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

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

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

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

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

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