Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2024 i CAR UK

TURNING OVER Once a pioneer, the Nissan Leaf now goes mainstream. The EV game moves quickly – so quickly that the secondgeneration model wasn’t competitive for long. Our first hint at the design of the new model came with the Chill Out concept, which Nissan says is a preview to ‘a near-future EV’. BATTLE PLANS The replacement for the Leaf will be one of six EVs coming to Europe, according to CEO Makoto Uchida – and is part of the huge ‘Ark’ plan to introduce 30 new models – electric, electrified and combustion – by 2030 that should reinvigorate both the Nissan and upmarket Infiniti brands globally. NORTHERN PRIDE This new Leaf replacement will be built in Sunderland as Nissan makes its UK plant an EV hub, with senior vice…

Lamborghini’s chief technical officer, Rouven Mohr, isn’t remotely worried that the new 789bhp plug-in hybrid version of the Urus, the SE, shares so much with Audi, Porsche, Bentley and even Volkswagen’s SUVs. ‘In fact, it’s a big advantage,’ he says, ‘because it means we can focus on our differentiation.’ As so much of the fundamental engineering (the base block of the V8 and the 25.9kWh battery pack, for example) is already well sorted, that’s meant Lamborghini could get to work quickly making it feel like a proper product from Sant’Agata. ‘The mission for us is always to be typical Lambo in every segment,’ says Mohr. ‘While we could also play with the throttle response with our own cars before, the additional e-motor gives us extra opportunities to fine tune everything…

Ferrying royals, rock stars and VIP hotel guests around in peace requires a delicate mix of practicality, luxury and range. There aren’t many electric options. It’s no good slinging them all into the back of a Tesla Model X unless you want complaints about room from the third row, and a Vauxhall Vivaro Life Electric probably won’t cut it on the luxury front. No, if you want to carry seven in style and luxury, you need an EQV. It shares its underpinnings with the eVito and its passenger area with the V-Class. And it works. Battery power suits an opulent people carrier better than diesel. Power delivery from the electric motor is smooth and whisper quiet. But with a kerbweight close to three tonnes it struggles for range. The official…

While we’ve been focused on the big, mile-eating X5 and the compact X1, the man and woman in the street have stayed very firmly in the middle lane, buying 3.5 million X3s in the last 20 years. In 2023, it was BMW’s best-selling car worldwide. Those sales figures provide the answer to any questions you may have about why the changes to the fourth-generation newcomer are not as radical as some we’ve seen from BMW lately. Okay, so this is a disguised pre-production prototype, but it doesn’t take x-ray vision to tell that it’s not disfigured by any grille weirdness. Nothing radical, then, but there are plenty of changes, some of them rather pleasingly focused on enhancing driving pleasure. That’s particularly so with one of the two versions we’ve driven,…

High in the hills, snug in the Pininfarina’s speeding carbon monocoque, its Group C-style bubble screen full of Solar Yellow Lotus, my brain’s running way beyond its rev limiter (forgive the archaic reference). But for a moment, between oh-so-careful applications of the long-travel loud pedal (and it really is loud), I free up just enough mental capacity to consider the concept of exponentially accelerating change; flashes of profound progress separated by shorter and shorter intervals until, like strobing street lights playing across the shell of a flat-out Battista, those moments coalesce into aseamless streaming singularity. Change certainly feels like it has its foot to the boards. Until the tail end of the last decade, Carrozzeria Pininfarina was an Italian design house and coachbuilder, not a car maker, and Lotus was…

There’s no mistaking this for some kind of rebadged Golf or ID. 3. The Dark Rebel concept is an extraordinary-looking car – low, wide and mean. Crouch down to peer inside and the cabin looks futuristic enough to qualify as a work station for Darth Vader’s great grandson. The bucket seats are fixed, but thankfully the pedal box is adjustable. The same goes for the steering wheel – part yoke, part circular joystick, featuring two large rotary controls and a pair of busy touchpads. I clamber in. The short nose drops out of sight at the bottom of the panoramic windscreen, while the side windows are narrow enough to fire an arrow out of, but don’t give much of a view. A glance in the rearview mirror shows a long,…

