Innholdsfortegnelse for March 25, 2020 i Autocar

The Tusk Trust runs 50 projects across 20 African countries trying to conserve wildlife. It’s called Tusk but the charity goes further than just trying to save things with horns. It’s looking out for “anything under threat”, says founder and CEO Charlie Mayhew. That includes the poor pangolin – hunted for medicine and as a delicacy and thought by some to be the transmitter of the coronavirus to humans. You’d have thought its hard scales would have made it obvious it didn’t want to be consumed, but there you are. People. Anyway, Tusk’s work revolves around getting local communities to “view wildlife as an asset rather than a threat”, to combat the annual £15 billion illegal wildlife trade. And to maintain habitat, which is under great pressure from the human…

“The EQS will offer unparalleled levels of accommodation and luxury in the electric car ranks” GOT A STORY? Email our news editor lawrence.allan@haymarket.com Mercedes-Benz will launch its most ambitious electric model to date in the EQS flagship saloon – and it’s planning an AMG version that will challenge the performance car establishment with a dual-motor drivetrain making more than 600bhp and form the basis of a series of new hot zero-emissions models. The S-Class-sized limousine, which is due to arrive in the UK in standard form in early 2022, is the first EQ model to be based on the German manufacturer’s scalable electric vehicle architecture (EVA). This skateboard-style structure, says Mercedes, will allow the EQS to offer unparalleled levels of accommodation and luxury in the electric car ranks, thanks to…

The British automotive industry is racing to help tackle the coronavirus pandemic after the government asked for help in massively ramping up the production of ventilators for National Health Service use. The government has likened the plans to a “wartime effort” and is already in talks with more than 60 companies, including Ford, Jaguar Land Rover, Honda, Vauxhall and JCB, about ventilator production at their UK manufacturing facilities. A Ford spokesperson said: “We want to help where we can in the current situation. We have been approached on this specific matter and are currently in discussion.” While the use of vehicle production lines to make ventilators is unlikely, other facilities could. For example, Vauxhall is talking to the government about 3D-printing parts and assembling units. Smaller, specialist firms have also…

It’s fair to say the Kuga has always been a bit of an SUV slow burner. The original, launched in 2008, looked great and steered more sweetly than the competition yet it failed to sell strongly. The second-generation Kuga arrived in 2013 and was a product of the global ‘One Ford’ policy that meant it had to work as well in New York as it did Neasden. It grew in size but retained its predecessor’s ability to entertain its driver. After a slow start, sales took off and, in its last couple of years on sale, it hit its stride, becoming Ford’s best-selling SUV. So there’s quite a bit resting on the latest version. New from the ground up, it’s arguably the most ambitious iteration yet. Not only does the…

Europe can’t seem to get enough of Renault’s electric supermini. The Zoe sold better on the Continent in January than any other EV, largely thanks to an interior and exterior overhaul and the introduction of a new, more potent motor and a bigger battery capacity. That combination makes the Zoe feel more at ease on a greater proportion of Britain’s roads than it used to. The 132bhp delivered to the front wheels by the R135 motor is a healthy increase over the old 106bhp R110 (which has now been relegated to entry-level status) and strips nearly two seconds from the 0-62mph sprint time. It also improves acceleration between 50mph and 70mph to a similar degree, which makes a big difference to motorway driving. Drive modes are now split between D…

1 FORD PUMA 1.0T 125 MHEV TITANIUM Sharp, wieldy handling, a practical interior and impressive ride refinement and performance. A big win for Ford. 2 VOLKSWAGEN T-CROSS 1.0 TSI 115 SEL Well-rounded T-Cross isn’t as sharp to drive as its rivals, but it is comfortably the most polished and easy to live with. 3 MAZDA CX-30 2.0 SKYACTIV-G 122 SE-L Slightly bigger than the Ford, but similarly fleet-footed. Naturally aspirated engine is a bit weedy and ride can lack sophistication. 4 SEAT ARONA 1.0 TSI 115 FR Handsome, spacious, fun to drive and impressively affordable. A consummate all-rounder, if not quite as refined as its VW sibling. 5 RENAULT CAPTUR 1.3 TCE 130 S EDITION EDC Sturdy, agile handling undermined somewhat by an at times brittle ride. Practical enough, though.…

