BMW X1 xDrive20d (2009)

The new BMW X1 is the German car giant’s fourth addition to its 4x4 range, so although the original X5 might have been beaten to market by Mercedes’ M-class, since then the company has always been one SUV step ahead of its homeland rivals. The X3 was launched in 2004, but Mercedes and Audi have only recently launched the GLK and Q5, and as yet there’s no sign (and perhaps there never will be) of either producing a rival for the oddball X6.

Now BMW has the new X1, a compact SUV that won’t have a direct premium adversary until the new Range Rover LRX and Audi Q3 are launched in 2011. CAR has just driven the new BMW X1, so read on for our full verdict on this baby BMW 4x4.

I presume the BMW X1 has the usual array of four- and six-cylinder petrol and diesel engines?

Not in the UK. BMW customers throughout the rest of the world can pick petrol power – there’s a choice of unleaded-supping 2.0-litre four-pot or a 3.0-litre straight-six – but only diesel engines will be available here in Blighty.

There are three variants on other, all 2.0-litre lumps, but various tweaks and a different number of turbochargers spirit up different power outputs. The range starts with the single-turbo 141bhp/236lb ft 18d, a more powerful 20d variant offers 174bhp and 258lb ft, and the top-dog twin-turbo 23d engine – previously the reserve of the sportier 1-series – has 201bhp and a fulsome 295lb ft.

Just diesel power for the new X1? I suppose you’ll tell me next that you can have this 4x4 with rear-wheel drive?

Yes, we will. The 18d and 20d come as standard in sDrive guise, BMW-speak for rear-wheel drive. Four-wheel drive (xDrive) costs £1280 more on the former, £1305 on the latter, and on both adds several tenths to the 0-62mph times, 14g/km to the CO2 figures and worsens the official figures by nearly 5mpg. The 23d comes as standard with four-wheel drive.

Kia Sportage 2.0 CRDi First Edition (2010)

The new 2010 Sportage is the first fully modern Kia, we reckon. The first styled wholly under chief designer Peter Schreyer (he of Audi fame), who's only now making his influence felt after four years in charge of styling the Korean cars.

So take note of this new Kia Sportage. It's the most comprehensive look yet at the new face of Kia. Tiger-snout grille? Check. Crisp, almost Germanic surfaces? Yep. Complex headlamp graphics, Audi-esque LED day running light ticks and chrome tinsel to move Kia gently upmarket? Those too.

The new Sportage launches in the UK with the range-topping 2.0 CRDi First Edition, available only as this well equipped £20,777 diesel 4wd. Joining the range in November 2010 will be a 1.6 petrol and a smaller, 1.7-litre diesel - both available with front-wheel drive.

So what's the new 2010 Kia Sportage aimed at?

Think Nissan Qashqai. This is Crossover Central, a market that's leapt to a fulsome 8% of the total UK retail market worth 130,000 sales a year. There's much respect at Kia for the Qashqai's market saturation and they aim to repeat its rich mix of engines and transmission options. No +2 version though. In the fullness of time expect a downsized petrol turbo Sportage and even a hybrid option.

For now, we're stuck with the 2.0-litre diesel in 4wd guise. It's loaded with kit. The only option is an auto transmission (we're testing the manual), but this First Edition comes with leather, climate control, reversing camera and Kia's new market-leading seven-year/100,000-mile warranty.

Ford Fusion Hybrid (2010)

Before we get too confused, I’d like to make just one thing clear: we’re not talking about the UK Ford Fusion here – the Fiesta on stilts that’s driven only by OAPs. No, this is the US Ford Fusion, the large four-door saloon, and we’re testing it in hybrid guise.

Shouldn’t it look a bit more, well, futuristic?

Admittedly the Toyota Prius’s styling feels more radical and perhaps more in keeping with the cutting-edge tech within, but then looking ordinary is probably part of the point here: the Fusion isn’t attempting to attract early adopters, it’s trying to convince traditional families that a hybrid can work for them, too. Still, it does look a bit plain, like a 1990s Aussie Ford Falcon with a Saab-like mask grafted to the front.

What’s it like inside?

It’s very comfortable (especially with our car’s optional leather seats) and spacious both in the front and the back, and most of the plastics have that feel-good squish, not the unyieldingly brittle surfaces we’ve previously experienced in Ford’s US products.

