Innholdsfortegnelse for 1749 i Auto Express

Yousuf_Ashraf@autovia.co.uk @ashrafoncars • Concept previews Citroen’s future design and engineering • Lightweight EV uses simplified tech and 40kWh battery IN an effort to break the mould of expensive, samey electric cars, Citroen has revealed a radical crossover concept with a major focus on sustainability, low weight and affordability. The Oli employs the ethos of the Ami quadricycle in a larger body, and previews design and engineering themes that will filter down to mainstream Citroen models to be offered in the future. The brand claims the Oli isn’t a direct precursor to a production model, despite providing specific technical details for the show car. The Oli aims to buck the trend of heavy, gadget-laden EVs, with a projected kerbweight of just 1,000kg thanks to the use of lightweight recycled materials, simplified…

sean_carson@autovia.co.uk • All-wheel-drive four-seater • On sale in 2023, from c£150k TO cater for petrolheads and early adopters alike, luxury brand Maserati has revealed its all-new GranTurismo coupé with V6 petrol power and a fully-electric model, called GranTurismo Folgore. The combustion-engined variants are powered by the firm’s 3.0-litre twin-turbo Nettuno V6 engine, which uses F1-inspired tech to boost its power and efficiency. The Modena edition produces 483bhp and 600Nm of torque for a 0-62mph sprint of 3.9 seconds, while the top speed is 187mph. Top Trofeo trim uses the same V6 unit tuned to 542bhp and 650Nm of torque, which cuts the 0-62mph time by 0.4 seconds. Both models feature an eight-speed automatic gearbox and all-wheel drive. The Folgore is the most powerful model, with its three-motor powertrain (one for…

Alastair_Crooks@autovia.co.uk @AllieCrooks • Beefed-up suspension and brakes for Ford’s hot hatchback FORD’S Focus ST is already one of the best-driving front-wheel-drive hot hatchbacks on sale, but the brand is now catering for those who are looking for a harder-edged version of the car with the addition of a new Track Pack option. Differentiating between the Track Pack-equipped car and the regular Focus ST from the outside isn’t the easiest task. Subtle tweaks for the Track Pack include a new set of black 19-inch alloys that are 10 per cent lighter than the stock rims and come wrapped in Pirelli P Zero Corsa tyres. Elsewhere, there’s a fresh black finish to the grille, roof and door mirror caps, and a new black outline to the car’s ST badges. The Track Pack…

THE final Lamborghini Aventador has rolled off the production line, ending the company’s naturally aspirated V12 era before the Italian manufacturer enters the age of electrification. Staff applauded the last-ever Aventador, an LP 780-4 Ultimae Roadster, off the production line. The firm’s CEO Stephan Winklemann watched the ceremony and said: “The Aventador was a game-changer at its launch, and the flagship Lamborghini model for 11 years of production. It captured Lamborghini’s competencies in design and engineering, along with values at the centre of the company.” Winklemann has previously confirmed that the Aventador’s successor will be powered by a V12 hybrid set-up.…

mail@autoexpress.co.uk Performance 0-62mph/top speed 3.7 seconds/190mph BMW doesn’t use its CSL badge often, with just two other cars wearing the sacred moniker in the last 50 years. But whenever it does, the results tend to be spectacular, and this new £128k, 190mph M4 Competition Sport Light is no exception. Not only has it lapped the Nürburgring Nordschliefe faster than any other production BMW in history, it’s also the most potent six-cylinder BMW ever. Its 3.0-litre twin-turbo straight-six and eight-speed automatic gearbox are fundamentally the same as those found in a regular M4 Competition, but engine output has risen to 543bhp and 650Nm, while the gearbox has been remapped to deliver sharper, faster shifts. Cooling and lubrication have also been significantly improved for the track, while the brakes are carbon ceramic.…

