Kevin Haggarthy road tests theAudi Q7 3.0 litre TDi Quattro

Kevin Haggarthy road tests the new Audi Q7 3.0 litre TDI Quattro

It’s a substantial looking machine the Audi Q7. As 4 x 4 s’ go, only the Range Rover seems to match its’ bulk and size. Both are very popular with the ‘well to do’ for the school commuter run – ‘it makes me and my children feel safe’ says Mum(s); well you can’t knock that can you? – So whilst the Q7 may not be very ‘PC’, for families it’s the next best thing to a house on wheels.

proper car

So we expected the Q7 to be boring for exactly that reason. A ‘big’ carriage for child seats, prams, and shopping bags, rather than a real car. Well we were wrong, and should have known better. Being an Audi, the Q7 turned out not only to be a ‘proper car’ but a highly enjoyable daily commuter at that.

Still on the family thing, the Q7 has 7 seats and the Range Rover hasn’t. The two back seats just push down flat on release of a lever, and you’ve got loads of flat space for your luggage.

You’ll have to cough up a fair amount of dough for the privilege: prices start at £32 grand for the entry level petrol powered 3.6 FSI , rising to £38 – 40 k for the 3.0 litre turbo diesels, and the big 4.2 diesel hits a whopping £50 grand plus, and prices can creep to 90 grand!. They are all pretty good, so you’d be as well to go entry level money and pocket the rest.

Niggles

Lots of browny points then? Well yes, bar two practical niggles. First the electronic push button located on the inside of the bottom of the rear hatch to close it, closes it a bit too sharpish! - so you need to move out of the way quickly or you ll get a sore head. I didn’t…so I got one, so I know.

Second, whilst electronic aids make parking in general a doddle, the car is a bit unwieldy around a multi storey. I know that because I got stuck in one with the car – the lanes were too narrow for the Q7 to get around without the threat of painful alloy scratches and the parking spaces were just too small for us to park the Q7, and actually open the doors and get out.



On the road

Our 3.0 litre diesel ‘S’ line (top spec) was particularly well equipped with distinctive S Line trim, Sat nav, blue tooth, and electric everything; its all idiot proof to use aiding that feeling of luxury and comfort for day to day use.

On the road, the diesel’s hum is subdued and progressive – with spritely performance and enough urge to satisfy even the most demanding. It’s an exceptional cruiser of course, and the permanent all wheel drive is reassuring when the going gets tough. In time, and odd as it may seem, you’ll find there’s not much around that offers all the Q7 does for the same money, and of course, if size is an issue for you, there is always the smaller, and slightly more composed Q5.

Maybe the Q7 is an acquired taste, but it is also an ‘informed’ choice – it delivers so well for the day to day needs of a family; one car to satisfy all needs.

Kevin Haggarthy


Audi Q7 3.0 litre tdi S Line

Price: £40,850

0-60 mph: 8.5 secs

Top speed 134 mph

Average Consumption: 28.8 mpg

(published in The Voice newspaper)

Kevin Haggarthy road tests the new Focus RS

Kevin Haggarthy road tests the new hot hatch rage – the new 300 bhp Ford Focus RS

Right. So the eighties are back then; or so says Ford with their latest Hot Hatch King. The lights are red, you look around, ‘Bring it on’ says the Focus RS, to anyone who dares ‘…show me what you’ve got, and I’ll show you what for mate…and more!’ The lights hit green, its dry and your cheeky challenger just dare raise his engine note to threaten you away from the lights and that’s it – challenge done as he watches the Focus RS SCREECH! away in first, then keep its tyres spinning in second, hit third gear and the tyres are still screeching – in the dry! - ’Wow’! This is true blooded serious hot hatch stuff. Take a serious look at the tail lights on that Focus RS, for it is probably the last time you will ever see that car.

All or nothing?

So what’s come over Ford then? We thought they’d said goodbye to the all- or-nothing hot hatch, as per its old Turbo RS et al, and the days of the Peugeot 205 1.9’s and blown Renault Turbos – every insurance company hated them, and every boy racer loved them. At that time Ford had had enough of a growing ungainly reputation – too many boy racers were hitting too many lamp posts and trees, and no one wanted to be at the butt end of what was becoming quite a political issue on the roads.

Ford were amongst the first to get sensible, and cool everyone down with its sober but wonderful to drive Focus ST – a sensible and exhilarating car, involving, and ‘nice’ to drive, but with the added advantage of sharper handling and a more rewarding drive over the standard car. Eventually a limited edition wild-cat RS followed that just couldn’t contain 212 bhp driving the front wheels, without pulling you quite markedly in a direction you didn’t want to go when throttling hard out of a bend.

