Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2021 i CAR UK

‘I just hope they realise its importance – it’s Jaguar’s Porsche 917’ Maybe it’s because I’m getting old. Maybe it’s because I caught the 24 Hours of Le Mans over the weekend, and few of the cars could be described as beautiful; certainly not the hypercars. Or maybe it’s just because I’m ignorant, and if you don’t know much you tend to go with the mainstream choice (like when you start drinking beer and think Fosters is fine). When it came to important old Jaguars, my thinking ran to the D-Type and E-Type and little further. Whatever the reason when I saw Jaguar’s Classic’s first finished C-Type Continuation I wasn’t ready for it, and the effect was profound. A half-eaten bagel dropped to the floor, my heart rate soared and…

Genesis is continuing its European offensive with a new electric car. Alongside the electric G80, due within the next year, this GV60 crossover uses the same ingredients as Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 and Kia’s EV6. It definitely looks different… As Hyundai goes retro-futurist, the wacky-but-clean Genesis design mantra hasn’t quite worked here, we’d say. With a noseless grin like a smug Voldemort and a variety pack of curves across the silhouette, the GV60 looks stark for different reasons when parked next to the Ioniq 5. But Genesis is about luxury, right? Absolutely, so the brand has gone to town on the interior. Leather and swish veneers in cool colours are everywhere, and the shifter on the floating centre console is called the ‘Crystal Sphere,’ glowing with mood lighting. That circular theme…

Chevrolet Corvette ZO6 While Chevrolet’s been tweaking the standard Corvette ahead of its European launch, the powermongers back at base have been squeezing more out of the mid-engined platform to create a new ZO6. The engine is completely different, with Chevrolet opting for a high-revving flatplane-crank V8. We’ve heard it shrieking around the ’Ring like a McLaren, and we’ll see it uncamouflaged this autumn American-market only? Maybe not this time. NEED TO KNOW What is it? Chevy’s hardcore ’Vette Tech specs Flatplane-crank V8, IMSA-spec racing aero Aimed at? Taking full advantage of that midengined configuration When can I own one? To be confirmed – be patient Honda Civic Type R While most of the normal range goes hybrid or bust, Honda’s still pushing on with performance cars. Even so, CAR…

Want to keep your driving knowledge fresh? Or are you a learner looking for some extra-curricular learning before your theory and practical tests? Roadhow offers all this, with the aim of making it both enjoyable and easy. It even gives you opportunities to earn real rewards. Roadhow provides training and quizzes on everything from motorways and what to do in an accident, to how to look after your paperwork and more. It also has the full suite of DVSA courses for learner drivers to revise. There are even hazard perception tests. Sign up and make an account, and you’ll need to provide your driver’s licence data and an image of yourself to prove who you are, and we’ll get to why later. Once you’re all set, the app opens to…

Kia’s EV6 is striking in any context, but it looks as unreal as a spaceship against the churches and fields of Chippenham. Its bodywork gleaming in the Wiltshire sun, our prototype test car is like a visitor from a more advanced civilisation, and it’s equally futuristic under the skin. Like the Hyundai Ioniq 5, the Kia EV6 uses the group’s E-GMP platform, an infinitely customisable EV framework that can deliver two-or four-wheel drive, along with 800-volt fast charging and vehicle-to-load capability too. The EV6 has the same wheelbase as a Kia Sorento SUV, but within the modest overall length of BMW’s 3-series compact saloon. As we slip along a mix of residential streets, motorways and B-roads, it’s clear the EV6’s sporty looks aren’t just for show. Behind its ‘Digital Tiger…

In LA’s super-saturated vehicular landscape, the exotic is expected. Heads swivelling for a sub-£50k ride is tantamount to a thunderstorm – possible, but unlikely. Rather than a wedgy supercar silhouette or camo-wrapped battleship armour, the new Ford Bronco plunders hearts and minds by dishing up star-spangled nostalgia with a side of sincerity. Not to be confused with the smaller, more workaday Bronco Sport, the big model’s body-on-frame construction makes it capable of venturing off Route 66’s well-worn pavement into legitimately wild terrain, from the jagged Sierra Nevadas to the desolate stretches of the Mojave desert… and yes, back to your agent’s Sunset Boulevard parking garage. Rather than a one-size-fits-all take on packaging, Ford shotguns the model range with a laundry list of variants, evocatively named like Quentin Tarantino Western sequels:…

