DSDarren Styles

1. Article · Sep 18, 2026 · Darren Styles

   Alpine A290 review: Can this electric hot hatch recreate the magic of the 1980s? (opens the original)

   Excerpt · Critical tone · English

   Read excerpt

   There is something dangerous about revisiting the heroes of youth. Films you remember as masterpieces turn out to have acting that would embarrass a village panto. Nightclubs that seemed impossibly glamorous look considerably less so when encountered decades later in daylight. And cars? Well, the hot hatchbacks of the 1980s that occupy an exalted position in my memory were – it transpires – often noisy, uncomfortable, alarmingly flimsy and equipped with brakes that regarded stopping as aspiratio

   Feedback

2. Article · Jul 24, 2026 · Darren Styles

   Does the Peugeot E-408 GT Premium live up to its luxurious name? (opens the original)

   Excerpt · English

   Read excerpt

   A “premium” tag sets up a product expectation. Not necessarily because it always means exotic or even revolutionary, but because its maker is striving – by design or willpower – to lift the bar beyond ordinary, create something a bit nicer and, yes, in all likelihood, charge a little bit more for it. Witness the just-facelifted Peugeot E-408. This is a family car. A practical car. And, here, an electric car. Three descriptions that might generate the same excitement as finding yourself sat next

   Feedback

Last 90 days. Choose a month to open its work.

Named in the text we hold. One piece can cover several.

• Keir Starmer1 piece
• Goodwood Festival1 piece
• Ashdown Forest1 piece
• Forest Row1 piece
• Hugh Grant1 piece