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THIS is the new Mercedes-AMG SL 63 S E Performance. Typically, top-spec SLs have used a V12, but although this car has a V8, it’s not short of power; the 804bhp PHEV set-up makes it the most powerful SL yet. Based on the SL 63, the S E Performance comes with an additional rear-mounted hybrid module. This is the same unit as in AMG’s latest C 63, combining a 200bhp e-motor with a two-speed transmission and differential packed into the rear axle. Power is drawn from a 6.1kWh battery, which has been designed to expel and recuperate energy as quickly as possible, rather than provide a meaningful EV range. The hybrid set-up gives the SL supercar-style performance, with a 0-62mph time of 2.9 seconds and a 196mph top speed. There…

Vauxhall adds range to EV people carriers VAUXHALL has tweaked its van-based people carriers, the Combo Life Electric (above) and Vivaro Life Electric. Both get the Vizor front grille, plus slimmer headlights and revised bumpers. The biggest changes come in their powertrains; the Vivaro Life gets a new 75kWh battery promising up to 217 miles of range (a gain of 52 per cent over the old version), while the Combo Life sticks with its 50kWh capacity, but can now manage 205 miles between charges – 31 more than before. KGM name rises from ashes of SsangYong SSANGYONG is dead. Well, the name is anyway, because after a rocky few years for the SUV and pick-up maker, it has been renamed as KGM with immediate effect. The maker’s dragon wing logo…

APPLE CarPlay will soon take over your entire dashboard, instead of just the infotainment screen. Apple has worked with Porsche and Aston Martin on a new version, and a preview image issued by the British brand (above) reveals the software will be able to control things like the air-conditioning, as well as offer bespoke instrumentation with unique dials. The system launches later this year.…

Jordan_Katsianis@autovia.co.uk STREET signs flash past with place names that even the most jaded car fan can’t help but get giddy over. Maranello, Modena, and now Sant’ Agata, and it’s this last iconic location that we’re heading to on our pilgrimage to the home of Lamborghini. In contrast to the more strait-laced Ferrari, steeped in its motorsport heritage, Lamborghini has typically taken a more rebellious approach. It’s a mantra still identifiable in everything that rolls out of the factory doors, one that in the modern era has been defined by the engine we’re here to say goodbye to: Lamborghini’s naturally aspirated V10. Since its inception, this brash, loudly spoken engine has been a critical factor in Lamborghini’s success by powering its baby supercars. First found in the Gallardo, and now the…

Richard_Ingram@autovia.co.uk @rsp_ingram Performance 0-62mph/top speed 5.7 seconds/149mph “All that bulk cannot detract from what is still a surprisingly good car to drive” WE’RE big fans of the Land Rover Defender at Auto Express – our editor-in-chief Steve Fowler will admit he preferred the boxy 4x4 over his plusher and more refined Range Rover during their time on our long-term test fleet. There’s something about a Defender you can’t help but love. It’s justified, too. Its character and sense of occasion are hard to match, but the car’s utility, practicality and user-friendly interior make it a great all-rounder. There’s a model to suit all circumstances, too: three lengths, countless specs and a choice of engines. You can even have one with a supercharged V8. That’s the version we’re driving here –…

WINNER Vauxhall Corsa THE Corsa’s appeal has been boosted by these mid-life updates. The main improvement that most buyers will notice is the uprated in-car tech, but the benefits will also be felt in the wallet, should you take a finance deal. While the Corsa still doesn’t quite have the all-round qualities of the class-leaders, it’s solid to drive, fairly cheap to run and looks sharper than ever thanks to that new face. We can’t see this sales success faltering any time soon. INTERESTED? Scan the code for further information ● Lively engine● Slick infotainment● Low running costs● Refinement ● Vague steering● Rear-seat space● Ride never quite settles● Rivals are better equipped 1st RUNNER-UP Hyundai i20 PREVIOUSLY, we would have picked the i20 over the Corsa, and if you value…

SAME PRICE Audi Q2 WITH a budget of around £23,000, you could turn your back on the supermini segment altogether and instead grab a slice of the premium SUV pie with the Audi Q2. We found a 2021 example with only 12,000 miles on the clock for that sum, and it comes with lively performance, thanks to a 148bhp 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine. The Q2’s cabin shows Audi at its best in terms of both design and build quality, and a 405-litre boot means that it’s pretty practical, too. ● Premium badge● Gorgeous cabin ● Dull driving dynamics● Firm ride ELECTRIC OPTION Vauxhall Corsa-E EARLY electric versions of the preface-lift Corsa have suffered from eye-watering depreciation – which is excellent news for used buyers. Three-year-old cars are commonplace at around…

