Innholdsfortegnelse for 1529 i Auto Express

Porsche Mission E to be called Taycan THE production version of the all-electric Porsche Mission E concept (above) will be called Taycan when it’s revealed in 2019. It’s pronounced ‘tie-can’ and is a word taken from an eastern dialect. The name translates as ‘lively young horse’ and is a reference to the animal that’s graced the Porsche badge since 1952. Revamped Fabia to start from £12k SKODA has revealed prices for its facelifted Fabia supermini. Basic cars cost £12,020, and all models in the range will get LED running lights and Front Assist. SE spec adds front foglights, 15-inch alloy wheels and an upgraded stereo, while Colour Edition cars have bigger wheels. SE L brings sat-nav and extra interior lighting, and Monte Carlo versions come with sportier styling. The priciest…

New subscription deal on JLR models JLR has launched an all-inclusive subscription service targeted at high-mileage drivers. The Carpe package brings a selection of brand-new models at a fixed cost. Carpe offers subscribers a new car each year, with no mileage cap. Servicing, maintenance, insurance and breakdown cover are included, with prices from £910 per month (plus VAT) for an E-Pace (above). Break record with Land Rover mag OWN a Land Rover? Want to be a part of an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the largest parade of Land Rovers? Join our sister title Land Rover Monthly and get yourself to the Billing Off Road Show near Northampton on 30 June at 4pm. It’s on a gentle track and 4x4 experience isn’t needed. Details at thebillingoffroadexperience.co.uk. Self-learning…

THE 2018 Mercedes GLE has been testing again, but this time our eagle-eyed snappers have caught it almost completely undisguised. The BMW X5 rival is expected to make its debut at the Los Angeles Motor Show in November. From the new images, we can see the front end will take inspiration from the likes of the latest CLS and A-Class (tested on Page 36), with sharper headlamp units and a reshaped grille. The mule shows the new rear, too, and while the distinctive C-pillar and wraparound-effect back window are carried over, the roofline looks lower than on the current GLE. The tail-lights are slimmer, and are expected to feature LED tech. We’ve seen the GLE’s interior already – albeit under heavy disguise – and Mercedes insiders have now confirmed it…

James_Batchelor@dennis.co.uk @JRRBatchelor Behind the wheel of Ferrari 488 Pista IF you thought the 488 was as good as a mid-engined Ferrari gets, the new 488 Pista pushes the boundary. It’s an evolutionary leap over the GTB, hilarious to drive and deliciously exploitable. So says chief reviewer Sean Carson, who’s driven it in Italy on road and track for this video. MG X-Motion SUV walkaround video BRITISH brand MG has had a troubled time since its relaunch eight years ago with the MG6, but the range is set to grow with a sporty EV and a new SUV. The latter will sit above the GS, and has been previewed by the X-Motion concept; it’s set to look 90 per cent like the concept when it arrives next year. Watch our walkaround…

mail@autoexpress.co.uk @AutoExpress Write to: Watchdog/Letters, Auto Express, Dennis Publishing Ltd, 31-32 Alfred Place, London WC1E 7DP FROM: Bishopwasahero THIS looks very nice indeed. The rear side window and D-pillar remind me of recent Volvo estates, but that’s no bad thing. The 508 SW is the best-looking Peugeot for a couple of generations. FROM: Hamish Clements THE exterior styling is excellent and the cabin attractive, but Peugeot’s insistence on sticking with the small steering wheel means I will look elsewhere; this set-up just doesn’t work for me. Join the debate at www.autoexpress.co.uk “Peugeot has a great history of making big estates, and this should be the best one yet.” Alan Lee “The 508 SW’s 530-litre boot is the same size as the Fabia Estate’s, so the Skoda Superb can relax!” D12…

