Innholdsfortegnelse for 16/11/2016 i Autocar

JAGUAR LAND ROVER is no longer interested in buying Silverstone, following unsuccessful discussions with the circuit’s current owner, the British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC). In a statement issued last week, JLR, which had reportedly offered £33 million for the site, said: “Jaguar Land Rover has ended discussions with the British Racing Drivers’ Club for the foreseeable future and is not proceeding with any plans to either lease or purchase Silverstone at this time.” Although no reason for the decision has been given by JLR, it’s thought that JLR and the BRDC were unable to come to an agreement that met both parties’ requirements. Also bidding for the circuit’s purchase was Ginetta boss Lawrence Tomlinson, but he is also out of the running now. “Lawrence had extended his option until 31…

US START-UP COMPANY Faraday Future is continuing to develop its own electric vehicle range despite news that its main backer, Chinese technology giant LeEco, is facing financial difficulties. Faraday Future previewed one of its models, a sleek SUV based on modular underpinnings, in the same week that LeEco boss Jia Yueting announced he was cutting his salary to one yuan (about 12 pence) per month to help improve the situation. In a letter addressed to his employees, Yueting said: “We blindly sped ahead, and our cash demand ballooned.” Aston Martin has also partnered with LeEco in the development of its first electric model, the RapidE, due to be launched in 2018. The British brand confirmed to Autocar that, like Faraday Future, its project was unaffected by LeEco’s situation. Faraday Future’s…

THE S-CLASS CABRIOLET line-up has been crowned with a plush new limited-edition Mercedes-Maybach S650 Cabriolet model. Revealed at this week’s Los Angeles motor show, the luxurious four-seater will go on sale in the UK in the second quarter of next year. It will be priced significantly above the £193,900 Mercedes-AMG S65 Cabriolet with which it shares its V12 petrol engine. The new model will be produced in a limited run of 300. It also heralds in a new ‘650’ model nomenclature that is set to be adopted by other V12-powered Maybach models, according to senior company officials. The S650 Cabriolet retains the same bodyshell as other open-top S-Class models but adds design features such as standard Swarovski crystal-encrusted headlights, unique 20in alloy wheels and numerous Maybach badges. All of the…

Choosing a Bentley Flying Spur used to be a simple affair, with its well-heeled buyers facing a straightforward choice between the power of the W12-engined version and the poise of the V8 one, but now Bentley has made things a little more complicated. Although there are no new powertrains (so still the W12 and V8), the line-up has been punctuated with models that display a sportier character to give owners a “real sense of Bentley’s racing heritage”, in the company’s own words. As well as the Flying Spur V8 S driven here, Bentley has introduced a W12 S and given both cars the same uprated suspension and sportier exterior details, in addition to increasing their power outputs. The V8 S gains 21bhp and 14lb ft of torque over the standard…

MODEL TESTED RECARO Price £81,995 Power 562bhp Torque 470lb ft 0-60mph 3.4sec 30-70mph in fourth 6.0sec Fuel economy 21.6mpg CO2 emissions 275g/km 70-0mph 45.0m In the press blurb for the latest incarnation of the GT-R, Nissan confidently claims a place for its cultish product on the “cutting edge of the premium sports car sector”, earned since its launch way back in 2007. A more accurate version of that sentence, though, would replace the word ‘since’ with ‘at’. At its launch, very nearly a decade ago, the GT-R arguably set the performance benchmark for its price point – a price point substantially lower than the Porsche 911 Turbo that we measured it against at the time. It won our Britain’s Best Driver’s Car award in 2008, which means it genuinely was…

‘Tour de France’ was never an official Ferrari factory name, any more than was ‘Daytona’. Instead, it was the title ascribed to the 250 GT Berlinetta that scored a hat-trick in the coveted Tour de France races between 1956 and 1958. These Pininfarina-styled, Scaglietti-built road racers were utterly gorgeous and mechanically incredibly robust, thanks to their near-indestructible 3.0-litre V12 engines, giving up to 260bhp. But so, too, did they have a primitive chassis and a wheelbase inadvisedly long for racing purposes. So although the engine, designed in the 1940s, continued to give sterling service into the 1960s in the likes of the 250 GTO, the career of the Tour de France itself was concluded by the arrival of the lighter, more nimble 250 GT ‘SWB’ or Short Wheelbase. The most…

