Innholdsfortegnelse for 1/11/2017 i Autocar

The perceived wisdom goes that electric cars provide a blank canvas when it comes to car design, given that there’s no engine to define the whole packaging set-up. Not so, according to Porsche design boss Michael Mauer. “It is the packaging that defines the architecture of a car,” he said. “Passengers, luggage space, legal requirements – this defines the architecture of the car by as much as 70%,” leaving 30% for the designer’s pen. When entering new sectors with the Panamera, Cayenne and Macan, Porsche has unashamedly looked to the 911 when it comes to design inspiration. The Mission E concept showed another way, particularly at the front end, although from the side profile and rear, it looked every bit the futuristic four-seat, four-door 911. How far to push the…

Honda boss Takahiro Hachigo has not ruled out the firm launching a successor for its S2000 sports cars. He said Honda’s priority was to create “evolutions of all three types of performance cars we have now [S660, NSX and Civic Type R] for next generations”. Beyond that, Hachigo appeared open to the idea of an S2000 making a comeback. He said: “I’ve already heard many voices expressing they’d like a next-generation S2000. Honda development engineers are quick to develop sporty cars if the requests are there. “However, it [the idea] has not matured yet. We need time to decide if S2000 is reinvented or not. If the sales people investigate and are really enthusiastic, maybe we’ll look at it. I cannot say clearly that S2000 will be reinvented as further…

TOYOTA’S FINE-COMFORT Ride concept is a showcase for the firm’s next-generation hydrogen fuel cell technology, due to be launched in 2020, R&D chiefs revealed at the Tokyo motor show. Although officials declined to reveal specifics, they did confirm the next-gen fuel cell is smaller, lighter, more efficient and cheaper than that found in the only Toyota production car featuring the technology today, the Mirai. Kiyotaka Ise, head of advanced R&D for Toyota, said he wanted to reduce costs and improve performance by around 50% with every new-generation powertrain. “If you look at the jump from first-generation hybrid to second, that is what we achieved – and that is our target again for 2020,” he said. “We want to reduce the amount of platinum, for instance, and increase the sales volume.…

MITSUBISHI WILL LAUNCH a new Evo in 2022 or 2023, but it won’t necessarily be based on the Tokyo show concept that marked a return for the Evolution name. Instead, the e-Evolution concept previews the body of a B-segment SUV to rival the Nissan Juke that will be on sale around 2019. It also has a three-motor, electric all-wheel-drive powertrain (two motors at the rear and one at the front, with a combined output of about 250bhp) that will make production in future Mitsubishi models. But whether or not the B-segment SUV spawns an Evolution variant – and if it will use that electric powertrain, a plug-in hybrid or something else – has yet to be decided. Mitsubishi used the Evolution name on the concept car to show the world…

PUBLIC REACTION WILL determine whether the Viziv Performance concept reaches production as the next Subaru WRX, according to the firm’s design chief Mamoru Ishii. The next-generation WRX is due to go into production around 2020, but Ishii claimed that the final design has yet to be signed off and that reaction to the concept would first have to be considered. “Such a car brings lots of expectation, from within the company and from our customers,” said Ishii. “What we know is that our customers’ lifestyles are changing and we have to respond to that. The question is whether we have done that in a correct way with this concept. “For instance, we know that autonomous and connective technology are coming, and for many customers that is great, but we don’t…

“Team leaders estimate they’ll need another £30m, but are at last confident of raising it” Bloodhound, the British 1000mph jet and rocket-powered land speed record challenger, is planning to convert at least one of its most important functions to electric power – if a suitable technical partner can be found. The project’s technical director, Mark Chapman, announced a plan to use a 600bhp electric motor to power Bloodhound’s all-important fuel pump, whose job is to deliver one tonne of peroxide catalyst to Bloodhound’s Nammo rocket motors in the 18 seconds it takes for a 1000mph record run. At present, the car has a supercharged Jaguar V8 to pump fuel, but Chapman believes electric power would provide much greater packaging flexibility. One possible partner could be Chinese car company Geely, an…

