Innholdsfortegnelse for 1433 i Auto Express

Visit autoexpress.co.uk for all the latest new cars news WE all love a bargain – and the car industry knows it. That’s why Britain has, for many years, been used by manufacturers as a bit of a dumping ground for cars that they want to get off their hands. The strong pound has allowed salesmen in UK dealerships to dish out keen discounts and finance offers, while still returning a tidy profit and allowing the production lines around the world to keep rolling merrily along. The most extreme example of this has been ‘pre-registrations’, where dealerships themselves have become the owners of vehicles, secured their bonuses for hitting their monthly and quarterly targets, and then sold on the car, often with only a handful of miles, at a huge saving.…

Joe_Finnerty@dennis.co.uk @AE_Consumer THE pre-registration market could be set to shrink, while car prices rise, as the UK edges closer to the EU exit door. Experts admit that with the pound weakening against the Euro, the UK is becoming a less attractive market for manufacturers to push cars through. The UK has achieved record growth in car registrations over the past few years, with some predicting it could hit three million by the end of the year. Pre-registrations – which allow dealers to offer nearly-new models at a fraction of the list price – had buoyed the market and were estimated to account for 15 per cent of 2015’s figures. But sales forecasts have changed since the Brexit vote, and exchange rate volatility has led to car sale margins shrinking. That…

“He discovered the custom engine map on his ECU had been erased when the van got a new oil pump” CUSTOMISING is a popular option for many, with owners wanting to add personal touches to an otherwise standard vehicle. But what happens when the modifications are removed by the manufacturer under a recall, and who picks up the bill? This was the question Michael Strickland from Workington, Cumbria, asked Auto Express after a bespoke engine map in his Ford Transit Custom van was removed while it was in for an oil pump recall. Michael told us: “I bought the Transit Custom back in September last year, and wanted something that would stand out. I had it custom built from the ground up, including custom engine mapping.” Michael estimates the engine…

James_Batchelor@dennis.co.uk @JRRBatchelor “Roof up, Spider looks prettier than GTB; fold it, and it’s one of most elegant modern Ferraris since 355” THE launch of a new mid-engined, two-seat Ferrari convertible is always a special event; it’s all about excitement, glamour and noise. We last drove the 488 Spider nine months ago in its natural habitat of the rolling hills surrounding Modena, Italy (Issue 1,393). But now is our chance to get behind the wheel of a right-hand-drive version in the UK. As the 488 GTB Coupé is one of the performance cars of the moment, lopping the roof off is a sure-fire way of guaranteeing extra sales. That’s the philistine’s view, of course; to everyone else, the Spider is something just a little extra special. The newcomer carries over the…

Jonathan_Burn@dennis.co.uk @Jonathan_burn Verdict THERE are few areas the SQ7 hasn’t got covered. It’s seriously rapid, enormously practical and comes with an abundance of clever tech. It takes the notion of a performance SUV up a notch. At more than £70,000 (without options) it isn’t cheap, but it also presents a bigger picture. Everything you see here will eventually filter down through the Audi range – so although the tech is currently exclusive to the SQ7, it won’t be that way for long. THE new Audi SQ7 is the automotive wolf in sheep’s clothing. It’s the latest addition to the Q7 line-up and, according to the company, the world’s fastest diesel SUV. This is the first time we’ve been behind the wheel in the UK. Beneath the SQ7’s unremarkable exterior sits…

Lawrence_Allan@dennis.co.uk @LobAllan “BiTDI is no ordinary diesel – in fact, it’s the most powerful engine of its size on the market” WE’RE already quite familiar with the new Volkswagen Tiguan. But when we tested it against its closest rivals, the Renault Kadjar and Nissan Qashqai (Issue 1,425), it finished only third. So does an engine upgrade change anything? VW has made the SUV available with its punchy BiTDI twin-turbo diesel. The 237bhp 2.0-litre four-cylinder appeared first in the Passat saloon last year, and the Tiguan is the next car to benefit. Extremely high injection pressures on the twin-turbos ensure it’s no ordinary diesel; in fact, it’s the most powerful engine of its size on the market. With a whopping 500Nm of torque from as low as 1,750rpm, it has considerably…

Results 1st RENAULT COMPACT hatchback group tests often throw up close results, and this one is no exception. In the final reckoning, the Mégane does just enough to take victory. Not only does it look good with a classy cabin, it sets new standards for comfort and refinement. This Dynamique S model also features one of the best infotainment systems in the business, plus it comes loaded with kit. 2nd VAUXHAL THE Astra tastes defeat for the first time, but it’s still a brilliant family hatchback. The excellent ride and handling balance makes it a top choice for keen drivers, while the OnStar concierge service is unrivalled in this class. In addition, the Vauxhall is practical, frugal and sharply styled, plus its 1.6-litre diesel is a punchy performer. It just…

