Innholdsfortegnelse for August 23, 2023 i Autocar

RECENT REPORTS FROM Germany suggested that Mercedes-AMG was considering adapting its new C63 super-saloon to take the GT’s 4.0-litre V8, in response to slow sales of the four-cylinder PHEV launched earlier this year. The launch of a new C63 E Performance, pairing the V8 with an electric motor on the rear axle, was rumoured to be pencilled in for 2026. Division boss Michael Schiebe had confirmed the engine would be made compliant with Euro 7 emissions standards due to come into force in 2025. But AMG has since moved to deny this is the plan. A spokesperson told Autocar: “There will be no V8 E Performance for the C63. It will retain the current four-cylinder E Performance drivetrain.” When Autocar sought to clarify whether this meant a non-electrified V8 was…

The arrival of the Zenvo Aurora marks the rebirth of the Danish supercar maker as it moves away from the brutalist ST1 and TSR models that have defined its 16-year history. “We sat down in the beginning and questioned what this car should be,” chairman and chief commercial officer Jens Sverdrup said. “Why should I buy this car? Why a Zenvo?” Zenvo’s answer to that question is a thunderous 6.6-litre quad-turbocharged V12 engine named Mjølner, after Thor’s hammer. The powerplant produces 1250bhp at 8000rpm before hitting the redline some 1800rpm later. “If an alien happens to land at a race track and they hear a couple of [our] V12s, they will have their hairs standing up and tears running from their eyes,” Sverdrup quipped. “We are emotional beings, and [the…

The Rolls-Royce Drop Tail is the marque’s first modern two-seat roadster, harking back to the coachbuilt convertibles that established it as a leading luxury brand a century ago. The Drop Tail is the product of a four-year collaboration between Rolls-Royce and four clients. The firm said it represents the “absolute pinnacle” of its in-house coachbuilding capabilities, following in the footsteps of 2017’s Sweptail and 2021’s Boat Tail as the latest entry into a series of ultra-exclusive, multi-million-pound specials. Rolls-Royce does not give prices for its coachbuilt specials, but each of the four Drop Tails is understood to have cost its owner more than the £20 million Boat Tail. That would make the new model the Goodwood firm’s most expensive creation yet. Rather than being simply a reworking of the now-retired…

More than two thirds of UK councils have yet to install any on-street EV chargers, with a little more than six years to go until the UK government’s ban on the sale of new combustionengined cars comes into effect. An investigation conducted by Vauxhall found that 69% of councils have no on-street chargers, while 71.6% lack a published strategy for onstreet residential charging. Of the councils that responded to the investigation, 45% said they had no plans to install residential on-street chargers this year. Data published by Zap-Map and the Department for Transport on 26 July revealed that, as of 1 July, just 34% of the UK’s 44,020 public chargers were designated as on-street chargers. The Energy Saving Trust estimates that 80% of electric car charging is done at home.…

We should know by now to never rule out Scott Dixon. The 43-year-old six-time Indycar Series champion started 15th on the Indianapolis road course, spun on the first lap after getting tagged by Romain Grosjean in a pile-up and still mugged the field to win using an alternative tyre strategy. Amazing. The Kiwi’s 54th Indycar victory leaves him 13 short of AJ Foyt’s record but more significantly broke his duck for what had been until now a tricky season. He has now extended a record he already held by winning across 19 consecutive seasons, which is an astounding achievement of longevity. Dixon pitted under caution after his spin then eked out his fuel and tyres to stop only twice more. His front-running rivals required three stops in a race that…

The I-Pace, Jaguar’s youngest model, is now five years old, and a few things have happened in the world of electric cars in that time. Little Jaguar may have beaten the Germans to the punch when developing a credible EV, but that advantage is now long gone. Time for a major update, then, you’d think. But no, some subtle model-year updates is all the I-Pace is getting. The most noticeable is the new not-a-front-grille. It was always blanked off, but instead of a grille-like texture there’s now a smoother, satin grey plastic. A number of other air vents and trim pieces also get this treatment. Every trim level now comes with the R-Dynamic styling package, plus there’s a new range-topper, the 400 Sport, with bigger (22in) wheels and performance seats.…