Alex_Ingram@autovia.co.uk @AxleIngram Performance 0-62mph/top speed 7.5 seconds/99mph THE Renault Megane is one of those cars that have become part of the establishment within the automotive landscape. The name is among the most recognisable in the family car class, having been on our roads since 1995; only the Golf, Civic, Corolla and Astra are longer-serving badges in this segment. It’s a big deal, then, when a new Megane comes out. It’s an even bigger deal when the car that Renault releases represents such a radical departure from what went before it. And despite what you might think when you see the dramatic new crossover’s proportions, we’re not talking about the design. That’s because the most significant change here is that the fifth-generation Megane is all-electric. Under the skin, it uses the…

Alastair_Crooks@autovia.co.uk @AllieCrooks NINE years is a relatively long lifespan for a car, but in the burgeoning world of electric vehicles, it’s almost unheard of. The BMW i3 burst onto the scene in 2013, and it continued to catch eyes with its bold styling and command respect thanks to excellent build quality and cutting-edge technology right up until its death this year. The i3 moved with the times, being offered as a pure-electric model and a petrol-assisted range-extender during its life. Even in its twilight years, it still managed to provide competition to the latest EVs with a reasonable 190-mile range, a novel-looking cabin and, of course, a distinctive design you wouldn’t associate with ‘normal’ BMWs. Earlier this year, BMW made 18 special-edition units, all finished in ‘Galvanic Gold Metallic’ paintwork…

Running costs 3.5mi/kWh (on test) £18 to charge/2% tax Practicality Boot (seats up/down) 363/1,177 litres Performance 0-62mph/top speed 7.9 seconds/100mph MODELTESTED: MG4 Trophy Long Range PRICE: £31,495 POWERTRAIN: 1x e-motor/64kWh battery, 200bhp PRICES for the MG4 start from £25,995, and even the top-spec Trophy Long Range model we have here, including the optional Volcano Orange paint, comes to only £32,190. That undercuts the cheapest Niro EV by more than £4,000. Design & engineering IN a relatively short space of time, MG has achieved plenty of success with its two current full-EV models, the MG5 and ZS. But the MG4 aims to take that a step further, thanks to one fundamental difference between it and its stablemates. While they are electric cars adapted from existing combustion-engined models, the MG4 has been…

MG4 10.25” touchscreen Key feature Live weather and traffic service OFTEN vehicles with a budget slant skimp on the infotainment tech, but the MG4 bucks that trend. The first thing that strikes you about the 10.25-inch display – the same size as the Kia’s panel – is just how sharp the resolution is. It looks fantastic. The main menu has a widget-like layout that gives easy access to the major functions. On-screen shortcuts for music, phone, navigation and car settings are a permanent feature on the right-hand side of the display. There are also physical keys along the bottom, including for the home page and the climate controls. One problem is that all the air-con settings can only be adjusted on screen, and they’re really fiddly; adjusting the fan speed…

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Lost Cars of the 1970s Giles Chapman (The History Press, thehistorypress.co.uk) Price: £17.99 Rating: HOPEFULLY the first in a line of books, this presents some 1970s machines you might have forgotten, or maybe not even known about in the first place. Each entry has a couple of high-quality pictures and a short history, presented in the usual informative but friendly style. Very interesting, especially for readers who weren’t around at the time. The Car Bryan Appleyard (W&N, weidenfeldandnicolson.co.uk) Price: £22 Rating: A POTTED history of the car, its influence on the world and how it has transformed humanity. It’s heavy stuff to fit into 300-ish pages and so by necessity this book has to avoid going too in-depth on any topic. There’s nothing groundbreaking here, but it’s a pleasant read and…

Got any car queries? mail@autoexpress.co.uk Q Why is comprehensive cover cheaper than third party? IS there a reason why comprehensive insurance is usually cheaper than third-party cover? It surely can’t be down to the fact that young drivers choose third party for cost reasons when it’s actually more expensive! Graham Billings, E-mail A THE arcane world of insurance price setting relies on statistics and algorithms, and you can bet the answer lies in the bottom line for insurance companies. However there’s an element of behavioural science at play too, and we’ve seen it suggested that as riskier drivers twig to the savings, then start to make more claims on comprehensive policies, the cost of third party may fall to re-open a price gap. Q Are high-mileage used cars any less…