Richard_Ingram@dennis.co.uk @rsp_ingram Dean Gibson Deputy road test editor Second opinion “It’s the small details that mark the 308 out as something special. For instance, the engine features motorsport-inspired tweaks such as titanium conrods, while the front brakes can trace their roots back to the brand’s World Rally Championship-winning 206 WRC.” WE LIKE The engine, chassis and brakes are more than up to scratch. Strong performance and rewarding handling live up to GTi badge, while the high-quality interior is another plus point WE DON’T Tyre noise is starting to become an issue, especially on concrete sections of the M25. Coupe Franche paint continues to divide opinion, too IN my last report (Issue 1,424), I raved about how our Peugeot 308 GTi was doing a great job of settling in to the…

1st NEW ENTRY SEAT Ateca Years: 2016 to date Best engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl, 147bhp Insurance group: 17 Economy/CO2: 64mpg/114g/km WHY? It’s only just landed in showrooms, but the affordable Ateca tops our list here – and, in doing so, it beats many more established rivals. With a simplistic yet attractive design, the SEAT is a good alternative in this market, and it has the bonus of a good price. Base models are left trailing slightly when it comes to the inclusion of expensive technology, but buyers can take their pick from a wide range of efficient engines. A four-wheel-drive transmission option is a useful touch and makes for a fun, engaging driving experience. Overall, thanks to plenty of positive points, this newest addition to the crossover class just happens to…

Jonathan_Burn@dennis.co.uk @Jonathan_Burn “New Type R could become world’s most powerful frontdrive hot hatch” HONDA will be looking to hog the limelight at October’s Paris Motor Show as it rolls out an all-new, more powerful and even faster version of its legendary Civic Type R, Auto Express can exclusively reveal. Even though the current model – limited to 2,500 models in the UK – only launched last year, the manufacturer will preview the next Type R with a concept in France, and the production version will then make its way into showrooms next September, senior executives at the company have stated. The concept will make its debut on the show stand alongside the standard version of the all-new 10th-generation hatch. One of the key areas the new Type R will address…

CITROEN is moving into the future by looking at its past – reviving the Mehari legend as an all-electric, open-top beach buggy. The newcomer is called the E-Mehari. It’s powered by a 68bhp electric motor giving a 124-mile range; that trails a Tesla by some way, but this car is designed for the quiet life on the coast, so we headed to the German North Sea island of Sylt to take the wheel. You can see similarities with the original – like grandmother and granddaughter – because the ribbed door pattern and undulating lines of the E-Mehari are a nod to the design of the late sixties Mehari. But the differences are more striking; Citroen’s family face has been grafted on to the front, while the hose-down interior and digital…

“Retro bodywork is crafted from carbon fibre, while chassis is bonded aluminium. A number of deposits have already been placed” Lawrence_Allan@dennis.co.uk @LobAllan BRITISH brand Bristol has revealed its new sports car, called the Bullet. It’s been built to mark the company’s 70th anniversary and is powered by a 370bhp 4.8-litre V8. Sales will begin later this year. Only 70 examples will be produced at a price estimated to be just under £250,000. Each speedster is hand-made over two weeks at the company’s factory in Chichester, Hants, and sold only through Bristol’s famous showroom in Kensington, west London. A number of deposits have already been placed by prospective owners in the UK and abroad. The retro bodywork is crafted from carbon fibre, while the chassis is bonded aluminium. Bristol claims the…

Lawrence_Allan@dennis.co.uk @LobAllan “Even before the upgrades, the A3 was in a class of its own for cabin design” Verdict UPDATES to the A3 Cabriolet aren’t dramatic, but it remains a polished, premium drop-top. Audi has improved the cabin tech and increased the amount of standard kit, so what was already one of our favourite small convertibles has got a little bit better. A diesel model makes the most sense on paper, but don’t write off the quiet, smooth and punchy 1.4 TFSI. WHEN most manufacturers give a car a mid-life facelift, they have to update one or maybe two bodystyles. Audi, however, had to work on four for its 2016 update of the A3. This is the 1.4 TFSI Cabriolet driven in the UK for the first time. Visually, the…

THE battle between the Mercedes-AMG tuning arm and BMW’s M Division has raged for decades. Both performance brands specialise in ramping up the ability of cars from the regular ranges, so with its latest offering AMG has shoehorned its bonkers twin-turbo V8 underneath the curvaceous bonnet of the stylish C-Class Coupé to create this C 63 S model. Just as BMW’s 4 Series Coupé rivals the regular two-door C-Class, the M4 is the M Division’s ultimate expression of performance in the compact executive coupé class. The recipe is similar to that of the C 63, too: an engine breathed on by the company’s in-house tuning department, stuffed into the nose of a pumped-up coupé body. But these cars’ wheelarch extensions and aerodynamic tweaks have substance as well as style. Enhanced…

