Innholdsfortegnelse for 01/03/2017 i Autocar

Ford has revealed its latest Fiesta ST hot hatch, which matches the performance of the brand’s current range-topping ST200 model. The new ST hits 62mph from rest in 6.7sec — 0.2sec faster than the outgoing Fiesta ST. To be unveiled officially at the Geneva motor show next week, the Fiesta ST remains an important halo model for Ford, particularly in the UK, where its Fiesta supermini continues to dominate car sales. It is in its eighth consecutive year at the top of the car sales rankings. The third-generation Fiesta ST is the first to feature Ford’s new, 197bhp three-cylinder 1.5-litre Ecoboost petrol engine. It also introduces three drive modes, which adjust engine, steering and stability controls. There are more customisation options than previously, too. “Next-generation Fiesta ST customers will benefit…

Future hybrid performance road cars from Mercedes-AMG will be based around a new sub-brand called EQ Power+. The brand name features on the latest Mercedes-AMG W08 Formula 1 racer, which was revealed last week. Mercedes’ F1 powertrain boss, Andy Cowell, told Autocar that it is inevitable that many of the hardware and drive cycle improvements in the new F1 car’s hybrid system would end up in AMG’s upcoming hybrid road cars because, “we’ve got a great marriage between the road and race engineers at our Brixworth plant”.…

VAUXHALL’S UK PLANT at Ellesmere Port is secure for the current generation of Astra production, which will run until 2021, a spokesman has told Autocar. The future of the plant, as well as Vauxhall’s other factory in Luton, has been under scrutiny after the news a fortnight ago that PSA — the owner of Peugeot, Citroën and DS — is interested in taking a majority stake in Vauxhall and its European equivalent Opel. With plants across Europe running at 80% capacity and Vauxhall/Opel planning to introduce two new SUVs this year, the Crossland X and Grandland X, it would not be feasible to move production of the Astra model to another European factory in the short to mid-term, said the spokesman. If the deal goes ahead, future Astra models can…

t’s a vehicular oxymoron, isn’t it? A Mulsanne to drive rather than be driven in. And yet that is just what Bentley maintains this Mulsanne Speed is. And while a 2685kg limousine that is also a driver’s car seems like a faintly ridiculous idea, the flipside is that this is a 530bhp, 4.9sec-to-62mph, £252,000 car. Of course such a gentrified wedge of automotive real estate should be special to drive. Of course people who love cars will want to drive such an opulent thing. So what’s wrong with making a version of the Mulsanne that caters for them? Even so, the first question we need to address here is one of expectations. Bentley might choose to describe the Mulsanne Speed as a driver’s car, rather like Porsche might describe its…

The Smart Fortwo and Forfour are expensive and quirky city cars for style-conscious metropolitan drivers. The cars themselves, and their target audience, suit a zany electric model perfectly. Smart’s new electric line-up can be charged up to twice as fast as its previous electric model and it has a slightly bigger range and more power. Previously, you could get only the two-seat Fortwo as an electric car but now, for the first time, you can get an electrified four-seat Forfour. Although it isn’t quick over a longer distance, its nippy acceleration to 30mph is a great asset around town, which is the Smart’s natural habitat. The battery adds 140kg of weight compared with the petrol model. The battery pack is sited low in the car, resulting in a lower centre…

MODEL TESTED 1.0 T-GDI 3 ECO Price £16,295 Power 99bhp Torque 127lb ft 0-60mph 10.0sec 30-70mph in fourth 16.8sec Fuel economy 39.7mpg CO2 emissions 102g/km 70-0mph 54.0m The Kia Rio is now one of the biggest-selling global models of the world’s third-largest car-making group. Last year, at the tail end of its life cycle, the outgoing version of the Rio registered sales of just under 450,000 units. However, the car has a much greater profile elsewhere in the world than it has here in Europe, where, despite consistent sales growth, it has yet to break into the top 10 bestselling cars in the supermini class. You don’t come by a top-10 place in the European supermini sales charts easily, of course. In order to earn one, the Rio needs to…

