Innholdsfortegnelse for May 28, 2025 i Autocar

Vauxhall has previewed the upcoming Mokka GSe with a rally-inspired concept car. The Mokka GSe Rally prototype is based on the current crossover but has a more motor-sportthemed design makeover and is fitted with Bilstein rally suspension, a racing gearbox and a lightened chassis. It draws power from the same 54kWh battery as the standard Mokka but adopts the 278bhp, 254lb ft single-motor set-up that is also used in its Abarth 600e Stellantis stablemate. These productionready features indicate what we can expect from the upcoming Mokka GSe, a car that was recently previewed by Vauxhall-Opel CEO Florian Huettl and will be revealed in the coming months.…

The new Lexus ES saloon could ditch petrol power entirely in the UK when it arrives here next year. While the upcoming ES will be offered as a 199bhp hybrid and two EVs elsewhere in Western Europe, Autocar understands the brand’s UK arm is evaluating whether to bring the hybrid here. A key reason is the need for a greater proportion of EV sales in the UK than in the European Union. That could leave the 221bhp front-driven ES 350e and 338bhp four-wheel-drive ES 500e as the only UK versions. Each uses a 77kWh lithium ion battery for up to 329 miles of range.…

MEANWHILE, RENAULT HAS also strongly hinted that the new 4 crossover will gain a 4x4 variant with the unveiling of an off-roadinfluenced concept. Reprising the name of an adventure-themed variant of the original Renault 4, this Savane concept rides 15mm higher than the standard car, features bespoke utility-style wheels with grippy Goodyear tyres and is decked out inside with ‘deep brown’ fabrics. It also has widened tracks and contrasting black body cladding in a nod to its extra off-road potential. But more importantly – as signalled by the bespoke 4x4 badging – the Savane is most obviously differentiated from the standard front-wheel-drive car by the addition of a second motor on the rear axle, to give permanent four-wheel drive. Renault has not given any technical details but the front-drive car…

FORD HAS BEEN one of the European automotive industry’s standout success stories over the past decade, growing its range, customer base, revenues and profitability while maintaining market-share leadership each year. That is, of course, on the van side of the business. Whatever the woes of Ford’s passenger car business, the commercial vehicle arm is doing some quite extraordinary things, with growth that shows no signs of slowing down. Even after my interview with Ford Pro’s European general manager Hans Schep ends, the stats and info keep coming. He is surprised more isn’t written about the van industry because, as he says: “This is where the money is made and where the most interesting customer journeys happen.” Indeed, if all the European businesses that rely on vans united to form a…

I was chuffed to see Matt Prior’s piece on his Audi A2 in the 7 May issue (‘This was the future once’). As Matt said, people like to talk about the A2, so I thought I would share our experience. My wife drives a 2004 1.4-litre petrol, bought new, still with just 40,000 miles. It has never missed a beat over the 21 years. The only problems have been two cracked windscreens. Cracks appeared at the screen’s base on the passenger side. My suspicion was worn rivets in the large pivot for the wiper blade. A new wiper arm fixed it – but wiper arms for right-hand-drive A2s are like hen’s teeth. CF Automotive supplied a refurb. The only sign of age is peeling/flaking lacquer (it’s red), which has required…

It was always expected that truly cheap cars would be the most difficult to electrify. Some people even feared it might be impossible. Indeed, while 60% of E-segment cars sold in Europe at present are electrified, just 9% of A-segment cars are. But the new BYD Dolphin Surf is billed as the car to end that discrepancy – and given we’re talking about the world’s leading maker of electrified vehicles, and prices are expected to start at only around £18k, there is a great amount of credibility to that claim. You might recognise the Dolphin Surf as the BYD Seagull – an EV that recorded almost half a million sales in its first year in showrooms. The resemblance of its ‘face’ to that of a seagull divebombing to steal your…

The Peugeot 3008 SUV is riding on a wave of success in Europe, with 130,000 examples sold across the continent and the electric e-3008 taking almost 25% of those. And now, for those potential buyers feeling left out because they want or need four-wheel drive, Peugeot has added a dual-motor version with more than 300bhp. The standard e-3008 is powered by a single front-mounted motor that makes 211bhp and 254lb ft for 0-62mph in 8.8sec. The new dual-motor variant puts out 321bhp and 375lb ft, cutting the sprint time to a fairly impressive 6.0sec. That trumps the Skoda Enyaq 85x Coupé (6.7sec) but is still some way adrift of the Tesla Model Y Dual Motor (just 4.6sec). Indeed, the addition of a 110bhp motor onto the e-3008’s rear axle doesn’t…

