Innholdsfortegnelse for March 19, 2025 i Autocar

Toyota is priming a new hybrid powertrain for its GR models, giving the Japanese company’s sporting sub-brand a new lease of life in an era of strict emissions regulations. This set-up will be based on a new turbocharged four-cylinder engine that is currently in development. For the next generation of sporty Toyotas, a 2.0-litre variant will be used. This is currently being piloted in the mid-engined GR Yaris M Concept, with engineers stress-testing the prototype engine “to failure”. The new unit can support both mild-hybrid and plug-in hybrid set-ups and features a shorter piston stroke than Toyota’s current engines, making it smaller and lighter. This is important, suggested Hiroyuki Yamada, a GR engineer working on the project, because it means a hybrid element can be fitted with minimal weight penalty.…

The radical Renault 5 Turbo 3E hatchbackwill arrive in 2027 as the brand’s most powerful and advanced road car to date, packed with 533bhp and supercar-baiting acceleration. Indeed, this electric reincarnation of the 5 Turbo of 1980 – also the number of examples that will be made – is said by Renault to have created an entirely new segment: the “mini-supercar”. It is loosely based on today’s retro-styled Renault 5 electric supermini but has a bespoke platform, its own bodywork and a pair of in-wheel motors. These combine to produce a claimed 3540lb ft of wheel torque, although the torque transferred to the road is likely to be closer to 10% of that figure. The resulting performance is a 0-62mph time that is expected to be less than 3.5sec and…

THE HYDROGEN FUEL cell could be one of the most highly developed and rigorously tested automotive technologies never to reach mainstream production, but that doesn’t mean it won’t. The FIA Extreme H World Cup, a new off-road motorsport championship due to kick off later this year, aims to demonstrate just how capable the technology is. Not only will its Pioneer 25 cars be powered by hydrogen fuel cells consuming sustainably produced hydrogen but the electricity powering on-site activities at the events will be generated using stationary fuel cells too. The cars are based on Extreme E electric off-road racers, using the same kind of electric drivetrain but with the batteries partially replaced by a 75kW hydrogen fuel cell system. The stack is fuelled by 2kg of compressed hydrogen gas stored…

I would like to endorse everything Alan Roadley said on the subject of spare parts (5 March). I have had a succession of such issues with both our Range Rover Autobiography and our Jaguar I-Pace. Time and again, I’ve been told that I must await the arrival of spare parts, with the dealer telling me that those parts are on back order with no visibility of when they will be available. This applies both to exotic components and, in some cases, much-used items that you would expect every dealer to have on hand. My longest wait approached four months, and the most recent excuse – for both cars – was that the parts were “coming from Ukraine”. Every manufacturing industry has put in place ‘just-in-time’ methodologies, with the objective of…

“It’s comparatively light, so 134bhp makes it feel punchy enough for any situation” As we well know, jacked-up superminis can fly off the shelves. The Ford Puma is regularly at the top of the UK’s best-sellers chart and the nation’s Vauxhall dealers have managed to shift nearly 100,000 Mokkas since the current, second iteration went on sale in 2021. Now the Mokka has received a facelift – although it is quite a minor one. There have been some trim-level revisions and the exterior has been treated to new light designs and black accents to replace less environmentally friendly chrome inlays. Talking of sustainability, the interior – where most of the facelift money seems to have been spent – now contains hardy fabrics made from recycled plastics, an upgraded infotainment system…

Skoda has been cautious with its rollout of electric production cars since the Citigo iV of 2020. While rival brands have been populating as many niches as possible, the Czech firm has instead focused on the renewal of its established ICE and hybrid models over the past couple of years, while watching and waiting. But all of that is about to change. Before 2026 is out, Skoda will have launched facelifted versions of both the Enyaq and Enyaq Coupé, but will also have introduced four all-new electric model lines – among them a Jeep Avenger-rivalling crossover supermini (the Epiq), a 4.7m-long estate and a 4.9m MPV-cum-SUV. The subject of this road test – the Elroq – is the first member of the all-new foursome. A 4.5m-long compact SUV, it is…

I don’t have accurate statistics because none will exist, but bear with. I think anecdotally it’s acknowledged that more than a few pilots subsequently become Caterham drivers, and/or that flying is something many Caterham owners turn to. There’s something that unites the activities: mechanical interaction, guiding something analogue, feeling the elements, managing mild perils. The Seven club magazine is even called Lowflying. Where better, then, to take a new Caterham than to what has sort of become the glamorous home of low flying in the UK: a set of valleys in Wales colloquially known as the Mach Loop, named after the nearby town of Machynlleth, where British military flyers and their friends practise screeching between the hills. If this sounds to you like an excuse for machine-mad photographer Jack Harrison…

