Indice dei contenuti per June 8, 2022 in Autocar

The Meredes-AMG E63 is also tipped to drop four cylinders and gain an electric boost in its next generation, but not before the current V8 car has bowed out in limited-run Final Edition guise. Bringing to an end 36 years of pure-V8 AMG sports saloons, the 999-off commemorative variant gets a bespoke grey-black paint scheme, yellow seat stitching and a build plaque on the centre console. More importantly, it’s the last E-Class to pack 603bhp and 627lb ft from a nonelectrified petrol V8, achieving 0-62mph in 3.5sec and a 180mph top speed.…

MONO SPORTS CAR maker BAC has completed the first stage of a project with hydrogen-powertrain specialist Viritech to develop an electric version of an ultra-light-weight car called the e-Mono. The virtual four-wheel-drive e-Mono weighs in at 704kg, just 149kg more than the conventionally powered Mono-R, yet it still proves to be a tad over 2.0sec quicker in a simulated digital lap of Silverstone. One of the best ways to drive new and advanced powertrain technologies forward is to make them work in high-performance cars, where weight and packaging are at a premium. While EV batteries work well enough to have made it to showrooms in sizeable numbers, their colossal weight and size are still bafflingly at odds with using energy to move cars more efficiently. With the diminutive Mono, there…

The Renault Refactory is on course to recommission more than 25,000 used cars this year – including some made by rival manufacturers. The large-scale refurbishment centre in Flins, near Paris, is in what was once Renault’s largest new car production plant. It sources used vehicles from dealers within a 200km radius and readies them for resale. The €8 million (£7m) project is one part of a redevelopment of the 232-hectare facility. It was opened in 1952 and once home to manufacturing of the Renault Dauphine, 4, 5, Clio and Twingo, among others, and still makes around half of Europe’s Renault Zoes and Nissan Micras as its owner seeks to preserve employment in the region while it moves new car manufacturing to more cost-effective plants. Other initiatives housed within its perimeter…

THE EUROPEAN UNION is set to impose a significant new CO2 emissions burden on plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) that will have a dramatic impact on their popularity and accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs). The official g/km figure of PHEVs is likely to increase by around 2.5 times by 2027 under new EU6e regulations that will include a dramatically higher utility factor (UF), a mathematical equation used to blend together the CO2 figures from driving in ICE-only mode and EV-only mode into an overall figure. Autocar has learned that Brussels bureaucrats will set the UF at around 800 in 2025, rising fivefold to more than 4000 by 2027. As a result, a 50g/km PHEV today is expected to end up with a figure of about 125g/km in 2027 – bringing…

If Wiesmann gets its skates on, the end product of Project Thunderball will be a unique proposition: a fully electric roadster that’s focused on driving satisfaction more than outright performance. The Teslarati will of course refer us quickly to the Roadster of 2008, but we’re looking at something different here. This is a ground-up development, not simply a motor and battery transplanted into an existing chassis. Project Thunderball’s story began in 2019, when the wilfully retro German car maker started on Project Gecko – its first all-new model in more than a decade after several years of uncertainty over its future. Like the rest of Wiesmann’s back catalogue, it was going to be powered by an engine shipped in from BMW’s M division, until the company pondered offering an electric…

It’s a small detail, but I do love the way the M-style mirrors on this BMW X3 M set it apart from its regular siblings. Even before you’ve hit the big red starter button, you know you’re in ‘the hot one’. And here we are, with a first UK drive of the fettled, hottest, littlest M SUV (and yes, we know the image is of a left-hooker – blame a quick turnaround). It’s been refreshed and upgraded recently, gaining a useful 37lb ft more torque. The extra grunt from the 3.0-litre straight six means the 0-62mph drops by 0.3sec, so the marketing people can claim the headline acceleration is less than 4.0sec. Additional cooling is taken care of in this facelifted model thanks to an extra engine oil radiator and…

