Innholdsfortegnelse for 1788 i Auto Express

Alastair_Crooks@autovia.co.uk @AllieCrooks ● Updates to VW’s smallest SUV follow changes to brand’s larger models ● Petrol-only engine range continues and interior quality is improved VOLKSWAGEN might be pushing ahead with electrification, but it can’t afford to ignore its existing, successful combustion-engined cars – and it’s treating its smallest SUV, the T-Cross, to a facelift. The changes are part of a wider revamp for the brand’s SUV line-up, after the updated T-Roc plus the all-new Tiguan and Touareg. Since the T-Cross was launched in 2019, there have been updated versions, or entirely new generations, of rivals such as the Citroen C3 Aircross, Renault Captur and Nissan Juke. There’s also an ever-present threat from its VW Group stablemates, the SEAT Arona and Skoda Kamiq, and VW itself has a potential rival in…

sean_carson@autovia.co.uk ● Coupé comes with 705bhp V12 ● Only 110 cars to be produced TO celebrate the company’s 110-year history, Aston Martin has revealed this limited-run special, called Valour. Inspired by the one-off Victor, the Valour has been designed to “reconnect customers with the engagement of driving, given the digital era,” according to the brand’s chief creative officer, Marek Reichman. The new car is powered by a 5.2-litre twin-turbo V12 that sends 705bhp and 753Nm of torque to the rear wheels through a bespoke six-speed manual gearbox. Performance figures have not been revealed, but expect the 0-60mph time to be around three seconds. Aston says the Valour is the only front-engined V12 sports car with a manual transmission. The design of the Valour’s carbon-fibre bodywork also references Aston’s V8 Vantage…

What are the CMA’s main findings? • FUEL-PRICE competition has weakened in recent years, with retailer profit margins rising significantly since 2019 • In 2022 Asda decided to achieve higher margins by what’s known as ‘rocket and feather pricing’, reducing pump prices more slowly than the wholesale price had fallen • Other supermarkets aligned prices with Asda, instead of fighting to gain market share by dropping their prices • An average increase of 6ppl in margins between 2019 and 2022 cost drivers using the ‘big four’ supermarkets an extra £900m in 2022 alone What is the response from the supermarkets? ASDA refused to tell us how it justifies hiking fuel margins by a factor of three, and the CMA states it could find no material justification either. An Asda spokesperson…

THE following provide help with motoring problems. Some services are free, others charge a fee or operate on premium-rate lines (p), while some offer advice for members only (m) 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.consumerombudsman.org RMIF: 0845 305 4230 Scottish Motor Trade Assoc. 0131 331 5510 Problems with…

mail@autoexpress.co.uk Electric motor Power/range 595bhp/373 miles Performance 0-62mph/top speed 4.5 seconds/160mph SUCH is the expectation around the Lotus Eletre, and so easy is it to be cynical about this new 2.5-tonne electric hyper-SUV, Lotus has no room to spare with this car. In order to succeed – and to silence the cynics – the Eletre needs to be more than just good. It needs to be great. So is the new £104,500 Eletre S good enough to propel Lotus back on to the world stage? Can it compete with the likes of Porsche, Lamborghini and Aston Martin? The answer is a resounding yes, but working out where Lotus now sits within the hierarchy of the world’s best sports car makers is hard to pinpoint. The Eletre is priced to rival…

mail@autoexpress.co.uk @matt_201 Running costs 42.8mpg (official) £64 fill-up Performance 0-62mph/top speed 9.2 seconds/124mph THE DS 3 Crossback is dead. Sort of. Much like the larger DS 7 Crossback, which ditched the second part of its name after a mid-life refresh, the brand’s entry-level car is now simply known as ‘DS 3’, but it’s not hugely different from the older model. Most of the facelift’s styling tweaks are concentrated at the front. There’s a new, larger grille, while the French brand’s fresh ‘DS Wings’ daytime-running-light signature features, albeit in a less dramatic form compared with the DS 4 and DS 7 models. The finishing touch on the exterior comes in the form of new wheel designs. The DS 3’s interior hasn’t been played about with much, which means it’s still pleasingly…

