Car review

Originator of the SUV launches new PHEV-only Land Rover rival Jeep takes a curiously small portion of the British SUV market, given that it’s the world’s biggest 4x4 company.Selling only a few thousand cars here per year, Jeep CEO Christian Meunier refers to its 0.3% share as “virtually non-existent”. However, it’s seeking to change that, with the super little Jeep Avenger electric crossover being followed by another all-new Jeep, albeit a more old-school one, in the shape of this fifth-generation Jeep Grand Cherokee – a full-sized, premium off-roader.It’s 4.91m long and 1.97m wide, so about the same size as the Land Rover Discovery. There’s an even longer, seven-seat version in the US, badged the L, but the UK won’t get that so it’s five seats only for us. The Grand Cherokee lands in the UK with only one engine option, a 2.0-litre plug-in hybrid badged 4xe, and only one trim level for now, Summit Reserve, which sits at the top of the tree in its homeland – as well it might, given that it costs £85,615.The Grand Cherokee’s monocoque construction is derived from Alfa Romeo’s (now Stellantis’s) Giorgio platform, as used by the Alfa Romeo's Giulia and Stelvio and new Maserati Grecale. Versatile things, modern car platforms: the Giulia is a small, sporting executive saloon, whereas the Grand Cherokee is a massive, air-suspended, off-road-capable SUV that can tow 2.7 tonnes and wade through 610mm of water. Bagsy not trying that in a Giulia.

Audi Sport's 2.5-litre five-cylinder swansong is a true sports car and proves the TT isn't just style over substance The original Audi TT RS first launched in 2009 and came with a big mechanical lure under its bonnet.Audi hadn’t built a five-cylinder engine since it retired the epic, Porsche-fettled 2.2-litre unit used in the fondly remembered Audi RS2 Avant.But the brand instead referenced an even bigger legend: the Audi Ur-Quattro of the 1980s, a name custom-built to generate a fizz in anyone old enough to recall the heroics of Group B rallying – or young enough to have watched the highlights on YouTube.The 2.5-litre in-line five cooked up for the Audi TT lived up to the billing, producing 335bhp and the kind of rasping, evocative soundtrack that fostered the idea of it being a V10 split asunder.Sadly, the car around it proved less compelling – a symptom familiar to the TT and one not fixed when power was increased to 355bhp for the Audi TT RS Plus model in 2012.This generation of TT RS, however, produces 395bhp which means it can keep up with Porsches. But glowing praise in an Autocar road test needs to be earned by much more than raw speed alone.To secure that, Audi Sport needs to have found the dynamic finesse and driver engagement that was so obviously missing in the model’s last incarnation, and that’s a task typically requiring time and money.

The new Toyota Auris is super-rational and a good ownership proposition, but it lacks character and dynamics of the best in class “A deeply rational, unemotional choice”: Autocar’s road test of the Toyota Auris hit the nail on the head.It is exactly that, and it’s a justifiable criticism of the model as a new car, but as a used one it’s a compliment. After all, who, faced with a sea of questionable, second-hand motors, wouldn’t prioritise being rational over emotional?True, you can be both and still come out on top, but for the rest of us, haunted by past indiscretions, a used, second-generation Auris looks like a safe haven.It was launched in 2013 in five-door hatch and Touring Sports estate forms. Toyota said the Volkswagen Golf Mk6 had been its benchmark when designing the new models. They’re certainly proving to be just as durable but otherwise the old Golf aces them on just about every measure bar perhaps the Auris’s hybrid technology.The 134bhp 1.8-litre VVT-h engine can do a claimed 70mpg, although expect closer to 50mpg, and a little over one mile on battery power alone.It’s a technical marvel paired with a clever automatic gearbox that enables the system to transition between power sources, or even combine them, and ensures the engine runs at its most efficient revs. The result is a quiet, smooth and relaxing drive, albeit one lacking in verve.The VVT-h was certainly a popular choice such that today almost two-thirds of the hatchbacks and nearly all of the Touring Sports advertised for sale are this version.The remaining engines include a handful of petrols, easily the best being the smooth and gutsy 114bhp 1.2T, introduced in 2015. The two diesels, an 89bhp 1.4 D-4D and a 109bhp 1.6D, are less impressive: they’re sluggish and rattly. In Euro 6 guise, they’re particularly thin on the ground too.Surprisingly, fewer Touring Sports than hatchbacks are diesels. Lesser-powered Auris models run a fairly basic suspension set-up but the 1.2T, 1.6 V-Matic, 1.8 VVT-h and 1.6D benefit from a more sophisticated arrangement that brings a smoother ride and, at least in Auris terms, keener handling.The model was facelifted in 2015, when it gained new headlights, LED tail-lights and grille and revised bumpers, all of them giving the car a more purposeful appearance. The interior was upgraded too. (Earlier models look a little drab and some plastics feel cheap.)Despite its low and sleek profile, the Auris is reasonably roomy and offers a good driving position. The hatchback’s boot is 350 litres with the seats up and 1200 litres folded (more than the then Ford Focus), compared with the Touring Sports’ 530 litres and 1658 litres respectively.Trim levels range from Active to Excel. Mid-level Icon and plush Excel are the most popular. Icon has 16in alloys, 7.0in touchscreen infotainment and, on post-2015 cars, Toyota’s new Safety Sense technology.Excel adds LED headlights, sat-nav, auto-wipers and lights, dual-zone climate control and parking sensors.According to the most recent survey in WhatCar?, Autocar’s sibling magazine, the Auris finished in sixth place out of 28 family cars for reliability, and Toyota came third out of 31 manufacturers.The Auris was sold with a five-year/100,000-mile warranty too, meaning that should bad luck strike, and assuming it has a full service history, even the last 2019-reg car is still covered.Toyota Auris 2012-2018 common problemsEngine: Toyota’s annual hybrid service extends the battery warranty to 15 years. Toyota acknowledged problems with faulty 12V batteries on early cars caused by the hazard warning lights system, so find out if rectification work was required. Check the catalytic converter is present. Many have been stolen. Beware of particulate filter issues on low-mileage diesels. There have been reports of the 1.33 petrol engine burning oil. Failure to stop-start is a common issue to do with battery size.Gearbox: Check for slipping clutches and grinding gears on low-mileage, urban cars.Suspension: Low-grade models have a conventional twist-beam rear suspension while higher-grade models handle better thanks to their double-wishbone set-up.Brakes: The hybrid’s brakes last longest due to the regen function slowing the car, but on all versions check disc and pad life and seek evidence of regular brake fluid changes.Interior: The cabin plastics don’t inspire confidence. Things improved with the 2015 facelift but not to Volkswagen Golf levels, so check that everything is present, it is undamaged and it works.Body: A spot of grease on the stays should stop the doors from creaking when you open them. A misty rear window may be a failed tail-light seal. Check the front footwells for damp caused by the windscreen scuttle being blocked.