For such an heavy thing, wearing tyres that are performance-leaning but also seek to reduce rolling resistance (sacrificing outright grip), the EQS 53 was breathtakingly quick and sure-footed around the Hill Route at Millbrook. Rarely if ever have the circuit’s short straights felt quite so short, and yet through the corners, dips and crests, our test car showed composure that refutes the idea that this is a mere muscle car in an aerodynamic suit. Equally, there was little real enjoyment beyond marvelling at the rate at which the speed piles on. The electronic stability systems, faced with taming an over-abundance of near-instant torque, resort to blanket coverage, so even in the Sport+ driving mode, the process of exiting corners is stifled. The powertrain also seems to prioritise its front motor,…

Fancy a slice of mid-engined thrills? Lotus dominates here. There’d have been more, but we had to mix it up a bit, hence just one of three Toyota MR2s. But no Fiat X1/9? You try finding one that hasn’t returned to nature. What’s impressive is the range of flavours. Classics, track cars, supercars and even a hybrid are represented. LOTUS ESPRIT 1988-1994 Today, with prices starting at around £25,000, an X180-generation Esprit is your ‘cheap’ pass to the supercar paddock. A good one will easily do 100,000 miles without serious complaint. These are complex cars so a strong history is vital. Regular oil changes will protect the engine but expect to refresh suspension and brake parts. Check for rusting suspension mounts and regard a tatty interior as indicative of neglect…

Future values Say I spend £140,000 on a hybrid Range Rover, a car that in diesel form isn’t short of Autocar’s star ratings. What do you think it would be worth in three years: 50% of the purchase price or 30% because a new electric model with a solid-state battery has arrived and the world has moved on? I can’t decide whether a hybrid will come to be seen as a rare and valuable model or outdated and less valuable. Michael Cauter Woking, Surrey Cap HPI predicts a P400e will retain 63-66% of its value after three years and 36,000 miles, which is very good. The EV isn’t due until 2024, and then not with solid-state batteries – KC Let me pay I ordered an Ineos Grenadier back in September,…

New Triumph sports car hits 125mph BRITAIN HAS JUST celebrated the Queen’s 70th jubilee, a remarkable milestone that got us wondering: how different was motoring life when Her Majesty was crowned? Well, we still had a healthy crowd of car makers, plus sports cars were important at home and for export – a business the industry simply had to crack to secure a post-war future. No wonder, then, that Triumph sought to win publicity for its new TR2 roadster with a top-speed run on Belgium’s Jabbeke highway, as made famous by the Jaguar XK120. It was to be piloted by Formula 1 engineer Ken Richardson, who had been key to its creation after telling Triumph boss Sir John Black that his 20TS prototype was “the most bloody awful car I’ve…

MILEAGE 10,005 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see if the market’s best-value SUV, now refreshed, still embodies the Dacia ethos of functionality with affordability We’ve just busted the 10,000-mile barrier, the Dacia Duster and I. This SUV arrived at Autocar with fewer than 400 miles on the clock, which means it has done those miles all in this calendar year. One reason is that I’ve been busy these past few months, but the major one is that the Duster continues to be a vehicle of choice. It’s small enough for traffic, big enough for loads and motorways, practical enough for daily chores and unobtrusive enough to go about its own business without fuss. I’ve allowed selected (and insured) friends to drive the Duster of late, and three impressions shine out.…

An expert’s view AIDAN CLEGG, OWNER AND SPECIALIST “I’ve owned three NAs, an NB and, for the past seven years, an NC, which I like the most and have owned for the longest. It does everything the previous version did but in a more solid and grown-up way. The NA was pure and simple fun – always a pleasure and never a chore to drive. The NB was softer and more compliant. For me, though, the NC has the best bits of the previous versions with the maturity that comes with age… and a roof that retracts in five seconds, plus a cam chain that will probably outlast me!” Buyer beware… ■ ENGINE The engine is mostly bulletproof, but it’s vital to keep the oil level at its correct level,…

