Auto Express July 8, 2015

THIS week we bring you the very first pictures of the new Audi A4 (above). No, really – we do. It’ll be much better to drive than the old model, much more efficient and have more tech on board. It’s just that it doesn’t look a whole lot different to the last one. Take a look at it next to an Audi A3 Saloon and it’ll be even harder to tell them apart. The similarity of one Audi model to the next has been something of a running joke for years. Not that it has done anything to dent the cars’ appeal – Audi’s sales continue to go up and up. But I reckon things need to change at Audi, especially with new rivals on the scene like the stunning…

THE wraps are off the new Fiat 500, and the timing couldn’t be better. Its official reveal last weekend was exactly eight years after the new-look 500 first arrived, and 58 years since the original Cinquecento burst on to the scene. Although not a full overhaul from the ground up, the retro city car gets a raft of styling, cabin and drivetrain revisions for 2016, and is set to hit showrooms in September. This refresh aims to breathe new life into the eight-year-old 500 before there’s an all-new model on an all-new platform – although that’s unlikely to be for another few years. Still, Fiat claims it has made more than 1,800 changes to help it compete with the latest MINI hatch. It hasn’t messed with the retro formula too…

AUDI has revealed the all-new version of the A4 – its best-selling model globally. And to keep the opposition on its toes, it’s also pulled the wraps off the big-booted A4 Avant estate – the first time both models have been revealed simultaneously. The A4, based on a new MLB platform, is now in its fifth generation and Audi’s focus has been on refinement improvements, automated driving tech and efficiency gains. Fuel economy is improved by up to 21 per cent across the range, with power increased by up to 25 per cent at the same time. Frank Rimili, Audi Exterior Designer, told us there was a desire to make the A4 more masculine. “Today’s car is a little soft,” he said. “This is sharp and more masculine and that’s…

AUDI has launched its all-new A4 at a time when the compact executive class is more competitive than ever. It’ll go on sale in September after a Frankfurt Motor Show debut, but it’ll need to be seriously good to usurp the latest crop of rivals when it arrives in showrooms. We’ve put the A4’s stats up against the recently updated BMW 3Series, Jaguar’s excellent new XE, Mercedes’ upmarket C-Class and the striking new Alfa Romeo Giulia to see if the Audi can win the battle before it’s even hit the road. AUDI PR ACTICALITY THE new Audi A4 is built on the VW Group’s MLB Evo platform, and despite being 120kg lighter, it’s 21mm longer than before. That’s added 12mm to the car’s wheelbase, making for lots more room inside.…

WHEN Ford enlisted Ken Block – occasional WRC driver and talent behind the massive Gymkhana YouTube series – to help develop the new Focus RS’ handling, it knew the results would be spectacular. With 345bhp from its 2.3-litre four-cylinder EcoBoost engine and four-wheel drive, the mega hatch has all the ingredients to handle like a rally car, but only now – after we were driven in it by Block himself up the hill climb at the recent Goodwood Festival of Speed – can Auto Express confirm that it’s every bit as exciting as we’d hoped. We were among a handful of journalists invited to ride in the RS and speak to American Block about his first experience of developing a road car. “I live in the mountains and the RS…

THINGS are getting very interesting at Aston Martin. We’ve already spotted the new DB9 replacement, likely to be called DB11, with an angular new shape visible behind its disguise (Issue 1,376). Now we’ve got pictures of its interior, and it’s crammed with components from Mercedes’ S-Class. Aston has already announced its tie-up with AMG would span shared engines and electrical architectures, but this full 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster is our first direct look at the fruit of that partnership. Also visible are Aston’s trademark buttons for the auto box, instead of a gearlever. We expect common electrical components with Mercedes to extend to in-car infotainment, plus the latest safety systems. We’ll know more when the DB11 debuts in 2016, followed 12 months later by an all-new V8 Vantage.…