SEAT Ateca

Price : £17,990 - £29,990

PROS:

• Very well priced
• Looks fantastic
• Good to drive

CONS:

• Slightly firm ride
• Not a completely flat loading area
• Tiny five-inch screen on cheaper models

"The SEAT Ateca is an affordable, practical and desirable SUV that gives buyers a great alternative to the Renault Kadjar and Nissan Qashqai"

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Peugeot 3008

Price : £21,110 - £25,360

PROS:

• Good passenger and boot space
• Excellent standard equipment
• Modern looks & interior

CONS:

• Pricing looks to be steep
• Some safety kit costs extra
• Seats a little uncomfortable

"The Peugeot 3008 is a strong contender in the SUV class, thanks to its impressive drive, affordable engines and tech-laden interior"

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Hyundai i10 Price £9,250 - £13,540

Hyundai i10

Price : £9,250 - £13,540

PROS:

• Very comfortable
• Spacious interior
• Fun to drive

CONS:

• Lack of badge appeal
• No diesel engine available
• Interior quality poor in places

Review :

This Hyundai i10 1.2 SE fits our requirements perfectly. When researching potential replacements for our Mazda 2, I was especially influenced by the lack of serious complaints about reliability and design shortcomings for the i10. The car looks stylish to me. I chose sleek silver paint; a £550 option, which I think really suits the shape but white and morning blue are no cost options. The interior is well assembled. There is no soft touch trim inside but the design looks clean and bright with all of the shut lines close fitting and even. There is very good storage; a decent sized glove box, several useful cubby holes, bottle and cup holders, USB and 12v connections, steering wheel controls for entertainment, trip and cruise functions plus 5 doors with 4 fully opening windows which are standard on all model specifications. It is therefore a very practically equipped vehicle for a cheaper price than obtaining all of these features on many other A segment cars. I especially like the driver information display which has the usual trip computer but includes an outside temperature readout, tyre pressure monitor and an ice warning symbol and alarm which bleeps when the outside temp drops to 4C; a shock when it goes off for the first time when cruising at speed. Now with several thousand miles covered, the Hyundai i10 is proving a very likeable little car in its own right but comparing it to the two cars I have recently owned for 7 and 11 years respectively, there are some surprising similarities. The i10 is exactly the same length and width as our Citroen C2 but can seat 4 average sized adults comfortably and still has a boot as big as the larger Mazda 2 it replaces. The 1.2 Kappa engine also has near identical power and torque as the Mazda 1.3 TS2 but like the Mazda it produces it’s maximum torque at quite high revs; 4000rpm in the 1248cc i10 and it does not pull happily up even a gentle gradient at 30mph in 4th so town driving can lead to frequent gear changes; one of the few irritations. Above 3000 rpm it pulls with increasing flexibility and motorway and dual carriageway cruises are quiet, comfortable and economical. The car is stable and well planted at speed, visibility is good and all of the controls have a well judged cohesion that make this a very pleasant car to drive and a relaxing mode of transport for passengers. It handles well if cornered smoothly. It is not as accurate as the Mazda if driven enthusiastically but the ride is far more comfortable. The gearbox is light and precise and I can claim from experience, a close match for the fabled Mazda manual boxes. The average fuel consumption over several thousand miles is shown on the trip computer as 55mpg. This is a pleasing result as many of the journeys have been short. Longer drives at sustained cruising speeds has the trip showing 58mpg. The seats are very supportive. A spacesaver spare wheel and not a near useless can of foam, is now standard on SE models and above but only a £50 option on the S model. In summary this i10 is rather like driving a 5 door version of our Citroen C2 (an ultra reliable, best pal for eleven and a half years, so far) but with the passenger room, boot space and engine of our belated Mazda 2. Yet, it is much more economical on fuel than either. I really like this car and would put it in the top three of the dozen or so cars I have owned over the past 42 years.

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Ford Edge Price £29,995 - £36,750

Ford Edge :

Price : £29,995 - £36,750

PROS:

• Comfortable ride
• Imposing looks
• Huge boot

CONS:

• Dull interior
• Only five seats
• Not much fun to drive

Review :

I've previously had two Kugas and very much enjoyed them. I saw the Edge in America and liked it. We bought ours the day they were launched over here. It's a much larger SUV than the Kuga with lots of interior space. It's easy to handle and very responsive. There's such a high level of equipment you need time to figure out how it all works. The lights/audible warning when you or another vehicle get close is excellent along with the proximity alarm all around the car. I've had to get used to people taking pictures of it but it's rather nice that it is so interesting to others. One fault with it is that a lot of road dirt builds up inside the lower edges of the rear doors. This is a known issue to Ford but they have done nothing about it. Overall we enjoy driving this car. It is smooth, comfortable and safe. Not a bad combination.

Performance:

Sits well on the road and handles positively. Not the fastest Ford but has enough speed plus with the optional sport mode it can move quickly when it needs too.

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Citroen C3

Citroen hopes that 2017 will be the year the Citroen C3 triggers the public’s imagination. The company’s Fiesta rival has always been rather overlooked in the crowded supermini class, so it’s starting from scratch with an all-new replacement car. Taking inspiration from the Citroen C4 Cactus, ‘Airbump’ protection panels will be a key styling cue of the C3, as will two-piece headlamps and multi-tone colour schemes. Inside there’ll be a sleek, minimalist dashboard with a seven-inch display, incorporating up-to-date features like Apple Carplay integration. Citroen will also introduce an industry first in the new C3 – a ConnectedCam system intended to record incidents or collisions. The range will be powered by 1.2-litre petrol and 1.6-litre diesel engines, initially available only with a six-speed manual gearbox.

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