If ever there were a car for which our final verdict depends on the way it drives on UK roads, this new Audi A6 Avant is it. It starts with plenty of positives and one of the most important is that it’s only the third model to use Audi’s latest PPC platform, employed by the recently revised A5 and Q5. It has a svelte new look too. It’s also super-streamlined, with a 0.25 Cd, yet there’s up to 1500 litres of load space. It weighs ‘only’ two tonnes, which means its kerb weight undercuts similar-sized EVs by 500kg. Its driving position also avoids the increasingly common compromise of requiring the driver to sit on top of a big EV battery, but it’s still a hybrid and can do short, fuel-saving…

MILEAGE 11,654 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see whether this big new estate really is a flawless family hauler Having somehow spent no time at all in the currentgeneration Superb, I’ve just put 1720 miles on our long-termer in a week. How did that happen? I’d initially planned to get the Eurostar to Paris to interview Renault Group CTO Philippe Krief, but then Aston told us it would be launching the Vantage Roadster in Salzburg later that same week. The clear play, then, was to link the jobs by road: car beats train beats plane. I scanned the Autocar fleet for an accomplice. Prise the Bentayga from Rachel? Tempting. But the V8’s fuel economy might put the publisher out of business. Steve’s Wrangler? Similar story, only with ride quality as…

RENAULT SCENIC Mileage 5443 Last seen 14.5.25 The Scenic’s Google-powered route planner was helpful over three days of frantic motorway work: the set-up works out which chargers require the least deviation from your route, tells you how long to stay plugged in and adjusts your ETA and remaining charge forecast to suit. It can’t tell you how fast a charger is running, though, so I arrived at my destinations a bit later than planned. FP FORD EXPLORER Mileage 3128 Last seen 14.5.25 There’s nothing glamorous about a charging cable, but credit to Ford for putting some thought into the one provided with the Explorer. It’s bright yellow for one thing, which makes it easier to spot and therefore less of a trip hazard when plugged into the bollard charger near…

BMW M140i 2017, 52,000 miles, £16,250 This immaculate M140i is one very hot hatch. With a 335bhp B58 six-pot, it’s quicker than Jack’s Golf (bottom left), and rear-wheel drive adds character. It has a full history and the six-speed manual for additional driver appeal. HONDA CIVIC 2.0 i-VTEC TYPE R GT 2017, 49,500 miles, £23,499 The FK8 Type R is one of the best hot hatches thanks to its snickety manual ’box and lively VTEC motor. This one has done less than 50k miles and looks to be in exceptional nick inside and out. We’d buy it for those red suede sports seats alone. SEAT LEON CUPRA 300 2017, 54,000 miles, £15,400 This unassuming Leon hatch is in fact a 300bhp Cupra 300 with a sub-6.0sec 0-60mph time. The 2017…

The new BMW M2 CS has been unveiled, and it could be the final version of the brand’s junior sports car to feature pure combustion power. Priced from £86,800, the stripped-out, track-focused sports car is the first variant of the ‘G87’ M2 to be launched and comes six years after the original M2 CS (Competition Sport). While that car was rated at 444bhp (40bhp more than the ‘F87’ M2), this new CS puts out 523bhp – 50bhp more than the standard M2, using the same turbocharged 3.0-litre straight six. The increase in power takes it above its 493bhp Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS rival. The CS’s 479lb ft of torque means the model is offered exclusively with an eight-speed automatic gearbox; the manual, says BMW, is limited to 406lb ft.…

THE NEW BOSS of Lotus Europe is seeking to broaden production at the brand’s UK base to include new models from the wider Geely group. Lotus Cars Europe CEO Matt Windle is keen to boost output at Hethel, which earlier this year announced 270 job cuts as demand for the Emira petrol-engined sports car was hit by the sharp increase in US tariffs. “It has been a turbulent start to the year, which has had an impact on the business,” he said. Lotus last year posted record Emira wholesales (sales to dealers) of 5272, up 102%, but Windle is keen to push close to the factory’s production limit of 10,000 cars annually. “Back in the late 1990s and 2000s we were building several models at Hethel [including the Elise-based Vauxhall…

