Innholdsfortegnelse for May 15, 2019 i Autocar

EXAMPLES OF HUGE multinational companies suddenly making cars are extremely rare. That’s with good reason: volume car production is very expensive and complex with slim margins and competition from strong, established firms making ever-better cars for typically loyal buyers. So why would you? Because it can be done better, according to Dyson, which reveals the first patents for its own car this week (p6). We’ve seen several new start-ups create electric cars of varying degrees of quality and credibility in recent years, but Dyson is the first household name from outside the automotive industry to seize the clean-sheet design opportunities offered by electrification. Do not underestimate the significance of the Dyson car project, nor the scale of its ambitions. Some £2.5 billion has been ploughed into it, some 500 engineers…

VAUXHALL HAS REVEALED its first plug-in hybrid model, the Grandland X Hybrid4, which features a 296bhp petrol-electric powertrain. The PSA-Group-developed system features a 196bhp 1.6-litre Puretech petrol engine mated to two 108bhp electric motors powered by a 13.2kWh lithium ion battery. The front motor is integrated into an eight-speed automatic gearbox, with the second motor on the rear axle giving all-wheel drive. The same system is being introduced on other PSA SUVs, such as the Peugeot 3008 and DS 7 Crossback. The unit is capable of 31 miles of electric-only running and Vauxhall says it can be charged in less than two hours using a 7.4kWh home wall box. It also features regenerative braking. Performance figures for the Grandland X are not yet forthcoming, but PSA has previously said the…

VOLKSWAGEN’S UPCOMING all-electric hatchback, now officially named the ID 3, received more than 10,000 pre-orders in 24 hours. The first production car to launch using the VW Group’s new MEB electric architecture, the Golf-sized ID 3 will be offered with three battery sizes from launch in 2020, giving WLTP-certified ranges of 205, 261 and 342 miles. VW says the entry-level model will cost less than €30,000 (£25,500) in Germany. While the ID 3 won’t be officially launched until this year’s Frankfurt motor show, the firm opened pre-booking to European customers for a special ID 3 First edition, which will be offered in a limited run of 30,000 units. The special edition features a number of exclusive exterior and interior design details, uses the medium, 261-mile-range battery and will be priced…

“The S4 diesel mild-hybrid will have a total output of 342bhp and 516lb ft of torque” Audi has given the A4 a major mid-life update in an attempt to keep pace with rivals such as the new BMW 3 Series. Changes include a revamped design and the addition of mild-hybrid powertrains to the range. The compact executive saloon has received an exterior and interior revamp to bring it in line with Audi’s current design themes and the firm says the changes are more substantial than is usual for a facelift. The revised A4 will be launched later this year with three 2.0-litre TFSI petrol engines featuring a 12V mild-hybrid system and ranging from 148bhp to 241bhp, along with two diesels, a 188bhp 2.0-litre and a 241bhp 3.0-litre. A 12V mild-hybrid…

As news of yet another monthly fall in new car sales emerges (see story, below), there is strong new evidence that substantial numbers of car buyers are delaying purchases as a direct result of Brexit and confusion over powertrain choices. Exclusive data has been collected for Autocar by market research firm Simpson Carpenter from a sample of more than 1000 British car owners. It shows that among those whose car is more than two years old, almost half said they had originally planned to replace their car before now. Younger people and those buying or leasing brand-new cars are most likely to be delaying their purchase. An underlying level of delay is to be expected, as changes in personal circumstances often get in the way of new car buying decisions.…

For a company that has built a reputation on technical innovation, Mercedes has been uncharacteristically slow to launch a series-production electric car. Now that it has, and the Mercedes EQC crossover SUV is finally with us, it couldn’t have picked a location for the international press launch better than Oslo for highlighting just how long it has dallied. Here, every other car you see is electric. If London was the same, you’d probably have to take it in turns to boil your kettle at 6.20pm on a weekday, after everyone in the city had arrived home and plugged in. Because Mercedes is Mercedes – the oldest name in the car business and still the most revered around much of the world, and now the biggest-selling premium automotive brand in the…

