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Table of Contents

Note: The content list below is digitally transcribed for searchability. Please refer to the photos for the exact Table of Contents.

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Tests and features

36 AIR QUALITY
ASTON's new DB7 Volante takes on the benchmark MERCEDES SL600 and emerges as far more than a mere contender

44 CUTTING EDGE
FORD is back flirting with 'edge design' on its latest generation of cars. Howard Walker considers the ends of the cars

54 MERCEDES SLK
Even mass models have generated a rabid fan club. But this one has a proper pedigree. Georg Kacher drives the red and tests whether the show room compare is a trick door or not

68 STOCKBROKER BELT
Some flights focus-back helicopters make the hassle-free routes for the joy-riders — or as the F1 crowd calls them taxis — and good gamely lifestyle

74 TOYS, NOVELTIES...
…and the SUZUKI X90. Some strange niche chopper from time to time, but is it worth the absurdity? Impossibly hopeless as the dead-of-the-water lifestyle device

78 ELISE v SPIDER v GINETTA
The new LOTUS ELISE takes on RENAULT's SPORT SPIDER and GINETTA's G27 in a hood-down, roadster tri

HO-HOS!BEST KEEP UP

94 THE HARD CELL
MERCEDES has reached the stage where the cell is almost a predictable reality. Now it has to convince the rest of the world that it has reached that

106 AUDI A3
When one of the heads of the self-styled 'lifestyle' clan comes to dumpy A3, AUDI's attempt to grab size of the lifestyle hatchback market. We get inside and under the skin

110 GIANT TEST
The new AUDI A3 v ALFA 145 Cloverleaf v BMW 318Ti COMPACT. Not quite the foregone conclusion expected

118 A3 v GOLF GT
Take a 100bhp version of the A3 and pitch it against a VW GOLF GT (not to appear in the UK)

120 JOBS FOR U
Number one in a series about the elite of the motorsport world. Per Rebbe, the mechanic with nude warm about how these feats are performed with finesse and a 350bhp cameo, too

124 MEGA CRUISER
It's as big as a house, but not quite TOYOTA's answer to the Hummer. Ruper Goodwin gives it the eyes and wonders what it's all about

128 TRY ONE, GET ONE FREE
The placement car is an increasingly important part of manufacturers' promotion work. Mark Graham looks at the cars, the stars and the results

134 INSIDE LINE
They just don't do it in the United States, and how there's a growing frustration lobby against racing in the rain. Nigel Roebuck sees storm clouds gathering

136 LONG-TERM TEST
Paul Horrell just couldn't stop talking about that PEUGEOT 106 RALLYE in 04, and he's still rambling on about it even now

124
This is a Toyota Megacruiser. Huge, slow and weird

78
Lotus Elise moves the sports car game on: Spider tries to keep it where it is, and Ginetta...

110
The shape is rounded, but roughly... Audi's new A3 needs to be well-rounded all round to beat the Alfa and BMW

Regulars

11 UP FRONT

16 NEWSDESK
New VW Passat, Honda's across-the-board revamp for '98, and BMW's new 4×4

29 AROUND THE WORLD
Why build more Metros? Merc's new engine range.
The changing face of F1
Why Audi makes it big in Japan
Daewoo hammers in Japanese corridors of power
Rover 618

31 SIR!

99 COLUMNS
May on sunning at a grand prix; Setright on the place of life; Roper on 'old, new' cars; Bulled on the new Bantams and things; and imagery

178 NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW HIM
A giant among the road testers, a fan club member and here are a few who've shared a few shared years

The good, the bad and the ugly

149 NEWCOMERS
VAUXHALL VECTRA SRi
NISSAN ALMERA SRi
HONDA LEGEND
FORD ESCORT CABRIOLET
SUBARU IMPREZA SPORT
ROVER 618
LANCIA KAPPA

162 SECOND THOUGHTS
VOLVO 960

162 LONG-TERMER
CITROEN XANTIA ACTIV

165 THE LOW-DOWN
Facts, fears, and more facts about cars, cars and ours

177 SHOWROOM FLOOR
Four-seater cabriolets

177 TOP 10
Excuses for talking on a mobile phone while driving