Innholdsfortegnelse for 10/1/2018 i Autocar

LAND ROVER WILL launch a pick-up truck by 2020 as part of an extended family of Defender vehicles, which has long been rumoured in order to warrant Land Rover’s future commitment to its most famous model. The standard Defender will have its grand unveiling this year as part of the marque’s 70th anniversary celebrations, but more variants are already in the pipeline. A Defender pick-up will not only appeal to the huge market for utilitarian vehicles in the US but also in Europe, where pick-up sales are growing. Mercedes’ recent arrival with the X-Class (a sibling to the Nissan Navara), demonstrates car makers’ belief of the worthiness of an offering in this segment. The Defender pick-up will also appeal in developing parts of the world, including South America and Africa.…

New car registrations fell for the first time in six years in 2017, dropping 5.7% compared with the previous year. The slump is chiefly a result of declining consumer confidence, worsening exchange rates and concerns over the future of diesel, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), which represents the industry. Although the 2.54 million total registrations mark a drop on 2016 figures, it is the third largest registrations year in a decade and the sixth best since records started in the 1950s. “We must keep perspective. This is not the industry falling off a cliff edge – it is a retraction from exceptional highs in the face of significant challenges,” said SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes, who predicted a further fall of between 5% and 7%…

Digitisation in the development stage will reduce the time it takes to bring new cars to market, says Seat’s head of whole vehicle development, Sven Schawe. Design and development are already highly computerised, but Seat will shift its focus to better digital mock-ups, improve the accuracy of digital simulations and reduce the time and cost absorbed by prototypes and validation. Seat won’t go as far as Tesla, which completely removed the validation phase for its troubled Model 3. “For at least the next 10 to 15 years, we will still have to invest in real-world validation testing,” says Schawe.…

Seat is in the midst of a major overhaul of its factory organisation and assembly methods, which goes under the ‘Factory 4.0’ banner. The goal is a 25% cut in costs by 2025, largely driven by digital technology, such as the blockchain to streamline business with suppliers. But it also involves deploying ‘big data’ to predict demand for parts to reduce inventory and augmented reality to rationalise assembly methods. Production rates and numbers are being targeted for future increases too. A upcoming change is the start-up of Audi A1 production in place of the Q3, which is built in Martorell, expected next year.…

THE PRODUCTION VERSION of Toyota’s striking FT-1 concept sports car might not be called the Supra, Autocar has learned. The model, which is twinned with the next BMW Z4, owing to a technical tie-up between the brands, was expected to be called the Gazoo Racing Toyota Supra. However, an internal email issued to dealers has now recommended they don’t refer to that name because it might change. Although never officially named, the car has been described by company insiders as a spiritual successor to the original Supras, which went out of production in 2002. The new car will be offered with four- and six-cylinder turbo engines as well as a hybrid powertrain producing around 400bhp.…

First, let’s deal with the name. Believe the marketing hype and you’ll believe the original 1968 Porsche 911 T (for Touring) was conceived as a stripped-back lightweight driver’s car, fine-tuned for the open road, and that this modern 911 T pays homage to that legend of old. It does nothing of the sort. Fifty years ago, the original 911 T was a cut-price, poverty-spec 911 designed to boost sales. Porsche took money out of it wherever it could, none more so than in its engine, which was so detuned that, at 110bhp, it was and remains the least powerful 911 ever offered for sale. Porsche made its cylinders out of iron rather than aluminium alloy, removed the crankshaft’s counterweights, dropped its compression ratio, rounded off its cams, narrowed its carburettor…