A watched EV never boils. More to the point, it doesn’t bleep, flash, pop, ping or do anything else that you might imagine an all-electric hatchback ought to do to indicate a completed charge. Shame. I like the idea of a Nissan Leaf gradually browning, wafting warm toast smells in every direction, before spontaneously hopping three feet into the air like a slice of Warburton’s ready for the butter knife. It would at least make an interesting spectacle in the motorway services car park in which we’re now waiting. We’ve got four brand-new battery cars lined up in front of Ecotricity’s fast chargers, each suckling almost noiselessly in turn from the national grid, before setting off on an exercise we’ve been waiting a long time to carry out. It was…

ON SALE 23 NOVEMBER COMPARISON New versus used Box-fresh cars meet depreciation-free rivals, starring Lotus, Audi, BMW and more NEWS SPECIAL Los Angeles motor show All the new car launches and gossip from the last major show of 2016 INDUSTRY Signing off a new Aston We join Aston boss Andy Palmer as he approves DB11s at Gaydon ROAD TEST Skoda Kodiaq Czechs join the SUV bunfight, but can the new Kodiaq convince our testers? SUBSCRIBE autocar.co.uk/subscribe or see p36…

THE KADJAR HANDLES pretty well for a crossover. I know this because (a) it seems to handle pretty well and (b) I read it in the Autocar road test. Without wanting to sound like an expert (I’m not), I agree with our road testers’ summary of its dynamic abilities. The shift in driving style from a Ford Focus (my previous car) to the Renault has been small. The Kadjar has a gentle, soft-roader-ish lollop to its primary ride but turns in nicely with good body control. There’s a momentary high-sided lurch as you tip into a bend, but it’s kept neatly in check. Grip is impressive, too. But there’s a but. The secondary ride isn’t brilliant, with noisy thumps over catseyes, potholes and sharper bumps. It’s not desperately bad, but…

“The 3200 GT is a legend. It was the first fruit of Ferrari’s ownership of the marque” A boomerang should come back, but with its boomerang tail-lights, a badly bought Maserati 3200 GT will not only come back but it’ll bite you on the derrière, too. It’s best we get that out in the open before going all weak at the knees about the car’s 370bhp twin-turbo 3.2-litre V8, its 5.1sec 0-62mph time (5.7sec in Automatica form) and 174mph (168mph for the auto) top whack. All misty-eyed, too, over its active ride system with Bilstein dampers, leather interior and the possibility of finding an example of the rare, track-focused Assetto Corsa. The 3200 GT is a flawed diamond, you see, made more so by the fact that you’ll struggle to…

SEAT ARONA | LATE 2017 Following the Qashqai-beating success of its debut SUV, the Ateca, Seat is set to launch the smaller Arona. Based on the Ibiza hatchback, it will be a rival to the likes of the Renault Captur, with interior and boot space a priority. Technical details are still speculative, but optional four-wheel drive looks probable. Price £14,000 (est) NOVEMBER 2016 Audi A5, Q5, R8 Spyder, S5, Dacia Logan MCV facelift, Sandero facelift, Sandero Stepway facelift, Kia Carens facelift, Optima Sportswagon, Soul TGD-i, Koenigsegg Regera, Mercedes-AMG GT R, Nissan GT-R Nismo, GT-R Track Edition, Noble M600 Speedster, Renault Grand Scénic, Scénic, Zoe facelift DECEMBER 2016 Lamborghini Centenario, Mini Clubman JCW, Tesla Model X EARLY TO MID-2017 Alpina B3S, B4S update, D4 update, Alpine A120, Audi RS1, RS3 saloon,…

