Innholdsfortegnelse for 1490 i Auto Express

James_Brodie@dennis.co.uk @jimmybrods IT’S an auto industry cliché – Formula One tech trickling down into road cars you can actually buy. However, Mercedes has taken that idea to its extremes at the Frankfurt Motor Show with the Project One. The showstopping hypercar features a contemporary Formula One powertrain. It uses the same 1.6-litre turbocharged hybrid V6 engine that powers the German marque’s world championship entry. Although this is still a concept car, Mercedes says it gives a ‘close indication’ of what to expect from the upcoming production model that’s arriving in 2019. It’ll be priced at around £2.4million. The brand claims an output of around 1,000bhp, plus an 11,000rpm red line; that is reduced from the F1 car’s 15,000rpm limit. A top speed in excess of 217mph is promised. There’s no…

THE contenders for the 2018 World Car of the Year have been revealed, with the Range Rover Velar and Land Rover Discovery flying the flag for the UK. Other nominees include the SEAT Ibiza, Volvo XC60 and Peugeot 3008. A handful of models that have yet to be officially revealed, including the Volvo XC40 and BMW X2, are on the shortlist. The winner will be announced next March. The WCOTY is independently ranked as the planet’s top automotive awards programme. Auto Express veterans Steve Fowler and Mike Rutherford are two of the 70-plus WCOTY jurors across the globe. PAGE 82: Mike Rutherford’s view…

Hugo_Griffiths@dennis.co.uk @hugo_griffiths DRIVERS forgetting to renew their MoT on time have been fined more than £35million in the past five years, research by our sister website, Carbuyer.co.uk, has found. A Freedom of Information request to the 45 police forces in the UK found that since 2012 drivers have been hit with 424,316 penalties for driving without a valid MoT certificate. The typical fine for an out-of-date MoT is a £100 fixed penalty notice, which was increased from £60 in August 2013. However, fines can go up to £1,000 if taken to court. Figures from the 36 police forces able to reply to the request showed UK constabularies earn £7.5m annually from MoT fines. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) shares its MoT data with the police, who in return…

www.thedrivingdoctor.org @drpaulripley WE hear a lot about ‘unsafe driving behaviour’. But does this phenomenon relate to a lack of skill and experience, or is it just down to bad attitudes? Everything we learn when starting to drive is skill-based. Advanced driving is simply making better use of another set of skills. However, skill is rarely the issue with unacceptable driving behaviour, so what’s the missing link? Safer motoring for experienced drivers is a mindset. It’s about having control of attitude and emotions, the human factors that are the root cause of poor driving. Our attitude dominates how we think and feel, and how we react to situations. Skill has little, if any, effect on emotions, mood swings and temper loss. The mind is the boss behind the wheel. It controls…

CHANGAN’S ultimate ambitions may be global, but a key component to delivering those aims is based in a business park close to Birmingham International Airport. The company’s powertrain research centre is based in the UK, and “creates the knowledge and products that eventually make it into production”, according to Martin Joyce, head of the engine department. Any engine and transmission that makes its way to the Chinese production lines is first designed here in the UK. The process is fastmoving, because not only is the home car market known for its quick pace of change, but China’s rapid crackdown on air pollution also means the team faces a tougher challenge each year. Joyce says: “In 2019, Chinese emissions standards will be equivalent to those in Europe, and by 2023 the…

MODEL TESTED: Skoda Rapid Spaceback 1.6 TDI CR SE Sport 115PS PRICE: £19,210 ENGINE: 1.6-litre 4cyl, 113bhp THE Skoda Rapid Spaceback sits in between the Fabia supermini and the Octavia family hatch in the brand’s range, in terms of both size and pricing. Here we’re testing a 1.6-litre diesel model in top-spec SE Sport trim, which costs from £19,210. DESIGN & ENGINEERING score 3.4 THE recent facelift means the Rapid now fits in well with its Skoda siblings, with a large grille and bold headlights at the front. The large glass section on the tailgate is the Spaceback’s distinguishing feature, along with Skoda’s usual sharp bodywork creases. It looks the part on the outside, but the car is actually based on an old platform and not the MQB architecture used…