The Viva Rocks is a range-topping variant of Vauxhall’s city car, featuring ‘rugged’ SUV styling. But don’t be fooled by the Rocks that it’s got: it’s still much like any other Viva on the block. Essentially, it’s a small city car that has been given a mild crossover makeover in an attempt to attract a younger audience. It sports a new high-riding stance, chunky dark bumpers and side skirts, silver roof rails and a few splashes of chrome, along with a revamped front and new colour and trim options. Mechanically, though, very little has changed from the non-Rocking Viva. The sole engine is the 74bhp, 70lb ft, 1.0-litre three-cylinder petrol unit from the rest of the range. Top speed is 106mph and it covers 0-60mph in 13.1sec. The Rocks also…

Last October, production ended for arguably Australia’s greatest automotive export, the Holden Commodore – and with that end, one of the UK car market’s strangest, most enriching, most wonderful and most unlikely seams of import supply has forever dried up. Vauxhall’s lurid, unreconstructed, antediluvian, V8-powered, infamous Aussie-built Anglophile – the VXR8 – is no more. Cue the ‘Kylie and Jason’ mood music. There is much more to mourn with the Holden’s passing, of course, since it also represented the death knell of local car production in Australia and of the variety it gave to petrolheads everywhere. In the end, Holden’s Commodore production line stayed running a year longer than Ford’s Falcon factory and a month longer than Toyota’s local Camry facility but finally wound to a stop on 20 October…

The line of V8-engined ‘special Holdens’ brought to our shores by Vauxhall over the past 13 years has not been short on material for a Saturday prime-time TV ‘best bits’ showreel, but with the VXR8 GTS-R, it has undoubtedly hit a zenith. One or two HSV Holdens we’ve been treated to before have had similar combustive and visual drama as this car, but none has combined as much outright performance and on-the-limit grip and composure with the simple, unfiltered rear-drive handling engagement we’ve come to expect from HSV over the years. Compared with some fast executive saloons in 2018, the GTS-R may be a little short on traction, firepower, driveline sophistication and outright off-the-line pace. But it utterly wins you over with the honesty, authenticity, tactility and physicality of its…

Few car types are older or more traditional than that of the luxury saloon and, it naturally follows, none probably has greater staying power. It won’t matter if there’s a new way to spend a six-figure sum on some aristocratic SUV with every passing month in 2018. Tesla boss Elon Musk can talk about his latest electric debutant in ever louder and bolder terms – and you know he will. Come what may, it seems, the full-sized, full-cream executive limousine isn’t going anywhere. This breed of car has survived two world wars, two global economic depressions, numerous recessions in between, an oil crisis and the ever tougher threat posed by tightening emissions legislation. It has simply and resolutely stared down any and every challenge laid before it and continues to…

“ITV has ordered Outlander PHEVs with satellite dishes on top” Modena in northern Italy is, without doubt, the spiritual home of the mid-engined supercar. And Detroit, Michigan, is surely the birthplace of the V8 muscle car. But where the heck on this forsaken planet, I hear you cry, do off-road vehicles with bespoke racking solutions and Chapter 8 compliant reflective liveries herald from? Cirencester, obviously. Established in 2002, Mitsubishi’s Specialist Vehicle Operations division modifies Shoguns, L200 pick-ups and Outlander PHEVs for telecoms companies, utility companies and police forces. Based in a sprawling unit on a busy industrial estate on the edge of the Cotswolds, M-SVO counts the Ministry of Defence, Sky, BT, the Metropolitan Police and the Highways Agency among its clients. “We were set up to help our fleet…

Ignis is bliss I am so glad that Autocar has grasped the brilliance of the Suzuki Ignis. It truly is a superb car. Dare I suggest that it is a modern take on the Renault 4 and Fiat Panda Mk1 concepts and truly original in its design and driving? My only gripe is the price: £10,700 for the base model rising to nearly £15,000 for the range-topp er puts the Ignis beyond its natural, minimalist sector. Dacia’s Sandero retains a price advantage over the Ignis. The Ignis is a delight on back roads because it is not bloated as so many cars now are. And in my experience, it matches its fuel consumption claims in real-world driving. Lance Cole Via email Police Stop! I refer to the letter from Malcolm…

