A month in the life of 17 cars – starring Mini Clubman, Volvo XC60, Audi A8, and a broken Leaf…
Between unloved facelifts and weirdly impractical doors, the Clubman name has rarely adorned great Minis. Will the new family hatchback change all that? By Chris Chilton
HOW MUCH? The Clubman Cooper onthe-road price is £21,045 but we’ve added the ubiquitous £3500 Chili pack, an inch on the wheels for £100 and £450 adaptive dampers. No extra Union Jacks though.
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JOHN WYCHERLEY
How many Chiltons can you fit in a Mini?
MINIS? I’VE HAD a few. Bought ’em, sold ’em, raced ’em, crashed ’em, crushed ’em. Everything from a ’64 Mk1 with sliding windows and floor-mounted starter button to an ’01 Mk1 of the BMW variety, and many in between. But never a Clubman. Not the square-front original, British Leyland’s awkward attempt to modernise and glamorise Issigonis’s blob 10 years into its life. And definitely not the styleover-substance BMW Mini Clubman introduced in 2006 with the single rear suicide door that, for the Brits, decanted your kids into oncoming traffic (though, like any parent, in grumpier moments
HELLO MONTH 1 MINI CLUBMAN
I’ve wondered if this was actually such a bad thing). For the current Clubman, however, I’m happy to make an exception and break my duck. Even if you think the whole Mini cutesy retro style thing couldn’t be more stomach-churning if the bonnet stripes were printed by Cath Kidston and there was a two-metre-tall Hello Kitty perched on the roof, you’ll have to grudgingly admit BMW’s design team has got this one bang on. The long, low roofline makes it far sleeker than the dumpy Countryman SUV and five-door Mini hatch, and it’s certainly more interesting than rival small family cars such as the Golf. And that goes for the inside, too. It looks fun and feels tough, and because it rides on the same 2670mm wheelbase as the Countryman (175mm longer than the Mini five-doors), there’s plenty of room in both the front and the rear. Getting into the back seats is also easier this time because this Clubman has a pair of conventional front-hinged rear doors instead of a single rear-hinged
LOGBOOK MINI COOPER CLUBMAN > Price £21,045 > As tested £29,805 > Engine 1499cc 12v 3-cyl, 134bhp @ 4400rpm, 162lb ft @ 1250rpm > Transmission 6-speed manual, front-wheel drive > Performance 9.1sec 0-62mph, 127mph, 130g/km CO2 > Miles this month 51 > Total 998 > Our mpg 34.9 > Oficial mpg 49.6 > Fuel this month £121.89 > Extra costs None
one. Which might not look as cool, but not having to open the front door before you’re able to unlatch the back one gets old quickly when it’s pouring with rain. So it’s a genuine family-sized Mini, but don’t be misled by the squared-off rear. Despite the estate-car styling the 360-litre boot is actually 20 litres smaller than a Golf’s. It’s okay, but nothing more, though the eternally sensible Golf doesn’t get the funky barndoor rear doors. There might be a reason for that. Is it a genuinely useful feature or an irritating gimmick? Time will tell, and not much of it, I imagine. The most popular Clubman is the £21,045 Cooper, which is what we’ve got. That makes it £3k more than the five-door and £2300 less than the Countryman. Your basic Cooper comes
with a version of the now-familiar 1.5-litre triple BMW fits to everything from the 2-series MPV to the i8 sports car. Here it makes 134bhp, gets you to 62mph in 9.1 seconds and is theoretically capable of 49.6mpg. The Cooper’s basic spec is reasonably strong: alloy wheels, navigation, DAB radio, cruise control and a leatherwrapped multifunction wheel are standard. But BMW helped usher in the idea of personalisation when it launched the reborn Mini in 2001, so naturally, we’ve got a few options on ours. The biggest of those is the £3500 Chili Pack (leather trim, parking sensors, keyless entry, LED lights), but we also have 17-inch wheels (normally £670, but £100 if ordered with the Chili Pack), adaptive dampers (£450) and various other gizmos. We’ll cover those in the coming months, asking whether they’re worth the spend, while also asking some bigger questions. Namely, is this bigger Mini actually big enough to cut it as a family car for four Chiltons and dog, whether it can do it while still feeling like a Mini, and if it can help me get over my lifelong square face- and odd door-based distaste for the Clubman brand?
