Innholdsfortegnelse for January 16, 2019 i Autocar

THE WORST-KEPT SECRET of the past few months is out: Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is to cut more than 10% of its 43,000-strong global workforce, the main headline of a huge cost-cutting and restructuring programme (page 14). Yet amid the darkness there remains light – and opportunity. As part of the plan, JLR confirms it will make electric drive units in the UK in its Wolverhampton engine plant, and construct a new battery plant in Birmingham. JLR also says it will continue to launch new models into segments in which the firm doesn’t yet compete. That’s heartening, for JLR is at its strongest as a leader, not a follower. Everything with a Range Rover badge is truly something different among peers. The most successful Jaguars are the ones that do…

LEXUS HAS REVEALED a convertible version of the LC sports car at the Detroit motor show. Called the LC Convertible Concept, it’s expected to enter production by 2020 and be positioned as the halo model for Lexus. Adapting the design of the existing LC coupé, the LC Convertible Concept features the same dimensions and appears to adopt a roof that can be retracted to sit beneath a contoured rear deck. At the time of writing, though, there had been no indication of whether the concept features a fabric soft-top or folding metal hard-top, or indeed any roof at all. Set to become a rival to the Porsche 911 Cabriolet, the LC convertible retains the 2+2 layout of the coupé, but rear-seat room appears to have been reduced significantly. It’s likely…

Nissan has launched a new range-topping Leaf EV that produces 214bhp and features an extra 62 miles of range. The Leaf 3.Zero e+ Limited Edition, launched at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, has a new 62kWh battery in place of the standard 40kWh unit. That gives the limited-run car, of which 5000 examples will be available in Europe, a range of 239 miles on the WLTP test cycle. With the larger battery, Nissan has also increased the electric motor’s power output by 66bhp, from 148bhp on the regular car. The revamped machine also has an increased top speed of 97mph and 250lb ft of torque. The new battery features 288 cells, compared with 192 in the 40kWh version. Nissan says this offers a 25% increase in energy density…

HYUNDAI HAS REVEALED an electric walking car concept at CES that, it says, could be used by emergency services to help in natural disaster zones. Called the Elevate, it is built on a new modular EV platform that can be fitted with a range of different bodies. Its four wheels are fitted to robotic legs, which have 5deg of freedom, allowing the Elevate to ‘walk’ in any direction. When the legs are stowed, Hyundai says, the car can travel at motorway speeds. Hyundai believes the vehicle can reduce disaster response times by making it easier for emergency services to traverse collapsed structures and uneven terrain. The Elevate can also be used in other roles, such as a city taxi with easier mobility access for passengers. Although there are no immediate…

If you already own a Ferrari, then the Portofino probably isn’t for you. This isn’t a question of brand loyalty but of simple statistics. For every 10 people who bought the old California, its predecessor, just three were repeat customers for Ferrari. The others were lured in fresh – from Mercedes, Bentley and Aston Martin – by a car more usable than the mid-engined F430 Spider but less cripplingly expensive than the V12-engined 599 GTB. And it still was a true Ferrari – at least according to the Scuderia shields. The truth is that although the California broke new ground, it won’t go down as a legendary driver’s car, being too soft and substantial. It was more of a legendary seller. Along with its turbocharged update, the California T of…

Alongside the ES (page 27), Lexus has relaunched the striking RC coupé with a series of mid-life updates. It’s a niche model, this – coupés make up around 7% of the premium sector, and with Europe-wide annual sales of the RC barely cresting four figures, it’s a small fish in a small pond. Nevertheless, it’s a unique prospect in this sector, as nobody else offers a hybrid four-seat coupé. Lexus tried to go mainstream with the non-hybrid RC200t, but that’s since been dropped due to lack of interest, leaving just one powertrain and three trim levels. Styling updates are largely restricted to new lights and bumpers front and rear, save for some minor aero tweaks, modestly improving an already attractive design bolstered by a range of bright colour choices. The…

It’s not difficult to imagine that the 8 Series has turned out exactly how BMW intended. You might question whether that particular fusion of sporting and luxurious characteristics will strike an alluring chord with GT buyers across the board – but it should certainly go down well with BMW customers. Even in entry-level form, this GT wants little for presence and dynamic competence. The car’s touring manners leave just a little to be desired – and this is especially keenly felt when the turbodiesel engine under the long bonnet is such an ideal companion for long-distance cruising. But there is commendable driver appeal on offer too and, in exchange for that slightly over-communicative ride, many GT drivers will accept it gratefully. If the chassis toes the sporting corporate line of…

