Innholdsfortegnelse for 1426 i Auto Express

Visit autoexpress.co.uk for all the latest new cars news WHILE the debate continues about Britain’s position on the European political map – for the record, in our online poll 50 per cent of Auto Express readers said they’d vote to leave the EU and 34 per cent wanted to remain in – our fifth annual Brit List reveals the most influential British executives on the global car stage. If anything, the influence of Brits on the cars we buy and those we dream about is greater than ever. Brits have always over-indexed in the most senior positions, due in no small part to our culture – as this year’s number one Brit, Mike Manley (above), told us, being able to understand and work with different cultures comes naturally to Brits.…

ONLY a fifth of what motorists pay for car insurance goes towards covering repairs or theft of their vehicle, new figures reveal. The other 79 per cent covers elements such as running costs for insurers, damage to others and the insurance premium tax, according to Co-op Insurance. A new study, which highlighted how half of UK drivers don’t understand how their premium is calculated, found insurers’ running costs make up the biggest proportion at 26 per cent. A further quarter of the price goes to cover potential injuries to others, while just 18 per cent goes towards covering damage to other cars or property. Co-op Insurance claims it makes roughly two per cent profit from each policy. Lastly, nine-and-a-half per cent of premium prices is made up of the insurance…

Jonathan_Burn@dennis.co.uk @Jonathan_burn “The Ateca’s light weight combined with a darty front end make it quite engaging to drive” SEAT is on a roll. The Ateca is the first of four new models due to arrive in the next 18 months. The Spanish brand was so keen to get its all-new SUV into the minds of potential buyers that it allowed Auto Express access to a pre-production model back in March (Issue 1,414). This time we’ve been handed the keys to the car that will arrive in UK showrooms later this year. Overall, it’s a resounding success. It’s taken the company longer than most to assemble a crack team of engineers to build this SUV, but, in doing so, SEAT has given itself time to analyse the competition and position the…

Mercedes E 220d AMG Line Price: £38,430 Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbodiesel, 191bhp 0-60mph: 7.3 seconds Test economy: 48.7mpg/10.8mpl CO2: 112g/km Annual road tax: £30 Volvo S90 D4 Inscription Price: £35,555 Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbodiesel, 187bhp 0-60mph: 7.8 seconds Test economy: 43.4mpg/9.6mpl CO2: 116g/km Annual road tax: £30 VOLVO is a car company with big ambitions. Its stewardship by Ford is now a distant memory, and, so far, the signs are that new Chinese parent company Geely is helping the firm find its mojo as an alternative choice to the establishment. Proof of Volvo’s return to form is the fact that the first model to appear under new ownership, the XC90, was our 2015 Car of the Year. However, can Volvo maintain its success with the next car to be launched,…

Results 1st MERCEDES THE E-Class’ reign at the top of the executive car tree continues. Yes, it’s expensive to buy and the options aren’t cheap, but the Mercedes’ strengths run deep and it feels a cut above rivals for quality, style and refinement. It’s also good to drive, while the new 2.0-litre diesel delivers all the performance you need. Crucially, low emissions mean business users don’t lose out despite the car’s higher price. 2nd VOLVO IT has to give best to the E-Class here, but the new S90 proves Volvo’s success with the XC90 was no fluke. The newcomer looks good inside and out, is keenly priced and comes loaded with kit. It’s also comfortable, reasonably refined and packed with cutting-edge safety kit. Yet it’s not as polished to drive…

THE Pure Highway has long been our favourite way to get DAB and DAB+ radio in older cars, and there are two new versions. The 400, tested here at £129, adds Bluetooth streaming, on top of digital radio. It also plays Spotify music, enables voice control to alert your phone’s personal assistant and allows you to tag and listen to music via the Pure app. The £149.99 Highway 600 adds hands-free calling. This new version is designed for DIY installation, unlike the outgoing 300Di, but Halfords will do the job, starting from £10. We tried our sample in a 2009 VW Golf with an aux head unit. There’s an FM transmitter for cars without aux. Installation involves sticking the aerial to the screen and running the cables to the 12V…

PRODUCT GROUP TEST 15 | 6 | 2016 Every week, we extensively test all the latest car kit from tyres to trim cleaners. Log on to www.autoexpress.co.uk to look through our huge online test archive. WATERLESS washes were thrust into the spotlight by hosepipe bans, but they’re a fine way to wash and wax your car even when the reservoirs are full. And they work well at this time of year when grime build-up is light and can be safely removed with a cloth. A waterless cleaner is also great for using undercover or in the garage if you’re dodging summer showers. If time is short, they’re often faster than a bucket and sponge plus a tin of wax when cleaning and protecting paintwork. So which will give you more…