The current G80/81-generation M3’s design has been the big talking point since its introduction, not to mention a recurrent feature of conversations when I’m out and about with this Touring. A recent exchange with a race driver basically ran like this. Him: ‘Yours?’ Me: ‘No.’ Him: ‘Minger.’ A photographer friend noted that while the rear three-quarter is perfection, the entire front end is grafted from the M4 coupe, differentiating this new M3 more comprehensively from lesser 3-series. The problem, he reckoned, was that it gives the M3 saloon and estate profile a bulbous, clown-shoe sort of look. I definitely see that. It is a challenging front, dominated by huge kidney grilles and thin swept-back headlights like those cartoonish representations of wind in kids’ books. Darker colours are easier on the…

Our relationship has got off to a rocky start, with the SQ8 refusing to connect to chargers half the time. But my bigger beef is with the virtual door mirrors – hazardous on the move and useless in tight manoeuvres, aided and abetted by hopeless software that spreads confusion about the threat level. I’m in a really busy car park, so there’s no option of a pillar-free middle space. But this gap is big enough for the SQ8: it might be body-shamed as ‘exceptionally wide’ by Le Shuttle’s booking website but it’s no broader than the Range Rover and BMW iX I recently ran without any bashed bodywork. That said, the SQ8 could benefit from the Rangie’s rear-wheel steering, which helps pivot that car into parking slots. I inch backwards,…

I’m finding it hard to cope with the Avenger’s annoying indicator noise. This isn’t something I’ve ever really noticed or thought about in other cars, as I’ve never encountered anything like this before. Jeep’s product team has decided to give the Avenger a ‘drum beat’ rather than the subtle tick-tock you’d expect. It’s not funky. It’s not charming. And it’s not ‘dynamic’ either. It grates at every turn, roundabout, lane change and junction like some automotive Chinese water torture. I wonder if it even affects my driving: do I now pull out of junctions sooner just to avoid the awful beat? Do I subconsciously stay in the left lane – just so my ears can be spared? CURTIS MOLDRICH Jeep Avenger Electric Longitude Month 2 The story so far Jeep’s…

Alpine A110 Month 4 The story so far A sad goodbye to a great car that’s on the verge of extinction + Light, fast and delicate, the Alpine makes every journey a joy -No cupholders! Logbook Price £54,490 (£59,515 as tested) Performance 1790cc turbocharged four-cylinder, 249bhp, 4.5sec 0-62mph, 155mph Efficiency 40.3mpg (official), 29.4 mpg (tested), 130g/km CO2 Energy cost 21.9p per mile Miles this month 522 Total miles 3181 I’m going to miss our Alpine in more ways than one. It’s been amazing to run it every day for the last few months, and every time I got in it I was mindful that the days are numbered for this kind of car: small, lightweight, mid-engined and yes, petrol-powered! Every day I told myself to make the most of it.…

FERRARI ROMA GIANT TEST WINNER THE GOOD: Style, speed and sensuous lines; a car for, and from, a bygone age THE BAD: An age in which we no longer live, tragically THE UGLY: Baffling steeringwheel touchpads; strangled exhaust note THE ONE TO BUY: The cabrio. Arguably even more beautiful, until you sit in it, that is BENTLEY CONTINENTAL GT THE GOOD: Epic interior; thumping performance THE BAD: Feels too big for UK roads, and can be uninvolving THE UGLY: Weirdly patchy air-con may spoil your summer by the Med THE ONE TO BUY: £230k GT Speed is the sharpesthandling Bentley there’s ever been; V8 also appeals PORSCHE 911 TURBO S GIANT TEST WINNER THE GOOD: Hypercar-bothering pace, any road, any weather THE BAD: Only fun when you’re really going for…

