Innholdsfortegnelse for November 30, 2022 i Autocar

Lamborghini has revealed the production-ready Huracán Sterrato, an offroad-ready swansong for its V10 supercar, ahead of the arrival of a new plug-in hybrid successor in 2024. The final Sterrato has made its debut just two weeks after Porsche’s similarly conceived 911 Dakar headlined at the Los Angeles motor show, but it is in effect an evolution of a concept first shown in 2019. Reaction from potential customers was overwhelmingly positive, but company insiders say it took the return of Stephan Winkelmann to the role of Lamborghini CEO in 2020 for the production version to get the green light. The finished Sterrato, which is due with customers next year, looks very similar to the original concept, with carbonfibre bodywork extensions, a raised ride height, integrated auxiliary driving lights and roof bars,…

THE FUTURE IS less certain for the smaller Volkswagen Polo, which faces an early retirement as new Euro 7 rules (see p12) threaten a spike in the cost of small combustion-engined cars. CEO Thomas Schäfer said engineers at the company were currently assessing the regulations, and a decision was expected within the next couple of weeks on whether the development of small ICE models would continue. “We planned small electric cars that would come in 2025 between Volkswagen, Skoda and Cupra and would be built in Spain,” said Schäfer. “That basically replaces the combustion engine in small vehicles like the Polo, because cars become so expensive [with Euro 7], there is no point carrying on. “It makes no sense to go with very small cars beyond EU7. It will push…

Mazda has previewed a sleek two-seat coupé as it gears up for an £8.9 billion investment in future electric vehicles. The new model, revealed during the Japanese firm’s financial presentation, was shown alongside a series of drop-top MX-5s of the past, suggesting the hard-top coupé with Lamborghini-style scissor doors could be an early look at the next generation of the popular sports car. The model’s chassis was also shown, revealing a large space for a longitudinally mounted engine and a structure – most likely a fuel cell or battery enclosure – behind the driver. However, the concept’s lack of exhausts, coupled with Mazda’s major investment in future EVs, suggests it’s an electric vehicle in its current form. Mazda’s European head of product development and engineering, Joachim Kunz, hinted in April…

The European new car market is set to enter a period of dramatic upheaval as a wave of competitive new Chinese manufacturers look to establish a foothold in the region. Among them will be Nio, Xpeng, Zeekr, Aiways and – first of the non-legacy marques to land a car in UK dealerships – Great Wall Motors, with its fashionable new Ora brand. Toby Marshall, from UK importer International Motors (IM), is Ora’s UK sales and marketing director. At the launch of the £31,995 Funky Cat hatchback, he told Autocar how Ora will establish itself in the UK with competitive quality standards, a physical-digital retail model and an established parts and servicing network. Why not go down the more affordable route? “Once we saw the car and realised how high quality…

MONDAY It’s dull. It’s been dull for days. But one element of my life has become much brighter because I’m now driving a Vauxhall Astra in the arresting body colour of Electric Yellow. This simple name is a perfect guide to the brightness of the car, and that’s unusual: car colours are usually so complex that they can’t be clearly described. A more typical moniker might be Giallo Sunset Aura or even Ultimate Horse Piddle, but this Astra is Electric Yellow and wouldn’t work as anything else. True, its brightness is balanced by a classy black roof, but what you mainly react to are those bright expanses of body colour. I’m currently taking such visual satisfaction from them that I doubt I’ll ever choose a dull car again. TUESDAY Wet…

The previous-generation Honda Civic Type R was, so the saying goes, the Porsche 911 GT3 of hot hatchbacks. It was the hardcore choice among family-friendly sports cars. Now there’s a new variant, and such is the rate of change in the car business that it’s the only non-electrified Honda in the UK. But even though Honda is upping the number of its hybrid and electric cars, Type R imports will be restricted to the “hundreds, not thousands”, according to Rebecca Adamson, Honda UK’s head of cars. And who knows for how long we can have it? By 2024, 22% of all Hondas sold here must have zero tailpipe emissions. One of the reasons, one suspects, that Honda has decided it can charge £46,995 for this new car. Zoinks. The new-generation…

