Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2, 2022 i Autocar

The T33 will be the first car to be manufactured at Gordon Murray Automotive’s new global headquarters in Windlesham, Surrey – a 54-acre site formerly occupied by the defunct Kamcorp engineering consultancy. Murray has a £50 million plan to revitalise and extend its buildings to house car manufacturing facilities, a heritage garage, a complex of engineering and design offices and a tech campus to introduce recruits into the high-tech car business. New customers will also visit the site to configure, view and collect their cars. There’s even space and planning permission for a small test track (around 700 metres) needed for shaking down newly built cars. GMA expects to create around 100 new jobs at Windlesham once conversion of the 130,000sq ft complex, comprising three buildings, is finished, hopefully by…

KTM X-BOW GT2 Motorcycle and race car maker KTM is readying its first all-new road car since the X-Bow of 2008. Based on the Austrian firm’s 600bhp X-Bow GT2 track car, the unnamed Dallara Stradale rival is powered by Audi’s 2.5-litre turbo five-pot engine, wraps its carbonfibre tub in a bespoke hardtop bodyshell and features a unique canopy-style opening roof. BAC MONO FCEV BAC has partnered MIRA-based engineering firm Viritech to create a hydrogen fuel cell electric version of the Mono single-seater. Viritech is investigating the feasibility of using its hardware in niche, low-volume cars, which BAC says could allow it to keep the Mono light, unlike weighty battery-electric hardware, to maintain its handling appeal. MORGAN 3 WHEELER The radically reinvented 3 Wheeler, due to be unveiled on 24 February,…

How big a question was there over building EVs in Crewe? “This has been a three-year slog. We had to fix the basics and make the company work. We had Covid thrown at us, and I think we managed that better than most. We’ve completely restored confidence that Bentley can deliver. It’s the fruit of three years of performance and convincing.” To what extent will Bentley EVs benefit from VW Group platforms? “Before, [our platforms] were developed from group architectures that were developed way before we got to the party. The effort to modify systems and the suppliers’ requirements has been a major limiter for Bentley in the past. With this generation of car, right from the outset we’ve been involved to ensure the specification that Bentley needs. I can’t…

“BIGGER. BOLDER. BADDER.” So shouts the headline for Chevrolet’s latest crate engine. While we’re mostly steeped in forward-thinking innovation and electrification these days, there’s still room in this column for the kind of technology that sets every petrolhead’s pulse racing. A crate engine is an American phenomenon: simply an engine that you can buy and have delivered in a wooden crate for project use or as a replacement. Chevy’s advert headline would be boastful if it wasn’t true to the point of understatement. Its new ZZ632/1000 engine is a big-block (as opposed to smallblock) V8, which literally means it has a big cylinder block. It’s a term coined in the 1950s and generally implies more power but traditionally more weight and bulk as well. Chevy started the trend but was…

It starts with race footage, which is promising enough, but the latest promotional video for Formula E takes a wild turn from there. The leaders crash. Oh no! What will become of them? Not to worry, they’re fine. So fine, in fact, that they leap out of their cars and begin a heavily visually effected dash through the race’s host city on foot. Into buildings, onto rooftops, dashing into a restaurant kitchen, crashing over a diner’s table and then hurtling through a plate-glass window. All on foot, except for the bit on horseback (what?), before our leader finds themself back on track, right by the finish line, with time to see the rest of the field approaching before sprinting across the line to victory. What exactly is Formula E trying…

PEUGEOT’S KEY FOCUS is on improving customer service and expanding globally, according to CEO Linda Jackson, and it is also setting its sights on the number one spot in Europe. In 2021, Peugeot came second in the European rankings, selling 649,514 vehicles, behind top-seller Volkswagen, which sold 1.08 million units. Jackson said: “We always want to do better. We’re in this game to win. We believe we have great products. But it’s a long way to go to number one and I have a lot of respect for [VW].” Aside from its European success, Jackson – who took over the top role in January 2021 – said four out of Peugeot’s six global regions have growing market share and two are stable. She said: “Twenty per cent of [Peugeot] sales…

BRITISHVOLT WILL TARGET makers of performance cars and commercial vehicles with two different battery chemistries from its new EV battery factory in Blyth, Northumberland, it has said. The company’s ambitious plan to become the UK’s biggest EV battery provider was given a significant boost after it attracted £1.7 billion of mostly private-equity funding to help fund the giant plant, which is on course to start production in 2024. Shortly after announcing its funding boost, Britishvolt confirmed that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Lotus for its batteries to be used in a new electric sports car – thought to be the Hethelbuilt Type 135 two-seater that is due in 2026. Britishvolt has 29 “active engagements” with specialist customers, claimed Graham Hoare, its president of global operations and former…