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COUNT T H E C O ST
SIMON THOMPSON
Cost secondhand at delivery £57,510 Private sale price £51,668 Part-exchange price £49,213 Cost per mile 5.2p Cost per mile including depreciation £1.53
S Club Heaven Our time with the 85D proved that electric doesn’t have to be eclectic. By Tim Pollard HAVE WE BECOME fully signed-up members of the Teslarati after living with a Model S all year? It’s certainly one of the most fascinating long-term tests we’ve conducted recently and one that required a substantial mindset shift; like a cinema goer’s willing suspension of disbelief, you may need to park your prejudices before you join the Tesla cult. Our 85D was an approved-used model first registered in 2016. It arrived with 16k miles on the odo and was for sale at £57,200. That steep price is one of the few immutable obstacles to ownership, although a Tesla dealer would finance our car for a still-punchy £770 a month. But would you really choose this over a new Jaguar i-Pace at £65k list? Nothing failed or broke during our test and we returned the car to Tesla UK with no problems or glitches to fix. Occasionally we had to reboot the central screen when it froze; you can see why people talk about Teslas as being smartphones on wheels. This is a common glitch, owners report. Nearly all the car’s functions are controlled from that huge 17-inch touchscreen, dominating the dashboard. It invariably won admiring glances from new passengers and the user experience is close to faultless. If you can boss an iPhone, you’ll love this – the design is similar. The screen is so big, and the buttons and touchpoints so generously proportioned, that we never struggled to use it, even on the move. The screen resolution is surprisingly low, however; you’ll find sharper and brighter in a Ford Fiesta nowadays. That’s a reminder that the Model S dates back five years, as is the way that the interior fit and finish are several rungs below that of
GOODBYE MONTH 8 TESLA MODEL S
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a contemporary Audi, BMW or Merc executive saloon. It’s not badly built, but it lacks the quality of Germany’s best. We can’t say the same of the drive. Our 85D had startling acceleration as standard and the dual motor’s all-wheel drive meant you could deploy it securely most of the time, although we often defaulted to Chill mode to extend battery range. It steered and cornered with surprising purity for one so generously shod on 21-inch alloy wheels, while its agility and fizzy performance belied its 2.2-tonne kerbweight. The Model S is much better suited to a relaxed gait, however, with the quiet drivetrain soothing away long journeys, the roomy cabin a packaging marvel, built-in Touchscreen is a Spotify streaming your favourite music without gobbling any user’s dream, but its of your own data. Charging at one of Tesla’s Supercharger fuzzy graphics are so old-skool 2016 points didn’t cost us anything, either – this earlier car having free top-ups for life. Running costs were remarkably modest, owing to the cheap cost of electricity. We consumed £294 of power over 5600 miles, the equivalent of just 5p a mile. That’s cracking value and the 85D’s 200-mile usable range meant we could easily take it on long trips to the other end of the country – so long as we factored in detour time for finding working charging points en route. We had a few panics and learned to be patient; going electric in 2018 will cost you LOGBOOK extra time (and coffee bills) if you use your TESLA MODEL S 85D EV as long-distance transport. This was > Price £57,510 (approved-used model) less of a problem in day-to-day driving, > Engine 386kW electric motors when we survived on home charging and (equivalent to 518bhp, 485lb ft) top-ups at the work Podpoint. > Transmission Single-speed auto, Suffice to say, our Model S nailed this all-wheel drive > Performance 5.2sec 0-62mph, EV malarkey. We just hope the company 155mph, 0g/km CO2 can overcome concerns over factories, > Miles this month 626 > Total 22,017 finances and future product to transform > Energy consumption 392Wh/mile from pioneering disruptor to electric car > Cost this month £30.43 > Extra costs None mainstream.
Eindhoven and back on a tank For hauling the family across Europe, the reviled diesel is still where it’s at. By Phil McNamara ALL IS QUIET on the A21 towards Antwerp. MONTH 7 One daughter is JAGUAR XF SPORTBRAKE asleep, my wife has withdrawn conversation following my tantrum about her buying the ‘wrong’ croissants, and the Jag is cruising calmly at an altitude of 181m above sea level. We’re returning from CenterParcs near Eindhoven, and the XF Sportbrake was made for a journey like this. The grey sky spits inconsequential raindrops, and the surrounding traffic is equally dreary: the highlight is a meshand-spotlight-festooned 206CC that makes Marcus Grönholm’s old rally car look understated. The 2.0-litre turbodiesel is murmuring gently in the background, the Goodyear rubber only gets vocal on coarse tarmac that’s under repair, and there’s barely a lick of wind noise. For mile after mile, the Jag glides serenely over Belgium’s smooth motorway topography. Occasionally the gearbox software lands us in the engine’s sub-1200rpm boggy patch, but otherwise the turbodiesel pulls adequately. And the response to kickdown is good, helping the XF to fend off the incessant tailgaters before finding a gap to pull into. Jag offers an uprated 2.0-litre diesel with twin turbochargers, and if you can live with
the economy and CO2 impact, its extra 52lb ft of punch at lower revs would be pretty welcome. Rearwards I have all the visibility of a Lamborghini Diablo, due to the jumble sale piled into the boot. I considered a £200 bike rack: turns out it would have been unnecessary expense. An F-Pace SUV might haul more, but it wouldn’t tip into the wickedly curving slip roads as pointedly as this estate with its fast-acting steering, nor feel so stable. Jaguar’s infotainment has many bugbears, particularly its laboured attempts to connect a phone, but its navigation search – controlled by an on-screen pop-up keyboard – unearths a host of suitable parking for a Bruges detour. And then we are home. I have my reservations about diesel’s refinement and character. But this round trip reminds me of its inherent suitability for big motorway cars. We drove 583 miles to Holland and back on a single tank, averaging 49.7mpg according to the trip. No electric car can compete with that. Yet.
