No fewer than 27 vehicles were members of our long-term test fleet this year, ranging from people-carrying vans to performance machinery and saloons to SUVs. Which of them left the greatest impressions on our testers?
No prizes for guessing the biggest flaw of the BMW M440i Coupé: its front grille. Of course it’s the grille. “It’s not yet clear how long it will take before a new 4 Series owner can have a conversation about the car without that subject eventually cropping up,” said deputy digital editor Tom Morgan-Freelander. “Clearly it’s longer than the car was under our stewardship, as we were sick of people bringing it up. Still, you can’t see it from behind the wheel.
The thoroughly pleasant Mazda MX-30 had a slightly more practical problem. “It has a rubbish range and doesn’t really do it as a driver’s car,” said road test editor Matt Saunders. “But it just looks and feels appealingly different.”Highly commendedThere’s a cliché that motoring hacks spend their time telling people to splash out on really expensive cars, but when it comes to parting with their own cash, they will just buy the cheapest car they can find – and, well, apparently it’s true.
The Toyota GR Yaris put up a predictably strong showing in this category, with Frankel’s considered reasoning that “well, you would, wouldn’t you?” More of a surprise was the strong showing for the Ford Tourneo Custom but, as Prior noted, the super- spacious plug-in hybrid van-based MPV is “impossibly practical”.WinnerRather predictably, this was a two- way fight between the Toyota GR Yaris and the Porsche 718 Boxster GTS, with everyone’s favourite new four-wheel-drive hot hatch narrowly stealing the glory. Ward picked the GR Yaris, saying: “It deserves the crown just on the basis that it exists at all. Toyota ought to be applauded.
Conversely, Prior ran the GR Yaris but actually voted for the Boxster “by dint of it having a roof that comes off and a six-cylinder engine”. He noted that the GR Yaris was “the only other serious contender, but the Porsche would make sunny Sunday mornings more special”.
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