Innholdsfortegnelse for 27/07/2016 i Autocar

Porsche has braved some radical changes with its new Panamera, which will make its public debut at the Paris motor show in October. The entirely renewed second-generation model is being launched with a suite of new engines, as well as a mixed-materials body built in a new shop at the company’s Leipzig plant. It’s also the first car in the VW Group to come from the new MSB large platform family. As a result, Porsche reckons it has broken a golden rule with this new Panamera. Motor industry wisdom is that you should never launch a new engine with an all-new car, or vice versa. You should never initiate a new factory at the same time as launching a new car, either. There are too many chances for things to…

The first new Bristol model in more than 10 years has been seen in its final production form. The Bristol Bullet made its official debut yesterday (26 July) and will go on sale next year. The exact specification of the new open-top two-seater has yet to be confirmed, but it is powered by a naturally aspirated 4.8-litre V8 engine sourced from BMW and a chassis made from carbonfibre-composite materials. This marks a shift from aluminium, which was used on previous Bristols. The Bullet was rumoured to be getting a hybrid powertrain when it was first announced. However, Bristol has since chosen a V8 instead because, it says, this type of engine has become synonymous with its cars over the past 50 years. The British marque’s use of this engine has…

The Huracán LP580-2 is the bottom-rung version of Sant’Agata’s bottom-rung, mid-engined supercar. And given that supercar buyers are typically about as keen to plump for a cheaper and less powerful model as they are for a conservative pair of sunglasses, unflamboyant shoes or a subtle cologne, it’ll probably be a lot less popular than it deserves to be. Essentially a Huracán LP610-4 that’s missing the forward parts of its driveline, the LP580-2 is rear-wheel drive – and theoretically the purer sporting car of the two as a result. It develops marginally less grunt than its four-wheel-drive sibling – 572bhp instead of 602bhp – as well as 15lb ft less torque. It also weighs 33kg less. Unlike the rear-drive Gallardos that preceded it, the LP580-2 is available exclusively with a seven-speed…

Take one Audi A4 Avant, add some black plastic cladding, an imposing grille and a pair of faux skid plates and put it on inch-and-a-half stilts. What do you get? The A4 Allroad, of course. It may not sound like the most appetising recipe for those interested in driving, but there are plenty of buyers who will opt for one of these from Audi’s menu. Compared with the previous generation, the new Allroad is up to 90kg lighter, 13% greener and 12% more powerful, depending on engine choice. Naturally, the 2.0 TDI is destined to be the big seller here, with two versions available. There’s also a turbocharged 2.0-litre petrol option, which will account for few sales in the UK, and a pair of V6 diesels. These make either 215bhp…

The BMW M2 is not the natural hooligan you’d expect, unless it’s deliberately provoked Oh, for heaven’s sake. This was supposed to be a foregone conclusion. Porsche 718 Cayman S arrives, there’s barely any competition, wins. Ta-da. Best sports car in the world beats other not-best-sports-cars-of-the-world. The end. But no. I’ve just driven it and two alternatives around bits of MIRA proving ground, around a drifty corner, down the Fosse Way where the surface is rubbish, around some road corners where the surface is all right, and on some dual carriageways and motorways to the New Forest. And actually, it’s not a very clear-cut decision at all. So I’m sorry, but we’re just going to have to get on with it. To the Porsche, then. Ah, the Porsche. It’s the…

One little letter, that’s all. Oh, and a hyphen. One car here is a Bentley Continental GT3, the other a GT3-R. Just how big a difference could there be? Even once you’ve looked at them, bigger than you might possibly imagine. Clearly one is a road car, the other a racer, but, perversely, it’s the street machine that has the ‘R’ in its title. Both are based on the Continental GT, but while one has merely had its claws sharpened somewhat, the other is as a starving wolf to a snoozing Labrador. My purpose is to drive both cars, see how different the racer is to the road car and try to understand how it got that way. The GT3-R will be familiar to Autocar readers. Production of the £237,500…