Interior THE Golf doesn’t have the most imaginative dash design, but it’s intuitive and ergonomically sound with a high-quality finish. The seats are supportive and offer plenty of adjustment; there’s lots of room for four adults, although five is a squeeze. Plus, the generous 380-litre boot increases to 1,270 litres. Contacts Official www.volkswagen.co.uk Forums www.vwaudiforum.co.uk www.vwroc.com www.volkswagenforum.co.uk www.autoexpress.co.uk/driverpower OUR VIEW THE Mk7 Golf debuted in 18th place in our Driver Power satisfaction survey in 2014. Last year it dipped to 30th, but it was up to 27th in 2016, on the back of strong scores for handling (19th), ease of driving (21st), ride quality (28th) and performance (29th). Owners weren’t so happy with reliability (105th), practicality (79th) and running costs (57th). YOUR VIEW RAY Boardman of Shrewsbury, Shrops, loves his…

“The fault was diagnosed as engine failure – and after more than 17 weeks a new engine was fitted” BUYING a used car always carries a risk, but when you’re purchasing from a main dealer, you don’t expect to have to deal with a list of repairs immediately. Unfortunately for reader Nicholas Caughey, from Comber, County Down, that was exactly the position he found himself in with his one-year-old Vauxhall Astra VXR. “I bought the car from a Vauxhall dealer, but shortly after I noticed oil splatters and the odd puff of smoke when driving,” said Nicholas. He contacted his dealer for advice, and was told to keep an eye on the levels, but after having to top up oil every 250 miles, decided to take his car back. “I…

James_Disdale@dennis.co.uk “The ST200 instantly feels more potent than the ST, allowing you to overtake in the blink of an eye” Essentials Ford Fiesta ST200 Price: £22,745 Engine: 1.6-litre 4cyl turbo Power/torque: 197bhp/290Nm Transmission: Six-speed manual, front-wheel drive 0-62mph: 6.7 seconds Top speed: 142mph Economy: 46.3mpg CO2: 140g/km ON SALE Now “The ST200 instantly feels more potent than the ST, allowing you to overtake in the blink of an eye” WHAT can you do to make one of the best hot hatches even better? If you’re Ford, then the answer is, well, not much. The fiery Fiesta ST is already one of the most thrilling pocket rockets money can buy, so when it came to developing an even more exciting version, Ford’s engineers had to concede that there wasn’t a lot…

Sam_Naylor@dennis.co.uk @SamNaylor_AE Essentials Tesla Model X P90D Price: £70,000 (est) Engine: 90kWh Dual Motor Power/torque: 682bhp/601Nm Transmission: Single speed auto, four-wheel drive 0-60mph: 3.8 seconds Top speed: 155mph Range: 290 miles CO2: 0g/km ON SALE Late summer “The instant boost of acceleration is addictive, and the Model X handles well for such a heavy car” THE Tesla Model X has been around for a while now, with the electric SUV already on sale in the US. We had a brief taste of the car on the streets of New York (Issue 1,413), but now we’ve had the chance to give it a thorough workout on European roads. As you’ll know, SUVs are big business. For context, Tesla reckons it can shift five Model Xs for every two Model S saloons.…

Suzuki Baleno 1.0 Boosterjet SZ5 Price: £13,999 Engine: 1.0-litre 3cyl turbo, 109bhp 0-60mph: 9.5 seconds Test economy: 50.8mpg/11.2mpl CO2: 105g/km Annual road tax: £20 Nissan Note Acenta Style 1.2 Price: £14,285 Engine: 1.2-litre 3cyl, 79bhp 0-60mph: 12.1 seconds Test economy: 48.3mpg/10.6mpl CO2: 109g/km Annual road tax: £20 Honda Jazz SE 1.3 i-VTEC Price: £14,995 Engine: 1.3-litre 4cyl, 101bhp 0-60mph: 10.4 seconds Test economy: 41.5mpg/9.1mpl CO2: 116g/km Annual road tax: £30 IN the world of sporty superminis, Suzuki’s Swift has always been great to drive and affordable to run, but what if you need a small car to cover more bases than just fun and low running costs? In today’s market, these models require a wider spread of abilities, but with a boot smaller than some city cars, the Swift trails…

