Inhaltsverzeichnis für April 10, 2024 in Autocar

Ford has suggested it will offer smaller, lower-slung EVs from 2026, once it has launched a family of four electric SUVs in Europe. The firm has already retired the Fiesta and the Focus will bow out in 2025 (see sidebar, right), leaving just the Mustang as its only non-SUV dedicated passenger car. Confirmed new cars on sale by the end of next year include the Explorer, ‘Capri’, electric Puma (called Gen-E) and updated Mustang Mach-E–all crossovers. But asked if there’s a space for lower, non-SUV models in the future, the company’s boss in Europe, Martin Sander, said: “Definitely.” As to whether Ford will still cater in the future to customers who don’t want an SUV, Sander said: “I think so.” He told Autocar: “There are values which have made us…

The car industry is facing a possible crisis concerning real-world fuel economy data – which could have wide-ranging repercussions as significant as the fallout from the Dieselgate emissions test cheating scandal. Two reports have emerged from the European Union over the past few weeks, the latest from the European Commission, and both could have far-reaching effects on the type of vehicles that manufacturers will be selling as soon as 2026. What has happened? The European Court of Auditors and the European Commission both say the first real-world data obtained on fuel consumption shows that petrol, diesel and plug-in hybrid cars are all well adrift of their official laboratorycalculated fuel consumption and CO2 emission figures. The first estimates for a sample of cars registered in 2022 show that the WLTP test…

This was nothing if not predictable: Porsche’s cars tend to get faster and more powerful as they get older, one rarefied, GT-badged version at a time. The very idea of a near-1100bhp Taycan, if it had been mooted back in September 2019, during the digestion of those preliminary first drive verdicts on the original Taycan Turbo S – which, to the very last one, reported how savagely, almost problematically rapid was Porsche’s bold new 751bhp electric GT – would have caused bouts of hysteria in certain quarters of the specialist media. And yet here we are. Porsche will doubtless claim that it’s only exploring the outer limits of the performance that’s already bound up in its facelifted four-seat electric poster child – in some cases quite accurately, as I’m about…

Where are all the small electric cars? I was looking around for what else one might buy instead of a Peugeot e-208, if one were in the market for a mildly posh, mildly practical, small, battery-powered car. It turns out there aren’t many alternatives, and most are actually the same car underneath (DS 3, Jeep Avenger, Vauxhall Corsa, etc). The Fiat 500 is very small indeed, the Mazda MX-30 has a very short range and… Well, that’s about it for the moment. The Mini Cooper E, Renault 5 and Volkswagen ID 2 are all in various stages of imminence, but they’re not here yet. On the face of it, the e-208 looks like it ticks a lot of boxes. It has five doors, its interior feels upmarket and the whole…

“One of the most remarkable interventions in any industry ever” is how Mike Hawes, chief of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, described the zeroemission vehicle (ZEV) mandate that the UK government introduced into the country’s new car market at the start of this year. However dry and dull the ZEV mandate might sound, it’s a serious business that has caused car makers to build up entirely new teams of data analysts to manage compliance spreadsheets. And all this was only rubber-stamped towards the end of last year with just a few weeks’ notice. Hawes’ description of the legislation, which creates a fine of £15,000 per non-compliant car sold over the limit, is a good temperature check for something that impacts and influences every single car sold in the…

“The return of the name would have added impetus to the business” A bold Anglo-Chinese MG Rover revival plan to resurrect the Morris Minor came within an ace of succeeding back in 2005. The scheme was developed in the immediate aftermath of MG Rover’s bankruptcy in April 2005 and led by late former Ford of Europe and Maserati boss Martin Leach’s Magma Holdings consultancy and Shanghai Automotive Industries Corporation (SAIC). It was one of three competing bids for the remains of MG Rover, which included the hardware to manufacture the Rover 25, 45 and 75 models, as well as the K Series engine. The Minor element of the plan has only now emerged via your reporter, who was confidentially party to some details of the proposal at the time. The…

MILEAGE 19,111 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To find out if this hybrid can strike the sweet spot between car and van A few weeks ago I mentioned my intention to be a bit more scientific about calculating the Corolla’s fuel consumption. Annoyingly, the thing is just too darn fuel efficient, and I still only have a sample size of a handful of fill-ups. Still, it’s enough data to conclude that, actually, it’s a bit of a liar and tends to over-read by a couple of miles per gallon. Hardly verdict-altering stuff: high 50s instead of low 60s is still pretty good, and I still think the car is generally excellent. I find the misreading trip computer quite odd; surely it’s not beyond Toyota’s engineers to make it accurate, and I…