“The I-Pace Concept has 395bhp and 516lb ft. The claimed 0-60mph time is 4.0sec” Jaguar will vault into central Tesla territory with the all-new battery-electric I-Pace, easily the most radical car in its 81-year history. The new car, unveiled this week as a concept at the Los Angeles motor show, changes practically every traditional Jaguar ingredient and is due on the road in about 18 months’ time. It marks the start of a bold new chapter in the engineering and design history of Jaguar Land Rover. Jaguar’s brief for its long-anticipated first electric vehicle was to “create a performance SUV that is spacious, sporty and usable”, but the final design isn’t merely an electric version of the successful F-Pace SUV. Instead, the I-Pace exploits the packaging advantages of an electric…

“Along with the additional tech, more personalisation options have been made available” The revamped Mk7 Volkswagen Golf “marks the beginning” of a renewed brand line-up by 2020, according to Volkswagen brand boss Herbert Diess. Describing the revised C-segment hatchback as “smart, safer and more connected” at its unveiling in Wolfsburg, Germany, Diess said the Golf is the most important model in the VW range and “the essence of the brand”. On sale from next spring, with an expected slight price rise to around £18,000 for an entry-level model, the new Golf features minor design tweaks, revised infotainment controls and fresh safety systems. It also features a brand new turbocharged 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine. Visual changes are limited to restyled bumpers, new LED headlights and tail-lights and so-called ‘animated flowing’ indicators,…

Aston Martin has ramped up the performance and specification of its flagship grand tourer to produce the new Vanquish S. The new model is available to order now, priced from £199,950, with first deliveries due next month. The Vanquish S produces 595bhp from a reworked 5.9-litre V12 engine, marking an improvement of 27bhp over the Vanquish, which it replaces. Torque remains the same at 465lb ft, but the added power helps the new car to reach 62mph from rest in 3.5sec — 0.3sec faster than before. The gains are the result of a new, freer-breathing stainless steel exhaust system and larger-volume inlet manifolds. Aston Martin has retuned the car’s rear-mounted eight-speed Tiptronic III gearbox to provide faster shifts. The dampers, spring rates and anti-roll bar bushes have also been adjusted…

Toyota will produce an electric vehicle capable of a 186-mile range in 2020, according to Japanese newspaper Nikkei. Quoting an unnamed source, Nikkei said a line-up of long-range EV models would follow. The reports arrived days after the Toyota Engineering Society, which is made up of Toyota employees, revealed a design concept for the car of 2050. Although it is not officially associated with Toyota, the glass-roofed, steering-wheelless car suggests the brand’s employees are turning their attention to electric power.…

Lamborghini has expanded its Huracán line-up with a rear-wheel-drive version of the Spyder. The entry-level drop-top has minor design tweaks to distinguish it from the all-wheel-drive LP610-4 version and Pirelli tyres developed exclusively for it. It’s powered by the same slightly detuned 5.2-litre V10 as the Huracán LP580-2 coupé, with 572bhp and 398lb ft of torque. However, it is 33kg lighter than the four-wheel-drive Spyder, at 1509kg, and covers 0-62mph just 0.2sec slower, at 3.6sec. The rear-drive Huracán Spyder will go on sale in January, priced between the £156,575 rear-wheel-drive coupé and £180,720 four-wheel-drive coupé.…

“It’s hard to think that the Auris and C-HR could come from the same company” Now, far be it from me to get your pedantry radar pinging, but if you’re going to call a car a coupé, high-rider (C-HR), you might expect an element of accuracy within both of those statements. But, well, this is a post-fact world, or so The Guardian keeps reminding me, so let’s allow Toyota some poetic licence. The C-HR – in effect the firm’s new mainstream five-door hatchback – does have a swooping rear window and sits a hand’s width higher than its own Auris hatchback. But a GT86 SUV it ain’t. You remember the Auris, right? Go on, you do. Replaced the Corolla? Competes against the Ford Focus, Volkswagen Golf, that sort of thing?…

