Innholdsfortegnelse for May 13, 2020 i Autocar

Alfa Romeo’s range-topping Giulia and Stelvio Quadrifoglio models have received a series of enhancements for the 2020 model year. Mirroring some of the changes made recently to the regular versions of the saloon and SUV, the high-performance pair benefit from technology, design and safety upgrades to bring them into line with newer rivals, such as the facelifted Mercedes-AMG C63 and new BMW X3 M. External tweaks are minor but include new LED rear light clusters with dark lenses and gloss black detailing. A 21in alloy wheel option has been added to the Stelvio, while Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ parts and accessories arm, Mopar, has designed a new carbonfibre front grille, along with carbonfibre mirror caps and a carbonfibre spoiler. Three new paint colours have been introduced, too: 6C Villa d’Este Red,…

If you’re staring out the window, itching to slide behind the wheel and go for a blast, consider the following. Instead of ordering yourself something from Airfix, Lego or Tamiya as a temporary distraction, why not pick up the finest lockdown construction kit of them all: the new Caterham Super Seven 1600. Caterham will still deliver an entire car in component form and, with the right tools (available for £375), it’ll take around 90 hours to assemble. Alternatively, those less au fait with the innards of a toolbox can spend another £2395 to have Caterham build the car for them. So what exactly is a Super Seven? Following on from the success of the limited-run three-cylinder Sprint and Supersprint, this is another retro-themed Seven. This time the four-cylinder ‘270’ engine…

In 2018, Mazda gave its 2.0-litre MX-5 a significant power boost, which helped put some distance between the top-rung model and the less potent 1.5-litre car, and pushed the roadster more firmly into the enthusiast realm. The firm also turned its attention to bolstering the car’s environmental credentials. The latest round of updates, bolstered in 2020 with the introduction of a new range-topping GT Sport Tech trim, made Mazda’s i-Eloop KERS tech and stop-start functionality standard across the MX-5 line-up. The non-turbo roadster musters an impressive 40.9mpg on the WLTP cycle, and fuel savings will be especially tangible for urban drivers, and on everyday journeys. Stop-start is a welcome addition to the MX-5 formula, and only heightens the duality of this slick 2.0-litre powertrain. In very few new cars is…

MODEL TESTED V8 VANTAGE The ‘V8’ tag once adorned the grand statesmen of the Aston Martin range. But just as the company has recently changed so radically, so has the V8 Vantage tag: it’s now the baby of the range and a major boost to production volume. After the Vanquish and DB9, the V8 Vantage is the third car to use Aston’s VH platform – a chassis of lightweight bonded and riveted aluminium. The chassis contributes only 183kg to the Aston’s 1590kg kerb weight. It’s clothed in a mix of aluminium, steel, composite and magnesium body panels. It’s a low, squat car, the proportions creating an aggressive aura. It’s 50mm shorter and 40mm lower than a Porsche 911 Carrera S and far more compact than a DB9. Under the muscled…

The front passenger seat is not the place I’d usually choose to sit when it comes to the Volkswagen Golf GTI – a car whose very existence is based on the visceral thrill delivered by its driving experience. But as this is the latest, eighth-generation model not due to see UK showrooms until later this year and we’ve got one of the world’s best test facilities all to ourselves for the next hour or so, it is time to make an exception. After filling out a variety of forms to gain the security clearance to venture beyond the heavily guarded perimeter of Volkswagen’s vast Ehra-Lessien development centre in Germany, I find myself sat beside VW’s head of driving dynamics, Karsten Schebsdat, as he fires the new Golf GTI flat out…

STEVE CROPLEY DECENT CARS WERE rare where I grew up, in a thriving but dusty mining town in outback Australia called Broken Hill. Durability was the order: people who wanted reliability drove tough old Yankee pick-up trucks; new car buyers chose Aussie-made, GM-inspired Holdens; and the surprising number of those holding sentimental links to ‘the old country’ chose Austins and Morrises – and watched them fall apart. My family’s self-imported, English-made Ford Consul always needed a rebuild after our annual two-week trip to the seaside – a dusty, car-busting, 750-mile round trip. Lucky it was simply engineered. Car life changed for me, and for a lot of other latent car lovers, when the Redex Round Australia Trial arrived. Such trials had started a couple of years earlier, but by 1955…

