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DRIVEN VW’s baby GTI

S U B A R U W R X £5 K 24-31 January

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24 January 2018 | Volkswagen T-Roc

AL SO R ATE D

Volvo’s brilliant XC40 New Leaf: world’s best EV Hot Jag E-Pace diesel Road test: a fun VW SUV

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THIS WEEK

Issue 6291 | Volume 295 | No 4 ‘We can’t stop for a toilet break, so we wear nappies’

62

NEWS 8 Ford’s electric Mustang Mach 1 points to EV future 12 Mercedes-AMG Follow-up to SLS Electric Drive due 15 Mini goes back to roots New EVs link to core values 16 Peugeot boss speaks Imparato bullish on emissions 19 Fisker is back Bold three-vehicle line-up detailed 20 New BMW 1 Series Lighter, nimbler and front-driven

TESTED 26 Nissan Leaf Overhauled EV trendsetter driven 30 Volvo XC40 D4 Distinctive Evoque rival assessed 31 Jaguar E-Pace 2.0 D240 Fast diesel crossover 33 Audi RS4 Avant 444bhp estate driven on UK roads 35 VW T-Roc 2.0 TSI 190 SEL ROAD TEST 36 VW Up GTI City car gets a performance makeover

FEATURES £30k duel Abarth 124 Spider vs Honda Civic Type R Reborn Aston driven Lovingly recreated DB4 GT Used handling heroes Keenly priced thrills await Eat my dust How to drive through a Dakar desert WRC preview Can anyone beat Sébastien Ogier?

HE BEST PRICES 52

44 50 52 62 64

OUR CARS Ford Mustang A sad farewell to our pet pony car Seat Ibiza Hills are alive with the sound of a triple BMW M135i Our used hatch has been to the gym

68 71 73

EVERY WEEK Steve Cropley Along came a McLaren 570S Spider Subscribe Sign up here and get a spectacular deal Your views Why diesel’s decline is such a waste Matt Prior Any colour as long as it isn’t black

WHAT TO WATCH IN THE WRC 64 23 24 66 90

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DEALS James Ruppert A service history is worth its weight Past master We salute the Mercedes 190E 3.2 AMG Used buying guide Mercedes C63 AMG buying tips Road test results Autocar’s data archive New cars A-Z Every new car on sale rated Classifieds Cars, numberplates and services

RATED: VW’S LITTLEST GTI 26

CLEANING A BLACK CAR IS AS DIFFICULT a AS CLEANING A CHEESE GRATER GOOD CARS DON’T WEAR BLACK, RECKONS MATT PRIOR 90

74 76 78 80 82 89

COVER STORY

BARGAIN USED MERC MUSCLE 78

BMW PLOTS A NEW MEGA-HATCH 8 24 JANUARY 2018 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 5

COMMENT

The original car magazine, published since 1895 ‘in the interests of the mechanically propelled road carriage’ EDITORIAL Tel +44 (0)20 8267 5900 Email autocar@haymarket.com Editor Mark Tisshaw Editorial director, Automotive Jim Holder Editor-in-chief Steve Cropley Executive editor Matt Burt Editor-at-large Matt Prior Digital editor James Attwood Road test editor Matt Saunders Road testers Simon Davis, Richard Lane News editor Rachel Burgess Senior staff writer Sam Sheehan Staff writer Jimi Beckwith Used car editor Alex Robbins Used car deputy editor Mark Pearson Used car writer Max Adams Digital reviews editor Hemal Mistry Chief sub-editor Sami Shah Group art editor Stephen Hopkins Art editor Sarah Özgül Junior designer Rebecca Stevens Chief photographer Stan Papior Photographer Luc Lacey Videographer Mitch McCabe Video apprentice Oli Kosbab SEO manager Jon Cook SEO executive Oliver Hayman Social media manager Louis Shaw Picture editor Ben Summerell-Youde Editorial assistant Sam Jenkins

SCANDAL? WHAT SCANDAL? VW’S SALES HAVE NEVER BEEN BETTER

EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORS European editor Greg Kable Used car correspondent James Ruppert Senior contributing writer Andrew Frankel Contributing writer Dan Prosser Senior contributing editor Richard Bremner Contributing editor Mike Duff Senior consulting editor Tom Evans Special correspondents Mauro Calo, Jesse Crosse, John Evans, Hilton Holloway, Peter Liddiard, Julian Rendell, Richard Webber Special contributors Matt Bird, John Bradshaw, Nic Cackett, Kris Culmer, Ben Davies, Claire Evans, John Howell, Steve Huntingford, Maria Iu, Darren Moss, Allan Muir, Will Nightingale, Doug Revolta, Alan Taylor-Jones, Rory White, Will Williams, Neil Winn MEDIA ENQUIRIES Tel +44 (0)20 8541 3434 Contact Robert Etheridge (robert@performancecomms.com) SUBSCRIPTIONS Tel 0344 848 8816 Overseas +44 (0)1604 251450 Email help@autocar.themagazineshop.com Head of subscriptions Karen McCarthy Direct marketing executive Maria Fernandez SYNDICATION ENQUIRIES Tel +44 (0)1962 867705 Contact Simon Fox (syndication@autocar.co.uk) LICENSING ENQUIRIES Tel +44 (0)20 8267 5024 Contact Isla Friend (isla.friend@haymarket.com) BACK ISSUES Tel 0344 848 8816 Email help@autocar.themagazineshop.com ADVERTISING Classified +44 (0)20 8267 5733 Display +44 (0)20 8267 5574 Production +44 (0)20 8267 5814 Fax +44 (0)20 8267 5312 Key account director Richard Potton Agency group head Andrew Barclay Agency account manager Olivia Horner New business executive Helen Brown PRODUCTION Tel +44 (0)20 8267 5219 Production manager Anthony Davis Production controller Lee Brister

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NEWSTRADE MARKETING Head of newstrade marketing Richard Jefferies Newstrade marketing manager Nikki Packer MANAGEMENT Managing director Rachael Prasher Marketing director Darren Pitt Print and events marketing manager Charlene Harry © 2018, Haymarket Media Group Ltd. Autocar, Motor, Autocar & Motor are registered trademarks. Circulation enquiries: Frontline Ltd, Midgate House, Midgate, Peterborough PE1 1TN (01733 555161). Repro by Haymarket Pre-Press.

Printed by William Gibbons, Wolverhampton. Registered as a newspaper with the Royal Mail. Member of the ABC. ISSN 1355-8293.

No part of this magazine may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form except by permission. The publisher makes every effort to ensure contents are correct but cannot accept responsibility for errors or omissions. Unsolicited material is submitted to Autocar entirely at the owner’s risk; the publisher accepts no responsibility for loss or damage. With regret, competitions and promotional offers, unless otherwise stated, are not available to readers outside the UK and Eire.

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Autocar is published by Haymarket Automotive, Bridge House, 69 London Road, Twickenham, Middlesex, TW1 3SP, UK haymarketgroup.com Tel +44 (0)20 8267 5900 Autocar magazine is also published in China, Greece, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand.

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AT ONE EXTREME, the Dieselgate scandal could have put the Volkswagen Group out of business, such was the damage to the reputation of the company, the loss of confidence in it and the total amount of fines that it would have to pay.

Yet what actually happened couldn’t have been more different. In 2017, the Volkswagen Group remarkably posted its best year yet for sales, every single one of its brands recording growth.

The group even posted sales growth in Europe and North America, where the scandal hit hardest. Clearly, there has been no loss of confidence in the Volkswagen Group as a maker of desirable cars you’d actually want to buy and own: the figures prove it.

Volkswagen has absorbed fines through greater profit margins on its cars while investing heavily in a whole new family of electric models on sale from 2020 and it has even expanded its GTI range (Up GTI driven, p26) and responded to the growing SUV trends with new models (T-Roc road test, p36).

Volkswagen’s original actions were nothing short of despicable, yet the turnaround has been nothing short of remarkable.

Mark Tisshaw Editor mark.tisshaw@haymarket.com

@mtisshaw

EDITOR’S PICKS

NEVER MISS AN ISSUE Subscribe p24

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‘IT HAPPENS ALL THE TIME’

USED HANDLING HEROES

IS FISKER THE NEXT TESLA?

The story of the Dakar Rally drivers who tackle sand dunes blind, p62

25 of the finest used cars you can buy, from only £2k, starting on p52

Back at the coalface, Henrik Fisker sets out his electric vision. See p20

24 JANUARY 2018 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 7

N E WS G O T A S T O RY ?

Email our news editor rachel.burgess@haymarket.com

BMW 1 Series to switch to front drive next year New 1 Series should be lighter and roomier and handle better in front-drive guise

B

MW’s front-wheel-drive revolution is set to kick into high gear in 2019 with the launch of the third-generation 1 Series, although the flagship M130iX M Performance model will be four-wheel drive.

The next 1 Series is

8 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 24 JANUARY 2018

described by one highranking official as a distinct turning point for the German car maker, which last year surrendered the global luxury car sales lead to its key rival, Mercedes-Benz, for the second consecutive year.

The M130iX hot hatch

will be a crucial part of the overhaul to front-wheel drive as BMW bids to prove that it can offer a credible front-drive performance model, alongside its traditionally successful rear-wheel-drive M cars.

Currently in the early stages of development, BMW

M’s future competitor to the Volkswagen Golf R, Audi S3 and upcoming MercedesAMG A35 is scheduled for launch in 2020. It will feature a uniquely tuned version of BMW’s turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine, developing in the region of

300bhp, together with a multi-plate-clutch xDrive four-wheel-drive system.

BMW controversially halted a long tradition of rear-drive and four-wheel-drive models with the introduction of the 2 Series Active Tourer in 2014 and the subsequent launch

SIX FWD BMWS

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The performance flagship will feature a 300bhp 2.0 turbo petrol engine and four-wheel drive a

BMW is developing up to six models off its FAAR platform, each of which will offer standard front drive or optional four-wheel drive.

IMAGE

1 Series hatchback The first model to benefit from the new FAAR platform.

Insiders indicate it will again be offered with the choice of three- and five-door layouts.

2 Series Gran Turismo Instead of the China-made front-drive 1 Series saloon, BMW will offer Europe a FAAR-based model likely to be a saloon-cum-hatchback.

2 Series Active Tourer BMW’s first dedicated front-wheel-drive model will switch from its existing UKL platform to the new FAAR architecture in 2021.

IMAGE 2 Series Gran Tourer The successor to today’s 2 Series Gran Tourer is due in 2021. Plans are for a more luxurious model with improved comfort and space. of the larger 2 Series Gran Tourer in 2015. The car maker now plans to bolster its frontwheel-drive ranks with the new 1 Series, which forgoes the longitudinal engine mounting of today’s second-generation model for a space-saving transversely mounted engine.

The move is set to provide the new 1 Series with a lower kerb weight and improved packaging, together with simplified production processes and greater profitability than its rearwheel-drive predecessor.

Nothing is official just yet, although BMW production experts suggest the new model will offer savings of up to €750 (about £660) compared with its more complex predecessor.

With 91,802 sales in the first half of 2017, the 1 Series is among BMW’s best-selling models worldwide. It also attracts the youngest buyers of all BMW models, making it a particularly important model for the future development of the brand.

The new Audi A3 rival is the first model to be based on BMW’s front-wheeldrive FAAR (frontantriebsarchitektur) platform.

According to BMW’s head of development, Klaus Fröhlich, this structure is a progression of the UKL platform that underpins the 2 Series Active Tourer and 2 Series Gran Tourer as well as the existing Mini line-up, but with added modularity and the flexibility to support

full-electric drivetrain and battery combinations.

It won’t be the first frontwheel-drive 1 Series model, though. That distinction goes to the 1 Series saloon, which is based on the existing UKL platform and produced in a joint-venture operation between BMW and Brilliance at a factory in Shenyang, China. Although it was initially considered for sale in export markets as a rival to the likes of the A3 saloon and upcoming Mercedes-Benz A-Class saloon, it will not form part of the new third-generation line-up in European markets, according to BMW. Instead, the German car maker is lining up a new front-wheel-drive four-door sister model to the new

three-door and five-door 1 Series hatchback models that is likely to be called 2 Series Gran Turismo.

Set for a launch in 2020, it is aimed at a niche currently occupied by the Mercedes-Benz CLA with what is described as a “more expressive design” than the existing 1 Series.

As well as supporting frontwheel drive, the new FAAR platform has been engineered to offer four-wheel drive with a lower weight penalty than that of the existing 1 Series’ rearwheel-drive-based structure.

Although it is still early days, insiders suggest four-wheel drive will add some 55kg to the weight of equivalent front-wheel-drive models.

Despite the switch to ◊

iX1 New FAAR platform will play a key role in BMW’s electric car line-up. Pencilled in for 2022 is a junior SUV model conceived as an i3 successor.

X1 Having made the switch from rear-wheel drive to BMW’s UKL platform in 2016, it is no surprise that the next-gen X1 will use the FAAR platform.

24 JANUARY 2018 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 9

FRONT DRIVE COULD IMPROVE IT M AT T P R I O R

The rear-driven BMW 1 Series has always appealed more to keen drivers as an idea than as a fully realised car.

Back in 2004, when I was a youngster starting out in this job, I remember being drawn so instinctively to the notion of a proper ‘standard-drive’ BMW as an alternative to a run-of-the-mill frontdrive hatchback. The car’s promise was to take the humble hatchback into new and truly involving territory on driver appeal.

But it was a promise the 1 Series has scarcely, if ever, come close to fulfilling.

Squeezing a longways engine, a transmission tunnel and rear-wheel drive into such a small car clearly presented BMW with enormous packaging challenges. Even in today’s 1 Series, you become aware of them when you see how cramped the car’s rear seats are compared with those of its transverse-engined

rivals. Likewise, when you drive the car, BMW’s apparent difficulties present in numbers. To this day, the 1 Series is a hatchback that rides and handles in a pitching, restless fashion, like a car with a necessarily high centre of gravity, whose bulk has been heaped on top of its wheelbase rather than nestled within it.

Moving from rear drive to a front-wheel drive layout should at once dramatically increase the usable length of the 1 Series’ cabin and also increase the amount of available space within that cabin. It’s interesting to read that BMW will be seeking to preserve the car’s idiosyncratic backwardsswept and cabin-rear design proportions as much as possible – and that’s probably wise. But even in light of that, we should clearly expect a shorter bonnet, a longer glasshouse and longer back doors.

S PY S H OT

New 1 Series will retain a side profile that has an aft-biased cabin Δ BMW’s latest front-wheeldrive platform, the exterior styling of the new 1 Series is set to retain the cabback influences that have distinguished it from its rivals since its addition to the BMW line-up in 2004.

“It is a hugely successful model for us, so there’s no need to change the basic direction of the design,” a high-ranking BMW official privy to the appearance of the definitive production version told Autocar. “There will be some adjustment in proportions due to the new platform, but it will continue to be instantly recognisable as a 1 Series.”

These comments are backed up by the latest prototypes of the new 1 Series, which reveal the model’s cab-back silhouette.

As with all future BMW

10 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 24 JANUARY 2018

models, the new hatchback is set to feature its own uniquely shaped grille and headlights in a move aimed at providing greater visual differentiation between the German car maker’s individual model lines. Increases in both the wheelbase and the tracks will cause the new 1 Series to grow marginally in size.

It is inside where BMW’s decision to place the 1 Series on its new FAAR platform will show the biggest changes. The transverse engine mounting and less intrusion from the transmission tunnel is set to combine with the car’s longer wheelbase and extra width to provide the new model with significantly more interior space and greater flexibility than today’s 1 Series.

Prototypes of the new 1 Series, which has the internal

BMW 1 SERIES codename F40, reveal that BMW has used the added dimensions to increase the area of the door apertures, hinting at improved entry and exit to the cabin. A longer rear overhang is also set to provide the 2019 model with greater luggage capacity than the 360 litres on offer today.

The new 1 Series hatchback and its 2 Series Gran Turismo stablemate will be powered by updated versions of today’s turbocharged 1.5-litre threecylinder and turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engines. The more powerful versions are planned to adopt a particulate filter in an attempt to reduce CO2 emissions to a model-line-specific average of less than 120g/km, according to BMW engineering sources.

Also, from the outset of sales, there will be revised

1.5-litre three-cylinder and 2.0-litre diesel engines – the most powerful of which is set to offer up to 240bhp. The hot M130iX M Performance will follow in 2020.

With doubts hanging over the future of diesel sales in many key European markets, BMW has future-proofed the new 1 Series by providing it with at least one mild-hybrid drivetrain in the form of a turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine fitted with an integrated starter motor and 48V electric system. Similar to the system Mercedes plans to bring to the new A-Class, it is claimed to provide fuel savings of up to 20% compared with today’s turbocharged 2.0-litre fourcylinder 125i.

As part of further plans to meet the 95g/km emission regulations set for introduction

by the EU in 2020, BMW is also readying a petrol-electric plug-in hybrid variant of its new entry-level hatchback.

Set to rival the A3 E-tron and an upcoming electrified version of the fourth-generation A-Class, it is planned to run a similar set-up to today’s 225eX Active Tourer, with a turbocharged 1.5-litre three-cylinder petrol engine combined with an electric motor and a lithium ion battery pack.

Details remain scarce, although Fröhlich recently hinted that future BMW hybrids will be developed to achieve a pure-electric range of over 31 miles (50km). That suggests the new model could feature the same high-density battery cells used by the facelifted i3 for greater range than the 225eX Active Tourer, which

NEWS

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BMW is readying a petrol-electric plug-in hybrid variant of its new entry-level hatchback a

achieves a claimed 25 miles.

To appease customers seeking traditional rearwheel-drive dynamics, BMW has revealed to Autocar that it plans to base the secondgeneration 2 Series Coupé and 2 Series Cabriolet, due out in 2020 and 2021 respectively, on an updated version of its CLAR platform, meaning they will retain the standard rear-wheel drive and optional four-wheel drive of today’s models.

As a consequence, the follow-up model to the existing M2 (itself to be updated in 2018 with the introduction of a new limited-volume Competition model packing the turbocharged 3.0-litre inline six-cylinder engine from the M3 and M4 with a claimed 400bhp) will also continue with a rearwheel-drive layout.

GREG KABLE

W E D R I V E T H E F R O N T- W H E E L- D R I V E 1 S E R I E S S A L O O N In China, the BMW 1 Series’ switch to front-wheel drive has already happened. The 1 Series saloon built and sold in that country (and that country only, before you ring your dealer) is part of a joint venture with Brilliance.

Smart looking, isn’t it?

Size-wise, the 1 Series saloon closely matches the old E30-generation 3 Series. It looks a lot less ungainly than the current 1 Series hatchback for its switch to a transverse engine layout, something previously unthinkable from BMW. The benefit of that layout is chiefly interior packaging and making the cabin more spacious, particularly for

rear passengers, which is so important for buyers in China.

They’ll be satisfied.

They’ll also be satisfied with the way it drives. What this 1 Series may lack in old-fashioned purity it more than makes up for with

engagement, as our brief drive around a test track in China proved.

It feels more agile and lighter on its feet than the current 1 Series hatch, with none of the stodginess in the handling. Turn-in is sharp and

there’s a strong willingness to change direction. The layout just feels better suited to a car of this size – or rather, BMW has executed it a lot better than with the current model, no matter which wheels are being driven. MT

Front-drive Chinaonly 1 Series feels pleasingly agile

24 JANUARY 2018 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 11

Ford plots Mustang-inspired EV Marque’s 40 new electrified cars will include a hot battery-electric SUV, the Mach 1

F

ord has announced plans to spend $11 billion (about £8bn) on 40 new battery and hybrid cars between now and 2022. Spearheading the move will be a revolutionary high-performance batteryelectric SUV heavily influenced

by the Mustang sports car and provocatively dubbed Mach 1, a name associated with previous Mustang versions.

The new investment announcement, made at last week’s Detroit motor show, dwarfs a previous commitment

to spend around $4.5bn (£3.25bn) on electric cars over a slightly shorter period. It will include fresh investment in new electric-only platforms, but Ford bosses won’t yet reveal how many they intend to build. The company also

intends to convert many of its existing internal-combustion models to 48V mild hybrids from 2019.

“Once the mild hybrid programme starts, it’ll happen quite quickly,” said a spokesman.

The Mach 1 project is meant to underscore Ford’s landmark decision to electrify models from its line-up with “iconic nameplates” rather than conventional small and mid-sized saloons. The project is being led by a newly

Mach 1 name has previously been linked to the Mustang

CHEROKEE RAISES GAME WITH MID-LIFE REFRESH Jeep’s British boss, Mike Manley, insists that despite recent success, the Cherokee SUV has “more to do”.

The model, launched in 2014, has trebled the sales of its predecessor. US sales alone have easily exceeded 200,000 a year at times.

The mid-life refresh of the Cherokee, revealed at Detroit, is intended to bolster sales further.

Revisions include a new-look frontal treatment, an all-new 270bhp 2.0-litre turbo petrol engine and a sliding rear seat. UK cars, mostly diesels up to now, should be in showrooms by November.

Facelifted Cherokee sports a revised front end and a new 270bhp petrol engine

HYUNDAI VELOSTER N PACKS 271BHP

SUV SHOWS OFF NISSAN’S FUTURE TECH

Hyundai’s new Veloster, unlike its predecessor, won’t be sold in the UK. The range includes a hot Veloster N. The performance N variant uses the same turbo 2.0-litre engine as its i30 N sibling, producing up to 271bhp and 260lb ft.

The Nissan Xmotion concept is described by the car maker as “a design exploration for a potentially groundbreaking compact SUV”. The three-row six-seater also showcases Nissan’s connected and autonomous technology.

12 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 24 JANUARY 2018

DETROIT MOTOR SHOW formed, 200-strong task force called Team Edison and led

by Sherif Marakby. The team will have charge of all Ford’s electrification and autonomy projects and be based in specially equipped, renovated headquarters in Detroit.

Meanwhile, Ford has underlined the authenticity of its latest Mustang range by launching two new V8 models at Detroit, a lightly upgraded Mustang Bullitt to mark the 50th anniversary of the Steve McQueen movie and a GT500 claimed to produce around 700bhp, which brings the Shelby name back into the Mustang range (see right).

The forthcoming Mach 1 “performance battery-electric car” is understood to be a relatively compact SUV with its styling “strongly influenced” by the Mustang coupé and is “well along in its development”, according the chief proponent of the Ford Performance range and president of global markets, Jim Farley. As well as impressive performance, it is understood to have a 300-mile battery range.

Use of the Mach 1 name is described by Ford as an attempt to gauge interest in the idea of building a wider Mustang range but Farley believes, if done right, the new car can “give our dealers a huge new nameplate to sell”.

The Mach 1 won’t be cheap in Ford terms – the company’s idea is to price it to avoid the losses on electric cars that others have suffered – but it will nevertheless sell “at a Ford, not a Tesla, price”.

STEVE CROPLEY

FOR D BUR NISHES MUSTA NG LEGEND WITH TWO NEW MODELS

Ford demonstrated its seriousness about building the Mustang and its new Mach 1 associate into a cohesive range of cars in its own right by launching two new conventional V8 Mustang models, a lightly tweaked GT dubbed the Mustang Bullitt (pictured, left) – so named to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the legendary Steve McQueen film this October – and a much higher-performance GT500 that doubles the power of the original performance Mustang model of 1967 and brings back the Shelby name.

The Bullitt gets a gentle power hike from 450bhp

L E T ’ S H O P E B O L D N E S S PAY S O F F STEVE CROPLEY

to 475bhp and a standard six-speed manual gearbox and gives owners the colour choice of the original Highland Green or black.

The only option is a sports pack (performance exhaust, magnetic shock absorbers), which means the car should sell at around £40,000 if it comes to the UK, a likely scenario but not yet a certainty.

The new Mustang Shelby GT500 will be a seriously fast, limited-edition model.

It’s claimed to have around 700bhp and described as “the most powerful street-legal Mustang ever”.

A previous GT500 was discontinued in 2015 (inset).

Revealed in sketchy detail in a video screened at the end of the Detroit motor show’s first preview day, the latest iteration is unlikely to make it to the UK when sales are scheduled to begin in 2019.

Ford’s bold decision to combine its time-honoured love of making accessible high-performance cars with the serious business of electrification is one of the most welcome developments yet of today’s transport revolution.

Until now, manufacturers have tended to communicate their overarching concerns about the uncertainties of the future, about their abruptly increasing workloads and about the onrush of tough legislation so clearly to customers as to kill part of the joy of buying a new car. It’s tough to enjoy a new product whose

creators found it a chore.

But Ford’s people, traditionally adept at making affordable, desirable, fast cars, have announced a courageous, optimistic determination to apply the new technologies first to their most iconic models, and to use the new capabilities to make the new cars more desirable in their own right. If Ford can do it – and it has rarely failed in the past – the company will not only greatly increase the population of truly modern driver’s cars, it will also lead the rest of the industry towards better cars, and ultimately better business.