MODEL TESTED: i4 eDrive40 M Sport PRICE: £59,390 POWERTRAIN: 1x e-motor, 83.9kWh battery, 335bhp 335bhp Powertrain 1x e-motor 83.9kWh Battery/range 337 miles 5.6 seconds Performance 118mph 470 litres Seats up/down 1,290 litres THE BMW i4 was crowned Premium Electric Car of the Year at the Auto Express New Car Awards, so it’s a pretty strong competitor for the Ioniq 6. Prices start from £49,995, which is around £3,000 more than for the Hyundai, while the eDrive40 M Sport is around £5,000 more than the top-spec Ioniq 6, at £59,390. The options fitted to our test car bump the price even further, to £67,240. Tech highlights WHILE the Ioniq 6 is based on a dedicated electric car platform, the i4’s CLAR underpinnings are used also by a variety of combustion-engined models,…

RUNNING the numbers on these two reveals that, while the Hyundai has advantages in places, the BMW pulls ahead in others. One big number in the i4’s favour is BMW’s £1,750 deposit contribution, which helps reduce monthly repayments and means it’ll cost £2,239 less than the Ioniq 6 on our example three-year finance deal when you stump up a £5,000 deposit. In comparison, Hyundai offers a £500 contribution, while the optional final payment at the end of the term is around £6,000 less than it is for the BMW. The Ioniq 6’s service package and insurance quotes are more competitive than the i4’s too, but then the BMW claws back some everyday running costs with its marginally better efficiency. One important factor that determines the i4’s finance costs is its…

PREMIUM ELECTRIC CARS Electrification has put Hyundai in with a shout of beating more established premium brands. Sean Carson Associate editor “EVEN a decade ago, it would’ve been unheard of for Hyundai to take on BMW in a straight fight. So the fact that the Ioniq 6 is able to challenge the i4 on equal terms and come close to beating it is credit to Hyundai’s efforts. I don’t think we’ll need to wait another decade for a win.” John McIlroy Deputy editor “IF you’re looking at the entry-level versions of these cars, then the Ioniq 6 could be more tempting than the i4. They both start at less than £50k, but the Hyundai comes with the same 77.4kWh battery as the car tested here, while the BMW features a…

Richard_Ingram@autovia.co.uk @rsp_ingram Running costs Official range/VED 281 miles/£0 Practicality Boot (seats up/down) 363/1,177 litres Performance 0-62mph/top speed 7.9 seconds/100mph WE called it late last year, and six months later the MG4 remains one of the very best electric cars on sale. Named Car of the Year by sister title DrivingElectric back in December, the bargain EV has now been awarded the title of Auto Express Affordable Electric Car of the Year 2023. My new long-term test car is off to a good start then; almost before I’d unlocked the doors, it was a double award winner. But this is no all-singing, all-dancing super-luxury premium SUV – this is one of the cheapest electric cars money can buy. The MG costs from £26,995, so only the Smart EQ ForTwo – soon…

FIRST TEST FTX Outback Mini XP Rock Van RC rock crawler Price: £109 Rating: Contact: cmldistribution.co.uk WE’VE long been fans of Tamiya RC cars, but what if your budget won’t stretch to a few hundred pounds? One solution is to pick up a 1:18-scale car for around half the cost of a 1:12 kit with radio, battery and charger. But is it only half the fun? To find out, we tried FTX’s recently released 1:18 Rock Van. The impressively detailed sixties-style van comes ready to run with everything you need, including LED lights and indicators, although there is also a kit version. Charge the 600mAh Li-Po battery and you’re ready to go. As the name suggests, this is a rock crawler and it has portal axles (where the wheel centre is…

WHEN you need a bit of extra luggage space in your car, the normal options are to look to the roof or maybe even get hitched with a trailer. But there is another option – the tow bar cargo box – that combines elements of both, and there’s a new player in the sector from Thule: the Arcos. Cargo boxes mount a hard-shelled case onto the tow ball. These are usually more aerodynamically efficient than roof racks and are less fuss than a trailer. You also won’t have to worry about height restrictions in car parks, for example. When we last tested these boxes, the Cruz Apex System came out on top, due to its combination of flexibility, space and value. Thule is fighting back with its Arcos, which it…

mail@autoexpress.co.uk IN our 2023 Driver Power survey, the Corolla doesn’t quite make the top 10 for ride and handling, but these are its most highly rated categories, with an 11th place for ride quality and 12th for steering responsiveness. The Toyota’s scores for practicality are merely average, apart from a very poor 70th place for rear legroom, but a 16th place for gearbox smoothness is more encouraging, and powertrain satisfaction would have been higher if it weren’t for a 42nd place for noise. The Corolla’s move towards a more youthful image may not be paying off, with owners rating the exterior and interior design in 65th and 63rd places, while service costs and value both earned 45th places. WE SAID “With great refinement, a comfortable ride, fantastic build quality and…

