Innholdsfortegnelse for May 26, 2021 i Autocar

The Cupra Born has been revealed in production form. It will be available with between 150bhp and 231bhp and offer a range of up to 335 miles. Previously known as the El-Born, the Spanish marque’s first electric car is based on the MEB platform of its Volkswagen Group parent. The Born will go into production in September at the group’s Zwickau factory in Germany. It is technically identical and closely related visually to the Volkswagen ID 3 but brings its own “stimulating design and instantaneous performance”, according to Cupra, along with a distinctive “dynamic character”. The Born is the first fully electric model to join the brand’s line-up and follows the introduction of plug-in hybrid powertrain options for the Leon and Formentor. a rear-mounted permanent magnet synchronous motor (rated at…

Porsche is aiming a new, more powerful, top-end version of its Cayenne Turbo squarely at the most potent super-SUVs on sale, including the Lamborghini Urus and Bentley Bentayga Speed. The heavily upgraded model is the most powerful pure-combustion Cayenne yet, producing up to 631bhp from a tweaked version of Porsche’s twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 petrol engine. It will be revealed as a member of the updated Cayenne line-up at the end of June ahead of planned UK deliveries later this year. The as yet unnamed new variant will be sold exclusively in the rakish-roofed Cayenne Coupé bodystyle in a move aimed at ensuring it offers the best possible combination of performance and dynamics. The standard Turbo model will remain on sale. “There are advantages in choosing the Coupé,” Rico Löscher, the…

AHEAD OF ITS European arrival this summer, Hyundai-owned luxury brand Genesis has priced up the first cars it will send to the region: the G80 saloon and GV80 SUV. On sale from £37,460 and £56,715, the pair will soon be followed into dealerships by the smaller G70 saloon, GV70 SUV and Europe-specific G70 Shooting Brake. The G80 is available with either a 199bhp 2.2-litre diesel engine driving its rear axle or a 296bhp 2.5-litre turbo petrol engine driving all four wheels, each sending their reserves via an eight-peed automatic gearbox. The G80 Electrified is due to follow shortly after, with a 365bhp four-wheel-drive electric powertrain and an NEDC range of 311 miles. The four-wheel-drive-only GV80, which comes with either five or seven seats, also offers the 2.5-litre turbo petrol engine,…

WITH JUST MONTHS to go until it unwraps the seventh-generation SL Roadster, Mercedes-AMG has revealed new details of the Porsche 911 rival’s bespoke bodyshell. Completely unrelated to the structures that underpin the old SL and current AMG GT, the 270kg shell blends an aluminium spaceframe with a “self-supporting structure”. Mercedes claims the development process was particularly challenging, as the new SL features a 2+2 seating arrangement and will accommodate a wider variety of powertrain options. It says that its priorities were to “present the driving performance characteristic of the brand with a focus on lateral and longitudinal dynamics, as well as to meet the high expectations in terms of comfort and safety”. A mixture of aluminium, steel, magnesium and fibre composites was selected for the best balance of lightness and…

Britain’s first Clean Air Zone (CAZ) went live in Bath on 15 March, Birmingham’s is set to be enforced from 1 June and London’s controversial Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) will expand vastly to cover an area bordered by the North Circular and South Circular roads from 25 October. While such zones will undoubtedly help to lower pollution levels within towns and cities by discouraging non-compliant vehicles from entering highly populated central areas, there is a price to be paid. In Birmingham, for instance, non-compliant vans will be charged £8 per day. While larger van fleets are likely to be prepared for the introduction of CAZs, Paul Hollick, chairman of the Association of Fleet Professionals, told Autocar that he’s concerned about a lack of awareness elsewhere. He said: “Fleets of…

Maserati knows that it can’t mess this one up. There’s just too much at stake. The MC20 is described as the start of a whole new era for the fabled Italian marque; the performance figurehead for a wave of new cars that are intended to lead it into a more prosperous future and cement its standing among some very creditable competition. The importance attached to the MC20 – Maserati’s first in-house-developed mid-engined car in a generation – is reflected in the way it was developed. It isn’t a Maserati in the traditional sense. Rather, it was engineered using new digital processes that enabled the two-seater to go from conception to production in just two years. They’re borrowed largely from motorsport, ensuring rapid prototyping through a combination of computer-aided simulation and…

It has to be said that there are some hurdles to clear here; a few things to get your head around first. The Elva costs £1,425,000. They were going to build 399, until they announced it would actually be only 249. Until it was reduced to be 149. And they’re still not all sold. You might have a mental image of the person who would choose to buy a McLaren without a roof or windscreen and even suspect his or her motives for doing so: is it a car to drive or just to be seen in? And I understand all that. But on that last point, I can help, having now driven one on mercifully quiet Sussex roads and then around the Goodwood race track. Whatever else you might…

