Innholdsfortegnelse for March 27, 2019 i Autocar

“IF WE FIND areas where partners and co-operations make sense to give better cars to customers and returns to shareholders, I’m very open.” So says Fiat Chrysler Automobiles boss Mike Manley on the topic of mergers. “If the opportunity comes, we will consider it,” says PSA Group chief Carlos Tavares on the same subject. And with Robert Peugeot, chairman of PSA’s holding company, saying that it would support a merger or acquisition with FCA, is such a deal a question of when not if? Read what Tavares, surely the industry’s most successful leader of the past few years, says about the challenges facing the European car business (p22), and such super-mergers seem inevitable. The investments needed to create cars that meet upcoming emissions legislation are so vast. A PSA-FCA merger…

The new Porsche Cayenne Coupé, a rakishly restyled version of the brand’s largest SUV, will take direct aim at the BMW X6 and Mercedes-Benz GLE. Key styling changes over the ‘regular’ Cayenne include the adoption of a shallower windscreen and a more heavily curved roofline that extends back to form an integral part of a large liftback-style tailgate. Redesigned rear doors and wider bumpers also bring an additional 18mm in width, while the rear numberplate has been repositioned into the bumper. As with the Cayenne, the Cayenne Coupé has an active rear spoiler. It works in combination with a roof spoiler, extending by 135mm at speeds above 56mph to provide additional downforce. “The Coupé includes all the technical highlights of the current, third-generation Cayenne but has a design that is…

“It’s my ambition to let Bloodhound off the leash and see just how fast it can go” The Bloodhound 1000mph land speed record project has been relaunched with a new base and livery – and the project’s new owner has vowed to let it “off the leash” and start high-speed testing as soon as possible. The project appeared to strike terminal trouble late last year, after entering administration, until Yorkshire entrepreneur Ian Warhurst rescued it. Bloodhound has been rebranded, refinanced, repainted and moved to new headquarters in Gloucester. Warhurst told Autocar that when he made contact, the administrators were “on the point of cutting the car up and sending it away for scrap”. He added: “They put it off so I could come and see the car. I knew I…

LONDON-BASED coachbuilder Niels van Roij Design has revealed a new Range-Rover-based Adventum Coupé, which sports an extended two-door design reviving the concept of the recently axed Range Rover SV Coupé. Just 100 examples will be produced, priced between £275,000 and £375,000 depending on the specification of the base vehicle. This makes it at least £35,000 more expensive than the SV Coupé would have been before it was ditched, ostensibly to allow Land Rover to focus resources on its mainstream models. The Adventum’s hand-built body is aluminium and it will feature a custom-made interior. Aside from the lack of rear doors, the Adventum is marked out by a new front grille and exterior badges displaying the name of its designer in place of the Range Rover branding. Construction of each Adventum…

A LOWER-COST electric Skoda based on the Volkswagen Group’s MEB platform is under consideration, according to the firm’s boss, Bernhard Maier. The new EV would be a sibling car to the VW ID hatch and recently revealed Seat El-Born. The first model to be launched on the VW Group’s MEB electric car platform will be the Golf-sized ID hatch later this year and Maier said Skoda is evaluating its own version, likely to arrive after 2022. “We are looking for a lower-specced car,” he said. “Once we have a positive business case, we can come up with a clear solution.” He added: “We want to do a car equivalent to the ID hatch or El-Born, but it has to be one step after another. We have a clear product target.”…

“An electric, city-focused car is one idea we’re thinking about. But it is just a concept in our minds” Bentley will finalise its new model strategy by this summer, with a renewed focus on its credentials as a maker of grand touring vehicles and SUVs, and no ‘pure sports cars’. Werner Tietz, Bentley’s board member in charge of engineering, has revealed that the company has decided not to pursue any of the themes explored by the EXP 10 Speed 6 sports car or electric EXP 12 Speed 6e roadster concepts shown by its former management. Instead, the Crewe firm, now led by Briton Adrian Hallmark, will look to expand its GT line-up. “The concept positioning was not something that fits with our future strategy now,” said Tietz. “Pure sports cars…