A TASTER OF EUROPE’S NEW FORD EDGE ST-LINE The new US-spec Ford Edge ST has a 335bhp 2.7-litre Ecoboost petrol V6 and a chassis to suit. Europe will continue with a diesel-only Edge, but a better-handling, better-looking ST-line model with interior and exterior enhancements will arrive at the Geneva motor show in March.

Infiniti paves the way to give its electric cars new look A PRODUCTION VERSION of the Q Inspiration concept could accommodate an electric powertrain, according to Infiniti designer Karim Habib.

Although the concept uses Infiniti’s variable-compression turbo powertrain, the proportions of the model could also be used for a fully electric model, said Habib.

Infiniti is due to unveil its first zero-emissions car soon and the Q Inspiration is expected to hint at the styling of such a vehicle.

Talking about the concept, Habib said: “We felt it was important to have a new era in design mostly because of technology, including autonomy and our new VC turbo.

“We’ve made the cabin really long. It’s challenging to create elegant proportions with a short nose and long wheelbase.”

The Q Inspiration is positioned as a flagship saloon, said Habib, slightly bigger in proportions than the brand’s current biggest saloon, the Q70.

On electric cars, Habib said: “What I love the most is what I can do to interior design. By having a flat floor, you have eliminated an object [the driveshaft] just like that. It changes everything.”

He added that Infiniti electric models would stand apart stylistically from traditionally fuelled models, but that a common design thread would exist between them. “We’re not going to do a big grille for air intake if we don’t need it,” he said.

Q Inspiration is said to hint at Infiniti’s first zero-emissions car

KIA FORTE HOLDS CLUES TO NEW CEE’D

CHINA’S GAC SETS OUT STALL FOR 2020

The US-only Kia Forte will share the same platform as the new Cee’d hatch, to be revealed at the Geneva show in March. The Forte’s front end is also likely to be similar to that of the new Cee’d, which will include a shooting brake in its line-up.

Chinese firm GAC, which has ambitions to sell cars in the US by 2020, revealed an electric compact SUV that showcases its future design. The Enverge is designed to be popular with “young people of North America”, the firm said.

24 JANUARY 2018 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 13

DETROIT MOTOR SHOW

CONFIDENTIAL GOSSIP | RUMOURS | TRENDS

FIAT CHRYSLER AUTOMOBILES boss Sergio Marchionne put to bed speculation that the Jeep brand could be offloaded to raise money, or that the whole FCA group could be sold to a Chinese auto maker such as GAC. “We have no intention of breaking up the company or giving it to the Chinese,” the Italian confirmed in Detroit.

Detroit debuts for CLS 53 and E53 (inset) hybrids

Merc mulls all-electric AMG Firm could look past V8 power in searchforimprovedperformance

M

ercedes-Benz is considering the addition of pure electric models to its AMG sub-brand, despite the in-house tuning division’s long-time devotion to thunderous V8s. “Are we going to see all-electric AMGs?” said Mercedes R&D boss Ola Källenius. “Why not?

It is not a concrete programme at the moment, but it is conceivable. Besides, we have been there before.”

Källenius is referring to the SLS Electric Drive project that saw a tiny number of all-electric SLS supercars built for specific customers.

Asked what customers would think of an AMG without its trademark V8 soundtrack, he observed: “When we went to turbocharged engines, everyone thought that would be the end of the AMG character. But we don’t exactly get many complaints about that any more. We all love the sound of the V8 and an electric car can still be thrilling, so we are going to have to develop a second love for that.”

In the meantime, MercedesAMG is busy preparing its first ‘power-hybrids’, a genre of powertrain Källenius described as “using its battery power more for boost than for range”. The new system is known to have been fitted to AMG’s extant 4.0-litre V8, which is already capable of developing 604bhp without any electrical assistance. Porsche’s equivalent system boosts the output of its 4.0-litre V8 from 542bhp to 670bhp and it seems likely AMG wants to go further still, all the way to 805bhp.

This will make them the most powerful Mercedes-Benz cars to go into production, at least until the Project One hypercar hits the streets in 2020.

Källenius also confirmed that the new 3.0-litre straight six mild hybrid ‘53’ series engine launched at the Detroit show in the CLS coupé and the E-Class coupé and cabriolet will eventually replace the ‘43’ series of 3.5-litre V6 motors despite the latter’s resounding success in the marketplace.

The new engine features a

Merc-AMG GT will make 805bhp; SLS Electric Drive had limited run

conventional turbocharger, an electric compressor charger plus a 48V system powered by combined starter and alternator contained within an electric motor located between the engine and the gearbox.

“It offers us better performance, CO2 emissions and incredibly smooth start-up

characteristics,” Källenius explained. The new engine is part of the OM654 family that includes the six-cylinder diesel seen in the S-Class and the 2.0-litre four-cylinder diesel now replacing the 2.1-litre unit that has served for years as Mercedes’ staple diesel unit.

ANDREW FRANKEL

THE TERMINATOR WAS out in force at the Detroit motor show. Arnold Schwarzenegger, himself a Mercedes G-Class owner, told the crowd at the new car’s unveiling that as he’d “got more muscular, so had the car”. Schwarzenegger then presented Mercedes boss Dieter Zetsche with a cowboy hat. The Austrianborn actor was later spotted inspecting the interior of a Mercedes-Maybach S650.

IN INTRODUCING THE G-Class, Zetsche told the crowd how it was a model close to his heart. It was the first vehicle project he was responsible for in the 1980s.

Showing a black-and-white photo of him and the car from that time, he joked: “Only one of us still looks like we did back then.”

NEW G-CLASS POSES HYBRID CHALLENGE The new Mercedes G-Class will eventually be offered with pure electric and hybrid variants. Mercedes boss Dieter Zetsche admitted the latter would arrive first, highlighting one issue with electric in serious off-roaders: a battery fitted under the floor of a model that needs major ground clearance. When asked whether the set-up could accommodate a hybrid powertrain, G-Class boss Gunnar Güthenke said only that his team had the ability to react incredibly quickly if a hybrid-powered G-Class was required.

FORD BOSS JIM HACKETT doubts that cars, even driverless ones, should lose their pedals and steering wheels in the short term. It could “scare” people and make them feel “locked in there on their own”, he said.

Hackett believes we should view early driverless cars as robotic servants that can co-ordinate our lives. “We’ve had a recent cooperation with Domino’s Pizza,” he said. “People loved the ease of taking their food from a machine, not a human.”

24 JANUARY 2018 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 15

EV takes Mini ‘back to its roots’ Brand’s boss says the new electric three-door will tap into Mini’s original values

M

ini believes the launch of its first seriesproduction electric model is a pivotal point in its history because it directly links to the core values for

which Mini was created.

Speaking to Autocar at the 2018 Mini launch in Brussels, brand boss Sebastian Mackensen said he believes the Mini Electric is the car Alec

Issigonis, who was responsible for the original Mini 59 years ago, would have created had he been alive today. “We always joke and say if Issigonis would invent the Mini today, it would

EV concept’s look will be toned down for production

definitely be an electric car,” said Mackensen. “It is the answer to current challenges, as the original Mini was in 1959.”

Mackensen also expects the first electric Mini, which was previewed by a concept at last year’s Frankfurt motor show, to handle more like the original Mini philosophy intended due to its lower centre of gravity.

“We always talk about gokart feeling and probably the electric Mini will bring that to another level,” he said. “The torque and the responsiveness, combined with the low centre of weight – it will stick to the ground even more [than the combustion-engined car].”

Although the car’s range is not yet confirmed, the latest i3 of Mini parent BMW offers clues about what’s possible using the group’s electric technology.

The i3 uses a synchronous electric motor delivering up to 181bhp and 199lb ft while offering up to 186 miles of range, according to NEDC tests.

Mini is undecided whether other variants of the electric

hatchback, which will be based on the three-door body shape, will be launched in its first generation. Consistency across the brand’s line-up suggests a Cooper model could follow, but Mackensen said finding the balance between performance and range was the first priority.

He suggested the design of the electric Mini will be toned down from the concept because “Mini doesn’t need to make a big statement saying we want to be cool and electric any more”. Instead, the final production car’s design will mix aerodynamic features of the concept, which include veins that channel air around the body and a grille-less nose, with the updated look of the 2018 Mini models.

“It will be a car that clearly shows it’s part of the latest Mini hatch family. Maybe we could call it a fusion,” Mackensen said. “It will definitely be recognisable as being the electric Mini, but it will not be the concept entirely.”

SAM SHEEHAN

The new T-Roc. BORN CONFIDENT.

The compact SUV. Standard EU Test figures for comparative purposes and may not reflect real driving results. Official

16 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 24 JANUARY 2018

fuel consumption figures for the T-Roc in mpg (litres/100km): urban 33.2 (8.5) – 46.3

NEWS

Citroën plots avant-garde saloon CITROËN WILL LAUNCH a new large saloon to replace the C5 and C6 – and it will stand out by “bringing something different”, CEO Linda Jackson has said.

The new Ford Mondeo rival, which was previewed by the C-xperience concept that was unveiled at the Paris motor show in 2016, will be launched in 2019 or 2020.

Jackson said: “Having a large saloon is a crucial part of being a big manufacturer. To

be credible, you need a range across small, medium and large cars, including SUVs.” Jackson confirmed that much of the business case for the car was built around demand in China, where large saloons continue to command significant sales and strong profit margins.

Confirming that the C-xperience concept hinted at the saloon, Jackson said: “Like all concept cars, it was made

to test reaction, and the car will evolve. It gave a view of a luxury flagship without any of the traditional cues of chrome, leather or lacquered wood, and we think we can develop that idea in a uniquely Citroën avant-garde way.

“It can also be the showcase for our ideal of redefining comfort, in terms of the interior and the ride and handling balance using our Advanced Comfort suspension.”

FIRST GLIMPSE OF NEW RANGE ROVER SV COUPÉ Land Rover has confirmed it is developing a two-door Range Rover SV Coupé of which up to 999 examples will be built by its Special Vehicle Operations arm. Arriving in the 70th year of Land Rover, the model will pay homage to the original, two-door Range Rover from 1970 and will be unveiled at the Geneva motor show in March. A single image revealing the cabin’s four-seat layout has been released, showing front and rear seats trimmed in different-coloured leather.

New saloon will “bring something different,” said Citroën’s boss

(6.1); extra urban 48.7 (5.8) – 62.8 (4.5); combined 41.5 (6.8) – 55.4 (5.1). Combined CO2 emissions 117–155g/km. Information correct at time of print.

24 JANUARY 2018 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 17

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NEWS

Peugeot boss: ‘We can hit CO2 goals without dedicated EVs’ Jean-Philippe ImparatorevealshismasterplanforglobalgrowthandEVdominance

P

eugeot, the PSA Group’s most successful brand, grew its sales significantly by 10.4% last year. In stark contrast to the performances of siblings Citroën and DS, whose sales declined 7.5% and 38.5% respectively, Peugeot sold 2,119,845 cars across the 12 months. That’s more than twothirds of PSA’s total.

Buoyed by this strong performance, Peugeot chief executive Jean-Philippe Imparato told Autocar how he plans to ride the wave of growing SUV demand while also preparing his brand for an increasingly electrified future.

What were the most significant reasons for Peugeot’s rapid sales growth last year?

“A key reason for last year’s success is that 45% of our global demand came from outside of Europe – that’s up from 38% in 2015. The target for the year 2020 is to grow this to 50% because I consider it very important for our global sales targets.

“If you look at the results for the 3008 model [259,300 units were sold last year], it shows we are also well placed in the SUV segment. People are asking for more SUV products like this and they are following us as we move into a more upmarket position.”

How does the 3008’s success affect the future product plan?

“In 2017, we had more than

150% of the SUV sales that we’d had in 2016, so we know to push the SUV strategy harder.

We will show you this year that we have some very interesting SUV projects.

“It will also help us to grow globally. In the 1960s, we built a reputation of reliability with SUVs in many markets. In the 21st century, I want to do things the same way – there is not a country or region I don’t want to be in. We recently opened in Vietnam with the 3008 and, each time I can do a new operation, our SUV line-up will head it.”

What effect will powertrain electrification have on Peugeot’s upcoming range?

“I want Peugeot to be a leader in electrification so, by 2019, 8% of our model line-up will be electrified. And, by 2020, 50% [will offer electrified variants].

The electric transition for Peugeot is not in the future, it is now. In the coming 10 years, I believe it is right to produce a dedicated electric model, but, in the next few years, I will have a modular platform because this will help us get maximum coverage of all the markets. It will give you the four energies: electric, hybrid, petrol and diesel.

“I also want to create a full ecosystem of services for electrification. If you want to go on holiday or drive 620 miles, you must have a mobility solution to complete the ecosystem. Owners would

not only have the one car, you would have access to our mobility ecosystem.”

And what about autonomous driving technology?

“Again, I will give buyers a choice. We showed with the Instinct concept [at last year’s Geneva motor show] how we think autonomous technology with i-Cockpit [Peugeot’s interior concept] can be. But that car showed you would always have the choice to drive all of our cars.

“If you are in a traffic jam, you will not drive because it will be boring. But if you decide to drive because you love that, you will be able to do this. Our first fully autonomous car will come like this in 2025.”

Imparato: on course to achieve 50% of sales outside Europe

`

I want to make a profitable and sustainable business with the correct mix of powertrains a

Will the diesel sales downturn prevent Peugeot from meeting the mandated CO2 targets?

“No. We will absolutely hit our CO2 targets for 2021.

And I don’t need to launch a [dedicated] electric car and make a loss to hit the targets; I will launch a mix of [powertrains] to protect my operation.

“I want to make a profitable and sustainable business plan, with the correct mix of powertrains in order to cope with the regulations without losing money. We will be ready with our global ecosystem to meet the targets not just in 2021, but 2025 and 2030 as well.”

SAM SHEEHAN

Instinct concept: an autonomous car that can be driven

More SUVs to join successful 3008 24 JANUARY 2018 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 19

Could Fisker become the next Tesla?

Henrik Fisker wants to make “non-conformist and extreme” EVs. He laid out his vision for the future

H

enrik Fisker believes that the huge changes to the car industry brought on by autonomous and electrified machines will create a window of opportunity for start-up firms to thrive.

“The sense of opportunity lies in having a menu of mobility options,” he told Autocar.

“There are going to be new car segments that nobody has thought about and some of the traditional companies are too slow to react. Some will lose their traditional customers who’ve been sitting on the fence and in the next two or three years will say: ‘I’m going to try one of those new car companies because they seem like they know what they’re doing, they’re doing electric and they’re cool’.”

That’s why the former BMW and Aston Martin designer is again trying to establish his own electric car company, less than four years after the collapse of his short-lived previous venture (see box, right). Fisker said that, to compete, any new firm will require a “stellar product” –

different to those offered by traditional car makers – and believes he’s working on three.

There’s the Orbit, a selfdriving city shuttle, due later this year and conceived because “there wasn’t an autonomous shuttle I wanted to get into, and I thought I’d need to get in one eventually, so I needed to make a coollooking one”.

Then there’s the recently revealed EMotion, conceived as a low-volume luxury model.

“I set myself a challenge,” said Fisker. “How to do you redefine the most difficult car segment, the luxury saloon? It’s the most difficult to reimagine because it’s so traditional.”

Fisker is also working on a third model, a yet-to-berevealed mass-market model that will cost around $40,000 (£29,000). Fisker denied that launching three such diverse products could stretch his small firm too thinly. “In the future, people are going to choose a mobility device that is the best [suited] for the trip they’re doing that day,” he said. “It could be an electric

bike or your own car, somebody else’s car or a shuttle.

“I don’t think the old ideal, where somebody says ‘we’re only going to make sports cars; that’s our brand’ is going to work in the future. People will have four or five mobility devices and, if they like your brand, you should be able to service them in all those areas.”

The Fisker brand, according to its founder, will be “nonconformist, out there and extreme”, with a focus on beauty and technology. Fisker said that’s demonstrated by the electric EMotion’s design, which is distinct from the luxury saloons it will rival and inspired more by high-end homes than other cars (and, because Fisker wanted to be “a bit crazy”, it features ‘butterfly’ doors).

While it will likely launch with lithium ion batteries, the EMotion has also been conceived to use solid state batteries that Fisker’s team is developing – and which he believes could give his firm a major edge. The company displayed a prototype of its bulk

`

There’ll be new segments nobody has thought about. Some traditional companies are too slow to react a

Orbit: autonomous shuttle designed for use in ‘smart cities’

Fisker admits scaling up is the biggest hurdle 20 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 24 JANUARY 2018

NEWS

EMotion: 400-milerange EV could use solid state batteries solid state battery at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, and Fisker says the challenge isn’t refining the technology – “we’ve proven it works” – but scaling up the supply chain. He aims to have an EMotion with a solid state battery running next year, and is hoping to supply the tech to consumer electronics producers before introducing it to his cars in 2020.

Fisker is adamant the battery tech fitted to the Orbit and EMotion at launch will be fully proven. That’s shaped by the failure of his previous venture Fisker Automotive.

That experience showed the challenge of a small firm scaling up production – an issue that’s also affected Tesla with the Model 3 recently.

Fisker said that many people “underestimate how difficult it is to scale up a car company”.

This time round, his solution is working with partners who will help him scale up “in a highquality manner”. While light on any specifics of what will set his firm apart, Fisker added: “We will announce partners that will explain how we’re doing it differently from everyone else.

Some, when we reveal them, will make people go: ‘So that’s how they do it’.”

According to Fisker, the low-volume EMotion will be a different proposition from his old firm’s first model, the Karma, which was conceived as a higher-volume machine.

Fisker says he will announce manufacturing plans, probably at an existing facility in the US, later this year. He said: “We’re not in a hurry, like some other car start-ups, to go out and build a big factory.”

JAMES ATTWOOD

GOOD K ARMA? HENRIK FISKER’S PAST DEEDS After spells at BMW, Aston Martin and Ford, in 2005 Henrik Fisker set up his first firm, Fisker Coachbuild, to produce limited-run reworkings of other models. It also did design work for other firms including Tesla and its Model S in 2007.

That year, Fisker formed his own electric car company, Fisker Automotive, launching the Karma sports car a year later. The firm was sued by Tesla, which claimed Fisker stole the its ideas; the suit was settled in Fisker’s favour.

In 2011, there was a recall of the A123 Systems batteries Fisker was using for the Karma. A second recall the following year put A123

Systems into administration, shortly before a shipment of 282 Karmas at a port in New Jersey were destroyed by Hurricane Sandy.

Fisker left the company in March 2013; it filed for bankruptcy in November

that year, with the assets eventually being acquired by the Chinese Wanxiang Group. The group founded Karma Automotive, which today produces the Karma Revero, a development of Fisker’s model.

24 JANUARY 2018 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 21

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Steve Cropley NEWS

MY WEEK IN CARS

McLaren 570S Spider was built as much for going shopping as going racing

`

Ford’s mighty F150 pick-up is world’s best-selling vehicle

I think the art of owning a McLaren 570S Spider is to use it for everything

SUNDAY Fantastic few days in a McLaren 570S Spider.

You’d think someone whose job involves driving unusual cars would get used to such experiences, but I find every McLaren jangles my emotions as much as the last.

For the first hours, you’re preoccupied by the car’s aura: it’s here and now I’m going to drive it. Then you remember how simple a 570S is to operate (because of the compactness, the visibility, the flexibility and the comfort), though you’re constantly reminded to drive it as well as you can by its but ultra-precise controls. I think the art of owning one of these – and I’ve thought about it a lot – is to use it for everything: commuting, holidays, parking in the street, as well as serious driving. As I was able to confirm in this latest episode behind the wheel, that’s absolutely what it’s built for.

MONDAY On second thoughts, there was something new about the test McLaren 570S Spider – its striking Muriwai White body colour. This specially formulated blueish-white hue was suggested by Amanda McLaren (Bruce’s only daughter) and inspired by the colour of the walls in the McLaren family home back in 1950s New Zealand.

The colour turns out to be perfect for Britain, especially at this dank time of year. Muriwai White has most of the irrepressible brightness of

a a yellow or an orange, while seeming less garish and way more imaginative. I reckon it’s going to be very popular.

been cancelled and we had to drive five frozen hours south-west in a Ford Expedition SUV. It wasn’t as difficult as it might sound. The journey is mostly flat and featureless (it looks much more interesting on the map, taking you past first Lake Ontario and then Lake Erie), so I amused myself reading signs outside tourist attractions. Three in particular sounded deeply uninviting as the temperature hovered around -15deg C: the Earl Haig Fun Park, the Ponderosa Safari Lion Park and a “Family Nudist Centre” whose brand name I sadly missed…

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

Seven-hour flight across the pond to Toronto, to visit the inspirational Ford-Multimatic plant at Markham, which is on course to build 1000 Ford GTs by the end of 2020. Both the people and the place were deeply impressive (much more details next week) but the weather was so fiendishly cold that when it was time to leave Toronto for the Detroit Motor Show, we discovered our flight had

Before the show, I spent some time driving around in big Yankmobiles – always an enticing pursuit – and especially the all-aluminium Ford F150 pick-up. This one had an Ecoboost V6 that puts a cool 375bhp under the driver’s foot, directed through an eight-speed automatic.

With such bodily bulk and strength, and a refined but hugely torquey powertrain, the F150 feels completely indomitable and its plush interior, build quality and comfort at all levels take you by surprise. Three statistics about this machine always blow my socks off: it’s the world’s most-bought vehicle; Ford currently sells one every 33 seconds, seven days a week and 24 hours a day; and the F150 has led its mammoth market sector for the past 41 years. Small wonder that those who sketch mind pictures of the market changes in the bold new tomorrow see powertrains changing much more than the formats of vehicles themselves.

AND ANOTHER THING… Sir Stirling Moss’s retirement is welcome in one way, regrettable in another. It’s known that he’s not been well and at 88 no one better deserves a chance to rest and recover. But he’s been a racing star every year of my life. It’ll be odd that he’s not in the news. His hero status, however, will never change.

GET IN TOUCH

steve.cropley@haymarket.com

@StvCr

24 JANUARY 2018 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 23

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F I R ST D R I V E S N E W C A R S T E ST E D A N D R AT E D

TESTED 18.1.18, FR ANCE ON SALE FEBRUARY PRICE £13,750

VOLKSWAGEN UP GTI City car takes go-faster pills. How will its punchier engine and sportier suspension sit with the Up’s more mature character?

Y

ou’re going to read a lot about the Volkswagen Golf GTI Mk1 when you read anything about this latest Volkswagen Up GTI because VW has pitched it as some kind of homage to its original (perhaps not the original) hot hatch.

The Up and that first Golf have a similar level of power, for example, and not dissimilar performance figures, and all of the original’s design cues have been replicated here; just like they’ve been replicated on pretty much every GTI from every manufacturer since 1976.

Most notably, though, the Up is meant to have the sparkle, the entertainment, the breath of fresh air that came as standard with that first hot Golf. Talking of fresh air, the Up is among the first cars to have a ‘close-coupled

petrol particulate filter’, which, VW says, reduces particulate emissions by up to 95%.

So it’s nice to know the company hasn’t lost its sense of humour.

Anyway, during all this homage business, there’s one figure they don’t reference, which is that while the Up GTI weighs 1070kg, the first Golf GTI weighed 810kg, despite this city car being not just one but two entire classes lower than the Golf small family hatch.

But that’s okay, you know. I’m not going to get all prickly about that, because it’s just the way of things. Sure, an Up is heavier, but it would also be better than a Mk1 Golf at coping with a really cold morning, or a really warm afternoon, or letting you listen to Radio 4, or being driven into a tree.

It’s just how it is.

Anyway, 1070kg is still ◊

TESTER’S NOTE The Up GTI is the first VW to comply with new WLTP (Worldwide Harmonised LightDuty Vehicles Test Procedure) and RDE (Real Driving Emissions) tests, which replace the old (and easier to fudge) New European Drive Cycle (NEDC) economy and emissions tests. MP

Performance is quick enough to be enjoyable without risk of straying into antisocial territory Δ sufficiently light that you can make this a warm hatch by giving it a 999cc triple engine, making a modest 114bhp at 5000rpm, and a more immodest 147lb ft, which is generated from just 2000rpm thanks to the fact that the motor’s turbocharged.

Driving the front wheels through a six-speed manual gearbox, it’s enough to propel the Up GTI from a standstill to 62mph in 8.8sec.

I rather like the mostly subtle look of it, too, especially in the threedoor form you find here. That the suspension has been dropped by 15mm over a standard Up’s, and that

it gets 17in alloy wheels with 195/40 tyres, probably does it no harm.

There are changes beyond the ride height. The electrically assisted steering rack and ventilated brakes are Polo derived but modified, the torsion beams at the rear and MacPherson struts at the front have stiffer top mounts, with new-shape lower arms on the front too. There are no adaptive dampers or such like – this is a sub-£14k car – but being a small, light car, it shouldn’t need them. Let’s see.

