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Porsche

Mazda

BMW

TESTED

BMW

Volvo XC90 T8 Recharge Luxury SUV’s last hurrah 27

Ford Mustang Mach-E Is EV’s ride now bearable? 27

BMW X1 xDrive23i M Sport ROAD TEST 28

FEATURES

The A-Z of used cars What to buy, how much to pay 38

Volkswagen ID Buzz London to Newquay road trip 48

Formula E We report on new Gen3 era from Mexico 56

OUR CARS

Skoda Fabia Did it live up to the Monte Carlo billing? 62

Citroën C5 Aircross Comfort-geared PHEV arrives 64

Vauxhall Astra It’s sportier than you might expect 65

Alpine A110 Just like a Bentley Flying Spur. Really 66

Ford Mustang Mach-E Red alert, bong, bong, bong 67

EVERY WEEK

Jesse Crosse Quest for the ‘100% sustainable’ tyre 13

Jim Holder Rise and fall of used car dealer Cazoo 15

Matt Prior Ageing cars might not mean better cars 17

Steve Cropley Aston customers deserve better 19

Damien Smith Cupra boss on Formula E campaign 20

Subscribe Save money and get exclusive benefits 36

Your Views Lexus’s Achilles heel; a one-off Lancia 58

On this day Alfa’s straight eight; Monte’s dead heat 61

Slideshow Cars that captured the US zeitgeist 82

DEALS

As good as new Want a Ferrari? Get an Alfa Giulia QV 68

James Ruppert Well-kept executive saloon secrets 69

Cult hero Epic RS7 for new Skoda Octavia money 70

New cars A-Z Key car stats, from Abarth to Zenvo 72

Road test index Track down that road test here 81

COMMENT

WILL DAILY HACKS SOON BE A THING OF THE PAST?

A PAL RECENTLY gave me a lift in his 2006 Toyota RAV4 and, because it felt a bit – well – careworn, I asked how many miles it had done. “163,000,” came the proud reply. Then he got really boastful, telling me that he’d personally put more than 100,000 miles on it and never serviced it – not even an oil change. Nor a wash, judging by the crust. “It’s been MOT’d and that’s literally it.”

But what to do next, when the RAV4 finally gives up the ghost? That’s not an easy answer. He uses, and abuses, it for everything and it’s regularly up to its axles in mud and water. It’s all well and good manufacturers announcing record results, off the back of a system that means most people keep a car for three years then spin it off. But where in 2023 is the equivalent of the 2006 Toyota?

I can’t see one and that is going to be an issue. Luckily, as things stand at the moment, there’s plenty to choose from as Richard Bremner demonstrates in our A-Z of used cars (p38). But these cars will need to soldier on for longer and longer, because as new vehicles get ever more complicated and expensive, I can’t see how today’s metal will fill the lower rungs. My mate might even need to change his oil.

youtube.com/autocar facebook.com/autocarofficial twitter.com/autocar autocar_official

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Porsche targets BMW iX with electric seven-seat flagship

High-tech luxury model is ‘a very sporting interpretation of an SUV’ and will be positioned above the Cayenne from 2027

Aseven-seat, off-roadcapable luxury electric crossover is being primed by Porsche to arrive in 2027 as a new range-topper that will take on the likes of the Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV and BMW iX.

It will be unlike any previous Porsche production model, say sources privy to early design proposals, with a length stretching beyond five metres and a profile that is “part saloon, part crossover”.

CEO Oliver Blume has described the car, known under the internal codename K1, as “a very sporting interpretation of an SUV”.

When it arrives, the advanced four-wheel-drive flagship will head a growing

Porsche line-up, consisting of seven individual models.

The K1 will offer the latest in synchronous electric motor, high-performance battery and rapid-charging technology –developments that, insiders at the company’s Zuffenhausen headquarters in Germany say, will extend its price well beyond the £150,500 of the existing internal-combustion-engined Cayenne Turbo GT.

Already three years in conception and planning, the new Porsche model aims to build on the success of the Cayenne and Macan, Porsche’s two best-selling models over the past two decades, as well as last year (see separate story, p6). The K1 is intended to support this trend with a

combination of sportiness and utility that, it is hoped, will appeal to customers in its two largest markets: North America and China.

When it arrives, it will become the fifth electricpowered Porsche model after the Taycan, next year’s electric Macan, an electric Boxster/ Cayman pairing due in 2025 and an electric version of the Cayenne tentatively planned for launch in 2026.

Having recently been listed on the stock exchange, Porsche is positioning itself as a leader in electric car technology. “We have a clear strategy to drive electrification forward over the next few years, aiming to deliver over 80% fully electric vehicles by 2030. It’s a 

PORSCHE HAS ITS EYES ON A RICHER PRIZE NICK GIBBS

Not long ago, an SUV wasn’t considered aspirational enough to sit in the rarefied ultra-luxury category. Who would pay £150,000-plus for an elevated hatchback? We’re way past that now, which is why Porsche feels confident enough to tackle the likes of the Bentley Bentayga, Lamborghini Urus and Aston Martin DBX.

Porsche has toyed with the lower end of this market with the range-topping £150,500 Cayenne Turbo GT and it understands the pricier reaches of the sports

car market. But this is a bid to the world’s richest that it deserves that spot in their everyday-car garage.

Porsche’s conviction of success stems from both its buoyant post-IPO valuation and the health of this market.

Last year, Bentley, RollsRoyce and Lamborghini all posted record sales, and for all three, their SUV – the Bentayga, Cullinan and Urus respectively – was, as with Porsche, responsible for around half their sales.

The German brand will be able to leverage the

economies of scale from building on the VW Group’s PPE electric platform, which will first emerge next year under the new electric Macan. Porsche understands the benefit of platform sharing after building the Cayenne on the same VW Group MLB platform as the Urus, Bentayga and Audi Q7.

The economics make sense. Now Porsche just has to convince the ultra-rich that this product is exclusive enough for them to part with their cash.

The new range-topping EV will be unlike any previous Porsche production model, say sources ❞



very strong upward curve,” said Blume of Porsche’s sales targets.

Porsche has yet to give any clues to the K1’s design, but its key attributes are said to include a unique silhouette with a short bonnet by Porsche standards, a steeply raked windscreen and a curved roof that extends into a liftbackstyle tailgate. To give the new Porsche suitable off-road capabilities, it is also said to feature considerable ride height in its most extreme driving mode. Ground clearance will be adjusted via sophisticated air suspension with multiple settings.

The basis for the K1 is expected to be the Premium Platform Electric (PPE), given that it will share a production line with the upcoming PPEmounted electric Macan, which is due in 2024.

The K1 was previously billed to sit on Porsche’s adaptation of parent Volkswagen Group’s Scalable Systems Platform, known as SSP Sport, but VW has confirmed a delay to the platform, originally due in the latter part of the decade.

Insiders say that when the SUV does arrive in 2027, it is likely to sit on an upgraded version of the PPE platform, which will incorporate developments showcased

on the Mission R engineering concept first revealed at the 2021 Munich motor show.

Among these developments is a 920V electric system for even faster charging and oil cooling for the electric motors. What battery pack the K1 could use remains under wraps, although it is expected to adopt a cell-to-chassis layout for added structural integrity with an energy capacity of over 100kWh and a WLTP range of more than 435 miles in its most efficient form.

Other chassis tech planned for the K1 includes electronically controlled four-wheel steering that will offer up to 5deg of turning angle for the rear wheels to give added manoeuvrability at low speeds around town and greater agility at higher speeds. This feature will work in combination with an electronic differential that provides a torquevectoring effect between each individual rear wheel.

Production of the new EV model is scheduled to take place alongside that of the electric Macan at Porsche’s Leipzig factory –the same site responsible for the existing internalcombustion-engined Macan, Cayenne and Panamera.

Cayenne to go all-electric after major ICE upgrade

Reworked current Cayenne will be followed by a technically unrelated all-new electric version

Porsche will extend the lifespan of the current-generation Cayenne – which remains comfortably its best-selling car – with a significant round of updates aimed at sustaining its appeal past the middle of the decade, but development is already under way on an electric successor.

Over the past two decades, Porsche’s best-selling models have been the Cayenne and Macan, thanks to a growing trend of buyers wanting to mix performance with practicality.

Last year, the Cayenne and Macan were again Porsche’s two best-sellers, racking up 95,604 and 86,724 sales respectively. This accounted for almost 59% of its global annual sales of 309,884.

The popularity of Porsche’s SUVs has driven huge growth in regions such as North America and China.

In 2022, the two markets accounted for 55% of the German brand’s global sales.

The new flagship SUV is being created to build on this success, with those two markets key to its future.

Sales of the new K1, arriving as a £150,000-plus electric range-topper, aren’t expected to hit the heights of the Cayenne’s 2022 numbers, but with a starting price significantly higher than that of the car it will sit above, the K1’s development costs will be easily swallowed while a sizeable margin is still returned.

Expected to launch in 2026, around two years after the delayed Porsche Macan EV and a year before the marque’s new K1 range-topping SUV, the electric Cayenne will provide its maker with a crucial zeroemission alternative to the car that has underpinned its dramatic growth trajectory over the past two decades.

The Cayenne EV – an official

name for which has not been confirmed – will use the same Premium Platform Electric (PPE) architecture as its smaller Macan sibling and the closely related Audi Q6 E-tron due by the end of this year. This means it is in line to receive the same advanced torque-vectoring technology and four-wheel steering functionality in a bid to carry some of the Cayenne’s trademark sports car-aping dynamics into the electric era.

It will be engineered to offer outright pace and functionality on a par with today’s top-rung EVs. The PPE platform is confirmed to be fitted with 800V hardware for charging at speeds in excess of 270kW.

The Macan EV will be fitted with a 100kWh battery for an

expected range of more than 300 miles, but Porsche’s new modular prismatic batteries can be scaled up or down according to the vehicle’s wheelbase, so the larger Cayenne could receive a boost in capacity to go after the long-legged Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV.

As reported by Autocar, the new-generation batteries being rolled out to Porsche EVs will also effectively be able to split into two halves to charge more efficiently at a 400V charger, which could translate into noticeably shorter stops at these more common devices.

Power is set to be served up by a pair of permanently excited motors – one on each axle – offering greater efficiency and power density

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than those used by today’s Taycan. The electric Macan will be launched with a combined 603bhp and 738lb ft, giving it substantially more grunt than any existing Macan variant. If

that is mirrored by the Cayenne EV, it would be considerably more potent than today’s Cayenne S and GTS.

Porsche has yet to give any further details about the

Macan EV is a close technical sibling to the electric Cayenne

electric Cayenne but the model will play a crucial role in the firm’s bid to make EVs account for more than 80% of its sales in 2030.

It is likely to be sold – at least initially – alongside a further-evolved version of the combustion Cayenne, which will be heavily updated in the coming months with a revised engine line-up and a raft of styling changes. As with the Macan EV, however, the pair are likely to be related in no more than name, with the electric model bringing a host of EV-specific design cues and an altered silhouette.

FELIX PAGE

PORSCHE TO USE FOUR EV PLATFORMS

Premium Platform

Electric (PPE)

Developed by Porsche and its Volkswagen Group sibling Audi, the PPE will first be used for the Audi Q6 E-tron, due 2024, and then the Macan EV. Based on the J1 platform, it will initially support models with up to 603bhp and 738lb ft using an 800V electric system.

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Scalable Systems Platform Sport (SSP Sport)

Porsche’s sporty adaptation of parent Volkswagen Group’s upcoming EVexclusive SSP architecture will use high-performance electric motors and battery components. It will also be used by siblings Audi, Bentley and Lamborghini. But it’s currently delayed.

J1

This high-strength steel, aluminium and carbonfibre structure is the basis for the Taycan and has been conceived as a dedicated electric vehicle architecture. It can house battery modules of varying sizes in as low a position as possible.

718 EV platform

Set to arrive in 2025, the next-generation 718 Cayman and Boxster are expected to sit on a dedicated, as yet unnamed electric-only platform. This will house a mid-mounted battery, allowing the model to mimic the dynamic behaviour of a mid-engined combustion-powered car.

Special 911 ST coming

AHEAD OF PORSCHE’S electric SUV roll-out, the German brand will launch the 911 ST, a low-volume heritage variant of the 911, marking the famous nameplate’s 60th year.

This latest special edition is based around the existing 911 Carrera T, but with grunt provided by the 911 GT3’s naturally aspirated 4.0-litre flat-six engine. This means it should pack 503bhp and 347lb ft for a 0-62mph time of less than four seconds and a top speed north of 190mph.

A host of lightweight components, including

carbonfibre for the doors and roof panel, could make it substantially lighter than the most recent entrant into the 911 Heritage series: the Porsche 911 Targa 4S Heritage Design.

Insiders at Porsche’s headquarters in Germany hint that the new 911, described as being the lightest of the current 992 generation, is planned to receive the ST model designation last used by the car maker for a family of ultra-light race cars in 1970.

Official details of the special edition remain under wraps ahead of its reveal, a date for which has yet to be given.

UK car-making future in doubt

Collapse of Britishvolt and the shortage of UK battery factories is raising big concerns

The fall of one of the UK’s largest electric vehicle battery production companies, Britishvolt, has sparked a major government review into whether Britain’s future in the sector is viable.

Administrators, who had been ready since the Northumberland-based firm was given an anonymous eleventh-hour bailout in November, were finally called in

to the troubled battery start-up last week in a major blow to the future of UK manufacturing.

Its workforce of around 300 employees was made redundant with immediate effect.

This prompted Parliament’s Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee to launch an inquiry into whether EV battery production is viable in the UK – or if the importing of power sources is sufficient.

Committee chair Darren Jones said: “This inquiry will look at what’s holding back the development of electric car batteries in the UK and what needs to be done to

protect the thousands of jobs across the country in this important sector.

“The future of car manufacturing in the UK is dependent on our ability to

make electric vehicles, and to be able to export them into the EU. That means we need local supplies of electric vehicle batteries – something we’re failing significantly behind on compared to other parts of the world.”

This latest development follows a turbulent few months for the troubled British start-up, with failed talks on a possible takeover taking place

THE BRIEF LIFE OF BRITISHVOLT, 2019-2022

JULY 2021

Plans for a £2.6bn gigafactory approved. Cited as “a real game-changer” for the UK’s battery supply chain.

Peter Rolton, Britishvolt’s executive chairman, said:

DECEMBER 2019

Britishvolt created. DECEMBER 2020 Blyth, Northumberland, chosen as base over South Wales and Coventry.

BYD ATTO 3 TO HIT UK WITHIN WEEKS

BYD has confirmed that the Atto 3 will arrive in the UK by the end of March. The news comes after the Chinese firm agreed plans with dealership groups for its first UK showrooms. The crossover, an MG ZS EV rival, will have a range of 261 miles.

JANUARY

2022

Firm gets £100m backing from the government, unlocked if it meets certain construction milestones.

MARCH 2022

Aston Martin, following Lotus, enters a partnership with BV to develop “high-performance” batteries for its EVs, due in 2025.

JEEP AVENGER PRICED FROM £36,500

Jeep’s hotly anticipated first EV, the Avenger, will be launched from £36,500, it has been revealed. Arriving this summer initially in First Edition trim, the US firm’s smallest model has already claimed the 2023 Car of the Year crown.

AUGUST 2022

Firm delays its first batteries to mid-2025. They had already been pushed back to the end of 2024 from the end of 2023.

JANUARY 2022

“The UK automotive industry needs a local source of batteries. Asian imports aren’t going to be an option. There will be very significant shortfalls of batteries.”

❝

The UK will need around five EV battery gigafactories by 2030 ❞

New EV battery factory in Oxon

AUSTRALIAN MINING GIANT

Fortescue Metals, owner of WAE Technologies, announced plans to build an EV battery factory in Oxfordshire just days after administrators were called into Britishvolt.

Fortescue expects the new factory to employ 300 people and it is targeting

up until the company went into administration.

Britishvolt chairman Peter Rolton told staff a late offer

a capacity of 400MWh per year, but the firm says its ambitions are different from those of Britishvolt. Rather than building batteries for electric cars, the new plant in Kidlington will focus on the construction of power cells for heavy goods vehicles.

WAE Technologies (until

had received investor support but the company’s main creditors refused to back the deal, leaving no alternative to

recently named Williams Advanced Engineering) was acquired by Fortescue in 2022 for £164 million.

Fortescue plans to use WAE’s expertise in electrification to help it to reach a goal of carbon neutrality across its mining operations by 2030.

administration. The offer included a £30 million initial investment for near-total control of Britishvolt, followed by a further £128m injection, reported the Financial Times.

According to a report by The Faraday Institution, the UK will need around 100GWh of battery supply capacity (equivalent to five gigafactories) by 2030 to satisfy demand for EV production. This will rise to nearly 200GWh (10 factories) by 2040.

At the time of writing, the only UK gigafactory to have secured deals with a global cell supplier is Envision AESC’s planned expansion at the Nissan factory in Sunderland. It promises an output of 11GWh from 2024, eventually rising to 38GWh, supplying batteries for the replacement for the Nissan Leaf.

Britishvolt’s gigafactory in Blyth, Northumberland, would have added an extra 38GWh to the nation’s total.

Alpine eyes Lotus tech for crossovers

THE UPCOMING FLAGSHIP electric models from French performance brand Alpine will be crossover rivals to the Porsche Macan and Porsche Cayenne – and they could be built on a Lotus platform.

The two models will further expand the Renaultowned sporting brand’s electric range after the launch of the Alpine R5 hot hatch and the GT X-Over sports crossover.

The new flagship pair, due in 2027 and 2028, are crossovers “in the segment of Porsche Macan and Cayenne, more or less”, Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi told journalists.

Alpine will have to look beyond the Renault Group for a platform, said Rossi, with Lotus owner Geely the “most natural” partner, given the current projects between Renault and the Chinese company.

AUGUST 2022

NOVEMBER 2022

Eleventh-hour funding secured from an anonymous investor to save the firm “for coming weeks”. Talks ongoing with other investors, such as Tata Motors.

OCTOBER 2022

Administration preparations prompted after the government rejected a request for £30m of its £100m funding.

VANWALL LAUNCHES £133K HOT HATCH

German endurance racing team Vanwall has unveiled a £133k, limited-edition, road-going EV. Called the Vandervell, the lightweight hot hatch is said to pay homage to the Vanwall name’s English heritage. Just 500 examples will be made.

JANUARY 2023

Administrators called in after the money finally ran out. All 300 staff made redundant. Government inquiry started.

Alpine is currently working with Lotus on an electric replacement for the A110 and Renault and Geely last October agreed a 50:50 partnership to build internal

BUYING A TESLA JUST GOT CHEAPER

Tesla has slashed prices by as much as £8000 in a bid to shift stock after producing 34,000 more cars than it sold at the end of 2022. The Model Y Performance is the most discounted. Previously £67,990, it now costs £59,990.

combustion powertrains.

Lotus has said it’s happy to work with partners wanting to re-use the platform from its new Eletre SUV, as well as a new platform that will underpin the smaller Lotus Type 134 crossover, which is due to arrive in 2024.

Nissan is also in the frame to supply Alpine with a platform, given that it plays in the larger D/E-segments in the US. However, the Japanese brand isn’t a logical partner, said Rossi.

The two Alpine models will be in the “lifestyle branch” of the brand’s line-up, rather than outright sports cars. However, they are still designed to deliver the sensation of a performance machine.

The big Alpine crossovers are intended to give the brand a fighting chance in the US, where it plans to launch in the near future.

Alpine aims to grow annual global sales to 150,000 by 2030 – up from 3546 last year, achieved solely by its A110 sports car.

“inflation, recession and geopolitical uncertainties”.

Today’s MX-5, first seen in 2015, will be updated and replaced

Mazda MX-5 ‘going to live forever’

In a wide-ranging interview, the firm’s Europe boss says its sports car’s future is safe

The Mazda MX-5 “will never die” but the Japanese company has yet to commit to the technical make-up of the next-generation version.

Mazda’s CEO in Europe, Martijn ten Brink, said the current car, first launched in 2015, will continue to be updated and is under no threat

Flewitt is a fan of BAC’s lightweight hardcore Mono R

of being taken off sale from emissions or other legislation.

“How do you stay true to the concept of what the car stands for taking it into the next generation of technologies?” he said, when asked about plans for the next MX-5. “That’s not been decided. But I think for Mazda it would be fair to say that the MX-5 will never die.

“I think it will continue to exist forever and it will have to go with the times. That’s a super challenge, and people are passionate about this car in Mazda.

“Of course, as you can imagine, people have opinions on which direction it should go. So I’m very curious where it will end up, but it will definitely

Mazda is working out how a new MX-5 will tackle its next era

BAC hires ex-McLaren boss as chairman

MIKE FLEWITT, FORMER CEO of McLaren Automotive, has been named chairman of Briggs Automobile Company (BAC). Flewitt aims to use his experience of four decades at the top of the car industry to build what its founders said is an “ambitious growth strategy and new model programme”.

Flewitt said he has known the Briggs brothers for several years and has been deeply

impressed by the quality of their single-seat BAC Mono R car and the efficiency of their profitable 40-person business.

Now he will look to BAC’s future, including the potential for electrification, global expansion and how BAC can build on its strong foundations to appeal to a wider audience.

Here, Flewitt answers questions on his new role, which begins immediately.

happy in the company with the performance of our crossovers and the advantages that they offer,” said ten Brink.

“But I think everybody is also looking at what are the polar possibilities in terms of design of new electrified products.

“How do we go? Do we go to a new shape? That’s what our designers are experimenting with. I look forward also to vehicles that are not necessarily SUVs or crossovers.”

Ten Brink confirmed there are no plans to bring the CX-50 – on sale in other markets, including North America – to Europe.

He added: “We need to think about aerodynamics in a different way. I think we’re going to get more diversity in terms of design from all the different brands. And I think also our experiments for design will take us into new directions, but they will definitely have to be super-aerodynamic.”

Ten Brink said Mazda’s size means it has to do things differently and produce models for global markets rather than adopting different approaches region by region.

“We need to be successful in Japan, in Australia, the US, and Europe, with by and large the same vehicles,” he said. “This is an enormous challenge for a smaller manufacturer because we can’t go all in on one thing.

remain part of the line-up.”

In a wide-ranging interview at the Brussels motor show, ten Brink also discussed Mazda designers exploring new shapes and sizes for its models that major on aerodynamic efficiency when its new scalable electric architecture arrives in 2025.

“I think everybody is really

“That is where the larger manufacturers have, of course, a bit of a luxury but also maybe didn’t have to be so open about what they do in the rest of the world because they can focus their communication far more on ‘this is our story for Europe’, ‘this is our story for North America’. We need to have the same story across the globe.”

MIKE FLEWITT, CHAIRMAN, BAC Q&A

You must have had other opportunities after McLaren. Why have you chosen BAC?

“I’m a big fan of the Briggs brothers and I love what they do. Anyone who knows me knows I have a garage full of lightweight cars. BAC’s guiding principles are the same as my own.”

How can you help?

“I have a good deal of industry know-how: experience of how markets work, of distribution, of financial and manufacturing

MX-30 SALES ON TRACK DESPITE SHORT RANGE

Mazda Europe CEO Martijn ten Brink said he is happy with sales of the electric MX-30 to date and is comfortable with its range of just 124 miles, whereas most rivals are well north of 200 miles.

“It depends from which angle you would see it,” he said. “I’m personally very happy with the sales, although it has a short range. We said at the beginning [to dealers] if somebody comes in wanting a 400km-range [249-mile range] vehicle, tell them to go and buy something else. We decided

MAZDA CHASES DREAM OF ROTARY-ENGINED SPORTS CAR

The next MX-5 isn’t the only sports car Mazda has on its wish list: bosses also hope to launch one fitted with its iconic rotary engine. “Rotary is our symbol,” said Yoshiaki Noguchi, assistant manager of Mazda’s powertrain development division. “It’s a dream of engineers at Mazda to have a sports car with rotary.” However, such a model remains a long way from production. “Now is not the time for that,” he added. Rotary tech returns to Mazda for the first time since the RX-8 bowed out 11 years ago, with the plug-in hybrid MX-30 R-EV.

practice. I believe this can be useful, especially in the new expansion phase they’re contemplating.”

What are the details of the expansion?

“BAC will build steadily. The company makes around 40 cars a year now – at prices up to £250,000 – and it’s profitable, which not many small companies can say. We’ll build steadily as we take the cars into new markets. It’s possible to see us doing

50 cars next year. In two or three years, we could get to 100 cars.”

Is part of your mission to prepare for electrification?

“For sure. We have alternative powertrain options right now, but we’re not in a rush to implement them, because at present they wouldn’t work as well as what we have now, and our customers aren’t calling for them. But helping BAC prepare for the future is very much part of my role.”

M3 CS is said to do 0-62mph in 3.4sec, 50-75mph in 2.6sec

Hardcore M3 CS is unleashed

BMW’s

new 542bhp saloon is lighter, faster and more focused than M3 Competition

The sharply honed, lightweight BMW M3 CS has arrived as the most powerful M3 yet, with a mighty 542bhp, as the Munich performance division takes aim at the Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA.

The M3 CS adds 39bhp over the already powerful M3 Competition to pip its Italian contemporary by 10bhp.

Its twin-turbocharged 3.0-litre straight six, an uprated version of the same engine found in the

standard M3 and M4, can propel the M3 CS to 62mph from a standstill in just 3.4sec –0.2sec quicker than the Giulia GTA. Accelerating from 5075mph takes just 2.6sec and the top speed is electronically limited to 188mph.

The straight six is tuned to deliver 479lb ft, which is distributed by BMW’s xDrive four-wheel drive system.

The M3 CS is set apart from the M3 Competition visually by a raft of design tweaks, such

as an angrier-looking, open front grille designed to match the front end of BMW’s GT4spec M4 racer. Gaping air intakes round off the new-look nose. These are joined by a host of items that enhance the aerodynamics, such

as a wide front splitter and a lipped rear spoiler.

One of the keys to the M3 CS’s lofty performance figures is its lighter body, made through the extensive use of lightweight materials across the car (such as

carbonfibre for the roof) and switching out components for lighter alternatives (such as carbonfibre bucket seats and a titanium rear silencer). In total, the M3 CS is 20kg lighter than the 1780kg M3 Competition.

Underneath, the chassis is for the most part the same as the M3 Competition’s, albeit with a bespoke set-up.

The M Dynamic driving mode has been geared towards high-speed circuit driving, for example. Other bespoke

Corvette turns 655bhp hybrid with four-wheel drive

THE LATEST CHEVROLET

Corvette matches a roaring 6.2-litre V8 petrol engine with an electric motor to make it the first fourwheel-drive ’Vette and the fastest-accelerating yet.

Named the Corvette E-Ray, the long-awaited hybrid supercar has been revealed exactly 70 years after the original Corvette took to the stage for its debut at the Motorama exhibition in New York.

It has been conceived “to be the Corvette owners can arrive in anywhere, no matter the season”, with Chevrolet

highlighting the extra traction of a driven front axle and the option of a removable roof.

