Innholdsfortegnelse for November 25, 2020 i Autocar

While Bentley has committed to offering only plug-in hybrid and electric powertrains from 2026 onwards, with EV-only models from 2030, chairman Adrian Hallmark said the firm is planning “an autumn rush” of new and updated versions of its combustion-engined cars in the next decade. Hallmark wouldn’t be drawn on details but said Bentley plans to “release a multitude of derivatives over the next three years” and will continue to invest in traditional powertrains, including plug-in hybrid variants. He said: “The problem with talking about strategy is that 10 years isn’t a long time but it’s short enough. When you talk about strategy, people will say: ‘Well, does that mean tomorrow you’re not building engines?’ Well, we are, and part of the discussion with governance is about how industry adapts. “You…

THE NEW PORSCHE 911 GT3 could be the most anticipated car of 2021, as Porsche’s last stand for naturally aspirated, high-revving sports cars. What powers the 992-based GT3 comes as no surprise. Andreas Preuninger, Porsche’s GT line director, admitted that the 4.0-litre flat-six engine is very similar in specification to that used in the 991.2 Speedster, albeit with a few revisions to allow it to pass future emissions regulations. It’s quoted at 503bhp and revs to the same glorious 9000rpm. We were treated to a ride in a late prototype version, and it sounded fantastic, being deeper and more raucous in its timbre than the Speedster but no less instantaneous in its response. It’s quick, then, but Preuninger said the real gains are generated elsewhere, specifically relating to the chassis…

HONDA HAS SHOWN its next Civic for the first time through a prototype of the saloon variant that will go on sale in the US next year. The 11th generation of the family car will be launched as a saloon, with the hatchback coming later – and a new Civic Type R hot hatch has also been confirmed. Honda has yet to confirm if the new car will be offered in the UK and Europe, however. While the new Civic maintains several of the key styling elements of its predecessor, the A-pillars have been moved forward and the wing mirrors shifted to the side doors. It also has a reworked, smaller front grille, while its rear track has been widened. There are new taillights as well, plus the saloon gains…

The arrival of 4000 sheep in the Hubei province of China earlier this month may have passed you by, but the significance of the transfer shouldn’t. Gifted by Mongolian president Battulga Khaltmaagiin, they were a symbol of wealth and health. The offer to send them was originally extended in February, when he became the first foreign dignitary to visit a post-Covid-peak China, their final destination the dinner tables of Wuhan. That the epicentre of the outbreak should now be in a position to celebrate its emergence from the crisis may well feel extraordinary to anyone back in lockdown in Europe right now, but it’s an indicator of the success with which China has dealt with and emerged from the pandemic. While infection and mortality statistics are hotly debated, there’s little…

The fourth generation of Hyundai’s Tucson is, I think it’s fair to say, quite striking. Which is no bad thing when there’s an abundance of medium-sized SUVs and you want to tell them apart. I don’t think you’ll have too much trouble here. The Tucson sits between the compact Kona and full-sized Santa Fe in Hyundai’s range. Previously, the line-up has started at £23,000, rising to £32,000, all before options, but you can expect both will go up with this example. The size has increased, too. At 4500mm by 1850mm, it’s 20mm longer and 15mm wider respectively than the previous Tucson, which means it’s a little longer than a Volvo XC40 but shorter than a Nissan X-Trail. It’s a five-seat family wagon for those who like some tallness in their…

The new Golf GTD is not a performance hatchback, at least according to Volkswagen. Instead, the firm prefers to call its new sporting diesel an “endurance athlete”, placing the emphasis on its long-distance qualities. Not that it’s slow, mind. It takes care of the 0-62mph sprint in a claimed 7.1sec and runs to 152mph – respective 0.3sec and 9mph improvements on the old Mk7 model. The Mk8 Golf GTD uses the latest version of Volkswagen’s EA2288 Evo diesel engine, a turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder unit that delivers 197bhp (16bhp more than the Mk7 Golf GTD) and 295lb ft. For comparison, the Golf GTI’s 2.0-litre turbo petrol puts out 242bhp and 273lb ft. Of its rivals, the Ford Focus ST EcoBlue and its 2.0-litre turbo diesel represent perhaps the biggest threat, with…

