Innholdsfortegnelse for November 21, 2018 i Autocar

WHAT’S GOING ON at TVR? Not a lot, Colin Goodwin tells us, thanks to a tangle of European Union red tape (p48). The investment in TVR by the Welsh government earlier this year means it’s now subject to EU funding laws. TVR can’t build its new factory until construction firms across Europe have had a chance to bid, a process that will run into next year. TVR’s delays show just how tricky a business it is to launch a car brand, with unexpected delays and setbacks emerging from the most unlikely places. Les Edgar, frontman of the reborn TVR project, bought the brand back in 2013, but it’s unlikely the new car will hit the road until 2020. That’s a whole generation and life cycle for a Porsche 911. The…

CITROEN IS PLANNING to launch an all-new C4 Cactus in 2020 with a fully electric powertrain option, alongside conventional engine choices. The compact SUV has recently received a mid-life facelift, but that extends the current car only until the end of the decade. An all-new version will move from the old PF1 platform to the PSA Group’s new Compact Modular Platform (CMP), shared with the next Peugeot 208 and Vauxhall Corsa. Like the 208, the platform is designed to integrate both internal combustion engines and an electric powertrain. Arnaud Belloni, Citroën’s senior vice-president of global marketing and communications, confirmed to Autocar that the C4 Cactus would be the first electric model to be launched by the brand since the C-Zero city car. The new models form part of the PSA…

BMW is developing a fully electric X5, according to a senior powertrain insider, and it could be launched by 2022. A battery-electric version of the X5 won’t arrive as soon as other models in BMW’s line-up due to the car’s size and weight. However, work has progressed beyond the initial planning phase, Autocar understands. An electric X5, likely to be badged iX5, requires a highly efficient powertrain and substantially reduced parasitic losses to be viable either for BMW or for its potential customers in terms of manufacturing and running costs. Enabling the X5 to work as a full EV will involve a weight-saving programme, says our source, as well as significant improvements in aerodynamics and a reduction in rolling resistance. All of these factors bear heavily on the car’s performance…

The reborn TVR project has been delayed by European Union rules causing a seven-month tender process for construction work on the factory. TVR revealed the all-new Griffith at the Goodwood Revival in September last year, but public updates on the project have been infrequent. Now Autocar can reveal that progress at TVR has temporarily stalled due to an unintended consequence of the Welsh government’s 3% purchase of a stake in the company alongside a £2 million loan earlier this year. That deal means that TVR is now subject to EU rules around state funding, so the construction work needed to turn its currently dilapidated factory in Ebbw Vale, South Wales, has had to go out to tender across the entire EU, rather than to only local firms. That seven-month process…

The all-new Mazda 3 has been spied testing just weeks before its LA motor show unveiling. The Ford Focus rival was snapped in disguised prototype form, but the thin wrapping shows the bodywork stays largely faithful to the Kai concept of 2017, with a curvy profile, rising shoulder line and thinly stretched headlights. The 3 sits on Mazda’s new Skyactiv-X platform specially developed to house the brand’s compression ignition petrol engine, which is claimed to offer the fuel efficiency of a diesel without a turbocharger. Diesels could still be offered, too, while a Fastback body style is also due to be shown in LA.…

Feels odd to say Audis have become more mainstream in the past few years, when in 2001 the company offered 17 model lines and yet now you can choose from nearly 50. Ever increasing choice is what Audi gives. But this latest A1 is a mainstream car in a way that, say, the A2, or even the first A1, was not. They were both ‘nichey’, but the new A1 has been honed specifically to target entirely conventional rivals – namely the five-door Mini hatch – because Audi has finally identified what buyers of posh small cars want. Or, at least, Audi thinks it knows what they want: an aggressive-looking car with a cool interior, please, a lot of exterior and interior colour and option choices, but mechanically something as reassuring…

In lieu of the genuine article, this is as close as you’ll get to a BMW M5 Touring of the current F10 generation. In fact, Alpina’s take on an openly practical 600bhp 5 Series could be even more enticing than an M division ware, because the tiny marque’s more understated approach to going extremely fast better suits the family-car brief. This much is apparent as soon as the forged, lightweight 20in wheels begin to turn. In combination with Alpina’s assiduous retuning of the donor 550i’s sports suspension – now by air at the rear axle – they help deliver the kind of ride that M5 owners must surely wish they had access to 90% of the time. In fact, on anything larger than a narrow B-road, you’ll carry 30mph more…