In Tekna trim, it has everything you could think of except a horseshoe ornament Henry Ford, the clever man that he was, saw an opportunity to cash in on farmers’ habit of modifying the simple and rugged Model T automobiles they used for working on their fields, and thus the ‘pickup’ was born. For nearly a century, the pick-up truck has been used to combine everyday transportation with commercial activities. Here in Blighty, the American idol remains about as popular as country music, but perhaps not for much longer. You see, the government still classes pick-ups as light commercial vehicles, provided they have a payload of more than one tonne, which means you pay a flat tax rate irrespective of the CO2 output. There are even competitive rates on fuel…

Traditionally, I like cars with heritage. It’s on my record: nearly every one of the cars I’ve driven in umpteen years of punting Autocar longtermers around has had it in spades. But my new Kia Sportage — which has been busily gathering miles at a rate of about 800 a week in the month and a bit since it arrived — doesn’t have much of a back story. Only that its elegant predecessor of 2010 was the first model in Kia’s range to benefit from the influence of ex-Audi designer Peter Schreyer in the mid-2000s, and that our new, recently launched 2016 replacement is the first of Schreyer’s Korean creations to serve a full life and be renewed. Kias never raced at Brooklands nor carried troops to war. However, the…

When Amazon turns its attention to selling cars, it will disrupt the marketplace I notice, and I quote, that “Nissan has become the first automotive brand in Europe to sell a vehicle exclusively through the use of social networking site Twitter”. Actually, once, in the early days of the Twitter, I did tweet a used car purchase — a Saab estate, as it happened. I think it may have been rather dull because there may not have been any pictures, so I can understand why that didn’t go down in interweb history. Nissan, however, is determined that its sale in Spain goes viral. But why has it taken so long for this to happen? The internet was becoming a really big thing back in 1999, so a rather large top…

        Autocar’s star ratings explained Inherently dangerous/unsafe. Tragically, irredeemably flawed. Appalling. Massively significant failings. Very poor. Fails to meet any accepted class boundaries. Poor. Within acceptable class boundaries in a few areas. Still not recommendable. Off the pace. Below average in nearly all areas. Acceptable. About average in key areas, but disappoints. Competent. Above average in some areas, average in others. Outstanding in none. Good. Competitive in key areas. Very good. Very competitive in key areas, competitive in secondary respects. Excellent. Near class leading in key areas, and in some ways outstanding. Brilliant, unsurpassed. All but flawless. Any car that has had a full Autocar road test is highlighted in yellow.…

Tesla boss Elon Musk has unveiled his so-called ‘Master Plan, Part Deux’, which includes details of future models and further autonomous technology developments and reveals the firm’s intention to enter the public transport sector. Musk announced his first master plan a decade ago. Since then, all of his proposals have come to fruition, including creating the Model S, Model X and Model 3 and becoming a solar power provider. Announcing the second part of his plan on Tesla’s website last week, Musk confirmed there will be a compact SUV and pick-up in the vehicle lineup, while ruling out a cheaper vehicle than the Model 3. He also identified a need for electric “heavy-duty trucks and high-passenger-density urban transport”, both of which he confirmed are in the early stages of development…

THE NEXT-GENERATION Renault Mégane RS hot hatch will be offered as a five-door only, following in the footsteps of its Clio RS sibling, when it reaches British shores in 2018. The new hot hatch is also set to get the dual-clutch automatic transmission used in the Clio RS as standard, despite plenty of criticism over the decision to exclude a manual gearbox from the smaller car’s line-up. Speaking to Autocar recently, Renault Sport boss Patrice Ratti said he was content that it had been the right path for the Clio RS. The new Mégane RS promises to deliver more than 300bhp from a 2.0-litre turbocharged engine, and Anthony Lo, Renault’s vice-president of exterior design, has revealed that lap times are important in the car’s development. This suggests Renault is preparing…

Jeep UK is building a business case to sell a new pick-up version of the next-generation Wrangler SUV in the UK as part of a major sales expansion when an all-new model goes on sale in 2018. “We are seriously considering that model for the UK,” Jeep boss Damien Dally told Autocar at an event last week. “It won’t be big sales numbers but more of a lifestyle model.” The arrival of a Jeep pick-up in the UK would be the first time the US brand has offered this bodystyle in the UK. The new Wrangler pick-up is understood to feature a single cab, rather than the double-cab design that Jeep showed as the Crew Chief 715 Kaiser concept earlier this year. The Kaiser concept had a 5ft bed built…

