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After spending the weekend with the Aston Martin Rapide I can safely say that nearly everybody who either looked at it or rode in it summed it up in one word: amazing.

From the boy in the service station who wouldn’t move until I started it up, to my neighbour who went a little bit quiet as the Rapide made a familiar piece of road suddenly seem much shorter, to my niece who actually took it one stage further by proclaiming it, as only girls of a certain age can, as “ay-may-zen”, the Aston Martin Rapide appears to have more than its share of admirers.
 
Audi A6 27/04/2011
 
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The new Audi A6 saloon is lighter, greener and more tech-heavy than ever.

The mini-A8 styling is more evolutionary than revolutionary, but underneath the skin are some key changes.
Initially the A6 comes with a choice of four engines: a range-topping 3.0-litre petrol lump and three TDI units.

And because all new A6 engines are linked to efficiency-enhancing systems like start-stop and energy recovery the average consumption across the range has been dropped by 13 per cent. Importantly the A6 has also undergone a serious weight loss programme by adopting a composite steel-aluminium construction.
 
Lexus CT200h 18/04/2011
 
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With the catnip figure of 94g/km CO2 expect company car buyers to cock a snook at the mainstream market and plunge for the new premium compact from Lexus, but can the CT200h take on the BMW 118d and Audi A3 diesel?

Never before has the luxury arm of Toyota launched a car so small and so un-Lexus-like, but perhaps never before has it launched a car quite as important as the CT200h, for the hybrid hatchback has the potential to expand the brand to a whole new group of people.

Every 12 months the Toyota group loses 10 per cent of its customers to a premium brand, but only 10 per cent buy a Lexus. However, more than a third of those same people buy a car the size of a CT200h - in other words, a BMW 1-Series or an Audi A3.
 
Infiniti FX30d 16/04/2011
 
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It must be that time of year when every energy company known to man sends an 18-year-old in a suit around to my house in a desperate attempt to make me switch suppliers. One company even offered me a free football shirt for my trouble.

Goodness me those lads - who've obviously been sent on 'Close that Deal' selling courses by Americans in white suits - must live a lonely existence if, as I suspect, everyone is like me and slams the door shut in their face and says "no thanks".

The job must be hell. We all know the biggest problem with asking a girl out is that she might say no. Well, that is how I imagine it must be like being a door-to-door a salesman, being rejected 30 or 40 times every single day.

 
 
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I have been driving the great Renaultsport Clio 200 complete with a genuine designer label attached.

The question is, does this already brilliant little hot hatch really need the Gordini treatment (and the inevitable higher price tag)?

Walk into any Renault dealer with £16,810 in your pocket and you will leave a very happy person should you opt for a Clio 200 Cup.

Deliriously happy in fact because the Renaultsport Clio 200 is a fabulous car that offers endless amounts of grip, no torque steer and sack loads of fun. But to have this same car with the Gordini styling will cost you an extra £2,940
 
Ford Focus 08/02/2011
 
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Until recently the most popular car in the UK, the Ford Focus is about to become a truly global car.

The latest model due in showrooms in March will share up to 80% of its components with Focus models in all 120 markets it will be sold in globally, and it will be built in six factories.

Its platform will eventually be used for 10 different products, with the Ford C-Max and Grand C-Max already on sale. This leads to useful economies of scale, so the Focus arrives better equipped than before and with a huge range of new technology available.
 
Peugeot 508 07/02/2011
 
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A few years ago you could be forgiven for wondering where the classical elegance of Peugeot's Pininfarina-styled models had disappeared to.

The well-proportioned 406 was replaced by the nose-heavy 407, almost a Gerald Scarfe caricature of what a Peugeot should look like.

But more recently these styling excesses have been toned down, with models like the 5008 and RCZ signifying a more subtle look.

The latest new model is the 508, which is due in showrooms in April 2011 in both saloon and SW estate body styles.
 
 
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Tell your friends you have driven an Infiniti and you're likely to get the same response should you mention Accrington 'Who are they?' Stanley.

The name might not ring too many bells on these shores, but Nissan's luxury-arm is already established in the US and having driven the G37 Cabrio I predict we will soon share our friends-from-across-the-pond's admiration for Infiniti.

You won't see to many Infinitis on the roads just yet as there is only a handful of sales centres in the UK - the nearest to Wales being Birmingham - but it is a quality brand that is aiming to eat into the sales of BMW, Audi and Mercedes.
 
 
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This week I had to make the five hour trip from Cardiff in South Wales to Llandudno in North Wales.

A pretty horrible journey to make on a Friday night you might think? Not when you're in a BMW 530d Touring.

The 530d's 3.0-litre six-cylinder diesel engine allowed the journey to be done at effortless pace, while the hugely impressive interior design ensured the journey was a comfortable as sitting in my front room at home with my slippers on.

 
 
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Is it a coupé? Is it a saloon? Is it an estate? Umm, actually it’s a hatchback but Audi claims its new executive express features the best bits of all the above.

Last week I spent a couple of days in southern Spain testing out the new Audi which the German manufacturer describes as a three-in-one; the character of a coupé, the comfort of an executive saloon and the practicality of an estate.

A pretty big claim to make you might think? Yes it is, but truth be told it’s actually a pretty accurate one.