Innholdsfortegnelse for June 23, 2021 i Autocar

SUBARU SOLTERRA Subaru collaborated with Toyota on the development of the e-TNGA architecture and will first use the underpinnings for its new Solterra SUV, due in 2022. Positioned as a C-segment SUV of a similar size to the ICE-fuelled Forester, it will mark a drastic styling evolution for the Japanese brand and is likely to offer front-, rear- and four-wheel-drive layouts. TOYOTA bZ4X Angular, RAV4-inspired styling cues and a spacious interior will mark out Toyota’s electric SUV – previewed by a near-ready concept earlier this year – from its Subaru and Lexus siblings. It will set a new design tone for the firm and promises to offer a competitive range, thanks in part to its on-board solar charging system.…

MASERATI IS GEARING up to rapidly expand its electrified range with two new core models: a second-generation all-electric Granturismo and the new Grecale SUV. The Granturismo will be Maserati’s electric flagship. Previewed in heavy camouflage, it looks to retain the sleek silhouette of its predecessor while nodding to the stillborn Alfieri concept shown in 2014. The Modena-based firm has yet to confirm technical details but the new Granturismo is expected to far outperform its petrol-powered predecessor. The Grecale, meanwhile, will be launched as Maserati’s second SUV and offer mild-hybrid power. It is believed to share most of its underpinnings with the same-sized Alfa Romeo Stelvio, but petrol models will use Maserati’s own engines: the mild-hybrid 2.0-litre turbo offered in the Ghibli and Levante, and a detuned version of the MC20’s…

THE NEW PORSCHE 911 GTS has arrived to fill the gap between the Carrera S and the full-bore GT3, promising a “focused” driving experience with an emphasis on agility. Serving as the range-topper for the standard 911 line-up, the GTS is marked out visually by a raft of bespoke styling cues, while accompanying powertrain and chassis upgrades bring increased performance. Porsche’s turbocharged 3.0-litre flat-six engine is up from 444bhp in the S to 473bhp. This, combined with 420lb ft of torque, enables the GTS coupé to crack the 0-62mph sprint in just 3.3sec with an eight-speed PDK automatic gearbox and four-wheel drive. It can also be specified with a seven-speed manual gearbox and in rear-wheel-drive format. There are slight performance variations according to options. The 911 Cabriolet can also now…

ADVANCED DRIVING SIMULATORS have become an intrinsic part of producing cars and engineers can now do a large proportion of chassis development with ‘driver-in-the-loop’ (DIL) simulation. The tools they use are a cut above the average gaming set-up, though, down to the level of trying different suspension settings, types of bush and so on before a physical prototype is even built. Apart from the obvious advantage of speed and cost saving for the manufacturer, there’s an environmental benefit, too, by cutting thousands of test miles across the industry, reducing the energy and emissions created in manufacturing and ultimately discarding prototypes altogether. Now tyre manufacturers are heading down a similar path. Falken has begun using a Fugaku supercomputer to improve what it calls performance-sustaining technology aimed at preventing a decline in…

MONDAY The ever-present risk in this journalism racket is that you’re inclined to cry wolf. There’s a constant risk that you’ll over-praise stuff so that when something really jaw-dropping comes along – such as the £80,000 base-model, coil-suspension Porsche Taycan – you’re at a loss for ways to elevate it above everything else. That’s my position now. I’ve just spent five days in it and I really think it’s the best thing I’ve ever driven. This four-door EV feels instantly like a Porsche. Not just a Porsche, actually, but the best of Porsches. It is almost affordable, yet its specialness and its quality are communicated in every turn of the steering wheel or touch of a switch. Or every time one of its wheels encounters a bitumen crater. Its seats…

The decision to do away with six-cylinder engines completely for the new C-Class puts added focus on the performance capabilities of its plug-in hybrid variants. It’s the C300e that leads the way, with a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol engine and a gearbox-mounted electric motor combining to produce 308bhp and 405lb ft. The big development, though, is the battery. At 25.4kWh, its capacity has been almost doubled. Together with an improvement in efficiency for the motor, whose energy consumption is rated at 2.6-4.4kWh per mile, this gives the C300e a range of 55-68 miles on the WLTP test (up from 19-31 miles) and with it CO2 emissions of between 14g/km and 24g/km. Charging can be achieved at up to 11kW from an AC charger or at up to 55kW on a…

If internet traffic is anything to go by, the Peugeot 308 is one of the most popular cars on the market. Now we’ve been able to drive the new model in prototype form to see if the masses’ faith will be rewarded. The current 308, which is just fading out of production at Peugeot’s Sochaux factory, will be remembered as a reasonably balanced compromise between driving pleasure and rational purchase, coupled with handsome design and some genuine innovation, such as the i-Cockpit. Love it or hate it, this dashboard layout, which Peugeot introduced in 2012 with its significantly smaller than usual steering wheel and instrument cluster positioned above it, made for easy manoeuvring, a decent view out and easier cabin entry and egress – with the not insignificant downside being…

