From Ferrari to Dacia, Citroën to MG, car makers have launched a plethora of new models this year. And our reviews desk has been busy trying to get behind the wheel of each and every one.
Whether it's a new trim level, an addition to the powertrain offering or even a brand new model, we can tell you what it’s like to drive.
So, after what has turned out to be a rather busy year, here are some of our highlights.
Range Rover
We welcomed the fifth generation of the iconic Range Rover – although if ever there were a car that didn’t feel like it needed reinventing, this is the one. For more than 50 years, the Range Rover has simply done what it does: combine the best off-road ability with a plushness. And it returned with that same ability earlier this year, still exceptionally refined and with an unparalleled off-road ability.
The £108,775 SUV received a 4.5-star rating from us, the same as the hotter Range Rover Sport sibling – which was also rejuvenated this year, pushing to new heights of technical sophistication.
BMW iX
Keeping with SUVs, one of the most diverse of the year arrived from BMW. No, not because of the way it drives (that's a given from its 4.5-star review) but because of its front end. However, as we said during its road test: “it isn’t really the job of a road test to involve itself with subjective interpretations. So instead we raved about its ability.
The around-£100,000 SUV was used by BMW to relaunch the i sub-brand, which started with the funkily designed BMW i3 city car back in 2013. Its combination of generous cabin comfort and versatility, and of a genuinely relaxing and understated luxury ambience with world-class rolling refinement and drivability, instant and effortless performance and creditable real-world range, is one unmatched by any of the market’s other zero-emissions SUVs.
You might not like everything that the iX is, but what it does as a luxury EV demands recognition.
Ferrari 296 GTB
A new Ferrari? Yes please. And one that left our testers in awe? That’s a second yes, thank you. The Ferrari 296 GTB, the first hybrid supercar to roll out of Maranello, marks a new era for the brand, but boy does it start off well.
Securing a rare 5-star rating, the 296 GTB is remarkable, said our testers, picking up where the previous V8 generation’s lineage ended, seamlessly blending in the advantages of electrification with precious few of the drawbacks we had feared. It's spectacular to drive and the V6 sounds stunning. Ferrari continues to set the standard.
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