Table of contents for May 4, 2022 in Autocar

DEVELOPMENT OF A bespoke EV architecture for small cars will also facilitate a direct electric replacement for the A-Class hatchback, in line with Mercedes’ plan to usher in an EV in every segment by 2025. Currently, the smallest model in Mercedes’ EQ family is the EQA crossover, an electric version of the combustion-powered GLA that shares its sibling’s platform. It is one of four EVs in the brand’s portfolio – alongside the slightly larger EQB, the EQC SUV and the van-based EQV – to use a modified version of an existing combustion-engined architecture. But with the new MMA platform, Mercedes is well placed to take on the Volkswagen ID 3 with a lowerslung premium hatchback that matches the current A-Class for interior space and its rivals for range per charge.…

FALKEN PARENT COMPANY Sumito Rubber Industries has been working with Professor Hiroshi Tani of Kansai University on the development of an electronic device to accurately monitor tyre wear. For all the talk of how driverless cars are needed to cut the accident rate, it seems there’s still a lot of scope for improving the safety of conventional cars, too. Tyre condition is vital to safe driving but it’s fair to say that for many drivers, actively checking tyres is pretty low on the list of priorities. If tyre wear goes unnoticed or is ignored, the results can be lethal – especially in the wet. Continental once demonstrated under controlled test conditions at MIRA Proving Ground near Nuneaton that despite the legal limit being 1.6mm across 75% of the width of…

Now that I’ve buried my head into an edit of the video I recorded while driving the Gunther Werksmodified 993 Porsche 911 (First drives, 27 April), I note there’s a detail I daftly left out of last week’s written review. Despite the huge amounts of mechanical grip offered by the 911’s more balanced weight and super-wide tyres (especially the 295-section fronts), plus the 435bhp and 7800rpm of its engine, at one point I look at the speedo as I accelerate between corners and realise I’m doing 50-60mph. That’s a notably modest speed at which to be enjoying – and I mean really enjoying – a car of that performance potential. I didn’t think I was backing away from it or trying not to extract performance. I was just driving to…

How is it that most car makers are not being hit with fines by the EU and the UK, despite the average 99g/km of CO2 emissions falling short of the 95g/km target set by both legislative bodies? The 95g/km target was modified for brands depending on the weight of the cars they sold. For example, the BMW Group said it managed to hit a target 115.9g/km of CO2 in 2021 for its cars sold in the EU, Norway and Iceland – 10g/km better than its target of 126g/km. And Jaguar Land Rover had agreed a separate target while the UK was in the EU, so an average of 169.3g/km for Land Rover wasn’t a disaster. Last year, makers could count the sale of a car with CO2 emissions below 50g/km…

NISSAN HAS CONFIRMED it will stop producing cars under the Datsun name, just nine years after resurrecting the brand to sell value-friendly models in emerging markets. Nissan said it will focus on “core models and segments that bring the most benefit to customers, dealer partners and the business”. This, it said, is part of a new global transformation strategy. However, the Japanese firm’s parent company confirmed that despite ending production of the Datsun Go, Datsun Go+ and Datsun Redigo, it will continue to sell the stock it has left and provide aftersales services to owners. “We can reassure all existing and future Datsun owners that customer satisfaction remains our priority and we will continue to provide the highest levels of aftersales service, parts availability and warranty support,” a Nissan spokesperson…

THURSDAY/FRIDAY A transporter arrives at my gate and a week of M3 excitement begins. Inside is a 1989 E30 Ravaglia from BMW UK’s classic car collection. The E30 is the first of the M3 line, built as a homologation special, and this one is a special edition named after highly successful M3 racer Roberto Ravaglia. It will be with me a few days before we join a bunch of other M cars at the latest Bicester Heritage Scramble to mark the 50th anniversary of BMW’s revered and hugely effective M division. The weather is brilliant, so I use it in the lengthening evenings for junkets on favourite roads after the infernal screen is folded away. It’s so interesting to get back into a car that I praised to the skies…