Alpine is going up against the Porsche Macan Electric and Hyundai Ioniq 5 N with its first SUV, the A390. The French performance brand’s third model line – joining the A110 coupé and A290 hot hatch – is a sleek, striking crossover-coupé that remains largely true to the A390 Beta concept revealed at the Paris motor show last year. Due to start from around £60,000 when UK orders open in November, the A390 will play a significant role in broadening the market reach of Alpine’s product portfolio. Its dimensions place it right at the heart of Europe’s most popular car class and it has a more overt focus on daily usability than the brand’s dedicated sports cars. It measures 4.6m long by 1.5m tall and has a 532-litre boot, which…

Toyota has lifted the covers off the sixth-generation RAV4 to reveal a striking new look underpinned by a generational upgrade in on-board tech. The family SUV’s dramatic styling is said to reference the off-road credentials of earlier RAV4s, with a boxier silhouette with Land Cruiser-esque cues and chunkier wheel arches. The new hammerhead lights at the front and rear bring it into line with the likes of the latest Prius and C-HR. Inside, it gets a new 12.9in infotainment touchscreen that is the first to run on Toyota’s new Arene software – a standard operating system that will be rolled out across all future Toyotas, enabling quicker and easier development of new features. Toyota says this will enable it to develop new and more powerful safety and entertainment systems over…

The new Fiat Grande Panda 4x4 concept previews a revival of the cult-classic goanywhere supermini and signals the latest expansion of the Italian firm’s fastgrowing line-up. The original Panda 4x4 was launched in 1983 and quickly gained a cult following thanks to the raised ride height and rugged styling elements that made it an affordable off-roader. The revived concept is based on the new Grande Panda, which is offered with both 111bhp electric and 109bhp 1.2-litre mild-hybrid petrol powertrains and sits on Stellantis’s costconscious new Smart Car platform. Although Fiat hasn’t officially confirmed the car’s production intent, it refers to the Grande Panda 4x4 as “the next chapter” in its legacy and a “potential true symbol of versatility, reliability and freedom”. Fiat Europe boss Gaetano Thorel wouldn’t confirm outright that…

RENAULT IS TREATING its Emblème concept as a “laboratory on wheels for low-carbon mobility”. Revealed at the Paris show in October last year, it is claimed to emit the CO 2 equivalent of 90% less greenhouse gas than a 2019 petrol Captur, based on a whole life-cycle analysis. The 4.8m-long estate is planned as a dual-energy EV with a battery and a range-extending hydrogen fuel cell system to keep it topped up if necessary. More than a concept, it’s become a rolling study of how best to get small percentage gains in carbon footprint reduction by scrutinising the basics such as aerodynamics, weight and materials used in every detail of the car. Seven materials and components account for 90% of its total carbon footprint and these are the battery, steel,…

MW has morphed the M8 Competition into a two-seat shooting brake for a special limited-run concept called the Speedtop. Unveiled at the Villa d’Este concours, the wagon has been given a complete design overhaul compared with the car on which it is based, and it is set to be built in a small batch “for collectors and enthusiasts”. Each example is expected to cost as much as £430,000. The Speedtop is closely related to the Skytop that was unveiled at the same event last year. BMW is positioning the new concept as a modern interpretation of the traditional shooting brake – a format it has revisited several times over the years, with production cars such as the Z3 Coupé and Z4 Coupé, as well as 2023’s Z4-based Touring Coupé concept.…

’RING RECORD RIDE It was great to hear that Matt Prior has managed to ‘steal’ an Audi A2. I’ve admired them for years but never had the circumstances to make one fit my lifestyle. I’ve only been in one once. It was around 2001, but it was at the Nordschleife. It was a typically grim, damp, foggy early morning and the A2 was one of few cars circulating. I asked the driver if I could hop in for a passenger lap and we were off. It was a diesel (a 1.2, I think), and we shot off as fast as was mechanically possible. The pilot mentioned that he was the fastest car on the track at the time, due to the poor conditions. Everyone else was tip-toeing around in Porsche…

Let’s get the (not quite so) obvious bits out of the way first: 2165mm, 1720kg and 576bhp. No, those aren’t the headline specs of the new Smart #5 but the differences in overall length, kerb weight and peak power between this new five-up family SUV and the diminutive Fortwo city car that first bore the Smart badge in 1998. With that car now retired and the #5 on its way to dealerships to join the #1 and #3, Smart has passed the point of no return from a maker of fun-size urban runarounds to a purveyor of premium electric SUVs, with a price bracket that ranges from £32,000 to a micdrop £50,000-plus. We’re not in Hambach any more, Toto. The 4.7m-long #5, then, is the flagship for this new era,…