Steve_Fowler@dennis.co.uk @stevefowler “While the auto can be a bit sluggish to react, the manual box is slick and easy to use” Performance 0-62mph/top speed 8.9 seconds/130mph Running costs 50.4mpg (off icial) £63 fill-up KIA is a company with confidence right now. Its Stinger saloon has proven a genuine challenger to the German elite, so this third-generation Ceed arrives with a spring in its step (and without the pointless apostrophe of the previous two models) to take on the VW Golf, new Mercedes A-Class and forthcoming Ford Focus. There’s more than a hint of Stinger to the new Ceed’s look. It’s lower and wider than before, with a broader tigernose grille and swept-back lights. While the overall length of the hatchback hasn’t changed, the rear overhang has grown to enlarge the…

James_Brodie@dennis.co.uk @jimmybrods JEEP will prioritise EVs and new niches within the next few years. A new entry model will arrive in 2022, but, for now at least, the Renegade remains the smallest member of the team. It has been on sale since 2014, although a facelift gives the baby SUV a subtle design update with new LED lights, wheels and bumpers. But the big news is the introduction of three new turbo petrol engines. Each forms part of a modular family, with a 1.0-litre three-cylinder propping up two more powerful four-cylinder options. The range-topping 178bhp car will come with four-wheel drive, but here we’ve got the middling 148bhp 1.3-litre model. It sends drive to the front wheels via a six-speed DCT auto box. Jeep promises efficiency increases of up to…

Peugeot 5008 A RECENT family holiday to Italy started well for art director Darren Wilson, with our Peugeot 5008 easily swallowing the luggage for five with space to spare. But the SUV wasn’t taking them abroad; it was only transporting them to the airport. The sat-nav directed our man clearly and efficiently to the car park and the auto tailgate made unloading really quick, enabling them to catch a terminal bus that was just leaving. On arrival in Rome, Darren was delighted that his hire car for the week was a Citroen Grand C4 Picasso. This PSA Group sister model has a very similar sat-nav to the one in the 5008. One improvement the newer Peugeot has over the Citroen is the navigation route display located between the dials. This…

Got a query? products@autoexpress.co.uk @AE_Consumer Q How to clean black alloys MY Lexus IS 300h has black-painted wheels, but I don’t know what product is best to clean them. Can you advise? Keith Millard, E-mail A ALTHOUGH your wheels are black, they are essentially the same as silver wheels with a clear coat over a colour base. So use our test winner, Bilt-Hamber auto-wheel (www.bilthamber.com). The biggest problem is getting them fully clean; it’s harder to tell if dirt is still present. Using a clay bar after cleaning should help remove the final bits. Q Replace two tyres at once? I’VE just got a puncture and the tyre wasn’t repairable because a screw went in near the edge of the tread. Although I replaced the tyre, my dad said I…

IF you’re heading away in the car this summer, taking your own food and drink in a coolbox makes a lot of sense. New to the market is the Campingaz Powerbox Plus 36L, so we put it up against our current chilling champ, the Halfords 24L. After testing cooling and temperature loss capability for two hours, we compared weight, voltage options and how many standard 1.5-litre water bottles each could hold (noting the height differences between bottles). Overall, the Halfords scored well just about everywhere and, despite a price increase, stays at the top. The Powerbox has much to commend it and would have come third in our original test back in Issue 1,466. “We rated voltage and how many 1.5L bottles each box could hold” Mini test NEW PRODUCT…

YOUR VIEWS ON YOUR CARS 2018 Results Tiguan Factfile Years: 2016 to present CO2: 141g/km Fuel econ: 52.3mpg (2.0 TDI 4MOTION) Best options: Sunroof, climate control, parking sensors, sat-nav, heated seats Used prices: From £19,000 OVERALL SCORE 91.10% Bars show where model finished out of 75 vehicles in our 2018 new car survey. 91.10% The longer the bar the better GOOD “SMOOTH, relaxing and quiet to drive. An impressive car.” “The 1.4-litre petrol engine is so responsive. It feels like a 2.0-litre.” “Exudes quality; interior design, fit and finish are top class.” “The boot is truly enormous.” “Seats are comfortable and have an impressive range of adjustment.” “Handles far better than the Mk1 Tiguan.” “I had read the R-Line had stiff suspension, but we have not experienced this.” NOT SO…