“Since the model’s 2007 launch, Nissan has sold more than 3.3m Qashqais in 137 countries” By the time the 20th century was becoming the 21st, Nissan’s Japanese bosses had become used to the sensation of desperation. The company had travelled to the brink of existence by 1999 and bankruptcy had been fended off only by an audacious manoeuvre led by Renault’s Carlos Ghosn. The French manufacturer acquired a 37% controlling stake in Nissan for a life-saving $5.4 billion (£4.33bn). What happened next is automotive legend. Ghosn’s foundation-shaking Nissan Revival Plan turned the company around by doing the culturally unthinkable in Japan: shutting factories, breaking up cosy and costly ‘keiretsu’ cross-shareholding arrangements with suppliers, making redundancies and more. But it worked. In amazingly short order, Nissan returned to profit and started…

WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN BUYING A USED VIPER The great thing about the Viper is that its simple engineering means very little goes wrong. Tyres are expensive, so check treads, and make sure the clutch isn’t slipping – on a low-mile car, it’s a sign of abuse. Servicing is far cheaper than on most cars with this sort of pace, and because the engine is so big, it’s unstressed, so bits rarely fall off. C check the fibreglass body for damage, and the interior plastics for cracks. “Pull for emergency exit,” says the oversized catch on the door. It’s winter, there’s patchy black ice on the West Sussex lanes we’re driving along and said catch is attached to a Dodge Viper GTS – not exactly a paragon of clinical…

Time’s up for the Renault Kadjar. Its time with us, that is, not its time in the showrooms or on driveways across the country. Far from it. The increasing number of them visible on our roads suggests that the Kadjar’s time is very much now. There’s a reason for that – or several reasons. The Kadjar absolutely fits the mould of the contemporary urban crossover, with the added kudos of sharing its heritage with the class-defining Nissan Qashqai. It looks good, it’s priced competitively and it comes with all the right equipment and trim options. Our Kadjar was in Dynamique S Nav form, which sits right in the middle of a choice of five spec options. Its generous list of kit included automatic dual-zone climate control, automatic headlights with an…

I was on a mission to drive from my home in Basingstoke to Shropshire, to pick-up a 50-year collection of Autocar back issues. It’s a three-and-a-bit-hour trip each way, so I needed a car that was adept at covering ground quickly and able to carry a fair load. Our Octavia vRS Estate ticked those boxes. As an added bonus, it was an absolute hoot to thread along the dry A-roads north of Shrewsbury, and both comfortable and secure during the drive back down the M6 and M5 in horrendous monsoon conditions. The only area that showed up the Octavia was its infotainment. I’m somewhat spoilt by a modern car that seamlessly hooks up to my smartphone, but I ran out of patience trying to work out how to pair my…

Drive away in a distinguished Daimler Will the Daimler name will ever return? At least it’s not too late to get a crinkle-grilled XJ8 from the classified ads. So here’s a 1999 4.0 Sovereign for £6000. It’s got 79,000 miles, a long wheelbase and all the walnut and chrome you could want. Just a few owners and the last one since 2003, which is the consistency you need with older, expensive and more complicated cars. Net yourself a four-wheel-drive Ferrari The practical, four-seat Ferrari FF really exists to tempt those who want to put a few miles on the clock and possibly do the school run. They’re not especially cheap, and here’s a 2012 example for £134,990 to prove it. It has a solid 29,000 miles under its wheels and…

“The S3 is conservative inside and out and has weathered changing fashions well” There’s nothing like stuffing a few extra horsepower under the bonnet to set tongues wagging. The original S3, which was on sale from 1999 to 2003, made do first with 207bhp and later with 221bhp from its 1.8-litre turbocharged engine. Useful enough for 0-62mph in a claimed 6.7sec, but not exactly the stuff of legend. So in 2006, Audi presented an all-new S3. Powered by a strengthened version of the VW Group’s 2.0 TFSI engine, it breathed through a larger turbocharger, its air was chilled by an uprated intercooler and it produced 261bhp at 6000rpm. It spooled up quickly for a big blower, developing 258lb ft from as low as 2500rpm and feeding it to all four…