The fourth-generation Mercedes-Benz GLE made quite the impression when we first tested it in the US last year. It had all of the things you’d expect from a large, posh SUV: a swanky, leather-upholstered interior; a smooth, punchy powertrain; a sublime ride and size-defying handling courtesy of a trick new E-Active air suspension system; and a range of clever new driver aids that have yet to appear on the S-Class. Combined, this led the GLE 450 to scoop four and a half stars. This time we’re back in Britain, driving the entry-level GLE 300d. This means the creamy six-cylinder petrol engine has been replaced by a 242bhp four-cylinder diesel, and there’s no air suspension. Or at least there shouldn’t be, but our early production test model had air springs, even…

MODEL TESTED M SPORT AUTO Price £38,205 Power 188bhp Torque 295lb ft 0-60mph 6.9sec 30-70mph in fourth 7.5sec Fuel economy 47.4mpg CO2 emissions 112g/km 70-0mph 46.2m Even BMW probably didn’t anticipate just how radically the 3 Series would change its fortunes. In the 44 years since the original ‘E21’ replaced the dainty 02 Series, more than 15 million Threes have been sold across seven model generations. Even in a global market increasingly populated by SUVs and crossovers, only the larger 5 Series accounted for more of BMW’s sales in 2018 – and by a mere 0.8% at that. Since its 1975 introduction, the 3 Series has not only become the Munich-based manufacturer’s meat and potatoes but also the benchmark by which all other contenders in the compact executive class are measured…

With its remarkable level body control and agile, compelling handling, the 320d takes to Millbrook’s Alpine Hill Route with an enthusiasm rare among executive saloons. The keenness with which it deals with the course’s tighter turns is all but unmatched among cars of its kind. The steering manages to be direct but not surprisingly so, making the turn-in phase settled but also making it easy to clip every apex and keep very close tabs on the placement of the front axle. The four-cylinder engine remains quite couth even when working really hard. It only just develops enough power to begin to throttle-steer the 320d in tighter turns and the lower intermediate gears, but can certainly begin to neutralise the car’s attitude even in quicker ones, and always makes for engaging…

The Autocar Awards are car awards like no other: there’s no ‘best hybrid crossover SUV with the nicest wheels’ here. Instead, at the 2019 Autocar Awards, held last night at Silverstone, we simply celebrated great people and the great cars they make, in diverse categories that represent the cars, people and stories you are most interested in. In these most challenging and disruptive times for the industry, the great minds working within it have built some truly outstanding cars, using technologies old and new. So who and what were the highest achievers of the past 12 months? Read on over the next 24 pages to find out.…

LAST SUMMER WE set out to put the ‘affordable’ back into our Britain’s Best Affordable Driver’s Car shootout: not one of the eight performance machines assembled had a list price in excess of £30,000. And what a field it was. Among contenders from names more commonly associated with the pocket-rocket genre – think Renault Sport, Ford Performance, Volkswagen GTI – were a number of young upstarts determined to give the established order a bloody nose. Toyota’s rabidly excellent supercharged Yaris GRMN springs to mind here, as do the Hyundai i30 N and BBR-tuned Mazda MX-5. However, after three days of back-to-back drives on South Yorkshire roads and on track at the excellent Blyton Park Driving Centre in Lincolnshire, it was the Ford Fiesta ST that emerged victorious. While ultimately not…

WHY IS THE Nexo a game changer? Because it could do for hydrogen fuel cells what the Tesla Model S did for battery-electric cars. Namely, make the technology a desirable and relatively attainable proposition compared with that which came before it. Hyundai has been here before, but the ix35 FCEV – for Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle – was merely a rehearsal for the Nexo and adapted from an existing model. It was offered via lease deals only, in small numbers and just a handful of countries, and exclusively in left-hand-drive form. It also lacked any real star quality, even if the hardware was highly advanced. The eye-catching Nexo is a different, more convincing and more sophisticated take on a zero-emission vehicle, requiring neither a plug nor a ‘charge’ time measured…

JAGUAR LAND ROVER LIKE ALL TRUE heroes, Mike Cross loses no time crediting others with his success. It’s 30 years since his unique ‘feel’ for a car’s essential dynamic character started making a difference to the way Jaguars drove, and in that time he has risen from the position of keen young technician to the JLR chief engineer who decides when a new car has met its targets and can be signed off. “In the beginning I learned a lot from Jim Randle, who was a really great old-school engineer,” says Cross. “Richard Parry-Jones was a great influence during our Ford ownership phase; he sold the importance of good dynamics to our management. Then, of course, there was Jackie Stewart, who knows plenty about great road cars even though he’s…

