Ferrari 458 Italia scoops Autovisie's annual "Supertest" competition

The Ferrari 458 Italia has just been announced as the winner of Autovisie’s annual “Supertest”. Autovisie is the leading Dutch car magazine’s traditional end of year group test designed to find the best driver’s car of the year.

This demanding supercar test included timed laps of the Folembray circuit in the North of France, with the Ferrari 458 Italia recording the fastest lap time in the hands of an experienced Dutch racing driver, Peter Kox.

According to the magazine: “The Ferrari 458 Italia excelled on the circuit. And on the public road, the car surprised with the ease with which its enormous speed potential can be used.”

Since its launch the Ferrari 458 Italia has won more than 35 international awards, the most recent of which include Motor Trend’s ‘2011 Best Driver’s Car’, Auto Motor und Sport ‘Best Sports Car’, and ‘World Performance Car of the Year 2011’. In addition the superb 4.5-litre V8 engine powering the 458 Italia was awarded ‘Best Performance Engine’ and ‘Best Engine over 4 litres’ during the prestigious 2011 International Engine of the Year Awards.

Jeep Grand Cherokee

The new Jeep Grand Cherokee has just won the top award from Total 4X4 magazine, having been crowned 4X4 of the Year. The latest four-wheel drive Grand Cherokee has more than 30 international accolades and is one of the most highly decorated 4X4′s ever. The Jeep Grand Cherokee is powered by a 2,987cc V6 turbo diesel engine and is packed with an impressive standard options list and more refinement than ever before.

Alan Kidd, editor of Total 4X4 magazine, said,”It’s good value by the standards of its competitors. And there’s little at this price that does such a good job of combining comfort, equipment, dynamic prowess and relevant technology. There have been four Grand Cherokees over the years and each one has improved on the last. But this time the step up has been off the scale. It’s a worthy winner”. The Grand Cherokee also won the Awards’ Off-Roader category and we have Jeep contract hire prices on the site now.

Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

The Mercedes-Benz Sprinter has just been voted Best Large Panel Van for the fourth year running at the Fleet Van Awards 2011. Trevor Gelken, editor of Fleet Van, said,”The judges felt (apart from the VW Crafter which comes off the same line as the Sprinter) no other van came close to the Sprinter in terms of build quality, technology, reliability and sheer good driving experience”.

The Fleet Van Awards are judged by a number of industry experts including George Alexander, Editor of Glass’s Guide to Commercial Vehicles, Alastair Houston, Regional Manager of Northgate Vehicle Hire and Stephen Briers from Fleet News.

Steve Bridge, Van Sales and Marketing Director for Mercedes-Benz UK, said,”We are thrilled to have received such a fantastic accolade for our trusty and reliable Sprinter van. To win any award once is a great achievement, but to win the Fleet Van Large Panel Van award for four consecutive years is truly an outstanding triumph”. Mercedes-Benz contract hire on the Sprinter range is on the site now.

Volkswagen up!

The new Volkswagen up! city car has just been voted Small Car of the Year by Top Gear magazine, the UK’s best-selling motoring title. The award was voted by the staff at Top Gear and the BBC’s popular tv show with the judges saying,”It is the cleverest small car around today, the city car we know VW was capable of producing, the distilled essence of Volkswagen“. The Volkswagen up! starts from £7,995 with the new 1.0-litre 60 PS entry level model, Take up!, with Volkswagen contract hire prices on the site now.

Chris Craft, Director of Volkswagen, said,”The up! is a hugely important car for Volkswagen which will appeal to a wide range of customers. Technological innovations, value for money and the highest quality standards make this a genuine small Volkswagen rather than just another small car”.

Volkswagen Golf BlueMotion

The Volkswagen Golf BlueMotion has just added another green award to its bulging trophy cabinet having been named as Green Vehicle of the Year at the 2011 AFCO Fleet Awards last week. ACFO (Association of Car Fleet Operators) is the UK’s largest body representing UK businesses which run fleets of cars or commercial vehicles.

The Volkswagen Golf BlueMotion offers a combined fuel economy of 74.3mpg and emits just 99g/km of CO2 and this award comes shortly after What Car? named the BlueMotion “small green family car” and Auto Express gave the car its Green Award honour.