TRANSMISSIONS 6-spd manual 8-spd automatic (standard 1.5 BlueHDI 130, 1.2T 155; £1400 option 1.2T 130) 1-spd automatic (standard ë-C4) The C4 comes with a choice of four trim levels and six engines (if you count the battery-electric ë-C4 among the latter), with automatic transmission either standard fit or optional on four out of the six. Entry-level Sense models get digital instruments and a 10.0in infotainment system with smartphone mirroring. From there on up, there are Sense Plus, Shine and Shine Plus versions.…

When Ferdinand Piëch drove from Wolfsburg to Hamburg one April morning back in 2002, he did only what so many business types in the region still do every day. The normality of his 140-mile journey was reinforced by the weather (cold, rainy) and his old-school attire (flat cap, checked scarf). He didn’t listen to the radio, because there wasn’t one. With just 8.5bhp at his disposal, neither did he do much overtaking. Bobbing along in the autobahn flow, Piëch simply drove his car for three hours in order to get from company headquarters to an important shareholder event. All quite typical, for a certain sort. Except, of course, there was nothing typical about this particular journey. Sixty-five years old and soon obliged to retire, as per corporate policy, Piëch was…

It’s a tense moment: Keeley Hawes’ character in Finding Alice is parked up in a car, having a heart to heart with her on-screen daughter. Unfortunately, the tension of the scene is broken by yours truly suddenly exclaiming: “See that tree there? That’s where Sutcliffe spun a 16-valve Volkswagen Golf GTI backwards and ended up with a plug of wood rammed up its exhaust pipe.” My family are getting hacked off with this. The trouble is, more and more driving scenes in TV dramas and films are being shot at Longcross Studios in Chobham, Surrey, using sections of the test track that hold many memories. Scenes from James Bond films, Broadchurch and many others have all used bits of track very familiar to anyone in our business. I can’t help…

Turkey’s F1 race shown red flag The Turkish Grand Prix has been dropped from this year’s Formula 1 calendar – just three weeks after being added. The race at Istanbul Park, which was revived amid the pandemic disruption in 2020, was this year brought in to replace the cancelled Canadian GP. Travel restrictions newly imposed on Turkey by several countries have now scuppered it. To keep the season at 23 rounds, the Red Bull Ring in Austria will now hold two races for the second year in a row. McLaren will bridge the Gulf only once McLaren says the special Gulf Oil-inspired livery it ran in last weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix will remain a one-off. The Woking F1 squad had to seek special dispensation from the sport’s bosses to make…

Formula 1 remains the focus, but Red Bull relishes the chance to widen its scope. Off the back of completing the Aston Martin Valkyrie project, Red Bull Advanced Technologies – essentially the chassis division – has already committed to a new collaboration with sports car specialist Oreca to develop a prototype chassis for a hydrogen-powered class that’s due to take its bow at Le Mans in 2024. It’s surely not a leap to imagine Red Bull Powertrains eventually developing its own means of propulsion for that chassis one day. F1 team boss Christian Horner’s response to that query offers another fascinating scenario. “This project opens up all kinds of possibilities to us and if we were ever to look at an evolution of a car under our own name, then…

Light right foot You highlighted that the stop-start feature never worked in your Mazda CX-30 (Our Cars, 14 April). I was delighted to find that this feature on my Mazda 2 can be controlled simply by the amount of pressure applied to the brake when you’re stopped. If held lightly on the brake, this system won’t cut in. In my opinion, until these stop-start systems can react instantly and not delay a getaway, they’re simply dangerous. Being able to control this feature simply by your foot is genius on the part of Mazda. Mark Gold Via email Farther, not faster Every time you report on a new electric car, they seem to get faster. Do I really need 0-62mph in less than 7.0sec in my SUV when I’m off to…

“Early indications are that its real character is far more nuanced than its appearance suggests” FIRST REPORT WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see if the first of a kind for BMW can tackle established rivals as a car not just to drive but also to live with Well this is interesting. There I was enjoying life with the Ford Focus ST far more than I had expected when the opportunity to swap it for this BMW 128ti dropped into my lap. What to do? On the one hand, I couldn’t really see me having much more fun in the less powerful, heavier and inevitably slower BMW, but on the other, the Ford had been with me since last summer, and the opportunity to chop it in for such a close…