Right, it’s here. Sort of. It’s not officially here, but we’ll come to that later. This is the new, eighth-generation Chevrolet Corvette, the C8 Stingray, and, for the first time in its 67 years, this all-American hero, beloved by everyone from blue-collar workers to astronauts and presidents (Joe Biden owns a 1967 model), is being sold with an engine in its middle. It will also – late next year at the earliest – come with a steering wheel on the right-hand side. More on that later, too. If you want a C8 now, you can have one, but your options are limited to importing one yourself or sourcing one via a UK importer. That’s quite tempting on the face of it, because the base Corvette price in the US is…

Mike Flewitt, boss of McLaren Automotive since 2013, is a rarity among car company CEOs as an instinctive and passionate lover of cars both at work and when his time is his own. Many contemporaries seek the ‘car guy’ label, but few can justify it to the extent that Flewitt does, reading and researching car stuff for fun, racing his classic Lotus collection on weekends or supporting his wife Mia’s ever-more remarkable progress to the top step of the podium in the British GT Championship. It wasn’t always like that. Nobody in Liverpool-born Flewitt’s family had any special love of cars. His father was an academic and his mother a teacher. Neither of his siblings (the elder brother who is now a judge and the younger sister who got into…

Toyota, with its 360,000 employees and status as the world’s largest car maker, can be a confusing beast. In the new GR Supra it chose to revive perhaps its greatest hit, yet did so by way of a lukewarm twin to the BMW Z4. At the same time, and despite the fact that it refuses to give the current Corolla the powertrain its superb TNGA platform craves, the company’s engineers have recently blown the doors clean off the hot hatch class with a bespoke four-wheel-drive take on the humble Yaris. Evidently, what Toyota could do and what it actually does don’t always align. So perhaps it’s no surprise to learn that while the brand has hidden in its possession one of the most drool-worthy motorsport relics anywhere on planet Earth,…

Brilliant birthday gift Your 125th Anniversary issue (4 November) was a delight and the inclusion of the first issue of Autocar [for subscribers and in Sainsbury’s stores] a masterstroke. Thank you. What a wonder to read lovely limpid prose from November 1895, to see the enormous debt and honour around the then incumbent bicycle industry, to see steam and electricity as fuels equal with ‘gasoline vapour explosion’ engines and to see the back page festooned with a De Dion-Bouton motor tricycle. We’ve almost come full circle. Everything is up for grabs once more yet with core continuities around dynamic realities and the law of physics, as per Andrew Frankel’s recent Caterham halo. In 1895, first editor Henry Sturmey wrote: “The most successful machine of the future will be one of…

MILEAGE 1892 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see if the heavily updated SUV in mild-hybrid diesel guise is a worthy contender in this segment A holiday? In 2020, you say? So, the Discovery Sport and I ventured prior lockdown to where every fool has ventured this year: Cornwall. It was my first proper drive in the Disco Sport, other than a handful of miles around suburban London, and seemed perfect to contemplate its practicality and powertrain while racking up the motorway miles. First up, I filled up the boot – because I could – despite only two of us going away for four days. The charm of the Disco Sport’s boxy design is how easy boot access is for loading and unloading. Second priority: get Apple CarPlay connected for the…

MILEAGE 132,375 LAND ROVER SERIES 3 Well, that broken light cover didn’t affect the MOT outcome. But the lighting system did. I know I said I was ordering some parts, but a lot of real-life events conspired to stop me phoning up aLand Rover parts supplier. Well, that’s my excuse. Anyway, the weird electrical faults that have dogged the Lorry were traced to bad earths, after an hour’s worth of labour. The lights work but the radio doesn’t. Some minor advisories on the exhaust mounting, some play in the steering box and very slight pull to the left under braking are not too serious at all. I promised to have ordered the parts for my upcoming cack-handed service.…

Wine bores (sorry, connoisseurs) will tell you that adult grape juice gets better with age. This is certainly true of the third-generation BMW X3. The first iteration sold well but was a bit naff; the second was considerably better; but the current car from 2018 is the finest yet and it’s far cheaper than a similarly aged X5, despite being arguably just as practical. The engine range consists of two petrols and three diesels that all come equipped with four-wheel drive and a very smooth eight-speed automatic gearbox. The 184bhp 20i is fine for those who do lots of urban driving, but the 187bhp 20d is likely to be of more interest, due to its deeper reserves of torque and lower fuel consumption. For more performance, there’s the 30d (261bhp…