For an idea of just how different the new R323 SL is from its predecessor, consider that its press pack runs to nearly 20,000 words. The dissertationlength tome contains an overload of information, including that relating to the model’s repositioning from two-seat tourer with sporting undertones to something more muscular and aggressive – and with the ingredients to tempt people out of their 911 Cabriolets and Targas. There’s an all-new platform, made from aluminium as before but this time dramatically more rigid, with development undertaken not at Sindelfingen but by AMG in Affalterbach. That alone is quite the statement of intent. The longsnouted roadster also now comes with front driveshafts and rear-axle steering and returns to a fabric (rather than folding metal) roof. Finally, and for the first time, there…

There are some fascinating facts about London and also some more sobering ones. For instance, did you know that the simple ‘Number 1, London’ was once how you would have addressed a letter to Apsley House, home to the first Duke of Wellington? Or, on the flip side, that the average speed of traffic in the English capital is now just 8mph? But there is hope. We’re living through an age of disruption, and there are now ever more varied ways of getting from A to B, all of which promise to be the mobility solution (yeuch…) of the future. Which is where our sister brand Move Electric comes in. In its wisdom, it has decided to organise a competition to see who can get across London in the least…

Those craggy features, the wide-open smile and that old-school English cut-glass charm: thank the motorsport gods for enduring national treasure Derek Bell. Our finest, most successful and muchloved sports car hero turned 81 this October, and yet he’s still flat out. In the 40th anniversary year of Group C and the era-defining Porsche 956/962 in which Bell shone so brightly, ‘Dinger’ has popped up regularly and everywhere, from Goodwood to Silverstone, to slide into familiar seats and turn the boost up, just as he used to. Speaking to Autocar from his home in Pagham, the Sussex village where Bell’s wheels first started turning nearly 60 years ago with family-run Church Farm Racing, he tells us about a special 956/962 documentary filmed this summer with old muckers Jochen Mass and Hans…

Your comparison of the MG 4 and VW ID 3 (21 September), laurels going to the MG, raised an interesting question: what price a premium car? In the bad old days, the difference was palpable. The doors of the premium car would shut with a thunk, rather than a clang. There would be electric windows, air-con, leather and real wood. As time passed, safety features would appear on premium cars first, then an increasing number of technological marvels, then vast screens… but times have changed. The arrival of EVs has put premium prices on relatively humble badges. The green movement has made leather look passé. The characteristic dirty notes of various engine types are disappearing in favour of muted, anodyne whooshes. Driver involvement is being replaced with ever-increasing detachment and,…

The BMW M2 is a time machine. It’s a sports car that harks back to M cars of old, when they were smaller, lighter and less expensive than today’s counterparts. Perhaps it became a hit precisely because of this. Its predecessor, the limited-run 1M, had certainly confirmed buyer interest in the concept. The M2 simply picked up where that car had left off – albeit on a larger scale. While BMW built only 450 1Ms for the UK, it upped that figure to 2000 for the original M2. We say ‘original’ due to the subsequent arrival of the Competition and CS, but we’ll save those for later on. For 2016 to 2018, the M2 received a turbocharged 3.0-litre in-line six with 365bhp. It’s essentially an uprated version of the lesser…

An expert’s view SIMON CLARKE, MIDLAND HONDA SERVICES “It’s a fantastic car to drive. At the time it was made, it was way ahead of anything else. And they’re incredibly reliable, just like the rest of the Honda range. Keep changing the oil and they’ll last forever – tyres and brake pads, too, but that’s about all you need to do. If you can find a nice one and you’ve got some cash in your pocket, it would be a good investment. An investment that you wouldn’t have to lock away. You could use it every day if you wanted to, and I know a couple of customers who do.” Buyer beware… • ENGINE It uses little oil but check the correct level has been maintained. It’s recommended that you…