Arrayed between the Swift Sport’s red-edged circular dashboard dials is a message centre dedicated to providing you with graphically rendered displays, in colour, of your Suzuki’s activities when on the go. It will reveal its fuel consumption, its average speed over five-minute increments and in total, your lateral acceleration, the turbocharger’s boosting efforts and the forces of acceleration and braking. Instant information like this used to be the preserve of Nissan Skylines and the hotter Subarus, but now you can have it in this small hot hatch. There’s also a display measuring the passage of time – that’ll be the clock – and a pair of circular bar graphs revealing the quantities of power and torque you might recklessly be deploying at any particular instant. Given that both are uncalibrated,…

f you’re looking for a large luxury estate equipped with a plug, your options are limited. Mercedes has yet to apply the 350e powertrain to the E-Class Estate, it’s unlikely BMW will offer a Touring version of its excellent 530e and the arrival of an Audi A6 Avant e-tron remains a distant, murky prospect. That leaves the Swedes. Volvo, specifically, with the T8-badged version of its handsome V90 estate, which in solely oil-burning guise we’re rather fond of. This flagship wagon uses a similar mechanical set-up to the XC90 T8 SUV, which is to say a force-fed four-cylinder petrol engine (the marque no longer indulges in a greater cylinder count, for any model) that drives the front axle while an electric motor does for the rear. Bridging the two is…

“We’re in the mountains: familiar territory in a car I feel I’ve known all my life. Yet it still surprises” I’m sitting in a car park at the end of a long mountain road listening to the GT3 RS. Its 444bhp 3.8-litre flat-six was switched off a while back, but still it is not silent. It ticks, as structural components, body panels and exquisitely engineered mechanical parts all made of different materials of different shapes and thicknesses cool down at different rates. Tick, tick, tick. New cars don’t tick any more, or maybe they do, but just need a few years and many thousands of miles on the clock before they will. This one is seven years old, it’s nearly up to 30,000 miles and, I’m guessing, is the hardest-driven…

“It dawns on me that the Minbug is literally the irst Murray iStream car” It’s 10am, and the Surrey traffic has assumed the grey or white Ford-to-Vauxhall-via-BMW sameness that marks UK traffic today – except for a couple of daft-looking blokes with grins as wide as the road itself, rasping briskly along in a tiny, boxy, bright-yellow car, an ultra-rare creation not seen on British roads for well over 40 years. The tall one behind the wheel is Gordon Murray, master Formula 1 designer, who, after umpteen world championships and 50-odd grand prix victories, turned his talent in the 1990s first to road-going supercars and then to tiny cars of low price and weight but remarkably high everything else, principally performance. The one in the passenger’s seat is me. We’re…

FINAL REPORT MILEAGE 7891 WHY WE RAN IT To find out if the traditional Volvo estate still has a place in today’s exec market The timing could hardly be worse. Now that the nights have drawn in, the roads are carpeted with leaves, and features such as a timed parking heater and a steering wheel that warms your palms are starting to seem genuinely useful, Volvo has taken our rather lovely, supremely relaxing, four-wheel-drive V90 away. Four months and 6000 miles suddenly seem pitifully short to fully digest the tranquil character and numerous strengths of the big Swede. In that time, the V90 has facilitated a couple of family holidays and been pressed into the practical weekend service that voluminous estate cars typically provide. From furniture collection agent to recycling…

QUESTION I’m looking at importing a BMW 5 Series from Japan. Are there any pitfalls? Phil Taylor ANSWER Apart from the shipping charge, there are port fees, import duty and VAT to consider. A car that is under ten years old will also need an IVA/MOT test. Then there are UK . directly froma specialist import company. QUESTION I’m 20 and have just passed my driving test. I have a decent budget for a car, so what should I look for? Celine Lawrence ANSWER The answer to this is always going to relate to insurance. You may have a big budget, but all new drivers are expected to pay generously for their initial premiums. My choice would be a Fiat Panda Dynamic Eco. It is cheap to insure and a…