Alastair_Crooks@autovia.co.uk @AllieCrooks ● MG4 XPower gets four-wheel drive and 429bhp ● 0-62mph in 3.8 seconds, with range of 239 miles “The extra grunt is enough for the XPower to shave a full four seconds off the regular car’s 0-62mph time” MG has made great strides with the MG4, an all-electric family hatchback that was named Affordable EV of the Year in our recent New Car Awards. But now the Chinese-owned British brand is properly turning up the wick on the humble five-door model and, in the process, creating its most powerful car ever, the MG4 XPower. Due to make its public debut at this weekend’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, the MG4 XPower looks set to beat Hyundai’s forthcoming Ioniq 5 N to the punch as the first true all-electric hot…

mail@autoexpress.co.uk @AutoExpress HOT TOPIC New Toyota C-HR FROM: David Mollins NOT sure about the nose, but it might look better and blend in more in darker colours. Apart from that, it’s not bad. It’s great to see Toyota sticking to physical buttons for the main functions on the dashboard; big plus there, Toyota. FROM: Joseph Lynn IT looks like the Toyota Aygo X and the new Prius had a kid. For now the C-HR looks different, but probably everyone will copy it. It’s not a car that I would personally want, but I think it should sell well. Join the debate at www.autoexpress.co.uk “I’m still no fan of side windows as small as a sheet of A4 paper. What are they good for?” Johan Wejedal “Wasn’t there enough orange paint…

Jordan_Katsianis@autovia.co.uk Running costs 50.4mpg (official) £77 fill-up Performance 0-62mph/top speed 10.0 seconds/124mph PEUGEOT might be on the verge of replacing its extremely popular 3008 next year, but that hasn’t stopped the brand fitting a mild-hybrid powertrain under the SUV’s bonnet for a final flourish. The 48V MHEV system is brand new, and will also be rolled out on the larger 5008 and updated 2008 models. On the 3008, the powertrain will in effect replace the existing 1.2-litre PureTech petrol engine, producing 3bhp extra, at 134bhp in this now entry-level option. What the numbers don’t tell you, though, is how much of a positive effect the electrification has made on an engine that could still cut it anyway. Although the 21bhp electric motor might not add much obvious grunt, its presence…

WINNER BMW i4 THE BMW i4 remains our first choice in the electric executive sector. It combines zero-emissions running with the kind of engaging driving experience that BMW is famous for, as well as the user-friendly tech that has been a trademark in recent years. It’s not the roomiest model if you’re travelling with a full complement of passengers, but there’s a useful boot on offer, while the car’s long range and refined driving manners when taking things easy mean it’s a better all-round package than the Ioniq 6. 1st ● Engaging to drive● Cruising comfort● Practical boot● Long range ● Cramped back seats● Pricey options● Insurance costs● Longer charge times INTERESTED? Scan the code for further information RUNNER-UP Hyundai Ioniq 6 SOME buyers will be won over by the…

SAME MONEY BMW 545e xDrive NOT everybody is ready to take the plunge with an all-electric car just yet, but a plug-in hybrid could be a decent stopgap in the meantime. And if you’re a BMW fan, then the 545e is available used for a similar price to the i4. It features an in-line six-cylinder engine – as the best performance BMWs do – and a combined output of 389bhp for 0-62mph in 4.6 seconds. Even better, the 12kWh plug-in battery offers an electric range of 33 miles. ● Rapid six-cylinder pace● Reasonable EV range ● Feels heavy in corners● Smaller boot than standard SAME MONEY Mercedes EQE AT the other end of the spectrum to the 545e, the EQE is one of the most cutting-edge EVs around, and has…

Chris_Rosamond@autovia.co.uk Performance 0-62mph/top speed 9.1 seconds/111mph Running costs 60.1mpg (official) £62 fill-up Practicality Boot (seats up/down) 361/1,052 litres BACK in the late nineties when Jeremy Clarkson-types were making pious jokes about the original Prius hybrid, I was geeking-out on its ‘future tech’ and animated dashboard; remember the tortoise-shaped warning light that flashed on the dash when the battery ran out of puff? But the giant Toyota industrial machine was not deterred by the sneers of nonbelievers. It had looked around, crunched the numbers, and declared it was developing hybrid tech to be the only truly sustainable path to a hydrogen-fuelled future. While others point at advances in battery EVs, and hoot that fuel-cell-powered cars will remain the stuff of fantasy forever, all I will say is that, having spent the…