Volkswagen Up From £8800 VW’s city car is no revolution, just a trademarked effort to beat its rivals on finish, refinement and economy. Hyundai i10 From £8700 The latest i10 prioritises maturity over its former liveliness, but the re›ined result is still a ›irst-rate city car. Suzuki Celerio From £7000 Pleasing to drive, cheap to buy and decent to sit in, the Celerio is a no-nonsense option — and very likeable for it. Fiat Panda From £9400 The Panda may not have quite kept pace with its rivals, but it still sells robust, practical charm better than any. Vauxhall Viva From £8000 A derivative and charisma-free take on the modern city car but not devoid of usability or space. Cabin is decent, too.…

“The E-Pace promises to catapult Jaguar forward in the same way the Evoque has done for Land Rover” Jaguar is ramping up its SUV sales assault with the E-Pace compact SUV, which is due to be revealed in early summer. It follows just six months after the unveiling of the electric I-Pace at the LA motor show. With the mid-sized F-Pace SUV making up more than half of the brand’s overall sales since it was launched last year and buyers preferring high-riding vehicles to traditional saloons such as the XE and XF, Jaguar’s growing range of SUVs will be key to the brand’s future success. As well as the E-Pace, F-Pace and I-Pace, a large SUV called the J-Pace will go on sale by 2019. The compact E-Pace, which is…

DS is set to introduce its first European SUV, the 7 Crossback, which Autocar has seen ahead of its official debut at the Geneva motor show next week. The 7 Crossback is the first of what will quickly become a slew of new models from DS. A smaller crossover and a large saloon will be among them. However, there are no plans to bring the slightly smaller, Chinese-market DS 6 crossover to Europe. It’s less than two years since the PSA Group split DS into a third model line positioned above Peugeot and Citroën. It is determined to portray its newest brand as a premium player and the 7’s styling takes on plenty of upmarket cues — especially in the resemblance at the rear to the Audi Q5. The 7…

Test track demonstrations are normally conducted at a speed designed to make the passenger feel moderate awe, but not today. Andrea Louis, the DS 7 project manager, is driving a hard-working prototype wearing a tatty disguise at a brisk but restrained pace. He deliberately takes aim at every imperfection he can find, including some nasty artificial ridges across the surface of the track. He’s intent on proving the 7 rides like a big French car should. Unfortunately, our 7 isn’t fitted with the Active Scan suspension, which is apparently still undergoing final tuning, and our car’s variable dampers are working only in their default Normal mode. But the car feels impressively compliant from both the front passenger and rear seats when asked to digest the Belchamp test track’s modest number…

Alpine has revealed the first official image of its forthcoming two-seater sports car, ahead of the model’s Geneva show unveiling next week. The rear-drive Porsche Cayman rival uses a lightweight aluminium platform and upper body for agility, according to the Renault-owned brand. The car is set to use a 250bhp 1.8-litre petrol engine and will be able to hit 62mph from rest in 4.5sec. A 300bhp performance variant is also expected, along with a convertible. The first examples will be badged Premier Edition, with prices from around £50,000. GHOSN SWITCHES FOCUS TO MITSUBISHI Carlos Ghosn has stepped down as CEO of Nissan. He is giving up day-to-day running of the firm to concentrate on revitalising Mitsubishi, which he recently added to the Renault Nissan Alliance with the purchase of a…

It has a big boot. It has rear seats split conveniently in 40/20/40 portions. It has sensible black plastic wheel arch lips. It has multiple cupholders, a powered tailgate, shopping hooks and… 276bhp, which is quite a lot for a high-riding five-seat family car. This certainly isn’t the first time that Alfa Romeo has set about building a more practical vehicle – it made a rugged, Jeep-like 4x4 called the Matta in the early 1950s - but what its Canadian boss, Reid Bigland, underlines is that “the Stelvio is an Alfa Romeo first and an SUV second”. As any car enthusiast knows, that should mean a recipe to include excellent handling, feelsome steering and a tunefully characterful soundtrack. To this end, chief engineer Roberto Fedeli says Alfa Romeo consulted a…