Richard_Ingram@dennis.co.uk @rsp_ingram THE forthcoming facelift for the Jaguar XE has been spied for the first time. The car was caught testing around the company’s headquarters near Gaydon in Warwickshire ahead of its launch in 2019. While the model in these pictures is heavily camouflaged, Jaguar isn’t expected to change the car’s styling too much with its first proper refresh. Expect slimmer LED lights front and rear, plus tweaked bumpers and fresh interior trim. We could see the introduction of new semi-autonomous tech, as well as infotainment upgrades across the range. But the biggest changes are likely to be under the skin. With Jaguar recently launching its revolutionary I-Pace SUV, it looks well set to forge ahead with its extensive plans for future electrification. As a result, the latest XE is…

Martin_Saarinen@dennis.co.uk @AE_Consumer UK authorities have asked Mercedes to recall a number of Euro 6 diesel vehicles that were found to contain emissions-tampering devices. After confirming some Euro 6 diesel models from Mercedes contain ‘defeat devices’ to pass emissions tests, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has now given Mercedes a deadline to issue a recall over the emissions irregularities. Ian Bartlett, head of DVSA’s vehicle safety branch and market surveillance unit, said: “We are aware of the issue of ‘defeat devices’ in some Mercedes models and we are in communication with Mercedes-Benz UK about the matter. Mercedes has not yet notified us of an official recall so we are pressing it on this point and have given it until 22 June to respond.” Last week, Germany’s transport ministry, the KBA,…

Steve_Fowler@dennis.co.uk @stevefowler HYUNDAI and Audi have announced plans to jointly develop fuel cell tech for use in future hydrogen-powered cars. While Hyundai has just launched its second-generation fuel cell electric vehicle, the Nexo (driven on Page 33), Audi’s efforts have yet to get beyond the concept stage. However, by joining forces, the two brands claim that there will be cost and technology benefits, cutting prices and development times. “For the breakthrough of this sustainable tech, cooperation is the smart way to achieve attractive cost structures,” said Audi chairman Rupert Stadler. The agreement applies to existing patents as well as future research and development, so it’s feasible that Audi could use some of the Nexo’s systems. Technology developed through the partnership will be open to Audi’s VW Group stablemates, as well…

New-look section fights your corner on key issues LAST week we spoke to three former traffic officers about the state of roads policing. One of the points they made was that traffic cops were often the ones to catch criminals first. One area of crime that’s seen a huge rise recently is keyless theft of cars – Auto Express even fell victim to this last year. In this instalment of our four-week campaign looking at how police cuts affect road standards, we study keyless theft and how to tackle it. Martin_Saarinen@dennis.co.uk @AE_Consumer VEHICLE THEFT: PERCENTAGE RISE FROM PREVIOUS YEAR 56% “From a safety point, the car cannot just stop the engine when it senses the key is actually out of range” SECURITY EXPERT Richard Billyeald Chief technical officer at Thatcham…

Hugo_Griffiths@dennis.co.uk @hugo_griffiths FEW of us think twice about garages and the role of the mechanic. Without them, however, our cars would quite literally grind to a halt. But the automotive sector has been undergoing something of a staffing shortfall in recent years, with as many as 5,000 empty roles across the industry, and a 61 per cent drop in apprenticeships since a new levy was introduced in May 2017. By 2020, the skills gap could be as big as 50,000 in the industry, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). Training facilities for the mechanics of tomorrow, like the one run by Buckinghamshire College Group at its campus in Aylesbury, are therefore vital if Britain is to keep moving in the future. So Auto Express has gone…

James_Brodie@dennis.co.uk @jimmybrods Performance 0-62mph/top speed 7.7 seconds/149mph Running costs 46.3mpg (official) £53 fill-up IT’S all change in the executive sector at the moment. There’s an all-new BMW 3 Series around the corner, and Audi is prepping a mid-life refresh for the A4. But Mercedes is first to pull the trigger with the facelifted C-Class. While the design changes very little (headlights, bumpers and not much else), Mercedes claims this update is the most extensive it’s bestowed on its best-seller. The marque says you’ll find 6,500 new parts on the latest car, including clever 48-volt mild-hybrid tech under the bonnet. Our test car was a German-spec Elegance model; its closest relation in Britain will be the entry-level SE version. The new 48V-assisted tech is fitted to the C 200 only and…