Leveraging Volvo’s premium status
A keen cyclist, Phil managed to squeeze in his trusty Princess balance bike
LOGBOOK JAGUAR XF SPORTBRAKE > Price £37,160 > As tested £49,615 > Engine 1999cc 16v turbodiesel 4-cyl, 178bhp @ 4000rpm, 317lb ft @ 1750rpm > Transmission 8-speed auto, rear-wheel drive > Performance 8.8sec 0-62mph, 138mph, 120g/km CO2 > Miles this month 1067 > Total 10,257 > Our mpg 42.1 > Oficial mpg 61.4 > Fuel this month £130.97 > Extra costs None
A MILD Volvo overdose elicited by time in an MONTH 7 XC40 in the heart of M1 roadworks en route to a VOLVO drive of the new V60 got XC60 me thinking... Firstly, having finally swapped a foothold for a stronghold in the premium automotive arena, where does Volvo design go from here? And, secondly, does this newfound security of status automatically dictate that every Volvo should be an automatic? On the basis that the company has only recently got all its ducts in a row and that there must now follow some years of gentle tweaking and fine-tuning before there’s any danger of inadvertently inhaling a Banglelike design irritant, the second question is, perhaps, more interesting. R8 aside, I can’t remember the last time I drove a manual Audi. The same applies to Mercedes, and even quick iterations of ‘the Ultimate Driving Machine’ spurn the lever these days. I mention these other premium types because unlike the transmission in our XC60, the XC40 I drove boasted a gearlever attached to just three cylinders, and I was also cornered into sampling a manual V60. In both cases it didn’t feel seemly changing gear. Perhaps I’m getting old. Certainly Volvo is growing up. In less danger of ageing much further are the disgusting local sparrows and their errant ablutions. Mercifully, the evil-looking poo mentioned last month left no marks on the XC60’s metallic carapace. But, short of installing tiny Armitage Shanks loos throughout the capacious clematis in which the colony bickers, and teaching the birds to use them, I can see no end to this ongoing, um, issue. Thank God geese don’t live in trees. ANTHONY FFRENCH-CONSTANT
LOGBOOK VOLVO XC60 D4 AWD INSCRIPTION PRO > Price £45,655 > As tested £49,535 > Engine 1969cc 16v turbodiesel 4-cyl, 187bhp @ 4250rpm, 295lb ft @ 1750rpm > Transmission 8-speed auto, all-wheel drive > Performance 8.4 sec 0-62mph, 127mph, 136g/km CO2 > Miles this month 370 > Total 4608 > Our mpg 31.8 > Oficial mpg 54.3 > Fuel this month £71.21 > Extra costs None
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To the Nth degree... The dark-horse hot hatch is leaving our long-term stable – but not before we meet its world championship touring car sibling. By James Taylor THIS IS THE last report on life with our i30N long-term test car, and it really is a fond GOODBYE MONTH 7 farewell; you know a car’s doing something HYUNDAI right when your mood lifts every time you i30N climb into the driver’s seat. But I never imagined I’d find myself getting into the passenger side alongside touring car racing legend Gabriele Tarquini. Let alone that I’d be doing so to learn a circuit before climbing into the driver’s seat of his Hyundai i30N TCR race car. Turning into a funny sort of day, this. A few weeks before our i30N Performance is due to leave, I’m sat in an identical car in the pitlane at the Circuito Tazio Nuvolari in northern Italy. The only difference is that the steering wheel is on the other side, and Tarquini is sat behind it, pushing the switch for track-friendly N mode and disabling the ESP. The experienced Italian was recruited by Hyundai as lead test driver to develop a racing version of the new i30N for the burgeoning TCR global touring car racing class, with testing beginning in spring last year. And then the i30N won the first race it entered, in Tarquini’s hands. ‘The road car was already finished when I first drove it,’ he explains, ‘but I was very happy when I did – I knew we had a good base to work from.’ A slow-ish warm-up lap and then he’s straight on it, not to showboat, but to give me the most accurate idea possible of braking points at full pace, and gear choices, which are broadly the same in the road car as the racer. As you’d expect, he makes everything look inspiringly easy: ‘It’s all in the timing. You must brake late, carry on with the brakes until apex, then when you reduce the steering come back on the power progressively.’ We swap seats, and of course my timing’s not quite as good as his, like a hobby musician on stage after a maestro, but I’m impressed with the i30N. This is the first time I’ve driven one properly on a track and suddenly it all makes sense; N mode’s adaptive damper setting, far too firm for the road, makes for just-so body control on track, and the heavyweight steering brings a sense of rock-solid stability under braking. In the spirit in which it was conceived, the i30N’s warranty covers trackdays. Best get to a circuit as soon as possible.
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Mr Tarquini runs through economy, boot space and cupholder location
If you’re going to try a cheeky move up the inside of a racing legend, this is the moment...
Hyundai i30N Performance road car
Hyundai i30N TCR > Engine 1998cc 16v turbo 4-cyl, 350bhp @ 7500rpm, 332lb ft @ 3500rpm > Transmission 6-speed sequential pneumatic paddleshift, limited-slip dif, front-wheel drive > Suspension MacPherson strut front, multi-link rear, adjustable dampers > Wheels/tyres 18-inch Braid rims/Yokohama racing tyres > Weight 1285kg minimum (including driver)
> Engine 1998cc 16v turbo 4-cyl, 271bhp @ 6000rpm, 260 lb ft @ 1500rpm > Transmission 6-speed manual, limited-slip dif, front-wheel drive > Suspension MacPherson strut front, multi-link rear, adaptive dampers > Wheels/tyres 19-inch/Pirelli P Zeroes > Weight 1429kg
Hyundai’s warranty includes trackdays, but not a whole race series
Then it’s the step up to the i30N TCR. It looks fantastic, all purposeful square stance, outboard aero flicks and aggressively cambered rear tyres on show through its openended box arches. I’m belted into a superbly comfortable carbon race seat in front of a moulded facsimile of the road car’s dashboard, a blank space where the instruments would ordinarily be and a digital read-out mounted on the exposed steering column in their place. The pedalbox and floor-mounted ballast on the empty passenger side say racing car, but it’s still clearly an i30 shell, still a road car beneath the tune-ups. TCR racing is all about cost-effective, production-based cars, and this racer is actually far closer to our long-termer than it is to the carbonfibre WTCC specials the new formula superseded. Drop from the in-built jacks, press the starter button and a resonant burr fills the whole car, the stripped-out cabin alive with noise and vibration. Thumbs up from the team, pneumatic paddleshift engages first, hill-start revs in anticipation of a racing clutch that turns out to be no less friendly than the road car’s, head for pitlane exit, and floor it.