VW always gets some things right. Doors close with a thunk,

Ride quality has a maturity to it yet it doesn’t come at the expense of handling ability 28 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 24 JANUARY 2018

interior materials and their layout are sensible and clear. The front seats are big, sweetly patterned and somewhere nearer flat than hugging, but the ergonomics are the sort of thing you don’t really notice (a good sign), to the extent that you could comfortably replace your Golf or Passat company car with an Up and drive it without noticing most of the time, except there’s less behind you.

Our first drive, meanwhile, begins on some towny roads on the way out of an airport, during which the ride seems a curious mix of mostly absorbent but with occasional

brittleness over sharper bumps: otherwise sensible suspension settings meet low-profile tyres, you wonder. Those roads give way to some motorway driving, during which the stability is where it ought to be for a German car, with low wind and road noise levels too.

But it’s beyond those kinds of roads where life gets more interesting, and are where the Up GTI also feels very well suited; although, to be honest, mountain hairpins are great looking but rarely particularly exciting to drive. Few cars make them entertaining. A nicely judged brake pedal feel makes the approach to a corner enjoyable in the Up, as does its light but extremely positive gearshift. The throttle’s high for easy heel-and-toeing, although righthand-drive cars might have betterspaced pedals. But really, hairpins are all about braking, then turning but without challenging the chassis’ limit of lateral grip except at the front, waiting a lot, and then getting into a winding off of lock versus application of throttle compromise, and visibility is usually terrible too. As a scientific endeavour, it’s fine, but it takes a pretty special car to make bends like that exciting, and one usually driven by the other pair of wheels.

It’s in faster corners where chassis get to show what they’re capable of, where you can load them up and

FIRST DRIVES SHOULD WE EXPECT MORE HOT VWs?

`

What a cool package, then. It’s fun.

It’s rewarding

a Tartan trim is a continuing VW reference to its first GTI, although little else about the cabin is retro where both front and rear wheels come into play and where, when there’s enough lateral grip, the steering takes on some weight and tells you what it’s doing beyond just understeering under power while you try to get the car straight.

The Up GTI is really good on roads like these. The pliancy you feel at lower speeds doesn’t relate to a loss of body control – because there’s only a lightweight body to control, I suppose – while the relatively modest width of the tyres delivers grip to an ‘about right’ level. The performance does too: you can use what performance it

has without irritating other people.

The GTI’s steering is accurate and quick and gathers useful weight, so even though it doesn’t bristle with feel, it’s rewarding, and the chassis’ inherent balance is pleasing too.

Eventually, you’ll find understeer if the corner’s clear enough and you’ve gone looking for it, but mostly you’ll just have fun, driving up to sensible limits that are a similarly equal level of its and yours and the road’s, at a giggly and entertaining rather than sweaty-palmed pace.

The engine and ’box lend themselves to this kind of driving

too. There’s no dual-clutch option at this price, but you won’t be so busy or surly that you can’t be bothered to shift yourself. There’s a little lag at low revs, despite peak torque arriving at 2000rpm. I don’t doubt that it does arrive then – but down there, you need to ask for it a second before it really gives it to you. A sound symposer adds to the three-cylinder’s thrummy soundtrack that has, here, been made more sporting than I expected, with a bit more rort on the way to the soft rev limiter.

What a cool package, then. It’s fun.

It’s rewarding. It’s a bit like a Suzuki

Volkswagen has built up a heritage of small, fast cars, starting with the original Golf GTI of 1976 and continuing with the 113bhp, 840kg Polo G40, which, across several generations, morphed into a promising Polo GTI this year.

A Lupo GTI in 2001 took the GTI brand back to its roots with dimensions close to those of the original Golf GTI, albeit with a massive power hike. It’s the last time VW toyed with the GTI brand at the city car level.

The small, fast hiatus between 2001 and 2017 was filled with promising non-starters like the EcoRacer and BlueSport concepts – roadsters both, with 134bhp and 178bhp respectively, and feathery kerb weights to boot. The 200bhp Ducati-engined XL Sport concept is the latest lightweight sports car concept to titillate VW enthusiasts.

That leaves us with the Up GTI completing the three-prong GTI brand, then, while VW tests out expanding its R brand with small(er) models like the T-Roc and Polo, with working prototypes of both undergoing evaluation.

The sports car route is almost certain to remain firmly in concept car territory, as VW’s new, more emotional product strategy doesn’t offer a compelling enough business case for a market in decline. Small, fast cars, though? You bet.

Swift Sport but with more ride maturity and a less immediate motor.

Is it like the original Golf GTI? Not really; at least not dynamically.

Remove the visual cues and they could be from entirely different makers.

But that’s fine too. Judge the Up GTI against an 810kg hot hatchback and it’s always going to suffer for the comparison. But compare the Up GTI with what you can buy today, at the price you can buy it for today, and it comes across as a fizzing, willing, compelling little proposition.

MATT PRIOR

@matty_prior

VOLKSWAGEN UP GTI 3DR Funky, light, enjoyable and even reasonably priced, this is a car to be appreciated on its own terms

AAAAC Price Engine Power Torque Gearbox Kerb weight 0-62mph Top speed Economy CO2, tax band RIVALS

Go-faster cues are subtle but apparent and backed by a punchy turbo three-pot

£13,750 3 cyls, 999cc, turbo, petrol 114bhp at 5000rpm 147lb ft at 2000rpm 6-spd manual 1070kg 8.8sec 119mph 49.6mpg 129g/km, 24% Abarth 500 1.4 16v T-Jet, Renault Twingo TCe 100 GT

24 JANUARY 2018 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 29

TESTED 18.1.18, TENERIFE ON SALE NOW PRICE £21,990

NISSAN LEAF Improvements across theboardmaketheoldstageraleading EV contender again

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o that’s why it’s spelled out in block capital letters on all the billboards: because the name of the world’s best-selling electric car – the Nissan Leaf – is an acronym.

Turns out they didn’t just name it in honour of Carlos Ghosn’s favourite rubber tree pot plant, after all.

This car is Nissan’s ‘Leading Environmentally friendly Affordable Family vehicle’. Of course it is. And while it takes a bit of a fudge to turn that into the acronym in question (‘LEFAFV’ doesn’t have quite the same ring), the contrivance neatly conveys the car’s central truth: that any Leaf must be more practical, more convenient, better value and easier to operate than any other electric rival. And yet it must also be market-leading: popular in one sense, innovative and pioneering in another.

Thus far, it’s been fairly straightforward for Nissan to define the Leaf as the ‘leading’ EV because, well, they’ve sold a quarter-of-a million of them. Looking towards a fairly near future with electric Hondas, Toyotas, Volkswagen IDs and Teslas in it, however, ‘marketleading’ status may be a tougher ask.

Still, it’ll be the fibre of this car with which it’ll be aiming to claim it: the second-generation Leaf, complete with sharper looks, more power, more battery range, better onboard technology – and a value-for-money proposition that isn’t to be sniffed at.

Having increased this car’s battery

New Leaf has more power, torque and battery range, but interior quibbles remain range by 50%, motor power by 40% and torque by 25%, Nissan has actually reduced prices on the Leaf by up to £1500, depending on trim level.

Granted, the car still relies on the UK treasury’s £4500 buyer incentive to make good its business case. But taking that deal into account, the bottom-rung Leaf now comfortably beats an entry-level combustionengined Audi A3 Sportback on power, performance and list price.

Where the Leaf falls down when compared with the proper premiumbranded mainstream hatchbacks against which it’s priced continues to be inside. The car’s driving position is improved but still feels oddly perched (because you’re sitting, even up front, directly above the drive battery) and still lacks telescopic steering column adjustment. Perceived cabin quality’s a shade improved from the outgoing car’s but it’s still way off where it ought to be for the price.

Driving the Leaf is suggestive of greater premium-level refinements, though. Being as brilliantly responsive to the accelerator as ever, and having greater torquerelated thrust below about 50mph than just about anything short of a hot hatchback, the Leaf is a delight to drive around town. Nissan’s powertrain improvements make it feel much less out of place on the motorway than the old one did. There’s a new ‘ePedal’ setting for the car, which filters in strong regenerative braking before you go anywhere near the brake pedal, and makes the Leaf at once easier to drive and better at recycling energy than the old one. And, perhaps more striking than everything else, this is now a seriously quiet and refined car.

The Leaf is based on an overhauled version of the old car’s mechanical platform but, having been made torsionally stiffer than

TESTER’S NOTE The ‘ePedal’ throttle calibration is clever and makes the Leaf easier to drive than its predecessor. I miss properly adjustable coast/regen settings, but Nissan’s market research suggests they’re too complex for Leaf owners. MS

its predecessor as well as quickersteering and more resistant to body roll, it feels both comfortable-riding and agile-handling on the road: enough in both cases, certainly, to satisfy most tastes. There’s welltuned weight and return-to-centre springing about the steering too.

Even in light of all that, though, while the original Leaf wasn’t a car an interested driver would pick above its rivals, the new one probably isn’t either. Those who choose a Leaf will continue to do so for rational reasons: it’s better-priced than its opponents, better-supported by relevant public fast-charging infrastructure – and it now has the battery range to be more usable than before. At an NEDCcertified 235 miles, the new Leaf’s cruising range beats that of every rival save the priciest Renault Zoe (250 miles) and the Opel Ampera-e (323 miles, though still denied to UK buyers). In mixed real-world use, our test drive suggests you should expect more like 160-170 miles from this car between charges. And, relative to the claim, that may sound like a con – but it’s actually quite impressive for what remains one of the juvenile EV class’s value champions.

MATT SAUNDERS

@thedarkstormy1

NISSAN LEAF Better looks, better value, better range, stronger performance and a quiet and relaxing drive

AAAAC Price Engine

£21,990 (inc govt grant) AC synchronous electric motor Power 148bhp at 3283-9795rpm Torque 236lb ft at 0-3283rpm Gearbox Direct drive automatic Kerb weight 1580kg 0-62mph 7.9sec Top speed 89mph Battery capacity 40kWh Range 235 miles (NEDC)/ 177 miles (WLTP combined) CO2, tax band na RIVALS Renault Zoe, VW e-Golf

30 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 24 JANUARY 2018

FIRST DRIVES

TESTER’S NOTE Volvo has excelled at details like seat comfort and headlight strength for decades, and the XC40 is great at both. For my money, you can now add infotainment usability to that list.

Once you’re used to the Sensus system, it’s tough to beat. MS

TESTED 15.1.17, MIDDLESEX ON SALE NOW PRICE £39,905

VOLVO XC40 D4 AWD Unlike ‘Russian doll’ rivals, this charming compact SUV has a character all of its own

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ermany’s ‘big three’ have had the compact SUV market pretty effectively cornered for most of this decade. When the Range Rover Evoque came along, however, it proved how well an interesting premium alternative could go down among the segment’s buyers – and, this year, three other debutants will seek similar success: the DS7 Crossback, Jaguar E-Pace (see p33) and this, Volvo’s XC40.

Volvo has proven particularly successful at pitching good-looking alternative SUVs at the German mainstream options of late – and you might even call the XC40 an unlikely improvement in its already rich vein of form. This is a striking and bold design with a character all of its own.

Though you’ll eventually be able to buy the car with a choice of three turbocharged petrol and two turbodiesel engines, two or four driven wheels and effectively six different trim levels, the earliest XC40s offered for sale in the UK will all be fully loaded 247bhp 2.0-litre T5 AWD petrol or 187bhp 2.0-litre

D4 AWD diesel ‘First Editions’. Our first taste of the car on UK roads came in one of the latter. On paper, it looks a broadly competitive offering, similar to a like-for-like BMW X1 on 0-62mph acceleration, though lagging slightly behind it on claimed fuel economy, carbon emissions and kerb weight.

The XC40’s interior does a very commendable job indeed of filtering the carefully constructed, tastefully rich and solid-to-the-touch cabin ambience that you get in Volvo’s 90- and 60-series SUVs down into this tier of the SUV market. Some of the car’s switchgear – on its steering wheel spokes and for its electric windows – isn’t of the grade you find in the bigger sister models, but the plastics coming in still feel tactile and expensive. And the car’s equipment specification makes it feel the same way: entry-level cars have Volvo’s 9in portrait-oriented touchscreen infotainment system as standard, and likewise 12in configurable digital instruments, 18in alloy wheels and LED headlights. First

Editions, meanwhile, get Volvo’s semi-autonomous ‘Pilot Assist’ lane keeping system, a powered tailgate, a 13-speaker audio system and plenty of other expensive trappings.

Anyone interested in a compact premium-branded SUV primarily because they want a modern luxury car will find what they’re after in the XC40 – no question. Cabin space is very good up front and the boot is big, but the back seats could be a bit more spacious. Taller adults are left slightly short on knee room back here and could be better supported by the car’s shortish, flat rear seat cushions – although the XC40 is no more guilty in these respects than plenty of other cars in the class.

On the road, the XC40’s strengths are entirely as you expect to find them in a Volvo: this is a supple, comfortable-riding car that’s obliging and easy to drive. The car’s refinement is great in some respects, its 2.0-litre diesel engine settling to a particularly quiet background level at a cruise. Our test car’s 20in alloy wheels made for a bit of noticeable

road roar but nothing intrusive.

Grip levels are assured and body control is likewise, while handling feels wieldy and contained for the most part, although the XC40 can feel a bit under-damped at times. The suspension can struggle to keep its body in check laterally over bigger intrusions, setting up a second or two of excitable body fidget and some head toss in the cabin, though it doesn’t present often.

That apart, however – and on the motorway slog in particular – the XC40 plays the rich, relaxed, lavishly equipped and nicely cocooning modern Volvo very well indeed. It has a likeable, unaffected character that’s refreshing among its rivals and should resonate strongly with buyers.

MATT SAUNDERS

@thedarkstormy1

VOLVO XC40 D4 AWD FIRST EDITION Distinctive Evoque rival has a charm of its own and a surprising amount of ‘big Volvo’ laid-back luxury feel

AAAAB Price Engine

XC40 is well-appointed and roomy up front, offering similar comfort on the road

£39,905 4 cyls inline, 1969cc, turbodiesel Power 187bhp at 4000rpm Torque 295lb ft at 1750rpm Gearbox 8-spd automatic Kerb weight 1735kg 0-62mph 7.9sec Top speed 130mph Economy 55.4mpg CO2, tax band 135g/km, 26% RIVALS BMW X1, Audi Q3

24 JANUARY 2018 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 31

FIRST DRIVES

TESTER’S NOTE Design director Ian Callum would have you opt for 21-inch wheels. Under no circumstances should you do so. This car was developed on 19-inchers, so going larger does the ride no favours and Jag’s engineers a disservice. RL

TESTED 15.1.18, CORSICA ON SALE NOW PRICE £35,160

JAGUAR E-PACE 2.0 D240 AWD Is the range-topping diesel’s hike in power worth the hike in price?

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he E-Pace is not only Jaguar’s first compact SUV. It’s also the first Jaguar to be offered with just the four cylinders, and the first Jaguar to be manufactured abroad. Something of a shake-up, then, though one that was predictable given the spoils of this particular segment. And just to be clear: the forecast is that this car will outsell the F-Pace, which itself now accounts for more than half of the marque’s sales.

Not that the status quo has been entirely disregarded. Diesel has faced a barrage of negative publicity, there have been fears over residual values and, in some parts, associated parking surcharges, but it’s still expected that three diesel E-Paces will roll off the production line for every petrol. Surprising? Perhaps not, because effortless diesel clout still suits this variety of car very well.

Put the two powerful petrol models – the P250 and P300 – to one

side and there’s a choice of the D150, D180 or D240 diesels. Jaguar says most buyers will opt for the D180 and, given its useful fuel economy of 50.4mpg and swell of 317lb ft, it strikes a good balance. Those who would prefer greater performance might consider the D240 tested here.

In its favour is the greatest torque output of any E-Pace, with 368lb ft from only 1500rpm, which is enough to drop the D180’s 0-62mph time by almost two seconds to 7.4sec.

It would be quicker still were it not for the fact that this E-Pace is heavier than an equivalent-engined F-Pace. You’ll also take a 10% hit on fuel efficiency, though the manner in which the D240 can thunder between two points will make that a worthwhile trade for some.

There’s more to it than power, though. The four-wheel-drive hardware in the D240 is different to that in lesser models. They use

a Haldex system borrowed from the Evoque. Here you get the same GKN-built system found in a Ford Focus RS, with clutch packs either side of the rear differential. Their job is to control the flow of power to each wheel in such a way that the E-Pace is imbued with the reardriven feel that an SUV built on a front-wheel-drive platform naturally lacks. In normal driving, there is no discernible difference. Drive out of corners with commitment, however, and there is a faint but satisfying sensation of propulsion from the rear outside corner. Admittedly, it’s a little artificial, and only half of the available torque can head rearwards.

It means that while the D240 feels briskly sure-footed, it never really entertains.

The bigger issue with the D240 is that it costs roughly £4000 more than the D180, and yet all those things that would make you want to

own an E-Pace – the well-appointed interior, strong ergonomics, a prettiness rare among its peers and, by the standards of the segment, superb steering – all come as part of the less powerful package. In popular R-Dynamic trim – the principal benefit of which is a pair of excellent sports seats, though you also get coldtouch gearshift paddles – the D240 crests £43,000. That’s enough for a handsomely equipped Alfa Romeo Stelvio or BMW X3 – each of them larger cars and, truth be told, much more convincing dynamically.

And that’s the nub of it. The D240 gives you more power but no more panache, arguably moving the E-Pace further away from its natural role – that of being a steady but luxurious family cruiser.

RICHARD LANE

@_rlane_

JAGUAR E-PACE 2.0 D240 AWD Top-spec diesel E-Pace is deceptively quick but, at this price, it’s difficult to justify the additional expense

AAAAC

The 368lb ft D240 is sharp inside and out, narrowly besting the BMW X1’s claimed 7.6sec 0-62mph time

Price Engine Power Torque Gearbox Kerb weight Top speed 0-62mph Economy CO2, tax band RIVALS

£35,160 4 cyls, 1999cc, turbo, diesel 236bhp at 4000rpm 368lb ft at 1500rpm 9-spd automatic 1851kg 139mph 7.4sec 45.6mpg 162g/km, 31% BMW X1, Audi Q3

24 JANUARY 2018 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 33

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FIRST DRIVES TESTED 18.1.18, BEDFORDSHIRE ON SALE NOW PRICE £59,740

AUDI RS4 AVANT Mercedes-AMG rival is a blisteringly quick, sure-footed estate LEXUS NX300H Price £34,895 On sale Now What’s new? The Japanese firm’s luxury crossover gets a mid-life refresh

T

he fourth-generation Audi RS4 Avant is upon us. It comes with a base price scraping £60,000 and substantial mechanical changes to the underwhelming car it supersedes but, before any of that, know this: it is absurdly, vindictively quick on patchy UK tarmac. In fact, stretching this car to anything like its potential is a feat of mind over matter.

You must override the monkey-brain that screams ‘lift’ and allow the car simply to get on with it.

It’s a job that begins in the engine bay. Gone is the naturally aspirated V8 of the old model, replaced by a twin-turbo 2.9-litre petrol V6 shared with the RS5 and that takes a good measure of weight from the nose.

Audi claims the exhaust note is reminiscent of the V6 in the original

RS4 Avant, but that car’s song was a bit blunt and it’s the same here.

Power? That’s a different matter because, although this unit will make 444bhp, it’s the 443lb ft flood of torque between 1900rpm and 5000rpm that makes the difference.

That and the chassis. One of the major changes for the new car is the addition of Dynamic Ride Control, which hydraulically links threestage adaptive dampers diagonally across the car. The idea is that they conjointly diminish pitch and roll during braking, acceleration and cornering, and the hardware comes as part of the RS Sport Suspension Plus (£2000). On the standard, passive set-up, the RS4 remains supernaturally composed at pace, but, at a more sedate pace, it jostles

occupants over rougher surfaces.

The choice, it seems, is clear.

Does this 1.7-tonne estate gel as a driver’s car? For point-topoint security, yes. Something so extraordinarily quick and unshakeably incisive is a satisfying steer. The three-stage stability control system is particularly well calibrated, secretively trimming drive here and there and working with the torque vectoring to help the RS4 corner as if – oh dear – it were on rails. Wind the electronics off while setting the sport differential to Dynamic and the RS4 can entertain with a rear-driven bias, but it’s not at all a natural like its only true rival, the Mercedes-AMG C63 Estate.

RICHARD LANE

@_rlane_

AUDI RS4 AVANT Quicker than you’ll ever need and a refined cruiser. Less expressive than it could be, though

AAAAC

£59,740 V6, 2894cc, twin-turbo, petrol Power 444bhp at 5700-6700rpm Torque 443lb ft at 1900-5000rpm Gearbox 8-spd automatic Kerb weight 1715kg 0-62mph 4.1sec Top speed 155mph (optionally 174mph) Economy 32.1mpg CO2, tax band 199g/km, 37% RIVALS Alpina B3 BiTurbo Touring, Mercedes-AMG C63 Estate Price Engine

Squared-off wheel might not be to all tastes but few will complain about much else

FOR 2018, LEXUS has dropped the NX200t, meaning that the ‘range’ now consists solely of the NX300h, with its reliable and sophisticated 195bhp hybrid powertrain.

The concept-car looks have been further honed – with alterations to the spindle grille, bumpers and headlights – and there’s a host of new safety features.

Elsewhere, this rival to the BMW X3 and Audi Q5 continues to suffer from a frustratingly brittle ride and unpredictable brakes. That’s a shame, because the interior – with its new 10.3in touchscreen – remains a selling point and the powertrain works wonderfully well in traffic and at a canter, if exercised sympathetically.

With the NX nearly four years into its lifespan, it’s frustrating that Lexus hasn’t remedied its more severe drawbacks. RL

AAACC

FORD ECOSPORT 1.0 ECOBOOST 125 Price £17,495 On sale Now What’s new? Lacklustre compact crossover has been treated to a much-needed revamp

FORD’S REFRESHED ECOSPORT features a new face and updated cabin but still fails to perform on the road. It’s let down by a skittish ride over rougher surfaces and sudden directional changes cause the car to lurch like a ship in rough seas.

Motorway driving isn’t much better, owing to plenty of wind noise around the wing mirrors.

Still, there’s room for four adults to sit comfortably and the 1.0-litre Ecoboost petrol engine performs strongly. The steering is nicely weighted too. Next to rivals such as the Seat Arona, though, the Ecosport falls short of the mark. SD

AAACC

R E AD MOR E ONLINE

autocar.co.uk 24 JANUARY 2018 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 35

ROAD TEST No 5355

VOLKSWAGEN T-ROC VW arrives late at the crossover hatchback party. Can it still turn heads?

MODEL TESTED 2.0 TSI 190 SEL 4MOTION DSG

PHOTOGRAPHY STAN PAPIOR

Price £31,485

36 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 24 JANUARY 2018

Power 187bhp Torque 236lb ft 0-60mph 6.7sec 30-70mph in fourth 10.1sec Fuel economy 31.1mpg CO2 emissions 155g/km 70-0mph 54.6m

ROAD TEST hen the Nissan Qashqai first entered production in 2006, no one could have predicted the impact that it would have on the car-buying masses. Combining the high-riding driving position of an SUV with the exterior dimensions of a more regular-sized hatchback, it marked the birth of what’s widely regarded as the first commercially successful crossover hatchback.

Rivals were quick to launch their own takes on Nissan’s formula for sales success and as consumer appetites for crossovers developed, so have the cars. Those with more

W

athletic styling and more dynamic, driver-focused handling traits have emerged of late, enlivening what was previously a rather snooze-inducing segment. Next to Seat’s excellent Ateca, Toyota’s striking C-HR and Audi’s upmarket Q2, Nissan’s reserved – yet still very complete – Qashqai suddenly seems old hat.

The T-Roc is Volkswagen’s belated first crack at such a car, with the new arrival sitting below the larger Tiguan and Touareg in the company line-up and priced from £18,950.

And, boy, does it have its work cut out.

The Volkswagen Group already has an Autocar class leader in the shape of the Ateca, as well as the new Skoda Karoq and Q2. In short, there’s no lack of competition, even in-house.

So what does the T-Roc bring to the (rather crowded) table? For starters, there’s the 187bhp and four-wheel drive of the 2.0 TSI turbocharged petrol model we’re placing under the microscope this week. Both traits promise performance and handling dynamism that you could almost expect to be GTI-like. It’s plainly a striking thing to behold, too, being more athletic, elegant, purposeful and interesting in its slightly decorated appearance than the crossover norm, although you’d never call it shouty or over the top.

At £31,485, this T-Roc is not exactly cheap, mind. You’ll shell out the best part of £1400 less for a like-for-like Ateca (the reigning class leader, remember) and Mini’s Countryman Cooper S starts from £25,215. If it’s to justify that tall asking price, it’s going to have to make a solid case for itself over the next few pages of this road test.

