Table of contents for May 29, 2024 in Autocar

BYD WANTS TO replace London’s Routemaster bus with its new electric doubledecker, which is aimed at cutting costs for operators while boosting ride comfort and slashing charge times. The Chinese firm’s latest electric bus, called the BD11, arrives 11 years after BYD first launched a bus in the UK and shortly after it delivered its 1800th bus here. Its fleet has now racked up more than 18 million miles in service. The BD11 has a total battery capacity of up to 532kWh, which is the largest of any electric commercial vehicle currently available in the UK. Usable capacity is pegged at 457kWh, and although BYD has yet to confirm a range, it said the bus will travel more than 0.9 miles per kWh, suggesting a usable range of more than…

NISSAN’S UK FACTORY is primed to start production of the next-generation Leaf from March next year as part of a £2 billion transformation of the Sunderland plant. Morphing from hatchback to crossover, as previewed by 2021’s Chill Out concept, the Leaf will be built alongside the Juke and Qashqai and their all-electric successors, which are due over the coming years. The current-generation Leaf ended production in March, and work has already begun on incorporating a new battery installation station onto the production line. Six-month production trials will begin in August, and if all goes smoothly the line will be ready to take its first Leaf models from as early as March 2025, so wraps are likely to come off the car towards the end of this year. Nissan is investing…

MORE YOUNG PEOPLE are driving without car insurance as their premiums reach a record high, with those living in London paying the most. Road safety charity IAM RoadSmart says the number of drivers aged 17 to 20 punished for driving without insurance increased from 2902 in 2021 to 6316 in 2023 – a 118% increase. An IN10 licence endorsement – the code for ‘using a vehicle uninsured against third-party risks on a licence’ – stays on a driving record for four years from the offence. The charity says the increase coincides with rapidly rising premiums, and it is asking the government to halve insurance premium tax for young drivers and zero-rate it for those who undertake further training. It also wants current road safety strategy updated to focus on skills…

Brooklands, Donington Park, Silverstone, Goodwood, Brands Hatch. All are celebrated for their contributions to the rich tapestry of grand prix racing heritage in Britain. But there’s one venue that’s too easily overlooked, perhaps because it hosted the British Grand Prix so long ago and has no obvious sign or acknowledgement of its past today. Aintree will always primarily be the home of the Grand National, the world’s most famous steeplechase. But between 1954 and 1964, it was also a course for other types of horses. The British GP was held here five times, sharing the race with Silverstone, in 1955, ’57, ’59, ’61 and ’62, before Brands Hatch first hosted in 1964. This month, keeper of the flame the Aintree Circuit Club organised a delightful celebration to mark the first…

Whether it’s a boulevard cruiser, something to rumble down a motorway or a proper muscle car that will wake up the neighbours on a Sunday morning, everyone has their own idea about what they think the Ford Mustang should be. But there has always been one common denominator: it being among the cheapest ways to bag yourself a V8-engined coupé. This new seventh iteration, codenamed S650, is no different. With prices starting at £55,725 for the GT model, it’s £10,105 less than the BMW M2 and £19,399 less than the Porsche 718 Cayman GTS. Even the more powerful Dark Horse variant – from £67,995 – is well priced given it has a suite of trackoriented upgrades (although only 7bhp more over here owing to UK and EU emissions regulations). Ford…

TESTED 15.5.24, SOUTH MORAVIA, CZECH REPUBLIC ON SALE NOW Skoda Octavia buyers, it seems, have scant regard for fashion. That’s not to say their wardrobes are full of faded hand-me-downs, but they do seem to love an estate – because in an era when car firms are ditching such machines due to falling sales, Skoda fans keep buying them. Around a third of sales of the original Octavia were estates, and that number has increased with every new version. So far, 67% of sales of the fourth-generation car that arrived in 2020 have gone to the big-booted version. That proportion is lower in the UK, but Skoda still shifts more of them here than the hatchback (which I tested last week in 1.5-litre petrol form). Even with the updated styling,…

