Innholdsfortegnelse for October 19, 2022 i Autocar

Mercedes-Benz has unveiled the EQE SUV and confirmed that plans for a five-strong model line-up include a 677bhp EQE 53 4Matic+ range-topper from its AMG performance car division. Set for UK sale in early 2023, the EQE SUV is Mercedes’ ninth electric model and will arrive as the second-most-expensive offering in the EQ range. It will sit below the EQS SUV, which is expected to cost from around £130,000 when it arrives later this year. This suggests pricing for the EQE SUV could start from around the £100,000 mark, although this has not yet been confirmed by Mercedes. When it arrives, it will be the fourth car to be based on the brand’s second-generation EVA (Electric Vehicle Architecture) platform, following the EQS saloon, EQE saloon and EQS SUV. The BMW…

Chinese-backed, German-based company Apollo has revealed an electric sports car prototype, previewing technology that will underpin its future EVs. The firm, which in its original guise built the Gumpert Apollo from 2005 and in 2017 began selling the Intensa Emozione, has been developing the G2J for more than two years. The rolling prototype is constructed of lightweight composite materials, including carbonfibre, and takes the form of a small, sleek, aerodynamic coupé with a space-age design. The G2J is currently being used to test and refine Apollo’s electric powertrain, connectivity and digital ecosystem technology. No powertrain or performance details have been announced, however. While it does preview future Apollo electric cars, the G2J’s design isn’t directly indicative of the firm’s upcoming electric sports car concept, it has confirmed. That will be…

CRATE ENGINES ARE an American tradition, beloved of racers and hot-rod builders and accurately named, as that’s exactly what they are: complete engines delivered to your door in a wooden crate. In recent years, Swindon Powertrain has taken a similar approach to off-the-shelf EV powertrains. Smaller companies wanting to produce niche vehicles or just get started in the EV market can buy Swindon’s ‘crate’ e-drivetrains and e-transmissions. And now there are battery solutions to go with them. Swindon’s energy-dense packs are aimed at light-duty vehicles of up to 3500kg, meaning cars, vans and LCVs. They come in two sizes, 30kWh and 60kWh, the latter of which should make it possible to build low-volume EVs with meaningful range. Continuous power output is 31kW for the smaller pack and 61kW for the…

THE NEXT-GENERATION Mini Convertible will be built in Oxford, the brand’s boss has confirmed. Stefanie Wurst said production of the Convertible will return to Britain from the Netherlands in its next generation in 2024 or 2025. It will be built at Mini’s spiritual home alongside petrol-engined versions of the three-door and five-door Mini hatchbacks in their next era, due to be launched from November 2023. “The Convertible is coming home,” said Wurst on the decision. The next generation of Minis will span six models built on three platforms in three factories. Oxford will build petrol versions of the hatchbacks and Convertible. Leipzig in Germany will produce electric and petrol versions of a new, bigger Countryman SUV. And Zhangjiagang in China will build the electric hatchback and Aceman electric crossover. Wurst…

“I FELT LIKE I needed an adult with me,” said 2022 British Touring Car Championship winner Tom Ingram after clinching his first crown in a typically nail-biting Brands Hatch finale. “Somebody to come in the passenger seat and say: ‘It’s okay, just chill! It will all be fine.’” It was, despite the tension, when Ingram prevailed over rivals Ash Sutton, Jake Hill and Colin Turkington to deliver maiden BTCC titles for the Excelr8 team and Hyundai. Third in the standings and seven points behind Sutton coming into the weekend, Ingram took the initiative with a vital pole position on Saturday, then converted that into his fifth and sixth wins of the year in the opening two races. Team-mate Dan Lloyd led the reverse-grid final all the way, with Ingram scoring…