BMW X5 50e GIANT TEST WINNER THE GOOD: Massive 67-mile official e-range; horizon-eating performance THE BAD: Hybrid hardware cuts into boot space to the tune of 150 litres; no seven-seat option THE UGLY: Not much now that the facelifted 50e model with more e-range and power is here THE ONE TO BUY: This one, for £81k PEUGEOT 308 THE GOOD: Bravely avant-garde design; decent fuel economy; different THE BAD: Still persisting with the infernally small steering wheel THE UGLY: Interior layout looks fab but can be a stressfest to use day-to-day THE ONE TO BUY: Starts at £37,960 per month for the 180. Stretch to 225 spec with extra power and kit if you PORSCHE CAYENNE THE GOOD: Handling; driver focus; choice of body styles; 0-62mph in 5.0sec THE BAD:…

IN THE SPOTLIGHT  This is not the EQG. Even though it’s based heavily on the EQG concept, and Merc’s naming conventions suggest that’s exactly what it should be known as, it is in fact the G580 with EQ Technology. To go with the slightly confusing and not remotely exciting name for the all-electric G-Class, some of the spec looks a little anti-climactic. A sub-300-mile range is nothing to write home about, and 579bhp from four e-motors looks puny compared to a Tesla Cybertruck, Ford F-150 Lightning or Hummer EV. But the styling’s great, isn’t it? The G580 keeps that boxy silhouette largely intact. And, in any case, the G-Class has never been about flatout performance or efficiency. It’s a proper off-roader at heart and has been since its introduction in…

THE CONFUSED ONE Turns out you can’t give something a name implying it’s made in Italy if it’s not actually built there. Something Alfa Romeo seems to have forgotten, despite a last-minute change of name from Milano to Giulietta for 2010’s 147 replacement. It’s done it again with the Polish-built Mila… er, Junior. But anyway, here’s Alfa’s new entry-level car. NEED TO KNOW What is it? The artist briefly known as Milano I Tech specs Electric and mild-hybrid versions, common Stellantis interior tech I Aimed at? Squeezing another drop out of the Avenger platform I When can I get one? By the end of the year THE TARDIS ONE A C3, but bigger. Although it’s no longer than a Focus, Citroën has managed to cram seven seats…

MINORU TAKAYAMA LAND CRUISER ASSISTANT CHIEF ENGINEER, TOYOTA Of all the long-running models, the Toyota Land Cruiser is perhaps the hardest to develop. Sold in more than 170 countries and the transport of choice for the UN and various aid agencies – not to mention some less savoury organisations – the Land Cruiser is a car that absolutely must be built to last. For generations it has been renowned for its ruggedness and capability. So how do you go about making one of the world’s toughest cars even tougher? You test it until it breaks, says Minoru Takayama, assistant chief engineer of the new Land Cruiser, known as the 250. ‘We have the kowashikiri process [literally, “destroyed” in Japanese], where we test something until a part breaks, and then you…

It is Ferrari design boss Flavio Manzoni’s fervent belief that great design doesn’t mean steamrollering engineering challenges in the name of style. Instead, he says, designers should understand the thinking behind the engineering and see the demands it places on the car’s exterior form as inspiration, not a limitation. Clearly, though, there’s a third way – use technology to square the circle. When it came to the 4, Polestar’s iPace-style coupe/ crossover, head of design Max Missoni wanted a coupe roofline on a package that, thanks to its underfloor battery and rear-passenger headroom requirements, really didn’t lend itself to the idea. The answer was to move the header rail, a key part of the car’s structure, rearward, behind second-row heads rather than above them. Doing so creates decent headroom beneath…

How does the idea of swapping your battery in minutes sound? What about driver assistance that claims to be fundamentally better than Tesla’s Autopilot? Fancy a super-smart voice assistant with an animated avatar on the dashboard? Nio’s new ET5 has it all, with the primary aim of offering all of that while beating (or at least keeping up with) the likes of the BMW i4, Polestar 2and Tesla Model 3. Yes, it might look relatively anonymous – even when it’s painted in shades normally employed by Bird’s and Ambrosia –but Nio’s smallest car yet is armed to the teeth with technology. Not that you’d initially realise as you climb into the ET5’s frustratingly high driver’s seat; the supremely well-crafted, neat and soft-touch interior hides almost all of it on a…