Don’t you just hate getting in a car and going through all the rigmarole of pressing actual buttons and having electricity move your seat for you. Well, fear not! In the Mazda CX-60, facial recognition technology will do the job for you: all you have to do is sit, think about what’s for lunch and let the car shift everything around for you automatically. In fact, Mazda goes a step further because it even recommends what your seating position should be, based on factors that the engineers have worked out. It wasn’t 100% correct for me so it does feel a bit of a gimmick, but maybe some customers will like it. It’s certainly a talking point when you first jump in the car. The plug-in hybrid CX-60 is a…

Cupra’s gradual shift towards becoming an all-electric car brand starts in UK showrooms this month as its first EV – the Cupra Born – goes on sale. The car is available initially in one mechanical guise only: the 201bhp, 58kWh Born driven here. An entrylevel model (148bhp and 45kWh) and a slightly more powerful one (227bhp and 77kWh) will follow later this year. This is Cupra’s slightly sportier, more stylish and marginally more expensive take on the Volkswagen ID 3. The car’s meaner stare, more aggressive bumpers and lower stance give it a kerbside presence the VW lacks, and the cabin of our test car (an upper-grade V3) featured a richer mix of materials than the ID 3 has. For the greater relative allure of the exterior styling and cabin,…

Dick Elsy was originally tasked with investigating a more car-like successor to the Defender, under the project name Challenger, but this was ditched in favour of a completely new, lightweight and more lifestyle vehicle. An early working prototype was then built, loosely based on a Honda Shuttle. This helped Elsy and his team bring senior management on board. But it wasn’t until 1994, after BMW took on full budgetary responsibility for what was now called the CB40, that development intensified rapidly. While powertrains were plucked from Rover Group cars, the 4WD system was all-new and, for the first time, lacked a high/low range selector. Dubbed the Mad Max series, 22 prototypes clothed in Austin Maestro van bodies were built in 1995 and 1996 to prove the transmission’s durability. They also…

It’s one thing to bottle out of something because you don’t know whether it can be done, quite another to wimp out despite knowing absolutely that what you’re trying to do isn’t just possible but has been done before. What I’m trying to do is turn into the Craner Curves at Donington Park without lifting my foot. I’m in a supercharged Revolution SC500 and I’ve seen on-board footage of Revolution’s test driver, James Abbott, do just that. But there are problems: the Curves have a blind entry, they plummet downhill, there’s a tight corner at the bottom and, right now, the SC500 is doing almost 150mph. Try turning left unsighted at that speed with more than double the g-force any road car could hope to generate and you will see…

One car that Tecniq is putting its name to is a restomodded Land Rover Defender 110. Called the Q40, it is a project to demonstrate the company’s skills and built to mark 40 years of the RAF Chinook. The interior and exterior and mechanicals have all been overhauled. The chassis sits 25mm lower than a standard Defender 110 and there are new dampers, springs, roll bars and bushes. The engine is a 2.3-litre Ford Ecoboost making 307bhp and driving through a six-speed auto gearbox. And then there’s a vast interior overhaul, with carbonfibre seats finished in leather and the kind of structural cabin changes that Tecniq makes for low-volume cars. Outside, there is more of its carbonfibre and aluminium. The Q40 is scheduled to be auctioned at the Goodwood Revival…

SPECIAL 100-PAGE ISSUE Autocar Awards 2022 We name the very best cars of the past 12 months and celebrate the brilliant people who made them REVEALED Range Rover Sport We bring you every picture, statistic and detail of the thirdgeneration SUV DRIVEN Alfa Romeo Tonale Alfa joins the small SUV party with the first new model in its planned renaissance EVERY WEEK ROAD TEST Toyota Aygo X First all-new city car since the 2019 Hyundai i10 gets the full eight pages FIRST DRIVE Volkswagen ID 5 GTX Sleeker version of the ID 4 arrives in go-faster GTX guise. We rate it SUBSCRIBE autocar.co.uk/subscribe or see p58…

MILEAGE 6288 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT We know it’s quick, but does the highperformance Stelvio put the U in SUV? The logic of combining outrageous power levels with a fat, heavy, offroader-style body is hard for some to comprehend, but there’s a good reason why cars such as the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio have become increasingly popular. Properly engineered, as this QV undoubtedly is, they can be a hoot to drive, yet they bring with them all of the qualities that have made SUVs so ubiquitous: the commanding driving position, the lofty sense of status and the family-friendly practicality of a big five-door bodyshell. Once a week, I help out at my local community food shop, restocking it with crates of tins, boxes and bags, so need a car with…