Suzuki’s SX4 S-Cross has just become available with a full-hybrid powertrain, in addition to the mild-hybrid one it has had since its launch late last year. This is a car we liked in its launch form. It’s a fairly compact crossover, 4.3 metres long and not so tall that the driving experience is tottery but with better-than-hatchback levels of ground clearance and a four-wheel-drive option that makes it endearing to those who live in the sticks. That appeal is bolstered by the fact Suzuki has quite a number of rural dealers with whom private customers enjoy a fair relationship and that its cars are generally reliable. There’s quite a lot to be said for all of that. Into an arena packed with small crossovers, then – mostly more glamorous than…

A mid this barrage of new models from Kia (in the past year, it has brought us the EV6, Sportage and Niro), the Xceed probably isn’t front of mind. It is a bit of an unusual concept: it’s a taller Ceed hatchback, but the only body panels it shares with its sibling are its doors. Even so, it’s much less of a SUV than the Niro, let alone the Sportage. Despite its slightly confusing positioning, UK buyers have taken to the Xceed, making it Kia’s third-best-selling model. And now Kia has given it a facelift: look out for the more ‘technical’ LED lights at the front and the rear, the revised front grille, the redesigned bumpers and the mock rear diffuser. At the same time, Kia UK has taken the…

1 McLAREN ARTURA A technical marvel that wears its hybrid tech lightly, and uses it judiciously but effectively. Could be more dramatic, but little more expertly positioned or executed. 2 LAMBORGHINI HURACAN TECNICA Sant’Agata’s old-world junior supercar has become deeply convincing in rear-driven, four-wheel-steered form. Epic. 3 MASERATI MC20 Another nimble, lithe-feeling Italian option that would be easy to get plenty of use from, though the V6 engine is a little lacking in supercar star quality. FERRARI 296 GTB Artura’s nearest rival notionally isn’t so closely matched on price. We will rank it here only after a full UK road test, which is coming soon. ACURA NSX TYPE S Run-out NSX has grown extra power and torque but won’t be sold officially in the UK. We have yet to test…

To truly grasp the scale of the GMC Hummer EV, just look at its battery pack. It’s gargantuan in every sense. Effectively two 106kWh packs stacked atop each other, it has a capacity of 212kWh and weighs in excess of 1300kg – so more than a Ford Focus. But it needs to be big to match the vehicle that it inhabits. An electric reinvention of the old Hummer, derived from the Humvee military vehicle, it is both bulky and heavy. In fact, at 4111kg, it couldn’t even be driven on a standard car licence in the UK. Yet it really can shift: thanks to a 1000bhp tri-motor powertrain, it can sprint from 0-62mph in three seconds, and it has a top speed of 106mph. It’s a supercar in tank form.…

As an avid Autocar fan and a lover of Mercedes-AMG products, I was keen to read your piece on the new C63 S in the 28 September issue (after tittering at your ‘zero CO2’ comment about electric cars as we head into winter). It’s a sad demise for the C63 in my opinion, having owned both the W204 and the W205 variants. To me, the best was the W204. The madness of a 6.2-litre V8 in a small saloon was intoxicating. This was the height of AMG’s influence within Mercedes-Benz; since then, the marketing boys have dumbed down on AMG Line variants of all the Mercedes models. I realise that many people think EVs are the future, but let’s not kid ourselves: all cars have an environmental impact. Even the…

While there are some vivacious electric cars out there, we aren’t going to try to fool you into thinking Kia’s e-Niro is one of them. It doesn’t have the athleticism of the Porsche Taycan, the sharp design of the Hyundai Ioniq 5 or the cutting-edge tech of the Tesla Model 3. But then a car doesn’t require amazing dynamics, otherworldly aesthetics or futuristic features to be great. When it arrived back in 2019, the e-Niro was a game-changing EV – the first reasonably price done to easily fit into people’s lives. It could truly stick it to the conventional family car, and it still can when bought used. And there are a good many to browse, because it ran until the Niro EV arrived this year to continue the legacy.…

