Innholdsfortegnelse for November 27, 2024 i Autocar

Kia has given BMW M3 levels of power to its new large SUV, enabling the EV9 GT to dispatch 0-60mph in just 4.3sec while providing seating for seven people. The EV9 GT packs a dual-motor powertrain: a 215bhp motor mounted on the front axle and a 362bhp unit at the rear for a combined output of 501bhp. That’s 123bhp more than the current EV9 range-topper, the GT-Line S. This makes it more powerful and quicker than the 493bhp Land Rover Defender 130 V8, which hits 62mph in 5.4sec. Indeed, the only seven-seater on sale in the UK that’s faster than the EV9 GT is the combustion-powered Audi SQ7, which takes 4.1sec to reach 62mph. As well as the significant increase in power, the EV9 GT gains the simulated automatic gearbox…

NISSAN HAS CALLED on the UK government to make urgent changes to the zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate and warned that failing to do so risks “undermining the business case” for future investment. Representatives from the Japanese firm, BMW, Ford, Stellantis, Tesla, Toyota, Volkswagen and lobby groups met with transport secretary Louise Haigh and business secretary Jonathan Reynolds last week to discuss the EV transition, including the ZEV mandate. After the meeting, the government confirmed that it would retain the planned 2030 date for the phase-out of purely combustion-engined vehicles – although certain hybrids will be allowed until 2035 – but it did not address manufacturers’ concerns about the ZEV mandate, leaving open the possibility for future amendments. The mandate requires car makers to achieve a 22% EV sales mix in…

The world’s largest electric carmanufacturers are neglecting human rights by not addressing supply chain risk, according to Amnesty International. The not-for-profit organisation’s findings, published as part of a 102-page report, say a failure by car makers to tackle risk in their mineral supply chains has potentially left communities living closest to mines, where cobalt, lithium, nickel and copper are extracted, “exposed to exploitation, health risks and environment harm”. As part of the study, Amnesty International evaluated the human rights due diligence policies of 13 EV makers. It issued each one with a scorecard, which ranked them on their “human rights policies, risk identification process, supply chain mapping and reporting and mediation”, marking them on a scale from one (worst) to 90 (best). The top mark, which Amnesty International awarded to…

SELLER’S REMORSE I was delighted to find a full road test of the Lexus RC F in the 6 November issue. It came as a surprise, as I’d assumed it wouldn’t be worth your time putting a car that’s effectively retired through the process – but well done! I owned an RC F for 15 months and regretted selling it almost as soon as it was driven away. The build quality was top-notch, as was the dealer. It was a car that I could get pleasure from just by sitting in it and admiring the interior without even going anywhere. The infotainment system’s control touchpad was a pain, though. By today’s standards, the RC F’s performance figures are nothing special, and although it can be hustled round bends in the…

“This truly is the car that Volvo can’t afford to stop making” There are physical wing mirror switches. You can turn off the speed warning chime with a click on the steering wheel. It has separate front and rear window buttons. The XC90 is mostly an ergonomic delight, much to my pleasure and slight surprise. Before I drove this facelifted version, Volvo’s UX guy (user experience, to you and me) mentioned that it had borrowed a lot from the EX30, a car whose dearth of buttons really irked us. It turns out that he largely meant the software on the screen. Phew. Sure, the SUV has had a few midlife updates to keep things fresh, but it is reassuringly still a Volvo XC90. Up front there’s a new grille and…

The third instalment in Mini’s big new-product push, the Aceman, is positioned as a car that perfectly splits the difference between the Cooper hatchback and the Countryman SUV. Unlike those two, it’s electric-only, which might rule it off some shopping lists. For those on whose it remains, it might initially seem like quite a lot of car for the money – although the reality of that proposition certainly needs close inspection. Perhaps this says more about the price of the smaller and three-dooronly Cooper, but you have to find less than £2000 extra to open up the prospect of buying the Aceman, which doesn’t sound like much. The Aceman certainly offers a good deal more practicality than the Cooper, with room for adults in both rows of seats, and a…

THE CHOICE IS growing for buyers who want an electric seven-seater, with Kia, Volvo and now Hyundai (see p4) all entering the fray. For those seeking something that looks a bit different from the norm, though, Volkswagen has launched an ID Buzz with a longer wheelbase. Described by the firm as a modern-day incarnation of its iconic Type 2 bus, the LWB ID Buzz has an 86kWh (usable capacity) battery – up from the short-wheelbase MPV’s 79kWh pack – and a more efficient 282bhp rear-mounted electric motor. At 4962mm, the LWB is 250mm longer than the SWB model. The standard, five-seat version impressed our testers with its practicality and refinement. The same is true here, with an extra bench adding even more practicality thanks to a 2-3-2 seating layout. (A…