SKODA RAPID score 3.0 Skoda Connect Standard Key features: 6.5-inch display, USB THE Skoda Rapid has the best infotainment system of the three cars in this test, but that’s hardly a ringing endorsement. The 6.5-inch screen looks small in the dashboard, and makes pressing the multitude of buttons to control the sat-nav fiddly, since each icon has to be so small to fit on to the display. At least the graphics are clear, bright and easy to understand, and the sat-nav does comes with live traffic updates. There’s even a button at the side of the screen that shows you any traffic jams in your immediate area. The buttons along the sides of the display make navigating between different screens easy, and the interface is much more usable than the…

James_Batchelor@dennis.co.uk @JRRBatchelor MY 12-month relationship with the Auto Express Jaguar XF is up, and it’s time to lay my cards on the table. I’ve seen enough episodes of the Jeremy Kyle Show to know that you must talk about relationship problems. So what follows is a frank chat with the executive saloon. Your infotainment system delights and frustrates in equal measure. I specified you with the upgraded InControl Touch Pro system and it’s a must-have, even if it does cost £2,095. Not only is there a wider 10.2-inch display, there’s also an 825- watt Meridian surround system and a TFT screen for the instrument dials. But, my goodness, you’re difficult to use – a touchscreen is more frustrating than a rotary dial, like that on the BMW 5 Series. Life…

Got a query? products@autoexpress.co.uk @AE_Consumer Q Best polish for a dark car I’VE just bought a nearly new black Mercedes and would like to know which is the best polish or wax for dark cars like this that have no light scratches or swirls in the clearcoat paintwork? J Taberner, E-mail A IF the finish is already good then you won’t need to improve it with a polish that’s designed to remove things like swirls. We don’t test waxes for particular colours, but we have used our current champion Bilt Hamber double speedwax (above, £14.95, www.bilthamber.com) on a black car and seen good results. Q Can I MoT an imported car? HAVING recently imported a Renault 4 classic car from France, I’m now investigating how much work it needs. Can…

Mini test NEW PRODUCT WD-40 Specialist Fast Acting Degreaser Price: £6.99 Size: 500ml Rating: Contact: 01908 555400, www.wd40.co.uk FAST Acting Degreaser is part of a ninestrong range of Specialist maintenance sprays that covers everything from a contact cleaner to white lithium grease. They all come in 500ml aerosols with the hinged Smart Straw. The solvent-based degreaser needs to be allowed to penetrate after being applied, although no time is given. We left it for several minutes before using a low-pressure spray to rinse it off. It just had the edge over Hyper Clean and its aerosol delivery made it easier to use. But it works out more expensive than the five-litre tin from Comma. It’s effective and convenient, although it will prove costly for big cleaning jobs. WD-40 is a…

Stephen_Errity@dennis.co.uk JAGUAR has launched a racing version of its I-Pace electric car, which will form the basis of a support series for Formula E, starting with the fifth season in 2018-19. The I-Pace eTrophy will be contested by up to 20 cars, with all entries being run centrally and seats being offered on an ‘arrive-and-drive’ basis to competitors. The series will support every round of Formula E, racing on the streets of major cities including New York, Paris, Rome, Sao Paulo and Hong Kong. Jaguar Land Rover’s Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) division has designed and built the car, which was unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show this week. The full technical specifications and performance figures for the I-Pace eTrophy have yet to be announced, but Jaguar says they’ll be confirmed…

John_McIlroy@dennis.co.uk @johnmcilroy “The more powerful version will have more than 268bhp” MERCEDES is previewing an all-electric hatchback with its other Frankfurt Motor Show star, called the Concept EQA. The new model is a compact three-door that measures 4,285mm in length and 1,180mm in width; so slightly shorter, but wider than the current A-Class. It has a longer wheelbase than Mercedes’ regular hatch, though, at 2,729mm. Much of the show model’s styling is expected to make it through to a fivedoor production car, which is due to go on sale in 2020. It gets an intricate headlight design that’s meant to replicate the wound copper of an electric motor. The Concept EQA also previews a technical set-up that’s likely to be closely matched by the production model. It uses a pair…

Jonathan_Burn@dennis.co.uk @Jonathan_burn TVR has finally pulled the covers off its all-new sports car, the Griffith. Reviving the name first used by the brand back in 1991, the all-new model was revealed at last week’s Goodwood Revival. Production will begin late next year, with Launch Editions of the car priced from £90,000. TVR boss Les Edgar describes the model as a “British muscle car”, and claims that it “offers a level of sophistication, comfort and practicality never seen by the brand before”. Edgar also confirmed plans for TVR’s return to motorsport in the future. The Griffith measures 4,314mm long, 1,850mm wide and 1,239mm tall, which makes it around the same size as an Aston Martin V8 Vantage, but more compact than a Porsche 911 and Jaguar F-Type. Unlike any of its…