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i30 is at home on the track in all-out attack mode
COUNT T H E C O ST Cost new £28,580 (including £585 paint option) Private sale price £22,050 Part-exchange price £20,790 Cost per mile 20p Cost per mile including depreciation £1.07
Despite major aero and racing mods, the TCR goes easy on amateur drivers
The engine, a development of the one in our long-termer, sounds great LOGBOOK HYUNDAI i30N – burly with a waspish, raspy overtone PERFORMANCE with whooshes and belches from the > Price £27,995 > As tested £28,550 turbo off-throttle. Normally I fear cold > Performance 6.1 sec 0-62mph, 155mph, 163g/km CO2 > Miles this month 1265 rear tyres in front-wheel-drive racing > Total 8128 > Our mpg 28.1mpg cars like some people fear spiders > Oficial mpg 39.8 > Fuel this month (fronts get warm quickly, rears can stay £267.84 > Extra costs £4.45 (screenwash) treacherously slippy) but the i30 has great rear grip from the start, which Tarquini attributes to its rear suspension, a development of the road car’s multi-link components. The car’s set-up has been changed very little from the one he would race with, and it’s wonderfully neutral, with a super-positive front end on turn-in but glued-down rear for great stability in corners slow and fast alike. Crucially, it’s not at all intimidating to drive, which means this car has nailed its design brief: it’s easy for amateur drivers, the foundation of TCR racing, to get to grips with at national level, yet capable enough for a pro like Tarquini to win at the highest international level. Less crucially, it’s also a heap of fun to drive. What a thing. Anyway, back to the UK and back down to earth with a bump because it’s time to say goodbye to CAR’s i30N. It’s been an unexpected cracker. If the regular Hyundai i30 hatchback 136 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | October 2018
is grey porridge, the i30N is a full English with all the trimmings, a surprisingly capable and likeable performance car with a big character. Downsides? It really is very thirsty. The knowledge that you will need to stop for fuel on a journey of any length soon gets annoying. As does a warning message that frequently flashed up on the instrument panel during rainy weather to say the automatic emergency braking system’s cameras are obscured. Fifth and sixth gears are reluctant to slot cleanly sometimes – a complaint other i30N drivers I’ve spoken to have also mentioned. The gurgling, gargling exhaust is a little too attention-seeking for me; I cringe every time I start the car up in a crowded place, but most other drivers crinkle into a smile – it talks a good talk. And walks the walk, too. At first I felt the ride was a bit too
A brief tour of bits we like around our Arona MONTH 4 SEAT ARONA
unforgiving, even in the adaptive dampers’ softest mode, and the steering prioritised artificial-feeling weight over feedback, but I grew used to both, and having now driven the i30N on track I’ve realised they’re both a fair trade for the car’s handling on the limit. For all my nit-picking, there is an awful lot that is right about the N: driving position, properly thought-through ergonomics, unstinting standard equipment count, and the engine’s mix of muscle and flexibility. The i30N grew on me with every trip and I’ll miss driving it. It’s nice to have an alternative to the usual hot hatch suspects, and a good one at that. Just as with the racer, Hyundai’s N division has made a more than decent fist of its first effort, and in an era where the hot hatch bar is set higher than ever. Roll on the next N model…
ALEX TAPLEY
Race and road cars have a lot in common: straight-out-the-box brilliance for a start
One for a golden oldie...
Bulb Fiction
The FR comes with some things I wouldn’t particularly ask for, but which are actually pretty good – smartphone integration, MirrorLink etc. All very modern. But, to be honest, I’m more pleased by there being a CD/DVD player in the glovebox, barely mentioned in the Seat brochure. I’ve got a house full of CDs, and often find I’d rather play a CD than plug in an MP3 player.
It was only when I crossed paths with another Arona that I realised what’s going on with the front indicators: they are the daytime running lights. I’m easily ofended by tricksy light foolishness, but these are great, partly because they make good use of space but mostly because they look like John Travolta’s hand gestures when he’s dancing with Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction.
Joining the diesel deserters
A splash of chrome
Oh how foolish Dieselgate looks when it turns out the VW Group is capable of making its petrol engines this clean, eficient and enjoyable. Active twocylinder running doubtless helps, but the pleasingly high mpg figure must mostly be down to the fundamentals of fuelling, combustion, friction, gearing and aero being spot on.
This pillar makes all the diference to the looks of the Arona, especially when combined with the contrasting roof (a no-cost option). It’s not a detail unique to the Arona – variations appear on the Volvo X40, Audi Q2 and the Renault Captur, to name some of the most efective – but it’s still unusual enough to make a diference. COLIN OVERLAND
LOGBOOK SEAT ARONA FR 1.5 TSI EVO > Price £21,270 > As tested £21,270 > Engine 1498cc 16v turbo 4-cyl, 148bhp @ 5000rpm, 184lb ft @ 1500rpm > Transmission 6-speed manual, front-wheel drive > Performance 8.3sec 0-62mph, 127mph, 115g/km CO2 > Miles this month 506 > Total 7032 > Our mpg 40.2 > Oficial mpg 55.4 > Fuel this month £75 > Extra costs None
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Leaf’s on the line: trafic chaos!