Direct rivals are few and far between, with the Ferrari 296 GTB and McLaren Artura each using twin-turbocharged V6 engines for their plug-in hybrid powertrains.

The V8 powering the E-Ray is the same 6.2-litre smallblock engine that propels the standard Corvette Stingray –revolutionary in its own right for making the switch from a front- to a mid-engined layout.

In the E-Ray, its 495bhp and 470lb ft of torque (sent to the rear axle through an eight-

E-Ray covers 0-60mph in a claimed 2.5sec

It has leather-clad carbon seats and widescreen iDrive

touches include individually tuned axle kinematics and bespoke wheel camber settings, dampers, auxiliary springs and anti-roll bars, the M3 CS featuring a modelspecific suspension set-up.

Special V-spoke gold wheels (19in at the front and 20in at the rear) are offered, shod with track-focused tyres.

M compound brakes with red calipers are also fitted and carbon-ceramic brakes are available.

The interior broadly matches that of the M3

Competition, which means it gets BMW’s newest widescreen infotainment set-up, but Merino leather seats are fitted as standard and CS badging features throughout.

Prices open at £115,900, making the M3 CS £41,145 more expensive than the M3 Competition but significantly less than the £150,000 Giulia GTA.

It will be produced in a limited but undisclosed number. Customer deliveries will get under way in March.

UNDER THE SKIN JESSE CROSSE

GRIP AND GREEN: SUSTAINABLE TYRES PASS A NEW MILESTONE

V8 powers the rear, an electric motor the front

SOME ASPECTS OF making cars more sustainable are taking much longer than others, but one that appears to be making quicker progress is the tyre. Goodyear has announced a demonstration tyre made from 90% sustainable materials that meets all the necessary regulations and has passed its own internal tests for performance and safety. The tyre isn’t only substantially greener than conventional counterparts but has a lower rolling resistance too, reducing the carbon footprint during use of any car fitted with them.

In 2021 and 2022, Goodyear, Michelin, Continental and Falken all reported progress in replacing petroleum-based ingredients of tyre compounds with renewable materials. One example is the use by Goodyear and Continental of natural latex derived from the roots of dandelions, while Michelin has been working on its Bio Butterfly project to develop a bio version of butadiene rubber from fermented biomass.

At the start of 2022, Goodyear announced success in constructing a tyre made from 70% sustainable materials, and that tyre will go into production this year. More work needs to be done by the company and its suppliers to figure out how enough materials can be sourced to make its 90% green tyre a commercial reality.

again is a byproduct, this time from rice processing, and usually ends up in landfill.

Polyester is still used in the new tyre, but it’s recycled from plastic bottles. The bottles are reduced to base chemicals and then reformed into the high-grade polymer used for making the tyre cords that form the skeleton of the tyre carcass. Other stuff includes resins, used to help generate traction and derived from renewable pine resin in place of petroleumbased resin. Also, the steel cords used in the structure of a radial tyre are made from steel containing a high proportion of recycled steel. Electric arc furnaces used to smelt the steel produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions than the traditional blast furnace. ISCC-certified (International Sustainability and Carbon Certification) polymers from renewable bio sources are also used in the tyre.

GAME-CHANGING INVERTER

speed automatic gearbox) are supplemented by 160bhp and 125lb ft from the electric motor at the front, giving a combined 655bhp. Power for the electrified element of the powertrain is stored in a small, 1.9kWh lithium ion battery.

As a result, the hybrid is the fastest Corvette yet to make production, with Chevrolet claiming a 0-60mph time of just 2.5sec.

That makes the E-Ray roughly as quick in a straight line as the 296 GTB, yet it’s about a third of the price of Ferrari’s latest hybrid, at $104,295 (£85,000).

It is expected that the Corvette E-Ray will be offered in right-hand-drive guise and exported to the UK, as is the case with the standard Corvette, but Chevrolet has yet to confirm this.

Tyres are ferociously complex, despite their boring appearance. Goodyear’s 90% demonstration tyre is made from 17 ingredients across 12 different components within the tyre. Rather than being made from burning petroleum-based products, carbon black, used to reinforce the compound and increase tyre life, is derived from four different sustainable sources in the new tyre: methane, carbon dioxide, plant-based oil and pyrolysis oil from recycled tyres.

Soybean oil is used to ensure the compound remains pliable across different temperature ranges. The oil is a leftover byproduct of soy protein food and animal-feed manufacturing. The silica used in tyres to improve grip and reduce rolling resistance (and fuel consumption) has been produced from rice-husk waste (RHA silica), which

McLaren Applied says its compact IPG5 800V silicon-carbide inverter enables EV-developer customers to run different switching frequencies so that it can be used with a variety of EV traction motors. The aim is to remove mechanical constraints from EV-powertrain design, making them software-defined. The company has also partnered with Elaphe Propulsion Technologies to combine its inverter with the Slovenian company’s in-wheel motors.

Citroën boss: SUVs are doomed

The SUV could be on the verge of extinction as car makers focus more heavily on aerodynamic design cues in the hunt for range, according to Vincent Cobée, CEO of Citroën.

Speaking candidly to Autocar, the French brand’s boss said designers are placing increasing emphasis on how slippery a car can be, with “anything which is high or squarish” more than likely not considered for reasons of aero efficiency.

“The transition to electric vehicles is going to massively increase the importance of aerodynamics,” he said, calling it the “post-SUV world”.

He added: “Because, to be honest, whether your car is aero or not, in the current ICE world just increase the fuel tank and as long as your

purchasing power ignores the price of petrol, which it does for 30-50% of the population, why bother?

“[In the] fully electric world, you lose autonomy because of aerodynamics, so the link is much stronger. So anything which is high or squarish will have immediate penalty to its autonomy in a battery-EV world.”

Cobée also suggested new methods of vehicle taxation –perhaps designed to penalise heavier, larger vehicles –could further threaten the

onward viability of SUVs.

“There will be, I’m quite convinced, some form of regulation or directive or incentive [cut] on weights and battery sizes,” he said.

“Now in France, if you buy an electric car and it weighs more than 2.4 tonnes, you’re not eligible for incentives,” he explained, suggesting that eventually this cut-off could fall to 1.8 tonnes.

“So if you start talking about less than two tonnes and less than 60kWh or 70kWh, then SUVs will suffer massively.”

Because of this, Cobée is confident car makers will instead look to design cars that sit lower and offer more efficient shapes, rather than shaving kilograms from bulky, straight-edged SUVs.

“If I reduce weights by 50kg, the impact is nearly zero. But if I improve aerodynamics, or powertrain efficiency, the impact on range is very, very quick,” he said. “So [they have a] much higher impact or level of impact than weight.”

He added: “Fundamentally, so far the auto industry is:

‘Okay, you want less weight? Use aluminium instead of steel.’ That means the cost is higher.

“I think the real challenge would be less weight for less cost, but it’s not impossible: we need to do it by design.”

The lightweight treatedcardboard bodywork of the recent Citroën Oli concept was one example that Cobée cited. He said: “If you see Oli, you can stand on the bonnet or stand on the roof, and it’s a third of the weight and it’s recycled.”

Citroën CEO Cobée: “Real challenge is less weight for less cost”

❝

Anything which is high or squarish will have an immediate penalty to its autonomy in a battery-EV world ❞

Gov’t plots big MOT shake-up

PROPOSALS THAT COULD

radically change MOT testing

– such as extending the period between tests – have been put forward by the government. The plans also include allowing owners of

new cars an extra year before the first MOT test is required.

The government says the updated regulations, currently in the consultation phase, come amid the growing popularity of hybrids

and EVs and the introduction of new vehicle technology.

The changes, which would affect MOT testing for cars, motorbikes and vans, include a raft of potential updates. We look at the key ones below.

The MOT test would be every two years under new plans 

EXTEND THE TIME BETWEEN MOT TESTS

Cars would be given two years, instead of one, between MOTs. The government says this reflects improvements to car safety and build quality and would save motorists money. 

NEW CARS GIVEN AN EXTRA YEAR

A new vehicle’s first MOT test would take place

four years after its initial registration instead of the current three, in line with practices in some other European countries. 

EMISSIONS MONITORING

As the government pushes to bring down levels of pollution, new measures are on the cards for the strict testing of pollutants such as particulates and NOx.

 EV

TESTING

Changes to EV testing are also under consideration and potential tests could be brought in to improve reliability and safety through battery tests. 

LOUD ENGINES

The government says ‘noiseless’ EVs could be used to gauge whether new rules are needed to act against excessively loud engines.

AA AND RAC REACT TO NEW MOT PROPOSALS

Reaction to the plans has been mixed – and two of the UK’s biggest insurance firms have told Autocar that the MOT should remain an annual test.

One of those, the AA, said it supports keeping MOT tests up to date and “fit for purpose”, ensuring new technologies such as “advanced safety features and autonomous systems” are properly checked.

The motoring association also spoke out against extending a vehicle’s first MOT to year four, saying that brakes and tyres often need repairs after three years.

“The MOT plays a vital role in ensuring that vehicles on our roads are

safe,” said AA president Edmund King.

However, the RAC didn’t oppose a car’s first MOT being a year later but it suggested that highermileage cars should be tested sooner. The RAC also said it is disappointed that the government is “still entertaining the idea

of increasing the time between MOTs”.

RAC head of roads policy Nicholas Lyes said: “It would likely increase the number of unroadworthy vehicles – putting lives at risk – and not save drivers any money, as they would likely end up with bigger repair bills as a result.”

YOU’VE PROBABLY HEARD of used car dealer Cazoo, despite it being only five years old. After all, as it built towards its £5 billion stock market flotation in 2021, it was spending close to £100 million a year on marketing.

There were TV and radio adverts, billboards, boldly liveried delivery trucks and sports sponsorship galore, including two Premier League football teams, the English Football League, The Hundred cricket, the Rugby League World Cup, the Derby horse race and the World Snooker Tour.

The automotive establishment initially looked on with a dollop of wonder and a truckload of irritation as Cazoo founder Alex Chesterman, who had previously made fortunes from Love Film (sold for £200m) and Zoopla (floated for nearly £1bn), talked up its online business model. At one point, he described established used car dealers as “flawed on every level”. How they laughed when Cazoo had to buy one of those dealer groups to underpin its sales model shortly after launching.

But some, especially profit-hungry investors sensing opportunity out of the pandemic, chose to buy into the spending and rhetoric. The goal was always a swift flotation, and Cazoo’s marketing spree, combined with an aggressive expansion plan, including taking the business beyond the UK and into Europe, aimed to achieve that. And despite posting huge losses each year, it built up significant sales and a reputation for customer service.

So it was, just 18 months ago, that investors put their trust in forward-looking spreadsheets, buying up the promise of better days in shares for around £7.40 each. The premise was that by capturing just 5% of the UK’s £100bn used market each year, Cazoo could take advantage of economies of scale to deliver fat profits. Today, a share costs 23p. Cazoo’s stock has fallen so spectacularly that it risks becoming a case study for how not to do it.

Chesterman has pointed to wider economic circumstances, but the fact remains that in the past year, Cazoo has had to shut down its European operations, lay off a chunk of its workforce and end some of its more futurelooking investments (such as car subscription services) while old-school rivals have reported record profits.

On 4 January, the New York Stock Exchange suspended trading in Cazoo’s warrants and began proceedings for delisting it. Last week, Chesterman was given a new role, more sites were marked for closure and more job losses mooted.

The bonfire has some way to burn, but sift through the ashes and there’s a credible used car company in Cazoo – maybe even one that’s now undervalued, as revenues have been exponentially rising and costs rapidly falling in recent months.

But, like it or not, it’s just another used car company. It may be on the front foot digitally, but in many other respects it serves mostly as a reminder once again of just how good the very best car dealers already are.

Polestar targets further growth

UK CEO bullish about prospects after EV brand bucked 2022’s downward trend

Polestar beat its targets for UK sales in 2022 by a wide margin, selling more than 7000 cars, but boss Jonathan Goodman says it “could have done more” if not for supply difficulties.

In the second full year for the Tesla Model 3-challenging Polestar 2 saloon, the brand achieved an 80% sales rise to hit 7345, beating a projection of 6000 and taking the total number of Polestar cars on UK roads to around 12,000.

Goodman told Autocar that he was excited “to see the EV market up by 40%” (EVs accounted for 16.6% of UK sales last year) but said it was

“equally great to basically be doubling against the EV market, which I think is a great testimony to the brand”.

Polestar’s steep upward trajectory is one of a select few success stories to come from 2022’s sales figures, which broadly revealed stagnation for established European makers as they grappled with supply-chain issues, rising energy costs and the wider economic downturn.

Dacia, MG and Kia were among the other brands to boost their UK market share and overall volumes last year.

Polestar wasn’t immune to these headwinds, however,

PERFORMANCE BOOST FOR POLESTAR 2

Polestar has overhauled the 2, bringing uplifts in output and range, plus a new look.

Single-motor cars are now rear-driven and use a new motor with an extra 67bhp (at 295bhp) and 118lb ft (361lb ft), reducing the 0-62mph time by 1.2sec to 6.2sec.

The dual-motor model is boosted by 14bhp (to 416bhp) and 59lb ft (to 546lb ft) for a 4.5sec dash (down 0.2sec).

Performance cars still get 469bhp to cut the sprint time by 0.3sec over standard.

A new 82kWh Long Range

UK

battery boosts range by 65 miles for a Dual Motor car (to 368) and 52 for a rear-driver (to 395). It can charge at 205kW, up 55kW on before.

with its order book mounting as demand from the UK outpaced supply from its factory in Luqiao, China, where Covid lockdowns halted production for six weeks.

Yet Goodman remained undeterred, saying: “We will be bringing in the Polestar 3 this year and then more cars to come behind. I think it augurs very well for a very good future for the brand.”

The 3 is a performanceoriented, four-wheel-drive electric SUV designed to rival the Audi Q8 E-tron and Jaguar I-Pace. Together with the smaller Polestar 4 SUV arriving next year, it has the

Efficiency improvements to the regular 69kWh battery yield a 25-mile range rise (to 322 miles), while charging is 20kW faster now, at 150kW.

potential to give a dramatic boost to Polestar sales.

Goodman wouldn’t be drawn on precise predictions for the new cars’ performances but said: “The UK is a big SUV market, and I think that both the 3 and 4 will cater to that.”

Polestar is “not a brand that goes chasing a specific volume”, responded Goodman when asked for a 2023 sales target. He did, however, point to the “potential to grow substantially” this year, not just with the new 3 and the widening of the 2 line-up but also with a significant expansion to the brand’s network of retail ‘spaces’

from three to at least six.

Polestar also remains committed to its innovative agency retail approach and is highly unlikely to begin wholesaling cars to dealers.

The agency sales model helps Polestar to keep stock levels in check, too. At the moment, the brand has just “30 or 40 cars, available preconfigured”, suggesting a five-month lead time.

“I’d like that to come down a little,” said Goodman, “and if our supply gets better, that will probably come down naturally. But there will always be a twoor three-month lead time. We’re selling premium cars; it’s not a bring-and-buy sale.”

WHAT’S IN THE BOSS’S DIARY?

Representatives

fourth Polestar UK space will continue to “focus on every single person who walks in the door and give them the best possible treatment”.

July Goodwood Festival of Speed

“You’ve got [no one] but motoring enthusiasts there. Whether they can afford to buy your car or not, just the enthusiasm there is for them a wonderful environment.”

November 3’s arrival

“It’s a fabulous car. I think people are going

to be blown away by it. And I think it’s great for us in terms of positioning the brand.”

Matt Prior

TESTER’S NOTES

LAST RIDES

We’re used to stately saloons being turned into hearses, so Coleman Milne’s latest creation is sure to raise eyebrows. Named the Etive, after a river in the Scottish Highlands, it began life as a Ford Mustang Mach-E. The firm said its silent operation is key to its use in transporting people to their final resting place. While the running gear is left unchanged, the SUV’s body is made 114cm higher.

POSITIVE SPIN

Mazda decided to revive the rotary engine for the MX-30 R-EV because of its impressive power-tosize ratio. The new 830cc, 840mm-wide rotary acts as a generator for a 17.8kWh battery that feeds a 167bhp electric motor. Yoshiaki Noguchi, assistant manager of Mazda’s powertrain development division, told Autocar it also emits 25% less CO2 than the firm’s last rotary (from 2003’s RX-8).

The average age of a car in the UK has reached 10 years, according to the European automotive industry’s lobby group, the ACEA. That’s an age even older than the 8.7 years that the UK’s industry lobby group, the SMMT, reported last year as a record high.

The SMMT described that high as proof of “the greater reliability of new vehicles”. That might be accurate, but it doesn’t reflect the story.

GALLIC CHARM

DS appears to have taken a cheeky swipe at some cities on this side of the Channel with its latest alloy wheel names. The facelifted DS 3 (driven, p26) offers six designs. Entry-level Bastille trim gets Glasgow wheels, which oddly aren’t available in the UK. Instead, we get Dublin items on our cheapest trim. The range is topped by Nice, Toulouse and Boston designs.

The full truth is it hasn’t been this difficult to buy a new car for decades. The semiconductor shortage hasn’t yet been resolved, while emissions and safety regulations have added thousands of pounds (and tens of kilograms) to new cars. It’s so hard to make money out of selling the small and simple cars that used to dominate top-sellers lists that Ford has decided it can’t any more – and it’s not alone. Then on top of all of that, living suddenly got more expensive and so did borrowing money.

More ambulances are being sent to Ukraine’s front line

Rising cost of new cars is prolonging the life of old ones

The average age of cars has risen not because they’re more reliable, but it’s a good job they are ❞

For years, the industry has been making too many cars and subsidising their way off of forecourts and onto people’s driveways through big fleet discounts, dreamy finance deals and pre-registrations (registering a car before it has a buyer so it slips more seamlessly into the used market).

“There’s an argument that selling two million cars a year in the UK is an inflated market,” Honda Motor Europe’s head of cars, Rebecca Adamson, told me last month.

No wonder, then, that in December the SMMT expected the 2022 sales total to come out at 1.57 million.

Put all of this together and of course the average age of a car in the UK has gone up. It’s not because cars are more reliable, but it’s a good job they are – or if they aren’t, that they’re at least more resistant to corrosion. (My daughter bought a 2008 Audi A3 last year, and its underside is still immaculate.)

There are fewer cars being sold, then, and they last longer. Couldn’t this be good? Car makers are flogging everything they can make with no discounts and concentrating on higher-profit models. Car buyers are finding their residual values enhanced, so their finance deals aren’t necessarily more expensive. And those with newer cars are finding they’re worth more. It’s also possible

the planet is benefiting from fewer cars being made, but given the extra amount of resource necessary to make each new one, that’s hard to quantify. Which leaves who to lose out? Those at the tail end of a car’s life. Low-income workers whose hours and lives and wages don’t give them easy access to public transport yet who are having to contend with high inflation, low wage increases and now the compulsion to extend the life of their tired old cars because replacing them is financially beyond them. And if or when they eventually can, newer models will be way more complex.

I’m not sure any of this constitutes proof that cars are more reliable. But for the sake of those who do the jobs that keep the country going, we had better hope they are.

n Last autumn, I joined a group called Mighty Convoy (Autocar, 19 October 2022) as they drove three ambulances filled with medical supplies to donate to Ukraine. I’m delighted to report that they’ve since raised enough money to take four more. They should be there by the time this magazine is on sale.

MONDAY

Few things in life are more enjoyable for me than wandering through a workshop full of fascinatingly incomplete cars while an expert explains the triumphs and the challenges. Today, I joined a members’ group at the British Motor Museum at Gaydon, where head of collections Stephen Laing explained the intricacies of the world’s oldest Vauxhall (a 1903 singlecylinder light car) before moving on to the only surviving Leyland Eight, a huge 7.0-litre straight-eight luxury tourer – all bonnet and no cockpit – created by legendary engineers John Godfrey Parry-Thomas and Reid Railton.

Then Jaguar’s new collection manager, Neil Campbell, took over with details of some superb cars needing work, including the world’s most famous XK120, Ian Appleyard’s 1950 rally winner (famously registered) NUB 120, in which I was once lucky enough to drive the Mille Miglia.

Evenings like this reassure you, if you need reassuring, about the importance of preserving such treasures – and how joining members’ groups like this can help it continue.

TUESDAY

There’s not much pleasure in watching Aston Martin’s current struggle, especially at a time when other British luxury car makers seem to be coining it. But I can’t help thinking the promoters of this fine old brand aren’t doing themselves any favours with the language they choose to promote the cars. They’ve produced a succession of adverts for the just-launched final-edition V12 DBS, the 770 Ultimate, describing it as “ferocity unleashed” with “an unadulterated power stance, grinning with aggression”.

I’ve known a few Aston owners in my life, and I can’t think of one who would respond to such low-rent language. Can you imagine Ferrari

MY WEEK IN CARS

Steve Cropley

describing one of its cars that way? Sure, the DBS is extremely powerful, but surely the design and heritage (and price) justify something better.

WEDNESDAY

There I was, cogitating on the effects of the government’s proposal to increase the period before which a new car needs an MOT test from three years to four, when into my inbox fell a fascinating press release from Peter Golding, who fronts a fleet management firm called Fleetcheck. He stridently labelled the plan “madness for road safety” and “high nonsense”.

As it happens, Golding was once my local garage man. In his youth, he took over and expanded the family garage, then opened another before moving into the fleet business. I remember the high standards and good value

AND ANOTHER THING

Certain members of my family keep a pair of ferrets as pets, so it felt fitting that I was recently able to send them this photo from Brooklands of two Daimler Ferret scout cars, both running and registered for the road.

…

Description ‘ferocity unleashed’ doesn’t do final DBS any favours

of his businesses very well, so I trust what he says now: that many three-year-old cars need urgent work to improve their safety and that, under the proposals, lots of cars will reach 100,000 miles without ever having an independent safety check.

The argument that the coming mass move to EVs simplifies things is simply wrong, because these heavier cars will be harder on their tyres, wheels, brakes and suspension than any before.

Thanks to Golding, I now know where I stand.

FRIDAY

Remember my recent piece (19 October 2022) about the bloke who bought a used Range Rover Sport hybrid, suddenly faced with a £20,000 bill from a Land Rover dealer to replace a failed battery? I now have much better news to report.

By searching the internet, the owner found a body called the Hybrid and Electric Vehicle Repair Alliance (Hevra), and through that he identified a small local specialist which removed the battery without ceremony and sent it to Cyprus (yes, Cyprus) for repair. It’s now back in the car, working fine and covered by a three-year warranty. The bill for the work (battery removal, shipping, prompt repair and reinstallation) came to £6000 – still solid but not enough to render the car valueless. It was good news, especially since it all came together for Christmas…

He labelled it ‘madness for safety’ and ‘high nonsense’ ❞

MOTORSPORT

Damien Smith

RACING LINES

WAYNE’S BRAVE NEW WORLD

What’s the draw for manufacturers looking to plunge into motorsport?

A commitment to Formula 1 is often perceived as off the scale in terms of budget, but if you do join the grid, you know you will be seen by an unarguably massive global audience. For better if you win, for worse if you don’t –which is the likelier result.

Beyond grand prix racing (and yes, there is more to motorsport than F1), what I increasingly hear from car makers is that they can justify going racing only if it’s electric. Now that covers most codes these days, given the wide adoption of hybrid powertrains on track and special stage – but in Cupra’s case, the definition appears to be literal, as it moves towards its target of going electric-only by 2030.

The fast-growing brand has three main branches to its motorsport tree, all of which are based on EVs (although it does also build combustion-engined Leon

TCRs for customer racing). The main focus is on the Extreme E off-road racing series, the eTouring Car World Cup (in which it has already taken a title) and now Formula E. Cupra has joined forces with regular ally Abt to enter the single-seater series, which has just begun its ninth season with lighter, more powerful and more efficient Gen3 cars (see p56).

I travelled to Mexico City for the first race to find out more about Cupra’s entry and discover just what CEO Wayne Griffiths is thinking.

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE AUDIENCE

Griffiths admitted he hadn’t been to an ePrix before. He was bound to be positive in

his response, but of more interest was the logic that he drew on to justify the entry.

“We’re here today because Cupra has motorsport in its DNA,” he claimed. “Any competition we’ve gone into has challenged the traditions of motorsport. We went into ETCR, the electric touring car racing series, and into Extreme E. Now we have Formula E. It will be a long-term partnership with Abt, and it’s the right place for Cupra to be. I look at the average age of the audience here, then I go to a normal motorsport event and they’re all old men. I also like the fact that it’s in a city, not in the middle of nowhere. It’s an event; it’s entertaining and attractive to the new generation we

want to impress.”

Griffiths didn’t exactly strike me as a diehard racing nut.

“If motorsport stays where it is, with tracks in the middle of nowhere, cars driving around in a circle producing CO2 and the average audience getting older, it’s not going anywhere,” he said. “It needs to be reinvented. That’s why we went to Extreme E, and we don’t know where that’s going either; it’s still early days.

“Here in Formula E, I see other exciting brands: Jaguar, DS. We need to be among them.” And the fact that Mercedes-Benz, Audi and BMW have all walked away recently? “It’s fine not having the traditional premium brands here.”

MORE THAN JUST STICKERS

Griffiths was open that the Abt Formula E deal is merely sponsorship, but only for now. It seems there’s an intention for

Cupra has charged into Formula E. Its CEO tells us why in Mexico

❝

Racing can’t stay with tracks in the middle of nowhere, cars producing CO 2 and the audience getting older ❞

Cupra to develop its own Formula E powertrain and gain technical knowledge from racing in the series.

“We want to step into the development of the powertrain, the rear axle,” confirmed Cupra R&D boss Werner Tietz. “The biggest challenge of this series is the software. In fact, it’s all about software. Some of the cars here don’t have enough energy to do full throttle for the whole lap, so you have to manage the energy. It’s the same on energy recuperation. This combination to find the best solution is exactly what we need for the [road] car of the future, if you want to reduce weight and the capacity of the battery.”

One of the big selling points of the Gen3 car is new regenerative potential, thanks to both front and rear powertrains featuring for the first time. It’s said that up to 40% of the energy that’s needed to complete an ePrix can now be regenerated during the race itself, which is why the new car is smaller than its predecessor in every way, including the battery. Here’s a prime example of how motorsport can remain relevant to the real world.

“We have 250kW on the front axle and the rear brakes are probably not used, it’s just recuperation,” said Tietz. “Maybe in the future we might not need physical brakes on the rear at all, and this is what we want to learn. I’m talking 15 to 20 years in the future. In high-performance motorsport, you can learn these things and transfer them to your road cars.”

A TOUGH START

Abt has been up against it to prepare for its Formula E return from a sabbatical in the wake of Audi’s exit at the end of 2021. But this team won the title with Audi and can surely do so again, which is why Robin

GOOD WEEK BAD WEEK

NASSER AL-ATTIYAH AND TOYOTA

The Qatari racer clinched his fifth Dakar Rally win – by a massive 1hr 20min 49sec.

The Toyota Hilux T1+ driver had such an advantage that he was able to back off in the closing stages of the two-week desert epic.