MK1 GOLF The genesis of the Golf breed married handsome Giugiaro styling with a modern front-engined, front-wheel-drive platform. It was “quicker, roomier, more stable and more economical” than a Beetle, according to our January 1975 road test, although the driving position, brake feel and ride of this nascent incarnation of family hatchback were brought into question. Not that those criticisms hampered its success: VW had made one million after just two and a half years. ONE WE FOUND 1983 VW Golf Driver, 82,000 miles, £12,995 MK2 GOLF COUNTRY The second-generation Golf arrived in 1983, bringing with it a larger, rounder body and a multitude of novel special editions, such as the supercharged G60 Limited with 210bhp at its disposal. The most prescient of all was the Country, with a Steyr-Puch…

WHY WE RAN IT Is this underrated and usable supercar really Italy’s answer to McLaren? he order books at Maserati are once again “A beautiful supercar with 1980s soul and 2020s poise and usability” Tin a dark place. This year’s sales will amount to around only half what they were in 2023, which itself was hardly a bumper crop. The problem, according to Carlos Tavares, big boss of parent company Stellantis, is marketing. Simple as that. Not selling anywhere near enough Grecales – the Macan-rivalling crossover that should be the engine room of Maserati’s business – boils down to a failure to sell the story of ‘dolce vita’, as Tavares puts it. It might also have something to do with the Grecale being overpriced, but I have some sympathy with…

AN OWNER’S VIEW GARETH JONES “I bought my Huracán Spyder in April 2024, having owned a Gallardo for a number of years. I didn’t want a flashy colour, though. I wanted something different that had more of a classic look. In the end, I bought an LP610-4 finished in a very rare colour called Grigio Antares and it looks beautiful. So far, I’ve only had to pay for a service, which cost £2000. Buying from a main dealer is the best route as you get a 12-month warranty as standard. The car is comfortable, will do 26mpg on the motorway, and sounds incredible.” BUYER BEWARE… ■ ENGINE A rough idle could indicate issues with the camshaft sensor. It will flag an engine management light, but it’s easy to replace. If…

“Saturn is the key to General Motors’ longterm competitiveness, survival and success as a domestic producer,” boss Roger Smith stated boldly in January 1985. The idea for this new brand had been secretively formulated three summers prior by senior engineer Alex Mair, at a highly troublesome time for the US industry. The name hints at the patriotic mission, being borrowed from the rockets that beat the Soviets to the moon. American manufacturers were haemorrhaging domestic market share. Oil crises in 1973 and 1979 had massively raised fuel prices, causing consumers to abandon Detroit’s gas-guzzling barges for smaller, more efficient cars from Japan – which also turned out to be better to drive and of high quality. GM had seen its annual US sales drop 34% in the four years up…

The Hyundai Ioniq 9 is the firm’s largest and most luxurious electric car yet, taking the fight to the Volvo EX90 with seven seats, up to 429bhp and a maximum range of 385 miles. The flagship of Hyundai’s expanding Ioniq range of bespoke EVs shares its E-GMP platform with the Ioniq 5 crossover and Ioniq 6 saloon, and will take the brand into new territory with a top-end price tag approaching £80,000. It was revealed at the Los Angeles motor show last week, the same event where in 2021 Hyundai previewed its bold design cues, lounge-like interior and sleek, aero-optimised bodywork with the futuristic Seven concept. Like its Ioniq range-mates, the 9 stays largely true to the show car that preceded it, retaining its unusual tapered cabin, heavily raked roof,…

LOTUS WILL PRODUCE hybrid versions of future models in response to the continued reluctance of luxury car buyers to move to EVs. The switch, confirmed by CEO Feng Qingfeng to reporters at the recent Guangzhou motor show in China, means the brand is tearing up its current plan to go all-electric by 2028. Lotus will develop ‘Super Hybrid’ technology with ultra-fast plugin charging along with a turbocharged combustion engine to extend the overall range to 680 miles, said Feng. He didn’t reveal which models would receive the hybrid drivetrain but Lotus could upgrade the current Eletre large SUV and Emeya large saloon EVs with the technology, as well as adding it to the upcoming Porsche Macan-rivalling SUV. “At Lotus, we have always chosen the best power technology available, whether it’s…

