Table of contents for November 20, 2024 in Autocar

JLR HAS ADAPTED its 90-year-old Jaguar brand for “the second century”, with four new design elements that are called “symbols of change” for the marque. The first is a ‘Device Mark’, in effect a new font (called Exuberant) in which the word ‘Jaguar’ will be displayed. The second is a 16-bar grid of horizontal stripes called a ‘Strike Through’, which will become both a background and a “universally recognised symbol” of the new cars. The third is a new colour palette used on the upcoming concept and intended to “present texture and movement”. And the fourth is the ‘Maker’s Mark’, which has two elements. The first is a traditional Jaguar ‘Leaper’, now redesigned. The second is a medallionshaped “monogram” combining ‘j’ and ‘r’ in a circular surround. “This is a…

THE REBORN RENAULT 5 will undercut key rivals with a starting price of just under £23,000 when deliveries of the new electric supermini kick off next spring. At £22,995, the entrylevel 118bhp model, with a 40kWh battery rated at 190 miles of range, slots in between the Citroën ë-C3 and Fiat 500e and is only around £1600 more than the hybrid version of the Renault Clio. Standard kit on entry-level Evolution trim includes 18in alloy wheels, a 7.0in digital gauge cluster, wireless smartphone mirroring, rear parking sensors and LED lights at each end. For an extra £2000, Techno trim adds equipment including a larger driver’s display, adaptive cruise control, a wireless phone charger and a bonnet-mounted charge level indicator. Prices climb to £26,995 for the more powerful 148bhp model, whose…

The radical new electric BMW 3 Series has hit the road for the first time, as the company gears up to take on the Tesla Model 3 and next Mercedes-Benz CLA in 2026. Expected to revive the dormant i3 moniker, the electric 3 Series will be the second model to use BMW’s new Neue Klasse modular EV platform, following the launch of the closely related iX3 SUV in 2025. It was previewed last year by the boldly styled Neue Klasse concept, which introduced a striking new design language that departs dramatically from the look of BMW’s current line-up while subtly nodding to some of its most important past models. Although the prototype in these images has been toned down slightly for production, it retains the distinctive new kidney grilles, which…

WHEN THE FIRST new-era Jaguar model rolls off the Solihull production line in summer 2026, it will have been almost six years since the announcement of plans for Jaguar to shift upmarket and go electric-only. Such is the interest in this reborn Jaguar that questions about what the cars will be and the market challenges they might face have dominated any discussion with JLR CEO Adrian Mardell – most recently at the publication of the firm’s latest quarterly financial results. The latest headwinds range from US presidentelect Donald Trump’s threats to put large tariffs on all imported goods – particularly concerning, because the US will be a key market in this new era – to the cooling of demand for electric cars and rival premium firms extending the life of…

I’d like to offer a counterpoint to your 30 October letter of the week. I’ve seen numerous comments of a similar nature (I suspect from a similar age group) lamenting Renault’s decision to revive the 4 and 5 because ‘nobody under 40 will even remember them anyway’. That may be so, but they’re missing a crucial point: that both the 4 and particularly the 5 are spectacularly cool. At 30, I can just about cling on to knowing how to identify that. ‘Retro’ can be a dirty word in car design, but in this case, bravo Renault, that’s how you do it! The 4 and 5 are the perfect fusion of a famous silhouette with contemporary design touches. It is, however, interesting to contrast the 4 and 5 with the…

TESTED 12.11.24, ISLE OF MAN DELIVERIES NOW When Skoda launched the fourth-generation Octavia vRS with an electrified powertrain four years ago, it was a signal of intent from the Czech brand for its future performance models, especially given this flagship’s long association with diesel power. Now, while other car makers look to push their plug-in hybrid offerings, both the hybrid and the diesel have been binned as part of the model’s mid-life refresh, with just the 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol remaining. Surprised? Considering that the pure-combustion variant was the line-up’s best-seller, Skoda says you shouldn’t be. This updated vRS adopts the same unit as the recently revised Volkswagen Golf GTI, which features upgraded fuel injectors, increasing power by 20bhp to 262bhp (although torque stays at 273lb ft), making this the most…

