City Emergency Braking on the up!

The Volkswagen up! is not even on UK roads yet, but it has just been awarded the title of What Car? Car of the Year 2012, as well as Best City Car, at the What Car? Awards.

Volkswagen had a successful night at the motor industry’s annual ‘Oscars’, which was held at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London. The Golf was voted the top Small Family Car category for the sixth time overall and fourth consecutive year, and Volkswagen also won the coveted Safety Award.

Commenting on the awards, What Car? editor-in-chief Chas Hallett said: ‘The Volkswagen up! sets new standards for a car at £10,000.  It’s a city car that can seat four adults, while offering new levels of refinement, quality and maturity at this price; none of its rivals feels quite so grown-up.  Buyers will be looking for even more for their money than ever in 2012, so the up! is a worthy winner of the What Car? Car of the Year.’

Meanwhile the Safety Award was in large part the result of the availability of Volkswagen’s new City Emergency Braking system on the up!.  The What Car? judges were impressed by this particular example of ‘big car’ technology filtering down to a smaller model and the system uses sensors to scan the space ahead. It then applies the brakes automatically if it detects that the car is about to hit an object in front. 

Director of Volkswagen UK, Chris Craft, said: ‘We are absolutely delighted with the awards we have received from What Car? this year.  The magazine continues to be one of the most thorough and important sources of new car buying information for UK customers and winning the overall Car of the Year accolade gives our new city car, the up!, the best introduction to the UK market that we could have hoped for”.

First models should arrive in UK showrooms in March and Volkswagen contract hire on the up! range is on the site now.

The full list of category winners at the What Car? Awards 2012 is below.

BMW X3 new models

BMW has just added two new more powerful models to the BMW X3 range following the successful launch of the BMW X3 xDrive20d back in 2010. The two new models are the xDrive30d and xDrive35d which offer a much higher specification with greater power and performance.

Standard specification includes metallic paint, eight-speed automatic gearbox and Dynamics Stability Control with “extended features”. The DSC system extended features offers brake drying, brake fade compensation, brake pre-tensioning and hill-start assistant.

If you opt for the X3 xDrive SE model you also benefit from 18-inch V-spoke light alloy wheels, Sport leather steering wheel, while the MSport adds Sport automatic transmission with M Leather steering wheel with gearshift paddles.

Performance as you would expect from BMW is superb with the flagship xDrive35d producing 313hp, a 0-62mph time of just 5.8 seconds yet still, thanks to BMW’s EfficientDynamics technology, offering you 46.3 combined mpg. CO2 emissions are 162g/km so if you are looking to get under the 160g/km tax threshold the BMW X3 xDrive30d may be a better option with Co2 emissions of 159g/km. BMW contract hire on the new models are on the site now.

Overview of the models 

BMW X3 diesel

A TRACKER system fitted to a BMW X3 stolen from an address in Staines, allowed Thames Valley Police to recover four vehicles in total from an address in Buckinghamshire. TRACKER is the UK market leader in stolen vehicle recovery using VHF and GPS technology to pin-point a stolen vehicle, even if it is hidden in a container or a lock-up.

Adrian Davenport, Police Liaison Manager, South of England and Wales for TRACKER said,”This is a fantastic result and illustrates the power of TRACKER’s relationship with police forces across the UK. With the TRACKER device, none of these vehicles may have been found and the gang of thieves could still be operating”.

If you drive a performance sports car or indeed any vehicle that is likely to be stolen, i.e. Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz,  it may well be worth considering fitting a TRACKER system, as some car insurance companies will actually reduce their premiums as well, knowing the car is likely to be recovered quite easily.

New BMW X1

BMW started a new segment ten years ago when they launched the X5, which has had critical acclaim worldwide with over 1.5 million units sold. BMW X3 and the BMW X6 then followed and now BMW is introducing a new model called the BMW X1.

Key styling has been taken from the X5 but the concept of a sports activity vehicle is now available in a much smaller and affordable package. Power comes from a choice of three diesel engines and for the first time on a BMW you also have the option of rear-wheel drive (sDrive) or four-wheel drive (xDrive).

The new range – key data

Most BMW X1′s come standard with a six-speed manual gearbox however the xDrive2.3d SE has a six-speed Sport automatic gearbox with gear change paddles on the steering wheel. Apart from the xDrive23d SE, all the models in the range sit nicely under the new tax threshold of CO2 emissions of160g/km. Fuel economy looks good with combined mpg ranging from 44.8 to 54.3 depending on which model you choose. 

As you would expect from BMW, all models have the highly recommended BMW EfficientDynamics technology incorporated into the package and for the first time on an X product, Auto Start-Stop has also been introduced (manual cars only). The rest of efficiency attributes include Brake Energy Regeneration, optimised aerodynamics, optimum shift indicator and on-demand use of ancillary units to name just a few.

New BMW X1

The styling of the new BMW X1 is sleek, stylish, sporting and practical and the profile of the car doesn’t do justice to the space inside, which comfortably seats five adults plus luggage. All the main controls and dashboard display inside the car are angled towards the driver, another nice touch. You also gets loads of storage space with large door pockets, trays and other storage areas to keep your personal effects.

The BMW X1 goes on sale in the UK on the 24th October 2009 however the sDrive18d and xDrive1.8d variants will not be out until December. Full BMW car leasing pricing is currently available on all other makes and models.