Innholdsfortegnelse for March 12, 2025 i Autocar

THE LEXUS RZ flagship EV will be one of the first cars in the UK to be offered with steer-by-wire technology – and a hot new range-topper will use a simulated manual gearbox. Steer-by-wire means there is no mechanical link between the wheels and steering wheel and the RZ’s set-up uses a squared yoke in place of a round steering wheel. For the RZ, the yoke is configured with a lock-to-lock rotationof around 200deg, enabling a full turning circleto be achieved with one movement. A typical set-up with a round wheel requires 720deg of turn, or two full spins. Lexus said this “groundbreaking” addition automatically adjusts to give a lighter weight in town, a heavier feel on motorways and an “enjoyable” set-up on winding roads. It will be the first…

“It will be a very comfortable and calm car to drive” The all-new ES90 is the first electric Volvo that isn’t an SUV - and the slippery, saloon-shaped hatchback offers a range well in excess of 400 miles. The Swedish brand is positioning the five-metre-long ES90 as its technological flagship, thanks to a series of advanced features and mighty computing power that will allow it to be extensively updated and refreshed with new features over the air. While the ES90 is ostensibly a saloon in profile, Volvo says design trickery allows it to have the ground clearance and raised driving position of an SUV with a fastback body - and it has a rear hatch, rather than a separate boot. The styling echoes that of the EX90 electric SUV –…

McLAREN HAS REVEALED fresh details about how it has extracted so much power from the new MHP-8 engine in the W1 hypercar. The V8 is combined witha hybrid drivetrain consisting of a dual-clutch transmission (DCT) and motorsport-derived electric motor to produce a total of 1258bhp and 988lb ft. The aim, says McLaren, has been to forge a “strong, emotional response” with the driver and the approach it has taken certainly bears thatout. The engine revs to 9200rpm has a 90deg flat-plane crankshaft, which should guarantee plenty of thrills for the driver, with the soundtrack being transferred directly to the cabin. The intention is “to encourage the driver to chase that redline”, says McLaren. An 8% rise in engine speed increases internal inertia forces by around 20%, so for an engine…

BRAND SNOBBERY FOLLOWS Vauxhall around, perhaps best articulated by the suggestion of: ‘Why don’t they just make them Opels?’ It’s true that this badge-swapping relationship is problematic when Opel-Vauxhall istrying to market one brand as German and another as British. I’ve watched a CEO flounder in handling the ‘what about Vauxhall, then?’ follow-up question after waxing lyrical about Opel’s ‘Germanness’. Yet to suggest Vauxhall should give up 122 years of history is folly. It has its problems, but trying to solve them will be a darn sight simpler than trying to build Opel as a brand in the UK. Eurig Druce was still in his honeymoon period of leading Stellantis in the UK when Vauxhall’s managing director upped sticks. He has taken temporary charge. An impressive leader and executive, Druce…

MEGA MEGANE I thought I’d share my experience with a 2002 Renault Mégane Fidji. I took it over from my dad in 2017, with 87,000 miles on the clock, thinking it was going to be a short-term car. Now at 163,000 miles, it’s still going strong, with all electrics working, including the sunroof, and still the same exhaust after 22 years. Having kept the bills, I thought I’d do a comparison on what it’s cost me to maintain the Mégane against contract hire on a new car and was surprised by my findings. I did this as the clutch started to slip at 159,000 miles and wanted to work out if it was worth paying £450 for a new clutch. I decided that it was, given the savings I had…

There’s a very small detail on the new-generation Audi SQ5 that I think means a great deal: the red Audi Sport oblong is back. This oh-so-subtle differentiator could for a very short time be stuck on the back of anything that had four rings at the front. Then Audi got rid of it entirely. Now it’s back on a proper S car. It would be a reach to say this ties up with Audi Sport returning to form, but this SQ5 is certainly good and much more of an S car than Audi’s latest EVs. With the electric stuff, S variants have been a touch meh – more of a trim level with a few nice bits than the toned-down RS experience we had all come to enjoy. Sure, the…