Kia won’t be the first brand that springs to mind when selecting your next grand touring saloon. The Stinger, though, introduced in 2017, proves there’s more to the Korean firm than compact crossovers and reasonably priced hatchbacks. Despite being Kia’s first sports saloon, the top-end GT S version gets plenty right in a class where it needs to compete with some of Germany’s finest: the Audi S4, BMW 440i Gran Coupé M Sport and Mercedes-AMG C43. It’s no easy task, of course, but the Stinger challenges with direct and crisp handling, little body roll and huge amounts of grip. Occupants are also treated to decent levels of ride comfort, which suits the nature of the refined and responsive engines in the line-up. Inside the Stinger, there’s an excellent, low driving…

With the weather getting better and you-knowwhat hopefully heading into our rear-view mirror, what better way to celebrate than by visiting one of Britain’s car museums? They all have plenty to offer and will be pleased to see you after such a difficult period during the pandemic. Here’s our choice of the best. Please check out their websites for more information and opening times. British Motor Museum Gaydon Warwickshire’s 300-strong collection is run by the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust. It charts the history of Britain’s car industry and spotlights an array of unique vehicles, including many firsts and lasts, prototypes and concepts. In this line pictured, for example, are the world’s oldest surviving MG, Land Rover and Mini. If you’re a fan of racing Jaguars, you can gaze at…

Mercedes-Benz will rapidly expand its EV line-up in the coming years by ushering in electric options in crucial new segments and introducing a range of new platforms with unprecedented range and performance capabilities. The marque’s line-up of electric models already comprises a wide variety of cars of different shapes and segments – ranging from the EQA hatchback to the new EQS SUV flagship – and it will be extended further with the launch of the mid-sized EQE SUV later this year and an electric version of the G-Class 4x4 by 2024. The company’s commitment to offering a electric version of every model by 2025 is among the most ambitious electrification pledges of any mainstream manufacturer. This comes alongside a commitment to develop only bespoke EV architectures from 2024 – when…

GERMAN SPORTS CAR maker Wiesmann has made a hardhitting comeback after several years of silence by unveiling the new Project Thunderball – not only its first electrified product but also the first electric rear-wheel-drive convertible sports car since the Tesla Roadster of 2008. Best known for a series of retro-styled sports cars using straight-six, V8 and V10 BMW engines, Wiesmann is on the comeback trail after a tumultuous period since it filed for bankruptcy in 2013. The Dülmen-based outfit was acquired in 2016 by international technology firm Contec Global, whose managing director, Roheen Berry, now serves as its CEO. Priced from €300,000 (£252,500) and expected to hit the road later this year, the Thunderball features a pair of electric motors on the rear axle delivering a combined 671bhp and 811lb…

TVR has confirmed plans for an electric variant of the long-delayed V8 Griffith sports car to hit the market in 2024, five years since announcing its comeback. The team behind the British brand’s reinvention made the announcement as it confirmed that TVR would sponsor two Formula E events: last weekend’s Monaco ePrix and the two London ePrix races on 30 and 31 July. It says its partnership with the electric race series “marks a turning point in the strategic direction of the iconic British high-performance sports car manufacturer as they accelerate their plans to electrify the brand”. Chairman Les Edgar said the sponsorships “not only demonstrate our commitment to revolutionising the TVR brand but [also] to EVs and becoming a sustainable, net-zero business”. He went on to confirm that TVR…

Last year across Europe, 45% of all cars sold were SUVs, while average CO2 emissions from new cars dropped below 100g/km for the first time, according to a new report from market researcher Jato Dynamics. The impressive fall from 118g/km average to 99g/km, the latter as measured by the tougher new WLTP test cycle, has been nudged by government policy both in the European Union and the UK, which copied over the EU 2019/631 regulation on capping emissions to cut the amount of petrol and diesel burned. The reason that car makers managed to reduce emissions while still selling so many SUVs is because many have chosen the popular bodystyle to be their key low-emissions model, either plug-in hybrid (PHEV) or electric (EV). “Car makers were forced to adapt their…