NEW PRODUCT Thinkware X550 dash cam Price: £169 Contact: 01206 500880, thinkwaredashcam.uk DASH cams have come a long way in the past few years, with new models offering ever more impressive features. The latest is the Thinkware X550, which comes with a time lapse mode for recording while you’re parked, and Super Night Vision for capturing footage as you drive after dark. The X550 features a 140-degree wideangle view and records in 1080p HD quality. It comes with a 2.7-inch display, while a one frame per second time lapse photography feature promises to record details of your car when parked for nearly two days, picking up incidents a G-sensor might miss. In addition, the new camera promises improved night vision, thanks to new image signal processing technology that claims to…

YOUR VIEWS ON YOUR CARS 2016 Results Leon Factfile Years: 2013 to present CO2: 102g/km Fuel economy: 70.6mpg (1.6 TDI SE) Best options: Sat-nav, stop/start, lane assist, reversing camera, adaptive cruise control Prices: From £7,400 OVERALL SCORE 91.08% Bars show where model finished out of 150 cars in our 2016 survey. The lower the rating the better GOOD “A GREAT car to drive. A good mix of performance and practicality.” “I find the Leon very smooth on the road. It handles well, too.” “The interior controls are perfectly laid out.” “A very stylish car.” “It’s really spacious inside; the Leon puts my previous hatchbacks to shame.” “The Eco and Sport modes are ideal for different driving moods.” “DSG auto box is super slick. I’m also very happy with the 1.6-litre…

Stephen_Errity@dennis.co.uk “Ford’s drivers are under no illusions about the level of competition they face this year” EXACTLY 50 years ago this month, the iconic Ford GT40 swept the board at Le Mans, finishing first, second and third in the 1966 running of the gruelling 24-hour event. This fulfilled a promise made by Henry Ford II to beat Enzo Ferrari’s machines on track, after the Italian blocked a planned Ford takeover of the company. This year, Ford is back with a full works team and an all-new version of the GT, with a four-car armada bidding to mark the 50th anniversary of 1966 with another win. But this time around, Ford isn’t shooting for overall victory, which is still going to be contested by Audi, Toyota and Porsche’s hybrid prototypes in…

James Batchelor James_Batchelor@dennis.co.uk @JRRBatchelor Essentials Fiat 124 Spider Lusso Price: £22,295 Engine: 1.4-litre 4cyl turbo Power/torque: 138bhp/240Nm Transmission: Six-speed manual, rear-wheel drive 0-62mph: 7.5 seconds Top speed: 135mph Economy: 44.1mpg CO2: 148g/km ON SALE Now WHEN we drove an advanced prototype of the Fiat 124 Spider earlier this year (Issue 1,410), we gave it a five-star rating, so can the full production car impress in equal measure? This is our first drive of the showroom-ready version. The biggest difference between the Fiat and the Mazda is just how grown-up the 124 feels. The two cars share the same chassis structure, suspension and rearwheel-drive transmission, but Fiat has worked hard to make its sports car feel a little more mature and rounded. While the Mazda uses a couple of naturally aspirated…

“Motorists were encouraged to help cut CO2 by buying diesels. Now they will be taxed” Edmund King President, AA Martin_Saarinen@dennis.co.uk @AE_Consumer “In 2001, just 13.8 per cent of cars in the UK were diesels. Last year, it was over 37 per cent” DIESEL car owners could be hit with a tax hike as the Government looks to cut down on air pollution, Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin has hinted. According to McLoughlin, the growing uptake of diesel cars in the UK has caused a “dramatic rise” in air pollution in cities like London. He said: “We have got to look at that; it’s something the Chancellor will need to look at in due course.” The roads minister also told the London Evening Standard the decision by the previous Labour government to…

Jonathan_Burn@dennis.co.uk @Jonathan_burn BENTLEY’S upcoming sports car, based on the EXP 10 Speed 6 concept (above), could be called Barnato when it arrives within the next three years. Auto Express can reveal a trademark for the Barnato name was filed two years ago, along with Bentayga. The name Barnato makes reference to former Bentley chairman and three-time Bentley Le Mans 24 Hours winner Woolf Barnato, who competed in the race in 1928, 1929 and 1930. Barnato was known as one of the ‘Bentley Boys’ and remains one of few drivers to win every race entered at Le Mans. The motorsport background associated with the name seems a more appropriate fit for a sports car such as the EXP 10 concept, but it’s understood the success of the Bentayga SUV could lead…

mail@autoexpress.co.uk “The car’s ride, handling and steering are significantly improved over the F-Type R” Essentials Jaguar F-Type SVR Coupé Price: £110,000 Engine: 5.0-litre V8 supercharged Power/torque: 568bhp/700Nm Transmission: Eight-speed auto, four-wheel drive 0-62mph: 3.5 seconds Top speed: 200mph Economy: 25mpg CO2: 269g/km ON SALE Now LIGHTER, stiffer, faster, louder and considerably more expensive than any other F-Type to date, the new £110,000 SVR Coupé is, claims Jaguar, “the 200mph all-weather supercar”. It’s powered by a tweaked version of Jaguar’s established 5.0-litre supercharged V8, and boasts 568bhp, 700Nm of torque and a 0-62mph time of just 3.5 seconds. So the 200mph F-Type SVR is not just a skirtsand-spoilers job from Jaguar’s burgeoning Special Vehicle Operations division. They don’t do that sort of thing at SVO. Instead, they tend to go back…

