Long term tests

It was service time this month and, to make matters worse, it was the big one, the one that demands a tick in every box on the job card (new gearbox o…

How many of the gadgets on your car do you actually need? How many do you actually use? Give me air-conditioning and a good CD player and I'm happy; w…

Why don't they sell them over here? That's all I could think as I handed back the keys to my Forester's more glamourous sibling. I know the STi is sti…

Is the Citroën C4 VTS a proper hot hatchback? Tricky one. The genes are surely there, with souped-up Saxos seen on every Saturday-night high street an…

We had a bit of a surprise when 'Bubba' went back to Litchfield Imports and Powerstation in Tewksbury for its 5000-mile service.

If an arcade game designer were to engineer a roadgoing sports car, the result would be very much like the Honda S2000. A screaming, 9000rpm-rev-the-n…

When a long-term 645 was first mooted last spring there was a buzz of excitement in the Metcalfe household

I've really clicked with the Monaro now, two months in. Sustained exclusive use and a trip to Donington Park for the first evoactive trackday of the s…

We took our Megane R.S 225 Trophy to Monte Carlo for the iconic Monaco Gran Prix

The Fast Fleet has rarely entertained a car as divisive as the Smart Roadster Brabus. Like Marmite, some people loved it, others found it made them go…

Since the Murciélago isn't going to be around for ever - especially since it's eating into my bank balance with ever- increasing voracity - the plan w…

Just as I'm sure many of you have planned expeditions to the Nürburgring Nordschleife, we've wanted to make our own Eifel pilgrimage for years. Someth…

Decisions, decisions. Do I run another full-on superbike or go for something a little less focused, a little more life-styley perhaps?

While it's very comforting having a gold-plated Ferrari warranty nestling in the leather documents folder, the flip-side is the requirement to get any…

I think I may be turning into my father, which is slightly unsettling, though not as unsettling as turning into my mother. I started thinking about th…

We've bought a few silly cars in our time, but our new Mustang GT surely has to take the biscuit. Or should I say the flame-grilled whopper with chees…

As I mentioned in the End of Term report on my Digi-Tec Smart Roadster Coupe (issue 079), I have replaced it with a car boasting precisely three times…

My ride has been pimped! The new 17in Prodrive wheels have finally been fitted, and along with the extra 'bling factor' there's the promise of loads m…

In quieter moments I wonder if it was such a good idea to order the new Monaro VXR in black.

It's a measure of the FQ-340's head-spinning grunt that everyone who drives it barely mentions the grip or the lightning turn-in. As they hand back th…

I'm pretty much cursing my decision not to opt for Armourfend when I took delivery of the Lambo. The front spoiler is looking decidedly battleworn now…

By the end of this year the Smart Roadster will be dead, a victim of DaimlerChrysler's hard-nosed plan to make its baby-car brand earn some profit for…

I know I'm preaching to the converted here, but power oversteer is a wonderful thing. I mean truly beautiful. You know that happy feeling of satisfact…

Another month spent commuting by air to the Isle of Man with, to be honest, only spasmodic use of the MG that's been billeted there. Unfortunately, wh…

Our lesser-spotted 340R came out of hiding this month for a guest appearance at the opening of a new Lotus showroom at Dick Lovett's in Swindon (it's …

I made a complete arse of myself this month as I negotiated a busy, wet roundabout. As the Honda slithered sideways, onlookers must have thought it wa…

What fun. An Impreza on stilts. I can remember thinking the same thing when I drove our previous Forester turbo long-termer, the mk1 version, six year…

A memory comes back to me from the early '90s, of driving the then-new 3.8-litre version of the M5. I can vividly remember being blown away by the Bee…

I was having some time off from my day job as Script Ed on Top Gear telly when news broke that we were re-recording a batch of studio links for an Ame…

Last month, you may remember, young Bovvers declared that, thanks to a set of aggressively grippy Dunlop Super Sport Race tyres, his love for the Evo …

Snow stopped play for most of March, with a triple whammy of Arctic weather at home, a week's skiing in Switzerland and, finally and most frustratingl…

Some things in life are certain. Toast will always drop butter-side down; there will always be a traffic jam when you're late; you will never have the…

Having retired from my City job and moved out of London (you win, Ken), I find my faithful Smart Roadster Coupe

I've always really enjoyed Evos, from the first Evo VII Extreme that I tried, through John Barker's manic Evo VII RS and particularly the latest MR ge…