As head of the PSA Group, which comprises Citroën, DS, Peugeot and Vauxhall/Opel, Carlos Tavares is one of the most powerful figures in the car industry. Tavares also serves as chairman of the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), so his views on a variety of issues have a major impact on the industry. Autocar caught up with Tavares on a range of topics, including PSA’s recent restructure, Vauxhall’s turnaround and his thoughts on new, tougher European Union CO2 targets. There are reports you need to cut 100,000 jobs because of the cost of meeting emission regulations. Is that true? “This is fake news. But more than 20,000 jobs have been shed over the past three months [across the European car industry]. “Electromobility is costly. When we’re faced with significant cost,…

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New added-width, 992-generation Porsche 911: meet famously narrow British B-road. Now here’s the good news: the 992 still feels pretty slim-hipped for a full-sized sports car. That it’s even more incisive and precise in its handling than its 991-gen predecessor means owners of old ‘narrow body’ cars will hardly notice the difference. Anyway, the most revered sports car in the world hasn’t so much become wider as less narrow, which sounds like the same thing but isn’t. The 45mm of extra metalwork across its wings only brings the rear-driven version up to the same width as the old four-wheel-drive one. It has been done not only to improve the handling of the rear-drive car but also in response to customers who’ve asked for a wider-hipped, better-looking, purist’s-pick rear-driven 911 for…

A perceptible feeling of missed opportunity seems to trail in the Micra N-Sport’s wake. The distinctively sporting aesthetic and renewed sense of motive purpose that characterised the fifth-generation Micra at launch suggested there was a genuinely interesting, and entertaining, warmed-up supermini waiting in the wings. Despite the foundation being all but there, the reality is much less convincing. An engine short on character is arguably its greatest shortcoming; particularly when the Ford Fiesta ST-Line and Seat Ibiza FR so successfully place their charming, zesty motors at the forefront of their driving experiences. At times stilted low-speed manners and unengaging steering, meanwhile, detract from a chassis that otherwise grips with convincing tenacity and has a fairly rounded, if occasionally wooden-feeling, ride. These concerns, and others, ultimately deny this Micra our full…

“The Caterham is fun. You can push it, you can slide it” A car maker would call it an abuse test. Every March, PalmerSport’s doors open for drive events at Bedford Autodrome. People come, they thrash cars around for the day, encouraged to drive as fast as they can by Jonathan Palmer’s race instructors, and go home, happy and knackered. By the end of each year, 12,000 people have taken part, with each of Palmer’s track cars covering 25,000-30,000 miles – the equivalent of seven racing seasons. They might spend 60% of their time at full throttle and, when they’re not, it’s full braking or full cornering with varying levels of driving finesse. At the heart of it all – in a fleet made up from BMW M2 Competitions, Renault…

Do you know when an Alpine A110 is at its absolute best? When you drive it ‘normally’. In the three months that it was mine, I threw it along mountain passes and around race tracks. I thrashed its little 1.8-litre motor to the limiter more times than I’d care to admit, and broke the traction of its rear tyres at every available safe opportunity. But never was I more dumbstruck by the car than when, say, taking it to the airport, or collecting a child from school. Because in those sorts of environments, it shouldn’t have worked at all. Yet it did. And that is remarkable. Imagine you had another one-tonne, two-seat sports car in the same situation: you’d go down the M4 simply accepting that the lack of refinement,…

Choose your new performance car wisely, be careful not to rack up too many miles and, three years later, it might be worth 60% of what you paid for it. That’s pretty much a best-case scenario. That means the Volkswagen Golf R that you’ve put £35,000 into will be worth £21,000 after 36 months, so it will cost you close to £5000 in depreciation alone every single year. No matter how you buy your new car – with cash, on finance or on a lease contract – you as the first owner will bear that cost. You can reduce your depreciation liability by buying a second-hand car, perhaps one that is already three years old and has slipped down the steepest part of the depreciation curve with somebody else’s name…