The surging costs of raw materials for battery cells prompted a half-joking plea from Tesla CEO Elon Musk for investors to get into lithium mining and refining. “Do you like minting money? Well, the lithium business is for you,” he said on the company’s first-quarter earnings call in April. The rising cost of raw materials needed for batteries such as lithium and nickel has prompted cell suppliers to push up prices to car manufacturers, which are then passing on the costs to buyers. The price of nickel hit the headlines in early March when prices quoted on the London Metal Exchange surged past $100,000 per tonne on fears over Russian supply, but it has subsequently dropped back to around $33,000. Since January 2020, lithium prices have increased by over 700%,…

Volvo achieved “a stable financial result” in the first quarter of 2022 despite its operations being dramatically affected by the semiconductor shortage, the war in Ukraine and soaring material costs. The Swedish firm’s operating profit for the quarter stands at SEK 6.04 billion (£484.6 million), down SEK 2.3bn (£190m) on the same period in 2021. With production running at limited capacity, Volvo sold 148,295 cars last quarter, down 20% on Q1 2021, and it expects output will remain restricted and costs high into the second half of 2022.…

This is the second generation of the Kia Niro, a car that’s nowhere near as revolutionary as the Kia EV6 but arguably more important for the Korean brand, being its second-bestseller after the Sportage. With the first Niro, Kia beat most of its rivals to the wildly popular segment of compact crossovers, and it did so with reasonably priced hybrid options and an electric one with a long range. And that highlights something quite unusual about the Niro: it’s available as a hybrid, a plug-in hybrid and an EV. Accommodating both combustion engines and big batteries on the same platform can lead to an unhappy compromise, but the outgoing Niro managed to be both a convincing hybrid and an impressive EV when it came out. Today, though, Kia has more…

There’s a lot that we could tell you about the eye-catchingly angular new RZ 450e, the first bespoke electric car from Lexus. We could highlight the fact that it’s built on the e-TNGA platform already used by both the Toyota bZ4X and the Subaru Solterra, that its two motors in combination produce 309bhp, or that there’s a 71.4kWh battery under the floor that should give it a range of more than 250 miles. But what you really want to know is what this Lexus doesn’t have, which is a direct connection between your fingertips and terra firma. Yes, that’s right: when fitted with the new One Motion Grip set-up, the RZ delivers fully fly-by-wire steering. Now, Lexus isn’t the first to dabble in digital direction changing: Infiniti attempted it with…

MODEL TESTED C300E AMG LINE Price £46,310 • Power 308bhp • Torque 406lb ft • 0-60mph 5.8sec • 30-70mph in fourth 6.5sec • Fuel economy 47.7mpg • CO2 emissions 13g/km • 70-0mph 56.9m The W206-generation Mercedes-Benz C-Class is a transitional car for one of the world’s founding car makers, and yet it remains singularly important. It will be the first C-Class not to offer multicylinder combustion engines, for example, but also one of the last new Mercedes models of any series not to be engineered for all-electric power. Needless to say, that doesn’t mean it won’t be ‘electrified’. In fact, Stuttgart is aiming to attract particular attention, and win some key European fleet business, with the first of two C-Class plug-in hybrid models that it will offer. A dieselelectric PHEV will…

Automatic supremacy Once again, Autocar shows the most extraordinary and ridiculous bias involving the antiquated views regarding the outdated, outmoded manual gearbox. This is something that should have been ruled extinct decades ago, probably around the same time as drum brakes. It would be amusing if it wasn’t so ludicrous. John Mahoney blathers on about the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing (First drives, 30 March), saying: “It claws back an advantage with its 205mph-plus top speed and the fact that it offers something that none of its European rivals can: a good old-fashioned manual gearbox. The GM-Ford 10-speed automatic is also available, of course, but you could never be friends with anyone daft enough to choose the two-pedal version over the sublime six-speeder.” What arrogance. Daft? Really? Yet he adds later, about…

