New Competition: Win Jaguar XJ Luxury + Abarth Esseesse + £5,000

Jaguar XJ Luxury

Win Jaguar XJ Luxury + Abarth Esseesse + £5,000

Let’s not beat about the bush here. The new Jaguar XJ is easily the best looking executive saloon on sale today. It makes the Audi A8 look bland, the BMW 7-Series look overweight and the Mercedes S-Class look over-styled. It would be fine if that was all it had – Jaguars have survived on much less in the past. But the fact is that the new XJ isn’t just the prettiest car in the class – it’s also the best. Driving down bumpy roads you could think you’re sitting on a sofa, such is the competence of the suspension – then you turn off down a twisty road and the chassis comes alive, changing direction and handling like a car half its size. Because the XJ is made from aluminium it weighs much less than its rivals, so the 3.0 V6 Diesel engine doesn’t need to work as hard and achieves effortless performance while giving excellent economy. So it beats the rivals everywhere so far, and then you look at the interior. Another masterclass in design and function, from the TFT dials to the oh-so-cool rising gear selector, the XJ is pure design greatness inside and out.

Win Jaguar XJ Luxury + Abarth Esseesse + £5,000

Abarth 500 Esseesse

This is the Abarth 500 Esseesse – an even hotter version of the Fiat 500-based standard car that we drove last year. Packing a host of upgrades, it’s one of the most exciting small Fiats in history. While it weighs the same as the standard model at 1,035kg, power from the 1.4-litre turbo jumps 25bhp to 160bhp and torque leaps 24Nm to 230Nm at 3,000rpm. Fiat says the car travels from a 0-62mph in 7.4 seconds and has a top speed of 131mph...

Win Jaguar XJ Luxury + Abarth Esseesse + £5,000

2012 BMW M5 skill competition: Win BMW M5 + £10,000

The daddy of performance saloons is back. BMW have learnt a valuable lesson with this latest M5. The previous model was far too laden with technology and it took a lot away from what is the essence of an M5. There were too many gearbox maps, too many suspension settings, and frankly too much to go wrong with the highly strung 5.0 V10 engine. With this new model, everything is simpler, and one thing radically different. The suspension and gearbox work together with only a couple of options including the obligatory ‘M’ button settings.

Win 2012 BMW M5 + 10,000

Under the bonnet is the biggest change though, and one which has upset many diehard M-Gmbh fans. The M5 is back to having a V8 – but this time it has two turbos attached. This, says BMW, is so that they can meet emissions and economy targets, whilst still delivering lots of power and torque. This new V8 pumps out a staggering 560bhp, in a nice subtle 4 door saloon car. Perfectly able to cruise around town one minute, then tear your local twisty road to pieces the next, the M5 has a breadth of abilities wider than most sportscars. The ultimate under-the-radar car has returned…

Win 2012 BMW M5 + 10,000

Jaguar XKR-S competition + £30,000

Power, aggression, bright colours. These aren’t usually terms you would associate with Jaguar, but the company recently felt that there was a corner of the performance car market that they weren’t exploiting – the hardcore coupe market.

Win Jaguar XKR-S + 30,000

Normally occupied by cars like the Ferrari 430 Scuderia, BMW M3 GTS and mainly the Porsche 911 GT3 (& RS), these cars hare track-focussed, yet can also be set about tackling the best roads you can throw at them. To this end, Jaguar took the already fantastic XK-R and set about turning this pussy cat into a snarling beast.

The 5.0 Supercharged V8 gets a power hike up to 542bhp, and with the use of some carbon fibre the cat weighs about 80kg less. This makes for stunning performance with 0-60 mph taking just 4.4 seconds, and the XK-RS tops out at 186mph, or 300km/h for our European friends. Visually the XK-RS gets a new aggressive front bumper with additional air-channelling scoops, and the rear gets a boot spoiler all of which balance the car perfectly at speed. But being a Jaguar, the car can be taken out of Sport mode, and the auto ‘box allows you to cruise in comfort to the track. But once there, the new louder, snarling exhaust will let everyone know that you mean business…

Format:2dr Coupe

Position: Front

Engine Type:V8

Engine Size:5.0 litre

0-62 mph:4.4 sec

Power:542 bhp

Top Speed:186 mph

Retail Price:£ 97,000

Win Jaguar XKR-S + £30,000

Win Range Rover Evoque Prestige

Format: 2dr SUV
Position: Front
Engine Type: i4 Diesel
Engine Size: 2.2 litre
0-62 mph: 9.5 sec
Power: 188 bhp
Top Speed: 124 mph
Retail Price: £ 38,380