“It breathes with the road rather than trying to emulate a skateboard” The Porsche 911 has had a mid-life refresh, and the big news is that the upper-mid-level Carrera GTS is now a hybrid. Its 3.6-litre flat six has possibly the most convoluted take on a mild-hybrid system, giving it 534bhp. That’s great, but the entry-level Carrera gets 389bhp out of its mildly upgraded 3.0-litre and manages 62mph in less than 4.0sec (with the £1797 optional Sport Chrono Package), which still sounds jolly quick to me. We will subject the Carrera GTS to a full instrumented road test when it arrives in the UK in the new year, but our first taste of the 992.2-generation 911 here comes in the form of the Carrera. So are you missing anything when…

With large-capacity performance cars dropping like flies in Europe, it comes as a pleasant surprise to tell you that the Ford Mustang is back for another round. And it arrives on these shores not as an item of near-contraband, attainable only via third-party importation. The new Mustang is a true dealership-spec production model, with right-hand drive and a long warranty. More than that, the seventh-generation car, codenamed S650, also ushers in an entirely new moniker for the Mustang: Dark Horse. It’s what we’re testing here. We will delve into what exactly the Dark Horse is in a moment, but the concept is simple enough. Ford has never been afraid to adorn special versions of its famous muscle car with their very own name tags – in the past we’ve had…

Can you tell which of the two Golfs in the main image here Chas done the higher mileage? Both were registered in 2019, but one has done 49,000 miles, the other 129,000. In fact, the higher-mileage car is on the right. The point is, cover up its odometer and you’d never know. Its paintwork is as bright as the lower-mileage car’s and it goes and stops just as well. It has no rattles and its doors close with that lovely thump typical of a Golf. It’s being sold by Car-Pod, an award-winning used car dealer near Southampton. Paul Toomer has been selling cars from his business for 10 years, and while he prefers those with an average mileage, he doesn’t shy away from anything with more than 100,000 – as…

“It’s unintrusive and matches its ICE siblings in most aspects” WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To find out whether an EV still appeals without the bells and whistles Despite having a forwardlooking powertrain, the Peugeot e-308 SW is really a throwback. Who wants an estate car in 2024? Well, me for one: the modern obsession with SUVs is all well and good, and there’s something to be said for that imperious driving position, but they’re also bulky, heavy and dynamically inferior to a traditional low-slung car. But I do need a decent amount of storage space for dogs, family paraphernalia and the rest, so an estate is ideal. The nice thing about Peugeot’s smaller ‘station wagon’ is that you can pick it with your heart as well as your head: this…

MILEAGE 6325 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT Can this B-SUV make a case for petrol power in the near future? Many of my friends think I’m a little loopy. “I promise you,” I say, and they once again ask if I’m feeling all right. This is after my latest attempt to peddle Skoda to those who think BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi and Land Rover are the only manufacturers whose models you can ever really want to own. Yet the Skoda Kamiq genuinely is a car that could very well end up sitting on my (imaginary) driveway if I had the need to buy something family-oriented that is able to do all the basics brilliantly. I’ve totted up more than 6000 miles in this sparky little crossover, on everything from inner-city spurts to…

Gary Jarman is in the rare position of having owned two Supras: the Mk4 in the picture and a Mk5 that he bought in 2019 and ran for two years. How do they compare? “The Mk5 was fast and it handled really well but it just felt like a German car, where the Mk4 is a big Japanese GT,” he says. “The Mk5’s cabin just looked straight out of a BMW. I know the Mk4’s wasn’t pretty but it sat well with the rest of the car. It was a Toyota cabin. The Mk5 Supra was a Toyota on the outside, but inside it looked like a BMW.” It’s no exaggeration to say Gary is extremely attached to his 3.0-litre twin-turbo automatic Mk4 Supra. He bought it in 1996 when…

