Innholdsfortegnelse for 27/08/2014 i Autocar

At first glance, A Kahn Design’s central Bradford HQ looks like any heavily glazed modern small office block, with tinted windows on the upper floors. But as you get closer, you notice the ranks of Jeep Wranglers on the forecourt and a handful of big Range Rovers. Walk inside and you’ll encounter the Kahn workshop. It’s not huge, but the projects under way are impressive. A customised Range Rover Sport is nearing completion and the amount of detailed work that has gone into its transformation is striking. It has been given wider wheel arches, new wheels and a Kahn grille and spoiler. But the whole interior has been retrimmed in red and black and it even has a pair of matching leather-trimmed child seats in the rear. It is very…

THE GLA’S PART-time four-wheel drive system is surely one of its smartest features because it provides traction when you want it but not the drag of a conventional 4WD system when you don’t. In normal running, the car is essentially front-wheel drive, but as soon as the system’s ECU detects that sufficient yaw is present with a large enough throttle opening, the rear axle lights up and, completely unbeknown to the driver, the car becomes four-wheel drive. And it happens seamlessly. All you are aware of is that the GLA45 appears to generate perfect traction, seemingly on any surface and at any speed.…

FIRST VERDICT Poor quality and strange steering, but the engine and handling don’t offend TURBOCHARGED PETROL POWER is the way to go if, like us, you’ve been won over by the pragmatic charm of the new Citroën Cactus. Most of the car’s failings, documented a month ago in a full road test on the BlueHDi diesel, are also present in the PureTech 110 – but not all of them. And the ones that are present don’t seem so severe. Even with 108bhp, the Cactus’s engine is only adequate, but it’s much less vulnerable to criticism than the diesel on response and flexibility. Like the BlueHDi, it feels long-geared. However, it pulls cleanly, evenly and fairly smoothly from around 1500rpm all way up to beyond 5000rpm, making the car easy to…

The second-generation Porsche Cayman is a five-star motor and today’s benchmark junior sports car. The 271bhp 2.7 version costs £39,694, and the 321bhp 3.4-litre Cayman S is £48,783. That you can debate their merits against the £73,509 911 Carrera with an entirely straight face illustrates their outstanding value. But the cost of options is the elephant in the room. Take this Racing Yellow Cayman S. For extra dynamic focus, it features carbon-ceramic brakes (£4977), PASM adaptive dampers (£1700), a Sport Chrono Plus pack (£1084), torque vectoring with a limited-slip differential (£890) and lightweight, leather-finished sports bucket seats with integrated airbags (£2226). A bi-modal sports exhaust, 20-inch alloy wheels, parking sensors and sat-nav swell the final bill to £65,573. It’s worth seeing what else that buys before signing up. Jaguar F-type…

There are worse dilemmas to have, but of all of the cars that you see on these pages, this comparison feels – to me, anyway – like the one with the toughest choices. Spending money on a supercar is not about practicality or running costs or lengths of warranty. A supercar is a pure luxury good. A supercar has to fill you with want, purely and simply. If multiple-cylinder donkeys and smoking tyres and noise and drama fail to float your boat, all is lost. You don’t need a supercar. There’s a decent chance that you’ll buy a boat instead. Both of these cars have given our boats buoyancy in the past. McLaren’s MP4-12C is the used car here although, in many respects, it is actually the newer design. It…

Forget everything you know about Lada. At its home Moscow motor show this week, the Russian company is relaunching itself as a maker of stylish, desirable, high-quality cars that should eventually appeal not only to the domestic buyers who are so loyal to the brand but also to buyers from further afield. At the show, Lada is presenting the X-Ray compact SUV and the Vesta compact saloon you see here – both thinly veiled looks at new families of models set to go on sale in September next year. Further excitement comes from a World Touring Car Championship version of the Vesta that will be raced by British drivers Rob Huff and James Thompson. All this has been made possible by a takeover of Lada’s parent firm Avtovaz by Renault-Nissan,…

