Innholdsfortegnelse for 1704 i Auto Express

sean_carson@autovia.co.uk ● Sharpest 718 Cayman yet ● Packed with lightweight kit “More power, extra downforce and an uprated chassis are the key elements of the GT4 RS” FOR years the performance car world has wondered what an RS version of the Porsche Cayman GT4 would be like. Now the German brand has crowned its mid-engined model range with a hardcore track-focused 718 Cayman GT4 RS variant. More power, extra downforce and an uprated chassis are the key elements of the new car developed by Porsche’s GT motorsport department, with the Cayman GT4 RS powered by the 4.0-litre naturally aspirated flat-six from the 911 GT3. It’s been detuned slightly, so produces 493bhp and 450Nm of torque here, revving to 9,000rpm, while the engine draws air via intakes where other Caymans have…

tristan_shale-hester@autovia.co.uk @tristan_shale ● Glasgow Declaration commits to end to all ICE sales by 2040 at the latest ● Support is not universal among car makers or countries A PROPOSED COP26 commitment for car makers to end the sale of non-zero-emission vehicles globally has struggled to attract support from major brands. Manufacturers who sign up to The Glasgow Declaration on Zero Emission Cars and Vans will pledge to stop selling nonzero-emission vehicles (anything with an internal-combustion engine) anywhere in the world by 2040 or earlier, with 2035 being the deadline in “leading markets”. The plan has earned the support of a handful of brands, including Ford, Jaguar Land Rover, Mercedes and Volvo, but other major marques have declined to participate. Two of these are Toyota and Volkswagen. The latter believes the…

THE UK could face a shortfall of 35,700 EV technicians by 2030 if the issue of mechanic retraining isn’t addressed swiftly, experts have warned. According to the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI), the UK will require at least 90,000 automotive mechanics qualified to work on electric vehicles by 2030 in order to keep up with the number of EVs expected to be on the road by then. The IMI predicts, however, that a skills gap will appear as early as 2026 due to lacklustre uptake of EV skills training. In 2020, there were 15,400 mechanics with the TechSafe qualifications needed to work on electric cars – just 6.5 per cent of UK automotive technicians. While this was already a cause for concern, the IMI believes that the combination of…

Special-edition RX adds a sporty touch LEXUS has launched a new Premium Sport Edition trim for its RX large SUV. The hybrid model (above) features 20-inch black alloys and black exterior details, while inside is a mix of black and white leather trim. Black open-pore walnut inserts are also fitted to the dashboard and steering wheel. The trim is available in RX 450h and the six or seven-seat RX 450h L models, with prices starting from £57,165. Firm pioneers airbag tech for child seats GERMAN child seat manufacturer Cybex is launching the first-ever airbag-equipped child seat this week. Cybex describes its new patented technology as “game-changing”, promising significant safety benefits. The Isofix-mounted chair is suitable for children from 18 months to six years old, and the front-facing chair reverses current…

FERRARI has pulled the wraps off a bespoke V12-engined coupé, designed and built for one of the brand’s well heeled customers. Called the BR20, it’s based on the GTC4Lusso, but the bodywork and interior have been modified to include some of the styling cues of Ferraris from the fifties and sixties. The most noticeable design difference between the GTC4Lusso and the BR20 is the new coupé roof, which replaces the standard car’s extended rear end. Other changes include slimmer headlamps, which are lower down on the nose to make the bonnet look longer. There’s also a new radiator grille with a carbon-fibre insert, a redesigned front bumper with triangular intakes and a new bonnet with huge air outlets to help cool the engine. The two-seat cabin has brown dashboard upholstery…

TOYOTA GR SUPRA 2.0 Price from: £46,010 ENGINEERED in conjunction with BMW, the Supra is available with a 3.0-litre engine, but the 2.0-litre model is closer on price to the M240i, highlighting that its German rival is relatively good value. AUDI TT S Price from: £45,885 SIMILAR money to the BMW buys you an Audi TT S, which is down on power compared with the M240i. However, its sharp styling is matched by 2+2 practicality, albeit not as much as the BMW’s. PORSCHE 718 CAYMAN Price from: £45,230 THE Cayman’s chassis is easily a match for the BMW’s, but this budget only buys you the base-spec car, with a 2.0 flat-four engine that’s not the nicest. A six-speed manual is available, though.…