AUDI

Expectations of a Dakar victory were high second time out for the pioneering hybrid Audi RS Q E-tron. But its challenge quickly crumbled following wins in the Prologue and the first stage. Dakar master Stéphane Peterhansel crashed out on stage six, then Carlos Sainz exited three stages later. Epic fail.

Frijns has moved over from Envision Virgin. Sadly, the Dutchman suffered a nasty hand injury in an innocuous accident in Mexico. Kelvin van der Linde steps in for the Diriyah double-header this weekend.

His team-mate Nico Müller also toiled but did at least log a race finish.

“For us it was important to get as many laps as possible under our belts, finish the race and capture data,” he told me. “It would have been nice to have more performance; I qualified 18th and finished 14th. But as a first step, it was okay.”

There’s more to come, then, in every sense. The big question comes back to audience. Formula E doesn’t have anywhere near the reach of F1, and that has driven some high-profile brands away. Will Griffiths get the return he wishes for?

TOP STEP

Mexico City ePrix

BRITAIN’S JAKE DENNIS negotiated three safety car interruptions to win the first Gen3 Formula E race, at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City.

The Avalanche Andretti driver, racing with Porsche power for the first time, easily overcame polesitter Lucas di Grassi with a neat pass and then dominated the race.

Porsche works ace Pascal Wehrlein, who won here last year, rose from sixth to finish second; di Grassi held onto third by holding off a chain of cars in his first race for Mahindra; and new Andretti signing André Lotterer passed McLaren’s Jake Hughes on the last lap to make it three Porschepowered cars in the top four.

“Coming here was a massive unknown for everyone, whereas in the Gen2 era you generally knew who had the quickest powertrain in the race,” said Dennis on his landmark victory.

“We had really strong pace. I got past Lucas, hit my targets and made sure there were no

MOTORSPORT GREATS

mistakes to bring it home. It was a relief to see the chequered flag and a big turnaround from the Valencia test, where I honestly thought we were one of the slowest.”

Formula E will race again this weekend, with a double-header in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia.

The Formula E opener took place on a short version of the great circuit in Mexico City that also hosts Formula 1. Built in 1959, the Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez is named after Mexico’s cult-hero racing brothers, Ricardo and Pedro Rodríguez. At 2250m above sea level, the thin air boosts ICE cars’ top speeds on the long main straight, while the atmosphere, particularly in the section of track that runs through the Foro Sol baseball stadium, is spine-tingling. Despite this, the circuit’s history is patchy.

At its first F1 race in 1962, Ricardo Rodríguez was killed, but that didn’t stop it from becoming a popular late-season F1 venue from 1963 until 1970, when massive crowds lined the track right up to the kerbside in their enthusiasm to watch their beloved Pedro Rodríguez. The race also ran between 1986 and 1992, then returned to the schedule in 2015. The only pity is the fearsome banked Peraltada final turn has been neutered by the stadium cutting through it. But this is still one of the very best places to watch racing.

Enzo Ferrari observed that “the client is not always right”. As usual, the man who effectively founded a religion wasn’t wrong. For certain car makers, it pays to be visionary and forthright, come what may. Keep an eye on trends but pander to nobody; don’t relent to popular opinion. Integrity is everything. Yet sometimes the enthusiast tail must be permitted to wag the dog. And BMW, despite attaining true pariah status for its recent styling efforts, understood this when planning what toys it could create to celebrate 50 years of its racingcum-performance division, M.

One of them was the M4 CSL coupé, a hardcore, ‘lightweight’ special wearing a three-letter tag seen only twice before, on the M3 CSL of 2003 and the homologation special 3.0 CSL of 1972, now priced in the stratosphere.

For pandering to petrolheads, reprising the CSL was the lowest of the low-hanging fruit. Alas, the M4 CSL is a collectors’ trinket. Limited to just 1000 examples and with six-figure pricing to match, it can be had only in a very narrow range of colours and with decals. Warmed garages await.

Priced on par with the Porsche 911, the second of M’s birthday presents to itself is no people’s champion but is at least meant to be used, and the idea is even more special than that of the M4 CSL. An M3 estate has fermented in the minds of Garching engineers (and, not to get too weepy, in the hearts of the rest of us) for 20 years. Now it’s finally – finally – here.

But before the smiles, we should vent. You have to wonder what the hell took BMW so long to make this car real, and what the justifications were. It’s not as if the notion never occurred to M. In the early 2000s, it went so far as to engineer a fully functional M3 Touring on the platform of the E46, yet the thing never reached production, and BMW was so cagey about this one-off that its mere existence wasn’t publicised until 2016. Guilty conscience, much? It would have sold well.

Instead, Audi’s RS4 Avant and Mercedes-AMG’s C63 Estate became the go-to options for anybody craving the usability and specialness of the great super-saloons but needing more practicality and, perhaps, a touch of the exotic and unexpected.

TESTER’S NOTE

The two red M preset buttons on the steering wheel come into their own on this car, because you can go from motorway wafter to supercarbaiter without messing around in the sub-menus. RL

(And let’s be clear: any estate with 503bhp, carbonfibre bucket seats and quad-exhaust tips that look as if borrowed from Lamborghini is both exotic and very unexpected.)

Some might also claim that Alpina had BMW’s back covered in the fastestate department, but that would have depended on two things: the B3 being an M3 substitute in dynamic terms and most people having even heard of Alpina. The first of those is untrue and the second is debatable.

So there’s no acceptable excuse for the long-standing absence of an M3 Touring, although at least reparations are now being made with interest. From anywhere but

dead on, the new car looks superb, doesn’t it? Perhaps bespoke rear doors that properly flowed into the bulging rear wheel arches would have made it even more arresting at the kerbside, but even so, I’m not sure anything else in the sub£100,000 camp looks so purposeful. There’s an understated, pregnant aggression going on here that suits the concept of an ultra-quick, fourwheel-drive estate to perfection.

Our test car additionally has the carbonfibre exterior pack, the most detailed forged wheels BMW offers (20in at the back and 19in up front) and carbon-ceramic brakes, among other quite serious optional extras.

The total damage is £100,150, including the £300 you pay for the M anniversary roundels on the car’s nose and tail. Note also that beneath the bodywork, the M3 Touring is xDrive-only and available solely in ramped-up Competition guise.

Throw that kind of money at an estate and you want something that balances a sense of occasion with unambiguous utility not just well but sensationally so. On the whole, the M3 Touring manages to do just that. In practicality terms, it has all the capability of the regular 3 Series Touring, down to the independently opening rear windscreen hatch and rubber strips in the boot floor that

rise up when you’re on the move to prevent anything sliding around the load bay. The second-row seats fold flat, and so arranged the car amounts to three parts: monstrous twin-turbo engine, bucket seats and an endless boot in your rear-view mirror. For those wanting to live out their wildest Rickard Rydell fantasies, look no further.

It also feels well sorted. At 1865kg, the M3 Touring is 85kg heavier than the M3 saloon, the extra weight coming in the form of extra metal at the back and some additional bracing to keep the body rigid, but it contains this mass.

By raising the rear spring rates and tweaking the damping rates all round, BMW has aimed to replicate the handling characteristics of the saloon and, except for what seems like ever-so-slightly sharper breakaway when you reach the limits of grip and traction, it has done just that. If driving the pair back to back, you might detect just a touch of lethargy here, but honestly it would be an academic degree.

Fact is, the most practical car in the M3 line-up is one that still devours cross-country driving, remaining amazingly assured and precise on ducking, weaving, wet B-roads.

It also lets you have some real fun with the chassis in a manner that’s alien to the RS4 Avant – which, for the record, it outclasses with ease.

❞

Select M Dynamic Mode for the stability control and you can throw this 174mph wagon around freely, and even with all the systems off, it’s benign and predictable. (On a near-freezing day and with summer tyres, we didn’t explore the RWD driveline setting, but experience suggests that it will add another dimension of entertainment value.)

Okay, the brake pedal remains oddly soft and refinement is a touch worse than in the saloon (because the rear bulkhead is missing), but these are small blemishes.

As for performance, you couldn’t want for more. From rest, the M3 Touring takes roughly the same

time to hit 62mph as the 997-era 911 GT2 RS. Yes, a mid-sized estate punching just as hard as a bona fide – and unhinged – supercar barely a decade old. Roll-on acceleration and low-rev grunt are no less savage, although in the sportier engine modes the synthesised growl gets wearing. The S58 is mighty, but it’s no atmo S54, studio tweaks or not.

If there was ever going to be a ‘but’, it was going to concern ride. Yet actually, beyond the prickly low-speed gait also experienced in the saloon (and which is acceptable, given the performance potential here), the M3 Touring acquits itself well. Its motorway manners are

surprisingly refined, sophisticated dampers allowing the springs to move freely in Comfort mode.

The cabin possesses a 5 Seriesesque maturity, leather-trimmed dashboard and all. Rear head room is improved over the saloon and there’s good leg room available even behind those chunky carbon seats.

In fact, the only uncomfortable thing about this car is getting over the lip of said seats on your way out; and if you don’t like that idea, you needn’t order them. Drawbacks are very few, which is the whole point.

So, after an interminable delay, the first (and perhaps last) M3 Touring really is all we wanted it

to be. But let’s be honest: 90% of the time, the M340i Touring will scratch the same itch. The M3 may be practical, but it isn’t especially rational, and even at this price point it lacks the breadth of that other supersonic 3 Series wagon, Alpina’s 190mph B3.

Of course, none of this will matter to those who quite reasonably have always wanted their M3 to come in estate form. It’s the kind of car that you want because you just want it. All it ever needed to do was exist.

RICHARD LANE

@_rlane_

BMW M3 COMPETITION TOURING

Rich in character and probably the star of the current M3 line-up. Future classic status beyond doubt

AAAAB

❝

It lets you have fun in a manner that’s alien to Audi’s RS4 – which it outclasses with ease

DS 3 E-TENSE

Electric crossover gains more powerful motor and bigger battery as part of facelift

n just a year’s time, DS will become one of the first global car makers to ditch combustion entirely, becoming electric-only.

This will spark what’s set to be a huge change in direction for the French firm, still an unknown entity among most of the British public.

Ahead of this big push, it’s looking to change that recognition problem with a refresh of its smallest car, the 3, giving the crossover an upgraded electric powertrain that it hopes will strike a chord with new customers.

The 3 E-Tense is again looking to beat the Kia Niro EV and co with its premium positioning, a comfortable ride, a plush interior and, for now at least, a bit more exclusivity.

The updated 3 E-Tense is the first car to use Stellantis’s new 154bhp motor (up 20bhp on the old one), which has been engineered to be quieter at lower speeds. This is fed by the same 54kWh battery as in the latest Vauxhall Mokka Electric, giving a range of 250 miles – 48 miles more than before, thanks to the extra 4kWh. A 100kW charge will get it from 10-80% in 30 minutes.

With 197lb ft of torque (up 5lb ft), the 3 E-Tense has plenty of shove around town, but on the open road it’s still lacking oomph enough for you to err on the side of caution when contemplating overtakes.

A small level of confidence returns if you have the car in its faster-accelerating driving mode, Sport, where 50-75mph takes just

over five seconds. However, this also brings bitey lower-end torque that keeps you favouring Normal mode.

Despite these gripes, this is a fine car to drive, albeit unremarkable. It’s comparatively relaxing, yet the driving controls aren’t entirely devoid of feel. Soft suspension means you mostly glide over road blemishes without noticing, although roll is generous at times.

Equally, it has one of the nicest regenerative braking systems we’ve tried, not too grabby but still strong enough that you never need to shy away from single-pedal driving.

DS dropping the ‘Crossback’ tag from this car’s name signifies that it considers the 3 to be a crossover by default now. Yet it doesn’t entirely fulfil that role, one of its biggest drawbacks being poor space for rear passengers, as previously.

When you’re spending £37,200 or

more, this seems like an oversight, especially as the cabin is otherwise a lovely place to be, feeling posher than the price leads you to believe (think more £50,000-plus Volvos).

Fresh additions include a new steering wheel (the same as that found in the DS 4) and a 10.3in infotainment touchscreen kitted out with DS’s new Iris technology.

Yet it’s the nappa leather seats (available only on top-end Opera trim) that are the stars of the show, providing high levels of comfort that endure throughout even the longest of drives.

The 3 E-Tense will definitely attract more people by the way it looks than by the way it drives. But with the backing of Stellantis and the vast array of tools at its disposal, this is but a stepping stone to DS’s electric future, especially as the facelifted 3 is only truly let down by what it already suffered

DS 3 E-TENSE OPERA

Feistier and rangier than previously, but it can’t quite match the driving experience its bold look promises

AAABC

Price £42,700

Engine Synchronous motor Power 154bhp

Torque 197lb ft

Gearbox 1-spd reduction gear, FWD

Kerb weight 1550kg

0-62mph 9.0sec

Top speed 93mph

Battery 54/51kWh (total/usable)

Range, economy 250 miles, 4.4mpkWh CO2 , tax band 0g/km, 2%

RIVALS Kia Niro EV, Smart #1

TESTER’S NOTE

Bold styling continues to give the 3 a leg-up over its blander rivals, and its new black grille (“it’s more premium to use less chrome”, reckons DS) and wider-set daytimerunning lights give it an edgier look than before. WR

TESTED 12.1.23, WARWICKSHIRE ON SALE NOW

VOLVO XC90 T8 RECHARGE

Very few modern cars seem to age as well as the Volvo XC90 has. And among those who know them, how often do you hear it said that “nothing else will do what an XC90 does”? If you want a seven-seat luxury SUV with a plugin hybrid powertrain, it’s this or a top-of-the-range Hyundai Santa Fe.

Last year, the XC90 T8 was given a 143bhp electric motor on its rear axle (up quite a way from the old 87bhp one) and a larger, 18.8kWh battery, the latter finally making it a sub-50g/km of CO2 fleet operator.

And now Volvo’s latest Androidbased infotainment system has added some welcome connected functionality, too. It has no tactile input device and very few shortcut buttons, however, and swiping at a touchscreen with an outstretched hand does seem to divert more of your attention away from the road. At least the Google-based voice recognition works very well indeed.

The rest of the cabin is spacious, solid-feeling and generally very pleasant. I doubt you would guess that it’s ostensibly an eight-year-old

design from how it looks and feels.

That new battery boosts official electric-only range considerably to between 40 and 44 miles, and in practice it’s worth very close to that.

When the battery runs flat, the car returns around 35mpg, but that long electric range could ensure the aggregated figure stays a lot higher.

The new motor delivers markedly better EV drivability. It accelerates the XC90 T8’s 2.3-tonne bulk more authoritatively, making it easier to keep the petrol engine shut down

when driving in Hybrid mode.

Dial up Power mode and it can be genuinely fast, but the responses of the electric and petrol elements can feel a little unsynchronised.

The ride and handling are respectable enough, although the optional 21in wheels of our test car left the ride a bit short on isolation.

Body control is far from poor, but it does betray the car’s size in a way that better-handling rivals don’t.

I can’t believe that XC90 owners would want a more dynamic driving

TESTED 11.1.23, GLOUCESTERSHIRE ON SALE NOW

VOLVO XC90 T8 RECHARGE PLUS DARK

Greater electric range and oomph and an infotainment refresh keep it interesting even as retirement calls

Price £76,530

Engine 4 cyls, 1969cc, turbo, petrol, plus two electric motors

Power 449bhp at 6000rpm

Torque 295lb ft at 3000rpm

Gearbox 8-spd automatic, 4WD

Kerb weight 2227kg

0-62mph 5.4sec

Top speed 112mph

Battery 18.8/14.9kWh (total/usable)

Economy 217.3mpg

Electric range 40-44 miles

CO2 , tax band 30g/km, 8%

RIVALS BMW X5, Range Rover Sport

experience than this, to be fair, but a marginally more relaxing one perhaps. If so, the best advice is ‘go big or go home’ by buying a car in Ultimate trim, now the only one that has air suspension as standard.

FORD MUSTANG MACH-E

Last May, Ford issued a series of updates for the Mustang Mach-E, its first-ever production EV, which arrived here a week or two before lockdown and has since impressed by comprehensively outselling the traditional two-door coupé and convertible Mustangs. Said updates were mostly mild and didn’t draw attention to any major glitches with the original design and spec, except for one:

its universally criticised ride quality in each of its three driving modes, heinously oversold under the names of Whisper, Active and Untamed. It took a very long time for Ford to make a revised Mach-E available to us, but now at last we’ve driven one.

First, the uncontentious changes: the towing weights for Extended Range models (both rear- and fourwheel drive) have been increased, so a Mach-E can now legally tow a

boat or a small caravan. Next, an all-encompassing software update has cut charging times, improved the performance of the electronic chassis-stability system and ‘tuned’ the one-pedal-driving function for a smoother transition from acceleration to braking. These last improvements are welcome and clearly evident when you drive.

However, the big issue for critics is that the spring and damper rates have been, as Ford puts it, “updated and adjusted in such a way that the balance and comfort of the vehicle are significantly improved”.

Improvements are indeed evident. It’s now possible to go places and forget, at least for a while, the car’s abiding lack of composure. The softest Whisper suspension setting is now just about okay in town, although as speeds rise on B-roads, it feels ‘topply’ like before, to the extent that even Active mode can’t control it enough.

The risibly named Untamed turns out to be the best choice for day-to-day driving, because it offers the best (or rather the least poor) body control. Even so, most if not

Some sensible tweaks have been made, but attempts to improve the ride problems don’t go the whole hog

Price £64,405

Engine Two permanent magnet synchronous motors

Power 346bhp

Torque 426lb ft

Gearbox 1-spd reduction gear, 4 WD

Dry weight 2273kg

0-62mph 5.8sec

Top speed 111mph

Battery 99/91kWh (total/usable)

Range, economy 341 miles, 3.3mpkWh

CO2 , tax band 0g/km, 2%

RIVALS BMW iX3, Hyundai Ioniq 5

all rival EVs in the £60,000 sector are better than this, and we remain at a loss to understand why, when most Fords handle and ride well, this model is so very ordinary.

Sure, it’s now tolerable most of the time, but there’s definitely still room for improvement.

Springs and dampers have been retuned to fix EV’s flawed ride. Problem solved?

The BMW X1 has come a long way since its beginnings as a confused pioneer of the compact premium crossover segment. The first X1 came out in 2009, which isn’t so long ago, but it was clear that BMW and the car industry in general were still figuring out what customers actually wanted from these vehicles.

It was based on the 3 Series, complete with rear-wheel drive for the base models, and longitudinal straight sixes and four-wheel drive for the more expensive versions. For the US, BMW even stuffed in the 300bhp 3.0-litre turbo engine. That its cabin was cramped and not up to BMW’s usual standard of fit and finish seemed by the by, so long as it still provided classic BMW driving dynamics, which it duly did.

BMW saw sense with the second generation, switching it to the frontdrive Mini platform, which gave it a useful boost in interior space. The outraged purists were proven wrong and the move certainly proved successful for BMW, because the X1 comfortably outsells its premium rivals from MercedesBenz, Audi, Volvo and Land Rover.

And now there is a third generation, codenamed U11. It isn’t especially radical but instead builds on the success of its predecessor, offering a range of petrol and diesel engines. This time round, company car drivers won’t have to wait too long to get a tax-busting plug-in hybrid version either. The biggest news is that there will be a pureelectric version called the iX1. The first cars off the boat were very traditional 2.0-litre petrols, so that’s what we’re testing here.

DESIGN AND ENGINEERING AAABC

The look of the latest X1 fits in perfectly with BMW’s new design ethos. That means a bluffer front end with bigger grilles and smaller lights at the front, as well as flush door handles and slimmer rear LED lights. Base models have more chrome highlights, plastic wheel arches and smaller wheels, but our M Sport with the M Sport Pro pack (enough M Sport for you?) blacks out the grille and door trim, and adds even more aggressive bumpers and 20in wheels. The current BMW X2 is more tall hatchback than SUV, but in time it will be reborn as an X1 with a sloping roofline.

Mechanically, the new X1 uses an evolution of the same platform as the old car. It’s shared across all transverse-engined BMWs and Minis, but the latest version has been engineered to take a fully electric powertrain, as well as petrol and diesel engines. Even so, the battery-powered iX1 makes do with a fairly modest 64.7kWh battery, for a WLTP range of 272 miles. With peak rapid charging of 130kW, it’s also a bit behind on that front.

Range at a glance

ENGINES POWER PRICE

sDrive20i Sport 168bhp £33,775 sDrive18d Sport 148bhp £34,845 xDrive23i xLine 215bhp £38,720 xDrive23d xLine 208bhp £40,280 xDrive25e Sport 241bhp £41,300 xDrive30e xLine 322bhp £45,500 iX1 xDrive30 308bhp £52,255

TRANSMISSIONS

7-spd dual-clutch automatic 6-spd dual-clutch automatic (PHEVs) 1-spd reduction gear (iX1)

It’s rare to see a line-up include petrol, diesel, hybrid and electric versions, but the X1 does. The 20i and 18d are front-wheel drive and have a three-cylinder engine; the 23 models have a four-cylinder and four-wheel drive. Meanwhile, the hybrids use a three-cylinder engine with an electric motor on the rear axle for four-wheel drive. Other markets get an 18i model as well.

There are three trim levels: Sport, xLine and M Sport, and the more potent powertrains are available on xLine and M Sport only.

The combustion-engine line-up is fairly familiar, though. While many manufacturers are scaling down their powertrain ranges to simplify production, BMW seems to be doing no such thing. Instead, there is the full gamut of three- and fourcylinder engines, as well as petrol and diesel power.

The more powerful 23i and 23d models additionally get standard four-wheel drive and 48V mildhybrid assistance. In the X1, the 19bhp, 41lb ft electric motor is integrated into the gearbox, which allows it to boost the engine under acceleration. It can’t drive the car by itself, but it’s a lot less mild than most systems, which serve only to smooth out the start/stop system and run the ancillaries while the engine is off.

Whichever engine you choose, it comes mated to a dual-clutch gearbox with seven speeds for the regular petrols and diesels, or six in the case of the hybrids.

The hybrids both use the same concept of a 1.5-litre three-cylinder petrol engine up front, an electric motor on the rear axle and a battery pack under the floor with 14.2kWh of usable capacity. The difference is the 25e’s engine and motor make 107bhp and 134bhp respectively, 

BMW



X1 is the latest BMW to get a huge grille. It’s finished in chrome on most versions, but blacked out if you select the M Sport Pro pack. The centre section hides the sensors for the assisted driving.



The X1 has 17in alloys as standard, M Sport models get 19s but our test car rides on massive 20in wheels. At least the tyres aren’t run-flats, so the ride remains bearable. It’s curious to see both the star (BMW) and MO (Mercedes) markings on the same tyre.



Flush door handles are all the rage at the moment, but a lot of designs are failure-prone and can freeze shut in winter. BMW’s solution is simpler but still looks sleek. The clearly marked ‘button’ for keyless entry is useful too.

 Are we finally seeing the end of fake exhaust pipes? We hope so. In spite of all the pseudo-sporty M addenda, the X1’s exhaust is tucked away discreetly behind the bumper, and there is not even a hint of a big exhaust finisher.

DIMENSIONS

PARKING

WHEEL AND PEDAL ALIGNMENT

Pedals are set normally and there is plenty of reach to the steering wheel. M Sport wheel rims keep getting thicker and squishier, which isn’t conducive to either handling sharpness or long-distance comfort.

HEADLIGHTS

Standard LED headlights can be upgraded to adaptive with the Technology pack (£1600 on most trims, standard on M Sport). They’re powerful and fairly good at dipping in time for oncoming traffic.

 while the 30e’s are uprated to 174bhp and 148bhp.

INTERIOR AAAAC

It is possible that many prospective buyers will be won over by the new X1 simply by taking a seat in it. Step out of something like a Volvo XC40 or Alfa Romeo Tonale and into our high-spec test car and you’re likely to be blown away by not only the materials but also the space and practicality on offer.

The roominess won’t be a surprise if you’re trading up from the outgoing X1, but for anyone else, yes, here’s a BMW you might buy for its class-leading boot space and rear leg room, as well as useful touches such as the rear bench that slides in

two sections (a £300 option), various hooks and cubbies in the boot and a floating centre console with lots of storage space.

In the front, it’s all very modern and starship flight deck thanks to solid-feeling aluminium structures everywhere, mechanical-feeling door pulls, soft materials where you want them, and finely machined metal speaker grilles.

However, start driving and things fall apart. Not literally, of course: build quality is very solid. BMWs used to be a model of usability, but the user interface on this latest generation has taken a leap backwards. BMW seems to be walking into the same traps that Volkswagen is now vowing to climb out of.

All of the climate controls have migrated to the screen, which needn’t be a problem if it wasn’t so messily implemented. As an example, to set the heated seat to maximum and then go back to the navigation screen, you need to tap on the climate icon, tap the + button five times, then tap the NAV button to go back. As a bonus, if the heated seats are on a low setting, the display won’t show that they’re on.

The gauge cluster, which is digital on all versions, is another victim of style over substance. It has whizzy graphics and the resolution is very sharp, but none of the displays are particularly clear and they leave a lot of the screen real estate unused. Want to display the map and the average fuel consumption at the

same time? There’s space, but BMW won’t let you.

PERFORMANCE AAACC

For its latest generation of cars, BMW has brought back the 23i badge. Unsurprisingly, that doesn’t denote a straight-six engine. Instead, the most powerful purepetrol option in the X1 is a 2.0-litre mild-hybrid turbo four. With 215bhp and 266lb ft and driving through a standard-fit seven-speed dualclutch gearbox and clutch-based four-wheel drive, it all sounds more than adequate on paper. For a smallish family SUV, it might even be considered excessive.

And on the test track, it does do the numbers: 6.4sec to 60mph, 

It is almost a cliché to compare other car makers’ infotainment systems with BMW’s iDrive, because it’s so complete and easy to use. Or rather, it was, because the latest software revamp has only made the menus more confusing. Cheaper models such as the X1 also lose the signature rotary controller.

BMW’s new graphics are crisp and modern, the screen is responsive, the Harman Kardon audio system sounds good and the nav is often better than Google Maps at avoiding traffic.

However, the software change means you need to take your eyes off the road for far too long as you search through menu after menu, and swipe through an endless list of ‘apps’. For instance, there are three different ‘settings’ apps, and the settings we needed were never quite where we expected them to be. BMW would tell you to use voice control, but that often failed to interpret navigation destinations, and if you ask it to change one of the hard-to-find settings, it simply responds with: “I can’t do that.”

 17.2sec to 100mph and 9.2sec to cover 30-70mph in fourth are more than quick enough for a car of this type. But it just doesn’t feel it subjectively. The first culprit is the engine itself. It’s fairly light on mid-range torque, so it needs to be revved to deliver the goods.

A revvy engine is fun in a Porsche 911 GT3, less so in a family crossover. It’s not an especially musical engine either, emitting a fairly generic strained-four-pot din. Turning on the ‘IconicSounds’ synthetic sound helps take the harshness out, but makes it louder.

Worse than the engine, though, is the gearbox. It’s unlikely anyone will mourn the loss of a manual option on a car like this. However, BMW has ditched the smooth eight-speed torque converter from the previous generation for a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox. A mistake, in our experience.