The new Kia Rio, one imagines, must have fulfilled its maker’s intentions for it rather neatly. It’s an even more practical, parsimonious and mature prospect than the car it replaces, and you could hardly ask for a more resolutely worthy, servile or grown-up supermini. Yet for all its functional virtue, the Rio is made to look one-dimensional by the opposition. And that’s because while it succeeds in the narrowest of furrows, the Ford Fiesta, Mini hatch and Mazda 2 all seek to go that extra mile in one way or another, while in every way doing so in a more well-rounded and fulfilling manner. Consequently, while none of those rivals can claim to accommodate a rear passenger quite as easily, all of them drive in a way better suited to…

It’s been a Porsche Panamera-intensive month, which may seem like an odd thing to say in a report on a BMW i8, but bear with me. The one pictured above is the 4S Diesel, and with 4.0 litres of twin-turbo V8 power at its disposal, it gives a similar level of performance to that offered by the BMW’s 1.5 litres of three-pot single-turbo hybridised petrol power. How? Because once you’ve offset the Porsche’s extra power and torque against its half tonne of additional weight, they actually stack up pretty closely. I’m a huge fan of both powertrains. Truth is, I’ve never driven a V8 diesel I didn’t like, and the Panamera’s velvet wallop is something to behold. But the i8 counters with a deliciously snarling soundtrack, despite some sneering at…

Water polo: I’m sure it’s fun to play — it looks like a sort of organised semi-drowning – but it isn’t so clever when it comes to the teenager’s toy car. In this case it means a slightly damp rear footwell, but only when it rains, of course. The other week I asked the garage to investigate, but it couldn’t find a problem. Then helpful reader Ed Sinclair got in touch and suggested that I look at the seals around the rear light clusters. It worked for him on his daughter’s Polo. A dab of sealant later, he says, the leak was no more. I’ll make some time to try it out in the coming days.…

An expert’s view MARK MCMANUS, MDM TECHNIK “The S3 is a tough car, although the interiors of older ones can look tired. Take care when buying earlier, pre-facelift models. The high-pressure fuel injection system brought problems, including carbon build-up on the inlet valves. The fuel is sprayed so precisely that there’s little chance for it to spread out and wash the valves, so over time they accumulate deposits and must be cleaned. You’ll feel it because power will be reduced. Early cars also had coil issues, which was resolved by fitting upgraded OE coils. For S3s of all ages, you want evidence of regular 9000-mile oil changes and air filter and plug changes every 38,000 miles.” Buyer beware… • ENGINE Cambelt needs changing every 57,000 miles or five years; do…

Porsche 911 GT3 RS From £131,000 Proof that Porsche hasn’t forgotten how to do on-limit nuttiness when the occasion demands it. Ferrari 458 Speciale From £208,000 Huge premium means it can’t overcome the GT3, but that doesn’t stand between it and greatness. Fabulous. McLaren 675 LT From £260,000 Limited-run supercar brings out the very best in the Sports Series and has the punch to match its price. Magic. Lamborghini Aventador Superveloce From £315,000 It’s taken 740bhp to do it, but the four-wheel-drive Aventador is now a proper Lamborghini in the old-school mould. Lotus Exige S From £53,000 Only fantasy machines of a rare and expensive calibre are capable of seeing off the Lotus. It’s that good.…

Porsche has revealed a new 671bhp plug-in hybrid Panamera. The Turbo S, which uses a V8 engine mated to an electric motor, is the second petrol-electric model in the Panamera line-up. The new variant is the first hybrid to serve as the flagship model within a Porsche range. The Turbo S offers more performance and greater economy than the existing 543bhp V8-engined Turbo. The S is claimed to be able to travel up to 31 miles on electric power and return 97mpg on the NEDC test, with CO2 emissions of 66g/km. However, Panamera model line boss Gernot Döllner said in real-world use the model can travel between 24 and 27 miles on electric power and will return between 22mpg and 40mpg. The Turbo S’s flagship status is reinforced by the…