Given the novel packaging of the i3’s powertrain, mounted under the boot floor and driving the rear wheels, it’s hardly a surprise that BMW took an equally unconventional approach to the issue of access to the rear cabin. Like those of the Mazda RX-8, the rear doors are rear-hinged and extremely short compared with those of a regular five-door hatch of this size, entry and exit being eased by the absence of fixed B-pillars. Although the coach doors are a compromise, they help to keep the i3’s overall length relatively compact, at 3999mm, and definitely add to the impression that you’re driving something special. The fact that you have to open a front door first in order to release the rear door can be a nuisance at times but they…

CORROSION It’s rare to find rust damage. Incorrect jacking can cause it underneath; otherwise it’s only usually present if the car has been crashed and repaired. HEAD GASKETS Failed head gaskets are not uncommon. Check that the car runs at the proper temperature and that there’s no white smoke from the exhaust. Also inspect the condition and level of the coolant. TIMING ISSUES The timing mark on the crank pulley can slip, because it’s a two-piece design. This can cause issues when the timing belt gets changed. PUG1OFF sells a fixed alloy replacement, costing £75. AIR-CON Always test the air-con. If it doesn’t work, it’s almost certain to need more than “just a regas”. MODIFICATIONS Unless it’s clearly a loved example that’s been sensibly upgraded, try to buy a relatively…

A little online research can pay dividends if you’re looking at a used car — particularly if it’s something interesting. As a case in point, last week I spotted a Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R, which appeared in the classifieds at a very tempting price. Something about it rang a bell, however, so I had a closer look and realised that — if my memory was serving me correctly — it was a car that I’d seen before. A few aspects of it didn’t quite tally with what I recalled about it, much to my concern. I’d noticed the car initially on eBay, so I went and did a ‘completed listings’ search, which allows you to view past auctions. Lo and behold, up came an old advert for the car. The…

After months of previews, Volvo has unveiled the all-new XC90, the most important car in the firm’s recent history. It replaces a 12- year-old model that has at times been Volvo’s biggest seller. The firm describes it as being “three years in the making and part of a £6.5 billion investment programme”. The Swedish car maker says the arrival of the XC90 marks “the beginning of a new chapter in Volvo’s history, capturing its future design direction”. It also claims that the new XC90 is “hard evidence of the ‘Volvo by Volvo’ strategy”. The range-topping Twin Engine model will carry the T8 badge and, says Volvo, “be a plug-in electric car, hybrid car and high-performance car rolled into one”. It uses a 2.0-litre four-cylinder supercharged and turbocharged petrol engine to…

Mercedes-Benz’s second-generation GLK SUV will be launched in the UK in the middle of next year and will come in a right-hand-drive configuration for the first time, highly placed company sources have confirmed. The GLK is set to make its world debut at the Detroit motor show next January. It has been developed in a joint engineering programme with the fourth-generation C-class and shares crucial elements of that car’s platform, drivelines and technical features. Codenamed X253, the new high-riding Mercedes aims to provide stiff competition for the likes of the Audi Q5, BMW X3 and upcoming Land Rover Discovery Sport. First used on the latest C-class, the new GLK’s modular platform provides scope for the production of both left and right-hand-drive variants thanks to a newly engineered driveshaft arrangement for…

Hyundai has stepped up development of its new Genesis Coupé but the model will not make it to the UK, unlike the saloon on which it is based. The decision to offer the Genesis saloon for sale in the UK in limited numbers was taken because the model was engineered in right-hand drive for the first time. The Genesis Coupé is also engineered for right-hand drive, but Hyundai UK will not take the two-door model because the volumes would be even smaller than those of the four-door saloon. The Genesis saloon is available to order in the UK now, ahead of deliveries early next year. Its price is yet to be confirmed, but it is expected to be just under £50,000. In the UK, the sole model will have a…

Lotus is planning to crown its Elise range with a road-going version of its S Cup R racer, which was introduced at the Autosport International show in Birmingham last January. The test mule pictured here at the Nürburgring last week looks closely related to the Cup R, but with key modifications which would make it more suited to road use and, more importantly, road legal. These include headlights, improved engine cooling, the deletion of the rollcage and the addition of numberplates. A road-going version of the Elise S Cup R would sit above the Elise S Club Racer as the most focused member of the current four-strong Elise model range. The race car uses the same supercharged 1.8-litre engine as the Club Racer with 217bhp and 181lb ft. This is…

