Innholdsfortegnelse for 5/4/2017 i Autocar

Audi Sport is set to launch several new SUVs, with boss Stephan Winkelmann confirming the division, which is responsible for Audi’s RS models and the R8, will enter more profitable segments. “We don’t want to have a big line-up,” Winkelmann told Autocar. “[Having] the right cars means segments that are growing and segments that are equally distributed in the regions of the world. Therefore, a CUV [Compact Utility Vehicle] shift is due. We are working on it and you will see it coming.” In his previous role as head of Lamborghini, Winkelmann argued the case for the Urus SUV and he clearly sees space for similar models from Audi Sport. The Q7 and Q8 would be the most obvious candidates for the RS treatment. However, Winkelmann also confirmed that there…

Jaguar is developing a long-wheelbase XE for the Chinese market. Likely to be called the XEL, it will be around 120mm longer than the regular car to boost rear space and appeal to China’s demand for chauffeur-driven models. Slotting beneath the larger XFL and XJL, which also target China, the XEL will add rear-seat features that include screens and controls for the infotainment system. An optional massage seat function, four-way lumbar adjustment and window blinds are also possibilities. The heavier XEL will probably forgo the less powerful engines used by the regular XE, which has turbocharged 2.0-litre petrol engines with up to 247bhp.…

Seat will launch its first electric model in 2019, brand boss Luca de Meo has revealed, and two more EVs will follow by 2020. Meo suggested the first model would be an electric version of the Mii, but he stopped short of confirming it. “It makes sense for the city,” he said. The e-Mii concept, revealed earlier this year, offers a glimpse of what the production car will be like. It shares parts with the Volkswagen e-Up, the current version of which uses an 81bhp electric motor that produces 155lb ft and offers a claimed 99-mile range. A second Seat EV will follow soon after and Meo described it as “something Leon-sized”, suggesting it will be based on the larger hatchback model. Such a car was first previewed with the…

When this Korean-built supermini first came along in 2004, it helped to set the template for the modern European micro-hatchback years before Europe’s own car-makers – Peugeot, Citroën, VW, Seat, Skoda or Vauxhall – could get in on the act themselves. Now that European buyers have so many locally built options to choose from, of course, the Picanto is in danger of fading into the background unless it can hit those pioneering high notes all over again. This new version starts in the right place, with a lighter, stiffer body structure. It then adds a longer wheelbase; suspension and steering systems that have been re-specified as well as retuned; more assertive and eye-catching body styling; improved cabin and boot space; a more upmarket-looking dashboard; and a revised engine range featuring,…

“We were trying to be as quiet as possible, given that it was 6am” Fortunately, the owners of the little white house in Henniker Mews weren’t at home. We were trying to be as quiet as possible, given that it was just past 6am, but you can’t push the world’s oldest Aston Martin down a cobbled street in one of the most crowded parts of South Kensington, set it up for photographs and start flashing away without creating some sort of disturbance. Yet no one threw open an upstairs window and started shouting at us in classic cartoon fashion. Disturbance was there none. The car we were pushing was the revered 1915 Aston Martin A3, a small and modest-looking open sports car now conservatively valued at £20 million. Owned by…

So how fast is the Porsche Panamera 4S Diesel by the ultimate measure, that of the supercar? How far back in history must you look to find a time when the very fastest cars on our roads were no quicker than a four-door diesel-powered grand tourer today? It’s about 20 years. In 1997, all the quickest Ferraris we’d recently tested — the F355, F512M and brand-new 550 Maranello — hit 60mph in the mid-to-late-4sec bracket and 100mph in just over 10sec. Slower, then? Yes and no. One reason the Panamera is so startling off the line is that it has four-wheel drive, seamless shifting and launch control. Ferraris of the era enjoyed no such refinements. The Ferraris also had their numbers recorded under usual Autocar test conditions, with two people…

Land Rover design boss Gerry McGovern is sadly misinformed if he believes his own smug assertions about Jaguar Land Rover’s dilatory efforts on the Defender replacement (News, 8 March). While a (moneyed) section of the marketplace is wooed by electronic toys, connectivity and fancy touchscreens instead of switches (try that as a gloved farmer on a winter’s day), there remains a crying need for a sensible, no-nonsense, practical, working 4x4 – with diff locks – for the UK, Europe and worldwide. Who else has the heritage and charisma to produce one? Just as bad, this shallow, facile attitude of ‘Range-Roverism’ has led Mercedes down the same path with the ludicrously tarted-up versions of the G-Wagen, to the exclusion of working versions. Tom Sheppard Offley, Herts WIN Letter of the week…