FORD HAS DONE very well in recent years out of using hardware from the Fiesta to create a compact crossover, the Puma. It was a similar story back in the 1990s, but that original Puma was something far more interesting to people like us: a compact coupé. From its launch in 1997 to the end of its production in 2002, the Puma was offered with a choice of four naturally aspirated four-cylinder petrol engines, ranging from an 89bhp 1.4-litre to a 1.7-litre producing 151bhp. That range-topping engine was available in only one model: the Racing Puma. As its name suggests, this limited edition was bolstered by a host of mechanical changes to the driveline and chassis. With tuning expertise supplied by Tickford, it gained new 17in alloy wheels, a track…

Toyota is ramping up to electrify its growing Gazoo Racing performance brand following the launch of the new GR86 sports coupé – and it’s poised to bring back the MR2 as a lithe and compact twoseat EV with affordability at the forefront of its agenda. The roll-out of Toyota’s flat-floored E-TNGA modular EV architecture – as first deployed on the Toyota bZ4X and closely related Subaru Solterra and Lexus RZ SUVs – gives the Japanese firm the flexibility needed to maintain an offering in every segment as it electrifies. Late last year, Toyota hinted at the diversity of its future electric line-up by unwrapping a fleet of 15 concept EVs (four of them from premium brand Lexus), including a diminutive urban crossover, a Tesla Model 3-rivalling saloon, a full-size pick-up…

The Mercedes-Benz GLC SUV has grown in size, moved upmarket and adopted an exclusively hybridised powertrain line-up for its second generation. Since the GLC arrived in 2015, its global sales have climbed to almost two million, making it one of Mercedes’ strongest-selling models. Developed alongside the latest C-Class, with which the it shares a large part of its mechanical package and engine line-up, the Audi Q5 rival is based on the latest incarnation of Mercedes’ MRA platform. This supports a more advanced electrical architecture than the platform used by its predecessor, providing the basis for a range of new features. These include optional rear-wheel steering, which offers up to 4.5deg of turn angle at the rear wheels and a reduction in the turning circle from a standard 11.8m to 10.9m.…

The Cupra Urban Rebel EV, revealed at last year’s Munich motor show as a racy supermini with an outlandish, touring car-style aero package, has evolved into an ultra-compact urban SUV for production. Expected to be priced from around the £17,000 mark, the Urban Rebel will be Cupra’s third production EV, following the existing Volkswagen ID 3-based Born hatchback and dramatically styled 2024 Tavascan crossover into dealerships in 2025. It has similarly aggressive design cues in keeping with Cupra’s extant billing as the Volkswagen Group’s accessible performance brand. However, while the original Urban Rebel concept highlighted that “racing is at the core of Cupra’s DNA”, the one revealed here is a much closer preview of the car that will go on sale in three years. The Urban Rebel is the first…

Cheaper – just – and available now rather than in 12 months’ time: it’s no wonder that more people are buying used cars rather than new ones. However, concerns are growing over just how carefully used cars are inspected and presented by dealers. The Motor Ombudsman, a dispute-resolution body that mediates between motortrade businesses and their customers, has said that in 2021, 9% of the used cars that it ruled on breached its sales code regarding vehicle presentation. This compares with 6% the year before. Breaches that it noted included accredited businesses failing to record or rectify a vehicle’s faults discovered during its pre-sales inspection. Its report follows an item broadcast in April by Watchdog, the BBC consumer affairs show, concerning three people who had bought used cars from Cazoo,…

Ineos will follow up the Grenadier – due to arrive in a matter of weeks – with a new, electric and more compact 4x4. CEO Sir Jim Ratcliffe confirmed plans to expand the model range beyond the flagship Grenadier with a smaller SUV using an “all-new” EV platform but offering comparable off-road ability and with a similar utilitarian focus. “What we’re looking at quite carefully at the moment is a smaller version of the Grenadier – electric,” he said. “We need to embrace the future, which clearly in an urban environment is going to be electric. But even in a country environment, if you’re a farmer, you probably will have an electric vehicle that you can drive on tracks and things like that. So you want one that’s capable, but…