FORD WILL CUT 800 jobs in the UK due to concerns about the “health” of its passenger car business. Those in admin, commercial and development roles are most at risk, rather than workers at the Dagenham engine factory and Halewood transmission plant, confirmed Ford. The car maker employs 5300 workers in the UK. The move is part of a cost-cutting programme to axe 4000 jobs in Europe. Germany is set to be the most affected, with 2900 roles up for redundancy. The planned reduction represents a substantial portion of Ford’s workforce at Cologne, where it currently employs around 11,500 workers. The decision affects both Ford’s European headquarters and the production lines for the Explorer and Capri, where build numbers will also be reduced. Its Saarlouis plant, meanwhile, is the hub…

Scrutinise the spec of an electric car andthere’s a figure in miles per kilowatt hour (mpkWh) for vehicle energy efficiency, typically an average of between 3.0 and 4.0. There’s no doubt efficiency is important, both for engineers, who use it as a yardstick of achievement, and for drivers, for whom it is the key to understanding battery range. The next big efficiency race for EV makers is to be the first to achieve 5.0mpkWh. This figure is important because, for a typical 50kWh battery pack, the difference between 4.0mpkWh and 5.0mpkWh is 50 miles more range. So there’s a prize to be won. And it won’t be long until the first 5.0mpkWh cars hit the roads. Indeed, in July, US-based Lucid claimed to be first to it with its Air…

“THE FASTEST TURNAROUND in the recent history of automotive” read one caption on a Renault Group video, reflecting on the first 1000 days of its ‘Renaulution’ transformation plan. It’s not hyperbole, either: Renault has gone from loss making on just under three million sales in 2020 to a 7.9% operating margin from 2.2 million sales in 2023 while growing revenues by about a quarter in that time. With the foundations now solidified, a key part of the next phase of the Renaulution plan is to democratise EVs while ensuring they are cars you truly desire to own. Fabrice Cambolive, Renault brand CEO, is overseeing the launch of the Renaulution project’s flag-bearer: the reborn 5. Making such desirable EVs is crucial to help “break the glass roof” on EV sales, which…

I was interested to read about how UK drivers are hanging onto older cars for longer (News, 13 November). I’ve typically bought either new cars or used ones up to two years old and to the highest specification I can afford at the time. Earlier this year, I decided I needed a larger car so looked around and ended up with a seven-year-old car, which I’m very pleased with. I deliberately chose the previous model, rather than the current one, and in one of the lower specifications, because I didn’t want to go through a routine of switching off lots of driver aids each time I started the engine. It still has a surprisingly high specification and, even though it has done a few miles, feels almost like new. I…

The best saloon in the world? That’s the question posed by the new Bentley Flying Spur Speed after the adoption of a new hybridised V8 engine. This allows greater efficiency to be added to the car’s repertoire, on top of the other qualities that make it great. The introduction of the new V8 drivetrain has come about following the demise of the W12 engine due to emissions regulations. That V8 has already made a stellar debut in the Continental GT Speed. It now lifts straight into the Flying Spur and this Speed launch variant, and aims to replicate both the famed torque of the old 6.0-litre W12 unit and perhaps more pertinently the refinement and lack of stress it operated under. The driveline mixes a 591bhp 4.0-litre V8 engine with…

There’s plenty to like about the Vauxhall Grandland Electric, there really is. In a crowded class, it’s competitive on range, design, space and price and has little that should deter or put off buyers. Lots to like, then. There’s just not much that you will love. That won’t be a barrier for the average person seeking an electric family SUV. This is a thoroughly sensible package from a familiar brand. It’s the sort of thing that Vauxhall has done well lately. And, much as it seems like damning with faint praise, there’s a lot to be said for quiet competence. Since this is our first taste of the new Grandland in UK spec and on British roads, a quick recap: this is the second generation of Vauxhall’s biggest SUV and…

WE DIDN’T MUCH like the Skywell BE11 on first inspection. It wasn’t very good to drive, its infotainment system was near-unfathomable and it wasn’t even all that cheap. Skywell has since reconfigured the 4.72m-long electric crossover (our original test car was a preproduction prototype) with a new BYD-sourced motor, reduced the wheel size from 20in to 19in, revised the suspension and downsized the touchscreen by 2.2in – and this is our first chance to drive the finished product. You can have your BE11 with a 72kWh battery or an 86kWh unit, and the two versions are priced at £36,995 and £39,995. Ranges are 248 and 304 miles – quite short for such large battery capacities, due to poor efficiency (we saw just 3mpkWh in our test) – and the charging…

I owned a Golf once. Hasn’t everyone? Mine was a comical experience, because I bought it for a feature in this very magazine. Back in 2012 I handed over £300 to a bloke who could only just be bothered to leave his house in order to sell his car, for a very basic, high-mileage Mk3 Golf, complete with a few months’ MOT and tax and in surprisingly solid mechanical order. I bought it solely so I could run it against two similarly cheap impulse-buy bangers, over 100 laps of a track and then scrap it on the same day. The idea was to find out how cheaply you could do a track day if you were willing to do it in, well, just about anything. Frustratingly, my colleague’s Saab proved…