“The feel on the brakes and good handling – that’s something we’ve learned in Formula E” The new-generation electric Porsche 718Boxster and Cayman will feature motorsporthoned braking and handling to ensure they offer a “real sports car feeling”, according to the firm’s technical chief. The new two-seaters will be built alongside the existing combustionengined versions at Porsche’s Zuffenhausen factory and were due to be launched in 2025. But with Porsche recently pushing back its electrification plans, reports claimed the electric 718 Boxster and Cayman could be delayed and the life cycle of their ICE siblings extended. However, prototypes of the Boxster drop-top and Cayman coupé EVs have been spied testing regularly in recent months, suggesting they are on track for a debut next year. These test mules show how close…

THE FIRST ELECTRIC JLR model based atop its new EMA platform will arrive in spring 2026 – and it’s expected to be the replacement for the Range Rover Velar. The marque’s first EV will be the Range Rover Electric, due next year, quickly followed by the Range Rover Sport Electric. Both will use the same MLA underpinnings as their current ICE equivalents. However, the brand’s smaller SUVs will use the new, ‘electric-first’ EMA architecture and be built at JLR’s upgraded Halewood plant. Confirming the timing, JLR CEO Adrian Mardell said: “We’ll first have MLA BEV, with the Range Rover BEV later next year. Then it’s the first vehicle off EMA, which will probably be springtime in 2026.”…

MAZDA HAS “REAL INTENT” to put its striking Iconic SP rotary sports car concept into production. Revealed at last year’s Tokyo motor show, the sleek coupé is a tightly packaged, 370bhp vision of a future sports car in the vein of the MX-5, fitted with an innovative powertrain that uses a rotary petrol engine to generate power for the electric motors that drive the wheels. Mazda bosses were tight-lipped on whether the concept would evolve directly into a production car, but now the firm’s design boss Masashi Nakayama has all but confirmed that it will. “This concept is not just one of those empty show cars; it has been designed with real intent to turn it into a production model in the not-so-distant future,” he said. Naohito Saga from Mazda’s…

Porsche has lifted the covers off the new Taycan GTS, the “all-rounder” variant of the updated electric performance car. It now packs up to 690bhp, an increase of 100bhp over the old GTS, thanks to a new rear motor that makes 107bhp and 30lb ft more yet weighs 10kg less. As such, the GTS’s 0-62mph sprint time is reduced by 0.4sec to 3.3sec. The new model is fitted with a 97kWh battery pack, which yields 390 miles of range – an improvement of 74 miles. Porsche said the GTS also gets a specific suspension set-up with a “particularly sporty edge”, although agility-boosting rear-wheel steering and the trick Active Ride system are optional extras.…

Chinese newcomers Omoda and Jaecoohave teamed up with a leading insurer-backed organisation in a bid to avoid the aftersales issues that have plagued insurers and customers since their compatriots started entering the UK market. In what is said to be an industry first, the “strategic partnership” between the Chery-owned duo and Thatcham Research has been created to support the design and development of existing and future models in areas concerning safety, security and sustainable and economic repair. It comes after scores of Chinese-made cars were rejected for policies by UK insurers or written off because a lack of replacement parts made simple repairs too costly. Ensuring good parts availability, facilitating faster repairs and installing more effective security measures pay dividends in terms of lower insurance costs and more satisfied customers,…

SPECIAL FEATURE FIFTY YEARS OF THE GOLF We contemplate the iconic Volkswagen hatchback’s evolution and success across eight generations while driving the 1974 original DRIVEN NEW BENTLEY FLYING SPUR How will the once W12-engined limo fare as a 771bhp V8 plug-in hybrid? MOTORSPORT SITTING WITH THE STRATEGISTS We visit Mercedes-Benz World for a very different way of watching F1 EVERY WEEK USED GUIDE LAMBORGHINI HURACAN How to get a (relatively) affordable supercar in your garage – and a V10 one at that OUR CARS ALPINA D3 S TOURING Alex Wolstenholme recounts his latest adventures in his handsome super-estate…

