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BMW 330e M SPORT
Price £39,860 Price as tested £49,300
Faults None Expenses None
Economy 74.9mpg Last seen 1.4.20
VOLVO S60 T5 INSCRIPTION
Price £39,185 Price as tested £46,940 Faults None
Expenses None Economy 30.7mpg Last seen 1.4.20
TOYOTA COROLLA EXCEL 2.0 HYBRID
Price £29,075 Price as tested £29,870 Faults None
Expenses None Economy 46.8mpg Last seen 25.3.20
TEST DATA
TEST DATA TEST DATA
8 APRIL 2 020 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 63
VAUXHALL CORSA 1.2
TURBO ULTIMATE AUTO
Price £25,990 Price as tested £26,640
Faults None Expenses None
Economy 44.7mpg Last seen 25.3.20
TEST DATA
`
The distraction must
be as great as talking
on a phone: why didn’t
they think of that?
a
BMW 330 e
Toyota Corolla Volvo S 60
Our 3 Series is proving both environmentally and driver friendly
MILEAGE 5102
WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT
Plug-in 330e will overtake 320d as
the biggest-selling 3 Series, but can it
match the diesel’s all-round appeal?
hile SUVs may seem
to be taking over theworld, when you look
at the sales charts and
the traffic on our roads, the BMW
3 Series is still showing just how
important and relevant saloon
cars are. As I’m discovering after
recent extended stints in many
an SUV, driving a saloon makes
you feel so much more involved
in the drive. There’s something
about sitting low with your bum
on the f loor and having your legs
near-horizontal that allows you
to become really immersed in
the experience. Things just come
easily and with an air of familiarity.
A nd no s a lo on do e s it b e t t e r t h a n
the 3 Series, whether it’s this plug-in
hybrid 330e or any other version.
BMW now offers far more
SU Vs t h a n it do e s s a lo on s , but t he
relevance and significance of the
3 S e r ie s i s a s s t r on g a s e v e r. “A t y pic a l
3 S e r ie s y e a r i n t he U K i s 3 5 , 0 0 0
units, and volumes have stayed stable
e v e n a s t he X 3 a nd X4 h av e r i s e n ,”says BMW UK’s James Thompson,
the product manager for all models
with a 3 or 4 in their name. “The
3 Series is as important as ever,
Interesting spot while poring through February’s UK
new car sales data: while overall year-on-year sales were
dow n 2 .9% , t he 3 470 c a r s Toy ot a s old du r i n g t he mont h
w a s a w hoppi n g 47.7 1% up on Fe br u a r y 2 018 (2 5 32).
What changed? Well, there’s a silver clue in the picture
below: the revived Corolla went on sale in March last
year and sales of it largely accounted for that increase.
It ’s n ic e t o s e e Toy ot a’s s t r on g de v e lopme nt w ork on t he
British-built car rewarded. JA
We’ve become so used
to Volvo’s sleek design
l a n g u a ge t h at it c ome s
as a bit of a shock when
you’re confronted with
its earlier Etch-a-Sketch
e f for t s , s uc h a s t h i s
near 25-year-old V70.
Yet while the Swedish
firm’s approach to style
has changed massively,
its colour palette clearly
hasn’t. That’s no badthing, because I rather
like the Fusion Red of
our car, and I on the
whole prefer curves
to its predecessor’s
straight edges. One part of the older car I do hanker after
is its five-cylinder engine. Our car’s blown 2.0-litre is a
mightily smooth and effective performer, but a T5 should
really have a properly warbly five-pot soundtrack. JD
W
a nd bu y e r s h av e s t ay e d w it h it .”
For many buyers, it’s not just
the quality of the car that attracts.
The dominance of SUVs is felt mainly
in the private retail sector (which
makes up 43% of new car sales in
the UK) but, in the f leet market
(55% of sales), it’s saloons and other
‘low’ cars that continue to appeal,due to their lower CO 2 rating.
“The corporate world is still
dominated by saloons and estates,
not SUVs,” says Thompson. “The CO 2
is lower and most f leets won’t put you
on t he l i s t i f y ou’r e ov e r 1 30 g / k m .”
The 3 Series sales are split 40% to
retail, 60% to the corporate sector.
While CO 2 rules are changing so
much of the car world as we know
it, they’re also ensuring that such a
well-loved bodystyle as the saloon
can continue to survive and thrive.
MARK TISSHAW
overall fuel consumption isn’t closer
to the 46-47mpg that calmer owners
would get. I’ve seen 50-plus on
jou r ne y s ple nt y of t i me s. I ’m not a
fan of the Economy setting, though.
It just dulls everything – never an
efficient way of delivering, well,
efficiency.
I ’ v e mor e or le s s got u s e d t o t he
knobbly low-speed ride, although
it still sometimes grates. And
my pa s s e n ge r s of t e n not ic e it.
It’s no disaster but rather out of
k i lt e r du r i n g t he s e d ay s of s ub t le
suspension tuning even for cheaper-
end cars. It seems to be generated by
unnecessarily stiff spring rates, at
odds with the more supple Peugeot
208 that’s its blood brother. Still, the
Corsa has very decent steering (best
i n Sp or t , b e c au s e it ’s t he n a sh a de
heavier) and the brakes are powerful.
There’s only one thing I truly
hate. It’s the lane-keeping assistance
s y s t e m , w h ic h at t e mp t s t o t u r n t he
wheel quite strongly in your hands
when it decides, often wrongly,
that you’re off line. It’s infuriating.
Whoever decided these godawful
systems should be mandatory has
surely caused accidents as drivers
(w ho h av e i nv a r i a bl y for got t e n t o
turn the damned thing off before
departure) sense the first unwanted
tug at the steering and scrabble
distractedly around the front of the
centre console to kill the system fast.
The distraction must be as great as
talking on a mobile phone: why
didn’t they think of that?
Don’t get the idea I’m not
enjoying the Corsa; I really am. Its
compactness means it easily fits the
frequently torrid UK motoring scene,
and I never stop being impressed with
how much it does with a 1.2 three-pot
engine. It’s the rougher edges I regret,
unlikely to be found in a Volkswagen
or a Toyota. When PSA brought this
car to market so quickly, I did wonder
whether there would be enough time
for t he r e f i ne me nt ph a s e. T he y d id
95% of a brilliant job and produced a
n ic e c a r, but my e x p e r ie nc e w it h t he
Corsa is showing it wasn’t perfect.
STEVE CROPLEY
Unlike high-riding SUVs
,the 330 e (^) allows you to
drive close to the road
MILEAGE 6290 MILEAGE 4543