Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2025 i CAR UK

CAR is thriving – join us on the journey What other magazine would dare to take a (briefly) shiny new Ferrari Purosangue to the windblown expanses of the Sahara desert? Or drive a very secondhand Fiat Panda all the way back from Andorra to the UK (as seen in the picture on this page)? It’s these stories – along with our uncompromising road tests, insightful analysis and candid interviews – that make CAR an unmissable package, not only every month but every day, via our various online channels. CAR is home to the world’s greatest motoring journalists and photographers, creating beautifully crafted stories aimed at entertaining, informing and occasionally outraging our loyal and equally opinionated readers around the world. In CAR’s 60-plus years the world has rarely known so much…

The greatest 911? Tough call. But until today the answer was invariably the S/T, the 60th anniversary special 911 Porsche created blending GT3 underpinnings with a cleaner, vaguely retro aesthetic. Unobtainable new and ferociously expensive now, the S/T is a beautiful little thug of a road racer. It’s also about as light as modern 911s get and uses a turbo-free 4.0-litre flat-six. Perfect, then, if a little big and digital in the modern style. Singer’s latest restoration service, the 911 Carrera Coupe reimagined by Singer Vehicle Design, looks set to change things – and give most of us a new answer to the ultimate 911 question. Pitched somewhere between the modern 911 GT3 and GTS in remit, it too fuses a high-performance, analogue character with timeless 911 curves. It also…

Jargon is the enemy of understanding. So prepare to understand 2025’s most overused bit of automotive jargon: the ‘software-defined vehicle’. It’s worth getting this stuff right, so here’s RJ Scaringe. Rivian’s founder and CEO is closer to the concept than most. His achingly cool EV brand builds nothing but software-defined vehicles. And it’s so good at it the VW Group’s spent big to establish a joint venture that’ll see Rivian tech at the heart of a new generation of Group products, kicking off with the VW ID. Every1. Scaringe: ‘When we talk about software-defined we’re talking about a vehicle in which its features, the way they’re executed and – importantly – the way they can evolve is driven by software. ‘Say, for example, you’re designing the sequence of events when…

I bination As soon as I select t was always my intention to go off-road in the new Renault 4, although at this precise moment I am regretting the decision. I’ve reversed down a steep gravel incline to turn around and have another crack at the dirt track the 4 handled so enjoyably moments ago, only to get knobbled by a com of road-only tyres and my own over-confidence. Drive and apply a single toe’s worth of pressure to the accelerator, the front wheels start to spin, and the traction control kicks in. Not ideal, but I am inching slowly back up the incline as the economy-optimised Michelins ping gravel back down the slope. I glance at my mirrors to ensure angry Portuguese home owners haven’t noticed me ploughing the…

Quite a big deal when you introduce your first ever battery-electric production car. And Suzuki, ever keen to keep its super loyal buyers in the UK and Europe on side, has given it a name that really resonates. In the course of more than 35 years ‘Vitara’ has meant everything from tough’n’ ready utility vehicle to fun wagon for beach bums and, more recently, family-friendly all-rounder. What’s united the many versions is a certain charm and a ruggedness that attracts folk who want something reliable and no-nonsense. This new one, named eVitara, is designed to parachute Suzuki right into the middle of the small-electric-crossover war zone. You know the type: Ford Puma Gen-E, Vauxhall Mokka Electric, Peugeot E-2008, Smart #1, Volvo EX30… that sort of thing. Suzuki doesn’t deny that…

Swede dreams I was intrigued by your article on the Volvo ES90 in Agenda, May. In 1987 we had the choice of a Volvo estate or a Saab 9000 Turbo hatchback. We chose the Saab and had a series of such cars until Saab switched from hatchbacks to estates. A sad day. The 9000 hatchbacks were brilliant and served our family of five plus a dog for many years. I cannot help thinking that the ES90 has an almost identical body concept to our Saab. Is this a Swedish full circle? Ron Nailer Tall tales Well done to Big G, as he was known in the office (Georg Kacher’s reminiscences, May issue). He was a gangly youth fresh from Inverness University with an accent not dissimilar to mine, as he…