In the first half of this year, Bentley sold on average 1182 cars per month. Back in 2003, the firm sold 1017 cars. Not 1017 cars per month, just to be clear: for the whole year. It’s fair to say, then, that the past two decades have been transformative for the manufacturer – and one model has been pivotal to that. Launched 20 years ago, the Continental GT served as a fabulously appointed, W12-powered rocketship that has propelled the company higher into the stratosphere than it has ever been before. Consider this: Bentley’s history stretches back 104 years, yet about half of the cars it has ever produced are Conti GTs. The model is now onto its third generation and has expanded to several bodystyles, engine variants and trims. But…

MODEL TESTED VISTA COMFORT PLUS Price £66,859 • Power 148bhp • Torque 184lb ft • 0-60mph 12.7sec • 30-70mph 11.8sec • Economy See text • CO2 emissions 14g/km • 70-0mph 51.4m ‘We all know them, the London taxicabs, and most of us sample them as ‘fares’ at some time or other. But very few ordinary car owners have ever driven a taxi.’ This was the opening line of a story published in The Autocar of 25 June 1937, titled ‘Three Days on a Taxi’. We took a 12bhp, Birmingham-built Austin taxicab to Brooklands, where it dispatched the 0-30mph dash in a fearsome 19.1sec and averaged 47.62mph over a quarter of a mile. It had a turning circle of 7.62m, cost £370 when specified with the single landaulet body and in town…

MILEAGE 3108 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see if this new V6 hybrid can match the power and refinement of Bentley’s W12 and V8 petrol powertrains One of the first things they tell you about habitual Bentley owners is how much they use their cars for lifestyle, business and highmileage driving. These are working machines, Crewe people insist – and yet when a £250,000 Bentley comes your way to use as you like for three months, especially when it’s the biggest they make, a Flying Spur saloon, you find these comments a bit hard to believe. At first you drive with trepidation, as impressed behind the wheel by this car’s presence as those who see its elegant Silver Frost flanks from outside. With its long wheelbase and highly adjustable four-mode…

How interesting that Jaguar’s creative director believes the make has negative brand equity (My Week In Cars, 9 August). How is brand equity measured? Press column inches? Influencers’ opinions? Advertising? Many buy a car because they like its look, its perceived fashionableness or because they think it gives them status (and, of course, affordability.) But that’s not how I’ve ever bought a car, and I bet many Autocar readers haven’t either. I had to sell my beloved BMW 330Ci because I needed a car with easy access for older people. So I tried a number of SUVs. My criteria were a 2.0-litre diesel engine, a light weight, enough room and the best possible handling. Autocar road tests proved very helpful; brand equity didn’t. I couldn’t drive some comfortably because of…

An expert’s view SIMON GADSDEN, LS CAR SALES “I’ve just sold an SR160 for £5000. It was a 2008-reg with fewer than 30,000 miles and was in lovely condition. It had belonged to an elderly gentleman. He was the second owner and bought it when it was only a few months old. “He sold it to me because the ABS pump had broken, meaning it wouldn’t pass the MOT test, and he couldn’t find a replacement. Parts for older cars are getting very difficult to source, but I did a bit of research and discovered that the SR uses the same pump as the Micra C+C convertible. The part cost me £400. I bought it, but two weeks later I saw the same thing on eBay for £50… “I took…

“The concept is a ‘laboratory on wheels’ rather than a mere show car” The long-awaited electric Lamborghini is here. Five years since the landmark introduction of the transformative Urus SUV, the supercar firm is once again entering a new segment, this time with a dramatic four-seat GT called the Lanzador. Shown as a concept at Monterey Car Week in California and five years out from its scheduled launch, the Lanzador is a rakish tworow supercar with a similar footprint to that of the Porsche Taycan, but it sits higher from the ground in a bid for enhanced “versatility”. The model has been conceived as a bridge between the Urus and the company’s line-up of traditional mid-engined supercars. The concept is said to be a “concrete vision” of Lamborghini’s next new…

Bentley and miniature vehicle specialist The Little Car Company (LCC) have partnered to create an 85%-scale electric replica of the fabled Bentley Blower from 1929, to be sold as a road-legal, ultra-luxurious rival to the Citroën Ami. The Blower Junior has been developed by LCC with full technical support from Bentley and is the first roadlegal car to be produced by the Bicester-based firm. It has been developed with extensive access to Bentley’s heritage-fleet Blower Team Car No 2, and an initial run of 99 First Edition examples will be specified to match that model, with the same colour scheme, Union Flag motifs, doorplates and other details. While the original Blower – which competed at Le Mans in 1930 – has a supercharged 4.5-litre four-cylinder engine up front producing 240bhp,…