QUESTION You recently recommended a Land Rover Freelander 2.5 V6 auto. Are you sure that’s a good idea? Nigel Knight ANSWER Nigel, you tell me you are in the trade and have found Freelanders, when current, virtually unsaleable and could never place them in the trade due to their expensive head gasket failures and transmission faults. You’re right but I’d like to think they’re sorted out by now. QUESTION I mistakenly sold my Fiat Panda 100 HP and need a small replacement. Suggestions? Colin Lewin ANSWER You could buy another, but maybe you should consider a Ford Fiesta. Buyers don’t have to go for the ST. Even the lowest-powered examples are a laugh to drive enthusiastically. A £4000 budget would buy a 2009 1.4 Titanium. QUESTION Our daughter turns 18…

1 McLaren P1 From £866,000 McLaren set out to build the best driver’s car in the world and it came ridiculously close. A 903bhp go-kart. 2 Porsche 918 Spyder From £674,000 Only in the hypercar category do ive stars not guarantee the class lead. The hybrid 918 feels built to rule, too. A mind-boggler. 3 LaFerrari From £950,000 A more than worthy successor to the Enzo. Indeed, it makes the old-timer feel gruesomely under-achieving and is far sweeter to drive. 4 Bugatti Veyron From £1.15 million A waning obsession with petrol power taken to its extreme limit. There are better cars, but few are quicker. 5 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…

Land Rover is readying a raft of new models over the next four years that will take it into new sectors and will culminate in the launch of a model that revives the spirit of the original Freelander. The diverse new cars, which also include a £250,000 Range Rover coupé, a Defender pickup truck and a more car-like Range Rover, will cash in on the booming growth of premium 4x4s, with the aim of elevating Land Rover sales and profits to new heights. Most crucial to the growth targets are new entry-level models. Inspiring these plans is the success of the original Freelander, which invented the idea of a soft-roader when it was launched in 1997 and became a best-seller in Europe. Land Rover is keen to do this again,…

When Land Rover reveals its Range Rover coupé, developed by its Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) division, at the Geneva motor show in March, it will secure its place at the extreme end of the premium SUV sector, outpricing models such as the Lamborghini Urus and Bentley Bentayga. The two-door Range Rover coupé is expected to cost in the region of £250,000, far more than the starting price of the new Urus (£165,000) and the W12 Bentayga (£162,700). It is also £70,000 more than the most expensive Range Rover currently on sale, the SVAutobiography LWB. However, as an SVO limited edition, it can afford to be a niche model, produced in small numbers and sold to enthusiasts who are likely to have a collection of cars. The two-door is likely to…

Infiniti has shown the Q Inspiration concept ahead of its official debut at the Detroit motor show. Design boss Alfonso Albaisa has previously confirmed to Autocar that the car will be a pure-electric model in its own right, which is backed up by the car’s lack of grille or exhausts. Officially, Infiniti has stated only that the concept’s look previews that of its next-generation cars, as well as featuring autonomous technologies and compact powertrains, which implies space-efficient electric motors. The concept takes the form of a Kia Stinger-like fastback saloon.…

Seat’s Martorell plant is back to rude health after years of low output, reflecting Seat’s resurgence. In 2016, it made 448,000 cars, putting it on a similar scale to Nissan’s UK plant in Sunderland, which made 507,000. In order of output, the Leon (163k) was the most produced model, followed by the Ibiza (150k) and Audi Q3 (136k). Each model goes down its own line and is made at different speeds. Workers on the Ibiza line have just 1min 10sec to fix parts at each assembly station, for the Leon they have 1min 20sec and the more complex Q3 2min 5sec – all typical industry figures. Including the time to press panels, each Ibiza absorbs 19.5 man-hours of labour, the Leon 19 hours and the Q3 21.9 hours.…

