Table of contents for August 14, 2024 in Autocar

The electric version of the Range Rover Sport is being readied for showrooms next year as a high-powered rival to the likes of the Lotus Eletre and Porsche Cayenne EV. One of six electric cars that JLR plans to launch by 2026 across its Land Rover and Jaguar line-ups, the Range Rover Sport EV has now been spotted testing in Spain, in prototype form. The test mule has several key differences to its petrolengined sibling. These include covers in place of exhaust pipes and a blanked-off grille with a pattern that is the inverse of the regular version’s. Its battery pack can be seen set between the front and rear axles, and although it isn’t visible in the pictures, the charging port is expected to be sited behind the conventional…

A RADICAL UPGRADE package for the Porsche 911 and a carbon-bodied Aston Martin V8 Vantage are two projects that British engineering firm RML Group has previewed for its 40th anniversary. Founded in 1984, RML is the company behind a number of successful global motorsport programmes for the likes of Seat, Vauxhall and Saleen, and highly exclusive road cars such as the Aston Martin Vulcan and the Ferrari 250 GTO-inspired RML Short Wheelbase. As part of its anniversary celebrations, RML will reveal a Porsche 911 upgrade package, codenamed P39. With influence from top-flight Le Mans Hypercars, RML promises enhanced engine and aerodynamic performance to “extend the car’s speed and handling capabilities well beyond standard”. Meanwhile, the RML Bespoke division, which created the Short Wheelbase, is poised to unveil a thoroughly modernised…

ONE CHAPTER IN the story of our love affair with 12-cylinder engines has come to an end with news that Bentley has finally ceased W12 production. Despite this engine being hand-built from 2600 parts, each example was finished fairly quickly – in seven hours. Once installed and fired up, the 6.0-litre, twin-turbocharged giant was capable of powering a Continental GT to a staggering 208mph. It had been redeveloped over a three-year period for the introduction of the Bentayga in 2015, with faster-responding twinscroll turbos and cylinder deactivation on one bank of six to reduce consumption when the driver lifts or trails the throttle. For its first use in an SUV, it was also tested to perform at tilt angles of up to 35deg. Affection for 12-cylinder engines has endured with…

The forthcoming Wagoneer S, Jeep’s new electric flagship that will lead the way for three key models arriving in the next 18 months, can be more than a niche product and play a significant role in the American brand’s growth, according to its new UK boss. Jeep currently has around a 0.5% UK market share. The supermini-sized Avenger has accounted for about 75% of those sales, while the larger and more upmarket Grand Cherokee has struggled to attract buyers. However, new UK boss Kris Cholmondeley believes the Wagoneer S can be a success here, despite a price expected to be close to £100,000. “The Wagoneer S is a brilliant car, and the segment is big enough,” he said. “We haven’t succeeded with the Grand Cherokee; we have to be honest…

A one-make race series for Bentley Continental GTs? It’s a step on from humble Ford Fiestas or Renault Clios. But that’s the proposition that was launched at Silverstone last weekend by the Bentley Drivers Club. The car around which the new series is based is a Continental GT built by M-Sport, the powerhouse responsible for Bentley’s GT3 version, which proved a surprise smash hit on the race tracks following its launch in 2013. This new 650bhp Continental, which went on static display at the BDC’s annual Silverstone race meeting, is designed to be driven on road and track. So racers won’t necessarily have to trailer their cars to meetings – although there’s always an obvious risk factor at play for those of such a mind. If you prang your prized…

We are still mourning the loss of the brilliant Fiesta ST, and it’s sobering to realise its bigger brother Focus ST will also be axed next year. Thankfully, Ford has been working to send it out in style with the creation of what it calls its “most complete hot hatch ever”. The new Edition promises more dynamic capability and sporting prowess than ever before seen on a Focus ST. Ford has done its utmost to ensure the hot Focus goes out with a bang. It gets 363mm Brembo brakes at the front and adjustable coilover suspension from KW, which has previously supplied systems for Mercedes-AMG Black Series cars, Mini JCWs and BMW’s M4 GTS. It increases the spring rates by 50% and lowers the ST by 10mm, with an extra…

Assume, if you can, the mindset of somebody who spends their days creating new Bentleys. Your mission is to satisfy people who think it’s normal to pay £200,000-plus for a set of wheels but who, rather than merely requiring luxury, want cars that are more durable, more day-to-day practical and more dynamically capable than similarly priced rivals. Though these are tough targets, the general road test feeling is that current Bentleys achieve them. But how do you keep it going in future? Those of us who will never design a Bentley imagine that the creatives must need – at least part of the time – to live parallel lives to their customers in order to fully understand them: turning left when boarding a Boeing, buying suits in Savile Row and…

