Innholdsfortegnelse for August 5, 2020 i Autocar

MITSUBISHI GAVE itself a huge head start over the rest of the industry with the 2013 launch of the Outlander PHEV. It got there first with plug-in technology, wrapped it in an SUV body and took advantage of the ramp-up of Europe-wide incentives for such cars. But seven years on, Mitsubishi hasn’t followed it up, while rivals have caught up – and now it never will do, because the company has fired the starting gun for its exit from European shores (p12). To sell in Europe in the years ahead, the investments needed to meet emissions legislation are vast. One plug-in hybrid isn’t enough. Every car in the range needs to be electrified, and the economies of scale just aren’t there for Mitsubishi to make that viable. Two years ago,…

Why did you build the T50? “I thought it was time. I wanted my 50th car to be pretty special, and people have been asking for many years what I was going to do after the McLaren F1. This my answer.” Is the car here the T50 as it will appear in production? “Yes, we won’t change anything now. We’ve had time to consider everything in a way we didn’t really have with the F1. There are things about the McLaren that I still don’t like, because we signed it off in the clay and you can’t always see the highlights accurately. But this time, we’ve been really careful and methodical, and there’s nothing I don’t like. I think it should look pretty timeless.” Have you been helped by improvements…

THE NEXT-GENERATION BMW 5 Series and X1 will be offered with petrol, diesel, plug-in hybrid and electric powertrains as part of BMW’s ambition to offer 25 electrified models by 2023. The German manufacturer plans to reduce CO2 emissions by at least a third per vehicle by 2030, with sustainability and resource efficiency “central to the company’s strategic direction”. The 5 Series and X1 will join the upcoming new 7 Series in being offered as an EV. BMW is also soon to launch the iX3 electric SUV, i4 electric saloon and iNext electric large SUV. Spy shots have indicated that an electric 3 Series is on the cards, too.…

RENAULT HAS MADE two headline appointments to its design department, with former Peugeot and Seat heads of design signing with the French brand within days of each other. Both will report to incumbent design boss Laurens van den Acker. Gilles Vidal led Peugeot’s design for a decade and was responsible for cars such as the 208, 2008, 3008 and 508. His new role, starting in November, will be his first outside the PSA Group since he joined Citroën in 1996. Peugeot’s head of concept vehicles, Matthias Hossann, will take over from Vidal. Also joining Renault is ex-Seat design director Alejandro Mesonero-Romanos. He follows his former boss, Luca de Meo, who assumed the role of Renault CEO this month. Mesonero-Romanos joined Seat’s design department in 1995 before taking roles in the…

IF THE INTRIGUES of the car industry were played out in the theatre, you would be on the edge of your seat right now, waiting to see what Ford does next: enter stage left, arms aloft, uncorking an almighty plot twist, or stumbling in, clutching a dagger struck into its heart. Just over three years ago, Detroit’s finest (at least if you wear a European hat) was in such bad shape that it shook up its hierarchy, appointing Jim Hackett as president and CEO in place of Mark Fields. Fields had overseen a 40% fall in Ford’s stock price in just 36 months, as investors attacked him for failing to widen the global appeal of the firm’s traditional models or make any kind of progress in electrification and new mobility…

The Model S wasn’t the first electric car to undergo a full Autocar road test. But it was one of the very first EVs we’d tested with enough range to be driven from the Autocar office in Middlesex to our habitual test base in the Midlands – and potentially even arrive at MIRA with enough remaining range to actually do something. After the Mk1 Nissan Leaf, Mitsubishi i-MiEV and their like, this was quite a development. As I remember, that’s not quite how it happened. Fearing our tests would quickly flatten the car (and testing it on a depleted battery would only lead to compromised performance in any case), I drove it up to stay near MIRA overnight and trickled some power into the car’s battery using an unwound mains…

LAND ROVER DEFENDER DC100 The two DC100 concepts that were revealed in 2011 were intended to showcase what a potential Defender successor could look like, and attracted a mixed response from enthusiasts of the off-roader. While the DC100 didn’t progress beyond the concept stage, the new Defender shares a number of styling cues – although design chief Gerry McGovern insists there was no direct link. VOLKSWAGEN MICROBUS, BULLI AND BUDD-E After the success of the revived Volkswagen Beetle, the firm has long aspired to launch a truly next-generation version of the T2 campervan. A 2001 petrol-powered New Microbus Concept was due to go into production before it was scrapped. Two electric designs followed in 2011 and 2016, but neither progressed beyond the concept stage. That will change with the MEB-based…