Drive an original Beetle and you know all about it. It’s an engrossing, engaging experience that will live with you forever. It looked different and it felt different. For the reboot, VW ironed out everything that made it memorable and ended up with a less practical Golf with a vase in it. The Arkana – like all manner of coupe-ish hump-backed contemporaries, from the Toyota CH-R and Fiat 500X to the considerably more expensive BMW X6 - looks more different than it feels. Priced from £25,300, it’s a standalone model, made in Korea, with styling inspired by a Russian-market Renault but fresh underpinnings, shared with the smaller Clio and Captur. We get two powertrains (this E-Tech 145 hybrid, or a mild hybrid) and three trim levels. Renault’s E-Tech hybrid system…

I was thrilled to read about the superbly styled Lotus Emira (cover story, August 2021), a seemingly perfect, modern replacement for the legendary Elise. I could be very tempted to buy one as a change from my beloved Honda S2000 – 12 years old and only 26,000 miles. However, there is a huge impediment. Why is it not a convertible sports car? It’s crying out for an MX-5-style simple pull-over hood, or a pieced carbon roof, which could stow. We should pester Lotus to work on a convertible. Surely there is so little competition that the international market would welcome it. ALL CARS IN THE DREAM CAR COMPETITION NOW COME WITH £50,000! BOTB.COM…

BENEATH THE BODY IS AN ELECTRIC TRIPLE-MOTOR, ALL-WHEEL-DRIVE ROLLING CHASSIS WITH 805BHP It was one of those rare moments you tend not to forget in a hurry. The cover flew off the mint green EL1 show car and wild applause roared through the HOTE studio in Beilngries, east of Ingolstadt, goosebumps raging through the audience like a Mexican wave. A mixed bunch of aficionados, industry insiders and supplier reps delivered a standing ovation to a small bald man of hard-to-guess age, who strolled onto the stage in the universal all-black T-shirt-and-jeans designer uniform, bowing deeply as he thanked the gathered throng for their applause. The man in the spotlight is Marcus Holzinger, a lifelong speed junkie, performance car addict and gifted designer. His father made his name in clay modelling…

No other car encapsulates the craziness of Group B better than the 1985 S1 E2 Quattro. It wasn’t the most successful or the most technically outrageous. But with its wild spoilers, all-wheel drive and massive power outputs it would have seemed as otherworldly to a rally fan teleported 10 years into the future from 1975 as zero-emissions cars like the Rimac Nevera and E-Legend EL1 would have seemed to us at the launch of the Nissan Leaf a decade ago. And right now, with the throttle pinned hard, the tacho at 6000rpm and the entire car violently snaking up what had looked three seconds ago like a straight road, I can confirm that it’s every bit as insane to drive as you’d imagine. Most of us are familiar with the…

Nothing is parked at today’s automotive crossroads quite like the Jaguar F-Pace SVR. A large and decadently potent SUV, it was refreshed and relaunched immediately after its maker revealed plans to go battery-electric by 2025. I enjoy the electric i-Pace and progress and all that – but, well, it’s a cold soul who can’t appreciate the SVR’s rumbling V8, its rush of supercharger whine when you really pin it and the fluttering thunderclaps that pass for gearchanges. And we’re hardly coal-rolling the hippies here: there’s even a petrol particulate filter. Some high-performance cars need speed and thumb screws to spill their secrets, but the SVR talks if you so much as run a feather over its toes. It’s the characterful bustle of that old-school five-point-o and the promptness of its…