“You need huge capital, a large team, and everything costs” “We actually started in 2009 with a 2+2 hybrid coupé,” says Rivian’s founder and CEO, RJ Scaringe, of the world’s ‘newest’ car company. Its first two models, the R1S SUV and R1T pick-up truck – both big-range electric vehicles sharing a common architecture – were revealed at the recent Los Angeles motor show. But it turns out Rivian isn’t new at all. Now a decade old, Rivian was known as Avera when it started. Search hard in Google and you’ll find a cryptic teaser image of the Avera coupé under blue covers, never to be revealed. And it never has gone public – until now. “It’s been really hard to get here – much harder than I thought it would…

We enjoy a huge choice of new cars, but few of us fully exercise it. The UK’s best-selling model is the Ford Fiesta, 95,892 owners taking the keys to a new one in 2018. But only four new owners climbed aboard a new, UK-registered Cadillac Escalade during the year. The glacial sales of this vast SUV aren’t so surprising given that it’s left-hand drive and available through only two official UK dealers, and nor are the mere 25 sales of the McLaren Senna, for example – this supercar’s sale rate dictated by its tightly limited build rate. But there are plenty of other models whose low UK sales don’t have the defence of being limited editions, very low-volume specialist machines, left-hand-drive imports or cars that were deleted during the year.…

I agree with your editor (Comment, 2 January): it’s a pity Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) is planning a quiet year for new car launches. Sure, a new Alfa, Maserati or Fiat 500 would be headline stuff, but how about an Abarth 500X0X in the meantime? FCA was rumoured to have built a prototype some time ago but mothballed it due to a lesss than solid business case. Maybe – but that was then and this is now. Say what you like about hot crossovers, but they generate new interestest in a crowded marketplace – the lifeblood of any business. Can FCA continue to afford to overlook this rapidly developing niche? I’d say not any more. Mike Spencer Via email WIN Letter of the week wins this ValetPRO exterior protection and…

MILEAGE 5378 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see if Ford’s hottest supermini can successfully pick up the baton from its class-topping predecessor On the first day back at work after a week off for Christmas the Fiesta provided me with the greatest possible present for the morning commute: the Waze navigation app now works with the infotainment system. No longer do I need to balance my phone precariously in the car’s centre console to view the app: a simple glance at the 8.0in touchscreen is now all that’s needed. For those of us that use our mobile for navigation, the development is a significant one, and it was a welcome boost to the ST’s already generous level of convenience. A few weeks earlier our three-door had already scaled new heights…

The Flying Pig has delivered sterling service this past month. A tonne of family stuff, lugging things to airports and regular 200-mile-plus days. Not great for the economy, but it’s a lovable lump of hard-charging goodness. When stone cold the starter gives a little screech for some reason, but otherwise it’s worth mentioning how good the car is at the six-figure milestone. The car feels as though it’s a fraction of the way through its life, and in a couple of months’ time it will have been with us a whole year. Time flies in the Flying Pig.…

With rust claiming many first and even second-generation Mazda MX-5s, a BMW Z3 could be a smart alternative. There’s the Mercedes SLK, of course, but it’s a bit posh and in any case, finding an honest, rust-free gen-one car is tough. The BMW Z3 it must be, then. Not that everyone thought so at its launch in 1996. Hardcore drivers bemoaned its relative lack of power and on-limit thrills, but the handsome roadster sold like hot cakes to people happy with its surprisingly secure reardrive handling, butch styling and solid build quality. At one point, importers were bringing right-handdrive Z3s in under the table. Anyway, that was all long ago and the game has since changed to finding decent used Z3s with reasonable mileages, tight hoods, reliable cooling systems, secure…

