Innholdsfortegnelse for November 3, 2021 i Autocar

A SUBTLE MID-LIFE facelift for Audi’s flagship, the A8 saloon, ushers in a fresh front end, new trim options and advanced lighting technology. The front grille is wider and the air intakes more upright than before, while the new Digital Matrix LED headlights use 1.3 million mirrors per cluster to emit a finely adjustable “carpet of light”. The rear clusters, meanwhile, now feature digital OLED technology as standard. Elsewhere, there are new upholstery options for the interior, more paint colours and upgraded 10.1in rear infotainment touchscreens.…

THE ALL-IMPORTANT third-generation Mini Countryman has broken cover on public roads for the first time. Due in 2023, the crossover will join the closely related BMW X1 in being offered with a choice of pure-electric and combustion powertrains and will be built on the same line as its X1 sibling in Leipzig, Germany. The SUV duo will move to an evolved version of the current cars’ front-driven UKL platform. Called FAAR, the new architecture can accommodate combustion, hybrid and all-electric powertrains. Crucially, the Countryman will be noticeably bigger than today’s car, with early estimates suggesting a 200mm increase in length to provide enhanced cargo capacity and leg room. Effectively, this increase will bump Mini’s crossover into a new segment, moving it away from rivals such as the Toyota CH-R and…

When two worlds collide, it’s to be expected that the status quo will change dramatically, and that’s what could be about to happen in the car industry when the ‘metaverse’ arrives. Nobody knows when that will happen, but those in and around the software industry are convinced it won’t be long. ‘Metaverse’ means physical reality, augmented reality and virtual reality all rolled into one; and to some extent, it’s already here. It’s a way in which people can interact with each another and objects via virtual avatars, mixing reality with a virtual representation of a world. One of the keys for making the metaverse a reality is Unreal Engine, a software framework developed by Epic Games that underpins a vast array of online video games today. These include the world’s…

SATURDAY Have I met the next Burns-McRae-level British rally star? It’s entirely possible, following an enjoyable trip to Bicester Heritage to watch the national final of the FIA’s Rally Star competition, designed to choose a couple of young local drivers to compete with a platoon of similarly focused young European countries to win a WRC drive. The competition was a two-heat autosolo, with the 18 competitors all driving the same pair of Corsas supplied by Vauxhall. Between heats, the competitors had to cope with tough assessment by Porsche GB’s fitness team. I managed a chat with winners Robert Wilson and Katie Milner, both deadly serious about making it to the top. All praise to Motorsport UK, who backed this and seem to me to be concentrating much harder on youth…

“They’re some of the most mind-bending, exhilarating and exhausting laps you’re ever likely to experience” So what exactly is the McLaren 720S GT3X? One of the fastest track-day weapons ever made? A race car that can’t be raced? A rich person’s plaything? The truth is that it’s all of these things. And it’s also one of the most sensational four-wheeled experiences that (quite a lot of) money can buy. You’re likely to have already seen and read quite a bit about this mighty Macca, but it’s probably worth a quick recap. Essentially, it’s a GT3 racer uncorked; one that dispenses with the closely fought slicks-and-wings-sports-car category’s ‘balance of performance’ power cap of around 500bhp and turns up the wick to 710bhp – or 740bhp if you’re brave enough for the…

MODEL TESTED SF90 STRADALE Price £374,420 • Power 987bhp • Torque na • 0-60mph 2.5sec • 30-70mph in fourth 2.9sec • Economy 24.4mpg (touring) • CO2 emissions 160g/km • 70-0mph 38.5m Viewed through the great prism of electrification by which the automobile is currently framed, the subject of this week’s road test, the SF90 Stradale, would seem to be most significant, because it’s the first plug-in hybrid model to be launched by the world’s defining purveyor of supercars of all shapes and sizes: Ferrari. But while it is accurate to think of it like that, this car has much greater and wider-reaching ambitions than simply to make the modern mid-engined Ferrari concept more responsible, more sustainable and more socially conscious. Make no mistake about it: the SF90 is out to totally…

