BMW USED CARS

Facts and figures. The dull but
impressive conversation-killers that completely define this latest Toyota Prius
are nevertheless very appealing to your inner nerd. The most important two you
need to know are that it will now manage 72.4mpg and splutter out a mere 89g/km
of CO2. Or 70.6mpg and 92g/km in top-spec T Spirit models
on account of the bigger, 17-inch wheels. Even more impressively, the former
figures stay exactly the same on the urban cycle thanks to the electric hybrid
system.

If you like your hot hatches slippery rather than secure, the JCW
convertible might be the most entertaining little car on sale today. Yes, the
most powerful Mini cabrio ever is quick - 6.9 to 60mph is proper hot hatch pace
- but it's more the way the JCW handles itself on the road... or, rather, fails
to handle itself.

This is a hot cabrio from the old school: bury the throttle and feel the
front wheels squirm and wriggle as 210bhp ambitiously tries - and fails - to
plant itself on the road. It maintains something of a tenuous relationship with
grip, the JCW, leaving you twirling the wheel with reckless abandon and feeling
like a mildly camp driving hero.

Time to be blunt: the
Mini Convertible is possibly the best of the breed. OK, so the breed is a bit
marginal if you're talking hatch-based cuteness that has some semblance of
driver appeal - but the revised version of the Cooper S has a great many
talents all wrapped up in the kind of bizarrely fluffy image that usually peers
out from convivially placed Wellington boots.

The sprint takes seven
and a bit, the top speed is the thick end of 130mph and even though the version
II Convertible is still some 100kg heavier than its coupe brother, it still
steers, stops and goes with the kind of terrier-like verve that we've all come
to know and love.

You've got to admire Aston Martin's balls. It
builds the DBS and only makes a manual gearbox available at the launch, yet all
the key players in this market offer at least an
automated manual. Imagine a Ferrari being launched without
the fabled F1 'box. Plus, Aston DB9 sales have been 90 per cent automatic.

But Aston thought the DBS was a sporty car and
deserved a manual only. To be fair, it seems like a refreshingly honest reason,
and is backed up by more than just marketing hyperbole. The USA, surely the
most pro-auto nation, buys most of its Astons as manuals.

Time for some science for piston heads. When this
Mazda 3s engine is stopped, the cars new i-stop system the companys first
crack at stop/start knows which piston is in the best position to restart
quickest. Its the one in the combustion stroke phase, where air and fuel are
in the cylinder and ready to be ignited. Sensors pinpoint which cylinder that
is, before the mixture is sparked and ignited, forcing that piston down first
and firing the engine into life faster. Its like placing bike pedals just past
noon, making it easier to push down and move off.

Another mental marker has popped into my head -
500Nm of torque. That's 369 lb ft, but 500 is easier to remember and it's a
number the high-end Germans seem to cluster their diesels around.

A quick glance at the stats in the
back of the book reveals that the 3.0-litre V6 TDI in the Audi A4 makes 500Nm
of torque. The BMW 330d makes 500Nm too - a 3.0-litre straight six diesel. And
so does this new diesel engine in the E-Class, the E250 CDI.

This is a remarkable engine. It's
only a four, that's the impressive bit - it's the same 2,143cc unit fitted to
the single-turbo C200 CDI and C220 CDI. But in this application, it has twin
sequential turbochargers running at full puff. Good.

I-Shift, they call the Jazz's automatic'
transmission. This is a misnomer. It doesn't. Shift, that is. Not very often,
anyhow. And not very well at all.

It is, in short, utter pants. You're at the
traffic lights. Light goes green. Pin the throttle. The little Jazz revs
sweetly, up and into the VTEC. I-Shift decides to change up, because that's
what automatic gearboxes do.