It’s hesitant and jerky when manoeuvring and requires you to come to a complete stop before changing direction. You’re never quite sure when the clutch is going to engage, making tight parking more nerve-racking than necessary, especially on hills.

On the move, it’s dim-witted and determined to either lug the engine or send it to the redline, but never quite in the way you expect. There is no ‘park’ setting, just a button that will also apply the parking brake whether you want it or not. It’s also impossible to put the gearbox in neutral or release the handbrake with the engine off, which could prove frustrating if you ever suffer a flat battery. The gearbox responds well enough to the shift paddles in manual mode, but we can’t imagine many people using those.

We have not yet tried a plug-in hybrid X1 but have found in the

mechanically related 2 Series Active Tourer that the strong electric assistance helps cover up some of the gearbox’s failings. The 25e and 30e versions will be available soon after the petrol models and will be the ones to go for if you want the reassurance of a fuel tank. First impressions of the electric iX1 were good when we drove a pre-production car in Germany, so there’s a strong chance that will be the pick of the X1 range.

The brakes are fine. There’s good pedal progression from the by-wire system and the X1 stopped from 70mph in 61.0m in damp conditions – not far off what the more sporting but heavier Skoda Kodiaq vRS needed in similar conditions.

HANDLING AND STABILITY AAABC

If BMW being able to engineer a good engine and gearbox is no

longer a certainty that you can count on, you might hope that the chassis engineers haven’t forgotten their craft. The X1 may not be natively rear-wheel drive, but that needn’t be a barrier to a fine-handling car.

Our test car was an M Sport model, like most BMWs in the UK, which brings bigger wheels and lowered suspension. It also had the adaptive M Sport dampers and the huge, 20in wheels. Although firm, the suspension deals with bigger lumps and bumps without being deflected, while also keeping the body level.

Even though the latest evolution of the Continental EcoContact tyres provides decent grip, at everyday speeds the steering’s initial response suggests otherwise. Push through with more steering angle and commitment, and the car will turn in fine. The steering will even weight up very subtly to tell you

❝

It’s more than quick enough for a car of this type but it doesn’t feel it ❞

In keeping with its reputation for making driver’s cars, BMW’s assisted driving features always used to be far less meddlesome than most. BMWs also used to have a button in the middle of the dashboard to turn the lot off, but that’s now gone.

Most grating is the absence of a button to change the adaptive cruise control’s following distance. Instead, the option is hidden several menus deep in the touchscreen. There is an adaptive mode, but it doesn’t always get it right. In particular, it kept following quite closely during a downpour.

On the plus side, the automatic emergency braking never gave any trouble and the automatic lane following and adaptive cruise control are fairly astute. The lane keeping assistance is quite intrusive but isn’t too much of a chore to turn off, but it still requires you to dive into the screen.

what’s going on. Get on the power hard out of a bend and you can feel enough power being sent to the rear to cancel out any understeer. Equally, a mid-corner lift of the throttle will neatly tuck in the nose. That’s all very well, but it’s odd for a family crossover that you have to drive it quite hard to get any sense of fun or engagement out of it. It ought to deliver more tactility through the controls at ordinary speeds.

That culminated in how well the X1 took to the Millbrook Hill Route. The stability control is generally smooth and unintrusive, and with the system in one of the sport modes (it won’t ever turn fully off), the X1 will even show a playful side. The steering comes alive, too.

Overall, though, you have to drive the X1 quite hard to get any sense of fun or engagement out of it, which doesn’t seem quite right for a family crossover.

ACCELERATION

AUTONOMOUS EMERGENCY BRAKING

Does the system avoid false activation well? ✓ 

Can it be deactivated? ✓ 

Does it have pedestrian/cyclist detection? ✓

LANE KEEPING ASSISTANCE

Is the system tuned to keep the driver engaged at all times? ✓ 

Is it adjustable for sensitivity? ✓ 

Does it allow you to drive around a pothole/obstacle within your lane easily and without deactivation? ✓

INTELLIGENT CRUISE CONTROL

Can the system consistently recognise and automatically adopt motorway gantry-signed variable speed limits? ✗ 

Does it prevent undertaking? ✓ 

Does it have effective audible or visual alerts, or steering intervention, to prevent changing lanes into the path of an overtaking car? ✓

COMFORT AND ISOLATION

AAABC

You might fear the worst for an M Sport BMW on 20in wheels, but thanks to adaptive dampers and non-run-flat tyres, the X1’s ride is not too bad. It’s still very much on the busy side of acceptable, and it’s a safe bet that a car with standard suspension and small wheels would be more pleasant in day-to-day use. Even in Comfort mode, the damping is fairly firm, but not as crashy as you might expect with those wheels. Even so, there is only so much that good dampers can do.

All UK X1s have the sport seats that are optional in other countries, and they’re very supportive with plenty of adjustment. However, BMW tends to make lumbar support an optional extra, and on the X1 it’s fairly pricey, at £225 or as part of the £1050 Comfort pack.

BMW X1 xDrive23i M Sport (7deg C, damp)

For the class, the X1 is a pretty quiet motorway cruiser, too. We measured 67dBA at 70mph, which is 1dBA quieter than the Volvo XC40 and the DS 7 Crossback, though both of those have since been facelifted.

BUYING AND OWNING AAACC

The cheapest UK X1 is an sDrive (so front-wheel-drive) 20i in Sport trim, which starts at £33,775. To get the xDrive23i, the four-cylinder with four-wheel drive, you need to upgrade to xLine and set aside at least £38,720. Choose the M Sport and the price jumps to £41,470. Our test car had pretty much every option on it, adding almost £10,000.

Base prices for the X1 look quite attractive compared with rivals but, as our test car illustrates, options can get quite expensive. Direct comparisons with rivals are tricky, because most don’t offer a

Standing quarter mile 14.9sec at 93.8mph, standing km 27.3sec at 118.1mph, 30-70mph 6.0sec, 30-70mph in fourth 9.2sec

Skoda Kodiaq vRS TSI (2018, 12deg C, damp)

Standing quarter mile 14.5sec at 96.2mph, standing km 26.6sec at 122.4mph, 30-70mph 5.7sec, 30-70mph in fourth 9.9sec

powertrain to rival the 23i. Taking a highly optioned 20i at £46,820 as a benchmark, it’s pricier than a comparable Mercedes GLA 200 or Audi Q3 35 TFSI, around the same as a Volvo XC40 B3 and cheaper than an Alfa Romeo Tonale. It’s a similar story on finance, although thanks to a relatively favourable APR, the BMW closes the gap slightly.

We averaged 36.2mpg, which is good for a petrol SUV with four-wheel drive and this level of performance. BMW offers an enlarged fuel tank on all X1s except the plug-in hybrids. It takes the capacity from 45 to 54 litres, and at £50 it’s a no-brainer. With our test average MPG, it bumps the range from an almost EV-like 316 miles to a far more useful 430 miles.

As is typical for premium car makers, BMW offers only three years of warranty, but there is no mileage limit. 

BRAKING 60-0mph: 3.70sec

BMW X1 xDrive23i M Sport (7deg C, damp)

Skoda Kodiaq vRS TSI (2018, 12deg C, damp)

BMW X1 XDRIVE23 i

M SPORT

On-the-road price £41,470

Price as tested £51,270

Value after 3yrs/36k miles £24,025

Contract hire pcm £788

Cost per mile na Insurance £835

TYPICAL PCP QUOTE

3 years/30,000 miles, 15% deposit £782

With a £7740 deposit, our test car would cost £782 per month through the BMW Select programme. There is a £22,268 balloon payment if you want to own the car outright. That represents a 5.9% APR. The excess mileage charge is 15.8p per mile.

EQUIPMENT CHECKLIST

19in alloy wheels

LED headlights

10.3in display and 10.7in touchscreen

Automatic tailgate

Dual-zone climate control

Cloth sport seats

Frozen Pure Grey matt paint £2100

Tech Plus (including matrix LEDs, head-up display, heated seats and wheel, keyless entry) £1150

Comfort pack (electric front seats with memory, ‘active’ driver’s seat) £1050

M Sport Pro (privacy glass, black exterior trim, Harman Kardon audio, 20in alloy wheels) £1500

Driving assistant Professional £1500

Leather seats £1150

Panoramic sunroof £1000

Sliding rear seats £300

Larger fuel tank £50

Towbar £795

Options in bold fitted to test car = Standard na = not available

CHASSIS & BODY

Construction Steel monocoque Weight/as tested 1655kg/1800kg Drag coefficient 0.27 Wheels 8.0Jx20in Tyres 245/40 R20 99Y XL, Continental EcoContact, 6Q A MO Spare None (mobility kit)

TECHNICAL LAYOUT

The X1 uses the latest development of BMW’s front-wheel-drive FAAR architecture that is shared with the 2 Series Active Tourer. It can also accommodate an EV battery pack, which acts as a structural component in the iX1. The PHEV models carry their batteries in the underbody and have four-wheel drive thanks to a rear motor. In our 4WD mild-hybrid test car, the weight distribution was 59% front, 41% rear.

ENGINE

Installation Front, transverse, four-wheel drive

Type 4 cyls in line, 1998cc, turbocharged, petrol

Made of Aluminium block and head

Bore/stroke 82.0mm/94.6mm

Compression ratio 11:1

Valve gear 4 per cyl

Power 201bhp at 5000-6500rpm

Torque 236lb ft at 1500-4000rpm

Redline 6500rpm

Hybrid assist 19bhp, 41lb ft electric motor

Total system power 215bhp

Total system torque 266lb ft

Power to weight 130bhp per tonne

Torque to weight 143lb ft per tonne

Specific output 101bhp per litre

BRAKES

SAFETY

ABS, ESP, LKA, AEB, lane following, blindspot monitoring

Euro NCAP crash rating 5 stars

Adult occupant 86% Child occupant 89% Vulnerable road users 76% Safety assist 92%

The requirements for a driver’s car and a utility vehicle are often mutually exclusive. Even so, BMW has often managed to unite them in one car. In the new X1, it has not.

As a practical vehicle, the BMW X1 is surprisingly successful. It has class-leading boot space and rear leg room, and plenty of oddment storage, while the interior design and materials are far more pleasing than they strictly need to be for a family bus. But apart from some minor wins such as comfy seats and a good navigation system, it’s quite an average car in most other areas.

The ride is generally unsettled and, in most circumstances, the chassis doesn’t give much back either. The gearbox is clunky and tries its hardest to dull the engine’s performance, and the in-car tech – both infotainment and driver assistance – is frustrating.

There are plenty of buyers who will be satisfied with a spacious and plush crossover that’s quite middle-of-the-road in most other areas, but BMW should ask itself whether that’s the kind of car maker it wants to be.

Testers’ notes

ILLYA

VERPRAET

VW’s climate controls come in for a fair bit of criticism, but at least you can tap it with two fingers to turn on the heated seats. In the X1, that requires a trawl through the touchscreen.

MATT SAUNDERS

Mild-hybrid X1s won’t let you disable the start/ stop system. Purepetrol models have the option buried in the infotainment screen. The system works fine, but there are still occasions when you would like to turn it off. Having that bit of control taken away feels so unnecessary too.

Spec advice

Opt for one of the plug-in hybrids and stay away from M Sport trim and its stiffer suspension and bigger wheels.

AAAAC

£52,085 249bhp, 269lb ft 7.6sec, 143mph 206g/km, 30.8mpg

VOLVO

ULTIMATE

Comfy, quiet, pleasant, well equipped and practical. Recent facelift brings new infotainment and mild-hybrid powertrains.

AAAAC

£45,460 194bhp, 221lb ft 7.6sec, 112mph 152g/km, 42.0mpg

GENESIS GV70 2.5 SPORT

Actually from the class above, and feels it, but keen pricing puts it in contention. Has big power and outstanding infotainment, but is quite thirsty.

AAAAC £44,325 300bhp, 304lb ft 6.1sec, 149mph 216g/km, 29.7mpg

A strong all-round crowdpleaser, but the petrol engines are a little noisy. Better as a plug-in hybrid.

AAABC £40,170 188bhp, 236lb ft 7.3sec, 137mph 184g/km, 34.9mpg

Jobs for the facelift

Keep in mind that you will need to add a few option packages over the list price too.  Simplify the user interfaces for the infotainment, climate control and driver assistance systems.  Reinstate the torqueconverter automatic gearboxes.  Improve the steering feel at road speeds.

BMW X1 XDRIVE23 i M SPORT

Nicely finished and spacious interior can’t compensate for the poor gearbox and multimedia, and lacklustre dynamics. Options are pricey.

AAABC £41,470 215bhp, 266lb ft 7.1sec, 140mph 154g/km, 41.5mpg

A decent family crossover, but a poor BMW

THE A - Z OF USED CARS

Let

ALFA ROMEO 147 GTA

On sale 2002-2010 Price £8000-£20,000 No, it’s not as competent as a Ford Focus RS or a Volkswagen Golf R32, but the 147 GTA is more powerful, better looking, more charismatic and more tasteful, and it makes a great noise. It’s not short in the go department either, the funnelling of 247bhp to the front wheels one reason why some owners retrofit Alfa Romeo’s optional Q2 limitedslip differential. The taming effect is significant, but civilised this GTA is not, its superstiff springs serving an often turbulent ride. But like the Abarth 595, the result is an exhilarating drive, especially immersed in the silken howl of Alfa’s Giuseppe Bussodesigned V6. Which also happens to be exceptionally durable, water pump apart. Wear-prone suspension bushes, speedily eroded front tyres and snapping door handles are among the few issues afflicting this handsome, collectable Alfa.

AUDI RS4

On sale 2005-2008

Price £13,000-£35,000

This is still one of the most satisfying high-performance cars that Audi has made. The legendary B7-generation RS4 combines a thunderously symphonic 414bhp V8 with Quattro all-wheel drive, sophisticated suspension that includes hydraulic connection of the diagonally opposite dampers and 60% drive to the rear wheels. But the crucial difference between this and Audi’s endless stream of inert performance cars is its responsiveness, adjustability and supple ride. Weaknesses are few, the most common being coil packs, warped discs and leaking dampers.

ABARTH 595

On sale 2012-present Price £5500-£17,000

This is hard to beat for smiles per mile, as long as your trip isn’t long. Feisty performance and crudely effective handling soon drown out any objections to the odd driving position and jolting ride, which is why most owners enthusiastically overlook these deficiencies. Plus it looks and sounds great. Happily, this Abarth is as robust as its ride, but make sure the engine has had regular oil changes, and of the right grade.

BENTLEY BENTAYGA DIESEL

On sale 2017-2018

Price £80,000-£115,000

It was a brutally short, sentiment-stalled life for a very civilised diesel that makes the capable Bentayga (slightly) more practical. A monumental 664lb ft of punch, fixed-price servicing and middling economy help.

BMW M2

On sale 2016-2022

Price £24,000-£85,000

This is one of the finest-ever M cars, and it’s fairly affordable too. Its subtly brutal style is matched by thumping go and a grippily driftable chassis. Manuals are far less common than automatics and thus pricier, although both tend to be reliable. The interior is a bit austere, if well equipped, and comes only in black. The later Competition version is slightly quicker and more desirable, even if the engine sounds less electrifying. The rare CS is depreciation-proof. It’s almost a classic already.

BMW 330C i

On sale 2000-2006 Price £2000-£21,000

M3 apart, the 330Ci provides the finest engine in one of the finest 3 Series: the E46. BMW’s trademark straight six sings like a turbine, its manners perfectly complementing this car’s deep-rooted civility, quality and competence. You can have it as a saloon, a coupé, a Touring estate or a cabriolet, the last of these the version you’re most likely to find. We prefer the sportier-looking coupé. Check for rust (front wings, wheel arches, rear subframe), worn suspension bushes and neglect.

BMW 6 SERIES GRAN COUPE

On sale 2012-2018

Price £10,000-£30,000

A four-door 6 Series and very handsome with it, this Gran Coupé continues the sub-breed’s tradition for ferocious depreciation to yield striking bargains. Excellent engines and a cabin furnished more finely than most make it a great distance machine. It handles too, with fluency and panache. Room isn’t the best in the back, but then it’s a fourdoor coupé. Watch for failing airconditioning condensers, warning lights that won’t extinguish and non-functioning electrical features.

CADILLAC CTS-V

On sale 2010-2015

Price £35,000-£38,000

So left-field that you must shop on the continent for it, this 556bhp supercharged V8 American version of the BMW M5 or Mercedes-AMG E63 is quicker than both, terrifically entertaining and ultra-rare.

CHEVROLET CORVETTE

On sale 1984-1996

Price £8000-£35,000

Lots of go for not much dough, the C4 is a more sophisticated ’Vette, if no BMW. The 375bhp ZR-1, with a Lotus-designed V8, is increasingly desirable. It’s tough, too.

CITROEN C4 VTS

On sale 2005-2010 Price £1500-£3000

The closest we punters can get to the most successful WRC car ever is the rare 178bhp C4 VTS. The Loeb limited edition offered a miserable 109bhp, so the revvy VTS is the one to get, slightly more seriously mimicking the French driver’s machine. The C4 is packed with interest for budget wheels, including steering-boss-mounted controls, a translucent instrument display, a perfume dispenser and, on the VTS, the first lane-keeping tech.

CITROEN DS3 RACING

On sale 2011-2012

Price £8000-£11,000

Another not-quite-as-good-asthe (Ford Fiesta ST) opposition machine, the WRC-inspired DS3 Racing offered a convincing 204bhp and a full-on driving experience spoiled only by its gravel-stage ride.

DACIA DUSTER

On sale 2013-2017

Price £3000-£12,500

Cheap but far from cheerless, the Duster is a better all-rounder than you would expect. It’s available with four-wheel drive and is comfortable and reliable. Check for cabin water leaks and corrosion.

FERRARI 360 MODENA

On sale 2000-2004 Price £55,000-£115,000

Not quite your entry-level Ferrari but great value. Sophisticated aluminium construction, a robust V8, terrific handling and – surprise – a decent ride make the 360 very easy to live with. Most have the F1 automated-clutch transmission that’s costlier to maintain, and the rarer manual is worth more. The abundant Spider also commands slightly higher prices. Running costs are lower than for older Ferraris, if not cheap. Ball joints dying early and switches turning sticky are among the few weaknesses.

FIAT COUPE 20V TURBO

On sale 1995-2000 Price £1000-£10,000

As extraordinary a sight now as it was when first seen, this potent five-pot is properly quick and, with correct maintenance, including the pricey belt change, will do big mileages. It has been collectable for a few years now, and low-milers will nudge £10,000. Don’t rule out the naturally aspirated 20v or four-pot 16v Turbo, which are also brisk. It’s a grippy chassis with tidy handling, if short of finesse. It seats four adults, too.

FORD FIESTA ST

On sale 2013-2017 Price £5000-£18,000

For entertainment per pound, the Fiesta ST is hard to top, especially as it’s practical, reliable and inexpensive to run. There’s ample choice, too, given the huge popularity of the 2008-2017 Fiesta. Plenty are modified, but if you prefer standard trim, watch out for tuned cars that have been returned to stock – not always competently. The 182bhp 1.6-litre engine is very tough, though, running to big mileages if well maintained. STs 1, 2 and 3 are trim levels, 3 being remarkably generous, with sat-nav, cruise control, heated seats, automatic lights and wipers, keyless entry and climate control. Also desirable is the ST-200, low-mileage examples of this 194bhp Mountune-modified version costing £15,000. But half that sum will score you a reasonably fit ST with plenty of fun to come.

FORD S-MAX

On sale 2007-2014 Price £1200-£16,000

Space-hunters want SUVs now, but if loads both inanimate and human must be carried, the original S-Max remains brilliant. It will swallow Ikea flat-packs, armchairs (if used as a finely furnished van) or seven individuals. It’s refined, economical and actually engaging to drive. As a diesel, it pulls surprisingly well. Unless you need to go off road, it’s the consummate all-rounder.

HONDA CIVIC TYPE R

On sale 2001-2005 Price £3000-£12,000

High-revving, hardcore fun is to be had from every Civic Type R, although some serve more than others. Early brilliance can be enjoyed aboard the UK-built EP3 generation, its outline looking increasingly van-like and its interior memorable for the stubby gearlever emerging from the base of the dashboard’s centre console. Slightly ratty ones can be had for just £3000, but well-kept, low-mileage survivors command five figures. Buy the best and depreciation will be minimal.

HONDA CR-Z

On sale 2010-2014 Price £4000-£9500

CR-Z stands for ‘Compact Renaissance-Zero’, but more remember the much-missed 1980s CR-X coupé that this Honda’s silhouette also references. The ‘Zero’ was about low emissions rather than no emissions, the CR-Z being a hybrid but nevertheless very economical. The idea was to create “a sports car without guilt”, according to project leader Norio Tomobe. It was a great idea but one that lasted just four years over here as the CR-Z’s dynamism shortfall limited appeal. Today, though, it offers stylish fuel-saving for modest money.

HYUNDAI COUPE

WHAT I’M HOPING TO BUY IN 2023

FIAT PANDA 4 x 4

PIERS WARD

A Panda 4x4 is all about the Alps in winter. Ideal, then, for where I live, in the flatlands of South Lincolnshire. But the simplicity of the original Panda appeals, with bombproof engines and mountain-goat ability.

FORD FIESTA ZETEC S

CHARLIE MARTIN

Everything is expensive as a first-timer, so why shouldn’t I buy something I’ll actually want to drive?

Despite being a 102bhp, sub-tonne firecracker, this 1999-2002 Mk4 Fiesta is somehow cheaper for me to insure than a Nissan Micra. ULEZ compliance is a nice bonus.

TESLA MODEL 3 PERFORMANCE

STEVE CROPLEY

I think it’s high time I owned an EV; there’s a big difference between testing and owning. I like the idea of a recent Model 3 Performance, because I’d prefer the latest battery tech and I might use the devastating performance for some sprints-style motorsport. Prices have eased a bit lately, as the economic advantages aren’t so clear and there’s an update coming. Good time to go shopping.

HONDA CIVIC TYPE R

WILL RIMELL

My God, is the FK8 Civic Type R a bargain buy now or what? With the latest Type R bound for the UK priced close to £50,000 (and in very limited numbers), around £23,000 for its predecessor is a steal. If you’re looking for something that ticks every driver’s car box, this is it: great handling, pokey performance, usability... the list goes on. Can you get over that Hot Wheels-inspired spoiler? For £25,000 less you can.

TOYOTA AURIS

JIM HOLDER

Sorry for a mundane dose of real life, but how do you replace the perfect do-anything, never-any-trouble family car that is a 15-year-old Honda Civic? I suspect, if you want a change but absolutely no change to that winning formula, the only answer is a Toyota Auris. The budget is £5000 and the search starts with a ULEZ-compliant 1.6 in SR trim.

VOLKSWAGEN GOLF GTI

EDITION 30

RICHARD LANE

A Sisley Fiat Panda was my first choice, but Piers Ward got there first. However, this year I will also be looking reasonably carefully at Mk5 Golf GTIs, specifically the Edition 30, with its lowered chassis and Audi S3-spec turbocharger – and those BBS wheels! These cars are a treat: right-sized, good-looking and talented across the board. Values are unsurprisingly on the rise, but a decent three-door manual can still be had for sensible-ish money.

JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE

On sale 2006-2010 Price £3000-£13,000

For a lot of robust, go-anywhere tow car for your money, a Mk3 Grand Cherokee has some allure. Most have wallet-shielding Mercedes diesels, but if you fancy yours with a Hemi, the 5.7-litre V8 is a great if thirsty engine. The cabin is crude but wears well, rust resistance is good and many are well equipped. Fully independent suspension produces handling more sanitary than earlier generations managed. These aren’t sophisticated but are good value if you need their abilities.

KIA STINGER

On sale 2018-2022 Price £17,000-£46,000

Freshly deleted after just four years, Kia’s first rear-driven model is likely to become a Korean classic. The 366bhp twin-turbo 3.3-litre V6 will be the most collectable

of this rapid, practical and impressively capable sports saloon. The GT S has loads of kit, too, including electronic dampers and Brembo stoppers. Little goes wrong and even the oldest still falls inside Kia’s seven-year warranty.

LAMBORGHINI GALLARDO

On sale 2004-2014

Price £65,000-£185,000

This is your handsome entry-level Lamborghini. Tread carefully, though: troubles range from clocking to track abuse and cover-up wraps to crash damage. Check that the seller is the actual owner, too. Early 493bhp 5.0-litre cars are less desirable than the 2006-model-year 513bhp cars that featured chassis, gear ratio and exhaust upgrades, plus the Spyder option. The 2008 560-4 facelift produced 552bhp from a 5.2-litre V10 of revised firing order, reduced weight and improved economy. Vastly more reliable than Lamborghinis used to be.

HOW TO BUY A USED CAR

If this A-Z of used cars has you combing the classifieds for one to buy, it’s done its job. Here John Evans tells you how to survive the experience.

SET A BUDGET

Decide what you can afford to pay for the car as well as to run it. If it’s a weekend toy, fuel economy won’t be an issue, but if it’s your daily hack, 25mpg will hurt.

LEXUS LFA

On sale 2010-2013

Price £650,000-£900,000

A couple of obstacles stand between you and LFA ownership. First, you need to find somewhere between £650,000 and £900,000 (or near double that if it has the Nürburgring package); and second, you will be attempting to buy from a global pool of only 500 cars.

Of those, just five live in the UK, according to DVLA data. Most will be coddled in heated garages, and when you look at spares prices (an LFA badge costs £4700...), you will understand why.

LEXUS IS F

On sale 2008-2014

Price £15,000-£30,000

No M3 or C63 but close until the limit is reached. Memorable thrust, subtle style, decent dynamics, Japanese reliability and rarity (only 232 were sold in the UK) provide rare-groove allure.

DO YOUR RESEARCH

Forums are a top resource for prices and experiences. Call a specialist for more insights plus maintenance costs.

CHOOSE YOUR SELLER

You can tell a lot about a car from the person selling it. If that person is the owner, make sure you meet at their address and that it matches the one on the car’s V5. Your limited consumer

rights should be reflected in the price. Buying from a dealer is easier, but you might just be paying more for a valet and a worthless warranty. Online auctions are good but keep your nerve.

DECODE THE ADVERTISEMENT

A fair price and a detailed description of the car supported by carefully composed photos is a good sign. A knockdown price, hollow claims

and fuzzy pictures isn’t. Beware socialmedia advertisers promising the world for peanuts.

CHECK THE PAPERWORK

Be sure engine and chassis numbers match on both V5 and vehicle. Check MOT and mileage records online (an MOT granted last month doesn’t mean the car is roadworthy today, remember) and the service history for big gaps.

LOTUS EVORA

On sale 2009-2021 Price £25,000-£65,000

The Evora wasn’t the success it should have been, despite its bold leap (for Lotus) in terms of quality, equipment and usability. A bulletproof Toyota drivetrain, Hethel’s sublime dynamic mix and strong if slightly off-target styling weren’t enough. Slightly underpowered early cars are now well under £30,000. You will need £35,000 for the more desirable supercharged S. A sometimes vague manual shift, door hinge and handle trouble on early cars and the odd rattle are among the few problems.

