Diesel&EcoCar Magazine 327 Back Issue

It’s been a while since we’ve been able to shout about a hot Ford Diesel, but the makers of the blue oval-badged cars have served up a delicious new Focus ST diesel. Powered by a 182bhp 2.0-litre TDCi engine, it will be vying for attention alongside the Volkswagen Golf GTD and Skoda Octavia vRS. There’s also news of the brand new Volkswagen Passat, the funky new Mazda2 and the chunky Audi Allroad-esque SEAT Leon X-perience, with standard four-wheel-drive.

Our testers have been driving BMW’s new 2 Series Active Tourer and the plug-in hybrid Audi A3 e-tron, as well as the facelifted Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class. BMW’s hot new hybrid supercar, the i8, is put through its paces, and we’ve been behind the wheel of the new Mercedes-Benz C-Class Estate. Back in the UK, we’ve been testing the Peugeot 308 SW on British tarmac, along with BMW’s 4 Series Gran Coupé, the Jeep Cherokee and an all-electric concept car from MG, the EV. The Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class faces its biggest rival in the premium crossover sector, the BMW X1, and there’s tests of the Porsche Macan S Diesel, the subtly updated Alfa Romeo MiTo, the Peugeot 308 BlueHDi 150 with automatic transmission and the facelifted Renault Megane Coupé-Cabriolet.

As it’s the September issue, we’ve taken a look at the best deals available for a selection of the best sellers, so you can negotiate a good price for your ‘64’ plate registration car, and there’s an invaluable guide to choosing the best tow car. We say goodbye to a couple of cars from our long-term fleet, the Dacia Duster and Ford Kuga, and in our used car section, we focus on one of the most reliable small cars on the market, the Toyota Yaris 1.4 D-4D. There’s also the Diesel Car favourites, including Doctor Diesel, The Extra Mile and Gadget Inspector, as well as the best data and statistics section in the business.