Car review

Electric 308 hatchback uses style and dynamic sophistication to bid for premium family car clientele Peugeot has been a little bit slow to get fully electric powertrains into some of its big-selling C-segment cars, beaten to the punch by the likes of Renault, Volkswagen and Cupra, as well as EV stalwarts Hyundai, Kia and Nissan. Because of that, we can now state with some confidence what is the going rate for a roughly Golf-sized, zero-emissions hatchback in 2023. And, rather inconveniently, it seems to be a fair bit less than is being asked for the new Peugeot e-308.Perhaps it’s the influence of so many emerging, bargain-basement Chinese EVs; and, given that so many of us decide whether we can afford cars like this on the basis of a monthly finance payment in any case, perhaps the problem’s less of an actual problem than we might imagine it is. Peugeots hold their value rather well these days, after all.Even so, in a market niche where you needn’t ultimately fork out more than £37,500 for an equivalent Renault Mégane E-Tech Electric, Kia Niro EV, Volkswagen ID 3, Fiat 600e or Jeep Avenger, and at a time when we’re all hyper-aware of exactly what kind of value for money we’re getting, doesn’t forty large for the very cheapest take on the electric 308 seem a touch steep?It’s no steeper, to be fair, than is the equally new and technically related Vauxhall Astra Electric. Still, if you tend to feel that way about EVs in general, this one certainly won’t help.The e-308 is available to order in the UK now in hatchback form, with an extended-body SW estate version to come soon. And it slots into the existing Peugeot 308 range at middle and upper trim-level tiers, so, unlike with the Citroën ë-C4, there’s no smaller-batteried, less powerful version to bring the cost down.

A stylish MPV with all the practicality you could ever need. But will it throw any second-hand curveballs? The word Zafira is derived from the Arabic meaning ‘to succeed’.It was a good name for Vauxhall’s three-generation range of seven-seat people carriers, because that’s exactly what they did. I owned two – a Mk1 and a Mk2 – and appreciated their amenable driving manners and Flex7 easy-fold seat system.The Mk2 Zafira was launched in 2005 and clung on until 2014, two years after its posher sibling and the focus of this guide, the Zafira Tourer, arrived.That the old-stager lasted so long was largely down to its lowish price, but by 2014 it was easily outclassed. Still, if it’s a cheap and roomy MPV you’re wanting, a one-owner, 2014-reg Zafira 1.8 Design with 52,000 miles and a full history for £5750 looks like value.To its successor, then: the Zafira Tourer. It was launched in 2012, its job to offer an alternative to the likes of the Volkswagen Sharan and Ford S-Max while keeping the flexible interior features that made the standard Zafira so popular.It shared its platform with the then current Astra, so was longer and wider and therefore roomier than the older Zafira, as well as sharper-looking, with a striking ‘boomerang’ front light arrangement.Inside, it remained impressively practical. In fact, it was even more useful than the Zafira thanks to the traditional centre row of seats being replaced by three individual and sliding chairs (on some models the middle one can be shunted out of the way, allowing the outer pair to move inwards a little) and the adoption of the sliding FlexConsole storage system.Practical, yes, but also sophisticated: plusher fabrics and soft-touch plastics, a large windscreen that floods the cabin with light and options including a suite of driver assist systems, a panoramic sunroof and FlexRide adaptive damping all made the Zafira Tourer feel special.If today’s mix of used ones is anything to go by, diesel and petrol Tourers sold in roughly equal numbers. Regarding the petrol engines, most buyers chose the 138bhp 1.4i Turbo over the non-turbo 1.8. Turning to the diesels, the change to Euro 6 (the emissions standard became mandatory in 2015) fell slap in the middle of the Tourer’s production run.It means the 2.0-litre diesels available from launch were Euro 5, but the excellent 134bhp 1.6 CDTi, introduced in 2014, was actually Euro 6, so not subject to current ULEZ charges.From 2015, the 2.0 CDTi also became Euro 6, but just one variant, producing 168bhp, was offered. Fortunately, it’s a good ’un: impressively torquey from 1300-3500rpm and capable of 0-62mph in a fair 9.1sec.The Tourer was facelifted in 2016. Out went the boomerang lights (they never came back…) and in came the nose from the seventh-gen Astra. The interior was also updated with the latest IntelliLink infotainment systems.Throughout its life the Tourer was cursed with a baffling array of trims, but you only need bother with the most popular: SRi, SE and Design. At this age, condition is worth more than baubles, but Design has all you could reasonably want, including parking sensors, alloys and air-con, while SE sugars the pill with lounge seating, intelligent technology and automatic lights.SRi has sports seats and bigger wheels. ‘Salam alaikum’, as they say in Arabic.Vauxhall Zafira Tourer 2012-2018 common problemsEngine: Beware a failing oil pick-up seal on Euro 5, 2.0 diesels. Low oil pressure, due to air in the oil, on cold mornings is a clue. Staying with the diesels, check the AdBlue level sensor isn’t illuminated.With the 1.6 CDTi engine or the 1.4i Turbo petrol, listen for noises from the timing chain and guides. Also with the 1.4i Turbo, listen for the engine squeaking. Remove the dipstick: if the squeaking stops, it needs a new crankshaft oil seal. Gearbox: If it’s a manual, check the action is smooth because sticky cables are a known issue, especially in winter. The cables are poorly sealed, allowing water to get in. Suspension: A recent MOT should pick up leaks, worn bushes and broken springs. If it’s the rare FlexRide system, check that all the modes work.Brakes: The rear brakes can corrode badly. If the rear of the car appears to shake or vibrate when you brake, a failed rear brake damper is the likely cause. Where fitted, check Hill Start works.Interior: Check the heated seats work, if fitted – owners have reported failed wiring looms, although a repair kit is available. Make sure all the seats slide and fold as they should. Check the carpets for damp caused by blocked windscreen drains, and failed door and tailgate seals. Test the infotainment system thoroughly.Body: Check the central locking works and that the tailgate closes securely (there have been reports of tailgates partially opening once on the move).