“The new Astra EVs are powered by a 153bhp synchronous motor that produces 199lb ft” Vauxhall will launch EV versions of its Astra hatchback and Astra Sports Tourer next summer. Their arrival will bring its battery-electric passenger car range to six models and represent another big step towards its goal of offering only EVs by 2028. The new cars will notably increase the electric choice available to buyers in the UK family hatchback market, with the Sports Tourer in particular becoming one of only a handful of pure-battery estates on the market. Scheduled to be delivered from next June, the new models are built on Stellantis’s EMP2 platform – similar to Peugeot’s e-308, which is scheduled to hit the UK market at about the same time as the two Vauxhalls.…

Has joining Stellantis brought about a repositioning of the Vauxhall brand? “Definitely. No doubt about it. We believe we can be a step above the pure mainstream brands, not abandoning our volume customer base but offering them a particular kind of personality and quality. We’re already on that path.” The Corsa is being updated. What are the priorities for that? “Clearly, the big one is to adopt our new front face, much as you see it on the Mokka and the Astra. When Opel was joining PSA, and later Stellantis, we’d already frozen the Corsa design. Don’t get me wrong: we’re proud of what we’ve done with it, and there’s plenty of life in it. And the market has backed us. “But the new corporate nose makes the car look…

The Volkswagen Golf and the hot GTI variant are tipped to continue into a ninth generation with electric power, in line with the firm’s plan to retain historically significant nameplates. VW CEO Thomas Schäfer said the company would not be retiring the Golf name, and instead the model could become part of the ID line-up. The ninth-generation VW Golf is due in around 2027-28. Schäfer said the ID naming convention is here to stay, because it is already known by buyers and associated with electric VWs. But long-running badges such as Golf and even GTI are in the frame to continue into the EV era. “There is a connection with VW and ID, and there is no need to cancel [ID],” he told Autocar at the Los Angeles motor show.…

New electrically heated e-catalysts, due as standard fitment in petrol and hybrid engines from 2025, are set to delay the starting procedure of new cars by up to 30 seconds. The ‘e-cats’ will become standard in most new cars to ensure they comply with the new cold-start regulations in the Euro 7 emissions laws, which introduce an ‘emissions budget’ with which a car must comply over a 10km (6.2-mile) driven route. An electric heater coupled to a small fan, likened to a hairdryer, will push hot air into the catalyst core and raise it to operating temperature. The procedure will take between 20 and 30 seconds. “To mitigate any delay, OEM car makers are exploring new starting procedures – for example, linking remote key transponder technology or mobile phone apps…

BMW’s M DIVISION has revealed the long-awaited, ultra-limited-edition 3.0 CSL as a finale to the performance arm’s 50th birthday celebrations. The BMW 3.0 CSL is based on the current G82 variant of the BMW M4 coupé but features a unique exterior design and uprated power. The car pays homage to the legendary 3.0 CSL ‘Batmobile’ from 1973, the firm’s lightened and uniquely styled rally racer that won the European Touring Car Championship four years in a row. Driven by the most powerful straight-six engine ever used in a road-legal BMW M car, the 3.0 CSL makes 552bhp and 405lb ft. Power is sent to the rear wheels only via a six-speed manual transmission. Much of the body is made from carbonfibre, including the bonnet, roof, bootlid, front and rear aprons,…

RINGING THE CHANGES Talk about phoning it in. When Audi developed the S1 Hoonitron with Ken Block, the sideways maestro gave detailed spec requirements but then, because of tight timescales, had to leave Audi to it. Engineers Roland Waschkau and Meic Diessner ended up phoning Block to check he was happy with the car. Audi Sport R&D boss Steffen Bamberger said Block’s first reaction after driving it was entirely positive. MR BRIGHTSIDE Times are tough all right, but Fiat boss Olivier François is determined to do his bit – by seriously considering “killing the grey” as a paint colour option for the brand. He said: “We are a colourful brand – simple, colourful, joyful. We have a recession coming, so it’s not a good time for any of us as…