IN SUCH A forward-thinking industry, leading the pack with real innovation isn’t easy. Last year Westfield, best known for its 1950s-style kit car, was recognised for its reinvention as a world leader in autonomous pods. And in 2017 the Lamborghini Huracán Performante stood out for its ingenious active aero, which gave up to 750% more downforce than a standard Huracán. This year we return to the mainstream with a system designed to benefit the masses. Land Rover, which created a now-mighty new segment with its first-generation Evoque, has introduced cutting-edge new technology to give the second-generation Evoque an edge over a plethora of rivals. ClearSight Ground View is the realisation of Land Rover’s ‘transparent bonnet’ idea first seen on the Discovery Vision concept of 2014. Best described as a virtual…

FEATURED THIS WEEK BMW i3 DACIA DUSTER JAGUAR XE McLAREN 720S MERCEDES-BENZ A-CLASS MG ZS FIRST REPORT WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see whether this trailblazing small EV has evolved enough to still be considered the best in its class The i3 was the original defining electric car. It was BMW’s vision of the future, one that beat Tesla to the mainstream market by two years and aimed to prove that EVs could be different from the established three-box norm. Five years have passed since it first appeared and, in that time, cheaper rivals have come along. But BMW hasn’t stood still. Today’s i3 exists in pure-electric form only, improved with greater range and a sportier, more engaging i3s version. The arrival of a new 42kWh-capacity battery (120Ah) makes this…

QUESTION I’m a shy and retiring 21-year-old about to buy my first car. Everyone tells me I should haggle but how, and what if the salesman just says ‘no’? What then? Damon Cliffe, via email ANSWER First, go online to get a feel for prices. Now you can negotiate intelligently, but only when you’ve checked the car, test driven it and believe it’s the one you want. Confidently state your offer. A good salesperson will try to talk you round to a number they believe is fair to you both. Keep giving those signals that tell them you’ll deal today if the number’s a bit fairer to you. At all times, be friendly but firm – and lose the shyness. JE QUESTION I’m torn between a one-year-old Hyundai Tucson S…

With its swollen haunches and smarter back end, the refreshed Z3 of 2000 looked the business. The 146bhp 2.0-litre six survived the facelift but had been replaced within a year by the 168bhp 2.2. It was one of these, a 2002-reg Sport manual with 62,000 miles, that caught our eye. Finished in classic Estoril Blue with black leather and riding on bright BBS alloy wheels, it’s offered with the rare removable hard-top, although that does mean we’d need to find a safe place to store it. Still, ’tis a small detail. What isn’t is the lack of information concerning the car’s number of previous owners as well as its service history. Cross that bridge etc. While we’re preparing to do that, we’ll recall a few checks pertinent to it and…

An expert’s view GRAHAM ALDERSON, DIRECTOR, IVC LEEDS “We’re a specialist Volkswagen Group workshop and I’ve always owned Audis. Last year, I bought a 2003 A2 1.4 TDI with 155,000 miles on the clock. I’ve since put another 40,000 on it commuting to work. It hasn’t put a wheel wrong and averages 55mpg. It’s one of the few A2s with three rear seats, so I can carry my three kids. We get a steady dribble of A2s through the workshop but I can’t say there are typical problems, other than age-related things like worn suspension.” Buyer beware… ▪ ENGINE The 74bhp 1.4 MPI can suffer coil pack issues. The 1.6 FSI can have problems with its direct injection and emissions control systems and, on lower-mileage cars, its head gasket. The…

Sir James Dyson’s eagerly anticipated electric car is likely to be a long, sleek crossover-style premium model that occupies roughly the same road space as a Range Rover but with completely different proportions from every other existing production car. Key details of the billionaire inventor’s thinking on electric vehicles have emerged from three patent applications made public on 9 May. They cover the car’s ultra-long wheelbase, unique ‘crossover’ body, unprecedentedly large and thin wheels, short body overhangs and unusually ‘fast’ windscreen. Dyson’s people are keen to point out that these patents don’t necessarily show the production car, which is tipped to be revealed in 2021, in its finished state. The Dyson car’s long-rumoured existence was confirmed in late 2017, when the inventor revealed plans to spend £2.5 billion of his…