"While the Alpine produces 248bhp, the McLaren has 562bhp" First of all there are the similarities you simply cannot miss. Both cars place their turbocharged engines in the middle of two-seat bodies, for instance, and what power those engines produce is sent to the rear axle only. Then there are the similarities that aren’t immediately obvious, such as a commitment to reducing weight that borders on the obsessive and a shared preference for open rather than limited-slip differentials. And then there are the similarities you cannot identify until you drive the two cars back to back over the same road. These similarities are not only the most hard-won but they are also far and away the most intriguing. We will come back to those a little later on. For all…

No charge, no benefits I notice that the Government has removed the benefits that were being applied to the sale of hybrid cars, much to the annoyance of the those who bought them. The excuse given was the huge take-up of these vehicles. Upon investigation, n, I think that you will find the main reason is that owners of these vehicles are receiving all the benefits of ownership but not bothering to charge up the battery at all. Can we expect to see battery inspectors lurking round every corner? I do hope so. John WilliamsDenbigh, North Wales WIN Letter of the week wins this ValetPRO exterior protection and maintenance kit worth £48…

MILEAGE 6177 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see if a cut-price luxury offering can be as urbane to live with as it is to look at The Arteon had been away doing what it does best for other people these past few weeks, but I’ve got it back, removed the grime and detritus and made it feel like home again. It’s racked up 6000 miles now, and most of those will have been passed in quiet, comfortable, ultra-undemanding calm. The Arteon, we’ve learned, isn’t great at making those miles seem very special or interesting (partly because it’s a pretty humbly equipped car with one of the lesser-powered engines available), but it asks almost nothing of you, either, beyond a tank of unleaded every 500 miles or so and enough of…

What the MOT test uncovered was some tyres with only a few thousand miles of tread left. The front near-side one was particularly bad, but I am just a bit tyre obsessive. I prefer the correct donuts for the job, so what to get and from where? I spoke to the good people at Falken Tyres and they have developed the FK510 SUV, a tyre specifically for SUVs. Obviously, it’s important to use a tyre with the correct load and speed rating and not use an everyday car tyre, so let’s get these fitted and then I can tell you what they are like.…

“Check out at least 10 to find two worth considering,” says Trevor Castel of Freedom 4x4, a Toyota Land Cruiser specialist. His advice will come as a surprise to those of us raised on a vision of the big Cruiser as a tough, go-anywhere vehicle beloved of UN aid workers. But the reality is that the model – and specifically the J120 series of 2003-09 under consideration here – has its fair share of problems. Inspect any prospective purchase with a fine-toothed comb, looking for corroded inner sills and floor pan, sticky brake calipers, corroded coolant pipes, split suspension air bags (on LC5 versions) and worn suspension and steering bushes. Not so tough after all, then, except that you’ll encounter many Cruisers with well over 170,000 miles under their wheels.…

This little beaut made £1870. It’s a 1985 Panda 4x4 that’ll give a Landie a run for its money, as long as its detuned 48bhp has the lungs. I remember, back in 1988, selling a new one to a scruffy chap in tatty jeans, long before ripped strides were fashionable. It was the easiest sale of my short career. He just pointed to one in the brochure, chose a reg number and paid a deposit. Deal done. I glimpsed him leaving in a red Ferrari 308 that he’d parked round the back. Moral of the story: never judge a punter by his trousers. JE…

The Amarok has always delivered where it counts – with rugged load-carrying performance, both on-road and off. But it also adds a degree of luxury, style, comfort and practicality inside its five-seater double cab that sets it apart from other pick-ups. The Amarok Aventura takes all the premium style and comfort features you get on the Highline trim, including a leather-trimmed multi-function steering wheel, Climatronic air-conditioning, and heated front and rear seats. It adds titanium black trim for the roof liner and pillars, and ergo comfort front seats with 12-way electrical adjustment and titanium black Nappa leather upholstery. In the heart of the dashboard is a 6.3-inch Discover Media navigation system with DAB+ radio, Bluetooth, USB slots and seamless connectivity with voice control for compatible smartphones, thanks to ‘App-Connect’. You…

Lotus is set to stun the world with a new £2 million-plus electric hypercar that acts as a statement of intent under new owner Geely. The new model will be built in strictly limited numbers, and will be the fastest, most expensive and most radical model made by Lotus in its 70-year history. The project is shrouded in secrecy at Lotus’s Hethel headquarters in Norfolk, but Autocar understands it has been given the codename Omega and development work is well under way, with a reveal of a concept version set for next year. Further details are scarce at this stage, but Autocar can confirm the new model will use a bespoke all-electric drivetrain when it launches early in the next decade. The £2m-plus price tag will propel Lotus into a…