MODEL TESTED 63 4MATIC+ PREMIUM PLUS • Price £162,105 • Power 577bhp • Torque 590lb ft • 0-60mph 3.1sec • 30-70mph in fourth 4.4sec • Fuel economy 19.9mpg • CO2 emissions 319g/km • 70-0mph 42.5m In a way, the mere existence of the Mk2 Mercedes-AMG GT is cause for cheer in itself. The senior sports car class has always been a challenging place in which to do business. This is partly because one member of the gang, the Porsche 911, is almost too popular. There are other, more wide-reaching reasons why there are fewer serious performance coupés around now than in the past, but it all amounts to the same thing: less choice. In recent times, Jaguar’s F-Type has fallen by the wayside, as has Audi’s R8. The V8-fired Lexus LC…

MILEAGE 10,500 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see how 20% more claimed battery range works with a pokier 241bhp motor The growing band of British electric car jockeys will know better than most that EVs tend to offer you a big selection of driving control variations. I discovered many weeks ago that the MG 4 has as many as any of them. But after 4000 miles of driving, I still haven’t quite settled on an ideal set-up. This might be because different settings suit different road conditions, or because my driving moods change, or because I simply enjoy the what-will-we-have-today? game with myself. Changes are on offer with every journey because you have to delve into the settings each time to turn off the god-awful lane departure assist, one of…

MILEAGE 6287 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To celebrate the survival – and indeed evolution – of the proper sports coupé When we’re running an EV on our long-term test fleet, our reports tend to feature a lot of pictures of them plugged in. That’s partly because the foibles and intricacies of topping up a particular EV and the variances of the UK’s public charging network are key to the experience. But it’s also because the still-limited ranges of EVs compared with their combustion-engined contemporaries means you spend a lot of time either charging them or thinking about charging them. Which brings me to the picture atop this report of the BMW M2 in what I’ve come to regard as its natural habitat: a petrol station. Okay, that’s a bit facetious,…

FEATURE Porsche 911 Turbo It has become the flagship version of the fabled sports car, but what exactly has made the Turbo so great? Richard Lane finds out DRIVEN Renault Symbioz Yes, it’s another new Renault SUV. We try the hybridpowered offering INSIGHT Celebrating the ordinary What makes a car exceptionally unexceptional? EVERY WEEK ROAD TEST BMW Z4 Straight-six roadster is now available with a manual shift FIRST DRIVE Volkswagen California With new tech and PHEV power, is the camper better to drive and sleep in? SUBSCRIBE autocar.co.uk/subscribe or see p22…

There are few better ways to make a car dramatic than to give it gullwing doors. Ever since the Mercedes ‘Gullwing’ first burst onto the scene, those doors have been a byword for automotive indulgence. There have been more humble applications of them, too, and they have not just been used to access the cabin. But they are sure to draw a crowd. Here are our favourites. Mercedes-Benz 300SL 1954 Where it all started. The 300SL was never called ‘Gullwing’ by the factory but that’s how it’s widely known. The nickname stuck because it perfectly describes the lift-up doors, which were needed to enable the massive sill structures that give the car its strength. (The 300SL Roadster that followed had a more rigid body and normal doors.) Power came from…

The Tesla Model Y, the world’s best-selling car, will be substantially updated in 2025 with a new look, an interior overhaul and substantially improved performance figures. The SUV’s immense success makes it Tesla’s most important asset and the American EV maker will look to leverage it in an attempt to move out of a prolonged sales dip, during which it has been without a month-on-month deliveries increase since the end of 2023. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has previously said the Model Y will not be updated in 2024, with the firm prioritising other product launches. However, the first pictures of the updated SUV – codenamed Project Juniper – have been published online, informing our artist’s rendering and suggesting a reveal is near. The Model Y has not been updated since…

PROTON IS ON the verge of a major global export expansion that is set to take it back to the UK, sources close to its CEO, Li Chunrong, have revealed. The expansion is also planned to encompass new right-hand-drive markets throughout Asia and South Africa, as well as a return to Australia and New Zealand. The move is intended to significantly boost Proton’s global sales following the establishment of a new headquarters and manufacturing base currently under construction in Tanjung Malim in western Malaysia. Known as Automotive Hi-Tech Valley (AHTV), the facility is part of a multibillion-pound investment by joint owners Geely and Malaysian industrial conglomerate DRB-Hicom Berhad. The added production capacity that it will provide is set to play a pivotal role in Proton’s long-held plans to expand its…