BAC IS EMBARKING on a bold new era of repositioning and expansion, taking to the stage at Monterey Car Week in California for the first time to reveal the latest iteration of its Mono single-seat supercar. The new Mono sticks with a fettled version of the 2.5-litre naturally aspirated Ford motor used by the existing model. The engine revs to 8000rpm and sends 316bhp and 231lb ft of torque to the rear wheels, making the 570kg Mono good for a 0-60mph time of 2.7sec. Next year, the Mono is due to switch to the turbocharged 2.3-litre Ecoboost engine from the Ford Focus ST, in pursuit of reduced emissions. Modifications to the new Mono’s four-cylinder unit include the addition of forged connecting rods and pistons, uprated camshafts and valve springs and…

THE NEW FORD Mustang GTD is a carbonfibre-bodied, aero-optimised, track-ready ‘technological tour de force’ that takes the crown as the company’s most powerful road car yet built. Ford is targeting a subseven-minute lap time at the Nürburgring, which would put the hottest Mustang on a par with some of the best European supercars, including the Porsche 911 GT2 RS and Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series. The new arrival has been designed and engineered in partnership with motorsport outfit Multimatic, which built the Ford GT supercar. The GTD is in effect a road-legal reworking of the Mustang GT3 that will race at Le Mans next year, and it has been named for the IMSA Sportscar Championship’s GTD class, for cars built to FIA GT3 spec. A targeted output of more than 800bhp…

NEWS Renewed customer interest saved both salad cream and Subbuteo when they were threatened with their production ending. Their respective waning popularity was apparently caused by the inexorable rises of mayonnaise and video games as we all morphed into louche poshos. But when their makers announced their demises, an upsurge in nostalgic popularity caused U-turns. And praise be, to this day, we can still enjoy tangy lettuce while flicking hemispherically mounted figurines around a tabletop. I thought this was quite a recent memory, but it turns out that both products were saved in 2000. If you thought so too, apologies for reminding you of that particularly horrible phenomenon of ageing whereby what you thought happened last week you actually recall from several decades past, even though you can’t find the…

The 2020 arrival of the Porsche Taycan left us scratching our heads about the long-term future of the Panamera. Having two very similar models in the same line-up sounded like a peculiar game plan, even with their distinct power sources – one electric, one internal combustion. Those musings are now history, as Porsche has confirmed that its ICE luxury saloon is here to stay. Indeed, the new third-generation Panamera should be available in the UK until 2030 at the very least. Before its unveiling, I was invited to try a prototype off the back of an extensive 3000km validation test by Porsche board members in Spain – one of several durability mules that had accrued various mileages in the run-up to production starting at the Leipzig factory in September. “There’s…

No, this isn’t yet another tie-in with the Barbie movie: that’s a lighter pink, and she’s more of a Corvette girl anyway. Instead, as the petrol-powered Cayman and Boxster near the end of their run, this is Porsche specialeditioning the bejesus out of them. The Style Edition isn’t a direct replacement for the Cayman T (which has been taken off sale, together with the non-RS GT4 and Spyder), but it takes more or less the same place in the range. It’s available on both the coupé and the roadster and, like the T, it’s effectively a basic 2.0-litre car with a few shiny bits added to it: bigger wheels, stripes, sports tailpipes (but not an actual sports exhaust) and some more standard equipment inside, including leather seats and dual-zone climate…

What I like most about Maturo Competition Cars is where the company came from. Most restomodding outfits – yes, this is another one – set out to make a car look old. To make it go better too, but in doing so, most turn up the classic appeal. This one, though, a Dutch company based near Eindhoven, founded by entrepreneur Marco Geeratz and engineer Frank van Ganzewinkel, has its roots firmly set in motorsport. Van Ganzewinkel owned a company making Group A Lancia Deltas for classic rallying, including redesigning and making thousands of its own components for greater performance and, crucially, durability than original 1980s World Rally Championship cars. Those were fast, sure, but in the high-cost, highly competitive Group A era of the WRC, they were used, abused and…

MILEAGE 219 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see if BMW’s entry EV is as impressive as its range-topper In my last report, I mentioned that I had switched off the iX1’s adaptive braking system, because it was inconsistent, uncomfortable to use and made me overly conscious of other road users around me. Frankly, it’s easily the best decision I’ve made since taking ownership of this electric SUV. The iX1 is now so much nicer to drive, and it has made me think about how one small change can turn a maligned driving experience into a genuinely pleasant one. I’m now far more relaxed when driving just about anywhere, be it through the crowded streets of Camden or the nastiness of the North Circular. While I do think it’s a shame…

