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     It still had exotic aluminium, plastic and steel elements in its construction yet was simpler than its predecessor, being monocoque-Laguna-related rather than complicated spaceframey. The general specification has all the usuals, while Privilege trim adds alloys and climate control and uppermost Initiale brings leather upholstery.  There are plenty of decent petrol and diesel options. If you don’t do the miles, the 3.5-litre petrol V6 is going to be the bargain buy, along with the 2.0-litre four-pot. Realistically, it’s the 2.2-litre diesel four that delivers reasonable pep and MPG in the mid-to-high 30s, but the 1.9 dCi is a decent enough plodder and the 2.0 dCi is the easiest to find. There’s also an uncommon 3.0-litre diesel V6. The Espace was revamped a couple of times, in 2005 and 2006. You might notice the redesigned dashboard and front end. Of more use, though, was a sliding rail for the rear seats. As for problems, it’s usually electrics, meaning all the...

    Keen drivers wanting a healthy bang for their buck have for years sought solace in Type R   Honda s, whether through the pumped-up kicks of the Integra Type Rs or the tantalisingly agile   Honda Civic Type R s, both of whose entertaining handling goes at least some way to making up for their occasional lack of subtlety and finesse. If any of them can lay claim to being the sweet spot, though – the baby bear’s porridge in the history of the sporting Honda – it’s the Accord Type R, a four-door, five-seat thriller that combined terrific and immensely usable performance and real driving purity with a modicum of practicality and a hint of decorum and, dare one say it, even maturity. For starters, what you got under the bonnet was a gem of an engine, a hand-finished, naturally aspirated 209bhp 2.2-litre VTEC DOHC inline four known as the HA27 and derived from the engine in the contemporary Prelude. It produced its maximum power at a tingly and sonorous 7200rpm and woul...

    Another compact-class value champion from ascendent budget brand Dacia, and this time a bit of a versatility champion too. The   Dacia Jogger   is a smallish estate-cum-seven-seat MPV; an indirect replacement for the old   Logan MCV   in a way, but done with much greater individuality and charm. We’ve already had a go in Europe, but with the UK launch of the car, Dacia has confirmed the numbers that matter most about it. They are £14,995 (the car’s scarcely believable entry-point showroom price) and £195 (the monthly outlay for which you can get one on a personal finance deal, after a deposit of… wait for it… £195). A car in this position doesn’t really need to be particularly well packaged, refined, versatile or nice to drive in order to find a receptive market; it probably just needs to exist. The Jogger, however, does quite a bit better than that. It’s ostensibly a 4.5m-long, seven-seat family car built on a supermini platform, which is why Daci...

    The  Audi A6   will gain an all-electric equivalent in 2024, complete with an Avant-badged version that is set to be the first all-electric offering in the executive estate segment.  Following the reveal of the saloon-shaped A6 E-tron concept last year, Audi has revealed a follow-up concept that closely previews the estate variant. It won’t immediately replace the A6 Avant, though, because Audi is planning to launch a ‘parallel offer’ powered by combustion in the future.  Like its saloon sibling – which sports a rakish silhouette in line with a vision to provide an EV alternative to both the current A6 and A7 – the new A6 Avant E-tron sits atop the Premium Platform Electric (PPE) architecture, which Audi is developing in partnership with Porsche and will be deployed first in the new Porsche Macan EV and Audi Q6 E-tron in 2023.  This platform blends elements of the Porsche Taycan and Audi E-tron GT’s...

    There is no need for a crossover SUV to have 402bhp, but I’ll be damned if it isn’t fun. The  Volvo C40 , despite its pseudo-coupé sloping roofline, isn’t meant to be a sports car. Volvo's Geely Group owner has Polestar and the likely upcoming O2 roadster for that. No, this is fundamentally an XC40 coupé. The big difference from the Volvo XC40, apart from its stockily muscular ‘coupé-SUV’ styling, is that it won’t be offered with any combustion engines. It rides on the same CMA platform as the XC40 and Polestar 2 and is available with those models’ two pure-electric drivetrains. Since it is essentially an XC40 coupé, there’s no technical reason why it couldn’t have the XC40’s range of petrols and hybrids, but Volvo has chosen to position the C40 as the spearhead of its EV transformation, proudly proclaiming it’s the first Volvo in history designed as pure-electric only. That's not untrue, but it does make the C40 sound...

    The forthcoming electric MG 4 hatchback, due later this year, is expected to be very similar in design to the Chinese-market MG Mulan, unveiled this week.  The Mulan shows off a fresh design language for the firm, marking it out from  the  MG ZS EV  and  MG 5 SW EV . The 4 was previewed in February, with the image hinting that the new arrival will feature radical design cues.  MG gave few details of the 4 at the time, but it did confirm it measures 4300mm long - a similar size to the Kia e-Niro – and "is developed with the UK consumer in mind".  The new car is set to be positioned as a value alternative to electric family hatchbacks such as the Volkswagen ID 3 and Kia e-Niro. For the Mulan, MG has claimed a 4.0sec 0-62mph time. However, this hasn't been confirmed for the 4. The Mulan will also be the first EV built on SAIC’s Nebula platform, meaning it will be rear...

    Ford has revealed the heavily upgraded and uprated second-generation version of its fan-favourite   Ford Ranger Raptor   pick-up. Chief among the changes is the switch from a four-cylinder diesel engine to a new 3.0-litre V6 with significantly more power and enhanced performance potential. But the powertrain forms only part of a wide-reaching overhaul that Justin Capicchiano, one of Ford's senior engineers involved in the truck's reinvention, says has taken the Ford Ranger Raptor from ST levels of performance to full-fat RS.  “We wanted to push the car from where we have it - which is a massively capable vehicle. You never want to stay still. Ask any automotive engineer - they’ll always want to be moving the needle forward. You can’t just focus on one specific area: if you just do the engine and leave the suspension, you’re making an immediate compromise. “We touched on all of those areas - technology, engine, chassis - and what we’ve don...