Innholdsfortegnelse for 1474 i Auto Express

James_Brodie@dennis.co.uk @jimmybrods VOLKSWAGEN has officially revealed the up! GTI, which makes its debut at the famous Wörthersee GTI festival in Austria this week. We’ve already driven a prototype (see panel, right), and although VW describes this as a “near-production concept car”, it will be almost identical to the hot up! you can buy in the UK next year. Under the bonnet a 1.0-litre turbocharged three-cylinder engine serves up 113bhp and 200Nm of torque. Power is sent to the front wheels through a six-speed manual gearbox, and the newest, smallest member of Volkswagen’s GTI family can sprint from 0-62mph in 8.8 seconds and will go on to a claimed top speed of 122mph. Volkswagen leaves us in no doubt as to how it sees the new up! GTI – it’s a…

Martin_Saarinen@dennis.co.uk @AE_Consumer THE UK’s variable speed camera hotspots have been revealed after new figures showed more than 210,000 motorists have been caught out by sudden speed limit changes and handed fines totalling at least £21million. Variable speed cameras, which can go down as low as 20mph on ‘smart’ motorways, have caught 210,538 drivers since 2013, according to figures from insurance comparison site Confused.com. The standard fine for speeding is £100 and three penalty points, although penalties can rise to £2,500 plus a driving ban. According to police records, drivers near Bristol have been hit with the most fines. Cameras on the stretch of M4 between J19 and J20 have been responsible for 40,320 penalty notices since going live in 2014. This is followed by cameras on the M5 in South…

FOR those living in cities, there remains one key obstacle to electric car ownership – where to charge them? According to the Government’s Go Ultra Low campaign, 90 per cent of EV charging takes place at home, so unless you’re one of the few lucky ones with a driveway or a garage and access to a plug, chances are that EV ownership just isn’t right for you – at least yet. The public charging infrastructure is growing, but as Auto Express previously highlighted, it is struggling to keep up with electric vehicle uptake – the ratio of EVs to chargers has grown from 0.78 to 7.32 in the last four years, and is close to breaching the maximum 10 in one ratio for commercial success as set by the European…

FROM: Wiley INTERESTING approach from Ford using the Le Mans 24 Hours-winning race car as a base for the road car. I can see the benefits this will have on the track against rivals from the likes of Ferrari, but am not sure how well it translates to the road. Race cars make poor road cars. FROM: Lucky Luciano TO me Ford has taken the correct approach with the GT. Some of the greatest supercars have always been intended with the track in mind. The moment you start to make too many compromises for road use, you lose driver involvement. Inbox What do you think? Contact Lawrence Allan Join the debate at www.autoexpress.co.uk ▪ “It appears Ford’s design team created this car to beat every other existing hypercar currently on…

Lawrence_Allan@dennis.co.uk @LobAllan THE new Suzuki Swift hits showrooms next month, and the Japanese car maker has some ambitious targets. Swift sales in the UK peaked at 15,000 cars in 2007, but last year the brand’s second best seller managed just 11,000 units. Suzuki hopes to double that next year, so the new car has a lot of responsibility on its shoulders. We’ve already pitched the 1.0-litre Boosterjet-powered Swift against rivals (Issue 1,472), and now it’s the turn of the naturally aspirated 1.2 Dualjet mated to Suzuki’s SHVS mild hybrid system. This car was also fitted with AllGrip all-wheel drive. That last feature gives the Swift a unique selling point in the supermini market, as the only other car of this size with 4WD is the Fiat Panda 4x4. Choosing AllGrip…

MODEL TESTED: Volkswagen up! 1.0 75 beats 5dr PRICE: £11,430 ENGINE: 1.0-litre 3cyl, 74bhp THE up! is arguably the Picanto’s main target. VW facelifted the car late last year but didn’t alter the recipe too much, tweaking the infotainment and adding a 1.0-litre turbo to the range. However, it’s the higher-powered, naturally aspirated engine that we test here in £11,430 up! beats five-door form, although our pictures show a top-spec High up!. DESIGN & ENGINEERING Score 4.0 DESPITE a facelift in 2016, the up! is based on the same VW Group New Small Family (NSF) platform as its predecessor, which it also shares with the SEAT Mii and Skoda Citigo. This employs a similar suspension set-up to the Picanto, with struts at the front and a torsion-beam rear axle. Even…

