation Peugeot 5008 was exactly what you’d expect of an MPV. It had an impressively flexible interior, it was an undemanding car to drive, and it adhered doggedly to a one-box appearance.That it also handled with the dexterity of a smaller car, and undercut the Ford S-Max on price helped seal it a four-star rating from us; but it never amounted to anything more than a determinedly functional product.Seven years later. though, the 5008’s positioning changed critically. Although there was still no shortage of people who require what a traditional MPV such as that original 5008 offered, far fewer of them actually want to be seen in one.Instead, they wanted, and continue to want, an SUV - and all the kerbside appeal that goes with it. As a result, Peugeot’s product planners on Avenue de la Grande-Armée devised a second-generation model transformed into a seven-seat, mid-sized, front-drive SUV launched in 2017; and it’s that model which, with a significantly cut down derivative lineup, remains on sale in 2024, until the arrival of a third-generation car later this year.The 5008 is built on a platform shared with the smaller Peugeot 3008, only with an elongated bodyshell to allow for the fitment of seven seats instead of five. As a member of this increasingly popular clique of cars – and one with unreservedly upmarket objectives at that – it goes up against the likes of the Skoda Kodiaq, Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace, Mercedes EQB and Hyundai Santa Fe.Given the 5008’s popularity, it was no surprise that Peugeot chose not to mess with a winning formula when it pulled the covers off a revised version in 2020. Subtly redesigned on the inside and out, the family-friendly French machine got an upgraded touchscreen infotainment system and some fresh driver assistance technology; and now, at the beginning of 2024, it gets a new 48-volt petrol-electric hybrid engine as well.

Cheap-as-chips supermini makes way for all-new hybrid aimed at bereft Ford Fiesta fans More than 4000 Brits bought a new MG 3 last year. That’s admirable, considering that this Anglo-Chinese hatchback was launched over a decade ago and, with its somewhat crude dynamics and especially its rough petrol engine, signalled that fact pretty clearly – although MG executives admit that this car, one of the very cheapest on the UK market, was aimed at people who just wanted something new with a warranty – and better yet a seven-year one.The second-generation 3, just arrived, is all-new and an entirely different proposition: a thoroughly modern looking design, with new underpinnings, MG’s first full-hybrid powertrain and a higher-quality interior with a new touchscreen infotainment system and digital dash.Indeed, MG says it has effectively skipped an entire model generation. So it’s 'see ya, Dacia Sandero' and 'how ya doin’, Renault Clio?', with the starting price jumping from £14k to £18k. Now the Ford Fiesta is dead and buried, there’s an enormous opportunity here.As such almost all of its buyers will be ‘conquests’ from other brands, and MG expects there to be a lot of them: there are more 3s on the first boat over from the Nanjing factory than the brand sold in the whole of 2017.Projected annual volume is 10,000 – just under half of what the omnipresent Toyota Yaris achieves.MG claims volume is what enables it to undercut rivals by so much (the Clio and Yaris hybrids cost from £21k and £22k), but Toyota is by far the world’s biggest car maker year, so the fact that MG is ultimately owned by the Chinese state might have more to do with it.

With a more sophisticated platform, design-savvy look and fresh tech, has this all-new version lost sight of the model’s value appeal? How much car do you really need? It’s a question Dacia has been answering quite expertly for the past decade by nailing the fundamentals and saving on the stuff that’s largely immaterial (soft-touch interior mirror, anyone?). It has resulted in cars that are almost uniquely fit for purpose.The outgoing Dacia Duster was a bit of a breakthrough in this respect, just tipping over the edge from ‘feels cheap, but at least it is cheap’ to being a genuinely good car at an unbeatable price. Dacia UK sent me one for a few days before the launch event of the new, third-generation Duster, and actually they could have given the 2018 Duster a facelift with a more modern-looking interior and it would still be eminently recommendable. It’s a genuinely pleasant car to drive: it’s spacious enough, comfortable and easy to get on with.