“This is a clenched fist of a car, presumably to keep all of that weight in check” Transfixing on the weight figure of a newly launched EV is surely a hiding to nothing. They’re all broadly guilty of it, so why care? But when a new Mini hot hatchback carries even 1725kg before the driver has climbed in, it’s hard not to fret for its dynamism. The current-generation BMW M3 has received criticism for similar mass, while a Nismo GT-R is a few bags of sugar lighter. Both pack big engines and exhaustive tech into their much larger bodies. The John Cooper Works Electric is the first pure-electric halo Mini hatch, and it arrives with reasonable potency. Its 255bhp and 258lb ft peaks drive the front wheels for 0-62mph in…

The Emeya is the fourth stage in the masterplan to transform the new, revitalised Lotus from beloved but niche sports car maker to global luxury car manufacturer. The Emira sports car and Evija hypercar lend the brand credibility, reassuring everyone that the old Lotus hasn’t left the building. The Eletre is to be the relative volume seller because, globally, big SUVs are what luxury car buyers want. Exactly what the Emeya brings to the table is more of a headscratcher. It appears that for all its bold reinvention plans, Lotus is still governed by a certain European car orthodoxy that dictates a sporting brand must have a super-saloon, even though that particular genre has become far less popular than it once was. For instance, Porsche sells only a fraction as…

Maserati Coupé 2002-2007, £5000-£25,000 Let’s ignore for a moment all the clichés about Italian reliability. If you’ve got M2 CS money, you can probably afford to run a Maserati with a highly strung Ferrari V8. Thanks to a crossplane crank, it’s more muscular in its sound than you might first anticipate, with burbles aplenty on the overrun. So it’s a tantalising prospect, especially when you consider that you can get in the finest examples for £20,000. That leaves plenty in the coffers for the inevitable bills… BMW 1 Series M 2011-2012, £30,000-£50,000 The M2’s grandfather was never granted proper M car status, but that doesn’t really matter, because it drives exactly as a blueblooded Beemer should. In no small part that’s thanks to its fundamentals, with 335bhp sent through its…

MILEAGE 16,568 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT In facelifted form, is this SUV still the pinnacle of British luxury motoring? I was driving on a 40mph dual carriageway not far from my house recently, when I realised I was doing quite a bit more than 40mph just as I approached a speed camera. I was surprised by my speed, and immediately after that came the sinking feeling of existential dread: a stern call from Bentley, points on my licence and all the shameful regret that follows. Later that day I was on a 20mph road, which I’m sure most of you will agree is a hard speed to maintain, but I stuck to it. I was overtaken by a couple of drivers and assumed they were being extraag-gressive in the presence…

The Audi E-tron GT is far more than a Porsche Taycan in different clothes. The two share their J1 architecture and nearidentical proportions, but while the sportier Porsche’s goal is driver appeal, Audi’s flagship EV plays the role of electric grand tourer. The softer-edged E-tron GT was launched in 2021 and cost around £85,000 new, or closer to £100k with options. Depreciation hasn’t been kind on the E-tron, though, which means you can now snap up Audi’s elegant electric GT for a scarcely believable £30,000. Older Taycans are now going for similar cash, and you can pick up a Tesla Model S for even less money – but Ingolstadt’s EV exec could be the smarter buy. The Audi feels every bit the premium proposition inside, decked out with gleaming polished…

In this magazine’s road test of the 2010-15 Audi RS5, our testers noted that, but for some subtly flared wheel arches and a restyled front bumper, few would know the car was the most prestigious sports model in the German marque’s range. Ditto the interior, which, it said, looked to be pretty much straight out of any A5 cabin. None of this bothers RS5 owner Neville Greenhalgh (pronounced Greenhoush). “I love that people don’t know what it is or what’s under the bonnet,” he says. “Only when you open the taps up do they put two and two together. It looks special but doesn’t shout its potential.” He bought his RS5, registered in 2012, from a specialist two years ago: “I’d been looking for a ‘B7’ RS4 [2006-08] but couldn’t…

