The second-generation Dacia Duster passes muster
The second-generation Dacia Duster is a practical, cut-price crossover. This good-looking, five-door, five-seater back-to-basics SUV has a headline-grabbing starting price of £9,995 for the entry-level Access model, making it perhaps the cheapest of its type money can buy.
Deals start at £129 a month. But for that you’ll have to do without a radio or climate control, though electric front windows and daytime running lights are standard.
The Dacia brand arrived in Britain six years ago as the budget arm of Renault and its cars are built in Romania. The Access trim is one of four specs along with Essential (with digital radio and air-con) from £11,595; Comfort from £13,195 and the top-of the-range Prestige from £14,395 — still around half what you’d pay for a Japanese or German rival.
Splash out? Hardly, for the revamped Dacia Duster with prices below £10,000
It’s plugging the gap left by VW-owned Skoda and Kia since those brands decided to become proper posh. The biggest Duster seller in Britain is likely to be in the mid-range Comfort trim which I’ve been testing with two-wheel drive.
It’s not luxurious; there’s more plastic than you’ll find in an Airfix kit, and only five gears.
But the fabric seats are comforting and supportive, it feels solidly built, is a pretty decent drive, and you are not bamboozled by myriad controls or on-screen options.
An extra gear would be ideal, but it gobbles up miles on motorways and is fine around town. If you’re going regularly off road, choose the four-wheel drive versions.
All mod cons: It feels solidly built, is a pretty decent drive, and you are not bamboozled by myriad controls or on-screen options
There’s no automatic yet, but a diesel and more powerful petrol engine will follow next year.
There’s plenty of space in the back and boot, and its bold looks are a step up in style from the first-generation model.
Spacious: There’s plenty of space in the back and boot, and its bold looks are a step up in style from the first-generation model
Running on 16 in wheels, it is powered by a perfectly adequate 1.6-litre 115 hp SCe petrol engine that delivers acceleration from rest to 62 mph in 11.9 seconds up to a top speed of 107 mph, while returning 43.5mpg with CO2 emissions of 149g/km, putting it in a relatively low road tax band.
- The best hot hatches needs to be potent and practical in equal measures
- Our top 10 list includes a dinky Ford Fiesta right up to a £42,000 Mercedes brute
- Can you guess which one is our winner? We'll give you a clue - it's built in the UK
Hot hatchbacks need to do it all.
It's the only place in the market you can find a car that has excellent handling and power as well as easy ability to load up the family and their accoutrements for a quick weekend away, or a full holiday - and all for a fairly affordable fee.
But there are some that out-perform others. The best hot hatches are taut but also comfortable enough to absorb the worst lumps and bumps. They’re quick on the road, but not too quick at swigging fuel.
Some are better at this magic than others. Here are the ones that, in our opinion, do it the best.
10. Volkswagen Golf GTI, from £28,465
The original hot hatch has been superseded by more potent examples. In fact, there's a hotter Golf hatchback than the GTI today
The Golf was the first car to carry the GTI badge and it’s still one of the top exponents of the art.
It’s relatively costly, but over time you don’t lose out as the quality is high and the depreciation low. Quick, accomplished and well facelifted last year with upgraded infotainment.
9. Audi S3, from £35,805
The RS3 might be the most potent of all Audi hot hatches, but the more civilised S3 is a better choice if you're looking for a daily driver
Pots of ‘premium’ as well as performance in this 306bhp petrol version of the everyday A3 family hatchback.
Pure driving excitement isn’t quite up at the top of the class, and the price can be high if you tick a few options boxes, but the quality is matchless and there’s speed to spare.
8. Ford Focus ST, from £25,760
The Focus RS is the ultimate Ford hot hatch, but the Focus ST isn't far behind. It might be almost 100bhp down on the RS but it will be more comfortable to live with
If you need a useful family hatchback, the normal Ford Focus is brilliant not just for its practicality but also for its driver engagement. The ST is the same, but faster.
It comes as either a 182bhp or a 247bhp forms. You’ll notice a reduction in class compared to the best German offerings, but the fine driving position is a nice compensation. Look out for discounts as dealers shift stock to prepare for the new version arriving in 2018.
7. Ford Fiesta ST, from £18,995
For less than £20,000, there isn't a batter hot hatch on the planet than the latest Ford Fiesta ST
There are quicker hot hatches, but none below £20,000 that are more fun to drive than the Fiesta ST.
It beats much of the opposition on steering, body control and - importantly - insurance costs. It looks great too.
