Car review

Alfa Romeo's fast sports saloon receives minor updates but stays one of the most engaging and entertaining cars in the class To the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio, then: launched in 2017, very mildly revised in the spring of 2024, and still among the best sports saloons on sale in our eyes.Few car makers inspire such unwavering loyalty and enthusiasm from those who purchase their products as Alfa Romeo – and fewer have been so guilty of taking such passion for granted in the recent past.There have been a procession of plain-handling Alfas, continuing to this day in the form of the latest Tonale crossover.But in among the range all still lies one of the most entertaining cars launched in the past decade. The Giulia Quadrifoglio is a brilliant handling, fine riding, accelerative and responsive sports saloon of the best kind. Good enough to compete - perhaps still beat - the BMW M3 and Mercedes-AMG C63.Alfa says it’ll be all-electric by 2027. So the Giulia Quadrifoglio might be the high point its combusted cars go out on.

Alfa’s latest Quadrifoglio performance model meets the Autocar timing gear. Can a high-riding SUV possibly entertain like the sensational Giulia QV? Were you to speculate on the identity of this week’s road test subject from its specification sheet alone, your efforts would be at risk of going widely awry. Carbonfibre-shell seats and a claimed 3.8sec 0-62mph time? Must be some sort of supercar, a notion reinforced by carbon-ceramic brake discs and a Race driving mode.Somehow, the truth is more extreme – and unpredictable – than that. When Alfa Romeo presented its very first sports utility vehicle back in 2016 at the Los Angeles motor show, it wanted to leave an indelible mark. While lesser petrol models and their diesel counterparts were due to follow, on the stand sat the Stelvio in range-topping 503bhp Quadrifoglio form. The flamboyant styling was recognisable from the Giulia. We also knew that the engine, the same characterful twin-turbo V6 designed by former Ferrari engineer Gianluca Pivetti, would ensure bite matched bark. And it was the fabulous Giulia that gave us hope.Alfa Romeo leaned heavily on Ferrari expertise – including the acquisition of Philippe Krief, the chassis engineer responsible for the 458 Speciale – to deliver the best-handling saloon in its century-long history. Now it was applying that experience to the on-trend world of raised ride heights. Porsche and BMW have ensured the Stelvio Quadrifoglio won’t be the first SUV with truly polished handling, but could this be the first SUV to get its owner out of bed on a Sunday morning?Maybe. But it’s not that simple. As an SUV, this unprecedented Alfa must also be comfortable and safe on a rainy Tuesday night, and spacious enough to collect the children from school and do a weekly shop on the way home.In this class, extraordinary handling and a stonking powertrain will get you only so far, so just how far does the Stelvio Quadrifoglio really go?Price £69,500 | Power 503bhp | Torque 443lb ft | 0-60mph 4.0sec | 30-70mph in fourth 4.5sec | Fuel economy 22.0mpg | CO2 emissions 227g/km | 70-0mph 55.1m

A wide range of engines, handsome looks, and a reasonable interior - but the Megane is missing something significant From its launch as long ago as 1995, the Renault Mégane five-door hatchback fought tooth and nail with the likes of the Volkswagen Golf and Vauxhall Astra.However, by the time the fourth generation landed in 2016, Renault’s focus was beginning to shift, and far fewer were sold than earlier generations.It follows, then, that there are fewer examples on the used car market today than there are Golfs and Astras. Of course, that only makes the pleasure of finding a good Mégane sweeter still – not that the model needs much help there.The fact is that the Mk4 Mégane ticks a lot of the most important boxes for used car buyers.It is great value for money, with an approved used 40,000-mile, 2020-reg 1.3 TCe petrol costing only around £11,500; it’s attractive both inside and out; it’s solidly built; some versions are extremely well equipped; and non-GT versions, at least, ride very comfortably.It’s a heavy car, but even the entry-level 1.2 TCe 130 petrol manages 0-62mph in just a little over 10sec in both its manual and automatic forms. However, we would aim for the later 1.3 TCe 140, which shaves a second off that time.The 1.6 TCe 205 EDC is the warm offering. Although available only as an automatic, it zips to 62mph in just over 7.0sec. It has an impressive specification, including four-wheel steering and an engine breathed on by Renault Sport. It’s rare but worth having a steer of.Late in the Mégane’s life, the 1.6 E-Tech plug-in hybrid arrived, touting 158bhp. We liked its blend of smooth power with a comfy ride, and its 30 miles of electric-only range offers ultra-low running costs for those who don’t do long journeys and can charge at home.Turning now to the diesel engines, which are all Euro 6 and so ULEZ-compliant. The 1.5 dCi 110 is economical, quiet and refined. In 2019, it was replaced by the slightly punchier 1.5 dCi 115.The more powerful 1.6 dCi 130 is better still but was pulled in 2018. All are capable of high mileages, so you can buy with confidence.The Mégane is a long and wide car, so it offers plenty of room for passengers, although tall drivers might have to slide their seat farther back than they would in other cars.It’s a hatchback, rather than an MPV, so don’t expect much in the way of oddment storage, but what it lacks here, it more than makes up for with a very large boot.On most versions, a large infotainment touchscreen dominates the dashboard, there are splashes of chrome and ambient lighting casts a sophisticated glow.There are six trim levels, ranging from Expression+ (16in alloys, air-con, DAB radio, cruise control and Bluetooth) to GT Nav (the aforementioned four-wheel steering and even launch control). Our choice, and the most plentiful, is Dynamique Nav.Although just one up from Expression+, it has features including automatic wipers and lights, electrically adjustable and heated wing mirrors, part-leather upholstery, dual-zone climate control, keyless entry and an Arkamys audio system alongside Renault’s R-Link 2 infotainment software on a 7.0in touchscreen with sat-nav.Thin on the ground it may be, but if you are looking for a top-value family hatch, a Mk4 Mégane is worth ferreting out.