They used to film the original All Creatures Great and Small round these parts, which is fitting given the hot hatches we’re testing are so eclectic: the Honda Civic Type R combines a 326bhp 2.0-litre turbo punch with front-wheel drive, the Audi RS3 harnesses a 395bhp turbo five with all-wheel drive, while the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N powers all four wheels with two electric motors; it’s the largest, heaviest and – with 641bhp – most potent here. Yet all slot in the ‘great’ creatures category, with prices over £50k. Civic first. You drop down into gorgeously comfortable and supportive seats in Type R red, the steering wheel wrapped in grippy alcantara, a bulb of a manual gearshifter in cool metal a hand span away. Small infotainment screen, climate controls you…

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The Beatles changed the world in so many ways, but did so from the ground up, bringing us along with them on the journey. There was a normal, sensible, relatable, inclusive air about them that broke down barriers between generations and genders. Everyone liked them. Before they grew beards and started hanging out with the Maharishi they had a harmless, boy-next-door vibe. And there were four of them, just like your classic nuclear family, so they could actually fit in the house next door, or in a Ford Anglia. But a decade later, the Osmonds shimmied in like a grinning, high-fiving alien invasion. Although the core of the Utah song-and-dance act was the quartet of Alan, Wayne, Merrill and Jay, it was when they were supplemented by heart-throb younger brother…

TOP 5 HOT HATCHES 1 HONDA CIVIC TYPE R THE GOOD: Feel, feedback, focus: a phenomenal full-sized hot hatch THE BAD: Now £51,905 for a front-drive 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: Just one Type R; £459 a month on a three-year PCP with an £11.7k deposit 2 TOYOTA GR YARIS THE GOOD: A modern-day rally homologation special that’s thrilling to drive THE BAD: Road noise like a death-metal gig; joke rear seats THE UGLY: Long waiting list, even with some versions now over £60k, although it starts at £46,045 THE ONE TO BUY: Now has optional auto but go for the manual 3 VW GOLF R THE GOOD: Superb…

Lighter. Cheaper. Simpler. More efficient. That’s the kind of cars Europeans want and need, according to the people running the Renault Group and rival Stellantis. Bosses Luca de Meo and John Elkann joined forces at the Financial Times’ Future of the Car summit to raise a red flag about the industry’s trend in the opposite direction. Cars have become large and heavy to meet safety requirements, to satisfy space - and safety-hungry families and because of the size and weight of EV batteries. It’s also difficult to make a profit on small, light cars when so much safety and anti-pollution hardware is involved. This encourages car makers to build larger SUVs that carry higher price tags, which can be more profitable. Some buyers don’t need a big car but for…

In just a few years we’ve gone from worrying that electric cars would be the death of driving to an e-powered pursuit of hot-hatch glory. These four cars are bang up to date in their hardware and software, but also highlight a developing response to a wider EV issue. Faced with a blizzard of new and tech-forward cars, European marques are turning to one thing they have in abundance that start-up rivals lack: heritage. These four aren’t the only EVs in this test, but we’ve grouped them together because they’re clearly trying to do the same thing: leveraging an icon tied to past success. The electric John Cooper Works from Mini represents not only the man but also the Works tuning schtick Mini has leaned on for two decades now.…

The road is narrow and switches from gloriously sighted sections to point-and-squirt bits. The misty weather is being very British and softens the edges of the hills around us; it’s damp enough to mean a coat is needed, not so wet that the wipers need to be on all the time. Grip alternates between good and scrabbly, so every touch of the right pedal is an exercise in caution. The Golf GTI Clubsport and Mini JCW pierce the gloom ahead and behind like a pair of Belisha beacons as their red paint disappears and then reappears around each corner. The Toyota GR Yaris I’m in is the middle man, each bend a glorious excuse to revel in yet more dancing between gearchange, steering and brake. I can’t remember a better…