Critics of the latest Porsche 911 claim that it has become too wide, too soft, too heavy and too complex to work quite as perfectly as the any-occasion sports car its best predecessors have been. At times, I’ve agreed with some of what I’ve read on that score – albeit only because I know how great some of those predecessors were. So, is the 911’s status as the defining Porsche driver’s car ripe for inheritance by the smaller 718, with its returning six-cylinder engines? I thought so. But then the Cayman GT4 we had at Best Driver’s Car 2019 failed to entertain at Anglesey Circuit nearly as well as the 992-generation 911 Carrera S. Matter settled, then? Not for me, I’m afraid. It’s still lingering like a bad smell. Leaving…

In a recent television interview, Watford Football Club manager Nigel Pearson said that he wanted to “enjoy” life as a Premier League manager. Those in the studio smiled knowingly. But how can you enjoy a job like that when you’re under such intense scrutiny all of the time? What has sport at the highest level got to do with pleasure? When we ask the man charged with returning Renault to the front of the Formula 1 grid whether he enjoys his job, he almost breaks into a full smile. Almost. Cyril Abiteboul is warmer than he appears in Drive to Survive, the Netflix documentary series that has boosted his personal profile. But a week before what turned out to be a false start to the 2020 season in Australia, his…

FEATURE 40 years of Audi Quattro Fast and fun four-wheel-drive Audis turn 40 this year. Andrew Frankel revisits the very best of the breed FEATURE BMW i8 farewell Production will end in April with no successor in sight. We go for one last drive FEATURE How to self-isolate Every fun thing to experience in the car world without leaving your own home EVERY WEEK FIRST DRIVE Audi A3 Latest-generation A3 meets our testers for the first time ROAD TEST Porsche 718 Spyder Six-cylinder power is back in the Boxster. Will five stars join it? SUBSCRIBE autocar.co.uk/subscribe or see p44 CONTENTS SUBJECT TO CHANGE…

Land Rover Freelander 2 2.2 TD4 GS 4x4 £9995 We can’t be serious? Relax, the Freelander 2 is a very different animal from the original – much more reliable and of a higher quality. That said, if you don’t get the tyre pressures absolutely right or you wear the tyres close to the limit, you can fool the system into engaging four-wheel drive. If that happens at speed, expect a large repair bill. But that aside, the model is so capable and comfortable that some enthusiasts reckon it’s a kind of mini Range Rover. We’d not go that far but it’s certainly a jack of all trades, with a plush interior and off-roading chops. We’d plump for a later, facelifted car, such as this 2013-reg 2.2 TD4 GS with 51,000…

An expert’s view MARTIN PAWSON, FOUNDER OF CAPRI GEAR “I started my business in 1994 breaking Capris but today, with prices rising, I spend more time restoring and servicing them. There are a lot of awful, patched-up Capris out there but people just fall for the looks every time. There are fakes, too, such as 3.0-litre cars with 1.6 Laser body shells. The spares situation is getting critical, with many parts now scarce or unavailable. Corrosion is the big enemy. The mechanicals are easy to fix. My favourite is an early 2.8i four-speed – not the Brooklands, because it was thrown together.” Buyer beware… ▪ BODYWORK The body is a rust trap. Outer and inner wings, wheel arches, sills, door bottoms, chassis rails, suspension turrets, hinge mounts and even the…

I don’t know if it’s bold or reckless to launch a Land Rover in Namibia. Not because of the barrenness, what with it being the second least densely populated country on earth, having a land mass three and a half times the UK’s but only 2.5 million inhabitants. Not because the terrain is challenging and so vast that there’s a national park the size of Belgium. No, it’s because the default car of choice is a Toyota. It’s not that you don’t see Land Rovers. Walk around the capital, Windhoek, and you’ll find Range Rovers as you will everywhere money lives, but out in the wilds – and Namibia is second only to Mongolia when it comes to wilds – the Hilux is king. Namibia is a country where four…

When listing the most capable factory-fresh off-roaders, there are a few standouts – the Ford Ranger Raptor and Jeep Wrangler the two most notables, in my experience. The numbers suggest how capable the Defender will be against them – although because they have separate steel chassis and the Defender doesn’t, it’s feasible you won’t mind bashing the underside of them as much as you will the Defender’s. But in terms of raw numbers, especially approach and departure numbers, the Defender – at least, on air springs, in maximum height – has nothing to fear. A full back-to-back test will follow later in the year. LAND ROVER DEFENDER JEEP WRANGLER FORD RANGER RAPTOR…