Airless Michelin tyres go on trial in France THE French postal service, La Poste, is fitting 40 of its vans with Michelin Uptis airless tyres as an experiment to reduce downtime and maintenance on its fleet. The tyres have an internal structure of rubber and fibreglass in place of air, eliminating punctures and the need to have their pressures checked. Intended for light commercial vehicles, Uptis is the only airless tyre in the world approved for road use, and if this trial and others are successful, expect to see the tyres used by other firms soon. For more information, visit michelin.co.uk. Voice control via Siri added to parking app JUSTPARK has introduced voice control and Apple CarPlay as a way of searching for a last-minute parking spot. While the app…

Tyrrell: The Story Of The Tyrrell Racing Organisation Richard Jenkins (Evro Publishing, evropublishing.com) Price: £90 (£100 signed) Rating: A BEAUTIFUL history of one of racing’s best-known names, with a foreword by Sir Jackie Stewart. It’s packed with period imagery, while interviews with drivers and mechanics add an extra dimension. Not cheap, but if you like quality, it doesn’t get much better. Rosco: The Fastest Aussie On Earth Mark J Read (Independently published, amazon.co.uk) Price: £14.19 Rating: NOT many people are still chasing the land speed record, but Rosco McGlashan is. And like most people with an insatiable appetite for speed, he’s driven, ambitious and a little bit crazy. All three make this an excellent read. It’s rather bluntly put, while the tales themselves seem almost too remarkable to be true.…

CO2/tax 147-184g/km £200-£320 Running costs 39-48mpg (1.6 GDi) £88.04 fill-up Performance 0-62mph/top speed 11.1 seconds/113mph MID-SIZE SUVs are hot property on the new and used markets, and one of the favourites – as voted by you in our Driver Power surveys – is the Kia Sportage. While the original Sportage of 1995 wasn’t anything to get excited about, its successor was a big improvement, and by the time the third-generation edition arrived in 2010, Kia had really hit its stride, with a car that looked as though it was still at the concept stage. After that model, the Mk4 didn’t look as distinctive, but it was undoubtedly a better car, with its more modern dashboard, the latest safety tech and a further improvement in cabin quality. It was no wonder…

MG is planning to use the MG4 XPower’s performance as the base for a concept to pay tribute to the iconic Metro 6R4 rally car at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Called EX4, the new creation is said to be underpinned by the new hot hatchback’s powertrain. But shadowy teaser images released ahead of the car’s debut show a much more extreme body treatment, with an aggressive front splitter, flared wheelarches and a colossal rear spoiler. MG is also likely to incorporate chassis mods including a wider track, revised springs and dampers, and an uprated braking system. The company says the EX4 will “boldly reimagine the Metro 6R4 rally legend of the eighties”, and the XPower’s 429bhp, four-wheel-drive technical base bears comparison to the full-blown rally spec of the 6R4,…

John_McIlroy@autovia.co.uk @johnmcilroy ● Petrol-powered 208 now comes with mild-hybrid system ● Bigger battery for e-208 boosts range, and there's more power, too PEUGEOT is racing through range revisions; only weeks after showing its updated 2008, the French brand has announced a sharp new look and fresh tech for its 208 and e-208 superminis. The most obvious external difference is a new front-end design, with a fresh take on the ‘lion’s claw’ LED running lights and, for the e-208, a body-coloured grille, as seen on cars such as the larger 408 and 508 hatchbacks. Other exterior tweaks include new tail-lights (now a horizontal motif instead of the old car’s vertical layout), different alloy wheels and a couple of new colours, Agueda Yellow and Selenium Grey. Peugeot’s controversial i-Cockpit layout is retained,…

sean_carson@autovia.co.uk ● Stylish new two-door shown ● Replaces C-Class and E-Class AFTER axing its C-Class and E-Class Coupés and Cabriolets, Mercedes is covering off this ever-narrowing niche in the market with a single all-new model called the CLE. The styling is familiar and the CLE shares much of its design language with the latest C-Class and E-Class saloons. The long doors and tapering roofline mean the CLE is one of the sleekest, most style-led offerings in Mercedes’ line-up, and while pricing hasn’t been announced, the brand’s premium status means that it’s likely to kick off from around £50,000 when it goes on sale in November this year. Engine options will include one diesel and four petrol units, all 2.0 litres in capacity and with mild-hybrid assistance. The CLE 220 d…