Just as deliveries of the ID 4 electric SUV begin, Volkswagen has crowned the line-up with a hot GTX variant. As with the original Golf GTI back in 1976, VW is trying to give its new car a dash more driver engagement. The thinking is that a select group of EV buyers, just like those of conventional cars, want to stand out from the crowd. So in the same way that the GTI badge boosts the appeal of the Golf, the GTX badge is meant to make the ID 4 more attractive to driving enthusiasts. It’s far from a simple reworking of VW’s second dedicated EV. In fact, the changes go quite deep – most notably to the drivetrain. Unlike the standard ID 4, which has one electric motor to…

The Enyaq crossover, Skoda’s take on the Volkswagen ID 4, is a battery-electric vehicle and has now arrived in the UK. It’s 4.65m long and 1.88m wide but looks bigger, and comes in two versions – called the 60 and the 80, mysteriously, because neither has a battery of that exact size. Anyway, this is the 60, with a 58kWh usable (62kWh gross) pack, 177bhp, a WLTP range of 256 miles and a kerb weight of 1890kg. It can be charged at up to 50kW as standard, with 100kW capability as an option. Skoda recently tweaked the Enyaq’s pricing to account for the government’s changes to the plug-in vehicle grant (now capped at £35,000), so all 60 versions fit under it and get £2500 off their £34-something-grand list prices, while…

FORD MUSTANG MACH-E EXTENDED RANGE RWD Enough range to give it GT legs and its often lively handling make it our pick here but there’s room to improve across the board. TESLA MODEL 3 LONG RANGE AWD One-dimensional dynamics, yet enjoyable overall. Cabin quality needs to improve, but Tesla’s charging network is a big draw. POLESTAR 2 LONG RANGE AWD Precise AWD handling and one of the best cabins at this price level make Polestar’s notchback a fine choice. Fast and interesting, but maybe lacking some joie de vivre. HYUNDAI IONIQ 5 RWD As yet tested in pre-prod guise only but ought to marry strong pace, excellent practicality and good road manners in a package whose design really stands out. VOLKSWAGEN ID 4 GTX Range-topping, twin-motor, sporty ID 4, which…

Many vehicles claim to be the king of the road, but in the English countryside right now, the Plasan Sandcat is the emperor of all vehicles. Modestly described in its brochure as a light tactical vehicle, the Sandcat is actually an invincible-looking armoured 4x4 featuring bulletproof glass and a hardened-steel body festooned with cyberpunk boltheads, loopholes for weapons and a predator-like face. In everyday traffic, it towers over common-orgarden SUVs and looks totally nails. Autocar is at the wheel, in a world first, because Plasan’s demonstrator is visiting the UK for evaluation by security forces looking to replace stalwarts such as the Jankel Guardian, which is nearing the end of 20 years’ sterling service. The bones of the Sandcat are the heaviest-duty Ford F-550 commercial chassis, commonly used in North…

What happens to a town and its people when a major employer leaves it? Many have faced this question and now, with the closure of Honda’s car factory in July, it’s Swindon’s turn. Located to the south-east of the Wiltshire town, built on the old South Marston airfield, it opened in 1985. It was a major moment in Swindon’s history. At the time, I lived and worked 10 miles away, in Cirencester. Some of my friends got jobs there and were cock-a-hoop at the prospect of securing wellpaid jobs and getting on a career ladder. Assuming they stayed, some of them will be approaching retirement age now. Sadly, for younger employees just starting out, the plant’s closure is a body blow. Few firms in Swindon offer working conditions, career progression…

Toyota scored a strong onetwo finish in the recent World Endurance Championship race at Portimão, Portugal, in its 100th sports car event. Sébastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima and Brendon Hartley took victory ahead of the sister GR010 Hybrid hypercar of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José María López. Hyundai joins BTCC race-winners list Tom Ingram scored Hyundai’s first race win in the British Touring Car Championship recently. He triumphed in the last of three races at Snetterton in his Excelr8run i30 Fastback N. BMW’s Colin Turkington and Infiniti’s Ash Sutton won the other two. Ericsson scores first Indycar victory Former Formula 1 racer Marcus Ericsson claimed his maiden Indycar Series win in the first of two races in Detroit recently. The Ganassi-Honda man was aided when the ECU in longtime leader…