MILEAGE 4083 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see if a coupé still has a place on today’s SUV-filled roads It’s admittedly not an acronym that’s likely to catch on any time soon, but lately I’ve been enjoying a spot of wembing in the M440i. Weekend early-morning blasting, in case you were wondering. With lockdown easing, it has been possible to finally enjoy the M440i more as it was intended, with a couple of visits to grandparents who happily live at the end of some great roads in Lincolnshire. It has given me a chance to really examine the M440i and, without getting too chinscratchy about it, to look at whether its poorer fuel economy and higher cost versus the 420d make sense. Previously, I had always been convinced that, worthy…

QUESTION Prices appear to have increased substantially across the used car market. Are dealers trying to recover revenue lost in lockdown? Des Browning, via email ANSWER A report by a leading used car classified website claims forecourt prices rose 7.1% year on year in April. However, rather than dealers trying to recover revenue lost in the pandemic, it blames the trend on rising dealer confidence and the demand and supply imbalance affecting the market. As we reported in April, market experts expect things to ease as we approach autumn and for prices to settle down. So wait a bit – or, if you must buy now, make sure you get the going rate for your part-exchange. JE QUESTION I’ve visited all the major car museums and now want to discover…

The Lancer Evolution VI Tommi Mäkinen Edition with just 10,000 miles that made £100,000 at an auction of Mitsubishi UK’s heritage fleet recently has set us thinking about cheaper, regular versions. For instance, we’ve found a 1999 Evo VI with 60,000 miles advertised for £20,995. Unfortunately, it has been boosted to 440bhp, and anything more than 400bhp is ill-advised (factory output was 276bhp). At least the seller swears the car has a full service history. Fresh synthetic oil is essential every 4500 miles and a new cambelt every 40,000 or five years, so we would be keen to see evidence of these jobs. We would want to know who uprated the engine, too. The seller also claims the body is free of rust, which is reassuring, as Evos tend to…

ECONOMY EXPLAINED Between the various figures produced on the old-style NEDC, transitional NEDC Correlated and new-style WLTP laboratory emissions and fuel economy tests, it has become tricky to compare manufacturers’ claimed efficiency on the latest new cars. When you see a fuel economy and CO2 figure reference elsewhere, it’s often without explanation. So, to provide as fair and clear a basis for comparison as possible, you’ll only ever read WLTP combined fuel economy and CO2 figures in Autocar’s first drive reviews, features and comparison tests – and on these data pages. Those are the aggregated results of four lab tests carried out across as many different cruising speed ranges – although they’re sometimes expressed as a range rather than as one specific figure to show the different results recorded by…

22 May 1920 THE SCALE OF the automotive industry today really is quite mind-blowing. The biggest car factory in this part of the world is Volkswagen’s Wolfsburg base, which has some 52,000 staff who work to build 3500 cars every day. An advert in Autocar from Fiat’s UK importer in 1920 really puts into perspective this industry’s incredible growth. It boasted: “100 is the average daily output from the [Corso Dante] Fiat factory [in Turin] under full working conditions. Despite such a vast output, Fiat quality is in no way sacrificed. That is because the Fiat factory is the largest in Europe. It employs 25,000 hands.” Three years later, Fiat added its remarkable Lingotto plant, where 6000 men built 200 cars per day. As for that original plant, part of…

“Ford plans to deliver more than 600,000 MEB-plat-formed EVs between 2023 and 2029” The landmark car-making tie-up between Ford and Volkswagen will begin to bear fruit in 2023, when the US manufacturer kick-starts its bold European EV offensive with a locally produced and regionally focused crossover to sit beneath the Mustang Mach-E. Arriving in line with the Blue Oval’s ambition to fully electrify its European range by 2030, the crossover will be the first EV built at Ford’s $1 billion (£708m) Electrification Centre in Cologne, Germany. It is set to be produced initially alongside the Fiesta supermini, which is scheduled to end its current life cycle in 2024 or 2025. The new crossover will be the first Ford to use the Volkswagen Group’s MEB EV platform, as part of a…

BMW’S M LINE-UP continues to swell following the introduction of the new M4 Competition Convertible M xDrive, which is lighter and more powerful than its predecessor and has an extra driven axle. Based on the recently revealed M4 Competition M xDrive, the new M model swaps the previous-generation convertible’s folding hard top for a fabric roof, which is said to weigh around 40% less. As on the standard 4 Series Convertible, it can be opened or closed in 18 seconds at vehicle speeds of up to 31mph, and it minimises heat loss and cabin noise with the use of a glass rear window and panel bow structural elements. The M4 Convertible is priced from £81,915, a £3600 premium over the four-wheel-drive coupé, and will enter production at the same time…