“The last blob-eye cars were known as STI 9s. Some reckon they’re the best of the best” DID YOU KNOW? Unusually for a car that majored so much on its looks, whether good or bad, Subaru offered a Spec D option on the Impreza, with ‘D’ standing for, of all things, discreet. This allowed owners, from 2006 onwards, to order an STI with a smaller rear spoiler and silver-painted 17in alloy wheels for a more ‘under-the-radar’ look. You couldn’t make it up… Is there a more bewildering car than the Subaru Impreza WRX and WRX STI of 2000 to 2007? Not only are there three versions (two facelifts and a larger-engined model known as, according to their headlight design, bug-eye, blob-eye and hawk-eye), but there are also saloon, estate and…

KIA CEE’D | SUMMER 2018 The third iteration of Kia’s Ford Focus rival will share most of its mechanicals with the latest Hyundai i30, including its 1.4 turbo petrol engine. The five-door body shape will remain, but the three-door is expected to be replaced by a sleek shooting brake. Price from £15,000 (est) NOVEMBER BMW X3, Citroën C3 Aircross, Hyundai i30N, Jaguar E-Pace, XJ update, XJR 575, Nissan X-Trail update, VW Tiguan Allspace DECEMBER Aston Martin V8 Vantage, Audi A8, Dallara Stradale, Honda CR-V, Jeep Compass, Kia Sorento update, Lotus Evora 400 Roadster, Mercedes-Benz X-Class, Porsche 911 GT2 RS, Seat Arona (left), Arona X-Perience and Ateca X-Perience, Skoda Karoq, Toyota Yaris GRMN, Volkswagen T-Roc, Touareg, Vauxhall VXR8 GTS-R JANUARY AND FEBRUARY 2018 Alpina D5 S, BMW M5, DS 7 Crossback,…

Porsche has conducted the first successful tests of full prototype versions of its new four-door electric sports-car-cum-saloon, which is due in production by the end of the decade. The car, codenamed J1, was closely previewed as the Porsche Mission E concept at the 2015 Frankfurt motor show. It will be Porsche’s first bespoke electric car and launched as a fifth model line. Although many other car makers are choosing SUVs as their first electric cars for packaging reasons, Porsche has opted for a more low-slung model to showcase that its electric car technology is as much about performance as it is about reducing emissions. Porsche R&D boss Michael Steiner confirmed that design work on the model is now complete and very close to the well-received Mission E concept. Development mules…

“We’re going to see the feedback on Sports EV to learn if we should launch this” Honda’s Sports EV concept is a striking electric sports car with clear production intent. Revealed at the Tokyo motor show, it is the second model on Honda’s new dedicated electric vehicle platform after the Urban EV city car shown at the recent Frankfurt show. The Urban EV will make production in 2019 as the first model in the new family. A production version of the Sports EV has not been approved by Honda chiefs yet, but is under consideration. Honda CEO Takahiro Hachigo said: “We’re going to evaluate and see the feedback on Sports EV from Europe and Japan, to learn if we should launch this.” The marque has been steadily increasing its number…

Nissan will launch the IMx as a full-electric SUV in about three years’ time, adding a second model to its electric vehicle (EV) line-up alongside the Leaf. Senior vice president of Nissan design Alfonso Albaisa confirmed the electric SUV concept looks ahead to “within a few years” and described EVs in multiple segments as “the future”. The IMx bears more than a passing resemblance to the IDS concept, which was shown at the 2015 Tokyo motor show and became the new-generation Leaf. The IMx concept will be turned into a production car before the end of 2021. The production SUV is likely to have a simpler design than the IMx concept because Albaisa intends for Nissan to adopt the Japanese ‘Ma’ principle, which values the ‘mastery of empty space’. Much…

