Car review
Car review
Popular Czech brand wades into the fiercely competitive hatchback homeland
It wasn't Skoda who first hit on the idea of putting a bigger hatchback body onto an existing supermini model platform, in order to deliver to market an equally spacious but better value car than the average family five-door. Technically at least, it’s the idea that the modern Dacia brand is founded on. But it’s what the Skoda Scala has been up to since it first came along in 2019; it's likewise what both the Skoda Rapid and Rapid Spaceback before it tried; and it's what the car continues to do now that it's had its major mid-life facelift for 2024. The Scala fits into the Skoda range quite well, since the longer-lived Octavia hatchback has become a much bigger and pricier prospect, leaving plenty of room for something slotted in between that and the smaller Fabia supermini to flourish within.It is, at heart, the same kind of spacious, functional, practically featured and good-value car that we're so used to seeing from this ambitious Czech brand; but, in this instance, Skoda would like to add something along the lines of ‘upmarket sophistication’ to the Scala's armoury too.As much is evident from looking at the Scala, whose design borrows cues from the premium European manufacturers both inside and out, and whose two-box, C-segment dimensions place it right in the cross-hairs of the traditionally minded European buyer. With the Skoda Octavia accounting for the bulk of Skoda’s sales and its growing range of crossovers catching up, Skoda has never built a car that so directly rivals the likes of Ford’s Ford Focus, the Vauxhall Astra, and even its Volkswagen Golf cousin. Of course, moving upmarket is never as simple as fitting an all-glass rear window and using Porsche-style model badging on the bootlid. The Scala need not handle like the best car in this class, but it must ride with a degree of panache that the Rapid never managed. Likewise, nobody is expecting Mercedes levels of refinement - but success in this class now certainly demands fairly sophisticated long-distance road manners, and a certain level of richness and digital technology within the cabin.Time, then, to find out if that facelift has added any of the above - and precisely what difference it may make.The Scala range at a glanceSkoda is good at keeping things simple, so there are only three trim levels to choose from for the Scala: SE, SE-L and the ever-so-slightly-sporty Monte Carlo.The 1.0-litre three-cylinder motors will likely be the most popular among Scala customers, one of which has been updated; but there's a 1.5-litre four-cylinder for those who want better performance, which is the engine elected to test.
Skoda Scala Giga Gears
Popular Czech brand wades into the fiercely competitive hatchback homeland
It wasn't Skoda who first hit on the idea of putting a bigger hatchback body onto an existing supermini model platform, in order to deliver to market an equally spacious but better value car than the average family five-door. Technically at least, it’s the idea that the modern Dacia brand is founded on. But it’s what the Skoda Scala has been up to since it first came along in 2019; it's likewise what both the Skoda Rapid and Rapid Spaceback before it tried; and it's what the car continues to do now that it's had its major mid-life facelift for 2024. The Scala fits into the Skoda range quite well, since the longer-lived Octavia hatchback has become a much bigger and pricier prospect, leaving plenty of room for something slotted in between that and the smaller Fabia supermini to flourish within.It is, at heart, the same kind of spacious, functional, practically featured and good-value car that we're so used to seeing from this ambitious Czech brand; but, in this instance, Skoda would like to add something along the lines of ‘upmarket sophistication’ to the Scala's armoury too.As much is evident from looking at the Scala, whose design borrows cues from the premium European manufacturers both inside and out, and whose two-box, C-segment dimensions place it right in the cross-hairs of the traditionally minded European buyer. With the Skoda Octavia accounting for the bulk of Skoda’s sales and its growing range of crossovers catching up, Skoda has never built a car that so directly rivals the likes of Ford’s Ford Focus, the Vauxhall Astra, and even its Volkswagen Golf cousin. Of course, moving upmarket is never as simple as fitting an all-glass rear window and using Porsche-style model badging on the bootlid. The Scala need not handle like the best car in this class, but it must ride with a degree of panache that the Rapid never managed. Likewise, nobody is expecting Mercedes levels of refinement - but success in this class now certainly demands fairly sophisticated long-distance road manners, and a certain level of richness and digital technology within the cabin.Time, then, to find out if that facelift has added any of the above - and precisely what difference it may make.The Scala range at a glanceSkoda is good at keeping things simple, so there are only three trim levels to choose from for the Scala: SE, SE-L and the ever-so-slightly-sporty Monte Carlo.The 1.0-litre three-cylinder motors will likely be the most popular among Scala customers, one of which has been updated; but there's a 1.5-litre four-cylinder for those who want better performance, which is the engine elected to test.