Having deposed the mighty Bugatti Veyron on straight-line acceleration, the SF90 Stradale took no prisoners on MIRA’s Dunlop circuit. It lapped 0.2sec quicker than the incumbent lap record holder, the McLaren Senna, smashing a benchmark that had stood for more than two years. Getting top performance out of the Cup 2 Rs is key to its pace. As with all super-soft road-legal tyres, there’s only a limited number of laps possible before the grip starts to drop away. On a fresh set of rubber running at optimum temperature, Ferrari claims peak grip lasts only up to lap four or five on a typical circuit. After that, grip level will be at least comparable for 10-15 laps, and then it gradually drops away. (Less soft Cup 2s have better longevity.) On…

1903 We previewed the Motor Car Act, which introduced licences and registration. Plus analysis of the first Vauxhall car and coverage of French and American reliability trials. 1922 An advert for the Vulcan 12hp featured on the cover. The 16th International Motor Exhibition in London dominated the issue, with 556 exhibits. Marconi demonstrated wireless for cars. 1958 This year’s motor show introduced the Aston Martin DB4, Austin A40, Rover P5 and more. We road-tested the Humber Super Snipe and examined the past four years of Formula 1 development. 1975 The new Lancia Beta Monte Carlo impressed our road-testers. “Big brother loomed” as speed cameras were trialled in the UK. The motor show was well attended but “positively disappointing” from an engineering perspective. 1994 We scooped Ford’s £3 billion new Escort…

From the publication of its 12-page launch issue in November 1895, The Autocar scored impressive sales successes, although for its first year of life, the community of motorists and car-minded enthusiasts it served was a grievously oppressed minority. Driving cars or owning them was severely hampered by an iniquitous piece of legislation that restricted all self-propelled vehicles to a maximum speed of 4mph and required them to be preceded by a man on foot, although not, incidentally, carrying a red flag. That stipulation had in fact been removed 20 years earlier, but poorly drafted legislation hadn’t made the fact clear. The hated 4mph limit had been implemented decades earlier to stop huge and heavy steam-powered traction engines damaging Britain’s roads, but it clumsily drew no distinction between 10-tonne road locos…

Red Bull joins exclusive high-scorers club Red Bull Racing notched up its 200th podium finish at the recent US Grand Prix, thanks to Max Verstappen’s victory and Sergio Pérez’s third place. The Milton Keynes-based outfit is just the fifth constructor to reach a double century after Ferrari (which has a record 777), McLaren, Williams and Mercedes. Chadwick secures title double Jamie Chadwick defended her W Series title with a pair of dominant victories in the season finale at the Circuit of the Americas. The 23-year-old had entered the race weekend tied on points with Alice Powell. Chadwick’s title win means the Williams-backed driver now has enough FIA Superlicence points to take part in F1 practice sessions. Rosberg team closes in on Extreme E title Rosberg X Racing duo Johan Kristoffersson…

20-PAGE SPECIAL FEATURE Britain’s Best Driver’s Car 2021 Our annual super showdown pits 10 of the finest-driving cars you can buy today against each other on road and track EVERY WEEK FIRST DRIVE Ferrari 812 Competizione What’s faster and more super than a Superfast? This sold-out supercar ROAD TEST Genesis G70 Posh Hyundai or true BMW 3 Series rival? We find out over eight pages SUBSCRIBE autocar.co.uk/subscribe or see p40…

MILEAGE 4800 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To discover whether a drop-top Mini could be the perfect car for summer Do you like the winter? Despite being born in December (see p52 for more birthday tales), I truly despise it. It’s always cold, it’s usually raining, it’s dark most of the time and, as a result, nothing fun happens. And this feeling has been heightened by me being in possession of a drop-top car. Convertibles really are cars for the summer, and perhaps none more so than the soft-top version of the Mini three-door, with its buoyant persona. During the warmer months, I would put the roof down literally every time I drove unless rain stopped play. But as autumn has heralded the dreaded winter, I’ve been far less inclined. Running…

Citroën C1 Thanks to Meilyr for sharing this great little car with us. “Chloe, my stepdaughter, bought this C1, christened Frankie, for £1200 three years ago and learned to drive in it,” he writes. “It’s had a few minor issues, but the independent garage we use has been fantastic. I’ve used lots of cable ties and a glue gun to keep it in good order. Oil and filter changes, bulbs, wipers and a battery change were easy. It’s 10 years old and done over 128,000 miles on the original clutch. You sense that PSA and Toyota had a good natter over about making a car that was cheap to run and easy to work on. This is the only decent photo I could find as Chloe has gone back to…