Win Range Rover Evoque

This is possibly the most important car in Land Rover’s history. They have taken the Range Rover brand upwards to the highest levels, with the brand now representing the very best in off road luxury vehicles. But times are changing, customers want ecologically friendly cars and petrol becomes ever more expensive. So the Range Rover Evoque is born. Similar in size to the Land Rover Freelander, but sleeker and sportier, the Evoque takes all the best Range Rover attributes and shrinks them to 70% of the size. So you still get great looks (even more so with the Coupe – a 3dr fastback), an amazingly luxurious and well designed interior and exceptional off road ability, but combined with frugal engines, low CO2 emissions and a lower price tag. This SD4 model gets a 190bhp 2.2 litre diesel engine which pumps out under 150g/km of CO2 – very impressive figures. Expect to see the Evoque on every street corner in every major city – this will be THE car to own in 2011…

Win Range Rover Evoque

Mini Cooper John Works + 20 000 pounds competition

Review

This model offers plenty of spunk and attitude and even includes more space than the standard two door hatchback MINI.

Win Mini Cooper + £20,000

Under the hood, you will find great performance. The John Cooper Works Clubman offers a 1.6 liter inline four cylinder engines that produces a whopping 208 horsepower- pretty good for such a small vehicle. In addition, there is even an overboost function which increases the maximum torque from 192 lb ft to 207 lbs ft of torque. Married to this power plant is a six speed manual transmission- this is the only transmission offered to keep its racing heritage. Other special features include the fact that this is a three door hatchback that is about 10 inches longer than the regular mini which is actually a rear opening third passenger side door. Also add to the mix 17 inch cross spoke wheels a nicely done interior trim that is piano black, some stability control, Xenon headlights and a whole bunch of amenities that not only make this vehicle fun to drive, but very comfortable as well.

 

Win Aston Martin Cygnet + £15,000

Win Aston Martin Cygnet + £15,000

Format:2dr City Car
Position:Front
Engine Type:i4
Engine Size:1.3 litre
0-62 mph:11.5 sec
Power:97 bhp
Top Speed:106 mph
Retail Price:£ 30,995


‘Controversial’ – the dictionary will forevermore hold a picture of the Aston Martin Cygnet next to that word. This is a car borne out of necessity. All car manufacturers must reduce the CO2 emissions of their entire range every year, and this isn’t too hard for companies like Porsche who have the diesel hybrid Panamera and Diesel Cayenne models and Ferrari who, being part of the Fiat Group fall back on the results from the Fiat Panda and 500. But Aston Martin have a range of entirely V8 and V12 models, the weakest of which has 420bhp. So what to do in order to meet your targets? In this case Aston have taken a very controversial route, and released a city car.

That’s correct – an Aston Martin with a 1.33 litre engine and less than 100 bhp. To start with they take a Toyota iQ, and add their own Aston front end and rear end treatments to it. This is the least successful part of the transformation, the large grille and bonnet louvres looking slightly out of place. But on the inside they retrim the iQ with exactly the same skill and materials as you get in a DB9, and it looks stunning. Sumptuous leather, quilted seats, leather dashboard, the works. And after all that work you have one of the most unique cars on sale today. Love it or loathe it, the Cygnet is here to stay, and is helping keep V12 Astons on the road for years to come…

Watch video and

Win Aston Martin Cygnet + £15,000

Competition: Win new BMW M5 + £10,000

Win brand new 2011 BMW M5 + £10,000

Format: 4dr Saloon
Position:Front
Engine Type:Twin Turbo V8
Engine Size:4.4 litre
0-62 mph:4.4 sec
Power:560 bhp
Top Speed:190 mph
Retail Price:£ 73,040


The daddy of performance saloons is again back. BMW have learnt a very valuable lesson with this latest BMW M5. The previous model was too laden with technology and it took a lot away from what is the essence of BMW M5. There were too many gearbox maps, too many suspension settings, and frankly also too much to go wrong with the highly strung 5.0 V10 engine. But with this brand new model, everything is simpler, and one thing is radically different. The suspension and gearbox work well together with only a couple of options including the obligatory ‘M’ button settings.

Under the bonnet is the biggest change of all though, and one which has upset many diehard M-Gmbh fans. The BMW M5 is back to having a V8 – but this time it has two turbos attached. This, says BMW, is so that they can meet emissions and economy targets, whilst still delivering tons of power and torque. This brand new V8 pumps out a staggering 560bhp, in a nice subtle 4 door saloon car. Perfectly able to cruise around town one minute, then tear your local twisty road to pieces the next, the BMW M5 has a breadth of abilities wider than most sportscars. The ultimate under-the-radar car has returned…

Win brand new 2011 BMW M5 + £10,000