Following hot on the heels of the surprisingly British Nissan Qashqai, I’m testing the British/Chinese MG GS this week. Now, I’ve only covered about 55 miles in it so far, so these are very much my first impressions. Firstly, it’s a rather different spec to the Qashqai, being  the range-topping Exclusive model, with DCT (dual clutch transmission), which is, in effect, an automatic, and a petrol engine.

It’s still a 1.5-litre engine like the Nissan, but a rather sweeter sounding petrol, with a turbocharger for extra giggle factor. Quite substantial giggle factor, as it produces over 160bhp. It also has 188lb/ft of torque, all the way from 1600rpm to 4300. That’s even more astonishing than the power output. It is the only engine though. There’s no diesel option in the UK, and no four-wheel drive option either – not a problem for most people, but you can’t back up those adventurous looks with actual adventure. What’s that? It’s going to snow later this week? Ah…

Is the range-topping MG GS worth a look?

The retail price, as tested, is a meaty £22,430, with the spec including heated leather seats with electric adjustment, 18″ alloys (in black – horrible), a fancy computer thing with bluetooth, sat nav, DAB radio and lots of other settings I’ll never explore, remote central locking, electric windows all-round and very bright headlamps. £250 gets you some black trim outside. I’ve not entirely worked out which bits yet, or whether they’re worth paying to have in black.

The MG GS is very, er, SUV-shaped

This much I gleaned from the press pack, before heading straight out for a drive. After all, that’s kind-of the important bit. Annoyingly, there is an electronic handbrake, but it works very well with a two-pedal driving experience to be fair. There’s a steep hill at the end of my driveway, which is where I first discovered that this was not a conventional automatic. In one of those, you have a torque converter and a fairly consistent application of said torque at low speeds. A DCT is an automatic manual, with computer controlled clutches and two rows of gears, with each bank also having its own clutch. If you know Volkswagen’s DSG system, then it’s like that.

1.5-litre, turbo petrol produces an impressive 160bhp, linked to DCT gearbox.

That means you can feel the clutch biting, then releasing, much as you would yourself at low speeds to avoid a stall. The hill-hold stopped the car rolling back, and I smoothly pulled away, with my sensitive ears only just noticing the immediate change to second (of seven) gear, and pretty much missing the slushy move to third. In fact, by the time we reached 30mph, I had no idea what gear we were in. Nor did I much care. Sure, this wasn’t electric motor smooth, but I was pretty impressed.

60mph was reached pretty briskly without fuss (just under ten seconds from the official figures), with the engine settling to a smidge under 2000rpm in whichever gear it was – presumably seventh. The ride was comfortable, notably without the jiggle I’d noticed on the same section in the Qashqai. This seems slightly at odds with findings by other reviewers in this very same car. I’ll reserve final judgement until I’ve driven it on poor, city streets.

Similarly, I can’t really review it at motorway speeds yet. That’s coming later this week with a quick 600-mile roadtrip.

I can tell you that the handling seems pleasant, though with notable bodyroll if you quickly change direction. Grip levels are good though, with the steering having a very nice weight to it from the off. It’s an electric-hydraulic system. I like that, because hydraulic PAS tends to give a less numb feel than a full electric system. EDIT – I was quite wrong. It IS an electric power steering set up, but one that is weighted much more sweetly than the Nissan, even if you put the Qashqai’s steering in Sport mode.

I can also tell you that the wipers are excellent, even if there is no Auto function. There is a variable intermittent option, and the rear wiper reassuringly wipes three times before going intermittent – heritage is maintained.

Drive the GS for longer and the quirks of this type of transmission become apparent. Sometimes, when you’ve slowed down and hit the pedal, there’s a pause – almost as if the cars wonders what gear to be in. On occasion, this causes you to react by pressing harder, at which point it suddenly makes a decision, drops several cogs and opens the throttle, sending you hurtling down the road like a teenage lad in a Corsa who has spotted a lady and has found his hormones destroying his ability to use pedals. It’s really quite anti-social. The only difference is that, unlike most Corsas, this thing really can pick up its skirts and fly. It’s definitely amusingly brisk.

It’s far more relaxing not to drive like that though. Most of the time, it’s very happy to keep the revs down and ride that fat wall of torque, which makes it very relaxing. At manoeuvring speeds, then yes, it can feel a bit strange, as the clutch cuts in and out. Reach a standstill and the stop/start kicks in – it restarts as soon as you lift off the brake pedal.

Sadly, one bad thing I did notice at these slower speeds was the sound of a very tired bearing. It reminded me of the failed auxiliary belt tensioner on my ZX. I turned the air con off, and the noise stopped. That’ll be the culprit then. Oddly, I could not discern the noise outside the car, only inside it. How strange.