Ronin grand tourer is Fisker’s next model FISKER boss Henrik Fisker has confirmed that the brand’s Ronin GT will make its debut on 3 August. Posting on his personal Instagram account (including the image above), Fisker said the car will be “super fast” and offer “space for five”. He also claimed the Ronin will be “the ultimate long-distance Grand Touring car with an anticipated range of 600 miles”. We already know the Ronin will feature a folding hard-top, and the new image shows a sleek profile and low roof. Monthly sales figures reveal slow EV uptake NEW-CAR registrations rose by 25.8 per cent in June, but the industry’s focus is on the relatively low number of private buyers transitioning to electric vehicles. According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and…

Chris_Rosamond@autovia.co.uk UK supermarkets present themselves as the canny shopper’s best friend, but they continue to fleece drivers at the fuel pumps. That’s the implication of a report by the Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA), after a year-long investigation into UK road fuel pricing. Highlighting the huge increase in margin raked in by supermarkets as wholesale fuel prices fell faster than pump prices, the CMA recommended measures to deal with “weakening competition”. Last month, Asda promoted its ‘price lock for summer’, which promised to “give customers more control over what they spend each week”. Unfortunately, two products where Asda customers can’t “take control” are petrol and diesel, and the CMA watchdog called out the supermarket for seeking to more than triple its profit margins on fuel. Other UK supermarkets failed to…

PININFARINA is celebrating the first F1 world champion with a new version of its Battista electric hypercar: the Edizione Nino Farina. The new model will be limited to just five examples and feature a ‘curated’ specification that includes Rosso Nino paint (a deep red that echoes the liveries of fifties Grand Prix cars) and a handpainted ‘01’ on the flanks to celebrate Farina’s title victory in 1950. The car has the same tech as a regular Battista, meaning 1,877bhp and a 0-62mph time of 1.86 seconds.…

IT’S big news when a car manufacturer such as Saab or Rover disappears, but plenty of other motoring-related brands quietly slip away from our lives with us barely noticing. We’ve flicked through the archives to find 18 big names that would have been familiar to any driver back in the day, but have now seemingly disappeared from our streets. Over the next four pages we tell their stories and find out what happened to them. Colway Tyres Went bust in 2001 REMOULDING new tread onto an old tyre used to be a popular way of keeping costs low. Colway was the top name in remoulds, making 1.5 million tyres a year at its peak in the mid-nineties. But the growth in budget tyres from Asia killed the market for remoulds…

Jordan_Katsianis@autovia.co.uk Running costs 28.0mpg (official) £84 fill-up Performance 0-62mph/top speed 3.9 seconds/191mph THIS year represents a century since Alfa Romeo’s famous four-leaf clover, or Quadrifoglio, first appeared on one of its Formula One cars. While the emblem has only been used sporadically over the past 100 years, more recently it’s featured on the wings of Alfa’s Giulia and Stelvio models, marking out the top-tier, high-performance versions of their respective ranges. As part of the centenary celebrations, Alfa has revealed updated versions of both Quadrifoglio cars, and it’s the Giulia we’re driving here. It features a few small but very important changes, which include a new fully mechanical limited-slip diff and a collection of suspension-geometry tweaks. Under the carbon-fibre bonnet you’ll still find Alfa’s twin-turbocharged 2.9-litre V6 petrol engine, now producing…

MODEL TESTED: Ioniq 6 Ultimate PRICE: £54,040 POWERTRAIN: 2x e-motors, 77.4kWh battery, 321bhp 321bhp Powertrain 2x e-motors 77.4kWh Battery/range 322 miles 5.1 seconds Performance 115mph 401 litres Seats up/down N/A THE Ioniq 6 joins the electric executive sector, which is a part of the market where Hyundai hasn’t made much of an impact in the past. However, the company’s premium EV aspirations mean it believes that it can now make inroads into the class. Prices are slightly higher than they are for the Ioniq 5, starting from £47,040, while we’re testing the top-spec Ultimate model with twin electric motors here, which costs £54,040. Tech highlights THE chief talking point of the Ioniq 6 is its streamlined shape. It was previewed by the Prophecy concept in 2020, but while some of…