There’s plenty we don’t yet know about the Mk2 RS e-Tron GT, which we’ve driven in prototype form, but what we do know is nearly all good: it gets big dollop of extra power and more handling finesse, plus the addition of ‘Performance’ to the name. Naturally this comes at a price, Audi’s form with the Performance appendage suggesting a chunky £133,000, up from today’s RS e-tron GT’s £120k. As for that power bump, how does circa 800bhp sound? The first time I squeeze throttle deep into carpet on a dusty road in Oman, it feels downright brutal – no progression, very little noise, just blam. It’s a 200bhp or so increase over the already pretty nippy base model. And then a weird thing happens – I start to get…

Supercars have become irrelevant. I mean, was the 510bhp Aston Martin Vantage V8 so short of power that its successor needs 658bhp? To enjoy these cars on a B-road no longer risks points but prison. The performance is insane. After a string of Astons and a McLaren, I concluded that anything costing over £70k was just too fast for the road, and I have no intention of trashing a £100k purchase on a track. I even test-drove a £5k 2002 Toyota MR2 to see if time had gilded my memory. It had. Although wonderful, 138bhp is just not enough. So after discovering I am not agile enough to exit an Elise or Exige, I settled on a Porsche Boxster – not the latest four-cylinder, though, I went for a 2013…

Mercedes-Benz EQE 300 AMG Line Premium Plus Month 1 The story so far Heartland Mercedes-Benz, but electric + Touchscreen is effective and easy to use -Brakes almost feel like they need bleeding Logbook Price £86,345 Performance 89kWh battery, e-motor, 241bhp, 7.3sec 0-62mph, 130mph Efficiency 3.3 miles per kWh (official), 2.1 miles per kWh (tested) Range 337 miles (official), 240 miles (tested) Energy cost 20.0p per mile Miles this month 390 Total miles 470 For Mercedes, the E- and S-Class have for decades represented ‘Peak Merc’. It could build all the hot hatches and SUVs that it wanted to, but nothing else distils the essence of Mercedes-Benz quite as clearly as the big saloons. BMW was never in that slot – you tended to need to be in an M3 to…

Jaguar F-Type 75 Month 1 The story so far Six months to relish Jaguar’s last V8 convertible + Performance; soundtrack; palpable sense of occasion; rear-wheel friskiness -Short-trip thirst; ridiculous boot capacity; minimal cabin storage Logbook Price £84,125 (£88,145 as tested) Performance 5000cc petrol V8, 444bhp, 4.6sec 0-62mph, 177mph, Efficiency 27.0mpg (official), 26.1mpg (tested), 238g/km CO2 Energy cost 25.3p per mile Miles this month 924 Total miles 924 I’ve been driving an electric car of one kind or another every day for the last four and a half years, and reporting my largely positive experiences in Our Cars. It’s been more than enough time for their silent pace, cocooning refinement, one-pedal driving, screenheavy cabins, range limitations and vaguely one-dimensional driving experience to become second nature. But now, overnight, I’ve stepped into…

I often find myself muttering unsolicited advice at other drivers, all too aware of the Partridgian implications – ‘There’s no fog!’ as the great man once bellowed in string-backed driving gloves. Favourites include ‘Your car’s width is unaffected by its speed’ as the traffic ahead crawls between parked cars a 747’s width apart. Another is: ‘If not today then when?!’ at the sight of a convertible, roof up on a summer’s afternoon. Determined to steer clear of hypocrisy I’m dropping the Bentley’s roof at every opportunity. As you can do so while cruising at up to 30mph, you’ve really no excuse. Cleverly, the car resets the climate control to the settings you had last time you drove al fresco. A-ha! BEN MILLER Bentley Continental GTC V8 S Month 2 The…