Formula E’s Tempelhof race track couldn’t contrast more starkly with Berlin’s most infamous motorsport setting. The Automobil-Verkehrs und Übungsstraße (Avus) hosted its first race in 1921 and became known as one of the world’s most fearsome circuits, despite (or, more pertinently, due to) its simple layout. It was two straight carriageways of the same public highway linked by two hairpins, one a heavily banked ‘wall of death’. It hosted its first German Grand Prix in 1926 and returned post-war to host its only F1 World Championship round in 1959. Dazzling French hero Jean Behra lost his life that weekend when his Porsche RSK crashed off the banking during a support race. DTM visited Avus as recently as 1995, and the large, wooden grandstand tribune remains a relic of the past…

Silverstone’s layout has changed substantially since it first held a grand prix in 1948. That event utilised both the perimeter roads and the main and second runways – which at one point meant cars driving towards each other separated only by hay bales. The following year, the event switched to a new layout using purely the perimeter roads, and this outline remains recognisable today. That layout mixed a long straight with ultra-fast corners. A chicane was introduced to slow cars into Woodcote in 1975 and another was added at Bridge in 1987. The major change began in 1991, with the creation of the epic Maggotts-Becketts sequence and a new ‘stadium section’ at Club. Further tweaks followed until a substantial change in 2010, with the introduction of the new infield Arena…

The official FIA F1 World Championship hasn’t always been the only series for F1 cars. For many years, races comprising grids full of the greatest cars and drivers took place across Britain. Notable among them is the Race of Champions, held at Brands Hatch 14 times from 1965 to 1983 and won by drivers as great as Dan Gurney, Bruce McLaren, Jackie Stewart, James Hunt and Gilles Villeneuve. Oulton Park held the Gold Cup 12 times from 1959 to 1972, with winners including Stirling Moss, Jim Clark, Jack Brabham, John Surtees and Jackie Stewart, while Goodwood hosted the Glover Trophy from 1949 to 1965. There was also the British F1 Championship (often recalled as Aurora AFX, after its sponsor), which ran from 1978-1982 and in which Desiré Wilson became the…

FORD MONDEO 1.5 ECOBOOST ZETEC EDITION 5DR £1738 deposit, £289 per month, 48 months, 8000 miles per year The Ford Mondeo was once the car that defined this class. Although it doesn’t feel as upmarket inside as some rivals, it remains good to drive and offers a comfortable ride and loads of standard equipment. MAZDA 6 2.0 SE-L NAV+ £1776 deposit, £296 per month, 48 months, 8000 miles per year The 6 is a great car that’s often overlooked as a bit of a left-field choice in this class. That’s a pity, because it’s great to drive, terrific value for money and very well equipped. There’s also a great infotainment system and it’s a handsome beast. PEUGEOT 508 FASTBACK 1 .6 PURETECH GT LINE £2229 deposit, £371 per month, 48…

BRIEF Find me a TVR rival for £10,000. MARK PEARSON TVRs, once they lost the charm of the early 1960s models and the pseudo-E-Type appeal of the M-series roadsters, have nearly all been an embarrassment, so it’s no surprise this subtle little Matra would beat them all into a cocked hat. What this deliciously wide and low three-seat, mid-engined Murena lacked in speed, it made up for in sensual gratification. Cornering was hugely impressive, unlike in TVRs, with little pitch or roll. It even rode well. Here’s a really well-looked-after 1983 one for way under our budget. What you got, Max? MAX ADAMS Sadly, I’m not old enough to have known what a 1960s TVR was like. I’m a child of the 1990s and a TVR to me is a…

A road test in any other magazine might well be a short, subjective summary of a new car produced under almost any circumstances, but the Autocar road test is different. Specific, rigorous and detailed, it’s the closest examination we can give of any new model. It appears over at least eight pages and is close to 50 man-hours in the making every week. Most of what the road test process entails is designed to be strictly repeatable and fair. We benchmark standing-start and in-gear acceleration at a purpose-built test facility every week. We carry out both subjective and objective handling tests on both road and track, on the latter up to and beyond the limit of grip, so as to fully assess stability, drivability and limit handling appeal. And while…

WE FREQUENTLY RECEIVE letters complaining of poor service from dealers – and we always have done. Some 120 years ago, ‘MO’ wrote: “It will be a great pity, and likely to retard the motor car industry, if makers and sellers treat their clients in the way some have been said to do by your correspondents. “I myself wrote about a fortnight ago to the agents for two makes of light steam cars. I asked for full particulars of their construction. In polite reply, they said that they had ‘no specification or detailed drawings that they could send me’, but ‘as soon as they have anything of the kind’ they would do so. “Can any firm suppose that people will purchase their cars without knowing what they are buying? Or do…