LAMBORGHINI JALPA Here’s a nice bit of trivia: the oft-overlooked Jalpa was the last Lambo to use a V8 until the Urus was launched in 2018 – and we won’t be taking bets as to which one you’d stick on your bedroom wall… The Jalpa is a bit of a bargain, too. This 22,000-mile 1986 car garnered a hammer price of just £54,000, despite being one of only 35 right-hand-drive models built and undergoing a substantial recent engine overhaul. A baby Countach in every sense, it’s a fast-appreciating classic that’ll be way more fun to preserve than a pension fund.…

“Bentley’s debut EV, due in 2025, will be one of the first cars to use a new cutting-edge platform” Bentley’s debut electric vehicle, due in 2025, will be one of the first cars to use a new cutting-edge Audi-developed luxury car platform – and it will spearhead a series of radical new models that will expand Bentley’s range into new market segments. The Crewe manufacturer, owned by the Volkswagen Group, has committed to offering only battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) from 2030 onwards and it plans to meet that deadline by rolling out a family of new EVs in the second half of this decade. The first EV will take the form of a high-riding saloon. It will be based on a bespoke VW Group architecture, which is being developed by Project…

The new Mercedes-Maybach S-Class has been unveiled as the pinnacle of the new luxury saloon range, offering more space and premium features for rear-seat occupants. Set to reach showrooms next summer, the Bentley Flying Spur rival aims to capitalise on growing demand for ultra-luxury flagship variants from markets such as China, Korea and Russia. It joins the Mercedes-Maybach GLS, the sub-brand’s first SUV, which was revealed last year. At 5469mm long, the Maybach S-Class is a full 180mm longer than even the long-wheelbase version of the standard Mercedes-Benz S-Class. The firm claims this increase “entirely benefits the rear”, making it ideal for those being chauffeured. The upgrade isn’t limited to more space, however, with the twin Executive seats fitted as standard allowing independent adjustment of the squabs and backrests. Mercedes…

Car industry bosses have said the UK government’s decision to bring forward a ban on the sale of new petrol- and diesel-engined cars and vans from 2040 to 2030 presents an “immense challenge” – and they have called for heavy investment in infrastructure to enable the country to reach the target. Prime minister Boris Johnson has made the commitment as part of a wider 10-point plan to make the UK carbon-neutral by 2050. Hybrids with “the capability to drive a significant distance with zero emissions” will be allowed until 2035, with the specifics of this to be “defined through consultation”. To support the accelerated date, Johnson had pledged £2.8 billion of investment in EVs and the supporting infrastructure, which he said would result in the government “lacing the land with…

Jaguar Land Rover “At Jaguar Land Rover, we have already embraced the direction of the government’s announcement, investing heavily in fully electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles for a zero-emissions future. Our award-winning [Jaguar] I-Pace was the first premium all-electric SUV launched to global critical acclaim.” James McGeachie, technical and programme director, Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership “This is a key moment in terms of the transition to net-zero in road transport. The extended phase-out for some hybrid vehicles gives industry a bit longer to adapt and vehicle users the opportunity to drive electric miles where public charging infrastructure needs further development. It’s vital that all cars with engines and plugs attached substitute as many petrol or diesel journeys for zero-emission miles as possible, and helping users understand how to do this…

THE NEW SUBARU BRZ sports car, which was developed alongside the forthcoming Toyota GR86, has been given a power boost to deliver 228bhp from its four-cylinder boxer engine. The second iteration of the rear-wheel-drive coupé will go on sale in the US next year but, unlike with the original that was launched in 2012, there are no plans to offer it in the UK. The Mk2 BRZ uses Subaru’s naturally aspirated 2.4-litre engine, which makes a maximum 228bhp at 7000rpm and 184lb ft of torque – increases of 31bhp and 33lb ft over the old car. Six-speed manual and automatic gearboxes are offered, the latter gaining a new Sport mode that uses automatic throttle-blipping to enable faster downshifting. The BRZ and the GR86 use bespoke underpinnings, with elements taken from…