SAME CLASS Polestar 2 RECENT updates have seen the entry-level Polestar 2 switch from front to rear-wheel drive, while advances in battery tech mean that the car consumes less energy than before, but can travel further – a range of 406 miles is quoted for the Long Range Single Motor version. The cabin is one of the best around, with plenty of upmarket materials and a clean, minimalist design that will appeal to the style-conscious. However, although there have been improvements in some areas, and the Polestar 2 is still one of the better-handling electric models currently for sale, the car’s firm ride is still an issue. ● Plush interior● Excellent tech● Long range ● Firm ride● Feels heavy in corners● Not the roomiest cabin SAME MONEY Tesla Model Y…

Got a query? products@autoexpress.co.uk WHEN you buy a used car, one of the problems can be that you get it not as it left the factory, but with the previous owner’s modifications. They can include everything from ‘upgraded’ suspension that’s okay for Brands or Silverstone but a nightmare everywhere else, to stickers and decals advertising parts that may or may not be on the car, or offering advice to drivers behind. What works for some is a disaster for others. But while suspension and infotainment swaps can be costly to rectify, stickers can be shifted fairly easily. How easily will depend on how long they have been on the car and the type of adhesive used. At one end of the spectrum is the decal that simply pulls off after…

NEW PRODUCT Thule Arcos M Capacity: 50kg/300 litres Price: £1,150 Rating: Contact: thule.com COMPARED with the Cruz, the new Thule is much lower, at just 480mm high – about the same as two average mattresses – so you won’t see it out of your rear-view mirror and it should be easy to open the boot. While the Cruz has a complicated, foot-operated system to tilt it out of the way, most cars’ lids and hatches arc easily over the Thule. The shape is also said to improve the aerodynamics of some vehicles, making the Arcos especially suitable for EVs, where efficiency is crucial. We saw no increase in consumption on a 400-plus-mile trip. It is well made, too, but we can’t ignore its price. The Arcos M costs £1,150, and the…

WITH your own tyre inflator, you can check and top up your pressures when necessary and avoid using the often-misused gauges at a service station. Keeping tyre pressures as manufacturers recommend saves fuel, reduces emissions and ensures your car will handle and stop as it should. The most common type of inflator is powered by a car’s 12V socket, but here we’re looking at battery-powered, cordless versions. They’re easier to use, given that there’s no lead to drag around or pack away, and they can be used on non-powered kit such as trailers. Ring RTC6000 Cordless 4 in 1 Digital Tyre Inflator and Air Pump Price: £62.89 Inflation time tyre/space-saver: 68/15 seconds Rating: Contact: ringautomotive.com BEST BUY THIS Ring has lots of features, with a huge, accurate display, a wide on/off…

Alex_Ingram@autovia.co.uk @AxleIngram ● Anniversary celebrations for Porsche and McLaren ● F1 stars and Le Mans heroes line up on hillclimb course THIS weekend will see one of the greatest motoring events on the calendar kick off in West Sussex, as the Goodwood Festival of Speed opens its doors. In addition to all of the new-car reveals that will take place on the lawn of the Duke of Richmond’s home, there will be the usual overwhelming range of stars, cars and motorcycles from the world of motorsport to drool over during the four-day event. This year will be a celebration of Porsche, with some of the Stuttgart brand’s most memorable cars taking part in the hillclimb. Porsche will also be the theme of the huge central sculpture that sits in front…

FOLLOWING on from its blue riband 24 Hours of Spa event last time out, the GT World Challenge Europe Series moves to its Sprint format for this weekend’s race in Italy. Based barely a mile from the Adriatic coast, the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli will see some of the world’s fastest GT3 racers compete in a pair of one-hour sprints (one on Saturday, the other on Sunday). The 24 Hours of Spa was won by the Rowe Racing BMW M4 driven by Philipp Eng, Macro Wittmann and Brit Nick Yelloly.…

WELCOME to my latest instalment of The Price Is Wrong. Think of this as a reminder that some companies continue to covertly or overtly overcharge when selling cars and car-related products, thereby forcing us to shop elsewhere… or not at all. Not clever. Despite repeated warnings from many consumers who have no choice but to adopt ‘can’t pay, won’t pay’ policies, certain firms still try to rip us off rotten when peddling their goods and services. Then they wonder why – surprise, surprise – we’re not buying! During the first week of July, I was hit with an insurance-renewal notice that sent the cost of my policy through the roof; when asked, a franchised dealership told me I’d have to pay an hourly workshop labour rate of £120 if I…