Maserati has retired the Quattroporte and Levante, bringing an end to the firm’s V8 era, with the smaller Ghibli having bowed out earlier this year. The saloons (launched in 2013) and SUV (in 2016) were based on the M156 platform, developed under Fiat’s ownership of Maserati and built at the Mirafiori factory in Turin alongside the new Granturismo and Grancabrio siblings and the Fiat 500e urban EV. They were the final cars to offer the Ferrari-designed ‘F134’ 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8. The 572bhp engine has signed off in the Quattroporte Grand Finale, a custom-built car for a US-based owner. Maserati’s line-up now comprises just three core models: the Granturismo/Grancabrio, Grecale SUV and MC20 supercar. The company said: “Maserati is in a transition period towards electrification with its Folgore BEV programme. Today,…

Nissan remains committed to an electric-only line-up in Europe by 2030 despite the slowdown in EV sales growth – but the firm’s Europe sales chief says it will need flexibility in the coming years. The Japanese firm last year committed to phasing out its combustion and hybrid models in Europe by the start of the next decade and said all new models launched in the region will be EVs. Nissan is currently working on EV successors to the Qashqai, Juke and Leaf – all of which will be built in Sunderland – along with an electric Micra. Its existing EV line-up consists of the Ariya SUV and the Leaf. A recent slowdown in the growth of EV sales has prompted some car manufacturers – such as Audi, Ford, Mercedes-Benz and…

I have a dim and distant memory of two Bullseye contestants winning the darts game show’s star prize, which, perhaps or perhaps not unusually, wasn’t a speedboat but a car. As it was surprise-revealed to them (and this is where I wish I could be more confident in my memory, which yesterday couldn’t find my keys), I think one of the pair said slightly dismissively “it’s a Proton!”, to which host Jim Bowen replied “it doesn’t matter, it’s a car!”. Alas, my YouTube searching hasn’t yet revealed whether my recollections are accurate. But how would you, do you think, feel about a Proton being revealed to you today? What does the name still mean to you, if anything? I ask because we’ve learned that Proton co-owners Geely and DRB-Hicom Berhad…

I spent some time in BMW’s new manual Z4 before driving the latest Morgan Plus Four. Self-shifting, rear-driven drop-tops are a vanishingly rare breed south of £100k, so the comparison would have invited itself anyway, but it’s especially relevant here because Morgan has been offering manual Z4s – of a sort – for years. Here’s one now. The Plus Four uses the 2.0-litre turbo four from the entry-level Z4 but unlike that car can be specified with a sixspeed manual. It has been updated for 2024 but still looks mostly the same as the 1955 4/4 from which it’s loosely descended (even if the only real physical connection between the two these days is the continued use of ash wood for the frame). The Plus Four is only four years…

If you uttered the words ‘electric hot hatch’ to a hardened enthusiast even a year ago, their reaction would probably have been one of scepticism. Where hot hatches excel in driver appeal, lightweight performance and handling, battery-powered cars tend not to, and few firms have attempted a true driver’s EV. Pleasingly, more effort is now going into introducing EVs with a fun, sporting edge. The VZ version of the Cupra Born is the latest such car to land in the UK, following the Abarth 500e, MG 4 EV XPower and (£20k-pricier) Hyundai Ioniq 5 N. The VZ retains the regular Born’s rear-driven set-up, but its motor gets an extra 94bhp for a total of 322bhp – almost as much as the Volkswagen Golf R. Torque is also up, from 229lb…

“His strike rate at Silverstone was 50%: 20 races, 10 wins” Ayrton Senna always had a strong affinity with the UK. Like so many more before and since, it was on Britain’s race tracks where Ayrton Senna da Silva (as he was then) cut his racing teeth when he came here as an already precocious 21-year-old in 1981 to dive into the maelstrom that was good old Formula Ford. He didn’t take long to make the climb to Formula 1, where he spent 10 years driving solely for British teams: Toleman, Lotus, McLaren and Williams. I must admit it hadn’t occurred to me until it was pointed out, but such was the incessant nature of national single-seater racing in the 1980s that Senna won more races at Silverstone than at…