Speed Demon!…

Yet this new Focus RS has gone even more ballistic; it has a beautifully refined but understandably firm ride at low speed but when you give it some and the Turbo wrenches control, you are unlikely to get more speed and performance per pound than any car available to the public anywhere – period. It’s a bit all or nothing this one – it’s the ‘Focus RS Licence Loser’ when the devil takes you, with razor sharp precise steering and handling to match, and yet when you calm down and behave yourself on the way to Tescos, no one would ever think you could be such a speed demon on demand. Always the sign of a great car.

What makes this Focus RS special is that it is all usable performance, B road burning stuff, and in the hands of a good driver will challenge the very fastest of cars money can buy when you are assaulting the Countryside’s twists and turns. I cannot think of a car other than Porsche or Ferrari territory that will master B roads with such finesse and outright speed.

But it needs driving does the new RS, and more importantly it needs a skilled hand behind the wheel to exploit the performance safely. And herein lies the worry – with such outright acceleration, a Turbo charger that holds you in rocket mode, and a pedal set-up which (surprisingly for this kind of car) is not entirely friendly to the chassis balancing skill of heel and toe gear changes, -a method of braking and changing down a gear at the same time- the Focus RS could end up getting the better of the unskilled/inexperienced driver setting out to exploit its exceptional performance to the full.

The new King?

Being capable of such out-right performance the RS will carry tremendous front wheel powered speed into a bend, the brakes are well upto shaving the speed off in time, but the driver’s challenge will be tackling that bend, managing the finely tuned weight distribution through it, and coming out of it knowing just when to apply the power. A lot of decisions to make, accurately and confidently, for the push-on driver. If this all sounds like driving instructor gobble-de-gook, that is exactly what it is – I seriously think Ford should offer a complementary safety performance road driving course to owners of this car…then no worries.

We suspect that the new RS will now take the Hot Hatch crown. It is an exceptional achievement by any measure – but as a tool for the road, and indeed for its owner, it’ll be about knowing when to go slow that counts.

Kevin Haggarthy

FORD FOCUS RS - TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION


Price £25,740

Engine Type
2.5L 20 V DOHC RS
Max power ISO PS (kW)
At engine speed (rpm) 305 PS (224kW) 6500
Cylinders - 5, in-line


Max speed (kph) 263
Acceleration (sec)
0-100 km/h 5.9 secs
50-100 km/h (in 4th. gear) 5.3 secs


Fuel Consumption

Combined (ECE l/100 km) 30.5 mpg

Kevin Haggarthy road tests the new award winning VW Golf 2-0 litre TDI 140 ps
Basic on the road price 19,236

This latest version of an already great car is a subtle but significant improvement over its predecessor, setting absolute standards for the class, making it arguably, one of the best (if not the best) small family saloons on the market. A bold statement I know, but one based on many years of testing and sampling cars like these.

This latest version of the Golf has a significant, albeit subtle design makeover. Its predecessor, the Mark V was already good. As a Mark V owner my personal choice of car is testimony to that. So the basic DNA remains unchanged - namely chassis, doors window apertures and roof, as are the basic engine range. But leave it at that and we’d be paying very short thrift to what is a truly excellent small family saloon that has made a very good car, a very much better car.

Better by design

Design and styling are subjective matters but there is a crispier more modern look to the new car. Sat side by side to my albeit beefier Mark V R32 ,the Mark VI has a cleaner, more compact appearance. It also looks and feels plusher inside too. A tad of much needed luxury has gone into the dash and switchgear, the latter trimmed at the edges with chrome, the Golf’s cabin now proving a much plusher place to be. The seats too, brushed in Alcantara Suede add to that ‘quality’ feel. Inside there are improvements all round; with clearer, more prominent, and better located switchgear. It all makes the Golf feel better value for money.

Our test car was the 2.0 litre diesel, and oh does this engine change your perception of diesels! No more aching headache when you start from cold, or noisy humdrum arthritic tone on the move. Flip the coin totally for the true story – this is a spritely tremendously smooth and progressive engine. Whilst the standard 0-62 mph is a respectable 9.3 secs, its top speed is an official 130 mph. Do you really need more? What’s more, with an average 57 mpg you’ll see a good 450 miles plus on a full tank of diesel – all that in a comfortable highly versatile every day and long distance well built machine.

Compelling

Behind the wheel the Golf enthuses the driver; the steering feels confidence inspiring and sure footed at any speed, the gearbox an absolute pleasure to use, and the handling safe and predictable. The body feels light yet strong on the move; the kind of feeling a responsible parent likes to have about the sturdiness of a car in an accident. For quality, refinement, and strong engineering integrity, the new Golf is a compelling proposition. The Golf has exceeded its own boundaries yet again.