Silverstone-based David Brown Automotive is promising “a period of growth and exciting new model launches” following the arrival of a new majority shareholder, UK Advanced Industrials Ltd. The marque, which produces the highly individualistic Speedback GT and Mini Remastered, is now headed by CEO Eddie Kembury, who has held senior positions at Ford, Honda and Aston Martin. Founder David Brown stays on as a director and official brand ambassador. FINANCIAL TURMOIL: FIRMS’ RESULTS FOR FIRST HALF OF 2020 (VERSUS SAME PERIOD IN 2019)…

THE GOVERNMENT would “struggle to get support” from the motor industry for a ban on the sale of new combustion-engined cars if it were to come before the proposed 2035 date, reckons SMMT boss Mike Hawes. “The majority of the industry would just about make 2035,” he said, due to the immense investment required and the slow transition of sales to battery-electric and hydrogen cars. ASTON MARTIN IS “restoring exclusivity” to its sports car range by “rebalancing supply and demand”, according to chairman Lawrence Stroll. While announcing its latest financial results, the firm noted that it had reduced its sports car stock by 869 units in the past three months. One of its biggest barriers to profitability in recent years has been dealers holding too many unsold cars. JAGUAR IS…

I’ve met Thierry Bolloré just once, at last year’s Frankfurt motor show. Chiefly, I remember that he commanded respect from everyone, with his team alert to the fact that his time wasn’t to be wasted. He was precise in ensuring he understood each question and gave detailed but also quotable answers, with a clinical confidence that made him happy to tackle any topic thoughtfully but briefly. He smiled but didn’t laugh. He had a freedom about his manner that could come only from the self-confidence of being in the inner circle at the top of Renault for so long. As the questions came, jumping from big-picture views on the industry’s future to local production numbers in faraway places, I certainly got a sense that he knew the detail and was…

MONDAY Have you heard of post-opulence? Rolls-Royce has been trying to help us understand this concept in a series of communications running up to the launch of its new Ghost later this year. We’ve recently had an open letter from CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös, and now there’s a video from the firm’s designers. The gist is that, despite Rolls’ long-lived connection with ultimate levels of wealth and luxury, the new car (like the old one) will be a practical driving proposition, offering high standards but as much restraint as the average £250,000 saloon buyer could want. It strikes me that the new Ghost’s designers have had a tough job, simply because the outgoing model is so stylish and graceful. I love that long, confident line that runs the length of the…

The AMG Line Premium trim of our test car is likely to be a common choice among A250e owners, because it’s the point in the range at which you get both of Mercedes’ 10.3in widescreen digital displays as standard, as well as its ‘augmented reality’ navigation prompts (which we thought gimmicky and borderline distracting at first but eventually warmed to a little). A 225W ‘Mercedes advanced’ sound system is also included – something our test car had – and it has all the power most reasonable adults would want. The navigating logic of the infotainment system is easy to get along with. Mercedes’ separate touchpad input device still doesn’t seem intuitive enough to use after many attempts, but the thumbpad scrollers on the steering wheel spokes work well and the…

PRIOR TO THE creation of Formula 1, the top honour in grand prix racing was the European Drivers’ Championship, which tied the most prestigious races into a neat bundle. A little one, mind: just three, four, five or six of the many grands prix across Europe. Alfa Romeo dominated for the first two years and during 1933 and 1934, when the points-scoring curiously went on hiatus. Come 1935, the effect of the Nazi propaganda machine was being felt, as the sleek Silver Arrows of state-funded Auto Union and Mercedes-Benz led. Rudolf Caracciola was champion that year, then Bernd Rosemeyer in 1936, then again Caracciola – and his finest win of 1937 came on home territory. He started behind two other Mercedes and Auto Union’s Rosemeyer at the Nürburgring, but ‘Rudi’…

MOST POLES Jim Clark and Lewis Hamilton 5 MOST FASTEST LAPS Nigel Mansell 6 LARGEST GRID in 1952 31 SMALLEST GRID in 1969 17 LARGEST NUMBER OF FINISHERS in 1952 22 SMALLEST NUMBER OF FINISHERS in 1958*** 8 LARGEST NUMBER OF RETIREMENTS in 1953 18 SMALLEST NUMBER OF RETIREMENTS in 2005 1 LOWEST FINISHING RATE in 1976 and 1986*** 35% HIGHEST FINISHING RATE in 2005 95% ***In 1975, 12 cars retired on the lap the race was stopped so were classified as finishers. Otherwise it would hold the record for the smallest number of cars to finish (six), the largest number of retirements (20) and the lowest finishing rate (23%).…