Now priced and positioned in Porsche’s range beneath the 718 Boxster, the standard 718 Cayman is the cheapest way you can get yourself into a new Porsche. Indeed, it’s the only one with an unoptioned price of less than £40,000. This price tag makes the 718 Cayman dangerously attractive when you consider the performance on offer. As in the 718 Boxster, power comes from the smaller, 2.0-litre version of Porsche’s new turbocharged flat four engine. The Cayman doesn’t have the Cayman S’s variable-geometry turbocharger, yet it actually runs higher boost pressures – a peak of 19psi compared with 16psi. The 718 Cayman produces 296bhp, which is 20bhp more than the old 2.7-litre six-pot Cayman. The biggest difference, though, is in torque; the new car’s turbocharged engine delivers a peak of…

Cadillac is the latest car maker to have clocked the fact that the world loves SUVs. Therefore, it’s going to build four new SUV models, all sitting below the ‘iconic’ Escalade in its range. The first of these is this, the XT5. It’s almost the same size as a BMW X5 and is powered by an all-new 3.6-litre petrol V6. For those who know their American SUVs, the XT5 replaces Cadillac’s quirky SRX. It’s the first model to be based on Cadillac’s new SUV architecture, a flexible structure that will go on to underpin the other three promised models. One will be bigger than the XT5 (but not as big as the Escalade) and the other two smaller. Cadillac uses the word ‘new’ a lot when describing the XT5, applying…

‘If you crashed, BMW didn’t care, as long as you won a few races’ BMW’s centenary isn’t the only nice round number associated with the brand this year. Closer to home, it’s 50 years since the firm first raced in the British Saloon Car Championship – forerunner to the British Touring Car Championship and the class of racing in which the German car maker is on the cusp of its 100th victory. How convenient, then, that we find ourselves at Silverstone to learn some more about BMW’s past and present racing machines, some of which you can see this weekend at the Silverstone Classic meeting and in particular on the special Tin Top Sunday-themed touring car day. The BMW 3.0 CSL ‘Batmobile’ made BMW famous here in the 1970s, but…

I strongly suspect that the electricity isn’t the big cost of running fast-charging stations (‘Ecotricity to charge £6 for 30min charging’, autocar.co.uk ). It’s the cost of installing and maintaining the equipment, plus the cost of renting the parking. The incentive is to get the cars to charge as quickly as possible so that each spot can serve as many customers in 24 hours as possible. What we need, as EV drivers, is the ability to turn up to a charge station and a spot to be available. This requires people to charge for as short a time as possible and then leave. Here in Switzerland, my local DC charger charges about 12p per kWh for electricity, plus 7p per minute. For the rare occasions that I…

Our Ibiza Cupra is a great example of turbocharging done properly. It’s potent, responsive and, if allowed to, offers respectable economy. The engine’s responsiveness comes in part because all of its 236lb ft arrives at just 1450rpm, and the potency is helped by the fact that maximum power doesn’t arrive until 4300rpm. It means you can work with a wide window of performance, which is best felt when accelerating flat out in second or third gear (torque is limited in first). You can make really rapid progress once you learn to keep the engine on song. I’ve decided that the car definitely feels faster when running on high-octane fuel. The Cupra can run on RON95, but with super-unleaded I feel the engine offers more grunt for longer, plus it’s ever…

Mileage 14,122 The 12,500-mile reading on the odometer has been and gone, which means the MX-5 has had its first service since it last appeared in these pages. The catchily named MKG3000 dealer in Autocar’s home town of Twickenham was the lucky recipient of our business. Booking in was simple: you go on their website, pick an available time slot and then turn up with the keys. It wasn’t quite plain sailing for the MX-5, however. The service revealed the need for new front brake pads, the rapid wear of the originals no doubt caused by the significant amount of track time our MX-5 has had. In fact, this was the first time MKG3000 had had to change the front pads on a new MX-5 and they didn’t have any…