Start. Stop. Has to be one of the most annoying ‘features’ of the C4, so much so that I’ll simple switch it off at the start of most journeys, which takes a button press and then a swipe. Of course I’ve no problem with the thinking behind it, as it can reduce emissions and improve economy, but the execution just doesn’t work. It shuts down at the most inappropriate moments, such as T-junctions or roundabouts, making me second-guess the car. It takes ages to re-engage, so when it’s ready to move, the moment has passed. I’ve developed an alternative strategy, aside from simply turning the system off. This plan B involves treating the brake a bit like a clutch. It’s possible to brake just enough to stop the car, but…

I know, last month I said I’m going to run the Megane RS like a normal car, with a humdrum life of shopping bags and school runs. I lasted about three weeks before a chance to go on a trackday presented itself and, well – it would have been rude not to. Driveatrack.co.uk organises what it calls grassroots trackdays, making a day at a circuit with a hot hatch more affordable. One of the ways it does that is by using less glamorous circuits like Blyton Park, an old Lincolnshire airfield. The drive up to Blyton was a textbook example of the Megane’s weaknesses – a choppy ride and narrow, pinched seats. Of course, all that goes out the window as soon as you get on track. Pressing a small…

Audi is planning a private jet for the road. Its latest concepts – the luxury-lounge GrandSphere and the morphing, open-top SkySphere – are proof of its lofty ambition. After a few false starts, it wants to go from business class to the VIP elite. Design boss Marc Lichte and his deputies – exterior head Philipp Romers, interior head Norbert Weber and senior design director of Audi America Gael Buzyn – have been tasked with creating a next-generation A8 to have Bentley worried. On this evidence, they might just manage it. While the brains behind the GrandSphere and SkySphere concepts have taken inspiration from classic coachbuilt Horch models, they are firmly future-orientated, with advanced self-driving capability, electric power and sustainability all front of mind. The five-door neo-GT GrandSphere, which will eventually…

Factfile POWERTRAIN 100kWh battery pack (est), three e-motors CHASSIS Aluminium and carbonfibre DUE End of 2021 1 SPARKING A NEW PATH It’s been a long time since Maserati teased a new GT car – the Alfieri concept debuted back in 2014 – but the ancient GranTurismo and GranCabrio are finally being reborn. The new ‘Folgore’ tag – Italian for ‘lightning’ – will be applied to every new Maserati EV. They’ll all have 800-volt architecture, like electric Porsches. 2 UNDER THE SKIN Maserati has released a video of its new EV powertrain, showing a carbon tub with an aluminium subframe housing battery packs and space for one front and two rear e-motors. The GranTurismo’s batteries will be built at the Mirafiori Battery Hub in Turin, and Maserati promises that (despite a…

MEGANE E-TECH ELECTRIC And almost exactly like its concept. Design director Gilles Vidal calls it a pure electric ‘cross-hatchback’. You can see what he’s getting at: chunky presence, big wheels and high nose, but it actually stands only 5cm higher than today’s Megane hatch (and is actually shorter). On sale next year. A 40 or 60kWh battery, the latter good for 280 miles of range. It’ll accept the typical 7.4 or 22kW home chargers, but out-and-about it can handle 130kW DC charging. Thermal management cools the battery as you close in on a charger. Renault reckons its target customer is a GTI-lover railing against SUVs and… erm… electrification. So it’s talking up the Megane’s front-drive dynamics: the centre of gravity is 9cm lower than a Zoe’s, there’s a new, quick…

Illustration: Chris Rathbone GRAHAM HOARE PRESIDENT OF GLOBAL OPS, BRITISHVOLT Graham Hoare’s handiwork is all over the engines that have powered Fords great and small for the past 20 years, not to overlook a few BMW and Land Rover ones before that. With hits like the three-cylinder EcoBoost turbo petrol on his CV, Hoare rose to become Ford’s global director of engineering operations and Ford of Britain chairman. Yet earlier this year he packed it all in to join the battery start-up Britishvolt. Why? Like many people, the Covid-19 pandemic has changed his outlook on life. He answered the government’s call to help with the emergency ventilator challenge, collaborating with experts from McLaren, Airbus and intubation company Penlon. ‘We put this group together over about 100 days and built 12,000…