Running costs 26.1mpg (official) £102 fill-up Performance 0-62mph/top speed 4.5 seconds/155mph HOWEVER you look at it, a 5.2-metrelong, 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 limousine like this facelifted Audi A8 will cast something of a dinosaur-shaped shadow in 2021. Yet the new Range Rover and Mercedes S-Class, not to mention existing rivals such as the BMW 7 Series, all offer potent V8s, so why wouldn’t Audi? Of course, the A8 will come with a range of options, including a 3.0-litre V6 petrol or diesel in the 50 TDI and 55 TFSI respectively, and a plug-in hybrid, the A8 60 TFSI e. This boasts a more energy-dense 14.4kWh usable battery capacity, so will go a bit further on electric power than the 29 miles previously achieved (the official WLTP range has yet to be…

MODELTESTED: Renault Captur E-Tech S Edition PRICE: £26,000 ENGINE: 1.6-litre 4cyl hybrid, 140bhp Running costs 54.3mpg (on test) £56 fill-up/£145 or 26% tax Practicality Boot (seats up/down) 326/1,149 litres Performance 0-62mph/top speed 10.6 seconds/106mph IT was our Small SUV of the Year for the second year running at our New Car Awards in 2021, but the Captur will certainly face a stern test against the new HR-V here. We’re testing the S Edition, which is priced at £26,000, while the addition of this car’s optional Flame Red paint lifts that figure to £26,700. Design & engineering AT first glance, the Captur’s design appears fairly conventional. It rides on the same CMF-B platform as the current Clio and Nissan Juke, it’s grown 106mm longer than its predecessor, and from the outside…

1st RENAULT WHILE it’s run close by two very capable rivals, the Renault Captur proves once again why it’s our favourite compact crossover. Judge it on the way it drives, the space inside and the on-board tech, and at the very least it has the measure of the HR-V and Arona. On a representative finance deal, the Captur still remains the bargain of the class, and without any glaring weaknesses, it takes the win. 2nd HONDA THE third-generation HR-V is Honda’s most convincing version yet. The hybrid tech is well integrated and even more frugal than the Renault’s system, the Honda drives smartly and the cabin feels as well finished as it is versatile. However, it doesn’t blow the Renault away in any one area – and loses out in others –…

Richard_Ingram@autovia.co.uk @rsp_ingram Electric motor Official range/BIK 340 miles/1% Practicality Boot (seats up/down) 385/1,267 litres Performance 0-62mph/top speed 7.9 seconds/99mph VOLKSWAGEN translates from German to English as “People’s Car” – a concept dreamt up in Germany in the years before World War II. The idea was, in short, to manufacture a cheap, simple-to-produce runaround for the country’s then-new road network. That car was the “Type 1”, latterly and more commonly known as the Beetle. It was designed and engineered under Ferdinand Porsche, and went on to sell more than 21 million units over the model’s 65-year uninterrupted production run – a figure that doesn’t include either of the two “New Beetles”, launched in 1997 and 2011. Fast forward to 2021, and Volkswagen is hoping it can bring new meaning to the…

WHILE SUVs steal all the headlines, it’s superminis that dominate the sales charts – and no wonder. Not only are they practical, reliable and as at home in town as on the open road, they’re also cost-effective to buy and run. Here we have diesel versions of some big names, such as the fun-to-drive Ford Fiesta, the stylish Peugeot 208 and the popular Vauxhall Corsa. Dear Tristan, I’m looking for a diesel supermini that’s cheap to insure and costs between £8,000 and £9,000. What do you suggest?Bill Richards, E-mail Contact: Tristan_Shale-Hester@autovia.co.uk THE FUN CHOICE Ford Fiesta FOR: Great to drive, good infotainment, plenty of choice AGAINST: Higher-mileage examples at this price IF you want to put a smile on your face as well as save a few pennies at the…