READER’S CAR: MITSUBISHI LANCER We’ve met Kiran Parmer’s dad before; now here’s Kiran’s 2007 Mitsubishi Lancer, for which he paid £7000 to become its second owner. “It has now done 32,000 miles and never let me down,” he says. “I do all the servicing myself. In November 2011 I had Continental ContiWinter Contacts fitted, and they proved very useful. The car works brilliantly in the snow, despite being only front-wheel drive, unlike its Evo cousin, which is four-wheel drive. The handling in the rain is superb, too, with zero wheelspin.” SEND YOUR BANGERNOMICS TALES TO JAMES Twitter: @Bangernomics Email: james@bangernomics.com WHAT CAUGHT MY EYE THIS WEEK: JAGUAR XF Early They’re Jaguar certainly XFs are a bit starting more ‘bloke to clutter in his up 40s’ than OAP, .…

Convertibles 1 Porsche Boxster From £39,600 Our idea of drop-top perfection is also an outstanding sporting two-seater. Exceptional to drive. 2 Audi TT Roadster From £32,000 Plenty of pace and driver reward, along with Audi’s distinctive brand prestige and design-icon style. 3 Mercedes E-Class Cabriolet From £42,000 Genuine four-seat cabrios are rare birds — particularly when they’re as refined and sophisticated as this one. 4 BMW 4 Series Convertible From £34,900 Mixes sporting driving dynamics with fine engines and usable back seats. Folding metal roof provides security. 5 Vauxhall Cascada From £24,500 Lacks a premium badge but little else. Competent, comfortable and not troubled by sporting ambition. Visit autocar.co.uk for all of our Top Fives…

‘By early 2022 we’ll have seven cars, all with seven-year life spans’ Aston Martin’s new business plan is set to culminate in the company producing a V8-powered mid-engined supercar, company executives have revealed to Autocar. Aston’s ‘second century plan’, colloquially described as “s*** or bust” by ebullient Aston CEO Andy Palmer, will result in the company releasing one new model every year until 2022, when the range will be complete and model replacement will begin anew. The Aston Martin-badged mid-engined supercar is likely to generate the most interest among enthusiasts when it arrives in 2022 as the final car in the company’s plan. Aston design boss Marek Reichman says the mid-engined car will be “more mainstream” than the limited-edition AM-RB 001 hypercar currently being developed jointly by Aston and Adrian…

The RS1 should comfortably dip below the 5.8sec 0-62mph time of today’s S1 Audi bosses have given the go-ahead to a racy 280bhp, four-wheel-drive RS1, which will act as a swansong for the current A1 prior to the arrival of a new, second-generation line-up in 2018. Set to go on sale early next year, the new hot supermini will fill the void left vacant by the earlier A1 quattro — a 258bhp version of the pre-facelifted A1, of which just 19 were sold in the UK in 2012. Unlike the £40,020, left-hand-drive-only A1 quattro, the RS1 has been conceived as a regular production model, complete with right-hand drive compatibility. As a result, it will be priced more competitively than its limited-edition predecessor. Nothing is official yet, but suggestions are that…

BMW IS POISED to announce an engineering co-operation with the Andretti Formula E team. The move comes as the German car maker seeks to raise its profile in the global all-electric single-seater race series following the arrival of rival Jaguar on the grid for the 2017 season. BMW and the Andretti Formula E team are set to co-operate in the development of electric motors and so-called power electronics. BMW has built up extensive know-how on both in recent years following the establishment of its i brand. As part of the engineering tie-up, the Andretti Formula E team is expected to announce that BMW factory driver António Félix da Costa will join the American squad as team-mate to Robin Frijns for the 2017 season. BMW has been a staunch supporter of…

Designing a modern, sporty hatchback is a dark art. If you’re creating Lamborghinis or Ferraris, life’s a breeze: make it fast, make it look good and make it exciting. For a sporty family car, such as this new Renault Mégane 205 GT, the brief is so much broader. It must handle yet be comfortable, be quick yet driveable and stylish yet practical. In fact, you have to wonder how on earth they do it for just £25,500. So let’s run through the Mégane GT’s highlights. Its turbocharged 1.6-litre petrol engine is from the Clio RS 200 and produces a decent 202bhp and 207lb ft. As with the Clio, it comes with a EDC seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission as standard. The Mégane GT is underpinned by Renault’s CMF platform, but Renault…