KEEP ON TRIMMING Mercedes-Benz has been on a warpath since 2020, cutting down on variants, platforms, powertrains and components and soon even entry-level models. So why is the new GLC (p8) offered with the choice of two bodystyles, two petrol engines, a diesel engine, three PHEV set-ups and a plethora of optional extras? “The GLC SUV is our best-selling model in this segment, so there are no plans to streamline the offering,” said GLC manager Axel Benseler, confirming that AMG variants are also due and even that “more powertrains are coming next year”. Meanwhile, the lesser-spotted B-Class is down to just two engines and two trim levels. MA’AM’S THE WORD It’s amazing what cars with over-the-air functionality can do. Spot hazards, tell you where the nearest charger is and… show…

The first swathe of EV batteries are only just reaching the end of their useful life, so it’s no surprise that innovations for giving them a second life are still emerging. One example is the betterGen, a portable generator that makes use of battery cells taken from Renault Fluences and Kangoos to provide emissionand noise-free energy for use in ways that traditional generators can’t match, from powering boats on lakes, to charging power tools, including indoors without fumes, to running catering trucks without the smell of diesel impinging. A battery is deemed to have reached the end of its usefulness in a car when it reaches 70% capacity, which is typically at 10-15 years old. They are then expected to last another 5-10 years before being recycled. The betterGen is…

JOSH COOK IS on a roll in the British Touring Car Championship. Fresh from two wins at Brands Hatch, the BTC Racing Honda Civic Type R ace scored another double at Thruxton to break a record he previously shared as the BTCC driver with the most wins at the fast Hampshire track. He took his tally to nine after a couple of epic battles with MB Motorsport’s WSR-run BMW 330e of Jake Hill. The rear-wheel-drive car led the Honda on both occasions, only for Cook to pull outstanding moves to claim his victories. “As quickly as you can be propelled to the top, it can go the other way,” warned a sensibly grounded Cook. “For us, it’s a case of making hay while the sun shines, and then on the…

The term ‘electrified’ has been tenuously stretched by car makers’ marketing folk in recent years, increasingly applied to any form of hybrid car with even the merest hint of electric assistance in an attempt to make them sound greener and cleaner. So you might be wondering what sort of hybrid powertrain Genesis’s new Electrified G80 features. But here’s the thing: it’s a pure batteryelectric car. In fact, Genesis doesn’t even do hybrids: if you fancy yourself a big Korean luxury saloon, your choices are a turbocharged petrol engine or this dual-motor EV. Genesis uses ‘electrified’ to differentiate EV versions of multipowertrain models (which is why the EV-only GV60 crossover doesn’t have the descriptor). It’s a temporary measure, given that by 2025, all new Genesis models will be EV-only. It’s one…

There’s not much wrong with a BMW 1 Series, Mercedes-Benz A-Class or Audi A3 Sportback. If you’re after a posh family-size hatchback, there’s every chance one of those will fit your needs. But when they litter every residential street (the A-Class was Britain’s 10th best-seller last year), you would be forgiven for wanting something a bit different. Something like the new DS 4. With a focus on being French, comfortable and slightly alternative, the 4 has a clear mission. There is plenty to like here, and DS plays the comfort card well – mostly. The latest DS is defiantly unsporty, with a Comfort mode on the adaptive dampers that offers one of the softest long-wave rides you will find in a hatchback, and even Sport remains very pliant. But this…

It says something about modern life that talking to a softly spoken, factbased scientist whose eloquence is inversely proportional to his showiness can be described as refreshing. Yet that’s exactly how an hour with Toyota Research Institute CEO Gill Pratt feels. He’s compelling not just for how he talks but also for the brainpower he flexes. Today his job titles at Toyota include chief scientist, executive fellow for research and CEO of the Toyota Research Institute; his past includes stints as a robotics and computing lead for the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and an associate professor in electrical engineering and computer science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He’s also notable for being explicit about the fact that he can’t prove that he’s right; and for acknowledging that…

