Audi S3 now available in saloon form

A HOTTED-up version of the Audi A3 will be offered as a saloon for the first time, it has been announced.

Previously, anyone looking to buy the performance-orientated S3 would have been limited to a three-door hatchback or five door estate, but the company is now offering the 300bhp stormer as a four-door saloon, with prices starting at £33,240.

The S3 saloon will go on sale in March, with an al fresco S3 Cabriolet due to follow later next year.

Is this the best looking saloon on sale today?

IN THE classic gangster film Get Carter, the villains drove a Jag MK2. In The Long Good Friday, the vehicle of choice was an XJ6.

This automotive star of this year's gangster film - The Sweeney - was a Jaguar XF. Having clocked one parked up in a Southport side street today, it's not hard to see why.

I've already driven the 2.2 diesel version of the Brit saloon and can tell you that from a driver's perspective it's excellent; one of the best new cars I've tried this year, in fact. But what I could see from the Stratus Grey example I saw, with its understated alloys and meshed grille, was that it looked the part too. In cinematic terms, it's exactly the sort of quietly menacing motor an assasin would drive.

Until this year I would've argued the best looking Jag is in fact the big XJ - there's something about the challenging styling, which stands out next to all the other luxobarges, that I love - but now I reckon the smaller XF's caught up with it. After being wowed by the stunning C-XF concept car of all those years ago, I know I wasn't the only one to be a bit dissapointed with the production version that followed - far too much in the way of gloopy headlights and not enough in the way of visual treats.

The facelifted version, though? That really is a treat for the eyes.

In fact, I'd go as far as to say it's the best looking saloon on sale today. Better than a Maserati Quattroporte or a Merc CLS? I'd reckon so...

Fire up the... Citroen DS5

IN the unlikely event I get asked to design a luxury car, the Citroen DS5 is probably not too far off what I'd come up with.

Surely what you want in a plushly trimmed motor is plenty of space, some clever gadgets, a comfy ride, and an interior which, while clearly cosseting, shows where a bit of thought's gone into it? Unfortunately, sales of luxury cars suggest you want sportiness and a blue-chip image instead. The best selling luxury car for this sort of outlay is BMW's 3-Series.

So what do you get if you're a middle management type and you plump for Paris over Munich, or Ingolstadt or Stuttgart for that matter? Well, you get the world's first diesel-hybrid system, and a clever one it is too; while a turbodiesel, in the case of the range-topper I tested one with 2.0 litres and 163bhp at its disposal, struts its stuff at the front end, an electric motor offers a helping hand by sending some eco-friendly oomph to the back wheels. Not only does it offer you the benefits of four wheel drive at this time of year, but it keeps things eco-friendly and, as far as the taxman's concerned, cheap to run too.

Yet what really grabs you with the DS5 is the interior. Fans of the smaller, strikingly good DS3 will find themselves in familiar territory, with the same attention to detail with the materials and use of colour but with the added flair of buttons in the roof, Boeing 747-style. It's also far roomier than any of its immediate executive car rivals, thanks to Citroen shunning the saloon norm and going for a sleek hatchback instead.

Admittedly, it's not got the same grin factor to its handling as the smaller DS3 but that's not what this luxury lounger's about - if you do a lot of motorway work and value comfort over thrills, I'd struggle to find another premium offering that does the job as comfortably.

Hand on heart, I couldn't recommend the range-topping DSport versions - not when it's straying close to Jag XF territory - but the mid-range DStyle, which Citroen reckon are going to be the biggest sellers, have got a lot going for them.

As published in The Champion on December 6, 2012

Fire up the... BMW 3-Series

THE problem with BMW's 3-Series is you don't really need to read a road test to decide whether one should take pride of place on your driveway. It's simple; you either want one or you don't.

That's why I thought I'd start this week not with the car, but Coldplay. Every couple of years, they release an album which goes straight to the top of the sales charts with almost crashing inevitability, and - being someone who doesn't want to follow the herd - you do your absolute darndest not to buy a copy. Then you hear one of the tracks on the radio and you realise, as much as you hate them for it, that they've recorded an absolute belter. Again. If Coldplay made a car, they'd make a 3-Series. That's why it now outsells both Ford's Mondeo and Vauxhall's Insignia.

You don't need me to tell you then that this sixth-generation car is larger than the old one, a little lighter and - this being 2012 - kinder to the environment too. In time you'll be able to buy it as a coupe, a cabriolet and a Touring estate, but chances are it'll be this saloon version you'll be seeing on driveways up and down the land in the next few months.

Even if the new 3-Series is awful it'll be parked on driveways up and down the land in six months time but - and it's a verdict I deliver grudgingly, through gritted teeth - it's really, really good. The styling, inside and outside, is still a little bland for my liking and at £28,000 for the 320D Efficient Dynamics version I tried it's not especially cheap either, but once you get in it's an absolute delight to drive. It's not just that it feels agile and well balanced, but all the controls are exactly where you'd instinctively expect them to be, and feel as though though they could withstand years of abuse. It's comfy too - an Audi this agile would land you an appointment with your osteopath, but in the 3-Series, even motorway speeds, progress is quiet and unruffled.

In this corner of the motoring marketplace the badge is just as important as the car it's glued onto, and I know full well that if you want a new 3-Series you're going to buy one anyway. It's good to know, though, that there is substance to back up the gravitas that blue-and-white propeller brings.

The new Mondeo will have to be unbelievably brilliant to coax buyers out of their Beemers. Watch this space...

Fire up the... Jaguar XF 2.2D

FIGURES. There were all sorts of fantastic ones involved with the Jaguar XKR-S I drove recently but with this rather more realistic big cat just one matters - 133.9. The going price, in pennies, for petrol at the moment.