Maserati is back. Again. What? Yes, in one of those occasional reboots, here’s a new car that heralds a new age for the storied Italian sports car manufacturer. Mind you, it’s quite something, this new dawn. Much more exciting than a BMW 5 Series-size saloon or an SUV. It’s a supercar. Coo. It’s called the MC20 – M for Maserati, C for Corse (meaning ‘racing’, for those who don’t know any Italian) and 20 for, um, 2020. It’s a mid-engined twoseater with a carbonfibre tub, from which are hung aluminium subframes front and rear, holding double-wishbone suspension all around and with adaptive dampers and anti-roll bars. In a cradle behind that passenger cell is a new twinturbocharged 3.0-litre V6 engine making the good side of 600bhp and driving the rear…

The W12-engined Bentayga Speed has been dropped in Europe in light of slackening demand and tightening emissions standards, but Bentley is now offering the Bentayga S, which adds most of the same dynamic tweaks to the V8. Bad news first: there’s no more power, although the 4.0-litre V8’s peaks of 542bhp and 568lb ft remain impressive enough. On Bentley’s figures, the 4.5sec 0-62mph time and 180mph top speed for the S are just 0.6sec and 10mph off the respective figures for the W12. The suspension changes from the standard V8 model are more significant. The dampers are 15% stiffer and the S has been given a more dynamic stability control tune in its Sport driving mode. It also gets the Dynamic Ride system as standard, this being the active setup…

“Balocco,” intones the Italian narrator, letting the name linger. “A peaceful village of 250 people, hidden among the vast rice fields of the Vercelli area.” And it does appear peaceful. All is calm as the viewer is taken on a monochrome tour of this agricultural commune an hour east of Turin. The voiceover deferentially drops out for these idyllic moments. Alas, it’s a ruse. One perpetrated by the devils in marketing at Alfa Romeo. Now the camera cuts to the glassfibre form of a TZ2, stationary as its test driver repeatedly runs the car’s twin-cam four to the redline like a psychopath. A dog runs for cover. A clergyman quickens his step. An engineer watches on with the hint of a smirk. The TZ takes off and a step-nose Giulia…

In your road test of the rather lovely looking Kia EV6 (19 January), you disclose that using the “more common 50kW public charger”, it needs 73 minutes to top up the battery from 10-80% 0% and that its “real-world” range is 263 miles. Well, 80% of 263 is 210 miles, so every three hours of motorway driving must be punctuated by a stop of well over an hour – and that’s assuming that a charger in working order is available immediately. The same comments apply, admittedly with less force, even if the rare 350kW charger becomes widely available throughout the UK. More years ago than I care to remember, our Citroën XM Estate Turbo Diesel had a range of more than 600 miles at a steady 80mph French motorway cruise…

Six years after launching the 2008, Peugeot gave it a stylish revamp. In its second generation, it would be produced in the form of a sharp, striking SUV, whereas before it was a bland compact people carrier. The new 2008 is based on the Common Modular Platform, which also underpins the Citroën C4, DS 3 Crossback and Vauxhall Mokka. But don’t think the 2008 is another clone in the crowded crossover class, because its bold design and accessible drivetrains make it really stand out. The petrol offerings kick off with a 1.2-litre turbocharged three-cylinder engine with three power levels: 99bhp (with a six-speed manual gearbox for 62mph in 10.9sec), 128bhp (good for 9.1sec to 62mph) and 153bhp (where you gain the option of an eight-speed automatic for an 8.2sec sprint…

“If you can have only one supercar, the T33 is designed to be the one you should have” Gordon Murray Automotive has unveiled its second supercar, a “more practical” £1.4 million stablemate to the three-seat, V12-powered T50 fan-car flagship that it revealed in August 2020. The T33, which is built on an all-new carbon-aluminium monocoque chassis, is slightly longer than the T50 and its cabin is designed for two occupants. The car uses a specially adapted version of GMA’s Cosworth-designed 3.9-litre V12 engine with even more low-speed torque but a slightly lower rev limit of 11,100rpm compared with 12,000rpm in the T50. Further preserving the T50’s status as GMA’s flagship, the T33 uses newly developed passive underbody aerodynamic principles to deliver aero downforce as speeds rise, rather than the T50’s…