Everyone loves a bargain. Whether it’s a ‘buy one get one free’ supermarket offer, a closing-down sale or unearthing a hidden gem in an antique shop, the thrill of beating the system is hard to top, and all the more so in the midst of a cost of living crisis. It’s no different when buying a used car – and the good news is that, following a few years of sticky new car supply chains forcing up the values of second-hand stock, prices are finally starting to drop. As a result, there are some real steals to be found when scouring the showrooms or combing through the classifieds. To give you a taste of what’s possible, we’ve picked out 48 candidates from a number of sectors, and all have one…

MILEAGE 24,573 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To find out if this hybrid can strike the sweet spot between car and van They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder, and in the case of our Toyota Corolla Commercial, that’s definitely true. Getting back behind the wheel after a few months away has made me really appreciate a car – sorry, van – that I initially thought was the most boring thing ever fitted with four wheels. None of the cars I drove in my time away were bad. In fact, some were downright excellent. But they all had their niggles, and I couldn’t stop comparing them with our Corolla. The only cars I drove during that period of time that rode better were the Ford Ranger Raptor (to be…

Unfit for purpose Michael Appleyard’s appraisal of the viability of hydrogen as a car fuel isn’t entirely even-handed. First, the efficiency figures he quotes take no account of the generation and transmission of the electricity being used for hydrogengenerating electrolysis or battery charging. The vast majority of proposed hydrogen production facilities use renewable energy generated on-site. Charging an EV for most of us uses electricity that has been generated a long way away, and even if it has been generated renewably, it has been subject to transmission losses that make a nonsense of the claim that it’s a 90%-efficient process. Second, efficiency itself isn’t the issue – cost is. If hydrogen can be made cheaply enough, it doesn’t matter how much green electricity it takes to do it. The cost…

With the Bentley Bentayga approaching its 10th anniversary, some 2016-and 2017-registered cars are now within striking distance of £50,000. Of course, you must add running costs to that. How about, for the popular 6.0 W12 petrol version, £700 a year road tax and 19mpg, plus servicing? Still, read Autocar’s summary of the 600bhp W12 and you may still be tempted: “The 6.0 W12 must simply be acclaimed as one of the most complete and compelling luxury products in the world.” Launched in 2016, this version was the first Bentayga out of the traps. The 2.4-tonne SUV, which has four-wheel drive, dispatches 0-62mph in 4.0sec. Standard-fit, adaptive air suspension, active anti-roll control systems and a range of driving modes ensure it rarely feels flustered, although this magazine noted that it can…

IN 1984, AUTOCAR introduced a new column in which famous people of all kinds would discuss their motoring lives – often with surprising and amusing results. First was actor Rowan Atkinson, who was three years into owning an Aston Martin Vantage. “They are very difficult cars to get to know – very, very British and old-fashioned. And for just that reason, I love them,” he said. Having found fame with a comedy record about a motor, Alexei Sayle bought a Rover P5 Coupé: “I really wanted one in black, cos they look really evil. It’s got to be something British, hasn’t it? I would never buy a Porsche or anything – they’re crap. Well, the people who drive them are.” Nightclub owner Peter Stringfellow was one – or rather he…

Porsche has electrified the 911 with a new hybrid flat six developed with learnings from the Le Mans-winning 919 race car. The new T-Hybrid petrol-electric system is the headline addition for the facelifted seventh-generation 911, which will go on UK sale in September. The set-up features an allnew turbocharged 3.6-litre six-cylinder boxer engine, a gearbox-mounted electric motor and a compact liquidcooled lithium ion battery. Together, they provide the restyled rear-wheel-drive 911 GTS – which sits beneath the hardcore Turbo and GT3 and will be the first model to receive the drivetrain – with 534bhp and up to 450lb ft. Those outputs represent increases of 60bhp and 30lb ft over the previous model, which used a twinturbo 3.0-litre six-cylinder. Porsche claims a 0.4sec reduction in the 0-62mph time, at 3.0sec. It…