I’ve now owned a Tesla Model 3 Long Range for a year and would like to offer some observations. The touchscreen isn’t a distraction; after long-term usage, I find it entirely intuitive. The main functions such as heating and ventilation are very easy to access. The lack of buttons makes for a very relaxing driving environment. I would suggest that it’s much less distracting than traditional button-strewn interiors. The power delivery is seamless and wonderfully efficient. I’ve paid for the acceleration boost upgrade, which makes for very rapid progress both from a standstill and at motorway speeds. Tesla’s Supercharger network has been faultless, and I actually look forward to the calmness of charging sessions. I think it’s a mistake for Tesla to open up its chargers to other EVs, as…

It’s a classy car, the Lexus LS. Not only is it equipped with smart hybrid technology and filled to the brim with gadgets and highquality materials, but it’s also one of the smartest designs on the road. Since the fifth-generation car’s launch in 2017, though, it has been tasked with an almost impossible mission: rivalling the practically flawless Mercedes-Benz S-Class and BMW’s more driver-focused alternative, the 7 Series. But the LS does have one trick up its sleeve: exclusivity. Whereas S-Classes are a frequent sight, being beloved of ‘executive’ private hire firms everywhere, Lexus sold just 10 LSs here last year. If rarity is cool, this car is sub-zero. One of the LS’s main draws is its hybrid power, and with almost 30 years of experience in building these sorts…

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…

Toyota is looking to owners and devotees to help it decide on the future of its current performance flagship, the GR Supra. Speaking at the recent launch of the new manual Supra, a Gazoo Racing representative said the brand has a “diversified range of options for potentially electrifying the Supra or putting an even more powerful combustion engine in”. That raises the possibility that the current car’s BMWderived 3.0-litre straight six could be boosted to more than its 335bhp output. In the new BMW M240i Coupé, it makes 368bhp. He added that when it comes to approving a Supra EV, feedback from the media and owners is welcome. “It’s a valuable input into our decision-making,” he said.…

JUST BEFORE THE latest GLC was revealed, Mercedes-AMG officially previewed the hot new C63 version of its C-Class saloon sibling, which will make the landmark switch from V8 to four-cylinder hybrid power. Shown in concept form at the Nürburgring 24 Hours last week, the upcoming BMW M3 rival is emphatically marked out from the standard C-Class by way of an aggressive bodykit, chunky AMG sports alloy wheels (covering the requisite drilled and ventilated brake discs) and a beefy quad-exit exhaust. It will be the first AMG to swap its thunderous V8 for an advanced new fourcylinder hybrid drivetrain. The A45 hot hatchback’s 2.0-litre engine has been tuned to give 470bhp in its own right for the new C63 – making it comfortably the most powerful four-cylinder engine in series production.…

POLESTAR IS RETURNING to its sporting roots with a hot new range-topping version of the 2 electric saloon. First revealed in prototype form at last year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, the new 2 BST Edition 270 is Polestar’s “most dynamic electric driver’s car yet”. Aside from the obvious bespoke design elements, which clearly mark this out as the sportiest variant, the BST – named after last year’s Beast concept – has been tuned to give total outputs of 469bhp and 502lb ft as standard. These figures match those of the regular r 2 after a recent over-theair software update that made it good for 0-62mph in 4.2sec. On top of that, Polestar has lowered the ride height by 25mm and installed two-way adjustable Öhlins dampers, 20%-stiffer springs and a new…

Twice bitten, forever shy: that’s Nicola Evans’ experience of used car checks. In September 2021, Nicola bought a 2017-reg Volkswagen Scirocco 2.0 GT DSG from Big Motoring World in Maidstone, near Kent. Part of the awardwinning dealer’s appeal is that it claims to subject all of its cars to a 200-point presale inspection. However, the day after Evans took delivery of her purchase, she discovered that its media unit didn’t work. “The USB socket was broken,” she said. “I took the car to my local VW dealer. They quoted me £600 for a new unit, so I contacted Big Motoring World to see if they would replace it under their warranty. They asked me to return the car so they could check it but after a few days told me…