New BMW 7 Series loses to rivals IF THE NEW BMW 7 Series isn’t your idea of a Bavarian beauty, how about the E38? Rumour had it there were three proposals and the bigwigs chose the ‘safest’ one. As the understatedly handsome new luxury limousine arrived, we compared it against its two strong rivals: the new Audi A8 and threeyear-old Mercedes-Benz S-Class. But it turned out perhaps ‘safe’ wasn’t safe after all: the 7 Series failed to beat the amazing A8 and more disappointingly the S-Class. “The trouble with the 740i isn’t that it does anything badly, but that it fails in any significant measure to advance the luxury car art, as the S-Class did with its refinement,” we said. “Instead, it’s a natural but predictable progression of the…

MILEAGE 3105 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To find out if the reborn 500 is just as charming to live with as it is to look at It would be easy to assume the electric cars rapidly reshaping our definition of performance exist only at the upper end of the price spectrum: think Tesla Model S Plaid, Rimac Nevera or Lotus Evija. But it’s occurring in the city car segment too. Where once you might have walked into an Abarth dealership, ticked a few options boxes and driven away in a 595 Competizione, now you can head to the other side of the office, spend a similar amount on an electric Fiat 500 and be comfortably beating ICE-engined cars at every set of traffic lights on your way home. Does that…

Despite the best attempts over the years of Messrs Prior and Saunders in these very pages, and the likes of Harris and Clarkson on the TV, there will always be one joyless cynic on hand to tell you how all supercars are utterly irrelevant. You will be as fast point to point on UK roads in an Astra diesel, get as much sensory pleasure in an MX-5 and impress your peers far more with a Giulia Quadrifoglio or possibly the Performance version of the Tesla Model 3, they’ll declare, not entirely unreasonably. Just point them in the direction of the original Honda NSX. It took the supercar rule book and tore it up, and all that followed were influenced by this voluptuary car. You see, before the NSX hit the…

SINCE 1972, THE S-Class has upheld a tradition of placing drivers into an environment filled with groundbreaking tech and comfort – so much so that Mercedes-Benz boldly dubbed it “the best car in the world”. In our recent road test of the new Mk7 S-Class, we called it “fantastically opulent”, praising its interior as well as its fine array of engines. The car from that test cost upwards of £100,000, which isn’t exactly pocket change. Thankfully, you don’t have to pay that much for comparable splendour. We think it’s worth looking towards the previous-generation S-Class, which is now available for a fraction of the cost. We liked it so much that we awarded it a perfect score in our 2013 road test, saying: “Where the S-Class leads, the rest of…

While touting a 50% improvement in energy density from its next-generation batteries, Mercedes is already looking to the next step, with development under way on solid-state battery technology. The firm has partnered Taiwanese battery developer Prologium, which claims to have supplied nearly 8000 solid-state battery samples to car manufacturers. The tie-up will usher in solidstate test vehicles in “the coming years” on the way to rolling out the hardware to production cars in the second half of the decade. Mercedes estimates that these future batteries can nearly double the range of today’s conventional lithium ion packs and the EVs equipped with these units can be lighter, more spacious and cheaper to produce.…

The new 911 Sport Classic has been revealed as the latest entry into the Porsche Heritage Design collection, paying tribute to one of the marque’s most celebrated historic models. Mechanically based on the 911 Turbo, the new 911 Sport Classic follows its 997.2-generation forebear in paying homage to the 1972 911 Carrera RS 2.7. It’s the second of four planned 992-generation 911s to feature a heritageinspired design, following the 911 Targa 4S Heritage Design Edition revealed last year. It has the turbocharged 3.7-litre flat six from the 911 Turbo, sending 542bhp and 442lb ft of torque to the rear axle through a seven-speed manual gearbox – which isn’t available on the PDK-only 911 Turbo, making this the most powerful manual 911 on sale. Ceramic brakes, sports suspension and 20in front…

The Jaguar E-Type, previously regarded as a star of the classic car market, is falling out of favour as collectors shun it and other traditional classics for younger vehicles from the 1990s. According to Hagerty, a classic car insurer, the average price of an E-Type S1 3.8 coupé has dropped from £89,575 to £72,250 in the past two years. For that other coveted classic, the Aston Martin DB6, the slide has been even steeper: down from £344,000 to £190,500. Across a basket of five traditional classic cars, prices are down by an average of 13%. Explaining the price falls, John Mayhead, editor of the Hagerty UK Price Guide, said: “Collectable cars such as E-Types and DBs are seeing their prices either slip or stagnate because those people who always wanted…

