Sounds ominous, what’s it all about?
AMG’s gone hardcore to take on BMW’s ‘CSL’ and Audi’s ‘RS’ monster saloons. From the new cutting edge Performance Studio in Affalterbach AMG has the capability to design, develop and build low volume niche cars beyond anything previously carrying the three-pointed star.
Give me the highlights…
The starting point is a standard [...]

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There’s been a lot of talk about this being the reincarnation of the…
True, it’s a lot less confrontational in its appearance than the ‘bread van’ original, but this Z4-based coupé follows the same formula: fixed hard roof, more power, and more serious suspension and steering settings.
Why tone down the styling this time?
Well, BMW likes selling [...]

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What’s this? A hatchback? An off-roader? A mini-MPV?
None of the above. It’s a Nissan Qashqai, it replaces the Almera hatchback (if you can remember what that was) and, according to its maker, ‘it completely redefines driving in the modern, urban world’. In fact, it doesn’t, as you can probably guess, but it is the result [...]

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Why should we get excited? It’s just a hatchback version of the S40, right?
Well, yes and no. The C30 is Volvo’s fourth car – after the S40, V50 and C70 coupe-cabrio – off the Ford C1 platform which also underpins the Focus family. That bodes well for dynamics, and means the C30 launches with an [...]

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Vauxhall’s current Astra grew up as a middling car in the middle of Vauxhall’s range. The conservative styling and drab interior didn’t help, and dynamically the fifth-gen Astra lacked the dynamic poise of its peers because of its beam rear axle.
Now there’s a sixth-generation Astra – still lacking an independent rear suspension set-up – but [...]

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