Citroën has marked its 100th anniversary with the 19_19 concept, a vision for the future of intercity travel with a focus on extreme comfort. Named to mark a century since the company was founded, the high-riding, fully autonomous EV was designed as a long-range companion to the first centenary concept to be revealed, the Ami:One city car. Head of product Xavier Peugeot said the 19_19 is “projecting into the future two of Citroën’s key genes: bold design and 21st century comfort”. A fully glazed, suspended cabin sits on a new version of Citroën’s Progressive Hydraulic Cushion suspension for maximum comfort. Travel lines on the car’s rear wings indicate exactly how much the suspension moves while it is in motion. The teardrop-shaped concept was inspired by the aviation world. Its exposed…

The baby G: that’s how Mercedes-Benz describes its latest model, the GLB. The reference to the G-Class suggests the new SUV model has, in some way, a direct link with the military-grade off-roader, but don’t be fooled by the marketing pitch. Although its distinctive exterior design may display some vague similarities, the GLB is a vastly different proposition from the G-Class – and not just on price, which is expected to start at around £30,000. For one thing, the GLB is based on a stretched version of Mercedes’ second-generation MFA platform, which it shares with the A-Class. But at 4.63m long and with a 100mm-longer wheelbase than the A-Class, it sits firmly above the upcoming second-generation GLA and slightly below the GLC. Mercedes knows that, despite its relative popularity, the…

What did you focus on with the redesign? “The A4 is a well-proportioned car, but the old one was occasionally called a little boring. We’ve put a lot of life and energy into it. We didn’t want to change the design principles, but we wanted to make a statement.” How did you do that? “The design is now a lot richer, more expressive. We’ve focused on the detail, with the use of 3D design elements, chrome parts and other small things that can make a big difference.” What are the challenges of doing a facelift design? “The fixed points were all designated six or seven years ago, so we have to work around that. That gives some limitations, but we’ve evolved the A4’s design substantially.” Why focus on differentiating the…

SALES OF PLUG-IN hybrid vehicles fell by 34.3% in April, a result of the government’s move to abolish its grant for plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) as well as supply issues. The figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders show that, for the year to date, registrations of PHEVs have fallen by 20.4%. The government first made changes to the grant system in October. However, it has taken a few months to see the full effect of the grant’s removal because existing orders were being fulfilled. Supply issues have also been a factor. The introduction of WLTP tests last September led to most PHEVs being taken off sale because they were not compliant. A new generation of PHEVs from brands such as Audi and BMW will arrive over the…

WE’VE HEARD A lot about Aston Martin’s ‘Second Century Plan’, which kicked into another gear earlier this year at Geneva with the unveiling of its forthcoming mid-engined supercar offerings. It’s all very exciting to us, so heaven knows what it feels like to work at the firm’s Gaydon HQ at the moment. It’s nice to know, however, that if you prefer a car in Aston’s more traditional big-engined flagship GT mould, you haven’t got far to look to find one in 2019. There is no better, faster or better-looking reminder of exactly what this company has done so well for so long than the gorgeous DBS Superleggera. This is the perfect modern tribute to the classic Aston GT – something critics might have suggested that the company’s latest platform, Daimler…

BRITAIN’S BEST DRIVER’S Car – or simply Handling Day, as it’s known among the road testers – is a self-explanatory concept. However, the reality of picking a solitary winner from what is almost always a brutally capable and exciting field is a complex, demanding and thought-provoking affair (okay, and it’s quite an enjoyable one). The most recent iteration, hosted at the beautiful Anglesey Circuit in north Wales, differed only in that it was even more memorable and challenging than most, with the absolute best machinery from Porsche, Lotus, Ferrari, Jaguar, Ford, BMW, Audi and Aston Martin in attendance. And we shouldn’t forget Alpine, in whose aluminium-bodied A110 you will find arguably the most captivating everyman sports car of the past three decades. Perhaps since the original 911, even. But none…