Break out the bunting, because the Mini Cooper Convertible is coming home: for the first time in nine years, the drop-top will be manufactured in Oxford, a fitting move given the marque’s roots and the somewhat irrational British love for such machines. Perhaps that’s why this model persists, when most rivals have long since abandoned the small convertible game. The production switch from the Netherlands to the UK comes with the arrival of the latestgeneration Convertible and means it will be produced alongside the combustion-engined Cooper threedoor hatch with which it shares much of its running gear. While there was a limited-run drop-top version of the old Mini Electric, there won’t, initially at least, be a battery-powered new Cooper Convertible. That’s because the existing electric versions are currently produced on…

The four-seat luxury convertible is one of those concepts that is a great deal more appealing on paper – or in some romantic, coming-of-age road trip movie, perhaps – than in reality. It takes about 10 seconds sitting in the back of one to appreciate why. There’s not an abundance of space and there’s so much wind buffeting and fluttering that you can’t really hear any conversation or succeed in wearing a hat for very long. Most luxury car makers have come to tacitly admit as much by declining to offer big, four-seat convertibles any more. Their flagship open-tops are now almost exclusively 2+2s, meaning their back seats are quite clearly only for short hops and ‘emergencies’. The new second-generation Maserati Grancabrio, which arrived last year and is now available…

The dearth of low-priced petrol cars on sale today can’t have escaped those who read this magazine, so it is with interest that we run the road test rule over the Omoda 5 – a decently powerful Chinese answer to the Volkswagen T-Roc and Nissan Qashqai that costs about £25k. If you’ve not yet heard of Omoda, there’s every chance you’ll know of its parent company. State-owned Chery was founded in 1997 and is China’s most prolific exporter of cars, even if BYD has now overtaken it domestically. The Omoda subbrand is one half of a two-pronged attack on overseas markets. It will offer crossovers with “statement” designs while Jaecoo will look to undercut rivals in the more SUVflavoured sphere, starting with its Range Rover Velar-aping 7. The marques will…

WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT A progress report: high-tech yet old-school, the CLE is the latest evolution of the Merc coupé “I’ve had some memorable drives already. The engine in particular is fantastic” Keeping up with the Mercedes model range has tested even the most studious price list observers over the past few years. The CLE is a great example of how things have changed, as Mercedes has slimmed down its range of combustion-engined cars while adding new models at the same time. Out went the C-Class and E-Class Coupé and Cabriolet, in came the CLE Coupé and Cabriolet to replace them. While it straddles the C-Class and E-Class ranges, like the CLK did back in the 2000s, the CLE is effectively the same size as the E-Class and priced and…

The Seat Ibiza of 2008-2017 was far more than a Volkswagen Polo in a fancy outfit: it balanced refinement, spaciousness, performance and style to make it a front-runner in the dog-eat-dog supermini class. The fourth-generation Ibiza ushered in an entirely new design language for Seat, being the first model sketched under the direction of Luc Donckerwolke, the man behind the Lamborghini Murciélago and Gallardo. It was far more stylish than its bug-eyed predecessor. Sharp lines and an aggressive-looking front end endowed the Mk4 Ibiza with sufficient kerb appeal to rival the Ford Fiesta – and for a car that landed 16 years ago, it still looks contemporary today. Riding on the Volkswagen Group’s modular PQ25 platform – which also underpinned the Polo and Audi A1 – the Mk4 Ibiza was…

MAZDA RX-7 TYPE-RS 1999, 27,000 miles, £39,995 This immaculate RX-7 has had a full engine rebuild just 6000 miles ago and a fresh coat of Blue Mica paint earlier this year. A rare Type-RS, it was imported into the UK in 2003 and comes with a long MOT. We’d buy it for the gold BBS alloys alone. HONDA NSX 1993, 64,000 miles, £80,000 With its iconic wedge-shaped silhouette and stimulating drive, the NSX is a modern classic. This 3.0-litre manual example was recommissioned in 2021 by Honda Newbury, with a new clutch, cambelt and ABS sensor installed. It has a long MOT and partial service history. MITSUBISHI 3000 GT/GTO VR4 1997, 78,500 miles, £11,500 You’ll do well to find a 3000 GT (GTO as they were known in Japan) in…