“Nobody can dispute that it remains the agile, park-anywhere king in the city car class” I like things that divide opinion. It makes life much more interesting. My Smart Fortwo certainly did that – among colleagues and in the world at large – during the six months it was with us. This third-generation model has a lot resting on its diminutive shoulders. As a city car, it needs to prove itself in a class it no longer has all to itself. Being as compact as they come is no longer enough, it seems. That said, the Smart’s dimensions still lend it an edge over any other city car out there if the ability to squeeze into seemingly impossible parking spaces is a priority. For me, living on the outskirts of…

Should you be considering an Infiniti, I’d recommend asking your dealer to lend you a test car for a few days rather than just going for a short drive around the block. I was recently immersed in our Q30 for a solid fortnight, during which time my views on the car flip-flopped between underwhelmed, downright baffled and actually quite impressed. My first impressions were not positive. Granted, I’d jumped straight out of a silken Jaguar XF V6 diesel worth twice the price, but the Q30 felt disappointingly unrefined for a car with pretensions of fighting the Audi A3. Upon start-up and under acceleration, the 2.2-litre diesel engine chattered away brashly and the car’s ride felt about as uncharitable as a US border guard. I was also surprised by how much…

A well-equipped low-mileage Lexus In a showroom in Cambridgeshire is this rather lovely Lexus RX300 LE. It’s from 2006, it has a complete service history and the mileage is a very reasonable 47,000. Otherwise it’s a mint motor with a long spec list. Rear privacy glass and tan leather heated seats are all very well, but the dealer says it drives ‘spot on’, which is what you really want to hear. Just £6990 to you. Prepare for a post-Brexit Europa Here we have a 2007 Lotus Europa S for £23,000, with recent brake and servicing work. The private seller is the second owner of this 45,000-miler, which is standard but for black nose/wheel badges and fuel filler surround. It also has the Lux Pack, which means a full leather interior…

“An R will surprise you with its communicative steering, refinement and grunt” Fifteen years after the model was launched, and 10 years since production ended, a Jaguar S-Type R still attracts covetous glances. It looks naughty in that special Jaguar way, especially in black, a colour that stiffens its soft, curvy shape and sets off its 18in alloy wheels with green calipers and discreet red and green ‘R’ badges on boot panel and wings. Prices for this 155mph, rear-wheel-drive V8 sports saloon, which cost £47,000 new, start at around £3500 for an early model with more than 100,000 miles on the clock and go all the way to £9000 for the last 2007 cars. In fact, we’ve seen one 2005 car with just 7000 miles for £22,500. However, the sweet…

Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport From £31,000 Clubsport package hones the cutting edge of the greatest all-round hot hatch on the market. Rewarding and well-mannered. Honda Civic Type R From £30,000 Don’t assume the Civic’s single driven axle means it’s outgunned; the Type R generates all the traction its blown VTEC needs. Seat Leon Cupra 290 From £28,500 Quickest Leon yet combines a fizzing turbo engine with instant handling poise. Not as classy or well-rounded as some. Ford Focus ST From £23,000 Habitually brilliant-value hot hatch with a real slugger of an engine. Direct, pointy handling, but not as supple-riding as it once was. Peugeot 308 GTi by Peugeot Sport From £27,300 Engine combines zesty performance and creditable economy very well. But not as grippy or involving as some…

VOLVO S90 AND V90 T8 | AUGUST Volvo’s excellent new saloon and estate will become available with the T8 plug-in hybrid (PHEV) powertrain used in the XC90 SUV. This comprises a 9.2kWh lithium ion battery and a 2.0-litre petrol engine, providing 306bhp, CO2 emissions of just 46 g/km and an electric-only range of around 30 miles. Price£45,000 (est) APRIL Audi Q5 (right), Avatar Roadster, BMW 4 Series update, Dacia Logan MCV Stepway, Lamborghini Huracán Spyder, Lotus Elise Sprint, Mercedes-AMG GT Roadster, GT C Roadster, Mercedes-Benz E-Class Coupé, GLA update, V-Class Marco Polo, Mini Countryman JCW, Piecha AMG GT-RSR, Porsche Panamera, Skoda Kodiaq, Toyota Yaris update MAY Alpina B3 S, B4 S, D4, Audi A5 Cabriolet, Kia Picanto, Lamborghini Aventador S, Huracán Performante, Lotus Elise 250 Cup, Exige Race 380, Exige…