BYD power and outdoorsy styling for Ssangyong successor's debut EV BYD, Fisker, Nio, IM, Omoda, Jaecoo, Seres, Skywell, Lucid, Ora… How many more new brands can the UK car market take before it bursts at the seams? And now there's another: KGM. But at least this is something of a known entity, having sold cars here for two decades in its previous life as Ssangyong. The company's new owners, though – while keen to leverage the value-focused SUV heritage of its predecessor – are keen to kick the brand firmly into the mainstream, with an ambitious ploy to nearly triple its global volumes to 320,000 in 2026.In line with that pledge, it is introducing a whole new range of chunky, 4x4-flavoured SUVs – in varying shapes and sizes – with a view to substantially broadening its market reach and injecting some panache and desirability into its cars. It all begins with the KGM Torres, a 4700mm-long family SUV that sits roughly between the Korando and Rexton, which both remain on sale with Ssangyong badges until their KGM-engineered replacements arrive. We've driven it with a 1.5-litre petrol engine, and now it's the turn of the electric EVX, which goes after the Skoda Enyaq, Volkswagen ID 4, Ford Explorer et al with a front-mounted motor and 73.4kWh battery supplied by KGM's new technical partner, BYD. 

Ingolstadt enters volume-selling family EV market with an unconventional crossover The Audi Q4 E-tron has been with us since 2021, which might not seem that long ago. Since then, though, we’ve watched as the cars we all know and love, and the companies behind them, switch from reciprocating pistons to electric motors. The Q4 E-tron itself has also left its mark on the brand’s sales figures, outselling every other Audi SUV in 2023. That means there are more rivals to choose from than ever, and Audi has needed to keep its electric crossover up to date. As a result, Audi has handed the Q4 E-tron a substantial midlife refresh, which subtly restyles the model, adds new motors and implements a significant technology upgrade. This update, while useful in keeping the Q4 E-tron in line with a host of newly arrived rivals, also represents the way Audi is currently operating and is reminiscent of how it went about business in the late 1970s and 1980s, when boss Ferdinand Piëch encouraged his engineers to strive for perfection. The Q4 E-tron launched as Ingolstadt’s third all-electric model following the larger Audi E-tron SUV of 2018 and the E-tron GT four-door sports car that was introduced in the UK in 2021. The firm, whose association with front-wheel drive extends back to the 1930s and which famously branched out to develop quattro four-wheel drive in the 1980s, has only ever made rear-driven derivatives of the R8 supercar before.Its refusal to follow the classic mechanical type of its luxury-level rivals with its regular passenger cars has, at times over the decades, bordered on pig-headedness. Now, with so much that’s new and unfamiliar about its first affordable EV, perhaps Audi is hoping that we won’t notice as one of the technical principals that it has always clung to falls by the wayside – or perhaps that we won’t care.This is, after all, Ingolstadt’s new electric era. The firm will launch its last combustion-engined car within four years, and by 2032 will have built its very last. From here on out, we should expect most of its model introductions to be EVs – and this week’s road test subject provides our first taste of what they might be like.The Audi Q4 line-up at a glanceUnlike Audi’s petrol and diesel models, the Q4 E-tron’s range is relatively simple, with just three powertrain options. Using the Volkswagen Group’s MEB platform means that, uncharacteristically for Audis, all cars are essentially rear-wheel drive.The big news for 2024 is that all versions now have a more efficient motor (as found in the new Volkswagen ID 7) on the rear axle. That means more power. The range opens with the 45, which features 281bhp (up from 201bhp) and an 82kWh battery (with a 77kWh usable capacity) and 402lb ft. It hits 0-62mph in 6.7sec. You can select this powertrain with Audi’s quattro all-wheel drive system. Next is the 55, which adds quattro all-wheel drive as standard, upping proceedings to 335bhp (up from 295bhp). Here, torque is split to 98lb ft at the front axle, and 402lb ft at the rear.The new motor and battery combinations also mean improved range, with the entry-level car (which will go the farthest) up from 316 to 330 miles. That puts it right in the ballpark of the Kia EV6 RWD (328 miles) and Tesla Model Y Long Range (331).Audi previously offered the 35, which was sold with a smaller 52kWh battery, but this version is no longer on sale from new.VERSIONPOWERQ4 E-tron 45281bhpQ4 E-tron 45 Quattro281bhpQ4 E-tron 55335bhpQ4 E-tron 55 Quattro335bhp