MASERATI GRANTURISMO

On sale 2007-2019

Price £15,000-£85,000

No fewer than 12 years’ worth of production, even at low volume, means plenty of choice and a spectacularly wide, £70,000 price range for this still handsome, still glamorous four-seat coupé. The 4.2-litre and early 4.7-litre cars suffer timing variator trouble; otherwise, problems stem from missed maintenance and lack of use. Bills can be high, servicing less so, and fuel consumption is a discouragement. But nowhere will you buy so much elegance, so much go and such an intoxicating soundtrack for the money.

M c LAREN MP4-12C

On sale 2010-2014 Price £70,000-£130,000 ‘Bargain supercar’ is a cliché, but in the case of the 12C, as it was less clumsily called after 2012, it’s true. For a mere £70,000 (well, it’s all relative), you can acquire this most sophisticated of supercars, with a full service history and a pretty modest mileage. Its Ferrari 458 Italia equivalent will require another £50,000-£60,000 of you. True, the 458 delivers a decidedly more operatic soundtrack and less heart-stopping on-the-limit-handling, but is that really worth the price of a decent BMW 4 Series? The 12C rides better, too. It carries itself over bumpy roads extraordinarily well, hydraulic side-to-side interconnection providing exceptional damping control. It’s a car you can live with, although most are used sparingly. Parts prices are high, but issues are relatively few and servicing costs reasonable.

MAZDA RX-8

On sale 2003-2010

Price £500-£12,000

There were once 23,500 Mazda RX-8s on Britain’s roads. Now there are 3900, plus 6000 on SORN. As the last was sold new 12 years ago, such attrition isn’t so surprising, except that the RX-8’s signature rotary engine is notorious for failing to start. Sometimes it merely floods, but often it’s seal wear and more. This and rust have killed many an RX-8. A cheap, low-risk way to ownership is buying a nonrunner for a few hundred quid and having an engine rebuild.

‘HPI’ IT

The company that first offered checks of a car’s provenance is now the generic name. However, there are others such as motorcheck.co.uk that provide a similar service but using additional data sources. Use both.

INSPECT THE CAR

Washing it is a great way to inspect a car’s bodywork. Check the tyres,

brake discs and pads and the engine for leaks. Dip the oil for level and quality. Interior trim is expensive, so price in any damage.

DRIVE IT

Start the car from cold and check for warning lights and that everything works. For the test drive, choose a range of roads and speeds. Does the engine pull cleanly, is the

transmission smooth, is the ride comfortable and do the brakes pull up straight?

NEGOTIATE

Negotiating is a good way of checking the seller’s faith in their price and, if you’re successful, will save you a few pounds for the inevitable refurbishment. State your terms, shut up and wait.

PAY UP AND TAX IT

If paying a dealer, check that you understand their invoice terms. Make sure any requests (a service, a tyre) are recorded. If buying privately, check the seller’s account details match on your banking app and get a signed receipt declaring it’s their car to sell and it’s roadworthy. Be sure they transfer the title to the vehicle online and you tax it before driving it.

PORSCHE 911 (996)

On sale 1997-2004

Price £10,000-£55,000

The problem-child 911 is now coming in from the cold.

MERCEDES-BENZ CL 500

On sale 2006-2010

Price £6500-£30,000

Supreme compactor of motorways, Mercedes’ early-21st-century flagship can now be had for the same money as one of the bills you could be hit with if you choose a wrong ’un. Catastrophes can include failure of the ABC air suspension, idler-wheel failure in early V8s, coil failure for the 6.0-litre V12 and issues with the massage seats and stereo amplifier. All of which explains the low prices. But buy carefully and revel in the opulence.

MG ZT 260

On sale 2003-2005

Price £5000-£10,000

Fewer than 900 examples of the rear-wheel-drive, Ford Mustang V8-engined ZT were built, the conversion from (Rover 75) front drive to rear executed very effectively by Prodrive. Rare, interesting and able.

The issue mostly was IMS (intermediate shaft) bearing failure or fear of said enginewrecking disaster. The incidence is lower than the stories imply and many have been cured with modified parts, but the risk remains. This continues to be the cheapest way into the 911 world and is a great drive to boot. The original 300bhp, 1320kg 3.4 is 4.5sec-to-60mph quick and, unlike modern 911s, it’s pleasingly narrow if you avoid the (voluptuous) widebody 4S. Post-2002 315bhp 3.6s are currently more desirable, although the original fried-eggheadlight 3.4 C2 may yet have its day. Besides the IMS bearing and the need to keep the battery on trickle charge, problems are few. Although galvanised, the bodies of early cars might have rust.

MINI CLUBMAN

On sale 2007-2014 Price £2500-£12,000

The Clubman’s eccentric, asymmetric and beautifully engineered body, with its split rear doors and offside ‘club door’, made for a uniquely handsome Mini. Consider this second-generation BMW-era Mini as a shooting brake rather than a full estate and you won’t be disappointed by its load bay – which with the seats down isn’t bad. They were well made and potentially generously optioned, but the early petrols (codenamed N14) can be troublesome. Look for redesigned N18 engines, which have a large plastic cover, from early 2010. The Cooper S is terrific fun.

MORGAN PLUS 8

On sale 2012-2018

Price £75,000-£150,000

It was born in 1968 with Rover (née Buick) power and for years one of the fastest-accelerating production cars on sale. Decades later, in 2012, Morgan installed BMW’s 367bhp N62 4.8-litre V8 beneath its louvred front lid to create another stormingly fast Plus 8, with six-speed manual or auto transmissions. That’s 0-62mph in 4.5sec. Prices are amazingly high for this occasionally troubled car (electrics, aluminium chassis issues), but for some, the appeal is immense. Depreciation is low, too.

NISSAN QASHQAI

On sale 2007-2014

Price £1500-£12,500

One of the best affordable family cars but not as fault-free as you might expect. There are more than 600,000 in Britain, so you’ll never be short of choice. Late, low-mile 360s (sat-nav, Bluetooth, around-view monitor) command five figures.

PEUGEOT RCZ

On sale 2010-2015

Price £3000-£17,500

Peugeot’s pretty Audi TT-alike is now tempting value. The 1.6 THP is the most desirable, especially in rare 267bhp R form. The RCZ is well made, if a bit short of dynamism.

PEUGEOT 407 COUPE

On sale 2006-2012 Price £1500-£5000

This relatively unloved big cruiser is now fantastic value. The rare 3.0-litre V6 petrol manual is the least unsporty, the diesel V6 a great all-rounder if you don’t mind an oil-burner. It’s well equipped, and the extended leather option adds class. The Coupé was built more carefully on a separate line from 407 saloons and estates but can still be immobilised by the odd faulty ECU. This is a refined car with great grip but not so agile.

In any other recession, used-car prices would be sliding right now.

But they’re not – or, at least, not with any great pace. While it’s true that the highs of 2021 have largely softened, they remain at a historically high level, despite the economy tanking.

Ironically, the biggest prop has come from the new-car market. Here, low supply and huge waiting times have greatly increased the appeal of buy-it-now used cars, increasing demand.

Meanwhile, restricted supply following the rush of purchases in the used market has also done its bit – and will do more as the year progresses as we arrive at the point, three years

on from the pandemic starting, where normal lease cycles would normally mean thousands of cars being returned into the used pool.

Finally, new-car prices have shot up in the past three years, partly because of a widespread reduction in discounting and partly because of the rising costs of raw materials and energy. That has created a lot of head room between new and used cars, some of which has been filled by the used market creeping upwards.

Enthusiasts should take note of an emerging trend for the prices of fun cars to be creeping upwards. Sure, the price of petrol, insurance, upkeep and more makes ownership more perilous than perhaps it once was, but there’s a distinct feeling running

through the industry that those who want a last hurrah in these types of cars will buy them come what may.

Yes, it’s contrary, not least as we’re promised that the 2030 ban on the sale of new combustion-engined cars shouldn’t affect the used car market. But there is a distinct vibe that the next few years could be the last chance to enjoy driving for the sake of it.

Will these pumped-up prices last? It’s a brave soul who predicts anything these days, but it looks like the market and its operators have enough robust practices in place that any tumble will be the result of a seismic economic shock – the sort of which means car prices are the least of our worries…

PORSCHE BOXSTER

On sale 2000-2005

Price £4000-£29,000

On a best chassis-per-pound basis, nothing betters the 986 Boxster. The 2.7 offers the choicest blend of steering, ride and athleticism. Beware the IMS issue (see 911, left).

PORSCHE CAYENNE

On sale 2003-2010

Price £3000-£14,000

We thought this car so ugly when it appeared 20 years ago, but now it looks okay – spectacular, even, as a Turbo. Spectacular is also the word for the bills that a pre-2007 Cayenne can generate. Disintegrating cylinder liners on the 4.5-litre V8 S, air suspension failure, computers that say no... Some Porsche specialists won’t touch them.

Turbos and V6s are safer bets, but get an expert inspection. If it works, the rewards are great.

RENAULT

On

A brilliant little buzz bomb, especially with the Cup chassis if you don’t mind a shaken spine. Tired examples are still cheap, but signs of its desirability can be seen in the five-figure sums paid for variants like the F1 Team edition. Early 197 cars are low-geared for motorways, but from late 2008 the ratios were raised. Renaultsport tweaks mean the newer the car, the more pleasing it will be. Many weak gearboxes have been fixed.

ROLLS-ROYCE SILVER SHADOW

On sale 1965-1996 Price £8000-£60,000

This may be a classic, but, with 40,000 built, the choice is plentiful. Well-cared-for

ROVER 75

On sale 1998-2005

Price £1000-£7000

This was Rover’s last car – and ironically among its best, thanks to BMW. It’s very well built and, as a V6 auto, amazingly refined. The wagon is extremely practical, too. Reliability is mostly very good. The K-series four-cylinder petrols are prone to head-gasket failure, but the fix isn’t expensive. Manual clutch slave-cylinder failure is a pricey repair. Check the sills for corrosion; some suffer badly, others not at all. The earlier the build, the less costreduced it will be. Spares supply and owners’ clubs are excellent.

SAAB 9-5

On sale 2009-2011

Price £5000-£16,000

Saab’s last new model was a big, handsome beast that was mostly very good but killed in its prime. Prices are surprisingly high for clean ones. Parts are still available.

SKODA YETI

On sale 2009-2017

Price £2500-£19,500

The Yeti provides masses of space on a modest footprint. It’s brilliant for child-seat families and cumbersome loads, besides being a pleasant and economical drive.

SUBARU FORESTER

SMART ROADSTER

On

Need a tough, characterful, go-anywhere

that isn’t the size of a decent garden shed? If so, Subaru’s quirky Forester could be for

It’s no beauty, but owners love this wagon and its engine’s distinctive warblings, workmanlike interior and standard-fit all-wheel drive. Off road, the Forester is usefully better than its rivals. On the road, it shines less brightly. All engines, diesel included, are flat fours. It’s a car for a particular pattern of usage, in which it excels.

SUZUKI SWIFT SPORT

On sale 2006-2011 Price £1700-£6000 The neatly styled, cheerfully peppy first-generation Swift Sport made for a great baby warm hatch. Its 123bhp was enough for plenty of entertainment, especially with sharp steering and not a lot of roll. The ride could get busy, but it was always more composed than the contemporary Fiat Panda 100HP. This was an old-school hot hatch, its extra power coming from high-lift cams and freer-flowing exhausts and its cabin gussied up with mood-lifting splashes of red. It’s getting rare but is collectable.

TOYOTA i Q

On sale 2009-2014

Price £2300-£9000

A heart-warmingly oddball box designed for low-environmentalimpact urban life, the iQ was the first petrol car to emit less than 100g/km of CO2. Generously and cleverly packaged for two up front and two tiny short-trippers in the rear, the iQ has proportions as striking as its size. Despite the short wheelbase, its ride and high-speed stability are pretty good. Sales ended early in the UK because of an unfavourable exchange rate. It’s still a great city-car buy.

TESLA ROADSTER

On sale 2009-2012

Price £130,000-£220,000

The first Tesla was Lotus Elisebased and Hethel-built. It had exceptional performance and, for the day, range, 130 miles on a single charge being entirely realistic. It cost £88,000 new and is clearly depreciation-proof.

VAUXHALL CORSA

NURBURGRING

On sale 2011-2013 Price £4500-£12,500

So many hot Vauxhalls have been ‘nearly’ cars, but the Corsa Nürburgring was a happy exception. It needed to be with a name like that. The start point was a Corsa VXR, the key addition being a highly effective limited-slip differential, pulling the car tighter into curves. Power was up 13bhp to 202bhp, but more important were the inverted Bilstein dampers, progressive springs and Brembo brakes. With that diff, this Corsa was a joy on road and track.

VOLKSWAGEN XL1

On sale 2013 Price £65,000-£100,000

This was Ferdinand Piëch’s science-experiment tandem-seater, of which only 250 were produced. One rarely comes up for sale, but it does happen. The plug-in

VOLVO XC90

On sale 2002-2014 Price £2000-£20,000

the 261bhp R featured a 2.0-litre

pretty four-seat

turbo – a different engine from the lesser 2.0 TSI – and could spear 60mph in 5.8sec. Still more power came with the 2014 facelift, boosting output to 276bhp. It’s essentially the same as the cheaper Golf GTI, slightly undermining its appeal, but the Scirocco’s unusual shootingbrake style has its own allure and will doubtless make a classic of it eventually. Serious issues are few, apart from with the sometimes expensively unreliable DSG transmission. These were better after 2012. If the car has adjustable dampers, check that all modes work; and watch out for rusty tailgate struts and panel damage around the rear, which is hard to see when you’re reversing.

Volvo’s highly successful first SUV combined space, safety and versatility with the brand’s robustly tasteful design and attractive cabins. Most popular was the D5 five-cylinder diesel; petrols include the rare twin-turbo V6 (T6) and the rarer V8. The XC90’s unexpectedly long career necessitated three facelifts, its persistent popularity providing plenty of choice. All versions are well equipped, but adaptive suspension, sat-nav, climate control, parking sensors and cruise were standard from the 2009 model year. This is a robust car with few issues.

BRING ME SUNSHINE

Can the ’60s throwback ID Buzz inject some fun into EVs, Volkswagen and even a bleak midwinter road trip? Felix Page goes as far out as Newquay for the answer

et’s play a car-flavoured version of the word association game. I say ‘racetrack’, and you’ll say (probably) Ferrari or Porsche. I say ‘autobahn’ and you’ll no doubt fire back something in the vein of BMW or Audi. ‘Luxury’? Rolls-Royce or Bentley, for sure.

Now for a really easy one: ‘festival’. You’re picturing it, aren’t you? No question: it’s a 1960s Volkswagen Type 2 Microbus – a split screen, or ‘splitty’, to the certified Dubhead – with its sliding door open, its roof bed popped up and a crowd of happy campers dancing in and around it while the music and barbecue smoke drifts through the summer haze over the campsite. Is there any model – or marque – so intrinsically associated with flower power and freedom? From humble beginnings as a bare-bones mobility solution in war-torn 1950s Germany, the VW bus evolved into a mascot for liberal thinking worldwide, its very name becoming as emblematic of the Swinging Sixties as Hendrix and Woodstock.

And now, once again, a Volkswagen van-withwindows is charged with leading a return to form for cheerful motoring. Recently appointed VW CEO Thomas Schäfer wants his firm to be “a loved brand again”, its public image having been dented by Dieselgate and a high-profile saga of software woes in recent years – not to mention a succession of competent but relatively characterless cars, far removed from the charming Golfs, Bugs and buses of yore. “We need to emotionalise the brand,” he told us, not long after chief designer Jozef Kaban had confirmed plans for all future VW cars to “have a smile” modelled on the Buzz’s beaming visage.

It’s a refreshingly humble and self-aware approach to brand reinvention, and comes as the world’s leading car firms – including VW itself, of course – continue to shout over each other about the pace of their EV roll-out strategies, the scope of their battery supply network, the responsiveness of their touchscreens and the artificial intelligence of their vehicles. Commendable endeavours and attributes all, but not ones that make it easy to ‘love’ a car or perceive any sort of ‘soul’ in the company that makes it. And Schäfer’s mission statement is especially well timed given the general emotional state of the world post-Covid and midcost of living crisis, best described thus: bleurgh. Enough hooks for this story? You’d think so. But consider also that the back half of winter is often considered the most miserable part of the year, and the period most in need of enlivening. And what’s more enlivening than trekking to a summer festival in a VW camper van? Except it’s

not summer, so there’s no actual festival. And this is an MPV, not a camper. But you get it.

We’re not talking about Glastonbury (that would be a bit obvious, and not far enough to put the Buzz through its paces) but an event that’s a bit farther afield, and whose story runs almost in parallel to that of the Buzz itself: Run to the Sun. Inaugurated on the Cornish coast in 1987 as a venue for lovers of custom VWs and dance music to come together, it grew over the next 20 years to become a mainstay of the festival – and car enthusiast – calendar, as well as a cornerstone of the tourist industry in Newquay, with more than 35,000 partygoers heading to dance and show off their modified Bugs and buses in later years.

It’s been 10 years since Run to the Sun last took place but, just like the VW bus, it’s back for 2023 –still in Newquay but on a massive 50-acre site and with a greater focus than ever before on the cars. But not until May, and we need a holiday now. Can the Buzz do a passable impression of its air-cooled ancestor and carry us coastwards without dampening the mood?

It must be said that, irrespective of the outcome of this experiment, we probably couldn’t have picked a worse time to conduct it. Not only did we start out on one of those increasingly common ‘standstill’ days with a train strike sending a wave of usually idle cars onto the roads, but the temperature maxed out at a balmy -1deg C, the sun was locked out behind a thick film of ominous cloud and a mix of road grime and salt had caked our gleaming Lime Yellow Buzz in filth before the cameras even came out.

But we were not to be cowed by such uncontrolled variables. This was the world’s happiest road trip, for God’s sake, in the world’s happiest EV – get in the car with a frown on your face, and you’ll get back out of it beetroot red with rage and frustration.

And so we soldiered on, blissfully unencumbered by the trappings of reality that all too often conspire to turn a ‘dream’ trip such as this into a nightmare. In our world, the traffic was light, the radio blaring a selection of songs so cheerily appropriate it was as if we had chosen them ourselves for the purposes of this feature and – perhaps more crucial than all other factors – the range anxiety all but non-existent.

The Buzz is not an especially revolutionary EV if you consider that its 77kWh lithium ion

There was no range anxiety – even at minus degrees

BRIT TRIP ESSENTIALS

ROUTE

Plan well in advance. So long as you travel in daylight and avoid the busiest service areas, you can be sure of smooth progress and sights to see.

❝ Is there any model – or marque – so intrinsically associated with freedom? ❞

ESSENTIALS MUSIC

 battery is about as conventionally constructed as they come these days, and its 170kW maximum charging speed falls short of some much more affordable metal. But we left London with 210 miles displayed on the range indicator, and it wasn’t until well into Wiltshire that I started to even consider the prospect of stopping for a topup. The far west of England is notoriously underendowed with publicly accessible chargers (even in the context of a nationwide infrastructure that is itself comically ill-prepared to accommodate the rapidly increasing number of EVs on the roads) and I didn’t want to risk arriving at Exeter services – effectively the point of no return –with 2% in reserve and be confronted with a wall of lifeless powerpoints.

We might not have been in such a comfortable position had we stuck to the main motorways and trunk roads and sat at 70mph – a recipe for suboptimal efficiency, to say the least, especially in these freezing temperatures. But our Quest for Zest (trademark pending) had seen us take the road less travelled, which also happened to be the road less heavily salted, less choked up with lumbering Eddie Stobart lorries and less infuriatingly beset with unmanned and seemingly pointless roadwork operations. All of which made for much calmer, slower, prettier and more efficient progress westwards. But, inevitably, it also meant that when our remaining capacity dipped below 30%, our options for replenishment were fewer and farther between than they might have been back on the A303.

No matter, because there is surely no location on Earth less conducive to good spirits than a motorway service station. A quick pit stop at somewhere as demoralising as a Clackett Lane or a Newport Pagnell could put a sour note on even a wedding day or the birth of a first child, and so our use of such facilities was to be strictly curtailed on this expedition, lest we sink into a funk fuelled by lengthy toilet queues, freezing forecourts and overflowing car park bins.

So, really, the two freshly installed (cement still tacky to the touch) 120kW Instavolt chargers (the best of the breed) outside an enticingly cosy farm shop and cafe in quaint little Semley was about as fortuitous a find as we could possibly have hoped for. After chatting to some curious locals – who wagered that, even as grimy as it was by this point, the Buzz looked decidedly “swisher” than the army of tatty VW T4 surf

wagons that wend their way through this neck of the woods on a regular basis – we headed inside to see if a fill-up stop can ever be more than an irritating interruption to onward progress.

Seasoned festival-goers will spend ages compiling a peoplepleasing playlist to soundtrack the motorway miles. Or you can call driver’s privileges and not show your passengers how the infotainment works.

upwards and no seething glares from frustrated fellow EV drivers whose need to charge is always, without fail, greater than your own.

Can it ever? Freshly baked sausage rolls, soup served from a bubbling cauldron and a dizzying array of locally concocted chutneys and preserves – this is how to kill time while you charge. No compulsion to spend £4 on a frappamochachino at a roadside coffee chain because there’s nothing else to do, no need to drain your phone battery scrolling through Twitter while the battery percentage ticks slowly

Of course, such a pleasantly quaint rest-stop experience comes at a cost: £40.40 nabbed us just 54kWh (let’s call that 170-ish miles), and snapper Max Edleston’s (ahem) hearty three-course meal cleared out the dregs of the Autocar expenses account for 2022, but that was a premium worth paying for the notion that this was a part of the trip itself, rather than a delay to its beginning.

Half an hour was enough to get the Buzz and its occupants comfortably topped up, but with the evening drawing in, we now genuinely had to ‘run to the sun’ to make Newquay before nightfall. There was no choice but to return to the featureless but freer-flowing main road, which threatened to lend an element of stress to proceedings, but with Britain locked in the grips of winter’s icy blast and the Christmas rush yet to begin, traffic jams were few and few between. And though the weather took a turn for the worse as we rolled effortlessly through Somerset and into Devon, all signs were pointing to this being nothing short of a thoroughly enjoyable sightseeing tour en route to a thoroughly enjoyable night away. 

WHAT IS RUN TO THE SUN?

Its organisers call it “one of the most sought-after Volkswagen and custom car shows”, which is no small claim when you consider that events like Bug Jam, Vanfest and the Volksworld Show have evolved into multi-day affairs whose popularity transcends the core enthusiast fanbase.

RTTS was one of Cornwall’s biggest tourist draws for many years, but the 2023 running will be the first in a decade, shifting the focus more heavily onto the classic VWs and hot rods that dominated the campsite in the early years. Organisers recognise that more recent RTTS events

❝

have been dominated by the ‘boy racer’ crowd, and so is giving ticket priority to owners of air-cooled VWs, T25s (later examples of which are watercooled) and pre-1980 custom cars of all makes. Modern cars are welcome on site, but the fan-favourite ‘show ’n’ shine’ is for the golden oldies only.

Similarly, the music promises to move away from ‘bass heavy’ tunes towards a more friendly party atmosphere, across several stages. It looks set to be an absolute blast, so if you fancy attending, you can book tickets at rtts.co.uk/ ticket-info.

This is one of the most capacious and comfortable EVs on sale ❞

Now, it must be said that visiting a British coastal resort several months after the end of the tourist season is not quite the same as savvily visiting the Amalfi Coast in the middle of September, when the kids are back at school. As we cruised down towards Newquay promenade, the pubs and hotels were quiet, the beaches were deserted (save for the odd lunatic surfer marching bravely into the freezing swell) and our Buzz was the closest vehicle in shape and colour to an ice-cream van for miles around.

But hey, we were on holiday. While everyone else snuggled down under a blanket with a cup of tea and their thickest socks on, we hit the town –EV style. Which is to say that we drove around for 20 minutes looking in vain for a public charger, before being distracted by the bright lights and shrieking sirens of a proper old-school arcade and settling in for a stint on that old seaside favourite, the 10p machine.

Pockets jingling, we sauntered back to the hotel to watch Messi smash Modric out of the

World Cup over fish and chips and turned in for the night with our synthesised summer holiday vibe holding strong against the deafening rain lashing against the windows.

To be true, there were points on the return journey where my jaw muscles started aching from the forced smile I had to maintain for the purposes of this feature. A 6.30am start to catch the sunrise over Towan Headland meant it was a good few hours before we saw the temperature push north of -1deg C, and a lengthy excursion to the site of the original Run to the Sun festival proved largely fruitless – some of the biggest names in dance music and the hottest VWs in the UK have attracted fans in their thousands to this windswept farmland, but the Friesians chewing lazily on that hallowed ground today weren’t particularly stirred by our attempt to recapture some of that festival spirit.

And after a few runs up and down the coast to grab some pictures, we were in a precarious position with 15% of range remaining and no fast charger on the cards this side of the county line. We needed something to turn our frowns upside

SNACKS

Utterly imperative to the happiness of driver and passengers. A well-chosen packet of Monster Munch and a handful of Revels raised a smile in a dark, drizzly car park 100 miles from the finish line.

down, and fast. Who knew that we’d find it in the long-stay car park at Newquay airport?

After a troubling 10 minutes trying to wake up a lonesome, dated Geniepoint around the back of an aircraft hangar, we finally got some electrons flowing and wandered into the terminal to use the facilities. What we weren’t expecting was to be served a delicious panino and coffee by the friendly staff at the departure lounge cafe – who would usually have been relaxing between the day’s two domestic flights – and to be invited to relax for as long as we wanted while the Buzz filled up. This isn’t the first time I’ve been warmed by a random act of generosity and patience when running low on battery in an EV, but it felt especially poignant given our mission.

Back on the road, and with the irresistible aroma of a pair of pasties stowed in the glovebox enlivening those first few miles east, we plotted a more time-efficient course for civilisation. It seemed a shame not to head up to the Severn Estuary and take the more picturesque long way home through the Cotswolds, but I couldn’t imagine ending the day with a smile on my face had I dared to tackle the section of M4 between Swindon and Heathrow, plus that would have meant yet another charge stop.

So, then, a 24-hour summer holiday in a camper van, not in summer and not in a camper van: a convincingly memorable experience – and for the right reasons? Absolutely.

SITTIN’

THE BACK OF THE BAY

IN

Inevitably, any sort of long-distance trip in an EV requires more forward planning than it would with a combustion car, particularly in the UK, where chargers are few, far between and – often – fubar.

But no matter how severe the range anxiety got, we always knew we’d make it to Cornwall in the Buzz – even if it meant spending six hours slow-charging around the back of a Travelodge.

That certainty eluded my family on more than one occasion when nursing our 1970s ‘bay window’ Type 2 campers down to Padstow in summer. The happiest memories are of roadside picnics and non-stop beeping and waving, but I can still hear the ominous off-beat clatter of a mysteriously misfiring flat four as we passed Stonehenge one year, and I still sometimes wake up in a cold sweat from visions of my dad trying to rock us onto the verge by a Somerset B-road on the starter motor as miles of traffic built up behind our stricken van.