It was a drive in the new 4.0-litre Porsche 718 Cayman GTS that did it. I took the car on the exact same route on which I’d recently driven the Cayman GT4, just to see whether the normal GTS could get even to within viewing distance of standards set by its vaunted sibling and product of Porsche’s fabled Motorsport division. But as I drove, something appeared to be wrong. It wasn’t meant to be like this. I was actually having just as much fun in the GTS as I’d had in the GT4. You couldn’t use the GT4’s extra grip on the public road, but you could certainly appreciate the surer foot of the GTS’s less extreme tyres on the often wet surfaces, as well as the clearly superior ride…

I was really pleased to read that I’m not the only person who has rediscovered the Mk1 Audi TT (‘From start to finish’, 8 April). As one of those car lovers who probably chose not to buy one when new on the basis of the motoring press’s view that it was all rather style over substance, I have recently acquired a beautifully cared-for, one-owner, 2004 3.2 DSG example from a chap in the next village. What a treat I had been missing. The design details are a delight, as is the build quality and the genuine feel that you’re in something a little bit special. That it’s also fun to punt down a twisty lane, thoroughly usable and as modest to run as a Volkswagen Golf just enhances my new…

MILEAGE 4998 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see if Volvo’s magic touch with SUVs also applies to this compact executive saloon With nowhere to go during lockdown, the S60 has been fairly sedentary of late. Yet not being able to go anywhere has allowed me to revel in some of its more static delights, such as the Bowers & Wilkins hi-fi upgrade. I’ve touched on the system in previous reports, but the current situation has allowed me some time to simply sit in the car and have a proper listen. (At least, that was my excuse. Taking some time out from the nerve-shredding experience of home-schooling the kids was merely a happy by-product.) Dotted around the cabin are 15 speakers, including that eye-catching dome tweeter set on top of the…

QUESTION For £5000, I want a thrilling hot hatch that really involves me in the driving experience. It’ll be a weekend car. I’m torn between a Clio 172/182 and a Renaultsport Twingo. Harry Lord, Newark ANSWER The good news is that £5000 can get you a pretty immaculate version of any of those. You’ll get the most bang for your buck from the Clio 182, and the least from the Twingo Renaultsport. Go for the 182 over the 172: it might be only an extra 10bhp but it feels gutsier. It’s worth really taking your time in finding a good one, though. Plenty have ended up in hedges or have been mercilessly track-dayed and suffered cheap repair jobs. DR QUESTION I’m on the verge of buying a one-year-old Range Rover.…

Fiat Panda 100HP £3000 It might look like an SUV that’s very far away, but the Fiat Panda 100HP is made for the city. It was brought into the second-generation Panda line-up in 2006 but didn’t live beyond 2010 and, even more disappointing, wasn’t replaced. When new, the 99bhp 1.4-litre twin-cam engine allowed the 100HP to go from 0-62mph in 9.5sec and head on to 112mph for bite-sized hot hatch thrills. On used models, check the coolant has been changed regularly (head gasket failure can be common) and bear in mind the timing belt tension needs to be checked every 36,000 miles. If there’s any slack, then it needs replacing. Although you may love its cutesy yobbish stance on 15in wheels, try out its ride on the lowered, firmer suspension…

An expert’s view BEN JORDAN, JDM GARAGE “The ‘PlayStation generation’ covets the Gran Turismo favourite and the Fast and Furious franchise has cemented the R34 GT-R in popular culture for this generation. You can see this by comparing values of these 1990s Japanese coupés with those of the pre-1950s classic: they’re fast catching – in some cases overtaking – them due to supply and demand economics.” Buyer beware ▪ ENGINE Fabled RB26 motor is resilient, but aftermarket additions can threaten its longevity. Check that the timing belt and water pump have been changed every 50,000 miles and the oil pressure sits no lower than 4.0 bar (58psi) over 4000rpm. ▪ BODY Carefully check the boot floor and engine bay for signs of accident damage, including suspiciously new engine clips and…