‘Unique’ is an oft-misused word, but it really does apply to Maserati’s new Grancabrio Folgore: there are very, very few electric convertibles on the market, and this is the only one that has four seats. Everything about it is ultra rapid, from the 800V electrical architecture for charging at rates of up to 270kW (good enough for 62 miles of range in five minutes) to the tri-motor powertrain that delivers 818bhp for 0-62mph in 2.8sec. And just look at it. The classic proportions and elegant styling are understated yet still ooze glamour, which is a tricky thing to pull off – especially when you’ve got 83kWh worth of battery cells to shoehorn into the platform. So here we are with a £185,610, four-seat, electric cabriolet that’s as fast as the…

The overarching theme of the global car market last year was stabilisation, hopefully signalling the end – finally – of pandemic-induced turmoil and ensuing component supply problems. The sales figures reveal that there were some clear winners and losers, though. BYD made further inroads after emerging as a global force in 2023, Toyota continued to dominate, China again bought more cars than the next two biggest markets combined and the US showed Europe how to push on after Covid. BMW and Mercedes-Benz remained atop the premium market and JLR’s remaking of the Land Rover Defender as a brand in its own right delivered a huge sales reward, while Tesla suffered a stutter after years of incredible growth. Electrification posed problems in Europe, the third-biggest global market, as rigid government sales…

MILEAGE 3111 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To generate a progress report on the evolution of the old-school Merc coupé Convertibles are an increasingly rare breed in new car showrooms. The era of a convertible version of almost everything (Nissan Micra, Peugeot 206, Vauxhall Astra…) is thankfully long behind us, giving the drop-tops that remain more of a special feel and sense of occasion that this breed of car deserves. And proper soft-tops at that, as the retractable hard top thankfully seems to have largely been consigned to history too. Even premium car makers like Mercedes have cut their convertible ranges. There’s only the CLE Cabriolet and SL Roadster if you want a soft-top Merc, and given the supercar brief of the latter, if you want a more traditional Mercedes convertible,…

“It’s about as close to motorcycling as I will ever come,” says Daniel Goodison of his Caterham Seven Superlight R, a 220bhp road and track weapon that weighs just 485kg. “There are no side windows, there’s no windscreen, 0-60mph takes 3.5sec and 0-100mph 8.2sec and the 1.8-litre engine is limited to 7500 or 8400rpm on track days. I love it.” I’ve no doubt he does. It’s barely above freezing when we meet and the roads are covered with salt, but he has driven to deepest Hampshire from Dorset for his car club meet and it’s still only 9.30 in the morning. “That’s nothing,” he says. “Not long ago, in one day I drove from Blandford [Forum] to Doncaster for a track day, then down to Snetterton and from there back…

“Described as a model ‘from Europe for Europe’, it will be the spiritual successor to the Up” Volkswagen has vowed to realise its long-held goal of an ‘affordable’ £17,000 electric car in 2027 with the arrival of the production version of the new ID Every1 concept car. Described as a model “from Europe for Europe”, the new baby hatchback will serve as the spiritual successor to the Up as an A-segment city car. It will also be the entry point to the German firm’s range of bespoke electric ID models. Volkswagen boss Thomas Schäfer said the ID Every1 is “the car the world has beenwaiting for”. The production version of the ID Every1 will use a variant of the front-wheel-drive MEB Entry platform, which has been developed for the forthcoming…

Volkswagen Polo (1975-present) The Volkswagen Golf’s arrival in 1974 left space in the range for a smaller car, which VW filled with a rebadged version of the Audi 50. The VW proved to be the better seller and Audi soon axed the 50. While early Polos were shorter than four metres, it gradually grew and is now firmly a B-segment model. Volkswagen Lupo (1998-2005) Named after the Latin word for wolf (as in Wolfsburg, geddit?), the 3530mm-long Lupo used a modified Polo platform and even sported a 123bhp GTI version. That failed to boost sales and the Lupo was discontinued after a single generation. Volkswagen Fox (2005-2011) The Lupo was replaced by this cost-conscious Brazilian-built hatchback. European versions were all three-doors (we never got the Fox Xtreme mini-SUV, sadly) and…

