I’ve made no bones about my passion - and that tends to be fast cars.  You may have even gotten a little sick of hearing Lamborghini this or Aston Martin that.  You’ll no doubt be shouting at the screen - much as many do with Top Gear - and saying ‘where are the normal car reviews?’

Well, I’m not about to review the new Kia Picanto for you (even if it is a good car).  Well, I will if I get an invite to test-drive it.  In the meantime though, what I’d like to do is recommend five cars that you’ll love.  You’ll love them because not only are they on the whole very decent at what they do, but also they’ll save you a fortune in insurance.

Whether you’re a new driver or an older person looking to save money, any of these cars will be suitable for you.  Even if you’re the motorist looking to save a few bob, then you won’t go wrong with these.  This is not least because not only are these cars cheap to insure, but they all have relatively small (and economical) engines.  So, without further ado, let’s take a look at the five.

Skoda Fabia
Don’t listen to those who are still telling the same old badge jokes.  In fact, poke them in the eye and tell them they are about ten years behind the times.  Since VW took over Skoda way back in 1991, things have got better and better.  The Fabia is based on the V Polo and is extremely reliable, hardwearing and very safe.  The 1.2 litre Classic is insurance group one - that fact will certainly make your wallet fatter.

Renault Clio
The third generation of the supermini is a modern classic in many ways and the quality certainly goes some way to explaining why you see them just about everywhere.  The way in which the internal space is handled is very clever, meaning that there’s actually quite a bit of room inside.  Going for the 1.2 litre will see you getting almost 50mpg, something that you won’t see from many other engines.

Nissan Micra
Granted, this car will probably be the least popular in this review.  Why is that?  Well, the perky little car is what a huge number of people learn to drive in every year.  Given this fact, I know that I for sure was desperate to distance myself from the Micra - even if my ideal car is a Nissan (a 350Z for the record).  However, the modern Micra is actually a damn good car.  You’ll get keyless entry, parking sensors, air con and many other perks you wouldn’t necessarily expect.  Overall, it’s a really good car and it won’t cost the Earth to run.

Fiat Punto
There is a large number of this particular Italian supermini on the road and for good reason.  It enjoys being revved.  It really is that simple.  Much like James May said in his review of the Fiat 500, these Italian cars are made to be lit up by pushing the revometer until the valves have “jumped up and are dancing on the bonnet”.  I couldn’t agree more - and it is one of the more involving cars here.  Not only that, but even the 1.3 litre sporting will see you managing to get very reasonable insurance quotes.

Ford Fiesta
This is a car that has been around for about 30 years now - which must tell you something.  Granted, there are so many superminis out there now that the Fiesta can look a bit of an oldie (not least because the design has never really been altered that much) but it is a testament to the quality that so many are still going.  The newer and younger models however are really geared for the modern generation and feature such additions as Bluetooth and new-design alloys.  Why get it?  Well the 1.25 litre version is a group two and will give you about 45mpg.  You can chuck it in corners and it’ll give you a smile.  With that in mind, what’s not to love?

Conclusion
You’ll have seen that there’s a trend in these ‘cheap to insure’ cars - and that is the fact that they are pretty much exclusively superminis with small engines.  There’s nothing wrong with that, in fact they can offer a great drive along with frugal performance.  So, for a change, let’s all hail these little metal marvels of money saving.  Make mine a Fabia (VRS edition diesel mind you).

Frankly, I’m shocked to discover that no one has yet added any coverage to CarArticles regarding this new Japanese beast, so I couldn’t take it any more.  I just have to say something about this incredible, 473bhp, four-seat 3.8 litre V6 monster.  Granted, I haven’t driven one yet (there are only about 3 in the country to my knowledge, and it isn’t coming to the UK officially until 2009.  However, I have driven a Nissan Skyline and this is the successor.

All they way back in 2001, Nissan released a concept of what their new supercar would look like.  For those of you who don’t know, Nissan has a strong racing heritage and this would be something that they could use to fly the flag with.  Anyone familiar with Gran Turismo will be able to tell you all about the Nissan Skyline GT-R with all of its’ onboard computers to keep traction and stop the car flinging off the track.  This promised to be faster and meaner.

At the Tokyo Motor Show 2005, a car was revealed that is pretty much exactly the production variant that will be available in various territories from June 2008.  This big coupe contains four seats and enough gadgetry to power most things in your house, along with a whole host of technical trickery that I’ll come to in just a moment.  First though, the car itself.

The car is big - all round.  This includes the power department, what with that shouty deep V6.  It has twin-turbochargers to give you oomph all the way through the rev range, with no lag to speak of.  The dual-shift auto gearbox will give you three modes, scary, very scary and insane.  Well, surely you agree with those when you’re sitting in a large two-door motor capable of going from 0-60 in 3.6 seconds?  To put that in perspective, that’s quicker than an Audi R8 or Porsche 911 Turbo.

So what is the exterior like?  Well you can see from the picture.  It looks incredibly hard, aggressive and distinctive.  A Nissan Micra it ain’t.  Those 20-inch wheels are particularly impressive.  The paint is also promising to be particularly special, what with an ‘ultimate silver’ colouring (which looks liquid) being available for free from the factory.  Aeroblade front wings and diffuser round off the car - making it look like one of the best road eaters out there.

The interior doesn’t have the wow factor of say an Audi - but then you’re not buying this car to be swathed in faux aluminium.  You’re buying it in order to be sitting in a vehicle that is as close to mechanical perfection as possible - a car that is all about function, and this function is to provide the ultimate drive.  As such, the interior follows form, with hugging seats, multi-CD changer, HDD storage system and LCD touch screen.

Of particular interest in the GT-R is the Multi-function display in the car console.  This can be set up (along with the driver lap time system accessible from the steering wheel) to monitor your every driving input, from steering to G’s to breaking.  You can then save this information and bore all of your mates with it.  Or impress them if you’re a pro racing driver.

What about performance though?  Well, everyone on TV who has driven it has seemed to be left a little bit breathless.  I wonder why.  Maybe it’s because when you’re driving a car that will do 0-100 in 8.3 seconds you’ll be left a little bit worried.  And no doubt amazed.  I’m satisfied that the ultra-trick diff and superbly set up suspension will make even the worst Sunday driver look like they are Lewis Hamilton.

For all around ability, I’m not surprised that the Nissan GT-R is proving to be a highlight of the week (if not month or possibly even year) for anyone who has been blessed enough to be in one.  The sheer fact of the matter is that with all that know-how at Nissan, they have created something unique - a supercar for the Playstation generation that could swallow most everything on the road or indeed the track.

Perhaps the most amazing thing about the Nissan is the cost.  Granted, whilst an estimated price tag of £55,000 is never cheap, compared to its most obvious rival the Porsche, it is quite reasonable.  You see, for a brand new 911 Turbo you’ll be getting billed for almost double that.  Now if that isn’t reason enough to buy one if you are looking for a vehicle like this, I don’t know what is.  Granted, there might be some badge snobs out there, but if you can pull away from the lights that fast, who cares?

As a last note on the Nissan GT-R, the purchase price in Japan will be far lower than in the UK.  A steal in fact, at only about £30,000.  Of course there are some problems, like the fact that Nissan GB is refusing to service a Jap spec model or honour the warranty.  On the other hand, there will be specialist dealers to do that, and I’ve no doubt that a huge fanbase will build up prior to the UK launch.  However, the Japanese models will depreciate more than the UK counterparts.  At the end of the day, you pays your money, you takes your choice…