NEW PRODUCT Anki Overdrive: Fast & Furious Price: £169.99 Available from: www.anki.com (from September) THE Fast & Furious franchise is known mostly for its adrenaline-fuelled car chases, memorable vehicles and unrelenting levels of action. That makes the series a perfect match for one of our favourite slot car-style games, Anki Overdrive – and now a new set brings the two together. Anki Overdrive: Fast & Furious Edition is more than merely a name upgrade. First of all, it comes with two unique Supercars based on those seen in the film: Dom’s Ice Charger and Hobbs’ MXT. Each model gets new abilities, weapons and sound effects to use in-game. There’s a new track section, too. When you drive through the aptly named Power Zone, a blast is triggered to disable nearby…

Ford Mondeo Estate 2.0 TDCi (150) Titanium Years: 2014 to date Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl, 148bhp Insurance group: 23 Official economy/CO2: 57.7mpg/128g/km Why? The Mondeo looks sharper than before, but it fails to match its rivals for practical touches or driving enjoyment. Prices from: £10,475 IN previous generations, the Ford Mondeo had set the bar in the family car class for handling, but the latest model leans more towards comfort than driving thrills. The bold grille, slender headlights and long bonnet combine to give the Mondeo real presence, which is helped by the fact that it’s the largest car here. However, Ford’s claimed boot capacity of 500 litres is 150 litres down on the Volkswagen Passat’s and 22 litres on the Mazda, plus there are no novel touches to make the most…

Join the debate now... www.autoexpress.co.uk/opinion HOPING to score a brand new car, but haven’t got enough in your savings account to pay for it? I’m not surprised. The average price of a factory-fresh model is now around £30,000 – that’s more than the annual income enjoyed by most people. So just as most Brits need loans when shopping for homes of their own, the same is true of the motoring masses seeking the keys to new cars. The Finance and Leasing Association has just reported that the value of finance deals used to buy new cars soared to a monthly record of £3.6bn in March. Were it not for such financial products for seemingly grateful consumers, the motor industry probably couldn’t survive with cars averaging £30k a pop. But the…

▪ Sharp-looking new Volvo SUV has Jaguar F-Pace in its sights ▪ Shares design and platform with acclaimed XC90 big brother Steve_Fowler@dennis.co.uk @stevefowler IT’S been a remarkable couple of years for Volvo since the launch of the XC90. That car, along with the S90 saloon and V90 estate, has firmly established the maker as a proper premium brand, battling BMW, Audi, Mercedes, Jaguar and Land Rover. Now it’s the turn of Volvo’s 60-series cars, starting with the XC60 SUV. And if you thought the XC90 had it tough, this car is replacing the best-selling Volvo in history – and it’s up against the current Auto Express Car of the Year, Jaguar’s F-Pace. It also rivals the Audi Q5 and Mercedes GLC. Tough gig. The similarities between the XC60 and XC90…

Orange GT86 joins Toyota’s new Club TOYOTA has launched a new GT86 Orange Edition (above) – the first model in a new range known as Club Series. It features bespoke exterior details such as the orange paintwork and black mirrors, while inside black leather and Alcantara seats are offset by contrasting orange stitching. Under the bonnet, Toyota’s 197bhp 2.0-litre four-cylinder boxer engine remains unchanged. Prices start from £28,800. Smart traffic lights on trial next year INTELLIGENT traffic lights which will rely on over 2,500 roadside cameras and use technology from driverless cars will be trialled next year. The lights will be able to detect when queues are forming and alternate green light cycles to speed up traffic flow. They can also identify emergency vehicles and help them get through traffic…