“This is a properly quick car, hitting 62mph from rest just 0.3sec slower than the £130k R8 Spyder” The Audi TT RS Roadster takes the hard-top TT RS’s formula of brutal, R8-chasing pace but lops off the roof to open you up to the elements. Of course, as well as adding a closeness to Mother Nature, the removal of a fixed roof affects the car in other ways. Chiefly, it brings a weight penalty for the necessary structural reinforcement, in this instance making the drop-top 90kg heavier than the coupé. The knock-on effect of that is a 0-62mph time of 3.9sec (0.2sec slower than the coupé) and marginally worse fuel economy. The open-top TT RS also costs £1750 more than the fixed-head one. The good bits? Well, for starters, you…

So biggest update yet R GT-R meaningfully quicker and maintain a once well-earned reputation for giant-killing. So what? The one thing this car didn’t need was extra pace. The only true rival at its price point capable of a sub-4.0sec 0-60mph time is Porsche’s 911 Carrera 4S PDK, and even that car is a way off the Nissan’s gutsy level. However long in the tooth it has become, Godzilla is in rude health. If speed is what you want, nothing does it better below £100k. But then speed probably isn’t all you want in a modern sports car. Nissan knows this. It has tried to make the GT-R a more rounded, luxurious and mature axe-wielding mentalist of a device – and it has made a difference, albeit not a big…

There can’t be a car lover alive who hasn’t dreamed of building a car of his or her own. Most will never get close to it, but that doesn’t prevent the conceit lurking within us that, given the tools, we could do it better than the professionals. We never could, of course. Just understanding the legal constraints on a modern car design is years of work for dozens of people – and that’s before you start studying the true needs of customers in a big market sector, or creating something decent at a price they could afford. The process needs a depth of expertise we simple users just don’t understand. That’s why we dreamed up this project: to understand and help you to understand more about how a car is…

“It’s a good-looking model with well-respected Volkswagen Group engineering” Another SUV?” I hear you “ say. And admittedly, Seat is late to the SUV game when you consider that its Nissan Qashqai and Kia Sportage rivals were launched in 2007 and 2004 respectively. But Seat has been on the up and up in recent years and its third-generation Leon, launched in 2013, is good enough to more closely rival the ubiquitous Volkswagen Golf than ever before. With all that in mind, I’m keen to see whether Seat’s success with the Leon can translate to the Ateca, as the Spanish brand takes on the increasingly overcrowded SUV market with its practical, high-riding family car. And with the Qashqai starting to feel outdated, can the brand-new Ateca make a real dent into…

Last time I wrote at length in this spot, the i8 had just taken me to Belgium and back. Since then, its work rate has only increased and the reason why is simple: I use it for everything. This is not as obvious as it sounds. Were this any other £100k GT, I’d never use it for the school run or local shopping, because it would cost me the thick end of a fiver in fuel every time I did. The i8, by contrast, will do 18 of the 20-mile round trip on electrons alone, reducing the cost of the journey to a matter of a few pence. Others in the locality are wising up to its virtues, too. A chum to whom I’ve been dispensing car advice for 20…

MILEAGE 154,080 BMW 530D SPORT This time last week I was driving into the distance at my own risk in an overheating 5 Series. Well, I did manage 150 miles or so over a couple of days, admittedly with my eyes fixated on the temperature gauge. It seemed fine, but I really wanted to get it to my garage for a full diagnosis before piling too many more miles on the clock. They took one look at the AA man’s Super Glue-and-sealant split hose solution and said: “That’s what we would have done.” They did, however, take a hammer to a rear brake shroud that was catching. I’ve since added another 1000 miles with no further explosions.…