If there’s one area where the CX-60 excels then it’s the interior. Here, in middling Homura specification, there’s a level of refinement that’s usually reserved for much more expensive cars. The leather and softtouch plastics feel premium and the matt black trim finish is far classier than glossy piano black. There’s not a squeak or rattle to be heard and the button placement feels well thoughtout, too. One touch I’ve found handy is the three-pin plug socket in the back, which has proven invaluable for topping up camera batteries, and the boot space is plenty big enough for carrying my worldly possessions to some recent far-flung photo shoots. JORDAN BUTTERS Mazda CX-60 Homura e-Skyactiv D MHEV 3.3 Month 3 The story so far Slightly unconventional, slightly classy crossover, here tested…

HOW DOES GBU WORK? CAR’s road testers highlight what’s so good about the best cars in every class… and what could be better GIANT TEST WINNER HONDA CIVIC TYPE R THE GOOD: Feel, feedback, focus: a phenomenal full-sized hot hatch THE BAD: Nearly £50k for a frontdrive hatchback with barely any more power than before THE UGLY: Probably the last of its kind; good job it’s one of the best THE ONE TO BUY: There’s just the one model; expect to pay around £470 on a PCP with a £14k deposit GIANT TEST WINNER TOYOTA GR YARIS THE GOOD: A modern-day rally homologation special THE BAD: Road noise like a death-metal gig; joke rear seats THE UGLY: Long waiting list, even with some versions priced at £60,000 THE ONE TO…

The 300-mile test NEW CAR MEETS REAL WORLD Where’s a branch of Greggs when you need one? It’s all very well to head off into the largely unpopulated expanses of Catalonia, but not such a smart idea to forget to pack a picnic or steal some hotel croissants. Luckily we’re in a car that takes the stress out of every situation. The new Kodiaq is cooling, calming and very comfortable, so the miles fly by, and before you know it you’re deep into mid-afternoon with not an eaterie in sight, not even a Repsol garage with a fridge of sandwiches. We’re victims of our own success, in that we’ve come to a very familiar part of the world, and made a point of heading away from the most familiar bits…

The Turbo’s 0-62mph time is only 0.1sec down on the 911 GT3. In a family SUV, remember… Turns out the 911 isn’t the only rear-engined Porsche these days – one of the all-new, all-electric Macan Turbo Electric’s two motors is nestled just behind the rear axle. This is a significant not just for symbolic reasons but because it’s one of many examples of Porsche going to some trouble to make the car its own, despite necessary sharing with other VW Group products, especially the Audi Q6 e-Tron. The Macan Turbo Electric’s rear motor is behind the rear axle, but the Audi’s is in front. It’s the sort of detail that should reassurance Porsche loyalists worried that an all-electric crossover won’t be a proper Porsche. But you can see why they’re…

Genesis GV70 Month 6 The story so far SIM card issues on our EV being investigated, so we’re in a petrol version for now + Interior design and materials; refinement and comfort -Not the reliability or quality we’d expect for the wedge Logbook Price £64,405 (£78,895 as tested) Performance 77.4kWh battery, twin e-motors, 4.2sec 0-62mph, 146mph Efficiency 3.6 miles per kWh (claimed), 2.7 (tested), 0g/km CO2, Range 283 miles (claimed), 210 miles (tested) Energy cost 10.6p per mile Miles this month 0 (still using a courtesy car) Total miles 9776 My GV70 Electrified is still away having SIM and trim issues rectified so I’m driving a GV70 Fossilised instead this month. It has the 300bhp turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine, all-wheel drive and an eight-speed auto, but otherwise is visually largely…

Range Rover Sport D300 SE Month 3 The story so far Mud, sweat and zero tears – Range Rover Sport absorbs everything thrown its way + All-surface performance -Brake shudder from high speed – perhaps a warped disc or pad Logbook Price £83,620 (£90,845 as tested) Performance 2997cc turbodiesel six-cylinder, 296bhp, 6.6sec 0-62mph, 135mph Efficiency 36.9mpg (official), 31.3mpg (tested), 200g/km CO2 Fuel cost 26.0p per mile Miles this month 744 Total miles 17,592 ‘If it’s slidin’, aim for summat soft.’ And with those reassuring words ringing in my ears, I point the Range Rover Sport down a steep and frozen muddy hillside and pray that I ticked the correct insurance boxes. We’re at the Land Rover Experience centre in Skipton with instructor Adam Wilcock, trying to get a sense of…