In three years’ time, BMW will launch its first Neue Klasse performance model in the next M3. With dynamic capability previewed by the Vision Driving Experience concept (pictured), that car will move onto the new EV-focused Gen6 platform. In line with BMW’s commitment to combustion – and to maximise its appeal – it will be sold alongside an updated variant of today’s ICE-powered model. Following on from that, BMW has committed to updating its entire range and placing them all on that new flexible architecture, which opens the door for another M2. While not yet confirmed, a third-gen M2 is therefore fairly plausible given both the popularity of a small, bare-bones M car and that the new NK platform has a rear-wheel-drive bias. To that end, any new M2 is…

Lotus’s volume growth has been impressive, given where it has come from, with overall deliveries totalling 12,134 in 2024 – double that of the year before. However, electric vehicle sales have fallen short of expectations in line with a lower than anticipated demand for luxury battery-powered models. Lotus intends to counter this shortfall with the planned launch of its ‘Hyper Hybrid’ range-extender EVs that use a combustion engine as an on-board generator to top up the traction battery. The first such model will be unveiled at the end of this year – and could be the long-mooted Type 134 (imagined below) – with sales starting in China early next year. No date has yet been set for European sales.…

BYD IS PRIMING a line-up of new plug-in hybrids with 124 miles of electric-only range and the ability to rapidcharge at speeds of more than 150kW. Due within “the next one to two years”, the DM-i-badged cars will have substantially greater capacity to operate as EVs than their rivals. At present, the longest electric range of any PHEV on the UK market is 88 miles, offered by the Volkswagen Golf eHybrid, and the best from BYD is the 77 miles provided by the Seal U, which can be charged at only 18kW. BYD executive vicepresident Stella Li said: “Our target is really to have people in daily use using the EV [mode], but then if they want long distance, given a chance to charge, they have the freedom to go…

TOYOTA’S GR performance division is gearing up for a big reveal at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July. Speaking to Autocar, Toyota Europe vicepresident Andrea Carlucci said “the UK is the most amazing country in terms of pure car lovers, even more than other countries” and that he is “attached to Goodwood”. He added: “This year, you will see something – let’s put it like that.” Carlucci declined to disclose further details but said: “We have to bring [many] more cars as GR models to the marketplace and I hope the UK will bring as many as [it] wants.” Autocar has previously reported Toyota is working on a new version of the GR86 using the GR Yaris’s three-pot powerplant. Similarly, Lexus has long been preparing its new V8-powered, motor-sporthoned…

JAECOO AND OMODA parent Chery is gearing up to launch its third brand in the UK, called Lepas – and it hopes this three-pronged approach will help it conquer the market. Launched globally in April, Lepas will offer an SUV line-up based on the same T1X platform as its sibling Chery brands. This means electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid variants. Lepas (a portmanteau of leopard and passion) will take the smaller SUVs from Chery’s Tiggo range, tighten the curved look, add a new cat-eye lighting signature and aim the brand at “modern families”. Meanwhile, future Tiggos bound for Europe will be given a chunkier look targeted at more traditional family buyers, while Omoda is steered in a more edgy, modern direction, as revealed by the new 3 coming next year.…

Ford Pro has been the sector leader in commercial vehicles in Europe for the past 10 years, and so far in 2025 it has achieved a market share of close to 20%. “And that’s just the vehicle business,” said Hans Schep, general manager of Ford Pro Europe, Ford’s European commercial vehicle arm. Vehicle sales aside, explained Schep, Ford Pro offers “servicing, our focus on uptime, charging, telematics, software and everything around productivity”. The upshot is that Ford Pro in Europe is growing across the board – “really fast and really well”, according to Schep. He is keen to get across that a commercial vehicle business in 2025 is far more than white vans appearing from a production line. “It’s really important that customers start to appreciate and understand the benefit…

BMW has fitted its i7 saloon with a solid-state battery as it ramps up testing of the next-generation technology. Engineered with partner Solid Power, the pack uses cells that yield a higher density but are smaller and lighter than those in the lithium ion batteries used by BMW today. In simple terms, this means more energy can be stored in smaller pack sizes. This prototype pack also uses an adapted version of the current Gen5 architecture (rather than the more advanced Gen6 Neue Klasse), which suggests BMW is evaluating whether today’s platforms could be modified to bring the solidstate tech to market more quickly than had been previously thought. Speaking in February, Martin Schuster, BMW Group’s vice-president of next-gen battery tech, said the group was eight years away from needing…