BMW WILL OFFER an electric version of its next-generation 7 Series luxury saloon, likely to be branded the i7, alongside petrol, diesel and plug-in hybrid models. Revealed in the company’s annual press conference by chairman of the board of management Oliver Zipse, the move means the Mercedes-Benz EQS is set to face another core battery-powered rival in addition to the new Jaguar XJ. “All [7 Series] drivetrains will be based on a single architecture,” said Zipse, “and the top, most powerful 7 Series will be fully electric.” This means it’s likely that BMW will ditch the twin-turbocharged 6.6-litre V12 found in today’s headline 7 Series, the M760Li. That makes 601bhp and 590lb ft, resulting in a 0-62mph time of 3.7sec. Given that its kerb weight is already nearly 2.2…

A GOOD ENGINE can make a car but a bad gearbox can ruin it. Those almost unfathomable concoctions of gears, bearings, shaft seals and complex mechanisms almost always make the difference between a great drive and a mediocre one. The gearbox has been underestimated, then, playing second fiddle to the engine; always the bridesmaid, never the bride. But electrification has given automatic gearbox designers a golden opportunity to have a greater influence on the way a car performs by integrating a hybrid electric motor-generator inside the gearbox casing instead of attached to the engine. Transmission giant ZF Friedrichshafen has been steadily building a portfolio of hybridised automatic transmissions for years, giving car makers a kind of modular toolkit of gearboxes to choose from. They work in the same way as…

MODEL TESTED 1.0T 125 MHEV TITANIUM Price £20,845 • Power 123bhp • Torque 155lb ft • 0-60mph 10.0sec • 30-70mph in fourth 13.5sec • Fuel economy 39.0mpg • CO2 emissions 96g/km • 70-0mph 57.3m We like • Practical, but genuinely rewarding to drive in any specification • Impressively, ride quality isn’t compromised in order to achieve this We don’t like • Interior lacks design imagination, with some cheaper-looking surfaces • Many will expect better fuel economy from a hybrid powertrain Given that the Puma of the late 1990s arrived with the bold tagline ‘A driver’s dream’, Ford’s decision to reprise the name of its pint-size coupé on the tailgate of a crossover seems perplexing. With a larger frontal area, a higher centre of gravity and more weight, this new Puma clearly…

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FERRARI FF The FF made the notion of a four-seat, four-wheel-drive Ferrari acceptable and paved the way for the mightily impressive GTC4 Lusso. Wonderful 651bhp V12, 208mph and 0-60mph in 3.7sec mean it’s no slouch. Also has a hatchback and folding rear seats, so a must for Courchevel. Buy from around £100k. LAMBORGHINI GALLARDO LP560-4 True, the LP560-4 will feel antiquated next to an ultra-modern 911, but the Gallardo just has that added sense of drama that the evergreen but continually updated Porsche simply can’t muster. Despite a new price of roughly £200k, you can now pick up this V10-powered Italian monster for just £90k. HONDA NSX Soon even the supercar won’t be immune from electrification. The clever people at Honda know this, which is why the current NSX is…

On receiving a £3211 settlement cheque for an aged Nissan Micra that has been declared a write-off by the insurer, most of us would happily cash it and hunt for a new set of wheels. Not Sally Cockburn. The retired teacher promptly put the cheque back in its envelope and contacted the company that had sent it to her, claiming the firm was unjustified in classifying her Micra as a Category B write-off, defined as a vehicle whose bodyshell must be crushed but which can be broken for parts. Instead, she asked the insurer to review its decision because her car had suffered only minor damage and was safe to drive. Fighting talk indeed, but Sally was not prepared to accept that because of some minor wing damage to her…

Motor racing moves online While real motorsport has ground to a halt due to the coronavirus, various e-sports series are filling the void with star-studded events. Max Verstappen headlined an All-Star E-sports race, but a firstlap crash in the final put him out of contention. Professional sim-racer Jernej Simoncic won. Meanwhile, Lando Norris and Stoffel Vandoorne took part in a Veloce E-sports event, while Nascar ‘spotter’ Josh Williams beat a host of real stock car racers in the iRacing Replacements 100. Toyota tops BTCC test The British Touring Car Championship’s pre-season test at Silverstone took place as planned last week but behind closed doors. Tom Ingram set the pace in his Toyota Corolla. However, the opening three rounds at Donington Park, Brands Hatch and Silverstone have each been postponed. F1…