GOT A STORY? Email our news editor lawrence.allan@haymarket.com “We will stay consistent to Alfa’s sportiness and use electric motors for a performance approach” Alfa Romeo is preparing its first electric vehicle for 2022 as the smallest in a trio of SUVs intended to bring the Italian premium brand back from the brink. The electric compact SUV, similar in size to an Audi Q2, will be crucial in reviving the firm’s dwindling sales in a fast-evolving market where emissions legislation is becoming increasingly tough. The parent company of Alfa Romeo, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, has been on the back foot with electrification, which is why its ongoing merger with the EV-savvy PSA Group should reap substantial benefits. Alfa Romeo currently offers no electrified powertrain, but early next year it will launch a…

THE NEW JAZZ Crosstar will pave the way for other Honda models to receive ruggedly styled derivatives as the Japanese maker hones in on the demand for SUVs. Jazz project boss Takeki Tanaka said: “The demand for compact, multi-purpose vehicles is a new trend, and in future we will have some derivatives in that direction. “Jazz customers are wide-ranging in age, and we particularly wanted to appeal to customers interested in advanced technology and an active lifestyle. That was our motivation for developing the Crosstar.” UK buyers of the Jazz are predominantly older, but the model is popular with twenty-something buyers in Asia. Outlining why Honda will launch more Crosstar models, Tanaka explained: “Some customers don’t see the need for an SUV, because of the size or drawbacks in fuel…

THE PSA GROUP has the ability to offer its C-segment family cars in either plug-in hybrid or battery-electric form and is leaving individual brands to decide which is best, according to its director of low-emission vehicles, Anne-Lise Richard. “The C-segment is really in the middle,” Richard told Autocar. “It can have many profiles: sometimes it’s the only car [in the household], sometimes not. Currently, both EVs and plug-in hybrids are suited [to the segment] and could find customers.” To date, new small cars from PSA, such as the DS 3 Crossback, Peugeot 208 and Vauxhall Corsa, have offered an electric option, while larger models come with a plug-in hybrid powertrain instead – for example, the DS 7 Crossback, Peugeot 3008 and Vauxhall Grandland X. Cars straddling these two sectors, such…

New car registrations in the UK declined by 97.3% in April to just 4321 sales, due to the coronavirus lockdown. It was the fewest cars registered in a single month since 1946. The bleak figures had been widely expected, with dealerships closed for the entire month and the British public instructed to stay at home except for essential reasons. Registrations had fallen by 44.4% year on year in March, despite lockdown restrictions being in place for only part of the month. The UK car sales slump is similar to those experienced in other European countries that have also been under lockdown measures to combat the spread of Covid-19. Sales of new cars in April declined by 88.8% in France and 97.5% in Italy. Even though they were expected, the figures…

How much would you have wagered on Skoda’s first ground-up electric vehicle being an SUV? I’m by no means a gambling man, and hindsight’s a useful tool, but if bookies offered odds on such things, I reckon I could have made a fair bit of cash. It’s no surprise that this all-electric Enyaq iV (not sure that sounds quite as good as Skoda thinks it might) is recognisably SUV-like in its proportions – even when wrapped up in its pre-production ghillie suit. After all, the company has made a name for itself as a pragmatic manufacturer of pragmatic cars for pragmatic people. Given the inexorable rise of the SUV, launching an electric one seems like a pragmatic decision. It’s a suitably significant one, too. The Enyaq is the first Skoda…

Although Mercedes-AMG has had mixed form with its medium-rare ‘43’ models, we were impressed with the all-round balance of performance, composure and luxury offered by the GLC 43 when we first tried it in 2016. And four years later, the model has been given a makeover, in line with the wider range of Mercedes’ popular mid-size SUV. This facelift includes a new design for the AMG grille and lights. There are also fresh 20in AMG alloys, a revised rear diffuser and, despite the black coating on this example, an unmissable set of spherical exhaust tips, all of which add a not-so-subtle veneer of extra aggression to the 43 version over the regular GLC. More significantly, the 43 now has more power, the 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6’s output rising to 385bhp from…