While Lotus has never made an electric car itself (at least publicly: Group Lotus’s Lotus Engineering arm regularly conducts secret projects for other car makers), there are a number of electric Lotuses in existence. Most famous is the Tesla Roadster. The model used to launch Tesla, the Roadster was based on an Elise chassis and given a 200-mile range. Almost 2500 found homes in its four-year production run, which was devised to get Tesla used to making and selling electric cars and introduce its brand to the world on proven underpinnings. Intriguingly, around the same time, Dodge made an electric sports car concept based on the Europa, but unlike the Tesla it never made production. We still await our first test of the most recent Elise-based electric sports car, the…

Automotive components giant Schaeffler has fitted an Audi RS3 with a unique 1200bhp, four-motor electric powertrain that can perform doughnuts from stationary with no steering angle to showcase the performance potential of EV technology. The 4ePerformance demo car is based on an RS3 TCR touring car racer, but has a powertrain system that uses technology taken from Audi’s Formula E racer. Schaeffler is a technical partner of the German firm’s team in the electric single-seater series. The 4ePerformance is fitted with four motors and inverters, each driving one wheel. A 64kWh battery contributes to a total weight of 1800kg – around 600kg more than the RS3 TCR car – but with so much power and torque, the car can do 62mph in 2.5sec and 124mph just four seconds later. An…

BMW HAS REVEALED the flagship of its new 3 Series range, the M340i xDrive, ahead of its Los Angeles motor show debut next week. The M340i will crown the range until the full-fat M3 arrives late next year. It also marks the first time that the initial of BMW’s sporting M division has preceded the model number of a 3 Series. It’s powered by a 3.0-litre single-turbo straight-six petrol engine made largely from aluminium. Benefiting from an efficient twin-scroll turbo and higher-pressure fuel injectors, it produces 369bhp and 369lb ft of torque. That’s 47bhp and 37lb ft more than the previous 340i. Those figures translate to a 0-62mph time of 4.4sec – half a second quicker than the old car – partly due to the shorter ratios of BMW’s latest…

Toyota has revealed a saloon variant of its new Corolla at the Guangzhou motor show in China. The four-door is due to arrive in the UK in early 2019 and will be offered alongside the already-revealed hatchback and Touring Sports estate models. While a 121bhp 1.8-litre petrol hybrid powertrain is available to other markets, UK buyers will only receive a 178bhp 2.0-litre version. It shares its wheelbase with the estate, offering more leg room than the hatchback, and fills the void left by the Avensis, which has been taken off sale in the UK. FIRST ELECTRIC MG TO FURTHER BRAND’S RANGE MG used the Guangzhou motor show to reveal its first electric car, the eZS crossover. Technical details will be released next month, but Autocar understands power comes from a…

THERE ARE FEW changes to Audi’s R8 super-sports car beyond a mild reskin inspired, Audi says, by its GT3 customer racing car, which rolls down the very same production line as the regular R8 road cars. Visually, then, there has been a dechroming at the front and a new splitter whose profile continues onto the car’s sides, where, painted black, it reduces the visual height of the body and extends to the rear where it’s all about a big old diffuser – again like the race car – plus a new wide grille for exiting hot air. There are some oval tailpipes, too. The R8 continues with the same 5.2-litre V10 engine, four-wheel drive and a dual-clutch automatic gearbox. There’s a power hike for this facelift, up by 30bhp to…

MODEL TESTED DBS SUPERLEGGERA Price £225,000 • Power 715bhp • Torque 664lb ft • 0-60mph 3.7sec • 30-70mph in fourth 4.1sec • Fuel economy 19.3mpg • CO2 emissions 285g/km • 70-0mph 42.1m All of a sudden, there is a gap in the market. Admittedly, it is small and niche, but it is also enduring and meaningful. The gap pertains to large-capacity, front-engined ‘super’ grand tourers. These might be a rare sight on the road but they are among the most prestigious and best loved of all the exotic breeds, with the finest sporting pedigree. Regular Autocar readers may have earlier surmised the gap in question might be Ferrari-shaped: specifically one best plugged by the 812 Superfast – but that car turned out to be more supercar than transcontinental express, and simply…