“Design chief Marek Reichman will be tasked with making the most beautiful supercar in the world” Aston Martin has finalised plans for a seven-car model line-up, to be completed by 2022. The star newcomer of the British firm’s expanded range will be a new mid-engined supercar to rival the likes of the McLaren 720S and Ferrari 488 GTB. Also planned to join the DB11 and replacements for the Vantage and Vanquish will be three new models built in a new production facility in St Athan, Wales. These cars are the DBX SUV and two models from the Lagonda sub-brand. The end game, according to Aston Martin boss Andy Palmer, is a car company with seven diverse models, each with a seven-year model cycle. Palmer wants Aston Martin to launch one…

Plans by the Volkswagen Group to develop a new sports car platform to underpin a range of models from Porsche, Audi and Lamborghini are taking shape. However, a decision on whether the modular structure will receive a production go-ahead is still to be made, according to Porsche boss Oliver Blume. Blume confirmed that the VW Group is actively pursuing plans to emulate the cost-cutting and production-streamlining initiatives achieved with its three existing large-scale production platforms – MQB, MLB and MSB – by developing a new sports car platform for use by future generations of the Porsche Boxster/ Cayman and 911, Audi R8 and Lamborghini Huracán, as well as other possible new models, including a mid-engined Porsche conceived to sit above the 911 as a rival to the Ferrari 488 GTB.…

Techrules, which revealed the Ren, a turbine range-extended supercar EV at the Geneva motor show, plans to use advanced new materials to develop a family of high-volume cars based on the same gas turbine technology. The Ren, which will be built in limited numbers and form a halo model for the new brand, is built around a carbonfibre tub with a similar construction to that of a Formula 1 car. The central tub and double-wishbone suspension of the Ren represents the basis of a platform that is capable of spawning different types and sizes of cars by varying the basic dimensions. The main difference for higher-volume production applications, such as a city car, will be the use of a lower-cost material for the chassis. The Ren’s carbonfibre construction is too…

DRIVING COULD BECOME ‘a luxury pursuit’ in an era of autonomous vehicles, according to Gus Park, managing director of motor insurance at Direct Line. Talking at the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders’ Connected Cars summit, Park said he expected getting behind the wheel and taking control of a car to be marginalised as a result of associated costs, including the insurance premiums required to do so in a society dominated by autonomous vehicles. “If you take a car into an autonomous environment and take the wheel, making it a mixed environment, it gets pretty complicated,” said Park. “With the future so unclear, it is hard to make predictions, but I can imagine driving becoming an increasingly luxury pursuit.” However, Park was joined by George Gillespie, CEO of Horiba MIRA,…

REAL-WORLD FUEL emissions testing will be introduced by London and Paris later this year to help score new cars on how environmentally friendly they are. The aim is to encourage the uptake of cleaner cars and cut air pollution in cities. The decision was made in a meeting between London mayor Sadiq Khan and his Paris counterpart, Anne Hidalgo, along with officials from major car makers. Current emissions testing only regulates some pollutants and requires vehicles to meet standards in laboratory conditions, but the new scheme will score each model based on the air pollutants they release in on-road conditions. These scores will be made available online through dedicated websites and will be free for motorists to access. The Volkswagen Group’s diesel defeat device scandal has heightened awareness of the…

People must understand the difference between EU6 diesel engines and other diesel engines THE POTENTIAL FAILURE of politicians, legislators, academics and commentators to differentiate between the latest, EU6-compliant diesel engines and older units is putting the future of this relatively clean and efficient fuel at risk. That’s the view of Ian Robertson, BMW’s head of sales and marketing. Robertson has hit out at reports that put all diesel technology into the same basket. He was speaking in the wake of a string of negative headlines about diesel pollutants, including harmful particulates. These stories have gained greater prominence as a result of the Volkswagen diesel scandal. Robertson’s comments also follow the announcement by the mayors of London and Paris that those cities plan to publish real-world emissions figures (see p17). Robertson…

The car you see here is the fifth generation of the Seat Ibiza, and in one significant way it has come full circle from the first one launched back in 1985. That car was based on the platform of a car from the class above: the Fiat Ritmo/ Strada from Seat’s previous role as a licensed maker of Fiat designs. So it was unusually wide for a so-called supermini and had an obviously truncated tail aft of a long wheelbase. This new one is the first of the Volkswagen Group’s small but not tiny hatchbacks to use the versatile MQB platform, shortened for its role in the Ibiza, the upcoming Arona SUV and the next VW Polo and Skoda Fabia. So despite being fractionally shorter than the outgoing Ibiza (by…