The Vision Coupe four-door grand tourer concept revealed at Tokyo and the previously seen RX-Vision sports car concept will be the “two bookends” for the design of the next generation of Mazda models, according to European design chief Kevin Rice. He said that while the RX-Vision showed “the ultimate sensuality” in design, the Vision Coupe addressed the other end of the spectrum with the “ultimate elegance”. With the recently launched Mazda MX-5 RF completing the current Mazda range, all of its forthcoming models will fall somewhere between these two concepts in terms of design ethos. Mazda’s overall head of design Ikuo Maeda added that he wants to apply the same long bonnet and short tail silhouette seen on these concepts to the entire line-up. That’s despite all of the range,…

Citroën is stopping production of the C4 hatchback and replacing it with a heavily revised C4 Cactus. The move is part of the company’s drive to streamline its model range and add two new SUVs. The slow-selling C4 hatch won’t be directly replaced for another three or four years, when the C4 Cactus comes to the end of its planned life. Product planning boss Xavier Peugeot said: “The current C4 hatchback is a seven-year-old design and we had to make a decision. We will stop production and the C4 Cactus will take its place.” Citroën is already looking at the design and engineering of the hatchback that will succeed the C4 Cactus and is likely to create a fresh design with new thinking, as CEO Linda Jackson energises the French…

VOLKSWAGEN IS PROMISING a sharper, more agile driving experience from the new 197bhp Polo GTI compared with the more mature dynamic character of the Golf GTI. “The Polo GTI is shorter, lighter and better to drive,” said VW’s director of small car lines, Ralf Kölling. “The Golf has performance more oriented to the highway. The Polo GTI is more agile for a really good drive. The shorter wheelbase than the Golf gives the Polo that extra feeling of agility.” Kölling and his team have been working on the Polo GTI for three and a half years and got the green light from VW bosses just six months after work began on the new Polo. “We decided early in the project that we wanted a GTI version of the Polo and…

The Nissan Leaf is a world leader in terms of electric vehicle sales. A total of 280,000 of Nissan’s ‘Leading Electric Affordable Family’ cars have amassed 3.5 billion miles between them since the model first went on sale in 2011. This second-generation version has got the sharp looks of the IDS concept seen at the 2015 Tokyo motor show, a driving range of 235 miles from a full battery, a power boost of almost 40bhp over its forebear and more efficient charging capability. Other significant technology upgrades include the ability to drive semi-autonomously in a single motorway lane (although this feature won’t be available on every variant. Our test car was to Japanese specification and significantly different to what we’ll get in the UK. The suspension will be stiffer in…

Those of a shy disposition will abhor the suggestion, but we’d wager that all but the most steadfastly introverted Autocar readers would eventually give in to the charms of Audi’s top-billing R8 Spyder: the new V10 Plus. Lower the fabric roof and engage Dynamic driving mode along with the optional sports exhaust – your right foot will do the rest, as it involuntarily sends the most soulful series-production powerplant on sale to its ear-splitting 8700rpm finale at every opportunity. Lifting out of the throttle offers no respite, functioning as little more than a cue for the mid-mounted engine to drench the exhaust manifold with fuel. The resultant pops and bangs are decadent and disorderly. So what, thespian antics aside, does an additional £25,000 or so over the entry-level R8 Spyder…

MODEL TESTED BLUEHDI 150 GT LINE Price £31,245 Power 148bhp Torque 273lb ft 0-60mph 10.8sec 30-70mph in fourth 12.5sec Fuel economy 51.3mpg CO2 emissions 118g/km 70-0mph 44.4m When it was launched in 2010, the first Peugeot 5008 was exactly what you’d expect of an MPV. It had an impressively flexible interior, it was an undemanding car to drive and it adhered doggedly to a one-box appearance. That it also handled with the dexterity of a smaller car and undercut the Ford S-Max on price helped seal it a four-star rating from us, but it never amounted to anything more than a determinedly functional product. Seven years later and the game has changed. Although there’s still no shortage of people who require what a traditional MPV such as that original 5008…