WRITE TO autocar@haymarket.com Back British business I have seen various reports that the government is considering a new scrappage scheme to kick-start the automotive industry back into life after the Covid-19 disaster. I’m concerned that this wouldn’t be much help to the UK’s automotive industry, because it’s likely that most vehicles purchased will be manufactured abroad, therefore benefitting only dealers, not UK workers and firms. Last time there was a scrappage scheme, the main beneficiaries were companies such as Hyundai and Kia, which are likely fodder for a new scheme. If vehicles assembled or manufactured here were offered on a new scrappage scheme exclusively, it would be a huge boost for us. I realise many components are sourced from abroad, and even financial profits will be spirited away, but why not…

Most of the press releases I get are utterly irrelevant, but one from a supermarket called Imperial Cars piqued my interest, because it claims to have seen sales of cars costing less than £5000 rise by 36% on average so far in 2020 compared with the same time last year. I found this interesting, because for many years, with no adjustments for inflation, we’ve had £5000 as the default ceiling for buying a half-decent motor. As the world looks for a way to stay mobile, £5000 is quite possibly the best place to start. So let’s do some price-point shopping, because there are some incredibly good motors out there. Everyone seems to love a hot Skoda, and for £4895 you can get yourself an Octavia vRS from 2010 with a…

QUESTION I’m trading in my four-year-old Audi A1 S line. I want a good-quality car, but ride and seat comfort are now paramount. Any ideas? Incidentally, I used to work for Autocar as a secretary in another life! Adrienne Saunderson, via email ANSWER Always good to hear from Autocar alumni. The most comfortable choice that’ll still give you a smart interior is a Volkswagen Polo. We’d suggest a 1.0 TSI 95 SE. It’ll have much more compliant suspension than your S line A1 and its smaller, 16in wheels and tyres with fatter sidewalls mean it’ll be a bit more squidgy. The latest A1 would also be in with a shout, because it’s the only small car with adjustable lumbar support if you choose Sport trim. MA QUESTION I want to…

It’s amazing to see how much trouble Gordon Murray has taken making his new T50 into a daily driver. He has refined the carbonfibre tub to make sliding into the central seat much easier. There’s an easier new way of loading the luggage compartments, too. And the body’s frontal features are designed so that a ‘nose lift’ mechanism, familiar in McLarens and Porsches, isn’t needed. The aim, he says, is that if you’re rich enough and want just one supercar, the T50 will be the logical choice. The truth is different. The demand for cars as exclusive and pricey as the new Murray (or should that be GMA?) T50 is driven by an odd combination of trust and taste for investment. During our interview, the designer remarked that half of…

THE KIA STONIC has gained a raft of fuel-saving technology and upgraded infotainment. A new mild hybrid petrol powertrain for the crossover, badged EcoDynamics+, pairs a 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbo petrol engine with a 48V belt-integrated starter-generator (BISG) and lithium ion battery. It’s available with 99bhp or 118bhp, and the higher-powered version’s maximum torque output of 148lb ft is 16% higher than that of the current 1.0-litre engine. The mild hybrid engine can be paired with Kia’s new ‘clutch-by-wire’ manual gearbox. By swapping a mechanical linkage for an electronic actuator, this allows the engine to shut off sooner when the car is coasting to a stop, thereby saving fuel and reducing emissions. Meanwhile, the Stonic’s existing petrol engines have received “major revisions” in the name of efficiency. On offer are a…

Mitsubishi has halted new model launches in Europe as part of an overhaul of its global operations aimed at cutting costs. This is expected to mark the beginning of the Japanese brand’s gradual withdrawal from European markets. Describing its transition as becoming “small but beautiful”, Mitsubishi will reduce its fixed costs by 20% over the next two years and shift to a business structure centred on South-East Asia, where it has a 6.4% market share. By comparison, its share is just 1.0% in Europe and 0.9% in North America, while operating profit in South-East Asia is five times greater than in all other global markets. Details are yet to be confirmed, but it’s likely that models such as the next-generation Outlander SUV won’t be sold here as a result of…

Mitsubishi’s announcement may have been unexpected, but the writing has been on the wall for some time, sadly. There’s a large number of complex factors that led to bosses realising its position in Europe was untenable. The decline of diesel has hurt sales of its core 4x4 models in recent years, while the Outlander PHEV, a relative success that helped Mitsubishi UK to its highest annual sales for a decade in 2018, has since fallen foul of a change in the government’s stance on plug-in hybrid vehicles. Then there’s the rapidly changing EU emissions legislation, demanding huge investment – likely too much when weighed up against the brand’s European sales. And the wide-ranging disruption to the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance caused by the dramatic departure of its chief, Carlos Ghosn, didn’t help…