Describing his history with the Porsche 911, there’s a danger Romain Dumas might be getting a bit misty-eyed. ‘When I was a kid, I saw a 911 on a rally. I saw a 911 at Le Mans. I saw a 911 even in a rallycross and a 911 in a hillclimb. This kind of car was capable of everything and could perform everywhere.’ This is the same Romain Dumas who has won Le Mans and who has driven, raced, rallied and hillclimbed the 911 in more places than probably anyone else on earth. GT3 on the ice of the Monte Carlo rally? Tick. Driving one to 6734 metres above sea level? Tick. Le Mans, Nürburgring, Spa, Pikes Peak. Been there, won that. Over the 20-plus years of his career, it’s…

After a few miles driving any one of these cars it’s easy to forget what labels they wear. Being electric isn’t what defines them. Except on bladder-challenging long trips, battery range won’t be an issue. In fact, being electric is a boon for family transport, even putting aside the absence of emissions, as the quietness inherent in ditching combustion power improves the ambience no end, keeping the volume levels low and tetchiness in check. Nor are they defined by their body styles. Two are clearly SUVs, one is a retro minibus and the Peugeot is an indeterminate blob. But they’re all essentially high-up cars, from the driving seat. And if you glance over your shoulder, they’re MPVs. This is not damning with faint praise. Those of us old enough to…

Plug-in hybrids are the most use-case dependent of all power-trains. Keep plugging in and stay local and you’ll never drain a tank of fuel – and might as well go full electric. But do longer runs and rarely charge and you’ll get worse fuel economy than an equivalent petrol or diesel that doesn’t carry heavy batteries. The middle ground is the plug-in hybrid sweet spot, and in theory it’s what I should experience on today’s road trip in the diesel-electric GLC 300de. The route takes me cross-country from the East Midlands to Oxford plus a visit to classic Mercedes specialist Edward Hall and a return stint that includes a short motorway leg. All in it’s over 200 miles. Why Oxford? Being almost exactly 80 miles from my front door, it’s…

Like Ricky Hatton’s waistline, BMW M division’s form has been up and down recently. There have been a lot of dodgy grilles and a few questionable cars, most prominently the first hybrid M car, the hefty XM SUV. But then again there have been high points, including the M3 Touring and M4 CS. But all of that is nothing next to the eyebrow-raising announcement that the M5 was going to be a plug-in hybrid and would tip the scales at 2510kg. Maybe that’s why the 2.7-tonne XM came first, to give a sense of perspective to the M5’s weight. There were some very heated opinions from people who hadn’t driven the car. When it reached the real world, it met a more nuanced reception – it even beat the Audi…

Not an Audi ▶ But an AUDI instead. Thought Audi had stopped giving its cars confusing names? Turns out we hadn’t seen anything yet, because here’s Audi’s new sub-brand with the same name… but in capital letters. This is the E5 Sportback, AUDI’s first car, which will be sold only in China. Power outputs vary from a modest 295bhp up to 776bhp, with a claim of up to 478 miles on a charge (albeit on China’s own CLTC test cycle). Four-wheel steering, air suspension and lidar for sophisticated assistance tech are all included, as are camera mirrors and a central display that spans the full width of the dash. Not an Evoque ▶ But a lot like one when viewed from far away. This is the Jaecoo 5, the next…

You’ll have noticed that Citroën is weird. Some weird Citroëns have been small, like the game-changing 2CV and the unusable C3 Pluriel. Some have been innovative and useful, like the Xsara Picasso. Many have been large. More specifically, large and often unpopular. Cars like the DS, SM, CX, C6 and, most recently, the C5 X. They were all weird shapes and had weird styling details and were filled with weird engineering. The DS at the start of that list is an all-time great – described by CAR’s Gavin Green as the ‘biggest single design and technical leap in car history’ – and the CX can be seen as the last great Citroën before Peugeot took ownership. But through the years their successors became plainer and less popular. Weirdness aside, they…