Rear Comfort Pack: made to wind the driver up
How to spoil your kids, part 1 The A8’s cavernous rear cabin ofers all sorts of luxury and control, as the children are now discovering. By Tim Pollard I’VE NEVER LIVED with anything bigger MONTH 2 than a 5-series for an AUDI A8 L extended test so it’s taken a while to get used to having a 5.2metre luxury leviathan on my driveway. Gaps have to be judged more carefully and country lanes approached with circumspection, and my family is resigned to me parking in the largest, most remote bays of car parks. It spills out of most spaces like an overweight passenger sprawling beyond the confines of an airline seat. The flipside is that we have oodles of space inside. My children can’t quite believe the legroom in the rear of our long-wheelbase A8 L, complete with the comedic little footrest blocks nestling in the rear footwell. I’ve spent most of my time up front, where it’s equally roomy, but the rear compartment is where the Audi flagship makes most sense. Our car comes with the Rear Comfort Pack which bundles in those footrests, double glazing, electric rear seat adjustment and power door-close for a chunky £2195. The acoustic glass makes the A8 recording-studio hushed, and the large fold-down armrest lets you choose between four-seater limo spec and occasional five-seat taxi duty. Note also the removable micro-tablet in the armrest; back-seat drivers – sorry,
passengers – can use it to adjust temperature, check the trip computer or even re-tune the stereo. Parents should note the potential for familial chaos on long journeys, as infotainment control is inevitably ceded rearwards. It’s not all about the newly-entitled passengers in the back, though. Up front I too have become accustomed to sitting in the lap of luxury thanks to the extremely comfy armchairs. There are no massaging or ventilating tricks here, but these are inherently well designed, pampering pews.
BANG! Argh! Rumble, rumble, rumble. MONTH 2 I’m not good at describing moments NISSAN with onomatopoeia, LEAF but that’s pretty much what went down as I was merging onto a Peterborough ring road at about 60mph when my Leaf’s front right wheel met with a stray block of wood about the length and height of a railway sleeper in the middle of a dual carriageway, at rush hour. It was a massive hazard, and one that I hadn’t spotted until it was too late as I watched for trafic behind me while merging. I coasted the Leaf to a halt after hitting it, mounted the kerb to avoid adding to the hazards, and climbed out. Before I could even reach for my phone, a police car had swooped in to close the road, but three cars had collided into each other trying to avoid the obstacle before it arrived. No injuries there, but I still counted myself lucky I came away from it only with a blown tyre. We were all guided to a nearby layby to await recovery. Assistance arrived two hours later and I was towed to Smiths Motor Group Nissan in Peterborough. Nissan UK claimed the tyre on the Leaf’s insurance (as Cambridgeshire Police provided an incident number, proving it wasn’t my fault) and three hours later the Leaf was returned sparkling clean, charged and fitted with a new tyre, like it never happened. JAKE GROVES
Tim’s children have weirdly hairy hands...
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LOGBOOK NISSAN LEAF TEKNA LOGBOOK AUDI A8L 50 TDI QUATTRO 286PS TIPTRONIC > Price £72,210 > As tested £93,015 > Engine 2967cc turbodiesel V6, 282bhp @ 3750rpm, 443lb ft @ 1250rpm > Transmission 8-speed auto, all-wheel drive > Performance 5.9sec 0-62mph, 155mph, 152g/km CO2 > Miles this month 1257 > Total 1619 > Our mpg 37.5 > Oficial mpg 48.7 > Fuel this month £173.93 > Extra costs None
> Price £28,390* > As tested £30,055* > Engine 40kWh battery, electric motor equivalent to 148bhp @ 3283rpm, 236lb ft @ 0-3283rpm > Transmission Single-speed auto, front-wheel drive > Performance 7.9sec 0-62mph, 90mph, 0g/km CO2 > Miles this month 570 > Total 3632 > Energy consumption 390Wh/mile > Cost this month £23.33 > Extra costs £75 (new tyre, on insurance) *Prices reduced by £2500 by Plug-In Car Grant
Alt country
SIMON THOMPSON
SIMON THOMPSON
Bored of dull crossovers? The Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross might be many things, but dull it is not. By Steve Moody
All he lacks is straw poking out of his mouth; Eclipse cunningly specced in Mud Brown
ARE YOU BORED by the unending, unimHELLO aginative ubiquity of driveways filled with MONTH 1 crossovers near where you live? Qashqais, KuMITSUBISHI gas, Tiguans, all doing the same beige, John ECLIPSE Lewis-y job in their own safe, predictable way? If so, then perhaps the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross is the antidote. We’re going to find out by running one over the next few months, and I’d wager one thing: it will not be dull. The Eclipse Cross, right from its slightly odd name, and onwards through design and drivetrain, challenges a sector predicated on conservatism. This might be a good thing. But then, in this safe space, where doing family tasks unobtrusively is a key requirement, maybe it’s not. Mitsubishi’s new mid-size SUV is available in three trim levels, 2, 3 and 4 (wither 1?), and we’ve opted for the top-spec 4. Even this garlanded model retails at less than £30,000, and is stuffed so full of kit that the only accessory available other the £540 metallic paint we’ve chosen (and more of which later) is the – brace yourself – ‘classic mats’. On this 4 comes leather trim, electrically adjustable driver’s seat, panoramic roof, LED headlamps, parking cameras with 360º view, blind spot warning, auto cruise control, Apple CarPlay and a premium sound system by some people called Rockford Fosgate, who sound like a ’70s supergroup (name not music quality, I should add). In the spirit of adventure, I ticked the box for the new 161bhp 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine, doing its thing in concert with four-wheel drive and, I gulped at this a bit, a CVT gearbox.