Plenty of car manufacturers like to talk about the emotion in their products, especially sports cars. Some go so far as to highlight the ‘faszination’, a much loved word from our friends in Germany. In the case of the Audi R8 GT RWD, it’s difficult not to get a bit sucked in by it all. After all, this is quite literally the end of the line for the halo Audi model – the last time we’ll see an ICE top-of-the-line Audi sports car (it’s likely the next R8 will run an electric-only powertrain) – so it feels like the sort of moment when a bit of emotion is called for. This version is the most powerful rear-wheel-drive Audi yet and full credit goes to the firm for the amount of…

MODEL TESTED 707 Price £190,055 Power 697bhp Torque 664lb ft 0-60mph 3.3sec 30-70mph in fourth 5.0sec Fuel economy 19.2mpg CO2 emissions 323g/km 70-0mph 45.1m Times remain challenging for Aston Martin Lagonda, even with a new management administration at the helm and a fresh business plan on the table. Its financial losses, quarter by quarter, continue to mount in spite of former boss Tobias Moers’ best cost-cutting efforts, and now it faces a potentially expensive legal challenge to boot. But the company’s greatest asset continues to be the last model introduced under the bold and expansive management of Andy Palmer: the DBX SUV. It’s a model that is still selling strongly, just as the car itself gets stronger. This week, then, we run Autocar’s road test rule over the new derivative that,…

The perfect storm currently buffeting the automotive industry has driven up the cost of new cars by an average of 6.6% since January 2021. Transaction prices are rising as demand outpaces supply and the economic outlook is unstable. Coupled with a cost of living pinch and rising interest rates, it’s never been more painful to get into a new car. Finance, and specifically PCP, has been the default choice for years now, but are rising borrowing costs making it less attractive? Interest rates are one of the key factors here and, with the base rate spiralling from 0.1% to 3.0% this year to make all borrowing more expensive and curb consumer demand, the annual percentage rate (APR) on loans used to spread the cost of new cars is also heading…

At a time of rapid change for all things automotive, never has it been more important to showcase the efforts of those working to make the most of the upheaval and take the industry to new heights of success. That’s why, for the past three years, Autocar has partnered with executive search specialists Ennis & Co to present the Drivers of Change Award with a view to highlighting the brightest and best in the automotive industry. As part of a revised format this year, entrants were drawn from two sources. People could nominate themselves or, in a change for 2022, Autocar and Ennis & Co identified possible winners too, using our extensive network of contacts and industry knowledge. Once we had a shortlist, judges from across the industry joined Autocar…

164-PAGE DOUBLE ISSUE It’s the legendary Christmas issue! Christmas comes early at Autocar, so gather round the log fire, put your feet up and enjoy our annual festive feast FEATURE Road testers’ Christmas lunch There isn’t a single turkey among our Secret Santa gifts DRIVE The end of the road Richard Webber follows the Pole Star north in the EV that shares its name EVERY WEEK USED CARS Audi S3 This understated German hot hatch has ‘future classic’ written all over it LONG-TERM TEST Autocar Fleet Awards We honour the best cars to grace our long-term fleet in 2022 SUBSCRIBE autocar.co.uk/subscribe or see p20…

MILEAGE 2992 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT Mazda’s largest and priciest car is also its first PHEV. Does it make any sense? Funnily enough, this was always going to be the report that dealt with the CX-60’s ride quality: it’s just a happy coincidence that it’s been such a particularly defining influence over my relationship with the car during these past few weeks. We’ll pretend my partner’s sister was happy to see me when I arrived at her house the day before her wedding, rather than the massive (and conveniently white) SUV I’d just climbed out of. “Oh, brilliant! I was worried you’d bring a Mini or something,” she exclaimed with glee, revealing that I had the privilege of taking all the alcohol (for more than 200 guests) and favours (pick…

