Auto Express 1526

THIS week I’ve been lucky enough to take delivery of a new Nissan Leaf. And as it’s built in the North East, I felt it only right to head up to Nissan’s factory in Sunderland to get my new car. Given the new Leaf’s claimed range of 235 miles, I hoped I’d be able to do the 273-mile trip back south to my home with just one stop for charging. You can find out whether I managed it in a few weeks. With an electric car now on my driveway, I was interested to see a prediction from data specialist Emu Analytics that there’ll be an 83 per cent shortfall in EV charging points by 2020. Its report claimed we’ll need 83,500 points – up from today’s 16,500 – to…

“The Golf R will be marked out as the range flagship with liberal use of carbon fibre, aggressive bumpers and quad tailpipes” • Our images preview extreme styling of wild Mk8 Golf R • T-Roc R, Tiguan R and electric I.D. R models set to follow Jonathan_Burn@dennis.co.uk @Jonathan_burn VOLKSWAGEN will turn up the heat with the next Golf R to create the most ‘extreme’ version of the hatchback there has ever been, Auto Express can reveal. The Mk8 Golf is due to go on sale next year, and has been described by new VW Group boss Herbert Diess as “the versatile car”. However, while the Golf has continually topped sales charts across Europe, bosses want to strengthen the brand’s position in the hot hatch segment. At the moment, the Golf…

VOLKSWAGEN GOLF GTI The GTI created the hot hatch class and had a 108bhp fuel-injected 1.6-litre engine. VAUXHALL ASTRA GTE Power hit 150bhp for the hottest Astra, and it covered 0-62mph in less than seven seconds. FORD ESCORT RS COSWORTH Driven by a 227bhp 2.0-litre turbo, the ‘Cossie’ went from 0-62mph in 5.7 seconds. FORD FOCUS RS One of the first hot hatches to break the 300bhp barrier. Flat out the RS could hit 163mph. AUDI RS 3 SPORTBACK Famous five-cylinder engine pumped out 362bhp in the third-generation RS 3. MERCEDES-AMG A 45 More than 400bhp has been promised from AMG’s next four-wheel-drive hyper hatch.…

John_McIlroy@dennis.co.uk @johnmcilroy THE Kia Sportage was one of the first models to really accelerate the Korean maker’s emergence in recent years – and now there’s a refreshed version of the family SUV for 2018. Major revisions have been made to the engine line-up, less so to the styling. Due on sale in the autumn, the facelifted Sportage gets modest design changes, as Kia opts to avoid radical alterations to its biggest seller in the UK; the car accounted for more than a third of the company’s registrations in this country in 2017. As is common on mid-life revisions, the Sportage’s metal panels stay the same – but that still leaves scope for different front and rear bumpers, a new headlight design and, perhaps most noticeably, a full-width LED light bar…

ALSO in the pipeline at Kia is a swooping shooting brake variant of the new Ceed – and there could also be a hot GT version on the way. Latest spy shots show the new model testing ahead of its official reveal towards the end of the year. Based on the Proceed concept displayed at last year’s Frankfurt Motor Show, the shooting brake is expected to carry over the concept’s name and will sit alongside the more conventional and practical Ceed Sportswagon. What will set the Proceed apart even further is the addition of a performance-based GT model; it’s likely that Kia will fit a tuned version of its 1.6-litre turbo engine, developing 200bhp. However, bosses have previously stated that their hot GT models will not be as focused as…

“Production car, previewed in our images, will be inspired by Tokyo show KAI concept” James_Brodie@dennis.co.uk @jimmybrods MAZDA will reinvent its Volkswagen Golf-rivalling 3 later this year with new engine tech that could eventually spell the end of diesel power in its cars. The fourth-generation car will make its debut at November’s LA Motor Show, before going on sale in the UK in 2019. Another big focus point for Mazda will be an improvement in quality aimed at moving the hatchback further upmarket to better compete against premium rivals such as the Audi A3 and Mercedes A-Class. The design of the new 3 will play a role in that shift; the production car, previewed in our exclusive images, will be heavily inspired by the KAI concept seen at last year’s Tokyo…