A supple, stylish performer for the school run

Why spend £60k on a luxury car when this is half the price?

Bigger engine, more power. Right? Wrong. A new generation of compact petrol engines could transform the car industry, and help the environment, too

Price: £17,945

Power output: 123bhp @ 6000rpm

Torque: 125lb ft @ 1500-4500 rpm

Top speed: 120mph

0-62 mph: 11.3sec

Economy (mpg): 56.5

CO2 emissions (g/km): 114

Citroën surprises with a car worthy of Côte d'Azur glitz

Clarkson, Hammond and May regularly mock the Kia Cee'd for the oddly placed apostrophe in its name, but now Vauxhall is setting itself up for a Top Gear rubbishing with its new supermini.

Computer games are no stranger to controversy, but the release of Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 must surely take the vilest of poor-taste awards.

In the 1960s a young Twiggy joined Mary Quant, Peter Sellers and The Beatles in picking the modest Mini as her car of choice to cut across swinging London. Today's young stars don't quite seem to have grasped the concept of stealth wealth. So as the typical 18-year-old gets to work in a battered-old Corsa, teen idol Justin Bieber, One Direction's Harry Styles and snooker player Judd Trump and are all bombing around in £100k-plus supercars.

Who knew they made spaceships in Swindon?

A soft-top that's swift enough for British weather