When all’s going smoothly (spark plugs fixed in their respective holes and pushrod tubes fastened at least loosely to the crankcase), a coastal trip in an air-cooled bus is as relaxing and memorable as motoring gets: speeding fines and road rage are impossibilities, and the prospect of a hot tea is never far away. But what the Buzz lacked in charisma over the same journey it more than made up for in dependability and pace, the attributes most valuable to a modern road-trip wagon.

Page recalls the stopping as much as the going

Does it matter that I can’t ultimately fathom why you would go out and spend £60,000 on an ID Buzz? At its heart this is a relatively conventional MPV that can only accommodate five and comes with all the infotainment frustrations of its conventionally shaped siblings. But this is one of the most capacious and comfortable electric cars on sale, and not only does it have the range and charging capacity to facilitate a sun-hunting road trip of this nature, but it also achieves that perfect balance between nostalgic pastiche and functional modernity so coveted by today’s rapidly evolving car makers. Much like the BMW Mini, the reborn Fiat 500 and the Alpine A110, the Buzz takes the character of its mid-century forebear and improves on the formula in every single measurable way – certainly better than the resurrected Beetle ever did.

And, here, that means it was close to the ultimate road trip companion: comfortable, usefully equipped and technically competent, while remaining characterful and bright enough to capture some of that hazy summer spirit. Judged by the crowd that gathered every time we stopped, no question that the Buzz would be the star of the festival paddock. Not in winter, though: the hotel back in town serves a cracking stout, there are kettles in every room and the heating works all night – so though the Buzz might be outstanding in its field come rain or shine, you needn’t be. L

R E BOOT

Formula E’s ninth season is the dawn of its third era. Damien Smith heads to Mexico to watch the first ePrix featuring the more potent, more frugal Gen3 cars and finds out what they are like to drive

GEN3 FAST FACTS

l Fastest Formula E car yet, with a top speed of 200mph.

l Most efficient formula racer yet, with more than 40% of the energy used in a race coming from regenerative braking.

l Around 95% power efficiency from a motor delivering up to 350kW, compared with approximately 40% for an ICE.

l First-ever formula racer with both front and rear powertrains. New front motor adds 250kW to the 350kW one at the rear, more than doubling the regen capability of Gen2 to 600kW.

l Ultra-high-speed (600kW) charging capability for extra energy during a race, almost double the power of the most advanced commercial chargers. The tech needs perfecting but should be introduced this year.

l First formula racer that doesn’t feature rear friction brakes, thanks to the addition of the front powertrain and its regenerative capability.

At the end of the main straight here in Mexico City, the new Gen3 cars stream into turn one whistling like fireworks – just without the bang. It’s still a novelty at the start of season nine of the electric singleseater series to watch quick racing cars – and they really are quick –without the aural accompaniment of a screaming combustion engine.

The effect is a kind of cold detachment. Perhaps that’s why the first race of a much-vaunted new era felt somewhat underwhelming, despite the action including most of the elements that we look for in entertaining motorsport: a decent pass for the lead, a tense fight for the podium and a change of position on the final lap, all played out in front of a passionate 40,000-strong crowd, who made up for that lack of engine noise.

Yet first-time Formula E watchers around us, on a shortened version of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez used by Formula 1, left a bit baffled by the hype. This far in, Formula E remains a curate’s egg.

For the series itself, there was a palpable sense of relief and measured satisfaction. Reliability was decent, in happy defiance of serious worries as teams grapple with the all-new, complicated and more potent powertrains. There’s a lot riding on this new era, and these smaller cars simply must deliver for the manufacturers that have stayed loyal, those that have joined (Cupra, Maserati and McLaren) and a TV audience dwarfed by that of F1.

As for the aesthetics, they remain awkward. On my grid walk, the cars somehow looked simultaneously weird, ugly and refreshingly cool.

The 58-minute race was stretched by three dull safety car interludes. But once they did get going, the racing was close. You can read a proper summary on p21, but in short, Britain’s Jake Dennis made history by winning the Gen3 opener in Avalanche Andretti’s first race using Porsche power –which is clearly the thing to have right now.

Lucas di Grassi, who has competed in Formula E from its 2014 start, was delighted and surprised to take pole position and cling on to a podium finish in his first race for Mahindra, after a defensive masterclass holding off a string of cars. In the post-race press conference, he suggested that overtaking had been made harder by a combination of the new regen systems, the harder Hankook tyre that has replaced the Michelin and reduced grip making the Attack Mode tactical boost less effective.

I caught up with the Brazilian afterwards to find out more. New racing cars that make passing more difficult? That doesn’t sound ideal.

“It’s harder than Gen2, because

of how the regen phase and lift-off profile works, plus the cars are more fragile,” he expanded. “But [the cars] are also smaller, so you can see some overtakes, as Pascal Wehrlein showed coming through [from sixth on the grid to second for Porsche].

“It’s just a bit harder. There’s less contact between cars, which is what [the series bosses] wanted. The car is a bit harder to drive and the tyres are very hard, which means the car is very stable in the race; there are no big drops like they had with Michelin. You can make mistakes in traction, because there’s much more power, but the braking is easier, because you lock the wheels less with the systems.”

As ever in motorsport, nothing is black and white. Nico Müller gave a perspective from the other end of the grid. For his third Formula E season, the Swiss has joined Cuprabacked Abt, which has returned to the series after a year’s sabbatical following Audi’s withdrawal. The team is desperately short of mileage with its Mahindra-powered car, so Mexico was always going to be

a struggle. We’re used to hearing about aerodynamics being the defining factor for performance, but in Formula E the key is software.

Müller explained: “These cars are extremely sensitive. There’s a lot of power to control, and the way you slow the cars down has changed a lot. You’re using regen on the front as well [as the rear] now, and the brake feeling is completely different. You have a lot more tools to play with on the software side: how you build up the negative torque, how you slow the car down, how you find the limit. The software plays a key role in all of that. The driver needs to build trust into the systems, otherwise it’s very easy to go over the limit or slightly below. And the penalty for that in these cars is very big in terms of lap time.”

First weekends for new technology are always tough, and it’s easy to be dismissive.

“I think we can have a good season,” said Müller. “The races will be more intense and quicker. Overtaking seems to be not easy, even on a track like this one. But the cars are much faster, thanks to the extra power we have. For the whole show it’s good, plus it’s very easy to make mistakes, and obviously that causes drama.”

Formula E will be hoping for plenty of that in 2023. As long as it’s the right kind. L

Triumphant failure

I read with interest ‘On This Day in 1969’ about the then new Triumph 2.5 PI (7/14 December 2022).

At this time, I was a member of the Leicestershire police traffic department, and early in 1970 we took the 2.5 PI into use, replacing the Jaguar Mk2, which had been used for some considerable time.

I’ve always remembered this vehicle, but not with affection, as in its early days we suffered failures to restart the engine after a short run. This was later found to be due to a problem with the fuel pump, and after it was rectified I found the vehicle most suitable for our role.

Late one Saturday evening, I was parked at a junction on the outskirts of Melton Mowbray when I received a radio message regarding a motorcycle, details given, stolen locally in the past 10 minutes. I was then aware of a single headlight in my rear-view mirror and the stolen motorcycle – ridden by a young man dressed in only a T-shirt and jeans and no crash helmet – passed me. My 2.5 PI failed to start, so I abandoned it and gave chase on foot. I found the stolen motorcycle dumped in the middle of the main road and quickly removed it.

Via email

The price is right

My dad had a Triumph 2.5 PI, a wonderful car for its time, despite its penchant for faulty fuel pumps.

However, your article made me think: the equivalent of £23,895 for a large family saloon wouldn’t buy you a Volkswagen Golf now! I know the Golf is a better-made car, but it does make me wonder.

Via email

We make price conversions using the Bank of England’s inflation calculator, which is based on the Consumer Price Index. The issue is complicated by the fact that average earnings have nearly doubled in relative terms since 1969.

You can watch a very informative video on this at tinyurl.com/3fwpsecp – KC

VIEWS

LETTER OF THE WEEK

Continually unpleasant

Nick Gibbs’ commentary on Lexus’s poor sales trends (News, 4 January) omitted one very significant factor: the brand’s slavish adherence to the continually variable transmission.

My tenure with a Lexus CT saved me thousands in BIK tax, while its low lease cost earned me a great salary top-up (helping me fund a 997 Porsche 911), but the driving experience was too wearing.

A trip to the south of France had the engine screaming at top revs for scores of miles as I tried to maintain a decent cruising speed while the A71 climbed the Massif Central.

Even in general use, the aural experience became unpleasant. It was completely at odds with the otherwise high quality of the car. Thankfully, after a year or so of this, I managed to engineer a swap for a Jaguar XF 2.0d.

CVT technology may well have improved, with artificial gearshifts programmed in, but I still can’t see company car choosers (those who have any interest in driving, anyway) opting for a CVT over the superb dual-clutch and torque-converter automatics used by Lexus’s rivals.

No doubt this will become moot when we’re forced into batteryelectric vehicles, but that’s still some time in the future.

So rare it doesn’t exist

You recently published a story online about the UK’s rarest cars. Let me suggest another you could add, having mentioned the make and model but not this specific variant.

The DVLA doesn’t even have a UK code for it, as it was never officially sold here, so it’s simply named Lancia on the V5. I discovered this when I tried to get the document updated to show it as being a Dedra Integrale, because that’s what it is.

It’s equipped thus: left-hand drive only (like the Delta Integrale); 1995cc 8v cat engine; four-wheel

drive with a 56:44 front-to-rear split (as with Delta Integrale 8v) and a push-button electronic locking differential; and Alcantara seats and door cards (as in the Delta Integrale 16v and pre-cat Evo).

It looks very much like the UKspec Dedra HF Turbo, the only real noticeable difference being an Integrale badge in the front grille.

I’ve recently put the car on SORN for a few months, but it spends a good deal of the year being driven in and around the Bristol area.

Diesel dreams

Congratulations to Matt Prior on his temporary acquisition of an Audi Q7 V12 TDI (‘Black magic’, 4 January).

The mid- to late 2000s has to be the pinnacle for me, when bigger truly meant better from the likes of the V10-powered E60 BMW M5 to this colossal 6.0-litre diesel V12 from Audi. Like the delivery man giving the car to Prior, I would love to see the capabilities of that engine.

Still today I scour YouTube for videos of the Audi R10 TDI and Peugeot 908 HDi FAP diesel LMP1 cars hammering around Le Mans.

I also like to think about what the Audi R8 V12 TDI supercar concept could have become if it had gone into production, if only a manual gearbox was capable of handling such torque at the time. For big diesel fans like me, it would have been interesting to see what tuning firms could have achieved from it.

Excruciating diesel may be at fuel pumps, but I’m content to know that Prior was driving something truly unique, a legitimate one-off that we will never see the likes of again.

Mark Sweeney Via email

Together in electric nightmares

warning against buying Kias at the current time because he had been involved in an accident back in May and the requisite parts had still not arrived to allow repair.

Well, shame on my ignorant self, as I may have mumbled on about buying a Kia in the first place, but I now find myself choking on generous portions of humble pie.

My Porsche Taycan (which has never taken more than 230 miles of charge/range despite me being told that 270 would be possible) has now given up the ghost, because some charging part within the vehicle has died and needs replacing.

However, my dealer hasn’t been told when the required part will arrive from Germany.

Having been a Porsche devotee for many years and suggested to a good friend that he buy a Taycan, imagine my embarrassment when I saw him recently and he asked me where the Taycan was. He consoled me by telling me that his had been recovered, too, and his dealer had 25 “in the yard” that wouldn’t work.

He couldn’t get a repair date either, so having both spent more than £110,000 on ‘embracing the future’, we’re now both driving Volvo diesel courtesy cars.

If Porsche can’t make it work, I fear for the whole EV movement.

Porsche GB said: “We were sorry to read Mr Fitzpatrick’s experiences. His loyalty as a long-time customer is appreciated, and the colleagues at Porsche Centre Solihull have worked hard to minimise his inconvenience. We understand he had his Taycan returned before Christmas.

“The challenges in the global supply chain affecting new-vehicle delivery also affect parts supply.

“Porsche rolled out a complimentary software update last year that brought all Taycans up to the latest 2023-modelyear status, although it did require a workshop visit at the owner’s convenience. Owners benefited from, among other things, an increase in powertrain efficiency achieved by an optimised energy-recuperation strategy and improved thermal conditioning of the battery to enable greater range and shorter charging times.”

GREAT REASONS TO BUY

NEXT WEEK’S ISSUE

EDITORIAL

Email autocar@haymarket.com

Editor Mark Tisshaw

Editorial director, Automotive Jim Holder

Editor-in-chief Steve Cropley

Magazine editor Rachel Burgess

Associate editor Piers Ward

Managing editor Sami Shah

Editor-at-large Matt Prior Road test editor Matt Saunders

Deputy road test editor Richard Lane Road tester Illya Verpraet

News and features editor Felix Page

Deputy news editor Will Rimell

Staff writer Jack Warrick

Editorial assistant Charlie Martin

Editorial apprentice Jonathan Bryce

Used cars editor Mark Pearson

Chief sub-editor Kris Culmer

Group art editor Stephen Hopkins

Art editor Sarah Özgül

Senior photographer Luc Lacey Photographer Max Edleston Picture editor Ben Summerell-Youde Videographer Jack Harrison Social media executive Georgia Patmore

EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORS

European editor Greg Kable Business correspondent Nick Gibbs Used car correspondent James Ruppert Senior contributing writer Andrew Frankel Senior contributing editor Richard Bremner

Contributing editor Mike Duff Motorsport editor Damien Smith Senior consulting editor Tom Evans Special correspondents James Attwood, Mauro Calo, Jesse Crosse, James Disdale, John Evans, Colin Goodwin, Hilton Holloway, Simon Hucknall, Julian Rendell, Richard Webber Special contributors John Bradshaw, Tom Bradshaw, Alastair Clements, Kiall Garrett, Giles Harper, Peter Liddiard, Stuart Milne, Allan Muir, Sam Phillips, Rebecca Stevens, Will Williams, Oliver Young

ON THIS DAY IN 1939

FROM ITS 1931 debut right up until its 1939 retirement, Alfa Romeo’s straight eight gave rise to some of the world’s finest cars, including single-seat grand prix racers; a Le Mans 24 Hours winner; subjects of work by exalted coachbuilders for the tasteful rich; and perhaps the very fastest pre-war road car.

Alfa’s UK importer wanted a

magnet for its 1938 Olympia show stand, so Milan sent the 2900B roadster Clemente Biondetti had taken to victory in the latest Mille Miglia, and somehow racer Hugh Hunter convinced them to sell.

The spec in brief: a shortened wheelbase, a twin-blown 2.9-litre engine with about 180bhp, a fourspeed manual, all-independent

Unprecedented shared victory in Monte Carlo Rally

There was an unprecedented tie in this edition of the Monte Carlo Rally, identical times recorded by the Hotchkiss 686 GS of Jean Trévoux and Marcel Lesurque and the Delahaye 135 M of Joseph Paul and Marcel Contet. The lack of contingency planning frustrated us, although surely it didn’t trouble the French. Weather conditions were milder than they had been for the past 20 years on all of the runs to Monaco (which started in Estonia, Scotland, Norway, Sweden and Greece), making the route “abnormally easy”, “much to the organisers’ chagrin”, but still crews faced “hardships intolerable to ordinary mortals”. Naturally, we chose to start at John O’Groats. It was all fine until the 4000ft Rodez climb, which despite lacking an ice coat still took a heavy toll, as “hairpin followed hairpin with such regularity as almost to make a driver crazy”.

The toughest route, though, was the Athens one, due to thick mud.

Those who did reach Monaco had to next do a fast manoeuvring test –easy enough but not for the several who seemed to suffer stage fright.

Maybe some were still suffering from the illness going around. It’s incredible that, after the third and final test of an unfamiliar hillclimb, Trévoux had managed to rank top while suffering from influenza.

suspension and around 1245kg.

Our man said: “I’ve never been in a race car, or even a sports car, with suspension like this. Comfort is first class, yet so is roadholding.

“With the marvellously quick gearchanges possible, one was up to 8omph as if it were one’s usual gait. This was encouraged by the roadholding and the will

of the engine. The steering was, however, exceptionally light.

“With the sun overhead and plenty of money in one’s pocket [11mpg…], what a car for the open road! Without wishing to wax lyrical, it is a dream car to drive.”

Today, this very 8C lives at the Simeone car museum in the US.

America’s best six

Summer fun down under

Australians rang in 1939 by holding a trio of races at Lobethal, Adelaide. An Austin special won among the juniors, before a Singer emerged as the top stock car, both races “with a great deal of spectacular driving and many hair-raising slides”. Then there was the Australian Grand Prix, Allan Tomlinson producing “a well-judged, well-deserved victory” in a blown MG TA he had prepared himself. We were disappointed that no challenge came from Jack Saywell in his Alfa Romeo P3, losing three minutes in a spin at the start. But the most embarrassed was Frank Kleinig, whose Hudson hit the sandbags no fewer than 11 times.

“Among American cars, the Packard displays the touch of quality which singles it out,” we said of the Detroit firm’s latest Six saloon. The 100bhp 4.0-litre straight six was a real peach, the new optional overdrive masked the mechanical effort and excellent point-to-point pace could be kept up. The steering was silky and the suspension felt safe, although it had a propensity for roll. “Exceptional smoothness and quietness” kept the driver unstressed and passengers happy. The Six persevered until 1947 but sadly Packard went bust in 1958.

hich factors influence your decision most when buying a new car?

For me, it would be an equally important combination of price, reliability and emotional appeal. Surprisingly, though, this isn’t the case for the general public. A 2018 survey by Statista found the average Brit cares most about fuel economy, safety, suitability for daily use and low price, high quality and driving comfort, in that order – only after which does design come up.

By those metrics, my Skoda Fabia made a lot of sense. I regret to say that I never formed an emotional bond with it in the way that I have

with some long-termers in the past, but then I suppose it wasn’t really that kind of car. Actually, it was the kind of car that played exactly to those average Joe priorities. So let’s consider it in those terms, shall we?

Economy isn’t the easiest one to quantify, because our Fabia was in Monte Carlo trim, which is not only set up to be driven in a racier style but also gives you more power to do so, the frugal little 1.0-litre turbo petrol triple swapped for a 1.5-litre turbo petrol four (plus the manual ’box swapped for a dual-clutch auto). In my 3008 miles, it scored 39.4mpg, which sounds poor, but then my use was mostly motorway. If you’re not one to hurry or just a more typical supermini driver, you can expect up to 50mpg (or up to 55mpg if you pick the more sensible 1.0 TSI variant).

As for safety, I can’t argue with Euro NCAP’s five-star assessment,

although I can with Skoda’s lane keeping assistance technology, which would annoyingly cut in when it wasn’t wanted, but which could be turned off easily anyway.

‘Suitability for Daily Use’ could easily have become Skoda’s slogan had its marketing team not been commercially savvier than me and come up with ‘Simply Clever’. The Fabia’s belated move to the MQB platform that has underpinned its Seat Ibiza and Volkswagen Polo siblings since 2017 unlocked real practicality upgrades. Every area of the cabin felt more spacious, not least in terms of width, and I could noticeably fit more stuff in the boot – my mountain bike, for example.

Low price? You betcha. Skoda manages to offer even this sportylooking, range-topping Fabia at less than half the average price of a new car today, even if that is £23,990. Is that the best value, though? I mean, you could get a nicely equipped Dacia Sandero for less than £15,000. Or better still a less frilly Fabia, such as the £17,990 one Kiall Garrett enjoyed running for our sister title What Car?. But you want something a bit sporty, you say? Well, the Ford Fiesta ST-Line is right there, much more engaging to drive (if not quite as practical) for a few hundred less.

If you will forgive me from interjecting into our priority

STRETCH OUT

SMALL AND NIPPY

SECOND OPINION

The SE Comfort Fabia may seem a little unequipped, but the manual gearbox was an absolute pleasure, with slick, easy shifts giving interaction that made even the 94bhp 1.0-litre triple feel sporty and fun in a different way to the DSG Monte Carlo. Its analogue dials also gave it more of a real feel. I felt, despite some missing tech, the basic Fabia still had a lot to offer. KG

list here for a moment, this is a good time to discuss exactly how the Fabia Monte Carlo did drive. It definitely didn’t set my world on fire, not even carry a lighter in its back pocket as the revved-up Fabia vRS models once did.

It felt more powerful than I had expected, with a good lot of low-revs torque. However, the dual-clutcher stopped me from ever feeling like really rolling my sleeves up (and its manual override function wasn’t the best when I did try it). More to the point, Skoda stopped with the modifications for this sporting variant after the styling and the

powertrain, unlike Ford with the Fiesta ST-Line. The suspension and the steering was all left the same, and so while the Fabia did have the natural agility of a small and light car, it was nothing special when I brought its best competitors to mind, feeling secure and stable through corners but not eager and lively, as its rival from Cologne does. The ride, meanwhile, was usually comfortable, yet not the best in the class at damping surface intrusions at low or high speed.

High quality also wasn’t an obvious strong suit of this Skoda, although I rather liked the way that the squatter and meaner new proportions of the Mk4 Fabia combine with the matt black-tinted Monte Carlo bodykit, and the red trim and faux carbonfibre looked good surrounding the semi-bucket seats (which were comfy as well as sufficiently supportive, by the way).

The touchscreen, too, proved happily trouble-free (it’s the older generation of Volkswagen Group tech, see), although some of the airconditioning controls being located within its menus exacerbated my biggest current pet peeve with cars.

The design you know I liked, but such subjective matters are ultimately left for our readers to judge. What I will tell you for certain is that this Fabia ticked all the boxes it needed to, but not always with a proper coat of ink on the pen’s nib.

While I will passionately defend and support any manufacturer that retains an interest in making cars that normal working people can afford, there are others that do it more convincingly than the Fabia Monte Carlo. Still, if you take one for a test drive and you happen to really like it, don’t let me stop you. Because this kind of car isn’t going to be around for very much longer.

SIMPLY CLEVER

They may seem like token gestures, but the ticket holder, ice scraper and umbrella all proved handy.

LOATHE IT

SCREEN FATIGUE

TRY A BIT HARDER

No adjustments to the chassis and the lack of a manual option stop this from being a truly sporty option.

CITROEN C5 AIRCROSS

test car, a Citroën C5 Aircross.

FIRST REPORT

WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT

To find out how relaxed it can make you feel about a UK charging network that has so few places for a PHEV to plug in

Picture this. It’s late in the evening, you’ve been travelling all day and you’ve just come off a long flight with miles yet to cover before bed. You don’t want to drive, you just need transport, and the comfier, roomier and easier-going it is the better. More often than not you’re stuck with the last Ubers left in the rank, but just occasionally the airport taxi of your dreams heaves into view and sweeps you serenely off on your onward journey as if on the wings of angels.

That superbly relaxed, comfy-asthey-come vibe is the heart and soul of the appeal of my new long-term

Citroën facelifted the big SUV early last year, adding new lights, a new front grille and some interior design revisions, but the crucial update for the plug-in hybrid version came later, last autumn, when battery capacity rose by just enough to put the car into an 8% benefit-in-kind tax bracket. It became at a stroke one of not very many sub-£40,000 family SUVs to be so tax-efficient. Now it will be under consideration by a lot of drivers (and for very sound, rational reasons) who would be new to Citroën.

I’m not, having had the pleasure of running a Berlingo a couple of years ago, its no-nonsense space and versatility suiting me very well.

Quite honestly, a PHEV probably isn’t such a perfect fit for me, because I can’t charge one at home. But that won’t stop legions of people in similar circumstances from

running a car just like this, because the system incentivises them to. And if PHEVs don’t work for everyone, while at the same time saving more money for richer folk with solar panels on their roofs, driveways to park on and the like, I would say that’s well worth writing about.

So the C5 Aircross PHEV now has a new-generation battery with 1kWh of extra storage in it. It can do up to 41 electric-only miles on a charge, supposedly – a claim that I will have to go out of my way to investigate as we go.

I’ve selected the lighter-equipped Shine trim level, which is claimed to have greater potential for economy and electric running than the C-Series Edition. But on either version, it’s possible to option your car well out of that important 8% tax bracket, so this is a car to order with care.

A recent group test on some classic big Citroëns has rekindled my interest in cars like Luc’s C5 Aircross, so I will be keen to find out just how comfy it is. The growth in EVs is making great long-distance cars a bit of a dying breed, I fear. Here’s to cherishing the good ones that are still left. MS

Ours gets plenty as standard: Citroën’s suspension equipped with hydraulic bump stops, a crash mitigation system with pedestrian and cyclist detection, cruise control with speed limit detection, auto-dipping LED headlights and memory foam front seats.

The only options on mine are metallic paint and lane keeping assistance, neither of which ought to affect its running efficiency.

What other strings does our new tax-busting, stress-busting PHEV have to its bow?

The easiest way to tell a facelifted C5 is by, um, looking at its face

A C-Series Edition car would have opened the door to things like heated leather massage seats and parking assistance, but I certainly wouldn’t have wanted leather in the car in any case, and I don’t use those gimmicky parking systems, so it definitely would have been £2500 wasted on what’s already a pretty expensive car.

Preliminary driving impressions are good, that dream taxi flavour having lasted well through my first week. I’m still really enjoying arriving at photoshoots calmly and comfortably, and I’ve already managed a weekend away in Cornwall with my girlfriend and a surfboard, among other things.

It was a disappointment to find that she had to sit behind me in order to make room for the board, but a roof rack would sort that problem and wouldn’t be hard to fit to the available roof bars.

As already mentioned, I don’t expect to be able to do much charging of the car’s battery in the natural run of things, but this seems to me to be a lot to do with the way the UK’s public charging infrastructure is developing. All of the new charging stations you see now are for dedicated DC

rapid charging of fully electric vehicles, and very few PHEVs come with CCS ports for this, so PHEV drivers are left with little to do if they, like me, can’t charge at home.

I don’t often visit those supermarkets and out-of-town retail parks that sometimes have free-to-use AC ‘slow’ chargers. And so while I might be able to plug in at the Autocar office to test that 41-mile electriconly range claim once or twice, I fear that it won’t be a regular thing. Financially as well as practically for a great many of us, the charging of PHEVs is becoming precisely the afterthought that some feared it might be.

My first few hundred miles in the C5 Aircross have suggested that, without much charging, the turbocharged 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol engine will return about 35mpg and its downsized 43-litre fuel tank needs filling every 320 miles or so. Those are figures that I can live with, but they don’t feel like great strides or selling points in their own right.

It’s a good job, then, that it hasn’t taken me long to find plenty of others about this singularly laid-back, roomy and comfortable SUV. PHEV or not, it promises a very agreeable few months.