Never in the history of automotive technology have I hated a thing more than CVT gearboxes and their hysterical whiny tantrums, and I include Vauxhall Signum indicators, and the Vauxhall Signum, in that list. So this was something of a leap of faith. The CVT in the Eclipse Cross is stepped, which will apparently give the impression of a proper auto gearbox. The first half mile was undertaken with a wince and gritted teeth, but initial impressions are favourable and it seems to be behaving itself and acting more like an auto than an irritant. Phew. But even before properly putting the Eclipse Cross to the test, it already has an advantage over all that other bland stuff in this sector, and that’s authenticity. Mitsubishi makes four-wheel drives that are tough and designed to do the job, and where we live, in a valley in the middle of nowhere surrounding by farmers and mud, this seems like the right fit. And with such a fit in mind, I opted for a brown one (known in official circles as New Bronze) reasoning that for half the year everything round me is brown, so why not the car? This has elicited numerous responses ranging from admiration to repugnance, and – from LOGBOOK MITSUBISHI ECLIPSE Ben Pulman – a raised eyebrow and CROSS 4 1.5 AUTO AWD an ‘are you quite sure?’ reminiscent of > Price £28,165 > As tested £28,705 Roger Moore at his most quizzical. > Engine 1499cc 16v turbo 4-cyl, 161bhp @ 5500rpm, 184lb ft @ 1800rpm > Transmission But I am, so there. Brown is the CVT with manual mode, all-wheel drive new black. Whether the rest of the > Performance 9.8sec 0-62mph, 124mph, car stacks up to months of family and 159g/km CO2 > Miles this month 88 > Total country rough and tumble, though, 367 > Our mpg 28.9 > Oficial mpg 40.4 > Fuel this month £16.89 > Extra costs None remains to be seen.
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Battle of the Bens… and Benz ‘I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.’ Ben Oliver and Ben Whitworth meet in a rural layby to swap cars LAST MONTH’S BRIEF jaunt in Ben Oliver’s very shiny All-Terrain left me MONTH 4 horribly disappointed with the way the Merc VAUXHALL bounced and blancmanged its way along INSIGNIA some challenging Welsh blacktop. As an enduring lover of both the Mercedes-Benz marque (despite its too-regular transgressions) and of big family-sized estates, the all-wheel drive E-Class should have been bang on my target. It missed by a Conwy mile. So once back in the sunny south, this Ben and that Ben swapped cars. Despite the yawning chasm that separates their social standing, these high-rise haulers are identical in concept and execution: big swallow-all estates with torque-laden diesel grunt, four-wheel drive and a raised ride height for clambering over kerbs and tackling the craggy and acned paths that masquerade as roads in this so-called first world nation. They even wear similar body cladding to signify their faux Paris-Dakar credentials. So, let’s start with that which made me shake my head. First up – the Mercedes’ eye-bleeding £61,260 price tag. Dear God. Sixty one large for a family estate. Agreed, the 350d is bursting at the seams with high-tech safety, lighting, sound and driver-assistance kit, much of it standard, but it makes the £35,685 Insignia look very much like the bargain it arguably is. If I’m eBaying my kidney to afford business-class family transport, I’d also want something much sleeker and less chintzy than the dull-looking chrome-splattered All-Terrain.
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The Vauxhall’s starkly contrasting lipstick-red paintwork and matt plastic armour may not appeal to all, but look beyond the colour and it’s a far more arresting car to look at. And to drive. Punt the Insignia along and, for a chunky topheavy estate, it rides and handles with a degree of athleticism and dynamism you don’t expect but you can certainly enjoy. Not so the Mercedes. Sure, it brings 254bhp, a stout 457lb ft of torque and intelligent all-corner grip to the go-faster party, but with a 2010kg kerbweight, fuzzy steering and a redlinereluctant engine, the E-Class is best kept to fast motorway and A-road work. Where the Mercedes does claw back points – and lots of them – is where you’d expect it to. Levels of refinement are first class. It cocoons and cossets, where the Vauxhall merely transports. Its muscular V6 engine is so discreet and urbane you barely hear it above car park speeds and the satiny-smooth nine-speed ’box slips imperceptibly between gears, while the air-sprung suspension sponges away all but the worst intrusions. The vast single-screen dashboard may be an absolute eyesore to look at, but my, its clarity, seamless phone hook-up, and overall intuitive navigation through its central Comand controller are all wonderful. Same goes for the Burmester audio system, which despite horrific chrome doily speaker covers offers superb sound quality. I guess I’ll miss the Mercedes, with its mile-eating refinement and software sophistication. But not nearly as much as I hoped I would. BEN WHITWORTH
LOGBOOK VAUXHALL INSIGNIA COUNTRY TOURER > Price £28,435 > As tested £35,685 > Engine 1956cc 16v twin-turbo diesel 4-cyl, 207bhp @ 4000rpm > Transmission 8-speed auto, all-wheel drive > Performance 7.7sec 0-62mph, 142mph 188g/km CO2 > Miles this month 1109 > Total 7196 > Our mpg 34.4 > Oficial mpg 39.8 > Fuel this month £209.10 > Extra costs None
OF THE MANY CAR Bens, I am the best upholstered but Ben Whitworth is easily the MONTH 6 most premium with his dapper refinement MERCEDES ALL-TERRAIN and sharp creases. Yet somehow I’ve ended up with the more premium of our two jacked-up estates. Functionally these cars are almost identical: both are just shy of five metres in length, but Ben’s Vauxhall Insignia Country Tourer is 39mm longer and provides a little more legroom at the expense of boot space, with 1665 litres to the 1820 litres of my Mercedes E350d All-Terrain. Yet despite their near-identical dimensions and intent, the Mercedes costs more than twice as much in standard trim, at £58,880 to the Vauxhall’s £28,435. The Vauxhall narrows the price and kit gap with a lightly-used Corsa’s worth of options at £7250; the Mercedes adds ‘only’ £2380 as almost everything is standard. But the E-Class is still asking pretty much twice the price for essentially the same package. So why on earth would any sane person choose it over the Insignia? The name is easily the least premium thing about Ben’s car: ‘Country Tourer’ sounds like it should be adorning the