“The Supra GR was developed alongside the BMW Z4 and shares a turbo 3.0-litre straight six” The new Toyota GR Supra – a model which returns after a 17-year break – is a sports car “in the purest form”, according to the Japanese manufacturer, with a singular focus on driver pleasure. The fifth-generation Supra retains the front-engined, rear-wheel-drive, two-seat layout of previous versions. The Porsche 718 Cayman rival has been honed by Toyota’s Gazoo Racing performance division and was developed alongside the BMW Z4, with which it shares a 3.0-litre straight-six turbocharged engine producing 335bhp and 362lb ft, and an eight-speed automatic gearbox. The BMW-developed inline six-cylinder used in the GR Supra features a twin-scroll turbocharger, with direct fuel injection and variable valve control. It has been tuned, says Toyota,…

“A 29bhp boost, to 631bhp, and 443lb ft mean a 0-62mph time of 2.9sec” Lamborghini has unveiled an updated Huracán as the swansong for the firm’s naturally aspirated V10, with the next generation of models set to adopt hybrid tech. The revised Huracán gains increased performance, new chassis electronics and refreshed looks. The new-for-2019 Ferrari 488 rival also adopts the Huracán Evo nameplate to reflect its mid-life alterations. The supercar features a number of styling changes designed to offer “aerodynamic superiority”, with a new front bumper bringing enlarged intakes and an integrated splitter. There are also revised intakes at the side, but the most notable changes are at the rear, where a new full-width intake echoes that of its recently updated Audi R8 sibling. New twin exhaust outlets are positioned…

BMW has given its current 7 Series a bold new look as part of an extensive mid-life facelift for the three-year-old luxury saloon. The reworked model is due to arrive in the UK in April. The facelifted 7 Series reflects the shift brought to upmarket BMW models by a new brand strategy announced by chairman Harald Krüger in 2017, with a greater emphasis on interior luxury and the move to a more formal design language. As with its predecessor, the 2019 7 Series is offered in standard-wheelbase and long-wheelbase guises, but both models have been extended by 22mm, taking their length to 5120mm and 5260mm respectively. It is up front where the styling changes are most evident. Key among them is the adoption of a new chromed kidney grille that’s…

FORD WILL IMPORT a range of ‘iconic’ new models, boost production of its strongest-selling European-made cars and SUVs and ditch its slowest-selling local lines as part of a comprehensive plan to improve its profitability and make it more competitive in Europe. The move is part of a wider, £14 billion global cost-cutting programme and is described by Ford president Steven Armstrong as “decisive action to transform the Ford business”. It includes a range of measures to reduce costs in areas such as purchasing, manufacturing and engineering, as well as cutting “surplus labour”, about which union negotiations are just beginning. It is understood that the number of jobs affected will be in the thousands. The plan’s two-pronged aim is to improve near-term profitability with the efficiency measures while working at top…

MODEL TESTED 840d xDRIVE • Price £76,270 • Power 315bhp • Torque 501lb ft • 0-60mph 5.0sec • 30-70mph in fourth 5.2sec • Fuel economy 39.8mpg • CO2 emissions 164g/km • 70-0mph 51.8m Approaching three decades after the introduction of the original ‘E31’ 8 Series and nearly two after its retirement, BMW has returned to the big GT coupé market. The second-generation 8 Series – BMW’s elegant, continent-crossing two-door flagship – is here. Key to Munich’s strategy of boosting its profile among upperlevel luxury car makers and their customers by shifting its model portfolio back towards bigger, grander and more upmarket products, the new ‘G15’-generation two-door Coupe will be part of a wider 8 Series family that will also include the upcoming ‘G14’ Convertible and ‘G16’ four-door Gran Coupe. It’s a…

“Like a new James Bond, you know the formula will remain the same” This is always quite a moment, and it doesn’t happen very often. Okay, once every seven years might not exactly be Halley’s Comet, but a new 911 is a new 911, and for lovers of the world’s most significant and – I think we can use the word – iconic sports car, the anticipation is akin to waiting for a new Bond to make his debut. You know the basic formula will remain the same – a 911 is no more going to lose the flat six in its boot than 007 will be relieved of his licence to kill, but everything else is up for grabs. What direction will it take? I once described its 991…