FEATURE The future of Lotus How the British sports car brandisbeing reinvented as a maker of luxurious EVs under the ownership of Chinese giant Geely FIRST DRIVE MG 3 Can the all-new hybrid supermini win over former Ford Fiesta buyers? We find out FIRST DRIVE Skoda Kodiaq Second-generation large SUV gains more space and a plug-in hybrid powertrain EVERY WEEK ROAD TEST Mini Countryman New SUV is the biggest Mini yet. We evaluate it in petrol-engined C form USED GUIDE Ford Focus ST Why buy a new ST for £37k when this older one is just as fun for £6k? SUBSCRIBE autocar.co.uk/subscribe or see p54…

BMW is just months away from launching the totally reinvented M5, which will add plug-in hybrid power for the first time and is tipped to be one of the German firm’s most powerful road cars yet. Due on sale in the summer, the seventh iteration of the M5 will be one of the final combustion-engined cars from BMW’s M division. The performance arm has not yet announced an end date on its ICE line-up, but it will put its badge on a pure-electric sports saloon based on the next-generation 3 Series in 2026 and is anticipated to transition to an all-EV line-up in the coming years as its parent company fleshes out the new Neue Klasse line of electric-only models. The new M5 is said to be 36mm longer and…

Porsche’s largest and most luxurious car yet, codenamed K1, has been spotted for the first time, as testing begins some three years ahead of the model’s scheduled launch. New images from a spy photographer purport to show the new electric SUV undergoing dynamic testing, while giving an early indication of its size and shape. Conceived as a rival to the likes of the Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV and BMW iX but with the added utility benefits of a third row of seats, the five-metreplus K1 has been described as having a silhouette that’s “part saloon, part crossover”. These first images seem to corroborate that positioning, with the prototype seemingly standing as tall as Porsche’s Cayenne SUV but having a flatter roofline and a straighter back end, together with a longer wheelbase…

Chinese car making giant Chery believes that its Omoda and Jaecoo brands can succeed in winning over UK buyers, thanks to a bespoke tuning process, high levels of kit and a focus on customer service. The Omoda 5, a Nissan Qashqai-rivalling SUV, will be the firm’s first model to launch in the UK shortly, followed by the Jaecoo 7 from its more 4x4-inspired sister brand. Both those models will be offered with a 1.6-litre petrol engine, while there will also be an electric Omoda E5. From there, the Omoda and Jaecoo ranges will grow rapidly. The large Omoda 9 is also due this year, followed by a smaller 3 and a mid-size 7. Meanwhile, the Jaecoo lineup will expand with a smaller 5 and larger 8. Models from both brands…

ALPINE WILL REVEAL the A290 electric hot hatch on the sidelines of the Le Mans 24 Hours endurance race on 13 June. The performance version of the new Renault 5 E-Tech will be the second Alpine production car of the brand’s current era and its first EV, kick-starting a wave of launches that will include an electric A110 coupé successor, a four-seat A310 sports car, a compact sporting crossover and two US-focused luxury models. It will feature a raft of chassis tweaks to increase driver engagement, as well as fourpiston brakes from the A110 and a 215bhp motor from the larger Mégane E-Tech. A top-rung 268bhp option is expected to be added to the ranks later on. NEW RENAULT-VOLVO VENTURE TO BE ‘THE TESLA OF VANS’ Renault has partnered with…

It’s a war zone out there. Ford Fiesta ST, Hyundai i20 N, every Renaultsport model – all already KIA. Alpine A110, Toyota GR86 and combustion Porsche 718 – still soldiering on but soon to be taken out by various safety rules. Meanwhile, Mazda is cruising through the field of fallen affordable performance cars, whistling and with the top down. That’s how it seems, at least, because it has just given the MX-5 roadster its biggest update since 2018, and there’s no end of sale planned just yet. The ND-generation MX-5 is now nine years old and feels as timeless as ever, yet Mazda has still seen fit to introduce a few tasty tweaks. I can take or leave the visual updates to the front and rear lights and the bi-colour…

The Dragunov SVU OTs-03 isn’t just a firearm; it’s an instrument of lethal precision. With a range of up to 1200 metres, its ammunition can penetrate a regular steel car body with ease – which is bad news for those inside. But there is a way to keep safe from a Dragunov and still travel in some luxury: the BMW 7 Series. But not just a regular 7 Series: what we’re talking about here is the electric i7 xDrive60 Protection, or, if you prefer combustion power, the petrol-engined 760i xDrive Protection. Whichever propulsion method you plump for, the real novelty is in the body: the pair are among a select few armoured limousines to offer certified defence against one of the world’s most feared handheld weapons. They meet the highest…