MILEAGE 10,700 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT Can an extra-long, diesel 4x4 justify a place in daily motoring life in 2024? Anice man arrives one morning after a few phone calls and an “I’m half an hour away” text to carry out what has variously been described as an ‘update’ and a ‘recall’ to the Defender 130. Most of its updates happen over the air, but not this one, which requires plugging in a diagnostic laptop to a 16-pin socket in the driver’s footwell, because it’s a security update. It disables the ‘can bus’ when the car is locked, to make it harder to steal. Gary says theft isn’t a Land Rover-specific problem but is an issue for all premium car makers, so updates/recalls/whatever like this are just part of the…

Taking the P Lamborghini has approved only Pirelli P Zero (Lamborghini Fitment) tyres (285/35 R23 front and 325/30 R23 rear) and advises that should you fit any other tyre, it will invalidate the car’s warranty and may cause a gearbox warning. Yet these tyres are unavailable in the UK and have been for quite some time through normal supply routes. I’ve owned several Uruses since the model was launched, and while the tyres are expensive compared with other cars’, they were always previously readily available through any local garage, as well as national chains. Four tyres typically cost in the region of £2500 to £3000. My local garage has had tyres on back order from Pirelli for over a year. Pirelli seems not to care and has simply advised me…

You might think that the 2007-2010 E61 generation of the BMW M5 Touring is simply a Formula 1-inspired, naturally aspirated V10 with a 5 Series estate thrown in for free. Not that this would be undesirable. But it’s also a family GT, a powertrain engineer’s dream, a 200mph estate that is nearly as spacious as a Range Rover and a car so comprehensively different from the standard one that it’s a stretch to call it a 5 Series in the first place. But let’s start with the most obvious draw: its 500bhp 5.0-litre V10. With an 8000rpm redline, an ECU that was the most powerful ever fitted to a road car at that time, 10 computer-controlled throttle bodies and a large stainless steel exhaust (the fitment of which required a…

THE VERY FIRST Land Rover of 1948 was designed to be as simple and hardy as possible, such that it could do all manner of outdoorsy jobs – and throughout its ensuing Series, 90/110 and Defender eras, it has indeed been pressed into almost every role imaginable. As our Graham Robson wrote in June 1976: “Standard examples carrying drills for diamond mining thousands of feet under the earth are old hat now, as is the ‘one-off’ Series 2A which Rover built to drag trucks along a railway track. Snow ploughs, road sweepers and miniature lighting standard supports are well known, as are those which carry aircraft stairs at airports, ambulance bodies in civil and military guise, armoured car conversions complete with guns, and beautifully equipped fire-tender equipment. Pick-ups could provide…

The difference between Tesla in 2023 and Tesla in 2024 is stark. Just over 12 months ago, the brand had plans to overhaul its production processes, had turned its focus to the longmooted affordable ‘Model 2’ EV and was readying a new plant in Mexico. Sales were flying. It hit a record 1.8 million sales in 2023 and the Model Y became the best-selling car globally – a first for an EV. Since then, Tesla has been hit by the messy and protracted launch of the Cybertruck, falling deliveries that have contributed to a £3 million year-on-year drop in revenue, and tightening operating margins. CEO Elon Musk recently announced 15,000 jobs will go in a global cost-cutting drive and slashed car prices by as much as £8000 in a bid…

An electric Mercedes-Benz C-Class will arrive in two years and be positioned as a more upmarket proposition than today’s combustion offering. Confirmed by company CEO Ola Källenius, the new EV will arrive alongside a new electric GLC SUV in 2026. The siblings are based on the new MB.EA platform and will be placed in what Mercedes calls the ‘core luxury’ segment, currently occupied by the likes of the CLE and E-Class. Meanwhile, the brand’s range of ‘entry-level’ cars will be shrunk to comprise the CLA, GLA and GLB, with these three models moving to the new MMA platform. Speaking on the brand’s earnings call earlier this month, Källenius confirmed the new CLA will arrive first in 2025, having been previewed by a concept at last year’s Munich motor show. Mercedes…

PEUGEOT WILL AXE the 508 saloon and estate in December, meaning every car sold by the French brand will be available in electric form. Peugeot attributed the 508’s cancellation to the UK’s new zero-emission vehicle mandate, which sets an EV sales target (in 2024, 22% of total sales) for every brand. In a statement sent to Autocar, it said: “We have chosen to focus even further on our electric models in the UK, with the ZEV mandate giving us a clear direction to do this.” The move is also almost certainly a product of the 508’s poor sales. Since 2019, its first full year on sale, Peugeot has delivered only around 7000 examples in the UK. Last year, fewer than 700 left showrooms. Peugeot will offer the 508 exclusively as…