JEEP’S AVENGER line-up has gained a range-topping 4xe variant, which brings plug-in hybrid power and adds fourwheel drive for the first time. The 4xe joins EV, mildhybrid and petrol versions of the baby SUV, combining a 1.2-litre petrol engine with two electric motors – one on the rear axle and one in the six-speed automatic gearbox – in a 135bhp, AWD arrangement that allows for 0-62mph in 9.5sec and enhanced off-road ability. It also gets knobbly tyres and 10mm more ride height, which improves off-road angles and boosts wading depth to 400mm, while waterproof seats, a rear tow hook and chunky ‘antiscratch’ bodywork further enhance off-road credentials. It will be in the UK by October and is expected to slot between the existing MHEV and EV Avengers at around £30,000.…

CARS COMPETING IN this year’s Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup series will run on fuel that Porsche describes as “near carbon-neutral”. The fuel is produced at the Haru Oni plant in Chile and created by synthesising renewable hydrogen made from electrolysis using wind-generated electricity. The CO2 also used to make the fuel comes from bio sources, although in future it will come from direct air capture (DAC). The series has been run since 2021 using a second-generation, bio-based, partially synthetic fuel, but this year’s trial will be a first for the fully synthetic renewable fuel in its pure form. Unlike production Porsches, the ECUs of which all share a stock engine map, the race cars’ ECUs are mapped manually, and Porsche says they have been programmed to suit the renewable fuel.…

THE HYBRID replacement for the Lamborghini Huracán will arrive in August, packing one of the highest-revving and most powerful V8s yet installed in a road car. Codenamed 634, the new Ferrari 296 rival will combine its twin-turbo 4.0-litre eight-pot with three electric motors to give a total output expected to be far in excess of 900bhp. The new engine has been developed entirely inhouse by Lamborghini and promises to emit a raucous soundtrack that “creates an all-encompassing sensory experience”. THE BIG NUMBERS 10,000rpm New V8’s redline is higher than screaming V10-engined Lexus LFA. 789bhp Engine drops two cylinders but gains a pair of turbos to outpunch old V10. 538lb ft Engine’s torque output is higher than even a straight-six diesel Range Rover. 148bhp Supplied by a trio of electric motors,…

oday I was driving through Bakewell town centre. A lorry was coming As I neared the road on the left (pictured below), a car approached the T-junction, clearly preparing, and able, to stop at the ‘give way’ line. I was doing 20-25mph, my foot on neither pedal, in zero-regen mode in a Kia EV9, in my lane. There was no impending drama; it was the kind of scenario you find in any town, on any day. Until, that is, my car perceived a threat – presumably a combination of the car from the left and the oncoming lorry – saw no exit route and automatically emergency braked me to a standstill across the front of the T-junction. It took no time at all. To the surprise of not only onlookers…

For a car that is now entering its fourth generation and has racked up 5.6 million sales over the past 22 years, the Citroën C3 is remarkably short of a noteworthy model in its history. Try Googling the Mk2, in particular, to see if it rings any bells. The C3 is a bit like the Nissan Micra in that regard: a notable name that has achieved real longevity yet has never been associated with a particularly memorable model. Perhaps no more, because the C3 badge is at last being used on a car with a real story attached: an EV called the ë-C3 that has a meaningful range of 200 miles and, at less than £22,000, is considerably cheaper than its electric supermini rivals. Could this be a watershed moment…

To replace its departing W12 engine, Bentley is introducing a V8 plug-in hybrid powertrain. Badged Speed, it is at the heart of this new-generation Continental GT, the fourth version of Bentley’s staple four-seat grand tourer since 2003 – and makes it the company’s most powerful car yet. Combined, the 4.0-litre twinturbo petrol engine and electric motor make 771bhp and 738lb ft of torque – or, working alone, the motor gives up to 188bhp for more than 50 miles. All four wheels are driven (but the rears are heavily favoured) through an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox. The late prototype I’m driving is still wearing a disguise, but I’m told there is some carryover glass and metal from the Mk3 Continental. I’d wondered whether that meant this was a mildly tweaked car,…