Just four of the 11 car firms are expected to meet CO2 targets Three years from now, Europe’s car makers will face perhaps their toughest test for many decades when EU law requires them to meet very rigorous fuel economy laws. However, according to two auto industry consultants, the combination of new testing legislation, the effects of Dieselgate and the market shift towards SUVs could make it near impossible for car makers to meet the laws. Failing to do so would result in manufacturers facing fines of hundreds of millions of euros. Under the regulations, each car maker has a CO2 output target, which is averaged over its whole range of cars. So while the targeted average across the whole industry is just 95g/km of CO2, the individual requirement varies,…

The VXR8’s 8.0in infotainment system looks and feels like it belongs on a decade-old car – and understandably so. Its display looks low of resolution and it often takes a while to respond, although it is at least a touchscreen system. There’s no smartphone mirroring here and very few internet-connected features – and on a £70,000 car, you’ve a right to expect much better. But you do get a nine-speaker premium Bose audio system that sounds more than adequate and it will also stream audio from your phone via Bluetooth – and Vauxhall’s MyLink smartphone interface system grants limited app-based web connectivity to streaming sites like Stitcher. HSV’s Enhanced Driver Interface system is linked into the car’s sat-nav for what looks like pretty rudimentary lap time data logging, although we…

Over far too many years of giving free car advice, I have learned that there is a gap – something approaching a yawning chasm, in fact – between what people say they want from a car and what they actually want from a car. At least when they say it to me. And it seems McLaren Automotive, after rather less time in the field, is learning it too. All of McLaren’s first cars, from the 12C and 650S to the P1 and 675LT, were thoroughbred supercars. Not desperately practical, but exactly what was imagined would be required from a car wearing the McLaren badge. After a faltering start, they did well, so no surprises that when McLaren launched its more affordable Sports Series, the 570S took the same path. And…

Last summer, in the rarefied, balmy climes of RM Sotheby’s Monterey auction, some brave soul coughed up around £5 million for the sole Aston Martin DB4 GT prototype. Even production examples are said to be worth about £3m, which makes the ‘continuation’ DB4 GTs currently being built by Aston Martin Works seem great value at around £1.5m a pop. But three lots before that Aston went under the hammer in California, a rare surviving example of the world’s tiniest car also made an enormous impact. The humble, charming and frankly ridiculous Peel P50 – all 54 inches of it – fetched just over £105,000. Not bad for a single-seat, single-cylinder three-wheeler with an original list price of £199. In fact, P50s have sold for more than £130,000. And unlike Johnnycome-latelies…

FEATURE Chevrolet Camaro vs Ford Mustang Our celebration of all things American kicks off with the battle of these iconic rear-wheel-drive V8-powered muscle cars LONG-TERM TEST A year with a Porsche 911 Is the world’s best all-round sports car also a great all-round car? DRIVEN Toyota Yaris GRMN Toyota joins the hot hatch crew with its first GRMN model EVERY WEEK FIRST DRIVE Alpina B5 BMW M5 super-saloon alternative is let loose in the UK for the first time ROAD TEST BMW X3 Is it the best overall SUV you can buy? We put it through the road test mill USED BUYING GUIDE Mazda MX-5 Mk3 Does the MX-5 that majored on comfort make for a good used buy? SUBSCRIBE autocar.co.uk/subscribe or see p22…

MILEAGE 16,403 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see how well suited this luxury off-roader is to executive travel It snowed, then. You’ll know that from the fact that it was white outside and, if you live in a home county, that the bits that weren’t white were suddenly about 40% Land Rover. Some of these, round my way, I just don’t seem to see for the rest of the year, so must be extricated from garages, yards and barns for the occasion, which is quite lovely. Most classics get wrapped up in the winter and only come out when it’s dry in the summer: life as an old Landie, though, seems often to be the opposite. Still, it was the perfect opportunity, too, to assess the Discovery in one of…