“Simple and easy to use is a mantra that could follow it around” WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see if the 2024 Car of the Year really is the standout family electric SUV on the market Being a Car of the Year juror has its perks. Superb access to the industry’s top executives. The earliest chance to drive the very latest new cars. World-leading expertise in mid-size electric crossovers. The last of those felt like a key part of the brief in the 2023 testing cycle to decide the 2024 Car of the Year, because every launch that year seemed to be a 4.5m-long, five-seat electric car from a mainstream European manufacturer. Such is the launch cycle of new cars and, as a result, the all-new cars tested for Car…

MILEAGE 6756 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT How easy is it to run a convertible as your only car in the depths of a British winter? I’m peddling my MX-5 as fast as I dare. In front of me is almost perfect darkness. I know there’s a sharp right-hander coming up quickly, but I’m finding it difficult to pick a braking point, because behind me are penetrating high beams from the bonnet-mounted foglights of a 1990s Mitsubishi Evo rally car. I turn right, make it round the corner without incident, then indicate, stay tucked in close to the white line and hear the tsu-tsu-schu of a wastegate fly past on my left. I’m taking part in the “world’s first unlit night-time track day” at Anglesey Circuit. Yep, North Wales, at night,…

MINI COOPER S Mileage 4143 Last seen 5.3.25 With so many of the Mini’s functions tied to its huge central touchscreen, the optional head-up display is a blessing, but there’s one thing missing: the indicator flashes. The noise of the blinker is easily lost amid loud music, and with the light-up indication out of sight, it’s all too easy to continue down the motorway after a lane change with it still flashing away. JH VOLVO EX40 Mileage 4022 Last seen 5.3.25 A call to pick up a family member from Gatwick airport had me scrambling around north London for a charger at short notice. It was 4.30pm – prime time for taxi drivers to charge – and panic set in as I had just two miles left before finally being…

Like a lot of people, when Covid restraints were at last lifted in 2021, Ron Mookerjee decided to start looking for the used car of his dreams. He had always wanted a BMW M3, and in mid-2022 he tracked down a 2017 F80-generation saloon with the optional M-DCT dual-clutch automatic gearbox at EAG Specialist Cars in St Neots, Cambridgeshire. “They’re M-series specialists, so I had no concerns buying from them,” Ron tells me. “The car had only done 23,000 miles and had the optional Performance Package with an extra 19bhp over regular versions, taking its total power to 444bhp.” The package also brings sportier suspension and differential settings, revised electronics and unique front seats – but much as Ron loves them all, when I ask him what he paid for…

VOLKSWAGEN GOLF 1.4 TSI SE 2009, 58,000 miles, £3990 This Golf is ideal for those after a dependable, reliable, frugal old hatch. Its 1.4-litre petrol four has plenty of shove and will return 50mpg on a motorway. Decent spec, too, with aux-in, alloys and cruise control. Service history and 12 months’ MOT included. MAZDA 3 1.8 SKYACTIV-D SPORT LUX 2019, 64,000 miles, £11,299 With its eager handling and swish interior, the 3 is a great all-round hatch. This Sport Lux diesel is comfy and packed full of quality materials, as well as phone mirroring and a reversing camera. It has a long MOT and a 12-month warranty to boot. SEAT LEON 1.4 TSI FR 2015, 58,000 miles, £8695 Style and substance are in strong supply with this Mk3 Leon, fitted…

WHEN WAS THE last time you heard a Skoda described as a Volkswagen with a different badge? If that’s ancient history, the notion of Skoda making cheap cars from eastern Europe is downright prehistoric. Skoda is now Europe’s fourth-largest car brand and, according to its 2024 financial results, has the best profit margins among Western volume car makers. It also has the brand image to match. CEO Klaus Zellmer, long tipped for roles even higher up the Volkswagen Group food chain, seemingly has an answer for everything, perhaps most notably price parity between similar ICE and EV models. (Skoda is the “first car manufacturer of big relevance” to do so; who’s that a reference to?) As Skoda CEO, he oversees the development of ICEs for the VW Group and doesn’t…

The new Volkswagen ID Golf, due in around 2028, will be one of the first Volkswagen Group models to benefit from the full potential of an advanced new software system being developed in a joint venture with EV start-up Rivian. The new model will be the ninth generation of the Golf but the first to be fully electric, and it will sit on the Volkswagen Group’s advanced new SSP EV platform. The ID Golf will be twinned with the new Skoda Octavia (p4). Last year, the Volkswagen Group invested £4.6 billion in Rivian to form a new joint venture to develop an advanced new ‘zonal’ software architecture, which is set to be used on virtually all the group’s vehicles sold in Europe and North America from 2027 onwards. The focus…