The new Rolls-Royce Spectre will be launched next year as the British luxury brand’s first electric production car, promising refinement and performance on a par with – if not superior to – today’s combustion-powered models while introducing bold new design cues and advanced technical capabilities. Based on Rolls-Royce’s aluminium Architecture of Luxury platform – and thus unrelated to parent company BMW’s range-topping EVs – the Spectre arrives as part of a rapid-fire electrification initiative that will result in the West Sussex firm phasing out its V12 engine and selling only electric cars from 2030. Company CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös told Autocar that, in this sense, the Spectre is as important as the 1906 Silver Ghost – Rolls-Royce’s first production effort, hailed by Autocar’s contemporary road testers as “the best car in…

The reborn Renault 4 is a retro-styled electric crossover primed to become the French brand’s best-selling EV when it launches in 2025. Twinned with the lower-slung and similarly nostalgic 5 supermini, it will be the second car to use Renault’s compact CMF-BEV architecture and will be built alongside the 5 at Renault’s new ElectriCity production hub in northern France. The 4 has appeared for the first time in concept form at the Paris motor show, wearing an outlandish off-road-themed bodykit in reference to the modified Renault 4s that take part in the yearly 4L Trophy rally across the Moroccan desert. The original 4 was a hugely important car for Renault and sold more than eight million units across a three-decade production run. Renault is hinting at similar volume aspirations for…

SONY HONDA MOBILITY, the joint venture formed earlier this year, will deliver its first car in spring 2026. The vehicle is expected to be an electric SUV in the mould of the Sony Vision-S 02 concept and will major on autonomy and in-car entertainment. To that end, bespoke system-on-chip (SoC) computer hardware will be developed, targeting processing power of 800 tera operations per second (TOPS). This is around eight times more powerful than the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8’s processor (used in smartphones such as the Samsung Galaxy S20). This will allow for level-three autonomy “under limited conditions” – likely to be motorways – and level two-plus driver assistance in urban environments. Pre-orders will begin in the first half of 2025, with deliveries starting in spring 2026 in the US, where it…

Back in 2016, Chinese start-up NextEV relaunched itself at a party held in Chelsea, London. The electric car company would now be called Nio, said founder William Li while showcasing its first model, the 1306bhp EP9 hypercar. Fast-forward to 2022 and Nio is regularly billed as China’s answer to Tesla for its focus on digital experience, innovative charging (or rather battery swaps) and performance from its practical range of SUVs and saloons. Nio is now fairly well established in China, with total sales of just under 250,000 vehicles as of 30 September, and last year it ventured into the competitive European premium market, beginning with Norway. Earlier this October, Nio expanded its footprint in Europe with a line-up that very closely matches Tesla’s (the Model 3, Model Y and Model…

Chevrolet clearly likes a challenge. The last Z06 Corvette used a supercharged version of General Motors’ long-lived pushrod ‘small block’ V8, and there’s no obvious reason to an outsider why the track-focused version of the C8 generation couldn’t have taken the same route to increased performance. Yet instead, the new Z06 gets an all-new naturally aspirated 5.5-litre V8 that uses both a flat-plane crank and twin-cam cylinder heads to produce a very impressive peak of 670bhp. There are plenty of changes, but the V8 is the transformational one, radically altering the character of the car. While the usual Corvette has a burbling idle and is curtailed by a lowly 6500rpm redline, the Z06 fires up like a race car and snarls its way to 8500rpm before the limiter calls time,…

MODEL TESTED ARTURA Price £189,200 • Power 671bhp • Torque 531lb ft • 0-60mph 3.2sec • 30-70mph in fourth 4.1sec • Fuel economy 25.9mpg • CO2 emissions 104g/km • 70-0mph 80.2m It is now 30 years since the launch of the seminal McLaren F1; more than 20 since years Woking built what became the Mercedes SLR McLaren; and over a decade since it set up shop as a car brand in its own right with the MP4-12C. And still McLaren Automotive’s struggle to establish itself in the irresistibly attritional business of modern supercar making goes on. While its key rivals in Maranello, Stuttgart and Sant’Agata continue to reap the rewards of their investments in electrified models, in SUVs or in both, McLaren’s biggest success over the past five years seems simply…