Results 1st MERCEDES THE C 63 S is just shaded by the M4 for outright performance, but it has a more fun personality – and that’s what these cars are about. The AMG is more approachable thanks to its transparent handling balance, while it’s got a richer character due to that V8. However, it also blends this with decent cruising refinement, and while it’s pricier to buy, you get more for your money. 2nd BMW THE BMW remains a brilliant performance car that’ll easily give the Porsche 911 a run for its (extra) money. However, compared with the C 63, at this level the price gap could be less important for buyers, and the M4 doesn’t quite offer the same rounded ability as the AMG. It’s still a scalpel-sharp car…

Renault Kadjar WITH the holiday season in full swing, senior photographer Pete Gibson packed up our Kadjar for a camping trip to Norfolk. But with his wife, two young children and Benson the dog to accommodate, plus the camping gear, the roomy interior and 527-litre boot were soon overflowing. Happily, this gave Pete a chance to put the crossover’s new roof bars (Issue 1,429) to the test, as they allowed him to bolt on his trusty Thule roof box. With the tent, sleeping bags, folding chairs and all the other camping kit stowed up above, Benson was able to stretch out in the boot for the 100-mile trip from our man’s Essex home to the campsite. The rest of the family enjoyed the Kadjar’s comfy ride and strong refinement, plus…

Interior BEST viewed as a two-seater, the CR-Z has decent front head and legroom, with comfortable, supportive seats. Only small children will fit in the back. The boot is small, too, as it has to take the battery pack; there’s only 225 litres of space, or 401 litres if the back seats are folded. Contacts Official www.honda.co.uk Forums www.crzforum.com www.autoexpress.co.uk/driverpower OUR VIEW UNSURPRISINGLY, the CR-Z is too unusual to feature in Driver Power. However, four Hondas did appear in our 2016 survey: the Jazz Mk2 (112th), CR-V Mk3 (125th), CR-V Mk4 (57th) and Civic Mk9 (40th). The brand’s models tend to do well when quite new, but seem to drop down the rankings disappointingly quickly. YOUR VIEW MARK Hathersage from Doncaster in South Yorkshire owns a CR-Z GT. He told…

Verdict on Aston’s striking new DB11 We take wheel of beautiful DB9-replacing twin-turbo V12 supercar for the first time THE 30 BEST COMPANY CARS AND WHAT THEY’LL COST YOU Rounding up the top Benefit-in-Kind buys for user choosers – from Polo to Panamera New Tesla Model S We hit UK roads as groundbreaking electric exec gets new look and even more tech News l Product tests Drives l Features & Sport onsale Wednesday 10 August Contents are subject to change…

“You can make out sweeping roofline, long bonnet and tiger-nose grille in our spy shots” Sam_Naylor@dennis.co.uk @SamNaylor_AE “Unlike previous Kia saloons, the new GT model is focused on being great to drive” And Rio SUV is set to rival Nissan Juke Kia is also planning a new crossover to rival the Nissan Juke, and it could get plug-in hybrid power. The manufacturer has put out teasers of a baby SUV before, with 2013’s Niro concept (above). But now insiders claim a production model, based on the next-generation Rio, is due soon after that car’s launch in 2017. Western Europe boss John Kim said: “Kia is launching some new products next year, such as a new Rio, with an SUV as well.” Thanks to a higher driving position and a bigger…

EMPLOYEES using their own cars for work cost taxpayers around £78.6million per year and are damaging the environment, a new report has claimed. The vehicles, known as the grey fleet, make up nearly half of all cars on British roads and drove 12 billion business miles last year. Grey fleet owners are currently reimbursed on pence per mile rates and cost employers – including the private sector – £5.5billion a year. The report states halving the fleet could save an estimated 157,000 tonnes of CO2 per year, too. They’re also some of the oldest cars on the road, at an average age of 8.2 years, according to the report by the Energy Saving Trust and British Vehicle Leasing and Rental Association (BVLRA), meaning they could be more prone to breakdowns…

Joe_Finnerty@dennis.co.uk @AE_Consumer Tom Ellis 60-Minute car “The 60-Minute Car is an exploration into a system which takes down the lifespan of the car to the extreme, which in turn will free up valuable space in the city. The system consists of the user firstly ordering the car; then the vehicle is assembled. It is then used for the journey, and finally at the end of the journey the car is disassembled and the parts are stacked.” James Owen After Autonomy “The concept (left) synchronises man and machine through world perception technology and electrical muscle stimulation, welcoming the user back to the driving seat, in a postautonomous era. I’m experimenting with how the tech and products can influence the design of the ‘car’.” “There’s a false perception... we don’t always look…