“The 911R of 1967 was a howling, 850kg, air-cooled missile” Special 911s are almost as old as the 911 itself and the first was, in some ways, the most special of them all. Though many 911s raced throughout the mid-1960s, the 1967 911R was Porsche’s first attempt at doing its own, in-house racing version which, as per the vogue at the time, was also road legal. So it fitted its maddest engine – a 210bhp, 2-litre flat-six from its prototype 906 Le Mans car – and set about one of the most obsessive weight-saving programmes in history. By the end, the front badge became a sticker, the door hinges were made out of aluminium and even the wheel centre caps were deleted. The result was the lightest 911 there has…

We’re gliding. That’s what it feels like. From the driving seat of this new six-passenger taxi – which starts with London’s design rules but aims at markets across the world – there’s eerily little noise intrusion from wind, road or mechanical parts. The electric motor currently doing the driving is at least three metres away from my ears, wrapped around the rear axle. The 1.3-litre petrol, three-cylinder range-extender engine, set transversely in the nose, is currently silent because we re well inside the 70-80 mile envelope of electric driving range of the thin, wide battery riding beneath us, so it’s simply not needed. The aluminium-and-composite construction of the body and chassis around me has dulled the usual road noises, at least on these fairly smooth semi-rural roads of outer Coventry.…

Tesla rivals must join forces Picking up Mike O’Horan’s comments about collaboration with Tesla to gain anxiety-free electric motoring (Your Views, 4 October), surely he is missing the point of Tesla’s business model, which was to be first to enter the long-range luxur y electric market and to garner loyalty to the brand by supplying a plentiful electric charging network. Logically, it is the established marques now arriving with their own full-electric propositions – Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Volkswagen/Audi – who should come up with a unified plan to deploy multiple electric charging stations. They can agree to do this in their respective countries, and then the rest of the EU, so as to get back clients lost to Tesla and to demonstrate an intent to beat Tesla at its…

MILEAGE 3378 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT Charm, usability and simplicity are the C3’s trump cards. We’re finding out how it plays them A trip to Crewe to see the new Bentley Continental GT loomed and I toyed with the idea of swapping the C3 for one of the more suitable long-distance cars on our test fleet. But in the end, I didn’t, deciding that this was an excellent opportunity to see how the C3 fared outside of its urban remit. It’s fair to say it didn’t have the comfort or refinement of a Bentley grand tourer, but then what do you expect at a fraction of the price? Nonetheless, Citroën has a sharp focus on offering comfortable cars and the C3 absolutely bears that out. There are very few cars…

MILEAGE 127,796 LAND ROVER Well that escalated quickly. My ‘lorry’ is undergoing a thorough restoration. I’m sad to say that the doors are too far gone. Also on the ‘can’t be saved’ list is the fuel tank: it is as rotten as a month-old peach, apparently. The job of building up the basic structure has begun. A Land Rover enthusiast made the point that the shiny galvanised chassis would look a bit daft and attract the wrong sort of attention. We will get a load of Waxoyl or Schutz sealant and apply this treatment to the rear cross member. That way, it will just look like another old Land Rover.…

“The Clio Williams is alert to turn in and balletically poised when it does so” Things to look out for • #Rust is a big killer. Check rear arches, boot lids, and sills where they meet the B-pillar. • #Front arches are plastic, so don’t rust, but check for paint damage. If the car has had large wheels fitted, they can come into contact with the inside of the arch, distorting it and cracking the paint. • #Electrics are a weak point, so check everything, including the auxiliary instrument gauges, and ensure the electric windows don’t work slowly. • #Check for damp in the scuttle cubby on the driver’s side, where the jack is stored. The ECU is in there too, and can be damaged by moisture. By the early…

An expert’s view LEN CARLYON, SUBARU4YOU “I run a 1994 model putting out 480bhp and love it. The Impreza isn’t everyone’s cup of tea and the 2000-2007 generation had its styling issues. However, it’s light, nimble and nippy. It’s tough and reliable, too, if you look after it. Pound for pound, there’s little to beat an Impreza, but if you’re looking at one tuned beyond, say, 350bhp, check the mechanicals have been upgraded to match. Whichever model you go for, there’s a huge community to support you.” Buyer beware… • ENGINE Check for oil leaks from the 2.0-litre’s cam covers and the sump cover. Cast hypereutectic pistons on the 2.5 (2.0 has forged items) suffer damaged ringlands. The head gasket on the 2.5 is also prone to failure. Engines tuned…