The reworked roof spoiler and 22in Neodyme wheels are clues to the new Cayenne Coupé variant’s performance potential, but the changes inside are more subtle. There is new Alcantara trim with contrasting stitching, sports seats and a thicker-rimmed sports steering wheel with a Sport Response button that allows you to select the various driving modes. Most notably, the three-seat rear bench has been replaced by a pair of individual chairs. The remarkable thing about the uprated Cayenne is just how unremarkable it feels in everyday traffic in Comfort mode, given that you expect an SUV that has been honed to run records at the Nürburgring to be hardcore at all times. The adaptive air suspension features dampers that are 15% firmer than those of today’s model and, yes, there is…

A HUGE UPTICK in new car registrations post-lockdown can’t be attributed solely to pent-up demand, according to Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares. “Lockdowns have given clear evidence to citizens of the value of mobility and being free to move,” he said. “The best way to protect freedom of mobility is to own a car – a positive outcome.” FORD OF EUROPE boss Stuart Rowley has said the firm will start to build on its American heritage with future UK models (p4), but don’t expect the best-selling F-150 pick-up to appear in dealerships here. “That’s a tough ask,” said Rowley. “Just the physical size of those products could be a challenge on British roads.” RENAULT BOSS LUCA de Meo was surprised at the reaction to his firm’s decision to impose a 180kph…

VAUXHALL WILL BRING hydrogen fuel cell technology to the UK with a new variant of its Vivaro van, offering up to 249 miles of range and the same load capacity as equivalent petrol, diesel and battery-electric models. The latest addition to Vauxhall’s commercial vehicle family will be sold in left-hand-drive markets by German sister brand Opel from the end of this year before making its UK debut in 2023. The Vivaro-e Hydrogen mates a 45kW fuel cell with three 700bar hydrogen tanks (which can be filled in just three minutes) and uses the same front-mounted 134bhp electric motor as the Vivaro-e BEV. A 10.5kWh lithium ion battery, which is charged by regenerative braking, is also installed to offer 31 miles’ worth of propulsion. Vauxhall managing director Paul Willcox said: “Vauxhall-Opel…

“It’s so immediate, it’s so well tied down and it provides feel that you don’t find in modern cars” It’s something I expect most of us have done from time to time: sat down and specified our perfect car. And mine would of course be a front-engined, two-seat coupé powered by an enormous, highly tuned but normally aspirated V12 engine, driving through a manual gearbox to the rear wheels alone. Sadly, in these days of flappy paddled, four-wheel-drive, turbohybrid machines, no one makes cars like that any more. Unless, that is, you ask very nicely. Then, and on the off-chance that you have something like £4 million to spare, you might be able to persuade somebody to create one, just for you. Which is exactly what the Belgian owner of…

In an era when you can get illuminated belt buckles on a car (take a bow, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class), the new Fiat 500 electric does without a radio. Let that sink in for a moment. In Action trim, the base level admittedly, you have to plug your phone in to listen to any music. Fiat isn’t the first to tap into this, but for a car so focused on style and youthful appeal, it says something of where we might be heading in the future. This is the entry-level new 500 Electric, with a 94bhp single electric motor powering the front wheels. There is a floor-mounted 23.8kWh battery, giving a total range of 118 miles, 0-62mph in 9.5sec and a top speed of 84mph. Charge times are from as little…

VERDICT Citroën’s third-generation modern C4 is a car in which the sensible is blended with the unusual in several intriguing ways. Although it’s not a particularly practical mid-sized hatchback in outright terms, it is quite well priced and well equipped and has some useful features that promise to make it agreeable to live with. There’s a certain relaxing, efficient, long-striding classic Citroën vibe about the car’s character, too, but here, the real pity is that the C4 doesn’t better deliver on its potential. Although refined in quite particular ways and circumstances, the car’s comfort and isolation levels disappoint at other times; and so many of the tactics that Citroën uses in an attempt to make it more easy to drive just make it less dynamically versatile and intuitive in a…

The ending may not have been perfect, but there’s no doubt Romain Grosjean produced one of the feel-good stories of the year in the recent Indianapolis Grand Prix. Less than six months after suffering burns to his hands in a terrifying Formula 1 crash, the Frenchman qualified on pole for only his third Indycar race and then led for more than half of it, ultimately finishing second to a charging Rinus VeeKay. After a decade of toiling in F1’s midfield, Grosjean seemed rejuvenated by a battle for first. And given the events in Bahrain last year, we suspect most onlookers were cheering for him. Certainly, it created plenty of attention for the Indycar Series heading into the Indy 500 showpiece this weekend. Unfortunately, Grosjean won’t be contesting that race, as…