6. Audi RS3, from £44,755
If you want something bigger - and want to fork out a load more money - the Audi RS3 could be the car for you. At a smidgen under £45,000, it's not cheap
This recently refreshed RS3 packs the TT RS’s potent 394bhp five-cylinder engine, so it goes like a banshee.
It’s no economy option though. Cars that are more accessible and arguably more fun to drive include the BMW M140i (which doesn't make it into our list) and Ford Focus RS.
5. Volkswagen Golf R, from £32,880
This is the Golf that gazumps the GTI. Volkswagen decided it wanted almost 300bhp from its headline hot hatch and has thrown four-wheel drive into the equation too
The second hot Golf on our list is quicker and generally better than the GTI, thanks to its extra performance – 0 to 62mph in just 5.3 seconds – and all-wheel drive.
A really entertaining steer with decent practicality and a superb cabin.
4. Mercedes-AMG A45, from £41,875
Of all the hot hatches here, the Mercedes-AMG A45 is the most powerful. The four-cylinder twin-turbo engine produces a masive 375bhp. It's also nearly £42,000
Another pricey option, but the Mercedes-AMG A45 repays you with scorching pace from its bombastic 375bhp engine and quick-action automatic gearbox, and with its well-controlled cornering skills.
Super capable, but you can get the same degree of ability for a lot less money. And keep in mind a new one is due any time soon.
3. Hyundai i30N, from £25,010
Hyundai has come a long way in recent years. It's first effort at a proper hot hatchback in the i30N is a pretty good one
It doesn't seem that long ago that Hyundai was perceived as a non-aspirational economy brand. The i30N is changing all that.
It’s mounting a serious challenge to the likes of the VW Golf GTI and Ford Focus ST - which is properly impressive for a first entry into the hot hatch market. Of the two models, the normal one and Performance variant, we’d stick with the regular car for road-based fun.
2. Ford Focus RS, from £32,795
There's been a lot said about the Focus RS, but it just misses out on the top spot in our list. For £33,000 it is good value against many of the hot hatches in this top 10 countdown
The Ford Focus RS is a five-star car irrespective of its status as a hot hatch. Its 345bhp output puts it right up there with the best on power, while its four-wheel drive allows full use of that power: the 0-62mph is under five seconds.
Better yet, it doesn’t sting you on price: entry to the club begins at £32,795.
Our winner is the British-built Honda Civic Type R. As well as having a spacious boot and interior it also has superb handling and a spooling 2.0-litre motor
1. Honda Civic Type R, from £31,525
It’s no shrinking violet with all that mad-looking bodywork all over the place, but the Civic Type R’s add-ons are all functional and designed to prevent this rapid machine from taking off at the speeds it's capable of.
On paper, it’s fractionally slower than the Golf R or Focus RS but this turbocharged 2.0-litre Honda never feels short on cross-country pace - and is marginally cheaper.
It’s big inside too, with a particularly large boot. You don’t have to compromise to enjoy the Type R experience.
Were you to compare Honda’s new family favourite CR-V to a music genre, it would be easy listening.
It’s comfortable, conservative, cosseting and roomy, but that doesn’t make it bland — rather it’s an engaging drive.
It’s also the world’s top-selling SUV, of which the UK buys nearly four out of ten sold in Europe. This is the fifth generation of the CR-V or the sixth if you count a facelift in 2015.
Super SUV: Ray with the fifth generation Honda CR-V which is on sale soon
There are significant firsts. It’s ditched diesel — for ever — in favour of a 2-litre petrol-electric hybrid set to come out early next year.
But at September’s launch there’s a capable 1.5-litre VTEC 193 hp four-cylinder turbo with six-speed manual or automatic continuously variable transmission.
The manual is a delight to drive and willing, but the automatic in all-wheel drive will be the big seller. Suspension has been tweaked for UK roads, and soundproofing makes it far quieter inside.
One game-changer is the option of seven seats which are standard on other premium SUVs
One game-changer is the option of seven seats. You may rarely use them, but knowing they are there can be reassuring, and they are standard on other premium SUVs.
Range of options: Honda's new CR-V is expected cost is from £24,000 to £37,000
Honda’s spectacular stand at this weekend’s Goodwood Festival of Speed will show off the new CR-V. Expected cost is from £24,000 to £37,000.
Eye-catching: It looks sharper, and Ray likes the protruding rear lights
Styling is evolutionary rather than revolutionary, but it looks sharper, and I like the protruding rear lights. The tyres are bigger and wider than ever.