DESIGN AND ENGINEERING

WE LIKE

Flexible, punchy and polished turbo petrol engine z Chassis does comfy and agile equally convincingly z Distinctive, desirable styling WE DON’T LIKE

Not the roomiest cabin z Pricing of high-end derivatives z Mixed material quality levels

z Our SEL-spec test car sits on 18in Arlo alloy wheels, shod in 215/50 R18 rubber, which are fitted as standard. These do a far better job of filling the wheel arches than the dinky 16s of entry-level models.

z Bullet-shaped LED daytime-running lights lend the T-Roc a distinctive light signature. On higher-spec models, the DRLs double as indicators.

z Wide radiator grille is flanked by the T-Roc’s headlights and dominates the look at the front. It’s a design theme common with the new Polo and Arteon.

z Dipped and main beam LED headlights are fitted as standard on our top-spec test vehicle. Lower-grade T-Rocs make do with halogen bulbs.

z Top-flight T-Rocs also gain LED rear lights as standard. The light clusters have a smoked finished for a more ornate appearance.

z Chrome brightwork extends all the way from the A-pillar and along the side roofline to the C-pillar. Combined with the swept-back C-pillars, it helps to give the T-Roc a coupé-like side profile.

z A modest rear spoiler features across the entire T-Roc range, lending a sportier appearance and complementing the raked rear screen quite effectively.

z Chrome VW and T-Roc badging draws your attention at the rear of the car. VW badge doubles as the boot release lever.

A powered tailgate is a £320 option.

AAAAB

It’d be difficult to mistake the T-Roc for anything other than a Volkswagen. It shares the low, wide grille styling that you’ll find on the new Polo, facelifted Golf and latest Tiguan, adapting the design cue to form its own unique identity within the manufacturer’s range.

As with almost all medium-sized VW Group products, the T-Roc makes use of the familiar MQB architecture.

It’s a compact car by mid-sized crossover standards. Dimensionally, the T-Roc’s 4234mm length makes it 252mm shorter than its Tiguan big brother but also 129mm shorter than an Ateca – and shorter than the Seat in the wheelbase, too.

Compactness is part of VW’s positioning of the T-Roc as a sportier, better-looking and more desirable kind of crossover. You’ll have no ◊

Tiguan now finally has a smaller brother 24 JANUARY 2018 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 37

z The drivetrain mode on the right of this selector is ‘Offroad Individual’, which lets you tailor the 4WD, suspension, steering and traction control systems.

z Test car’s Caribou Grey trim was a little sombre and might have been lifted by one of VW’s brighter colour choices, which include orange, red, blue and yellow.

M U LT I M E D I A S YS T E M

AAAAB

You have to plump for top-ofthe-line SEL trim to get the T-Roc’s 8.0in Discover Navigation infotainment system and its 10.3in Active Info Display digital instrument screen as standard. On a mid-spec car, having both is an additional cost of just over £1500, but they’re worth the money.

The digital instruments are Volkswagen’s second-generation system, which is also available on the Polo. Graphical resolution and brightness are both claimed to be improved and that certainly

38 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 24 JANUARY 2018

seemed to be the case in our test car, where the instruments appeared crisp and usefully adaptable when following a plotted navigation route or listening to the audio system.

On an entry-level S-trimmed T-Roc, you get an 8.0in touchscreen Composition Media infotainment system on which Volkswagen’s App-Connect software for smartphone mirroring will cost you an extra £170, but it’s standard everywhere else in the range.

z Ambient lighting appears as standard from mid-level Design trim and upwards. It consists of footwell lights and these coloured strips in the doors.

ROAD TEST Δ doubt spotted the car’s curving roofline and sloping C-pillars, marking it out as a second-era crossover more like the C-HR or Q2 than the class-defining Qashqai.

And helping the T-Roc live up to this billing elsewhere is its relatively wide, low-slung stance, being suggestive of the dynamism that’s still tellingly hard to find in the wider crossover hatchback segment.

Four engines are available from launch: three petrols and a solitary diesel. The petrol line-up consists of a three-cylinder 1.0-litre TSI that churns out 113bhp and four-cylinder 148bhp 1.5-litre TSI Evo and 187bhp 2.0-litre TSI turbo petrols. The 2.0-litre TDI diesel also produces 148bhp. Before long, a 113bhp 1.6-litre TDI will expand the choice.

Power is generally sent to the front wheels, although the 2.0-litre petrol and diesel engines are paired with VW’s 4Motion part-time four-wheeldrive system as standard. The multiplate-clutch-based system sends the bulk of the engine’s power to the front axle the majority of the time, with the rear axle being involved either as traction deteriorates up front or more consistently depending on the selected driving mode.

A six-speed manual gearbox is standard fare for all but the 2.0-litre petrol, which has a seven-speed

dual-clutch transmission. As for suspension, MacPherson struts are used up front, with a torsion beam or multi-link rear set-up, depending on engine choice. An optional adaptive damper system is also available and was fitted to our test car.

INTERIOR

AAABC

The T-Roc isn’t the most spacious crossover, and pretty clearly so by design. It presents a higher seating position than a conventional hatchback and has a boot sufficiently large that you’d be unlikely to find one to match its size in a normal five-door (although the four-wheeldrive specification of our test car reduced its carrying capacity a little). Still, although it may feature somewhere on the list of likes, enhanced practicality isn’t likely to be the primary motivator of anyone choosing this car in place of a Golf.

Up front, though, you’re certainly surrounded by a greater impression of space than you’d find in a normal hatchback, and you get a good view of the road in all directions. The driving position adjusts from gently perched up to distinctly raised and bent legged, but the controls are all as well placed and spaced as is typical for a thoroughly thought-out VW product.

In the back, there’s decent room ◊

z Driver’s seat is fairly highly set but offers lots of base height adjustment. Controls are well located. Cabin ambience is pleasant but not universally expensive-feeling.

Typical leg room 650mm

HOW BIG IS IT?

8 11551 lit e

mm

980m

650

mm

x ma

0 107

Kerb weight: 1495kg 2593mm

831mm

1572mm

950m

m

m ma

x

0.35

800mm

4234mm

VISIBILITY It’s good in all directions, although the steeply raked A-pillars and sloping roofline at the rear don’t quite make it feel SUV-like.

circle: 11.1m Turning

HEADLIGHTS

z Cabin is roomy enough that a 6ft 3in rear passenger can just about sit behind a driver of the same height, but there’s no fore/aft seat sliding possible back here.

Very bright on both dipped and full beam, but the automatically governed dip level seemed to us a little high on some occasions.

65mm 200mm

1538mm

Width 1100-1260mm

Height 420-660mm

Length 750-1500mm

Centre

1533mm

1819mm

W H E E L A N D P E DA L ALIGNMENT Wide brake pedal can be almost on the centre line of the seat. Accelerator placement, steering column location and adjustment are all first rate.

z Boot capacity is 445 litres if you forego a spare wheel and opt for front drive. Our test car (4WD, spacesaver spare) has 392 litres, less than the Ateca and Qashqai.

24 JANUARY 2018 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 39

Δ for an average-sized adult and just enough if you’re above average height assuming a slightly splayed-kneed seating position. Plenty of direct rivals are more spacious. But VW deserves credit for integrating the T-Roc’s panoramic sunroof without impacting on occupant head room.

The optional glass roof finishes just ahead of the scalps of those sitting in the back, leaving space for useful recesses that will keep the heads of even taller passengers from brushing the headlining.

Instead of aiming for particularly roomy, VW has gone for a ritzy, contemporary ambience – and has produced it quite well. Our test car’s Active Info Display digital instruments (standard with SEL trim), its large and flush-fronted 8.0in touchscreen infotainment system and its sparingly deployed strips of ambient lighting make it feel advanced and quietly ‘high-tech’.

VW leaves the door ajar a little to those who might say these features are window dressing on a cabin that feels slightly plain and ordinary in other respects, though. The fascia

top is hard and slightly shiny, and in a market where even a Nissan Micra gets a soft-touch slush moulding, that’s a little surprising. Likewise, its interior door handles and below-theknee mouldings all look and feel as though they could have had a little bit more money spent on them.

class thus far. It has smoothness and polish, too, being particularly quiet and well mannered when cruising at low and high speeds, and is also well matched to a smart, quick-shifting dual-clutch automatic gearbox that impresses in both automatic and paddle-shift manual modes. When all is said and done, it’s probably the completeness of this all-corner powertrain that distinguishes it best.

But the car is generously swift – more so, by our measurements, even than VW claims it is. You don’t expect to find a ‘launch control’ setting, but select S mode on the transmission and ESC Sport on the stability control and you certainly will when holding the car on the brakes and building up a bit of power against them. And, given its head, our T-Roc test car found bountiful, assured traction even in slippery conditions and needed just 6.7sec to hit 60mph from rest, making VW’s 7.2sec-to62mph claim look unnecessarily conservative.

The T-Roc’s 2.0-litre EA888 engine doesn’t rev above 5500rpm with quite the freedom it shows

PERFORMANCE

AAAAB

Although it’s rare to find a crossover hatchback with what’s ostensibly a slightly detuned engine from a GTI hot hatchback – albeit a Polo GTI in this case rather than a Golf – it’s not altogether surprising that VW should have built one. The company tends to offer broader engine ranges than many of its volume-brand competitors and its semi-premium positioning also allows it to embrace the more powerful end of the combustive spectrum in the way that its rivals perhaps can’t.

Interested drivers should certainly be glad of both facts, because the T-Roc 2.0 TSI performs with the strength and zest that has been conspicuous by its absence from this

in proper performance-branded applications, and if anything denies the car the telling aura of a GTI by another name, it’s probably that.

But it certainly pulls with ample muscle through the middle of the tacho’s travel, sounds cultured but nicely vigorous and has that feeling of relatively unstressed, unburstable strength almost irrespective of engine speed that’s familiar from VW’s even hotter Golfs and so many of the wider VW Group’s performance models.

RIDE AND HANDLING

AAAAB

Our T-Roc test car certainly came in a form in which you’d expect it to do well in this section, fitted with optional Dynamic Chassis Control adaptive damping and variable-ratio steering, both of which are features denied to many of its rivals. But the car deploys those technologies to its advantage particularly successfully.

The T-Roc’s breadth and range of dynamic ability is quite something.

Select that Sport driving mode and the handling becomes crisper,

T R AC K N O T E S z T-Roc’s chassis can carry more pace through bends like T2 than you’ll initially believe and encourages you to be bolder with your entry speed.

Even in chilly, damp conditions, the T-Roc made short work of fairly brisk progress around Millbrook’s Alpine hill route. Where taller, firmer-sprung crossovers can feel exposed for cornering grip and a little unforgiving when driven quickly, the VW shows its dynamic class by developing plenty of grip both on turn-in and under high lateral load. In tighter bends, its ability to carry speed and hit apices simultaneously belied expectations.

VW’s stability control (ESC) almost imperceptibly prevents you from breaching the car’s grip levels with power as you accelerate out of corners but, like all the best similar systems, it feels as though it’s metering out power rather than reining it in.

With the ESC off, meanwhile, you eventually become aware of the limitations of the four-wheel-drive system, which isn’t sophisticated enough to stop power-on understeer.

T2

T4 T3

T6 T1

z Body control is excellent through faster corners in Sport mode, with just a hint of jitteriness from the ride under duress. Wheel control is more fluent, and still controlled, in Normal mode.

T7

T5

FINISH

START

AC C E L E R AT I O N Volkswagen T-Roc 2.0 TSI 190 SEL 4Motion DSG (2deg C, damp) Standing quarter mile 15.4sec at 91.1mph, standing km 28.8sec at 110.3mph, 30-70mph 6.5sec, 30-70mph in fourth 10.1sec 30mph

2.4s

40mph

50mph

3.5s

5.0s

60mph

70mph

6.7s

80mph

8.9s

0

100mph

90mph

11.8s

110mph

20.2s

15.3s

10s

28.6s

20s

Nissan Juke Nismo RS (2015, 6deg C, damp) Standing quarter mile 15.9sec at 93.0mph, standing km 28.5sec at 115.7mph, 30-70mph 6.0sec, 30-70mph in fourth 10.2sec 30mph 40mph

50mph

3.4s 4.4

5.7s

60mph

7.5s

0

70mph

80mph

.4s

90mph

12.2s

100mph

110mph

18.7s

14.9s

10s

24.5s 20s

BRAKING

60-0mph: 3.17sec Volkswagen T-Roc 2.0 TSI 190 SEL 4Motion DSG (2deg C, damp)

0

30mph-0

50mph-0

10.1m

27.2m

10m

70mph-0

54.6m

20m

30m

40m

50m

Nissan Juke Nismo RS (2015, 6deg C, damp) 30mph-0

50mph-0

11.1m 0

10m

40 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 24 JANUARY 2018

70mph-0

29.2m 20m

57.5m 30m

40m

50m

ROAD TEST

` The T-Roc is generously swift, more so even than VW claims a

keener and more inspiring than that of any of its competitors. Select Comfort instead and its ride becomes pleasingly supple and absorptive.

We’ve seen cars in this class capable of one or other before, but none has done both quite as well.

Equally pleasing to find, however, is the predictability and linearity of response that continues to mark out VW’s own cars from those of its peers. Although the T-Roc’s variableratio steering is quick, it doesn’t gather pace in a way that surprises you off-centre; and although it doesn’t have the sort of weight that would make it feel unwieldy to some, it’s heavy enough to feel nicely comprehensible. So the car is at once easy to manoeuvre at low speeds but also intuitive-handling, agile, controlled and generally encouraging when it’s whipped along. In none of its dynamic modes does the car lack a sense of measured, road-appropriate maturity, either.

Being a pretty ordinary Haldexstyle set-up, VW’s 4Motion fourwheel-drive system isn’t one that takes a lead in the driving experience.

Its ESP-based torque vectoring capacities are plainly pretty slight and it never moves enough power to the rear wheels to make the car feel like it’s genuinely being pushed around corners rather than pulled.

And yet it clearly adds a layer of surefootedness to the T-Roc’s limit handling, combines well with a subtle but effective stability control system and makes the car assured and easy to drive at any speed.

Would you call the net result

really exciting or involving? Perhaps not in total confidence – but it’s getting there, and given the rounded dynamic brief this car had to meet, that’s very commendable.

BUYING AND OWNING

AAAAC

At £18,950, the entry-level T-Roc 1.0 TSI is slightly more expensive than a like-for-like Ateca, with the Spanish crossover costing just £280 less.

Standard equipment at this price point isn’t bad, with DAB radio, an 8.0in touchscreen infotainment system and Bluetooth connectivity all thrown in. If you want Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, though, you’ll have to step up to SE trim, which commands a £1475 premium.

Satellite navigation isn’t fitted as standard until you reach Design trim, which starts at £21,125.

That’s considerably less than our range-topping SEL test car, which is priced from a hefty £31,485 before options. Although that’s expensive, it is not exorbitant, considering its level of performance and equipment. There’s plenty of in-car technology included, but it pays to remember that you’ll be very close to pushing into proper premium-brand territory here: a BMW X1 20i Sport could be yours for just over £1000 more, for instance.

The T-Roc is marginally outdone by one or two rivals in terms of depreciation but is competitive with most – and compared with other ways you might spend similar money, it remains a relatively sensible place to put private money. ◊

z Linear, viceless responses and good grip make the Volkswagen T-Roc easy and even confidence-inspiring to thread with some accuracy down a twisting road.

24 JANUARY 2018 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 41

DATA L O G VO L K S WAG E N T- R O C 2.0 TS I 190 SE L 4MOTION DSG On-the-road price Price as tested Value after 3yrs/36k miles Contract hire pcm Cost per mile Insurance/typical quote

£31,485 £35,690 £14,975 £333 60 pence 23/£661

56 litres

EQUIPMENT CHECKLIST

POWER 113bhp 148bhp 148bhp 187bhp

FROM £18,950 £22,200 £28,345 £31,485

TRANSMISSIONS

ENGINE

POWER & TORQUE

Installation

Front, transverse, four-wheel drive Type 4 cyls in line, 1984cc, turbo, petrol Made of Aluminium block and head Bore/stroke 82.5mm/92.8mm Compression ratio 9.6:1 Valve gear 4 per cyl Power 187bhp at 5000-6000rpm Torque 236lb ft at 1500-4180rpm Redline 6200rpm Power to weight 125bhp per tonne Torque to weight 158lb ft per tonne Specific output 94bhp per litre

TEST

Track Touring Average

CLAIMED

Urban 33.2mpg Extra-urban 48.7mpg Combined 41.5mpg Tank size Test range

236lb ft at 1500-4180rpm

250

16.2mpg 37.5mpg 31.1mpg

56 litres 383 miles

200

150

100

100

50

50

Engine (rpm) 4000 6000

0

8000

Spare

TRANSMISSION Type 7-spd dual-clutch automatic Ratios/mph per 1000rpm 1st 3.4/5.2 2nd 2.75/8.7 3rd 1.77/13.5 4th 0.93/18.9 5th 0.71/24.8 6th 0.76/31.3 7th 0.64/37.3 Final drive ratio 4.471:1 (3.304:1 for 2nd, 3rd, 6th and 7th)

BRAKES

SAFET Y

Front MacPherson struts, coil springs, adaptive dampers, anti-roll bar Rear Multi-link, coil springs, adaptive dampers, anti-roll bar

Front Rear Anti-lock

CABIN NOISE

ABS, ESC, ASR, Trailer Stabilisation, PreCrash crash mitigation Euro NCAP crash rating 5 stars (1.0 TSI, LHD) Adult occupant 96%, child occupant 87%, pedestrian 79%, safety assist 71%

Idle 41dB Max rpm in 3rd gear 73dB 30mph 59dB 50mph 65dB 70mph 68dB

E M I S S I O N S & TA X

STEERING Type Electromechanical, rack and pinion with passive variable ratio Turns lock to lock 2.1 Turning circle 11.1m

AC C E L E R AT I O N I N G E A R

MPH 0-30 0-40 0-50 0-60 0-70 0-80 0-90 0-100 0-110 0-120 0-130 0-140 0-150 0-160

mph 20-40 30-50 40-60 50-70 60-80 70-90 80-100 90-110 100-120 110-130 120-140 130-150 140-160

2nd 2.1 2.6 -

3rd 3.5 3.3 3.6 4.1 5.0 -

4th 4.8 5.0 5.3 5.7 6.3 8.0 12.2 -

5th 7.0 6.8 7.4 8.0 8.8 10.3 12.5 -

6th 9.3 9.9 11.3 13.6 17.7 -

7th 13.3 16.8 -

312mm ventilated discs 272mm solid discs Standard, with brake assist

CO2 emissions Tax at 20/40% pcm

MAX SPEEDS IN GEAR

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

32mph 6200rpm 54mph 6200rpm 84mph 6200rpm 117mph 6200rpm 134mph 5404rpm 134mph 4281rpm 134mph* 3602rpm * claimed

RPM in 7th at 70/80mph = 1882/2151 THE SMALL PRINT Power-to-weight and torque-to-weight figures are calculated using manufacturer’s claimed kerb weight. © 2018, Haymarket Media Group Ltd. Test results may not be reproduced without editor’s written permission. For information on the T-Roc, contact Volkswagen Customer Services, Selectapost 12, Sheffield, S97 3ZU (0800 083 3914, volkswagen.co.uk). Cost-per-mile figures calculated over three years/36,000 miles, including depreciation and maintenance but not insurance; Lex Autolease (0800 389 3690).

Insurance quote covers 35-year-old professional male with clean licence and full no-claims bonus living in Swindon; quote from Liverpool Victoria (0800 066 5161, lv.com). Contract hire figure based on a three-year lease/36,000-mile contract including maintenance; Wessex Fleet Solutions (01722 322888).

42 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 24 JANUARY 2018

200

150

2000

Steel monocoque 1495kg/1534kg 0.352 7.0Jx18in 215/50 R18 92W, Bridgestone Turanza T001 Spacesaver

SUSPENSION

AC C E L E R AT I O N TIME (sec) 2.4 3.5 5.0 6.7 8.9 11.8 15.3 20.2 28.6 -

250

187bhp at 5000rpm

0

ECONOMY

Construction Weight/as tested Drag coefficient Wheels Tyres

300

0

7-spd dual-clutch automatic

C H A S S I S & B O DY

300

155g/km £157/£315

R E S I D UA L S 35

30 25 Value (£1000s)

ENGINES 1.0 TSI S 1.5 TSI EVO SE 2.0 TDI SEL 4x4 2.0 TSI SEL 4x4

A mid-sized MQB-based Volkswagen that conforms to mechanical type, the T-Roc has a transverse-mounted engine up front; is available with a choice of manual or DSG dual-clutch gearboxes; and comes with either front drive or clutch-based fourwheel drive. Suspension is all independent on higher-end versions, with cheaper ones using a torsion beam at the rear. Weight is distributed 59/41 front to rear.

Torque (lb ft)

R A N G E AT A G L A N C E

T E C H N I C A L L AYO U T

Power output (bhp)

Front, side and curtain airbags 10.3in Active Info Display digital instruments Adaptive cruise control 8.0in Discover Navigation infotainment with DAB radio, Car-Net Guide and Information connected services, smartphone mirroring for Apple, Android and MirrorLink 18in Arlo alloy wheels LED headlights Gem cloth upholstery Dynamic Chassis Control £1025 Panoramic sunroof £1080 Sport pack £280 Winter pack (including heated seats and heated washer jets) £285 Park assist £140 Beats sound pack audio upgrade £405 Wireless smartphone charger £380 PreCrash crash mitigation £145 Options in bold fitted to test car. = Standard

Volkswagen T-Roc 2.0 TSI 190 SEL 4MOTION

Toyota C-HR 1.2T Dynamic CVT AWD

20 15 10

Nissan Qashqai 1.6 DIG-T Tekna+

5 0 New

1 year

2 years

3 years

4 years

z As strong a performance on retained value as you’re likely to find in a crossover hatch, despite a high list price.

R OA D T E S T N o 535 5

Read all of our road tests autocar.co.uk

ROAD TEST

VERDICT TESTERS’ N O T E S

VOLKSWAGEN T-ROC Shows performanceverve,dynamiccompletenessand stylish swagger

AAAAB

he T-Roc is one of countless compact crossovers introduced over the past six months, but it stands well clear of most within that melee as both something to look at and interact with. You’ll have your own view on the stylishness and desirability of this car, but to almost all of our testers, the T-Roc seems a very clever visual concoction of likeable compactness, coupé-like rakishness, SUV-like robustness and typical VW-brand smartness. To deny it credit for that here would be wrong.

The T-Roc imposes a price for that style and the palatability of that price will depend, equally subjectively, on whether you need the greater occupant practicality that bigger crossovers in this segment afford. Indeed, it’s for the slightly disappointing accommodation level of its back seats, as well as for its high pricing and mixed material quality levels, that we’re denying the car top spot in the crossover hatchback class.

However, the T-Roc offers a rare degree of perky performance and polished ride and handling in this niche. So class champion or not, the T-Roc is our kind of crossover.

T

R OA D T E S T R I VA L S

1

2

3

4

5

SEAT ATECA 2.0 TSI 190 FR 4DRIVE DSG £30,090 Better value than the VW, better accommodation and comparably strong ride and handling.

VOLKSWAGEN T-ROC 2.0 TSI 190 SEL 4MOTION DSG £31,485 Multi-talented dynamically and typically desirable, if a bit short on the usual practicality.

NISSAN QASHQAI 1.6 DIG-T 163 TEKNA+ £29,250 Still belongs at the sharp end.

Roomy, comfy, classy, easy to drive. Engine not its best advert.

RENAULT KADJAR TCE 165 SIGNATURE S NAV £26,415 Better value than its Nissan cousin, although not quite as thoroughly well executed.

TOYOTA C-HR 1.2T DYNAMIC AWD AUTO £28,580 Classy cabin, impressive handling, restricted second row, limited engine range.

++++B

++++B

++++C

+++AC

+++AC

V E R D I C T S O N E V E RY N E W C A R , P 82

MATT SAUNDERS VW’s secondgeneration Active Info Display instruments do lend the cabin a techy flourish and the display modes are certainly easier to switch between, but too many of them omit simple speedo and tacho dials.

SIMON DAVIS T-Roc’s handling was a highlight for me and its 2.0-litre TSI engine packs a fair punch, but I was surprised by some of the low-rent cabin materials in what is a £31k car.

S P E C A DV I C E As great as the 2.0-litre TSI engine is in this car, the smart thing would be to downgrade to the 148bhp 1.5 TSI in front-drive form and in Design trim. Add Active Info Display instruments (£405), LED headlights (£880), Discover Navigation (£1130) and Dynamic Chassis Control (£1025).

JOBS FOR T H E FAC E L I F T z Repackage the seats to create extra second-row passenger space. z Ditch some harder, shinier cabin plastics. z Make top-end models cheaper.