The new DBX 707 is a significantly uprated performance version of the Aston Martin DBX, with a raft of mechanical upgrades that make it the most powerful luxury SUV from a mainstream manufacturer. It’s the second addition to the DBX range, positioned as a highly potent and dynamically enhanced alternative to top-rung rivals including the Bentley Bentayga S (see p33), Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT and Range Rover Sport SVR. Chief among the changes is a reworking of the DBX’s Mercedes-AMG-derived twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 engine. Gaydon’s engineers have liberated an additional 155bhp and 148lb ft to take peak outputs to 697bhp (707PS) and 664lb ft. Efficiency isn’t hampered, however: the 707 scored 19.9mpg on the WLTP test. A bespoke tune and the introduction of ball-bearing turbochargers are among the most significant…

Bentley will launch five electric models in five years from 2025 – and the first one is likely to be a high-riding saloon. The move, announced by the Crewe firm last week, accelerates its Beyond100 plan of 2020, under which it will become an electric-only, carbon-neutral brand by 2030. Development and design of the first EV, due in late 2025, is well progressed, according to Bentley CEO Adrian Hallmark. “We know the battery, the performance of the battery. The final design is weeks to a couple of months away. [The car] will be an incremental product to the ones we have today and won’t compete with anything we do. We intend to create not just an EV but to shape a segment, too.” The five EVs won’t all have the…

Lamborghini’s Urus will be significantly uprated as part of a mid-life facelift next year before being radically reinvented and ditching combustion power completely in its next generation. In an exclusive interview with Autocar, Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann detailed a timeline for the firm’s pre-2030 electrification plan, which will see current models hybridised by 2024 and usher in a pair of new pure EVs. The brand’s first electric car will be a high-riding, four-seat grand tourer in the vein of sibling brand Bentley’s maiden EV (see p12). But having been launched in its current form in 2018, the Urus will first gain power and lose weight in a round of updates next year. Then it will gain a plug-in hybrid powertrain in 2024 – tipped to be the same 671bhp V8-based…

The new Skoda Enyaq Coupé iV is the first electric model from the Czech firm to gain a hot vRS performance version. Due to go on sale in the UK later this year, the Enyaq Coupé is effectively a sportily styled version of the existing Enyaq SUV and uses the same Volkswagen Group MEB platform. It is 4mm longer and 6mm taller than its SUV sibling, but the main design difference is its more sharply raked roofline from the B-pillar backwards. Although that reduces boot space from 585 to 570 litres, it does contribute to a better drag coefficient of 0.234 and – along with the coupé’s lighter weight – marginally increases the EV’s range. Whereas the Enyaq SUV is offered with two battery sizes, the Coupé will be available…

Faced with extended lockdowns, reduced travel, a squeeze on new car sales and not much else to spend money on, the wealthier among us have been going online to buy classic and enthusiast cars. In fact, the pandemic has substantially boosted the income of online auction companies and changed the business model of the traditional auction house. Last year, for example, Collecting Cars, a Londonbased online classic car auction, claimed it had sold cars totalling £135 million, a record for the company, which started in 2018. In the US, meanwhile, Bring a Trailer operates a similar business model and handled the sale of cars totalling $828 million (£612m), more than double its 2020 figure. The cars sold are several notches above those found on eBay Motors. Collecting Cars, for example,…

New entrants would be needed for the UK to return to the 1.5 million new car output that it last achieved in 2018, according to SMMT boss Mike Hawes. This is “not beyond the realms of possibility but is not factored into the calculations”, he said, but “what really matters is getting the components supply and bolstering output of existing plants. If some of those plants can secure new models in the medium term, then it can get to, certainly, consistently above one million.”…

THE TWO SEBS went hard at it throughout the Monte Carlo Rally, outshining the new generation. Ogier won the two opening night stages, before Loeb amazed everyone with his pace on Friday, then the reigning WRC champion blitzed through Saturday. Victory was in Ogier’s grasp on the final morning, until a left-front puncture on the penultimate stage handed the lead back to Loeb. But there was still the final Power Stage to come – only for Ogier to jump the start and earn a time penalty. That meant Loeb and co-driver Isabelle Galmiche won by 10.5sec – but without that penalty, which Ogier accepted with good grace, the gap would have been just 0.5sec… It was an epic duel, then, between two giants of rallying and a perfect way for…