VOLVO IS PREPARING for a future without traditional estate cars – but believes it’s already launching models that offer the same qualities. The evolution of its saloons into hatchbacks, as seen with the new ES90, and the rise in popularity of SUVs such as the XC60 and XC90 mean Volvo believes it can still cater to customers who have traditionally bought the likes of the V60 and V90. When asked if Volvo could have a future without estates, CEO Jim Rowan said: “Yeah, because I think it has changed, right? SUVs have changed with ride height. Then with our saloons, with the ES90, you will see we’ve brought the ride height up, rather than down. “You get so much room in an EV car. You don’t have an engine, so…

The government’s plan to end what it hascalled “contrived car ownership schemes” has rattled the UK’s automotive industry, which forecasts devastating consequences for itself and its workers if this becomes law. The Employee Car Ownership Scheme (ECOS), which the government intends to end from 6 April 2026, differs from traditional salary sacrifice schemes in that the car is owned by the employee, not the employer. Operated mainly by car makers and their dealers, ECOS enables an employee to buy a brand-new car at a hugely discounted price. Monthly repayment bills are very low, with little or no interest charged. Under the terms of the arrangement, the employee is required to sell the car back, typically after six months or 6000 miles. It’s thenreplaced by another. Because the car is owned…

As car buyers, we’re caught in the (im)perfect storm of seemingly being overcharged for electric cars to recoup manufacturers’ investment costs or similarly overcharged for combustion cars because they’re less attractive to build, due to government legislation and as manufacturers understandably turn their investment to EVs (acknowledging supply chain issues, inflation etc). Add to that the fear of sharp depreciation in EV values, due in part to rapid improvements in battery technology, and similarly in ICE cars as they become marginalised. It’s no wonder many are on the fence about buying new cars. Illya Verpraet’s suggestion that at £50,000 the Honda Civic Type R is unaffordable (‘Game for a laugh’, 26 February) was well made. It is indeed expensive – but is it that pricey comparatively? Flick a couple of…

Naturally, a new SQ5 also means a new Q5. The regular SUV offers the Volkswagen Group’s familiar 2.0-litre petrol and diesel engines, as well as virtually the same interior as the SQ5. The diesel is the one to go for. It doles out effortless slugs of torque that work well with the seven-speed dual-clutch automatic and the same mild-hybrid tech you get in the SQ5. The integration of the three driveline elements is weighted in favour of the diesel engine, because of its relaxed nature. The petrol needs to rev a fair bit to get going and the gearbox feels the need to shuffle numbers slightly too much for a truly relaxed ride, whereas the diesel just seems to glide on by. I drove only Q5s on air suspension, which…

The fancy hybrid is compelling, but what about the cheaper petrol? Nissan has clearly wanted you to think of its big-selling Qashqai crossover, now three generations and a facelift old, as a kind of reassuringly familiar technological bridge to the future. Back in 2022, it introduced the ePower version, an innovative series hybrid driven primarily by its electric motor, then promoted it as a smart alternative to either a plug-in hybrid or a fully electric car. It was supposed to deliver an EV feel with none of the usability drawbacks. But it has turned out that Nissan buyers are still a fairly conservative bunch: six in 10 Qashqais sold in the UK are powered by the more conventional 48V mild-hybrid petrol system in our test car here. Driven primarily by…

As an American EV startup, Rivian is routinely – and predictably – compared to Tesla. But even a cursory glance at their respective pick-up trucks indicates the vastly differing approaches of the two firms. While the Tesla Cybertruck is unapologetically brash and wilfully confrontational, the Rivian R1T is infused with genuine warmth and charm. And while Elon Musk’s firm has delighted in disrupting the car industry, Rivian’s seemingly more conventional approach has attracted investment from the likes of Ford and Volkswagen. But look closer, at either the R1T or Rivian itself, and both are more radical than they first appear. That’s why the Volkswagen Group signed a deal worth up to £4.6 billion to invest in Rivian, including creating a new joint-venture company. You see, Rivian isn’t really a car…