ARI VATANEN The fastest Flying Finn? Ari Vatanen was certainly the most spectacular. It was on the British scene that he established his reputation, before becoming World Rally champion in 1981, driving a Ford Escort Mk2. His antics in Group B Peugeot 205 T16s cemented his legend, as did his recovery from an awful crash in 1985. It took 18 months for his body to heal and far longer for his mind to, yet remarkably he won the ParisDakar four times between 1987 and 1991, plus the 1988 Pikes Peak Hill Climb in a majestic performance captured on film. He then became a longtime MEP, although he lost the 2009 FIA presidential election to his old Peugeot boss Jean Todt. At 69, there’s time for him to stand again.…

JAMIE CHADWICK 23 Brit almost choked in the 2019 season finale but held it together to claim the inaugural title after two wins and three more podiums. Prolific in recent years. Also racing in Extreme E this season. ALICE POWELL 28 Made it to GP3 before her money ran dry. Grabbed the W Series lifeline in 2019 and grew in strength as season progressed. But will she now be rusty again as season two begins? BEITSKE VISSER 26 Highly rated Dutch racer who is also competing in an all-female line-up in the World Endurance Championship’s second-rung class. Was runner-up in the 2019 W Series with one win. EMMA KIMILAINEN 31 Experienced Finn who was unlucky to be T-boned at Hockenheim in the first-ever W Series race. Missed the next two…

FEATURE 25 years of Skoda vRS Performance division has made some memorable cars, each different to the norm. We hail the latest and the greatest INTERVIEW Thierry Bolloré Our first one-on-one with the man tasked with turning around Jaguar Land Rover FEATURE Niels van Roij Meet the independent designer who casts his eye over the new cars of today EVERY WEEK FIRST DRIVE Toyota Yaris Cross Impressive as a supermini, now it’s a small SUV. We drive the latest Yaris ROAD TEST Jeep Renegade 4Xe Jeep’s first plug-in hybrid gets our full eight-page evaluation SUBSCRIBE autocar.co.uk/subscribe or see p22…

MILEAGE 2691 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To find out if the Mk8 Golf remains the world’s most rounded family hatch Recently, my driveway hosted the Volkswagen equivalent of a Doctor Who crossover special. You know, one of those episodes where multiple past and present versions of The Doctor team up to save the future from some mildly scary rubber-suited alien creation. Instead of two Timelords, though, I had assembled two Volkswagen hatchbacks, with our long-term Golf joined by an ID 3, its electric equivalent. Broadly, the two represent the past (Golf) and future (ID 3) of Volkswagen hatches – although, since the timeline of the car industry’s electrification is as muddled as anything you would encounter in a Tardis, you can buy both cars today. This had me intrigued: which…

QUESTION My Porsche 718 Boxster makes a skipping or rubbing noise when I turn left at low speeds. Should I be worried? Alex Johnson, Leicester ANSWER This sounds like a classic case of the unnerving but relatively harmless Ackermann effect. It occurs when the car’s tyres are at a low temperature while it’s being driven at low speeds (especially on larger wheels) and takes place because the wheels are moving at different speeds. In the Boxster’s case, the front left tyre is moving quicker than the front right tyre, causing this skipping sensation. JW QUESTION I’m looking for a reliable 4x4 for running around my farm and into the village. What can I get for £5000? Simon Maxwell, via email ANSWER If you need to lug loads from field to…

Jaguar XF Sportbrake 2.2 TD Luxury £9995 With offices soon to reopen and long daily commutes back on the agenda, what we need is a comfortable, practical motorway runner, right? Right. But there’s no reason why we can’t add a bit of panache and performance potential into the bargain. Step forward the Mk1 Jaguar XF Sportbrake. At launch back in 2008, the XF saloon quickly marked itself out as a front runner in the executive segment, and in 2012 the Sportbrake estate bolstered its already agreeable levels of practicality, thanks to an extended roofline and a loading capacity of up to 550 litres. An early XF Sportbrake can be picked up today for as little as £8000, with a choice of four-cylinder and V6 diesel engines to choose from, each…

Lexus has vowed to offer a dynamic driving experience in its future models as part of a rapid and wide-reaching electrification programme – and it will kick off its new-era line-up in 2022 with its first dedicated electric car. The Japanese luxury brand’s new EV, previewed by the radical LFZ Electrified concept, will be its second pure-electric model, following the UX 300e. It’s also set to be the first Lexus to use the new e-TNGA architecture jointly developed by parent company Toyota and technical partner Subaru. As such, it will initiate a new era of design for Lexus models and usher in a raft of new technological solutions, which, the brand hopes, will help it to drastically expand its sales footprint. Lexus will launch 10 new hybrid, plug-in hybrid and…