FINAL REPORT MILEAGE 13,288 WHY WE RAN IT To see if the near-perfect theory of a car with a diesel engine for long journeys and electric motors for short trips can be matched by the reality It has been an interesting and informative time with the Mercedes-Benz E300de Estate, powered as it is by the only diesel-electric hybrid powertrain on the market. And that’s the first thing to say: diesel may not be popular at present, largely due to its urban emissions, but here is a way out of that trap. The ideas behind a car you can use emissions-free and conscience-clear in town but that will also provide all the benefits of a modern, clean diesel on a long run are clear. I understand why it probably won’t catch…

MILEAGE 84,350 There has been a colossal amount of outgoings recently, so I’m looking to save some money. Rather than liquidating a member of the fleet, how about dodging the tax? One of two V11s to arrive was for my daughter’s Golf, so at least I didn’t have to pay for that. And the Baby Shark is now well over 40 years old so should be road tax-free. But, because of the strange way the ‘rolling’ system works, I’ve had to wait until 2020 plus three months for it to qualify for a zero rating. That didn’t stop them asking me for £265, though. I’ll go to the post office on 1 April with ‘historic’ paperwork. Hope I’m not a fool.…

In around 12 months’ time, the all-new Fabia will arrive in Skoda showrooms. About time, too, since the current, third-generation model under discussion here will, by then, be six years old. Still, it has done a great job of connecting Skoda’s supermini with a younger audience. Being a Skoda, it’s a sturdy rather than plush motor but practical with a large boot and good rear cabin space; reliable, too, as its strong showing in surveys attests. It’s also great value. Prices start from around £4500 for a 2015-reg 1.0 MPI 60 S, the entry-level model. This version is okay for scooting around town, but the engine is underpowered and hobbled by being paired with a tallish five-speed gearbox. That didn’t stop it selling well from new, though, and there are…

This 2001-reg Red Label (it’s powered by Rolls’ classic 6.75-litre V8 as opposed to earlier Green Label cars, which had BMW’s more efficient 4.4-litre turbo V8) made £15,900 at auction. That’s about on the money considering that the car had done 51,000 miles and had a solid service history. There was no mention of it being a Bentley or specialist history, though, which is a pity because cars like the Arnage benefit from knowledgeable care. It came direct from a car supermarket, too, which – call us snobs – doesn’t fill us with confidence. Still, what an eyeful.…

So far, then, two lengths – 90 and 110 – of the Defender have been confirmed and commercial versions will be available on each. The rear seats will be removed and the side windows blanked, and the carpets removed and replaced with a hard-wearing floor. Payload for both is 900kg, with 90 prices set to start at £35,000 – making them fairly premium vans, but commercial vehicles nonetheless. We think there will be a 130 version with some extra length behind the rear wheels, but while previous Defenders came as pick-up or as chassis cab, too, having no separate chassis doesn’t make that so straightforward. Bear in mind, too, that pick-ups need a payload of more than 1000kg to qualify for tax breaks and that might be hard to achieve.…

TESTER’S NOTE The boot may be much less practical after the soft-top conversion, but there is at least a hatch with remote openers to enable the through-loading of longer items. GK Adding handsomely to the weight, reducing the structural rigidity and compromising the versatility of one of the most popular crossovers around doesn’t sound like a clever idea. But that’s exactly what Volkswagen has done. The new T-Roc Cabriolet indirectly replaces the Golf Cabriolet and, with the Beetle now also gone, that leaves it as the brand’s sole open-top model. The styling remains well balanced when the hard top is in place; it’s a multi-layer fabric structure designed to mimic the lines of the fixed-roof T-Roc. To package it, VW has made some notable changes to the platform, the most…

VERDICT Ford has landed what might be its biggest achievement in more than a decade with the new Puma. It has succeeded where other manufacturers have failed and has furnished the still-growing and all-important compact crossover market with a car that represents the company’s long-standing core strengths brilliantly. The Puma has really distinguishing design appeal and, for its handling deportment and its universal driver appeal, it rises above the standards of its peers even more clearly. As our test car also proved, you don’t need the most powerful engine or sportiest trim to experience the car at its dynamic best; and you needn’t accept compromises to practicality, refinement or ride comfort in exchange for any of its dynamic strengths. Much as the completeness of its dynamic performance impresses, the Puma…