LOGBOOK MERCEDES-BENZ E350D 4MATIC ALL-TERRAIN EDITION > Price £58,880 > As tested £61,260 > Engine 2987cc 24v turbodiesel V6, 254bhp @ 3400rpm, 457lb ft @ 1600rpm > Transmission 9-speed auto, all-wheel drive > Performance 6.2sec 0-62mph, 155mph, 179g/km CO2 > Miles this month 1432 > Total 9222 > Our mpg 35.5 > Oficial mpg 41.5 > Fuel this month £253.07 > Extra costs None
beige plastic sides of a four-berth caravan. It’s a good-looking car, though. The torpedo styling makes a virtue of its length, while the cabin borrows cues from supercars (the faux passenger grab handle) and is far more exuberant in form than my E-Class. Both the Country Tourer and the All-Terrain suffer the same plastic wheelarch cladding which clumsily announces almost all such raised-ride-height wagons, but just looks to me like the unpainted, cheap-to-replace bumpers on a van. I’m told the red was chosen by the designers for press cars to make these hideous addenda stand out. I’d go for a grey to disguise them. I like the Insignia’s chassis. It gets Flexride adaptive damping and the clever GKN Twinster AWD system which vectors torque across the rear axle with pair of electronically-controlled clutches. Together they give it a crisper turn-in than the autobahn-orientated Mercedes, while the smaller, 18-inch rims give better secondary refinement over coarse surfaces. But ask more of the Vauxhall and it starts to struggle; once the suspension components begin to move you can feel them doing so through a bodyshell which is palpably less solid than the Merc’s. Overall the Mercedes is the far more soothing companion: the Insignia cannot approach the E-Class’s world-beating long-haul chops. The Merc’s killer advantage lies in its software rather than its hardware. Swapping cars made me realise how much my perception of my own car is influenced by its information, assistance and entertainment systems, which are a class above the Vauxhall’s in both their individual competence and their seamless, near-sentient interaction. In airline terms, the Insignia is premium economy, but the E-Class really is the business. The competitive finance deals which have doubled Merc’s UK sales in the last five years may well soften that list price hammer blow. If I could stretch to one, I would. BEN OLIVER
Two cars that are ready for anything. Two drivers ready for a nice cup of tea
SIMON THOMPSON
‘The Insignia is premium economy, but the E-Class really is the business’
October 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 141
Just my Type
COUNT T H E C O ST THE DAY I’VE been dreading has come. It’s time to say goodbye to the Civic Type R. GOODBYE MONTH 7 Over the last seven months I’ve got to know HONDA CIVIC Honda’s hyper-hatch extremely well, and TYPE R in some ways it’s everything I expected. In others it’s been a revelation. First, the looks. From its anime-like front end, to those flared arches and that positively aeronautic rear wing, the Type R is supercar drama in a hot-hatch body. More than a year after launch, the dramatic styling of the Honda hasn’t lost any punch: it’s still one of the most arresting cars on the road. Lined up against other hot hatches such as the Ford Focus RS and the VW Golf R, only the new Renault Megane RS matches the Honda for sheer optical impact. It’s special because it’s rare too: I’ve only seen a handful on the road, compared to about 45,000 Golf Rs in Peterborough services alone. Unlike its styling, the raw performance and capability of the Honda isn’t remotely subjective. After getting the Honda back from its scheduled service this month (the £850 bill includes two £250 front tyres, one repaired alloy and the usual bits) I decided to get the most out of my new tyres, and give it a thorough shakedown. Even after seven months of driving, the Type R’s pointto-point pace is still an eye-opener. First thing you notice is just how heavy the steering is: wrestling the Type R in +R mode actually works your forearms, but it feels much more reassuring than Ford’s light-but-precise Focus RS steering, for example. Its stoppers are ahead of anything comparable too, feeding back more information at every stage of braking, and it’s far faster than the (cheaper) Hyundai i30N. Even compared to supercars like the Audi R8, there’s something about the Civic Type R that is inherently more alive, engaging and responsive – only the Porsche 911 GT3 has the same ‘fingertip feel’ to me. And I can’t forget the Honda’s gear-
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Cost new £32,995 Private sale price £27,200 Part-exchange price £26,000 Cost per mile 11.8p Cost per mile including depreciation 77.7p
box; a manual transmission executed so perfectly it was left virtually untouched between this Type R and the last. The short-throw six-speed ’box is still a benchmark, with ratios close enough to keep you busy, but long enough for sixth to be economical on the motorway. If you want to be flattered, the Honda will automatically rev-match on downshifts, though you can heel-and-toe manually if you’d prefer. As for the engine, it’s a beast. It’s easy to see why Ariel has nabbed it for its latest Atom. It’ll pull in all gears, and although it doesn’t have the more varied soundtrack of some other hot hatches, it does have its own unique note, punctuated by sharp wastegate hiss. The only slight annoyance? With this much power channelled through one axle, wheelspin can be an issue in the wet – but would you rather carry the weight of a fourwheel-drive system? Alongside its speed, the Type R’s secret strength is just how ‘boring’ it can be (from the inside, anyway). In Comfort mode, you’re thankful for features such as adaptive cruise control. And on many journeys I’ve only scratched the surface of the 300bhp-plus. Perhaps that’s why it has averaged more than 30mpg, a figure I’m both proud and ashamed of. LOGBOOK So, it’s a car that somehow strikes a HONDA CIVIC TYPE R GT balance between boisterous performance > Price £32,995 > As tested £32,995 and mundane practicality. It can hound > Engine 1996cc 16v turbo 4-cyl, 316bhp supercars on twisty roads but is equally @ 6500rpm, 295lb ft @ 2500rpm at home in supermarket car parks. It’ll > Transmission 6-speed manual, frontwheel drive > Performance 5.8sec always look like a Transformer, but for 0-62mph, 169mph, 176g/km CO2 me that’s another positive. Even after > Miles this month 1379 > Total 11,080 driving the majority of the competition, > Our mpg 30.8 > Oficial mpg 36.7 > Fuel it remains the hot hatch I’d spend my this month £295.62 > Extra costs £850 (service, tyres and wheel refurb) own money on.