An expert’s view MATHEW SAGE, GIALLO CARS “History and provenance are crucial. Have the car checked out by a specialist engineer, too. Having done that, and if you’re confident it’s a good one, then I’d say absolutely you should buy it. The second you drive it, you’ll forgive its sins. And yes, it’s becoming a cliché these days, but a good GT most definitely has classic potential.” Buyer beware… • ENGINE Check cam covers for oil leaks. Cambelt change is every 31k miles, or four years on low-milers; timing chains every 68k (expensive). Check for noisy valve shims, and excessive crankshaft end float on manual cars (about £6000 to fix but cranks impossible to source). Failing crankshaft sensor causes starting problems. An engine that hunts or fails to start may…

PORSCHE HAS SWELLED its second-generation Panamera line-up with an entry-level model powered by a new 3.0-litre V6 turbo petrol engine and a long-wheelbase version called the Panamera Executive. In total, there are six new models: the Panamera and its four-wheel-drive sibling, the Panamera 4, and a quartet of long-wheelbase four-wheel-drive models: Panamera 4 Executive, Panamera 4 E-Hybrid Executive, Panamera 4S Executive and Panamera Turbo Executive. Making their public debut at this week’s Los Angeles motor show, the models will be launched in the UK in April 2017. Prices will kick off at £66,386 for the Panamera and £76,034 for the Panamera Executive, whose key rival, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class L, starts from £74,250. The Panamera and Panamera 4 are powered by a twin-scroll turbocharged 3.0-litre V6 petrol engine. Shared with the…

McLaren has confirmed it will launch a three-seater inspired by the original F1 that will bring hybrid power to the company’s line-up for the first time since the P1. The new model is being billed as a ‘hyper-GT’ rather than a hypercar in the mould of the original F1 and its P1 successor. According to McLaren, this means it is “a car designed for long journeys but with the high levels of performance and driver engagement expected of any McLaren”. Just 106 examples will be built, the same number as the original F1, and each has already been sold. Codenamed BP23, the model is the work of the McLaren Special Operations (MSO) division, headed by ex-Caterham and Zenos boss Ansar Ali. The ‘BP2’ in the codename signifies that this is…

Mazda’s second-generation CX-5 has been revealed in Los Angeles as the company looks to continue its global momentum, spurred on by the popularity of SUVs. Mazda says the all-new CX-5, on sale from the middle of next year, will kick-start a fresh era for its line-up, where passenger enjoyment is as important as driving pleasure and simplistic Japanese design helps it to stand out among rivals. In Europe, the new CX-5 enters a congested segment dominated by models such as the Nissan Qashqai and Kia Sportage. Its design takes heavy inspiration from the larger, US-focused CX-9. The CX-5’s sleek headlights are split by a wide-mouth grille and sit above a cleanly designed bumper, but bulky wheel arches and tall doors give the car the more rugged look of a proper…

“It’s clear Skoda wants its SUV to be thought of as every bit as agile as any rival” The Kodiaq represents two landmarks for Skoda: it’s the company’s first proper SUV and its first seven-seat passenger car. Perhaps more importantly, it’s also something of an acid test of the brand’s strength and could well be a bellwether for the company’s longterm strategy to move gradually upmarket. If Skoda proves it can sell family 4x4s for the kind of money that isn’t too far removed from what’s needed for an equivalent BMW, Audi or Land Rover, it’ll be much easier to move the rakish coupé and crossover concepts we’ve seen recently from drawing board to production. The Kodiaq is the fourth new MQB platform-based Volkswagen Group SUV to hit the market…

Like the Jaguar F-Pace and the Bentley Bentayga before it, this is the car touted to grow its maker’s sales from low-volume mediocrity to something to boast about. It’s a task made harder not only by the quality of the opposition but also by its sheer quantity. Going by its dimensions, the diesel Levante is a rival for the Porsche Cayenne, but the price for this model puts everything from an Audi SQ5 to a 3.0D F-Pace among its rivals, while our test car’s £70,174 with-options cost gets you a Range Rover Sport. The Land Rover actually makes for a good yardstick as Maserati claims a similarly broad range of virtues for its SUV. To make good on the claims, the car combines a rear-biased all-wheel drive system with self-levelling…