Shame that the auto gearstick moves from P to D with such a cheap-feeling snick, and that the hybrid system cripples the boot: it’s already disappointingly small, then you realise that the hybrid system’s sandwiched up against the rear seats, so you can’t drop them – we failed to get a medium-sized adult mountain bike in there, and we removed both its wheels and seat!

How does it drive?

Very well. It’s amazing, actually, how different the Fusion feels compared with UK Fords. The DNA is just completely unrelated, yet, just as our Fords work brilliantly on our roads, so this Ford works brilliantly in the US. The Fusion is more of a relaxed, Merc-like experience than its sporty-but-supple Brit cousins. The steering is nicely weighted and progressive if slow, the chassis very supple if a tad rolly, the responses of the throttle and brake pedals somewhat sleepy. But in California’s 25mph zones and on the lazy rolls and coarse surfaces of its freeways it is perfectly judged.

Is the hybrid bit any good?

Yes, it’s excellent. You can sit at a standstill with the air con and stereo blasting and the engine will remain resolutely inactive – take note, Prius. Better, it will trickle through stop/start traffic in electric power too, though we never came close to managing the claimed 47mph on battery alone. All in, we averaged 39.5mpg – not bad for a 5-series-sized saloon with 156bhp, or 191bhp with the electric motor included. Pleasingly, it also came close to matching Ford’s own claims: our 32.9 US mpg not being too far away from the 41/36mpg city/highway rating.

VW Touareg 3.0 Hybrid (2010)

When the original Mk1 VW Touareg was released in 2002, CAR Magazine drove it across North Africa and even let the real Tuareg tribespeople have a go in it across the Sahara. Now our own Georg Kacher has had a go in the latest hybrid version.

4x4=bad, but hybrid 4x4=good?

This is the first VW to use the same hybrid technology as the Porsche Cayenne. The big VW has the same Audi-sourced 3.0-litre supercharged petrol V6 from the S4, supplemented by a 46bhp electric motor.

The parallel system allows the usual hybrid party piece of two miles of silent wafting up to 30mph, but also works at high speed, decoupling the petrol engine under a trailing throttle at speeds of up to 100mph. This clever tech silences the usual hyrbid critics, who often gloat that most hybrid systems are useless during motorway cruises.

VW Touareg Hybrid: the new oily bits

The new Touareg is more than just a cosmetic facelift. Underneath, 47kg has been saved from the suspension largely through substituting aluminium for the previous car's steel. Further changes include wider front and rear tracks and 72 extra litres in the boot. The cabin has also been stretched, updated and redesigned, creating a more functional, better equipped place to sit.

On the road, VW's engineers have provided us with a car that is almost unrecognisable compared with the last model. Body roll is minimal, with pitch and yaw all but eliminated due to chunkier anti-roll bars. Equally, early understeer and brake dive have been culled. Steering is still on the light side, but is more direct and easier to moderate than the previous generation.

Yet the system is far from perfect; the eight-speed auto can be hesitant and jerky, with the brakes feeling artificial and spongy when trying to combine both mechanical and regenerative deceleration. The fundamental switch between electric and petrol motors can on occasion prove jerky.

Infiniti M35 Hybrid (2011)

This is the Infiniti M35 Hybrid, the company’s first hybrid offering. CAR has just been behind the wheel in Japan, and not only has the stint allowed us to test the electrified powertrain, but it’s also our first chance to assess the chances of Infiniti’s new 5-series/E-class/A6 rival.

The new M Line is on sale in America and the UK now with a 3.7-litre V6 engine, but a big saloon/big petrol engine is far from the perfect combination for this side of the Atlantic. Instead the hybrid M (available in early 2011) and a 3.0-litre diesel M (on sale in October 2010) will make up the majority of the Euro sales, 35% and 45% respectively.

Read on for CAR’s first drive review of the new Infiniti M35 Hybrid.

Tell us about the hybrid system in this new Infiniti M35 Hybrid…

Bar forthcoming electric/diesel combinations from PSA and Mercedes, every other hybrid mates a petrol powertrain to an electric module, and the Infiniti M35 Hybrid is no different. The set-up utilises Infiniti’s older 3.5-litre V6, doing without the newer 3.7’s variable valve VVEL system that boosts low-down torque because the electric motor takes that job.