The Volkswagen Passat and Golf models were also shortlisted for the ACFO Fleet Car of Year award and the Volkswagen Caddy was nominated in the Small Van of the Year category. Volkswagen contract hire is on the site now for all models.

Nissan LEAF

The Nissan LEAF five-door hatchback has been awarded the title of “Electric Vehicle of the Year” at the 2011 GreenFleet Awards, sponsored by EDF Energy. The Nissan LEAF was judged the best performing electric vehicle in its class and comes with climate control, satellite navigation, rear-view parking camera, a quick charge socket and smart-phone connectivity.

Colin Boynton, GreenFleet Marketing Manager, said,”With the five-door practicality, a generous boot, a high level of spec, and most importantly, a 110 mile range, the Nissan LEAF is the resounding choice this year. Add to that the take-up in fleets, from all over the UK, and it certainly means the LEAF is now the market leader, and will continue to make in-roads into fleets looking to embrace EV technology”.

We currently have Nissan LEAF car leasing on the site from £319.81+VAT on a 4-year deal, 6+47 rental profile, non-maintained lease and at 10,000 miles per annum. Other terms are available if you prefer a shorter duration, or higher mileage, by re-quoting off our vehicle lease quote engines.

Fiat 500 TwinAir

The Fiat 500 TwinAir has just won the 2011 GreenFleet Awards City Car Manufacturer of the Year. The TwinAir range has a sporty and assertive appearance but with its 0.9-litre engine unit, it offers superb CO2 emissions of just 95g/km, a combined mpg performance of 68.9 and has a 0-62mph time of 11 seconds.

The car has black alloy wheels, burnished metal effects on the dashboard and front and rear mouldings, spoiler, chrome exhaust pipe and sports seats, plus this two-cylinder car continues to scoop the industry’s top awards as it is the current International Engine of the Year too.

Colin Boynton, GreenFleet Marketing Manager, said,”Although a closely fought category again this year, the Fiat 500 TwinAir, with its low consumption, two-cylinder, clean petrol engine, was the resounding choice for the City Car Manufacturer of the Year Award. Even though it is already an extremely popular choice out there, I know we will be seeing many more take to the roads over the next year, as businesses look for a maximum return on their fleet investment. Well done Fiat, worthy winners”.

If you are interested in Fiat 500 TwinAir car leasing UK then we have the full range on the site now.

Top Safety Pick

A new study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) in America has found that Subaru vehicles are among the safest on the road. 

The insurance backed organisation conducted a series of stringent frontal, side, rear and rollover crash tests on a wide variety of vehicles and found that Subaru was the only manufacturer to receive enough points to be awarded its “Top Safety Pick” award for every car model it entered. Subaru outperformed other contenders from the likes of Audi, Honda, Ford, Volkswagen and Volvo.

Subaru’s five IIHS Top Safety Pick awards came in four different categories as follows;

- The new Legacy and Outback were recognised in the Midsize car group.

- The Imprezza was picked for the Small car category.

- The Forester was awarded the small SUV section.

- Finally the Tribeca was awarded the Midsize SUV class.

Subaru car leasing prices on all the range are available off the site now.

Zoe Burton

The Ford WISE (Women Into Science and Engineering) prize has been awarded to engineering student, Zoe Burton. This annual award recognises women who are studying engineering and is intended to promote engineering as a career. Zoe received her £1,000 prize from HRH Princess Anne at the WISE award ceremony in London.

Zoe Burton said, “To win the Ford WISE prize was such a wonderful surprise. I am passionate about engineering, and to have my enthusiasm recognised in the form of such a prestigious award was a huge honour for me”.

Luis Cilimingras

The data can then be downloaded via a USB stick and plugged into your computer. Anaylsis is then provided to help improve your driving performance with recommendations for CO2 and fuel consumption efficiencies. Luis Cilimingras, who is responsible for the Fiat eco:Drive project collected the award having travelled especially from Italy.

He said,”I am very happy to accept this award on behalf of Fiat. eco:Drive has won many honours since its launch a year ago but, until now, they were mostly for innovation or marketing. The Green Apple accolade is much more fulfilling, since it gives recognition of the work we have done for the environment”.