Matt Saunders

Matt Saunders Autocar
Title: Road test editor

Matt is Autocar’s chief car reviewer, and manager of the brand’s wider test team. Among his responsibilities is the regular contribution of detailed road tests, group tests, drive stores and other features for Autocar’s magazine and website, plus videos for Autocar’s YouTube channel. Matt maintains Autocar’s exacting standards of objectivity and rigour with the testing and assessment of all new cars, and leads the team’s collective conversation that drives the thinking on test verdicts and comparative judgements.

Matt has been an Autocar staffer since the autumn of 2003, having done work experience stints on the magazine beforehand, and was editorial assistant at Stuff Magazine from 2002. He’s been lucky enough to work alongside some of the magazine’s greatest and best-known writers and contributors over that time, and served as staff writer, features editor, assistant editor and digital editor before joining the road test desk in 2011.

Since then he’s driven, measured, figured and reported on cars as varied as the Bugatti Veyron, Rolls-Royce Phantom, Tesla RoadsterAriel Hipercar, Tata Nano, Renault Twizy and Toyota Mirai. He loves the variety his job affords, and nothing matters more to him in his working role than understanding a car in its entirety, on behalf of those for whom it has been designed. Only by doing that can you earn the right to criticise.

Matt is an expert in:

  • In-depth performance testing and circuit benchmarking
  • Objective road test reviewing
  • Back-to-back comparison testing
  • On-road ride and handling assessment
  • The luxury, performance car and sports car segments

Matt Saunders Q&A

What was your biggest news story?

Autocar broke a world exclusive about a safety problem with the Suzuki Celerio city car that involved collapsing brake pedals; and I was in the car, at Millbrook proving ground in 2015, when it was first discovered. New road test recruit Lewis Kingston was learning our brake testing regime at the time, and got a shock he wasn’t expecting!

What’s the best car you’ve ever driven?

The answer changes every time I’m asked, the returning protagonists being the Ferraris 458 Speciale and 599 GTO, the McLarens F1 and Senna, and the Porsche ‘991’ 911R. But I don’t think I’ve ever had more fun than when driving an Ariel Atom 4 as fast as I possibly could. It’s exhausting, and a test of commitment; but exhilarating like absolutely nothing else. 

What will the car industry look like in 20 years?

The ban on combustion engines will have been extended several times, and then abandoned. Synthetic fuels will have been made viable - not least by much more punitive taxes on petrol. Full electrification will have expanded hugely, but still have yet to penetrate beyond about 70 per cent of new car sales. And, while sales by volume will have fallen off, car enthusiasm will still be going strong. Because, as a very knowledgeable colleague once assured me, the very last new car that the world makes will be a sports car, made for the love of it.

Opinion

Why Cadwell Park is an unsung racetrack hero

Narrow, flowing, fast, undulating: our road test editor explains why Cadwell is quite unlike any other track in the UK

Why Cadwell Park is an unsung racetrack hero
Car review

Kia EV6

Low-key facelift aims to keep fashionable electric family SUV near the top of the pile

Kia EV6
Car review

Peugeot 3008

Peugeot's urban sophisticate crossover draws on mild-hybrid petrol engine as an alternative to the electric e-3008

Peugeot 3008
News

How we're updating the Autocar road test

As the our road test forges into its second century, its brief is expanding – and it’s returning to a familiar place

How we're updating the Autocar road test
Car review

Hyundai Ioniq 5

Bold, cleverly configured hatchback-cum-SUV was a trailblazer in 2021 but where does it stand today?

Hyundai Ioniq 5
Car review

Jaguar XF

The saloon that saved Jaguar gets one last round of updates – but does it go out with a bang or a whimper?

Jaguar XF
MG Cyberster vs BMW Z4 lead
Cyberster's scissor doors set it apart from the more traditional Z4
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Cyber attack: BMW Z4 vs MG Cyberster

MG is back on the international stage trying to return to its sports car roots – can it upstage one of the best?

Cyber attack: BMW Z4 vs MG Cyberster
Opinion

The 675kg Mika Meon is British engineering at its best

Our road test editor dives into the technical make-up of the new VW Buggy-based EV

The 675kg Mika Meon is British engineering at its best
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The best SUVs - tested, rated and ranked

The modern SUV now spans the whole car market and blends a varied mix of qualities. These are our favourites

The best SUVs - tested, rated and ranked
Car review

MG ZS

MG Motor's compact SUV takes the fight to hybrid rivals on performance, value and space

MG ZS
Car review

Mika Meon

The lightest electric car in the world is a beach buggy you've probably never heard of, made in the English Midlands

Mika Meon

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