Running costs 35.2mpg (on test) £60 fill-up/£140 or 34% tax Performance 0-60mph/top speed 6.8 seconds/140mph Practicality Boot (seats up/down) 460/1,336 litres Braking 70-0/60-0/30-0mph 48.2/37.8/11.2m THE XC40’s new platform means it uses different underpinnings to its larger XC60 and XC90 sister cars. They sit on Volvo’s Scaleable Product Architecture (SPA). However, the CMA-based XC40 retains a clear family link to those models, one part of that being the T5 petrol engine. It produces 244bhp and 350Nm of torque, which trumps the DS 7’s 222bhp and 300Nm. The Volvo’s 2.0-litre motor delivers its 50Nm higher torque figure 100rpm lower down in the rev range than its rival, too, at 1,800rpm. The Volvo is significantly heavier than the DS, though, so its 1,646kg kerbweight means it has much more mass to pull along…

Stuart_Milne@dennis.co.uk Practicality Boot (7/5/2-seat mode) 270/560/2,005 litres Running costs 40.2mpg (on test) £78 fill-up/£140 or 34% tax LIKE most SUV owners, I’ve just dabbled around the edges of the Kodiaq’s off-road ability. The occasional muddy track and snowy road have been about the sum of it, but even that was enough to show that, despite the Skoda’s tremendous talent on the road, the car’s ground clearance and four-wheel-drive system were more than up to the job. Which is why I found myself on a green lane, with the Kodiaq in its off-road mode, and a slight twang of concern as to whether the Pirelli Scorpion tyres would be able to cope. I shouldn’t have worried, though. The car’s ground clearance meant there was no bottoming out, and the off-road drive…

Alfa Romeo Giulia Issues 1,515, 1,526 Audi A7 Sportback New arrival Citroen C3 Aircross Issue 1,526 Honda Civic Type R Issues 1,512, 1,524, 1,527 Hyundai Ioniq Plug-in Issues 1,514, 1,523, 1,528 Land Rover Discovery New arrival Mazda CX-5 Issues 1,503, 1,512, 1,521 Mercedes-AMG E 63 S Issues 1,509, 1,521 Peugeot 5008 Issue 1,523 SEATArona Issue 1,524 Skoda Kodiaq Iss 1,501, 1,508, 1,516, 1,522 SsangYong Rexton Issues 1,516, 1,525 Toyota C-HR Issue 1,527 Vauxhall Insignia Issues 1,510, 1,520, 1,525 Volkswagen Arteon Issue 1,520 Volvo XC60 Issues 1,523, 1,527…

Derek Bell – All my Porsche races Derek Bell and Richard Heseltine Porter Press (www.porterpress.co.uk) Price: £45 Rating: FEW names are as closely linked with racing Porsches like Derek Bell. This book charts his successful career in cars such as the 917, 956, 962 and 911. Photo and print quality is top-notch, and Bell’s accounts of the races are enthralling. Setting up a home car workshop Julian Edgar Veloce (www.veloce.co.uk) Price: £19.99 Rating: A THOROUGH guide to setting yourself up to work on cars, with recommendations of which tools and gear to buy, along with guidance on how to use them. We think it’s slightly more detailed than it needs to be – anybody who’s going to invest this much in tools is likely to know how to use them…

Got any car queries? Hugo_Griffiths@dennis.co.uk @AE_Consumer Q Labour charge seems steep MY Skoda dealer charged £20 labour to fit a new fuse after the 12-volt socket in my Citigo stopped working. Do you think this is a bit much for a job that takes a few minutes to do? Peter Jones, E-mail A SOMETIMES fuse swaps are done as a goodwill gesture, but this depends on the dealer. A Skoda spokesman told us that, apart from fixed-price servicing, franchises are able to set their own labour rates. He added that the garage charged you for 12 minutes’ time, based on a rate of £82.95 per hour, plus VAT. Q Dad’s driving worries me I AM concerned about the standard of my elderly father’s driving. He accelerates gingerly, brakes late and…