DISPLAYING THE appetite for pure driving machinery we’ve always been certain they had, our loyal readers have decided by an overwhelming margin — more than a quarter of the total vote — that the Lotus Elise is this year’s 2019 Autocar Awards Readers’ Champion. Several other contenders scored quite well, but nothing got close to the ubiquitous Lotus, which has now been in continuous production at Hethel, Norfolk, for the past 23 years. We had 17 finalists, all shortlisted for being icons of motoring that were still in production. We made one exception for the Land Rover Defender, temporarily out of production but soon to resume (in re-engineered form) at the company’s new factory in Slovakia. Readers chose the Elise for its unwavering emphasis on driving factors: fine steering, handling…

SOMETIMES EVEN COMPANIES like Mercedes-AMG have to change the way they go about things. When they do, however, rarely are the results as appealing as the straight six, petrol-electric hybrid powertrain developed as an alternative to a V8 and found in the current Mercedes-AMG CLS 53 – a car more deserving of recognition as a game-changing performance model than any other we’ve tested in the past 12 months. A few years ago, you may recall, Mercedes’ in-house tuner introduced a subset of turbocharged V6-engined ‘feeder’ performance saloons, coupés, convertibles and estates under ‘43’ model nomenclature. The intention was to give customers a way into full-blooded AMG ownership without quite the same associated costs and hardcore character traits of a V8. The 43s are still part of the AMG model mix,…

STRANGE TO THINK that only last year Kia was being honoured with one of our Game Changer awards, but for a very different kind of car. In halo-model GT-S form, it wouldn’t be much of an exaggeration to say the 365bhp, rear-driven, twin-turbocharged Stinger couldn’t be more of an antithesis to this year’s recipient if it tried. The Kia e-Niro does not come with a potent V6 engine at its nose. In fact, it doesn’t come with a traditional internal combustion engine at all. For all intents and purposes, the e-Niro is the Korean manufacturer’s first purpose-built electric vehicle, in that it’s based on a platform designed to house electric, plug-in and hybrid powertrains right from the get-go. In this day and age, of course, electric vehicles aren’t exactly new,…

“He discovered a design vision for Renault’s entire output” Laurens van den Acker, Renault’s tall, soft-spoken head of design, may not look like a fully fledged revolutionary, but he has emerged from the past decade as one of the global automotive industry’s most effective disrupters-in-chief. Within weeks of joining Renault in 2009 this friendly, 53-year-old Dutchman – working closely with a 550-strong creative team “full of talent from 30 nations” – devised a new direction of travel for Renault design and successfully sold its benefits to a management struggling with the effects of the financial crash. At top speed he set about revolutionising the look of every Renault, launching a series of beautiful models (and ditching duffers along the way) to place this most French of car giants on a…

PEUGEOT GILLES VIDAL, WHO studied in Switzerland and first joined PSA back in 1996, has been in his current job since 2010 – and that’s given him enough time to oversee every Peugeot on sale today. His most recent work is the latest 208 supermini, which represents a welcome return to fine form for Peugeot’s small car. “Basically the idea was to make a sexy little hot hatch,” he says. “Not in an old way, but in a modern kind of way, of course. To really go away from the mono-volumic shape.” The latest incarnation of 208 represents a dramatic return to aesthetic form for the small Peugeot. “If you look at 206, 207, 208 along the years, the generations became more mono-spacey looking, which was maybe a trend of…

Second only to waiting to hear if you’ve passed your driving test has to be waiting to hear whether your car has passed its MOT. Fail and you know putting things right is going to cost you time and money. Unfortunately, since 20 May 2018, when the MOT test was updated, greater numbers of diesel car drivers in particular have been spending more of both. On that date, much stricter diesel emissions tests were introduced, with new items under scrutiny being tailpipe emissions, the engine management warning light and the diesel particulate filter (DPF). Regarding this last item, the DPF became the subject of much closer inspection, with testers on the lookout for signs of tampering. As a result of the new checks, between May 2018 and February 2019, there…

One thing about the surge towards electric cars that isn’t mentioned is the loss of the manual gearbox. Indeed, most of your test cars, electric or not, now have automatic ’boxes. The manual change seems to be disappearing into history. Does no one else lament this? It has always seemed to me that (with the possible exception of high-end, GPS-reading auto ’boxes – I’ve never driven one), an automatic is blind: it can never see the terrain ahead and cannot anticipate when a gearchange is needed but can only react a split second afterwards. Much of the pleasure of driving, I find, is in selecting the correct gear in good time to ensure smooth, fast progress on twisty roads. Does no one else feel the same? Andrew Bromley Penrith WIN…