Steve_Walker@autovia.co.uk Running costs 35.8mpg (on test) £75 fill-up Practicality Boot (seats up/down) 536/1,611 litres Performance 0-62mph/top speed 10.4 seconds/130mph HORSEPOWER is very important in a car. You’re not going anywhere without it. Good old BHP helps bring acceleration and speed, the ability to shrug off inclines, surge through overtakes and not grind to a shuddering halt when the car’s boot and the seats are fully loaded. But our Peugeot 408 is a big car with a small 1.2-litre engine, a combo that can set alarm bells ringing, given the historical connection between engine size and power. Of course, that link between cubic capacity and BHP isn’t as robust as it once was. Small turbocharged petrol engines like Peugeot’s 1.2-litre PureTech are nothing new in large family cars, and the rise…

NEW PRODUCT Ryobi USB Lithium Power Tools Price: from £49.99 Contact: ryobitools.co.uk MOST power tools are cordless these days, but you don’t always need huge grunt – which is where Ryobi’s new range comes in. A 3Ah 4V battery runs a set of tools where a lightweight, compact design is needed more than outright power. The battery can be recharged from a USB socket, cutting out the cost of a separate charger, but the range includes a £39.99 unit that can revive three power packs at once. Additional batteries cost £24.99. The 10 tools include several useful for car work, such as a hinged screwdriver at £49.99. This delivers a useful 5Nm of torque and can be used straight or angled. The £73.99 rotary tool is ideal for cutting, polishing and…

Bees’ sweet smell of success at Bentley LOTS of cow hides go into making a Bentley, but did you know the brand has a colony of over a million other animal staff? Its bees work out of the Excellence Centre for Honey Production in the firm’s Crewe HQ, and produced 1,500 jars of honey this year – 500 from the two oldest hives, and 1,000 from the remaining 15. Sadly, the honey isn’t for sale – it will be given out at corporate events and customer visits, and to charitable causes to raise the profile of these essential British pollinators. Zapmap expands its coverage to Europe EV charging specialist Zapmap is making its first foray outside the UK. It now maps charge points in France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and…

PORSCHE’S combustion-engined Macan is being axed across Europe this year, over cybersecurity fears. The German brand has elected to not update its best-selling model to comply with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe’s WP.29 rule. This says that all new cars sold in the EU should adhere to a certain level of “Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, Automated Driving Systems and Cyber Security provisions”. The car will go off sale in the EU in the spring – but Porsche GB says ICE Macans can be sold “outside the EU” for longer, so the SUV is expected to remain available in the UK throughout this year.…

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Steve_Fowler@autovia.co.uk @stevefowler ● Concept car showcases VW’s plans for production interiors ● Packed with convenience features, fabrics and user-friendly tech VOLKSWAGEN has revealed a working interior for its ID.2all concept that’s set to influence future VW cabins – and Auto Express was invited along to try it. The car was revealed in March as a thinly disguised preview of a new, small EV to sit below the ID.3. But back then, the concept had no real interior. Now it does. “We really wanted to dial up the value,” Volkswagen’s head of design Andreas Mindt told us. “We’re getting rid of hard plastics and upping the quality, while getting the price down. We’re doing that with new thinking and reduced complexity.” Mindt reiterated that VW wants to be seen as a…

mail@autoexpress.co.uk @AutoExpress YOUR VIEWS This week’s letters AE comes up trumps for Christmas cheer FROM: David Thorne AS a long-time subscriber, I’d just like to compliment the team on the excellent double-issue magazine (Issue 1,809). A thoroughly enjoyable read, with interesting content from Bugattis to Beavers and all things in-between. Happy New Year and keep up the good work! Don’t listen to call for more voice control FROM: Tony Cater ROGER Bourner (Issue 1,809) advocates more voice control, but that’s not the answer. Voice controls have to be calibrated – and for every driver. Good old-fashioned switches work right first time and every time. Neither a touchscreen nor a voice are as safe as mechanical switches. DRLs are not enough in poor conditions FROM: Jeff Baker I MUST clear up…

John_McIlroy@autovia.co.uk @johnmcilroy Performance 0-62mph/top speed 8.1 seconds/111mph Running costs 57.6mpg (official) £61 fill-up TOYOTA is doubling down on full electrification, but the company is still churning out full hybrids (very successfully, we might add) as more people look for a stepping stone towards a car with a plug. The Japanese brand recently refreshed one of its best-selling hybrids, the C-HR – and now it’s our first chance to try the more powerful 2.0-litre version on UK roads. As a reminder, the C-HR comes with a choice of 1.8 or 2.0-litre set-ups, each part of the fifth generation of Toyota’s hybrid powertrain. The lower-power car has a system output of 138bhp, but the 2.0-litre manages a punchier 194bhp, while emitting the same amount of CO2. It’ll return more than 57mpg on…

