Editor’s welcome


Porsche Panamera GTS being tested by Shane at the Bahrain F1 circuit at night


Driving ambition


W


elcome to the 191 edition of the Auto Ireland Guide to New Cars. No other Irish publication so


comprehensively reviews every single new car on sale in Ireland – and the Auto Ireland brand has been doing so for well over twenty years. The Auto Ireland magazine is brought to


life by First Citizen Finance, a company at the heart of the motor industry. PCP (Personal Contract Plan) motor fi nance in particular has been adopted on a wide scale by Irish new car buyers that appreciate the benefi ts and fi xed monthly payments that allow them to aff ord a shiny new car on the driveway every three years. And this magazine is all about shiny


new cars. As ever, our team of professional motoring writers has spent the year testing literally hundreds of new vehicles over tens of thousands of kilometres on every surface and weather condition imaginable. We realise that we push cars further than the average buyer will ever do, but that enables us to ascertain how they will perform, regardless


Auto Ireland 2019


of how they’re used. Whether you’re looking at an effi cient new city car, something for lots of motorway mileage, a school run special or something sporty for the weekend, you can be sure we’ve tested them all and no other magazine in Ireland brings so many expert reviews together in one place. Of course, there’s a lot more to think


about than just various makes and models. If you’ve been only reading the headlines this year, you’d think that internal combustion engines (and diesel ones in particular) are about to cough to a permanent stop, but that’s not the case. Electrifi cation of the automobile has gathered apace, no doubt about it, but it’ll be decades before electric cars make up the majority of vehicles on the road. If you’ve held off buying a new car because of such uncertainty, we’d advise you to just get on with it, as you could be waiting a long time for our government to make any substantial changes. As in the previous two editions of


Auto Ireland, we’ve laid out this year’s magazine in a logical fashion, grouped by


car manufacturer and picking our favourite version of each model range. That caused a few ‘debates’ in the offi ce, believe me. We’d love to hear what you think, as the motoring landscape is constantly evolving.


Here’s to a prosperous 2019 for all our readers.


SHANE O’ DONOGHUE EDITOR


@Shane_O_D

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