The e-208 scores well for driving and efficiency, but have Chinese cars overtaken the French hatch? Anyone who has been to mainland Europe in the last few years will have seen a 208. They’re everywhere. Officially the best-selling car in Europe last year, in fact. This new Peugoet e-208 has an awful lot to live up to, then.Electric cars have been gaining traction in other market niches over the past decade, but increasingly tough legislation and the rapid reduction in technology costs mean that electric power is no longer purely the preserve of bigger, faster and more expensive machines.Closely related to the Vauxhall Corsa Electric, it goes toe-to-toe with the BYD Dolphin and MG4. The e-208 offers rapid charging, the range and usability to convert those buyers who have thus far been EV sceptics and a posh-ish interior. But is it good enough to be classed among the best small electric cars you can buy?

Early examples of Smart’s new dawn didn’t instantly impress. We try the EV hatchback on UK roads Before we dive into the details of the Smart #1, some context. At the long histories of Porsche or Opel and you’ll find that they still produce much the same kind of cars as they did around their foundation – sporty luxury cars for the former and dependable middleclass transport for the latter.Others have experienced serious mission creep, even in a relatively short time. You won’t find it in the literature for the Smart #1, but the name Smart was originally conceived as a slightly contrived acronym for Swatch, Mercedes, Art. The project originated not with a major car manufacturer but with Swatch, a Swiss maker of affordable watches, who wanted to make a city car that embodied the spirit of its timepieces.As Google and Apple have found out, making cars is a tough side gig, so Swatch settled on Mercedes-Benz as an experienced partner. But the realities of car making soon bit and Swatch gradually realised it was morphing into the kind of project it didn’t want to be involved in. Even when Smart was exclusively under Mercedes-Benz, it started to shift from making just the clever tiny cars it’s still known for to making simply A Car, in the form of the Mitsubishi-based Forfour.Twenty-five years after the launch of the original Smart, even Mercedes has come to the conclusion that the original idea wasn’t a very good one. ‘Good’ in this case means lucrative, because there is plenty of demand for well-designed small cars. So it decided to sell off 50% of the business to noted home for mismanaged European car brands Geely.The first product of this joint venture is the #1, an electric hatchback that takes the fight to the Volkswagen ID 3, Kia Niro EV, MG 4 and Peugeot e-308. That’s a tough field of competitors, so the #1 needs to do better than the original Forfour did all those yearsRange at a glanceModelsPowerFromPro 51kWh268kWh£32,500 (est)Pro+ 66kWh268kWh£35,950Premium 66kWh268bhp£38,950Brabus 66kWh422bhp£43,450The Smart #1’s powertrain is tied to the trim level. All currently available #1s have the same 66kWh battery. Pro+, Premium and Launch Editionuse a single rear motor, whereasthe Brabus adds a second, smallermotor at the front. A Pro modelwith a smaller LFP battery and the same 268bhp rear motor is likelyto join the range soon. It is priced at €37,490 in Germany