Ten minutes from BMW’s Garching test centre, north of Munich, I realise that as goes personal transport for the modern Bavarian family, this is surely the Platonic ideal. Office blocks have petered out, replaced by postcard-perfect commuter hamlets. The sun shines, fields are impossibly green in that way unique to central Europe and these undulating country roads are smoother than Barry White’s larynx. The transport itself is the latest in a three-decade line of longsnouted, big-booted BMWs and the most serene there has ever been. These circumstances are of course precisely as BMW’s PR bods planned them for the launch of the electric i5 Touring. And fair play to them. In such a flawless setting, it’s hard not to be won over by the highest-profile estate so far to enter…

When Skoda design boss Oliver Stefani was presented with a car on his birthday 18 months ago, it was the last thing he expected. “This was a very funny story in the beginning because the designers started this as a lunchtime project,” he says. “I didn’t know anything about it until the team showed me this concept on my birthday.” The man in charge of Skoda’s design future was amazed by the first sketches and animations of his team’s latest creation: an outlandish single-seat racing car featuring an all-electric powertrain. But surely Skoda – a brand with a long history of producing comfortable and robust family cars – couldn’t roll out a wild electric sports car? So rather than turn the concept car into a production model, Skoda approached Polyphony,…

MILEAGE 3286 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see if this capable new crossover can be more than just a niche product Living on the outskirts of London doesn’t give a huge amount of opportunity to test the Crosstrek’s ability off the beaten track. I’ve tackled the occasional chalky South Downs car park when out walking the dog a little further afield, and that’s been about it so far. But the company’s symmetrical four-wheel drive system has long been one of Subaru’s main selling points – and, it reckons, one of most buyers’ key criteria – so when I discovered that the brand had organised an event to introduce its current range to a group of assembled journos, complete with a proper off-road course, I jumped at the chance to take…

In the 15 May Letter of the Week, in which he says there’s no hope for hydrogen, Michael Appleyard seems very fond of referring to elephants in the room. However, he hasn’t mentioned a fourth elephant that changes the impact of the three he’s considering: the increasing amount of electricity being generated from renewable sources with the aim of reducing gas power to nothing. The main sources of renewable energy have one major flaw: if the sun isn’t shining, solar panels don’t generate, and if the wind isn’t blowing, wind turbines don’t generate, and those are often periods of high energy demand – but they do generate when there is low demand for electricity. Green hydrogen production is an effective solution for using that excess energy, which can then be…

An owner’s view GORDON GRAY “I have owned Bentleys for 25 years and currently have three. None of my cars has ever failed me. I’ve owned my Bentayga W12 for two and a half years. It was registered in 2018 and has covered 45,000 miles. I use it to tow my boat, which it does superbly. I don’t want to think what it does to the gallon when it does so, but on its own it does 19mpg. Although it had a full Bentley service history when I bought it, I have it serviced by an independent specialist close to me in Exeter. The most recent, 40,000-mile service cost £700.” Buyer beware… SERVICING Bentley’s two-year inspection finance plan stops at 2017-reg cars. For a 2017-reg Bentayga, it charges £135 per…

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…

The radical new BMW Concept Skytop, unveiled at the Villa d’Este Concours d’Elegance, previews styling and packaging ideas for a luxurious twoseat GT in the mould of the legendary Z8 – complete with a petrol V8 engine. The upmarket open-top, which features a removable Targa-style roof and an integral roll-over hoop, is described as a one-off design exercise but appears relatively close to being showroom-ready, and BMW suggests it could make production pending a positive reception. “The BMW Concept Skytop is a unique and exotic design,” said BMW design boss Adrian van Hooydonk. “It offers a combination of dynamics and elegance at the highest level, comparable to its ancestors, like the BMW Z8 or BMW 503.” The Villa d’Este concours, inaugurated in 1929 and held annually on the shores of…