“The back takes off like an artillery shell ired at right angles to the intended direction of travel” Running hard uphill, I can see the corner in the distance. But there is still time, time for one more shift, one more opportunity to run that 6.3-litre V12 to 8900rpm, to hear and feel the 770bhp pouring from its block and heads, to listen while that sound sears through my brain. The corner is tighter than it looks; we need the brakes and we need them now. But the Ferrari’s massive carbon discs have it covered. Hot, sticky Pirellis bite into the tarmac, shedding in an instant an unpublishable amount of speed and energy. The car angles into the turn on a trailing throttle, awaiting further instruction. My right boot needs…

“Taking turn one at pace on cold tyres is akin to roller skating down a spiral staircase” From afar, Time Attack might look like a glorified track day championship. Rather than racing, its drivers are sent out on track in sessions in order to record their fastest lap time. No race starts, no battles, it’s just you against the stopwatch. Those who crave wheel-to-wheel competition – and can afford to fund the inevitable damage – may not find Time Attack as appealing as a race series. But for those who love driving on the absolute limit and extracting everything from themselves and their car on every corner, Time Attack might just be the perfect fit. To find out what it’s like to be a Time Attack driver, this Autocar staffer…

Can Alfa make it work? I read with despair the news of Alfa Romeo’s latest recovery plans (News, 2 November). The plans of Alfa’s owner, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, to mix it with the big boys revolves around not one but three SUVs. In an already overcrowded market, is this the best it can do? Why turn your back on more than 100 years of heritage? Okay, there’s the promise of other models to come, but we ve had similar promises before. Maybe FCA should consider whether it’s better to trade on Alfa’s heritage rather than forget it. Accept it’s a niche market player, like Maserati. Richard Tyjas Harwich, Essex WIN Letter of the week wins this ValetPRO exterior protection and maintenance kit worth £58.95…

A family gathering in the Midlands was the perfect opportunity to wrestle the Jaguar’s keys off its custodian, Matt Burt. A close relative of mine has been toying with buying an XF and his reasoning makes for an interesting story, which we’ll come to in a moment. During the journey from Surrey to Rugby, my mother spent the duration admiring the XF’s rear seats, before reminiscing about her time at automotive supply company TRW, where she was involved in providing interior fixtures and trim for both Jaguar and Land Rover. Later, a chat with my uncle Divyen unearthed the real reason behind his pining for a Jaguar. Divyen’s father used to manage a team of engineers on the production line at Jaguar’s Radford plant in Coventry, where it built predominantly…

1 Porsche Panamera What better alternative to the new Panamera than the outgoing model? Prices for these now start at around £25,000 if you’re willing to take a punt on a high-miler, although even a clean, low-mileage example with a full history can now be bought for less than £35,000. There aren’t many reports of huge and catastrophic failures with these, but watch out for worn brakes and suspension because this is a big, heavy car. Pick a Panamera S with 53,000 miles on the clock and a full history for £31,000 — and hang the fuel economy. 2 Jaguar XF Strictly speaking, the XF was positioned as a rival for four-door saloons like the BMW 5 Series, but it has all the glamour of a pukka four-door coupé. The…

STAR RATINGS EXPLAINED 0-20% Inherently dangerous/ unsafe. Tragically, irredeemably flawed. 20-35% Appalling. Massively significant failings. 35-50% Very poor. Fails to meet any accepted class boundaries. 50-60% Poor. Within acceptable class boundaries in a few areas. Still not recommendable. 60-65% Off the pace. Below average in nearly all areas. 5-70% Acceptable. About average in key areas, but disappoints. 70-75% Competent. Above average in some areas, average in others. Outstanding in none. 75-80% Good. Competitive in key areas. 80-85% Very good. Very competitive in key areas, competitive in secondary respects. 85-92% Excellent. Near class leading in key areas, and in some ways outstanding. >93% Brilliant, unsurpassed. All but flawless.…

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 S-badged Audi.…