The first AutoWeek of 2022 will be in stores from tomorrow or will fall on your doormat this week. We look forward to the new electric Alfa Romeo and this time in the double test we have a Ford Puma against a Seat Arona. We look back in our occasion double test with two big diesel stations. Furthermore, the bizarre story of Opel in Ceaușescu’s Romania and the farewell to the Beverwijk car market.
To start with, we pit the Seat Arona and Ford Puma against each other in one of the double tests. As with the Ibiza, the recent facelift of the Seat Arona brings major changes, especially for the interior. Armed with a completely new dashboard, the compact Seat opens the attack on the Ford Puma, which also emphasizes the ‘S’ of SUV.
We stay in the SUV corner for a while with the Toyota RAV4. We’ve known it for a while, of course, but it’s now also available with a plug. Because of its lower consumption and especially lower emissions, the RAV4 PHEV is an extremely important new option that Toyota offers the Dutch market. That requires an introduction.
The poster story, in which the Lamborghini Huracán STO takes center stage, has a much more spectacular cut. Roy Kleijwegt was able to use it and he likes to compare it with fireworks right after New Years. “If fireworks for private individuals are definitively banned, then that may also be the end of the story for the Lamborghini Huracán STO, which bangs more violently than many illegal string players.”
While the newspaper headlines with ‘Demand for diesel used cars has never been so low’, we drive two spacious station wagons out of the showroom with a powerful self-igniter. Because the demand may be small, the need is still there and there is enough talk in favor of a wonderful Volvo V90 or BMW 5-series with diesel engine. We pick up a 2017 copy of both, which should cost around €27,000.
If you thought that the dieseling in AutoWeek 1 is already behind us, you are wrong. In Klokje Rond, the above Renault Laguna Estate may be present with a 2.0 dCi. It already has more than half a million behind it and given the dubious reputation of the generation before we are of course very curious how the better stories about this Laguna will turn out in practice.
Finally, we have a German powerhouse on the roller bench: Gertjan de Bruin’s Audi S5 Sportback. An S5 should guarantee a decent dose of TFSI violence, except this one is freshly imported from Denmark. Let’s see if the Danes have handled it well over the years or if some horses have been left behind.
All that and more can be read in the latest AutoWeek. It will be in stores from Wednesday this week. Would you rather not go out? Order from the comfort of your home the latest number. Then it will be delivered to your doorstep within two working days.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl