Innholdsfortegnelse for October 02, 2019 i Autocar

THE SECOND-GENERATION Audi A1 aims to bring hitherto unseen levels of luxuriousness to the supermini class, and with it comes a price to match. The subject of this week’s road test (p36), however, does an unconvincing job of hiding the fact that it’s built on mass-produced underpinnings also used by other – far cheaper – Volkswagen Group models. It leaves us wondering why this Audi costs in excess of £5000 more than an equivalent Seat Ibiza – a huge difference at this end of the market. Practically every car built at any kind of volume in every segment shares a bloodline with other models, of course – economies of scale necessitate it. In the case of smaller cars, where margins are slimmer but development costs are just as great, that…

Volkswagen’s other family-sized hatchback, the electric ID 3, was revealed at the Frankfurt motor show last month, but VW R&D boss Frank Welsch is already thinking of how to improve it. “There’s still room for optimisation. Just like in combustion-engined cars, look at how CO2 has come down and down and down because engineers have optimised. The ID 3 is a huge step but it’s not the end.” Here are his three key areas. Range “People need range,” Welsch said. Despite the top-end ID 3 offering 341 miles of range, Welsch believes people want more. “We won’t do this by giving people a bigger battery because it’s more weight and more cost. It’s about battery density improving,” he said. Technology “It is not enough to change the drivetrain to electric.…

AUDI IS PREPARING to launch the new-generation A3 at the Geneva motor show next March and prototypes have now dropped almost all disguise. The A3, closely related to the forthcoming Mk8 Volkswagen Golf (see p8) and built on the second-generation MQB architecture, features an evolutionary look, borrowing the geometric front-end shape from Audi’s latest models and eschewing the smaller A1’s bonnet vents. Yet there’s one distinctive design detail we weren’t expecting: chrome strips running the length of the bodywork on each side, from the headlights to the tail-lights, wrapping around the tailgate. It’s not clear yet if this will make production or Audi is just experimenting ahead of the finished design. But if it does feature on the new car when it is unveiled in Geneva, it will mark a…

JAGUAR LAND ROVER has unveiled an all-new Advanced Product Creation Centre at its Gaydon HQ on an expanded site now equal in area to 480 football pitches. Widely known as the Gaydon Triangle because of its unique layout, the £500 million centre will be the base for almost 13,000 group engineers and is by far the largest car creation centre in the UK. JLR CEO Ralf Speth claims the centre will bring new efficiencies by combining the design, engineering and production purchasing functions under one roof for the first time in history. Said to be one of the UK’s “most sustainable non-domestic buildings”, the centre will obtain 10% of its energy from solar roof panels, with the rest coming entirely from other renewable sources. At the same time, the company…

What’s the difference between a small hatchback built by Peugeot and one built by Volkswagen? One unappreciated distinction is that the Volkswagen will retain its name when a new generation is introduced whereas the Peugeot won’t. The first Polo arrived in 1975 and you can still buy ‘a Polo’ today. Peugeot gave us the tiny 104 hatch in 1976 but, since then, the same basic recipe has variously gone by the numbers 205, 206, 207 and, most recently, 208. For the casual observer, that’s a bit confusing, and if you’re Peugeot, it’s not great for brand building. That’s why we now have another 208. Peugeot thinks continuity and familiarity might help its supermini better challenge the Ford Fiesta, Renault Clio and Polo, so the 208 moniker gets an encore, even…

1 MINI COOPER SPORT 5-DOOR HATCH MANUAL Sharp, fun handling and a unique, attractive interior help see the Mini retain its status as our favourite of the posh superminis. 2 BMW i3 120AH Only loses out to the Mini by the skin of its teeth. Not quite as entertaining to drive, but a seriously appealing take on an upmarket electric supermini. 3 VOLKSWAGEN POLO GTI+ Combines hot-hatch performance with a classy interior and a surprisingly refined ride. Still cheaper than the Audi. 4 AUDI A1 SPORTBACK 35 TFSI S LINE STYLE EDITION Smart looks and sweet chassis marred by numb steering and a serious price tag. Not quite as special as it should be. 5 FORD FIESTA VIGNALE 1.0T ECOBOOST 140 A sweet combination of ride refinement and handling dynamism,…

1961 CITROEN AMI 6 You’re looking at a French best-seller from the early ’60s. It has a face like it swallowed a wasp, a roofline resembling a nun’s wimple and sounds more power tool than motorcar. The noises emerge from a slightly more powerful 2CV twin, although it weighs more than its shed-like little brother. So it’s slow – 50mph requires 30 seconds of puttering advancement – but life was slower then, especially in rural France, where these wilfully weird saloons once whirred. The Ami was designed by sculptor-turned-car designer Flaminio Bertoni, whose previous achievements included the handsome Traction Avant, the charmingly functional H-van and the magnificent DS. Yet the Ami – with its weird, thin-panelled body – was remarkably his favourite. It’s not only the 22bhp engine that struggles…

The maths is simple. Frankfurt and its biennial motor show lie 501 miles from Autocar Towers in Twickenham, according to Google Maps. This Jaguar I-Pace, Autocar’s long-term test car, has an official range of 298 miles. So you can work out for yourself how many re-charge stops might be needed – in theory – to get to Frankfurt. But we’re more interested in how such a road trip for one of the new breed of long-range electric cars like the I-Pace will pan out in practice. What makes the journey a feasible proposition this year is the growing number of fast-charging stations that promise to reload the I-Pace’s 90kWh battery in under an hour. We are going to use exclusively the fast-charger network run by Ionity (see separate story, p57),…

SPECIAL FEATURE McLaren F1 vs P1 vs Senna Nearly one million of you have watched our YouTube film on McLaren’s hypercar trio. Now Andrew Frankel tells you why they’re so special INVESTIGATION Will autonomous cars happen? No, says a leading expert. Read why the industry is dialling back BEHIND THE SCENES Inside Gaydon Meet the man running JLR’s vast new engineering centre EVERY WEEK ROAD TEST Ariel Atom 4 Fourth generation of the purist’s driver’s car meets our road testers USED BUYING GUIDE Mercedes SL It was on sale for 13 years, creating plenty of choice for savvy buyers FIRST DRIVE BMW M8 Coupé The 8 Series is a good base for a fast coupé – now it’s over to M… SUBSCRIBE autocar.co.uk/subscribe or see p22…

MILEAGE 4350 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see whether Audi has raised the bar for electric vehicles with its advanced Jaguar I-Pace rival The adaptive cruise control (ACC) on our E-tron – a feature I value for its ability to adjust the car’s speed automatically in all sorts of situations, from congested motorways and average speed zones to slip roads and roundabouts – has been permanently out of action for quite a few weeks now. Keen to get it working again, I booked the car in for a check-up at the Audi dealership in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey. I had to wait for around three weeks for a slot, but the car was picked up from my home address on the allotted morning and was meant to be returned later the same…

Audi A4 Well, this is nice. Here’s Steve’s lovely A4 (see main story) and he doesn’t like the direction modern diesel engines have been going in: “The world has gone backwards and produced an engine with little or no low-end torque and lots of DPF problems. “That’s why I bought a 2003 A4 PD TDI 1.9. The PD engine has solenoid-operated injectors running in oil. Even the cables run in oil. I also like the north-south layout of engine/transmission, which allows equal-length driveshafts and superb weight distribution.”…

Honda Civic Type R GT Price £25,000 (2018/67, 14,000 miles) Predicting a Type R will be a future classic is hardly sticking your neck out, but this particular version looks more certain than some given its huge performance and agility. Its extreme looks are polarising but that’s half the appeal. There are two versions, GT and non-GT; the former costing £2000 more. The extra cash brings an upgraded stereo and a sat-nav (neither that impressive) but, more usefully, parking sensors and dual-zone climate control. It also has blindspot and cross traffic assist, both of which will help keep it clear of trouble.…

An expert’s view JACK DAY, SUTHERLAND M POWER CARS “Because it’s rare, great to drive and has that M badge, the 1M is always going to be valuable and sought after. Prices are rising fast. It’s a fickle market, though. We sold one overnight but another hung around for four months. Collectors are moving in now and paying strong prices for the best cars. By ‘best’, I mean immaculate, finished in orange and unmodified. When buying a 1M, I always check for signs of track day use and sub-premium tyres that suggest shallow pockets.” Buyer beware ▪ ENGINE Start it from cold and check for poor running caused by failing injectors. Rev the engine to around 2500rpm, then throttle off and listen for the turbo wastegate bearing chattering. It’s around…

The next-generation Volkswagen Golf, to be unveiled this month, aims to revolutionise the volume hatchback market with 48V mild-hybrid engines and technology not yet seen in the class. The German maker is betting on the new Mk8 Golf to secure its foothold in the shrinking segment – down 16% globally in the first half of 2019, according to analyst firm JATO – by offering not only class-leading technology but also the lowest CO2 emissions – important for running costs and the brand’s social responsibility standing. VW’s technical chief, Frank Welsch, told Autocar that development is now finished and the Mk8 Golf is currently undergoing quality testing. He said: “We are now in pre-production, in the phase to make sure that one part fits perfectly to another. Everything we did on…

“The Alfieri’s electric powertrain will be a three-motor, all-wheel drive using 800V tech” Maserati has confirmed that 10 new models are set to arrive in the next four years – including a range of hybrids and the firm’s first fully electric powertrain, which is destined for everything from sports cars to SUVs. As part of parent company Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ €5 billion (£4.4bn) investment plan, Maserati will extensively upgrade its production facilities to build the new cars. Every Maserati will continue to be assembled in Italy. The first new model will be a heavily updated Ghibli saloon, which is set to be unveiled next year and feature the brand’s first hybrid powertrain: a plug-in system with a usable electric range and ultra-low CO2. The BMW 5 Series rival will also…

TOYOTA AND SUBARU have confirmed that they’ll jointly develop a successor to the GT86 and BRZ sports cars. First reported by Autocar in the 20 March issue, the new deal between the two brands will secure replacements for both cars, as well as joint engineering of all-wheel-drive models and Subaru using Toyota’s hybrid powertrains. The two will also collaborate on autonomous technology. The deal means Toyota’s shares in Subaru will increase to 20%, making it an “affiliated company of Toyota”. In return, Subaru will buy shares in Toyota worth around £600 million.…

AMONG ALL THE oily bits and electronics coming our way as cars get more sophisticated, there are some technologies that we’ll never even notice. Some are visible but hiding in plain sight, yet they could still have a huge role to play in the future of the car. A good example is the clever science going into functional coatings used to make batteries smaller, safer and more sustainable, help lidar sensors to spot dark cars in poor visibility (which they struggle to do) and allow sensors to work better in wet and mucky weather. PPG Industries may not be a household name but the industrial giant is the largest manufacturer of paints and coatings in the world – and that includes the paint a body shop uses if your car…

Land Rover is working on a remote control system for its new Defender to allow low-speed driving from outside the car. It’s designed for off-road use, allowing owners to negotiate obstacles and tight spots with more precision than if they were inside the car. Chief product engineer Stuart Frith confirmed the car is “capable of being able to do that in terms of its architecture”. He said: “We’ve got as far as understanding how to do it and we’ve run prototypes as well.” The remote systems require the car’s wearable Activity Key to verify the driver is nearby and in control of the car. The tech would be an extension of the Defender’s 3D Scout system, which provides a virtual image of the car from a distance using cameras surrounding…

FREE SEALEY TOOL KIT WHEN YOU SUBSCRIBE TODAY ▪ COMPREHENSIVE RANGE ▪ KIT HOLDS A SELECTION OF TOOLS ▪ SOFT GRIP HANDLES ▪ SUPPLIED WITHIN THE STORAGE CASE WORTH £45 SUBSCRIBE TO AUTOCAR For 124 years, Autocar has been dedicated to sharing with you our love of cars every week. You can turn your support of Autocar into access to an even more exclusive club by subscribing. Every Wednesday you’ll be first to read the magazine packed with news, reviews, insightful features, star columnists, used car buying advice and our expanded data section. You’ll also receive regular free supplements and gain access to exclusive benefits (see below). There has never been a more interesting or significant time for the car industry and we’d love for you to join us on…

Like many French models, Zoe was at the cutting edge of fashion when she burst onto the scene in 2012. There weren’t many similar models doing what she did, and she quickly gained popularity with her convivial, easy-going nature and quietly subtle style. But times change and, in the past few years, plenty of younger models have caught onto the trend Zoe helped to start – and while those models brought attention to her and increased her popularity, Zoe was starting to risk looking a little behind the times. Renault has already given Zoe a few nips and tucks, but has now treated her to a full makeover, and she’s emerged revitalised, refreshed and ready to prove that she still has what it takes against some trendy young upstarts. We’ll…

Aston’s first new-old continuation model was a re-creation of the DB4 GT. The brand’s second is an even more exclusive evolution of the same car, a near-perfect replica of the faster DB4 GT Zagato, which was given lighter bodywork by the Italian coachbuilder. Just 19 will be built by Aston Martin Works in Newport Pagnell, with each one being sold as a pair with the forthcoming DBS Superleggera Zagato, priced at £6 million (before taxes) for the set. Even if the DB4 represents only half that amount, it’s still the most expensive car in production in the world. Yet it’s still much cheaper than an original car. When former works Zagato ‘2 VEV’ was auctioned last year by Bonhams, it sold for £10.1m. Works boss Paul Spires says buyers of…

MODEL TESTED SPORTBACK 35 TFSI S LINE STYLE EDITION Price £25,690 • Power 148bhp • Torque 184lb ft • 0-60mph 7.9sec • 30-70mph in fourth 11.5sec • Fuel economy 38.0mpg • CO2 emissions 120g/km • 70-0mph 45.7m As a result of its own strategic choices, Audi isn’t a car maker we instinctively associate with modern compact hatchbacks – superminis, as they are so often dubbed. Perhaps it ought to be, though, because if it hadn’t been for the original Audi 50 of 1974, there might never have been a Volkswagen Polo at all (the first-gen Polo was just a badge-engineered Audi). What Ingolstadt learned from the short-lived 50 was that it would take bigger, more imposing, more advanced and more luxurious cars to forge Audi’s modern reputation – cars like the…

Quick superminis are usually good fun on the Hill Route and Millbrook, and that’s largely because they leave you with much more space to play with than larger cars. The issue for the A1 35 TFSI is that it isn’t particularly quick, the gearbox’s long ratios pouring cold water over the true potential of the engine – something that became apparent on the Hill Route’s many inclines. The Audi nevertheless put in an impressive showing, retaining speed and momentum with close body control and remaining progressive and benign at the limits of grip on all but the most challenging corners. The car doesn’t naturally oversteer, but isn’t averse to being backed into corners in the same manner as much more capable hot hatches. Of course, you get a mere hint…

It’s about the same size as the original Smart Fortwo and, you might think as you prepare to board, appears likely to offer a fairly similar driving experience. But in spite of being another French-made wheeled cube for city streets, the Ami One provides rather different sensations than a Fortwo does and, indeed, has been conceived for a different mission besides. This is a car that not only probes new modes of urban transport for the near future, but also explores the challenge facing Citroën and all makers of small city cars. Soon they will face European CO2 and particulate emission standards that threaten to push city car prices up substantially, prompt them to go electric or even to become extinct. The Ami One is one possible answer to this…

“About 4800 Alvis cars remain on the road” ‘Decarbonise the engine and report. Check power steering and front wheel alignment. Straighten up front bumper. To be completed by Thursday May 13th, please.’ So wrote Group Captain Douglas Bader, the celebrated RAF fighter ace, in a letter to the works service manager that he left on the seat of his Alvis ahead of its annual check-up. It’s contained in a bundle of correspondence relating to Bader’s many Alvis cars (each featured a Spitfire mascot), just one of thousands of copies of customer correspondence that Alvis has received since being founded in 1919 and still keeps and refers to, in addition to the vehicle records for each of the 22,000 cars it has produced and 17,000 technical drawings relating to every major…

Fiat X1/9 Gran Finale £4990 I recall the day in 1989 when, as a young Fiat salesman, I was commanded to push the new Croma and Tipo to the corners of the showroom in order to make space for the unregistered X1/9 Gran Finale that had arrived. It was exquisite but attracted no interest and one day disappeared, no questions asked. Today, Fiat’s two-seat, mid-engined, rear-drive sports car, on sale from 1972 to 1989, is considered a classic. It’s rare, though – rust-free ones rarer still. But happily, you don’t have to pay fortunes to own a good one. One such as the 1989 G-reg example with 52,000 miles that we found priced at £4990. It’s a Gran Finale (in essence, an SE with a dealer-fitted rear spoiler and badge),…

Skoda’s electrification programme has rolled out in earnest, with sources confirming that the new Octavia – due in the second half of next year – will be launched in both plug-in hybrid and mild-hybrid forms. The Czech firm has also released details of the plug-in hybrid Superb iV, due in January, and presented its Vision iV all-electric ‘crossover coupé’ to the press (see separate story, below). Plug-in Karoq and Kodiaq models are also in the frame as the brand works to reduce its fleet average CO2 footprint. It is understood that the Fabia and Scala won’t be offered as plug-in hybrids, because it’s believed that the MQB-A0 platform can’t accommodate a battery pack. Mild-hybrid engines are expected, however, when the cars are refreshed over the next two years. The Vision…

Audi Sport has kicked off the expansion of its high-performance SUV line-up with the launch of the new RS Q3 Sportback coupé crossover alongside the second-generation RS Q3. The sibling SUVs both serve up 394bhp from a turbocharged five-cylinder engine. The original RS Q3 was launched in 2013, with Audi Sport choosing a compact model for its first hot SUV due to a lack of direct premium class rivals. The firm believes there is now a similar market gap for the Q3 Sportback, with the model launching ahead of the Mercedes-AMG GLA 45. Underneath their bodywork, the RS Q3 and Sportback are mechanically identical. Each is powered by an upgraded version of the 2.5-litre five cylinder turbocharged unit from the first-gen RS Q3. The five-pot has been updated to produce…

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is now focused on delivering more sustainable growth and profits rather than chasing volume, according to chief commercial officer Felix Bräutigam. Falling sales in China and the impact of the likes of Brexit and the drop in demand for diesel caused JLR to announce a £2.5 billion turnaround plan a year ago. Called Charge and Accelerate, the plan has completely changed the way the company operates. The move followed almost a decade of record volume growth (sales in 2017 exceeded 600,000, more than treble 2009’s total, and were spearheaded in recent years by growth in China) and that helped fuel profits, which topped £2bn in 2015. But at the end of the 2018/19 fiscal year, that had turned into a £3.6bn loss (including a £3.1bn write-down…

To understand the buzz around Dallara’s first road car, a flyweight roadster simply known as ‘Stradale’, you need to know a bit about Dallara himself. Gian Paolo Dallara’s trajectory was set when he failed to win a place reading mechanical engineering at the Polytechnic University of Milan. He settled for aeronautical engineering, which was a good choice because in the late 1950s Ferrari realised it needed motorsport engineers with a deep understanding of air flow. Already obsessed with racing, Dallara was hired and worked on Ferrari’s Formula 1 cars and sports prototypes, plus the 250 GTO, before moving to Maserati, where the Tipo 63 ‘Birdcage’ made it onto an incipient CV that would eventually become breathtaking. In 1963, at the age of 27, Dallara was poached by upstart Lamborghini and…

This may not be a widely held opinion, but I’d say the new third-generation BMW 1 Series hatchback looks exactly like it ought to. Because it looks nothing at all like a traditional three-box saloon of the 1980s, some will call it inauthentic – but I’d bet that few of the younger clientele at whom BMW is aiming this car will be among them. For your average 2019 30-something car buyer, a typical modern BMW is an X1, an X3 or a 2 Series Active Tourer – and now the 1 Series looks just like them. The first UK examples of the car are now in the UK, with diesel engines ranging from the 114bhp 116d to the 188bhp 120d xDrive, and the petrols taking in the range topping M135i…

VERDICT When the A1 joined the supermini gaggle in 2010, it set new benchmarks for perceived quality, powertrain refinement and all-round desirability. The second-gen car tries to build on those attributes, taking design cues from more rarefied Audi models and pairing them with an interior that delivers the initial wow factor expected of a city car that costs more than many a full-sized family hatchback. Those who find a Mini too whimsical and a Polo too staid will therefore be drawn to this week’s road test subject, where they’ll find a powertrain of impressive efficiency and refinement, and a responsive chassis with deep reserves of composure, if not much in the way of involvement. What they won’t discover is the degree of ride comfort we’d expect of the segment’s luxury…

People used to describe travelling in the 1955 Citroën DS19 as ‘other-worldly’. And when you set this self-levitating, space-age-shaped, hydraulically suspended car in the context of the crude, steel-sprung, clumsily crafted cars from 60 years ago, it’s easy to see why. Approaching 2019’s 19_19 for a drive triggers similarly foreign planet thoughts. The 19_19 is a car that looks like no other, its pod-like cabin slung between enormous wheels capped with old-school mudguards, its body part-blue, part-black, its headlights mere strips, its glass nose recessed beneath them. The slender pair of conning tower-like objects bursting from the rear of the roof lend it that moon buggy aura; the 19_19 is poised with the ground clearance of one of its old, hydropneumatically sprung ancestors sitting at maximum ride height. Whether intentional…

Stunned by new Defender Hugely enjoyed your thoughtful introduction to the new Defender (11 September). As an 82-year-old petrolhead surviving largely on memories, es, I’ll agree with your gist that Gerry McGovern and his team have thought all the obstacles and possibilities right through and have done a stunning job, precisely judged for huge saless in world markets. The new design is ultra-modern, wonderfully detailed, unique in appearancee and character, and so much more appropriate to its calling for fun, hard work and adventure than any of its rivals. Who wants a streamlined potato in the jungle or the outback? If traditionalists are confused, they need not be; they must keep their wonderful old vehicles and not grumble too much if others new to the Defender name prefer the best…

MILEAGE 6661 Is the world’s best-selling SUV still as comfy, refined, spacious and dynamically competent in hybrid form? WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT Every sinew of his back rippled in the morning sun. Sweat poured from his helmet as he got out of the saddle approaching the short rise. Three stags turned their heads in choreographed unison, following the cyclist each with a watchful eye. He was doing a good job, spinning the pedals to carry about 18mph into the hill as I followed near-silently in the CR-V Hybrid behind. At 8am every morning, Richmond Park is like a marble run of cyclists when you’ve petulantly tipped all the marbles down at the same time. This particular cyclist was blissfully unaware that he wasn’t just controlling his own speed but also…

MILEAGE 104, 258 PORSCHE CAYENNE We got a letter in the post from Porsche. I believe it is recall number R/2019/204 and there are 11,745 vehicles affected by it. This recall was issued on 29 July 2019. Basically, it is all about the automatic gearbox because the selector lever cable plastic sleeve may break. The remedy is to replace it. All we have to do is book it in with our local dealer, who isn’t very local at all. So we are trying free up some time to do this. It takes around an hour and I am not sure if there is much to do there apart from test drive a Taycan.…

Prices start at £5000 for a high-mileage 2016-reg 1.6 CDTi, so a used Vauxhall Astra is a tempting proposition. It won’t look or feel as classy as a Volkswagen Golf but then you’ll pay £2500 more for the pleasure of owning that particular people’s car. The Ford Focus is closer in appearance and feel to the Astra but even that will set you back around £1000 more. Of course, as the old saying goes, you get what you pay for, and in the Astra’s case, what you get is a reputation for unreliability. According to the latest survey by our sibling magazine, What Car?, the Astra diesel is the least reliable family car you can buy. The petrol version fares better, but better still are the Focus and the Golf.…

BMW E34 M5 Unfortunately for the E34 of 1988-95, it was the follow-up to the original M5 – the much-loved E28 of 1984-88. Perhaps that’s why prices are reasonably low, since it can’t be the fault of the car, which is terrific. The first ones were powered by a 3.5-litre straight six producing 311bhp, but in 1991 the model gained a 3.8 and 335bhp. Then, in 1994, the five-speed Getrag manual ’box became a six-speed. An example of this 335bhp six-speed version passed though auction recently. The 1994-registered car had 106,000 miles, refurbished suspension and new Pilot 4s. It fetched £14,840.…

If you were one of the lucky 450 people who bagged a new BMW 1 Series M Coupé in 2011 for its list price of £39,990, then congratulations. Depending on how well you’ve looked after it and its mileage, it may not have lost a penny in depreciation. As this was written, of the 25 or so 1 Series M Coupés, or 1Ms as they’re known, on a leading classified sales site, 20 were priced at £39,990 or more. In fact, three were nudging £60,000. The tragedy is that all the cars advertised for more than £40,000 had done less than 40,000 miles and the most expensive less than 10,000. But their owners or sellers have first to achieve these prices, and considering how picky buyers can be at this…