MILEAGE 128,055 LAND ROVER SERIES 3 I have been putting more miles on the Lorry and its return to the fleet could not have come at a better time, when the weather really turned. Not that I needed to use its abilities. In fact, the yellow button was not engaged. But getting used to the slight repositioning and reinstallation of the overdrive lever has been more of a challenge. Indeed, on my first drive, I thought it was jammed. It is shoulder-dislocating stuff at the moment. I believe that it may become easier, though.…

“All of the grunt comes at once in a giddy rush of decidedly old-school turbo boost” Let’s be honest: your average estate car is hardly the stuff of dreams. In fact, until the early 1990s, the idea of coveting a wagon was fairly alien to most of us – with a few possible exceptions. (Lynx Eventer, anyone?) Then the Audi RS2 came along – the first super-estate made available to the British public and the one that introduced millions of us to that well-worn cliché of carting the Labrador around at supercar speeds. Today, the RS2 has lost none of its visual drama. From the front, it’s all aggro – bluff, wild-eyed, baring its teeth – and from the side, the eyes are drawn to those red, Porsche-badged calipers peeping…

“Its 5.0-litre V10 is force-fed by an intercooler and two turbochargers to produce 572bhp” They call it the ‘50p seal’ because that’s what it costs in your hand. Unfortunately, fitted to an RS6, it costs considerably more – from around £2200 after you’ve taken parts and labour into account. It goes in the oil pump. When it fails, it allows oil to leak onto the driver’s side of the engine’s undertray. When checking over a used RS6, look for oil pooling there and weeping at the back of the engine. We might as well get that out of the way first. That and the car’s coolant pipes, which, where they run around the wheel arch, are exposed to the elements. In time, they rot and leak fluid. Some garages reckon…

1 Porsche 911 GT3 RS From £131,000 Proof that Porsche hasn’t forgotten how to do on-limit nuttiness when the occasion demands it. 2 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. 3 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. 4 Lamborghini Aventador SV 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. 5 Lotus Exige Sport 350 From £53,000 Only fantasy machines of a rare and expensive calibre are capable of seeing off the Lotus. It’s that good.…

Mini has revamped its hatchback, five-door and convertible models for 2018 by giving the trio of B-segment cars extra standard-fit technology, enhanced customisation options and, a first for the siblings, a new dual-clutch gearbox. Due in UK showrooms from 17 March, Mini’s core models now come as standard with front and rear LED lights and optional matrix LED high beams. The LED tail-lights feature a Union flag design that takes influence from the units featured on the Mini Electric concept of 2017. Inside, there is a new three-spoke steering wheel with multifunction buttons and an updated 6.5in standard-fit infotainment system, which is now offered with a Navigation Plus Pack and wireless phone charging. The infotainment can be upgraded with an optional touchscreen, sat-nav and Apple CarPlay functionality. A Mini Connected…

HYUNDAI HAS REVEALED its next hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and intends to put it on sale by the end of the year. The design of the SUV draws heavily on the FE Fuel Cell Concept of the 2017 Geneva motor show. Although the production car’s technical specifications have yet to be revealed, the concept, which had a range of 497 miles and a power density 30% higher than that of Hyundai’s ix35 Fuel Cell model, holds some clues for performance. Hyundai said its new FCEV will feature advanced driver assistance systems. These are expected to enable semi-autonomous functionality that’s akin to the Volkswagen Group’s Traffic Jam Assist system, in which the car can control the throttle, brakes and steering up to a set…

Shorter product development cycles, new digital-dominated car interiors, apps to ease urban congestion and a more cost-effective assembly plant are the prizes Seat believes will flow from the impending digitisation of its business. The Spanish car maker is on a roll, having posted a financial profit in 2016 for the first time in decades, and is now being swept up in the Volkswagen Group’s haste to reinvent itself after Dieselgate. Evidence of Seat’s newfound confidence comes from a rare behind-the-scenes look at its design facility and factory in Martorell and the opening of the Metropolis:Lab, where it plans to create new smartphone and tablet apps. “We will take mobile technology and big data to optimise how the public, the ‘smart city’ and mobility services relate to each other, and our…