MANY OF THE most loved old motorsport liveries are those dictated by tobacco firms. Think John Player Special and Marlboro in Formula 1; Camel on the Paris to Dakar; Silk Cut at Le Mans; and Rothmans in rallying. In fact, the shift from national colours to ‘liveries’ began in the 1960s due to Gold Leaf. The medical community had started to establish a link between smoking and lung cancer as early as the 1950s, but it was still very much a happy habit in the 1970s for around half of British adults. In 1971, National Sports Council chief Sir Roger Bannister said he wanted to see tobacco ads banned at sport events. They had been barred from British TV for six years already. “He’s presumably forgetting the support that tobacco…

COVENTRY CLIMAX This maker of fire pumps and forklifts powered the majority of grand prix winners throughout the 1960s. It took F1 titles with Jack Brabham and Cooper (1959 and 1960), then Jim Clark and Lotus (1963 and 1965). WESLAKE In 1966, Dan Gurney commissioned this Sussex-based cylinder head specialist to build a new 3.0-litre V12 engine to power his beautiful Eagle grand prix car. The Weslake engine scored a single but memorable win at the 1967 Belgian GP. TECHNIQUES D’AVANT GARDE McLaren’s Ron Dennis convinced TAG boss Mansour Ojjeh to fund a turbo engine to solve his power shortfall. Three titles followed for Niki Lauda (1984) and Alain Prost (1985 and 1986). The TAG V6 was a Porsche in disguise. YAMAHA Best known for musical instruments and motorbikes, Yamaha…

I’m surprised that none of your writers chose the Ford Kent as their favourite engine (‘Writer’s block’, 5 May). Introduced in 997cc form in the Anglia 105E in 1959 (pre-Crossflow and not known as the Kent until 1967), it was a giant leap forward from the 1172cc side valve that preceded it in small Fords such as the Anglia and Prefect. It had an unusually wide bore (80.9mm) for a 1.0-litre engine, which allowed good breathing with large valves and permitted high revving with its short-throw crankshaft. This engine remained in production until 2002 under various guises, including the Valencia. It grew in capacity to 1601cc while still retaining the original bore size. The five-main-bearing block (116E) version was the basis of the Lotus-Ford Twin Cam engine used in the…

MILEAGE 911 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To find out if this plug-in hybrid SUV can eclipse its higher-profile donor model It’s the little things: the phone call and the email a few days after delivery to check how I was getting on with the car and the rather smart reusable water bottle that arrived in the post. All three are received from the Care by Volvo team after you take delivery of your new subscription car, and they’ve come my way since my introductory XC60 report (12 May). However small they may be when weighed up next to a £914 monthly bill, they’re things that make you feel good – not like you’re just another step towards a monthly sales target. As it turned out, I did have a couple…

MILEAGE 2634 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To explore breadth of oil-burners and how Octavia stacks up as a family car THE DIESEL OCTAVIA vRS makes plenty of sense if you want to balance frugality with performance, but how does it compare with the petrol vRS? The petrol starts at £31,850 for a six-speed manual, but if you look at like-for-like (with a DSG gearbox, because the diesel isn’t available with a manual), there’s only a fiver between them: the petrol costs from £33,530 and the diesel from £33,535. If performance statistics are your thing, the petrol will undoubtedly be your preference: it can achieve 0-62mph in 6.7sec and a top speed of 155mph, versus the diesel’s 7.4sec and 152mph, while producing 242bhp to the diesel’s 197bhp. The payoff is, naturally,…

If you’ve ever wondered what happened to the Yank Tanks, well, they were effectively replaced by Korean large saloons. The Chevrolet Caprice and Ford Crown Victoria have left the minds (if not the hearts) of many Americans in favour of the Kia Optima. This one is US spec: left-hand drive with a slushbox. You will pleased to hear that it isn’t mine but has been borrowed by a resident of the Ruppert ranch as a brief stopgap. It’s a 2015 example that has racked up 60,000 miles and was up for sale at $8000 (about £5700). It’s a comfortable enough bus with acres of room inside, so it’s really not hard to see the appeal.…