It’s only been three issues since we last featured a new crop of diver’s watches on this page, but they’re hard to avoid. This one very specific activity has had a greater influence on watch design than any other, despite only being practised by a tiny minority of customers. Not that the car industry can criticise: every issue of this magazine features a new SUV that won’t be used off-road. These three are all wholly deserving of inclusion, though – interesting, great value, and not from the usual big Swiss brands. 01 | Seiko 5 Sports 2021 Limited Edition £260 Seiko invited fans to create a new watch for its 5 Sports range, and this won. It’s a keenly priced mash-up of the gold dial and ‘Pepsi’ bezel from the…

Inside this lavishly equipped starship, performance is not the first thing that comes to mind It’s quite a first impression. Approach the EQS, key in hand, and the show kicks off with a jingle, lights cascading from multiple sources, door handles popping out as if by magic. Take one step closer, and the driver’s door will swing open automatically. Get in, buckle up and put your foot on the brake, and the door will pull itself shut again. Fire up the engine – pardon me, start the motor – and the digital key activates, if accordingly programmed, the low-noise road music, switches on your favourite ambient lighting from 99 different shades, gives the instrumentation a subdued, traditional or sporty touch, and sets off one of four cabin ambience programmes. As…

If we’re being kind, Genesis is Hyundai’s Lexus – its DS if we’re not If you’re scratching your head and asking yourself why a car called Genesis sounds vaguely familiar, let us enlighten you. Back in 2015, the Hyundai Genesis was launched in the UK as a range-topping alternative to established players like the BMW 5-series and Mercedes E-Class. Unfortunately for Hyundai it tanked, finding a mere 50 takers over a two-year period before being canned in 2017. Now Genesis is back as a brand in its own right. If we’re being kind, it’s Hyundai’s Lexus, although there are also strong parallels with DS if we’re being unkind. Genesis has certainly gone all in, with another 5-series rival (G80), a seven-seat Audi Q7 competitor (GV80) and a smaller SUV (GV70)…

Alastair Brook The differences are focused on making a Mustang better suited to track driving, where the current GT needs help Woah! What’s going on? I’m pitching and rolling through the first turn in a car that’s meant to be track-ready. Swindle! Ah. Hang on. I’ve forgotten to engage Track mode. Try again. And oh yes, here we go. This is much more like it – Track mode is certainly not a bit of marketing fluff. It sharpens the throttle, stiffens the MagneRide dampers and relaxes the stability control. And now let’s see what 454bhp of US V8 can do on this tight, demanding track in near-perfect conditions. Wrangling it around a racetrack not your idea of what a Mustang’s all about? Fair enough – for most of us the…

The STO corrects an anomaly: until now only the entry-level Huracan was rear-wheel drive like the racecars Ferruccio Lamborghini didn’t believe in motorsport improving the breed, but here’s proof that it does: the Lamborghini Huracan STO (Super Trofeo Omologato) I’m driving in 35°C heat at the Vallelunga circuit. Racing ace Giacomo Barri (no relation) leads in another STO, helping me shake every last drop of performance from the bottle, and our wailing Vios are double-tracking like a Thin Lizzy solo. The gist is that the STO transfers lessons learnt from the Super Trofeo one-make Huracan series, plus the more serious Huracan GT3 Evo racers that’ve won Daytona three times on the bounce – much of the capability of the latter; more of the approachability of the gentlemen-spec former. In doing…

With manufacturers falling over themselves to launch compact crossover after compact crossover, it can be difficult to keep up. Take Hyundai, for instance. It seems to have forgotten it already sells the Kona, and while that car has flashy styling and a whole cornucopia of propulsion methods available, the Bayon gets just a pair of turbo three-cylinder engines with mild-hybrid assistance. No full hybrids, no electric model and certainly no spicy version. We’ve only sampled the top-spec model with the punchiest triple under the bonnet, but with 118bhp it’s certainly not fast. It takes 10.4sec to stroll 0-62mph, though the 48-volt mild-hybrid system does provide decent low-end shove, happily trundling along at less than 1500rpm in normal traffic. It also allows the engine to shut off when the car is…