Race fans always savour the sweet sense of anticipation at this time of year, with everything all ahead of us. But perhaps there’s an extra shot of expectation this time around because, on paper and before a wheel has turned in anger, we might just be in for the most open and competitive Formula 1 season in more than a decade. Genuinely. Based on form last year and heading into the final season of a fully mature ruleset, there’s every reason to be optimistic that at least eight drivers from four teams could be in with a shout at winning races – and half a dozen of them will be backing themselves to challenge for the world championship. So, Max Verstappen to make it five in a row at Red…

Adrian Newey has now officially arrived at underachieving Aston Martin. F1’s greatest designer has a brief centred on the team’s 2026 car, built to new rules, but what difference can he make in the short term? Fernando Alonso, 44 in July, craves a positive answer to that. After a lack of driver changes across the grid between 2023 and 2024, six rookies are joining this time (see above). Carlos Sainz steps down a grid slot or three. Ousted by Lewis Hamilton’s arrival at Ferrari, the four-time grand prix winner has ended up at Williams (ninth out of 10 teams last year). Esteban Ocon will most likely be thinking of his move from Alpine to Haas as a step sideways, rather than a demotion. The American team finished just seven points…

The second-generation Ford Kuga isn’t just a versatile, smart-looking and sensible SUV. No, another reason this became one of Ford’s best-selling models is because it’s a surprisingly rewarding car to drive – even matching some of its premium-badged SUV rivals for refinement and dynamism. You won’t pay a premium price, though. Just £2000 is all you need to snap up a Mk2 Kuga these days – if you can stomach the signs of heavy use and high miles of cars at this price point – but even more recent, better-kept examples can still be had for four figures, so let’s get familiar with this family hauler. The wheelbase is the same as the Mk1’s, but with an extra 81mm added to its length and some clever packaging tricks, the Kuga…

Toyota has revealed the C-HR+, the brand’s third EV and, in toprung 338bhp form, one of the most powerful cars it has launched in Europe. Described by Toyota as the “core” model in its EV line-up, it gives the firm a foothold in the popular electric C-SUV segment. The car was originally tipped to carry the bZ3X nameplate and is based on the bZ Compact SUV concept, unveiled in 2022. It remains largely true to that concept, with a long raked roofline and extended bonnet. Like its hybrid-poweredC-HRrange-mate, it is bookended by a full-width rear light bar and Toyota’s new ‘hammerhead’ front-end design. At 4520mm long, the C-HR+ will be positioned between the recently revealed Urban Cruiser crossover and the larger bZ4X in Toyota’s EV range. Its size pits it…

The ES90’s lidar sensor is really prominent. Are we wrong to say it’s not aesthetically pleasing? “Design is a series of compromises. There is an adage: if you can’t hide it, make a feature of it. But lidar [needs to] see the road; it needs to be high up. These are challenges that we as designers relish. But yeah, the size of it is kind of non-negotiable.” Is this a more premium car than the S90? “There are some cues from the S90. But this is about creating a new vernacular for premium for Volvo. What is premium when it comes to EV? That’s something that’s really interesting to play with, rather than sticking with the more skeuomorphic representation of what came before. For me, there isn’t any place for…

The prospect of a new car every six months on terms significantlybetter than anyone outside the car industry can enjoy sounds great, doesn’t it? Not according to one manufacturer employee in receipt of the benefit. The employee, who asked not to be identified, has a 1.0-litre hatchback on his firm’s ECOS that costs him just £85 per month. He pays no benefit-in-kind tax or national insurance contributions on it and it’s replaced every six months. However, he says there are strict limits as to which model he can order and with which options, and even then his order can be overruled by the factory and a different specification from the one he requested supplied. He must pay an excess mileage charge if he does more than 6000 miles in the…