The Artura’s track handling is a credit to McLaren’s motorsport pedigree, and its commitment to making the lightest, leanest car possible here. It is not only fast and flat-handling, but also poised, controllable and enjoyable, and it has great stamina. The new differential adds the dose of traction and predictable handling adjustability on corner exit that many previous McLarens missed out on. The front axle is steady, stable and communicative, and you can depend on it fully when piling hard into braking zones and working the car to the apex. This is more a precision tool than show pony but is more satisfying, and more adaptable to your particular driving style, than its forebears have been. After a set of seven or eight hard laps, our test car began to…

The gleaming glass towers of the Renaissance Centre were erected in the 1970s as a key part of a plan to rejuvenate downtown Detroit. That similar urban renewal plans remain ongoing some 50 years later outlines the sheer scale of the challenge. Since 1996, the rebranded GM Rencen has been the headquarters of General Motors, and the American car-making giant has much in common with the proud but faded city it calls home. Once one of the world’s automotive powerhouses, GM has struggled in recent decades, even going bankrupt during the global economic crisis. Its market share has slipped and its global footprint has shrunk, GM most notably withdrawing from the UK and Europe with the sale of Opel and Vauxhall in 2017, an ignominy heightened when new owner PSA…

It’s 6.30am and a man called Simon Brake and I have walked out of a hotel in Kraków, eastern Poland, to meet Sasha for the first time. Sasha climbs from a black Toyota Land Cruiser. He’s Ukrainian, around 6ft 5in tall and heavily built. He speaks barely a word of English and neither of us speaks any Ukrainian. But he is a trusted friend of a trusted friend, has a huge grin and is going to drive with us to Lviv, western Ukraine, in one of three ambulances that Simon and a bunch of volunteers have brought as far as Kraków for donation to charities in the war-struck country. Simon and I will follow in the other two. Via a translation app on his phone, Sasha tells us: “A few…

FEATURE Britain’s Best Affordable Driver’s Car All-new good value driver’s cars are hard to come by, so we’ve gathered the best of the past decade for the ultimate showdown FEATURE Toyota GR86 We ponder the past, present and future of this excellent rear-driven sports coupé NEWS Caterham’s big plan New CEO Bob Laishley unwraps British sports car specialist’s future EVERY WEEK ROAD TEST Nissan Ariya Nissan kicked off a new age with the Leaf. Does its next EV follow suit? USED GUIDE Kia Sorento Why this Korean giant should be in contention if you want a plush SUV SUBSCRIBE autocar.co.uk/subscribe or see p62…

MILEAGE 16,147 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see if this humble but capable seven-seater is slick enough in day-to-day use The Jogger had its second touring trip recently when my girlfriend and I took it for a busy weekend in Pembrokeshire. It wasn’t quite as long a trip as the one I wrote about last time, to the Verdon in France. But it did involve a boot-load of camping gear, climbing kit and surf boards – and it gave more proof of this car’s excellent suitability for those with active lifestyles, who like to get out and about in beautiful open spaces. My dream vehicle for these kinds of trips will always be a van: something you can just throw gear into and then convert for sleeping inside with the…

THE DRAMATICALLY styled new Alpine Alpenglow concept previews the French sporting brand’s upcoming road and race cars – and showcases a potential means of safeguarding the future of the combustion engine. Inspired by the marque’s involvement in top-flight motorsport, the single-seat Alpenglow is, the firm says, “the starting point for all future Alpine car designs, technologies and breakthroughs”. The Alpenglow, like the similarly conceived Alpine A4810 concept designed by students at Turin’s Istituto Europeo di Design earlier this year, is fuelled by hydrogen. However, this time the brand has confirmed it uses an electrically assisted internal combustion engine, rather than a fuel cell arrangement. Alpine has given no technical details of this engine, nor how parts of the concept could shape future vehicles, but it said: “A hybrid hydrogen internal…