John_McIlroy@autovia.co.uk @johnmcilroy • Spiritual successors for the TT and R8 are being planned • Halo supercar will likely arrive before the end of the decade AUDI has put itself on the path to an all-electric future – but the German brand isn’t about to abandon the glamour and ‘halo effect’ of its two sports cars, the TT and R8. So even as those two models approach the end of their long production runs (see Page 10), engineers and designers are working on EV alternatives that will be offered by the second half of this decade. The premium German brand has gone through a couple of years of soul searching as it has tried to define a replacement for the iconic TT. The original two-door model stunned the car industry when…

PEUGEOT has updated its e-208 electric supermini with a new battery that gives the compact hatch an extra 23 miles of range. The 51kWh unit (48.1kWh usable, up from 46.6kWh in the old car) sees total claimed range rise to 248 miles; an update earlier this year had already boosted the figure from 217 to 225 miles. The car also inherits a more powerful motor that it shares with the forthcoming e-308 electric family hatchback. There’s now an extra 20bhp on tap, making 154bhp in total. Maximum charging speed remains at 100kW for a 10-80 per cent charge in less than 25 minutes. The updated e-208 will be available in 2023 and we expect a small increase over the current £30,195 starting price.…

THE Metropolitan Police has lowered its enforcement threshold for speeding fines from 10 per cent plus 3mph to 10 per cent plus 2mph. The old limit meant drivers could get away with travelling at no more than 25mph in a 20mph zone or 36mph in a 30mph zone. The change means they are now only likely to get away with 24mph in a 20mph zone or 35mph in a 30mph zone. The Met’s tolerance threshold was first cut in May 2019, but not officially announced. The force said any breach of the speed limit is illegal and can result in a fine and penalty points.…

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…

Yousuf_Ashraf@autovia.co.uk @ashrafoncars HYUNDAI isn’t playing it safe in 2022. Given that the space-age Ioniq 5 hit the ground running as one of the most desirable electric cars of last year, it’d be fair to assume that the new Ioniq 6 saloon would bear more than a passing resemblance to its crossover relative. But Hyundai has severed any visual links to the 5 with a streamlined design inspired by the Prophecy show car of 2020. Packaging constraints mean that the production car isn’t as svelte as the concept, but its still-sleek looks will help it against the Tesla Model 3 and Polestar 2 when it goes on sale this year. Thanks to the E-GMP platform’s 800V electrical architecture, the Ioniq 6 can charge at speeds of up to 350kW, enabling a…

sean_carson@autovia.co.uk Electric motor Power/range 483bhp/283 miles Practicality Boot (seats up/down) 503/1,678 litres IN a little over a year since it arrived in the UK, Genesis has launched six models, establishing premium alternatives to the usual German players in pretty much every class that matters. But this Electrified GV70 SUV could be the most important variant it’s launched yet. The Electrified GV70 combines qualities from many in-demand areas in the market at the moment: an all-electric powertrain in a mid-size SUV body with a premium bent. Priced from £64,405, the Electrified GV70 only comes in Sport trim, with a 77.4kWh battery and a pair of electric motors packing up to 483bhp in Boost mode and a maximum of 700Nm of torque. While it delivers impressive performance (0-62mph in 4.2 seconds) it’s…

Running costs 3.9mi/kWh (on test) £18 to charge/2% tax Practicality Boot (seats up/down) 475/1,392 litres Performance 0-62mph/top speed 7.8 seconds/103mph MODELTESTED: Kia Niro EV 3 PRICE: £38,995 ENGINE: 1x e-motor/64.8kWh battery, 201bhp WE were impressed enough with the Niro Hybrid to name it a winner against the Nissan Juke in Issue 1,748, but how does the all-electric version fare? The extras on our car in mid-spec 3 trim include a heat pump (£900) and Premium paint (£595), taking the total price to £40,490. Design & engineering UNLIKE MG, Kia has hedged its bets with the Niro’s underpinnings – the third generation of the Hyundai/Kia K platform – by designing the structure to accommodate both hybrid and plug-in hybrid powertrains alongside a fully electric layout. While the name has changed from…