Audi’s upcoming third-generation RS3 has adopted a new four-wheel drive system to deliver enhanced performance and greater agility over the outgoing car, as well as a dedicated drift mode for use on the track. Audi Sport’s smallest RS model is set for UK delivery in hatchback and saloon bodystyles in September and is the first in a series of the performance division’s models to gain a new torque splitter, supplied by Magna. It replaces the multi-plate disc clutch and rear differential of the previous RS3’s Haldex four-wheel drive system. Comprising two electronically controlled clutches – one on each of the rear driveshafts – it provides the soon-to-be-unveiled new RS3 with faster and more accurate apportioning of drive between the front and rear axles. It also enables individual torque allocation to…

THE DACIA DUSTER has been lightly restyled to bring it into line with its new Sandero sibling as part of a mid-life facelift. Dacia’s new Y-shaped headlight designs and a chrome grille mark the new SUV out from the current car, and more efficient LED front indicators have been fitted for the first time. New aero-optimised wheel and spoiler designs are said to help cut CO2 emissions by 5.8g/km on the four-wheel-drive Duster. The lightly revamped interior receives new materials and a redesigned centre console, while introducing an 8.0in touchscreen with smartphone integration as standard. Elsewhere, the top-rung TCe 150 petrol engine is now mated to a new six-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox, and the Bi-Fuel car gains a 50%-larger LPG tank. Orders open this summer, with prices expected to start…

WHEN LUCA de Meo took the top job at Renault in 2020, the company was dealing with the fallout from ex-chairman Carlos Ghosn’s arrest and had well-publicised money problems and a fractious relationship with Alliance partner Nissan – all of which, he said, was part of the role’s appeal. “If you look back at my career, I’ve always tried to go where there was something to do and where I feel I can make a difference,” he said. The Italian’s mission now is to make Renault “the greenest brand in Europe” by 2030. GERMAN CAR designers are often a pretty serious bunch, so it was refreshing to hear Albert Kirzinger, designer of the new Volkswagen Multivan, explain how he tried to make the seven-seater cheerful. “It wouldn’t be a Multivan…

It’s been a big year so far for Caterham, which recently came under the wing of Japanese retail group VT Holdings and gave the first details of an all-electric version of the Seven, due in the coming years. Another important announcement from the British sports car brand was the high-profile appointment of Bob Laishley as its new chief strategic officer, a position in which he will manage the rollout of new products and strive to keep the company thriving – and, crucially, compliant – as the automotive industry continues to transform. A self-professed “car guy”, Laishley is best known for his work at Nissan, where, as global sports car programme director, he oversaw such heavy-hitting performance models as the 370Z and GT-R. Laishley spoke exclusively to Autocar about his immediate…

Vinfast is planning an ambitious global expansion off the back of increasing sales in Vietnam, where it is the only native car maker, with an aim to export cars to the US, Canada and mainland Europe. Founded only in October 2018, Vinfast’s sales grew from 15,300 to 29,485 from 2019 to 2020 in a market worth 300,000 cars per year. It currently offers three models, the Lux SA2.0 SUV (based on the Mk3 BMW X3), the Lux A2.0 saloon (based on the Mk6 BMW 5 Series) and the Fadil supermini, with the latter key in the Vietnamese market. Derived from the Chevrolet Spark, the five-door hatchback has a 2385mm wheelbase, a 97bhp 1.4-litre petrol engine and a CVT. It has topped the sales charts in the A-segment, ending the Hyundai…

Company officials appear nervous when a group of journalists arrive at Mercedes-Benz’s expansive Immendingen test facility in southern Germany to drive the new Mk5 C-Class for the first time. This is how it has always been when a fresh incarnation of the BMW 3 Series rival has appeared down the years – and with good reason. Since its introduction in 1993, the C-Class has garnered a total of 8.6 million sales worldwide, including 2.5 million sales of the Mk4 model, which was introduced back in 2014. A good deal of Mercedes’ growth and profitability over the past three decades can therefore be traced to its success. So, the new model (codenamed the W205) clearly has a whole lot to live up to. This time around, however, the odds of repeated…

You’ll struggle to find a bigger British automotive success story than the Qashqai. Designed, developed and built in the UK, it has been a three-million-selling smash hit in the sales charts since the original made its debut in 2006 and transformed the family car template. When that first Qashqai arrived 15 years ago, it essentially existed in a class of one. Now, however, it faces more than 30 rivals offering a similarly SUV-infused shtick. It’s still the number one player in the C-SUV segment, making up 10% of sales in the UK, but Nissan knows it can’t rest on its laurels for this all-new third-generation machine. Despite what’s at stake, Nissan has gone for bold with the design, its sharp creases, neat detailing and wheel-at-each-corner stance giving it a bolder…