Although PSA no longer produces cars with hydraulic suspension — which caused the ride of the original Citroën DS to be compared with a magic carpet — the DS 7 will be offered with athe option of an Active Scan suspension system. This will use a high-mounted camera near the top of the windscreen to ‘read’ the surface of the road as it approaches, pre-setting the stiffness of the electronically variable dampers (which will be standard on more expensive versions) to take account of larger bumps and compressions as they arrive. Mercedes already offers a similar Magic Body Control system on more expensive models, but DS claims Active Scan will be a segment first.…

1 The Instinct has two modes, Relax and Boost, when driving. Boost offers the more engaging drive behind the wheel. The steering wheel retracts when the car is in autonomous mode. 2 This so-called i-Device lets passengers control the car in autonomous mode. There is a choice of autonomous modes: Soft, which could be selected if you wanted to read in comfort, and Sharp, if you wanted a more dynamic journey. 3 There’s similar space to a 308 hatchback and four seats. The seating positions, lighting and sound options change depending on the chosen driving mode. 4 Aerodynamic features include an active spoiler and an active air blade, which is deployed above 56mph to provide extra downforce. There is also an integrated air duct along the length of the Instinct,…

The Range Rover stable needed a supercharged 3.0-litre V6 petrol engine like Hannibal Lecter needed a bit more menace. But, with an increasing trend away from diesel and towards petrol, this 335bhp motor, which undercuts the equivalent V6 diesel by £4300, may not be as surplus to requirements as it initially seems. The engine is going into both the full-fat Range Rover and the Range Rover Sport. We’re testing the latter, in which the new V6 it is only available with mid-level HSE Dynamic trim. Other revisions to the model for 2017 include the addition of the InControl Touch Pro system, which is now in every version of the Range Rover Sport. It brings a bigger, 10in colour touchscreen and various clever sat-nav functions, including a ‘commute mode’ that learns…

“The BMW i3’s real attraction is the sophisticated and inspired packaging” Let’s talk about £40k. This significant but cannily less than exorbitant amount of money is about to become a crucial figure in the financial minefield of new car buying. Why? Because that’s the apparently arbitrary sum the government has decreed will mark the boundary between those paying a new £140 standard rate of Vehicle Excise Duty (VED, or road tax between friends) and those paying an additional supplement of £310 for years two to six of ownership. Years two to six? Indeed, because for the first year of ownership, the amount you’ll pay in VED will be linked to the CO2 emissions of your new car. However, the CO2 thresholds that determine what you pay have been dramatically revised…

Qashqai volumes have more than trebled since the car’s debut in 2007, and in 2010 it accounted for one in four C-SUV sales. However, as the bottom graph shows, greater competition from rivals in the sector has lowered the Qashqai’s C-SUV market share, despite increasing sales. The combined C and C-SUV segments now account for 38% of the UK’s new car market. Note: ‘C hatch’ refers to C-segment (eg, Focus, Golf, Astra, hatches); ‘C-SUV’ refers to crossovers in the Focus/ Golf C segment; ‘C and C-SUV’ refers to both segments combined.…

“The acceleration of an EGT racer is on a par with that of an F1 car” The new zero-emissions Electric GT series aims to follow the lead of Formula E by injecting excitement into the image of electric vehicles. The series, which will begin in the autumn, will initially be contested by track-prepared versions of the Tesla Model S P100DL. Formula E has showcased electric single-seaters, whereas EGT is based around cars that resemble road-going EVs. At the moment, of course, there aren’t many performance-orientated pure EVs on the market, hence EGT’s initial focus on Tesla. However, the series is open to all and the hope is that more varied grids will be seen in the future. The racing Tesla has beefed-up bodywork, with flared wheel arches and a large…