James_Batchelor@dennis.co.uk @JRRBatchelor We get up close with BMW M4 CS TO keep its M4 at the top of the performance coupé tree, BMW has introduced a special version: the CS. As well as reviving a famous name, the new car delivers 454bhp from its 3.0-litre turbo (up 29bhp on the standard car), tweaked suspension, plus the bonnet, roof, front splitter, rear diffuser and driveshaft are made from carbon fibre-reinforced plastic. Our video reveals all. Land Rover fans’ view of new Disco THE new Land Rover Discovery has already impressed us – especially with its impeccable blend of off-road ability and a luxurious, hi-tech cabin. But what do Land Rover fans make of it? We brought together owners of the four previous generations of the car to find out what they…

Jonathan_Burn@dennis.co.uk @Jonathan_burn ONCE the bedrock of the UK automotive industry, the Midlands have been through tumultuous times over the past 60 years. In the fifties Coventry alone was home to 12 different manufacturers and played a fundamental role in cementing the UK’s car making industry as the second biggest in the world and the country as the largest exporter of cars during that period. Today, of those 12 makers, only Jaguar has survived after waves of economic uncertainty – starting with an increase in competition from manufacturing in mainland Europe and the US and Japan in the seventies – hit the region hard. Fast-forward nearly 50 years, however, and a new wave of investment has landed on the Midlands’ doorstep, breathing new life into an area which was once the…

MODEL TESTED: Hyundai i10 1.0 SE PRICE: £10,790 ENGINE: 1.0-litre 3cyl, 65bhp THE current i10 made its debut in 2013, and followed the lead of Hyundai’s larger models in presenting a more upmarket image. This was backed up with improved refinement and a cabin that mixed style with space. Here we test the £10,790 1.0 SE. DESIGN & ENGINEERING Score 3.5 WHEN it hit UK showrooms in 2008, the original i10 proved a game-changer for Hyundai. Mixing grown-up dynamics and decent practicality with penny-pinching running costs and great-value pricing, the city car was an instant hit. Its popularity was further boosted when it became a big beneficiary of the Government’s scrappage scheme, with buyers flocking to the Korean brand’s showrooms to bag a new-car bargain. So it’s no surprise that…

NEW PRODUCT Silent Witness dash cams Price: From £149.99 Contact: 01773 746591, www.silentwitness.co.uk AS more drivers see the benefit of protecting themselves in the event of an accident, not to mention the potential savings on their insurance premiums, the market for dash cameras continues to expand. Silent Witness has introduced two new products to challenge the current elite. First is an upgraded version of its existing SW010, priced from £149.99, which now features full-HD recording across a 135-degree viewing angle. The device promises to capture 35 hours of footage on its 32GB memory card and play it back on its two-inch LCD screen. GPS is via Google Maps and the cam will also record date, time and speed; a parking mode is optional. Alongside the SW010 in the updated Silent…

111 Porsche Stories That You Should Know Wilfried Müller (www.emons-verlag.de) Price: £20 Rating: MOST of these stories won’t be of much interest to the serious Porscheophile, but for the casual fan this book is fantastic. It’s a curated selection of single-page stories about the brand and its founder, each with a period picture. For a casual read this is a good format – but we’d like to see some of the stories given more of a chance to shine. Land Rover Series I-III: Your Expert Guide Maurice Thurman (Veloce Publishing, www.veloce.co.uk) Price: £15.99 Rating: THIS is a surprisingly in-depth little book, providing a comprehensive troubleshooting guide to common Land Rover problems. Topics range from unusual engine noises to the inability to demist the windows. As these old bruisers don’t exactly…

Jonathan_Burn@dennis.co.uk @Jonathan_burn JAGUAR will take lessons learned from its Formula E racing programme to develop a whole range of future electric models – including the possibility of a sports car, according to bosses. Auto Express can reveal that the I-Pace SUV will kickstart the manufacturer’s EV roll-out. Based on completely new electrical architecture, the production version is set to make its public debut at September’s Frankfurt Motor Show. Design director Ian Callum told us at last month’s Shanghai Motor Show: “The [electric] ‘skateboard platform’ is the future, and we have to design a whole range of cars around it and accept what comes.” Jaguar is also working hard on the development of battery tech, targeting increasing efficiency while reducing the unit’s physical size. According to technical design director Wolfgang Ziebart,…