Engine Five-cylinder, 2.1-litre engine has 20 valves and develops nearly 600bhp in race tune. Lag is significant, as is the kick when the power finally arrives. Front spoiler Big change from first SWB car to E2 is massive aero kit. Walter Röhrl’s ’87 Pikes Peak car was even wilder. Windscreen Drivers complained about screen reflections on the original Quattro, so the S1 got the more upright windscreen from the humble Audi 80. Gearbox Some cars, including this one in a former life, were fitted with an early six-speed Porsche PDK dualclutch transmission. Quicker shifts help keep the revs up. Wheelbase Audi chopped 320mm from the wheelbase to boost agility. Bodywork is mostly Kevlar and plastic. Car weighs around 1090kg, the same as a Panda... Weight balance Early Quattros understeered so…

You cannot see her expression from the driving seat so we can only surmise what the Spirit of Ecstasy may be thinking as she peers over the edge. She’s been through a lot in more than a century aperch the prow of the world’s most luxurious car, but this may be her least ostentatious moment yet. The new Rolls-Royce Ghost is so understated the lady could be forgiven for feeling a wee bit silly up there, tub-thumping for opulence in a post-opulence world, and wondering perhaps why, from thousands of components, she was the solitary item carried over from Ghost #1. And worse, we’re trickling through, of all things, the back gate to the castle - in semi-darkness and lurid rain. No line of servants on the driveway, no fanfare;…

Jordan Butters Passers-by have been eyeing it up with surprise and curiosity_ Go big or go home. That’s what you must do if you want the attention of small crossover buyers. There are so many of them out there that they need to be wildly styled and snazzy-looking on a dealer forecourt or TV ad. That’s why the Peugeot 2008 is one of the top 10 best-selling small SUVs in Europe right now. So Vauxhall is having another, much braver crack of the Mokka whip second time round. And what a whipcrack it’s turned out to be. This thing looks brilliant. I used to sneer at the MkI Mokka for being so utterly bland - 1’m not sneering any more. The bluff face with its Zorro-mask ‘ Vizor’... the shallow…

Alex Tapley In the past decade or so I’ve been exceptionally fortunate to run all manner of long-term test cars, but two favourites stand out: an E92- generation BMW M3 Competition, and a Mk1 Porsche Panamera GTS. Both had big V8s that were equally happy whipping around the dial or cruising at a few thousand revs, dual-clutch gearboxes that could slur or snap through the changes, and each pulled off that mythical trick of feeling as special in a Friday-night jam as they did on your favourite road. I never tired of either of them. Both were sporting GTs in essence (and the M3 has definitely suffered a little revisionist judgement that now deems it too heavy, with too many cylinders) and yet I never once felt either needed to…

Charlie Magee ‘What I’d really like to do,’ said Ford engineering/driving genius David Put as he oversteered my old Fiesta ST long-term test car around the Lommel proving ground (CAR, September 2019), ‘is a four-wheel- drive, WRC-style Fiesta road car. But it would cost more than £30k, and they tell me that’s too much for a small car. So what I want you to do is write about how great it would be if such a car existed!’ Toyota’s done the job for him. The world’s gone mad for the GR Yaris. In Australia, cars have changed hands for $10k more than the asking price. Over here, there’s a year-long waiting list. Half a year’s exposure to the GR Yaris hasn’t dulled its appeal. Most of its nits can be…

Bentley is already doing a fine job as the VW Group’s luxury badge. On average, a Bentley sells for around £200,000 – £28k of that being options added during the customisation process. The Crewe factory is flat-out. Its waiting list is growing – and its operating profit for the first half of 2021 stands at €178m, €113m more than in 2019. Room for Audi to get punchier on price, then? Looks that way. The German marque could push well north of £100,000 while still leaving plenty of headroom to Bentley’s patch. Mercedes has similar ambitions. As Audi heads upmarket it’ll find itself up against the upcoming Maybach version of the Mercedes EQS.…