FIRST VERDICT There’s nothing wrong with this likeable car — it’s just not a DS5 SO GOOD Comprehensive quipment levels Spirited performance Premium feel NO GOOD Poor rear cabin space Interior is not as stylish as that of the DS5 No paddle shift for auto ’box TESTER’S NOTE Our car’s sat-nav cut out and wouldn’t respond until the car had been stopped and restarted. MA WITH CHINA NOW the world’s largest car market, manufacturers are increasingly pandering to its local tastes. Citroën’s DS5 LS, for example, can’t be bought elsewhere and is aimed specifically at the Chinese. So what, if anything, are we missing? The LS is ostensibly a saloon version of the DS5 hatchback, giving Citroën a larger, more premium car with which to battle its German rivals on…

FIRST VERDICT ‘Normal’ 4WD hatch comes at a bargain price, but there are plenty better SUBARU SAID IT wouldn’t sell base Imprezas in the UK ever again. But now here’s the new 1.6i RC Lineartronic hatch joining the line-up. Essentially it’s a car that was launched in Japan at the end of 2012, but it hasn’t pitched up here until now because the UK importer has been battling unfavourable exchange rates. It’s on sale for £17,495, or £18,995 for this CVT-equipped version, which has slightly better CO2 emissions and official fuel economy figures than the five-speed manual. There’s only one engine option, a 1.6-litre petrol with 112bhp, which is not a lot compared to the choices available from direct rivals. Yet despite its lack of diesel power, the Impreza goes…

OUR BASE FOR this feature is Bicester Heritage, which is in the early stages of converting the pre-war hangars, barracks, offices and outbuildings of RAF Bicester into a business park for car, motorcycle and aircraft restoration. The site hopes to attract up to 50 tenants and has already welcomed 10 since opening last year. One of them is Historit, which will house, maintain and exercise your classic for £110 per month. The aim is to host a wide range of specialist restoration trades in one location. Bicester Heritage has also helped to launch a government-backed apprenticeship scheme to attract talent to the industry.…

This pairing occupies a very specific space. It’s that almond-shaped sliver in the Venn diagram where Nissan’s plaudit-winning family crossover meets Land Rover’s plush, hot-cake-selling compact 4x4. From new, even the most expensive Qashqai costs less than the cheapest five-door Range Rover Evoque, but delve into the Evoque’s back catalogue and there’s pricing parity: our long-term Qashqai 1.6 dCi Acenta Premium with pearlescent paint lists at £25,155 new, while 2012 Evoque eD4s in entry-level Pure spec can now be had from £25,750 with fewer than 20,000 miles on the clock. Both have five doors and five seats and drive their front wheels only via a four-cylinder diesel engine and six-speed manual gearbox. This second-gen Qashqai is sharper-looking, more upmarket and more refined than the first. It is an impressive piece…

Expect to see a sensational collection of supercars and classic cars worth in excess of £150 million, including three LaFerraris, the only Ferrari F12 TRS in existence, a McLaren P1, a Koenigsegg One:1, a Pagani Huayra, a RUF CTR3 Clubsport, a Lamborghini Huracán, a Rolls-Royce Wraith, a Noble M600, a Maserati GranCabrio MC, a Spyker C8 Aileron, a Tesla Model S and an Abarth 695 Biposto. Tickets to this glamorous event start at £75 per person and include Pommery Champagne, a complimentary bar, afternoon tea and access to all areas. Full hospitality tickets are also available from £195. If you don’t win, don’t forget the AUTOCAR READER PROMOTION: 10 per cent off all tickets when quoting ACAR10C. Book online at orcall08081002205. To enter, go to autocar.co.uk/ competition TERMS AND CONDITIONS…

ORIGINAL AND BEST Interesting to read that Alpina has 50 development engineers (First Drives, 6 August). It’s a shame that it appears to have only one stylist. If only the company would leave the original BMW design alone, it might have a winner. Otherwise, its cars will remain exclusive for a reason. Pete Storey Via email Of course, appearances are subjective but, to our eyes, Alpina’s styling modifications to the BMW donor cars are subtle and tasteful — MT YOUTUBE IT, DIESEL FANS One look at your illustration of Audi’s ‘super-smooth four-pot’ (News, 13 August) brought back fond memories of the Rootes Group’s wonderful Commer TS3 supercharged diesel. Six boxer pistons in three pots plus various links and connecting rods. I can’t remember it being particularly smooth and it was…