CORSA FACELIFT Class-leading supermini is already on the correct Stellantis platform so all it needs next year is the right ‘Vizor’ corporate nose job and Astra’s new wide-screen infotainment. CROSSLAND SUV is selling successfully and was, with the Mokka, first to introduce the Vizor nose at its 2021 facelift. Next model (due 2024) will run beyond Vauxhall’s 2028 all-electric cut-off. GRANDLAND Like the Crossland, it had a nose job at the end of 2021 so a total revision is due in early 2025. A pure-battery version is a certainty, using gadgetry first seen in the Astra. MANTA When the production version of this rakish concept appears in 2026, it will be an ‘emotional’ four-door bearing familiar design features and a great name from the past. INSIGNIA The conventional executive saloon we…

ITALIAN MANUFACTURER De Tomaso has revealed the P900, a £2.5 million, limitedrun track-only hypercar powered by a bespoke V12 that spins to 12,300rpm. Delivering 888bhp and weighing just 900kg – mainly thanks to its strong but lightweight carbonfibre tub – the two-seater has been created to break lap times, the firm has said. Much of the radical-looking, aerodynamically optimised car has been designed inhouse, including the 6.2-litre powertrain, and it features technologies derived from the motorsport world, including an active drag reduction system (DRS) incorporated into the rear wing. Deliveries will begin next summer, with just 18 set to be built at the firm’s factory in Modena. The De Tomaso brand was relaunched only three years ago, with the retro-inspired P72, which was created to pay homage to the Carroll…

CALIFORNIA HAS LONG been a barometer for anything to do with emissions and air quality and has been since the 1970s. For that reason it’s always worth taking any new developments emerging there very seriously. Since 1999 when it was formed, the California Fuel Cell Partnership hasn’t given up on its vision of establishing a hydrogen economy, even when others have. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has brought energy security into sharp focus, and the world (and not just the automotive world) is being forced to realise two things. The first is that relying on one or two global regions for the majority of its energy supplies is a stupid idea, and the second is that seriously getting behind sustainable energy is a win-win situation. It solves the problem of energy…

When I wrote that the new Toyota Prius looks like it was drawn by a video game design team (Tester’s Notes, 23 November), I have since worried you may have thought I meant it as an insult. Which isn’t the case at all. Some context, then. I don’t know if you’ve come across Grand Theft Auto, but it’s a long-standing video game franchise that allows one to play the role of gangsters as they (now you) steal and kill their way towards financial freedom. It’s violent, it’s sweary and it’s very bloody. Honestly, people like this sort of thing. The most recent edition takes place in fictional Los Santos – a rough mockup of Los Angeles – and there is a host of cars in it that are available to…

AYUMU IWASA foreshadowed Max Verstappen’s victory in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix by conquering the final Formula 2 round of the season at Yas Marina in his Red Bull-backed DAMS entry. He won from pole position but had to be patient for the race to come back to him as Jack Doohan – son of 500cc motorcycle racing legend Mick – led those who ran long on the alternative tyre strategy. Doohan finally gave up his lead for soft tyres eight laps from home but was robbed of a chance to slice through the field when his left front wheel detached as he attempted to rejoin the action. Iwasa fended off champion Felipe Drugovich for his second win of the year, with sprint race winner Liam Lawson completing the podium.…

“The Avenger is pitched at the heart of the booming supermini SUV segment” We love our crossovers and SUVs in Europe. Can’t get enough of ’em. So you’d think a brand that can make a legitimate claim to being the absolute original in this field would clean up here, right? Except you read Autocar, and you’ll know that Jeep is barely even an also-ran here. Its cars have never really caught on anywhere in Europe outside of Italy (where its success is largely a by-product of its relationship with Fiat) and, remarkably, only about one in 100 SUVs sold in Europe is a Jeep. After many false dawns, then, here’s the car Jeep’s new owner Stellantis hopes will change that: the Jeep Avenger. It is the first Jeep designed and…