The wind-swept, scrub-lined B-roads that meander their respective ways through Hampshire’s New Forest aren’t really what you’d think of as the typical stomping ground for a group of posh superminis. More often than not, cars of this ilk find homes within the confines of the urban sprawl; places where a sharp design and the latest in glossy, cutting-edge tech can best assert their influence over the typically younger and more well-heeled audience to which they tend to appeal. It comes as little surprise, then, that the small gathering of ponies lurking at the far end of the gravel car park we’ve commandeered as a base for today’s triple test don’t seem particularly phased by our presence on this grey, blustery morning. But that’s fine; after all, they’re not the ones…

COMPARISON BMW M2 Competition vs BMW M3 CSL M’s latest against one of the BMW performance division’s greatest: we discover just how good the new M2 Competition is DRIVEN New VW Golf GTI TCR The last hurrah for the current GTI is the new flagship TCR. We test it FIRST DRIVE New Porsche 911 You’ve read how good it is on track. Now Matt Prior drives it on the road EVERY WEEK ROAD TEST Cupra Ateca The Seat performance offshoot’s first model meets our testers USED BUYING GUIDE Volvo T5 How to buy an estate that raced in the BTCC – and made Volvos hot LONG-TERM TEST Dacia Duster The heavily revised world’s cheapest 4x4 joins our fleet for the first time SUBSCRIBE autocar.co.uk/subscribe or see p22…

MILEAGE 6207 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 ruising northwards on the M5 between C Christmas and new year, I found it hard to believe, given that I’d already amassed 6000 miles in our Mercedes S-Class long-termer, that more miles would teach me anything extra. Especially since I was driving a BMW 740d at the time. However, as has been revealed in these pages, the grand Autocar plan was always for me to swap ‘my’ S-Class with Andrew Frankel for ‘his’ BMW 7 Series, to compare impressions of two cars with similar missions. This day, after a fuelling session and a chat in the Michaelwood service area – equidistant from our addresses…

Piers Couzens was here a few years back with a Focus Estate but he’s since upgraded to a 2003 BMW 530d M Sport, bought unseen except for an emailed video. “The car has been all good so far,” he says. “It came with a full MOT and history and it seems just run-in at 108k miles. The first owner spent £8k on options, making the car £42k new and a bargain for me at £3k. Much nicer to run around in than an old Mondeo and hopefully this should keep its value. Ideally I’d have a different colour but at what I paid I can’t be too fussy.”…

An owner’s view KEN HARRIS, 2000 W-REG Z3 2.0, 62,000 MILES “I bought my Z3 on a whim nine years ago and have only done 11,000 miles in it. It was the only two-seater that would take my golf clubs… I love the long bonnet and the flared rear arches. The six-cylinder engine’s economy is down around 30mpg, which I can live with. It’s never experienced the thermostat and rear diff mounting problems you hear about and it’s never suffered with a sticky clutch or gearchange. I had a new hood because the original was faded and leaky, and new tyres have just restored the grip and handling sharpness. We’re set fair for a few more years.” Buyer beware… ▪ ENGINE Engine warning light on four-pot Z3 could be a…

Proving the ‘classic’ market has fallen off its trolley is this 1990 Volkswagen Golf GTI that made £15,840. Okay, it’s done only 24,000 miles and is in showroom condition, but it’s strong money when so many decent Mk2s are out there for less. How about £3695 for a 1989 eight-valve five-door with leather interior and a new clutch? It’s done 153,000 miles and has had a respray. And there’s the rub: the value in the £16k Mk2 lies in its rarity and condition. Lock it in a heated garage and it’s only going one way.…

THE NEW NISSAN IMs concept, launched at this week’s Detroit motor show, is “a completely new type of car”, according to Nissan. The electric-powered concept car is described as an “elevated sports sedan [saloon]” and follows on from the IMx SUV shown at last year’s Tokyo show. Nissan says the IMs is closer to a saloon than a crossover and its raised cabin height is due to the battery being located under the cabin floor. The design shares much with the IMx and has been heavily influenced by the flexibility offered by an electric powertrain, the need for a low drag coefficient and the desire for fully autonomous capability. The car’s long, 2.9m wheelbase and extended cabin length allow for a ‘2+1+2’ seating arrangement, with a rear bench that either…