Stephen_Errity@autovia.co.uk • Commanding lead for Ogier • Suninen subbing for Tänak TOYOTA’S Sébastien Ogier takes a comfortable 17-point lead over his team-mate Elfyn Evans into this weekend’s season-ending Monza round of the World Rally Championship (WRC) in Italy. The Italian Grand Prix venue stepped up at short notice to form part of the WRC’s truncated 2020 calendar, and found itself on the schedule again in 2021 when Rally Japan was cancelled for a second year. This year’s route will see more stages on closed public roads in the region compared with 2020, when the majority of the action took place within the bounds of the track. Away from the all-but-decided title fight, there are some changes to the regular entry list, with Hyundai’s Ott Tänak forced to sit out the…

James_Brodie@autovia.co.uk @JPBrods “On paper, it takes the ZS into entirely new territory. Up to 273 miles of range is claimed from the Long Range” THIS could be a sliding doors moment, not just for MG – a brand that is steadily building solid sales figures in the UK – but also for the UK’s electric-car market. It’s the facelifted ZS EV, a heavily revised version of MG’s compact electric SUV that arrives with some updates usually associated with an all-new car, not a mid-life refresh. It doesn’t look hugely different, with a new, smarter front grille joined by updated headlights, a fresh rear bumper and a revamped colour palette. It’s still very much an amalgamation of common small family SUV design themes, but it’s what’s underneath that counts. That’s because…

WHILE the Taycan EV (top) still makes headlines, Porsche hasn’t forgotten the combustion-engined Panamera, and has launched the Platinum Edition (right). It features new 21-inch wheels, matrix LED lights, a panoramic roof, black exhaust tips and a platinum finish for the bumpers and badges. Inside, a new sports steering wheel, heated rear seats and electrically adjustable front seats are included. V6 petrol and plug-in hybrid powertrains are available, with the latter offering 35 miles of electric range. Prices for the Platinum Edition start from £83,510.…

BILLED as the UK’s chance to show leadership and encourage the rest of the world to follow its intentions around sustainable transport, I see COP26 as a missed opportunity. Failure to secure a meaningful net zero commitment from the world’s biggest car makers must be a bitter disappointment, but warning lights were flashing in early conversations I had with the COP26 team, where it became clear they had a blinkered focus towards EVs alone, ignoring alternatives such as e-fuels and hydrogen. Many firms – including Switch Mobility, which I lead – have asked the Government not to repeat the mistakes of diesel by trying to pick a winner. Governments should define problems, not solutions. As an advocate for electric cars and a pioneer of the Nissan Leaf, I have no…

James_Brodie@autovia.co.uk @JPBrods ● Updated family SUV revealed ● New dashboard and infotainment THE Volkswagen T-Roc has been given a mid-life update. A refreshed version of the Golf-sized SUV will be on sale in the UK in spring 2022, with prices from around £22,500. What’s more, the T-Roc Cabriolet and hot T-Roc R versions will remain. The exterior updates include a refreshed design with new bumpers front and rear, revised headlights with a new LED lighting strip running across the grille, and darker tail-lights with dynamic indicators. VW has given the T-Roc a new selection of paint options, too, while updated alloy wheel designs ranging from 17 to 19 inches in size will be available. The subtle exterior changes contrast with the updates inside, with the T-Roc receiving an entirely new…

THE following provide help with motoring problems. Some services are free, others charge a fee or operate on premium-rate lines (p), while some offer advice for members only (m) Legal AA: 0345 850 1130 (m) RAC: 0330 159 1446 (m) Citizens Advice Consumer helpline: 03454 040506 Local Trading Standards Local Citizens Advice Bureau Used car inspections AA: 0800 056 8040 RAC: 0330 159 0720 Technical advice AA: 0370 142 0002 (m) Driving licences DVLA: 0300 790 6801 Car registration/history HPI: 0113 222 2010 AA: 0800 316 3564 DVLA: 0300 790 6802 RAC: 0808 164 1923 Traffic information AA: 0906 888 4322 RAC: 09003 444999 (p) Problems with dealers The Motor Ombudsman: 0345 241 3008 Consumer Ombudsman: www.consumer-ombudsman.org RMIF: 0845 305 4230 Scottish Motor Trade Assoc. 0131 331 5510 Problems with…