24 JANUARY 2018 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 43

F I D E M A S 44 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 24 JANUARY 2018

CIVIC TYPE R VS 124 COMPARISON

E C N E R E FF ider and The Abarth 124 Sp R offer Honda Civ ic Type sed takes diametrically oppo s ca r on the £30k driver’ ran kel formula. A ndrew F s best decides wh ich work Y W ILL W PHOTOGR A PH

ILLI A MS

24 JANUARY 2018 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 45

The Civic is broadbatted enough to entertain at all times

Abarth: 1.4 litres, a turbo and 168bhp

“316bhp through the fronts? Cow does it do that?”

Honda: 2.0 litres, a turbo and 316bhp owever much motoring journalists might wish that they did, car buyers tend not to think in straight lines. They don’t organise cars into nebulous classes and categories, then restrict their trawl only to those that populate the most relevant resulting constituency.

Recently I had a conversation with someone agonising over whether to buy a Porsche 911 or a supercharged Range Rover Sport, and another with someone wondering if their life would be spiced more by a Ferrari 488 GTB or a light aircraft. Indeed, the only thing likely to be common to all candidates on any shopping list is that whatever is bought must fit within a fixed budget.

So perhaps we should not be so surprised to see these two sharing

H

46 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 24 JANUARY 2018

There’s no shying away from the Type R’s intent, even when it’s standing still page space here. Conceptually, the Honda Civic Type R and Abarth 124 Spider might seem to occupy as much common ground as Corbyn and Trump, but both exist primarily for the provision of driving pleasure and either can be yours for within a grand of £30,000. Ergo, they are rivals.

The appeal of this contest is that before they even met I could see exactly why the Civic was going to murder the Abarth. And vice versa.

The Civic is wildly quicker and has breathtaking handling for a frontdrive hatch, yet it will seat five at a push and has an enormous boot. Of course it’s the better car. Except that when it comes to the provision of pure driving pleasure, it’s not what’s on paper that counts but the road. And what hope could a fundamentally unbalanced car with incorrect-wheel drive and which is derived from

something designed for shopping and the school run have against a superlight, two-seat, rear-drive roadster like the Abarth?

Not much, it seemed.

I travelled to the meeting point by Civic, marvelling again at the job Honda has done on this car while wondering once more why it had taken so many stabs at it before rediscovering the brilliance of the original Type Rs. I fear it knew all along but simply didn’t bother until it realised it could no longer fob off the public with cars that merely looked wacky and went fast. But this new model could only have come from a team that understood the old Honda, the car-crazy Honda, the Honda that remains the only Japanese manufacturer to win as a constructor in Formula 1. Among hatchbacks it

is deft in a way a Volkswagen Golf R is deft, but where the Golf is happy to leave you merely slack-jawed in admiration of its abilities, the Honda picks up the corners of your mouth and yanks them towards your ears. It has the grip to make you giggle and a back axle that provides a degree of control and precision unbeaten by any similar car you can buy.

Of course the Abarth is anything other than a similar car. It also has a four-cylinder turbocharged engine driving only two wheels through a six-speed manual gearbox, but that’s about all they share. The

CIVIC TYPE R VS 124 COMPARISON

N E W £3 0 K H E R O E S

` The Abarth has an essential rightness a car like the Civic could not hope to emulate a

M A Z D A M X- 5 2 . 0 S P O R T Had to be here, didn’t it? Slower than the Abarth but sweeter still thanks to its gorgeous normally aspirated 2.0-litre engine – and don’t forget that £5k price gap.

V O L K S WA G E N G O L F R The pragmatist’s hot hatch: a little less amusing than the Civic but a more civilised everyday car for sure. Still the best hot hatch all-rounder out there.

With a limitedslip diff, Bilstein dampers and its own suspension tune, Abarth has worked to maximise the MX-5 underpinnings

Abarth is as pure in its front-engine, rear-drive two-seat configuration as its parentage is complicated, a Fiat-powered Mazda built in Japan but wearing the badge of what was once one of Europe’s greatest tuning houses.

And yet the Abarth has an essential rightness no car like the Civic could hope to emulate. In these days when most of us sit perched upon cars in order to provide a decent view out, we forget too easily the pleasure of being positioned so close to the road in a snug cockpit, surrounded only by essential controls. Even before you move an inch, the Abarth feels more sporting, more fit for this particular purpose: a car with a thoroughbred feel to belie entirely its mongrel origins.

At least until you fire it up. The

Honda motor is no songbird but it does for the most part spare you the curiously confected flatulence that greets an Abarth owner. Not for the last time you cannot help but let your mind flit back to the wonderful normally aspirated 2.0-litre motor Mazda uses in the MX-5 and sells for £5000 less.

And initially it seems that the Abarth is a pleasant enough device, just not in any way that equips it to deal with the challenge of this contest. It has an excellent gearbox – better by far than that used by the Civic – and that lovely sense of immediacy offered by lightweight cars with close to a 50/50 front/rear balance. In the most literal sense, it places you at the centre of the action.

But it rides only reasonably well, the steering somehow lacks the feel ◊

T OYO TA G T 8 6 P R O It’s quite hard to spend £30k on a GT86. The stiffer, better-trimmed Pro gets you most of the way, but the base car is still the standout sports car bargain of its age.

The Abarth cocoons its driver snugly and, most important, low and close to the road 24 JANUARY 2018 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 47

Abarth’s low kerb weight helps redress the power imbalance

1st Δ found in an MX-5 and that engine reminds you almost ceaselessly of the limitations of small-capacity turbos.

By contrast, the Civic entertains from the off, not least because you need no more than a straight road and a twitch of a toe for the fun to begin. When you read that its 5.8sec 0-62mph time is a full second ahead of the Abarth’s, consider also it’s been achieved despite the traction limitations of front-wheel drive. Were it able to deploy as can the Abarth, you’d be looking at a time in the low fives or, in other words, a completely different level of performance that separates the agreeably quick from frankly bloody rapid.

But then you witness something strange. You’re in the Abarth and attempting to keep up with a fastmoving Civic. You realise first that you cannot – no great surprise there – and then that it couldn’t matter less, because the moment you try to really drive rather than merely conduct the little Fiat, so does its character transform. Suddenly it feels sharp and alert. The engine may have its faults but a lack of low-down torque is not among them, and the more energy it injects into the chassis, the more alive the car starts to feel.

Then its time for the Abarth to do things the Civic cannot. You notice its width, or lack of: it’s an incredible 142mm narrower than the Honda so you can take a proper line into corners the Civic can only drive around. Then you notice that, whatever you do, the nose always finds your apex, because whoever set up the chassis knew understeer has no place in a car like this. Finally, it offers the really good stuff in the form of endless opportunities to adjust your attitude using the other end of the car. With a standard limited-slip differential, gratuitous slides are available – but less satisfying than keeping it neutral enough to reduce the steering lock to zero degrees in either direction while powering out of a turn. Best of all, relatively modest grip levels mean it’s all accessible at relatively modest speeds.

Briefly, the Civic feels a little leaden by comparison, feeling every one of the 320 additional kilos it must carry relative to the Fiat. It takes a while

48 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 24 JANUARY 2018

For drivers, it’s the best fast hatchback money can buy; for Honda, it’s a triumphant return to form. Just don’t mistake it for a proper sports car.

before it feels back to its best again, and when it does, you can’t help but realise this is a less interactive experience, where the fun derives more from marvelling at what it can do rather than what the two of you can achieve together. This doesn’t make it any less real but it does make you aware of the limitations of a heavier, front-drive design that simply don’t apply to the Abarth.

But so too is there a trade-off here, and so before we can anoint a winner, we must take it into account.

I’m not sure why I feel slightly surprised to say it, but ultimately it is the Abarth that is more fun to drive. The only problem is that you must drive it quite hard before it will take you to that other place of car and driver interaction the Civic cannot approach. By contrast, the Honda always keeps you amused.

Whether tearing up the asphalt with a ridiculous turn of speed, or slicing through a corner as flat and fast as you might imagine any hatc could go, it is the consumm performer, its talents as Perhaps broad as those of the Honda’s greatest Abarth are deep. feat is to direct so All of which gives much power through us a problem. Right the front wheels with until this point I was minimal torque steer going to amaze you all and steering and give the nod to the corruption Abarth. It’s only when you drive a properly configured, traditionally arranged and genuinely lightweight sports car that you realise that for all the fastest of fast hatches have brought, so too has much been lost. But the Honda is just too good too much of the time. Yes, in ideal driving conditions the Abarth is the superior driving machine, but how often do we get to enjoy those? It has top-down appeal, too, but again, only when circumstances are right.

By contrast, and out there in the all-too real world, the Honda can always be enjoyed, whether it is wet or dry, the roads busy or empty and with one, two, three or four of you on board. So let’s give the moral victory to the Abarth and try not to think too hard about how much It’s only when pushed better even than this a far cheaper hard that the Abarth MX-5 would have fared. But the really comes alive overall win belongs to Honda. L

CIVIC TYPE R VS 124 COMPARISON US E D £30 K H E RO ES

P O R S C H E C AY M A N Just £30k buys a lovely 2014, manual 2.7 Cayman – a mouthwateringly delicious prospect for anyone after a daily driver that offers real genius on the right road.

F O R D M U S TA N G And not the weedy Ecoboost version, either. If you’re ready to haggle, £30k should be enough to secure all five litres of late-2015 Detroit bent-eight thunder.

2nd

So much better than it appears on paper: a real traditionalist’s roadster and a proper driver’s car.

With a better engine it could have won.

LOTUS ELISE A nice, low-mile, 2016 example of a base 1.6-litre Elise – a car, if ever there were one, that proves it’s not what you’ve got that matters most but what you do with it.

The 124 is the better driver’s car – but that’s only some of the time

The Abarth (left) only seats two but can drop its roof; the Honda can take five at a push

RATING Price Engine Power Torque Power to weight Gearbox Kerb weight 0-62mph Top speed Economy CO2/tax band

Abarth 124 Spider

Honda Civic Type R

AAAAC £29,620 4 cyls, 1368cc, petrol, turbocharged 168bhp at 6500rpm 184lb ft at 2500rpm 158bhp per tonne 6-spd manual 1060kg 6.8sec 144mph 44.1mpg (combined) 148g/km, 28%

AAAAB £30,995 4 cyls, 1996cc, petrol, turbocharged 316bhp at 6500rpm 295lb ft at 2500rpm 229bhp per tonne 6-spd manual 1380kg 5.8sec 169mph 36.5mpg (combined) 176g/km, 34%

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Revival of the fittest Between 1959 and 1963, Aston Martin built 75 examples of the DB4 GT, which ruled on track and road. Now it is creating a further 25 for a cool £1.5m apiece and Mike Duff has been entrusted to drive the first one…

This DB4 GT is one of 25 Aston’s Works division is creating he prospect of an empty racetrack and a sports car is an enticing combination, but there are some substantial catches to making first acquaintance with the ‘Continuation’ Aston Martin DB4 GT at Silverstone on a damp day in January.

The air temperature is a bracing six degrees, the greasy National Circuit hasn’t had a wheel turned in anger upon it since before the Christmas break – and the American buyer of the prototype that I’m driving isn’t going to want to find any extra patina when he takes delivery.

Continuation models are

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50 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 24 JANUARY 2018

clearly now a thing, with the DB4 GT following Jaguar’s decision to produce six new E-Type Lightweights, and having announced a similar run of nine XKSSs. But Aston’s project is altogether more ambitious, with the run of 25 DB4 GTs built to the same specification as the original Lightweight justified as representing the balance of the 100 models Aston was meant to have built to take the car racing. All have been sold, despite a price tag of £1.5 million before taxes and options.

Buyers are getting what is pretty much a clone of the original Lightweight GT, built using the same materials and techniques as

the original, but with some subtle improvements as well. Aston Martin’s Works division scanned several original DB4 GTs and used hundreds of blueprints to create plans for the new one. Some original suppliers were contracted to produce parts again, including Italian company Borrani for the wire wheels.

This research also uncovered flaws, with Paul Spires, Works’ commercial director, admitting that the original DB4 GT chassis were all made with a slight kink that has been corrected. Tolerances are tighter, and the prototype’s immaculate paint finish looks far crisper than the finish I suspect the original cars

would have left the factory with.

Spires reckons that Works has put about 4500 hours of effort into each car. That figure excludes the chassis and engine, which are built by suppliers.

This isn’t an attempt at a madebetter restomod. The only changes that have been made are safety related, and are effectively the same as those you would find in an original DB4 GT used for historic racing.

There’s a full roll-cage, modern bucket seats with six-point harnesses and both a fire extinguisher and battery cut-off. There’s also an FIA-spec fuel bag inside the tank to reduce the risk of leakage.

ASTON MARTIN DB4 GT CONTINUATION DRIVEN Aston Works pored over original plans to perfect the details

B O R N T O R AC E The GT was designed to go racing and sits on a shortened version of the DB4 chassis. The original car’s 302bhp 3.7-litre straight-six engine made it the fastest roadlegal car in the world at the time of its introduction in 1959, with a claimed 151mph top speed.

Stirling Moss took victory in the car’s first race, the International Trophy at Silverstone in May 1959. Values of originals have accelerated in recent years – you would likely have to spend £3m to bag a non-lightweight GT.

ASTON DB4 GT CONTINUATION Price Engine Power Torque Gearbox Weight Top speed 0-62mph

£1.5 million (before options and VAT) 6 cyls inline, 4211cc, petrol 331bhp at 6000rpm na 4-spd manual, limited-slip differential 1230kg 155mph (est) 5.5sec (est)

Duff decided against channelling his inner Moss in £1.5m Aston

B O R N AGA I N : T H R E E M O R E ‘ C O N T I N UAT I O N ’ C A R S

JAGUAR E-T YPE

LISTE R KN O B B LY

SU PE RFORMANCE GT40

Jaguar kicked off the ‘continuation’ trend by producing six Lightweight E-Types and nine examples of the XKSS, all to period specification.

Lister is making 10 road-legal examples of its swoopy Jaguar-powered sports racer, faithful to the 1958 specification and priced from £225,000.

Not quite the same thing, this ‘tribute’ GT40 looks very similar to its 1966 predecessor, but comes with modern suspension and air-con.

It’s obvious within half a lap that the combination of Silverstone’s slick surface and skinny period-spec rubber means there’s little grip, but the fundamentals are all good.

The Continuation has been given a brawnier 4.2-litre straight six in place of the original 3.7-litre, with the rear axle struggling to find sufficient traction to deploy anything like its peak of 331bhp, even on the straights.

In corners the limits feel very low, the DB4 GT slithering into ungainly understeer at what feels instinctively like a very modest pace in Becketts.

But it’s my technique that’s at fault, rather than the car. The DB4 GT is a sensitive beast and needs to be gently shepherded towards an apex, with power then fed in sensitively.

It’s fastest at the edge of power oversteer, although the slippery conditions make judging the balance a challenge. Small wonder so many pictures of the originals racing show four-wheel drifts.

Yet the DB4 GT is friendly too, and much less intimidating than the top-flight racers that followed it. Steering is low geared but chatty, throttle response outstanding and the firm brake pedal delivers both surprisingly solid retardation and a firm platform for the heel-and-toe work made necessary by the dog ring gearbox. The four-speeder lacks synchromesh and therefore needs road and engine speed to be matched for smooth changes, although by the time my short stint ends I’m starting to get the hang of it.

The different techniques required to drive the DB4 GT have given Aston another opportunity, with owners also offered a two-year track driving programme and driver tuition, with the Continuation also eligible for several historic racing categories.

Let’s hope that the buyers use the cars as Aston clearly intends them to. L

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The driver’s guide to fun used cars 2018 If your shopping list doesn’t include at least one of these cars, you’re probably doing it wrong. Dan Prosser chooses the best used driver’s cars on the market, from £2000 up new year means a fresh start. The reset button has been hit and there are 12 shiny new months reaching out ahead of you, every one of them packed full of potential. You could view the passing of one year and the arrival of another as an opportunity to put that ill-advised used car purchase firmly behind you, or it might be the excuse you need to finally buy the sports car you’ve been promising yourself. This is our guide to the used driver’s cars – be they hot hatches, roadsters, fast saloons or sports coupés – that absolutely should be on your shopping list in 2018.

We really have focused on driver’s cars here too – machines that, in one way or another, are truly fantastic to pedal along. Every single car over the next few pages meets that criteria.

So you won’t find any heavyweight German barges that qualify simply for the loveliness of their woofly V8s, nor will you see any curious French tat that’s quite interesting to look at but utterly woeful when driven at speed.

No, this is a collection of great driver’s cars – and no exceptions. We have, however, kept at least half an eye on pragmatism and good sense.

A

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We’ve avoided hopeless money pits wherever possible, shunning anything that might spend more time up on a ramp than on a great B-road. While it is very possible to buy a Lotus Esprit for £25,000, for instance, most people, if not all, would be much better served by a newer and more modern sports car from the same manufacturer. In this case, then, it’s the Exige that gets the nod.

Well, that was the intention. We have, alas, given into temptation and disregarded our own advice on more than one occasion. You will not struggle to identify these lapses.

We’ve split this guide into five costbased categories, within which we’ve selected our four favourite driver’s cars. You’ll find plenty of variety, temptation and intrigue within each, and along the way, we’ll drop in some helpful advice from our team of used car experts too – hints and tips that will steer you towards the right car and away from the wrong one.

The entry-level category is for cars costing £2000 or less, which demonstrates an important point: you don’t need a banker’s pay packet to bag yourself a genuinely fun and rewarding driver’s car in 2018.

£2000

Renault Sport Clio 182

Renault Sport’s reputation as a master hot hatch builder is every bit as deserved as Porsche’s standing in the hardcore sports car sector. It’s a reputation that was built on brilliant front-driven hatchbacks like the Clio 182, a car so capable along a twisting B-road that many sports car drivers have been humbled at its hand.

If you can find one within budget, the model of choice is the 182 Cup, which sits 10mm lower and on stiffer springs than the standard version. Any 182 will be a blast to drive, though, and you’ll find a tidy car at this price.

Toyota MR2 (Mk3)

Launched in 1999, the third-generation W30-series Toyota MR2 didn’t win too many fans with the way it looked – there was something about the swollen face of a particularly chubby frog in its guppy-mouth grille and bulging eye-like headlights – but few could argue with the way the car drove.

The mid-engined, two-seat roadster weighs less than 1000kg, which means its modest 136bhp four-cylinder engine – all aluminium and with variable valve timing – actually gives it a fair turn of pace. You will find decent examples for less than £2000, but you can’t afford to be too picky at this price.

O N E T O AV O I D

VW Golf GTI (Mk4)

Now that they’re so cheap, you might be tempted into a Mk4 Volkswagen Golf GTI. How bad can it be? Well, if you’re after a solid but dull family hatch, it’s just fine, actually. However, if you’re after a scintillating performance car, your disappointment will be measurable in fathoms.

USED DRIVER’S CARS TOP BUYS 2018

S AG GY, B AG GY A N D L AG GY

Mazda RX-8

Given how exotic the RX-8 is – highrevving rotary engine, ‘suicide’ rear doors, sophisticated double-wishbone front and multi-link rear suspension – it’s scarcely believable that you can pick one up for less than £2000. They are out there, though, values having been depressed by supercar-style fuel consumption (don’t expect any more than 20mpg) and a thirst for oil.

But what really did it for RX-8 values was the fragility of the rotary engine.

They are, to put it bluntly, ticking time bombs. If you get lucky, though, you’ll have an awful lot of fun for your £2000 before it goes pop.

W H A T I’ D BUY

AU D I T T 2 0V Q UAT T R O Obvious super-cheap handling heroes are early MX-5s and Clio RSs, but as a robust, fast, all-weather alternative, the original Audi TT has always caught my eye. It’s available in fair numbers at less that £2000 in either coupé or drop-top form.

Best engines are 180bhp or 225bhp 20-valve turbo fours, with quattro powertrains. At this money, you’re looking at six-figure mileages so good service records are vital. Best-value cars: 1998 to around 2002. STEVE CROPLEY

Cars deteriorate with age. That much is obvious. What isn’t so obvious is just how profoundly a worn-out set of suspension bushes, squiffy wheel alignment or leaky dampers will affect the way a car behaves. Drive a neglected 10-year-old Volkswagen Golf GTI with any degree of enthusiasm and you’ll wonder how it could be described as anything other than a wallowy mess, never mind a great driver’s car.

Rather than feeling tight and allof-a-piece, that wizened Golf GTI will knock loudly over bumps, steer imprecisely, bounce and flounder its way through compressions and wear its tyres unevenly.

And that’s just on the chassis side. Elsewhere, the paintwork will have faded, the battery may be on its last legs, the water or fuel pump might be on the brink of letting go and the various plastic and rubber components within the engine bay could be close to perishing.

And then there’s the timing belt, and the clutch, the brake discs and pads, all the various fluids… If these things are left to deteriorate or deplete, your driver’s car will be anything but a pleasure to drive.

The good news? You needn’t spend a fortune to keep your car in tip-top shape (see page 55).

Mazda MX-5 (Mk2)

For almost three decades, the Mazda MX-5 has been the definitive entry-level sports car. Although it mightn’t be to all tastes – some say it just isn’t focused enough to be a truly great driver’s car – the MX-5 gets so many of the basics right. It’s a small, lightweight, rear-wheel-drive roadster with a sweetly balanced chassis and a peppy four-pot.

Original Mk1s are now appreciating assets, of a sort, so a £2000 budget will only stretch to the later Mk2 but you won’t struggle to find a sub-100,000-mile car with the more powerful 1.8-litre motor.

24 JANUARY 2018 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 53

£5000

Subaru Impreza WRX

The Subaru Impreza you lust after is directly linked to the rally driver you worshipped the most. Colin McRae fanatics desire the first-generation model and Richard Burns and Petter Solberg supporters covet the second-gen version. First launched in 2000 with ungainly ‘bug-eye’ headlights, the second-gen Impreza was later facelifted with increasingly more handsome ‘blob-eye’ and ‘hawk-eye’ front-end treatments.

All three versions are within reach of a £5000 budget today, although the really quick STi models are closer to £10,000 than £5000. With 215bhp, a sorted chassis and four-wheel drive, though, the more affordable WRX isn’t to be sniffed at.

W H A T I’ D BUY

H O N DA I N T E G R A T Y P E R (D C 2)

Renault Sport Clio 197

The 197 is the second Renault Sport Clio to make the grade, but for good reason. Some will say this later model doesn’t capture the effervescence or over-engined muscularity of the earlier 182, but it is still a fantastic little hot hatch with a sparkling chassis. Those swollen arches give it the look of a tarmac rally car too. In fact, it still looks fresh to this day whereas the 182 is somewhat dated.

Like that earlier model, the one you want is the more focused Cup, which was actually cheaper than the non-Cup model when new. The later 200 version, incidentally, is very close to dropping below £5000 today.

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No guide to the best affordable driver’s cars could be complete without one of these in it. The Integra Type R was the first really great front-driven door-handler’s special from Honda, coming along before the Civic laid claim to the Type R sport garb. You get only 187bhp from official UK cars – or a smidge more from ‘JDM’ grey imports running on high-octane fuel – but the grip, feedback and driver involvement of the car’s chassis is a rare and special thing. Prices have firmed a bit in the past few years, so buy while they’re still cheap. MATT SAUNDERS

USED DRIVER’S CARS TOP BUYS 2018 Volkswagen Golf GTI (Mk5)

Just like that, all was forgiven. The fifth-generation Volkswagen Golf GTI was such an emphatic return to form after the woeful third- and fourth-generation models that we were only too happy to cut VW some slack. It was broadly talented, too, both grown-up and refined in everyday use, and a blast between the hedgerows.

There are plenty of Mk5 GTIs in the classifieds for less than £5000, although you’ll be looking at cars with 100,000 miles behind them. So long as they’ve been well looked after, that shouldn’t put you off.

Faults and weaknesses are generally linked to poor maintenance rather than inherent design flaws.

O N E T O AV O I D

MG TF LE500

The TF is actually a bit of a giggle to drive, in a rough and ready way. But in no world should you drop £5000 on one of these later examples, which were seriously outdated even when new, when there’s so much else out there that’s so much better.

Nissan 350Z

Rear-wheel drive, 276bhp V6, limited-slip differential. That’s all you really need to know about the Nissan 350Z. An Audi TT rival that cares less about image and more about back-road fun, the 350Z adheres to the time-honoured performance coupé recipe. With a normally aspirated motor and six-speed manual transmission, Nissan’s two-seat coupé is perfectly straightforward.

It’s a dependable machine, too, with very few commonly reported issues. Look out for a well-cared-for, enthusiast-owned car – four matching tyres of a decent quality is a good indicator – and keep an eye out for the higher-specification GT version.

HOW TO MAKE YO U R C A R F E E L L I K E N E W AGA I N So, you’ve bought that 10-yearold Golf GTI mentioned above.