Car review
Mild hybrid power gives Fiat's core model a chance to outlive its famous 1950s forebear
Can there be many milestones left for the now-seventeen-year old Fiat 500? Most modern car model generations are long dead and buried by this age. The BMW Group’s ‘new Mini’ has been through three full model generations in the space of 25 years.But, historically speaking, really special small cars have tended to live for longer. Both the original Mini and Citroen 2CV managed more than four decades of continual production, getting fairly minor incremental updates only; the original Volkswagen Beetle more than six.With things as they are, it may be hard to imagine the rebooted baby Fiat sticking around for quite that long - but, if it survives for another twelve months or so, it will have had a longer life than Dante Giacosa’s 1957 ‘nuova 500’ original.The original Nova 500 was so basic that it was conceived partly as an alternative to a scooter. There was one engine option and it had just two seats (at launch), plus suicide doors. By comparison, the modern 500 is much larger and more powerful.First shown in 2007, 50 years after the launch of the Cinquecento that inspired it, the 500 has proved a hit for Fiat, pulling in sales and hugely improving the brand’s image. It has also fathered a whole family of sister models: the 500X, 500L, and now the all-electric Fiat 500.More on the Fiat 500Nearly new guide: Fiat 500Fiat 500 line-up refreshed for 2021Abarth 595 review
Fiat 500 Hybrid with Giga Gears
Mild hybrid power gives Fiat's core model a chance to outlive its famous 1950s forebear
Can there be many milestones left for the now-seventeen-year old Fiat 500? Most modern car model generations are long dead and buried by this age. The BMW Group’s ‘new Mini’ has been through three full model generations in the space of 25 years.But, historically speaking, really special small cars have tended to live for longer. Both the original Mini and Citroen 2CV managed more than four decades of continual production, getting fairly minor incremental updates only; the original Volkswagen Beetle more than six.With things as they are, it may be hard to imagine the rebooted baby Fiat sticking around for quite that long - but, if it survives for another twelve months or so, it will have had a longer life than Dante Giacosa’s 1957 ‘nuova 500’ original.The original Nova 500 was so basic that it was conceived partly as an alternative to a scooter. There was one engine option and it had just two seats (at launch), plus suicide doors. By comparison, the modern 500 is much larger and more powerful.First shown in 2007, 50 years after the launch of the Cinquecento that inspired it, the 500 has proved a hit for Fiat, pulling in sales and hugely improving the brand’s image. It has also fathered a whole family of sister models: the 500X, 500L, and now the all-electric Fiat 500.More on the Fiat 500Nearly new guide: Fiat 500Fiat 500 line-up refreshed for 2021Abarth 595 review
Car review
As Volvo's breakthrough compact model reaches its golden years, how much youthful appeal does it retain?
The Volvo XC40 has been a transformative car for its creator. Even as it closes in on replacement, this compact SUV remained Volvo Cars’ second biggest-selling global model in 2023, only being outperformed by the mid-sized Volvo XC60.With the arrival of the Volvo EX30 alongside it, Volvo is renewing its assault on the more affordable end of the European car market; but it was the XC40 that first proved the potential of a compact Volvo to win fans and find homes when it appeared in 2017 - and it still is.Volvo’s timing with the introduction of the car, as Europe’s compact SUV market boomed, was undoubtedly good - but the car’s design was Gothenburg’s true ‘eureka’ moment. Although the company’s history with smaller models is quite long and chequered, never before had it tried to maximise how much brand-typical visual toughness and solidity it could transfer onto a smaller and more affordable car. As it did so, it unlocked a significant amount of untapped sales potential.And, like most cars who find commercial success, the XC40 has been through quite a lot of development and change within its first model generation. Having launched exclusively with conventional petrol and diesel combustion engines (and scooped the European Car of the Year title for 2018), it was offered with a petrol-electric plug-in hybrid powertrain - the XC40 Twin Engine - in 2019. Those PHEVs would later go on to become re-named XC40 Recharge; and that nomenclature strategy would become a little confusing when Volvo added all-electric models into the XC40 range under the same banner. In recent years, however, the XC40 lineup has been rationalised. Having removed the original diesel-engined models from UK pricelists in 2020, Volvo discontinued its plug-in hybrids as part of the car’s most recent facelift in 2023. So now, only mild hybrid petrol and fully electric ‘BEV’ Recharge versions of the XC40 survive. The latter came in for significant mechanical change for 2023, and so it was an XC40 Recharge single motor we opted to test here.
Volvo XC40 with Giga Gears
As Volvo's breakthrough compact model reaches its golden years, how much youthful appeal does it retain?
The Volvo XC40 has been a transformative car for its creator. Even as it closes in on replacement, this compact SUV remained Volvo Cars’ second biggest-selling global model in 2023, only being outperformed by the mid-sized Volvo XC60.With the arrival of the Volvo EX30 alongside it, Volvo is renewing its assault on the more affordable end of the European car market; but it was the XC40 that first proved the potential of a compact Volvo to win fans and find homes when it appeared in 2017 - and it still is.Volvo’s timing with the introduction of the car, as Europe’s compact SUV market boomed, was undoubtedly good - but the car’s design was Gothenburg’s true ‘eureka’ moment. Although the company’s history with smaller models is quite long and chequered, never before had it tried to maximise how much brand-typical visual toughness and solidity it could transfer onto a smaller and more affordable car. As it did so, it unlocked a significant amount of untapped sales potential.And, like most cars who find commercial success, the XC40 has been through quite a lot of development and change within its first model generation. Having launched exclusively with conventional petrol and diesel combustion engines (and scooped the European Car of the Year title for 2018), it was offered with a petrol-electric plug-in hybrid powertrain - the XC40 Twin Engine - in 2019. Those PHEVs would later go on to become re-named XC40 Recharge; and that nomenclature strategy would become a little confusing when Volvo added all-electric models into the XC40 range under the same banner. In recent years, however, the XC40 lineup has been rationalised. Having removed the original diesel-engined models from UK pricelists in 2020, Volvo discontinued its plug-in hybrids as part of the car’s most recent facelift in 2023. So now, only mild hybrid petrol and fully electric ‘BEV’ Recharge versions of the XC40 survive. The latter came in for significant mechanical change for 2023, and so it was an XC40 Recharge single motor we opted to test here.
Car review
Solihull takes the Range Rover Sport to new heights of technical sophistication.
The Land Rover Range Rover Sport range becomes ever more complete, with the new SV joining an already comprehensive line-up from spring 2024. Global volume and luxury car profit margin come together crucially for JLR with the Sport range, whether that's at the lower end, or with the latest £180,000+ performance model.The Sport was the car that showed the untapped potential of Range Rover as a sub-brand when it came along in 2004, kick-starting the growth in Land Rover’s model catalogue and becoming so central to the company that it has eventuated with the firm renaming itself JLR and hiving off four distinct brnad lines - Range Rover, Discovery and Defender plus Jaguar. And it’s the perfect modern Land Rover in as much as it has all the advantages: the lustre of the Range Rover brand delivered on a full-sized model, but at a more affordable price, the pick of the powertrains, and the advanced suspension and four-wheel drive technologies. To many of its owners, the Range Rover Sport has simply become the defining and best Range Rover, full stop. Of all available models, we've driven several in the UK, and most recently the new SV performance derivative overseas. Read on to find out more.