A millionaire electronics gaming entrepreneur is going to build a composite-bodied sports car in South Wales. No more unusual than a butcher and a German ex-prisoner of war doing exactly the same thing 60 years ago. The former you will have recognised as Les Edgar, the man behind TVR. Edgar hopes to be building the new Griffith in a factory in Ebbw Vale by the end of next year. Our butcher and PoW might not be so familiar, but you might recall the car company they founded: dragon-badged Gilbern. We’re with Gareth Morgan outside his house in Pencoed, admiring his pair of Gilberns. One is a very rare Invader Mk2 estate and the other is an Invader Mk2 coupé. We’re going to take the coupé on a little tour and…

In the second half of the 1990s, Mitsubishi was a brand on the rise. It used its long history of making highly capable four-wheel-drive off-roaders to produce the Lancer Evo, which claimed four straight World Rally Championship titles with Tommi Mäkinen at the wheel and, in road car form, a legion of fans. But even then, the brand presented a conundrum. The Japanese firm has always been engineering led, capable of innovation and greatness: remember the Lancer Evo, the ultra-tough Shogun, the venerable L200 pick-up and, recently, the Outlander PHEV plug-in hybrid? But when it strays from its engineering expertise, the results are far less inspiring. It was hard to square the unforgettable Evo with the largely forgettable standard Lancer, or draw a link between the go-anywhere Shogun and underwhelming…

GREAT REASONS TO BUY ON SALE 28 NOVEMBER 100-PAGE SPECIAL 70 YEARS OF LAND ROVER Velar epic drive, best used Land Rovers, plus new Evoque revealed The all-new Range Rover Evoque stars in our celebration of the very best of Land Rover 70 YEARS OF PORSCHE All-new 911 revealed Porsche unveils the new 911 – and we look back at its lineage 70 YEARS OF LOTUS Greatest-ever Lotus drives It’s Lotus’s big birthday too. Andrew Frankel picks the best EVERY WEEK ROAD TEST Suzuki Jimny Just how good is 2018’s most characterful new car? We find out FIRST DRIVE Renault Mégane RS Trophy Can Renault reclaim its crown as the maker of the world’s best hot hatch? USED BUYING GUIDE Lotus Exige S2 Great on track, but also around town.…

MILEAGE 3031 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see if the latest S-Class maintains the model’s luxury car superiority, and whether this S500 eclipses the old V8 If you’ve been waiting patiently for news of our mighty white S500 hybrid, you’ll have noted a distinct information hiatus. About the time our first report ran in early October, we were arranging crash repairs – after a lady in a venerable yellow Astra hit it resoundingly up the backside at about 20mph. It was a classic suburban accident. The traffic ahead came to an abrupt halt, the big Benz demonstrated its superb retardation abilities by stopping dead straight and in plenty of time despite a split-grip situation (dry road crown, wet kerbside) but, sadly, the Vauxhall did not. The impact felt quite severe…

We are indebted to Kenny Smith for yet again persuading a relative to show off their bargain purchase: “Steven Smith wanted a fun occasional car for high days and holidays, one that was well equipped, a convertible and roomy enough for his children. “He spotted a 2008 Renault Mégane CC 1.6 Dynamique S for sale privately with only 63,000 miles and a full main dealer service history plus lots of receipts. It had had a fresh MOT and service two months earlier. It was dusty, damp free and £950.”…

An expert’s view TREVOR CASTEL, FREEDOM 4X4 LTD “My passion for the Land Cruiser began with a J70. I’ve since owned other J70s plus 80s and 120 series models. The 70s and 80s are easy to work on; 120s a little less so. All are strong with good winching-off capability when you get stuck. My daily driver is a J120 D-4D LC5 with an ARB winch bumper, snorkel and roof rack, plus a drawer system with a fridge. I drove it to Slovenia this summer and took it on the trails there.” Buyer beware ▪ ENGINE Diesels are rattly but check it’s not knock caused by faulty fuel injector controls. With the engine in gear and your foot on the brake, check if the engine rocks more than an inch…

Vauxhall Cascada Price new £29,185. Price now £21,981 Steve Cropley recently paid tribute to the Vauxhall Cascada, now jettisoned from the car maker’s model range. However, he tells how a friend observed that “if I really cared about the car, I’d own one”. Well, now’s your chance, Steve. PistonHeads is advertising a nearly new 2018 1.4 T Elite with delivery mileage for £21,981 or around £7000 less than list. But before spending that, it’s always sobering to look at the other end of the price spectrum where you can pick up a 2014 example with 27,000 miles for £11,500……

