One of the things the Italians are good in, is building a car with a soul… that intangible something which gives you the feels.

With Groupe PSA (Owner of Peugeot and Citroen) taking over German Opel, it is inevitable that we will find a fresh injection of new models, based on their new parent company’s car platforms; only that we never knew that it would be this soon.

Mitsubishi is going through some very important transformations, and they are important ones. The sign of the times means that many brands have sped up their evolution.

It’s not that often you will find a car which can upstage an industry icon. But isn’t it natural to have the industry’s best set in your sights? That is what happened when Renault set about in building the new Megane R.S.

I have always liked how the MINI hatch handled, and having driven a few in Bali, with some very nice turns, and again moire recently on another road trip from Bangkok to Khao Yai in Thailand, I’ve come to appreciate how the car’s handling is sharp, steering responsive and the way it simply engages you.

When Audi first introduced the RS 4 at the turn of the century, they made a conscious decision to field only an estate vehicle. Quite a bold move, considering that BMW fielded both a sedan and an estate. Maybe they could see that estate cars were the way to go making a name for themselves...

The Mercedes-AMG E 63 S comes across as a little “under the radar” as compared to the new BMW M5, due to its not-so-loud styling cues, but that perhaps is probably the plan of the guys behind the car.

Known in China as the “bare sticks holiday” because of how 11 looks numerically, Singles Day started out as a protest against Valentines’ Day by Nanjing University students in the 1990s, as a day where they celebrated their singlehood. In this editor’s picks, we’re presenting some coupes, perfect for singles this November 11.

The Variant has all the sharp styling cues of the more popular Golf hatch in the front, is built on Volkswagen’s widely-used and very rigid MQB architecture, and as wagons go, is able to simply haul more stuff.

The current-day mention of the Suzuki Swift evokes thoughts of mostly yellow coloured Swift Sport hatchbacks going “Brraaaap” down the highway right past you. The hotter Swift Sport has for years been a popular choice for those seeking a bang-for-buck entertaining drive.

A small car to me is a very personal thing. A little safe haven just for you and perhaps just that someone else… Intimate, your special space that you can share your day’s troubles, your happy moments and the like, or just to be in your own shell… just like an extension of home, away from home.

Volkswagen’s range-topping hatch, the Golf R receives a midlife refresh. There is still a part of me that laments the loss of that lovely V6 engine which graced the engine bay of the R32 Golf, the R’s predecessor. The current-day Golf R, in its second generation, is powered by a 2.0 turbocharged four-cylinder engine.

What do you get when you combine the sportiness of a hatchback with the high vantage point of an SUV and the comfort of a sedan? You get the all-new Infiniti QX30 premium active crossover, a car that’s quaint in its stylings and pretty excellent in almost every department.

The Carrera T is a spiritual reincarnation of the original 911 T which was introduced in 1968, a time when their engines were still air-cooled and pushrods (which made that distinctive clatter) were still available in some of their other car’s engines.

What exactly are your A, B, C, D, E-segment cars? In automotive lingo, these various segments refer to the length of the car and the D segment describe cars that have seat room for five adults and have an average length of 4.6 to 4.8 metres. In this editor’s picks, we’ll cover the D Segment Gems, which are your slightly larger than compact sized executive cars without the executive prices. Oh, and the packing (space on the inside) of these few cars may just surprise you!

Lexus took their RX and bolted on an extra row of seats in the rear… Actually… no. The ‘L’ in the in the RX 350 L means that it really is a longer car.

When we test drove the 3.0 V6 diesel version of the seven seater disco a year ago, we loved how that smooth V6 planted its monster torque onto just about any surface, the large car could basically plough through most of what the world could throw at it. Sadly, the Vehicle Emissions Scheme (VES) saw the demise of that lovely diesel offering in Singapore.

What if you could scale a luxurious yacht down to the size of a road car? I guess it would look kind of weird. But Mercedes-Benz has come rather close. In this case their E-Class Coupe does feel as luxurious as one, plies the road with wafty-comfortable ride, and you could almost imagine that you are captain of your own ship.

If you’re the kind with a saving Gaia sort of green consciousness, but you’ve also got an inner demon that wants to floor the accelerator, then the new Renault ZOE is the perfect car for you. With the ZOE—like the ‘80s hit song by Philip Oakey and Giorgio Moroder—both sides of your personality can be brought Together in Electric Dreams.

SEAT’s mid-range offering, the Ateca is a sharply styled family SUV with some off-roading cred. Benefitting from its parent Volkswagen Group modular transverse platform known as the MQB, the Spanish company’s SUV combines an easy to manage footprint for city driving, edgy styling and features a luxuriously appointed interior.

Once upon a time, there was a little Korean automobile manufacturer, which relied on foreign expertise to build cars in a simple factory which only had a dirt floor. The cars they manufactured were rather crude, with ill-fitting trim, but yet robust. From a price point of view, the brand became immensely popular with the budget-conscious.

The all-new RS5 Coupe loses its beefy naturally-breathing 4.2 litre V8 and now “makes do” with a smaller 2.9 litre twin-turbocharged V6. The old engine delivered a delicious deep rumble we loved, which the new V6 lacks in. But where it makes up for it is in its delivery of performance.

When the first generation of the modern Skoda Superb was introduced, most could tell that it was generally an elongated Volkswagen Passat. It did make sense back then for the Czech brand to field a car which shared some of its body panels with its German cousin, albeit a longer wheelbase with longer rear doors. You see, in the larger scale of things, Volkswagen was fielding a longer wheelbase version of the Passat in China, where cars with simply more rear legroom were immensely popular.

So there was this guy who actually went on to say that it is “Fashionable” for young adults in Singapore not to own a car… How could he say such a thing? Perhaps he’s quite the person lacking in taste. And to say something in such bad taste simply grinds our gears. You see, there are cars, and there are cars like the MINI… cars with cheeky good looks, added with a dab of good handling and are most definitely “Fashionable”.