The current Range Rover is, arguably, all the car you’re ever likely to need, but it’s not a class leader. It’s painfully close, but there are cheaper plush SUVs out there, not to mention a plethora of luxury saloons to choose from. The latest updates include a raft of driver assistance systems, including an intelligent speed limiter which can automatically lower its speed to the posted limit, and blind spot assistance which can steer you back into the correct lane if the one you’re trying to move into is occupied. Here, we’re driving the TDV6 diesel version in Vogue SE spec. Our car commands a price tag of more than £83,500, but thanks to options including a panoramic sunroof and a surround-view camera system, the final list price comes to…

MODEL TESTED DIESEL Price £135,800 Power 429bhp Torque 664lb ft 0-60mph 5.2sec 30-70mph in fourth 5.7sec Fuel economy 29.6mpg CO2 emissions 210g/km 70-0mph 46.5m Skidpan 1.11g Bentley Motors Limited will celebrate its centenary before the end of this decade. So far in its near hundred-year life it has moved twice, been sold twice, been bought three times, won Le Mans six times and made large, luxurious and exclusive passenger cars as different as the 1971 Corniche convertible, the original 1985 Turbo R and the landmark Speed Six of 1928. The firm’s history has been short on neither boldness nor incident, but the past two years have brought greater and more contentious change than the preceding 96 did. To the disgust of some and the delight of others, Bentley now makes…

“Most issues revolve around the economics of an EV’s battery” Low mileages, low prices, low running costs: the appeals of second-hand electric cars appear pretty compelling. You can get yourself a low-mileage Renault Fluence saloon for as little as £3000, a quirky Renault Twizy for much the same and a Nissan Leaf for less than £6000. These sums are for cars that cost a fraction of a fossil-fuelled motor to feed, can drive into polluted no-go zones, attract limited taxes and, at the very least, don’t locally pollute. If you fancy something more exotic, a BMW i3 can be on your drive from £14,000 and a Tesla Model S starts at around £46,000. But there are hazards ahead, and not just the well-known issues of limited range and charge-point availability.…

Land Rover Discovery A Range Rover by another name or the ultimate family car? We deliver the definitive verdict on the fifth-generation Land Rover Discovery New Civic vs new Golf and 308 Battle of the three-pot petrol-powered hatchbacks Our three-car garages Autocar staffers reveal the gems (or otherwise) in their garages EVERY WEEK Skoda Octavia vRS Mk1 Why you need Skoda’s original giant-killing 180bhp hatch in your life Elemental RP1 Matt Prior rates the lightweight track-focused roadster Wimbledon Stadium: the end London’s last race circuit has closed. We were there on the final night…

You know you’ve got a road trip on your hands when you’re forced to attach a roof box to a car the size of the SQ7. It’s a bit like NASA deciding to build an outhouse on the side of its Vehicle Assembly Building. But even for a car of the Audi’s size, a snowboarding trip presents a challenge – especially when there are going to be five of you. Driving 12 hours with three abreast in the back means footwells have to be for feet, hence the aerodynamic hindrance attached to the SQ7’s roof. Other sacrifices had to be made, too. The rear seat entertainment tablets had to come out (there was nowhere to put them when not in use, and anyway, conversation would have likely stopped dead). Plus…

It looks like rust is becoming an issue with the old Land Rover. I’ve been advised by a Land Rover expert just to add some nail varnish (well, some lacquer) to the affected areas. I don’t really want to get it resprayed, given that the shabby chic look is preferable to the concours approach, which would never fit in with the lorry’s hard-working lifestyle. The cosmetic bits I can live with, but the bonnet is beginning to crumble, too, so I’d be interested to know what you lot would suggest to stop the rot. I’m of the Hammerite generation and have looked at a product called Aquasteel. Any other ideas?…

An expert’s view BARNY JONES, BARNY JONES LTD “The R is a great car. It’s not just a faster version of the S-Type — it’s another car entirely. The R is focused and much better engineered. I’ve run one for five years with no issues worth mentioning. It’s now done 108,000 miles and has never let me down. The acceleration is — how shall I say — exciting. The ride is firm but the car is grippy. It looks mean, in the way only a performance Jag does. I get 16-18mpg but it’s a price I’m happy to pay.” Buyer beware… • ENGINE Scrutinise service history for 30,000-mile plug and 12,000-mile engine oil changes. A 50,000-mile gearbox oil change would be good to see, too. Coolant header tank can split.…