No, this is not an early Christmas road test. It couldn’t be, because production of the plane you see before you – the Boeing 747 – has just stopped for good after 52 years. You’d be forgiven for thinking that this winged leviathan, fondly known the world over as the Jumbo Jet, had already had its chips, when major airlines like British Airways bade farewell to its entire 747 fleet two years ago in the wake of the pandemic. But actually, Boeing still had a backlog of orders, mainly for 747-8F freighters, very similar to the one here today at East Midlands airport. That meant that the ‘Queen of the Skies’ story only ended last month. So why do we have two Range Rovers – one old, one new –…

Pregnant pause While I commiserate with readers affected by delivery delays, I cannot help contrasting the situation now with when I commenced working in the motor trade 46 years ago. I started as a salesman with a Mercedes dealership and supply was tight, to say the least. Virtually all our new car sales were on forward order; there were few new deals straight out of the showroom. One of my customers was a gynaecologist and obstetrician, and head of a local hospital’s maternity unit. On learning my wife was in the unit and expecting our first child, he visited her ward to see how she was. I happened to be there and he took the opportunity to enquire into the delivery time of a new S-Class. I informed him I…

Subaru comes to Britain HAVING STARTED OUT in 1953, Subaru grew confidently at home in Japan and then established itself in the US, encouraging it to expand into Europe and the UK. It first offered us a car in 1977, the 1600, including in a unique cross-country estate form, with a 68bhp 1.6-litre four-pot boxer and front-or four-wheel drive. The rear drive unit was just “an extension of the gearbox casing, with a synchromesh coupling taken from the tail of the firstmotion shaft, the drive taken back via a single-piece propellor shaft to a conventional diff unit”. Therefore, it was very unwise to select 4WD when above 50mph! The 4WD version’s other extra bits were more ground clearance, metal shields for the underbelly and knobbly mud and snow tyres. So…

MILEAGE 6272 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see if Honda can save the everyday family hatchback Don’t be misled by the image above: our car isn’t broken. In fact, it’s in robust health. But for reasons that will become clear in an upcoming report, we’ve been to Marshall Honda in Peterborough to get a towbar fitted. This item is a dealer-fit accessory on a Civic, so we had to book the car in once it had arrived on the Autocar fleet. One phone call later and it was all arranged. The receptionist asked if I’d be waiting and then explained it can take three hours to complete the work. Three hours? Goodness me, are they fitting a new chassis? Given the cost (£1245 fitted), I did begin to wonder. However,…

Honda doesn’t mess around with the Type R brand. When a car bears the name, the chances are it’s a machine for the history books. For an early example of this, look straight to the Integra Type R. It was introduced in 1995 and the second Type R product after the NSX first got the treatment. It immediately impressed its sole market of Japan, and that success helped it become UK-bound only two years later. That said, we Brits received just 500 units officially. Each had a starting price of £22,500 – equivalent to around £39,500 in today’s money – so it wasn’t exactly cheap. In fact, it cost more than either the Nissan 300ZX or any four-cylinder Fiat Coupé did back then. Evidence of the Integra Type R’s greatness…

State-controlled car makers behind the Iron Curtain in post-war Europe leveraged their limited funds to put millions of motorists on wheels. Some firms put an emphasis on design while others took an interest in racing. From econoboxes with Italian genes to experimental mid-engined coupés, here are some of the weird and forgotten cars they hatched. Tatra 603 1956 In 1934, Czechoslovakia’s Tatra adopted aerodynamic designs before anyone else – and greatly influenced Ferdinand Porsche and his Beetle. Introduced in 1956, the 603 was the latest in a line of slippery cars and featured an air-cooled 99bhp 2.5-litre V8 engine mounted at the back. In Eastern Europe, the Tatra 603 was a prestige vehicle reserved for those more equal than others and Tatra exported a fair amount, which is how Fidel…