Stephen_Errity@dennis.co.uk • LMP1 successor confirmed • Road-car styling promised ‘HYPERCAR’ prototypes with road-car-like styling are set to form the top class in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) and Le Mans 24 Hours from the 2020-21 season. Motorsport governing body the FIA and Le Mans race organiser the ACO (Automobile Club de l’Ouest) unveiled their blueprint for the future of the top category at a press conference ahead of last weekend’s Le Mans 24 Hours. In order to attract manufacturers back to the top echelon of sportscar racing, the new regulations will allow the cars to look more like roadgoing machines, while retaining racing technology under the metal. A budget of around a quarter of the cost of the current hybrid LMP1 machines is being targeted, but a front-axle hybrid system…

Motoring’s most outspoken and opinionated columnist sounds off YOU, dear reader, have thus far seen and heard only half of the ‘JLR moves ALL Discovery production to Slovakia’ tale. I’m here to humbly suggest that there’s another, more positive side to the story. True, Land Rover will soon stop making its Discovery in Solihull and, sadly, jobs will be lost. But let’s at least put this negative news in context. Two hours up the road, Land Rover Halewood is in rude health, and employment prospects there have rarely been brighter. That’s due to the recent announcement that the more popular, affordable and accessible Discovery Sport will still be made in the north west. So contrary to the impression you may have been left with, world-class SUVs wearing Discovery badges will…

TOYOTA has confirmed its intentions to build a McLaren P1-rivalling hybrid hypercar in the “near future” with this: the 986bhp GR Super Sport. At last weekend’s Le Mans 24 Hours, the company announced plans to make a production version of the concept variant that was first displayed at the Tokyo Auto Salon earlier this year. The GR shares its powertrain with the Toyota TS050 Hybrid LMP1 Le Mans racer. Both have a 2.4-litre twin-turbo V6 petrol engine and two electric motors. The all-wheel-drive race car charges a lithium ion battery through two motor generator units, one housed in each front wheel. The GR isn’t the only upcoming hypercar to use a race-derived power unit; the Mercedes-AMG Project ONE uses the same 1.6-litre turbo V6 hybrid as the manufacturer’s Formula One…

JAGUAR Land Rover has announced that production of the Discovery SUV will switch from its plant in Solihull to the firm’s new factory in Nitra, Slovakia from 2019. This will allow Land Rover to redevelop its West Midlands facility for a new generation of electrified cars. The move will result in “several hundred” job losses among agency workers. This is on top of the 1,000 job cuts made this year due to declining demand for JLR’s diesel vehicles. A spokesman said: “The decision to move Discovery to Slovakia is a tough one, but is part of our long-term strategy as we transform our business globally.” The next-generation Range Rover and Range Rover Sport will be built at the redeveloped Solihull site, each based on a new electrified platform. From 2020…

BREXIT will make the UK a “second-hand dealer” in car safety and emissions regulations, a leading expert has warned. David Ward, secretary general of the Global New Car assessment Programme (Global NCAP), said leaving the EU will have “profound implications” because the UK will be “withdrawing from a complex eco-system of vehicle regulation”. PM Theresa May had previously argued the UK’s post-Brexit membership of the UN Economic Commission for Europe will help it set safety standards. But Ward accused her of “woeful ignorance”, because 28 EU countries block-vote in UNECE ballots, while the UK will have a solitary vote.…

AUDI’S next A6 Allroad has been spied testing, with the new Volvo V90 Cross Country and Mercedes E-Class Estate All-Terrain rival shaping up for a debut at the Paris Motor Show in September. The car snapped rides visibly higher than the standard A6. It also has wider bumpers, and the sills and wheelarches have been injected with a bit more off-road attitude. The grille is carried over from the regular A6 Avant. It’s likely to use only six-cylinder petrol and diesel units, all linked to quattro all-wheel drive. As with the normal A6, every Allroad will get 48-volt mild-hybrid tech.…