BMW has never made a ‘Clubsport’ version of its long-lived M5 super-saloon before. This first one has a walloping 626bhp, a £140,000 price and a 0-62mph claim of 3.0sec. It’s nothing less than the most potent road car that M division has built. And yet it also feels like a turning point for the M5, rather than some exercise in limited-numbers ego massage for the chosen few. With this car, BMW has gently corrected the development course of the F90-generation M5 and addressed – rather effectively, as we’ll come on to, albeit for quite a price – the car’s various dynamic shortcomings. The F90 M5 super-saloon made a memorable first impression when it was introduced to UK roads in 2018. The standard 591bhp version had an outright handling agility you…

It has a wing. That’s the easiest way to spot that this Aston Martin Vantage is the unlimited-in-number-but-limited-in-colour new range-topper, the F1 Edition. You can only order it in green, black or white, and it marks Aston’s entry into grand prix racing this year. But it’s not just about making it look like Formula 1’s safety car: the depth of other changes here fundamentally shifts the character of the Vantage. It’s said the Vantage should be the most aggressive of Aston’s various coupés and roadsters. What with the DBS Superleggera and DB11 AMR, I’m not sure how much clear air sat there. So incoming boss Tobias Moers set the engineers a pretty specific task: without just throwing power at it, make the Vantage lap the Nürburgring 15 seconds quicker. To…

MODEL TESTED EXTENDED RANGE RWD Price £49,980 Power 290bhp Torque 317lb ft 0-60mph 6.8sec 30-70mph in fourth na Fuel economy 2.9mpkWh CO2 emissions 0g/km 70-0mph 57.0 m Just because the dust has settled, and our perceptions allowed time to adjust, we shouldn’t forget the fireball of controversy that engulfed the 2020 launch of this week’s road test subject. The idea itself was not the issue. Crossovers are now without question the profit-making bedrock of almost every major car maker. And as for the all-electric bit, those same car makers are at dire risk of drowning in fines if they cannot rapidly bring down their average fleet emissions. So an electric crossover is a sensible product to make. And as the world’s fourth-largest car maker, Ford simply had to have one.…

When Boris Johnson’s government announced in November last year that sales of new petrol and diesel cars would be banned in the UK from 2030, and that plug-in hybrids would be gone from showrooms by 2035, the heart rates of car enthusiasts everywhere rose several notches. In the 130-odd years since buying a car became possible, timing a purchase and choosing a model have become a buyer’s inalienable rights. But now, suddenly, we who love owning, driving and just thinking about cars are feeling a new pressure to have a ‘by 2030’ strategy – either to join the electrified throng and experience the future early or to stay with internal combustion cars until we’re forced at last to change, or something in between. It has been a new and unsettling…

Three years after graduating from Coventry’s vehicle design course in 1998, Nir Kahn moved to Israel. He then approached Plasan, one of the country’s few carrelated businesses, and eventually landed a design job. He joined nine days before the 9/11 attacks in New York and went to work immediately on the project that would change his and Plasan’s fortunes: the ‘fastback’ Humvee. The shape stemmed from the need to maintain clearance from a blast from a rooftop missile launcher, and the curvy body was possible thanks to Plasan’s composite armour technology. “It was a bit of a shock in design terms at the time, and I remember the boss saying: ‘It can’t look like this. A military truck has to be a big, square practical shape,’” recalls Kahn. “But he…

FEBRUARY 2019 Honda announces that it will close its Swindon factory with the loss of 3500 jobs. Around 12,000 supply chain jobs will also be affected. MARCH 2019 Honda workers march through Swindon to demonstrate against the planned closure. FEBRUARY 2021 Swindon Borough Council reports that 200 Honda workers in the first two rounds of redundancy have found new jobs or are being retrained. MARCH 2021 Panattoni, a logistics firm, confirms that it has bought the Honda factory site with a view to redeveloping it for existing businesses in Swindon. MAY 2021 A new Amazon warehouse is confirmed for the neighbouring Symmetry Park site, to be built by Panattoni. JULY 2021 The Honda factory will close for good.…

Never before, in a history dating back to 1958, had a British Rally Championship event been held on a race circuit. Yet the 2021 BRC started at Oulton Park at the end of May. Uniquely, this was a round of Britain’s premier rallying series run solely within the confines of a track, as a result of the pandemic. Typically, the BRC runs on the forest tracks of Wales and Northumberland, plus closed roads in places such as the Scottish Borders, the Isle of Man and Ulster. Now, no one can argue that a wide and smooth 2.6mile track is anything like Hafren Forest or the Torr Head coast road, and there are those within the sport who bemoan the use of circuits for special-stage rallies. It’s not proper rallying, they…

WRITE TO autocar@haymarket.com Panel beater In common with many other home owners, I’ve installed PV (solar) panels on the house roof, principally for car charging. I discovered to my concern that the new 7.4kW Pod Point ‘smart’ charger and app don’t allow any variation in the charging current. The PV panels can provide around 4kW, but my new charger charges at 7.4kW (32A). Most of the time, unless I’m occasionally needing a fast charge, I want a slower charge that’s entirely free of cost, drawing all the power from my roof panels and nothing from the grid. The app will allow me to program when to charge (daylight hours) but not to alter its charging rate. I therefore incur cost for around half the power used and needlessly draw energy…