Performance 0-62mph/top speed 8.0 seconds/99mph Electric motor Power/range 225bhp/260 miles MERCEDES is serious about delivering electrification for the masses, launching this EQB all-electric seven-seater SUV to follow its compact EQA model. Of course, cars like the EQS and EQE offer luxury at the higher end of the company’s range, but at a price; models like this EQB are more affordable. As the name suggests, the new car is based on the brand’s combustion-engined GLB SUV. But there are some subtle styling differences – such as the smoother front grille and full-width rear light bar – that set the two cars apart and mark the EQB out as an EV. They help cut aerodynamic drag and boost range, but more on that in a moment. Like the GLB, the EQB has…

MODELTESTED: SEAT Arona Xperience Lux 1.0 TSI DSG PRICE: £26,255 ENGINE: 1.0-litre 3cyl turbo, 108bhp Running costs 43.5mpg (on test) £57 fill-up/£155 or 31% tax Practicality Boot (seats up/down) 400/823 litres Performance 0-62mph/top speed 10.8 seconds/118mph AS the only-non hybrid on test, it’s possible to aim for the highest-spec SEAT Arona and still maintain a competitive price when compared with its rivals here. With metallic paint a no-cost option, the car you see here is priced at exactly the standard retail price of £26,255. Design & engineering A MID-life refresh for 2021 has introduced cosmetic and tech upgrades for the Arona. From the front, the model features new hot-stamped grille inserts, which look more intricate than those previously featured, while a revised bumper gives a more rugged look, and LED…

NEW: Toyota Yaris Cross Dynamic PRICE: £26,465 ENGINE: 1.5l 4cyl hybrid, 114bhp HONDA isn’t the only Japanese brand that specialises in hybrid tech. The Yaris Cross boasts a set-up that achieved 56.1mpg in our hands. It’s fun to drive, too, although not as practical as the Renault or Honda. There’s even a four-wheel-drive option. USED: MINI Countryman Cooper SE (’19) PRICE: £27,000 ENGINE: 1.5l 3cyl PHEV, 221bhp DIP into the used market, and you can bag a premium SUV with even greater electric potential. The Countryman PHEV has a 7.6kWh battery, good for roughly 20 miles of electric driving, and with 221bhp, it has the legs on the competition here.…

Dawn_Grant@autovia.co.uk Running costs 38.6mpg (on test) £71 fill-up or 29% tax Practicality Boot (seats up/down) 328/1,108 litres IT’S time to say goodbye to our Dacia Sandero Stepway, and to draw some conclusions about where this budget brand really sits these days. As I said in my first report, Dacia has really made huge gains with this version of the Sandero, both in hatchback and SUV variants, without diluting its core appeal: value for money. During my six months with the car, I really haven’t felt like I’m driving a budget brand. The Sandero Stepway is the automotive equivalent of Aldi, I’ve concluded: scoring big on price, but also offering products that are well known to overdeliver in lots of areas. I have really enjoyed the Stepway’s simplicity. Our range-topping Prestige…

Got a query? products@autoexpress.co.uk Q Looking for the clearest view I’VE had several dash cams, but they all seem unable to capture the registration plate of a vehicle weaving between lanes. The best, and cheapest, solution has been using an old phone and the DailyRoads Voyager app. Any ideas? Ivan Drake, E-mail A WHILE we haven’t specifically tested the manoeuvre you mention, a 4K dash cam like the Nextbase 622 should be up to the job. You can adjust the settings to 60fps, and our testing shows it delivers pin-sharp footage; it should be able to capture the details you require. Q What’s best choice of tyre? I’M thinking of getting winter tyres, but could I use them in summer too? It seems as if there’s not much between winter and all-season…