“Big news is arrival of BMW Connected infotainment – an automated personal assistant”  “Power has climbed from 302bhp to 322bhp, and that makes the 340i GT monstrously quick” ANOTHER day, another mid-life facelift for a BMW product that looks barely any different to that which has gone before. This time it’s the idiosyncratic 3 Series Gran Turismo (a cross between the Saloon and Touring estate) that’s been subjected to the lightest of updates. In this case, though, perhaps it’s easier to understand BMW’s reluctance for radical alterations – because the 3 GT has been a big success story for the company during its three-year career. More than 140,000 examples have been sold globally since 2013, with China, Germany and the US in particular falling for the GT’s unconventional combination of…

Lawrence_Allan@dennis.co.uk @LobAllan Verdict ADDING four-wheel drive to the XE doesn’t transform the way it drives, but it certainly feels more surefooted in adverse conditions. We’re not totally convinced that outweighs the efficiency drop, however, while the £1,800 extra that an AWD model asks could be better spent on the excellent new infotainment upgrade. All that aside, this is still a likeable and stylish small saloon that’s great to drive. JAGUAR’S XE has been on sale for over a year, and it’s won praise left, right and centre – not least from Auto Express, as we’ve crowned it Best Compact Executive Car at our New Car Awards in 2015 and 2016. Now Jaguar has drafted in new features to help keep the saloon on top of its game – chief among…

“One of the highlights of the Mégane is an interior that blends cutting-edge connectivity with an upmarket finish” THE compact family hatch class is as popular as ever, despite fashionable crossovers and small premium cars vying for buyers’ attention. So it’s no surprise Renault has pulled out all the stops with its latest Mégane. This new Mk4 car is aiming for the top of the sales charts with a blend of style, technology and low running costs. One of its highlights is a cabin that mixes cuttingedge connectivity with an upmarket finish. There’s even a version with four-wheel steering – a first for this class. However, here we test a model that’s likely to be a big hit with private buyers and business users alike: the 1.5 dCi diesel in…

Steve_Fowler@dennis.co.uk Sean Carson Senior road tester Second opinion “If you want to make the most of your XC90 T8, then you’ll need a home charging point. Volvo recommends the Pod Point set-up, which comes in three different outputs (3.7, 7 and 22kW). The lowest power unit will give you up to 15 miles of range for every hour on charge, while the most powerful version pushes the miles per hour figure up to 80. Prices range from £390 to £1,650, all of which include a grant of up to £500 from the Government’s Office of Low Emissions.” IT’S rare that we get to gauge the continual improvements manufacturers make to their cars over time on our fleet; we tend not to run two identical models consecutively. But when Volvo asked…

NEW PRODUCT VBOX Video HD2 data logger Price: £1,850 Contact: 01280 823803, www.vboxmotorsport.co.uk THIS WEEK’S HOT KIT MOTORSPORT veterans and track day fans are all eager to record their laps. Video footage is great for showing off, but when combined with crucial data like lap timing, speed and even g-force, it can become a valuable tool for those looking to improve. VBOX Video’s new HD2 provides all this. Two high-quality, 1080p cameras provide front and rear-facing views of the action – and the wideangled lenses mean it’s easy to see your racing line. Built from aluminium, the cameras and companion box are sturdy and waterproof. The real magic comes in processing, though, as a real-time graphical overlay adds almost anything you like to your footage. A few standard overlays are…

MANY drivers have a scooter or motorcycle for commuting or weekend fun, but does that mean you need two sat-navs? We’ve put the top bike buys from TomTom and Garmin head-tohead on two wheels and four. A sat-nav on a bike makes finding a route safe and simple, especially with a Bluetooth helmet headset (extra on both units). This latest TomTom has 100 Great Rides installed; a key difference between cars and bikes is that the latter are often ridden just for the pleasure of it. So both units let you plan routes on challenging roads, rather than simply the fastest. To pick the best all-rounder, we tried each on two wheels and four, looking for easy routing and clear instructions, plus rated extras like hands-free calling. Prices were taken…

YOUR VIEWS ON YOUR CARS 2016 Results RCZ Factfile Years: 2010 to 2015 CO2: 155g/km Fuel economy: 42.1mpg (1.6 THP GT Line) Best options: Sat-nav, cruise control, Bluetooth and USB connectivity, parking sensors, electric seats Prices: From £7,990 OVERALL SCORE 89.21% Bars show where model finished out of 150 cars in our 2016 survey. The lower the rating the better GOOD “PEUGEOT’S designers got the RCZ spot-on. It’s such a head-turner.” “Even the 1.6-litre turbo feels quick in the RCZ. It pulls nicely and has enough grunt for overtaking.” “A very easy car to drive on motorways. It sits totally happily at 70mph.” “For a sleek coupé, there is plenty of luggage space.” “The doors close with a heavy thud, which gives me the feeling it will be safe if…