MILEAGE 6153 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT Can the new Duster offer a few little luxuries to overtake pricier rivals while still being a practical workhorse? In rock climbing circles, the concept of fun is categorised in three different ways. Bear with. ‘Type 1 fun’ is enjoyable the whole time that you’re doing the activity in question. At no point do you think: ‘This sucks. When will it end?’ Examples might be: eating doughnuts, skiing a freshly bashed piste, having a beer at sunset, driving a Caterham Seven around a dry Donington Park. ‘Type 2 fun’ sucks while you’re doing it, but you’re excited to boast about it at the pub that night, or you look back on the experience as character-forming. It’s retrospective fun. Examples are: doing an Ironman, driving…

There was definitely a coolant leak. I got right underneath but could not see exactly where it was coming from. The curse of the engine cover. Anyway, I asked my local garage to take a look, which they did. They burrowed as far as they could and located the leak to somewhere at the back of the engine and dribbling down the gearbox. The leak is not colossal. So we have decided to live with it and, later in the year when we have more time, will ask a specialist to get stuck in – unless they suggest it will cost a million pounds.…

The car that created a whole new model class is now in its second generation and past its first facelift, to boot. That happened in 2017 when the Mk2 Qashqai, under the microscope here, received a thorough refresh of its design, finish, equipment and refinement. It was all a bid to keep this family-sized SUV ahead of its rivals, competition that its predecessor had spawned the moment it first rolled off the production line 12 years ago. My, how the motoring world was wrong-footed by that first Qashqai. It has since made up for lost time but Sunderland’s compact marvel isn’t giving up without a fight and makes a cracking used car. Ignoring the many high-milers out there, prices for Mk2 Qashqais (they came out in 2014) start at around…

Old SECs never die: they just become even more distinguished. That, at any rate, is what one brave bidder must have believed when he scooped this 1990 5.0 V8 for £6660. Brave? In fact, it only had 114,000 miles on the clock and was, according to the auction house that presented it, in three-star condition (out of five, by the way). In simple terms, that means it had some history and looked and drove perfectly well. Built in 1981-1991, SECs aren’t uncommon, which means more choice and a wider price range for canny buyers.…

JOHN COOPER WORKS versions of the Countryman crossover and Clubman estate have got significantly faster after Mini’s latest updates. Said to be the most powerful Minis approved for road use to date, the cars pack a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo engine that has been boosted from 228bhp to 302bhp, with torque rising by 74lb ft to 332 lb ft. The upgrade enables a 0-62mph time of 4.9 sec for the Clubman and 5.1sec for the Countryman – 1.4sec and 1.5sec faster than the previous respective models. Both top out at a governed 155mph. Mini claims the powertrain has been “completely redesigned” with crankshaft and cooling modifications, improving engine response as well as boosting output. A new, louder sports exhaust also features with a petrol particulate filter. Further tweaks involve a revised…

When Aston Martin announced that it was planning to create 25 ‘continuation’ replicas of the DB5 used in the James Bond film Goldfinger, the big question was how it would deliver on the original car’s huge tally of gadgets. Now the firm’s Works Division has shown us several of the gadgets under development in the programme, led by Academy Award-winning special-effects creator and Bond film veteran Chris Corbould. While the finished cars, which will be delivered to customers next year, will have more features, we have been shown three: the replica machine guns that will pop out from behind the front indicator lights, the oil-spray system that deploys from behind the taillights and the smoke screen. Paul Spires, Works Division’s president, confirmed that the finished cars will also have rotating…

EPAS – ELECTRIC POWER-ASSISTED steering – started off as a not so popular new technology a few years ago and most road testers didn’t like it much. Now, it has evolved with different technical solutions helping with the steering effort and it has also become much smarter. Power steering systems were originally all hydraulic, with pressure generated by a simple engine-driven pump forcing fluid through the system in a continuous loop. When a driver turns the wheel, they not only put mechanical force into the steering gear but also open a valve allowing a piston to lend a hydraulic hand. Electro-hydraulic systems are still hydraulically actuated, but the power steering pump providing the pressure is driven by an electric motor, rather than the engine, for greater efficiency. The word that…