Honda is working on a Tesla Model 3-rivalling saloon as one of seven radical new electric cars that it plans to bring to market by 2030. The saloon is part of the firm’s new 0 Series, which represents a total reset of how the firm develops EVs. The seven 0 Series cars will prioritise weight reduction and aerodynamic performance and stand out for “the joy of driving”, said the company. Honda is developing the models with a “thin” ethos, minimising the number of parts used in each model and adopting lightweight aluminium chassis structures. Those chassis will eventually be die-casted to reduce part complexity and therefore weight and costs. Each will be driven by a pair of e-axles, comprising a motor, inverter and gearbox within a single unit and providing…

Citroën has ruled out smaller and larger models in its future line-up and will instead focus on cars in Europe’s largest mainstream segments. Speaking to Autocar, CEO Thierry Koskas said the brand “needs to be in the main segments, not niche segments”. This in effect confirms that in future the range would start with the B-segment C3, with the Ami below it (see separate story, right), and end with the C-segment C5 Aircross. Koskas said Citroën has no plans for a replacement for the C1 due to an inability to make it profitable, and he essentially ruled out a replacement for the D-segment C5 X that is “not performing badly but is in a segment that’s non-existent”. He added: “Citroën needs to be in the B-and C-segments as this is…

MONDAY Guess what? I’ve bought a Ford Ranger Raptor. Not any old Raptor, though: I now own the very same machine, coloured Code Orange and with 13,000 miles on the clock, that has been in the benign ownership of fellow columnist and podjockey Mr Matthew Prior for the past few months as a long-term test car. In this very magazine he writes a poignant goodbye (it’s on p54), although for him it need not now be so final. He can borrow it any time. Some time ago I reckoned our household deserved a fourth car, something a bit off the wall. I fell in love with Raptors long ago and drove one a lot last Christmas. I love the shape and size, the indestructibility and the Fordness (I was practically…

Ford has killed off the Fiesta and rival firms have taken the initiative by trying to make a new supermini that becomes the default choice in the class. New Renault Clio, Suzuki Swift and MG 3 models have all been launched in recent months to try to take the Fiesta’s old crown, and now the new Citroën C3 is making its bid. My abiding recent memories of Citroën superminis is of them being rather squishy and imprecise, masquerading behind a comfortabove-everything-else brief. The new C3 is a big step forward from that. Take the gearbox. I will always remember a former colleague referring to the manual in the C3 Picasso as a random number generator, yet in the new C3 there’s a lovely weight to the clutch and a real…

The Transit Custom is Britain’s best-selling van, only here it’s electric. It stands to reason, then, that if Ford can’t convince its customers there’s a future in electric commercial vehicles, then perhaps no one will. The importance of the E-Transit Custom cannot, therefore, be overemphasised. The fundamentals are strong, as they tend to be with the Transit, with a new grille design to differentiate it from the recently updated diesel-engined Transit. As a diesel the Custom oozes masculinity – on the whole a plus for your average van driver – but in electric form it’s softer and more futuristic, perhaps smarter, even. For most buyers a van is a tool for work, and the case in favour of the electric Custom is compelling beyond purely the eco credentials of a…

Given that the Renault Scenic E-Tech Electric was awarded the 2024 Car of the Year title a couple of months ago, beating a very decent group of competitors, you would think this good-looking electric family crossover would have very little to prove when it arrives in UK showrooms next month. But there are already excellent class rivals established in the market (Kia Niro EV, Skoda Enyaq et al) and there’s the well-publicised slowdown in EV sales to be overcome. Also vital to any new model here is how it copes with our uniquely bad roads, which is why this early local test is important. Renault has made the Scenic line-up as simple as possible. There are three trim levels (Techno, Esprit Alpine and Iconic) with slightly different characters and prices…