Fiat Coupé £4200 While many Fiat Coupés were lost to the government scrappage scheme of 2008, those that remain are steadily rising in price and represent one of the finest little sports cars around. Drivers had a choice of a few 2.0-litre options, ranging from a naturally aspirated 135bhp engine to the supremely desirable turbocharged in-line five with 214bhp. Capable of 0-62mph in 6.3sec with a top speed of 150mph, the Coupé turbo has the performance of a brand-new hot hatch of today, but some might argue it has more charm. It was designed by Chris Bangle, who would later move to BMW, and featured an interior styled by Pininfarina. Today, a Coupé will set you back anywhere between £1500 and £6000. A late-model turbo we found came in at…

An owner’s view DAVID GREEN “I own four Biturbos, and I love them. The model has a reputation for rust and poor build quality, but in my view, it was a victim of neglect. The engine was too advanced, panels were welded on rather than bolted and there were few dealers, so cars were run into the ground. They were never intended for Britain’s roads: muck gets flung up behind the headlights and corrosion takes hold. Keep the area clean and rust-proofed and it will be fine. My daily driver is a 2.5 coupé. It’s quick, reliable and rust-free. Prices are rising, so buy a good Biturbo for the right money and you will have an appreciating classic.” Buyer beware… ▪ ENGINE A full history with oil and timing belt…

My colleagues at Autocar Japan have tested the new Subaru BRZ and Toyota GR 86 back to back. You might recall that the original BRZ and GT86 were mechanically identical, and if there was a difference between the two in the way that they drove, at most it would have been via minor suspension geometry and tyre-pressure changes – or imagined. I like the Toyobaru so much that it’s my favourite car of the past decade. This time around, the differences are supposed to be greater. As before, Subaru is looking after the general development and build of the cars, and while both still share common hardware, Autocar Japan reports that Toyota has a team embedded at Subaru and the collaboration is deeper, which gave both sets of engineers the…

GOT A STORY? Email our news editor felix.page@haymarket.com “The new SL adopts a totally fresh look with more overt cab-backwards proportions” Mercedes-AMG has revealed the seventh generation of the SL roadster, which brings back the fabric roof and 2+2 layout of earlier incarnations and receives both four-wheel drive and four-wheel steering as standard. The R232-generation SL, which is set for UK sales early next year, has been developed by the AMG performance division and is expected to share its drivetrains, chassis, electrical architecture and other key components with the second-generation AMG GT, which is due in 2023. An all-new aluminium platform, consisting of a spaceframe and a self-supporting body structure, is significantly more rigid than that of the previous SL, which used Mercedes’ Modular Rear Architecture (MRA) platform. Transverse rigidity…

CUPRA HAS BEEN a standalone entity for four years now, and it’s high time to consider it as a fully fledged brand in its own right, according to Seat and Cupra CEO Wayne Griffiths. “I see them as two brands with clear identities under one company, both within the Volkswagen Group,” he said. “It irritates me when I see Cupra written as Seat’s sub-brand. Cupra is a standalone brand within the same company.” “HOW CAN IT be called a Turbo when it doesn’t have an engine?” screamed critics when Porsche revealed the model name for its top-rung Taycan, and they will no doubt be just as riled by the hottest version of the electric Macan arriving next year. Porsche SUV boss Sebastian Staiger told Autocar that the petrol-engined Macan Turbo…

CHEVROLET HAS UNVEILED the track-focused Corvette ZO6 with a race-derived 5.5-litre engine that’s said to be “the most powerful naturally aspirated V8 in production”. The engine adopts a series of revisions including dual overhead cams and a flat-plane crank that, aside from providing a distinctive engine note, helps raise the redline from 6500rpm to 8600rpm and power from 496bhp to 670bhp. The car also receives a bespoke aero-focused styling pack and a raft of dynamic enhancements aimed at boosting track performance, while weight has dropped around 100kg to 1561kg. Production will begin in the summer of next year, with right-hand-drive cars available from the start. UK pricing details will be confirmed nearer its launch.…