The Vitara under the spotlight here is the fourth-generation model launched in 2015. It’s another well-rounded effort from Suzuki that offers more than its unpretentious styling and reasonable pricing suggest. It’s an SUV, of course, but one that justifies the term by being both a competent sports and a convincing utility vehicle in one. From launch, buyers could choose a 1.6-litre petrol or a 1.6-litre diesel, each with 118bhp. The petrol is smooth and eager and the diesel economical but a bit gruff. They were dropped in the 2019 facelift but the petrol, especially, is good value. Also available from launch was the 1.4-litre Boosterjet, a more modern petrol unit that produces 138bhp and, being turbocharged, is stronger from low revs than the naturally aspirated 1.6 petrol. However, it can…

Those who were around when the original Lexus was launched in 1990 will recall a classy motor more than ready to take on BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Fast forward 30 years and the few examples running today are leggy and careworn. It’s why it was so good to see this mint 1997 example at auction recently and be reminded just what an accomplished limousine the LS was. With a little over 7000 miles on the clock and looking as fresh as the day it left the factory, this one-owner car made £18,950, or just five times what you would pay for a 200,000-miler out of the classifieds.…

Our quick survey of three leading used car classified sites finds that the most expensive Mk1 and Mk2 Golf GTIs are being advertised for up to £24,000. In contrast, the most expensive Mk3, a 2.0-litre 16v Japanese import with 36,000 miles, is £8995, and most cars of this generation are around £1500. What’s the Mk3’s problem? After all, it’s a Golf GTI and it’s almost 30 years old (launched in 1992, replaced by the Mk4 in 1997). Ergo, it’s a modern classic for which people should be queuing around the block. Unfortunately, almost from launch, the Mk3 was dismissed as the unsuccessful follow-up to its brilliant predecessors. Heavy, underpowered and dull, said the critics. Its cause wasn’t helped by the arrival, towards the end of its life, by sharper rivals…

FORD HAS REVEALED its most important EV yet: the F-150 Lightning pick-up truck, a battery-powered version of North America’s best-selling vehicle. Reviving a name that was previously used for sporty versions of the F-Series truck, the EV features a dual-motor, four-wheel-drive powertrain that produces 563bhp and 775lb ft – the most torque yet offered on an F-150 – for a 0-60mph sprint time in the mid-four-second range. After a headline-grabbing drive in a prototype before the unveiling, US president Joe Biden said: “This sucker’s quick.” Two batteries are available, offering between 230 and 300 miles of range on the American EPA test cycle, while 150kW charging capacity gives it a 15-80% charge time of 41 minutes. Crucially, Ford promises comparable utility to petrol variants of the F-150, with a payload…

STELLANTIS HAS partnered Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn to form Mobile Drive, a 50:50 joint venture in which the two firms will collaborate on infotainment and in-vehicle connectivity offerings. The resulting infotainment systems will be “seamlessly connected inside and outside the vehicles in which they’re installed”. They will also provide new revenue streams for Stellantis and Foxconn by offering instant over-the-air upgrades and optional vehicle features throughout the vehicle’s life cycle. All Stellantis brands will use Mobile Drive systems in their production vehicles, although it remains unclear which will be first. Stellantis software boss Yves Bonnefont declined to give further details but said: “We’ve identified a precise project and have started work almost immediately. Speed is of the essence.” Foxconn previously worked with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (now part of Stellantis) to…

SKODA WILL EXPAND its electric car line-up in the next few years with a coupé version of the Enyaq iV SUV and a new smaller model that’s set to take the form of a crossover. The Czech firm recently launched the Enyaq as its first bespoke EV on the Volkswagen Group’s MEB platform. While virtually identical in size and specification to the Volkswagen ID 4, the Enyaq features a stretched wheelbase and a boot 42 litres larger, at 585 litres. Skoda design chief Oliver Stefani said that focus on luggage space reflects the popularity of the Octavia and Superb estates, adding that it will remain a design priority for the firm’s future electric cars. “Spaciousness is very important for us,” Stefani told Autocar. “It’s functionality. People love it, and it’s…

Volvo Cars is planning a 2.5 million-tonne reduction in its annual carbon emissions by reusing and remanufacturing components on a large scale. The process, which it calls a “circular business principle”, will include recycling key materials such as steel and aluminium, remanufacturing complex components like gearboxes and reconditioning individual parts. Volvo remanufactured some 40,000 parts last year, saving 3000 tonnes of CO2, and recycled 95% of its production waste (including 176,000 tonnes of steel) to save 640,000 tonnes of CO2. Volvo is also collaborating with battery reuse specialist Battery Loop to investigate the potential for a second life for high-voltage EV and hybrid batteries, all with the intention of becoming a ‘fully circular business’ – using entirely recycled parts – by 2040. Mechanical components included in the company’s reconditioning programme…