The Jaguar F-Type is back, with a fresh look and an assortment of new bells and whistles. They have, thankfully, resisted the urge to treat it to a new pair of beige slacks and a matching M&S cardigan, although that must have been tough. Alright, there’s a bit more to the update than the above would imply (a modest engine power hike, a new engine derivative, some new suspension componentry and some digital instruments) but perhaps not as much as you might imagine would be necessary to keep a current sports car up to date in what is now – wait for it – its eighth year in production. Is it entirely fair, then, you may wonder, to pitch the ‘new’, range-topping R version of this car into a head-to-head…

“He hammers the car around, accompanied by whirrings and a lot of tyre squeal” Well I never, if it isn’t Valentino Balboni, the legendary Lamborghini test driver. He’s possibly the last person I’d have expected to bump into at the launch of an electric hypercar. The car in question is called the Drako GTE and the place is Thermal Raceway in California. I wasn’t expecting to be here myself, but I’m staying with a photographer pal who’s shooting the car for the journalists and other media at the event. We recently ran a feature on Thermal (22 January) and I was curious to see it for myself. It’s great to see Balboni here. He was always the coolest of the Italian test drivers. Ferrari’s Dario Benuzzi is a pretty slick…

It may have been his first victory for Toyota, but it was probably the one that Sébastien Ogier was least bothered about throughout his illustrious career, despite the fact that it swept him into the lead of the World Rally Championship. “The most important thing now is just to get home safely and hope that we haven’t spread any harm to our friends in Mexico,” said the Frenchman. He was one of many drivers to question what they were doing on Rally Mexico at all, given the Covid-19 pandemic that has wiped out the first part of the Formula 1 calendar as well as the next scheduled WRC round in Argentina, not to mention thousands of other sporting events the world over. But in the end, a compromise was reached…

Did you know that Audi no longer produces brochures or price lists for its cars in the UK? When I asked why, I got this explanation: “To reduce our carbon footprint, we’ve moved to a digital configurator, which replaces the previous printed and PDF brochures. The configurator is always up to date and allows you to save your specification, making ordering your Audi quick, simple and efficient. “All of our centres have a hands-on configurator where you can feel and see every option available, so if you have something specific in mind, like exclusive paint or luxury leather, you can specify your Audi to your individual requirements.” I can buy the argument that printed brochures are a waste of resources, but not a PDF. Seems Audi is happy to rely…

MILEAGE 4221 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT Plug-in 330e will overtake 320d as the biggest-selling 3 Series, but can it match the diesel’s all-round appeal? So what is it actually like to drive? You’ll forgive me for only getting to answer this question now, in the third meaty report on the 330e. So rarely has a car needed so much scene-setting and prep, first to find out if it can actually be used as its maker intended, and second to learn how to use it yourself. Clearly this is nothing like the simple-to-use familiarity of having a 320d… Charging points installed, hybrid tech learned and company car tax bill calculated, and it’s onto living with the car. And for the most part, it won’t surprise you to learn that the 330e…

C is for Citroën C3 There’s plenty to like about the C3, and many will appreciate the raised, people-carrier-like driving position. So there’s a lot of room up front with a usefully adjustable steering wheel and driving seat. The spec levels have always been pretty good; most will want the SX, which has air conditioning and a CD player, while the Exclusive even throws in climate control and sat-nav if optioned. The C3 is a reasonably lively drive and most of the engines are pretty good, especially the 1.4 turbodiesel. Ultimately, the C3 could have been the new 2CV, but Citroën knew today’s car buyer wouldn’t be satisfied with something so basic.…

Renault Sport Spider 2.0 Price £22,995 Future classic? Surely, the super-rare 1996-99 Spider, the first to bear the Renault Sport name, is a classic right now, isn’t it? After all, there aren’t many cars quite as uncompromising. There’s a roof but it was optional, as was the windscreen. It’s a track-day car, really, but works on the road – just. Power comes from a 2.0-litre engine donated by the Clio Williams, producing 148bhp and mid-mounted. The car’s kerb weight is just 930kg. Our find is a 1997-reg with 22,000 miles for £22,995. Not bad for a classic, future or otherwise.…

By relocating a single letter, you form what sounds like the word that for many people best described the Capri, a sporty coupé that endured from 1969 to 1986. That was then but, today, a good Capri is a desirable old thing. It’s the third and final generation – launched in 1978 and known, not surprisingly, as the Mk3 – that we’re interested in here. Production ended in 1986 but it took until 1989 for the last example, a 280 Brooklands, to be registered, which tells you all you need to know about this fast Ford’s fading appeal. If only we’d known then what we know now. In 1989, a Brooklands cost around £12,000, but today the best go for as much as £40,000. In the real world, prices for…