Richard_Ingram@autovia.co.uk @rsp_ingram ALONGSIDE the long-body V8 (left), Land Rover has also launched a more practical – or less, depending on your viewpoint – version of the 130. Called the Outbound, it’s only available with the D300 diesel engine, and ditches the standard car’s eight chairs for a five-seat layout. Yet, on paper, the difference in load space isn’t significant. In five-seat mode, the area swells from 1,232 litres to 1,329 litres. But if you want your Defender 130 to double as a van, the headline figure of 2,516 litres with just the driver and passenger seats in place, may be of interest. That’s 225 litres (an entire Fiat Panda’s boot) more than you’ll get in an eight-seat Defender. Outbound does represent more than just a third-row seat delete, though. Land…

SAME CLASS Renault Clio STRONG finance payments won our main contest for the Corsa, and it’s one of the reasons why the Renault Clio has remained so consistently at the top of the class since this fifth-generation model launched in 2019. But there is far more to like about it than just low costs. The quality of the cabin will make you double check that Renault hasn’t made a mistake with the price. The boot is fairly large (even if the back seats aren’t the most spacious) and the ride and handling compromise is among the best in this class. As with the Corsa, the Clio benefitted from a recent facelift, so its grip on class honours won’t let up any time soon. ● Premium feel at a bargain price●…

Got a query? products@autoexpress.co.uk FAQ What’s the best way to clear an icy screen? THIS is a common question at this time of year, as the first cold snaps leave a car’s glass and lights frozen over. Some vehicles, particularly EVs, can do the job for you, clearing glass and warming the cabin with no more than a few swipes on a smartphone app without even having to leave the house. However, a bit of preventative action can make getting going on a frosty morning the work of a few seconds. You can buy sprays to prevent the glass frosting, but a bed sheet or towel laid across the screen under the wipers costs nothing and can be removed quickly. A purpose-built screen shield can be had for around £20,…

If you are involved in an accident, footage from a dash cam could be priceless to prove to the police and insurance companies what really happened. The view from the front will show what the driver saw, and having a camera at the back too will reveal the complete picture. But professional drivers and their employers like to add a third view, of the car’s interior. This will show what was going on inside and is especially valuable if you’re carrying passengers. Systems with three lenses – known as three channel or 3CH – may be an insurance requirement for some drivers. A new option from Viofo has been launched, so we put it up against our current Vantrue test winner. The Vantrue Element 3 has gone up in price…

mail@autoexpress.co.uk THE Ceed is the first of two Kias to hit the Driver Power top 10 (the EV6 sits in seventh place). Owners appreciate its excellent value and good looks, for which it’s ranked fourth and third respectively. Breaking down the numbers reveals an eighth place for exterior style and a seventh for exterior-quality feel. Interior design notched up a 10th-place rating, and owners reckon that the Ceed has the 12th most comfortable front seats. There’s a 20th place for boot space, while ride and handling rank ninth and 15th. These strong all-round results are enhanced by an 18th for running costs, 15th for reliability and 16th for user-friendly controls. But the 73rd place for gearbox smoothness is a setback. WE SAID “If you’re in the market for a family hatchback,…

EVER since the W124 iteration of the eighties, the E-Class has led the pack when it comes to blending luxury and space. Previous editions have been even roomier than this one in terms of boot capacity, but with more than 1,800 litres at your disposal, you’re unlikely to need more. Despite being such a large car, the E-Class is plenty quick enough, although its ride isn’t as accomplished as the Audi’s, which also has an even higher-quality interior and better steering. A mere £12,000 gets you into a high-mileage early E 220d SE, but if you’d prefer to cap things at 70,000 miles, you’ll need to spend at least another £5,000. Three-quarters of E-Class Estates are diesel powered, yet one in eight has a petrol engine, and these cost from…

HALLELUJAH! Even in these first days of 2024, there are signs that we might be in for a brighter, more productive, less cynically greedy year – one with starring roles for individuals and businesses who give a damn. Those that give as well as take. This will be in stark contrast to 2023, when too many blinkered, bullying, bad boys made life miserable for untold millions of car and public transport users. Take, for example, Labour’s London Mayor, Sadiq Khan. He’s been charging motorists £15-£17.50 per day/around £5,400 a year for the ‘crime’ of driving into his Greater London fiefdom, which includes parts of several home counties. It’s heartless enough that he’s resorting to this, but now he’s stooped to an outrageous new low after the brave folk of Ukraine…