According to Renault, the E-Tech hybrid powertrain in this Clio features technology “inspired” by Formula 1. By which, we reckon, they possibly mean that, much like F1 power units, it’s incredibly clever and confusingly complex, yet all but hidden away from view. The powertrain is based around a 1.6-litre engine that’s boosted by two electric motors – just like Renault’s F1 car (although we doubt Daniel Ricciardo would have reached the podium this year with a 102bhp engine and a total system output of 138bhp). The largest e-motor, which adds 48bhp, and the petrol engine are both driven from an automatic transmission. The engine is driven by four gears and the e-motor by two, resulting in 15 possible combinations. Then there’s a small, 20bhp motor similar to that in a…

MODEL TESTED EXCLUSIVE Price £26,995* •Power 154bhp •Torque 192lb ft •0-60mph 8.0sec 30-70mph in fourth na •Fuel economy 3.3mpkWh •CO2 emissions 0g/km •70-0mph 68.0m The vast majority of car makers will tell you that 2020 has been a terrible year – but MG Motor UK Ltd isn’t one of them. In 2019, this was the UK’s fastest-growing car brand, registering just over 13,000 cars. This year, it surpassed that volume threshold before the end of September. At the end of August, in a wider UK car market down on sales by almost 40% year on year, it had grown by more than 30%. Betting on very attractively priced electric and hybrid cars has fuelled its growth. We brought you verdicts on the ZS EV crossover and HS SUV last year.…

The MG 5 SW EV isn’t the kind of new car to get out of the garage on a Saturday morning just for the neighbours to admire. Its design brings plenty of European-made compact estate cars to mind; and the fact that so many of them went out of production at least a decade ago says much about its antiquated, awkward visual presence. But this is not an unlikeable car and, as a cost-effective route into electric car ownership, it’s not an unappealing one. You could easily spend 25% more on an affordable EV and end up with a car that has quite a lot less usable space and dependable range; that is less easy to charge and use; and that is also less easy to drive and simple to…

Griffin House is silent. The reception area here, in what was Vauxhall’s UK headquarters from 1964 until last year, used to feature two booming cascading waterfalls, one each side of the front desk. I’m amazed security guards didn’t sue for hearing loss or tinnitus. Today, Vauxhall has moved out, the site is set for redevelopment into housing and the occasional van mooching to a security office around the side of the main building is the only notable activity. That and a dark-green Vauxhall Lotus Carlton sitting out the front. They were all dark green, Lotus Carltons. “There were no options. Take it or leave it: that’s the car,” recalls Malcolm Tearle, who at the time was Vauxhall’s youthful manager of special projects. His career went on to include the likes…

Seven up for Lewis Hamilton Lewis Hamilton took a stunning win in the Turkish Grand Prix to secure his seventh Formula 1 World Championship title and match Michael Schumacher’s all-time record. However, the British racer might have to wait until the season is over to finalise a new contract with his Mercedes-AMG team. He said the deal was “something we do need to get onto” but added: “We will get it done, I’m sure.” Stroll’s fall explained Racing Point said that a damaged front wing was responsible for surprise pole-sitter Lance Stroll’s late fall down the order at Istanbul Park. The Canadian dominated the first part of the race and was in contention for his first victory, but his pace dropped dramatically when his new set of tyres began to…

SPECIAL ISSUE 100 years of Mazda We drive Mazda’s modern greats and reflect on the centenary of one of the car industry’s most innovative companies DRIVEN Fiat 500 We were impressed by a prototype; now we drive the finished electric city car ROAD TEST Seat Leon eHybrid Full assessment of the new Spanish Golf, tested in plug-in hybrid form EVERY WEEK USED BUYING GUIDE Toyota MR2 Mk2 Not as iconic as the original yet an increasingly appealing used buy FIRST DRIVE Toyota Mirai Matt Prior appraises the second iteration of the hydrogen pioneer SUBSCRIBE autocar.co.uk/subscribe or see p34…

MILEAGE 3918 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see whether Peugeot’s successful formula translates to a small SUV Absence making the heart grow fonder has always seemed to me a risible proverb; a lame way to make parted lovers feel less miserable, not a recommendation. However, this cesspit of a year has taught me that it can hold true, for people in particular but also things. Is everyday driving one of them? Definitely: I’ve found myself getting excited about my daily jaunt in the 2008 to take my uncle home (I’ve hired him to decorate my new flat) – shamefully so for a mere 20-minute journey into town and back. Despite the fact that the ride is jerky at lower speeds, sometimes to an irritating degree on poor surfaces, this seems…