COMPARISON Best fun electric car Our ‘electric handling day’ contest returns – and this year we’re finding the affordable EV that offers the most fun FEATURE Weird world of Unimog We see how Mercedes makes the world’s most extreme industrial vehicles FIRST DRIVE Range Rover Velar SUV gets a makeover and, in plug-in hybrid form, extra electriconly running EVERY WEEK ROAD TEST Porsche 911 Carrera T With a 379bhp flat six and manual gearbox, is this purists’ heaven? INTERVIEW Mohammed Ben Sulayem FIA boss talks rallying exploits and fractious relationship with F1 bosses SUBSCRIBE autocar.co.uk/subscribe or see p22…

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…

Mercedes-AMG is taking renewed aim at the Aston Martin Vantage and Porsche 911 with its second-generation GT, a car that the company’s CEO, Michael Schiebe, said “responds to the wishes of customers”. Unveiled at the Monterey Car Week in California, the new GT has been comprehensively re-engineered in a programme that had its development twinned with that of the latest SL roadster, beside which it will be produced at the Mercedes’ factory in Bremen, Germany. The new GT is larger and heavier but also roomier and arguably more practical than its predecessor. It forgoes the two-seat layout that has characterised the top-rung AMG model since its introduction in 2014, instead featuring a 2+2 interior that, in combination with a larger and more accessible boot, provides greater everyday functionality. As with…

INDIAN INDUSTRY GIANT Mahindra has revealed its Thar E concept as a vision of a rugged electric 4x4 that could go on sale in the UK by the end of the decade. It imagines a spiritual successor to Mahindra’s bigselling Thar, an affordable, rugged SUV with a similar ethos and design to the Jeep Wrangler. Conceived as an electric off-roader, it adopts a rugged, severe silhouette, sits high off the ground on Dakar Rallystyle suspension and rides on beefy all-terrain tyres. A production-specification evolution of this design would likely be more overtly roadfocused, though. Mumbai-based Mahindra, which is one of India’s largest companies, already has a presence in the UK through its Advanced Design centre and Formula E race team in Oxfordshire. At the unveiling of five new UK-designed electric…

A QUICK TRAWL through social media reveals that not everyone is enamoured by how the alternatives to ICE-powered cars are shaping up. That could have much to do with the fact that the 2030 ICE ban will force people out of new cars for which no comparable alternative exists – but that doesn’t mean it never will. Toyota’s next-generation battery tech, due in three years, is an example. It will give a range of up to 620 miles, reduce cost by 20% and have a charging time of 20 minutes “or less”. Since ‘alternative propulsion’ began to be taken seriously a couple of decades ago, no engineering consultant, independent research body or self-respecting car maker’s R&D department was without a technology roadmap representing how various types of ever more efficient…

WELL-HEELED buyers need a reason to pay extra for an ultra-prestige brand. That could mean more personalisation options and an interior that goes beyond merely having the latest gadgets. Once asking prices get well past six figures, customers expect true craftsmanship, softer leather and real wood veneers or carbonfibre. Several makers go further, offering jewellery incorporated into the dash. Central to this is often a traditional clock bearing the name of a high-end watchmaker. The buyer feels special knowing the timepiece in the car matches the watch on their wrist. But car clocks must be able to survive extremes of heat and cold and being jolted about on rough roads. They must also run on a 12V supply and last for decades without being serviced. Even a specialist watchmaker wouldn’t…

MONDAY What’s the best way to spend the first day of a week’s holiday? My ideal was to take a two-hour trip from the Cotswolds to the Ariel Motor Co at Crewkerne, to cadge a coffee and shoot the breeze with founder Simon Saunders (pictured standing above). The workshop was stuffed with half-built Atoms, their owners doubtless hoping for a long summer, plus the very last Ace motorcycle. Everything was buzzing. Life at Ariel has always defied economic bumps in the road: they already have 80 people interested in the forthcoming Nomad 2 off-roader, even though no one has seen the finished article. Saunders tucked me into the 1000bhp Ariel Hipercar for a blast on local roads, apologising for a cooling glitch that meant only 800bhp was available. Believe me,…