Rather than feeling fit and sharp, as promised by this guide, your VW hot hatch is saggy and limp. Before you fire off a furious email to the editor, there are some simple, costeffective measures you can take to make it feel like new again.

If the car has covered 100,000 miles or more, the dampers will be well past their best. A new set will make a huge difference to the way the car rides and handles, and they needn’t be expensive. In fact, you’ll be able to fit a set of uprated Bilstein dampers for around £400. The springs may also need replacing. Reckon on £200 for a full set of OE parts.

You’ll want to get rid of the tired old suspension bushes too.

Uprated Powerflex bushes can cost less than £50 a pair, but there are so many of them within the car’s suspension system that the cost really can add up. They’re also a pain to fit so you may prefer to pay somebody to do it for you.

Finally, fit a set of decent tyres.

Bridgestone Potenza S001s will suit the GTI perfectly and will cost less than £90 a corner.

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£15,000 Ford Focus RS (Mk1)

Genuine game changers are few and far between, but the original Ford Focus RS ripped up the hot hatch rule book in 2002. It was, arguably, the first super-hatch, the first car of its type to be engineered with the same precision and attention to detail as a bespoke sports car. By putting 212bhp through the front axle, Ford also redefined what was possible for front-driven performance cars.

The RS was a feisty hot hatch and some were better than others, which led to mixed reviews in its day. Now, it’s as sure a place to put your money as bricks and mortar.

W H A T I’ D BUY

AU D I R S 4 (B 7) Believe it or not, average-mileage, fully historied examples of the B7-generation RS4 saloon are now creeping below the £15,000 mark, which sounds like fantastic value. This RS4 might just have been the best ever, with its deliciously free-revving V8, rear-biased balance and monumental grip. It has proven robust, too, so there are few major issues to be concerned with. ALEX ROBBINS

O N E T O AV O I D

Maserati 3200GT

Vauxhall VX220 Turbo

The notion of a mid-engined Vauxhall sports car was a difficult one for many people to swallow back in 2001. Beneath its angular bodywork and behind that Griffin badge, though, the VX220 was, of course, a Lotus Elise. It was even manufactured on the same Hethel production line.

Given its impeccable breeding, it’s no surprise the VX220 is a brilliant roadster. Based on the Series 2 Elise’s aluminium tub, the VX220 is very light – 875kg – and with a 147bhp GM engine, it is even quicker than the contemporary Elise. Today, even the rampant 197bhp Turbo version is well within budget.

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So pretty is the 3200GT that you might well be tempted, especially at these prices. But although the 3200 is a nice cruiser, its light steering, notchy manual gearbox (or a sluggish auto) and poor body control mean it’s a distinctly disappointing driver’s car.

USED DRIVER’S CARS TOP BUYS 2018 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII

You’d rightly expect some sort of Mitsubishi Evo to appear in a round-up of affordable driver’s cars. Throughout the late 1990s and 2000s, the Evo was a mainstay of the performance car scene, with new and ever faster derivatives being launched seemingly every few months. The older models – generations IV to VI – are perhaps the most iconic, but later versions – VII to IX – are more plentiful today.

An Evo VIII MR FQ340 is within budget and as good an example of the breed as any other. Huge turbocharged performance with crushing cross-country pace is what the Evo is all about.

OWNERS’ CLUBS

BMW M3 (E46)

Still considered by many to be the best of the breed, the third model in the M3 dynasty is now an appreciating modern classic. Values dipped as low as £5000 a few years ago, but they have stabilised now that the market has switched on to just how desirable they really are. Our £15,000 is a very healthy budget too. You’ll have your pick of specifications and you can expect to find a very tidy car with an immaculate history.

Servicing and maintenance costs haven’t come down, though, so some sort of slush fund is advisable. Avoid the SMG transmission and look out for cracked boot floors.

Your non-car mates will call you every rude name under the sun but you really should consider joining an owners’ club nonetheless. Apart from being an unrivalled source of expertise on your new purchase, an owners’ club could ultimately save you bundles of cash.

They’re not expensive to join – the highly rated BMW Car Club Great Britain costs just £45 per year – but thanks to their collective buying power, most owners’ clubs will offer discounted rates on things like insurance and parts. With so much advice and experience at hand, you’ll probably save time and money chasing niggling faults too.

Owners’ clubs also organise meets and road trips, adding a social element to car ownership.

And if the next BMW M3 owners’ track day is just around the corner, you’ll have a very good incentive to keep your car looking its best.

If you don’t want to join a club, you should at least sign up to an owners’ internet forum. This’ll be completely free to do and you’ll soon realise that whatever issue you have with your car, somebody, somewhere has had that same problem before and knows exactly what you need to do to fix it.

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Porsche 911 (997)

£25,000

In years to come, we might well look back on the 997-series as being the 911’s high-water mark. Many will always favour aircooled 911s, of course, but the 997 benefits from a cleaner, more modern design than the preceding 996 yet does without the later 991’s numb electric power steering and swollen dimensions.

Both the Carrera and Carrera S are within budget, but you should be more concerned with how well a particular car has been looked after than whether or not it sports an ‘S’ badge. The 997’s faults are very well documented, but Porsche specialists will help you find a healthy car.

I T ’ S A L L I N T H E D E TA I L A close inspection of a car’s paintwork can reveal more secrets about its past than a test drive, reckons James Walker, founder of detailing and paintwork specialist Ti22 Vehicle Services (ti22.co.uk).

“Viewing a car on a cloudy day or in a room with fluorescent light can hide a lot of paint defects,” he says. “If possible, view the car in different types of light.

Sunlight or direct bright light, such as a high-output torch, will show up flaws.

“Very often, vehicles that are sold by a dealer will have had a respray – typically to the front bumper due to stone chips. Look for colour and texture differences, sometimes called orange peel,

58 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 24 JANUARY 2018

across panel gaps, especially between the bonnet and the wings, and between the wings and front doors.

“Other things to watch out for are overspray on the glass, window trims and exhaust tips, which could indicate repaired accident damage, plus wheel refurbishments that don’t stand up to close inspection.

“Once you’ve bought a car, you’ll want to get it looking its best. Regular use of a hand or automatic car wash can leave paintwork looking dull, quickly removing the glow a new car has. However, this can be permanently restored through professional detailing and careful hand washing at home.”

Porsche 968 Sport

The Porsche 968 Sport is much less desirable than the agile, sweetly balanced 968 Clubsport. That’s what accepted wisdom would suggest, anyway. In fact, as 968 Sport owners will happily tell you, the supposedly lesser model is simply a Clubsport by another name. They even have Clubsport chassis numbers.

What distinguishes one from the other is the Sport’s added creature comforts such as electric windows and rear seats, but the chassis and powertrain are just the same. Here’s the clever bit: Clubsports command around £35,000 today, whereas Sports are at least £10,000 more affordable. Both versions are steadily increasing in value now too.

USED DRIVER’S CARS TOP BUYS 2018 W H A T I’ D BUY

M A Z DA R X-7 S P I R I T R I might be stretching Prosser’s ‘half an eye on pragmatism’ here but, for this money, I’d seriously consider the Japan-only Spirit R. No driver aids, cracking rotary engine, balance, communication and sit-up-straight performance. It would feel its age at times and wouldn’t be an entirely painless ownership experience – few cars worth the effort are – but the SR is pretty, rare and appreciating, so there’s your excuse. Too expensive? Try a Type R. RICHARD LANE

O N E T O AV O I D

Vauxhall Insignia VXR

Lotus Exige (Series 2)

The Lotus Exige occupies that sweet middle ground between the Caterham Seven and Porsche 911. It has much of the single-minded focus of the flyweight Seven, but it isn’t so much of a head-banger that it does without a stereo. Or a roof.

Essentially an Elise coupé with downforce-generating bodywork and one eye on the race track, the Exige is Lotus at its very best. Original Series 1 models are £60,000 cars these days, but later Series 2 versions are easy to find at £25,000. You’ll be looking at non-supercharged models, which are plenty quick enough for most, with 189bhp.

It may be imbued with the appeal of a perverted family car in the vein of the Ford Sierra Cosworth and Lotus Carlton, but it fails to live up to its potential. Numb steering and an underwhelming engine make driving it a remote experience. The depreciation is terrifying too.

Caterham R400

In the company of a Caterham Seven, very little else actually qualifies as a driver’s car. Porsche 911? Far too big and heavy. And why do you need air conditioning and sat-nav in your ‘driver’s car’?

Caterhams certainly have their limitations but, on road or track, nothing comes close to a Seven’s uncompromising laser focus, and nor does anything else immerse you in the process of driving quite like this.

Sevens hold their value extremely well too. Nowadays, £25,000 will buy you a lower-powered, more recent model or a slightly older, more powerful version. Either way, look out for the hardcore Superlight derivatives.

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£4 0 , 0 0 0

TVR T350C

Compared with some of TVR’s more outlandish creations, the T350C is positively restrained.

It’s like Dr Jekyll to the unhinged Sagaris’s Mr Hyde and, for most people, the fact that it does without the later model’s bizarre axe slash marks, gaping bonnet vents and sideways-facing exhaust tips will make it all the more appealing.

Like theatrical fire eating, TVR ownership is not a hobby one should embark upon lightly.

But for every tale of woe and unreliability, there’ll be another owner who’ll say they’ve had nothing but joy from their TVR. The key is to buy from a reputable specialist who knows the car’s background well.

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USED DRIVER’S CARS TOP BUYS 2018 B U Y I N G A DV I C E

Aston Martin V8 Vantage

The best-selling model in Aston Martin’s history might also be one of its prettiest. The Vantage is certainly one of Aston’s most driver-focused sports cars, favouring agility and response over long-legged grand touring comfort.

Many Vantage owners do report persistent reliability faults, but £40,000 is far from bottom money for the Aston sports car. And you’d surely forgive it the odd flat battery or leaky door seal for the way it looks and the way it drives, not to mention that soulful V8 soundtrack.

And with perfectly detailed steering and delicious chassis balance, the Vantage really does drive beautifully.

Noble M12 GTO

Yes, the engine and rear lights were borrowed from a Ford Mondeo and, sure, the cabin does look as though it was penned by a toddler, but the Noble M12 GTO is recognised as being one of the best-handling cars of the past 20 years.

Weighing in at a little over 1000kg and with a pair of turbochargers strapped to that Ford Duratec V6, the M12 remains a fantastically accelerative sports car. But what really forged it and Noble’s reputation was the precise and communicative steering, beautifully pliant suspension and composed body control. Perfect for the sort of person who thinks a Porsche 911 is far too predictable.

O N E T O AV O I D

Chrysler Viper No Viper is a particularly good driver’s car but, for this money, you’ll probably be getting an early car, and these are particularly monstrous to try to helm.

They are fast – there’s no doubt – but are so unwieldy that the novelty will wear off after half an hour, which isn’t what you want for this sort of cash.

The good news is that it’s actually quite a bit easier to find a good performance car than if you’re buying a cooking-spec hatchback or somesuch, as so many have been sought after and therefore cared for. The trick is to tell the tired and abused hounds from the pristine pride-and-joys.

Tyres are a useful guide.

Matching, high-quality brands across an axle in good condition suggest careful maintenance and driving. Feathering on the treads or cheap makes suggest hard driving or sloppy maintenance respectively. A gearshift can tell you plenty too. Rubbery, slack shifts suggest worn bushes and plenty of ramming the lever home.

And most performance cars will take hard driving, but only if they’re well looked after, so a detailed history is important.

Ask the owner to drive first on the test drive and see how they treat the car. Look for someone who allows the engine to warm through before giving it the beans – and if you can, check to see if they ride the clutch, either on the move or at the lights. And obviously, if they thrash it senseless, chances are they always have done.

Above all else, try to get a feel for a car. Used performance cars usually reveal when they’ve been abused with knocking suspension, slack controls and wheezing engines. If the car feels tight and true when you drive it, it’s a good sign.

W H A T I’ D BUY

P O R S C H E C AY M A N R A guide of driver’s cars should include a Porsche Cayman, and therefore it might as well be a Cayman R. The special-edition R model of 2011 weighed 54kg less than a Cayman S of the time and had an extra 10bhp, making it the first Cayman to have a power-to-weight ratio superior to a contemporary 911. And it was magnificent. A mid-40s price gets one that’s well equipped, low on miles (30,000 or so), and even lower on future depreciation. MATT PRIOR

Mercedes C63 AMG 507 Coupé

Next to the Noble and TVR – and, to a lesser extent, the Aston Martin – this C63 AMG looks completely pedestrian (Used buying guide, page 78). Indeed, that’s why it’s here: to offset the doolally Brits and remind you that sinking your money into a £40,000 driver’s car needn’t be a leap into the unknown.

The 507 model was a run-out special – a farewell, in fact, to the glorious 6.2-litre normally aspirated V8 engine that was retired in 2015. In 507 Coupé guise, the C63 finally got a chassis to match the motor and, today, you can buy one for £40,000 from Mercedes’ approved stock, complete with warranty. How wonderfully sensible. L

24 JANUARY 2018 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 61

Y E N O O L DUNES To win the Dakar Rally, you need to tame the desert. Jim Holder learns how its done from the man at the wheel of this Toyota Hilux PHOTOGRAPHY MARIAN CHYTKA

62 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 24 JANUARY 2018

MASTERING THE DAKAR RALLY INSIGHT

he Dakar Rally has long stood at the pinnacle of off-road motorsport challenges, earning a reputation as the world’s toughest motor race, challenged only by the Isle of Man TT for brutality and the World Rally Championship for its test of endurance.

These days, the threat of terrorism has driven it from Africa to South America, but it is no less of a challenge for it. This year’s event began on 6 January and concluded on 20 January, covering 5600 miles – half of them at competitive speeds – from Peru, via Bolivia and into Argentina. The longest day involved more than 550 miles of driving, the longest competitive section was 310 miles. Competitors had just one rest day.

The event produces a raft of iconic images every year, but this year one in particular has stood out, of South Africa’s Giniel de Villiers, a winner of the event in 2009, and German co-driver Dirk von Zitzewitz bursting through a sand dune in their Toyota Gazoo Racing SA Hilux. Here, in de Villier’s own words, is the story of the picture.

SAN D SU RFI N G “We drive through the dunes all the time. We call it surfing, because the key is to stay on top of them, not sink in. All dunes are different sizes, different shapes, some have holes in, some don’t. In this particular shot we went through a hole and then up the other side again. The Hilux caught some sand on its nose and shot it forwards, creating the cloud that the photo caught us in. In the car, in truth we hardly noticed – this sort of thing happens all the time.”

62 Length in miles of the longest dune crossing in Dakar history, on a Peruvian stage of this year’s event

CAN ’ T S E E , CAN ’ T GO “There’s a big difference between being in a dust cloud and not being able to see. In the car all your senses are heightened. It’s intense. You listen to the engine, your navigator and so on. If you’ve driven on the road with your wife telling you to slow down, you’ll relate!

“A dust cloud is a brief moment, but if you are following another car, for instance, you just can’t see. You stop or take another route. The risks are too big to drive blind. There are big holes, big rocks, cliffs. If you can’t see, you can’t go.”

TH E LU RE O F TH E WI LD “The Dakar is incredibly tough. A normal person would probably dream of doing it once, do it, and then never come back. But if you do well one day – especially on a tough day – well, it’s a great feeling.

We come back for the adventure and the challenge.

“We just accept the danger. There’s a lot of risk.

You do drive blind sometimes, you do take chances and push limits. I’ve never talked to Dirk about it.

Life is full of risks, and danger is just a part of it.”

N O CO M FO RT B R E AKS ...

“I once drove a 420-mile stage on the Dakar. That one took 11 hours to finish. Temperatures in the cockpit were 60degC, the air-con couldn’t cope.

“Then, even in that heat, if you drink a lot you won’t just sweat it out. We can’t stop for a toilet break, and you don’t want a full bladder, so we wear a nappy. The mechanics wouldn’t thank us for just going in the seat…

“When you’re moving so fast, for so long, crashing through dunes and the like, the heat just builds up. You just psyche yourself up and keep moving. If you’re moving, you’re getting closer to the finish.” L

24 JANUARY 2018 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 63

Stage against the machine The World Rally Championship blasts back into life this week with the Monte Carlo Rally, held on the treacherously icy special stages of Alpine France. James Attwood details what’s changed, what’s hot and what’s not in 2018 fter four years of Volkswagen domination, the World Rally Championship went a bit bonkers in 2017. Sure, Sébastien Ogier won the title for the fifth year in a row, but he did so driving for a privateer team based in Cockermouth, Cumbria.

And he wasn’t really the fastest driver, except all his rivals kept crashing or hitting trouble.

It was a welcome shake-up for a championship that had grown all too predictable – and the good news is we’re set for an encore this year. With four top teams all capable of scoring victories, two rally-winning British drivers and the return of the most successful driver in WRC history, 2018 could just be even crazier.

Although, if we’re being honest, Ogier will probably win the title again. He’s good at that.

A

Neuville under pressure Belgian Thierry Neuville won more rallies than any other driver last year, but at other times frustrated his Hyundai team with a number of accidents and a lack of consistency. Neuville has been something of an enigma in his WRC career, showing unfulfilled talent in previous stints at both Citroën and M-Sport. Is he truly capable of stringing together a season-long title bid? He needs to, for the sake of his future prospects.

Meeke’s career lifeline

Hyundai’s four tops The Hyundai i20 WRC was arguably the quickest car last year, but incidents and issues hampered the manufacturer’s title challenge. It’s possible that, having three strong drivers (Neuville, Hayden Paddon and Dani Sordo) alternating between its two points-scoring cars didn’t help. So, near the end of 2017, Hyundai’s solution was to add a fourth: VW cast-off Andreas Mikkelsen. All four are capable of winning rallies, a strength in depth that could both help and hinder the Korean team, which is now entering its fifth season in the WRC.

64 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 24 JANUARY 2018

Northern Ireland’s Kris Meeke led Citroën’s charge last year, but a series of crashes, and struggles to tame the C3 WRC, put his future in doubt. His raw pace has never been questioned, though, and two wins in 2017 earned him another chance. He’s likely to be put on a short leash by Citroën’s top brass, although Sébastien Loeb’s return to the team will be a great benchmark and offer insight into whether Meeke’s 2017 struggles were to do with his driving or his car.

MOTORSPORT WRC PREVIEW Elfyn’s second chance

Monte mix-up

After two seasons in the works M-Sport team, Elfyn Evans was sidelined for 2016, having to make do with winning the British title. The Dolgellau driver returned to the WRC in a third M-Sport Fiesta running on DMack tyres (as opposed to the more common Michelins) last year, claiming an emphatic victory at his home event, Wales Rally GB. With experience and the confidence of having broken his WRC duck, Evans can surely thrive this year.

The season-opening Monte Carlo Rally, which starts tomorrow (Thursday), is the most famous event on the calendar, and its organisers like to mix things up a bit. That’s what they’ve done this year, with half the special stage routes being new. That could make a traditionally chaotic event – thanks to road conditions that can switch from dry to wet to ice-clad within the space of a few corners – even wilder.

The Super Seb showdown Ogier might have won five titles, but he’s still only the second-mostsuccessful rallying Sébastien – and the man he trails is coming back this year. Nine-time champion Loeb will return to the championship for the first time since a one-off outing in 2013, tackling three events – Mexico, France and Spain – in a works Citroën C3 WRC. The 43-year-old might be rusty, but expect him to be challenging for wins.

Let’s talk Turkey Rally Poland has lost its place in the 13-round WRC calendar due to safety concerns. Replacing it is Rally Turkey, back on the schedule for the first time since 2010, albeit based in the seaside city of Marmaris rather than Istanbul. While both are gravel events, they vary greatly: Poland’s tracks were fast and smooth – similar to Rally Finland – but Turkey’s are likely to be rough and tough. That will favour drivers who know when to push and when to play it safe.

Ogier tries to hit for six A move from VW to the privateer M-Sport Ford team didn’t stop Ogier and co-driver Julien Ingrassia winning a fifth straight drivers’ championship last year.

But the Frenchman won in a very different way: he wasn’t always the fastest driver, but he was the most consistent. This season, Ford is putting a little bit more of its financial might behind Ogier and M-Sport in an attempt to keep the Fiesta WRC competitive against the full works entries from Citroën, Hyundai and Toyota.

C A L E N DA R

The televised revolution For the first time in the history of the WRC, every special stage from each round will be broadcast as it happens via the wrcplus.com subscription channel. For a fee of ¤8.99 (about £7.97 at current exchange rates) per month or ¤89.99 per year, subscribers will be able to watch it all on computer, smart TV, smartphone or tablet. Look out for live coverage of selected special stages on BT Sport.

Toyota’s pace race Toyota’s return to the WRC in 2017 featured some real highs – notably newcomer Esapekka Lappi’s win in Finland – but the team struggled all year to consistently unlock the potential of its Yaris WRC. A year of experience should help and, with Toyota’s considerable resources behind it, the team can take a big step forward. In Jari-Matti Latvala, Lappi and former M-Sport man Ott Tänak, it also has three of the championship’s fastest drivers (and could well have its biggest accident repair bill…).

25-28 January Rally Monte Carlo (tarmac) 15-18 February Rally Sweden (snow) 8-11 March Rally Mexico (gravel) 5-8 April Tour de Corse-Rally France (tarmac) 26-29 April Rally Argentina (gravel) 17-20 May Rally Portugal (gravel) 7-10 June Rally Italy (gravel) 26-29 July Rally Finland (gravel) 16-19 August Rally Germany (tarmac) 13-16 September Rally Turkey (gravel) 4-7 October Wales Rally GB (gravel) 25-28 October Rally Catalunya-Spain (mixed) 15-18 November Rally Australia (gravel) 24 JANUARY 2018 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 65

YO U R V I E WS WRITE TO

autocar@haymarket.com The more things change If you want to preserve the precious identity of your brand, current wisdom suggests you make new models resemble your successful old models.

But the designs we now are inclined to ape were not the product of any such process. The Healey 100/4 and the earlier Porsches, for instance, did not come about like this. Instead, they represent the use of existing, available mass-market mechanical parts creatively assembled into a body of entirely new style.

So, if we want truly to follow in the footsteps of Donald Healey or Ferdinand Porsche, we cannot do so authentically by starting with an updated version of their body design, and taking the matter from there.

Had Porsche been around today, he would never, I am sure, have made his four-door, four-seat, electrically powered Mission E a reinterpretation of an existing design for a two-door, two-seat, petrol-fuelled coupé.

Apart from the fact that the volumes required for both passengers and drivetrain are fundamentally different, there is another factor: the possibility of the shock of the new, as opposed to more timidly falling back on the comfort of the old.

We live in a time of great technical advance but, in some important cases, of aesthetic secondarythinking which gives rise to pastiche.

Revd Dr James Mather Kidmore End, Oxfordshire

The key, the secret James Ruppert’s answer to the question of preventing remote theft of cars (Readers’ questions, 3 January) missed a simple method to reduce risk: keep your keys in a tin with a lid on. Keyless entry and start is supposed to make life easier but it’s a retrograde step if it makes cars easier to steal. How is that convenient if we have to go back to 1990s steering locks? I would not pay for keyless entry as an option and if it could be deleted, I would tick the box.

Tim Grundey Inverurie

LETTER OF THE WEEK

Mission E could be bolder, says James auto for conversation to a camper van and find myself dithering over my choice of fuel. This debate needs to be front and centre (and honest) about the pros and cons of the two main fuel choices facing the vast majority of the vehicle-buying public.

Pete Murray Somerset

Torque of the town

In reading Steve Cropley’s final report on the Audi S5 Cabriolet (Our Cars, 10 January), I couldn’t help thinking of how future potential progress in diesel engine technology will now be consigned to the dustbin.

What’s the connection? Just that the Audi A5 produces 369lb ft from its 3.0-litre petrol engine, at an average of 26.2mpg. Torque is, I believe, a fa more accurate indicator of an engine’s day-to-day usefulness than bhp.

In contrast, my Mercedes SLK 250d, with its Euro 6-compliant 2.1-litre diesel lump, also produces 369lb ft, but is currently giving an overall 52.3mpg. To add icing to this cake, the Mercedes loses out by under one second on the 0-62mph dash.

Who knows what diesel technology strides might have been taken by car makers in the future but will now gather dust due to uninformed attacks by politicians and the tabloids on compression-ignition engines?

Stuart Crewe Bristol

Honda expensive side I like my Hondas. Having in the past owned an Integra Type R, I now drive an S2000 and my wife has a 2007 CR-V. It has hitherto been as reliable as rain in an English summer.

The other day, though, the sat-nav/ reversing camera screen went blank.

One of the calls I made was to the local Honda dealer for a replacement.

How much do you think one might cost? £350? Higher. £500?

Okay, the answer was £5588 plus VAT. Can anyone beat that?