Jaguar XK Thanks to Stuart Dixon yet again: “Here is my latest Jaguar XK. It is a 5.0-litre Portfolio edition with a black and ivory interior. I have used it during lockdown to raise funds for the NHS. “I can’t tell you a lot about the car’s recent history as I only bought in January to add to my fleet of XKs, which I take around the country to shows to raise funds for a children’s hospice. It is in mint condition, having done only 36,000 miles. In under four years, my XKs have helped me raise over £168,000 for the children.” If you want to help Stuart, you can do so here: justgiving.com/fundraising/sherwoodjaguarracing.…

Seat Leon 20VT £950 It’s a hot Seat Leon from before they all wore Cupra badges and infinitely more covetable than the Golf on which it’s based. The 20VT (that’s 20-valve, turbocharged) eked 177bhp from a 1.8-litre four-cylinder, which made for a 7.7sec 0-62mph. Not lightning fast, sure, but because the understated 20VT went without the sporty bodykit of the full-fat Leon Cupra, you’ll raise eyebrows with an exuberant standing start. This one has been around the block a few times and wears its fair share of battle scars, but at less than £1000, who’s complaining?…

MAZDA IS POISED to offer a version of the new Toyota Yaris Hybrid supermini in Europe within the next two years, potentially as a replacement for the current Mazda 2. The two Japanese car makers have a long-running technical partnership that includes working on future electric vehicles. In a presentation to accompany its latest financial results, Mazda outlined how it aims to use its partnerships with other manufacturers to enhance and grow its range. This includes a plan to offer an “OEM-supplied model based on Yaris THS [Toyota Hybrid System]” in Europe within the next two years. That suggests the model would be built for Mazda by Toyota, likely alongside the Yaris at its factory in northern France. Having a hybrid-powered hatchback would help Mazda to meet its European Union…

Volkswagen’s fifth ID electric car, a production version of the ID Vizzion concept, will offer a range of up to 435 miles when it’s launched in the UK during the final quarter of 2023, according to the German car maker’s head of research and development, Frank Welsch. Known to Volkswagen insiders under the name Aero-B, the future rival to the BMW i4 and Mercedes-Benz EQE is set to be called the ID 6 and will be offered in both saloon and estate forms, with similar exterior dimensions to the current Passat but interior room comparable to the larger, now-discontinued Phaeton. Built on the Volkswagen Group’s EV-specific MEB platform, the new model will follow the ID 3 hatchback, the recently revealed ID 4 SUV, the ID 5 coupé-SUV that’s due to…

TRACTION CONTROL is pretty common these days. In some ways, it’s an oddity, though, because arguably it doesn’t increase traction and technically the job it does can be achieved in a number of different ways. Strictly speaking, traction equates to a tyre’s ability to grip the surface when accelerating or braking. A traction control system (TCS) can’t improve that, but it can stop a wheel spinning in a number of ways. TCSs also go by the initialism ASR, German for Antriebsschlupfregelung, which roughly translates as ‘drive slip control’. That perfectly describes what it does because only a change of tyre, surface conditions or maybe a car’s weight could increase traction. In that case, how does it work and what does it do? In a conventional driveline with no limited-slip differential…

The Lamborghini Huracán has already spawned one halo model, the 2017 Performante – one that was special enough to claim the Nürburgring production car lap record when it was launched. But it obviously wasn’t quite special enough, because its maker is now releasing an even more extreme and track-biased version, which we’ve driven in prototype form: the STO. STO stands for Super Trofeo Omologata, with this being as close as possible to a road-legal version of Lamborghini’s Super Trofeo race car. To that end, it gets an aerodynamic transformation including a one-piece front clamshell and a three-position adjustable rear wing, this capable of making peak downforce of 450kg at 174mph. (The Performante’s 350kg of aero assistance came at 193mph.) Weight has also been saved, mostly because the STO is rear-driven…

1 NISSAN LEAF 40KWH TEKNA The most convincing blend of usability, drivability and space going for less than £30k – just. Weird, but not undesirable. 2 MG 5 SW EV EXCLUSIVE Almost wilfully bland, but offers much to the rational, value-driven buyer. Doesn’t disgrace itself on the road, either. 3 PEUGEOT E-2008 ACTIVE PREMIUM Brings handsome crossover design. Competent and usable, if a bit underwhelming to drive. 4 HYUNDAI IONIQ ELECTRIC PREMIUM Old-stager EV now looks it. Relatively pricey and slow, but 150-mile real range is decent. 5 CITROEN E-C4 SENSE PLUS We’ve yet to test Citroën’s latest EV, but it isn’t too much pricier than the MG and will be a close match on size, too.…