Richard_Ingram@dennis.co.uk @rsp_ingram Performance 0-62mph/top speed 8.4 seconds/143mph Running costs 62.8mpg (official) £71 fill-up SALES of saloon cars have been falling for more than a decade. Even premium makers such as BMW have attempted to diversify with stylish four-door coupés, sports cars and SUVs. To combat this demise, Peugeot has reinvented its sole saloon offering. The 508 is no longer a frumpy three-box; from next month the French firm’s executive option will morph into a fashionable ‘fastback’. A redesigned estate version, badged 508 SW, arrives early in 2019. It’s certainly more striking to look at than before, lifting many of its exterior details from the successful 3008 and 5008 SUVs. The fastback is lower and wider than the old 508, giving it a squatter and more purposeful stance. The standard-fit LED…

Steve_Fowler@dennis.co.uk @stevefowler Running costs 497 miles range (official) £80 fill-up HYUNDAI is ploughing on with hydrogen fuel cells, convinced that they will play a big part in the future of the car. The Nexo is the firm’s latest offering, and we’ve tried a preproduction version on UK roads. As SUVs go, the South Korean brand’s new model is a looker, boasting sleek lines and stylish pop-out door handles. It’s even smarter inside, with a central 12.3-inch infotainment screen and a seven-inch display ahead of the driver. There’s some cool metallic switchgear on the floating centre console and high-quality eco-friendly plastics throughout. There’s plenty of space, too. The Nexo is nearly 200mm longer than the Hyundai Tucson SUV; that translates into excellent leg, head and shoulder room in the front and…

Mercedes A-Class MBUX (2x 10.25” screens) £2,395 Key features: Augmented navigatio ALL A-Classes feature Mercedes’ new MBUX infotainment set-up. But to upgrade to the larger screen in our test car you’ll have to spec the pricey £2,395 Premium package, which increases the unit’s standard seven-inch touchscreen display to a larger 10.25-inch unit that is controlled by a touch pad. This is relatively easy to use and the menus work with all of the slick simplicity we’ve come to love from Mercedes’ high-end products. There are also lots of advanced features, including a “Hey Mercedes” system that lets you set functions using voice control. The £495 Advanced Navigation Package overlays route instructions on a picture displayed on the 10.25-inch unit from a forward-facing camera. It works well, while the nav is…

Sam_Naylor@dennis.co.uk @SamNaylor_AE SOME of the more eagle-eyed Auto Express readers may have spotted that our SsangYong Rexton was featured in a group test last week (Issue 1,528). As Kim Adams, our products editor and the man who is running the Rexton, isn’t in our London office very often, not many other members of the team get to drive his car. Our road test was a good opportunity for me to take the wheel again for the first time in a while. Although the Rexton came third in the test behind the Skoda Kodiaq and Peugeot 5008 it was facing, I remain impressed by it in many ways, and finishing behind those two class-leading SUVs is hardly a damning indictment. Firstly, the large 9.2-inch infotainment screen is better than you’d expect.…

Haynes manuals focus on big sellers THE latest batch of Haynes repair manuals covers some of the most popular vehicles on the road. A manual for the Citroen Dispatch, Peugeot Expert and Fiat Scudo vans has been released, while thousands of car buyers will now benefit from the latest version of the Ford Focus volume, dealing with the soon-to-be-replaced model from 64 to 18 plates. Both books feature essential maintenance and repair guides in plain English, backed up by Haynes’ many years of experience. They cost £22.99 from www.haynes.com. Sealey recalls wet and dry cleaners TOOLS specialist Sealey has recalled the vacuum we tested in Issue 1,524. The company has identified a problem with the 10-litre, PC102 and PC102HV wet and dry units overheating before the expected 30-minute duty cycle…

FEW things are as useful when working on a car as a cordless drill. As well as drilling, it comes into its own as a screwdriver, sander and buffer, plus for wire-brushing, and all without the hassle of a power cable. Advances in motors and batteries mean most give little away to mains drills. Measured in Amp hours (Ah), a bigger battery gives more running time but costs and weighs more, and with a spare battery you can use one while the other is charging. A hammer function is useful for household/garage DIY, and limited torque settings help stop damage to screws. A case keeps everything tidy. Howwe tested them WE used each product on a number of tough tests, including screwing large screws into wood, drilling into steel and…