2012 McLaren MP4-12C Profile

Despite sounding more akin to the code for an office printer, here is all new £170k British sports car built in a brand new factory in Surrey with the sole aim of beating the Italians at their own game, supercar manufacture.     It’s a massive gamble which involves pumping £40million into a state-of-the-art production facility and building up a worldwide network of dealers and after-sales agents in which to sell and service their new offering. This is against a backdrop of Ferrari Read The Rest...

Skoda Superb Estate 2.0 TDI CR 140PS DSG Elegance Road Test Review by Oliver Hammond

Skoda Superb Estate 2-0 TDI CR 140PS DSG DPF Elegance Road Test Review by Oliver Hammond - front extra

Hot on the heels of the Skoda Yeti he drove and loved a couple of weeks ago, Oliver spent a week with Skoda’s boldly-named car with executive intentions, the Superb, in estate guise, to see if it cuts the mustard as a businessperson’s mile-muncher and as a family car. I was a big fan of the original Škoda Superb in terms of its looks and the excellent VAG quality package it offered at very appealing prices, so out of all the Read The Rest...

Vauxhall Astra 2.0 CDTI ecoFLEX SE Road Test Review by Oliver Hammond

Vauxhall Astra 20 CDTi ecoFLEX 5-door hatch SE road test review by Oliver Hammond - external 4

Now that this 6th generation incarnation of Vauxhall’s ever-popular Astra model has cemented its success in the UK market since its launch in late 2009, SimonsCarSpots thought it was time to see what made the latest Astra substantially outsell Ford’s rival Focus as the best-selling car in June 2010 and continue to do rather well ever since. The Astra range starts at £12,995 for the standard 1.4 petrol Expression model and goes up to just over £30,000 a fully kitted 2.0 Read The Rest...

2012 Porsche 911 Profile

  The Porsche 911 needs no introduction; for over forty-five years it has been consistently rated as the world’s best sports car with its unique rear-engined, rear-wheel drive setup. All new versions don’t come around very often so when an all new version does come along, it is worthy of a line or two. The latest 911 model, known internally as the 991, continues Porsche’s evolutionary rather than revolutionary design process.  It’s instantly recognisable as a 911 but what isn’t so noticeable Read The Rest...

Skoda Yeti 1.8 TSI SE Plus 4×4 Road Test Review by Oliver Hammond

Skoda Yeti 1-8 TSI 4x4 road test review by Oliver Hammond - rural front

When we announced that the car being reviewed by SimonsCarSpots this week was coming in the form of a Škoda Yeti, yep, you bet – we heard them all! Abominable, Snowman, Bigfoot, Monster, Ugly… the list goes on. But despite the preconceptions, the Škoda Yeti has been heaped with praise by most people who have driven one. Read on to find out why Oliver Hammond equally concurs that the Škoda Yeti is one stonking little-big car on many levels… Prices for Read The Rest...