61
BMW X5
If you want a big SUV that's a delight to drive, then even over and above the Range Rover Sport, you need to pick a BMW X5. You can, of course, upgrade to the outrageously torquey M50d, with its triple-turbo engine, but frankly such largesse is unnecessary. Just go for a standard 3.0d x-Drive and you'll have all the X5 you need. A creamy-smooth wave of torque, sharp steering, exceptional body control and the kind of cabin layout, design and quality that gives rivals sleepless nights. Basic 25d uses a twin-turbo 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine and has a tempting price point, but lacks four-wheel drive, so be prepared for embarrassment if asked to cross a wet field. Styling sharp at the front, but tends to lumpiness around the back end, and the optional third row seats are tiny. New hybrid is well worth a look, and hugely effective, but it does lose the extra seats in the boot.
Best buy: X5 3.0d x-Drive M-Sport
Price range: €66,060 €165,940
CO2 emissions range: 139 to 258g/km
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62
Suzuki Vitara
Like David Hasselhoff, the Vitara is back to reclaim its 1980s crown. Few now remember that, way before the RAV4 and Land Rover Freelander, Suzuki was selling the original Vitara – a 4x4 with fashion, not function, as its main aim. Back for 2015 and shorn of its old 2Grand2 prefix, the Vitara is one of the better small 4x4s – practical and well made, decent to drive and with far more ability when things get muddy and rocky than most of its rivals. It's also well-priced and well-equipped. There are rivals which are far more fashionable and trendy, but the Vitara is the one that we suspect will be most rewarding to own in the longer term.
Best buy: 1.6 DDiS GL+
Price range: €19,995 to €30,495
CO2 emissions range: 106 to 123g/km
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63
Dacia Duster
We often complain that modern cars have become so obsessed with technology that they're becoming bewildering. Well, Dacia has the cure for that in the shape of the Duster. A simple, stripped-back 4x4 it majors on the essentials – a frugal, punchy 1.5 diesel engine, a decently spacious cabin and boot, build quality that's rough and ready but generally very decent, and of course that temptingly low price tag. It's even not bad to drive. There are some caveats though. The front seats can tend towards the excruciating on a long journey, and modern niceties such as electronic stability control are not standard. Still, buy it cheap and use it for years to come and we doubt you'll be disappointed.
Best buy: 1.5 DCI 110 Signature 4WD
Price range: €16,190 to €20,890
CO2 emissions range: 115 to 123g/km
64
Ferrari 488
Remember the cars you used to doodle in your copybooks during lulls in double maths? The were always wedge- shaped, pointy things with engines powered by pure armageddon. Well, here is that doodle, brought to howling, snorting life. Ferrari purists may snort with derision at the turbocharged engine replacing the old naturally aspirated V8, but us mere mortals will barely be able to discern a difference. Steering, chassis balance and performance are all of the highest possible calibre, and it's even a little more economical than before – as if you really care.
Best buy: Tempting to wait a couple of years for the Speciale?
Price range: €POA
CO2 emissions range: 260g/km
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65
Citroen C4 Cactus
It is truly great to see Citroen rediscovering its old design mojo, and little innovations such as the Cactus' bubble-wrap-style Airbumps are genuinely as pleasing to the intellect as they are to the eye. It's almost impossible not to be charmed by the Cactus's combination of interior and exterior styling chutzpah, in fact. A shame then that the same level of thought has not gone into making the car function as well as it looks. The driving position is genuinely awful, especially if you're tall, and space in the rear seats and boot is quite poor. And rear windows that don't wind? In a family car? At least the excellent 1.6 diesel and 1.2 turbo petrol engines step in to save the game, but the C4 Cactus is most definitely a car you'll prefer to look at than to actually drive.
Best buy: Flair PureTech 1.2 110hp
Price range: €17,795 to €23,945
CO2 emissions range: 89 to 107g/km
[ Read the full reviewOpens in new window ]
66
Volkswagen California
All of the other cars here have one notable flaw – once you're finished driving them and using them, you have to park them up and leave them behind to go and find somewhere to sleep. Not so with the California – it is somewhere to sleep. Escaping the dreadful stigma of the caravan set, the California is one of the coolest cars on this list, despite being a converted van. The roof pops up to reveal a double-bed (albeit a very narrow one) and the back seats drop down to make another, so you can, at a pinch, sleep four people in here. There's a two-ring gas hob, a fridge, a sink with a fresh water tank, reading lights, a built-in central heater and even little curtains that clip into the front windows on magnetic grips. It's a bit bulky to drive at times, and not fast, but that's not the point. Just cruise along till you find somewhere nice to stop, and pitch camp . . .
Best buy: T6 Cali Coast 150hp
Price range: €48,975 to €62,260
CO2 emissions range: 168 to 182g/km
67
Jaguar F-Type
It may not be as accomplished nor as practical as a Porsche 911, and it's significantly more expensive than the likes of the Boxster or Cayman, but the Jag F-Type is without doubt the most soulful sports car around. While you can spec it all the way up to a 500hp V8 with four-wheel drive, it's best sampled as a V6 S, and preferably as a Coupe, whose extra bodywork is the cherry on an already delightful sports car cake. Yes, the cabin's a bit plain and it only has two seats but you won't care once you've heard the bark and roar of that supercharged V6 engine, and felt the purity of its steering and chassis responses. Little short of glorious, really.
Best buy: V6 S Coupe
Price range: €93,340 to €168,190
CO2 emissions range: 199 to 269g/km
68
Morgan Three-Wheeler
Is it a bit mental to be seriously considering a car with no windscreen and no roof in a climate such as ours? Well, when it's as cool and as much fun as the Morgan Three- Wheeler, then it's not only mental, it's an entirely brilliant idea. Effectively a recreation of a classic 1930s original, the modern Three-Wheeler has the old JAP motorcycle engine replaced by a modern Harley- Davison unit, while drive is sent to the single rear wheel by a Mazda MX-5 gearbox. You sit low, with the bath-tub-like body curling up around you and only a tiny semi-circular aero-screen to deflect the wind away from you. It's insane, but it's brilliant fun and like nothing else out there.
Best buy: Only the one model
Price range: €POA
CO2 emissions range: 215g/km
69
Peugeot 208
We often wondered if and when Peugeot would find its way back to making really good cars, but the 208 shows that it's well back on the right page of the map. Zippy and fun to drive, good looking (love the new colour options) and with a classy looking cabin – quite the small car superstar. The 1.2 petrol is just fine, the 1.6 diesel turns it into a motorway- muncher. GTI is sweet. Not everyone will harmonise with the small-wheel-high-instruments cabin, and some of the plastics are a bit suspect too. Ride quality could do with some deportment lessons.
Best buy: 1.2 82hp Active
Price range: €14,845 to €28,750
CO2 emissions range: 87 to 125g/km
70
Porsche Cayman
You could have a Porsche Boxster for a good bit less cash, but the Cayman is in many ways Porsche's secret weapon. Whisper it, but it's actually better to drive, and more accessible, than the mighty 911, yet costs less. Porsche has repeatedly artificially limited the Cayman's performance so that it doesn't step on the toes of the 911, but the fact is that on most tracks, especially in poor weather, a Cayman would be quicker around the lap. Standard 2.7 is just fine, meatier 3.4 S ups the ante a good bit, but the one you want is the stripped-out and howling GT4 – effectively a race car for the road, and developed by the same people who made Porsche's Le Mans-winning 919 Hybrid.
Best buy: GT4
Price range: €71,438 to €119,594
CO2 emissions range: 195 to 238g/km