If you need a rugged estate then this is now just about the only game in town Amid the barrage of new models – often electric – it can be easy to forget the handful of smaller independent brands still managing to carve their own path. This all-new generation of the Subaru Outback came out in 2021 but somehow slipped through our net. That appears to be equally true for media as it is for consumers. In 2022, Subaru sold a mere 1391 cars in the UK. That’s behind Alfa Romeo and Bentley, and only just above newcomer Genesis. It hasn’t helped that the brand has lacked any kind of halo car for a number of years. The WRX STI (née Impreza) went off sale in 2017 and never received a successor. Although Subaru still makes a WRX complete with a turbocharged flat four and a manual gearbox, it has chosen not to offer that car in Europe.That is perhaps understandable since hyper-hatches like the Volkswagen Golf R made it rather redundant. However, given how quickly the Toyota GR86 sold out, UK enthusiasts probably would have snapped up a few BRZs as well. Alas, Subaru has decided that is not how it wants to profile itself in the UK. Those cars have “nothing to do with the Subaru brand as it is today”, then UK managing director John Hurtig told Autocar in 2020. So what does Subaru stand for these days? The Outback should be a pretty good exemplar. As with previous generations, it’s a no-nonsense lifted estate car with some off-road credentials. Unusually for 2023, it’s powered by a 2.5-litre petrol flat four that lacks not only electrification but also turbocharging. That sort of thing is always going to be quite a niche proposition, but one that might well be very fit for its specific purpose.Range at a glanceModelsPowerFrom2.5i Lineartronic167bhp£36,990TransmissionCVT European Outback buyers don’t get a choice of engines. A naturally aspirated 2.5-litre boxer is the only option, and it always drives all four wheels through a CVT.There are three trim levels: Limited, Field and Touring.

Replacement for the Aventador is a plug-in hybrid – but one with a V12 engine and 1001bhp The company so widely credited with establishing the mechanical template of the mid-engined supercar in the 1960s, Lamborghini has actually been tinkering and experimenting with that template ever since.Now, in 2023, it has turned the page on another fascinating chapter of technically innovative, brilliantly extravagant vehicular savagery - as full of noise, excitement and drama as any that it has written before - with the Lamborghini Revuelto.The revered Lamborghini Miura of 1966 needed more power and better cooling, so what was a transverse-mounted V12 engine eventually became a bigger, higher-output, longitudinally mounted one in the 1971 Countach - but also one with a gearbox fixed on the forward side of the engine, to the improvement of the car’s weight distribution.When the Diablo VT arrived in 1993, that gearbox sprouted a centre differential, forward driveshafts and four-wheel drive – mechanically speaking, a pretty easy add-on. But when the baby Lamborghini Gallardo came along in 2003, it adopted a gearbox fitted at the opposite end of the north-south engine and a driveshaft running forwards the full length of the wheelbase for what had become by that time “Lamborghini-typical supercar four-wheel drive”.All the while, of course, the bigger Murciélago and then the Aventador stuck with Paolo Stanzani’s Countach-era forward-mounted gearbox, with a driveshaft running backwards to the rear axle.Over the years, Lamborghini really has tried it every which way when it comes to the mechanical configuration of these sports cars. And now along comes the 21st century’s technical solution - and it might even be the cleverest and best yet.

Yet another Chinese EV brand eyes up the UK – but this one claims to be European The Zeekr X isn’t just another Chinese EV. That’s what the very European executives were trying to make clear to me over dinner, anyway.It’s built in China, yes, but it was designed by a German, engineered in Sweden and developed on European roads. Does the nationality of a car maker mean anything anymore, anyway?After all, most of the Jeeps sold in Europe are about as American as a spaghetti western. The thing is, in every car I’ve driven from an obviously Chinese manufacturer, I’ve noticed a certain unfinishedness, even the ones that we like.So does that lack of polish afflict this second car from Zeekr? Let’s fine out…