While this new compact 4x4 will be Ineos’s first foray into battery-electric power, it hasn’t abandoned its plans for hydrogen fuelcell electric vehicles. Working in partnership with Hyundai (which sells the Nexo hydrogen SUV and has bold plans to expand its commercial FCEV offering in the coming years), Ineos is developing a hydrogen Grenadier and will show off a functioning demonstrator vehicle on and off road by the end of this year. Notably, Land Rover also has plans for FCEV 4x4s and is testing its own hydrogen system – in partnership with engineering firms such as Delta Motorsport, AVL and Marelli Automotive Systems – in a specially adapted Defender prototype.…

Jaguar has been deleting all its Instagram posts (ask your children). Last week, it discarded a decade’s worth of pictures and videos, like a divorcee deleting pictures of their ex on Facebook (ask your parents). In their place, it posted three new pictures – intriguingly, all close-up details of its 1988 Le Mans-winning XJR-9. They were captioned, simply, ‘Prologue’, ‘Genesis’ and ‘Flash back’. What could it mean? Some of Jaguar’s 12.6 million followers asked the same thing, to which the company responded, mysteriously, “that’s a big question” and “something vivid this way comes”. Details of what’s coming next from Jaguar have been sparse. It feels like a company almost in limbo. It has six models currently on sale, but none is new; and while we’re promised an allelectric future from…

Renault Group boss Luca de Meo has issued a warning about rushing to mandate EV-only car sales too soon, feeling it could have farreaching financial, ecological and societal implications. Responding to the European Commission’s wish to ban the sale of new cars powered by fossil fuels by 2035, de Meo told the Financial Times’ Future of the Car summit that Renault is “very committed to EVs”, but there is a danger in rushing into electrification. “If you look at the data, it is apparent that combustion-engine sales – including hybrids – have yet to peak,” hesaid. “There are challenges – societal, financial and ecological – that should be considered. “These are divided down to the batteries, which are good for 85% of typical usage but not for those two or…

SUNDAY To Long Compton, a sublime rural location in the northern Cotswolds, for the Jacobean Sporting Trials Festival 2022. The what? It was a gathering of 113 sporting trials cars from four eras (postwar to modern), all tackling courses impassable to the best modern 4x4s. I arrived late but was still able to take a ride with multiple British (aka world) champion Julian Fack. In trials terms, that is like lapping Silverstone with Lewis Hamilton. Our car was Impunity II, built by Fack more than 40 years ago, before he embarked on a proper production run of even better cars called Facksimiles, still competitive. The traction, torque, agility and responsiveness were breathtaking, as was the baseline prowess of the competitors. If there’s a form of motorsport that better combines total…

Not content with building 2022’s finest sports car in the sold-out GR86, Toyota is now offering a new version of the GR Supra, one with three pedals. It seems the purveyor of the Sienna and Prius and the undisputed volume champion of the automotive industry has also become panderer-in-chief to the tastes of people who love cars that get under our skins. It’s well known that these developments stem from the very top: from Toyota president Akio Toyoda. As petrolheads go, he puts most of us to shame, and without his corporate impetus, the Gazoo Racing (GR) subbrand wouldn’t exist. But it does, and the GR Supra, GR Yaris and GR86 have all now made their mark. It’s perhaps the least compelling car of that trio – the powerful, GT-leaning…

MODEL TESTED EQS 53 4MATIC+ NIGHT EDITION Price £157,160 Power 649bhp Torque 701lb ft 0-60mph 3.6sec 30-70mph in fourth na Fuel economy 2.4mpkWh CO2 emissions 0g/km 70-0mph 58.6m You wouldn’t think that an outfit as traditional as Mercedes would come to specialise in brave conquest models designed to fight on new class fronts. However, not only is it debatable just how ‘traditional’ modern Mercedes is, but it’s also a measure of the ferocious competition in the car industry that, aside from the torrent of crossovers introduced since the ML SUV broke new ground in 1998, the firm has launched at least three bona fide and entirely separate conquest models in the past decade. First there was the Mk3 A-Class, intended to take sales from the Volkswagen Golf. Then there was the…