MODEL TESTED 110 P400 X We like • Makes serious off-roading an easy business • Spacious and well-finished cabin with loads of storage space • Great road ride and engaging handling We don’t like • Defender is now a particularly large and heavy vehicle • It’s conspicuously consumptive in this P400 mild-hybrid form • Tailgate affords narrow boot access Now for the real test, then. We’ve already tried the new Land Rover Defender in some of the most inhospitable environments on earth, in off-road locations where its mechanical credentials were taxed to the extreme. But not anywhere as harsh as those that really show up a car’s character: the relentless, thoughtless daily grind, the urban jungle and motorway schlep, family abuse from morning till night, the get-in-and-drive as mechanical process.…

VERDICT We have tested the new Land Rover Defender’s capabilities both on road and off road and at no time has it been found wanting. Its brilliance as a 4x4 is without question. The ease with which it performs in the wild makes it almost feel like it’s built for people who don’t like off-roading. It’s like using a pneumatic nail gun rather than a hammer: it wants to make the task as straightforward as possible. But remarkably, while a Toyota Land Cruiser or Jeep Wrangler or Ford Ranger Raptor can feel compromised on the road as a result of their adventuring capabilities, the Defender remains quiet, pliant and, in short, good fun to drive. That’s what marks it out as an adventuring vehicle. Whether your adventure comprises a day…

Volkswagen’s head of design, Klaus Bischoff, is confident the new, eighth-generation Golf GTI will strike a chord with long-time fans of the German hot hatch as well as a newer and younger group of more digitally oriented customers. “We’ve paid tribute to all the classic design cues but managed to deliver the most dynamically styled Golf GTI yet. It’s full of tradition but we’ve also provided it with new appeal through a range of new digital features,” he says. Bischoff, 59, has been responsible for Volkswagen brand design since 2007 and from the start of 2020 also assumed responsibility for overall design operations within the whole of the Volkswagen Group, but he considers designing the Golf GTI as one of his toughest tasks. “The responsibility in designing the GTI is…

On a bleak December morning in 2018, I set off from Oxfordshire to Edinburgh in a 64kWh Hyundai Kona Electric SE. The idea was to take the first affordable EV with a decent range (£35,145 after the government grant at the time) and arrive there without having to jump through any early adopter-type hoops. This was no once-every-six-months trip, either, but one I do a few times a year. The Kona Electric was easily up to it and would have managed with two rapid-charges (which take the battery to 80% of capacity, rather than 100%) each way. It was nearly a disaster, though, because six of the eight Ecotricity DC rapid-chargers that I stopped to use during the 690-mile round trip didn’t work. At the start of 2020, I did…

IN THE 70-YEAR history of the Formula 1 World Championship, 108 drivers and 34 constructors have won races. That number includes 32 drivers and nine teams who each managed just a single victory – but some of those were certainly memorable. 5 Toro Rosso Sebastian Vettel’s surprise win in torrential conditions in the 2008 Italian Grand Prix wasn’t a one-off for the German: it was his first of 53 to date. But it remains the only victory in the 35-year history of the Toro Rosso (now AlphaTauri) team he was driving for. Minardi entered F1 in 1985 but didn’t manage a single podium before Red Bull bought and rebranded it for 2006. Also of note: this is the only race won with a Ferrari engine not in a Ferrari car.…

MILEAGE 84, 457 BMW 320 I’ve come so very close to unbolting the Solex carburettor and installing the Weber I’ve had in a box for three years. My daughter was very keen for us to roll up our sleeves and change it. I have been insanely busy, though. My local garage wasn’t at all busy when I was filling up on its £1-a-litre fuel, so I asked for a second opinion. Oddly, after not using the Baby Shark for a month, it started after a few turns, which I put down to the warmish weather. I left it with them for a professional assessment.…