“Range Rover Sport Review by Giga Gears: A Comprehensive Analysis”
Solihull takes the Range Rover Sport to new heights of technical sophistication.
The Land Rover Range Rover Sport range becomes ever more complete, with the new SV joining an already comprehensive line-up from spring 2024. Global volume and luxury car profit margin come together crucially for JLR with the Sport range, whether that's at the lower end, or with the latest £180,000+ performance model.The Sport was the car that showed the untapped potential of Range Rover as a sub-brand when it came along in 2004, kick-starting the growth in Land Rover’s model catalogue and becoming so central to the company that it has eventuated with the firm renaming itself JLR and hiving off four distinct brnad lines - Range Rover, Discovery and Defender plus Jaguar. And it’s the perfect modern Land Rover in as much as it has all the advantages: the lustre of the Range Rover brand delivered on a full-sized model, but at a more affordable price, the pick of the powertrains, and the advanced suspension and four-wheel drive technologies. To many of its owners, the Range Rover Sport has simply become the defining and best Range Rover, full stop. Of all available models, we've driven several in the UK, and most recently the new SV performance derivative overseas. Read on to find out more.
Car review
Classic Range Rover transformation gives iconic SUV a new lease of life, as well as choice of ICE, EV and PHEV power
We should have seen it coming. All those rivet-popping Defenders from the likes of Twisted, JE Motorworks and Kahn Design, made over then force-fed horsepower like corn-gorged Barbary ducks destined for the fois gras tin.Well, now it has happened to Land Rover’s second landmark car, the Range Rover Classic. Not only does JLR offer its own restored version of what is considered by most the original luxury SUV, there are also various upgraded versions from independent fettlers such as Kingsley, Lunaz and inverted to name a few. However, none offer such a comprehensive range of updates as JIA (Jensen International Automotive).The small Oxfordshire concern made its name with tastefully updated and upgraded Jensen Interceptors and FFs, before turning its attention to its Chevy V8-engined Chieftain line-up, which are effective classic Range Rovers given a modern twist in a number of different ways. Whether you want good old-fashioned V8 power, plug-in electric hybrid motivation or pure electric propulsion, JIA has it covered. There’s even a range of chassis options, from retaining the original’s underpinnings to effectively grafting the iconic Spen King-penned bodywork onto a far more modern Discovery 3 platform. And of course the interior can be lavishly appointed with all the luxurious blandishments your heart could desire. As ever with these restomod projects, the only restrictions are your imagination and budget, with the latter needing to be fairly hefty - although in most respects the outlay is worth it.
JIA Chieftain Range Rover with Giga Gears
Classic Range Rover transformation gives iconic SUV a new lease of life, as well as choice of ICE, EV and PHEV power
We should have seen it coming. All those rivet-popping Defenders from the likes of Twisted, JE Motorworks and Kahn Design, made over then force-fed horsepower like corn-gorged Barbary ducks destined for the fois gras tin.Well, now it has happened to Land Rover’s second landmark car, the Range Rover Classic. Not only does JLR offer its own restored version of what is considered by most the original luxury SUV, there are also various upgraded versions from independent fettlers such as Kingsley, Lunaz and inverted to name a few. However, none offer such a comprehensive range of updates as JIA (Jensen International Automotive).The small Oxfordshire concern made its name with tastefully updated and upgraded Jensen Interceptors and FFs, before turning its attention to its Chevy V8-engined Chieftain line-up, which are effective classic Range Rovers given a modern twist in a number of different ways. Whether you want good old-fashioned V8 power, plug-in electric hybrid motivation or pure electric propulsion, JIA has it covered. There’s even a range of chassis options, from retaining the original’s underpinnings to effectively grafting the iconic Spen King-penned bodywork onto a far more modern Discovery 3 platform. And of course the interior can be lavishly appointed with all the luxurious blandishments your heart could desire. As ever with these restomod projects, the only restrictions are your imagination and budget, with the latter needing to be fairly hefty - although in most respects the outlay is worth it.