1st MG THE MG4 marks the next major step in the brand’s UK return. It drives well, it has the performance to match the Niro EV, a practical range with rapid charging, and loads of space inside. But most impressive of all is the price. No credible rival comes close to offering so much for the money, which is why this is one of the bargain EVs of the moment. 2nd KIA THE Niro EV is a very appealing electric car. It’s comfortable, the tech is slick, and beside the MG, it’s undoubtedly more special inside and out. It also has its rival beaten for boot space, and is more efficient with its energy. However, it’s impossible to overlook the gulf in cost between the two; the MG offers almost…

Chris_Rosamond@autovia.co.uk Practicality Boot (seats up/down) 320/1,274 litres Performance 0-62mph/top speed 10.7 seconds/106mph Running costs 52.3mpg (on test) £68 fill-up/£155 or 29% tax WE’VE not taken our Honda HR-V anywhere very glamorous recently, but a rare trip into central London last week confirmed our sense that this compact hybrid SUV has a chameleon-like ability to look the part everywhere. Most of its mileage has been notched up on domestic duties, involving school runs, trips to the supermarket, tip or stables, weekly commutes between Hampshire and West Sussex, and longer-haul weekends away to the West Country. The car has handled all we’ve thrown at it, thanks to a winning combination of a boxy bodyshell, a long wheelbase and Honda’s useful Magic Seats. It’s a set-up that allows all sorts of options when…

Mini Ferrari on show in Selfridge’s store THE Little Car Company’s Ferrari Testa Rossa J now features on permanent display in Selfridge’s flagship London store. The car (above), a 75 per cent-scale reproduction of the Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa, has been placed in its own installation in the Technology department on the lower ground floor. Just 299 examples will be built, and prospective customers can view the car up close and see a selection of the paint and leather options, before reserving a build slot for it or any of the Little Car Company’s other creations. For more information on the baby Ferrari, visit testarossaj.com. VW picks Conti tyre for new Multivan CONTINENTAL will supply its AllSeasonContact tyres as original equipment for the Volkswagen Multivan MPV. An Auto Express test…

Search thousands of new and used cars online Performance 0-62mph/top speed 9.3 seconds/121mph Running costs 48-52mpg (1.0 TSI 115) £65 fill-up CO2/tax 123-124g/km £165 SEAT was founded in 1950, and for many years its cars were little more than reworked Fiats. Then in 1986, Volkswagen Group began absorbing SEAT, which had been launched in the UK the previous year. Back then SEAT sold just two models, the Malaga and the Ibiza, so it’s easy to see why the latter is such an important small car for the firm. The original Ibiza was a standalone product, but now it’s closely related to the VW Polo, which can only be a good thing. Volkswagen’s parts-sharing strategy means that the Ibiza benefits from having the same safety tech and efficient engines as the…

• Supercars series hits legendary track • Van Gisbergen looks to extend title lead Alex_Ingram@autovia.co.uk @AxleIngram ONE of the highlights of touring car racing’s calendar, and one of the biggest motorsport events in the southern hemisphere, takes place this weekend, as the stunning Mount Panorama circuit in Australia hosts the Bathurst 1000. Roughly a three-hour drive inland from Sydney, the 3.86-mile track has a fearsome reputation. The circuit winds its way up, with the top of the course flanked by concrete walls, over the summit at Skyline, before dropping through a technical section at The Dipper. Then it’s on to Conrod Straight, where Australia’s 650bhp V8-powered Supercars reach almost 190mph before braking hard at The Chase. For the race, drivers need to wrestle their 1.4-tonne machines for 161 laps. The…