Regrets? We’ve had a few — and a disproportionate number of them relate to giving back the Range Rover that we’ve been running for the past year and 30,000 miles. It was never going to surprise anyone that this was a superb vehicle, or that it would accumulate a large mileage quickly, because Range Rovers do that. But there’s still a great deal of interesting info to be gained from extended testing, not least about choosing the ideal model and spec from a bewildering and enticing list of options, and in dealing with concerns about running costs, servicing and reliability issues. The last of those are still deemed to dog Land Rover products despite huge improvements in recent years. And despite, we must add, this machine’s perfect reliability record with…

NEXT YEAR IS set to be significant for Mercedes-Benz and its burgeoning SUV range. Alongside the all-new second-generation GLK, the manufacturer is preparing facelifted versions of its third-generation ML and GL models. The two US-built SUVs are to receive mild stylistic changes, a range of new driver-assistance and infotainment functions and lightly revised interiors, as well as updated petrol, diesel and plug-in hybrid powertrains. This is all aimed at bolstering their competitiveness against newer rivals, including next year’s all-new second-gen Audi Q7. Also under development at Mercedes is a production version of the Concept Coupé SUV, as shown at the Beijing motor show earlier this year. If the latest prototypes caught testing on the streets of Stuttgart are any indication, the BMW X6 and Range Rover Sport-rivalling five-door liftback is…

THE FIRST PROTOTYPES for Chevrolet’s sixth-generation Camaro have hit the road in preparation for a planned launch at the Detroit motor show next January. The new Camaro is based on GM’s Alpha platform, also used on the ATS and CTS models. This should make the car lighter than the 1687kg of today’s Camaro coupé and reduce its footprint, as seen in these spy pictures. The 3.6-litre V6 and 6.2-litre V8 from the current Camaro are likely to be retained in the new car. A turbo V6 is also expected, but the most significant new addition should be a 268bhp 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo unit in response to the four-cylinder 2.3-litre EcoBoost engine offered in the new Ford Mustang, the Camaro’s chief rival (see below right). Specialist imports to bring the new…

Land Rover has released the first official pictures of the upcoming Discovery Sport’s cabin. The seven-seat SUV is due to go on sale in the UK early next year after making its debut on 3 September. The pictures reveal the new model’s 5+2 seating arrangement. Land Rover says the layout is “versatile”, meaning that the third row will likely fold forwards to increase rear luggage space and could even be removable altogether. Other key details in the pictures include a panoramic sunroof, multi-function steering wheel, keyless engine start and a central infotainment screen, which uses a different design from that seen in other Land Rover models such as the Range Rover.…

FIRST VERDICT Capable, but it’s hard to see who the GLA AMG will appeal to. Or why SO GOOD Remarkable performance Cabin feels sportingly expensive Extra space in the rear and boot Handling and ride are well sorted NO GOOD Not the most beautiful car currently on sale Price of £44k is hard to accept for an A-class TESTER’S NOTE For such a relatively small car, the GLA45 AMG looks huge on the road. And not very pretty. SS ON THE ONE hand, the Mercedes-Benz GLA45 AMG could be accused of being the answer to a question that no one has ever bothered to ask. But on the other hand, and despite its Tonka-toy styling and eye-watering £44,250 price, it is not a car entirely devoid of appeal, certainly not…

FIRST VERDICT Nismo’s tuning dials up the hot Juke’s performance, but it remains a controversial looker SO GOOD Supportive Recaro seats Authentic performance upgrades Ground clearance NO GOOD Low-speed torque steer High centre of gravity Polarising styling TESTER’S NOTE Clutch action is light with minimal feel so it takes a while to learn just where the engagement point is. BM NISSAN’S IN-HOUSE tuning division Nismo has been engineering the company’s motor racing activities since 1984. More recently, it has been applying its knowledge – and its badging – to tuned versions of Nissan’s standard road cars such as the Micra, the 370Z, and the GT-R. Now there is the Juke Nismo RS. While Europe waits for the facelifted 2015 Juke in Nismo RS form, North America has received an early…