We’re approaching the end of our time with the Buzz and I’ve grown fond of it. There’s a frisson of fun at the heart of VW’s first electric bus that raises a smile every time I climb onboard. This is largely a friendly car – from the cutesy Volkswagens-of-yore design to the breezy interior peppered with fizzy details, like the stop/start symbols on the pedals, lime yellow trim and smiley icons. It’s design for emotion’s sake. Sadly, the switchgear and minor controls are at odds with this. I’m still flummoxed how the unlit volume and heating controls, rendering them invisible at night, were approved. Or the clunky capacitive buttons on the steering wheel. Please fix at the facelift, VW. TIM POLLARD Volkswagen ID. Buzz Style SWB 77kWh Pro Month 5…

Vauxhall Astra GSe Month 5 The story so far Our Astra GSe’s interior goes under the microscope + Cabin has plenty of physical elements; great driving position -Not much GSe specialness; smartphone interface needs marriage counselling Logbook Price £43,250 (£43,750 as tested) Performance 12.4kWh battery plus 1598cc fourcylinder, PHEV, 222bhp, 7.7sec 0-62mph, 146mph Efficiency 256mpg (official), 47.6mg (tested), 25g/km CO2 Energy cost 15.7p per mile Miles this month 837 Total miles 8537 The Astra GSe is a really good idea: a regular hatchback with a sprinkling of extra magic. And yet an idea is all it amounts to, for the most part. Nowhere is this more true than with the interior. I keep finding myself saying: ‘I like the Astra bits, but the GSe bits barely register.’ I’ve previously grumbled…

GIANT TEST WINNER PORSCHE 911 THE GOOD: Style, like 911s, never goes out of fashion THE BAD: The base Carrera now costs almost £100k – yet that’s not enough to stop it being a clear class winner; road noise now up to 11 THE UGLY: 992 ‘wide body’ no longer the lithe sports car of old; canny options list pushes you to spend like a lottery winner THE ONE TO BUY: Carrera S with the PDK gearbox for £110k on the nose; the Sport Chrono package is bundled in, but you’ll still pay for the Porsche badges on the wheels to be coloured in ARIEL ATOM GIANT TEST WINNER THE GOOD: A beautiful object as well as a thrilling drive; think of it as a modernised Lotus Seven crossed with…

GIANT TEST WINNER PORSCHE TAYCAN THE GOOD: The EV that’s best to drive has been thoroughly overhauled and retains its top slot: still fast, responsive and fluid; now more efficient THE BAD: Info screen in front of the passenger is faintly ridiculous THE UGLY: Prices are all up THE ONE TO BUY: As before, three body styles to choose from: saloon, estate or raised estate. Prices start at £86.5k for the rear-drive basic Taycan; you can pay a lot more and get a bit more performance as you work your way up the range TESLA MODEL 3 THE GOOD: New lights, new colours, new aero and improved interior: it’s had a refresh, but remains good to drive and easy to live with THE BAD: That refresh hasn’t added the knobs…

GIANT TEST WINNER LAND ROVER DEFENDER THE GOOD: Reboot brings untold dynamic improvements wherever you drive THE BAD: Second-row access is a pain in the 90; expensive; 130 in particular is very big, so parking can be tricky THE UGLY: Very nice inside, so you’re wary of getting it muddy THE ONE TO BUY: Range spans 90, 110 and 130 bodies, with significantly different dimensions but remarkably similar character and the genuine off-road ability that Land Rover always delivers so convincingly. Heart says petrol V8 90, head/wallet say diesel-six D250 110 PORSCHE MACAN GIANT TEST WINNER THE GOOD: Handles better than any other SUV. And some hot hatches THE BAD: Hardly an original choice – but then there’s good reason for that THE UGLY: Be patient – there’s an all-new…