Phil Roberts Fareham, Hampshire

Coupé cat Is this supercar super inside, asks Steve 66 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 24 JANUARY 2018

WIN

Letter of the week wins this ValetPRO exterior protection and maintenance kit worth £58.95

You’ll have to excuse me, I am a little behind in my subscription and have only just started on the 13/20

December issue. I can’t help noticing that that issue’s ‘Autocar image’ of Jaguar’s plan to reinvent the luxury saloon looks like they’re not actually going to reinvent it at all.

That car looks identical to my BMW M6 Gran Coupé!

Robert Turner Via email

Diesel debate With apparent rubbish about diesels being spouted by our politicians and more positive comment by yourselves and many others in the motoring press, why is a more concerted effort not being made by said motoring media to highlight the actual facts surrounding the current debate?

I am currently considering a longterm purchase of a Volkswagen T6

We’re trying. It’s an issue that’s rarely been far from our pages. However, we have to take into account readers on both sides of the argument – MB

Attack of the grey cabin I’m sure the McLaren 570GT is a great car, as Andrew Frankel suggests in his 10 January article, but, from the photo of the interior, the dash is a sea of grey with flashes of orange and would appear in my opinion to be low-rent when compared with other supercars.

If I had £162,000 available to spend on a car, I’d want my view forward to be more appealing.

Steve Butterworth Via email

Form an orderly line Over the years, many references have been made to the joy of Alfa Romeo ownership and the suggestion that no true enthusiast should have missed out on having at least one Alfa in their

Kerry wants the new Defender pick-up to be functional, not flashy

LETTERS motoring lives, and yet no one has mentioned the enormous ‘elephant in the room’ that for many people rules out such a decision.

I am, of course, referring to the absurd offset front numberplate. If you want to give a car a carbuncle that rules out a huge chunk of the market, then make its face or its tail asymmetrical. Come on, Alfa, give yourself a chance – move that plate and watch sales zoom.

NEXT WEEK’S ISSUE G R E AT R E A S O N S T O B U Y

O N S A L E 3 1 JA N UA RY

David Moore Via email

Roll on the Freelander A new Land Rover Freelander, as suggested in your 10 January issue, is much needed. I drive two cars: a 2004 BMW CSi 330i softtop convertible and a 2010 TDi Freelander. Essentially, one for the summer and another for the winter.

They are both a bit long in the tooth but continue to perform well.

Sadly, the respective manufacturers have chosen not to replace them.

BMW’s tin-top 4 Series is impracticable for a golfer and the Disco Sport is in a different price bracket to the Freelander. It seems that both my cars will need to soldier on while the manufacturers continue to fail to satisfy the market – well, at least me!

Ray Grainger Farnham

BUMPER 100-PAGE The best hot hatch of all time We name the greatest. Read our longlist and then our SPECIAL ISSUE top-five shoot-out. Andrew Frankel is your referee

Functional Defender is a must Has Land Rover ruined the new Defender’s chances even before it’s launched? A single-cab pick-up (News, 10 January) won’t sell enough when all makers offer double cabs.

For me, as a tree surgeon, the beauty of my Defender is it’s easily customisable to my specific needs – eg, a tipping body plus raised suspension with winch and much more. The new one is said to be aimed at the higher end of the market, which rules out the commercial users that modify to suit their needs.

Land Rover’s icon needs to be obtainable for the masses, not only for the wealthy who will buy it as a show pony and probably never get it dirty.

Kerry Giddings Bewdley

FIRST DRIVE

I N V E S T I G AT I O N

Renault Sport Mégane

Your car’s future tech

It’s back and we’ve driven it. And yes, it has a manual gearbox

What kind of innovations will be in the car of tomorrow?

EVERY WEEK

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L O N G -T E R M T E S T

USED BUYING GUIDE

VW Polo

Honda Civic Type R

Vauxhall Monaro

It shares tech with Seat’s Ibiza, but can it rob the best-in-class crown?

Our favourite hot hatch on sale joins our fleet. Is it also the best to live with?

The Aussie import is now available from less than £7000. Go on then…

SUBSCRIBE

autocar.co.uk/subscribe or see p24 24 JANUARY 2018 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 67

CONTENTS SUBJECT TO CHANGE

R OA D T E S T

O U R CA RS F E AT U R E D T H I S W E E K

BMW M135i

FORD MUSTANG

LAND ROVER DISCOVERY

MERCEDES-BENZ E-CLASS

SEAT IBIZA

SKODA KODIAQ

FORD MUSTANG American V8 muscle car shows that it deserves its place in UK showrooms and, more important, on typical UK roads FINAL REPORT

MILEAGE 4725

WHY WE R AN IT Muscle car icon is officially being sold in the UK for the first time. But is it suited to UK life?

implicity is something that the motor industry is missing these days.

Cars have become super-complicated and cluttered with gadgetry but that’s not so with the Mustang. It is a long way up the technology tree from its 1960s ancestors and well equipped with all the essentials, but the Mustang retains that purity and is relatively uncomplicated. Those original pony cars were never stripped back or raw but had the luxury features of the day,

S

68 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 24 JANUARY 2018

including radios, interior courtesy lights, reclining seats and optional air conditioning. The Fastbacks even had modern fold-down rear seats to increase the load-carrying capacity and some GT versions also offered a choice of a ‘four on the floor’ manual or an automatic gearbox.

Fifty years on, the engineering is far more advanced but the basic philosophy is the same. There are a couple more ratios in the manual gearbox, brakes that work, more power, a better sound system and infinitely better handling thanks in part to independent rear suspension for the first time on a Mustang.

Life with mine started when I bought an ex-demo car from Lookers Ford Sunderland in early 2016 and that almost ended badly when it

Jesse achieved an impressive smilesper-gallon return t been crashed and the dealership hadn’t revealed it to me. I say ‘almost’ because the dealership then did the right thing and replaced it with this one, a brand-new car.

The re-imagined pony car may be big but it’s still nimble enough to make a cross-country dash fun and only its width on a narrow road serves as a reminder that it’s a bit of a whopper. The steering is responsive enough for such a big car, with decent weighting and good feedback.

Occasionally, on long, gentle motorway curves, though, there’s a very slight feeling of stiffness and lack of willingness to self-centre.

Stopping ability is well in line with the power, despite a kerb weight of 1720kg. So the brakes are very powerful but overly sensitive and would be better with less servo assistance. The weight takes the edge off the power but not much.

The tendency is to plod around and indulge in the bottomless pit of torque, but use more revs and the V8 feels and sounds spectacular, properly getting into its stride at around 5000rpm. The gearbox has a deliciously mechanical feel that you can only really get from an in-line powertrain with hard gear linkages rather than cables and shifting

TEST DATA

Fold-down rear seats turn the Fastback into a practical load hauler

F O R D M U S TA N G 5 . 0 G T

Muscular-looking bonnet shrouds an engaging 5.0 V8

Mustang’s styling nods to its past but is not a pastiche

`

It has a complex character – laid-back cruiser one minute, raging beast the next

TEST STARTED 28.7.16 Mileage at start 30 Mileage at end 4725 PRICES List price new £36,790 List price now £39,980 Price as tested £36,035 Dealer value now £33,140 Private value now £29,458 Trade-in value now £30,999 OPTIONS Custom pack £1795 FUEL CONSUMPTION AND RANGE Claimed economy 20.9mpg Fuel tank 61 litres Test average 24.5mpg Test best 30mpg Test worst 19mpg Real-world range 329 miles TECH HIGHLIGHTS 0-62mph 4.8sec Top speed 155mph Engine V8, 4951cc, petrol Max power 410bhp at 6500rpm Max torque 391lb ft at 4250rpm Transmission 6-spd manual Boot 408 litres Wheels 9Jx19in, alloy Tyres 255/40 R19 (f), 275/40 R19 (r) Kerb weight 1720kg SERVICE AND RUNNING COSTS Contract hire rate £659.48 299g/km CO2 Service costs £249 Other costs £13.20 Fuel costs £1092 Running costs inc fuel £1354 Cost per mile 28 pence Depreciation £5036 Cost per mile inc dep’n £1.36 Faults Puddle light failure PREVIOUS REPORTS 17 Aug 2016, 23 Nov, 4 Jan 2017, 8 Feb, 8 Mar, 29 Mar, 10 Apr, 17 May, 7 Jun, 28 Jun, 19 Jul, 9 Aug, 30 Aug, 11 Oct, 8 Nov, 22 Nov

L OV E I T

ENGINE This V8 is sublime, with lots of torque and a fantastic soundtrack, especially when it’s on the boil.

HANDLING Surprisingly nimble for such a big car, with body roll kept well in check.

Great for cross-country work.

INTERIOR Cool design, comfortable and just a great place to be, with a good audio system and plenty of space.

a SECOND OPINION Buying an all-American car usually comes with that ‘is this really a good idea?’ vibe of a too-big engine, too-wide chassis and too-high running costs for the UK, but I’m glad we’ve proven it’s official: running a 5.0 Mustang is a terrifically sensible thing to do.

Frankly, we should all have one. MP

through the gears is smoothest when it’s properly warmed up.

The Mustang has a mechanical limited-slip differential in the rear axle. This one seems to be set quite tight. With so much torque on tap, plus the fact that the naturally aspirated engine is so responsive, I was often surprised at how easily the tail would step out on cold or damp roads without much provocation.

When I first hopped into a 5.0 GT on a Ford UK launch event, I was struck by two things. One was how cool the design of the interior was and the fact that the chrome switchgear is a pastiche of the 1960s style. The other was how big the car looked from the inside. Neither

of those impressions has changed during the past 18 months.

The seats are comfortable to the point of being sumptuous, but supportive enough for fast, twisty roads at the same time. That fancy toggle-switch design works well, too, and unlike with a touchscreen, you can feel for the one you want without your eyes leaving the road. The Ford Sync screen layout is good, but like all touchscreens, I find it distracting and try to leave it alone once I get going.

The voice recognition system works really well, though, so choosing music is easy using hands-free.

Some of the ergonomics haven’t made the transition from left-hand drive to a right-hooker very well at all, though, and the layout of the centre console is irksome. The tandem cupholders are set towards the driver’s side and sit below the forearm when changing gear. Using either for a water bottle (or any drink) means reaching over them to shift, so I end up using them for keys and coins instead. There’s no room for a water bottle in the door bins, either.

On the plus side, I’ve found that with the rear seats down there’s masses of room for luggage or junk, which

makes the Mustang more practical than it looks. The rear seats are comfy, too, and I have driven four-up, but essentially it’s a 2+2.

Not all Ford dealers can service a Mustang and mine is about 30 minutes away. The only problem has been the puddle lights, which needed replacing under warranty. I had to put a little oil in it early on and the first service and health check cost £249. I thought that was a lot for an oil change and look-see, but soon after found a service on the family Fiesta Zetec came to about the same.

Overall, I’ve loved this car and Mustang ownership has been a blast. The design is stunning, the performance is rampant, and when I’m not digging deep into that, it’s possible to get more than 30mpg with some care. On the one hand, it’s a simple, back-to-basics proposition, and on the other, it has a complex character – laid-back cruiser at one moment and raging beast the next.

I’m going to miss it a lot.

JESSE CROSSE

OWN ONE? SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE autocar@haymarket.com

DESIGN The first modern Mustang to pull it off, giving a nod the 1968 Fastback design without looking retro.

L OAT H E I T

CENTRE CONSOLE Left-hand-drive centre console is a nuisance. Keeping a bottle handy in the cupholder just isn’t feasible.

24 JANUARY 2018 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 69

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OUR CARS

SEAT IBIZA Spanish supermini triumphs in the Clevedon Christmas hillclimb event MILEAGE 6619 WHY WE ’ R E RU N N I N G IT To find out if Seat’s small car can truly live up to its Fiesta-beating crown

inally. I’d finally caught it out. As the revs dropped and my momentum began to wane, I thought I’d found the Seat Ibiza wanting.

After a few thousand miles of motoring on every type of road, I’d failed to find a situation in which the Seat Ibiza’s engine didn’t exceed any expectations you could fairly place on a 94bhp 1.0-litre three-pot. Until now. Because, on a fiendishly steep hill just a few hundred metres from my family home in Clevedon, I finally found myself asking for power that the engine was unable to deliver.

Or so I thought.

First, some explanation. Clevedon, a picturesque Somerset seaside town (fact: Clevedon Pier is a two-time

F

LOVE IT FU LL LE D H E AD LI G HTS Capable of lighting up even the murkiest country lane on a dark winter’s evening. Worth the £400 they cost as an option.

LOATHE IT STO P/START STATUS D I S PL AY It flashes up on the touchscreen when stop/start is engaged, which means I can’t use the screen until I cancel the message. Annoying.

Space isn t n issue in the Ibiza, and neither are really steep hill roads winner of the National Piers Society Pier of the Year Award), is built around a number of hills. My mum still lives in the house I grew up in, which is near the top of the biggest of the lot, Dial Hill. (Ask picture editor Ben Summerell-Youde, another ex-Clevedon resident whose family grew up at the bottom of the hill, and he’ll incorrectly tell you that makes me posh.) The most direct road up to my mum’s house is Park Road, a steep and narrow road hemmed in by thick walls. I approach it via a sharp, blind right-hand turn at a crossroads, making it hard to hit the climb with any momentum.

Given the propensity for wallfearing drivers coming down the hill in the middle of the road, my tactic is to take a wide line as I turn and get up to second gear on the flat, in preference to spending 30 seconds or so chugging up the hill with the

engine screaming in first. It’s a tactic that’s worked in every car I’d ever driven up there, with the exception of the 1.0-litre BSM Vauxhall Corsa I learned to drive in far too many years ago. But as I found myself with foot flat to the floor and the revs dropping precipitously, it seemed the Ibiza might just fail the challenge.

As reached for the gearstick to change down to first, though, the Ibiza’s engine picked up steam and powered up the Park Road hill with a vigour to shame many biggerengined cars I’ve driven up there.

Instead of finally finding its limit, I found myself again revelling in how impressive the engine is.

Plenty of miles to, from and around Somerset over the Christmas period offered abundant proof of just how easy the Ibiza is to live with. A few weeks ago, Mark Tisshaw was bemoaning that his Volkswagen

Golf GTI long-termer had a lovely 9.2in touchscreen but no volume dial. Well, the Ibiza’s infotainment system might ‘only’ feature an 8in screen but it has a volume knob. It’s a great example that Seat’s relative lack of grandeur compared to other VW Group brands serves it well. I don’t mind that the infotainment system sn’t the fanciest in the VW Group, ecause it’s simple and functional; ike the finest bear-honed porridge erving, it’s just right.

For my post-Christmas return o London, the Ibiza was put to nother tough test, laden with my elongings and presents (fact: pasta makers are heavy and bulky), along with my mum (who isn’t, but was en route to Heathrow for a trip to visit family in Texas and thus carrying plenty of luggage). There was enough stuff to fill both the Ibiza’s boot and rear seats yet it was with some amazement that I managed to do so without even needing to fold down the rear bench. And at no point on the journey back towards London did the Ibiza’s engine show any strain at the extra weight it was carrying.

JAMES ATTWOOD

TEST DATA S E AT I B IZ A FR 1.0 TS I 95 Price £16,015 Price as tested £17,510 Economy 42.7mpg Faults None Expenses None Last seen 27.12.17

OWN ONE? SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE james.attwood@haymarket.com 24 JANUARY 2018 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 71

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OUR CARS

Land Rover Discovery MILEAGE 19,209

BMW M135i Our specialists have tickled the straight six to almost 400bhp MILEAGE 37,870 WHY WE ’ R E RU N N I N G IT To delve into the world of aftermarket mods and discover how to respectfully improve on factory efforts

he plan for our M135i project car was always to get the suspension sorted first to make it ride and handle the way we wanted it to. Next, we would fit a Quaife limited-slip differential, (LSD) and only then would we go anywhere near the engine. That is exactly how it has worked out so far, but with the engine now having been remapped to liberate a good wedge of extra power and torque, I felt somewhat sorry that the project was close to coming to an end.

Which is precisely why I’ve twisted the arms of the good people at Birds – the tuning company we’ve been working with on this project – to let me keep the car a little longer and make an upgrade not in the original plan. At some point in the next few weeks, then, I’ll be telling you about the M135i’s lovely new brakes.

But that’s for then and this is

T

LOVE IT M O R E M USCLE Remapped ECU has liberated 75bhp and 90lb ft, making this M135i more powerful than a BMW M2.

LOATHE IT B LU E TOOTH G LITCH The Bluetooth system works just fine for making phone calls, but it sometimes refuses to connect to my phone to play music.

ECU remap puts 420lb ft on tap as well now. With just a remap, Birds is able to wind the N55 3.0-litre turbo engine up to almost 400bhp. In a car the size of a 1 Series, that really is a huge amount. According to company founder Kevin Bird, the N55 motor can be extended even further, but that causes some fairly major issues further down the line.

“We did push one of these engines beyond 400bhp,” he says, “but we found that the ignition timing was being retarded at maximum torque revs in the higher gears. If you kept the throttle pinned for more than 10 seconds, you could also see that the throttle was beginning to close, ultimately triggering limp mode.

“We determined that the detonation protection was being triggered and clearly the thermodynamic and physical limits of the engine were being exceeded at the level of boost required for 400bhp-plus. To get more power, we’d have to open up the engine or provide additional external equipment to increase the detonation limit of the engine.” In other words, it’d start getting extremely expensive.

For my tastes, though, a shade

nder 400bhp – let’s call it 90bhp – is just right for this car.

The rear axle can deal with that evel of power, but the car now eels seriously quick in a straight ine. Torque has also leapt up o 420lb ft, so there’s a big-car muscularity from low engine peeds even in the higher ratios.

The overall character of the gine hasn’t changed. There’s st more of it. So throttle response still sharp and the boost reshold is still very low in the rev nge. But it feels much stronger t rough the mid-range, and at the top end, there’s a ferocity and energy that wasn’t there before. The remap costs £2249 plus VAT – not cheap, but Birds does provide a warranty.

The M135i is now a brilliantly rounded performance car. We’ve got it riding and handling well, the LSD is a huge improvement over the standard open diff and it now has bundles of power. Soon, it’ll have the brakes to match, too.

Finally, the unsightly key scratch down the entire right-hand side of the car is still there, but not for long.

By the next report, the M135i will be looking as good as new.

LAST SEEN 10.1.18

A few weeks back, I took the Discovery into my nearest dealer, in Milton Keynes, because of an early service warning light, at around 15,000 rather than 20,000 miles.

The electronic oil monitor reckoned the oil was degraded or contaminated enough to be changed, so they did it free under warranty. I’m still covering mega miles, so we’ll soon see if it was a one-off. MP

Skoda Kodiaq MILEAGE 5403

LAST SEEN 3.1.18

A spot of vandalism left the front of the Kodiaq battered and bruised.

While the car was fixed, I sampled a raft of alternatives, some with premium badges, but nothing quite matched the Kodiaq’s blend of space, practicality and ease of use.

I’ve a growing suspicion that it is the best under-the-radar do-anything car on the market. JH

DAN PROSSER

TEST DATA B M W M 13 5 I Price £17,500 Price as tested £17,500 Economy 29.8mpg Faults None Expenses ECU remap £2249 plus VAT, limited-slip diff £2033, short-shift kit £532, clutch pedal modification £113, suspension upgrade £1554.23 Last seen 8.11.17

OWN ONE? SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE autocar@haymarket.com

Mercedes-Benz E-Class MILEAGE 16,483

LAST SEEN 3.1.18

Two odd glitches. First, the drivers’ electric window refused to stay fully closed when I pressed the switch, instead returning to three-quarters closed. Second, the infotainment froze for 10min when my partner and I plugged our phones into the USB ports at the same time. The first issue seems to have cured itself. The second is thus far a one-off. MB

24 JANUARY 2018 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 73

What to buy, where to buy it and how much to pay

USED CARS W H A T WS TE ALMO T B O U G HE E K T H IS W

FO R D FI ESTA ST Want something fast, compact, frugal and, above all that, tremendous fun? The Fiesta ST ticks all the boxes. No other pocket rocket can match its agility and sky-high enjoyment factor. It’s even fairly practical and should prove cheap to run.

There are plenty to choose from, too, and prices start at just under £9k for a good ’un.

James Ruppert THE HIGH PRIEST OF BANGERNOMICS

You can pick up a 2008 1.6 Focus with 90k miles for £2450

VROOOM SERVICE Timely servicing is a good sign in a used car, such as these ones ost serviced car of the year’ sounds just a bit like a very niche award.

Autodata, an aftermarket specialist, has published a report that shares the 10 most serviced cars of 2017, including hybrid, petrol and diesel vehicles.

I am not sure whether we can learn an awful lot from this or whether it is just a numbers game. Autodata certainly has the available stats to reveal that, for the third consecutive year, the Ford Focus (2004-2008) was the most serviced car in the UK and the one most likely to turn up at your local workshop.

Actually, a Focus of that vintage is, as we all know, pretty much the best used car that you can buy for not very much money. If it has been serviced and looked after, what could be better? Well, according to the figures, there should be some decade-old Foci out there to enjoy. The first model to pop up at a click of my mouse button was a 2008 1.6 Zetec with 91,000 miles and a full service history. The asking price was £2450 and it looked like the ideal family buy. The more adventurous purchase would be a 2.5 Focus ST-3 in silver with 63,000 miles. This one also came with a warranty, as well as a service history, for £5995.

In second position in Autodata’s survey was the Vauxhall Corsa (D generation). It is possible to make a case for a 1.3 CDTi diesel and we bumped into a 2008 example in Life trim with full history for £2495. For

‘

M

that, you also get £30 annual road tax and the promise of fuel economy approaching 70mpg.

Another Vauxhall to feature highly in the survey was the Astra, and I thought I’d go for a Twin Top, which was advertised as having a full Griffin service history. With 59,000 miles and in 1.8i Design trim, it seemed a bargain at £2690.

Then there are Ford Fiestas, a 2002 and a 2008. I stuck with the later model and turned up a 1.6 Ghia

`

A more adventurous purchase would be a Focus ST-3 for £5995 a

automatic. That’s a bit different.

It even had leather as well as the inevitable full service history and all for £2980.

Next up in the list was the Volkswagen Golf Mk5. With around £3500 to £4000 to spend, a rather smart 2.0 TDI GT can be yours with over 100,000 miles.

Then there are more Vauxhalls, this time an Insignia. We like those. Indeed, our attention was grabbed by a couple of 2.8 Turbo V6 Elites, described by their seller as “stunning”. I had to agree and 257bhp is certainly adequate, especially as that model has fourwheel drive. Price: £5995 with 70k miles and £500 extra with 40k miles.

I didn’t have time to spend looking at the BMW 3 Series and Audi A3, which rounded out Autodata’s top 10.

Maybe next year.

Autodata says Corsa D was 2017’s second most serviced car

TA L E S F R O M R U P P E R T ’ S GA R AG E

READERS’ QUESTIONS

I have a 2009 BMW X5 3.0d with 130k miles but I don’t want to sell it to the car-buying websites. What should I do?

QUESTION

Gary Bennett

MILE AGE 128,201

LAND ROVER SERIES 3 My Land Rover has been without any sort of ‘in-vehicle entertainment system’ for at least five years. I really wasn’t that bothered. The interior was always a noisy affair so what was the point of a radio?

Well, it is a tad more refined these days. There is still a lot of noise, but there isn’t so much bouncing around. So I decided to begin the installation process by using some old TV speakers.

The speakers actually fitted into the radius of the roof perfectly. Just 15kW each, but I think/hope they will do a job.

I’d say it’s still worth trying the car-buying sites, as stories on these ANSWER pages have proved. The easiest way out of a car is to part-exchange it.

You could approach a dealer and see if they’d sell on commission (usually 20% or so).

Just ensure they don’t have any of the paperwork.

I prefer to contractQUESTION hire cars rather than negotiating to buy one outright. Am I doing the right thing?

John Harvey

ANSWER

The contract hire deal is perfect for your situation, John, so stick with it. But for those of us who buy older and cheaper cars, the pursuit of a base-price deal is all part of the fun.

QUESTION

I was entranced by the Mitsubishi GTO. Is it worth the fuss?

READER’S RIDE

Brian Plummer

Audi Coupé John Phillips told us that a friend of his son owns 47 cars. “They’re not all running, of course,” John said, “but they include four Audi Quattros, a Porsche 911 and a mixture of others he considers worth saving. I was allowed to see some of the cars, including a red

Audi Quattro in a storage facility, and I was hooked.

“On his advice, I bought an Audi Coupé – 1983 2.2 on 66,000 miles in silver. I have not been disappointed. It is a great drive, comparable with a modern car for ride quality, and holds its chosen line well. I love it.”

SEND YOUR USED CAR TALES AND READERS' QUESTIONS TO

Yes, it is, Brian. Quite simply, GTO buyers get a technological tour ANSWER de force. There is Mitsubishi’s all-wheel control system, which includes four-wheel drive, fourwheel steering and so much more besides. The ultimate GTO has a 3.0-litre DOHC 24-valve twin-turbo V6 engine that produces 316bhp and does 0-60mph in a very impressive 5.3sec.

james@bangernomics.com 24 JANUARY 2018 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 75

PA S T MASTER

MERCEDES-BENZ 190E 3.2 AMG It is one of the rarest 190Es and the first in a line that led to greatness.