VAUXHALL ASTRA

MILEAGE 3838

WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT

OTo see if this British stalwart, now made by Stellantis, still feels like a Vauxhall ne of the nicest things about both Vauxhall Astras I’ve run (a 1.2-litre turbo petrol triple and today’s 1.6-litre plug-in hybrid) is the low-set seating. It makes such a nice change to sit securely down among the wheels instead of being elevated by today’s usual drivers of seat height: an SUV body or a big battery underneath.

This lowness makes the Astra feel distinctly sporty, and if I’m not mistaken, it also helps reduce the car’s frontal area, which is important in cutting aerodynamic drag. In an average public car park, the Astra’s roof is lower than most –just another reason why it’s handy for my 1.6 PHEV Ultimate to have Electric Yellow flanks: I can spot it easily among the grey hordes.

The Ultimate’s driving position is especially nice, what with its grippy Alcantara seat trim and the sporty shape of the buckets. These two things encourage you to use the performance, of which it has plenty. The combined power of the 1.6-litre petrol engine and the assisting electric motor runs

LOVE IT

THE BODY PACKAGE

It looks funky and it affords a low and sporty driving position, which I relish.

LOATHE IT

DIGITAL DIAL DISPLAY

It’s probably fine for those who can figure it out, but I’m not among them.

to 178bhp, a thoroughly decent total, despite the car’s generous weight of 1678kg.

The performance is about more than that stopwatch time, however. The motor delivers generous torque from the ground floor, so the stepoff from a standstill is even brisker than the claimed 0-62mph of 7.7sec promises. And it’s very clean: there’s no time lost while the clutch engages or the petrol engine ingests.

The combination of this lowspeed power and the high-geared smoothness of the ZF automatic gearbox gives this Astra a truly fine powertrain. If you have time, amuse yourself trying to feel the gearchanges; it won’t be easy.

I do have complaints. Finding the digital dial screen’s full capabilities still defeats me. Every night, I get out of the car promising myself to learn it tomorrow, but somehow I’m too busy. Knowing a car can do more for you saps your enjoyment.

However, the big Astra advantage for me remains its sheer dynamic competence: the ideal steering, powerful brakes and, above all, the flat, firm ride.

As I say, it’s always a pleasure to get back into this car. In fact, I’m already eyeing the ‘give it back’ day with a good deal of foreboding. Maybe they will forget…

Low-set Astra would be easy to overlook in any other colour

OWN ONE? SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE luc.lacey@haymarket.com

I’m enjoying arriving at jobs calmly and I’ve already managed a week away in Cornwall

Benefits arise from the low-rise body and the fine plug-in hybrid powertrain

ALPINE A110

Little sports car has a surprising degree of commonality with a hefty luxury limo

MILEAGE 5341

WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT

To see if one of the world’s best driver’s cars can also prove sufficiently easy to live with for it still to make sense

I can’t escape the knowledge of how much more fun even than that I’d have were it fitted with a quick and slick six-speed manual gearbox.

I

had an unusual choice of transport over the Christmas period. In one corner, an Alpine A110 (low, light and compact); in the other, a fully Mullinered Bentley Flying Spur (high, heavy, vast and, because of all the stuff on it, getting on for £200,000 more expensive than the pared-back little coupé).

On paper, they seem to have little in common, but actually they share more than is initially apparent. Most strikingly, both are alumni of the school of thought that says you don’t have to be uncomfortable to have fun. Indeed, on a certain sort of road, of which Britain has no shortage, soft springing can be a boon so long as it’s properly controlled. And here it is. Now, this job is rather tougher on the Bentley, because it carries comfortably more than double the weight of the

LOVE IT

PHONED IT IN

Apple CarPlay was introduced with the facelift, transforming the user experience for the better.

LOATHE IT

BAD BACK

There’s no backrest adjustment on the basic seats, and sliding fore and aft isn’t enough to achieve an optimal driving position.

Possibly nothing could be more fun on a UK B-road, save for a manual one

Alpine, which is why it has triplechamber air springs, electronically controlled dampers and active antiroll bars, but the goal is the same: a car that breathes with the road, rather than pinging off every lump and bump to the detriment of both stability and occupants’ comfort.

More fundamentally even than that, I’m drawn to both because they represent a breed of car that becomes more endangered by the year. One of the things I find most depressing about the market today is the way it has embraced cars that do everything. Want a car with a bit of estate in it, a smidge of off-roader, a smattering of coupé? Step right this way, sir, and choose from this vast array of oversized, overweight, underachieving crossovers. They may do everything, but the bit that never gets mentioned is that this also means they don’t actually do anything genuinely well.

This is a mistake the Bentley and Alpine will never make, and before

you start wondering what planet I’m living on, the same comments apply equally to a Fiat Panda, a Caterham Seven, a Ferrari F40 and my 65-yearold Citroën 2CV. Unlike the vast majority made today, these are all cars that know what they’re for. They take one job and do it superbly. High-speed continent-crushing? That’ll be the Bentley. Cross-country blast? You can’t have more fun than that provided by the Alpine.

Strangely enough, they have the same flaw too, albeit for completely different reasons. Each suffers for its dual-clutch automatic gearbox. The Bentley has one because, unlike the previous Spur, it’s derived from the platform used by the Porsche Panamera, which is a large part of why the current Continental GT is so much better to drive than the last. But while a DCT works well in a two-door coupé, it’s less convincing in a four-door limo. It’s good but not great. And when I’m in the Alpine, however much fun I have driving it,

Now, a certain rather understated genius called David Twohig was the Alpine’s chief engineer, and he just so happens to be a friend of mine too. I can hear his sighs of frustration from here. “Andrew, do you have any idea how much that would cost to engineer and homologate and how few additional cars we’d likely sell as a result?” I’m putting words into his mouth, of course, but I know it’s true: there could never have been a business case for a manual A110. But I’m right too: it would be better with a manual, however unrealistic a proposition that might be.

On the reliability side, I thought the Alpine had gone wrong last week when I felt a bad vibration through the steering wheel above 50mph, but it suddenly went away and hasn’t come back. My guess is a clump of mud got stuck to the inside of a front wheel and temporarily threw it out of balance. Other than that and brake discs that rust far too fast in wet weather and bind to their calipers, it has been flawless.

TEST DATA

ALPINE A110

Price £49,990 Price as tested £54,144 Faults None Expenses None Economy 38.6mpg Last seen 18.1.23

OWN ONE? SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE autocar@haymarket.com

BMW iX

MILEAGE 7001 LAST SEEN 11.1.23

The iX’s infotainment can be controlled by touchscreen, a rotary controller or voice control. I’ve yet to find a voice control system I really get on with and I am still searching for it here. You have to be so precise with your command. Get it wrong and in the time it takes for you to repeat yourself, you’d have been able to do it quicker using the screen or controller anyway. MT

FORD MUSTANG MACH-E

WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT

To see if an electric SUV is worthy of the Mustang name and, more importantly, if it augurs well for Ford’s future

You may recall I’ve been enduring a dramatic start to every journey recently, with a red alert flashing on the dash to warn me of an unspecified door failure being accompanied by a dramatic three-bongs-and-it’s-gone audible caution.

Despite there being no evidence of an issue – and plenty of evidence of the Mustang throwing electronic glitches regularly – I’m going to have to get it checked out if only to extend my life expectancy. I just can’t get used to it, and my heart skips a beat every time the warning tune sounds the alarm.

What it has done is get me thinking about the quirky – some might say weird – decision to embed a combination lock in the

INHERENT SMOOTHNESS

I haven’t driven an electric car that I haven’t loved for its smooth, quiet progress, Mustang included.

LOATHE IT

FLIMSY BOOT COVER

At best, the boot cover is a poorly suspended piece of fabric. Alas, mine came adrift months ago.

door frame, an alternative route for accessing and locking the car instead of walking up to or away from it with the key in your pocket.

When I first had the Mach-E, I quite enjoyed what was an obvious conversation point. The numbers are discreetly designed into the door until you get up close and only really noticeable when it illuminates. It gives the car a bit of digital je ne sais quois, and all with a little more sophistication than Tesla’s in-built electronic whoopee cushion.

But have I used them for their intended purpose? Once when I was having a play, but thereafter no, never. For me, they are an answer to a question I have never asked, although if I were a keener surfer or paddle boarder – the type beloved by SUV marketers – I might find it useful to leave the key in the car, safe from an inevitable dunking or perilously being shoved under a towel, while I indulged my active water-based hobby.

Feels a bit niche, right? Especially

when the key does all the same functions for approximately half the effort. Although I do worry that attitude is coloured by the time my then toddler son was holding some blipperstyle car keys when I strapped him into his child seat and he promptly locked the car a nano-second after I’d shut his door. Ever tried coaching an 18-month-old how to use something electronic through a closed window while your wife yells at you? It’s not a risk you want to take twice.

Even so, I do worry I’m being too harsh on the Mach-E as a result of its various shortcomings, from ride issues to electronic failings. Maybe in the many months we’ve spent together, I’ve become resistant to being delighted by it, because ultimately I feel a bit let down by it. Maybe, but I think not: I judge it against the standards set by other Ford models and rivals, and the deficiencies feel all too apparent.

Honda Civic

MILEAGE 8134 LAST SEEN 11.1.23

A few journeys with our resident West Highland terrier have made me grateful for the Civic’s plastic boot liner. It comes as standard and means that I’m not forever picking white fur out of the boot’s carpet floor. The hound, on the other hand, isn’t such a fan, because she can’t get much grip off the hard plastic. Cue plenty of gentle cornering. PW

Mazda CX-60

MILEAGE 4930 LAST SEEN 11.1.23

The CX-60’s Sport mode is more than a token nod to Mazda’s dynamic heritage. With the battery charged, this is a disconcertingly quick car, and with Sport activated, it sounds meaty as well. Corner roll remains pretty severe and the gearbox is as lethargic as ever but the throttle and steering responses are tightened just enough to raise a grin. FP

USED CARS

What to buy, where to buy it and how much to pay

ALFA ROMEO GIULIA QV

If you want something more romantic than a BMW M3 and more realistic than a Ferrari, this is for you. By Mark Pearson

I

f we could dream any dream we wanted to dream, we all probably would have a relatively affordable and wondrously goodlooking four-door Ferrari parked on our driveway. It would be the sort of car in which we could have immense fun yet also use every day without fear of impaling ourselves, going bankrupt or having to force our families to catch the bus and meet us at the other end.

Since 2016, the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio has been providing the answer to that dream. It looks a bit like a four-door Ferrari saloon might look. It has a glorious 503bhp twin-turbocharged 2.9-litre V6 with plenty of Latin character. It’s fabulous, hugely romantic and completely irresistible to any

enthusiast with a centilitre of petroleum in their veins.

OUR TOP SPEC QUADRIFOGLIO

There’s just one trim but plenty of options that might have been added, including carbonfibrebacked Sparco seats, which are supportive yet comfortable, and carbon-ceramic brakes, which work well from high speeds but can take time to heat up.

On the road, it lives up to all that promise, and then some. The engine is indeed a dream, with an instantaneous throttle response and huge power. It sends that shove through an eight-speed automatic gearbox, and the Quadrifoglio can cover the 0-62mph sprint in just 3.9sec and go on to a top speed of 191mph. And it can be eco-friendly, too, because Advanced Efficiency is one of the four driving modes you can choose from, along with Natural, Dynamic

RECALLS

Looks great, feels quality enough and is sensibly laid out

and Race.

All those clever chassis electronics help the Quadrifoglio corner wonderfully, too. It feels light and nimble, with superquick steering and plenty of grip. In fact, it’s all quite delightful, with handling that is multiadjustable and supremely entertaining. It rides well also, possessing a suppleness rare in cars of such performance.

It offers an excellent low-slung driving position, with everything well positioned around the driver. The seats are supportive and have a good range of adjustment, as does the steering wheel. The dashboard and surrounding areas are logically

BUYER BEWARE

There has been a recall for the whole Giulia range that involves cars built between November and December 2017. Mineral oil might get into the braking and clutch system. The QV also had a recall for the possibility of the rear brake discs having microcracks. Check both have been done.

RELIABILITY

Reports suggest the Giulia isn’t the most trustworthy car, backed up by our QV long-term test experience.

In our sister title What Car?’s latest Reliability Survey, it finished 25th out of 26 cars in the executive class. Alfa Romeo as a whole was ranked 29th out of 32 manufacturers.

AS GOOD AS NEW

laid out, while the instrument dials are clear and easy to read. The infotainment system is controlled by a rotary controller and relayed through an 8.8in screen. It’s easy to operate, even if some rivals’ systems have sharper graphics. There’s also a built-in sat-nav and Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone mirroring.

Space in the rear is good but not outstanding. There’s enough leg room for taller people, although head room isn’t overly generous. The point here, though, is that there should still be plenty of room for your family to come along too.

The boot is also a good size, bigger than most of its rivals, although the rear seats don’t fold to enable a greater carrying capacity.

And now here’s the really good news: prices for the Quadrifoglio now start at around £35,000 for early cars with average mileage for the year. Most 2017 and 2018 cars command between £40,000 and £45,000, and you can expect to pay between £45,000 and £50,000 for a 2019 or 2020 model and something like £50,000 to £55,000 for a 2021 or 2022 car. Stack those prices against that of any Ferrari and you can see this is one dream that could quite easily become a reality.

James Ruppert

TYRES

NEED TO KNOW

Alas, its fuel consumption can be frightening. The official 30.7mpg will be hard to achieve in reality.

Cars registered before April 2017 incur high VED; younger ones incur the £165 flat rate plus the £355 luxury levy from years two to six.

If your tyres scrub on full lock, fear not: it’s due to the aggressive steering geometry that allows the car to have a very quick rack and to resist understeer at speed.

2.9 V6

Used car clever dicks have been telling us for years that executive saloons are the most depreciated, bestest bargains to buy – and they’ve probably been correct. Especially as some have become unfashionably invisible.

Exhibit A has to be the Jaguar XE. It hasn’t really struck any chord with executive buyers, despite being designed as a BMW 3 Series rival. It could have been a modern Mk2, but isn’t. Yet it’s not half bad, and it’s good value, of course.

The majority are diesel, while the petrols are slightly pricier. You can find high-mile company mules, but here’s a 2.0d R-Sport from 2016 with fewer than 70,000 miles and a pretty colossal spec at £12,500. It has all the painted-caliper shtick, twinspoke alloy and lots of electronic aids, plus premium-palette paint. I think it looks rather youthful. Fancy a petrol? If you do, a 2017 2.0 Prestige with just over 60,000 miles could be yours for £13,500.

good. I was rather taken with the idea of a 2008 1.9 JTDM Lusso with 140,000 miles; a private seller needs to move on and is asking just £1390. It has a full service history, an MOT and everything… Goodness me, I’ve had to stop myself going and getting it as my everyday spare.

Otherwise, a 2009 1.9 with 87,000 miles and four previous owners is yours for £4500. That’s a lot of very useful Alfa in prime condition for not a lot of money.

Executive saloons certainly do seem to be the way forward if you want prestige, comfort and value.

RUPPERT’S GARAGE

OUR PICK

There’s only one engine on offer here, but the brawny V6 is undeniably the highlight of the QV experience, delivering a razor-sharp response with hardly any lag, despite being heavily turbocharged.

GTA/GTA m

An extra 30bhp, 100kg lost and an aggressive bodykit make for the ultimate super-saloon. It will be out of reach for almost all of us, given the desirability and just 500 being made, but if you can, you should.

WILD CARD

The Lexus IS doesn’t come up in executive car conversations very often, but I’ve known several company car examples that have gone into the serious six figures with just a bulb as the only failure, so I’m quite partial to them, and you get a lot for the money. A 2015 250 F-Sport with just over 50,000 miles and ticking the all-important ULEZ box is £13,995. Alternatively, go back to the previous generation and pay just £3995 for a 250 SE from 2008. It’s in decent condition with just over 100,000 miles, a clean MOT history and a dealer warranty.

And then there are Alfa Romeo execs. I always return to these, because they’re pretty, exciting and reassuringly Italian. Ah, well, this is depressing, because some 159s that I may have mentioned months ago still seem to be for sale, which isn’t

Scissor jacks are terrible, as are those screw jacks that plug into your sills, and a trolley jack is overkill. So it’s much better to get a bottle jack and then use it on a chassis or suspension point where the manufacturer recommends, along with a square of thick ply.

❝

I’ve known several go into serious six figures with a bulb as the only failure ❞

Handsome, athletic, potent, plush inside… Why didn’t the XE sell?

here’s nothing more exciting than stylish practicality. If you want to relax in chic comfort, buy a Barcelona chair. If voguish kitchens are your bag, buy a copper pot rack. If you want a sleek, fourdoor Audi R8, buy an Audi RS7.

This saloon-hatchback-coupé crossbreed makes you wonder why true sports cars need to exist. It can take four people in comfort and propel them to 62mph in a rivalbeating 3.9sec. At full chat and with the £1500 option to delete the 155mph limiter, it can hit 189mph.

Powering the RS7 is a brawny 4.0-litre V8 with all the sonorous fervour of a preacher on a Sunday

morning. The twin-turbocharged petrol powerplant, borrowed from Bentley’s Continental GT, develops 553bhp and 516lb ft of torque – a considerable 51bhp more than the comparable Mercedes CLS 63 AMG and a tad more than the BMW M6.

So it has the performance, but with the RS7 you don’t need to be travelling quickly to be impressed. Its sloping yet boisterous come-onif-you-think-you’re-hard-enough

looks make it appear like it’s going fast even when it’s at a standstill. Much like the R8, then.

Looks are also a reason why you might buy the RS7 over its RS6 Avant sister. While not as practical, the RS7 looks like an A6 saloon that has had a few more sessions in the wind tunnel rather than a cargo-minded estate, which some will prefer.

The results speak for themselves. The RS7 is a striking take on the

super-saloon recipe, making it an attractive proposition if you enjoy standing out from the crowd.

In 2015, a facelift brought restyled headlights and nips and tucks to the bumpers to make them more svelte.

And it’s not like a swooping body really impairs practicality: the RS7 still has enough room for the family and, with a hatchback tailgate, a boot that’s big enough to swallow most of their clutter.

Elsewhere, the cabin is adorned with the usual 24-carat quality that we’re used to from Audi, with softtouch plastics buried in the most unusual places you rarely touch, leather everywhere and the sort of material finish that you would

It can take four people in comfort and, having a 553bhp V8, propel them to 62mph in 3.9sec

It’s

HOW TO GET ONE IN YOUR GARAGE

An expert’s view

ALEX GREEN, FONTAIN MOTORS

“The RS7 is the RS6 Avant’s less shouty non-identical twin. It’s just as talented but slightly more svelte in appearance and reserved in taste. If you’re after more for your money or can’t quite stretch to your perfect RS6, the RS7 is a great alternative involving little compromise. It offers bombastic performance, a good record for quality and 90% of a brand-new one for less than 50% of the cost. Consumables may be expensive, but for the money there are few finer or faster ways to consume super unleaded.”

Buyer beware…

RECALLS

Between 2014 and 2017, Audi recalled 26,053 cars, including the RS7, to prevent potential turbo failure. Concerns grew that the turbo’s oil strainer became blocked and as a result starved it of oil, leading to severe power loss and engine stalling. The recall affected cars made between 2013 and 2017.

Another recall took place for cars manufactured between July and October 2014. This concerned the auxiliary heater element in the air-con failing, due to an electrical connector not being plugged in correctly, potentially leading to smouldering damage and even fire.

Check with an Audi dealer that all the appropriate work has been done.

ENGINE

Also worth knowing

A common issue with some Audis is the oxygen sensor needing to be replaced every few years. This is usually given away by an engine management warning light showing. Budget £150 to £250 for this.

General maintenance of a car such as this is crucial. They will probably have been driven most of their life, with owners giving them regular punts down back roads. Therefore, ensure the car you’re looking at has a full service history and preferably has been approved by Audi. If not, have it checked over by the manufacturer.

How much to spend

£27,000-£30,999

Cars with high miles ranging from 60,000 to more than 100,000. They tend to be earlier examples and will most likely have had multiple owners from new. Buy with care.

£31,000-£35,999

With about 40,000-60,000 miles, these are generally in better nick and often still have warranties. Some facelifted cars will also be here.

£36,000-£40,999

WHAT WE SAID THEN

6 NOVEMBER 2013

“Enthusiasts may bemoan the RS7’s lack of outright engagement, but there’s no denying it’s an enjoyable car to drive, mainly for its sheer pace. And for the wider market, the RS7 will be ideal: it’s a stylish car that’s capable of effortlessly and rapidly transporting its occupants and luggage over vast distances.”

expect to find on a Bang & Olufsen hi-fi (one of which was incidentally a mere £2000 option on the RS7).

On the downside, it is starting to look dated. With as many buttons as horsepower and low-resolution graphics in the infotainment screen, it’s apparent that this is a car from 2014.

Stylish interior was made to fabulously high standards

Happily, the driving experience on a B-road manages to make up for the dated interior. RennSport Audis have always been point-and-squirt ’bahnstormers, with as much grip as car park cachet but not much driver engagement on twisty roads, but the RS7 just about bucks that trend.

It rides beautifully and the clever torque-vectoring system means you’re protected should your talent discover its limit before the car does. If we had to name a downside, it’s that the steering is quite numb.

To summarise, let’s look back at the boxes the RS7 ticks. Stylish? Yes. Practical? Yes. Fast? Yes. A copper pot rack it’s not, but a four-door R8 it most definitely is.

The camshaft-adjustment control valve is responsible for the opening time of the valves in the piston to suit different operating conditions. In the RS7’s 4.0-litre V8 engine, these could come loose. Fortunately, there’s no specific damage caused by this. However, rough running and/or the illumination of a dashboard warning light are signs of the problem.

TYRES AND BRAKES

Being heavy and extremely powerful, the RS7 is likely to go through sets of tyres and brake pads and discs very quickly. Before you buy, ensure there’s enough tread in the tyres and that the brake pads and discs aren’t at the very ends of their lives. If they are, this could suggest that the car has been run on a tight budget.

TRANSMISSION

Some owners have reported a metallic clanking noise coming from the automatic gearbox. If this occurs during a test drive and the car isn’t under warranty, walk away or budget £5000 for a new unit.

Many facelifted cars, plus some lowmileage, well-maintained pre-facelift models. Mileages range from 27,000 to 37,000. Some have uncommon options such as the carbon package.

£41,000-£48,999

Fine examples and mileages as low as 15,000. Well-maintained 20152017 cars in rare colours available.

£49,000

AND ABOVE

All facelifted cars made in 2016 and 2017 with low mileages and rare options. One 605bhp Performance Edition car is also available.

One we found

AUDI RS7 SPORTBACK 4.0

TFSI V8 QUATTRO, 2015, 16,000 MILES, £45,975

This dealer-advertised example has far below average mileage and more than £10,000 worth of options.

no AMG in the corners but also not a typical RS

Power(bhp)Topspeed(mph)0-60/62mph CO2(g/km) Economy(MPG/range)

Between the various figures produced on the old-style NEDC, transitional NEDC Correlated and new-style WLTP laboratory emissions and fuel economy tests, it has become tricky to compare manufacturers’ claimed efficiency on the latest new cars. When you see a fuel economy and CO2 figure reference elsewhere, it’s often without explanation.

So, to provide as fair and clear a basis for comparison as possible, you’ll only ever read WLTP combined fuel economy and CO2 figures in Autocar’s first drive reviews, features and comparison tests – and on these data pages. Those are the aggregated results of four lab tests carried out across as many different cruising speed ranges – although they’re sometimes expressed as a range rather than as one specific figure to show the different results recorded by the heaviest and lightest available examples of the car in question (depending on optional equipment).

In road tests, you’ll also see our own independently produced real-world fuel economy test results for comparison with the lab test claims. We produce an average, track and touring figure for each car we test, as often as possible on a brim-to-brim test basis.

While ‘average’ represents the overall economy returned by a new car over a full road test and ‘track’ is relevant only to intensive performance testing (the length and conditions of which can vary slightly), ‘touring’ gives the best guide of the kind of economy you might see from a car at a steady 70mph motorway cruise.

We do real-world efficiency and range testing on electric cars, too, expressing the former in terms of miles per kilowatt hour, as manufacturers do increasingly widely by convention.

CCCCC Inherently dangerous/unsafe. Tragically, irredeemably flawed.

BCCCC Appalling. Massively significant failings.

ACCCC Very poor. Fails to meet any accepted class boundaries.

ABCCC Poor. Within acceptable class boundaries in a few areas. Still not recommendable.

AACCC Off the pace. Below average in nearly all areas.

AABCC Acceptable. About average in key areas, but disappoints.

AAACC Competent. Above average in some areas, average in others. Outstanding in none.

AAABC Good. Competitive in key areas.

AAAAC Very good. Very competitive in key areas, competitive in secondary respects.

AAAAB Excellent. Near class-leading in key areas and in some ways outstanding.

AAAAA Brilliant, unsurpassed. All but flawless.

ARIEL Atom 0dr open £40,669 AAAAB Simple, purist concept remains but everything else has changed… for the better. LxWxH 3520x1880x1122 Kerb weight 595kg 2.0 turbo 320 162 2.8 na na Nomad 0dr open £37,549 AAAAA Well inside the top 10 list of our favourite cars. A revelation and a riot to drive. LxWxH 3215x1850x1425 Kerb weight 670kg 2.4 K24 i-VTEC 235 125 3.4 na na

ASTON MARTIN

Vantage 2dr coupé/2dr open £133,920–£158,420 AAAAB

The faster, cleverer, more hardcore entry-level Aston tops its class. LxWxH 4465x1942x1273 Kerb weight 1630kg 4.0 V8 510 190-195 3.6-3.8 25.7 264 4.0 V8 F1 Edition 535 195 3.6 24.3 264

DB11 2dr coupé/2dr open £166,070–£180,420 AAAAA The stunning replacement for the already seductive DB9 is tyreshreddingly good. LxWxH 4739x2060x1279 Kerb weight 1875kg 4.0 V8 528 192 4.0 25.1 254 5.2 V12 AMR 630 208 3.7 21.1 303

DBS 2dr coupé/open £259,420–£279,920 AAAAA Effortlessly fast, intoxicating to drive: the big Aston is better than ever. LxWxH 4712x2146x1280 Kerb weight 1693kg 5.2 V12 715 211 3.4 20.9 306

DBX 5dr SUV £168,420–£192,420 AAAAB Doesn’t try to be the biggest, fastest SUV, and may be all the more appealing for it. LxWxH 5039x1998x1680 Kerb weight 2245kg 4.0 V8 550 181 4.5 19.8 323 4.0 V8 DBX 707

£35,365–£86,795 AAAAC

estate lacks the dynamic sparkle of rivals.