I found the GS very comfortable, with lots of legroom front and rear, though the rear bench is a touch low for me. The controls have a nice feel, though there’s no getting away from the acres of cheap plastic that litter the dash. It does not feel like a premium product, though nor does it feel horribly cheap – just not as pleasant as some rivals.

The boot seems a little small, though the high boot lip leads straight to a flat floor – a false one with a spacesaver spare stashed beneath it. There’s an annoying lack of lashing points – this would have been no good at all for collecting a 2CV engine. The rear parcel shelf is a bit awkward too, with a dangly bit between the main shelf and the rear seats, with clips running to the head restraints. This flappy bit is necessary because you can alter the rake of the rear seat back. Also annoying is that you need to press parts of BOTH head restraint holders to get the restraint fully lowered.

That’ll do for now though. Stay tuned for further findings and don’t worry, the 2CV Project will be back soon.

You may be surprised to learn that the Nissan Qashqai is one of the most successful British cars ever built. Over a half a million of them (across two generations since 2006) have been sold worldwide, with the vast majority coming out of Nissan’s Washington plant, near Sunderland.

I was certainly surprised, so I thought I’d see what is so appealing about this crossover SUV thing. Proving that the Talbot Matra Rancho was truly ahead of its time, this is a car with a bit of a 4×4 look about it, but it only has two-wheel drive. That now seems to be the way of the world, with Land Rover Freelanders and Range Rover Evoques now available with only half-driven wheels.

One of the most successful British-built cars – the Nissan Qashqai.

That makes sense really, as there’s little point carrying around the extra weight of a four-wheel drive system you will probably never use. Now, people will also say there’s no point having the raised ground clearance and poorer aerodynamics of a 4×4-alike either, and that’s a fair comment. For plenty though, the more upright driving position, raised view over traffic and those chunky looks more than make up for it. You can specify a four-wheel drive version, but the vast majority will be two-wheel drive.

The car tested is the Nissan Qashqai N-Connecta 1.5dCi 110PS. The retail price is £24,660 as tested, which includes £550 for the rather fetching Ink Blue metallic paint. The spec list is lengthy, including a 7″ touch screen with ‘Around View’ parking monitor – a Grand Theft Auto view of the car, which is very handy given the curvy shape of the car – 18″ alloy wheels, a Smart Vision pack (speed limit sign recognition, high beam assist and other goodies), chassis control (various electronic driving aids) and all the usual stuff you’d expect – keyless remote central locking, electric windows and power steering (which has two settings).

Chunky SUV styling but this model, as most, is only FWD.

The initial testing was done on local roads, which was rather frustrating in some ways. This car has so many electronic goodies that you can’t possibly experiment while driving on Welsh roads. In some ways, it could be considered a distraction, though the speed limit reminder is a good idea. It actually ‘sees’ the signs, and puts a reminder on the dash. This only got caught out once, when the windscreen was still misted up slightly and clearly the car couldn’t see a 20mph sign. Fortunately, the driver could.

I had a play with various electronic driver aids, but ended up turning most of them off. The main beam assist is particularly annoying, as I found it would often refuse to put the main beams on when I needed them. It seemed to deem them unnecessary at 30mph, and would dip them for buildings or strong reflections from puddles or walls. Sure, it was fairly good at dipping when a car approached, but only when that car was in full view. Here in the countryside, we generally try to dip BEFORE a car appears. It isn’t good enough to do that. I turned the Auto feature off.

Interior styling is pleasant, some controls a bit fiddly.

I also turned the Lane Departure Warning off, because it’d bleep continuously as I drove on small Welsh roads. Perhaps it didn’t like my racing lines. The parking sensors bleeped continuously on my driveway too, scared by blades of grass and the proximity of the walls and vegetation – things that don’t overly threaten a 3.5 ton minibus that I sometimes bring down this track.

I soon set the steering to Sport mode, which gave less assistance in the bends. It isn’t a vast difference though, but it felt better. I also tried putting the driver aids to the test. Active Trace Control brakes the inside wheels on a turn when you’re pushing on a bit. It has to be said, you really do have to push on a bit to get this to activate. I suspect most people will not. There’s Active Ride too, which subtly applies the brakes to reduce body movement over crests. There’s quite a few of these in Wales, though I doubt most folk would notice the system kicking in. The ride isn’t bad some of the time, but pretty dreadful at others. It can get a bit jiggly, probably not helped by the entirely unnecessary 18″ wheels.

Renault-derived 1.5-litre turbo diesel has great low-down torque.

Overall though, this is a very pleasant car to drive. The six-speed gearbox feels a touch unnecessary, as the engine has a good spread of torque at lower engine speeds. Let it rev, and you don’t really access much more power. All the torque is below 3000rpm, so its best to stay down there. The driving position is superbly comfortable though, which I tested by covering over 600 miles in two days. The only slight comfort complaint is the lack of a footrest for your left foot.