FEATURE CATERHAM, CLEAR FOR TAKE-OFF Matt Prior heads to the Mach Loop, home of fast, low-flying jets, in a fast, low-flying £80k Seven model that’s back in the UK for one last time INTERVIEW VOLVO BOSS JIM ROWAN SPEAKS OUT Former CEO of Dyson on why car makers are facing a Darwinian future ROAD TEST SKODA ELROQ The electric equivalent of the Karoq is laid bare by our road test team EVERY WEEK USED GUIDE FIAT PANDA The other lovable small Fiat can be had for £1500. Top buying tips OUR CARS FORD FOCUS Uh-oh, it’s an MOT test failure. Sam Phillips tells us the score…

“It’s easily the best to drive in its class and can be particularly comfortable” Those of you who know your Chinese cars will be aware of the name Tayron, from a crossover produced collaboratively by Volkswagen and FAW. This year, though, the Tayron will go global, with a new model plugging the gap formerly filled by the Tiguan Allspace, offering seven seats and a wide-ranging powertrain selection. This new Tayron is far bigger than the Chinese version. Measuring 4792mm, it’s slightly longer than the Tiguan Allspace, and while it’s based on the same MQB Evo platform as the latest Tiguan (see p56) and has remarkably similar styling, Volkswagen claims it’s a unique car with no shared panels. The Tayron’s powertrain range is one of the most versatile in the Volkswagen…

In some ways it feels like we know the new, reimagined Renault 5 very well already. It’s been four years since the big-wheeled, boldly styled concept car blasted a splash of yellow across our screens. Rather than quietly retreat to Renault’s heritage collection, the concept was developed into a production car that looks just as spectacular. And it’s not a mere small-series vanity project. The new 5 is here to be Renault’s mainstream hatchback, an entry point into its EV line-up. With a headline price of £22,995, it’s no more expensive than a mid-spec hybrid Clio. The 5 has already won a number of awards – not least Car of the Year. Can it add five stars from Autocar to its achievements? We’ve got a high-spec long-range car to find…

WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To find out if the new-generation Tiguan maintains the appeal of Volkswagen’s best-seller “What makes so many buyers pay extra to have it over the Golf?” Do you believe in real-life NPCs? Sorry, to explain: there’s an only semi-joking theory online that ‘non-player characters’, which simply and unconsciously follow a coded set pattern, have escaped the confines of video games. And I do reckon that a lot of evidence can be gathered to back up the theory – not least from British roads. The Tiguan has been the best-selling Volkswagen model globally since 2019, shifting many millions of them in that time. Indeed, I started seeing third-generation examples everywhere mere months after it went on sale. But I’ve yet to meet a car lover who can…

MILEAGE 2321 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see whether a facelift has succeeded in keeping this ICE hatchback relevant When we welcomed this car to the Autocar fleet, road test editor Matt Saunders wrote: “I’ll be keen to find out if Rachel thinks an A3 S Line diesel still feels sufficiently ‘2024’ or like a car ready for retirement.” When I first stepped into the A3, having come from a Lexus LBX, an all-new hybrid, the experience did feel very analogue. Not in a negative way but a notable way nonetheless. Inside, there’s a modestly sized touchscreen running familiar Volkswagen Group software, plus lots of buttons, and they’re all properly tactile – none of this haptic hoo-ha. The seats are adjusted using a simple handle, which I’ve always thought just…

Reading our Formula 1 season preview on p52, the obsessives among you might have realised that rookie Isack Hadjar will be the sport’s first competitor from Algeria – making it only the fourth African country ever represented, after Morocco, South Africa and Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). This isn’t strictly true, though – not just because Hadjar holds a French licence but because North Africa was actually quite prominent in grand prix racing before the 1950 foundation of the F1 World Championship. There have been two leading Algerian racers, and throughout the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, GPs were held in Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Tunisia and Egypt. This was because all of those Mediterranean nations were colonies at the time, variously of Spain, France, Italy and Britain. Indeed, Marcel Lehoux was born to…