The electric motor itself offers up 68bhp and 199lb ft, and with lithium-ion batteries (with a 1.3kWh capacity) allows the M35 Hybrid to cover around 2km in pure EV mode. It can also run solely using the electric motor at speeds up to around 50mph, or 80mph if you’re going downhill with a decent bit of wind behind you. The motor sits between two clutches, one dry clutch that decouples the engine to reduce mechanical loses, and a second wet clutch that’s used to modulate torque fluctuations when the petrol engine restarts on the move.

Jaguar XKR 75 (2010)

The Jaguar XK120 was so-called because it did 120mph, the XJ220 because it did 220mph. And this is the XKR 75...

So it must do 75mph! Some kind of economy special is it?

We’ll have you know that this is the fastest Jaguar since the XJ220. Instead of the usual 155mph limiter, this one can run on to 174mph before the electronics call time. Without them its top speed would be knocking on the door of 200mph.

What’s the 75 bit all about then? MPG? CO2 output? Forget the eco car thing. It’s called 75 because it celebrates 75 years of Jaguar, and because only 75 will be built.

So what’s special about the Jaguar XKR 75?

It’s the XKR that Jag’s chassis supreme, Mike Cross, would build for himself. So he did. Fist as a hideous green one-off for the 2009 Goodwood Festival of Speed, and now this limited production road car, which actually made its debut at the 2010 festival. It gets stronger suspension uprights for tighter camber control, stiffer springs (28% front, 32% rear), recalibrated adaptive dampers and slightly wider wheels (up half an inch at the front, 1in at the rear), the back rims wearing 10mm wider rubber too.

The front and rear spoilers are the same as those available on other XKRs equipped with the optional cosmetic Speed Pack, but the deeper side sills are unique to the 75. Every car will come in Stratus Grey, but the silver wheelarch eyebrows are optional.

Any engine changes?

A new exhaust unleashes a mightier roar, hinting at the extra engine power under the bonnet. When Jag introduced the new 5.0-litre engines last year, the supercharged version actually had to be slightly detuned to preserve the transmission. But the XKR 75 gets an improved torque converter, which means the engine is allowed to deliver the full 523bhp, up from 503bhp in lesser Jags.

Interesting, but I was expecting an XK GT3 RS. This doesn’t sound radically different from the ordinary XKR. Is that how it feels?

Don’t be duped by the modest tweaks – on the road, this XKR is a very different animal. Here is a car that looks like a demure GT but is actually better balanced, more exploitable and just plain more fun than some supercars costing twice as much. Whether you want to get from point to point as quickly, neatly and safely as possible or play hooligan and make the active rear diff earn its crust, this Jag can do it all. The ride is still excellent, the steering loaded with delicate messages and the body control much tighter. Its character isn’t a million miles from that of a regular XKR, it’s just massively better to drive in every way.

And the extra performance is just as noticeable. Jaguar says the 0-60mph sprint takes just 4.4sec, down 0.2sec, but on the road this Jag feels even faster than that. This car was made for those dicey four-car single-carriageway overtaking manoeuvres. Except in the 75, they’re not dicey at all.

The supercharged V8 delivers 483lb ft of torque and spreads it over such a broad rev range that you really have to make a concerted effort to get past the mid-range wallop and explore the top-end performance. There’s a real V8 growl too. Step out of a supercharged XFR saloon and into the 75, and you’d never believe that both were powered by (essentially) the same engine.

Volvo C30 1.6 DRIVe (2010)

Noticed a couple of things this week with my C30: firstly the radio and cruise control buttons on the steering wheel tend to heat up on long journeys. A strange thing to notice, but my hands are definitely warming up when resting my hands at the quarter to three position.

Come winter time this actually might be quite handy. The steering wheel itself isn’t heated, but as someone who suffers in the winter with cold hands on a permanent basis, this could prove useful to me. Has anyone else noticed this on their C30s? Do click ‘Add comment’ below and let me know I don’t have a rogue Volvo or dodgy thermostat!

Secondly I realised how much I rely on the automatic key sensor function. I drove the Kia Sportage this week and was made to rustle through my bag to find the key whilst juggling my laptop, handbag, gym kit and shopping. Made me realise how dependent I’d become on keyless entry.

The Volvo’s system is brilliant. With keyless entry and go, it’s a simple matter of balancing everything on one arm while I open the door, jumping in and starting up – all with the key in my pocket. Very handy.