Modern cars drift into excess – but fashion designer and all-round national treasure Paul Smith has collaborated with Mini to reverse that trend with a one-off version of Mini’s three-door hatch, dubbing it Strip. ‘I enjoy cars, but don’t really know a lot about them,’ says Sir Paul. ‘Maybe that was the point: having a childlike approach means you can be radical.’ Mini design boss Oliver Heilmer agrees: ‘Paul asked essential questions right from the start with his nonautomotive – therefore fresh – perspective.’ ‘The working title was MT,’ says Smith, ‘emptying out the existing car. It was designed to push the team.’ Sounds like there are some clues here for where Mini goes next… Paul Smith Iconic Brit designer Oliver Heilmer Mini design boss BORN NAKED AND THE REST…

The base model feels less jerky and nervous, and through quick corners it subtly filters out ridges and random surface variations Not a boxer engine, nor a V6. Not a staggering power output. No highly advanced suspension. Yet despite the absence of things we usually treasure about Porsches, the base version of the facelifted Macan is probably the one to go for, because it best embodies that other thing we treasure about Porsches: it’s really good to drive. The new line-up consists of three models: the base Macan, with a 2.0-litre turbocharged inline four making 261bhp; the S, with a 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6, making 375bhp and priced from £53,300; and the GTS, with a 434bhp version of the V6, starting at £64,770. All gain some visual tweaks for a more…

Shenington is about as technical as kart tracks get. Involving 1211 metres of tricky low-speed bends, double apexes and hairpins, it requires patience coupled with a composed, balanced chassis. It’s not a place you’d expect to test an SUV – but it’s where we’re driving Hyundai’s new Kona N. It’s a strong statement of intent, but it makes sense given the N’s Nürburgring-focused credentials. It looks like an over-inflated i30N on the outside, but Hyundai’s N division has sharpened the once docile crossover. Engage N mode and the Kona N reveals its newly acquired performance. After a fiery animation there’s a louder burble from the turbocharged 2.0-litre four, and we get to work. Shenington’s short straight is eaten up, as the eight-speed DCT and new electronic diff channel 276bhp to…

Now that the Citigo supermini is history, the new Fabia once again sits at the bottom of the Skoda range. No longer cheap at a likely start price around £14,000, the new Fabia still represents something of a bargain – especially since the closely related Polos and Ibizas are pricier. The latest iteration of the five-door hatch has grown to 4108mm long, its boot holds a best-in-class 380 litres and the drag coefficient is a slippery 0.28. It looks as classy and clean as an early Audi A3, the cockpit easily beats the Golf Mk8 for intuitive functionality, its seats are comfy, and the build quality gives third-world materials a wide berth. Performance remains bargain-basement, however. There are three 1.0-litre three-cylinder petrol engines rated at 79bhp, 94bhp and 109bhp. With…

Lotus versus Maserati So it looks like the Norfolk folks have just pulled a sexier MC20 for half the money out of China’s deep pockets... Hoax or master stroke? Maxime Engels-Deutsch Dawdling to the future I am continually amused sitting in the outside lane in my diesel Mazda 3 while almost every Tesla I see is hugging the inside lane to preserve range. Why bother spending £50k and not enjoy it? Get a Zoe instead. Or a combustion engine while you can. David Loveland As the Giant Test in the September issue showed, Teslas really are very good dynamically. Maybe the new Model S Plaid will be driven with more spirit? CO EVs can wait An interesting article by Gavin Green on the drama of an EV trip (column, August…

A gentle touch required ‘I drove it a bit too hard early on. I always tried to get it to oversteer, because it naturally wanted to understeer, although on snow you have all four wheels pulling the Quattro into bends. On tarmac its front-drive origins made it harsh. I was used to rearwheel drive and wanted to get it sideways, but the Torsen diff wouldn’t let me.’ The rally drivers did the development work ‘The Audi factory fully backed the rally effort because our work helped them evolve the road car. The problem was, we hadn’t done much testing on tarmac. All our testing in 1980 was on loose surfaces, to get the handling right on snow and gravel. But the Quattro struggled on tarmac. Part of the problem was…