We’ve yet to drive the Porsche 911 Dakar here in the UK, but if it’s going to be sweeter than the Huracán Sterrato that we’ve recently had a chance to play with, it will need to be brilliant. This is an unusual state of affairs. Lamborghinis sound elemental and want for nothing when it comes to superficial drama, but from behind the wheel? Nine times out of 10, you would take the German car. While a Huracán Tecnica will drop your jaw in the moment, the richer synaptic imprint left by a thrashed 911 GT3 is that much more indelible. It’s a more communicative, adjustable and serious device. But then there’s the superb Huracán Sterrato. Lamborghini has taken its entry-level supercar, hoisted the ride height 44mm, fitted gravel-eating Bridgestone Dueler…

This is about shopping for raw power. It’s amazing just how many horses can gallop into your life for less than £10,000, never mind £20,000 or £50,000. And they come in a wide range of bodystyles. Given that we’re going mad for power, we aren’t looking at anything with less than 500bhp under the lid. You might think that’s limiting, but no: at the time of writing, Autotrader is listing 9739 cars above that mark, the most expensive of them a £1,399,000 McLaren P1. But to keep things slightly more realistic, our upper limit here is £250,000 – which still leaves 9241 cars to choose from. We haven’t always picked the cheapest examples, but the least expensive that looks as though it might be a safe used buy. In this…

My colleague Richard Lane’s Integrale is a 1990 model with an eight-valve engine and a catalytic converter. Lancia had started making 16v models without a cat, but Switzerland, where this car was sold first, insisted that imports had one. It was later imported to the UK in around 2000. “It’s a pure analogue car but still pretty usable,” says Lane. “There are loads of reasons why it still gets under my skin after 10 years of ownership.” It has been modified but only lightly. “I had underbody bracing put in at the front,” Lane says. There’s a strut brace at the back and poly bushes, and it has sport springs that “could be softer”. Hit a bad bump and the radio plate flies off into your face. “It’s sort of…

Landie of opportunity I entirely agree with Steve Cropley that a baby Land Rover Defender is overdue (News, 26 July). I wrote to [former Jaguar Land Rover CEO] Sir Ralf Speth over six years ago suggesting just this, and it was clear from his hand-written notes on JLR’s reply that he agreed. I live near Epsom, and I can’t help but notice the dozens of Mk2 and Mk3 Freelanders still running about (Land Rover invented this car category); they’re the perfect size. As long as the new car is compact, JLR should call it the Defender Freelander! Defender Sport and Discovery Sport don’t fit the brief. The onslaught of Chinese-made EVs means this type of relatively compact SUV will get even more popular – and affordable for most. The new…

For motorists of a certain age, ‘SR’ is as potent a badge as ‘GTI’. You want some examples? Manta SR, Astra SR, Nova SR… Ah yes, the Vauxhall Nova 1.3 SR. Its blistered wheel arches, rear spoiler, grey chequered sports seats and pinstriped bumpers won it plenty of admirers when it was on sale during the 1980s. The engine made 69bhp, but in a car weighing just 675kg, that was enough for 0-60mph in a shade over 10sec. We’re talking about it now because around 15 years later, in 2005, Nissan revived the SR moniker for the Micra 160SR, on sale from 2005 to 2008. In fact, midway through the car’s life, the company renamed it the Sport SR, which kind of overegged things a bit, before, in 2007,…

AUSTRALIA VASTLY EXPANDED its industries in World War Two as it fought off Japan. As a result, its economy boomed, indeed to the extent that it had to enact a huge immigration drive from Europe. From this scene emerged the idea of Australia’s own car, and GM beat Ford with its proposal, wanting less government aid and being established there already, having bought big native coachbuilder Holden in 1931. Prototypes of a medium saloon were created in Detroit and sent to Melbourne, along with a GM engineering team, after which a testing scheme was run to ensure suitability for this harsh territory. What emerged in 1948 was the 48-215, a car of 92% local content. It stood out through exceptional roominess (for a car sized akin to British GM’s Vauxhall…

You know what they say about opinions: everybody has one. It’s also true that there’s rarely a universal opinion on any one thing. For example, every car ever made has its supporters and its detractors. Joyfully ignoring the problems this can lead to, we’ve picked a few of our favourites and illuminated the debate that deems each a legend or, perhaps, a lemon. Fiat Multipla 1998 Named after an extremely odd-looking derivative of the 1950s Fiat 600, the Multipla was one of the most imaginative small MPVs ever devised. Like its older namesake, it was a six-seater, but this time the seats were arranged in two rows of three (a very sociable layout, since everyone on board was within touching distance of everyone else). For a car of this type,…