The timing is weird, in this age of live streaming, but you'll soon forgive it that. Because the newly released documentary about the 2023 Dakar Rally is quite brilliant. That, you’ll recall, was the middle year of Audi’s big-budget plan to win the world’s toughest off-road race with an electric range-extender, with a driver line-up led by Carlos Sainz Senior. The Dakar: Race Against the Desert is a slick 85-minute documentary, produced in association with Red Bull, that’s now streaming on various platforms. It’s well worth the £3.99. Yes, it embraces some of the cliches: lots of slow motion, drone shots of camels and moody music. But at its heart it’s a superbly well told story of a handful of (Red Bull-aligned) drivers and riders from around the world as…

After two days testing 10 cars, we’re down to four finalists. All the EVs have been stood down, with only the Hyundai really shining, while the Mini is the sole petrol model not to make the cut. Now Croft circuit will help us decide a winner from the Civic Type R, Golf GTI Clubsport, Audi RS3 and GR Yaris. But it’s raining. By the time we arrive at the former Second World War RAF airfield in North Yorkshire, there’s a hazy spray that makes the flat, fast straights and critical braking points rather indistinct from the surrounding topography. This is sub-optimal for assessing the nuances of high-performance cars. The Golf GTI seems a sensible way to dip a toe in the water and so it proves. It’s stable whether I’m…

Right. I’m going to tell this story without mentioning the Bond movie once. You know the film I mean – the one with the white car… that turns into a submarine… Gah! No! I’m not going there! I refuse to reduce this amazing car to a few seconds of flickering lights and popcorn. That famous appearance is too hackneyed now, like a 1970s rock band touring the country, endlessly performing the same old number one hit. That’s Noddy Holder’s job! I won’t do it! So, this is NOT a story about The Bond Car. Instead, I want to talk about the Lotus Esprit. If you think the Esprit looks good now, imagine what it was like seeing it for the first time, 50 years ago. One man who was there…

I didn’t have to look far for two candidates to drive my Audi S3. Nick Whalley has a car history longer than most. He currently runs a VW Golf GTI Performance Pack and has owned all sorts of tasty cars from a BMW 330i Touring to a Lotus Exige, and is now searching for an elusive balance of performance and practicality. Mal, on the other hand, is a BMW man through and through – and a rear-wheeldrive one at that. ‘I have an M135i now – the newer one – and in the past I’ve had two other M140is,’ he tells me. ‘And in between that a 3-series which I got rid of because it was super boring.’ But he’s also been curious about the Audi alternative. Against all odds,…

Weirdly, I’ve lived my whole life on the A1. Not as a truck driver – I mean I grew up on a farm a couple of miles from the motorway at Scotch Corner, then I lived in Edinburgh and Stamford, and for a long time I worked around Islington in London. As a Cockney gangster would say, the A1 is my manor. Which is why I happen to know (pub-quiz fact!) the A1 is the longest numbered road in Britain, at 400 miles from London to Edinburgh. Fascinating, right? But that figure also happens to be the approximate range of the Mazda MX-30 R-EV, when fully charged and brimmed. So how about we put that to the test, by driving the full length of the A1? (If you’re looking for…

Context is everything, and a Defender 130 with a supercharged V8 engine in the UK in 2025 should feel like a Moby Dick-sized whale out of water. There were several fraught moments over the last four months in which I’d have happily swapped the Defender for something smaller, lighter, more efficient and possibly electric. It’s priced at three times the average national salary, quite capable of dropping under 18mpg in normal use and so tall, wide and long that city centres are entered with teeth gritted and knuckles clenched; height and width restrictions are the stuff of nightmares; height-adjustable air suspension helps, but rear-wheel steering would be transformative. And yet… Truth is, no test car my family and I have had the pleasure of living with has been talked about…