Toyota’s new Supra sports car will go on sale in 2019 – under the name of its newly launched road car performance arm, Gazoo. Insiders revealed in Tokyo that the car is undergoing final testing and will be used to build awareness of Toyota’s emerging performance arm, Gazoo Racing. The limited-edition Yaris GRMN, on sale next year, is the only Gazoo product prepared for sale in Europe to date. In addition to the hybrid range-topper, it is thought likely that the Supra will also be launched with the option of 243bhp four-cylinder and 328bhp six-cylinder engines derived from BMW, which has developed the Z4 on which the new Supra is based.…

YAMAHA PRESIDENT Hiroyuki Yanagi says the firm is now working on three road car projects, but that they are all “several years” from fruition. At the Tokyo motor show, the company revealed its first in-house-designed concept car – the Cross Hub Concept – which was conceived and built in just ten months. It is the brainchild of chief designer Jeung Hyun Choul, who was briefed to make a car “that best suits Yamaha and its owners”. His team created a pick-up with seating for four and room to carry two off-road bikes, all in a car less than 4.5m long. “We didn’t set out to make a pick-up or an SUV-like vehicle, but this was what we thought was most relevant for Yamaha,” said Hyun Choul. “By adding the space…

The current Aston Martin Vanquish will bow out with a special swansong model. Called the S Ultimate, it is based on the regular S and uses the same 595bhp 5.9-litre V12 but features an exclusive choice of three design finishes: black with bronze accents; grey with blue graphics; and white gold and bronze. Just 75 S Ultimates will be made. Prices for the coupé start at £211,995 and the Volante £223,995. Deliveries will be made in spring 2018, soon after which the Vanquish will be replaced with a harder, more sporting successor.…

The fifth-generation Lexus LS’s mission statement is “to reset the luxury benchmark” – a bold statement that, in simple terms, means it must eclipse the Mercedes-Benz S-Class. Now that might sound absurd, Lexus beating Mercedes at its own game, but we arrive at this point hot on the heels of the excellent LC coupé. The LS just happens to sit on the same all-new platform as the LC and thereby – in theory – shares many of its qualities. As is the norm in this class, Lexus claims to have something for everyone: space, comfort, dynamic ability, unrivalled tech, safety aids you’ve never seen before, luxurious top-end materials and more. That’s on top of the standard Lexus standouts, such as dealer service and remarkable reliability ratings, which are too often…

In building a car designed to deliver the practicality of an MPV with the flair of a debonair SUV, Peugeot has broken ranks with its compatriot rivals, Renault and Citroën, and shown that it better understands what buyers want. On the evidence of this road test, the marque deserves to be rewarded for its boldness, because although the 5008 is not the most engaging steer, few in this growing marketplace can match its combination of versatility, style and cabin ambience. Peugeot’s execution is not without question, though. Caveats include a lack of four-wheel drive, poor second-row head room and a chassis let down by its inability to insulate occupants from the grumbling effects that poor road surfaces impart – areas in which rivals offer more. Not even a smooth diesel…

Like the sound of a used GT-series 911? We don’t blame you. But, as ever, you must look before you leap. The good news is that none of the GT cars were affected by the oil seal issues suffered by many 996 and 997-series engines. The better news is the Mezger engine they all used until the 991 is strong. Also, the new units fitted to the 991-series cars that had a reputation for self-immolation at the time of introduction have all long since been replaced with revised units. Even so, there is stuff to remember here. Like the fact that all GT-series cars are two-seaters and homologated as such. You can’t just put the rear seats back in and take the kids to school. Also, almost all GT-series 911s…