The Dacia Jogger hybrid will arrive next year as the Romanian firm’s first electrified UK model – and it’s expected to be the cheapest hybrid MPV on the market. It will be powered by the same electrically assisted 1.6-litre petrol engine as the Renault Clio E-Tech, which means likely outputs of 138bhp and 184lb ft. The Jogger is currently priced from £16,645, making it the UK’s cheapest seven-seater. The electrified model is expected to be around £19,500, based on the £2800 premium the Clio E-Tech has over the standard model.…

ISRAELI BATTERY COMPANY Storedot has claimed its new silicon-based cell can get 100 miles’ worth of energy from just a five-minute charge. Storedot, founded in 2012, plans to license this technology – rather than manufacture and sell complete cells – to automotive partners including the Mercedes-Benz Group, Ola, Polestar, Vinfast and Volvo. It is now targeting 100 miles from two minutes of charging by the end of the decade. Storedot claims an energy density of 300Wh per kg – greater than the 260Wh per kg figure reported by CNBC for Japanese giant Panasonic’s type-2170 cell, used in the Tesla Model 3. However, the firm needs to overcome significant hurdles before its 2024 production target, including thermal management issues, and must hope the infrastructure can adapt to charging at a rate…

The all-new Polestar 3 electric SUV has been launched with a potent dual-motor powertrain, a host of advanced safety features and extensive use of sustainable materials, which is claimed to make it “more relevant and responsible”. The BMW iX rival is the second series-production car from the Volvo spin-off brand after the 2 electric saloon. Based on the advanced new SPA2 platform, it is effectively twinned with the forthcoming Volvo EX90, using much of the same underpinning technology and systems. But while the 2 and limited-run 1 were styled on Volvo concepts, the 3 is the first car conceived as a Polestar. Cues taken from last year’s Precept concept include dual-blade headlights, a rear spoiler with a built-in wing and a front aero wing, below which is a Smartzone panel…

Can we agree on something? It’s that, all else being equal, having the ability to temporarily lose the roof on a supercar is better than not. No? Come on, don’t be pious. Of course coupés are cooler, being more pure-bred and motorsporty, and generally no-nonsense. But I’d argue that if you are driving any supercar, open or not, you are already fully partaking in the nonsense and may as well lean into it. Because while in any modern supercar you can toggle fruity exhaust modes, lessen the hand of the chassis electronics, take ‘manual’ control of the gearbox and explore various other tricks to your heart’s content, none of it skyrockets the drama quotient quite so effectively as peeling back the roof and opening up the sky. Alas, all else…

Not for Lamborghini just a new paint job and a bit more power in this maxed-out Urus SUV, the Performante. The Italians have really thrown the engineering sink at it, with wholesale changes making it, in their words, a “super-sports car”. Power and torque are now 657bhp and 627lb ft, the same as the new ‘normal’ Urus S, but the big news lies largely hidden. The suspension now has a lighter set of steel springs, not air springs, and it rides 20mm lower, plus there’s a new titanium exhaust; lighter alloy wheels; a new central differential (in terms of both hardware and configuration); a new rear wing (generating 38% more downforce); a Rally driving mode; a 16mm-wider track front and rear; quicker downshifts; a carbonfibre bonnet; the option of a…

VERDICT The McLaren Artura may not have had the ideal start among the review pages of Autocar, but it has just passed the toughest test we can throw at it with ease. It’s a car we would recommend highly to the right kind of buyer: one who wants a supercar suited to varied and regular road and track use that has a deep-running sense of dynamic integrity about it, as well as uncompromising performance, top-level handling appeal and impressively polished drivability in more everyday moments. It is perhaps less for someone who wants the most soulful, raw or exciting supercar that £200,000 can buy in 2022 and more for a mature buyer seeking just the right balance of thrill and well-mannered usability. The Artura is a car that feels enhanced…