Maserati claims the Nettuno V6 is 100% its own work, and it’s made in-house, not by Ferrari, like other recent fierce Maserati engines. Some commentators point out, though, similarities in the 90deg block to Alfa Romeo’s V6 (and indeed Ferrari’s V8). This should be no surprise: it would be negligent not to investigate and share parts from technical partners. The cylinder head treatment is special. It incorporates a prechamber: a spark plug, lifted above its normal position, has a tiny combustion chamber beneath it, separate from the main cylinder. In light loads, it sparks a combustion that passes through small holes into the main cylinder, creating a more even main combustion. When it’s not needed (high load or revs), a separate, side-mounted spark plug does the business as normal. It’s…

Such is the hubbub enveloping the Taycan that you might have forgotten the Panamera exists. This is now reflected in sales figures: last year, the EV beat its ICE cousin 41,296 to 30,220 globally. But for those who don’t want to forgo pistons, Porsche facelifted the Panamera in 2020, sharpening the exterior, updating the infotainment and, of crucial importance to buyers from Bath to Bangkok, breaking the Nürburgring lap record for exec cars with the 671bhp Turbo S E-Hybrid. However, it’s the entry-level plugin hybrid, the 4 E-Hybrid, that’s the most broadly capable Panamera, particularly in estate-style Sport Turismo form, and this is the first time we’ve had a go in one in Britain. The recipe includes a twin-turbo 3.0-litre petrol V6 and an eight-speed dual-clutch gearbox, with an electric…

Ford, BMW, Mini. The top styling jobs at Maserati, Ferrari, Fiat, Lancia and Alfa Romeo, then leading McLaren’s design journey from a standing start to the dawn of an entirely new product cycle. Frank Stephenson has some CV. Unfettered by the birth of Frank Stephenson Design in 2018, the 62-year-old American’s current projects are intriguingly diverse, extending well beyond the automotive world. So we wanted to know what views this unique perspective would lend to the armchair designer topics du jour. Should electric cars look different from fossil-burners? What four-wheeled artistry can I buy on a budget? And, not unimportantly, are SUVs inherently ugly? AS THE CONSTRAINTS OF INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE PACKAGING FADE, HOW MIGHT CAR DESIGN EVOLVE? “The EV world will change everything we know about interior packaging. When…

COMPARISON The new era of luxury cars The Mercedes-Benz EQS fights BMW’s iX SUV to show us if the traditional saloon can stage a revival in the electric era FEATURE Global car sales 2021 Who bought what and where last year? We reveal the key trends INVESTIGATION Electric car fires We take an eye-widening look at this serious safety risk EVERY WEEK ROAD TEST Skoda Fabia Should the Ford Fiesta fear this all-new low-priced supermini? FIRST DRIVE Toyota Aygo X City car has morphed into a baby SUV. We put the idea to the test SUBSCRIBE autocar.co.uk/subscribe or see p22…

MILEAGE 5476 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To find out if the third generation of the best-selling SUV is still a cut above the growing ranks of Qashqai rivals The Extreme E electric SUV championship was designed to take place in some of the most remote, isolated and challenging locations on the planet. And a trip to the 2021 season finale late last year also proved an ideal chance to put the Nissan Qashqai to the test in the sort of terrain it was designed for. No, I didn’t drive into the deserts of Saudi Arabia, across the shifting sand dunes of Senegal or past the fjords of Greenland. Instead, I braved the wilds of… the M27 and Poole town centre. Extreme? Well, the traffic was occasionally hairy, there were some…

Godzilla has come a long way since its inception. From the 158bhp Nissan Skyline GT-R that made its debut in 1969 to today’s 562bhp all-wheel-drive monster with a sub-3.0sec 0-60mph time, it’s a prime example of what five decades of progress can do to a performance car. After its grand entrance in 2007, the latest model, referred to as the R35, made some significant waves in the automotive world. Built from the ground up to be a model in its own right, rather than a Skyline variant, the R35 GT-R arrived with immense performance and an ambition – that it realised – to take on rivals costing twice its original £70,000 price. Even a £150,000-plus Ferrari 458 can’t keep up with it around the Nürburgring Nordschleife, the Italian supercar’s best…