MODEL TESTED FWD PREMIUM PLUS DESIGN Price £35,605 Power 134bhp Torque na 0-60mph 8.4sec 30-70mph 8.4sec Fuel economy 52.7mpg CO2 emissions 103g/km 70-0mph 47.2m Why couldn’t you have a small luxury car? If you’re not burdened with a lot of people or stuff to carry, you might still want something with high-end interior materials, sound insulation and ride comfort, while also enjoying the zippiness and easy manoeuvrability of a compact car. It sounds like an obvious idea, but it’s one that very few manufacturers have ever put into practice, and fewer still have been able to make a commercial success of. Only Mini has really been able to convince sufficient numbers of buyers to pay more for a small car. The first generation of Audi A1 did quite well, but the…

“I’m routinely passing through the magic300-mile barrier” FIRST REPORT WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT A switch from FWD to RWD brings better range, efficiency and drivability – but what about everyday appeal? Sometimes in this job, we go on drives in cars that we don’t end up writing about because we’ve told you everything you need to know about it already. I had one such drive late last year in a Polestar 2 – a car then recently facelifted and a few weeks earlier subjected to a full Autocar road test. I had some time in it before a flight home following the inaugural Polestar Day in Los Angeles, where the Swedish electric car maker unveiled its future model plans and strategy. What I had thought would be a chance to…

MILEAGE 4420 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT This hi-vis EV could be the future of hot hatches. Should we be excited? An industry colleague who attended the launch of the 500e last year told one of Abarth’s engineers how poor the car’s low-speed manoeuvrability and refinement was, and he was consequently reassured that these issues would be fixed for production. I don’t think they were. Something so tightly packaged and city-centric should be a doddle to manage in congested areas and to park with abandon in cramped spaces, but I drove a new Ford Transit Custom van home recently and can quite honestly say I found it easier to parallel park. It’s not that Abarth’s little hot hatch is particularly cumbersome or unwieldy – quite the opposite. Its short overhangs, excellent…

ROAD TRIP Sorento around Iceland How tough is an everyday family SUV? We find out by taking Kia’s latest on an epic drive near an active volcano FIRST DRIVE Porsche Taycan Rear-driven version of heavily updated EV class leader lands in the UK FEATURE Blower Jr driven What looks like a retro scale replica is in fact a road-legal Citroën Ami rival EVERY WEEK ROAD TEST Volkswagen Touareg VW’s biggest SUV is meant to offer space and comfort. Does it succeed? USED GUIDE Rover Mini New Mini Cooper too big for you? Get your hands on a true original SUBSCRIBE autocar.co.uk/subscribe or see p44…

I was sat at the traffic lights today behind a tidy MGF, waiting to turn. It raised my spirits, even though the driver hadn’t been brave enough to lower the roof despite the sun being out. Summer will be here eventually and very soon everyone will be shopping for convertibles, if they aren’t already. So here’s a few you should be looking at. Peugeots, simply because there are a lot to choose from and they are quite striking. A coupé-convertible roof is convenient in our climate but it is essential to triple-check that it is working properly. They’re decent value, though. For instance, here’s a 207 CC 1.6 GT with 74,000 miles from 2007. It’s described by the dealer as a clean example that is good to drive and low…

When a new engine layout becomes popular, it tends to hang around for a very long time. The straight eight is a rare exception. Introduced just after World War I, it was widely adopted for road and racing cars but fell out of favour in the ’50s, in part because of its length compared with other engines. But during that short period, it inspired some truly grand cars. Bugatti Royale 1927 Five years after introducing a straight eight of modest size, Bugatti created the largest engine of this layout ever used in a production car. Conceived at the end of the prosperous Roaring Twenties, the Type 41, aka Royale, was powered by a 12.8-litre behemoth originally destined for an aircraft. It delivered around 300bhp and a somewhat unearthly 875lb ft.…