MILEAGE 3101 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To explore breadth of oilburners and how Octavia stacks up as a family car A VOLKSWAGEN GOLF GTI drove past me recently (the less said about the driving the better), which got me thinking: would I have a Golf GTI or this vRS? The Golf GTI is the natural (and faster) choice, yet the vRS might just pip it to the post in my eyes. Skoda’s vRS brand has become more grown up over the years – perhaps a natural progression, but perhaps also a disappointment for performance fans. Gone is the garish vRS green that used to adorn the sporty models, and instead we have a more toned-down interior with red accents here and there, plus increasingly good exterior looks. Compared with some…

MI LEAGE SEVERAL HOURS MTD RIDE-ON MOWER I’ve fitted my third battery of 2021, this time in my lawnmower. It’s an MTM cheapie I picked up a few years back to replace a proper 1970s Westwood that finally expired after 25 years of bodging. It’s colour-coded by accident to match my Land Rover’s Limestone livery. The Thor engine is Chinese and just as rough as a Briggs & Stratton one, but it has been okay. However, it has had fuelling issues. I cleaned out the inline filter, which was a sealed unit thing. The local tractor-fixer got me a new filter and battery, and it has since been back to normal, cutting grass. Ideally, you will never hear about it again. Unless it plays up……

There’s a good reason why the Honda CR-V ranks consistently among the world’s best-selling SUVs. Actually, there are a few reasons. The original CR-V was launched in 1995 to widespread acclaim, and its descendants have remained popular, largely due to Honda’s characteristic blend of reliability, practicality and frugality. This latest CR-V arrived in the UK in 2018 with a competitive 561-litre boot and significantly improved interior technology, including Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. It also abandoned Honda’s popular diesel engine and gained a CVT. Its sole power choice, a turbocharged 1.5-litre petrol, was available with 170bhp or 190bhp. A 2.0-litre hybrid powertrain was then added in 2019, making the CR-V a more enticing proposition for motorway stints, while regenerative braking boosted its urban efficiency. The petrol was discontinued shortly afterwards.…

LOTUS 340R One of only 340 examples produced, this Lotus 340R has covered just 5856 miles in 21 years on the road. It’s essentially a special-edition Type 111 Elise with a custom body, so it’s fitted with Rover’s 1.8-litre K-series inline four, which is good for 177bhp. It sold for £58,000 at auction, thanks to its extremely low mileage and well-kept exterior. Other examples on the auction market are hovering around the £50,000 mark or lower. As a proper collector’s item with such low production numbers, you will be hard-pressed to find one with more than 10,000 miles on the dial.…

Lexus parent company Toyota remains committed to developing hydrogen fuel cell technology as an alternative to battery electrification and recently launched the second generation of its Mirai FCEV saloon. The Mirai uses the same lengthened version of the GA platform as Lexus’s LC coupé and LS saloon, suggesting the fuel cell powertrain could also make its way into one of the premium brand’s models. Pascal Ruch said: “Possibly, one day, you will see a Lexus fuel cell. It’s not impossible.” However, he refused to be drawn on which segment such a vehicle could occupy and emphasised that it “would have to be different” from the Mirai. In 2016, Lexus showed the sleek, hydrogen-fuelled LF-FC saloon concept (above) as a preview of a production model that was originally planned for launch…

“We’ve been given the freedom to develop a much more agile car,” says Norbert Gösl, grinning, as we start the third lap of Audi’s test track. The RS3 devours trickier sections with the enthusiasm of a dedicated sports car, its five-cylinder engine pulling hard down the short straights and out of the corners, while breathing noisily through the new exhaust in a manner reminiscent of the old Audi Quattro. From the passenger seat, I sense a new-found eagerness to the RS3. It corners relatively flat, the reworked suspension controlling lean angles as lateral forces rise. I can also feel exactly what Audi Sport set out to achieve in providing torque vectoring functionality for the rear axle. The handling response and overall grip are considerable. It feels incredibly sharp and nimble…

The future range of all-electric Jaguars has now been decided, and work is ongoing to source or create the architecture that will underpin the reinvented British brand’s models from 2025. Speaking to Autocar in his first one-on-one interview since joining Jaguar Land Rover in September last year, boss Thierry Bolloré said that there will be a “family” of more upmarket, luxury Jaguars, positioned where nobody else sits in the market, as part of his Reimagine plan for JLR. Bolloré pointed to the Range Rover line’s positioning (as a maker of uniquely sized and styled cars priced far above what might be considered its conventional rivals) as the kind of area that Jaguar will sit in, and that the brand won’t seek to create targeted rivals to the likes of Porsche,…