GROUP TEST THE LEAST LIKELY TEST OF 2025 Three new diesels pitted against each other? Yes, really. Belters too: BMW Alpina D4 S, Range Rover Sport and Mercedes-Benz E450d Estate FEATURE LAPPING LE MANS… IN A PEUGEOT E-3008 What’s the famous track like from a driver’s point of view? Peugeot hypercar star Paul di Resta gives us a slow-speed tour INSIGHT INSIDE THE WORLD’S LARGEST CAR FACTORY We visit Hyundai’s staggering Ulsan plant in South Korea EVERY WEEK ROAD TEST FORD PUMA GEN-E Britain’s best-selling car arrives in electric form for the ultimate test LIVING WITH AN… MG CYBERSTER Matt Prior welcomes MG’s exciting vision of a modernday sports car: a 503bhp EV…

Has the trend for retrofuelled comebacks gone too far? Based on the Fiat Grande Panda Hybrid launch event, I’d say yes, it has. Not because of the car itself, you understand. Instead, someone within Fiat has clearly been listening to Now! 32 and decided it would be a great idea to ask Shaggy to re-record his 1990s hit Boombastic, except retitled – wait for it – Pandastic. And no, I’m not making that up. Thankfully, the Grande Panda is a far more welcome revival than that wretched tune that is now embedded in my head. We first sampled the raised hatchback in its pure-electric form but, as with other cars on Stellantis’s cost-conscious Smart Car platform, it can accept a hybrid powertrain: a 1.2-litre three-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine aided by…

It has now been a decade since the genesis of, erm, Genesis. The Hyundai Motor Group’s luxury brand has already made big inroads in its home market of South Korea and in the US, where it has become a genuine rival to established uppercrust players. Europe was always going to be a tougher nut to crack, but four years after it arrived over here, it’s starting to gain a foothold and is now ready to refresh its line-up for the first time. Now on a ‘path to electrification’ (although industry uncertainty over legislation has led bosses to recently reveal that hybrid powertrains are now in the pipeline), Genesis has pruned its range to just three models, all of them EVs, and it’s the brand’s flagship SUV, the Electrified GV70, that’s…

WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see if a sub-£27,000 price tag really does give you all the car you’ll ever need “I’m excited to see if the Duster lives up to my self-imposed hype” We Brits love a bargain. Seeking them out has become our cost-of-living-crisis national pastime. Walk down any high street (yes, they do still exist) or scour the supermarket aisles and you’ll see the buy-one-get-one-free, three-for-two, 50%-off rollback price-match offers at every turn. Yet these deals often aren’t quite what they seem, so you have to shop with your eyes wide open to make real savings. So when a genuine value-for-money proposition comes around, we’re right to be sceptical – as I was the first time I saw how much, or rather how little, Dacia was asking…

MILEAGE 2500 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see how much progress BMW has made with its entry hatch between generations The new pope is Catholic, the UK won nul points in Eurovision’s public vote and, in other truly shocking news, I have fallen in love with a small sporty car. I must admit that it hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows between me and my BMW 120. There have been a couple of disagreements. But as with all healthy relationships, we have agreed on some compromises. Or rather, I have made some compromises to suit its demands… The first disagreement involved the other (true) love in my life. Whenever we got in the car together, she would have to stand on the pavement waiting for me to open my door,…

AN OWNER’S VIEW DUSAN PRASTALO “I’ve owned a 2022 E-tron GT since July last year and love its stunning looks, high-quality interior and smooth, powerful drive. Despite initial hesitation about battery longevity, I was won over by the design. It’s comfortable, has good range (260-280 miles) and solid efficiency (up to 3.9mpkWh). There were a few early issues – recalls, a brief SOS fault, noisy brakes and rattling plastic trim. Surprisingly, build quality doesn’t feel as premium as on my older Audi TT and A1. Still, I enjoy the driving experience and performance, though Audi could have done better with traditional quality details like door feel and cabin refinement.” BUYER BEWARE… ■ DRIVETRAIN Watch out for the dreaded dead throttle pedal, especially after coming to a stop at traffic lights.…

Last Sunday, some five million people watched the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500. Not many of them were European – the concept of an oval track is just too baffling for most racing fans raised over here – yet we won’t take issue with organisers billing ‘the big one’ as ‘the greatest spectacle in racing’. Oval racing necessitates entirely different techniques and tactics to what we Europeans are used to, adding to the intrigue. And thrilling 500s are frequent: last year, there were 48 lead changes in the three hours of racing. Formula 1 grands prix never get nearly that amount of action – and, incredibly, 48 isn’t even close to the record for an Indy 500: that stands at 68, set in 2014. Perhaps the finest two-man battle…