MONDAY While boasting to friends about the recent success of this year’s Autocar Awards, I was brought up short by one wiseacre suggesting a new category for 2025: the Turning In The Grave Award. Contenders, he reckons, are Colin Chapman (who could never have imagined a 2.5-tonne Lotus), Sir William Lyons (whose company is busy ditching 80 years of traditional buyers), Henry Ford (whose UK division couldn’t currently sell him a replacement for its 30-year market-topper) and Peter Wheeler (whose exuberant TVR is a fading memory). I can’t share the wall-to-wall pessimism. I’m busting, for instance, for a proper drive in the MG Cyberster and the Gordon Murray Automotive T50. But I have to admit that he has a point about the bonfire of traditions. TUESDAY I was instructed by…

“Brabus has always been about outrageous power, and its efforts here do not disappoint” Some things just go contrary to the natural automotive order, such as a Porsche 911-based Brabus conversion. I mean, what next, an Audi RS4 by Alpina? Anybody who remembers the heyday of lunatic, Brabus-fettled Mercedes with Ferrari-crushing power will find the mere idea odd, never mind the reality. German tuners (in fairness, Brabus is more than a tuner and has manufacturer status, just like Alpina) mostly stay in their lane when it comes to their affiliations with the big car makers. So Brabus has swerved off script, but don’t mistake the surprising existence of this 900 Rocket R, a €549,130 (£470,975), 25-off creation based on the 911 Turbo S, for rash decision-making. Brabus has long yearned…

The term ‘modern classic’ may well be an oxymoron, but frankly, if it’s good enough for Penguin Books, it’s good enough for us. Not so long ago, any mention of the word ‘classic’ would have conjured images of old boys in MGBs and Morris Minors en route to the Dog and Duck’s annual autojumble. Modern car magazines and websites tended to steer well clear of that sphere, while classic publications were keen not to alienate their audiences with cars whose readers might think were better suited to a McDonald’s car park. But that has all changed, with wildly fluctuating prices and changing perceptions pushing enthusiasts from either end of the Venn diagram into the middle to converge on a market populated by slightly newer cars with lower list prices, more…

One could spend a lot of hours investigating Mini Moke history: between 1964 and 1993 it was built in six countries and it spawned multiple offshoots. Kit cars, replicas and relaunches: the Moke has seen a few. And it hasn’t finished. “We spend quite a lot of time and money defending this sort of thing,” explains Moke International’s new executive chairman, Nick English, while a new electric Moke waits for me outside. In May last year, Moke International – the maker of the car you see on these pages – and Moke America LLC, which makes something that looks (and indeed is) quite similar, came together, again, in a US court of appeal. While they vehemently disagreed with each other on many things, predominantly who should own the Moke marque…

MILEAGE 3079 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To get under the skin of a promising hatch and assess its tech in daily use As an owner, you like to get reassurance that your purchase was a good choice. So as the honorary owner of a Peugeot e-208, I crave the same thing, which means I’m regularly discussing my electric hatch to get people’s opinions and hope they affirm the car truly is good – well, apart from a few small things that I know aren’t. As expected, the feedback has been a mixed bag. Some people are ultimately turned off by the difficult seating position afforded by the i-Cockpit (which I’ve covered in previous reports) but there is also agreement that it does indeed drive rather well. As part of my…

Reading your Ford Mustang review (Autocar Awards, 26 June), I was struck by how such a car is the ultimate advocate for electric motoring. This 5.0-litre V8 costs about £60k, has a range of approximately 300 miles, owing to its dire economy, is noisy and has a fairly average-quality interior. When I compare it to my new car, a Volvo EX30, the EV seems a no-brainer, what with its circa-£40k price, faster acceleration, classier interior, nearsilent running and similar range. Factor in the cheap overnight charging (roughly £5 for a full charge) and drastically cheaper insurance and I sense that ICE cars must soon be laid to rest. I get that they are no doubt purchases made for entirely different reasons. But the issue of range should be applied to…

An owner’s view REBECCA ROTHENBERG “The 200mph dog carrier! To the casual observer, it’s just a regular estate. For those who know, it’s one of BMW’s finest, if slightly flawed, creations. The engine dominates completely and there will never be another like it. Running one without a warranty can result in some very large bills, but as long as it is maintained properly, you can have (relatively) trouble-free motoring. The biggest negative is fuel: you will become very friendly with your local petrol station and the tank is so small that it will barely do 250 miles on a long run. But who cares when you have a V10?” Buyer beware… ENGINE The oil pump for Vanos (BMW’s variable valve timing system) is a common point of failure in the…

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…