“Fortunately, taxi drivers have a sixth sense for congestion” It’s well known that to be allowed to drive a London taxi, a cabbie must do the Knowledge, a feat of memory that requires a brain capacity to rival a supercomputer. But we also know that, thanks to Fred Housego, who won TV’s Mastermind in 1980, cabbies possess a level of general knowledge even quizmaster John Humphrys would find intimidating. So we’ve established a London taxi driver is 99% brain. The trouble is, there’s another thing with a big brain that does a similar job – a satnav. The best devices can not only calculate the fastest route across London (or anywhere else for that matter), but they can also react to unseen congestion by re-routing to avoid it. Fortunately, a…

COMPARISON Kia Stinger vs BMW 4 Series vs Jaguar XE Has Kia’s growth culminated in a world-class GT to rival BMW and Jaguar? We find out FEATURE Death of the V10 engine Does the V10 have a future? Andrew Frankel pens it a love letter FIRST DRIVE Porsche 911 GT2 RS Matt Prior takes a brave pill and drives the 690bhp rear-drive 911 ROAD TEST BMW 6 Series GT The 5 GT is now a 6 GT — but is it any less pointless? We examine it in detail INTERVIEW Seat boss Luca de Meo Steve Cropley shadows the man pursuing a bold vision at Seat USED BUYING GUIDE Rolls-Royce Phantom VII If you’ve enough in your piggy bank, here’s how to buy one SUBSCRIBE autocar.co.uk/subscribe or see p62…

MILEAGE 10,320 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT Oddball Japanese micro-off-roader has that rarest of things: charm. Is there the substance to match? In common with most of my colleagues, I like our Ignis. However, having spent quite a long time in it, I’m not exactly sure why that is. It looks great, of course, with its optional Fervent Red paintwork and those stylish black wheels. Its interior is funky too. I particularly like the clear, simple instruments, the black and cream trim and the chrome door pulls. Its perky exterior design was inspired by one of Suzuki’s own tax-busting Japanese ‘kei’ cars, the SC100 – a rear-engined 2+2 more popularly known as the Whizzkid, which in the 1980s was for a time officially imported into the UK. I loved the Whizzkid;…

Lexus IS220d Geoff Stockle has a 56-plate IS220d that has amassed an impressive 197,000 miles. He says: “I bought it in October 2012 for £7999. It had one previous owner who used it for business and so had enjoyed full Lexus servicing and maintenance. “Given what I paid for it, the level of spec, the comfort factor and low running costs – the most I’ve spent was £750 for discs, pads and bearings – it has been a bargain. If it fell to bits tomorrow, I still really couldn’t complain, given the miles I’ve done in it.”…

Volkswagen Golf GTI £4650 Choosing a fast and rather wonderful car is easy if you’ve got pots of money, but if you were after one of the best cars in the world for under £5k, what would you pick? Well, this one, probably. The Golf GTI Mk5 was a welcome return to form for VW and, at this price, this 2007 3dr model, with just 64,000 miles on the clock, looks like a bit of a bargain too. Think 146mph and 0 to 60mph in seven seconds, combined with agile handling and impressive practicality. You’ll need to check its history carefully, but it’s still worth a look. Jaguar XJR £9000 Fancy a big cat that’s hot enough for some fast fun? This delightful 2008 XJR leapt out at us this…

1 Ford Focus RS From £32,265 Simply the most exciting hot hatchback money can buy. Considering the performance on tap, it comes at a bargain price. 2 Volkswagen Golf R From £32,710 Blends the formerly unblendable: VW sophistication with frenzied driver appeal. Like the Focus RS, it is fantastic value for money. 3 Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG From £41,875 Engine is short on character, but the A45 makes up for it with massive grunt. Chassis does the same with grip and balance. 4 Audi RS3 From £44,300 Colossal price made to look worse by cheaper Golf R. Frenzied ive-pot makes it brutal, though, and not a little addictive. 5 BMW M140i From £33,680 Endowing a hatchback with a six-cylinder engine still makes for fun; the rear-drive chassis isn’t quite the entertainer…