Got any car queries? Tristan_Shale-Hester@autovia.co.uk Q Should I tell insurers my car has gone up in value? MY Suzuki Jimny’s value on the second-hand market has risen considerably above what I paid for it when it was new. Are there any insurance implications I should take into consideration in light of this? I don’t want to be caught out further down the line. TJ, E-mail A INSURANCE premiums take your car’s value into account, because this reflects the amount of any potential write-off payout. If your car is written off, however, the insurer should make an up-to-date valuation at that point to decide what the payout should be. You may wish to phone your insurer and ask whether your policy needs to be updated to reflect the car’s increased value to be…

Richard_Ingram@autovia.co.uk @rsp_ingram ● Design, research and development work is done in the UK ● British headquarters based in London, but cars are built in Asia IT’S arguably one of the car industry’s most surprising success stories. MG’s transformation from a nomadic existence as a brand targeting a sporty, premium image, to a Chinese-owned purveyor of cheap, no-nonsense cars has done the trick. The company has not been this stable for generations. Its UK sales figures are only growing, and now stand at almost two per cent of the British market and ahead of many mainstream names. And the marque is finding international success as well. How much of what we know as MG now is British, though? The brand still has a design, research and development presence at Longbridge in…

PORSCHE has also unveiled a new driver-focused Porsche Taycan GTS in the new Sport Turismo bodystyle. This sleek estate variant sits alongside the standard Taycan electric saloon and the more rugged, raised-up Taycan Cross Turismo. The GTS is the “sporty all-rounder of the range” and boasts an output of 590bhp and 850Nm on overboost for a 0-62mph time of 3.7 seconds. It’s capable of 313 miles of range from its 93.4kWh battery (270kW charging can add 62 miles in five minutes) and gets a bespoke set-up for its adaptive air suspension system, including Porsche Adaptive Suspension Management, as well as for its optional rear-axle steering set-up. There’s also more dark trim to identify this new variant. Prices for the Taycan GTS start from £104,190 for the saloon and £104,990 for…

THE Government has unveiled the design of a new electric car chargepoint, which it says “could become as iconic as the Great British postbox, London bus or black cab”. Firms were offered grants from the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) – part of the Department for Transport (DfT) – of up to £200,000 to design the charger, although the winning entry from the Royal College of Art and PA Consulting was a “zero price bid, providing maximum value for money for the taxpayer”, said the DfT. When asked why this design won, a spokesperson for the DfT told Auto Express: “The concept prioritised inclusive design to raise awareness of making the transition to EVs accessible for all.” The DfT pointed out that the design is currently at a concept…

New EV9 will top Kia’s electric-vehicle range KIA will extend its all-electric range of EV-branded models with a production version of the Concept EV9, which the brand has teased in initial images (above). The large SUV is based on the Korean brand’s E-GMP platform for electric cars and previews a model that will crown the EV-badged range. Alongside the EV9 concept, Kia has confirmed it will offer a fully electrified line-up in Europe by 2035 and will be a carbon-neutral company by 2045. Raised towing limits come into effect ANYONE who passed their driving test after 1997 is now able to tow a large trailer weighing up to 3,500kg without the need to pass an additional test. A rule change announced back in September came into effect on 15 November,…

autoexpress.co.uk @AutoExpress HOT TOPIC New Nissan Leaf FROM: Peter Johns NOT another one! We really need some fresh thinking on new-car design. Manufacturers seem to be making everything into a crossover at the moment. I never understood why spacious MPVs died out in favour of less-practical SUVs. FROM: John Minshall THE Leaf was a game-changer when the first-generation model launched, but even with the Mk2 car Nissan hasn’t kept it updated enough to keep pace with the rest of the industry. I don’t see how a crossover will change that. Join the debate at www.autoexpress.co.uk ■ “Doesn’t look bad; better than most SUVs. But do we really need another one?”Ian Wilson ■ “The exclusive image looks really pretty. Hopefully the production version is the same.”P Lowen ■ “If this crossover…