Other downsides include the big sat nav screen, which is difficult to use on the move ie when changing radio station. That’s entirely down to the ride, which is not smooth enough to allow an easy selection of an option. There is one more big issue. The electronic parking brake. Quite why anyone thought this was a good idea is beyond me. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a nice, simple lever, so I shall assume it was an idea put forward by an interior designer.

Like many such systems, the Nissan requires you to press the brake pedal before it’ll let you release the parking brake. Now, I don’t know how you were taught to drive, but I was taught to balance the clutch and throttle to get the biting point before releasing the parking brake. In the Qashqai, this is quite impossible, so you find yourself having to use all three pedals. Being a diesel, you can actually get the bite point quite comfortably on zero throttle, but hill starts are something else. It does have hill start assist, but this just makes it feel like the brakes are dragging. It’s a pretty woeful technical solution to a problem that shouldn’t bloody exist. In actively encourages you to just not bother with the parking brake at all, which turns you into one of those idiots who keep their foot on the brake pedal at traffic lights. Of course, all this ignores the fact that there are now ECUs, sensors and electric motors which will almost inevitably go wrong at some point. I’m far from a fan, in case you hadn’t noticed.

Boot is a nice size, with extra storage below the floor. Load lip is too high though.

This is all rather a distraction from the car itself, which is very impressive. It handles well (even without its electronic assists) and is whisper-quiet at speed. There’s plenty of space for passengers and luggage, with a handy hidden section beneath the boot floor. The rear seat backs fold, though not the base. However, the folded seats sit level with the boot’s false floor. There is a high loading lip though, and this made lifting a Citroen 2CV engine into the boot quite a challenge. Getting it back out wasn’t much fun either. Therefore, I’d suggest the Qashqai isn’t ideal if you plan to move a lot of engines. It is more economical than a 2CV though, delivering an average of 51mpg, and achieving 56 pretty easily on a run. Mind you, that’s some way short of the ridiculous manufacturer claim of 73mpg. Manufacturer figures have about as much truth to them as the tabloid press. Do not believe them.

After a week with the Qashqai, I had to admit that I was impressed. It’s a very good car, and rightly popular – I saw loads and loads of them on my travels, which is hardly surprising given how many have been built. Whether you like it or not, the truth is that this car does appear to deserve its success.

Earlier this year, I achieved a dream! I drove a Honda NSX – the all-alloy masterpiece with suspension tuned by Ayrton Senna himself. In fact, he had once driven this very car! A short distance…

A fantastic driving machine, and an NSX.

A fantastic experience then? Er, no. Really, not at all.

Things didn’t start well when we collected the car, hitting rush-hour traffic as we desperately tried to get from Bracknell to Santa Pod for a photoshoot. A super-quick supercar is not much use if the traffic is barely moving. Not that it was really super-quick. This one had an automatic gearbox, which meant a drop in power to just 252bhp and a 0-60mph time of around seven seconds. Hardly supercar stuff. It really is a dreadful gearbox too, far inferior to the one in my S-MX, though it did at least take the sting out of the seemingly endless jams. There’s no sport mode, which seems shameful on an alleged supercar. It was also reluctant to kick down, changed up too soon and thumped through full-bore changes – when we got the opportunity (Milton Keynes).

The biggest problem isn’t really the car itself though, but the overall experience of driving a supercar on public roads. I surely can’t be the only journalist who’s felt uncomfortable in such a situation, but you absolutely cannot enjoy what this car is all about without getting up to some very naughty speeds. I’m not the sort of person to get up to very naughty speeds, whether I’m in a Chevette or a Corvette. The Honda’s zingy engine doesn’t deliver maximum power and torque until over 6000rpm though, so for the most part, it just felt sluggish and unexciting – punctuated by very brief bursts of ‘WOW!’ as the engine screamed and before I decided that was quite quick enough for the public roads thank you very much.

Better to look at than drive on the roads.

I did a full-bore acceleration test at Santa Pod, and that highlighted the difficulty. It got quite exciting once we reached about 80mph – in second gear. By which time I’d started running out of space.

After all that, we then had to fight our way back to Bracknell, where the super-firm suspension really did get quite annoying. I’d covered 180 miles in the NSX and I was bloody glad to get out of it, with my hopes and dreams lying shredded on the floor. Getting out is a good idea, because it really does look bloody stupendous. It is a fantastic looking car. I think it is a car best enjoyed via the medium of a poster. How pleased I was, though, to jump into my soft, floaty XM – its turbo diesel engine provides plenty of performance for public roads thank you very much, even if it doesn’t even sound one tenth as pleasant.

