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Giles Smith

2016 Porsche 911 Carrera 4S review

First Drive review: 2016 Porsche 911 Carrera 4S

A four-wheel-drive Porsche? That would be the big, plug-ugly and somehow enraging Cayenne SUV, right? Well, yes, sometimes it would be — but not...
Published 19 May 2016
2016 Rolls-Royce Dawn review by Giles Smith for Sunday Times Driving

First Drive review: 2016 Rolls-Royce Dawn

Those Rolls-Royce people: they spoil us, they really do. I’m on a sun-dappled West Sussex road in the company’s latest “motor car”...
Published 09 May 2016
2016 BMW M2 review by Giles Smith of The Sunday Times

First Drive review: 2016 BMW M2

Driving, as we know, is an endangered craft. Automation is on the way and the motor industry is now using the best part of its considerable ingenuity...
Published 21 April 2016
Review of the 2016 Alpina D3 Touring by Giles Smith of The Sunday Times

First Drive review: 2016 Alpina D3 Touring

Every year 1,700 cars leave the BMW factory in Munich in a state that most people, including everyone at BMW, would happily regard as finished. However...
Published 18 April 2016
2016 DS 3 Performance review by Giles Smith for Sunday Times Driving

First Drive review: 2016 DS 3 Performance

DS has split from Citroën. You didn’t hear? It’s like when Robbie left Take That: helplines, bewilderment, distraught car fans...
Published 11 April 2016
First Drive review: 2016 Skoda Octavia vRS 4x4

First Drive review: 2016 Skoda Octavia vRS 4x4

The Skoda Octavia has always seemed such a reasonable car — reasonably shaped, reasonably constructed, reasonably priced...
Published 31 March 2016
Toyota Prius Excel

First Drive: 2016 Toyota Prius Excel

Originally the torchbearer for ecologically sensitive road use, the Toyota Prius is entering a phase of midlife ubiquity as the jobbing Uber operative’s...
Published 22 March 2016
Mini Cooper convertible review

First Drive review: 2016 Mini Cooper convertible

Britain loves a convertible. Any car manufacturer will tell you: the UK is a soft touch for a soft-top. It’s Europe’s second-biggest market for...
Published 15 March 2016

First Drive review: 2016 Kia Cee'd 1.6 CRDi

Once upon a time, I drove a Kia Cee’d into the car park of a Premier League training ground. This was in the course of my duties as a journalist
Published 29 February 2016
The Sunday Times Driving Placeholder

First Drive review: Volvo XC90 T8 Twin Engine plug-in...

More middle class than a skiing holiday, and twice as Swedish as meatballs, the Volvo XC90 has always offered high status enhancement...
Published 23 February 2016
The Sunday Times Driving Placeholder

First Drive review: 2016 BMW 330e SE plug-in hybrid

What a pleasure it has been these past years to witness the enthusiasm with which the car industry has faced up to the challenge of developing responsible...
Published 10 February 2016
The Sunday Times Driving Placeholder

First Drive review: 2016 Ford Focus RS

The Drift mode in the latest RS gives a new meaning to ‘taking it for a spin’, says Giles Smith. Orange-and-white plastic, say your prayers
Published 22 January 2016