sean_carson@autovia.co.uk • TT and R8 specials revealed • Limited numbers coming to UK AUDI is focusing on an all-electric future for its TT and R8 successors, but the brand isn’t forgetting the sporty models that have carved the German firm out as a serious player in the sports and supercar sectors. It’s giving the TT RS a special send-off with this Iconic Edition, and is celebrating its special V10 engine with the R8 GT RWD, which will become the most expensive Audi ever sold in the UK when it arrives. Arriving nearly 25 years after the Audi TT made its debut in 1998, the TT RS Iconic Edition is limited to just 100 units for Europe, with only 11 cars coming to the UK. Priced from £87,650, it features exclusive…

Revised Kia Soul EV range starts at £33k PRICES and specs have been confirmed for Kia’s newly expanded Soul EV line-up, with the electric crossover starting from £32,795. There’s a new 39.2kWh option alongside the 64kWh-battery model, with the former delivering up to 171 miles of range. The latter offers up to 280 miles, with prices starting from £38,995. The cars are available in Urban and Explore trims respectively and are on sale now, with deliveries starting later this year. British road deaths on the rise in 2021 A TOTAL of 1,558 people lost their lives on British roads in 2021 – that’s seven per cent more than in 2020, when the UK’s traffic levels were affected by lockdown, but 11 per cent fewer than in 2019. Crucially, 2021 saw…

NEW-car prices are rising amid economic turmoil and the pound’s struggles. The price of a Mercedes A 200 Sport Executive has risen from £32,300 to £33,800, while a C 300 e AMG Line is up from £46,310 to £48,710. At the same time, an entry-level Ford Focus 1.0 EcoBoost 125 Titanium now costs £26,190 rather than £24,750, and the BMW 320d M Sport has jumped from £40,515 to £41,850 following its facelift. Customers buying new cars on finance need to pay close attention to whether the rate agreed at time of order is being honoured or if monthly payments are being hiked when the car is delivered.…

mail@autoexpress.co.uk @AutoExpress HOT TOPIC Ferrari Purosangue FROM: Tim M PURISTS will hate it, but I think Ferrari has done an amazing job with the design of this car considering it had to fit the brief of being an SUV. I have to admit it’s a fair bit better looking than I expected it would be. Actually, it looks fantastic. FROM: Marcus Wain IT’S not as low as I thought it might be, but it still doesn’t look as though there’s that much ground clearance. I suspect no one who buys one of these will ever take it off-road, though, nor find it as tasteless as many other people might. Join the debate at www.autoexpress.co.uk ■ “Not sure the gunmetal grey works for it. I suspect it will look better in…

WHILE Jogger was a name that came from within Dacia, creative agencies are often the chosen route for finding suitable options. Arguably the most successful agency in the world is Lexicon Branding, based in Sausalito, California. Over the years the firm has been responsible for such recognisable automotive names as Forester and Outback for Subaru, and more recently Lucid, a new player on the EV scene. Outside of cars, Lexicon created the BlackBerry, Sonos and Febreze brand names. The agency’s founder and CEO is David Placek, who explained: “Naming cars is more complex than naming most other products. There is more emotional value in naming a car than, for example, a new bottle of water or detergent. A car is a self-expressive thing, but it is also a piece of…

mail@autoexpress.co.uk Running costs 21.1mpg (official) £115 fill-up Performance 0-62mph/top speed 3.2 seconds/184mph MOST Porsches, especially quicker 911s, tend to be defined by their engines. Not so the new £178,500 992 GT3 RS. For, despite being propelled by one of the all-time great flat-six motors – one that revs to an ear-splitting 9,000rpm and produces 518bhp in the process – the latest RS is actually defined by its aerodynamics. At its top speed of 184mph (14mph lower than a regular GT3’s due to shorter gearing), the RS produces a quite staggering 860kg of downforce when its electronically adjustable rear wing is fully deployed. It also features two new underbody flaps to balance that gigantic wing. So although that still-spectacular engine has new cams and generates a touch more power than a…