THE NEXT ERA of BMW is edging closer as the firm enters late-stage testing of its first Neue Klasse electric cars. Both the iX3 SUV and electric 3 Series saloon have been photographed hot-weather testing in South Africa. The first to break cover will be the iX3. BMW has yet to give a date, but the firm has staged a number of important reveals at its home motor show in Munich in recent years so the September event seems a likely venue. Previewed in 2023 by the Vision Neue Klasse X concept, the second-gen iX3 will ride on BMW’s new Gen6 platform. The iX3 will be closely followed by the electric 3 Series, itself previewed by the Vision Neue Klasse concept. Due in late 2026, it’s expected to revive the…

The government’s plan to tackle the most common form of MOT test fraud has been criticised by a former inspector who claims reduced levels of enforcement are undermining standards. Around 80% of fraudulent pass certificates issued each year are for cars that haven’t been inspected – known as ‘ghost MOTs’. Since 2023, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), which administers MOT tests, has been trialling ways of stamping out this practice. Last month, it told the UK’s 60,000 MOT testers that one solution requires them to take a photograph of the car they are testing in their garage’s test bay. Taken using the tester’s own phone or tablet, the image should show the front or rear of the car, including the numberplate. It can be taken only after the…

FIRST DRIVE ROLLS SPECTRE BLACK BADGE With 650bhp, this EV is the most powerful car Rolls-Royce has made. Its maker calls it “the apex of dominance”. We’ll be the judge of that ROAD TEST ASTON MARTIN VANQUISH’S MOMENT OF TRUTH New-era V12 flagship undergoes 10 pages of detailed road test scrutiny ROAD TRIP JERSEY VIA A KIA PICANTO Steve Cropley tours the beautiful Channel Island in its best-selling car EVERY WEEK USED BUYING GUIDE PORSCHE PANAMERA How to grab a 911-inspired luxury saloon for a mere £30k MY CAR & I LANCIA FULVIA This is the owner’s second Fulvia after the first met a surprising fate…

The electric Mokka now gets a larger battery as standard and a new damper tune focused on comfort, as well as the same design revisions as the ICE variant. The 50.8kWh (usable capacity) battery has come from the old Long Range variant. In combination with improved energy efficiency, the extra capacity results in a 20% increase in claimed range over the pre-facelift standard model, to 252 miles. It has the same 100kW maximum charging rate as before (slightly slower than that of the Renault Megane and new Kia EV3), meaning a fill from 20-80% takes 27 minutes. The official efficiency rating of 4.0mpkWh is below average for the class (the upcoming Ford Puma Gen-E manages 4.7mpkWh), and you may struggle to match it in real-world driving. We averaged 3.5mpkWh over…

With the rise and rise of the SUV, and the concurrent reputational slide of diesel, the oil-fired family wagon has been an endangered species for some time. In the next few years it may disappear for good, and this is particularly true for versions with torque-rich six-cylinder engines. In fact we’re already in a last-carstanding scenario, because BMW has, at least in the UK, shunned diesel entirely for the latest raft of 3 and 5 Series models, including the big-booted Touring variants. Aside from the quirky S6 Avant (get it while it’s still here), Audi is also down to only four-piston offerings for TDI derivatives of the A4 and A6 Avant – erstwhile stalwarts of the big-capacity diesel scene. All of which makes the subject of this road test an…

Surely, if anyone knows a dull car when he sees one, Kevin Beresford does. That’s why I’ve asked the creator of those tedious but inexplicably popular wall calendars ‘Car Parks of the UK’ and ‘Motability Scooter Riders of Benidorm’ to consider another: ‘Dull Cars of Redditch’, a potential companion calendar to his recently launched ‘Roadworks of Redditch’, the relevance of the place being only that he lives there. So it is that I find myself standing in a car park in the Worcestershire town with the Lord of the Rings – so called on account of his presidency of the UK Roundabout Appreciation Society (UKRAS) and his 12 calendars so far dedicated to the UK’s greatest gyratory traffic systems – as he considers its assortment of dull cars, earnestly deciding…

While Jim Rowan is leading his company in a very different way to other automotive CEOs, there are some things there’s no escaping from. Tariffs are a big issue across the industry at the moment. Cars attract tariffs whether travelling from or to China from Europe and America, most notably the 112.5% tariffs on Chinese-built Volvos into America. “The half a per cent seems pretty punitive…” says Rowan with a smile. On the impact of tariffs on Volvo’s car production, Rowan says: “It has become a lot more complex.” He adds: “We’re lucky that we have manufacturing facilities in Europe, North America and China. That gives us flexibility.” Volvo is expanding production of the EX30 from China to its plant in Ghent, Belgium, in response to European tariffs on Chines-emade…