It feels like sheer rebellion to be a motoring writer and conclude that a drive in something like an NSX was anything other than ridiculously fabulous, but that’s the truth. I’m not Chris Harris, I don’t have access to a race track and even if I did, I’d probably crash. I just can’t relate to cars like the NSX. It’s telling that when I arrived at Honda’s fleet storage facility, I got quite excited about the Mk1 Civic they also have. “Not available for drives,” I was told. How depressing. When it comes to motoring heroes, I think I shall stick to the real world variety. There’s a lot more joy to be had in a bland, family hatchback than in a car you can’t even exploit. Driving a supercar on the road is like winning the lottery, and being told you can only spend your winnings on soap.

Here’s a video of the NSX (and some others). Great fun! When not on public roads.

If someone offers you the chance to drive a race 2CV, then it’s hard to say no. After all, this was a car I had helped nurture through 24 hours of racing in August 2015. I had spent much of the time trying to imagine what it must be like to drive. Very different from a normal 2CV I thought. These ponderings were useful as I attempted to overcome the very strong desire to actually sleep during my pit duty.

What’s a 2CV race car like to drive?

Roll forward to 2016 and the owner of the car, Chris Yates, offered me the chance to actually drive The Blueberry Muffin. Well, I was hardly going to say no was I? I originally wrote a feature on the experience for Classic Car Buyer, which was published prior to this year’s 2CV 24-hour race – one I sadly couldn’t attend. Here, I’ve re-written things for a slightly different audience. HubNutters!

Chris had got the car road legal to assist with engine-running-in duties. Well, that’s what he told me. I reckon he just wanted to see if he could make his race car road legal. An awful lot had changed since this 2CV last saw the highway!

So, what makes a race 2CV so different then? For a start, it actually has more in the way of interior appointments than it ever had before. Far from being stripped out, it’s actually packing a lot more kit. There’s just the one seat, a proper race one of course, and a rather impractical roll cage. The seat is placed further back, and lower. From it, you can’t see the bonnet, and you look sidewards pretty much straight out of the rear side door glass.

Not very 2CV-ish in here.

The steering wheel is smaller and lower, and the column stretched to place it in your hands. The gearlever is extended and the dash-mounted handbrake has been replaced by a proper floor-mounted one. You’d never reach the original.

Then there’s a generous smattering of gauges, a fire extinguisher and a bank of resettable fuses.

Outside, the 2CV sits much lower, on shorter, stiffer springs. The ride height is terrifyingly low, with the axle bolts almost skimming the surface of the road. The windscreen is glass, but all other glazing is polycarbonate. The front windows still flip up as normal.

Suspension is very different to stock.

The canvas or plastic roll-back roof is gone, replaced by a sheet of aluminium, while the rear wings and entire front bodywork are amended 2CV items designed to be removed in double-quick time. The bonnet already slides off in seconds – standard fitment.

Under the bonnet, rules dictate that you must use a 602cc 2CV engine and standard gearbox, though modifications are allowed to the exhaust and carburettor – a Weber DTML is used here, along with the compulsory club specification camshaft. The heat exchangers are gone, with the two exhaust pipes merging neatly into one near the bulkhead. Power output is somewhere around 45bhp at the wheels, compared to 29 (at the flywheel) in road trim. The standard crankshaft is used, which is good for a 6800rpm rev limit – a standard 2CV engine produces maximum power at 5750rpm. These engines are used to high revs.

Still 602cc, but with a Weber carb and exhaust mods.

I go about the difficult process of clambering aboard, and strap myself in. A quick press of the starter and the engine fires noisily into life. It has a purposeful snarl to it. I find the gearlever a little tricky to use – it seems to have some extra play as a result of several extension pieces. I pull away and my ears adjust to the sheer volume. A normal 2CV is hardly quiet, but this is very much louder.

Let the revs rise and it gets noisier still. It never feels all that quick, which is probably my fault for having driven a 2CV with a 100bhp BMW motorcycle engine in it, but it’s certainly entertaining. It may be loud, but it’s a good noise. It isn’t unpleasant and encourages you to go rev-limit hunting.

A race car is rubbish at some things.

Do passers by find it all amusing or just annoying? I’m not sure, but they certainly take notice.

The cornering experience is very strange. There’s not a hint of bodyroll! I’m sure that’s great on a track, but must concede that I find it all a bit wrong and disappointing for road use. Worse, the ride is terrible! I actually ground the car out at one point, all because of a pothole. It doesn’t take long for me to miss a normal 2CV’s ability to go charging over speed humps with nary a whimper. That’s not the case here. I’m having to work very hard to avoid undulations and bumps.

An utterly ridiculous vehicle for shopping. And a race 2CV.

There’s certainly a novelty value to driving something quite so ridiculous, but getting in and out is a right faff. I must concede that there are better vehicles for pottering to the shops – though perhaps it’s still better than a 4×4 pick-up…