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Sixty-five years since the name first appeared, Porsche has still to fix what exactly a ‘Speedster’ should be. The lightweight original was based on the 69bhp four-cylinder 356 1500 and became a relatively affordable purists’ fantasy for the American market. Later versions sprouted heavyweight prices and included a Carrera Cabriolet-based car that borrowed nothing more than interior trim from the hardcore 964-series 911 RS and a modified Carrera GTS existing chiefly to promote Porsche’s ‘Exclusive’ customisation business. The famous silhouette remained, but there was no common philosophy. The sixth iteration of the concept finally offers some continuity, even if you do need to go right back to the Speedster’s road-racing roots to join the dots. But what dots. This is the first time Porsche’s GT division has had a crack…

BMW 320d M SPORT AUTO 3 Series launches back to the top of the class, setting the benchmark for performance, dynamism and refinement even higher. Outstanding. JAGUAR XE D180 RWD R-DYNAMIC SE Sweet handling balance and a sharp exterior are the XE’s calling cards. Engine could be more refined, mind. ALFA ROMEO GIULIA 2.2TD SPECIALE Attractive Italian offers a lively, expressive sense of dynamism that will appeal to many. Cabin quality not so hot, though. MERCEDES-BENZ C220d AMG LINE Plush, comfortable and well-finished. Not quite as sharp to drive as its classmates, but highly competitive nonetheless. AUDI A4 40 TDI S LINE S TRONIC Classy cabin and impeccable sure-footedness mark the Audi out. Remote steering affects driver appeal, though.…

AS A PRODUCT of rare clarity of vision, the McLaren Senna, a 789bhp, £750,000 ‘Ultimate Series’ circuit special, is a road tester’s dream. It is at times hard to appraise a new model because it can be intended for a mix of different roles: the more complex the mission statement, the trickier it is to fulfil. The Senna’s mission statement was joyfully simple. McLaren set out to use its best technology and know-how to create not only the fastest and most exciting track car that it could at any price, but also one which would be drivable on the road by people without an international motorsport licence. Understanding that mission statement, and recognising the zeal with which Woking responded to it, is key to appreciating the Senna. First impressions aren’t…

NO ONE EVER made a mistake buying a new Volkswagen Golf. The Mk 3 was a blip, but otherwise they have been the utterly reliable choice. The only car that could be better is a used one, which is why the nearly-new Mk7 is our Used Car Hero for 2019. Specs and engines are bewildering, but I can make it simple: a 2015 1.4 BlueMotion Tech returns a solid 60mpg, and a decent one in Match spec costs £9k. I bought one last year. For real eco show-offs an E is the answer, with the reassurance that this isn’t just a battery car but an electric Golf, with a 150-mile range. A 2015 with 25k miles is around £20,000. In the real world you still need a diesel and softer…

FERRARI 488 PISTA THERE’S NOTHING TOO gamechanging about another world-class mid-engined Ferrari supercar, but the way the 488 Pista goes about things is worth celebrating. The 488 Pista’s V8 is, in effect, the engine from the 488 Challenge race car. Given that it makes 710bhp from just 3.9 litres, it would be forgiven if it suffered from terrible turbo lag. But unlike the heavily boosted turbo engines of some of its rivals, there’s none of that. Just the merest, tiniest hint of delay before the power you ask for arrives at the wheels. What happens when it gets there marks out the next remarkable thing. The chassis is as hugely engaging as a special-series Ferrari’s should be, but its ride has a suppleness that wouldn’t shame a grand tourer. It’s…

IN A WORLD WHERE cars are increasingly complex, and in which there’s a battle to squeeze in features while keeping weight to a minimum, there’s something massively refreshing about the Suzuki Jimny. This is a car so pure of focus that it manages to squeeze a rugged four-wheel-drive system with a separate chassis, solid front and rear axles with exceptional ground clearance and approach and departure angles, and a low-ratio gearbox into a package weighing little more than 1100kg. It is, in some ways, a decidedly old-fashioned way of doing things. Think game ‘unchanger’, then, as much as game changer. But that Suzuki has resisted the trend of the rest of the industry is as radical as deciding not to change the Jimny’s ethos too much. What’s really surprising, though,…