THE COROLLA NAME looks set to return to Britain this year when Toyota launches a new model to supersede its struggling Auris hatchback. A source told Autocar that the Corolla, which will return the moniker to the UK for the first time since 2007, would be tasked with turning around the declining sales of the Auris. Toyota delivered 13,983 Aurises in the first 11 months of 2017, compared with 16,528 in 2016. Although the Corolla has been absent from Britain for 11 years, cars bearing its name have remained on sale in other global markets since it was first introduced in 1966. The new UK model will arrive as the current international Corolla, which has been on sale since 2013, is replaced with a family of models. Alongside the hatchback…

The Camaro ZL1 combines the supercharged 6.2-litre V8 from the Corvette ZR1 with the marginally increased practicality of a four-seat cabin. It is available at a big-bang-for-your-buck starting price of $62,500 in the US. With 641bhp, the ZL1’s mighty V8 outguns the current top-spec Ford Mustang GT350 by 122bhp. The Camaro ZL1 features styling that turns the aggression of the standard car to something close to a steroid rage, with a huge front splitter and the bonnet’s power bulge finished in raw carbonfibre. This car is fast enough to stretch your adjectives, yet also impressively usable for something so brutal. The V8 (mated in our test car to an optional ten-speed automatic transmission) delivers huge urge whenever you want it, the supercharger starting to blow hard from around 2500rpm and…

In an ambient 5deg C and with patches of dampness lingering on track, the GTS-R had to be managed up to temperature and cajoled a little to give up an indication of its true capabilities – all relationship-building stuff that only fuels your affection for the car. With the tyres up to temperature, the chassis’s adhesiveness increased markedly, although the delicacy of its balance of grip was ever-present. This is an old-school driver’s car that moves around under you and responds to being driven well; being slowed, turned, pivoted and manipulated with sensitivity. The confidence and pace with which you can attack the track’s big braking areas is high, the apex speed you can carry likewise. But corner exit remains the highlight of most bends, where you can choose from…

“Polestar 1 is very much a halo product. We’re going to need those for the future” For a business that has spent 20 years doing things with Volvos that it will probably never do again, Polestar, Gothenburg’s new ‘electric performance brand’, carries a remarkable aura of freshness and new endeavour about it. Perhaps it’s the sky-gazing nature of the name that does it, or the recent complete rethink of its partnership with Volvo, a company which itself has managed to stand outside the money-driven, horsepower-crazy, German-centric melee that forms the arena for mainland Europe’s other premium manufacturers. It also helps that, for the past six months, Polestar’s fortunes have been guided by an ambitious new CEO, Thomas Ingenlath, who as Volvo’s chief of design has spent the past five years…

Autocar contributors have been responsible at least in part for some amazing creations. For example, former technical editor Harry Mundy was instrumental in the designs of the BRM V16 race engine and the Jaguar V12 road car engine. More recently, Iain Robertson styled the TVR Griffith before becoming an Autocar news editor. Me? I think I might have had a hand in getting the seat runners of the original Jaguar XK8 extended. But I did have a little to do with the creation of the car on these pages. At the launch of the 570GT, McLaren boss Mike Flewitt made the mistake of asking me what I thought of the car. I’m usually quite reticent about sharing views with car makers before publication but, on this occasion, I told him…

MILEAGE 15,441 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To find out how well this hi-tech exec blends luxury and sporting traits in a practical body Our E-Class estate may be packed to the panoramic roof with technological baubles, but there’s one option that hasn’t been used a great deal – the Driving Assistance Plus Package. This adds semi-autonomous driving functionality with radar cruise control and steering assist that can follow white lines, the car in front and even guardrails. That was all the excuse I needed to blag the key from appointed keeper Matt Burt for a holiday at Disneyland Paris. Even without the self-driving tech, the thought of wafting through France in a luxuriously appointed holdall capable of around 50mpg was most appealing. Setting off at sparrow’s fart, the E220d initially…