T he first car of Jaguar’s new era has finally broken cover as it begins road testing for a 2026 launch, emerging just two weeks before the firm unveils a concept that will set the tone for the design of all its upcoming models. The first all-new Jaguar since the I-Pace was launched in early 2018, this striking four-door GT is the first of three upcoming EVs due to arrive by the end of the decade on a new brandspecific, EV-only platform dubbed JEA. The other two are expected to be a large luxury saloon and an SUV. “The striking four-door GT is the first of three upcoming Jag EVs due this decade” Technical details remain closely guarded, save for what the company has already confirmed: it will pack more…

Audi has launched a new EV brand inChina, called simply AUDI (in all capitals) – none of whose cars will bear the famous four-ring badge. Unveiled together with the brand’s new E electric estate concept, AUDI – a joint operation between the German car maker and MG owner SAIC – is positioned to capture China’s younger, tech-oriented EV buyers. Planned to go into production in 2025, the E is the first of three new AUDI models. The others, a saloon and an SUV, are set to be introduced in China in 2026 and 2027. The expansion of the joint venture aims to complement Audi’s reputation for design and engineering with SAIC’s speed-tomarket capabilities and local expertise. Significantly, the first AUDI model was developed in just 18 months - less than…

VANS COULD PAVE THE WAY FOR MORE HYDROGEN CARS RENAULT ISN’T ALONE in bringing hydrogen fuel cell technology to the market, with the Hyvia van and drop-in hydrogen filling stations that we looked at here in the 23 October issue. Stellantis is on a similar course, too, with the Opel/Vauxhall Vivaro Hydrogen and Movano Hydrogen, the latter making its debut at the IAA Transportation show in Hanover earlier this year. The Vivaro has a 248-mile range and is powered by a hybrid combination of a 45kW hydrogen fuel cell and rechargeable 10.5kWh lithium ion traction battery. Three underfloor tanks can store up to 4.4kg of compressed hydrogen to power the van via its 134bhp electric drive motor. The Movano has a range of 310 miles. Power is from a 148bhp…

THE DACIA JOGGER is set to be updated with a fresh look that will bring it into line with the brand’s new Bigster and Duster SUVs. A camouflaged prototype has been spotted testing in Spain ahead of its launch, which is expected to take place in the middle of next year. It sports a blockier front grille pattern than the current Jogger and appears to have new air intakes in place of the current foglights. It’s possible that this is extra cooling for a more powerful engine option, such as the new hybrid system being introduced in the Bigster. This set-up comprises a 107bhp four-cylinder petrol engine, two electric motors (a 50bhp drive unit and a high-voltage starter-generator) and a 1.4kWh battery. They combine to send up to 153bhp through…

EXPERT’S DECISION In his Testing, testing column of 9 October, Matt Saunders pondered: “What is effective car design? And exactly how able do most of us mere observers feel to judge it?” He concluded that “the mistake we make is to assume in the first place that it’s the designer’s job to make a car look good” on the basis that “the definition of ‘good’ is out of [the designer’s] control anyway”. I studied car design, teach design and authored a book on aesthetics, so I feel like I can offer a response. The response is that a trained designer has learned by observation of existing designs and people’s behaviour and beliefs of which forms are more or less pleasing. There’s a large body of literature discussing the topic of…

“It inspires no confidence in bends and actually has pretty poor directional stability” What do you call a bigger, taller Seal? A Sealion 7, apparently. Taxonomies of the animal kingdom be damned, the Sealion 7 starts a new naming strategy for BYD. In future, the firm’s new SUVs will all be called Sealion, saloons Seal and hatchbacks Dolphin, each with a number to indicate its relative positioning in the range. But none of the current crop is being renamed and the Atto 3 is staying put, because renaming that would be confusing – obviously. So the Sealion 7 is the SUV version of the Seal saloon – but not to be confused with the Seal U, which is a slightly smaller SUV that is mechanically totally different. It’s available in…