It’s likely no boss at Daimler will wear a tie to a middle-ranking business meeting again. In 2015 the company’s long-serving, high-achieving CEO Dr Dieter Zetsche – winner of this year’s Issigonis Trophy, Autocar’s highest accolade – gave up neckware for meetings. His acolytes gratefully followed suit. Even after four years people still remark on this apocalyptic change at least as much as they do about the Mercedes CEO’s far more significant corporate achievements – such as demerging the company from a disastrous Chrysler alliance, changing company culture, surviving the worst of Dieselgate despite a huge recall of Mercedes models, beating BMW in 2016, vigorously embracing the new electrification age and leaving the company in a well-founded and profitable condition, stuffed with ideas to face the future. Zetsche retires from…

PORSCHE THERE COULDN’T BE a finer poster boy for Porsche than Andreas Preuninger, boss of the German car maker’s GT cars division. Posters of the 1973 911 2.7 Carrera RS adorned Preuninger’s walls as he grew up, then just two months after passing his driving test, at the age of 18, he drove his first 911. “Someone we knew had a brand-new 911 3.2 Carrera,” he recalls. “It was the most beautiful 911 I’d ever seen. I was completely astonished when the owner offered me the keys. It was a dream come true. My friend and I borrowed the car for the afternoon – 230hp was, for me, something from a different world. It was unbelievable how that car shot forward, the handling, the noises. “I’d always liked 911s, but…

DRIVEN New Toyota Supra At last, the verdict is in. Just how good is Toyota’s reborn sports car? Andrew Frankel tells all INVESTIGATION Scrappage: 10 years on What impact has the scheme that took 1000s of cars off our roads had? INTERVIEW Edd China TV star with the world’s craziest car collection lets us in his lock-up EVERY WEEK ROAD TEST McLaren 600LT Spider Britain’s Best Driver’s Car 2018 has lost its roof. Full road test USED BUYING GUIDE BMW Z3M Coupé M’s oddball creation is one of its best used buys. Here’s how to get a good one LONG-TERM TEST Range Rover Velar New arrival on our fleet. It’s got the style but has it got the substance? SUBSCRIBE autocar.co.uk/subscribe or see p22 CONTENTS SUBJECT TO CHANGE…

MILEAGE 10,244 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To evaluate Jaguar’s under-appreciated entry saloon and discover whether some of the UK’s BMW 3 Series and Audi A4 buyers need to think a little deeper A fascinating recent episode with the Jaguar XE R-Sport had me using it as handy transport to get to a road test venue for the new Tesla Model 3, driving on roads we often use in Surrey At first, I gave hardly a thought to the Jag. This was simply a chance to sample a much-ballyhooed electric car that was entirely new to us in the UK. But as things proceeded, I suddenly realised that the two cars – ‘their’ Tesla and ‘my’ Jaguar – were both born as compact and fairly sporty saloons with many similarities in…

The Patrol has always been one of the biggest and crudest 4x4s you can buy. This revised version from 1998 onwards was much friendlier than before, though. There’s acres of space inside that huge body and five-door models even provide seven seats. Luggage space is more than adequate, too. Build quality is good and overall the ride is acceptable. Arguably, this is an alternative Toyota Land Cruiser, but cheaper and duller. A seven-seat 2004 3.0Di SVE with 120k miles is £4450.…

Price new £33,535. Price now £29,000 Autocar recently reported the death of the Golf R manual (First Drives, 17 April). Time, then, to bag a nearly new one before they’ve gone. We found a 2018/68-reg with 1500 miles at a Volkswagen dealer for £29,000. The manual shift is a slick affair, so shame on us Brits for preferring the auto. You can be sure that future generations will regard the few remaining stick-shift Rs differently and pay top money for the best. Hang on to the one we found and you may just cash in later down the line.…

If you’re panning for gold, stop: we may have found some you don’t have to grub around for. It’s the Audi A2, a remarkable little car most of us know to be a future classic but few have acted on. Well, now’s the time to do just that because you never saw such a sweet little bargain. Just £500 is all you need for a 2001-reg SE 1.4 with 116,000 miles and full service history, but if you’re made of money, how about a one-owner 2002-reg 1.4 TDI SE with 98,000 miles for £1795? Many A2s have full service histories and, being Audis, still feel taut and fresh. Best of all, their owners are nuts – in a good way. They love good engineering and they love their A2s. They…