Fresh look and tech for VW I.D. Crozz SUV VW has revealed an updated version of its autonomous electric SUV concept, the I.D. Crozz II (above). It has a redesigned front and rear, new voice interaction tech for the cabin and a revised seating layout. The concept is powered by a 301bhp electric motor with four-wheel drive, promising a range of up to 311 miles. Fast chargers will allow it to recover 80 per cent of that power in 30 minutes. A production model is due in 2020. New car market continues to cool NEW car registrations fell for the fifth consecutive month in August, with diesel sales down 21 per cent, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). Last month saw 76,433 models registered in the…

LEARNING to drive is a key milestone for many people, and having the right instructor can make all the difference as to whether you’ll be a safe driver in the future. Having a great driving instructor not only helps you pass your test first time, but will also ensure you’ve got the right skills to be a safe driver on the road. We’ve all heard the horror stories where instructors have purposefully made it harder for students to pass their test so they can bill for more hours of tuition. Thankfully the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has now made the process of picking the best instructor easier. In May, the agency hinted it would publish OFSTED-style driving instructor ranking tables due to poor pass rates among students. Indeed,…

Inbox What do you think? Contact Lawrence Allan Write to: Watchdog/Letters, Auto Express, Dennis Publishing, 31-32 Alfred Place, London WC1E 7DP FROM: Jonathan Rye I REALLY like the look of the new Polo. It’s far more mature and the bigger boot will definitely be a selling point to many. The initial feedback suggests it drives well and should make for another contender in the supermini class. Can’t wait to test one myself. FROM: Mr Hunt SURPRISED to hear the Polo will be a five-door only. Perhaps it reflects the longer profile. It’s a bit pricey, but I’m very keen to see how it compares when up against the new Ford Fiesta and its sibling, the SEAT Ibiza. The sportier looks and extra kit may just help it win. Join the…

Richard_Ingram@dennis.co.uk @rsp_ingram THE car you see here is not a Passat, nor a successor to the CC. Volkswagen considers the Arteon an all-new car, in fact, and a rival for sleek saloons like the BMW 4 Series Gran Coupé and Audi A5 Sportback. It’s launching at an extremely busy time for VW, just after the revised up! and Golf, and ahead of the Polo supermini and T-Roc SUV. But while the maker has only modest sales targets for the Arteon, its introduction pushes Volkswagen into unknown territory. The flagship four-door will act as a halo product, attracting new customers to VW’s expanding range of vehicles. There’s no arguing with the way it looks. It’s more distinctive than the three-box shape of the current Passat, while its low roofline and wide…

MODEL TESTED: Dacia Logan MCV Stepway 1.5 dCi SE Summit PRICE: £13,895 ENGINE: 1.5-litre 4cyl, 89bhp IN SE Summit trim as tested here, our Dacia Logan MCV Stepway is the most expensive model in the range. It’s still the cheapest car on our test by far, though, starting at £13,895. DESIGN & ENGINEERING score 3.3 JUST like the Skoda, the Dacia Logan MCV has recently been facelifted, with a new grille and headlamps, plus LED running lights for the first time. Our Stepway version gets a jacked-up look with some extra plastic body cladding, roof rails and silver skid plates. It’s not as stylish as the Tipo or Rapid Spaceback, but it does have its own rugged charm and wouldn’t look out of place on a farm or even a…

Results DACIA 1st IF you’re going to buy a budget car, the Dacia is the one to go for. While the other models pretend to be cheap, really they don’t cost much less than a family hatch such as a Vauxhall Astra. The Logan is more practical than either, while costing far less. It’s economical and comfortable, too, and has just as much kit. Its backto- basics nature means it has a certain charm, where the others are a bit dull. SKODA 2nd THE Rapid Spaceback’s comfortable ride, better infotainment system and lower monthly cost mean it finishes ahead of the Fiat Tipo here by a slim margin. It’s practical enough, even though it falls behind its rivals on boot space, and it’s decent to drive. The Rapid is still…