sean_carson@autovia.co.uk Running costs 34.4mpg (off icial) £74 fill-up Performance 0-62mph/top speed 4.3 seconds/155mph COMPACT sporty coupés are a dying breed. Beyond the much smaller and more affordable Toyota GR 86 (tested in prototype form on P16), the new BMW 2 Series Coupé will face few new rivals. Even then, the Japanese machine isn’t really a competitor for this current range-topper, the £45,795 M240i xDrive. Brands such as Audi and Mercedes are deserting the sector, with no direct replacement for the former’s TT on the way, while the latter is looking for profit elsewhere in the compact sports car market. However, with its focus on driver’s cars, BMW has rebooted the 2 Series Coupé formula for 2022, albeit sticking with a rear-wheel-drive layout, six-cylinder power and a genuinely sporty focus. Starting…

sean_carson@autovia.co.uk Running costs 33.2mpg (off icial) £71 fill-up Performance 0-62mph/top speed 5.5 seconds/149mph HYUNDAI offers a brilliant breadth of products, from our Car of the Year, the all-electric Ioniq 5, to its hot N models; and with this new souped-up Kona N SUV, it’s covering yet another base. The i30 N and i20 N proved Hyundai can do performance, but a hot SUV has to offer the best of both worlds. Does that mean the Kona N is also a compromised car, then? Not really – or not so as a result of the transformation into an N model. The Kona’s compromises are inherent in the basic car. Room in the rear seats is fair but not class-leading; neither is the 361-litre boot. There’s enough space and versatility; it’s just…

MODELTESTED: Honda HR-V e:HEV Advance PRICE: £29,210 ENGINE: 1.5-litre 4cyl hybrid, 129bhp Running costs 55.1mpg (on test) £57 fill-up/£145 or 28% tax Practicality Boot (seats up/down) 335/1,305 litres Performance 0-62mph/top speed 10.6 seconds/106mph OF the three trim levels available for the HR-V, this mid-spec Advance model is expected to account for more than 60 per cent of UK sales. Including the optional Premium Sunlight White Pearl paint (£550 extra) the HR-V here is priced at £29,760, making it the most expensive car of this group. Design & engineering VARIOUS manufacturers have taken different approaches to hybrid technology, but Honda – unsurprisingly – believes its way is the best. The company does make some quite convincing arguments, though; the system is related to the one used by the Jazz, but a…

Honda HR-V Honda Connect 9-inch screen Key features: My Honda+ App IN essence, the HR-V’s infotainment system is closely related to the set-up used by the Honda e – albeit in a less extravagant form, fitting on two displays rather than the EV’s five. It’s a big improvement over the old car’s set-up, and stands up well to its challengers here. The main menu page is arranged on a nine-inch screen with large, colour-coded tile icons for all of the major shortcuts, and there are physical home, back, track skip and volume controls to the side, too. The graphics aren’t quite as sharp as those in the SEAT, nor are the loading times quite as quick, but it’s still a hard system to fault. Likewise, the HR-V features digital dials…

CO2/tax 117-126g/km £155 Running costs 44-54mpg (1.0 T-GDi) £72 fill-up Performance 0-62mph/top speed 12.0 seconds/112mph WHEN the Hyundai Kona arrived four years ago, we liked it, but we weren’t bowled over. Yet the Kona was Hyundai’s first small SUV in a fast-growing segment, and it was obvious that for some buyers this distinctively styled crossover hit the spot. However, it’s likely the major reasons for buying a Kona were because it stood out from the crowd and represented an easy ownership experience, rather than anything more exciting. Then along came the Kona Electric, and suddenly this small SUV offered something largely unavailable elsewhere: an EV with a range long enough to make it a genuine rival to myriad petrol and diesel models available elsewhere. History THE Hyundai Kona went on…

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HEARD the one about the bloke who’s lately been forced to use dirty, noisy, industrial diesel to power his luxury EV – a car he thought he’d be running on clean, green electricity generated by those wind and solar farms we hear so much about? I’ll explain. His name is Gary and I’ve known him for decades. He lives on the leafy fringe of London and his house has a charging unit that his new, almost-£100,000 car plugs into. Trouble is, the electricity supply isn’t as reliable or clean as it should be. Actually, it’s so iffy that just as COP26 was about to start, a diesel-powered HGV entered his street to dump a giant, diesel-powered generator kerbside. How’s that for “curing” the problem of local power cuts? Stop and…