A NICE CULTURE SHOCK “You can change people’s minds at Hyundai if you have a strong enough argument,” said Tyrone Johnson, European R&D boss for Genesis, Hyundai and Kia, when mulling the dramatic differences from his former employer. “At Ford, if a decision is made, that’s the way it’s going to stay. At Hyundai, one big advantage is that once a decision is made, the process is much quicker.” Johnson, who developed the third-generation Focus RS and Mustang SVT, is currently working on more than 20 projects for the three Hyundai Motor Group brands, including Hyundai N performance models. How big a change is an N over a standard car? “The amount of change in an N is a bigger difference than a Fiesta and a Fiesta ST.” INFLATABLE VOLVOS…

One way to cut battery costs is to shift from NMC (nickel, manganese and cobalt) to LFP (lithium iron phosphate) chemistry, which cuts out the need for pricier metals. Volkswagen has chosen it for the “cost-sensible entry segment”, but this Chinesedominated chemistry was also used in “half” the cars that Tesla registered in Q1, boss Elon Musk said in April. Not everyone is taking this route, though. Renault is sticking with NMC both for energy density and its better recycling properties. Tesla is also working to industrialise bigger ‘4680’ cylindrical cells, named for their size (46mm wide and 80mm tall). It says they yield a 16% range gain and cost savings over current cells, and will be first fitted to Model Ys at its new Berlin gigafactory later this year.…

THE BRITISH TOURING Car Championship’s hybrid era began in style at Donington Park, with three different race winners driving three different makes of car and lap records broken to prove the speed of the new cohort first time out. Tom Ingram kept four-time champion Colin Turkington at bay to win the BTCC’s first hybrid race in his Excelr8 Hyundai i30 N Fastback, before engaging three-time champion Gordon Shedden’s Team Dynamics Honda Civic Type R in a duel for race two honours. Hybrid boost deployment tactics came into play, with Shedden getting the nod. Then WSR’s new signing, Jake Hill, ended a tricky weekend (with expulsion from the race one podium for a ride-height infringement) with a victory in his new BMW 330e. Ash Sutton was second in that final race…

Zero-emission city centres is a threat that has yet to materialise, but the concept alone has spurred manufacturers to give their plug-in hybrids geofenced electric-only driving modes. The idea is that you put your destination into the satnav system and the car can work out where to preserve battery charge so that it can switch into EV mode in town centres. That concept makes sense in plug-in hybrids that can cover significant distances with the engine off – but now Kia has introduced a similar system on the full hybrid Niro. The so-called Green Zone Drive Mode supposedly switches the car into EV mode in zones such as residential areas, near schools or in areas preset by the driver. Helping preserve energy is a smart regenerative braking system that uses…

When it made the 1 Series frontwheel drive in 2019, BMW had something to prove. And with the Volkswagen Golf R-baiting, four-wheel-drive M135i, it certainly demonstrated that it could build an effective hot hatch while retaining an expensive feel. Now it has given the hot hatchback an update. It’s not a facelift; that’s not due until 2024. Apart from some new paint options, like the retina-searing São Paulo Yellow seen here, the changes are purely mechanical. The aim, say the engineers, was to create a wider broadband for the M135i by positioning the M Sport suspension as the driving enthusiast’s choice while preserving the adaptively suspended car’s capabilities as an all-rounder. To that end, cars with the M Sport suspension get new springs and dampers, increased front camber and stiffer…

A anniversaries are all well and good. In the car world, they give us the chance to look back, see how far a certain product has evolved from launch and then be reminded about the relative lack of safety/performance/efficiency versus its modern equivalent. We then swiftly move on, safe in the knowledge that cars today are – objectively, at least – just plain better. But sometimes, reviewing a car’s birth does so much more than give us a convenient yardstick by which to measure its successors’ progress. When Land Rover launched the Freelander 25 years ago, it played a pivotal role in the company’s future. It tapped into a market sector that was set for supersonic growth (and one that still holds sway today) and upturned people’s perception of the…