GROUP TEST New Porsche 911 vs rivals You’ve read the first-drive verdict, now see just how good the all-new 992-generation 911 is against its sports car peers FIRST LOOK New Porsche Taycan We join the development team of Porsche’s electric sports saloon MOTORSPORT BTCC: then and now As we warm up for a new season, is the series better now than ever? EVERY WEEK ROAD TEST Mercedes-Benz B-Class Thought MPVs were dead? Not at Merc. We rate the new B-Class FIRST DRIVE New Range Rover Evoque Our first UK drive of Land Rover’s second-generation crossover USED BUYING GUIDE Bentley Flying Spur The Conti saloon is now a bargain used buy. How to find a good one SUBSCRIBE autocar.co.uk/subscribe or see p26…

MILEAGE 8107 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To evaluate Jaguar’s under-appreciated entry saloon, and discover whether BMW 3 Series and Audi A4 buyers should think a little deeper Our Jaguar XE has been a serious mile-eater since it arrived at our place in the first days of January with around 500 miles on the clock. In the ensuing 10-and-a-bit weeks it has averaged 750 miles a week, which would translate to 40,000 miles a year if it were to stay with us that long. That’s not very likely given that our edition is being superseded right now in the showrooms by an updated version with a plusher interior, a bolder face and a simplified engine range. But it makes a strong point about the XE’s usability. This is a car you…

QUESTION Where can I discover a used car’s MOT history easily and, above all, for free? Stuart McNab, Dundee ANSWER At gov.uk/check-mot-history you’ll find everything you need to know about a car’s MOT history since 2005. Things you’ll discover include when it was tested, its mileage at the time, whether it passed or failed, what parts failed at each test and when its next test is due. It provides a valuable insight into a used vehicle whose history would otherwise be totally unknown to you. The data on advisories (faults not serious enough to cause the car to fail) is interesting for the insight it gives into how the vehicle was maintained. And, yes, it’s free. JE QUESTION Is buying a used diesel a good idea now that the market…

“It’s likely to incorporate a drift mode similar to that in the new Mercedes-AMG A45” Volkswagen’s R performance division has reignited a development programme on a “close to 400bhp” Golf R Plus model as a range-topping rival to the Mercedes-AMG A45 and Audi RS3. The four-wheel-drive machine would sit above the planned Golf R version in the line-up of the eighth-generation model. Under its skin, it would rely on hardware and technology from the seventh-generation Golf R400 concept shown in 2014 and the Golf TCR race car developed by Volkswagen Motorsport. The secret model is being developed alongside the standard version of the new Golf R at VW’s R&D headquarters in Braunschweig, Germany. VW insiders have claimed it will be the “most extreme and powerful Golf yet”. As an indicator…

TOYOTA WILL PRODUCE Suzuki-badged hybrid versions of the RAV4 and Corolla estate as part of a new wide-ranging collaboration between the two firms. The new Suzuki cars, due to go on sale late in 2020, will be additions to the firm’s European range, providing it with the chance to grow its market share – with hybrid systems that will help it to meet future CO2 targets. The two models are part of a wide-ranging partnership that has been in the works since 2017 and will initially focus on Toyota’s electrified tech and Suzuki’s expertise in compact vehicles. While Suzuki will gain the two new European models and the use of Toyota hybrid engines globally, Toyota will adopt Suzuki’s newly developed compact vehicles’ engines in as yet undetermined small vehicles in…

THE NEXT-GENERATION Renault Zoe will be a “heavy phase two design rather than a new car from the ground up”, according to design boss Laurens van den Acker. The second-generation electric vehicle, due to launch before the summer, will go on sale in 2020 in a far more competitive market than its predecessor. Van den Acker says that means it “will have to fight for its place”. The design overhaul will include a revamped interior, taking cues from the new Clio, and feature sustainable materials. Van den Acker said they fit with Renault’s philosophy that “EVs should be more ecological”. The most powerful current Zoe, the R110, offers around 190 miles of real-world range. The new Zoe is expected to exceed this, although it is unlikely to match the 292-mile…