Alastair_Crooks@autovia.co.uk @AllieCrooks ● New look follows similar update to US-market car back in 2022 ● Revisions will include new Active model and extra safety tech EUROPE has had to wait a while for an updated Ford Kuga, whereas the American version was revised as long ago as 2022. But the moment has almost arrived, and these latest spy images show how the revisions are shaping up. It’s easy to see why Ford hasn’t rushed alterations to its family SUV, because it remains a hugely important model to the brand across Europe and the UK. Indeed, the third-gen Kuga, which arrived in 2019, is still a regular in the UK’s top-10 best sellers. Even so, it would appear from these images that European-market Kugas are going to follow the same basic…

IT appears Mercedes (left) isn’t the only company busy fettling its roadsters during the colder months. BMW has just announced the Z4 M40i will get a manual gearbox option for 2024. The news comes almost a year after the Toyota Supra (the Z4’s sister car) was first fitted with a three-pedal set-up. In a social media post announcing the return of a manual Z4, BMW claimed the latest offering would have “sharper, more pure performance”, although acceleration figures remain under wraps for now. Since launch, the G29-generation Z4 has only been sold with an eight-speed automatic gearbox and rear-wheel drive – even on the entry-level sDrive20i version. There’s been no word on pricing for the manual Z4 in the UK yet, but further details will be revealed very soon.…

Jordan_Katsianis@autovia.co.uk THE Q8 e-tron has been a staple of the Audi range since 2019, but until now, its off-roading ability has been considered theoretical at best. Keen to draw a connection to the brand’s exploits in the famed Dakar Rally, Audi has created the rugged-looking Q8 e-tron Dakar Edition for a small production run, throwing a few off-road upgrades at the electric SUV. The Dakar Edition is based on the Q8 e-tron 55 quattro, with an identical dual-motor set-up producing 394bhp and 664Nm of torque. This is fed by the same uprated 106kWh (usable) battery pack, and although its range has yet to be tested, the drag-increasing additions mean a reduction in the standard model’s 330-mile maximum. Despite its low-volume status, there have been a surprising number of technical changes.…

Legal AA: 0345 850 1130 (m) RAC: 0330 159 1446 (m) Citizens Advice Consumer helpline: 03454 040506 Local Trading Standards Local Citizens Advice Bureau Used car inspections AA: 0800 056 8040 RAC: 0330 159 0720 Technical advice AA: 0370 142 0002 (m) Driving licences DVLA: 0300 790 6801 Car registration/history HPI: 0113 222 2010 AA: 0800 316 3564 DVLA: 0300 790 6802 RAC: 0808 164 1923 Traffic information AA: 0906 888 4322 RAC: 09003 444999 (p) Problems with dealers The Motor Ombudsman: 0345 241 3008 Consumer Ombudsman: www.consumer-ombudsman.org RMIF: 0845 305 4230 Scottish Motor Trade Assoc. 0131 331 5510 Problems with makers The Motor Ombudsman: 0345 241 3008 Financial problems Financial Ombudsman: 0800 023 4567 Safety concerns/recalls www.check-mot.service.gov.uk…

Dean_Gibson@autovia.co.uk @DeanGbsn Electric motor Power/range 23bhp/N/A miles Performance 0-62mph/top speed 7.6 seconds/148mph IT’S been 30 years since Mercedes added a prefix to its medium-sized saloon car to create the E-Class. Since then, it has morphed from a family-friendly model to the byword for executive comfort. And with the arrival of the latest car, that appeal has been boosted by a raft of cutting-edge tech. Under the skin, the new E-Class uses the same MRA II platform system as the C-Class and even the S-Class, so all models now come with hybrid tech. For the E 220 d driven here, that means a 48-volt battery, which takes load off of the engine and helps smooth its power delivery. There’s 197bhp on tap, with an additional 23bhp offered by the electric system,…

Ellis_Hyde@autovia.co.uk @EllisDrives LOTS of great new cars hit the UK’s roads last year, but over the next 10 pages we’re looking ahead to another bumper crop of fresh metal that’s on the horizon in 2024. Despite the UK government’s decision to move the ban on sales of new petrol and diesel models from 2030 to 2035, car makers look set to continue rolling out electric vehicles at a rapid pace. This year will see the arrival of a curious variety of EVs, ranging from a cut-price supermini for the masses to a drop-top two-seat sports car, plus more than a few SUVs (right) plugging the gaps in between. Of course, not every manufacturer is ditching combustion engines just yet, and new petrol and diesel-powered cars are still being unveiled and…