Skoda will have a 300bhp all-electric crossover on sale in 2019, offering a value-for-money alternative to the Tesla Model X. Based on the Volkswagen Group’s new MEB platform, the Skoda SUV will be previewed at next month’s Shanghai motor show as the Vision E concept. At 4.64m long, 1.92m wide and 1.55m tall, the Vision E is a little shorter and wider than Skoda’s new Kodiaq SUV and features a four-seat interior. The production car may feature five seats. Sitting on the same MEB ‘skateboard’ platform as VW’s ID concept, the Vision E previews Skoda’s first-ever electric production car and catapults the Czech marque into the high-tech world of all-electric powertrains. “Our Strategy 2025 has electrification at its heart,” said Skoda CEO Bernhard Maier, “and the Vision E shows our…

SKODA HAS YET to commit to a replacement for its Rapid family, despite the fact that it sold 212,000 of the small saloons and hatchbacks last year. A decision about making successors to the Rapid and Rapid Spaceback is due later this year, but a question mark hangs over the project. The Rapid sells well in eastern Europe and China, where its no-frills engineering, roomy interior and keen price are valued. However, it struggles in western Europe, where it is squeezed between the Fabia and Octavia. Adding to the intrigue, Seat is understood to have pulled out of the project to replace the Toledo, the Rapid’s platform twin, because of sluggish sales. In many markets, both models are heavily outsold by Dacia. Despite this uncertainty, one source told Autocar that…

Seat is eager to produce a Cupra version of its latest Ibiza because it believes a hot range-topper can increase overall sales, even though previous generations of the Ibiza Cupra sold in relatively small numbers. The outgoing Cupra model represents less than 5% of Ibiza sales in the UK, but product director Lucas Casasnovas told Autocar a new Cupra “would be a boost to Ibiza” overall, so senior company members would “like to make it happen”. Producing a new Ibiza Cupra would mean funding the development of a relatively niche product. This prompted speculation after the Geneva motor show last month that the Cupra model will be culled when sales of the outgoing Ibiza end this summer. However, comments from Seat’s head of design, Alejandro Mesonero, suggest he is one…

Mercedes-AMG has pulled the wraps off of the GLC 63 and GLC 63 coupé before sales for the hot SUV models begin on 16 June. The two variants are powered by Mercedes-AMG’s twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre ‘hot-vee’ V8 engine, marking the first time it has been fitted to the GLC. The V8, also featured in other AMG performance models such as the C 63, comes in regular and S guises. In regular guise the engine produces 469bhp and 479lb ft. The C 63 S produces headline figures of 503bhp and 516lb ft. No acceleration figures have been released yet, but the car’s use of 4Matic all-wheel drive should enable a 0-62mph of around 4sec. That would be around 0.9sec quicker than the V6-powered GLC 43 models. The GLC 63’s top speed is…

So the Bentley Bentayga - its dynamic foibles so adroitly corrected, its ownership case strengthened and its engine bay furnished with a ‘triple-charged’ V8 diesel that makes it more frugal, more usable, more muscular, more fit for a luxury SUV’s purposes and still just as refined – becomes our second five-star car of the year. A critic might say it’s empty praise, with so few established super-luxury SUV rivals yet available to set a standard. But to deny Bentley the recognition it deserves on that basis would be to ignore the commitment it has shown to get into what will soon enough be a well-populated market niche. It would also underplay the risk it has taken in using its VW Group connections to broaden the reach of its line-up by…

“There was so little drama I knew the Porsche had failed in its quest. Except it hadn’t” When I joined Autocar almost 30 summers ago, the king of the diesels was the promisingly entitled Citroën CX DTR Turbo 2. Compared with anything else we’d tested powered by the same fuel, it was a rocket ship, the oil-burning Bugatti Veyron of its day. And if you got it off the line just right, ignored the smell of burning clutch and timed your gearshift to perfection, it would not quite manage to get to 60mph in 10sec. More normal 0-60mph times for diesels of the day were 17.5sec (Ford Granada), 15.8sec (Mercedes-Benz 190D) and 18.2sec (Volkswagen Golf). Diesel cars were not just noisy and filthy, they were also so slow that you’d…