“The indications are that it will be a car capable of holding its own against some tough rivals” There’s only one place to start when discussing the new BMW 1 Series: at the front. As opposed to the rear. Because the front is where you’ll find its driven wheels. That’s a fundamental shift. Since the first-generation 1 Series was launched in 2004, it has been rear-wheel drive, a layout long viewed as an essential part of BMW’s ‘ultimate driving machine’ philosophy. Worth talking about, then, right? Except Peter Langen, BMW’s driving dynamic boss, would rather not. “I would like not to discuss with customers whether it’s a front-wheel-drive car or a rear-wheel-drive car,” he says. Instead, he simply wants people to talk about how the new 1 Series is better…

Some six months after we got our first taste of the Lexus UX in pre-production form in Sweden, the baby brother to the NX and RX SUVs has finally landed in the UK. It’s an interesting-looking motor, isn’t it? I dare say its myriad creases, folds and angles will prove rather polarising; but to these eyes, the compact SUV cuts a fine form. Our previous experience of the model Lexus hopes will push its European sales in 2020 through the 100,000 mark has been limited to the F Sport variant, but this time around we’re driving it in standard guise. The fitment of the £4200 Premium Plus Pack – which adds sumptuously upholstered cream leather seats, seat heaters, 18in alloys and a handful of other tasteful features – pushes its…

MODEL TESTED DIG-T 117 N-SPORT Price £19,005 • Power 115bhp • Torque 148lb ft • 0-60mph 10.2sec • 30-70mph in fourth 12.4sec • Fuel economy 33.4mpg • CO2 133g/km (WLTP) • 70-0mph 47.1m When the current, fifth-generation version of Nissan’s Micra supermini first hit UK roads in 2017, its appearance suggested this N-Sport might be coming. Gone were the effete, bug-eyed curves of generations gone by, ditched for a much more edgy, wedgey, arrowhead aesthetic that, though contemporary, looked less authentic on the car, according to some estimations. Whether they seem to belong on a Micra or not, however, the car’s new youthful, sporting looks undoubtedly lend themselves to a performance makeover; and, as evidenced by this week’s road test subject, the go-faster treatment is exactly what the Micra has…

SEAT IBIZA 1.0 TSI 115 FR Seat’s warmed-up supermini not only champions practicality, it’s one of the best driver’s cars in the segment. Engine is impressively strong, too. FORD FIESTA 1.0T ECOBOOST 125 ST-LINE 5-DR A more engaging supermini than the Ibiza, but slightly lacking in versatility and premium appeal. Engine is a peach, though. MINI COOPER SPORT 3-DR Agile, spry-handling Mini is a champion of urban chic design. Ride is animated, though, and space a bit tight. Pricey in this company. MAZDA 2 115 SKYACTIV-G SPORT NAV+ Excellent steering and naturally aspirated engine are the 2’s calling cards. Noisy ride a point of concern, as is refinement. VOLKSWAGEN POLO 1.0 TSI 115 R-LINE Lacks some of the sense of fun of its rivals, but is well conceived and a…

When Land Rover launched the second-generation Range Rover Sport to the world’s automotive media, it did so with a lap of Wales and the Cotswolds, a spot of off-roading, a sprint through the woods along a gravel rally stage and – for no better reason than the decommissioned Boeing 747 sitting about and being put to no better use – a low-speed crawl through an old Jumbo Jet. We drove up one steep steel ramp and into the plane’s fuselage, before inching tentatively along its length and dropping out of the nose down another sharply inclined ramp. Launch routes don’t get any more memorable. Everything was for a reason, though, because while the full-size L405 Range Rover that arrived a few months earlier would have felt unwieldy on those very…

TVR Chimaera £13,995 For all their faults, a TVR still sets the pulse racing. Among the most plentiful is the Chimaera of 1993-2003. It started life powered by a choice of 4.0 and 4.3-litre V8 Rover engines. A high-compression version of the 4.0 replaced the 4.3 in 1994. The 5.0-litre Chimaera arrived in 1995. Then, in 1996, the 4.0 HC gave way to a 4.5, producing 285bhp. With all of them, power went to the rear wheels through a five-speed gearbox. The first major facelift was in 1996, when the Chimaera acquired a new Cerbera-like face with split intake design. Faired-in headlights and new tail-lights were adopted in 2001. There are some choice Chimaeras in the classifieds but our eye was caught by a 1998/R-reg 4.5. It has done 71,000…