We pragmatists know that there’s no shame in secondhand. Chances are that your home, your partner and your best jokes are pre-loved, so why not your car? Sure, progress is unstoppable, but if a car built in the last decade was great when it came out, then it’s probably still pretty darned great now. So we’re not talking baggy, flea-bitten clunkers here, but well-maintained, low-mileage minters of the recent past whose values have been trimmed and, in some cases, decimated, by depreciation. But can yesterday’s heroes really cut it against the latest greats? Covering a range of budgets, we’ve lined up four tantalising new versus used comparisons to find out.…

When it comes to hot hatches, it’s a big Blue Oval love-in. Odd, when you consider the inordinate amount of time and encouragement apparently required to gain Dearborn’s consent for building one. But when Ford finally pushes the button, something memorable does tend to appear 18 months later. Increasingly nut-bar versions of the outgoing Renault Mégane aside, the Ford Fiesta ST has enjoyed our preferential treatment almost exclusively since it was launched in 2012. We’ve practically dared people to buy one and, thanks to its pleasingly modest price, many have obliged. Against practically every other similarly spiced opponent – new or used – we consider that advice to be rock solid. Until, that is, you drive a Mk2 Ford Focus RS. Then the sticky question of what to buy becomes…

£85,000 MERCEDES-BENZ CLS63 AMG S vs 2011 ASTON MARTIN RAPIDE THE AMG VERSION of the CLS four-door coupé is handsome, luxurious and rapid, and engaging enough to make it one of the best Mercedes on sale. A facelifted version has just arrived and, with it, the CLS63 AMG gains an ‘S’ suffix and even more power and torque, taking it to 577bhp and 590lb ft. This means that the twin-turbo 5.5-litre V8 is now potent enough to hit 62mph in a barely civil 4.1sec, soundtracked by an evil, Predator-like growl. The price? £86,500. Which also buys the mintiest of first-gen Aston Martin Rapides, such as the 2011 example with just 11,000 miles on the clock that we spotted at £85,843 – saving nearly £55,000 over its original price. Its refined…

MODEL TESTED xDrive30d M Sport • Price £46,395 • Power 255bhp • Torque 413lb ft • 0-60mph 5.9sec • Fuel economy 32.4mpg • CO2 emissions 156g/km • 70-0mph 46.6m • Skidpan 0.96g WE LIKE Surprisingly decent rear accommodation • Great driving position • Performance and grip • Large air intakes, which stretch the outer edges of the font valance, are meant to give a muscular, agile appearance. They also make the car look wider than it is. • X4s get 18-inch alloy wheels as standard. How big are modern cars? Big enough to make M Sport trim’s 19s look weedy. • More muscular sculpting appears on the bonnet. You wouldn’t necessarily know it, but it’s shared with the less aggressively styled X3 on which the X4 is based. • The…

I know that many will damn the Ford Tourneo Connect as just a van with windows, but so what (Road Test, 6 August)? Vehicles like this make terrific cars if you don’t need a swish design but do need usable space, and they can be a decent drive. I’ve owned a ‘van with windows’ for over 10 years and have found it quite liberating, because it can produce a more relaxed driving style. Their driving position and window area give excellent visibility and they also have a certain road presence. Philip Davis Colchester…

The days of the inexpensive Peugeot 205 GTI are long gone. You’ll pay around £3000 for a clean, serviceable car, or more if you want something particularly special or with fewer than 100,000 miles on the clock. However, if you don’t want to spend that much, and want a car you can enjoy and use, there’s the equally entertaining 306 GTI-6, good examples of which start from around £1000. Launched in 1996, the 306 GTI-6 is often lauded as the closest Peugeot has come to building a true successor to the 205 GTI. It’s a lively, engaging hatchback that packs a 167bhp 2.0-litre engine and a close-ratio six-speed manual gearbox. A limited edition Rallye version, of which only 500 were made, followed in 1998. Thanks to the deletion of air-conditioning,…