1. IT’S A REBOOT WORTHY OF THE NAME Mitja Borkert is on a roll. Every sheet of paper the Lamborghini chief designer touches turns into a blank cheque made out in the name of the most profitable brand in the entire Volkswagen Group. ‘Under new leadership and with a clear vision of the future, we’re going from strength to strength,’ he beams. Selling Lamborghini? ‘No longer an issue,’ says Group CEO Herbert Diess, who only three years ago could not care less about the future of ‘the toy brand’ headquartered in Emilia Romagna. Now that VW must boost its share value to fund the switch to electrification, anything helps – even if it is as noisy, extrovert and radical as this fossil-fuelled Countach LPI 800-4 reincarnation in Bianco Siderale, a…

Jordan Butters Ever had that thing when, perhaps in a busy bar in London (Matt Berry), queuing in the American embassy for a visa (Rosamund Pike) or, er, at the polo (Alexandra Roach), you see someone from TV or film and, for a moment, can’t understand why they haven’t recognised you too? After all, you have, in a weird abstraction of actual proximity, spent hours in their ‘company’. You feel like you know them, despite never having met them. And if you’re lucky you catch yourself before you say something toe-curling like, ‘Hi! 1 loved you in Utopia...!’ Oh God. So it is with me and the new M4. 1’ve studied press kits, interviewed the engineers involved at length (no doubt my inane crossexaminations felt endless to them), had its…

To be clear, this is not a twin test. A £40k SUV and a half-mil fettled Porsche have little in common beyond four wheels and a virtual tax disc. It’s classic apples and oranges, or pears versus bananas, not nectarines or peaches. Both cars are, however, very good at certain things, and each barely even tries to do what the other excels at. In the case of the Kia, it’s all about the luggage and the seats and the floating-above-it-all cruising ability. Whereas the Singer’s exquisite agility, its responsiveness, its extreme rapidity, its hand-crafted sensuality... they’re just not on the Sorento’s radar. Just how useful the Sorento is really came home to me recently when, because we were having some work done at our house, I was essentially living in…

On long summery journeys the EQC could best the official consumption Talk about a tough act to follow. Mercedes’ EV crossover arrived as the much-loved Jaguar i-Pace rolled off to BCA. Two pure-electric, all-wheel-drive rivals with specs closer than a photo finish, but different characters: the i-Pace a cleverly-packaged, corner-carving delight, the EQC an exquisitely trimmed, high-tech luxobarge. The Mercedes is superb at wafting around in utter tranquility. The steering feels light and effortless, but a jink off the dead-ahead triggers a sharply connected response from the front end, and the e-motors can unleash surging acceleration to surf gaps in traffic or amuse my goading kids on country straights (though it runs out of puff above 60mph). But the EQC has a limiting factor: its soft suspension and corpulent 2.5-tonne…

Alex Lawrence Running costs may well be lower, but you’ll be paying steeper monthly lease costs Electric cars either work for you very well indeed or not at all. There’s rarely any middle ground. Owners need to have a well-defined daily commute that’s aligned with the car’s range; a combustion car to fall back on for longer trips or a deep-seated love of route planning and charging logistics; and unhindered access to their own recharging point, ideally at home or at work. And then there are the hard- to-swallow cost issues. You’ll need to be happy to pay more for less – running costs may well be lower, but you’ll be paying steeper monthly lease costs over an equivalent vehicle for less range and less convenience. That’s a long list…

Instagram influencer Andy Bruce (andyb74) often bravely leaves one of his extraordinary collection of cars in my local station car park. But what do I choose to snap my Berlingo next to? His Ferrari 812 GTS, 458 Speciale Aperta or Singer Porsche? No! I only had eyes for this French-registered Mk1 Berlingo in the rare Bivouac trim: not one of Andy’s, as I was unsurprised to discover when the owner returned to find me fanboying over his unlikely icon. The size comparison shows how much my XL version has grown, but after four months of use I’m certain that the extra seats, space and versatility are worth the extra cost and 25cm in length. As you can see, it’s still car park-friendly. And not only is this Mk1 the direct…