Hyundai i30 N Performance Price new £29,495. Price now £24,995 “A fast, involving and likeable driver’s car” was our verdict on the Hyundai i30 N Performance. So, new or used? We spotted a 2019/68-reg car with 2500 miles for £24,995, representing a saving of £4500 on the £29,495 on-the-road price. But then who pays full list price these days? The fact is, without leaving your chair, you can get a spanking new N Performance for £26,662, narrowing that nearly new saving to £1667. Still, it’s enough to cover the insurance and a trip to the Nürburgring to stretch the 68-plater’s legs. Used it is.…

Six years since they first hit the road, the initial Mercedes-AMG A45s are beginning to look reasonably affordable. New and in standard trim, they were £37,845 – a huge number even for this hottest of hot hatches and one that quickly grew to £42,000 with options. Today, and thanks to depreciation, these first-generation cars start at £20,000. We’re not talking multi-owner, high-milers with flaky service histories, either. A surprising number are one- or two-owner cars, have done less than 40,000 miles and, depending on mileage, have the requisite five or six main dealer stamps in the service book. Back in 2013, the A45’s 355bhp 2.0-litre turbo petrol engine was the talk of the town. Thanks to part-time, 4Matic all-wheel drive, it could use it, too, with the result that 0-62mph…

Hyundai has previewed a possible hot Tucson N SUV with a performance-honed N Line version. Due on sale in the UK later this year, the Tucson N Line features a stiffened chassis, revised bumpers, new black-painted 19in alloy wheels and a restyled interior. It is the first of Hyundai’s SUVs to get the N Line treatment and follows the i30 N Line hatch. Thomas Bürkle, Hyundai’s European design chief, described the new machine as “an understated sporty car”. The firm’s best-selling model has been restyled with a more muscular look, including a new front bumper, dark chrome grille, revised LED headlights and twin exhausts. Inside, the dark theme continues with bucket-style seats trimmed in breathable microfibre cloth, while red stitching for the steering wheel, dashboard and gear selector provides a…

BMW IS SAID to be looking at transferring more car production to the UK in light of booming demand for the X1 SUV, among other models – and it is considering taking over the Honda plant in Swindon, according to Autocar sources. The Honda factory is currently scheduled to close in 2021 when production of the Civic ends, but sources understand BMW is in discussions to take on the site after that date. BMW sources have refused to comment. There are a number of reasons that BMW is said to be looking closely at expanding its operation in the UK, including the highly integrated production system already in place here. BMW builds Minis, which are based on the UKL1 transverse-engine platform, at Oxford, using engines from its Hams Hall plant…

THE UPSIDE OF winter weather and a bit of snow is the chance to go sledging. When you do, what’s your favourite way of trying to steer out of trouble? Sit up with legs forward and gingerly dab a heel in the ground to slew yourself round? Or are you game enough to take the full-on approach, lying face down gouging left and right toes into the snow? Either way, the effect on the sledge is similar to that as torque vectoring on a car, rotating it to make it change direction without using steering. Torque vectoring simply means directing more torque to one driving wheel or the other to make the car rotate or ‘yaw’. Doing that can help overcome power understeer or over-enthusiastic oversteer – or, in a…

The Micra N-Sport made more of a show of its warmed-up supermini identity when it was confronted with the twisting Tarmac of the Millbrook Hill Route. Its chassis exhibited a willingness to be tipped into sharper bends at pace, feeling at all times balanced, controlled and steadfast under a measured throttle and consistent steering input. Charge in too fast, though, and it will begin to understeer, but a mid-corner lift of the accelerator will unsettle its rear enough to tighten the line. It’s a shade disappointing to find that the Micra doesn’t feel particularly playful with regards to its dynamic exploits, but there will be those for whom its grown-up, mature disposition carries sway. An engine with a bit more vigour would go some way to addressing this shortcoming. As…