TO kick-start the launch of the revised Corsa, Vauxhall has some competitive PCP finance deals, which give it every chance of maintaining its place as Britain’s best-selling supermini. Vauxhall offers a £2,750 deposit contribution, so stump up £3,000 on a three-year agreement with a 10,000 mile annual limit, and you’ll be paying £254 per month. Even with its own £1,250 deposit contribution, Hyundai can’t match that figure, with the Ultimate weighing in at £349 per month. Of course, this is the i20’s top spec and GS is the Corsa’s second, but even the i20 in Premium guise still costs more, at £309 per month. Elsewhere, the Corsa is pricier to service, to the tune of £101 over the course of three years, but it’s also marginally more efficient. Add all…

SUPERMINI These two models are top choices in the small car class, a sector that still has plenty of life in it yet. “WHILE Vauxhall has the supermini sales charts buttoned up following the Fiesta’s demise, Ford has left a gap in the performance market for Hyundai to exploit. The i20 N is one of the best hot hatches ever made – we just hope that Hyundai chooses to facelift the racy supermini along with the rest of the range.” “THE Corsa Electric has been boosted as part of the updates. Its 54kWh battery is 4kWh larger than the old car’s, and it’s 35kg lighter, too, while power jumps from 134bhp to 154bhp. It’s more efficient than before, so the claimed 248-mile range should be achievable in real-world driving.” “IF…

Pete_Gibson@dennis.co.uk Performance 0-62mph/top speed 8.1 seconds/134mph WE love an anniversary at Auto Express; hopefully you’ll have enjoyed our special bumper issue last month, when we celebrated milestones for the likes of Skoda, Porsche and Kia. But another popular model has recently notched up a significant mark, without too much fanfare. And it’s my job to correct that: say hello to the new Mazda 3. It’s 20 years since Mazda replaced the 323 with the first generation of 3, and our goal over the next six months is to see how effectively the car has evolved in that time. It’s a model I already know pretty well, having run an early example of this 3 before, so I’m looking forward to not only seeing how this version stands out against the…

24h Le Mans - 100 Years of Legends Denis Bernard, Basile Davoine, Julien Holtz, Gerard Holtz (Evro Publishing, evropublishing.com) Price: £70 Rating: A SERIOUS and beautifully produced celebration of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It’s not presented chronologically, instead leaping from topic to topic in the manner of a Le Mans scrapbook; some will love that, while others may not. If you’re looking for stats, facts and trivia, it’s a great offering, and easy to dip into and out of. OVERLAND: Project Guide to Offroad, Bug Out and Overlanding Vehicles OffGrid Magazine (amazon.co.uk) Price: £26.99 Rating: THIS is a compilation of some seriously extreme, mostly American, off-road and overlanding vehicle builds. Some of these trucks make camping in a Land Rover in the Highlands look tame, having been built…

CO2 /tax 112-114g/km £180 Running costs 45-47mpg (DIG-T 117) £69 fill-up Performance 0-62mph/top speed 10.4 seconds/112mph THE supermini-sized SUV class is one of the most popular, so it seems incredible that until the original Juke was launched in 2010, this type of car didn’t exist. Having launched the crossover genre with the first-generation Qashqai in 2007, Nissan downsized for its next trick, with a smaller car that also blended SUV looks with inexpensive pricing and running costs. The Juke’s exterior styling was divisive to say the least, but the car was affordable, funky and different – and that was sufficient for many buyers. Sure enough, the Juke sold like hot cakes and with nearly a million shifted in Europe alone, it was inevitable that Nissan would produce a sequel. When that…

WITH mild-hybrid tech, the A6 Avant in 2.0-litre 40 TDI form is smooth, frugal and punchy – and when teamed with the standard seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, it’s incredibly easy to drive. Fun it isn’t, but the A6 is the consummate cruiser with refinement a notch above that of the Mercedes, while the optional adaptive dampers (as fitted to our test car) ensure the Audi beats the Mercedes when it comes to ride comfort, despite the fitment of 20-inch wheels. You can buy an A6 Avant Mk5 from only £18,000. Six out of seven A6s have a diesel engine, and nearly all are the 2.0-litre unit here. If you want one of the fabulously smooth and powerful 3.0-litre V6 editions, you’ll do well to secure anything for less than £27,000.…