“We don’t have any legacy to deal with, so we can do what’s best for the customer” Chevrolet has recent history in the UK, having taken over Daewoo’s business here in 2005. But the line-up of Korean budget cars had little in common with the American Chevy line-up, and it was somewhat incongruous that they carried the same bow-tie logo as the Corvette. As it is the most mainstream GM brand, the new wave of Chevrolet EVs are firmly targeted at the mass market. This includes the Bolt EUV, a crossover reworking of the Bolt hatchback using GM’s older BEV2 platform. It’s a Volkswagen ID 3 rival with a simple interior that’s functional yet pleasant. A 201bhp motor gives it plenty of zip, but it lacks much in the way…

Sunrise. Alarm. One eye. Two eyes. Curtains. Blue skies. That’s one potential problem out of the way. Just a million more to contend with. Shower, change, get ready, get to the pits. Greet the team. Wait. So much to do, but so little I can do. My potential date with destiny is still 12 hours away – if everything goes to plan. Think positive. So far, so good. Pole position. But not just any pole position: a dazzling lap record. Championship rivals third, fifth and 10th on the grid. A four-tenths advantage over second place – an age in motorsport. But just 15 metres when I line up on the grid. This is the British Touring Car Championship; it will never be easy. Meet, greet, chat. Just another day, I…

Abarth’s weasel-lambcross WE OFTEN TALK lovingly about ‘diminutive’ sports cars, but the early efforts of Abarth took small dimensions to absolute extremes. Just look at the Zagato-bodied 750 GT of 1958: it’s 614mm shorter, 452mm slimmer and 58mm lower than even an Alpine A110 of today. The 750 was based on the Fiat 600, using the little economy car’s platform-type frame, suspension (with changed rates) and steering. The engine was where most of Abarth’s effort went, the straight four bored out from 633cc to 747cc and given many detail upgrades, taking power from 23bhp to 44bhp. “It thrives on plenty of revs, but throughout its range it remains smooth and tractable,” we said. “On main-road hills the car is a veritable weasel if full use is made of intermediate gears,…

MILEAGE 4744 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see if Honda can save the everyday family hatchback If nothing else shows where the needle has moved in the car world recently, it’s the fact that we’re about to dedicate 450 words to how a hybrid drives – and, what’s more, be enthusiastic about it. Sorry for the spoiler right at the start, but the way the new Civic handles is genuinely a reason to get excited about it. There’s a little toggle switch by the gear selector buttons that allows you to flick between Eco, Normal, Individual and Sport driving modes. I know what you’re thinking, but don’t scoff at ‘Sport’ quite yet, because this is a hybrid that’s enjoyable to drive. Grip levels are impressive and the steering is accurate,…

The best everyday sports car Porsche makes is not the 911 but the Cayman: discuss. You’ll find compelling arguments on both sides of that debate, but the mere fact that there’s any discussion at all speaks volumes about the Cayman. It’s a world-class, enthusiast’s sports car built for daily driving with the same attention to detail and engineering integrity that has helped to make its bigger, rear-engined sibling Porsche’s talisman for decades. Only it also has mid-engined athleticism, the agility of a lighter, smaller footprint – and the draw of a far lower price. And none, arguably, offers better value right now than the Mk2, 981-generation version. The 981-gen Cayman arrived in 2012 on the back of a well-received first-generation (987) model, which had been around since 2005. As before,…

There are some 1.4 billion cars in use around the world and about 80 million built a year. Model lives are shortening and choice is getting much wider, with competition hotter than ever. But it used to be very different: cars stayed in production for decades, notching up huge sales. Here, we celebrate some of the cars that gave us all independence, putting entire countries on wheels. Volkswagen Type 1 1945 First unveiled before the Second World War as the KdF-Wagen (‘the strength through joy car’) to put Nazi Germany on wheels, only a few hundred examples were built before Adolf Hitler’s military ambitions put an end to civilian production in 1939. The British Army ran northern Germany after the end of the war and engineer Major Ivan Hirst realised…