Unlike previous models, this one is not built at Honda’s Swindon factory - but in Japan
Unlike previous models, this one is not built at Honda’s Swindon factory — which is now given over to Civics — but in Japan.
Style: The CR-V is the ‘bread and butter’ vehicle for families
The CR-V is the ‘bread and butter’ vehicle for families, with more than 9 million sold since the model first went on sale in Japan in 1995, and 270,689 in the UK since 1996.
New Jeep Wrangler moseys into Britain
A big, brash, loud American has just moseyed into Britain and started to ruffle feathers. It’s the new Jeep Wrangler.
A descendent of the original wartime Willys Jeep that helped the Allies liberate occupied Continental Europe and beyond, this roughty-toughty 4x4 is an adventurer on and off the road.
Tough: The Jeep Wrangler is a descendent of the original wartime Willys Jeep that helped the Allies liberate occupied Continental Europe and beyond
Expect prices from £44,000 for the Sport trim to about £55,000 for the top-range, four-door 2.2-litre Rubicon automatic diesel. A 2-litre petrol is also available. Just hope no one will be imposing tariffs any time soon, y’all.
- More than a third of accidents (37 per cent) caught on camera by in-car smart-cams were caused by poor lane discipline, says analysis of several hundred accident videos by tele-matics and smart-camera expert Crystal Ball. Goodwood Festival of Speed celebrates silver jubilee
Anniversary celebrations are in full swing at the Duke of Richmond’s Goodwood Festival of Speed which enjoys its silver jubilee this weekend until Sunday.
All-action: Ford is pitting an original ’68 Mustang GT (pictured), as driven in the film Bullitt by the late Steve McQueen, against a 2018 Bullitt McQueen special edition
Birthday cars from seven decades of Land Rover (with a 70-strong cavalcade), Porsche, and Lotus are on show.
Bentley, approaching its own 100th anniversary next year, announced at the festival that it is building 100 super-luxury Mulsannes as a centenary homage to founder W.O. Bentley’s final 1930 design.
Ford, meanwhile, is pitting an original ’68 Mustang GT (pictured), as driven in the film Bullitt by the late Steve McQueen, against a 2018 Bullitt McQueen special edition.
There’s also a race to see which driverless cars can conquer the infamous 1.16-mile Goodwood hill-climb. Siemens has converted a classic 1965 Mustang into an autonomous vehicle. It faces a rival Robo-race vehicle, with four 135kW electric motors that develop more than 500 hp.
These are the 10 most unreliable new motors you might want to avoid
- What Car?'s reliability survey reveals the most and least dependable cars
- This list features the 10 models with the lowest reliability score
- It's based on the feedback from 14,000 UK vehicle owners of 0 to 3-year-old cars
- Ratings are based on the number of faults, how serious they are, if they render the vehicle undriveable and if they were fixed under warranty
If you're spending thousands of pounds on a new car, the last thing you want is to end up with one you can't depend on.
Fortunately, there are plenty of owner surveys that highlight the models that have bulletproof records and which ones are most likely to leave you stranded at the roadside.
One of these polls is What Car?'s reliability study, which has revealed the 10 brand-new motors that prove to be the most problematic within three years of leaving the showroom.
Motors to manoeuvre past: These are the new cars that owners say are most likely to develop faults, despite being less than three years old
What Car? received feedback about 14,000 UK-registered vehicles in the latest reliability survey, with owners reporting how many faults their motors had in the last year and how severe they were.
Car owners can relay what the problems were, whether they were repaired under warranty and how long they were in the workshop.
Each model is then given a reliability percentage rating - and these are the 10 that had the lowest scores.
10. Mercedes-Benz B-Class
The Mercedes-Benz B-Class is a compact MPV for families. More than a third of new models developed a fault in the last 12 months
Price from: £23,550
Reliability score: 46.2%
More than a third (35 per cent) of B-Class owners said their car had developed a fault in the last year. And not all of them were minor.
Drivers said they had experienced engine, electric and gearbox and clutch issues that made their cars undriveable and resulted in them being kept in workshops for more than a week.
Not ideal if you've spent over £20,000 on a premium-badged family-friendly MPV.
9. Mercedes-Benz E-Class
The Mercedes-Benz E-Class is an executive saloon you'd expect to be fairly reliable, especially as it's a rep-mobile favourite. Unfortunately, that's not the case
Price from: £36,070
Reliability score: 46.1%
The latest E-Class is one of the most sought-after premium saloons on the market, and for £36,000 and more you'd think it would be fairly durable.
However, almost a quarter (24 per cent) of owners said they had reliability issues in the previous year.
