Now, you may be wondering exactly what the point of such a car is? The core of the Ford Focus Active’s appeal is greater ride height, which offers a notably smoother ride on Britain’s ruined roads. The seats are also positioned further off the ground than they are in a regular Focus, but lower than...

Is there a better looking hatchback (or affordable saloon) out there than the latest Mazda 3? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, of course, but we're utterly convinced it's easily as desirable as premium brand rivals such as the BMW 1 Series , Audi A3 and Mercedes-Benz A-Class .  The 3's...

The fact is, there’s also plenty to like for those who aren’t quite so long-of-tooth. The styling might be fussy in places, but we like the fact that it looks like nothing else in the class, especially when that class is packed full of such conservative-looking machines. One of the biggest boots...

While the Volkswagen Golf, Ford Focus and Vauxhall Astra are the obvious choices in a crowded segment, the Mazda 3 is the best of the rest. What makes it so good? We’ll start with the styling, which looks chiselled and honed to within an inch of perfection, particularly following the facelift at...

MINI has been very good at filling niches, even ones we never knew existed until it launched a model. It’s surprising, then, this company took as long to offer a five-door version of the popular hatch. Amazingly, it took until 2014 for the five-door hatch to arrive, some 13 years after the first of...

MINI may have launched numerous versions of its style-driven small car , but it’s the three-door hatch that remains at the core of all it does. Launched in 2014 and revised in 2018, it’s the standard bearer in the supermini class for fun driving, cabin appeal and a spread of options that leaves its...