“The steering wheel was shiny smooth and the column shroud wore a light dusting of skin cells” It all started with a 390,000-mile Toyota Prius – a 2011 60-reg 1.8 VVT-h T Spirit, to be precise. A friend spotted it in the classifieds and reckoned that at £3150 and with 12 months’ AA breakdown cover, it was worth a look. Personally, I reckon he was swayed by the seller’s use of that oldest trick in the book: “First to see will buy.” Still, I made the call, and you know what? “First to see” had done exactly that. It set me thinking about highmileage Prii (the plural of Prius, apparently). There are just so many of them. Is it the UK’s most plentiful leggy motor? Very possibly, although there are…

VW PASSAT 2010-15 A bombproof diesel engine and interior are this high-miler’s primary attractions. Buyer beware Check for rust spots, clutch slip and worn suspension. We found 2011/60 2.0 TDI Highline Plus Estate, 286,000 miles, £995 MERCEDES E-CLASS 2002-09 If you’ve ever done the airport run in one of these, you will know why it’s here. Buyer beware Listen for noisy rear suspension and check the gearbox changes smoothly. We found 2008/08 220 CDi Elegance automatic, 238,000 miles, £2490 FORD MONDEO 2006-11 A plentiful, good-looking, sharpdriving and well-built companion. Buyer beware Check the timingbelt replacement history and that the interior trim isn’t annoyingly rattly. We found 2009/09 2.0 TDCi Zetec, 200,000 miles, £1250…

This is one of those stories that would be easier to tell if so much of it weren’t secret. Tecniq is the new name for a company formerly called ADP Special Products. If you weren’t aware of it either before or since its rebranding, don’t be surprised, but you will know lots of the cars that it has been involved with. Not dissimilar to an engineering company called Envisage that has featured in Autocar before (and which recently released its own restomod of an Austin-Healey), this is a firm that big car makers turn to when they need help making limitedvolume, high-end cars – perhaps things outside their normal remit. Often they’re for the sort of spin-off operations that involve initialisms. Tecniq represents some of “the power behind Q [Aston…

In the late 1980s, during a period of high inflation, like now, I wondered when the prices of new-technology compact disc albums would come down to match those of their vinyl record equivalents. It never really happened: instead, vinyl record prices rose to be closer in price to CD prices. On reading your first drive of the £30,000 Mazda MX-5 (10 April), which mentioned how this was an example of “how bonkers car prices have become”, it made me wonder if we will ever see EVs come down to the cost of their ICE equivalent. Rather, I suspect that history is repeating itself and we’re witnessing ICE car prices rising to meet those of EVs. While consumers largely accepted paying more for their albums, it remains to be seen if…

MILEAGE 7296 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see if hybrid-only mini-SUV can be an efficient long-distance commuter car Bringing my bicycle out of winter hibernation is always great for the soul, signalling the start of long summer evenings and invigorating rides through the cool breeze. It’s also, more pertinently, the perfect opportunity to test the practicality of long-term test cars. I have a large mountain bike with 29in wheels, so manhandling it into any car’s boot is difficult, and I can’t remember ever having managed it without needing to utilise the quickrelease function for the front wheel and perching this atop the frame. My breath was bated as I pressed the HR-V’s boot-close button once I had pushed my bike (and its wheel) right up against the front seats, but…

An expert’s view NEIL SHAW, CHAIRMAN, NSX OWNERS CLUB, NSXCLUB.CO.UK “I guess I’ve owned around 15 NSXs over the years, including two Type R models, one early and one late, that I imported from Japan. I currently own a 2001 and a 2005 car. There’s really nothing else like the NSX. I’ve owned Ferraris and Porsches, but nothing is as good an all-round package. My favourite of the ones I’ve owned was the 2004 Type R, which was more than fast enough (0-60mph in 4.3sec) and sounded fantastic. It was very different to the standard car, despite looking similar.” Buyer beware… ■ ENGINE A comprehensive service history is very desirable. Oil leaks are quite common, so take a good look at the valve cover gaskets, the rear cam plug seals…

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…