RARELY DO WE come across something in the car world that hasn’t been thought of before, but the Ingear multi-speed transmission design from Canadian firm Inmotive is nothing short of genius. Chief technical officer and keen cyclist Anthony Wong began pondering the derailleur gears on his bike and wondered how it would be if, rather than shifting the chain across the gears in that noisy and clunky way, he could think of a way to move the gears beneath the chain. The result is a prototype transmission for EVs that is expected to match the efficiency of a single-speed helical gearset when it reaches production. Inmotive claims a 7-15% improvement in an EV’s range using Ingear and an improvement of 15% in acceleration. Ingear isn’t a CVT and it doesn’t…

MONDAY I couldn’t resist another week at the wheel of a Ranger Raptor. This is easily the most fun among block-of-flats pick-ups, because Ford has very deliberately turned its utility truck into an enthusiast’s car by refining its dynamics and giving it the wildest wheels and suspension going. Like most of its peers, the Raptor is stable and sturdy, with a comfortably bulletproof cabin and an unusual sense of wellbeing. But the major surprises are good handling, greater damping and accurate steering (I positively enjoy holding it close to Cotswolds walls in tight going). Even its £48k price seems less daft when you drive it. True, the diesel engine sounds like a vacuum cleaner and even 370lb ft doesn’t make this truck fast. But how great it is to roll…

Max Hoffman is to blame for this. The man who imported Porsches into America in the 1950s advised the factory that what was needed over there was a stripped-out, cut-down version of the 356 looking as racy as possible. In that moment, both the name and the cult of the Speedster were born. The roofless supercar speedster concept is more recent, dating back to the Mercedes SLR McLaren Stirling Moss of 2009, but the V12 Speedster is Aston’s first – unless you count the 2013 CC100 concept from which much of its style is clearly derived. It costs £765,000, just 88 will be built and a ‘handful’ remain available well over a year after its announcement. The Speedster doesn’t just have presence; it’s beautiful, too. The whole thing is stunning,…

MODEL TESTED PURETECH 130 SHINE PLUS AUTO Price • £26,605 Power • 129bhp Torque • 169lb ft 0-60mph • 9.5sec 30-70mph in fourth • na Fuel economy • 40.9mpg CO2 emissions • 131g/km 70-0mph • 45.4m We like • It proves that alternative needn’t mean weird; it can be real-world • It’s well priced and pretty well equipped We don’t like • Greater passenger accommodation would better complete the pragmatic positioning • Ride isn’t comfortable enough to justify other dynamic compromises After a short hiatus, the Citroën C4 is back. The third modern midsized family hatchback with that particular model identity, this car is claimed to pick up on the long tradition of innovation in the hatchback segment by the French marque. So is it really that innovative? You’ll need a pretty…

Tobias Moers may seem like the new boss at Aston Martin, but it’s more than a year since he was hired and 10 months since he first moved into the CEO’s office. The combined effects of the pandemic and Moers’ preference for delivering results rather than soundbites mean he has been pretty much unreachable – until now. However, as soon as he starts talking about progress, you can see why he has been keeping a low profile. There has been much urgent stuff to get on with, and most of it under the eagle eye of the stock exchange (Aston’s share price is still 10% of its flotation level) and of his take-no-prisoners chairman, Lawrence Stroll, the Canadian fashion mogul who personally owns the Aston-badged Formula 1 team. Much better,…

Christian Horner is a tricky customer. He says so himself. “We’re very demanding,” admits the Red Bull Formula 1 team principal with a steely smile. “We pay our bills on time, we demand the best and that sits uncomfortably sometimes.” All things considered, it’s just as well that the second-fastest team on the F1 grid won’t be paying through the nose for off-the-peg hybrid power units from bitter rival Mercedes-AMG next year, never mind from Renault, with which it had such a brittle partnership that ended in 2018. But in the wake of Honda pulling the plug on its factory supply at the end of this season (its third F1 withdrawal in the past 30 years), Horner needed something to drop into the back of his cars. Ferrari was out…

Red Bull won’t be the first private firm to run Honda-based engines in Formula 1. Japanese race team and tuner Mugen had an eight-year stint as an F1 supplier, winning three races. When Honda was looking for someone to prepare its second-string V10s for Tyrrell in 1991, Mugen was the natural choice, as it was formed in 1973 by Hirotoshi Honda, the son of Honda’s founder. The following year, Footwork was supplied with now Mugen-badged V10s. Honda quit F1 at the end of 1992, but Mugen continued. After a spell with Lotus, it switched to Ligier for 1995, powering Olivier Panis to his shock victory at Monaco the following year. In 1998, it moved to Jordan and scored a stunning victory through Damon Hill, and then Heinz-Harald Frentzen won two…