Volkswagen is set to launch an affordable new entry-level electric vehicle as part of a modern-day ‘people’s car’ project. The compact five-seater is described as a crossover utility vehicle with raised ride height and exterior dimensions similar to the existing combustion-engined T-Roc. It will be part of Volkswagen’s upcoming line-up of ID battery-powered models that will kick off with the launch of the Neo hatchback in 2020. The company is aiming for the new ID model to go on sale in 2022 at a price chairman Herbert Diess indicates could be as low as €20,000, or just £17,500 in the UK. The keen pricing for what will be the fifth ID model after the Neo and production versions of the Crozz, Buzz and Vizzion concepts is a crucial component in…

OFFICIAL DETAILS OF the new BMW 330e plug-in hybrid have emerged. The electrified saloon is claimed to be 30% faster and 10% more efficient than its predecessor and have 50% more electric range. The 330e will go on sale in July next year. It’s powered by a 181bhp 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol engine mated to a 111bhp electric motor integrated into the eight-speed automatic transmission, and a 12kWh battery. The set-up delivers a combined output of 249bhp and 310lb ft of torque. An XtraBoost mode draws additional power from the battery for short bursts, resulting in a 0-62mph time of 6.0sec. The top speed is 143mph and the 330e can travel up to 68mph on electric power alone. The electric-only range is now 37 miles. Combined economy is quoted at…

PROTOTYPES OF THE fifth-generation Mercedes-Benz C-Class featuring new production-based bodywork have been pressed into action for the first time, ahead of a planned 2020 launch. Spied close to the German car maker’s headquarters near Stuttgart, the upmarket four-door has undergone an evolutionary redevelopment to make it competitive against next year’s BMW 3 Series. Key to the changes is a reworked platform, new hybrid drivetrains, a revised chassis and a much more advanced 48V electric architecture. Insiders suggest it will offer new autonomous driving functions, including hands-off driving at speeds of up to 81mph. Mercedes hasn’t departed greatly from the design lineage of the popular fourth-generation C-Class, but closer inspection of the prototypes reveals some detailed changes including a lower front end and a more heavily angled rear window that serves…

EXCLUSIVE PICTURES Vauxhall is rolling ever faster towards a future of exciting and very different products, the standard bearer of which is its brand-new GT X Experimental electric concept, in which Autocar has had an exclusive first test drive. This is no ordinary concept. It clearly shows the fresh face of future Vauxhall and Opel models, created in a new era of quick-acting creativity, kick-started just over a year ago by PSA’s acquisition of the two venerable former General Motors marques. The GT X features a plethora of new design features that have already been tested in secret on cars of all types and sizes — not just the GT Coupé and GT X Experimental we’ve seen already — to ensure that they can be the basis for the product…

The Mercedes-Benz GLE has racked up more than two million sales worldwide since it first went on sale, badged as the M-Class, in 1997. So clearly it has been a success. But the market this fourth-generation version now enters is vastly different from the one back then. Premium-brand SUV ranks have swelled to such an extent that it takes something truly out of the ordinary to stand out and pique customers’ interest. In a bid to match the competition head on, then, the new GLE has been developed from the ground up in an engineering programme that also includes the upcoming new GLE Coupé and GLS, both due to go on sale next year. This is just as well because the outgoing GLE was showing its age next to newer…

This is a car that Citroën should have launched years ago. The French brand has never offered a true Nissan Qashqai rival in the UK: the C4 Cactus is too small, and while Europe got a reskinned Mitsubishi ASX in the form of the C4 Aircross, it never came to the UK. Though we’re driving it for the first time, the C5 Aircross has been on sale for more than a year, first unveiled in Shanghai in April 2017. It shares its platform and engine range with other PSA Group SUVs such as the Peugeot 3008, but with cheerfully unaggressive styling and a few unique features. It’s the second model, after the C4 Cactus, to use Citroën’s Progressive Hydraulic Cushion suspension, which aims to revive some of the ‘magic carpet’…

This could so easily have been where the DBS Superleggera came unstuck: all 700 horsepower and 1910kg of it, driving through one axle shod with fairly humble Pirelli P Zero tyres. You certainly need to be aware that you’re inviting a fairly lurid driving experience if you deactivate the driver aids and seek to fully deploy its power and torque even on dry Tarmac. But the DBS doesn’t ever make you feel like you’re dicing with peril. It’s not quite the big, soft, tenderly skiddable old-school Aston, instead gripping harder and carrying greater speed than any Vanquish might have; but it’s also more predictable and benign when pushed beyond the limit of grip than some rivals, while also more balanced, agile and exploitable than others. DRY CIRCUIT Aston Martin DBS…