Every so often, the cry goes up that “cars all look the This has been going on for decades, yet the claim has never actually been true. Fashions come and go, of course, but even the largest manufacturers can’t resist throwing out an occasional oddball to keep the rest of us amused – although rarely, it must be said, to commercial success. Here’s our pick of them. Ford Thunderbird 2001 The classic Ford Thunderbirds are arguably those produced before 1970. Ford kept the ‘personal luxury car’ going for no fewer than 10 generations until 1997, then brought it back for an 11th in 2002. This was the only Thunderbird with retro styling and the first since the 1957 model year with a two-seat convertible body. The format that had worked…

The T33 is close in size and shape to the T50, so what’s its special purpose? “It’s designed to be a somewhat more practical car than the T50, which will always be our flagship. If you can have only one supercar, the T33 is designed to be the one you should have. “Our research among potential owners already shows us that around 85% will use their cars for daily driving, which is why we’ve given it practical stuff like good luggage capacity and a long cruising range.” You haven’t yet shown the T33’s interior. What’s it like? “The T33 adheres very much to Gordon Murray Design principles: exquisite but very simple, driver-focused design. It will be all analogue: no touchscreens, top-quality machined-aluminium rotary controls for all important functions and every…

Having achieved carbonneutral production in 2019, Bentley aims to reduce water consumption, waste to landfill and other environmental impacts for every vehicle built in Crewe to an absolute minimum in the run-up to 2030. Among the initiatives, Bentley plans to increase the number of solar panels at Crewe from 30,000 to 40,000 in the next two years and is investigating the use of sustainable biofuel in fleet cars, including its Heritage Collection vehicles. Its suppliers are also expected to meet minimum sustainability standards. The same applies to global dealerships, which are all aiming for carbon neutrality by 2025.…

New car output in the UK dropped to its lowest level since 1956 last year as a result of parts shortages, factory closures, staff absences and a drop in demand. A total of 859,575 cars came from UK factories last year, according to figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders – down 6.7% on 2020 and a 34% fall from pre-pandemic 2019. The SMMT identifies the ongoing semiconductor shortage as the principal cause of the downturn, highlighting various resultant productionline stoppages and output restrictions as manufacturers struggled to obtain the chips, thousands of which go into the average car. Compounding that issue were cross-industry staff shortages as workers had to self-isolate after positive Covid-19 tests and enforced showroom closures throttling domestic demand for around three months at the…

MONDAY To Gordon Murray Automotive’s spacious new headquarters in Surrey to view the svelte T33 supercar (see p6) in an underground car park that will become a heritage museum when the architects and builders have finished with it. To my eye, this is Murray’s finest effort yet for simple beauty, its flowing lines made possible by a new underbody aerodynamics system called Passive Boundary Layer Control, discovered during development of the previous T50. The PBLC concept is a bit of a brain-stretcher, but luckily Murray is unmatched at explaining stuff to simpletons. The T50’s lower-level downforce is created in an underbody air channel that can be more aggressively shaped (therefore effective), because the rear-mounted fan is on hand to suck ‘dirty air’ out of the way via a strategically placed…

It suddenly seems dismissive to describe Lexus as an alternative premium brand. It’s hard to resist, perhaps, as a European of a certain age. But this is a firm that’s long past the imitation phase that so often characterises the premium wannabe. It’s doing its own thing. The second-generation NX mid-size SUV might be all the proof we need of that. Coming along in 2014, the original NX appeared at a time when the Audi Q5 and Range Rover Evoque were breaking sales records, yet it wasn’t a copy of anything. It was styled and proportioned differently. And it sold more than a million units globally, becoming Lexus’s most popular car in Europe and the UK. So it feels like an affirmation of sorts now for Lexus to simply give…

MODEL TESTED E-TENSE 225 PERFORMANCE LINE PLUS Price £46,100 • Power 224bhp • Torque 266lb ft • 0-60mph 8.6sec • 30-70mph in fourth na • Fuel economy 39.6mpg • CO2 emissions 33-35g/km • 70-0mph 53.2m DS Automobiles has now been a brand in its own right for almost seven years. In its fairly short life, it has experimented with high-end superminis, high-fashion crossover hatchbacks, jacked-up designer shooting brakes and upmarket SUVs. But it has resisted the urge to introduce the kind of model you might have expected its renaissance to open with – until now. It’s with all due reverence to Citroën’s iconic DS19 of 1955, then, that the premium French marque whose existence owes so much to that car finally risks another big luxury saloon. The DS 9 may have…