Car journalism: it can’t resist a good cliché. Among the top offenders is the notional ability of an assertive, long-snouted grand tourer to fire you to the Côte d’Azur ‘in one hit’. One hit, you say? Blimey. It’s up there with ‘riflebolt’ shifts, ‘alacrity’ and the cursed ‘dab of oppo’. Cliché or not, the point here is that the talent your flash GT has for shrinking the geography between Blighty and the Mediterranean Sea is, objectively speaking, less relevant now than ever before. A TGV train can hit 357mph; flights cost pennies. Cars themselves have also evolved. In 1930, the contrast in appetite for big miles between a Bentley Blower and a Ford Model T was gaping; by 1965, standards had improved but horsepower and leather still counted. The attritional…

MODEL TESTED PLUS SIX • Price £90,390 • Power 335bhp • Torque 369lb ft • 0-60mph 4.4sec • 30-70mph in fourth 4.0sec • Fuel economy 31.9mpg • CO2 emissions 180g/km • 70-0mph 47.9m All is not as it seems at the Morgan Motor Company. This quintessentially English car maker is largely owned by an Italian firm and has an Italian CEO, its cars are powered by German engines and the ash wood for its frames comes from… a forest in Leicestershire. Well, some things aren’t so different after all. But in order to continue providing the slice of ye olde English motoring that Morgan specialises in, it has had to evolve with the times. As a result, current Morgans are much more modern than they might appear. Although they didn’t look…

MILEAGE 19,888 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To make a case for Volvo estates’ revival and try the firm’s used buying scheme It happens to the best of us: you innocently park your car in what seems like a perfectly fine spot, go to a spa gifted by a lovely friend in order to find some inner peace and come out to find some overexcited birds have pebbledashed the outside of your V90. As I let out a sigh at the thought of getting all the bird muck off without access to either a hose or a driveway, a voice spoke: “There’s a hose down by the laundry, you drive over there and I’ll walk down and help you.” What’s this? A random act of kindness? Hurrah. What makes this story…

The Volvo XC60 of 2008-2017 shares its platform with the Land Rover Freelander 2, albeit one that’s longer between the wheels as well as from nose to tail, and it’s wider. So it’s an old car, and that fact is emphasised by its sculpted shoulders, reminiscent of the original S80 saloon of 1998. So it’s an old car but a handsome one, still with a strong image. Demonstrating how rugged it is, there are some serious high-milers in the classifieds. How about a one-owner, 2017-reg 2.0 D4 SE Nav with 250,000 miles and full service history for £5750? If that terrifies you, it’s possible to get behind the wheel of a 2016-reg 2.0 D4 DRIVe SE Nav auto with a more respectable 50,000 miles and full Volvo service history for…

The first stretch limos were built in the US in 1928 by coachbuilder Armbruster, mostly for practical reasons: to carry people and their luggage in the absence of suitable minibuses and vans. Later, the stretch limo would become a trademark of despots, crime kings and celebrities alike. Here are some of the more interesting stretch creations. Mercedes-Benz 600 The Mercedes 600 was the world’s most expensive saloon when it arrived in 1963. It spawned the Pullman long-wheelbase version and is the most stately stretch limo here today. Production lasted until 1981, with power coming from a 247bhp fuel-injected 6.3-litre V8. A hydraulic pressure system powered its windows, seats, sunroof and even doors, along with an adjustable air suspension system. It has since endured as the ultimate vehicle of the rich,…

THE RENAULT CAPTUR has been redesigned and upgraded in a bid to propel it up the ranks of Europe’s hotly contested small crossover segment. Renault calls it “the B-segment car for living”, citing its small footprint but spacious (and “modular”) interior as attributes that make it “at home in the city or off the grid”. Aside from the new front end, tweaked tail-lights and a range of new paint and trim options, the Captur has been most obviously revamped inside, where plusher materials, extra kit and new-generation infotainment combine to give a more “modern” and “upmarket” ambience, Renault said. The centrepiece of the overhauled cabin is a 10.4in vertical touchscreen that incorporates Renault’s latest OpenR Link infotainment system and is “as intuitive to use as a smartphone”. The upholstery differs…

TESLA RECLAIMED ITS position as the world’s best-selling electric car manufacturer last quarter, overtaking Chinese rival BYD despite its number of deliveries falling well short of expectations. From 1 January to 31 March, the American firm produced around 433,000 vehicles and delivered 386,810 – down nearly 40,000 on the same period last year and some 63,000 units short of what had been expected. Shares plunged 7% on the announcement of the shortfall, which Tesla attributes to the introduction of the updated Model 3 at its Fremont plant in Texas, container ship diversions caused by the Red Sea shipping crisis and a production stoppage following a power outage at its Berlin factory. Nonetheless, the final tally is enough for Tesla to nudge back past BYD in the global EV sales charts.…