Love them or hate them, the market for electric quadricycles is growing fast. In Europe, it has expanded twofold in three years, and that growth isn’t likely to tail off soon. New names and faces have made appearances, including the Citroën Ami, Fiat Topolino, Micro Microlino and various oddities from little-known start-ups. Developed and built by the Renault Group’s nascent urban mobility brand, Mobilize, this latest runabout, the Duo, shares around 10% of its parts with the Renault Twizy of 2012, an EV that we loved for its endearing charm. The Duo looks set to have the same effect by taking the Twizy’s fundamental principles and bringing them up to today’s standards, with big-car equipment levels, double the battery range, a design overhaul and, helpfully, doors with windows. Sitting inside,…

All that’s really new about the 2025-modelyear Mazda 3 is what’sunder the bonnet. Engine aside, they have just added a better-networked infotainment system with Amazon Alexa voice recognition and more online points of interest (it having gained wireless smartphone connectivity and charging this time last year). So this is mostly the same appealingly compact, smartlooking, well-finished and wellpriced mid-sized hatchback that we have had, in fourth-generation form, since 2019. Except now, the cheaper alternative to Mazda’s innovative 2.0-litre e-Skyactiv-X engine (with its spark-controlled compression ignition), the 2.0-litre mild-hybrid e-Skyactiv-G engine, has had its capacity increased to 2.5 litres. Yes, it does sound rather strange to be fitting an even larger engine to a compact family car in 2024, doesn’t it? If you judge by the lab test numbers, this new…

First there is the noise. Many years ago we were at Bruntingthorpe airfield testing some cars when some aviation enthusiasts wheeled out their English Electric Lightning and fired up its Avon engines. It was loud, then shatteringly so when the afterburners were lit. But not as loud as the Top Fuel dragsters that I watched blast off the line at the European finals of the FIA European Top Fuel Championships at Santa Pod last month. Then there are the numbers. It is not possible to put one of the 8.0-litre supercharged nitromethane-burning V8s on a conventional dynamometer, but recently developed torque measuring devices in Formula 1 have enabled an accurate judgement of the brake horsepower produced by these engines: it is around 11,000bhp. Speed? Easy to measure and equally mind-boggling.…

MILEAGE 9341 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT Is Italian the way to go for 500bhp saloons? In the 2 November issue, road test editor Matt Saunders wrote a brilliant piece about Polestar’s head of chassis development, Joakim Rydholm, in which he made a point about not allowing national stereotypes to get in the way of fair judgement. Anyway, my Alfa Romeo has broken down a bit. With the benefit of hindsight, I think this tale begins in Wales. I had just crossed over the border when an unwanted bong nudged my attention. “Check Airbag” and “SOS Call Error” messages hung around like turds in a pool, but after around 10 minutes the warnings disappeared and I was left alone with my thoughts, the Alfa’s V6 and the sheep. To be perfectly…

AN EXPERT’S VIEW MARK WILLIAMS, THE LION GARAGE “The most trouble we’ve ever had with the smaller-capacity, turbocharged Ibizas is the actuator, which is electronic. It can fail if water gets into the plug, or the arm between the actuator and the turbo itself can seize, putting the car into limp mode. Overall, they’re pretty bulletproof cars, though. My favourite engine would be the 1.4 TSI. They tend to be pretty good, but then there’s nothing wrong with the late-generation 1.2. FR trim is probably the best.” BUYER BEWARE… ■ ENGINE The 1.2 TSI is driven by a chain, which needs to be replaced every 40,000-60,000 miles. Listen out for any rattling because this could be an early indicator of the chain or tensioner failing. Be wary of the TDI’s…

Last week, in retracing the evolution of car body design, we highlighted Bugatti’s Type 32 ‘Tank’, designed especially for the French Grand Prix of 1923, as perhaps the first car to have all four of its wheels enclosed within its sides. Naturally it caused a popular sensation – yet there was another car introduced in the very same race that attracted even more of Autocar’s attention: the Avions Voisin Type C6 Laboratoire. It was a world away from other cars of its era, and today it appears like something from 1927’s groundbreaking sci-fi film Metropolis or some retro imagining in ‘steampunk’ style (à la Spyker). “While most racing car designers have endeavoured to approach airship lines – blunt end forward and long, tapering tail – the [C6] may be described…