4725x1842x1434 Kerb weight 1370kg 2.0 35 TFSI 148 137 9.2 39.8-44.8 143-162 2.0 40 TFSI 201 146 7.3 39.8-43.5 147-162 2.0 45 TFSI quattro 242 155 6.0 33.6-34.4 187-191 3.0 V6 TFSI RS4 Avant 448 155-180 4.1-3.9 28.1-28.2 220-226 2.0 30 TDI 132 131 9.8 49.6-54.3 137-150 2.0 35 TDI 148 132 9.2 49.6-54.3 137-150 2.0 40 TDI quattro 201 143-144 7.1 47.9-52.3 144-156 3.0 50 TDI Allroad quattro 282 155 5.3 38.2 181 3.0 S4 TDI quattro 342 155 4.7 39.2-39.8 181-193 A5 2dr coupé £40,045–£91,750 AAAAC Refreshed coupé gets a sharper look and a refreshed interior. Still mundane to drive. LxWxH 4673x1846x1371 Kerb weight 1390kg 2.0 35 TFSI 148 140 8.9 41.5-45.6 141-154 2.0 40 TFSI 201 150 7.1 41.5-47.1 141-154 2.0 45 TFSI quattro 242 155 4.8 34.9-38.8 180-184 2.9 V6 TFSI RS5 quattro 448 174 3.9 29.1 220 2.0 35 TDI 163 162 8.2 51.4-55.4 133-144 2.0 40 TDI quattro 201 146 6.9 50.4-54.3 135-146 3.0 V6 S5 TDI quattro 339 155 4.6 39.2-40.4 184-188

A5 Sportback 5dr coupé £40,045–£91,750 AAAAC Refined, good-looking four-door coupé is sadly short on charm and finesse. LxWxH 4733x1843x1386 Kerb weight 1425kg 2.0 35 TFSI 148 139 9.1 40.9-44.8 144-158 2.0 40 TFSI 201 150 7.2 40.9-44.8 143-158 2.0 45 TFSI quattro 242 155 5.6 34.4-35.3 183-187 2.9 V6 TFSI RS5 quattro 448 174 3.9 28.5-28.8 222-224 2.0 35 TDI 148 135 8.4 50.4-54.3 135-147 2.0 40 TDI quattro 201 146 7.6 49.6-54.3 137-149 3.0 S5 TDI quattro 345 155 4.6 39.8-40.4 183-187

A6 4dr saloon £40,205–£80,640 AAAAC Supremely well constructed but a bit soulless to drive. A smart office on wheels. LxWxH 4939x1886x1457 Kerb weight 1645kg 2.0 40 TFSI 201 152 7.3 37.7-39.2 163-171 2.0 45 TFSI quattro 242 155 6.0 35.3-37.2 172-182 2.0 50 TFSIe quattro 299 155 6.2 217.3 31 3.0 55 TFSI quattro 335 155 5.1 32.8-34.9 184-196 2.0 40 TDI 201 152 8.1 47.9-51.4 145-155 2.0 40 TDI quattro 201 153 7.6 45.6-47.9 155-163 3.0 50 TDI quattro 282 155 5.5 38.7-40.4 183-191 3.0 S6 TDI quattro 344 155 5.0 36.2 203-205

A6 Avant 5dr estate £42,355–£116,624 AAAAC A capable and high-tech throwback that’s a timely reminder of what Audi does best. LxWxH 4939x1886x1467 Kerb weight 1710kg 2.0 40 TFSI 201 149 7.5 36.2-38.2 168-178 2.0 45 TFSI quattro 242 155 6.2 34-36.2 177-189 2.0 50 TFSIe quattro 294 155 6.2 217.3 31 4.0 RS6 quattro 596 155-174 3.6 21.9-22.6 283-294 2.0 40 TDI 201 149 8.3 45.6-49.6 150-162 2.0 40 TDI quattro 201 150 7.6 44.1-46.3 159-167 3.0 S6 TDI quattro 344 155 5.1 35.3 209

A7 Sportback 5dr coupé £54,265–£121,805 AAABC Easy on the eye and to live with, but let down by stolid dynamics. LxWxH 4969x1908x1422 Kerb weight 1880kg 2.0 45 TFSI quattro 242 155 6.2 35.3-36.2 177-183 2.0 50 TFSIe quattro 294 155 6.3 134.5-141.2 46-47 4.0 RS7 quattro 596 155-174 3.6 22.2-23.0 280-287 2.0 40 TDI 201 152 8.3 47.9-49.6 150-156

133-139

153-166

2.0 40 TFSI quattro 187 136 7.4 30.7-32.1 197-207

2.0 45 TFSI quattro 243 147 5.8 32.5-32.8 195

2.0 45 TFSIe 243 130 7.3 141.2 44-45

2.5 RS Q3 quattro 396 155 4.5 27.7-28.5 223-231

2.0 35 TDI 148 126 9.3 48.7-51.4 14552

2.0 35 TDI quattro 148 131 9.3 40.4-44.8 133-139

2.0 40 TDI quattro 197 139 7.3 38.2-39.8 173

Q4 E-tron 5dr SUV £43,290–£57,410 AAABC

Practical, pleasant and efficient – if not quite a superior premium product. LxWxH 4588x2108x1632 Kerb weight 1890kg 35 125k 168 99 9.0 201 0 40 150kW 201 99 8.5 307 0 50 quattro 220kW 296 111 6.2 298 0

Q4 E-tron Sportback 5dr SUV £46,190–£63,005 AAABC

Fastback variant of Audi’s mainstream electric SUV is agile and terrifically refined. LxWxH 4588x2108x1614 Kerb weight 1895kg 35 125kW 168 99 9.0 211 0 40 150kW 201 99 8.5 318 0 50 quattro 220kW 296 111 6.2 302 0

Q5 5dr SUV £47,045–£74,645 AAAAC

Appealing combination of Audi allure, affordable SUV practicality and attractiveness. LxWxH 4663x1893x1659 Kerb weight 1720kg

2.0 45 TFSI quattro 242 147 6.4 31.0-33.6 191-206

2.0 50 TFSIe quattro 249 148 6.1 128.4 49

2.0 40 TDI quattro 187 136 8.1 41.5-44.8 165-179

3.0 SQ5 TDI quattro 344 155 5.1 32.8-34.4 216-224

Q5 Sportback 5dr SUV £48,495–£77,095 AAABC Reduced accommodation and practicality, but still a refined and solid steer. LxWxH 4689x1893x1660 Kerb weight 2010-2150kg

2.0 45 TFSI quattro 263 149 6.1 31.7 - 33.6 192-202

2.0 50 TFSIe quattro 297 148 6.1 176.6 -188.3 36-38

2.0 40 TDI quattro 201 137 7.6 42.2 - 44.8 166-176

3.0 SQ5 TDI quattro 336 155 5.1 33.2 - 34.4 216 -222

Q7 5dr SUV £62,155–£99,840 AAAAC Unengaging to drive and light on feel, but the cabin is both huge and classy. LxWxH 5052x1968x1740 Kerb weight 2060kg

3.0 V6 55 TFSI quattro 338 155 5.9 25.4-27.4 233-253

3.0 V6 55 TFSIe quattro 376 149 5.9 108.6-113 56-58

4.0 SQ7 quattro 500 155 4.1 29.4-30.1 232 3.0 V6 45 TDI quattro 228 142 7.3 32.1-34.0 217-230 3.0 V6 50 TDI quattro 282 150 6.5 32.1-34.0 217-230 Q8 5dr SUV £70,340–£128,465 AAAAC Striking and effective coupé-SUV range-topper leaves us wanting more. LxWxH 4986x1995x1705 Kerb weight 2145kg 3.0 V6 55 TFSI

WHAT’S COMING WHEN

Power(bhp)Topspeed(mph)0-60/62mph CO2(g/km)

Lexus RX

On sale March, price £42,614

Lexus has rejuvenated its Volvo XC90 rival with a new platform, a revised look, an updated cabin and, for the first time, a plug-in hybrid option, bringing promised improvements in quality, ride comfort and refinement. The renewed 2.5-litre hybrid system can be had with 242bhp or 366bhp, while the PHEV offers 302bhp and an electric-only 40-mile range. A new torquevectoring 4WD system comes in too.

JANUARY

BMW i7, M3 Touring, Z4 update, Ineos Grenadier, Jaguar F-Type 75, Lamborghini Urus Performante, Urus S, Mercedes-Benz A-Class update, B-Class update, Morgan Plus Four update, Plus Six update, Polestar 2 BST Edition 270

FEBRUARY

Ferrari SP3 Daytona, Kia Soul EV Urban, Mazda CX-60 diesel, Mercedes-AMG C63, S63, Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV, Peugeot 408

MARCH

Alfa Romeo Tonale PHEV, Audi Q8 E-tron, Q8 E-tron Sportback, SQ8 E-tron, SQ8 E-tron Sportback, BYD Atto 3, Citroën ë-C4 X, DS 3, 3 E-Tense, Hyundai Ioniq 6, Lexus RX, Mazda CX-5 MHEV, Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV, Peugeot e-208 update, Vauxhall Astra GSe, Grandland GSe

APRIL

Alfa Romeo Giulia update, Stelvio update, Audi R8 GT RWD, TT RS Iconic Edition, BMW XM, Dacia Jogger Hybrid, Honda CR-V, Lexus RZ, Mercedes-Benz CLA update, Peugeot 3008 PHEV update, Porsche 911 Dakar, Porsche Cayenne update, Cayenne Coupé update, Skoda Enyaq iV vRS, Toyota Corolla update, Corolla Touring Sports update

MAY

Aiways U5, Alpine A110 R, BMW 7 Series PHEV, M2 Coupé, X5, X6, Honda e:Ny1, Maserati MC20 Cielo, Mercedes-Benz EQT, Noble M500, Peugeot 508 update, Vauxhall Mokka Electric update

JUNE

Abarth 500e, Aston Martin DB11 update, BMW M3 CS, Honda ZR-V, Lamborghini Aventador successor, Lexus UX 300e update, Lotus Eletre, Ora Funky Cat GT, Peugeot e-308, e-308 SW, Praga Bohema, Vauxhall Astra Electric, Astra Sports Tourer Electric

JULY

Chevrolet Corvette Z06, Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato, Maserati Granturismo, Munro Mk1, Peugeot 5008 Hybrid, Volkswagen ID 3 update

AUGUST

Ferrari Purosangue, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Lucid Air, Pagani Utopia, Smart #1, #1 Brabus

SEPTEMBER

Ford Mustang, Mustang Convertible, Jeep Avenger, Mercedes-Benz E-Class, Vauxhall Corsa update, Corsa Electric update

OCTOBER

Ford Puma ST Hybrid, Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, Maserati Granturismo Folgore, MG 4 EV AWD, Nio ET5, Porsche Panamera, Rolls-Royce Spectre, Volkswagen ID Aero, Touareg, Volvo EX30

NOVEMBER

Aston Martin DBS 770 Ultimate, Bentley Mulliner Batur, BMW 5 Series update, Czinger 21C, Ford E-Tourneo Custom, E-Transit Custom, Kia EV9, Koenigsegg CC850, Maserati Grecale Folgore, Mazda MX-30 REx, Ora Next Cat, Polestar 3, Renault Clio update, Ssangyong Torres, Subaru Crosstrek, Toyota bZ Compact, C-HR, Volkswagen ID Buzz GTX, ID Buzz LWB, Volvo C40 Recharge update, XC40 Recharge update

DECEMBER

Citroën C3, Ferrari SF90 VS, Fiat supermini, Ford electric crossover, Maserati Grancabrio, Mercedes-AMG GT, Mini 3dr, 5dr, Polestar 4, Renault Scenic, Skoda Superb, Suzuki Swift, Volkswagen Passat Estate, T-Cross update, Tiguan Mokka

Grandland 5dr SUV £26,720–£38,125 AAACC Does well to disguise its 3008 roots but too bland to stand out in a congested segment. LxWxH 4477x2098x1609 Kerb weight 1350kg

1.2 Turbo 130 128 117 10.9-11.1 45.6 141-147

1.6 Hybrid 223 140 8.6 192.0-210.0 34 1.5 Turbo D 130 128 119 10.2 54.3 136

Combo Electric Life 5dr MPV £31,110–£31,710 AAABC Van-based people carrier is usable, spacious and practical, and now electric-only. LxWxH 4403x1841x1921 Kerb weight 1474kg 50kWh 132 84 11.7 174 0

VOLKSWAGEN

Up 3dr/5dr hatch £13,940–£24,085 AAAAC It’s no revolution, but VW’s hallmarks are in abundance. LxWxH 3600x1428x1504 Kerb weight 926kg 1.0 65 64 100 15.6 54.3 119 1.0 115 GTI 113 119 8.8 51.4 125-126 e-Up 81 80 12.4 159 0

Polo 5dr hatch £18,855–£27,805 AAAAC A thorough going-over makes it more mature, but the Polo is still a bit boring. LxWxH 4053x1946x1461 Kerb weight 1105kg 1.0 80 78 106 15.4 51.4 125 1.0 TSI 95 93 116 10.8 48.7-53.3 120-127 1.0 TSI 110 108 121 9.9 53.3-54.3 118-119 2.0 TSI GTI 204 149 6.5 39.8-41.5 155

Golf 5dr hatch £25,340–£42,190 AAAAB New strengths and familiar ones carry it back to the class lead, but only marginally. LxWxH 4284x1789x1492 Kerb weight 1231kg 1.0 TSI 110 108 126 10.2 53.3 121

51.4-53.3 121-124

50.4-51.4 124-128

201 137 7.4 235.4 21-26

27-28

242 155 6.4 38.2 169

Power(bhp)Topspeed(mph)0-60/62mph CO2(g/km)

Economy(MPG/range) Economy(MPG/range) Economy(MPG/range)

T-Cross 5dr SUV £22,130–£30,150 AAAAB Compact crossover delivers a classy, substantial feel on UK roads. LxWxH 4108x1760x1584 Kerb weight 1270kg 1.0 TSI 95 93 112 11.5 47.9 132-133 1.0 TSI 110 108 117 9.9-10.4 42.8-48.7 132-149 1.5 TSI Evo 150 147 124 8.5 46.3-47.1 136-138

Taigo 5dr SUV £23,155–£30,555 AAABC Crossover-coupé-SUV-type thing fills a niche. Likeable enough. LxWxH 4266x1757x1518 Kerb weight 1407kg 1.0 TSI 95 95 114 11.1 51.4 124

1.0 TSI 110 110 119 10.4 51.4-52.3 124-125

1.5 TSI 150 150 132 8.3 47.9 138

T-Roc 5dr SUV/open £25,810–£41,750 AAAAC VW’s junior SUV is beguiling and sophisticated. It drives rather well, too. LxWxH 4234x1992x1573 Kerb weight 1270kg

1.0 TSI 110 108 115 10.8 43.5-46.3 133-146

1.5 TSI Evo 150 148 127 8.3-9.6 40.9-47.9 144-158

2.0 TSI 4Motion 188 135 7.2 36.2 177-178

2.0 TSI R 300 4Motion 298 155 4.9 31.7 201

2.0 TDI 115 113 116 10.4 56.5-60.1 137-146

2.0 TDI 150 148 124 8.8-10.8 50.4-53.3 140-146

Tiguan 5dr SUV £29,550–£48,540 AAAAC An improvement on the previous model and will continue to sell by the bucketload. LxWxH 4486x1839x1654 Kerb weight 1490kg

1.5 TSI Evo 130 128 119 10.2 44.1-44.8 143-146

1.5 TSI Evo 150 148 126 9.2-9.3 38.2-42.2 143-168

1.4 eHybrid 242 127 7.5 148-176 36-44

2.0 TSI 4Motion 188 133 7.4 33.2-34.0 187-192

2.0 TSI R 316 155 4.9 28.5 225 2.0 TDI 150 148 125-127 9.3 47.1-50.4 146-157 2.0 TDI 150 4Motion 148 124-125 9.3 43.5-45.6 163-171 2.0 TDI 200 4Motion 197 134 7.5 42.8 172-177

Tiguan Allspace 5dr SUV £33,785–£45,520 AAAAC

Power(bhp)Topspeed(mph)0-60/62mph CO2(g/km)

167

197 152 7.1 54.3 137 Golf Estate 5dr estate £26,690–£44,535 AAAAC Wagon puts on a growth spurt and adopts the eighth-generation hatchback’s tech. LxWxH 4633x1789x1497 Kerb weight 1295kg

TSI 110 108 126 10.5 51.4 124 1.5 TSI 130 128 133 9.4 52.4 123 1.5 TSI 150 148 139 8.7 49.6 128 2.0 TSI R 4Motion 316 155 4.9 35.8 178 2.0 TDI 115 113 126 10.5 64.2 114 2.0 TDI 150 148 139 9.1 61.4 121 2.0 TDI 4Motion Alltrack 198 142 7.1 50.4 147 ID 3 5dr hatch £33,835–£40,550 AAAAC A very mature electric car whose substance of engineering is central to its appeal. LxWxH 4261x1809x1568 Kerb weight 1730kg 107kW 58kWh 143 99 9.6 263 0 150kW 58kWh 201 99 7.3 261 0 150kW 77kWh 201 99 7.9 336 0

Passat 4dr saloon £28,205–£40,820 AAAAC Lands blows on rivals with its smart looks, civilised refinement, quality and usability. LxWxH 4767x2083x1476 Kerb weight 1367kg 1.5 TSI Evo 150 148 137 8.7 46.3-47.9 139-146 1.4 TSI GTE PHEV 215 138 7.4 217.3 30 2.0 TDI 122 120 127 11.3 58.91 125 2.0 TDI 150 148 139 8.9 58.9-60.1 124-127 2.0 TDI 200 197 147 7.4 53.3 138

Passat Estate 5dr estate £32,215–£43,770 AAAAC

All the Passat’s redeeming features in spacious, practical estate form. LxWxH 4767x2083x1516 Kerb weight 1395kg

1.5 TSI Evo 150 148 133 8.9 44.8-45.6 144-151

1.4 TSI GTE PHEV 215 138 7.6 201.8 33 2.0 TDI 122 120 123 11.5 57.6 129 2.0 TDI 150 148 130-132 9.1 56.5-57.6 128-132 2.0 TDI 200 197 145 7.6 52.3 143

Arteon 4dr saloon £38,255–£55,210 AAABC VW’s flagship saloon is well made and luxurious but rather bland to drive. LxWxH 4862x1871x1450 Kerb weight 1505kg 1.5 TSI 150 148 137 8.9 42.8-44.8 144-151 2.0 TSI 190 187 149 7.9 36.2-38.2 168-178 1.4 TSI eHybrid 218 138 7.8 217.3 30-31 2.0 TSI R 4Motion 316 155 4.9 31.0 207 2.0 TDI 150

Has all the Tiguan’s sensibility and refinement, now with the bonus of seven seats. LxWxH 4486x1839x1654 Kerb weight 1490kg

TSI Evo 150 148 123 9.5-10.0 37.2-39.2 164-176

TSI 4Motion 188 132 7.7 32.5 193

TDI 150 148 126 9.7 44.8-47.1 164-165

TDI 150 4Motion 148 123-124 9.8 41.5 177-179

TDI 200 4Motion 197 132 na 40.4-41.5 176-184

4 5dr SUV £36,550–£57,270 AAAAC Impressively refined and versatile SUV marks VW out as a maker of

electric cars. LxWxH 4584x1852x1640 Kerb weight 1890kg

52kWh 148 99 10.9 213 0

170 99 9.0 213 0

77kWh 204 99 8.5 317 0

GTX 299 112 6.2 301 0 Touareg 5dr SUV £59,690–£71,170 AAAAC Hints of ritziness and sportiness don’t impinge on this functional luxury SUV’s appeal. LxWxH 4878x2193x1717 Kerb weight 1995kg 3.0 V6 TSI 340 335 155 5.9 25.2-25.7 249-252 3.0 V6 R 4Motion PHEV 462 155 5.1 97.4 66-68 3.0 V6 TDI 231 228 135 7.5 33.6-34.4 214-219 3.0 V6 TDI 286 282 148 6.1 33.6-34.9 213-219 VOLVO S60 4dr saloon £44,580–£56,480 AAAAC Fresh-faced saloon now sits comfortably among the ranks of its German peers. LxWxH 4761x1916x1437 Kerb weight 1616kg 2.0 B5P 246 112 6.7 41.5 153 2.0 T8 Recharge PHEV 384 112 4.6 122.8-176.5 42

V60 5dr estate £41,325–£55,630 AAAAB Spacious and comfortable, with a characterful, Scandi-cool design. LxWxH 4761x1916x1427 Kerb weight 1729kg 2.0 B3 161 112 9.1 40.9 155 2.0 B4 197 112 8.0 41.5 152 2.0 B5 246 112 6.8-6.9 37.7-40.4 157-170 2.0 B6 297 112 6.0 36.2 175 2.0 T6 Recharge PHEV 335 112 4.6 362.6 18 2.0 B4D 197 112 7.6 47.0-50.4 146-156

V60 Cross Country 5dr estate £46,105–£50,595 AAAAC Brings extra ride height, all-wheel drive and off-road body cladding. LxWxH 4784x1916x1499 Kerb weight 1792kg 2.0 B5P 248 112 6.9 35.8 180 2.0 B4D 197 112 8.2 47.9 155

S90 4dr saloon £63,075–£67,825 AAAAC Volvo’s mid-sized exec majors on comfort, style and cruising ability. LxWxH 4963x2019x1443 Kerb weight 1665kg 2.0 T8 Recharge PHEV 384 112 5.1 na na

V90 5dr estate £44,725–£68,525 AAAAC Luxury estate takes on the 5 Series and the E-Class. Comfy and a good cruiser. LxWxH 4936x2019x1475 Kerb weight 1679kg 2.0 B4P 197 112 7.9 40.9 158 2.0 B5P 246 112 6.9 36.6-40.4 159-175 2.0 B6P 297 112 6.2 34.4-36.2 178-184

240 na na na na

ZENVO

TSR-S 2dr coupé £1,300,000 AAAAC

Danish supercar employs a hammer-blow V8 and extreme aerodynamics. LxWxH 4815x2038x1198 Dry weight 1495kg 5.8 S/C V8 Auto 1177 202 2.8 na na

ROAD TEST

A road test in any other magazine might well be a short, subjective summary of a new car produced under almost any circumstances, but the Autocar road test is different. Specific, rigorous and detailed, it’s the closest examination we can give of any new model. It appears over at least eight pages and is close to 50 man-hours in the making every week.

Most of what the road test process entails is designed to be strictly repeatable and fair. We benchmark standing-start and in-gear acceleration at a purpose-built test facility every week. We carry out both subjective and objective handling tests on both road and track, on the latter up to and beyond the limit of grip, so as to fully assess stability, drivability and limit handling appeal. And while benchmark lap times are sometimes taken, they’re never an end in themselves.

We record and publish stopping distances, too, as well as taking cabin noise measurements at various cruising speeds and benchmarking either indicated or brim-to-brim fuel economy. We independently measure leg room, head room, boot space and certain key exterior vehicle dimensions, and we also weigh every car we test.

Just as every new car is different, however, the road test has developed to be versatile enough, week by week, so as to best assess and reflect the suitability of each test subject to its intended purpose. It now includes modular sections describing in detail the limit handling of a new car, or its semi-autonomous assisted driving technologies or its off-road capability.

All of this goes to bringing you the most thorough, relevant and fair test of a new car we can produce. The scores from the most recent road tests reproduced here are the ones we gave the cars at the time so they don’t necessarily represent what those same cars might score today were they rejudged using current class standards. But you can dig deeper into their attributes by using the magazine publication dates listed here to look up an old test in your own collection or you can order a back issue by phoning 0344 848 8816.

Matt Saunders, road test editor

To adapt the saloon’s chassis for estate car use, the floorpan, roof, pillars and damper attachments were strengthened, while revised

The boot was flat-floored but high of lip and compromised for volume and practicality by intrusive wheel wells.

Although lacking the finish of German rivals, the interior was attractive and ergonomically sound for the most part.

FOR Looks, value, performance, handling, brakes AGAINST Lack of space, steering kickback

suspension coped well with heavy loads.

The latest and greatest rated as only Autocar knows how

SLIDESHOW

Vehicles that became part of American popular culture

In most cases, a car is a car. The average driver wants little more than something that starts, goes, stops and won’t kill them in a crash. Sometimes, though, a tool of transportation becomes an icon that transcends the decades as it permeates every faction of society. Here are some of those that have left their mark – for better or worse – on American popular culture.

Volkswagen Type 2 1949

Volkswagen didn’t design the Type 2 as an icon. It was simply a cheap and robust method of hauling gear, people and sometimes both. Vans were in hot demand in Europe during the 1940s and the 1950s as nations took on the arduous task of rebuilding their cities and infrastructures after World War II. In the US, the ‘Bus’ became a symbol of the hippie movement during the 1960s. It sometimes wore psychedelic paint jobs, a feature later adopted by another pop culture icon: the Mystery Machine that stars in Scooby-Doo. The romanticised association with counter-culture helped the Type 2 rise to prominence on the classic car market. Ironically, it also blasted prices beyond the six-digit threshold.

DeLorean DMC-12 1981

The DeLorean DMC-12 could have been the type of obscure, esoteric car that stood out only through the scope of its failures. Instead, it achieved icon status when it became a time machine in the 1985 movie Back to the Future. The car used by Doc Brown needs to hit 88mph to activate its flux capacitor and initiate time travel. The regular-production DMC-12, meanwhile, settled for a 2.8-litre V6 engine shared with numerous Peugeot, Renault and Volvo models.

Alfa Romeo Spider 1966

Dustin Hoffman drove a Spider in the 1967 movie The Graduate. It didn’t play a significant role, and he could have driven another drop-top like the Fiat 124 Spider without changing anything in the plot, but the movie became a hit, in turn elevating the ‘Duetto’ to star status. Alfa Romeo tried to make the most of its fame when it introduced an entry-level version of the Spider named Graduate in 1985. Talk of a reborn model is never far away.

Ford Crown Victoria 1991

The Crown Vic was old-fashioned even when new. Its target audience included pensioners, taxi drivers and every law-enforcement agency in the US. Rivals gradually downsized and moved to monocoque and front drive for reasons of cost and demand, but Ford stayed the course. Cops loved that its body-on-frame structure made it easier to fix after the rough and tumble of highway duty. A yellow one arriving means you have a ride home; a white one in your mirrors could mean trouble.

Toyota Prius 1997

The Honda Insight may have been the first mainstream petrol-electric hybrid car, but the Prius trumped it. No one knew what to make of the original Prius. Some predicted that it would follow the General Motors EV1 into obscurity, but it became the poster child of the eco-car sector and a quick way for celebrities to broadcast their environmental awareness. It has since earned itself a secondary cultural status as the way that many people get home on a Friday night, via Uber.

Tesla Model S 2012

Tesla’s first car, the Roadster, used the bones of the Lotus Elise, but the Model S that followed was designed entirely in-house. It was an expensive decision that could have broken the firm, but instead it paid dividends, in spite of teething problems. More than just another car, this saloon became the global symbol for affluent, eco-friendly drivers – and showed everyone that battery-electric power could indeed be the future.

Ford F-Series 1948

Pick-up trucks are permanently woven into the fabric of America, having reigned supreme for decades. Their sales closely tally with the usually buoyant US construction market, as especially in crew-cab form they can easily be used for tough work during the week and then leisure on the weekends. Rivals vie for the top spot, but the Ford F-Series still reigns, having been the nation’s best-selling vehicle for 41 consecutive years.