TOYOTA’S STRIKING bZ4X electric SUV concept has made it through to production relatively unchanged and is headed for dealerships in early 2022 as the Japanese brand’s first mainstream passenger EV. Roughly the same size as the conventionally fuelled RAV4, the bZ4X is the first electric car from a new joint venture between Toyota and Subaru. The near-identical Solterra will be launched by Subaru soon after. Like the concept, the five-seat bZ4X prioritises utility and durability, with its battery promised to retain 90% of its usable capacity even after a decade of use. Precise performance and charging details will be confirmed at the SUV’s European debut on 2 December, before reservations go live on 15 December. Although the bZ4X is a close match for the RAV4 in size, Toyota highlights its…

The Ferrari 296 GTB has become the first drivable real-life car in the world’s biggest online video game, Fortnite, which is produced by Epic Games using its Unreal Engine software. Ferrari has been working with Unreal Engine since 2017 to produce the 296 GTB configurator and other material, including the promotional videos on the Ferrari website. It’s taking what it calls an omni-channel approach to presentation, so whichever aspect of it interests you, the experience is the same, making it more accessible. The 296 GTB configurator was Ferrari’s first step in using Unreal Engine, and from there, it expanded its use into other parts of its digital visual systems. Ferrari soon realised the potential of a video-game engine for film-making. For the 296 GTB’s launch videos, it used huge LED…

As soon as you step into the Wells Vertige, sliding into its snug driver’s seat and pulling its overhead dihedral door closed with a thump, you know you’re in a car that’s both special and different. It’s the door itself that provides the first sign: you can literally feel the depth of the engineering, despite the fact that the two automotive zealots who have spent the past five-and-a-half years creating this car, an engineer and an entrepreneur, have already warned you that the sealing of the doors in this third-generation prototype hasn’t yet reached their exacting standards. Until this moment, you’ve had to take everything the pair have told you on trust. Since 2016, they’ve been working in a secluded engineering works near Southam, designing and building a car that…

Remarkably, the average Rolls-Royce buyer, at 43, is younger than the average Mini buyer within the BMW Group. A key part of that phenomenon has emerged within the past five years with the launch of the Black Badge model range, which has really now found its niche particularly among younger buyers in the world’s emerging megacities. That treatment, which began with the Wraith in 2016, now arrives on the second-generation Rolls-Royce Ghost, and it is more than just a sporty trim level. You can have the car in any of Rolls’ 44,000 paint colour options, although black remains the most popular choice. There’s more power, too, and a new driving mode, called Low (whatever you do, don’t call it Sport) that sharpens gearshifts and throttle response and is accessed by…

Ferrari offers the SF90 in closed-roof Stradale and convertible Spider bodystyles, the latter priced more expensively than the former and nudging through the £400k barrier. The most significant optional feature is the Assetto Fiorano specification, which can be had on either body and adds uprated dampers, extra weight-saving body panels and suspension hardware, a larger rear wing and sticky Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres. It will add just under £40k to your car’s price. Other key options that might also be considered trim levels in their own right include carbonfibre wheels (£19,200), carbonfibre bucket seats (£5760) and two-tone striped paintwork (£20,160).…

VERDICT The Ferrari SF90 Stradale has just catapulted its way into a special place in the Autocar road test archives. No other car has ever accelerated harder with our timing gear attached to it and not one has ever lapped our benchmark handling circuit as quickly as this. Those facts are monuments to the way Maranello has set out to tackle the challenge of electrification. The company could have entered the market with a mid-engined hybrid sooner than it has, but it chose instead to bide its time as others made the leap. On the basis of how fast it is, the slickness with which it operates, how robustly it can keep on lapping and more, the SF90 vindicates that decision in so many ways. Many ways, but not quite…

EACH AND EVERY week since 1895, save for strikes and a fuel crisis (no, not the recent one), The Autocar magazine has been published ‘in the interests of the mechanically propelled carriage’. Put all of our magazines together and it becomes the definitive history of the car. As a primary resource in the motoring world, it’s invaluable. While our archive – our history – is a fabulous resource, it has always been largely locked away. A handful of complete collections exist, both privately and publicly, if you have the time and inclination to find the latter, as well as our own that until recently was stored in a nondescript room in the basement of our Twickenham headquarters. Seven months ago, the archive was loaded up into some vans (the whole…