Aren’t electric cars boring to look at? Despite the free rein many firms have to package these futuristic machines, it’s a shame that most turn out decidedly dull. Not the BMW i3, though. And not only does it look cool, but there’s real innovation behind it, too, with the car being constructed predominantly from carbonfibre-reinforced plastic, helping to offset the 230kg heft of its lithium ion battery pack. The i3 has a high price and only a modest range, so it has been overtaken by many cheaper models that may not look interesting but can go further on each charge and are more practical. However, as a used buy, the i3 now stacks up as a reasonable route into EV ownership. Careful which version you go for, mind. The original…

BMW 850i The dramatic looks of the new G15-generation BMW 8 Series coupé were inspired by its stylish E31-gen forebear (1990-1999). An 850i from 1991 passed through auction recently for just under £7000, which sounds like a luxury bargain. The 296bhp 5.0-litre V12 with an automatic gearbox may not have the used-car cachet of the 375bhp 850 CSi that followed, but it still has plenty of character. This one had done 135,000 miles and its V12 leaked oil from its sumps. Still, at that price, it seems worth a punt to be able to drive around in such a Bavarian beauty.…

Fresh from restarting production after a two-month factory shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, Lamborghini has revealed its new Huracán Evo Rear-Wheel Drive Spyder. Joining the Evo Coupé, Evo Spyder and Evo RWD Coupé, the latest member of the range features an electrically folding fabric roof that lowers within 17 seconds while the car is moving at speeds of up to 31mph. The RWD Spyder takes its power from the same naturally aspirated 5.2-litre V10 as its hard-top sibling, which sends 602bhp and 413lb ft to the rear axle by way of a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox. That’s 29bhp less than in the four-wheel-drive Evo models. Performance figures are remarkably similar between the RWD pair, despite the roof mechanism and structural enhancements adding 120kg to the dry weight of the…

Citroën is readying its first new global saloon model in eight years, as the brand seeks to position the C6 successor as its flagship. Saloons have largely fallen out of favour over the past decade in Europe, but the French firm also wants to grow its presence in other regions – primarily China – where saloons outsell SUVs. The upcoming model, which will arrive by the end of 2021, was first envisioned in 2016’s Cxperience concept, which had similar dimensions to the old C6 and used a petrol-electric plug-in hybrid powertrain. The futuristic concept also previewed Citroën’s Advanced Comfort technology, which has since been launched on the C4 Cactus and C5 Aircross. Given Citroën’s focus on comfort, plus the popularity of chauffeurs in China, a newer iteration of the system,…

HOW SAFE IS an electric car in a crash and what are manufacturers doing to make them safe? These questions crop up a lot and are usually triggered by lurid videos of an EV being consumed in a battery-fuelled inferno, but that doesn’t make electric cars any more dangerous than their fossil-fuelled equivalents when things go wrong. To minimise damage to the high-voltage battery in an impact, manufacturers are rethinking their approach to vehicle architecture. Fully encased, floor-mounted batteries provide a protective environment but deflecting the energy of an impact away from the battery is also important. Polestar has developed the ‘SPOC Block’ (severe partial offset crash) for its 2 EV. This consists of two aluminium blocks set in either side of the front bulkhead. The blocks prevent front wheels…

The e-Up has been given a range boost and a price cut. A new drive battery has effectively doubled claimed range to 159 miles and, at the same time, the price of the car is almost £2000 cheaper. The new battery has added 15kg to the kerb weight but the e-Up’s mechanical package is otherwise unchanged. Even weighing around 200kg kilos more than any of its range-mates, it’s a pleasingly nippy drive and its handling isn’t quite as severely penalised by that kerb weight as you’ll find with other small EVs. On the inside there’s a big central speedo flanked by simple, readable dials that tell you how much battery charge is remaining and how hard you’re working the motor. The car also now has a camera-based lane-keeping assistance system…