The DS 9 brings welcome variety back to the market for premium saloons. Its major failing may be that it is too studiously attached to the traditional mould of a classic French luxury car, and not innovative enough in either its design or technical specification to do justice to the memory of the original DS. That particular albatross needn’t prevent us from recognising how refined and fit for purpose this car is, though. If you appreciate an enriching, genuinely relaxing executive car, it is quite easy to like in spite of its various stylised affectations. The plug-in powertrain offers only lukewarm performance and poor electric range, and, quietness aside, it’s not the selling point that some might have hoped for. The interior, meanwhile, falls short of a really spacious limousine…

Surely this can’t be Romford Road, London’s legendary car dealer strip? I’ve been driving along it for the past 20 minutes and, apart from Glyn Hopkin MG situated at its eastern end near the North Circular, I’ve seen very few dealers. At the road’s western extremity, where it becomes Stratford Broadway, there is one – or, with a mesh fence enclosing some cars, what looks like the remains of one. Back in 2017, there was a dealer here but its signs are gone. It’s the end of Romford Road and, sadly, the end of my attempts to find more than a couple of car dealers on it. I’m here because I’m following up a story I wrote for this magazine four years ago. I was trawling East London, meeting dealers…

Hardly impartial I’m so pleased that I wasn’t eating or drinking when I read John Tebbit’s mention of “impartial life-cycle analyses” of EVs (5 January). Mr Tebbit must be unaware that these “impartial” studies are usually commissioned by green groups and political movements. This is why the report on how green EVs really are from Polestar caused such upset among the green lobby; and why this lobby has tried its utmost to bury the report from the University of Turin on the power, chemicals and equipment needed to recycle EVs. Then we have pro-EV and progreen energy universities raising concerns that there isn’t enough of certain metals for the batteries for the predicted numbers of EVs, that the extraction of the ores relies on child labour and that the extraction…

We meet BMW’s first SUV “DRIVEN BY THE US market’s belief that ‘anything’ is not just possible but deeply desirable, crossover vehicles that blend two or more disparate designs into a slightly bizarre new entity are coming to a showroom near you soon,” our road test of BMW’s firstever SUV opened prophetically. However, if anything could do ‘anything’, surely it was a blend of the upcoming L322 Range Rover and excellent E39 BMW 5 Series? “A little tubby the X5 might be, but it’s considerably more than a little pokey,” we said. That was no revelation given it had a 286bhp 4.4-litre V8, but it was a surprise that “the sensations are almost exclusively sporting – nowhere more so than when hustling it along demanding twisty blacktop. “It doesn’t just…

MILEAGE 8318 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see if an electric car fits into a high-mileage life Maths and paperwork. Yikes. That is what’s occupying my Polestar time when I’m not driving the car at the minute. It’s new and an EV, so there are a few things still to sort out. One of them is ensuring I get a £350 grant under the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme, which until April this year allows new EV buyers to part-fund a domestic EV charger. From April, it will apply only to flats or rental properties, so if you own a house, you’re on your own, squire. The grant made the charger cost slightly more palatable: a high-three-figure bill (£930), rather than a four-figure one. I called a local company with decent…

An expert’s view CHRIS MARSHALL, OWNER, AUTO TORQUE “I’ve owned three R35 GT-Rs and I know them very well. I think my favourite aspect is the outright performance of them and the tunability. They’re good value and, for not much money, you can get a lot out of them. And then there’s the practicality: it’s got supercar performance, but you can use it every day. So it’s very versatile. Generally speaking, they’re reliable, too. You hear horror stories, but I would say they only start when the car is neglected or is put in the wrong hands or is tuned poorly.” Buyer beware… ▪ ABS PUMPS FAILING An issue that’s becoming more common is the ABS pumps failing. This is particularly prevalent in older GT-Rs and those that have been…

Our time left with V8 power is short, which makes the prospect of buying a car with it even more enticing. Our preferred option is one of the fastest versions of Jaguar’s F-Type: the R. While some are drawn to the sports coupé’s more conservative 2.0-litre four-cylinder and 3.0-litre V6 engines, we can’t help hankering after the 0-62mph-in-4.0sec supercharged 5.0-litre V8 with 543bhp and 501lb ft. You could, of course, get even more from the V8 in the supercar-baiting SVR, but you would have to be a speed demon of Andy Wallace proportions to feel short-changed by the R. The R is equipped with an active vehicle dynamics system that uses electronic sensors to analyse the behaviour of the car, optimising traction and stability after deploying appropriate power to reduce…