HOWEVER APPEALING the oily stuff may be to anyone with even slight petrolhead leanings, the fact is that software is becoming hugely important in shaping the character of our cars. That applies to not just the way they are designed and put together but also the way they work. It’s not all about things like ADAS, autonomous driving and snatching the joy away from the driver, though. There are areas where using advanced software will actually bring a tangible improvement to the ownership experience. One example is the clever use of software algorithms to squeeze significantly more range from EVs. Volvo has teamed up with Breathe Battery Technologies and become the first car maker to use the firm’s Breathe Charge, which takes a different approach to feeding power to the…

The Audi S3 has received a major upgrade, with an increase in output to 329bhp and the addition of a torque splitter system, which has been taken from the latest RS3 mega-hatch. Both the four-door saloon and five-door hatchback versions of the performance model also receive a number of minor styling changes, in line with the recent facelift of the regular A3. The revisions are intended to boost the performance and handling of the S3 to help it keep pace with the BMW M135i and Mercedes-AMG A35. The S3 retains the Volkswagen Group’s EA888 turbocharged 2.0-litre fourcylinder petrol engine, but its peak power has been boosted by 25bhp and its peak torque raised from 295lb ft to 310lb ft. Additionally, the seven-speed automatic gearbox now has a more heavily compressed…

Two years ago, Great Wall Motor introduced us to the Ora Funky Cat. This EV had a quirky name and bold styling but was glitchy and generally uncompetitive. Bugbears included overly sensitive safety systems, fiddly infotainment, below-par charging speeds and poor realworld range – a shame, because it was perfectly decent to drive. Since then, the Funky Cat has been rebranded as the GWM Ora 03, and the line-up now boasts a higher-spec, £34,995 Pro+ variant. Crucially, it has a bigger battery (capacity rises from 43kWh to 63kWh) and therefore more range (up to 260 miles). We averaged 3.5mpkWh, equating to 217 miles of real-world driving. Acceptable, then, if not class-leading. However, the 67kW DC rapid-charging speed is still far behind that of rivals, which can manage well over 100kW.…

When McLaren Automotive chief design officer Tobias Sühlmann is looking for inspiration, he doesn’t have to go far to find it: he just needs to go out for a sandwich. “Every day when I go for lunch, I walk along this boulevard and suck in the history of the brand, and that’s something we need to think of for the future,” he says, gesturing along the main atrium of the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking. Along its vast length there sits an incredible display of machinery: race cars include Bruce McLaren’s M8D Can-Am monster, Alain Prost’s Formula 1 title-winning MP4/2B and Lando Norris’s current MCL38, while road cars range from the fabled F1 and the transformative MP4-12C to the Speedtail and Elva. The machinery is a reminder of McLaren’s rich…

Watching Niclas Lindberg, an icedriving specialist, fluently testing adhesion in a Volvo EX30 is enough to mesmerise even an advanced motorist, let alone this humble writer on his first trip to Lulea, about 750 miles north of Gothenburg in Swedish Lapland. This is where Volvo has been testing, close to the Arctic Circle, since the 1960s. Right now, they’re evaluating the EX30 and rebadged EX40 (née XC40 Recharge). Both cars have been subject to untold mileage (the exact amount is hard to compute, because testing takes place over several years, with many vehicles involved) across various maturity levels, from early prototypes to final production cars. Drivers, with various levels of experience, test the cars in ambient temperatures of between -40deg C and +60deg C. Systems and components must guarantee thousands…

The first drive data summaries of the Alfa Romeo Giulia and Stelvio Quadrifoglios in the 13 March issue make interesting reading. They relate to two mechanically identical cars, with the exception that the Stelvio has four-wheel drive. Some of the extra cost and weight will be down to the 4WD transmission, but most of it will be the difference between an SUV and a saloon. The Stelvio costs £9000 more, weighs 190kg more, has a 14mph-lower V-max and is 4.1mpg (14.6%) thirstier. Granted, it’s 0.1sec quicker from 0-62mph, thanks to the better initial traction of 4WD, but I highly doubt its 30-70mph time (the most relevant performance metric in my opinion) is as good. How do people justify opting for the SUV? Surely the additional practicality of an SUV can’t…

“THE MERE MENTION of the name Hispano-Suiza suggests a car of the highest quality. Thus, when it is announced that this firm has decided to market a 12-cylinder model, one naturally expects to find something of more than ordinary interest. In this respect, one is not disappointed, for that designed by Marc Birkigt is a car of exceptional merit,” we reported ahead of 1931’s Paris motor show. The engine the Swiss genius had created for the Spanish company’s new J12 flagship was a 60deg V12 of a square 9424cc that used some aeronautical techniques (he had designed a V8 that powered French and British fighter biplanes in World War I) and was “remarkable for its cleanliness of design and the accessibility of the auxiliaries”. Three years later, we could barely…