The Northumbrian sheep I’m currently locked in a staring match with must weigh about as much as I do. If I collect her on the thermoplastic bodywork of the new Lotus Emira sports car I’m driving, I doubt the impression she would leave would simply pop back out again. But besides being a sheep, she’s also a useful metaphor. Every time I come around the corner, there she is, licking the road again. She hops onto the verge for just long enough to let the bright red, fast-moving, rather noisy sports car by; and then straight away reassumes her favoured spot, tongue to the asphalt, right in the middle of the carriageway. Could she be after the last of the winter’s salt before it gets washed off the road by…

Thanks to TV shows and dashcam footage, we’ve all seen police car chases and winced as the pursuit vehicle crests a speed hump in a shower of sparks before turning the crook’s motor with a side swipe. So, having witnessed such a casual absence of mechanical sympathy, why would you buy an ex-police car? Good question, but at the Ex-Police Car Centre in Brierley Hill, near Birmingham, they sell around 30 a month to people happy to do just that. Nicola Finney, who runs the business, reckons it’s the largest dealership of its kind in the UK. “We’ve been selling ex-police cars since 1976,” she says. “There are so many bad used cars, why wouldn’t you buy one from a reliable source, with a good history and one former keeper?”…

DRIVEN McLaren Artura McLaren’s first series-production hybrid – and the template for its bold new era – is finally ready. We deliver the first verdict FEATURE Dacia’s future Dacia’s progress has stalled a bit in the UK. Here’s how it plans to start growing again DRIVEN BMW M2 It hasn’t even been revealed yet, but we’ve already tested this new super-coupé EVERY WEEK ROAD TEST Kia Sportage Kia’s most important car in the UK has been given a bold new look DRIVEN Morgan Super 3 It’s the first clean-sheet Morgan since 2000. Matt Prior is your pilot SUBSCRIBE autocar.co.uk/subscribe or see p4…

MILEAGE 4222 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see if a plug-in hybrid S-Class can be as convincing as its diesel ancestors Before the big Benz silently rolled up to the house, I had spent the previous few months knocking about in a Land Rover Defender. Brilliant car: I loved every minute of it, save those rather too frequent occasions spent filling its tank and emptying my wallet at the same time. Even with just a 2.0-litre fourcylinder engine, with petrol prices being what they are, it was a sizeable disincentive. It would only do 25mpg if you drove it unusually gently. So what hope, then, for the S-Class, with its similar weight and a 3.0-litre six-cylinder engine? Of course, the secret lies in its ability to travel a considerable distance…

Some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them. The Mazda MX-5, you will recall, hit the ground running, so instantly iconic that it seems weird now to think that there was a time when it didn’t exist. It turned out to be, over its four generations (so far), the ultimate real-world enthusiast’s car and the biggest-selling two-seat sports car of all time. Oh, yes, of course, there were other dainty drop-top two-seaters that came before it and some that came after it, but this delightfully simple and properly screwed-to-gether roadster delivered a frontengine, rear-wheel-drive answer to more than a million people’s prayers. You see, if you want affordable fun, the iconic MX-5 has always delivered in spades. The Mk1 car (the NA) was an…

Manufacturers have often confused their customers by selling an array of cars that are actually the same in order to garner economies of scale. This is called badge-engineering – and not to be confused with platformsharing, which is much less blatant. Some over-indulged; others knew better than to mess with branding. Here, then, we bring you the cars that were badge-engineered the most. 1974 General Motors T-Car 26 models The rear-driven T platform was developed – primarily by Opel – in response to rising petrol prices, and GM was determined to use its empire to the maximum to produce a frugal small car that could be sold anywhere under any name. And in that it sure succeeded, using the same car with minor changes under 26 names, making it almost…