Show me the money Readers have suggested it’s time for F1 to ditch electronic aids and return to using a manual gear lever as a way to drive down costs and make the drivers work harder (Your views, 8 February). In reality, F1 has relatively few driver aids. My own club-level racer has auto-upshift, launch control, traction control and data-logging, and my budget is a bit more modest than an F1 operation. A much greater proportion of F1’s budget goes on aerodynamic development. Rules imposing a freeze on aero packages or limited in-season development would be a step in the right direction. Stephen Alexander Glasgow WIN Letter of the week wins this ValetPRO exterior protection and maintenance kit worth £58.95…

A LONG CONTINENTAL drive is traditionally considered a great opportunity to properly get to know your new car. However, my Clio RS Trophy is not the ideal mode of transport for four lads heading the French Alps for a snowboarding trip, despite the fact it has a longer wheelbase than its predecessor. Although fitting the four of us inside might have been doable, no supermini’s boot can accommodate four sets of cold-weather luggage and snowboards, too. The Trophy, then, has been on the shelf , and I’ve been driving our Audi SQ7. That doesn’t mean I haven’t been getting to grips with the Renault. First on the agenda: that gearbox. The pronoun is appropriate there, because whenever I’m asked about the car, that is where enquiries begin and end. How…

Andrew Thornton likes to put his faith in Ford Focus Estates. The one pictured had two owners before him and was bought for £700 at the end of 2012. “It was a 2001 TDDi with 138,000 miles and a full history,” he says. “The original plan was to keep it for two years and then sell it, but because it was so reliable, I kept it for just over three years, by which time it had done 183,000 miles. Apart from routine servicing, all it needed was a new heater fan, two lower wishbones and two track rod ends. It averaged 49mpg. “I sold it for £150 and it was replaced with another Mk1 Focus Estate, this time a 2003 1.8 petrol.” SEND YOUR USED CAR TALES TO james@bangernomics.com…

“In common with most Mercs of its era, the 190 is a smoochy old cruiser” Take just one look at the styling of a Mercedes-Benz 190 and you’ll know in an instant what it’s like to drive and own. That three-box profile speaks of the solidity, comfort and robustness it delivers – and that’s exactly what makes the first baby Mercedes such a cracking modern classic today. The 190 was released in 1982, in 90bhp carburettor and fuel-injected, 122bhp 190 E forms. The latter remained at the core of the 190 range for most of its life. It was joined by a 2.6-litre straight six, a series of diesels and a succession of ever more potent 16-valve models, which culminated in the truly special 2.5-16 Evolution II. Production stopped in…

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. Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio From £61,000 Wields its rear-drive platform to captivating effect. Other facets not quite as stellar, but overall a dynamic return to form. 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. Jaguar XJR From £92,400 The Jaguar XJR is an enormously attractive and satisfyingly rapid luxury saloon with chiselled style and performance kudos to burn. Audi RS7 Sportback From £86,985 Mixes the punch of the RS6 and sleek looks of the A7 to offer serious all- weather ground-covering ability with a dash of practicality.…

VOLKSWAGEN T-ROC | DECEMBER Previously referred to as ‘the Golf SUV’, the T-Roc is expected to make its debut at this month’s Geneva motor show. The high-riding five-seater has chunky styling and will offer petrol or diesel engines with manual or auto gearboxes. Inside, it gets Volkswagen’s Active Info Display digital instrument panel and a 9.2in infotainment screen. Price£19,000 (est) MARCH AC Cobra 378, Atalanta sports car, BMW 670Li xDrive update, Ferrari 812 Superfast, GTC4 Lusso T, Honda Civic, Hyundai i30, Jaguar F-Type update, F-Type 400 Sport, Nissan Micra, Renault Captur update, Seat Leon Cupra R, Skoda Octavia update, Volkswagen e-Golf, Golf Hybrid, Zenvo TS1 GT (right) APRIL/MAY Alpina B3S, B4S, D5, Audi A5 Cabriolet, Q5, SQ5, Avatar Roadster, BMW 4 Series update, Kia Picanto, Lamborghini Aventador S, Huracán…