That's why any executive car maker worth their salt has got to have a decent diesel at its disposal, because while the slippery stuff costs a little bit more you get an awful lot more for your gallon. Look through the sales figures of any swish saloon and it's no longer the silky straight sixes and the thumping V8s that are the big sellers. It's the ones you fill up with the black pump.

Jaguar's been lucky to have a superb diesel - the 2.7 litre, Citroen-derived V6 - to call on in recent years but it's this smaller, 2.2 litre unit that really matters for the XF. Finally, more than four years after the saloon's introduction, it's got an engine that can actually hit the 5-Series, the A6 and the E-Classs where it hurts. The 2.2 XF diesel could and should be the firm's biggest seller.

The improvements aren't just limited to the engine room, either; you might have noticed the XF got a facelift last year, meaning the slightly-clumsy headlights are gone in place of some much sharper, XJ-style ones. I can think of few cars whose looks actually improve after the now compulsory midlife makeover, but the XF's one of them.

Anyone venturing inside won't find the church pew dashboards and acres of cream leather you got in this car's ancestors but what you get instead is Jaguarness with added modernity. The way the rotating gear selector for the slick eight-speed auto rises out of the centre console, for instance, is very Gadget Show, but the use of wood, leather and tech make the cabin infinitely more interesting than the wall-to-wall black leather you'll get in BMW's 5-Series.

 So would you buy one over the Beemer? Both cost £30,000, both will prove cosseting and comfy companions and both come with all the toys any thrusting middle-management type demands, but it depends on what you're looking for. The BMW, by a whisker, is the more refined of the two and will go ever so slightly further on a gallon, but the Jag's better looking, more characterful and more fun when it strays off its natural habitat of the motorway's outside lane.

I'd take the Jag.

Jaguar XF Sportbrake is a clever and cool estate

FISHING, camping, horse-riding and skiing. All things I imagine the Jag set love getting up to, but until now they've never really had the car to cope.

If you wanted a finely sculpted, thoroughly British way of lugging your lifestyle equipment from the gymkhana to the ski resort you've only really had two options; a Range Rover or a Discovery. That's why I reckon Jaguar's onto a winner with something they should have come up with ages ago, in the form of an XF estate.

It gets off to a great start in my books simply because it's got a cool name - it is, ladies and gentlemen, the XF Sportbrake, which it makes it sound like an aerodynamic aid you'd fit to your snowmobile or mountain bike. I know it's a sort of unspoken rule among the executive car club never to call your estate an estate, but somehow Sportbrake has just got a bit more oomph than Avant or Touring does.

Jaguar, who are revealing the XF Sportbrake at this year's Geneva Motorshow, said:

"Sharing its underpinnings with the XF saloon, the Sportbrake's overall length grows by just 5mm, its weight by less 70kg and its chassis structure matches the strength of the conventional XF. These characteristics mean the Sportbrake can closely match the acclaimed handling of the XF saloon yet offers a large and highly practical load space.

"Every panel on the XF Sportbrake, from the B-Pillar rearwards, is new. The strong silver signature line running the length of the car is extended while the C-Pillar is finished in gloss black, a trait shared with the XJ saloon."

Estate car practicality blended with the firm's refreshingly affordable 2.2 diesel lump should, I reckon, broaden the XF's appeal way beyond the members of your local golf club. Expect to see plenty of them on our roads when the Sportbrake gets launched later this year.

Can you guess this smartly styled saloon?

THE sharply-crafted snout suggests a new BMW. The way the chrome-lipped windows meet the waistline has more than a hint of Lexus. And you’d be forgiven for mistaking that pert rear end for an Audi A5‘s.

But, believe it or not, this new arrival isn’t a BMW, Merc, Audi, Lexus or Jag. Despite having all the hallmarks of the luxury car establishment, this executive car contender comes from rather humbler origins.

It is a Kia.

The K9 - stop sniggering, Doctor Who fans - is the Korean company’s first ever rear-wheel-drive car, and while it’s obvious to see what they’ve been inspired by it also shows just how confident the firm’s become in recent years.

Mr Soon-Nam Lee, Director of Kia’s Overseas Marketing Group, said: “K9 is our first rear-wheel drive sedan, created without compromise in its design, driving performance and new technologies.

“K9 sets a whole new level of standards and values in the large sedan segment, and its design will be another Kia demonstration of our brand’s power to surprise.”

It’s just a shame that while the company’s clearly feeling confident it’s not yet ballsy enough to bring it to us Brits, who are some of the most notoriously brand-obsessed car buyers anywhere in the world. While I’ve no doubt Kia will sell shedloads of K9s in its home markets, how would it perform in a nation where the BMW 3-Series now outsells the Ford Mondeo?


While there aren’t any plans to sell the K9 anywhere in Europe, it does prove one thing. Never let it be said that the Korean car industry can’t come up with a good looking car!

The new BMW 3 Series

BMW's got back to doing what it does best after it unveiled the latest generation of its 3 Series saloon last weekend.


The Munich motor makers confirmed that the latest version of its compact executive car will start at £24,100 when it goes on sale next February, with a choice of four different engines available when it reaches the showrooms.

A spokesperson for the company said:

"The new BMW 3 Series Saloon is a car of contradictions: larger and more spacious than the model it replaces, but lighter; quicker in many cases, but more fuel-efficient; and more nimble and agile while even safer. There have been big steps forward in style, quality, comfort and specification for only a minimal price increase.

"A wider choice of trim levels and an extensive personalisation programme will allow 3 Series Saloon buyers to order virtually a bespoke car."


The 3 Series Saloon one of the BMW's biggest sellers, responsible for one-fifth of the company’s global sales.