‘I really wish I weren’t living through a major historical event right now.’ It was meant as dark humour, but this post that appeared on my Twitter timeline in the murky depths of March 2020 made me realise that the Covid-19 pandemic would genuinely be a period forever remembered and analysed. More significantly, it meant that the daily reporting of all of us at Autocar would be looked upon as part of a historical record. In truth, although pandemics, world wars, oil crises, key car launches, engineering innovations, company failings, worker strikes and legislative upheaval (no bigger example of which can be found than that occurring as you read these words) expectedly come to be seen as major markers, everything on which we report and every letter from a reader…

The importance of the 1896 Emancipation Run to the growth of a British motor industry was not lost on its organisers, who admonished entrants to “remember that motor cars are on trial in England and that any rashness or carelessness might injure the industry in this country”. Even so, there was no return to the London-Brighton route for more than 30 years. A few shorter commemorations were held, but it wasn’t until 1927 that a ‘full’ event was staged, sponsored by the Daily Sketch newspaper, which, prompted by The Autocar, became curious about how many cars over 21 years old were still running. Surprisingly, 51 cars were entered, 44 made the start and 37 finished. From then until now, the run has been held annually for pre-1905 cars, with breaks…

Sporting promoters have been known to exaggerate attendance figures for effect. But judging by images of vast numbers of fans packing into the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, the recent US Grand Prix was an honest-to-goodness sell-out. COTA is now well established, having been a popular fixture on the F1 calendar since 2012, but this year’s event seemed to reflect a new surge in interest. Being the first US GP in two years (it didn’t run last year, due to the pandemic) likely helped. But the key reason cited by organisers, F1 bosses and much of the American media was the Netflix effect. The documentary series Formula 1: Drive to Survive premiered in 2019 and anecdotally has been hugely popular. It’s hard to know for sure, since Netflix…

PORSCHE ISN’T A marque especially associated with rallying, but it has actually scored some great results. Here’s a good example: “The 1969 Acropolis Rally will go down in the records as a battle of the giants – Ford against Porsche,” we reported from Greece. Ford had brought three Escort Twin-Cams and Porsche a 911S duo; while the only other works entry came from minnow Daf. “Ford’s Ove Andersson was fastest on the first stage, a 10km ‘pipewarmer’ for the really tough stuff, although Björn Waldegård’s 911S was only 1sec slower. “At Souli, [Porsche’s] Pauli Toivonen was fastest, and he repeated this performance at Kastanea. “Two stages later, at Harokopion, Roger Clark lost his rally. The Escort became jammed on its sump shield, the left-front wing smashed against a tree. Ten…

WRITE TO autocar@haymarket.com Government advisor I would like to share a letter I posted to transport secretary Grant Shapps: Dear Sir, I agree with your concern about the dangers of smart motorways. My proposal to markedly reduce the number of fatalities is simple. Coincidental with the introduction of smart motorways has been the placement of Armco barriers adjacent to the nearside border of the motorway. These prevent any stricken vehicle from getting off the motorway. Such barriers should be moved away from the motorway by a lane’s width thereby enabling any stricken vehicle to take refuge on the verge that would then be accessible. This would be possible on the vast majority of the length of motorways, exceptions being typically under bridges and on flyovers. In most weather conditions vehicles…

QUESTION I want to buy a new car but I’ve read about supply issues and semiconductor shortages. What sort of waiting time should I expect?Steve Cross, via email ANSWER Each manufacturer has been affected differently by the supply shortages. What Car? research found that the average waiting time for most brands was between four and six months. Jaguar Land Rover, however, has reported a wait of up to 12 months on some models. Some specification levels are more affected than others: Mercedes-Benz and Ford both previously dropped certain electronic options from their models. Thankfully, some car makers including Nissan believe the “toughest months” are over, although problems remain. JW QUESTION We are moving out of London and away from the dreaded ULEZ expansion zone, so I can finally buy a…