PORSCHE 919STREET This is what the 919 LMP1 prototype could have looked like if it hadbeen made street legal. The car runs the same carbonfibre tuband 888bhp hybrid powertrain as the racer but wrapped in a road-friendly skin and with driving characteristics more suited to amateurs. Presumably for when your imagined Mark Webber skills don’t match reality. PORSCHE 904 Based on the same carbon monocoque as the futuristic Volkswagen XL, this is the modern interpretation of what a 904 Carrera GTS could look like. It weighs only 900kg and Porsche thought about using a mid-mounted vee-twin motorbike engine to power it. A stripped-out, banshee-engined sub-Cayman sports car gets our vote. PORSCHE VISION 920 The car with Le Mans in mind. The Vision 920 was designed either as a hypercar for…

Akio Toyoda might just be today’s equivalent of Enzo Ferrari. Not in terms of character, by all accounts, but in that both can be described as talismanic leaders with a genuine passion for motorsport and a determination to place it at the heart of their firm’s philosophy – which has paid dividends on road and track. Actually, Toyoda might be even more remarkable: while Ferrari led a specialist sports car firm created to allow him to indulge in his passion, Toyoda is chairman of Toyota, the world’s biggest car manufacturer. In an age when many bosses see motorsport as a hard to justify promotional cost, it’s a passion for Toyoda. He often competes in the Nürburgring 24 Hours and he refused to approve the GR Supra until he had raced…

FIRST REPORT WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To find out how appealing this dynamic family hatch is in its most basic form It rarely escapes your notice that we tend to find ourselves in high-spec test cars. But it’s not usually our fault. Manufacturers generally prefer us to try the allsinging, all-dancing models with every conceivable feature or a vast array of options, so that’s the kind of car they often provide us with. Their reasoning is twofold. Of course, it means the car in our pictures is the most desirable it can be. But it also gives us something to talk about and lets us work out which options are worth speccing or not. For our latest long-term test car, though, things are simpler: Seat has sent us what can…

It’s hard to believe the ZT 260 happened, really. Just two years from going into administration, Britain’s last domestically owned car maker swapped the driven axles around on its unassuming executive saloon and shoehorned a 4.6-litre Mustang V8 into the engine bay. Cue raucousness on a par with even the rortiest super-saloons to leave Munich and Affalterbach. It wasn’t so much the 252bhp output of the V8 that set hearts racing as the tyre-destroying 410lb ft of torque – 26lb ft more than the V10-powered E60-generation BMW M5 produced. The 260 could crack 0-62mph in a hair over six seconds and surge noisily onwards to 155mph, but it would put a grin on its driver’s face at any speed. Fire up YouTube on your next tea break and watch some…

If you wanted to make a profit on a 166 – not one of Alfa Romeo’s most revered designs but certainly among its more comfortable propositions – then really you should have snapped one up in 2009, when we named it “Britain’s worst depreciating used car”, with the average example worth just 14.4% of what it had cost new. By that point, the 166 had been out of production for just over two years, having been quietly put out to pasture following a sharp drop in demand for a car that was never exactly popular in comparison to its French and German rivals. Prices couldn’t dip much further, however, and the average price for a decent, running and driving example today is hovering around £2500 – but not for long,…

An expert’s view RACHEAL WHITEHEAD, ITALIPARTS “We’ve owned about 50 so far. We’ve been on a mission to stop them being scrapped, fix them and find the right new caretaker for them. I believe less than 3000 came to the UK in total and there are about 400 left. I have made an effort to find as many as I can. My personal preference is the 3.0 V6 Sportronic but the 3.0 V6 Supers seem to be the most popular in the UK.” Buyer beware… ENGINE Recently changed cambelt is a strong selling point, particularly on the complex 2.0-litre Twin Spark motor. Alfa Romeo recommends every 72,000 miles on the V6, but 50,000 miles on the same belt is pushing your luck, in reality. Change the water pump at the…