Which of today’s cars will become classics? To us, that’s a seriously thorny question. History is usually the key element in helping us to decide about a car’s ultimate importance and rarity: in its early years, even the now legendary Jaguar E-Type was overlooked by some because it was relatively cheap and plentiful. Another fascinating example is the elevation to iconic status of the rear-wheel-drive ‘dog bone’ Mk1 Ford Escort, made in millions. So in a new project we’re launching with the National Motor Museum (NMM) at Beaulieu, we are seeking your help to identify which of today’s cars will be the E-Types and Escorts in 50 years’ time – with all that means in terms of kudos for the owners, importance to motoring history and (possibly) stratospheric value hikes.…

Given Nissan’s pioneering efforts in the EV world, the Qashqai is surprisingly light on electrification. The current mild-hybrid engine uses a 12V system that, like many, employs a belt-driven starter-generator. For more advanced electric propulsion, you’ll have to wait until the novel yet curious e-Power unit makes its debut later this year. Essentially, it’s a serial hybrid system (rather than the parallel variety made popular by Toyota), which uses a 187bhp electric motor to drive the wheels directly, while a variable-compression turbo 1.5-litre petrol acts simply as a generator for the battery. Nissan claims it drives with the instant torque and smoothness of an EV but without the need to plug in and charge, although in reality it can only drive in zero-emissions-at-the-tailpipe electric mode for little more than a…

Dial M for Modificata, the letter that Ferrari uses, now and again, to indicate significant enhancements to a model. This time, it’s the Portofino, the entry point to Ferrari’s range, which has a front-mounted V8 but not a fixed roof like the Roma – nor the Roma’s looks, which still make Autocar’s photographer swoon uncontrollably. The modifications here, though, are seemingly meant to make the Portofino a little more Roman. Ferrari says the car is more sporting: there’s more power, more dynamism to its outward appearance, sharper shift times from a new gearbox and an extra position, Race, on the driving mode selector, which also brings new chassis control software. In detail, then, the 3.9-litre flat-plane crank, twin-turbocharged V8 now needs a petrol particulate filter to meet emissions regulations. That…

In switching from a metal roof to a fabric one, and carrying across the second-gen 4 Series coupé’s controversial front end, this second coming of the drop-top 4 Series has far more road presence – especially in top-flight M440i guise. It’s only here that the 2.0-litre four-pot of lesser models is exchanged for a meatier 3.0-litre straight six, which sends a total of 369bhp and 369lb ft to both axles via BMW’s xDrive all-wheel drive system. The new convertible carries a 150kg penalty over the coupé, which translates to a little under half a second longer to 62mph. It will still get you to the legal limit at a rapid pace, with an eagerness to rev and an engine note that goes from dulcet to cacophonous as you near the…

It’s some time in 1986. Your correspondent is both 20 years old and an idiot. An idiot on a race track for only the second time in his life. Three things point to impending disaster: the track is Goodwood, then and now one of the least forgiving in the land; the car is a Caterham Super Sprint, over which his gauche and inexperienced limbs exercise at best approximate control; and, fatally, he has a bunch of mates watching from the pits. So when he comes around to the chicane at the end of his very first lap, he decides to show them what he and his car can do. Which is to reverse into an earth bank at great speed, with terminal consequences for the car. And had it not…

Six hundred and eighty five days. That’s how much time will have stretched between Alice Powell pulling off a fabulous victory at Brands Hatch to conclude season one of the W Series and the opening round of season two at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. Since that dramatic finale in August 2019, the all-female initiative was sent into a hibernation that was essential for its survival of the pandemic. Now it’s awake again, and its profile will be raised to new and heady heights by a blessed endorsement from above. In 2021, it’s a Formula 1 support act, appearing on the bill at eight grands prix from here on, its season concluding in Mexico in late October. Opportunity: that’s the key word that Powell and her 20 comrades on…

Chobham route master Your article on the Chobham test track (‘Seen it all before’, 26 May) brought back memories. One was back in the mid-1980s, when I was a graduate engineering trainee and we were testing Routemaster buses with alternative engines. This was a very dull process, mimicking the stop-start nature of a bus route. Relief was provided by cheekily taking the bus through ‘the Snake’ (including double-wishbone front suspension and even weight distribution) is the ability to drift in a predictable way that protects a young driver of little ability from career-limiting incident. A few years later, with a different employer, I was invited to drive the Daf 85 truck at its launch event. We headed off down the straight, pulling a trailer loaded to 40 tonnes with the…