Isuzu Vehicross £9800 Some might reasonably argue that car design is becoming increasingly homogenised as the years go by. But one car with its own sci-fi character (and certainly a unique one at that) is the Isuzu Vehicross, a mid-size SUV produced by the Japanese car maker before it moved exclusively to the truck and pick-up markets. The Vehicross was never intended for the UK market. It made its debut at the 1993 Tokyo motor show and four years later went into production with few changes made to its design. Two-door SUVs were nothing new (the Land Rover Defender and Jeep Wrangler were already well established), but the Vehicross possessed its own rugged and distinctive styling. Based on the platform of the Isuzu Trooper, the model featured 16in wheels with…

BRIEF Can I have a yellow car that looks cool for less than £10,000, please? OLIVER YOUNG The Ford Puma is – or rather was – a compact, Ford Fiesta-based coupé with a cute yet athletic design. This particular example is yellow, as requested, and is one of 1000 Millennium-spec cars produced, meaning it has a leather interior complete with sporty Recaro seats. And the sportiness doesn’t stop there, because its naturally aspirated 1.7-litre engine has variable valve timing courtesy of Yamaha. Okay, its 123bhp isn’t much, but the Puma only weighs a little over 1000kg. It’s fun, agile and a future classic. MARK PEARSON Speaking of future classics, welcome to my mellow yellow Porsche Boxster. You see, the thing about this is that you can buy it now and keep…

THE MINISTRY-BLUE Invacar is well remembered, but not so 1982’s Elswick Envoy, despite the fact that it was more truly a car and could be driven directly from a wheelchair. Based on a 1972 William Towns concept for a Mini replacement, it was developed by Elswick, Turner and GKN, with co-operation from British Leyland and Reliant, which made the glassfibre wedge body. Bespoke adaptations included electrohydraulically lowering rear suspension to “make it easier for the owner to propel his [Elswick-supplied strengthened] chair through the rear door and into the clips which anchor it behind the wheel” and power assistance for the normally geared steering. The Envoy was exempted from VAT, putting it at £7400 – about £26,700 in today’s money. Very few were made, however, as adaptations for regular cars…

THE RAKISH-ROOFED new ID 5 is the third member of Volkswagen’s family of bespoke EVs, joining the ID 3 hatchback and the closely related ID 4 crossover in UK dealerships in the first quarter of 2022. The standard rear-driven ID 5 will be offered from around the £47,000 mark with a familiar choice of 172bhp and 201bhp motors, which get it from 0-62mph in 10.4sec and 8.4sec respectively. A 77kWh battery (standard in the UK) offers a maximum range of 323 miles – a slight boost over the straight-backed ID 4, courtesy of the new car’s improved aerodynamics. The ID 5 matches the ID 4’s 135kW maximum charging rate, too, so it can be topped up to 80% in less than 30 minutes. Like its sibling, the ID 5 will…

The new Ora Cat, a Chinese-built electric hatchback due on sale in the UK from December and priced from just £25,000, has been revealed with efficiency and performance figures that outshine several key rivals’. Launched in China in 2018 and confirmed for a European roll-out at the Munich motor show in September, the Cat is the newest model from the nascent, electric-only Ora subbrand formed by automotive giant Great Wall Motors (GWM). Five years after pulling the uncompetitive Steed pick-up from sale in the UK, GWM is re-entering the market with models from Ora and the more premium-oriented Wey marque, whose plug-in hybrid Coffee 01 SUV is due to arrive in Europe next year. What most obviously marks the Cat out from other EVs at this price point is its…

This is our first look at the next-generation Mini three-door hatchback, which is due to be launched in 2023. It will spearhead a wide-ranging reform of the Mini line-up, under which the brand will enter new segments, overhaul its production processes and go completely electric by the early 2030s. The hatchback will continue to be built at Oxford (which will also host production of the Convertible variant, currently built by VDL Nedcar in the Netherlands, from 2025), with Mini committing to the future of its British factory as “the home of the Mini brand”. Despite the car’s heavy camouflage, it’s plain to see that Mini’s flagship model will retain the squat, compact proportions that have been core to its appeal since it was relaunched by BMW in 2000. However, revamped…