cap hpi consumer and retail editor www.hpicheck.com THE first quarter of 2017 got off to a strong start for UK car sales. At the beginning of the year, the domestic used car market was the strongest it had been since 2004 – a 13-year high. In line with industry expectations, it proved to be a record first quarter, with analysis of sales showing significant growth before the new Vehicle Excise Duty rates brought about a significant drop in April. The overall strength of the new car market can be attributed to the continued growth of PCP (Personal Contract Purchase) finance and the fact motorists are now almost as likely to change their cars as often as they do mobile phones. The ‘iPhonification’ of the motor industry is changing the way…

MODEL TESTED: Kia Picanto 1.0 GDi 2 PRICE: £10,750 ENGINE: 1.0-litre 3cyl, 66bhp IN an effort to peg the Volkswagen up!, Kia has released this more sophisticated Picanto city car. A 1.0-litre turbo engine will be available in time, but here it’s the entry-level naturally aspirated 1.0 petrol we test in £10,750 ‘2’ trim. DESIGN & ENGINEERING THE addition of a new engine at the end of the year means Picanto buyers will have more choice, but Kia has given with one hand and taken away with the other, as this all-new model is now available only as a five-door. However, that’s less of an issue than you might think. Kia says only 10 per cent of buyers opt for three-doors in this sector, so with the Picanto’s new-found focus…

Which multimedia system is best for music, sat-nav and connectivity? KIA PICANTO 3.8in monochrome audio Standard Key features: Bluetooth Score 2.9 THERE’S not much in the way of infotainment on this 2 trim level. A small dot-matrix screen comes as standard, while Bluetooth is included so you can make calls on the move and stream music. However, there’s no DAB radio, which means FM and AM are your only options. There’s also a CD, while you can connect USB devices to play music, but there are no smartphone apps. If you want Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, you have to upgrade to 3 specification or the GT-Line S model, while a larger seven-inch touchscreen is also included. The trouble is, these models aren’t available with the 1.0-litre engine. Meanwhile, 2…

THE latest Audi A5 Coupé doesn’t look much different to its predecessor, but under the classy and understated exterior, it’s all new. It’s based on the brand’s MLB scalable platform, and it’s lighter, faster and more efficient than both the model it replaces and the revised 4 Series. Even so, it wasn’t able to make this advantage pay at the track, where it had to give best to the BMW. Without the benefit of four-wheel drive, the A5 scrabbled from 0-60mph in 7.4 seconds, which was two-tenths slower than the 420d. The Audi also trailed during the in-gear tests, where its twin-clutch transmission was hobbled by its combination of fewer and more widely spread ratios. For instance, the box wouldn’t even let us complete the 50-70mph test in seventh. The…

Learners get behind wheel of i8 supercar MOST learners take their driving lessons in a tame and sensible car. But now lucky north Londoners can practise in something more exotic, as the Bill Plant driving school has taken delivery of a BMW i8 (above). Fitted with standard dual controls, the i8 is a bona fide L-model, and is sure to be in demand from affluent learners. An hour’s lesson in the Bill Plant i8 costs £50 and can be booked at billplant.co.uk/i8. Posh watch marks Formula E tie-up THE Mahindra Formula E team has a new partner in the shape of luxury watch maker Omologato, which is celebrating with a new timepiece. The stainless steel Omologato Mahindra Racing chronograph is finished in the team’s red and black colours, and will…

Stephen_Errity@dennis.co.u FORMULA One races in Monaco this weekend, but once the chequered flag falls in the Principality on Sunday afternoon, attention will turn to Indianapolis in the US as double F1 champion Fernando Alonso takes on America’s biggest motor race at the wheel of a Honda-engined McLaren entry run by top IndyCar team Andretti Autosport. A total of 12 F1 champions have raced at the Indy 500 over the years – seven before winning a title and five after. Only two of them – Graham Hill and Emerson Fittipaldi – have managed to take victory at the race. As well as taking part in the extensive ‘Month of May’ test sessions in which all IndyCar drivers participate, Alonso is said to have watched 25 previous Indy 500s on video, including…