Ferrari Roma vs Aston Martin DB11 and Bentley Continental GT Does the best grand tourer in the world come from Maranello, Gaydon or Crewe? BMW i4 All-new electric saloon has the Tesla Model 3 in its cross hairs. We rate it DS 9 Steve Cropley’s verdict on the French brand’s first go at an executive saloon EVERY WEEK Audi E-tron S Performance version of electric SUV is given the full eight pages Robert Kubica His 2019 return to F1 was the stuff of legend. Here’s what he did next SUBSCRIBE autocar.co.uk/subscribe or see p62…

MILEAGE 2153 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To find out if PHEV power and eight seats give van greater lifestyle appeal I KNOW THIS Tourneo’s range-extender powertrain uses only the electric motor to propel its wheels, but I’m still impressed by just how smoothly it pulls away from rest. A lot of plug-in hybrids have such weak motors that the petrol engine almost always kicks in to assist with standing starts, but this big, heavy people-mover can do it silently. The generator only kicks in afterwards, even with the battery practically depleted. With no lag, pulling away is also far less clunky than what you might expect from similar-size vehicles. The energy regeneration always seems to keep a little charge available, even if the car hasn’t been plugged into the mains,…

Douglas nominates the 2002–2009 Saab 9-5 2.0t and 2.3t as the best Bangernomics cars right now. He says: “I’m on my third, a useful estate. Pictured is my old 2.3t at 245,000 virtually trouble-free, hugely comfy miles. These are robust, properly engineered cars with enough Saab in them to be charismatic, reliable and respectable. Four-pot balancer-shaft petrols are best, but the 1.9 diesel is also frugal and staunch. Regular oil changes for the auto’box and sump cleans are crucial. Only the neglected rust, so spray WD-40 underneath.”…

SKODA OCTAVIA 1.0 TSI SE ESTATE £1080 deposit, £180 per month, 48 months, 8000 miles per year Skoda knows what estate buyers want and gives it to them in spades with the Octavia wagon. For example, with the rear seats folded, the boot measures a generous 1700 litres. The space is long, tall and nicely squared off, too. FORD FOCUS 1.0 ECOBOOST 125 ZETEC EDITION ESTATE £1532 deposit, £255 per month, 48 months, 8000 miles per year With the back seats out the way, there’s 1620 litres of load space here. Filling it is made easier thanks to the floor-level loading sill and the compartment’s squared-off design. There’s also a handy vertical divider to separate loads. VOLKSWAGEN GOLF 1.0 E-TSI LIFE DSG ESTATE £1292 deposit, £215 per month, 48 months,…

LE means launch edition here, but it could also be short for the colour of the seats: lemon. Just 160 examples of this special 130i M Sport, launched back in 2007 to help the then new three-door variant of the 1 Series hatchback get noticed, were offered in the UK. In addition to those electrically powered, Boston Ice Lemon-coloured seats, the LE received unique alloy wheels, xenon headlights, parking sensors, upgraded infotainment and chrome strips. Our find is a 2007 example with 84,000 miles and a full BMW service history.…

An owner’s view ANDREW FERGUSON “I’ve owned my Mk3 eight-valve for a few years and get the feeling interest is rising in the model. It’s why I’ve dry-stored it for the past couple of years, bringing it out only occasionally for a drive and to keep everything moving. It’s a reliable car but I’ve spent around £800 on it in the past three years, either getting it through MOTs or just keeping it sweet. With 113bhp, it’s definitely no Porsche but its appeal lies not in its performance, or lack of it, but in the feel of the controls and in the way it steers and handles. Being a Golf, it always polishes up well and the interior is smart and tough. It just gets better with age.” Buyer beware……

Who has the biggest responsibility for making the EV transition happen? That was a multiple-choice question posed to the audience of an online conference I hosted last week, alongside some panellists from the components giant Bosch and an organisation called Automotive EV. I’m told the live online audience comprised professionals from automotive firms, policymakers, government and academia. The four potential answers were: car makers/OEMs; government; corporate fleets; or charging companies/infrastructure providers. The audience just needed to click their thoughts. As they did, more than half of them – 57% – said they thought that the primary responsibility for turning people onto EVs landed with government. Some 25% said it’s on charging companies and infrastructure providers, while only 15% thought car makers should bear the brunt of the effort and just…