SIMON THOMPSON
Exhilarating to drive, and arresting to look at, if you’re into that sort of crazily spoilered thing. By Curtis Moldrich
THE REST OF THE FLEET
BMW M5
VW Arteon
MONTH 4 By Mark Walton
MONTH 4 By Ben Pulman
THE M5 Display Key is 6cm wide, 10cm long and 2cm thick – nearly as big as a mobile phone, and almost as heavy. The touchscreen allows you to lock doors and check the fuel range from your house (assuming you’re in range). It came as part of a £1195 Comfort Package, but you can buy it as an individual extra for £235. I’d rather have a key as slender as a credit card – and surely the greatest luxury in modern life is to be unencumbered by stuf that needs recharging?
THE ‘PANORAMIC sunroof’ in the Arteon isn’t really that panoramic. It only stretches as far back as the B-pillars and does nothing for those in the back – which isn’t good enough for £935. Then there’s the auto handbrake. It’s a fantastic invention, allowing you to come to a halt and take your foot of the brake while leaving it in Drive. But it doesn’t work well here. When it’s time to move, it holds on too long, the revs rise, and then you’re suddenly released, shooting of like a jerky learner.
LOGBOOK BMW M5 > Price £89,705 > As tested £102,825 > Engine 4395cc twin-turbo V8, 591bhp @ 5600rpm, 553lb ft @ 1800rpm > Transmission 8-speed auto, switchable four/rear-wheel drive > Performance 3.4 sec 0-62mph, 155mph (limited), 241g/km CO2 > Miles this month 958 > Total 6758 > Our mpg 21.9 > Oficial mpg 26.9 > Fuel this month £259 > Extra costs None
Bentley Bentayga MONTH 2 By Ben Miller THE FESTIVAL of Speed’s only flaw is that Stamford and Goodwood House are 155 tedious miles apart. But miles matter less in a Bentayga; they’re easier and ultimately inconsequential. You sit there, happy, and you arrive places. This is unusual. Land travel has always demanded efort on the part of the traveller – and a Bentley lets you of the hook. The air suspension smooths the M25 just as it flattens the Duke of Richmond’s parched fields and, should a gap appear two or three cars up the road, the V8 simply puts you in it at very little notice. Flies in the ointment? The low-level but consistent anxiety that comes with running a 4.0-litre V8, with its attendant fuel consumption and, when we get creative with our route into Goodwood, the fundamental incompatibility of ancient Sussex lanes and a Bentley that feels every inch of its two metres wide.
LOGBOOK VW ARTEON > Price £34,380 > As tested £40,600 > Engine 1984cc turbo 4-cyl, 187bhp @ 4180rpm, 236lb ft @ 1500rpm > Transmission 7-speed DSG, front-wheel drive > Performance 7.7sec 0-62mph, 149mph, 135g/km CO2 > Miles this month 480 > Total 3202 > Our mpg 34.5 > Oficial mpg 47.1 > Fuel this month £82.79 > Extra costs None
LOGBOOK BENTLEY BENTAYGA V8
Kia Stinger
> Price £136,200 > As tested £213,875 > Engine 3996cc 32v twin-turbo V8, 542bhp @ 6000rpm, 568lb ft @ 1960rpm > Transmission 8-speed auto, all-wheel drive > Performance 4.5sec 0-62mph, 180mph, 260g/km CO2 > Miles this month 1303 > Total 2145 > Our mpg 20.4 > Oficial mpg 24.8 > Fuel this month £389.41 > Extra costs None
Peugeot 5008
MONTH 5 By Ben Barry
MONTH 6 By Alex Tapley
THE STINGER GT S is loaded with standard kit including stuf you’d never option, such as cooled seats. Flip the heated-seats button and you can be lightly refrigerated in three diferent ways. They proved a real boon over the hot summer. Shame they don’t massage too. Sounds spoilt, but my 308 GTi did that using the electric lumbar support. Job for the facelift perhaps?
I’VE JUST completed a 1584-mile trip the South of France and back with my family, storming the péages like a German executive. Come of the immaculate toll roads onto the twisty stuf and the 5008’s crashy ride comes to the fore. In the south you can only admire the French brand loyalty; Peugeots are everywhere. Less so up north, though, where the usual suspects from the rest of Europe are more numerous.
LOGBOOK KIA STINGER GT S > Price £40,535 > As tested £41,180 > Engine 3342cc 24v twin-turbo 6-cyl, 360bhp @ 6000rpm, 376lb ft @ 1300rpm > Transmission 8-speed auto, rear-wheel drive > Performance 4.9sec 0-62mph, 168mph, 28.5mpg, 225g/km CO2 > Miles this month 784 > Total 5136 > Our mpg 25.8 > Oficial mpg 28.5 > Fuel this month £178.62 > Extra costs None
LOGBOOK PEUGEOT 5008 GT LINE PURE TECH
Ben arrives in the duke’s field. Not shown, Ben selling belongings to pay for the fuel to get home
> Price £36,415 > As tested £36,940 > Engine 1997cc 16v turbodiesel 4-cyl, 181bhp @ 37500rpm, 400lb ft @ 1500rpm > Transmission 6-spd auto, front-wheel drive > Performance 9.1sec 0-62mph, 131mph, 124g/km CO2 > Miles this month 2988 > Total 12,988 > Our mpg 42.0 > Oficial mpg 58.9 > Fuel this month £504.20 > Extra costs None
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