1 LAND ROVER DEFENDER 110 P400 X Unparalleled off road and pretty ace on it. At a price. This version is not optimal owing to its running costs. 2 JEEP WRANGLER 2.0 GME RUBICON Outstanding off road and easily tunable. It’s joyously adventurous, if more basic than a Defender. 3 TOYOTA LAND CRUISER 2.8D INVINCIBLE X Popular where customers need Toyota dependability. The Defender is nicer to drive, but it’s lovable. 4 MERCEDES-BENZ G350D AMG LINE The other expensive icon reborn. Characterful and appealing as well as terrific off road. 5 VOLVO XC90 T8 INSCRIPTION More on-road biased than the Defender and lovely inside as well. It’s already plug-in-able, too.…

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An interesting article on rallying ran recently in the famous pink La Gazzetta dello Sport – which remains the third-best-selling daily newspaper in Italy, despite it not having much to report on at present. This story covered a plan to save the domestic rally championship in a European country among the worst hit by the coronavirus. Closer to home, the Scottish and Irish rally championships have already been cancelled, while the British Rally Championship is hanging on for now, although just one of its six planned events has been held. So the Italian story provides interesting reading, because rallying’s peripatetic nature makes it potentially an even greater risk in terms of disease transmission than circuit racing (which is a big enough headache as it is right now). Essentially, what the…

“Then, as now, the grid featured the fastest cars and the greatest drivers” Seventy years ago today, on 13 May 1950, a field of 21 disparate racing cars were fired up at Silverstone, setting off in a roar of engine noise and a cloud of exhaust smoke at the start of the British Grand Prix – and a new era of motorsport. When Giuseppe Farina crossed the finish line in his 13-year-old Alfa Romeo 158 after two hours, 13 minutes and 23 seconds, the 43-year-old Italian secured victory in the first round of the inaugural Formula 1 World Championship for Drivers. It was the first of three wins from seven points-scoring events that would make Farina the first winner of the title that’s currently held by Lewis Hamilton. Of course,…

MILEAGE 7922 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see if Mazda’s bold claims about its revolutionary Skyactiv-X tech ring true You’ll have to forgive me for banging on about the design of our Mazda 3 once again, but with precious few miles covered in it since the last report, it remains more of a street ornament than a car. Although I also have a good excuse for bringing it up this time, as last month the humble hatchback was named World Car Design of the Year by a panel of judges that included our own Richard Bremner. It’s not the first time Mazda’s design department has been singled out in the awards: the latest MX-5 picked up the same gong in 2016. However, it’s rare for a C-segment hatch to be…

Mercedes-Benz 300 CE I thought you might be interested to see what the Italian chap who sold me the Innocenti is up to. The great news is he’s happy that I seem to have made his old Mini roadworthy, painted the wheels and fitted decent tyres. Anyway, he’s into classics and sold the Saab 900 he had as an everyday motor and replaced it with a Mercedes C124 300 24v automatic. Apparently, it has caused him no end of grief, but he would not be specific. He spends more time cleaning it than driving it at the moment, which is hardly surprising.…

Tesla Model S P85D £45,000 Much of today’s Tesla fanfare surrounds the new Model 3. But a wily used buyer could do well picking up something rarer from its back catalogue. The Model S P85D covers 0-60mph in 2.8sec thanks to its Ludicrous mode (a software update every P85D will be able to get) and a five-year-old model with reasonable mileage can be had for half its original cost. Make sure you find one with Tesla’s adaptive cruise control and steer assist Autopilot, as this can’t be retrofitted. This savage straight-line EV pace should be much sought after for years to come.…

Motoring enthusiasts of a certain age will be well acquainted with the R34-generation Nissan Skyline GT-R. If you didn’t ‘own’ a souped-up example on the video game Need For Speed, you certainly lusted after Paul Walker’s nitrous-equipped street racer from 2 Fast 2 Furious. But out here in the real world, where neon lights are reserved for Piccadilly Circus and you don’t get bonus points for drifting, it’s the bone-stock, well-kept examples that command big money. You can but gawp at the towering rear wings and lurid decals that adorn the majority of 1999-2002 Skylines, which, for the most part, have been modified for drifting or excruciatingly detailed in preparation for the car show season. Irrespective of any styling alterations, however, the R34 GT-R remains an instantly recognisable car, its…