Tim Saunders

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.

Honda Civic road test

Over the past few years car manufacturers have tried to re-invent the handbrake. Step inside a Rolls Royce, Bentley, Jaguar, Range Rover or Renault and you’ll find that it has been replaced by a simple switch. This is all very well if the vehicle is automatic as these have a helpful anti-roll feature. The difficulty is when they’re manual – they should all have anti-roll but it doesn’t always seem effective - requiring nifty foot work of the clutch and accelerator. Hence, I still prefer the traditional handbrake that can be found in Skodas and Hondas.

Skoda Fabia Greenline

A friend of mine reckons all cars are the same these days and that they don’t have the character of the old ones. While he might be right in terms of the classic look, feel and sound there are so many more choices available now from hatchback to estate, electric to diesel. Most budgets are catered for, too. Although some might argue driving is still a rich person’s pursuit. Today’s manufacturers take the environment into consideration, too. None more so than Skoda with its Fabia Greenline II estate. Under £15,000 brand new this small five-door vehicle will easily transport five adults and their luggage. Nothing ground-breaking about that. But it returns 83mpg (combined) and produces just 89 g/km CO2 so there’s no road tax to pay. In fact it is the most frugal Skoda ever with reports that it is capable of travelling more than 1,200 miles on a single 45 litre tank of diesel. To be precise 1,246 miles for no more than £65.

Peuegot 207cc

Driving the Peugeot 207CC with the metal roof down has re-introduced me to aromas of the past. I wasn’t expecting it but memories of my late grandma came flooding back as I drove through the New Forest in Hampshire. Although I love plants and flowers I couldn’t tell you what scents tickled my nostrils but I hadn’t smelt them for almost 30 years when my gran used to do her flower arranging. There are so many unusual fragrances early in the morning when the world is waking up and you only really notice them when walking or the next best thing, driving with the top down.

BMW Active Hybrid 5 road test

For the past decade or so Toyota and Honda have reigned supreme in the world of the hybrid. But are they set to be toppled now that the luxury market has finally embraced this technology? There are now offerings from Audi, Mercedes and BMW. Fresh from its sponsorship of the London Olympics 2012 BMW has entrusted me with its Active Hybrid 5; a 5-series with a 3-litre straight six turbo petrol engine coupled to a 54hp electric motor.

Renault Megane road test

I’ve never really been a fan of white cars because they look bland and quickly get dirty. But when I took delivery of the Renault Mégane Hatch GT Line finished in striking glacier white, I was swayed. On driving the five-door hatchback other motorists keep a respectful distance. And then the penny drops, they must think it is a police car and perhaps because I am wearing a blue shirt, it makes them think twice. It really is strange though, no undertaking, cutting me up or taking me on in the way that many motorists love to do when they see a new car on the road.

TV’s Vicki Butler-Henderson teaches Canada Free Press motoring journalist to drive correctly

Fifth Gear’s Vicki Butler-Henderson has taught Canada Free Press motoring journalist Tim Saunders how to drive properly. Tim participated in a YouDrive@Porsche event at Silverstone where Vicki Butler-Henderson, a Porsche driving consultant, ran the theory session alongside chief Porsche driving consultant Gordon Robertson.