Sean_Carson@dennis.co.uk @Sean_Carson_ Essentials Audi S4 Avant Price: £43,000 (est) Engine: 3.0-litre turbo V6 Power/torque: 349bhp/500Nm Transmission: Eight-speed auto, four-wheel drive 0-62mph: 4.9 seconds Top speed: 155mph Economy: 37.7mpg CO2: 171g/km ON SALE Summer UNTIL the inevitable RS model arrives, the new Audi S4 is the current rangetopper in the firm’s A4 junior-executive line-up. Fast Audis like this have always been incredibly capable, blending performance with comfort and usability, but have traditionally been a little uninvolving. So can this latest S4 deliver on all fronts? As you’d expect, it’s faster than before. Underneath the bonnet is a new 3.0-litre turbocharged V6 pushing out 349bhp. Coupled to a new eight-speed auto and Audi’s quattro four-wheel-drive system, it means the S4 Avant can leap off the line and cover 0-62mph in 4.9 seconds.…

MODEL TESTED: Mercedes E 220d AMG Line PRICE: £38,430 ENGINE: 2.0-litre 4cyl, 191bhp Testers’ notes “The Mercedes’ £1,495 optional air-suspension set-up is something of a mixed bag. Over smoothly surfaced yet bumpy roads the E-Class floats along with the same sort of relaxing gait as the larger S-Class. However, hit a sharp ridge or pothole and the suspension struggles a little, often sending a shudder through the car’s cabin. For UK roads, the SE model’s smaller wheels and traditional springs are likely to offer a more comfortable ride.” James Disdale Road test editor Testers’ notes “The twin TFT dashboard display isn’t cheap, at around £2,000, but it enhances an already desirable interior. Crisp graphics and configurable displays give the cabin a hi-tech feel that rivals can’t match.” Sean Carson Senior…

Results 1st SUZUKI AT this level, cost is a big factor, but just because the Baleno is impressively affordable to buy and run, it doesn’t mean you have to compromise. It’s the cheapest car here but has the most kit, while the practicality on offer makes it usable every day. If you can look past the styling, the Suzuki is an honest, cheap and flexible supermini that’s also surprisingly good to drive. 2nd HONDA WITH a sweet manual rather than the droning CVT auto, the Jazz has been vastly improved. It combines usable space with a decent drive and is more distinctive than the Baleno or Note. But in a sector where the balance between price, practicality and equipment is key, the more expensive Honda doesn’t stack up next to…

2 Fiat 500L 1 Suzuki SX4 S-Cross 1 SX4 S-Cross ALTHOUGH it can’t quite match the Fiat for cubby storage, the Suzuki offers lower running costs and better performance. Add in the engaging handling, and this crossover is a tough act to follow. 2 500L Trekking THE Trekking is the best model in the 500L range. Its chunky addons give the awkward looks a lift, and the interior is more stylish than the SX4’s. It’s cheaper, too, so should still be a good buy. Suzuki SX4 S-Cross SZ-T Years: 2014 to date Engine: 1.6-litre 4cyl, 118bhp Ins grp: 19 Official econ/CO2: 67.2mpg/110g/km Why? Suzuki is cheaper to run and better to drive than the Fiat. It has a decent-sized boot and looks great, too. Prices from: £8,800 Fiat 500L Trekking…

Stephen_Errity@dennis.co.uk “Pressure is starting to show as all three manufacturers push reliability to the limit” WHILE Ford’s storied return to Le Mans has garnered plenty of attention in the run-up to this year’s race, competition in the top LMP1 hybrid class remains intense. VW Group cuts following the emissions scandal saw Audi and Porsche reduce their entries from three to two cars this year, so last year’s victors Nick Tandy, Earl Bamber and Nico Hulkenberg aren’t defending their crown. Tandy and Bamber step down to the GT class, while F1 driver Hulkenberg is tied up at the Azerbaijan GP, which clashes. At Audi, meanwhile, Oliver Jarvis is at the sharp end of efforts to wrest the Le Mans trophy back from sister brand Porsche. With Allan McNish’s retirement in 2013,…