The knowledge

RATINGS = Thrill-free zone = Tepid = Interesting = Seriously good = A truly great car = new entry this month. Cars in italics are no longer on sale. Issue no. is for our most recent major test of the

FIAT GRANDE PANDA PRICE: £20,975–£23,975 The Panda was distinctly endangered for a while there (though you can still buy the old petrol one in Italy), but it’s been given a new lease of life with an e

Autocar’s history of empirical road testing is the longest in the world. For more than a century, we have been verifying, scrutinising, describing and illustrating new cars in unparalleled detail. Dri

Price new: £32,140 Price used: From £14,000 Engine: 2.0-litre turbo petrol Gearbox: Seven-speed auto Power/torque: 296bhp/400Nm 0-60mph: 5.7 seconds Top speed: 155mph IF one hot hatch literally flies

SMART’S DESIGN TEAM DID A grand job, outside and within the astonishingly roomy, well kitted and well finished cabin. It rides really softly too, a passenger might think it’s a luxury car. The driver

PERHAPS THERE’S SOMETHING IN THE water at Ingolstadt. In Mary Shelley’s original Frankenstein novel, it’s there that Victor creates his monster through a mysterious mixture of chemistry and alchemy. A