THE OLD EXPRESSION ‘I would like to pick your brains for a minute’ could soon become literal as car manufacturers look for ways to read a driver’s mind. Ford recently announced a research programme in collaboration with Uniklinik RWTH in Aachen, Germany (which conveniently is also the location of Ford’s Aachen Research and Innovation Centre), to see if it’s possible to spot dangerous lapses of concentration more quickly by monitoring brain activity. The researchers hope to identify brain responses that indicate imminent lapses in concentration caused by driver fatigue. The aim is to try to link those brain responses to physical manifestations, such as a change in heartbeat rate, which could be detected by wearable technology and allow the car to give the driver a nudge. Trials involve a subject…

Engineer Robin Hall (pictured below) has worked hard to incorporate into the Vertige’s basic engineering entrepreneur Robin Wells’ (above) key requirement that the car should be easy to own. The front and rear tubular suspension subframes are accurately manufactured and specifically designed for ease of replacement – an extremely unusual feature of low-volume cars. The same goes for the all-independent coilover suspension, whose cast aluminium wide-spaced lower wishbones are identical side to side and front and rear. The philosophy extends to the brakes, which are highly effective but use commonly available parts, and to the wheel and tyre choice. The car runs Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tyres, an excellent high-performance design, but they’re sensibly sized, at 205/45 ZR17, to limit both replacement cost and aerodynamic drag. With a kerb weight…

For the first time in M3 history, this is one with four-wheel drive. Today’s M3 has 503bhp, so BMW wonders if the rear tyres might need assistance from the fronts. Something akin to an Audi RS, then. In everyday driving, you’re barely meant to know the system is there: drive goes to the rear, just like in an ordinary M3. But if the back wheels slip, the xDrive system sends torque forwards, too. The amount diverted forwards varies depending on how the rear slips, but it can be selected by the driver, too. There’s Normal 4WD mode and Sport 4WD (which is slightly more rear biased), or, if the stability control is switched off, the xDrive can be bypassed so you just have rear-wheel drive, complete with that M3 system…

1 FERRARI SF90 STRADALE Announces the hybrid supercar era loud and proud for its outright speed, but less so for its limit handling finesse. 2 HONDA NSX Not a plug-in hybrid so doesn’t compare in some ways on paper. Not dissimilar from the SF90 to drive, albeit only subjectively. McLAREN ARTURA Positioned to be a rival for the upcoming 296 GTB rather than the SF90; still hardly a junior contender. Drive verdict soon. KOENIGSEGG REGERA It sold out in 2017, but the production run of this V8 hybrid is still ongoing. We’ve yet to drive one. ASTON MARTIN VALHALLA Gaydon’s ‘son of Valkyrie’ PHEV supercar will probably be the SF90’s closest notional rival, but it isn’t due until 2023.…

The moment it moved on from a ‘wouldn’t it be great if…’ conversation to something more concrete, I might have let out a small yelp of joy. Taking a trip to the Autocar archive, usually tucked discreetly down some stairs in whichever office Haymarket Media Group has occupied at the time, has been one of the pleasures of working here. A pleasure denied for too long to too many people. Some libraries and museums have back issues of Autocar, but standing among a full run of issues, which report almost the entire history of the car and which are neatly bound and searchable via handwritten or typed index cards, is a great way to lose an afternoon and miss a deadline. Or two. Then came the email from Jim Holder,…

It will never be as popular as Formula 1, but the humble world of hillclimbing is home to some of the most – and, to be fair, least – powerful cars in the world and some of the closest competition. There aren’t many other echelons of motorsport where you can walk around the same paddock to find an OMS 28 and a Citroën 2CV, and this is one of the fundamental allures of hillclimbing for many. The breadth and depth of cars in any one event is impressive, and for enthusiasts, it’s often a joyous combination of bangers and flash. The essentials of hillclimbing are as simple as they come: to drive your car from the bottom of a hill to the top of it as quickly as possible. No…