“The atmosphere is like watching football down the pub: everyone is fully immersed” Did you know that Formula 1 is regulated by a rulebook that is more than 500 pages long? And that, during the course of a race, drivers can lose as much as 5kg? What about the g-forces said drivers endure? They’re greater than those felt by astronauts on the Space Shuttle. Such snippets, and many others, were gleaned during a day out at Mercedes-Benz World at the historic Brooklands track, where my colleague Charlie Martin and I had been invited to join a few lucky competition winners for a behind-the-scenes insight into the Singapore Grand Prix. Attending meant braving the ever-depressing M25, this time in torrential rain and just as the sun was coming up, but still,…

WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see whether our positive first impression of this affordable new hybrid supermini can last in extended daily use What am I, Autocar’s supermini correspondent? I’d be quite happy with that, actually, having previously run a generally fabulous Renault Clio E-Tech hybrid and then an endearingly honest petrol Dacia Sandero on our test fleet. Now I’m trying the new MG 3 – a car on which I delivered Autocar’s first verdict back in May, and a very positive verdict at that. Well, MG did promise “everything about it was designed to put a smile on your face”. The old 3 seemed a generation behind the competition even when I last drove it some six years ago, the justification being that it was one of the cheapest…

In the days before you could pick up an A-Class for £250 per month on a PCP, a Mercedes was out of reach for most people, but that made it something they ached to own. Build quality was in another league, with models such as the W201-series 190 and W140-series S-Class of the 1980s and 1990s overengineered to a fabulous degree. Another Mercedes model series that people lusted after was the W124: Mark Markiewicz owned one in the early 1990s and now he owns another: a 230E. “I’d always regretted parting with my first W124, so when I saw this 230E automatic three years ago, I had to have it,” he says. The car was registered in 1990 and has done 120,000 miles. It was one of three 124s, the…

Ineos Automotive will restart production of the Grenadier in January now that it has resolved the supply issues that resulted in all builds being put on hold in September. Autocar understands that the pause was a consequence of seat supplier Recaro Automotive filing for insolvency. Asked by Autocar who the new supplier is, Ineos would only reply: “Until the supplier makes the announcement themselves, which is imminent, we cannot name them. We feel it’s only fair they announce the news first.” The restart will be a major relief for Ineos, which was on the cusp of launching in the critical Chinese market, as well as in Mexico, when production was paused.…

The new DS 8 electric fastback will be capable of driving 466 miles between charges, the brand has confirmed ahead of its imminent unveiling. DS credited the figure, verified by official WLTP testing, to aerodynamic developments such as active air intakes in the car’s front bumper. This makes the 8 one of the UK’s longest-range EVs, just behind the Mercedes EQS (481 miles). The segment-straddling luxury flagship is set to revealed before the end of the year. It will be charged with reinvigorating the French premium brand and kick-starting its electric era.…

Numberplate cloning in the UK has risen sharply as criminals look to avoid paying fees and tolls operated by a growing number of automatic numberplate recognition (ANPR) zones. Police are warning that the issue is an “ongoing battle” as more systems pop up across the country to enforce compliance in bus lanes, congestion charge and low-emission zones. The issue is most prevalent in London, where last year 36,794 fines were issued by Transport for London to cars bearing cloned numberplates, up from 22,450 in 2022. Despite this sizeable number, just 464 cloned vehicles were caught by the Metropolitan Police in the 12 months to June. Lucrietia Calderwood is one motorist who has been a victim of cloning. She and her partner recently began receiving penalty charge notices (PCN) for driving…

132-PAGE BUMPER ISSUE Best of 2024 COMPARISON BRITAIN’S BEST DRIVER’S CAR PLUS ROAD TEST YEARBOOK We bring you every twist and turn from Cadwell Park, as 10 epic contenders are put through their paces in the search for 2024’s best performance car DIARY WHAT TO DO OVER CHRISTMAS If you need ideas for how to escape the family, we’ve plenty… INSIGHT ROAD TESTING REALITIES The trials and tribulations of an Autocar road tester (even the world’s best job has its moments) OPINION OUR FAVOURITE CARS OF 2024 Of the hundreds our writers tested, which ones stood out? ROUND-UP MOTORSPORT AND NEWS REVIEWS The highs, lows and whoas from the automotive year that was…