“There’s loads of torque and an exhaust with a pre-war ‘brap’” We’ve waited a while for some facelifts in the past, but this is ridiculous. Autocar first drove an Atalanta not long after the company was first formed in 1936. We liked it. It was nicely put together, good to drive and advanced. It had fully independent, coil-sprung suspension, a pre-selector gearbox, hydraulic brakes and a three-valve, twin-spark cylinder head, meaning it made a strong 78bhp from its 1.5-litre four-cylinder aluminium engine. Later, a 4.3-litre V12 version was introduced, before Atalanta Motors went quiet. A total of 22 cars had been built, of which only seven survive. Today, 79 years on, here’s the replacement, the brainchild of Martyn Corfield, Atalanta enthusiast and the man who wants to revive the marque.…

“I can’t think of another car that offers such a relaxed motorway experience” Last year Ford declared that we should ‘unlearn’ what we believe the Blue Oval stands for and embrace its new worldwide strategy. Three cars headed up this brave new venture: the Focus RS hot hatch, the GT supercar and this new Edge. Now, the low-numbers performance cars are probably safe bets, but the Edge? Ford hasn’t had the best track record of importing large SUV from the US. Remember the Explorer? Exactly. This time would be different, we were told. Forget the flabby, body-on-frame, petrol-only US ‘trucks’, because the Edge is a truly global model, a claim substantiated by the fact that UK cars weren’t even available with a petrol engine. In addition, suspension tuned for European…

MY FIRST TIME driving the Seat Ateca in 113bhp 1.6 TDI guise was underwhelming and in stark contrast to the 148bhp 2.0 TDI version to which I’ve become accustomed. It’s much less refined and notably noisier on start-up and at low speeds It also meant downgrading from Xcellence trim to basic SE, which, after months of heated seats and fancy parking assist systems, only added to my disappointment. Still, after a little time with the car, I came around. I hardly noticed the comparative lack of torque around town, although it was more noticeable when accelerating on the motorway. The 1.6 TDI feels lighter and more agile, though, and there’s the added benefit of better efficiency. The 1.6 TDI, which was two-wheel drive, averaged around 49mpg, while my four-wheel-drive 2.0…

Steve Wilson’s imported Alfa Romeo 156 2.5 V6 Lusso was bought as a bit of gamble. “I allowed myself £500 for repairs but didn’t need it,” he says. “It had only had three owners from new and 44,000 miles on the clock. It’s a Selespeed [robotised manual], with a Momo interior and Bose speakers but no cupholder, so I made one. I spent £70 on a Bluetooth device, which lives behind the stereo. “It’s a simple car so I can work on it myself, which is just impossible on newer cars. It’s probably the last car I will buy that I can just have fun and tinker with without the computers taking over.” SEND YOUR USED CAR TALES TO james@bangernomics.com…

Naturally, your status as part of the Autocarreading cognoscenti means you’re probably more knowledgeable than most when it comes to buying a used car. But are you as well-informed as you could be when you step onto that forecourt? Having asked plenty of people over the past couple of months, including friends, colleagues and the Twitterati, it seems that many car buyers part with large chunks of cash on the basis of little more than a well-worded ad and a few choice words from the seller. It was surprising to note how few are aware of the wealth of tools out there that can help to either get the best deal or avoid saddling yourself with a pup. First of all, there’s working out how much your existing car is…

Mercedes-Benz S-Class From £70,425 Opulent, advanced, incredibly refined: the S-Class is the classic limo, expertly realised and utterly persuasive. Range Rover From £76,350 Whether outside the Dorchester or atop Ben Nevis, the Rangie shrouds you in an invincible sense of expense. Tesla Model S From £66,935 Superior range doesn’t just make it a standout electric car; it’s also one of the best luxury options around. BMW 7 Series From £64,020 Rules the roost on in-car entertainment and diesel powertrain sophistication — but otherwise its too bland. Jaguar XJ From £58,690 No other firm is currently mixing sportiness and aloofness with the skill of Jaguar. It makes the XJ a rare blend.…

McLaren P1 From £866,000 McLaren set out to build the best driver’s car in the world and has come ridiculously close. A 903bhp go-kart. Porsche 918 Spyder From £674,000 Only in this category do five stars not guarantee the class lead. The 918 feels built to rule, too. A mind-boggler. LaFerrari . From £950,000 No UK drive means its amazing numbers can’t be verified — but our first look suggests its reputation is deserved. Bugatti Veyron From £1.15 million A waning obsession with petrol power taken to its extreme limit. There are better cars — but none quicker. Pagani Huayra From £1.4 million Last century’s idea of a hypercar. Staggering in almost every way — not least its looks. As exclusive as it gets.…