Jim Holder hit the nail squarely on the head in the final paragraph of his 6 October column. We are without doubt going to see in the run-up to 2030 (and beyond) governments applying all sorts of punitive taxes to remove ICE cars from the roads in a bid to show how green they are. My worry is, as Jim succinctly said, the impact this will have on society. Who will suffer the most? Those who can least afford. I look around my local supermarket and see a high number of £1000-£2000 cars. Why? Surely it’s because that’s all their owners can afford. Will we ever see the same-value EVs, Ford Mondeo size, to take families shopping, on holiday, on jaunts out and to work? Please don’t mention public transport,…

MILEAGE 6390 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To find out if this hot-rod Boxster can sustain its appeal with day-to-day use Boxsters seem unlikely track-day cars, don’t they? I’m not sure why this is. The ingredients have always been there: a low centre of gravity, innately good weight distribution, intuitive steering and, if you want, an LSD between the rear wheels, for added traction – or added neatness, if you’re going beyond the limits of the tyres. People race Boxsters the world over, yet it rarely gets mentioned as fodder for the occasional track-day goer. Why? Tin-tops are preferred for very hard driving because they’re stiffer and more precise, so the spectre of the Cayman looms large. But the Boxster has always been better in terms of stiffness than the average…

MILEAGE 133,767 LAND ROVER SERIES 3 While the Flying Pig was stuck at the MOT station waiting for fresh bolts, the Lorry turned up and got its ticket with no advisories. It felt all the better for the visit even though all I had asked them to do was change the oil. They had the Pig as a hostage so I didn’t pay for the Lorry or see any paperwork proof that they had done anything mechanical, or otherwise, to the old girl. It just felt smoother, which is an oxymoron really. The following day it was loaded up with a gas bottle, seven packs of flooring and four bags of compost. I know it can go down a mountain at walking speed, but it also makes a great van.…

Porsche knows how to build a sports car. Its expertise spans more than 70 years, and for many there’s no finer example of the Porsche craft than the Boxster. In current 718 form, the Boxster driving experience is yet another masterclass, and after five years on the market, it has become a compelling used buy. However, before we sing its praises any further, a much-discussed elephant in the room must be addressed: its engine range. While previous-generation Boxsters have featured flat-six engines only, the 718 version was introduced with a range of turbocharged flat fours: a 295bhp 2.0-litre for the standard car, a 345bhp 2.5-litre for the S and a 360bhp 2.5-litre for the GTS that arrived in 2018. As a result, the model isn’t quite as operatic as its…

The Amphicar of 1960 to 1965 rose to fame as the only mass-produced amphibious vehicle available to the public. It’s equally as capable on the road as it is sailing down river, driven by a 45bhp four-cylinder Triumph Herald engine that also drives two reversible propellers at the rear. The Amphicar is capable of up to seven knots on water or 70mph on Tarmac. Just 4000 were produced, and prices are rising, thanks to its rarity. This one is Official Boat Safety Scheme-certified, has an MOT for use on UK roads and has been restored to be E10-fuel-compliant. Most remaining models are in the possession of Disney’s resorts, but this one spent some of its life in the Beverly Hills Car Club. It sold for £57,000, having received an £83,000…

Back in 2013, the Ghibli was hailed as the future saviour of Maserati: a BMW 5 Series rival that would hit 50,000 sales per year by 2015. But things haven’t worked out like that – and it’s not the first time. In 1981, Maserati launched the Biturbo, a BMW 3 Series rival, with the same aim and sales ambitions. However, while high running costs and class-trailing dynamics blunted the Ghibli’s appeal, for the Biturbo it was an even more damning blend of inferior build quality and poor reliability that made sales decline. Thus the coupé version, the mainstay of the line-up, lasted only until 1990 (the open-top Spyder version continued until 1994) and only about 700 Biturbos were sold in the UK. Today, few people have a kind word to…

A road test in any other magazine might well be a short, subjective summary of a new car produced under almost any circumstances, but the Autocar road test is different. Specific, rigorous and detailed, it’s the closest examination we can give of any new model. It appears over at least eight pages and is close to 50 man-hours in the making every week. Most of what the road test process entails is designed to be strictly repeatable and fair. We benchmark standing-start and in-gear acceleration at a purpose-built test facility every week. We carry out both subjective and objective handling tests on both road and track, on the latter up to and beyond the limit of grip, so as to fully assess stability, drivability and limit handling appeal. And while…