UK car production has fallen by 42.8% in the first six months of this year, with just 56,594 cars made – the lowest number since post-war rationing was lifted in 1954. Some 285,000 fewer cars were built from January to July compared with the same period last year, with an estimated value of £7.8bn. Meanwhile, commercial vehicle production was down 24.8% and engine production was down 38.8%. The decline is chiefly the consequence of four factors caused by the pandemic: a reduction in global demand for new cars, ongoing closure of factories, reduced production capacity of reopened factories to allow for social distancing, and manufacturers and retailers focusing on selling stock prior to making more cars. “The outlook for the full year is now 880,000 units, which puts us below…

The A250e has a lane-keeping system, a driver monitoring system and an active brake assist crash mitigation system as standard. However, you have to spend £1495 on Mercedes’ Driving Assistance package to get a car that can change lanes by itself on the motorway, can employ braking intervention to prevent you from wandering into the path of a car coming head on or at a T-junction, and can automatically adopt temporary gantry speed limits. Our test car didn’t have it – and although it had all the necessary sensors to make an operating active radar cruise control, it didn’t have one of those, either. The radar-based recuperation system is one whose regrettable influence on the car’s driveability we cover below. We couldn’t easily find a way to deactivate it, although…

2012 BMW 1 SERIES M COUPE £29,950 With 335bhp on tap from a twin-turbo 3.0-litre straight six, the 1M provides similar thrills to the M2. Only 6309 were built, making this example, even with 71k miles, especially attractive. 2014 PORSCHE CAYMAN GTS £40,995 You’ll want the 981-generation Cayman for its 3.4-litre flat six, and the GTS adds bespoke styling, a sports exhaust and a more dynamically focused suspension set-up. Look for the Sport Chrono pack. 1994 ALPINE A610 TURBO £23,995 The 1960s original A110 commands huge prices today, but the A610 costs Ford Focus money, even for #1 of the 68 RHD cars built. Its rear-mounted turbo V6 makes 247bhp and 258lb ft.…

Six races in nine days on three different tracks around the same venue. The pandemic has created some novel challenges for motor racing teams, but nothing quite as intense as Formula E’s solution to completing its 2019-2020 season. The electric single-seater series faced the threat of abandoning its season, given that its races take place in cities, where high-density populations are clearly hard to avoid. But a clever idea to host a trio of double-headers in Berlin, at the iconic and disused Tempelhof airport, has allowed the series to go ahead behind closed doors, without breaking Germany’s strict social distancing rules. The first double-header starts today and the finale will play out a week next Thursday. Deep breaths, everyone. Tempelhof’s abrasive concrete track is already established as one of the…

The Head and Neck Support (Hans) device is a genuine lifesaver, even if a number of high-profile racing drivers initially resisted its introduction. Conceived and designed by the late Dr Robert Hubbard, the U-shaped device is made from carbonfibre-reinforced polymer, fits around the neck and is attached to the helmet – crucially, not the car – by two tethers. Its purpose is to limit violent fore and aft head movement in an impact, and it has drastically cut the number of neck injuries, which were a common cause of fatalities. When it was first introduced in the 1990s, Nascar hero Dale Earnhardt was among its vocal critics, claiming that it was too restrictive and uncomfortable. But after Earnhardt died from a broken neck during a wreck in the Daytona 500…

The British Grand Prix began in 1926 as the Grand Prix of the Royal Automobile Club at Brooklands and was won by the French Delage team of Robert Sénéchal and Louis Wagner. Robert Benoist won in a similar car in 1927. There was then a break for more than 20 years before the race, now known as the RAC International Grand Prix, relocated in 1948 to the new track at Silverstone, where Luigi Villoresi won in a Maserati. The following year, it took another name – the RAC British Grand Prix – and the rather wonderfully titled Baron Emmanuel ‘Toulo’ de Graffenried won in a Maserati, in what the Swiss would later describe as the greatest race of his career.…

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Three weeks ago (15 July), we ran a feature on cars that Autocar staffers like but perhaps shouldn’t. The phrase ‘guilty pleasure’ crept into the reasoning. But not for me. In a motoring context, there’s no such thing as a guilty pleasure. Not unless it involves anything illegal or particularly immoral, and I doubt anyone could argue that liking the Rover Streetwise is either of those. There’s merely the pleasure. No guilt. Thinking about this reminds me of Hagerty’s annual Festival of the Unexceptional (due to be held last week but cancelled for obvious reasons), a show celebrating cars that were the workhorses of their day. It features cars such as the Austin Maestro and Nissan Bluebird. This is the kind of metal that’s described as a guilty pleasure for…