“There is not a doubt in my mind that racing saved my life.” As statements go it’s pretty bold, but when it comes from a US Marine who’s lost one leg above the knee and who bears all over his remaining limbs the scars of both his catastrophic injuries and more than 50 operations required to rebuild his shattered body, he can be believed. He is Liam Dwyer. Today he is sharing a Mazda MX-5 Global Cup racer in the 12-hour Race of Remembrance, at a wind-torn, rain-soaked Anglesey circuit with two other military men, all sharing the unenviable distinction of being in the wrong part of Afghanistan at the wrong time and being blown up by improvised explosive devices. One is a British paratrooper called Andy Jones. Andy is…

FINAL REPORT MILEAGE 7697 WHY WE RAN IT To find out whether a big, separate-chassis, part-time all-wheel-drive SUV still has a place in the world SUVs engineered like the Rexton were once the only way for this breed. They had a separate chassis made from stout girders, big, knobbly-tyred wheels, tough, long-travel suspension and clusters of knobs, levers and switches to engage all-wheel drive and low ratio. These were rugged, no-nonsense beasts built for the wearers of hard hats and pith helmets. Off-roaders and 4x4s, as they were then known, had a mission to be ruggedly useful and, among other things, they could tow, quite often as much as 3.5 tonnes. Which the Rexton can, too. It also has a separate chassis, big wheels (but no knobbles on its tyres),…

QUESTION Which cheap new car has a heated windscreen?Julia Cornfield, Bicester ANSWER It’s not exactly cheap but check out the Fiesta Zetec. It has what Ford calls a Quickclear windscreen and it’s precisely that. No more starting your engine, running indoors while the blower melts the frost and risking your insurance cover. JE QUESTION When is a nearly new car a new car?Tom Harris, via email ANSWER It never is but some dealers insist on describing late-plate cars with delivery mileage as ‘new’. To be so, there should be no former keeper on the V5 form (log book). A nearly new car will most likely have been registered by the selling dealer. JE QUESTION I buy and sell antiques. Which estate will take my old Chippendales?George Benjamin, Oxford ANSWER A…

Toyota GT86 £12,480 Prices for a new GT86 start from £27,285 before discount. It’s a hard pill to swallow given the Mazda MX-5, an equally delightful car to drive, starts at £18,995 and the RF hard-top version £22,595. The GT86 has rear-drive thrills aplenty up its sleeve but, if it feels like a stretch too far, let us help out by suggesting you check out a used one. Something like the 2014/63-reg GT86 we found with 40,000 miles on the clock for £12,480, for sale at a specialist dealer. The one-owner car has full Toyota service history and, judging by the photos at least, looks to be immaculate. It’s a great saving on the list price and an excuse for us to harp on about what to look for when…

Now available to order, the Amarok Aventura is a new range-topping special edition of Volkswagen’s rugged pick-up, adding even more striking style to its renowned all-round capability. The Amarok Aventura’s beating heart is a 3.0-litre V6 TDI engine that delivers 258PS – with a 14PS overboost that takes overall power to 272PS for brief periods – as well as 580Nm of torque. Crucially, all that torque is available between 1,400rpm and 3,000rpm, with full power delivered from 3,250rpm to 4,000rpm for maximum load-hauling capacity. Add in permanent 4MOTION all-wheel-drive and an eight-speed automatic gearbox that is smooth, refined and efficient in equal measure, and the Amarok Aventura is perfect for tackling rough terrain, heavy loads, towing and longer journeys. You also get all the load-carrying versatility you would expect from…

The Amarok has always made an impression with its wide stance and rugged, robust profile – standing out from the crowd, whether it’s in the heart of town, or heading off-road for work or play. Now, the Amarok Aventura enhances those chiselled good looks with a stylish body-coloured sports bar and eye-catching 20-inch ‘Talca’ wheels. From the Amarok Highline, you get bi-xenon headlights with LED daytime running lights, front fog lights with cornering function, stainless steel side bars and chrome trim features, as well as electric fold-in mirrors. The Aventura also adds the choice of an exclusive metallic paint – Peacock Green – which is only available on this trim. VOLKSWAGEN AMAROK AVENTURA KEY STYLE FEATURES NEW 20-inch ‘Talca’ wheels in Dark Graphite with a high-gloss surface NEW Body-coloured sports…