Surprisingly, one of the most common issues was problems with the interior trim, though electrical gremlins also cropped up quite often. All were fixed under warranty, though.
8. Nissan Qashqai (diesel)
The latest Nissan Qashqai is one of the best-selling cars in the country. Almost half of diesel models have developed fault during a year of ownership
Price from: £21,070
Reliability score: 44.2%
Almost half (49 per cent) of the latest Sunderland-built Qashqais fitted with diesel engines had a problem, according to owners.
Of these, a quarter had issues with electrical features, including sat-nav, infotainment and air-con units. One in five also had faulty batteries.
In almost all cases these issues weren't enough to render the cars undriveable, and Nissan fixed each one at no cost under warranty.
7. Land Rover Discovery Sport (diesel)
Diesel Land Rover Discovery Sports are marketed as robust off-roaders, but they're not entirely dependable, according to owners
Price from: £30,145
Reliability score: 43.8%
Land Rovers are advertised as rugged, go-anywhere machines, but the Discovery Sport is proving less hard-wearing than the manufacturer might lead you to believe.
Two in five diesel-powered Discovery Sports developed faults in the previous 12 months, most of which were related to bodywork and interior trim.
These faults - and a string of engine and non-engine electric issues - were repaired for free and the cars were off the road for less than a week.
6. Jeep Renegade
More than two in five Jeep Renegade owners have had to deal with their cars developing problems in the last year
Price from: £18,500
Reliability score: 42.1%
Jeep's latest model - the compact SUV Renegade - is advertised as the perfect vehicle to go off the beaten track.
However, more than two in five (43 per cent) of cars owned by What Car? readers said they had faults, most of which were serious.
This includes engine, electric and braking problems.
5. Jaguar XE (diesel)
Petrol versions of Jaguar's compact executive saloon appear fairly dependable, though that's not the same story with the diesel variants
Price from: £31,505
Reliability score: 36.7%
While petrol models were fairly robust, diesel-engined examples really let the side down.
More than two in five (44 per cent) of owners said their car had a fault in the last 12 months. And it's a whole host of issues that seem to rear their head.
Non-engine electric faults were most common, though bodywork, engine, fuel system, steering and suspension defects were all reported. They were all repaired under warranty, though.
4. Fiat 500X
Fiat is a car brand that's trying to shake off its poor reliability track records. The 500X won't help its cause
Price from: £15,745
Reliability score: 32.3%
Fiat has expanded its range in recent years, attempting to build on the success of the 500 supermini by upscaling it into MPVs (500L and 500L MPW) and an SUV - the 500X.
The latter is at number four in the list of least reliable vehicles with a lowly reliability score of 32.3 per cent.
A third of owners with this model had a fault in the last year - mostly bodywork and electrical gremlins - but they took longer than a day to put right.
3. Nissan Qashqai (petrol)
Diesel variants of the Nissan Qashqai appeared at number 8 in this list. The petrol model proves less reliable
Price from: £19,300
Reliability score: 28.9%
If you're a Nissan Qashqai owner - or looking to buy one soon - you might want to look away. The diesel model featured at number eight in this list, and petrol models are less dependable.
More than half (56 per cent) of cars had a fault in the previous 12 months, owners said.
Batteries, bodywork and non-engine electrics were the biggest problems, though they tended to be fixed in a week.
2. Volvo XC90
The Volvo XC90 is a flashy £50,000 SUV, which makes the fact it's proving to be unreliable more shocking
Price from: £50,435
Reliability score: 22.6%
If you've spent more than £50,000 on a big, rugged SUV, you're not going to be please with it develops a problem. And that's the case with more than half (53 per cent) of Volvo XC90s.
Owners said non-engine electrical issues and software systems malfunctioned most commonly, and annoyingly weren't remedied on the first visit to the garage.
All repair work was conducted for free under warranty.
1. Land Rover Range Rover Sport (diesel)
The Range Rover Sport is the only model in this list where owners said problems weren't rectified under warranty. And some of these faults would be expensive to fix
Price from: £67,500
Reliability score: 14.5%
If you thought paying £50,000 for a big new SUV with a 22.6 per cent reliability score was bad, how about £67,500 or more for a 4x4 with a 14.5 per cent record?
That's the case with diesel-powered Range Rover Sports.
Three in five owners had problems, covering everything from gearbox, drivetrain, engine and suspension problems that are serious defects.
To make matter worse, not all cars were fixed under warranty - even though they were expensive repairs - and some owners had to do without their cars for more than a week.
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