Richard_Ingram@autovia.co.uk @rsp_ingram THE Mercedes EQS SUV is arguably one of the most exorbitant and ostentatious new cars of 2022. But to dismiss it as a fancy, frivolous and irrelevant stagecoach for the world’s super-rich would be unfair. Merc’s very own S-Class has always been a springboard for new tech, and the EQS is no different. Kit trialled here will filter down to more affordable models in time. The car’s huge battery is good for 379 miles of range, Merc says, while the EQS can replenish its cells at speeds of up to 200kW, which means a 10-80 per cent charge takes just 31 minutes. However, weighing more than 2.7 tonnes, the EQS SUV isn’t all that efficient. Figures we saw equate to a usable range of between 250 and 270…

EV RANGE MATCH our efficiency figures, and you can expect to get roughly 216 miles out of a charge from the MG. The Niro was more efficient, which is why its similarly sized battery should travel 37 miles further before needing a top-up. We tested the cars on a 17-degree day; expect range to improve slightly in hotter weather, but bear in mind that both will struggle to match those numbers in winter. CHARGING ONE area where we were hoping for more improvement was charging. Kia states a maximum charging rate of 72kW for the Niro EV, which is well behind the 135kW rate MG claims for the 4. On a 10-80 per cent charge, the Niro takes 43 minutes, eight more than its rival. The Niro EV’s plug is…

Pete_Baiden@autovia.co.uk @PeteBaiden Running costs 35.1mpg (on test) £90 fill-up/£165 or 35% tax Practicality Boot (seats up/down) 504/1,441 litres MAYBE I’m just getting old. I am, in fact, now the wrong side of 40, but does that explain why I always feel so tired when I take our Nissan Qashqai on a long journey? I don’t ache when I get out of bed and I can still keep up with my son when he goes to rugby training, but I’m often hobbling about like a geriatric and complaining of a stiff back whenever I spend an extended amount of time in the driver’s seat. One of the Nissan’s last jobs on our fleet was ferrying the family on a trip to the Forest of Dean for my wife’s birthday. It’s a…

Got a query? products@autoexpress.co.uk Q Which charge cable is best? I’VE just started using a plug-in hybrid car. I usually charge it at home, but I’m looking for a cable to keep in the car so I can charge when I’m away as well. Have you tested these? Mike Wooster, E-mail A OUR current test winner is the 32 Amp 7kW lead from Masterplug, but the price has gone up substantially since our test and it’ll now set you back just under £200. It was a close-run thing with the Ring RCC23205 (above), which has a better specification plus a case and now costs pretty much the same, so we would buy that. Q Do ceramics work on tyres? I SAW your test of ceramic coatings with interest. Can they…

AN LED head torch is a tool or glovebox essential, making itself useful not just for car maintenance but also nighttime emergencies and outdoor pursuits. The pick of the bunch are rechargeable versions because you don’t end up with crusty or dead batteries when they’re not used for a while and there are new options hitting the market using strips rather than a single or a cluster of LEDs. But are they the way forward? We tested two new variants from Laser and Ring against our current, more conventional champion from NightSearcher. They were used under the bonnet, around the garage and outside. Performance close up and at a distance was logged, as well as the spec, battery, run time, protection and price. We’d still go for the 580R as…

REMEMBER when high-profile public figures answered simple, valid questions with straight, honest answers? Sadly, that era is disappearing. So imagine my surprise when, two weeks ago after I put (in this column) a little question to the loudest and most controversial automotive TV guy on the planet, he phones me from his office in Dallas, Texas. “Auto Express dude, it’s Richard Rawlings from Gas Monkey Garage – replying to your question about whether a Petrolheadonism TV show could work. “I think it could. I’d be up for it. Hope that Ciro Ciampi [founder of the Petrolheadonism movement and live events] is ready to explode it onto the mainstream across the pond.” If such a TV show does happen, Richard would be the obvious frontman, backed by his trusted (British) sidekick,…