Volkswagen Jetta 1.4 TFSI Brian Morrison was about to send his Reader’s Ride extolling the virtues of his 2008 Jetta when it developed a misfire. “A new set of coils and plugs sorted the problem for £250 so I still reckon it’s doing pretty well, because this is the first real problem I’ve had in six years,” he says. “I bought it with 10,000 miles on the clock and have put on a further 72,000. “It is a genuine 40mpg car, which, I feel, has an identity crisis. I’ve had Passat drivers ask why my ‘Passat’ looks different from theirs.” SEND YOUR USED CAR TALES AND READERS' QUESTIONS TO ✉ james@bangernomics.com…

Honda CR-Z 1.5 IMA £5485 The Honda CR-Z is an interesting hybrid that’s enjoyable to drive. Even as an older, used purchase, the CR-Z scored 100% in the latest What Car? Reliability survey, so there’s no trouble in recommending one, such as this 2010 version with 50,000 miles and a full Honda service history. It may not be the fastest car around, but that just encourages you to carry as much speed as possible through corners. A great small coupé. Alfa Romeo GT 3.2 V6 £6495 It may be front-wheel drive and it may break down on you, but look at that V6 engine and red leather interior. It’s a handsome-looking coupé – this a 2005 example – with fantastic detailing, both inside and out. Some people would argue that…

An expert’s view MARTIN ADAMS, FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR, UNIT 20 “I owned a limited-edition RS6 V10 Plus for four years. It had £8000 of options, if you include removing the speed limiter. It was a flying machine – not as raw as the earlier C5 RS6 I owned, but you could really press on. It was a heavy car and, in all honesty, it was a little numb but the four-wheel-drive system meant you could really use the power without getting in a tangle. As I speak, we’ve got four going through the workshop. Usual things: leaky oil pumps and intercoolers, and rusty coolant pipes. But the earliest are nine years old so it’s to be expected.” Buyer beware… • ENGINE Oil changes are every 10,000 miles. Audi reckons the…

1 Rolls-Royce Phantom From £310,200 In all signi icant and insigni icant ways, this Phantom – a lag-bearer for its maker – is the pinnacle of motoring luxury. 2 Bentley Bentayga From £160,200 Bentley’s irst attempt at making an SUV is very good indeed. In addition to the W12, there is also a V8 diesel and that is just as capable. 3 Bentley Mulsanne From £229,400 If the Phantom is best experienced from the back seat, the Mulsanne is a lagship best lown from the front. 4 Mercedes-Maybach S600 From £165,700 Doesn’t have the badge allure to rule its class like the regular S-Class, but equally superior in terms of function. 5 Range Rover SVAutobiography From £166,000 JLR’s Special Vehicle Operations division has turned its hand at making the Range…

BMW M8 | 2019 M divison will produce performance versions of both the 8 Series coupé and convertible. Power will come from an uprated version of the new M5’s 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 engine with more than 600bhp, and the M8 will also use that car’s all-wheel-drive system. Price £135k (est) JANUARY Alpina D5 S, Bentley Continental GT, Ford Fiesta Active, Hyundai i30 N, i30 Fastback, Jaguar E-Pace, Jeep Compass, Kia Picanto X-Line, Stinger, Sorento update, Land Rover Discovery SVX, Range Rover and Range Rover Sport updates, Range Rover and Range Rover Sport PHEVs, Lexus LS, Maserati Ghibli update, Mercedes-Benz S-Class update, Peugeot 5008, Porsche 911 Carrera T, 911 GT3 Touring, Rolls-Royce Phantom, Seat Arona (right), Skoda Karoq, Vauxhall Grandland X, Viva Rocks, Volkswagen Golf SV update, Polo FEBRUARY Audi A7,…