Tim Saunders

Mazda 2 road test

Who Stole My House? is a great children’s book that my little daughter and I enjoy reading together. It tells the story of a snail who takes off their shell to have a bath and then forgets where they’ve left it. A common problem, you can imagine.

Skoda Citigo road test

The Skoda Citigo arrives after I reluctantly return a Maserati GranTurismo and a Volvo XC90. Driving two cars in one week is tough in terms of writing about them, which is not for the faint-hearted, I can tell you.

The new ‘Killer Shark’ Automatic Watch

American surfers Corey Lopez, Sage Erickson and Luke Davis and stylish wakeboarder Melissa Marquardt have all come into contact with Sharks. Thankfully we’re not talking about real man eaters but a watch of the same name that stands out from the crowd in much the same way as its namesake.

Volvo XC90 road test

The Volvo XC90 is Sweden’s answer to the BMW X5.

Maserati GTS road test

If Bentley and Maserati can experience double digit growth during recession, just imagine what could be achieved during more affluent times. Well, there’s good news because according to the Office for National Statistics, the double dip recession is over in the UK after GDP hit one per cent in the third quarter. Yes a whole percentage point folks; that will make the swelling ranks of the unemployed feel better then.

Loctite’s rear view mirror bonder

The rear view mirror in my wife's Fiat Punto suddenly fell off and there were a plethora of choices that could repair it.

Toyota GT86 road test

The Nissan 370Z and Audi TT are dead. Long live the Toyota GT86.

Watch review

Diving watches have long been the preserve of the wealthy man.

Handheld cordless vacuum cleaner review

My old terrace house doesn’t have a driveway. That does make being a motoring journalist a little tricky but fortunately there are nearby car parks. The trouble is that when the interiors of my wife’s Fiat Punto or my Ford Fiesta get dirty we either have to park on the road outside our house, plug the vacuum in and clean or we go to Caroline’s parents’ house, which has a driveway.

Toyota Yaris Hybrid road test

The British are passionate about queues, according to research from Onepoll.com.

Vauxhall Astra road test

“Doesn’t the Astra look similar to the Mazda 3?” questions a car-loving work colleague looking down on the two vehicles from a top floor window.

Honda CR-Z road test

Travel over three-hundred-and-fifty miles in style, on just 40 litres of petrol, while being environmentally friendly. That’s the offering from Honda with its sleek, aerodynamic Honda CR-Z hybrid coupe where the road tax is just £20 a year because of its low emissions. But there’s a drawback, if you want reasonable efficiency, you have to be really light-footed. That said travelling at 50mph for a straight 30-mile stretch still seems to use as much fuel as slowly hauling it up to 70mph over the same distance, according to my interpretation of the digital reading.

Choosing the right car seat is difficult

My wife and I know because it is only now that 19-month-old daughter Harriett has her third one, that we are finally satisfied. When she was born we had a Mothercare model, which didn’t offer the padding and support that we hoped, although it was easy to manoeuvre and slotted to the accompanying pushchair with ease. But this model was recalled as it was not fire safe. The replacement Britax model was a disaster. With a mix of Chinese instructions and no useful advice we quickly became disillusioned with it. Harriett was uncomfortable and the height of the straps, which couldn’t be adjusted, were too low for her despite it being for babies up to 13kg. Harriett was only 9kg.

New Forest holiday

“Is that you, Tim?” asks a former work colleague as my wife, baby daughter and I trek through the New Forest on a sunny autumn day. It’s a surreal situation because we’re in the middle of nowhere and not expecting to see anyone when we bump into Debbie and her husband, sub-editor and photographer respectively. The last time we saw each other was over two years ago during my time as Business and Motoring Editor at the Bournemouth Echo. That’s what I love about holidays, the unexpected.

The increasingly popular Peugeot Bipper is keenly priced and efficient

Van Diesel is plastered across a local Ford Transit owned by Virgin Broadband. It always raises a smile and springs to mind as I take delivery of the Peugeot Bipper Professional, the compact city van. This is the first van I have driven and on entering you can’t help noticing that it feels rather hollow inside. In fact if you shout there’s almost an echo due to its capacious rear. The next noticeable difference to a car is the fact that there is no rear view mirror and the distinct absence of a rear window, instead there are two rear doors as you can see from the video at testdrives.biz. These are obviously for easy loading as is the helpful sliding side door. You have to rely on your mirrors, making me particularly apprehensive when reversing or pulling out to overtake. I now realise that I should be more forgiving of those van drivers, who I have previously thought, pulled out without looking.

This week’s road test

What kind of vehicle does an ardent clubber or festival-goer drive?

Peugeot 208 road test

For this week’s road test we visit tranquil and picturesque Brittany en France.

Citroen Berlingo road test

When I was young I lusted after the Matra Rancho (1977 to 1984), probably the first leisure activity vehicle, inspired by Range Rover – Kim Basinger came later for me.

Our family holiday in Brittany

France is only a few hours from the UK and therefore it makes an ideal destination for a family holiday. Rather than fly, our choice is a more leisurely Brittany Ferries crossing from Portsmouth to St Malo. The en-suite cabin for the 12-hour overnight journey is large enough to accommodate 19-month old Harriett’s travel cot. She sleeps well. We arrive at St Malo where its cobbled streets and alleyways are welcoming. Harriett enjoys leaping up and down any steps she finds. The busy and historic fishing port is on the Emerald Coast with its 1,200km of coastline. Famous for pancakes and galettes (French cakes), St Malo has been restored after nearly being destroyed in the Blitz.

Buying Intec just got easier in Canada

Genuine Supply Source Inc. (GSS) has become the exclusive Intec distributor for Canada. This means that end users from British Columbia to Alberta, can now purchase any of the full line of Intec printing solutions and consumables quickly and easily. GSS now plans to establish a network of Intec authorised dealers throughout Canada, with products being distributed from its headquarters in Mississauga, Ontario.