Named after the demilitarised zone that separates North and South Korea, the Korando Sports DMZ is Ssangyong’s latest attempt to stand out – or should that be blend in? – in the increasingly competitive pick-up truck market. The main feature of this special-edition pick-up is a rather questionable camouflage paint job, which looks like it has been applied by a classroom of six-year-old school children. Ssangyong’s UK CEO, Paul Williams, intended to import only a small number of the military-inspired vehicles to the UK, but after a small trial run proved popular, he decided to turn the DMZ into an official special edition. Dodgy livery aside, the DMZ makes for an interesting proposition. Based on the top-spec EX auto model, the DMZ comes packed with a range of kit, including…

There aren’t many car companies that would keep a demonstrator on the fleet if it had more than 40,000 miles on the clock and was the same car it used for both dynamic and static demos at motor shows. But then Noble isn’t most car companies. Truth is, Noble doesn’t make many cars, and making a new demonstrator isn’t like it is for your local Vauxhall retailer. Should we call how few M600s leave Noble’s Leicester factory ‘a problem’? You might. Noble’s managing director, Peter Boutwood, is a man who always seems content and break-even numbers are said to be as low as 10 cars a year. But I get the impression that Noble is still suffering the hangover from people knowing about Noble cars of old – ones that…

Mileage 3333 I’d been waiting a while for this moment, carefully running in the i8’s tiny three-cylinder engine until it was ready for some proper work. I recalled the car’s press launch and being rather impressed by its ability to maintain considerable point-to-point pace with little apparent effort. But there was nothing in my first month with the i8 that suggested a repeat performance was likely. It just hasn’t felt like a sports car — and I mean that largely as a compliment. It has an extremely relaxed gait, even when you’re not cruising around powered by electrons alone. Its ultra-long wheelbase, 2+2 configuration and skinny tyres appeared not to lend themselves to a road warrior’s disposition at all. As it happens, you’d need a McLaren P1 before you’d find…

1 Fiat 124 Spider (1966-1985) The classic 124 Spider is a very different ownership proposition from the latest one but will be equally rewarding. There are loads of these stylish convertibles on the market for as little as £7000. Lower-priced examples will inevitably require some TLC to get them up to scratch again. A restored car will set you back at least £15,000, but you’ll still need to check no corners have been cut. Models from the 1970s dominate the UK market and there are plenty on sale on the Continent. It’s worth noting that US cars have different bumpers and a taller ride height. The 124 Spider has its faults, so look out for electrical gremlins, rust and tired ball joints. 2 Fiat Uno Turbo (1985-1993) The Uno was…

Super-saloons 1 Jaguar XFR From £65,500 Balanced, fluent handling with crackling, expressive V8 power. Usable, relatively well priced. The sweet spot. 2 Mercedes-AMG C63 S From £66,800 Mercedes-AMG’s best hot four-door of a big bunch. Chassis is uncompromising but engaging with it. 3 BMW M3 From £56,600 Sharp, lean and as precise as a surgeon’s scalpel. Incredibly well mannered but a bit reserved at low speeds. 4 Mercedes-AMG E63 S From £84,700 Bigger and softer than the C-Class but almost as much fun. Not as communicative as some. Likeable, though. 5 Jaguar XJR From £92,400 Doesn’t quite ape the bang-for-buck value of the XFR, but has chiselled style and performance kudos to burn. Visit autocar.co.uk for all of our Top Fives…

Pocket rockets 1 Ford Fiesta ST From £17,000 Given the long wait, this could have been a huge anti-climax. It isn’t. Firm ride aside, it’s brilliant. And cheap. 2 Mini Cooper S From £19,000 Came a hair’s breadth from toppling the ST. Arguably the more well-rounded option but not quite as much fun. 3 Renault Clio RS 220 Trophy From £22,000 Massively improved with additional grunt and a sterner chassis. The old Renault Sport magic returns. 4 Peugeot 208 GTi by PS From £22,000 Easy to live with, easy to enjoy and quick in a straight line, the 208 is the best GTi Peugeot has built in a decade. 5 Audi S1 From £25,000 There’s no denying its raucous attitude, but its price limits the appeal. Easily the most entertaining…