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is ramping up its electrification plans, having announced new UK production for electric motors and batteries, in the wake of 4500 job losses confirmed last week. Electric drive units will be built at its Wolverhampton powertrain factory from 2020, a move JLR hopes will help safeguard jobs at the plant as buyers move away from internal combustion engines. There will also be a new battery assembly centre at Hams Hall. It’s described as one of the largest of its kind in the UK and will use new production techniques and technologies to produce battery packs and modules for future Jaguar and Land Rover models. The focus on the production of electrified powertrains reinforces the firm’s announcement in 2017 that every JLR vehicle launched from 2020 will…

Lexus is changing tack in Europe to focus on delivering greater volumes, and the new ES is crucial to that. It’s replacing the slow-selling GS in the UK as an unknown quantity, but it has been around in other markets since 1989, with 2.3 million sold. Unlike the rear-driven GS, the ES adopts a front-wheel-drive platform shared with the Toyota Camry, which is also UK-bound this year. That reduces the build cost and helps to make the ES around £1000 cheaper than the outgoing GS, allowing it to better compete in the fleet-heavy lower rungs of the executive sector. Lexus is keen to stress that the ES is far more than a re-skinned Camry. Different production methods and body materials make it notably stiffer and bespoke suspension tuning and components…

Millbrook’s Hill Route shines a light on the 8 Series’ ability to condense its weight and dimensions. Larger cars tend to labour the twisting undulations of this course, but the car’s steel-sprung suspension keeps the long body level and allows the Bridgestone Potenza S007 tyres to do their best work. But you need to trust that they will, because there is little in the way of road feel through a steering set-up that remains stubbornly lifeless through those all-important degrees either side of centre. Along with a driveline that too often enlists the front axle for propulsive duties, it makes for a quick, agile (conspicuously so when the four-wheel steering twists the chassis through tighter hairpins) and stable but strangely inert experience from behind the wheel.…

I’ve struggled for 30 years to understand why people would choose a slower, thirstier, more expensive 911 just because it has a couple of extra driveshafts, and driving the C4S on the track brings me no closer to enlightenment. It’s bloody good, its steering unpolluted by wheels that must drive as well as steer, and unless you were to step straight from a C4S into a CS, you might wonder how it could feel much better. But it can: although it must have a more optimal weight distribution, you can feel the extra 50kg it carries. More significant is its behaviour in the corners. While the S is happy to be driven any damn way you want to drive, the 4S likes to be kept neat and you’d be well…

QUESTION I like the Ford Mondeo and am tempted by a 1.5 TDCi Vignale Edition. Would it be a wise buy? Alastair Reeves, Stirling ANSWER Vignale is Ford’s answer to the premium brands and offers benefits such as service collection and a helpline. Most dealers should offer the former and most manufacturers a helpline. So forget these. That leaves Vignale’s extra kit which, all in, adds £3500 to the price of a Mondeo Titanium Edition 1.5 TDCi. Extras depreciate faster than the car and the Mondeo is no aspirational motor whatever its trim, so my advice would be to buy a 2017/67-reg Titanium 1.5 TDCi for around £16,000 instead and save £12,500. JE QUESTION I’m spending a fortune buying AdBlue from my dealer, but do I need to? Tanya Scott,…

We’re always suckers for a used Rolls (see James Ruppert’s premium used cars feature on p46), so this 60,000-mile 1994 Silver Spirit that started life as a Rolls company vehicle before being sold to a ‘renowned doctor’ (Kildare? Finlay? Who?) caught our eye. It has a full service history but something must have gone pop because last year the good doctor had to write out a prescription for £14,000 in repairs, followed by another for £8300 this year – reminders, if any were needed, that old Rolls never die, they just get ever more expensive. It’s being sold by a specialist prestige dealer but they have no others to try which, considering how much Spirits vary from car to car, isn’t ideal. The price is stiff, too: clearly, the doctor…

Skoda Rapid Spaceback 1.0 TSI 110 SE Price new £15,865. Price now £13,536 Spacious, comfortable, economical and fine to drive, Skoda’s Rapid and Rapid Spaceback deserved a warmer reception than they received. That they didn’t was due to an absence of sparkle in a class dripping with diamonds – a failing their replacement, the new Scala, aims to address when it arrives later this year. The Rapid hatch is no longer available but dealers still have a few Spacebacks in the clearance bin. Without breaking a sweat we chipped £2300 off the list price of our pick, a 110 SE Tech with Amundsen sat-nav and parking sensors.…