Le Mans: The Official History (1930-39) Quentin Spurring (Evro Publishing, www.evropublishing.com) Price: £60 Rating: THE latest in this collection is as good as the rest. It’s a great chronicle of the decade’s racing, featuring all the important moments and fleshed out with fine period photography. Any Le Mans nut will love reading through and learning how each race played out. But it’s a bit pricey. How to Modify Suzuki 4x4 for Serious Off-road Action John Richardson (Veloce Publishing, www.veloce.co.uk) Price: £19.99 Rating: SOME might scoff at this; how could such dinky off-roaders be good for ‘Serious Off-road Action’? Well, this book does a very good job of telling you how to turn your Jimny, Vitara, Samurai, LJ or SJ into a real mud-plugger. Useful for most, but content is lacking…

BAD news and good news. After Jaguar deservedly secured its inaugural World Car of the Year win earlier this year with the F-Pace, the marque is unlikely to be in a position to defend its title in 2018. Its duo of all-new Jags – the handsome and affordable E-Pace, plus the 100-per-cent electric, gamechanging I-Pace – will have to wait until WCOTY 2019, by which time they’ll be very much in the showrooms and on the street. No matter. Sister company Land Rover will be in the hunt and hoping to steal the WCOTY crown for Midlands-based JLR, its hugely valued workers and Britain PLC in 2018. In its armoury will be the bulletproof Discovery and sublime Velar. Looking at the global competition this pair of SUVs will be up…

Honda Civic Type R Price: £30,995 Power: 316bhp Our reigning hot hatch king, the Type R holds the current Nürburgring front-drive lap record. Peugeot 308 GTi Price: £29,405 Power: 269bhp Recently updated 308 GTi packs a punch from its downsized 1.6-litre turbo. SEAT Leon Cupra R Price: £34,000 (est) Power: 306bhp New Cupra R is the most powerful SEAT in the brand’s history, but is limited to 799 models. Volkswagen Golf GTI Performance Price: £30,335 Power: 243bhp Although it’s down on power here, the GTI shines with its beautifully balanced chassis.…

James_Brodie@dennis.co.uk @jimmybrods JAGUAR has revealed a startling concept car, FUTURE-TYPE, which previews how the British brand’s vehicles could look in an era of autonomous technology. The new show car, which looks ahead to around 2040, is described as being a “premium compact on-demand vehicle concept”, and it ticks all of the auto industry futurologist boxes, being autonomous, allelectric and designed for car sharing. Central to the concept is a unique steering wheel. Called Sayer – after E-Type designer Malcolm Sayer – it’s a removable unit that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and voice recognition to carry out tasks such as summoning the vehicle. Car club users would only need to own the wheel to access any vehicle compatible with it. Jaguar says that an on-demand fleet of FUTURE-TYPEs with variations of…

Wraps off the new Impreza at Frankfurt SUBARU has announced details of the European-spec Impreza (above) as it makes its debut at the Frankfurt show. The Volkswagen Golf rival will be five-door-only in the UK, with a choice of 112bhp 1.6 or 156bhp 2.0-litre Boxer petrol engines, both with all-wheel drive and linked exclusively to a CVT gearbox. It gets an eight-inch touchscreen and Subaru’s Eyesight safety system as standard. It arrives here later this year, priced at an estimated £19,000. UK factory boost as Sunderland gets Leaf NISSAN has confirmed that the secondgeneration Leaf EV will be built in the UK, at the brand’s facility in Sunderland. Production will start towards the end of this year, following on from the previous Leaf, which was made at the factory from…

James_Batchelor@dennis.co.uk @JRRBatchelor We’re live from the stands at Frankfurt IT’S that time of year again: motor show time. Six months on from March’s Geneva exhibition, the German city of Frankfurt takes centre stage in the eyes of the car industry. Key reveals this year include the Mercedes-AMG Project One hypercar, the MINI Electric Prototype and the BMW i5. Join me in Frankfurt’s many halls and keep an eye on our YouTube channel for videos live from the show. Our A-Z of car tech continues with G OUR A-Z exploration through the tech that makes the modern car safer, more efficient and better to drive now covers a total of 15 videos, and this week we continue with the letter G. So in this instalment we take a look at how…

Richard_Ingram@dennis.co.uk @rsp_ingram DESPITE their best attempts, the Chinese are yet to crack the European car market. Changan reckons it has what it takes to change that, however, and a range of new crossovers and SUVs could be just what the company needs to topple the best from the West. To learn more about the maker and sample some of its latest products, we took a trip to its global headquarters in Chongqing, south-west China. The programme would allow us time behind the wheel of the firm’s latest Nissan Qashqai-rivalling CS55 SUV (Issue 1,489), while also giving us an opportunity to grill bosses at its fast-paced research and development hub – a place working handin- hand with similar centres in the UK, US and Italy. Changan as a brand is more…