MILEAGE 2049 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To find out if the Tavascan really is a sporty SUV – and if the segment needs it I’m leaving a multi-storey car park in Twickenham. It’s a classic, mid-20th-century type, with a tight descent. I’ve used it hundreds of times in many different cars without issue. As I descend the second-floor ramp, the Tavascan thinks the approaching first floor is an oncoming vehicle so it slams on the emergency brakes. A scary moment. But they release quickly and I put it down to bad luck. A few days later, it happens again, turning down another ramp. This time the sensors think I’m about to be shunted from the side but it is, in fact, a low concrete lip that is in no danger…

MILEAGE 3561 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To generate a progress report on the evolution of the old-school Merc coupé Driving your first AMG is not something that anyone should take lightly. I mean, just look at the bulldog stance and menacing glare of the CLE 53 and tell me you wouldn’t be at least a tad nervous. So I was thankful to be given not only the key to this car but also an invitation to Mercedes-Benz World in Surrey for an AMG driving experience and driver training day. Situated on the historic race track at Brooklands, it’s an impressive emporium – and all the more so when I visited because it was hosting a classic car auction. Well, unless there was some bizarre German licensing deal for pink Ford…

If you want a quirky baby hatchback with genuine off-road ability, there’s only one car for the job: the Fiat Panda 4x4. The third generation of the ever-so-cute Italian, launched in 2011, added a cheeky and cuddly look, improved interior technology and greater refinement to its famous versatility. “The Panda is one of those cars that is exceptionally hard to be harsh to, one that revels in being what it is: a wonderfully compact, fun car,” was our summary when we road tested it at the time. Its ease of use and classless appeal helped earn the Panda an impressive 4.5-star verdict, trouncing rivals in a segment that was then full of overachievers – the Volkswagen Up chief among them. Fast forward to 2025 and the Panda is accessible to…

“The new SSP architecture will offer more performance and be more cost-efficient” Skoda will preview the Octavia’s electric future with a new concept car at the Munich motor show in September. The estate concept will trial a new design direction for Skoda and showcase a next-generation architecture that will be rolled out across the Volkswagen Group’s future electric models. Announcing the concept car at a media briefing for Skoda’s 2024 financial results (see p6), CEO Klaus Zellmer said: “In September in Munich, we’re going to have a concept car that gives an indication of what the new design language will be for the Octavia and what the technology in that car will be able to deliver.” Skoda had originally planned to launch an electric estate version of the Octavia based…

the new Mercedes-Benz CLA has been revealed as the UK’s longest-range and most efficient electric car. Arriving later this year, the entry-level CLA 250+ with EQ Technology will be capable of driving up to 492 miles between charges, claims Mercedes, and will still manage 431 miles if driven exclusively at motorway speeds. Although pending homologation, these figures should mean the CLA EV leapfrogs all other electric cars available in the UK. That includes Mercedes’ own flagship EQS 450+, which manages 481 miles per charge from a 118kWh battery. That car is priced at £112,610, however – some £70,000 more than the CLA EV’s expected starting price. That remarkable range is the result of Mercedes’ efforts to minimise the CLA EV’s energy consumption: it has a nickel-manganese-cobalt battery with a capacity…

PORSCHE IS EVALUATING the addition of a new combustion-engined SUV to its line-up before the end of this decade. Company CEO Oliver Blume has confirmed that planning is under way on a new model line that would be offered with pure-combustion and hybrid powertrains. The new SUV could serve as an effective replacement for the ICE Macan, which is being phased out to coincide with the launch of the new electric Macan. Autocar has previously reported that Porsche has considered launching a new ICE Macan. Blume says the new SUV would be “clearly different” from the Macan but wouldn’t give any details on size or positioning. However, he said it would be “a Porschetypical SUV that will have synergies with other models” and “the first concepts are currently being developed…

A NEW BRITISH company has revealed a sub-tonne electric sports car that it aims to put on sale next year for the same price as a mid-rung Alpine A110. The first model from EV start-up Longbow is a compact, twoseat rival to the likes of Caterham’s upcoming Project V coupé and the promised electric A110. Available as the open-roof Speedster and the Roadster coupé, the Longbow is said to weigh less than 995kg - lighter than even the Mazda MX-5. Longbow was founded in 2023 with an ambition of “establishing an allnew vehicle category: the “featherweight electric vehicle”. To that end, the Speedster and Roadster have been developed on a bespoke aluminium platform. Precise technical details remain undisclosed but Longbow promises a 0-62mph time of 3.5sec for the open-roof car,…