Elsewhere you’ll read about the lochs and the scenery, the stargazing and the whisky distilleries. You might even see a word or two about the skiing. For us, though, the reasons for visiting Scotland begin and end with its roads, because no other part of the UK gets even close as a destination for keen drivers. What you’ll find north of Hadrian’s Wall that you don’t get in Wales, Yorkshire or the Peak District – all of which offer excellent roads and very pretty backdrops – are bucket list drives. For the sort of route that you drive once and remember for the rest of your life, you simply have to head to Scotland. This is the right time of year to plan a visit to one of its routes…

Recently I was on a car launch and overheard some younger journalists talking about a joint called Caffeine & Machine. On further questioning, they explained that it’s a sort of car nut’s meeting place where you can go and drink a coffee, eat, even stay over in one of eight rooms and generally chew the automotive fat with fellow enthusiasts. Fast-talking entrepreneur Phil McGovern set it up in a house just outside Stratford-upon-Avon, only a stone’s throw from Jaguar Land Rover’s HQ. According to McGovern, engineers and test drivers already use Caffeine & Machine as a watering hole. Aston Martin is equally close by and their testers also drop in. Caffeine & Machine has echoes of The Bike Shed, a motorcycle-themed cafe and eatery in the heart of London’s Shoreditch…

Be a good sport, MG I see that MG seems to be doing quite well in China, effectively its home market, despite all the noise there about its supposed Britishness. There is little doubt that with each new model, the quality of design and build quality has gone up, and having looked at an MG3 and an MG ZS, I must say these are a lot better than the MG6 I looked at around five years ago. The problem is that even these new cars have the sporting appeal of a wet weekend. MG has always stood for affordable sportiness, and there was nearly always a proper sports car in the showroom alongside the more practical cars. Mazda, whose styling MG seems keen to crib, at least has the MX-5,…

MILEAGE 1802 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see if Merc’s Golf rival has come of age – and to try to pick the ‘perfect’ spec Name a really epic third part of a trilogy, one that’s the defining part of its trio of movies. It’s harder than you think. Apparently Lord of the Rings is as good as it gets for a part three, but I’ll have to take the internet’s word for that and present Back to the Future III for the prosecution’s case. So let’s consider this, the climax of our own three-part series on the Mercedes-Benz A-Class, before AMG gets involved and takes over with the excellent A35. To recap, we started life with the entry-level A180d diesel model in mid-range Sport trim before switching to the…

MILEAGE 101,300 PORSCHE CAYENNE When we had the impossibly expensive service, the garage did say that there were signs of coolant loss, but no obvious indication of where. Well, we may have to start removing layers of engine covers to see what may be going on. I say this because Mrs R had to return to base minutes after leaving when the dashboard indicated that there was a coolant shortfall. And what a shortfall. The five-litre can wasn’t full, but I did use a lot of litres in order to re-brim it. Fingers crossed that it is a weeping rubber hose rather than a breached block.…

LAMBORGHINI GALLARDO Definition of courage: buying an elderly Gallardo E-gear at auction that hasn’t been driven for seven years and has a “graunching” sound coming from the rear. The hammer fell at £51,940, low enough for an expert buyer to know they have a good margin for repairs. The auto clutches and flywheel can let go at around 50,000 miles. Back at base, they’ll be able to hook up the gearbox to a laptop and interrogate it for updates and the like. Underneath it all, the Gallardo’s a tough old thing, so fingers crossed the bidder has bagged a bargain.…

An expert’s view COLIN JACKSON, FOUNDER AND MD, PROJECT THREE (P3AMG.CO.UK) “Like all high-performance Mercedes, the A45 has very specific servicing requirements, so don’t even think of treating it like a peasant treats his donkey – it simply won’t stand for it. Vehicles fitted with the optional ASBO pack, officially known as Aero and comprising front winglets, rear winglets and a rear spoiler, seem to be popular. Personally, I like the stock, sleeper look. I’ve owned four of them and in my opinion it’s leagues ahead of rival Audi and Volkswagen models.” Buyer beware… ▪ ENGINES A full set of service stamps is a must-have. The turbochargers on early cars can be weak and several were replaced under warranty. They lack an anti-surge valve, meaning the pressure can only escape…