Richard_Ingram@dennis.co.uk @rsp_ingram LAST month (Issue 1,486) Auto Express reported on details of SEAT’s new highperformance Cupra sub-brand. Among the rumoured new models will be a 300bhp Ateca Cupra, complete with lowered suspension and four-wheel drive. Until that car arrives, however, SEAT bosses have plugged the gap with a sportylooking FR trim – offering more aggressive body styling, lowered suspension and colour-coded cladding. But is this version worthy of its hiked price? We’ve driven it in the UK for the first time to find out. Slotting into the range just below the plush Xcellence flagship, the FR commands a premium of around £1,000 over the equivalent SE Technology model. It’s available with 1.4 or 2.0-litre turbo petrol engines, as well as a pair of 2.0 TDIs. The FR gets stiffer springs…

MODEL TESTED: Fiat Tipo 1.6 MultiJet Lounge 120HP PRICE: £18,795 ENGINE: 1.6-litre 4cyl, 118bhp THE Fiat Tipo arrived last year, adding a new budget model to the Italian brand’s range in both hatch and estate form. Here we’re driving the hatchback version in Lounge trim, fitted with the 1.6-litre MultiJet diesel engine. It costs from £18,795. DESIGN & ENGINEERING score 3.6 WHILE the Dacia has its chunky looks and the Skoda is understated, the Fiat Tipo is actually quite a handsome family car. The wide grille, chrome details and double-bubble roofline all give the hatchback presence on the road, and we think it’s the best-looking car of the bunch. Our Lounge model’s 17-inch wheels are stylish, too, as is the £550 Tango Red metallic paint. It also has the most…

John_McIlroy@dennis.co.uk @johnmcilroy EVERY week there seems to be another headline saying that electric vehicles are becoming mainstream – that left-field ‘bespoke’ choices such as the Nissan Leaf, BMW i3 and Renault ZOE are about to be joined by EVs so normal in appearance and approach that only clued-up car fans will know that they don’t have a combustion engine under their bonnets. To put the theory to the test, we’re going to be spending the next six months using arguably the most mainstream car of all, in pure-electric form: the Volkswagen e-Golf. VW updated its all-electric hatchback along with the rest of the range when it introduced the ‘Mk7.5’ version of the Golf earlier this year. Not only did it benefit from many of the interior tweaks that were introduced…

Log on to buy BMW and MINI accessories ORDERING BMW and MINI parts, accessories and products is now easier with the launch of the latest digital shop. It’s available at shop.bmw.com or shop.mini.com. Each site uses your car’s VIN number or your own myBMW account (used for services such as the in-car ConnectedDrive system) to show you the correct products for your car. Payment can be made using PayPal or credit and debit cards, and deliveries are tracked. Ford reveals science behind cup-holders IT’S easy to imagine how car makers test engines or bodywork, but what about the tricky world of cup-holders? Ford has revealed the stringent testing procedure that goes into ensuring drinks stay upright. In addition to one million miles of cup-holder testing on public roads, cars undergo…

PRODUCT GROUP TEST 13 | 9 | 2017 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. THERE are lots of times when drivers need extra light when working under the bonnet, wheelarch or elsewhere on a car. Inspection lamps can help, but a head torch puts the light exactly where you are looking and leaves both your hands free to work. This also makes them perfect for sorting out night-time emergencies. So which is the best one to put in your glovebox or tool kit? We slipped on eight and tackled a range of jobs to find out. LED Lenser SE03 Price: £20.95 Rating: Power: 3 x AAA Contact: 01344 876222,…

£12,000 to spend on a large, refined saloon Dear Lawrence, I’m looking for a comfy large saloon for my long commute, but I want value, so don’t care about premium brands. What will £12,000 buy me? Simon MacDougal, Nairn, Highland Contact: Lawrence_Allan@dennis.co.uk THE RELIABLE CHOICE Kia Optima FOR: Smart styling, lots of kit, long warranty AGAINST: Unexciting to drive, one engine OFTEN overlooked in favour of more desirable models, the Kia Optima is a quietly competent used buy. It looks smarter than you might expect, while the cabin is solid and is packed full of equipment. It’s spacious, refined and comfortable on the motorway, but isn’t as much fun in bends as the Volkswagen Passat or Mazda 6. The sole diesel engine isn’t that powerful, either. A 2014 Optima 3…