FREE OF CHARGE I recently received a recall notice from Ford stating that my Kuga PHEV’s high-voltage battery may have a fault that could lead to an internal short circuit, potentially causing a fire, and as a result I must not plug in my car to charge the battery and use only the Auto EV driving mode until a software fix is available, which Ford estimates will be in the second quarter of the year. This means that for at least a few weeks I will be unable to use my car as a plug-in hybrid and will have to rely entirely on the petrol engine. This not only undermines the primary reason for purchasing a PHEV – to reduce fuel costs and emissions – but also increases my running…

“Renaultsport fans probably will enjoy how its nose hunts a little on corrugated roads” What few attempts have been made to reimagine the classic hot hatch format for the electric age have been tepid at best, but is that now beginning to change? Car makers do seem to be waking up to the fact that adding an extra motor to an otherwise sedate EV and stiffening the chassis doesn’t automatically result in a rewarding B-road reprobate. They’ve clocked the fact that nobody is rushing to swap their Hyundai i20 N for a Volkswagen ID 3 GTX. There’s something reassuring about the French having led the charge in the rehabilitation of a format that Brits have always loved. They’re time-honoured leaders in the field, and the new Alpine A290 does lift-off…

BMW people – the really committed ones, whose blood runs blue and white like some Bavarian-themed toothpaste – love to speak in code. You might be pretty up to speed on your chassis codes (E30s, F20s, G30s and the like), but you can always go a step further with engine codes. I won’t get too far into the weeds here, but there’s one that’s worth knowing: B58. It’s BMW’s current 3.0-litre turbo petrol straight six, and headquarters should have a shrine devoted to the thing, because it makes everything it powers better. You will find it in everything from the plug-in hybrid X5 xDrive50e to esoterica like the Morgan Plus Six and Ineos Grenadier, and it’s just as adept in the big SUV as it is in the retro sports…

WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To find out if an approved used car is the best route into Tesla ownership cross the past decade, industry disruptor Tesla A has been the global automotive success story. And much of that success has been spearheaded by the affordable Model 3, more than a million of which have found homes since 2017. But ‘affordable’ is a relative term, and a new one will still set you back just shy of £40k – or nearer £45k for the reassurance of a bigger-battery Long Range model. As our 15 January used buying guide reported, those first cars are now being replaced, so the market is flooded with Model 3s – which is great news for buyers, with prices starting from just £12k. There’s plenty to choose…

MILEAGE 10,790 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see if the spirit of the classic Land Rover Defender really does live on here The Ineos Grenadier has slotted into my daily life as easily as its flat sides and large mirrors help it slot into tighter parking spaces, as seen below in one of Gatwick airport’s short-term car parks. The Grenadier’s turning circle is large and it is quite a big car, so I was very pleased that with minimal shuffling I eased it gracefully into an end-of-row bay – my favourite kind – before going on my merry travels. I returned and took this picture, because I was so happy about how little space I’d left between the car and the barrier, and drove home. Imagine my surprise when, a…

AN OWNER’S VIEW BEN McCAULDER “I learned to drive in an original Panda, so I’m fond of them. My justification for my 4x4 Twinair was living in the sticks and my other cars being low-slung. It’s a great palate-cleanser. It’s a joy and more engaging than it has any right to be. While it’s cheap and cheerful, goodies like Bluetooth and heated seats make for a nice place to be. “The official MPG is optimistic but local roads aren’t conducive to hypermiling. Servicing is cheap but I have had bills. These were all reasonable given the age and mileage – brakes, springs – and some were preventative. The only unusual one was a failed propshaft bearing. The official part is pricey but aftermarket ones are available.” BUYER BEWARE… ■ DRIVETRAIN…

Last week, Stellantis’s UK boss reassured us that Vauxhall has a future and reaffirmed that it legitimately is a British car brand – things that executives have had to do repeatedly for the half century since it was effectively subsumed into German manufacturer Opel. Vauxhall launched its first car in 1903, was bought by America’s General Motors in 1925 and in the 1960s became the UK’s third-largest car maker, with its old Luton home and new plant up at Ellesmere Port. Opel made its first car in 1899 and became a GM subsidiary in 1929. Post-war it grew to become Germany’s second-largest car maker, with a production total nearly five times higher than Vauxhall’s in 1969. Although both were owned by GM and shared parts, they were distinct from each…