MILEAGE 6111 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see if this car, the first of a kind for BMW, can tackle its established rivals It’s really strange. I knew the 128ti would use less fuel than the Ford Focus ST that it replaced; it’s a little less powerful and has a smaller engine, after all, even if it is a touch heavier. And that’s how it turned out: in my early miles in the car, it would do about 38mpg, which in itself was about 4-5mpg better than I had got used to expecting from the Ford. But lately it’s started using less and less of the stuff. As I write this, I’m recently returned from a trip to London from my home in the Wye Valley. On the way there,…

MILEAGE 4203 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see if a coupé still has a place on today’s SUV-filled roads IT’S FUNNY HOW 20 years of development (or people getting used to something) has turned an object of horror into the best system on the market. BMW’s iDrive was widely panned when it was launched on the 7 Series in 2001 (I can remember customers in dealers staring at it, terrified to touch in case it was a form of modern sorcery), but the system in the M440i is one of the best out there. It feels so natural. Why? The combination of a touchscreen and a dial, coupled with a (largely) seamless Apple CarPlay link. Simply drop an iPhone onto the wireless charging pad and you are good to go,…

Honda CBR1100XX Super Blackbird Cheers to Chris, who has had cars featured here before but now has sent me this fascinating contraption. He says: “Reader’s Ride? I don’t think you’ve featured a bike before, but here goes. This is my 2003 Honda CBR1100XX Super Blackbird, not long ago the holder of the World’s Fastest Bike sewon patch. It enables me to join the horizon in 2.8sec and eventually hit 180mph, all while being about as easy to ride as a moped. Where else could you buy that kind of performance for only two grand? Bangernomics works for bikes, too.”…

BMW iX3 PREMIER EDITION £3096 deposit, £516 per month, 48 months, 8000 miles per year The electric version of the popular X3 is practical, is good to drive and has an official range of 285 miles. It also has a fabulous infotainment system within a smart interior, so it’s a fine choice if you’re looking for a big SUV that can cut your running costs. SKODA ENYAQ iV 60 ECOSUITE NAV 62KWH £2125 deposit, £354 per month, 48 months, 8000 miles per year Comfortable and practical, the Enyaq iV is a great SUV for families looking to go electric. It’s well equipped and in 60 form comes with an official range of 256 miles. Pay extra for the quicker 80 variant and that jumps up to 333 miles. FORD MUSTANG…

Suzuki Swift Sport £1450 As big, heavy and increasingly electric SUVs dominate the market, there’s a growing sense of nostalgia for whizzy little honest runarounds that can cheaply and effectively enliven your Saturday-morning errand runs. The 2005 revival of the Suzuki Swift brought with it the jazzed-up Swift Sport, with its punchy 1.6litre atmo petrol engine good for an agreeable 123bhp. It holds up well when thrown into corners, thanks to its well-put-together chassis, and in years to come will serve as a reminder of how much fun a nippy little hatchback could be.…

When the Ferrari 458 Italia succeeded the F430, we said that it set a new standard for supercars and that it was arguably Maranello’s greatest achievement. It’s certainly one for kids’ bedroom walls, and even now, more than a decade after the 458 was introduced, its mid-mounted 562bhp 4.5-litre atmo V8 is a tasty proposition for a second-hand toy – if you can afford it. The Pininfarina-penned 458 was launched in 2010 with performance on a par with the hallowed F40, although it was touted as the ‘junior’ Ferrari of the time, being positioned just above the entry-level California at a somewhat meagre £175,000. As is always the way, optional extras added substantially to the cost, with some cars commanding a premium of up to £40,000 for goodies including racing…

An owner’s view JASON BURTMAN “I was driven to the 458 because it was the last Pininfarina-designed Ferrari at the time and had the last naturally aspirated Ferrari V8. It has soul that the 488 and F8 Tributo lost. People should look for specific options that they might want, since quite a lot of cars come stripped down with no extra features. I think the 488 will be worth less than a 458 in a few years, so if somebody wants one, they have a small window to get in at a better price before it starts to go up.” Buyer beware… ■ OPTIONAL EXTRAS Optional extras can push up the price of a used 458 to unfathomable levels, so take care to ensure any car you have your eye…

I know it says ‘car’ on the cover of this magazine, not bike, skateboard or freestyle armchair, and certainly not ekranoplan. But I hope that you will forgive the diversity. Pictured above is a ‘flying ferry’ – a description that is, I suppose, correct and, unlike ‘flying car’, one that I’m prepared to accept (on grounds of general excitement, anyway). Brittany Ferries is looking into a ground-effect concept that could have this battery-electric Seaglider (a very slick name) carrying 50-150 people across the Channel by 2028. Regent, the US start-up behind the technology, reckons the Seaglider could do up to 180mph, thus taking it from Portsmouth to Cherbourg in as little as 40 minutes. Another name used for this type of craft is ekranoplan, from when the Soviet navy dabbled…