Plymouth Evening Herald, The

Buy Now and Save On Vat with Cx-7

WESTCOUNTRY Mazda dealer Vospers has welcomed the arrival of the new Mazda CX-7 Sports Crossover at its Marsh Mills showroom this month. Vospers is inviting buyers to take advantage of savings of at least Pounds 555 by purchasing a new CX-7 before VAT is increased on January 1. Available as one highly equipped model, the CX-7 Sport Tech Diesel - priced at Pounds 25,785 on-the-road - combines handling characteristics more attune to a sports car, with an imposing road-presence and good everyday...

Car Makers Aiming to Meet the C02 Challenge

CUTTING a car's carbon dioxide output has now become as important as sales targets, and leading the way is, believe it or not... BMW, writes Phil Vaughan. Yes, the German producer of big-engined, super-fast luxury motors is making by far the most overall progress when it comes to lowering CO2 emissions. For the second year in a row, the BMW Group has cut its average CO2 output per car by more than any other vehicle manufacturer, according to a top industry body. An independent report from the...

Vauxhall's New Astra Gets a Power Boost Where It Counts

VAUXHALL'S new Astra goes on sale in the next few weeks, but as yet the most powerful version will be a 1.6 turbocharged SRi model with just short of 180bhp on tap, writes Maurice Hardy. So where does that leave owners of the Vauxhall Astra VXR - hoping to see a new model in the Mark 5 Astra range with yet more power but unlikely to do so this side of 2011? Frustrated could be the answer, although by taking advantage of some nifty new pipework from tuning specialists Janspeed they could soon ...

Choice Is Grand for Car Buyers

CHOICE. It's something we all demand more of these days and car makers are among those who are happy to provide it, writes Maurice Hardy. Go back a few decades and car ranges were fairly limited. You either bought a saloon or estate and there was no such thing as a 4x4 SUV or people carrier. In the 60s, though, it all started to swing into place. The Renault 16 was among the first of the really adaptable cars making a hatchback widely available although the honour of being the first of the fo...

Abominable? Not On Your Life

PEOPLE who drive posh cars tend to call them by their brand name - "I'll pick you up in the BMW/Audi/Merc/ Jaguar etc", writes Tony Lewis. Sounds a bit better than saying "my 116" or "my A-class" doesn't it? People who drive less posh cars tend to call them by their model name - Focus or Fiesta rather than Ford for example. It is, of course, absolute tosh. But it does throw up some interesting possibilities that occurred to me while driving the excellent Skoda Yeti. Would you tell your mates ...

Vw's Latest Polo has Come of Age

JUST reaching Britain's roads is the latest fifth generation Volkswagen Polo - bigger, safer, more refined and more comfortable than ever before - it has truly come of age, writes Chris Adamson. Having emerged from its adolescent years Polo has also grown-up inside, the larger cabin - thanks in part to the increased wheelbase - is presented in a simple yet effective layout all furnished with nice quality soft-touch plastics and clear, functional controls and white backlit instrumentation.

Soul Can Turn a Few Heads

OU either love it, or hate it, writes John Powell. YThe Kia Soul seemed to garner a host of widely varying responses when I drove it the other day. Fair enough, it does have a distinctive look, which may well put a lot of people off, but, of course, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Taking the Pain Out of Downsizing

DOWNSIZING to save money, pay less tax and drive a cleaner car is a way of life for many people, writes David Miles. But most drivers taking this route don't want to be seen to be moving away from owning a premium brand car. Manufacturers of premium models know this and their response is to offer less costly, smaller cars which are still well equipped and have smaller fuel efficient engines - but also the desirable badge. In many cases these cost effective new models still offer a relatively ...

Choice Is Grand for Car Buyers

CHOICE. It's something we all demand more of these days and car makers are among those who are happy to provide it, writes Maurice Hardy. Go back a few decades and car ranges were fairly limited. You either bought a saloon or estate and there was no such thing as a 4x4 SUV or peoplSe carrier. In the 60s, though, it all started to swing into place. The Renault 16 was among the first of the really adaptable cars making a hatchback widely available although the honour of being the first of the f...