“BMW has lavished too much time, money and attention on the razzle-dazzle” Premium car brands can’t afford to hang around when it comes to reinventing their big-selling models. BMW certainly hasn’t. Three years ago, it introduced the iX electric luxury SUV, which boldly leapt into a new era for both exterior and interior design language, and now the fourth-generation X3 is following suit. This mid-sized upmarket SUV has become a car quite different than the one it replaces. The old X3 felt like an expert in middle-market versatility; a car finally comfortable with its place in the showroom, with notes of old-school, 1990s BMW maturity about its apparent quality and sophistication. But the fourth-generation X3 has, quite apparently, had its priorities shifted. It’s a slightly lower, wider and longer car,…

The seven-seat follow-up to Mazda’s CX-60 of 2022 has just arrived in the UK. It is ostensibly a CX-60 stretched by 250mm in the wheelbase and can be had with a choice of either six or seven seats – and, depending on trim level, either with an extra centre console between the secondrow ‘captain’s chairs’ or without one, should you prefer easier walk-through access to row three. That six-seater walk-through layout could make the car quite appealing to parents of younger children, I’d say. The CX-80 also has longer rear passenger doors than the 60, opening to a wider angle to make it easier to fold yourself into that back row from the kerb. The second-row chairs slide and tumble forwards, but even after they have, it’s still a squeeze…

It was Steve Norman, at the time the Renault Group’s global marketing chief, who in 2010 told this magazine that Dacia “makes new cars for people who didn’t think they could afford one”. Norman’s justifiable comments were made not too long after the Romanian brand became the first company to launch a €5000 model in Europe (the Logan saloon, in 2004) and the car world has since become an awful lot more expensive, but the Brit’s precis of Dacia’s role still applies. It’s why the new, Mk3 Duster – a sharply styled, spacious and comfortable crossover – today starts at about £18,000 and tops out at little over £26,000 even if you have the more powerful version in the most generous specification. Outwardly, it is exceptional value, as were its…

As the Mk8 tips past the middle of its lifespan, thoughts are naturally turning to what the future holds for Volkswagen’s hatchback. And while the car industry is navigating a period of deepest uncertainty and instability, all signs point to the Golf being simply too important to let it disappear. Early clues have, indeed, started to trickle out about the Mk9 car. Due in around 2028 or 2029, it will inevitably make the switch to electric power, being among the first cars to sit on the Volkswagen Group’s new SSP architecture, which will allow for significant improvements in functionality and efficiency compared with the MEB platform that is currently in use. The Golf name will be retained, that much is clear, although it is likely to be supplemented with Volkswagen’s…

With an Audi S6 for weekdays and a Toyota GR Supra for weekends, Philip Thomas could fairly be described as a petrolhead. At least that was until the IT specialist stunned his neighbours by recently adding a third car to his fleet: a Smart #1. How the curtains twitched, but this was no ordinary #1. Although the standard model has a Golf GTI-beating 268bhp, Thomas had instead opted for the Brabus variant with 422bhp – around as much as his Audi. However, where the S6 is a low-slung saloon with performance engineered into it, the Smart #1 Brabus is a compact SUV that, aside from its additional, front-mounted motor, is almost identical to the standard model, right down to its tyres and suspension. “The Brabus is certainly quick, but it’s…

I ntroduced in 2014 as the successor to the beguiling Lamborghini Gallardo, the mighty Huracán (Spanish for hurricane, appropriately) was – and remains – lauded for the accelerative ferocity and guttural symphony of its naturally aspirated V10. That unit has been replaced by a turbo V8 for the new Temerario, enhancing the old ‘baby’ Lambo’s collectability no end. The time to act, you would have to imagine, is now. The Huracán’s 10-cylinder motor is a masterpiece: Lamborghini reworked the 5.2-litre engine from the Gallardo and first-gen Audi R8, fettling its top end and exhaust system to create a blue-blooded mechanical monster. The boffins at Sant’Agata dialled the Huracán up to 11 in a bid to fend off rivals like the McLaren 650S and Ferrari 488, squeezing out 602bhp for 0-62mph…

BMW 525i 1990, 134,000 miles, £4850 Don’t let six former keepers and big miles deter you from this classic exec saloon, a Glacier Blue example. The seller notes some corrosion on the driver’s door, but with an extensive service history and a long MOT, this E34 5 Series is worth a punt. AUDI 100E AUTO 1983, 99,000 miles, £2995 Howmanyleft.co.uk suggests there are just two 100E autos on UK roads. This is one of them. Its owner says it “drives absolutely beautifully” and was fitted with a new timing belt and water pump as part of a service in 2020. It has covered few miles since then. Its MOT is due soon. VOLVO 740 GLT 1990, 120,000 miles, £3750 This Swedish tank has been part of the same family since…