Alex Robbins finds out what the ‘Baby Hammer’ is really like

YE ARS PRODUCED 1986-1993 PR ICE R ANGE £30,000- £50,000 POWER 231BHP f you’re looking at the pictures and wondering why you’ve never seen a Mercedes-Benz 190 like this one before, we don’t blame you.

That’s because, first, the 190E 3.2 AMG was never made available with right-hand drive or for the UK. Second, even in the markets where it was made available, there aren’t all that many kicking around.

Relatively few 3.2 AMGs were built compared with the more popular 2.5-16 (although AMG also offered the sports chassis, 16in wheels, bodykit and even the 3.2-litre engine separately as aftermarket accessories, so it was possible to build your own, non-official example).

And finally, of course, there’s the fact that even in its home market, the 3.2 lived somewhat in the shadow of both its sibling, the 2.5-16 Evo, and that car’s biggest rival, the BMW M3, both of which bested it in terms of handling and outright performance.

If you’re imagining this is some hard-as-nails track-day special with a penchant for back-wrecking, though, you’re barking up the wrong tree. In fact, the 190E AMG was conceived as a loping sports saloon, its suspension set up with comfort in mind and its engine mated to an automatic gearbox. In many ways, in character, this car is similar to the BMW-based

I

76 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 24 JANUARY 2018

Alpinas, with ultimate precision sacrificed in favour of refinement and long-legged touring ability.

Driving it around Silverstone feels quite wrong, then – but as we’re not allowed to take it out on the road, it’ll have to do. As you’d expect, the AMG leans over hard in corners, its automatic gearbox slurring and struggling to keep up. In truth, it feels out of its depth driven hard like this.

But I take it easier, bimble round at seven-tenths, and the AMG feels much happier. The engine is a delight – rich and creamy, with a gravelly six-pot tone that makes it feel potent whenever you flex your right foot.

It sits well with the automatic ’box, whose unhurried changes are now less of an issue, given the engine’s well of torque. The steering is deliberate and a little woolly rather

`

The engine is a delight – rich and creamy with a gravelly six-pot tone a

Its body leans but grip is good

than direct but delivers a decent amount of feel, and although body roll is always a feature, the 190E settles into its attitude into a corner, allowing you to lean on the grip of the thicker tyres.

So although it’s out of its depth on track, one gets the sense that the 190E 3.2 would be ideally suited to a fast, flowing A-road, or cracking down an autobahn with Stuttgart by sundown the objective, all the while ensconced in the luxurious leatherswathed and wood-lined interior.

“Sounds good,” you’re thinking.

“Where can I buy one?” Ah. Well, that’s where it rather falls down because, according to How Many Left, there isn’t a single 3.2 registered and on the road in the UK. Which means going to Germany to find one, where you’ll still struggle to do so and have to pay at least £30,000. And as lovely as it is, the 3.2 AMG is just not worth that much cash or hassle.

Better, then, to admire it from a distance – from where you can best revel in the fantastic ‘Baby Hammer’ styling, and consider the contribution this car made to Mercedes’ decision to make official its cooperation with AMG – a move that led to the Mercedes-AMG brand we know and love today, and especially the C63 AMG you can read about on page 78.

USED CARS

SPIED IN THE CLASSIFIEDS

Things to look out for Q As with any car of its era, rust is a factor. Check the jacking points, rear windscreen surrounds, wings (both outer and inner), battery tray and around the front and rear lights.

Q Automatic gearboxes should change smoothly and reasonably swiftly. Hurried changes are a sign of something amiss.

Q The 190 is a heavy car and hard on suspension so listen for clunks and rattles and look for any steering quirks.

Q Interiors are pretty solid but check for damp carpets or mould. They could be signs that the seal around the windscreen has perished.

CHIC ITALIAN FL AIR

Alfa Romeo Brera £3995

What’s in a name? A lot, if that name’s Alfa Romeo. Such sporting heritage and Italian glamour can turn the most ordinary car into a deep, deep want, and this 2006 Brera offers exceptional chic for little more than loose change. With a 2.2-litre petrol engine, it goes pretty well, but you won’t be buying this car for its performance potential: you’ll be buying it for its horny badge and its seductive looks.

LOW-MILES CONTINENT CRUSHER

SALOON WITH BIG V8 MUSCLE

Wood and leather pervade the well-specced interior

BMW 640d M Sport Gran Coupé £26,950

Chrysler 300C V8 £6950

New, this gorgeous four-seat, four-door BMW coupé will set you back £67,450, but you can pick up this 30,000-mile (barely run-in) 2014 model for the price of a new Renault Kadjar. This one has a punchy and frugal 3.0-litre diesel, an eight-speed automatic, sporty handling, limo refinement and every luxury you could conceivably want, never mind actually need. It also has a 20in alloy wheel upgrade, just to make it even better looking.

Straight away, the more dreary commentator will feel impelled to point out that the 300C has all the finesse of a football scarf, what with its limp handling, cheap interior quality and love-it-orhate-it looks. But before you laugh it out of court, consider that underneath its imposing bonnet is a 340bhp hemi-headed 5.7-litre V8, enough to make this massive behemoth satisfyingly quick. It’s just £7k, but you’ll need hugely deep pockets to run it.

What we said then

De Tomaso Pantera

“The 190E does not give the impression of a sports saloon. Mercedes has over-engineered the car and made it far too civilised to be really sporting – for the UK market at least. It’s a fault its two closest rivals, the BMW M3 and the Ford Sierra Cosworth, do not suffer.”

£109,900

WILD CARD

Phwoar! The Pantera was always a stunner, no taller than a packet of crisps and full of style and passion. At the heart of this appealing ItalianAmerican icon was a mighty 5.8-litre Ford V8, which had enough oomph to grant the Pantera true supercar status: think 0-60mph in 5.5sec. It handled well, too, and under that luscious body was a chassis designed by the great Dallara. This rare original car, whose price can only go one way, looks pretty good value.

For more like this, visit piston eads.com/classifieds/used-cars

24 JANUARY 2018 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 77

W H Y YO U N E E D A U S E D

MERCEDES C63 AMG I N YO U R L I FE

20 Number of Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG DR520s that were sold

THE POWER OF SHOVE The C63 AMG is a beguiling modern-day benchmark mixing brute force, refinement and usability. John Evans finds out if he can afford to run one ames, my neighbour, has a C63 Estate, bought used from MercedesBenz Brooklands, home of Mercedes-Benz World, where, for about £90, you can hoof an AMG around a handling circuit. In fact, James’s 11-plate C63, was, for the first six months of its life, one of the centre’s ‘experience’ cars, more used to opposite lock than straight ahead.

He loves it, since not only does it have the optional Performance Pack Plus that raised power from 451bhp to 480bhp, but it also, he reckons, has a bit more up its sleeve – around 20bhp. He may be right, since Mercedes-Benz Brooklands knows about tuned C63s (it was the sole supplier of the limited-run C63 DR520 of 2010 that put out 513bhp).

J

78 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 24 JANUARY 2018

Whatever its mighty 6.2-litre naturally aspirated V8 makes, James has found it to be completely reliable.

His C63 has now done 42,000 miles.

As you’d expect, given that it has super-firm suspension and 19in wheels, its interior creaks a little. He has to keep an eye on the oil and when he drives it hard, fuel consumption is in single figures. The point of telling you all this is that here’s a C63 AMG Estate, a former stunt car no less, still doing the business while hauling a family of four plus the dog.

If you go nosing around C63s, you’ll hear horror stories of corroded rear cylinder head bolts and noisy cams, both terminal if allowed to develop.

Fortunately, both problems are rare.

Estate and saloon versions were launched in 2008, with standard

equipment including Mercedes’ 7G-tronic automatic gearbox and 18in alloys. The optional Performance Pack brought a limited-slip diff but no hike in power. That came with the aforementioned Performance Pack Plus of 2009, although, bizarrely, the limited-slip diff was dropped to become an option across the range.

The DR520 shaved half a second off the 0-62mph time – useful but, at £10,000 more than the standard car, no bargain. In 2011, the facelifted C63 landed with a new seven-speed multi-clutch transmission (not a dual-clutch set-up but the old auto ’box with several clutches in place of the torque converter), a new grille and an aluminium bonnet. Mercedes’ Intelligent Light System, a new

infotainment set-up and a refreshed cabin completed the makeover.

Almost but not quite: there was a new body too. The coupé was available in all trims and one other besides. The Coupé AMG Black Series put out 510bhp for 0-62mph in 4.2sec, and had the wheel arches to prove it. Today, prices start at around £80,000. Too expensive? The lastof-the-line Edition 507 Estate and saloon with the Performance Pack as standard have the same bonnet, 500bhp and start at around £35,000.

Whichever C63 you go for, you’ll find many have had multiple keepers.

People can only stomach 17mpg for so long. No problem. As James’s car proves, if the model can take six months of skid-pan punishment, it can take anything.

USED CARS H O W T O G E T O N E I N YO U R GA R AG E

The 6.2-litre V8 uses a bit of oil and a lot of petrol

DID YOU KNOW? Fantastically fast in a straight line and tremendous fun in a corner, the C63 AMG was also the very first AMG car to feature an automatic throttleblipping function during downshifts – handy when braking hard for that tight bend on the A244.

Performance Pack slippy diff was later an option on all C63s

OLIVER STONER, PRESTIGE CAR SERVICE “We get around four C63s through the workshop every month. I’ve heard all the stories about noisy cam lifters and the rear head bolts failing on some cars – we’ve never seen those problems.

We’ve seen lambda and thermostat issues, though. The thermostat sticks open, so it’s just warming up that suffers, rather than the engine being starved of coolant. They can use a bit of oil: one to two litres between services. The suspension is simple – no Airmatic – and as long as you steer clear of the Performance Pack brakes, discs are relatively cheap. One of my technicians owned a C63 Estate for 12 months and other than its running costs – 17mpg and £535 road tax – he loved it.”

Buyer beware…

Q E N G I N E If it’s an early car, check condition of rear cylinder head bolts (a few were known to break). Listen for a noisy engine indicating cam lifter wear but, again, it’s rare. Low oil level suggests sloppy attention between services.

Listen, too, for a noisy timing chain adjuster. Check thermostat operation.

Oil-filled engine mounts on cars with 60k-plus miles can fail; feel for vibration. Fix is around £400.

Q T R A N S M I S S I O N A fluid and filter change every 40,000 miles is best. Check later MCT auto has no hot-running issues. If it has a limited-slip diff, check if factory fit or aftermarket such as Quaife and that work was properly done.

Q B R A K E S A N D S U S P E N S I O N Front control arms can split at around 60,000 miles. Where fitted, check 19in wheels, which are prone to cracking.

Standard discs are reasonably inexpensive at £70 but Performance Pack’s floating items are around £400; if fitted, check their condition.

Check rear brake pipes for corrosion.

`

Here’s a former stunt car still doing the business hauling a family of four plus the dog a

Q B O DY Lower grille is susceptible to stone damage. Check wheel arches for scrapes, wheels for kerbing and door mirrors for squeak-free operation.

Q I N T E R I O R Check operation of door handles and driver’s seat adjustment. Expect some creaks courtesy of the stiff suspension, but on pre-facelift cars listen for a rattle from the fascia’s right-hand side.

Check Comand system is glitch-free.

Also worth knowing The cost of a 12-month extended Merc warranty is an indication of the scale of the repair costs you might expect to face. Mercedes wants £4414 for our ‘One we found’ example. Go to mercedes-benzwarranty.co.uk

How much to spend £ 1 6 , 5 0 0 - £ 1 9, 9 9 5 Range of 2008-10 saloons and estates with mileages between 60k and 120k. £2 0 , 0 0 0 - £22 , 9 9 5 Mainly 2009-11 cars, around 60k miles. £2 3 , 0 0 0 - £2 4 , 9 9 5 First 2012-13 MCT cars, plus lowmileage (circa 40k) 2008-11 cars. £2 5 , 0 0 0 - £27, 9 95 More 2012-13 cars with around 55k miles, plus coupés with 45k miles. £2 8 , 0 0 0 - £2 9, 9 9 5 Lots of low-mileage 2013-14 cars, some fully warranted main dealer stock. £3 0 , 0 0 0 + Loads of late-plate cars at low mileages, 507-spec models from around £40k; Black Series from £80k.

One we found M E R C E D E S C 63 A M G E S TAT E , 2 0 1 0/ 1 0 , 76 K M I L E S , £ 1 9, 9 9 5 This estate has full Merc history (all by the same dealer) and just three former keepers in all. It’s a standard car on slightly more forgiving 18in wheels.

24 JANUARY 2018 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 79

With thanks to Oliver Stoner (prestigecarservice.co.uk) and James Roxburgh

An expert’s view

A L FA R O M E O Giulia 4dr saloon AAAAB Quadrifoglio 190 4.5 9.2 3.2 10.3 2.57 503 443 38.7 34/49 Stelvio 5dr SUV AAABC 2.2D 210 Milano 134 6.8 20.6 7.0 7.3 3.01 207 347 41.3 38/50 4C 2dr coupé/convertible AAACC Spider 160 5.1 12.4 4.0 5.8 2.97 237 258 29.6 32/44

1580 29.3.17 1659

3.1.18

940

27.1.16

ALPINA B3 Biturbo 4dr saloon AAAAB B3 Biturbo 155 4.7 10.3 3.8 6.8 2.9 404 443 41.5

27/35

1610 29.8.13

ARIEL Atom 0dr open AAAAB V8 170 3.0 5.7 1.9 3.7 2.55 475 268 16.4 21/37 Nomad 0dr open AAAAA Nomad 125 4.5 12.7 3.9 7.7 3.10 235 221 26.7 —/—

650

10.8.11

735

24.6.15

ASTON MARTIN V8 Vantage 2dr coupé AAAAC GT8 190 4.6 10.4 3.6 6.1 2.6 440 361 25.3 19/29 DB11 2dr coupé AAAAB Launch Edition 200 4.0 8.4 3.0 10.1 2.6 600 516 46.2 24/34 Rapide 4dr saloon AAAAC Rapide S 190 5.3 11.3 4.3 8.3 3.03 550 457 33.6 19/23

1530 12.10.16 1910

21.9.16

1990 20.3.13

AU D I A1 3dr hatch AAAAC 1.4 TFSI Sport 126 8.4 22.4 8.9 12.8 2.2 S1 155 5.9 14.4 5.2 5.4 2.6 A3 3dr/5dr hatch AAAAC 2.0 TDI Sport 134 8.9 25.9 11.4 10.8 2.7 S’back e-tron 138 7.9 20.9 6.6 8.5 3.0 RS3 Saloon 155 4.0 9.9 3.5 9.0 2.7 A4 4dr saloon AAAAC 2.0 TDI S line 147 8.4 22.2 7.3 11.2 3.1 A5 2dr coupé/convertible AAABC S5 155 4.9 11.7 4.4 9.7 3.0 A5 Sportback 4dr saloon AAABC 2.0 TFSI S line 155 5.7 15.1 5.3 17.2 2.5 A6 4dr saloon/5dr estate AAAAC 3.0 TDI SE 155 7.2 20.3 6.4 3.9 2.9 RS6 Avant 155 3.7 8.7 3.1 12.8 2.4 A7 Sportback 4dr saloon AAAAC 3.0 V6 TDI 155 6.7 18.7 6.5 *4.0 2.8 TT 2dr coupé/convertible AAAAC 2.0 TFSI S-line 155 6.6 14.5 5.0 6.5 2.5 RS 155 3.6 8.4 3.0 7.8 2.7 Q2 5dr SUV AAABC 1.4 TFSI Sport 132 8.1 23.9 8.2 9.8 2.7 Q3 5dr SUV AAABC 2.0 TDI SE 132 8.3 25.5 8.1 *11.5 2.7 RS 155 5.0 12.6 4.5 8.3 2.8 Q5 5dr SUV AAAAC 2.0 TDI S line 135 8.3 26.4 8.5 14.7 3.1 SQ5 quattro 155 5.5 13.7 5.0 11.1 2.6 Q7 5dr SUV AAAAC 3.0 TDI S line 145 6.2 17.6 6.2 *3.8 — SQ7 4.0 TDI 155 5.1 12.6 4.4 7.0 2.9 R8 2dr coupé AAAAC V10 Plus 205 3.1 6.7 2.6 5.7 2.8

45.2 43/54 36.5 50/57 40.8 40/47 28.2 28/37 34.0 29/36 42.2 40/52 42.1

33/45

8.11.17

1795

11.11.15

294wh/m 1390 22.1.14

33.3 50/40

1560

35.1

43/49

1625 14.10.15

41.2

37/49

40.5 28/34 42.3 21/26

2265 13.11.13 2350 13.5.15

187 295 37.1

45/50

1940

4.11.15

349 369 40.5 26/33

1615

11.1.17

249 273 42.2 30/41

1535

8.3.17

201 295 39.9 34/46 552 516 40.0 20/28

1805 19.10.11 2010 3.7.13

241 369 42.9 31/40

1940

227 273 30.1 394 354 35.1

175 280 35.8 33/46 306 310 32.4 32.4

CITROEN 1305 26.11.14 1440 7.12.16 C3 5dr hatch AAABC P’tech 110 Flair 117 9.6 36.6 9.4 10.5 2.6 108 151 27 47/62 1265 9.11.16 C4 Cactus 5dr hatch AAACC 1.6 BlueHDi 100 114 11.8 41.2 11.7 7.2 2.9 99 187 36.1 47/62 1710 16.11.11 C4 Grand Picasso 5dr MPV AAAAC 1655 1.1.14 2.0 BlueHDi 130 10.1 30.1 9.6 12.5 2.9 148 273 34.7 44/52

187 295 42.0 37/43 349 369 45.2 26/32

1770 15.3.17 1870 21.6.17

268 443 47.6 32/36 429 664 47.6 24/38

2245 12.8.15 2330 26.10.16

BENTLEY Continental GT 2dr coupé/convertible AAAAC GTC V8 187 4.5 10.8 3.9 *2.7 2.8 500 487 GT 198 4.6 10.9 4.2 *2.4 2.5 567 516 Flying Spur 4dr saloon AAABC W12 200 4.5 10.4 3.6 8.4 3.0 616 590 Mulsanne 4dr saloon AAAAC 6.75 V8 184 5.7 13.7 4.8 *2.8 2.6 505 752 Bentayga 5dr SUV AAAAA W12 187 4.9 11.6 4.4 8.7 3.0 600 664 Diesel 168 5.2 12.6 4.6 7.6 2.9 429 664

27.4 18/27 34.9 7/15 44.5 18/26 44.8 18/21 48.2 20/25 48.7 29/39

BMW 1 Series 3dr/5dr hatch AAABC 116d ED Plus 124 10.2 30.0 10.0 17.3 — 114 199 37.7 2 Series 3dr coupé/convertible AAAAB 220d SE 143 7.8 20.9 7.3 8.8 2.9 181 280 39.6 220d C’vble 140 8.5 24.7 8.4 9.0 2.1 187 295 34.5 M235i 155 6.3 14.7 5.7 5.4 2.7 322 332 28.1 M2 155 4.4 10.3 3.6 6.2 2.6 365 343 33.7 2 Series Active Tourer 5dr MPV AAAAC 218d Luxury 129 8.9 26.5 8.7 12.1 3.0 148 243 40.4 3 Series 4dr saloon/5dr estate/5dr hatch AAAAB 320d Sport 146 7.7 20.9 7.6 9.7 2.6 181 280 36.2

80 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 24 JANUARY 2018

54/60 46/62 50/53 26/35 31/37 42/56 41/57

17.1.18

1895 27.8.14

1355 26.9.12 Veyron 2dr coupé AAAAB 268 2.6 5.0 1.7 1540 31.12.14 Super Sport 1515 6.9.17

602 413 26.8 15/23

1825

17.9.14

43.7 34/45

148 236 30 48/59 201 258 30.7 45/49 394 354 33.7 29/35

148 184 29.4 45/56

TEST DATE

Weight (kg)

Mpg test/touring

Mph/1000rpm

Torque (lb ft)

Power (bhp)

Braking 60-0mph

50-70mph

30-70mph

TEST DATE

1880

34.0 26/31

2275 11.6.08

B U G AT T I 1995

2.3.11

C AT E R H A M

Seven 2dr roadster AAAAC CSR 260 143 4.1 9.8 3.1 4.4 3.3 260 200 22.8 24/26 160 100 8.4 — 8.7 7.6 4.8 80 79 16.7 39/45 620S 145 3.8 9.2 3.2 5.7 2.7 310 219 21.2 25/29

570 11.10.05 490 20.11.13 610 9.3.16

CHEVROLET Camaro 2dr coupé AAAAC 6.2 V8 155 5.6 12.4 4.5 12.2 2.7 426 419 43.3 23/29 Corvette 2dr coupé AAAAC Stingray 181 4.4 9.4 3.3 11.7 2.3 460 465 48.4 22/33

1175 20.6.12

1050 28.12.16 1225

199 33.1 59/63 325 27.3 28/37

1343 28.1.15 1599 4.5.16

236 35.6 37/48

1705 17.11.10

258 39.5 44/46

1725 26.8.15

236 26.7 40/45

1785

6.8.14

258 38

1597

14.1.15

53/56

391 35.1

19/25

1720 24.2.16

151

39/48

1384

251 31.6

34/39

1707 13.3.13

332 37

36/39

1949 27.7.16

28

3.9.14

2.7 180 177 26.6 39/49

1357

2.8 316 295 25.4 29/43

1380 25.10.17

2.5 148 258 32.4 36/45

1806 24.10.12

2.9 174

221 na

—

221 34.4 56/57

118

51/72** 1872

2.7 573 476 35.8 25/32

1324

19.4.17

12.7.17 16.9.15

1725 5.10.16

2.9 65

70

20.0 44/51

925

29.1.14

3.0 99

99

21.8

1060

7.1.14

43/54

3.1 271 260 27.4 31/43 2.7 138 178 28.1 39/49

1478 27.12.17 1423 13.9.17

2.9 114

1555

7.9.11

1940

19.9.12

192 29.4 44/51

2.7 194 311

37.5 36/43

INFINITI Q30 5dr hatch AAABC 1.6t Premium 124 9.4 26.4 9.1 15.5 2.85 120 148 31.6 35/39 Q50 4dr saloon AABCC 2.2 Premium 143 8.7 25.0 8.7 5.1* 3.0 168 295 42.5 49/59 Q70 4dr saloon AABCC 2.2 Pre’m Tech 137 9.6 28.6 9.6 15.8 3.2 168 295 40.8 39/45

79

20.3 32/38

210 36.4 59/67

1430 27.11.13

941

27.2.13

1150 23.3.16

221 36.7 49/50

1290

251 40.1

1660 18.4.12

42/55

F-Type 2dr convertible/3dr coupé AAAAB V8 S Convertible 186 4.0 9.4 3.4 8.0 2.8 488 460 V6 S Coupé 171 4.9 12.1 4.2 12.7 2.7 375 339 2.0 Coupé R-Dy 155 5.8 14.7 5.1 9.5 2.8 296 295 XF 4dr saloon AAAAB R-Sport 2.0 136 9.4 26.1 9.0 16.1 2.9 178 318 XE 4dr saloon AAAAB R-Sport 2.0 147 7.6 19.0 6.9 13.3 2.7 197 206 XJ 4dr saloon AAAAC 3.0d LWB 155 6.3 16.5 6.6 *3.6 2.7 271 443 F-Pace 5dr SUV AAAAC 2.0d AWD 129 9.2 30.9 9.7 7.4 — 178 318

1436 17.2.16 1750

5.2.14

1896 25.2.15

6.1.16

FERRARI

46.8 19/29 36.2 24/33 33.2 31/44

1655 12.6.13 1594 11.6.14 1640 22.11.17

44.1

1595 2.12.15

47/56

33.8 30/49

1530

1.7.15

43.5 28/36

1960

9.6.10

41.3

1775

11.5.16

37/40

JEEP Renegade 5dr 4x4 AAABC 2.0 M’jet 4x4 L’d 113 10.8 37.6 11.2 10.0 3.5 138 258 34.0 41/53 Cherokee 5dr 4x4 AABCC 2.0 140 4x4 Ltd 117 12.3 43.4 13.0 13.8 2.7 138 258 34.7 39/43

16.7.14

DS

7.8.13 488 GTB 2dr coupé AAAAA 488 GTB 205 3.0 5.9 2.0 3.7 2.43 661 2745 21.9.11 F12 2dr coupé AAAAB F12 Berlinetta 211 3.0 6.5 2.3 5.4 2.2 731 2440 18.5.16 F I AT 2499 5.4.17 Panda 5dr hatch AAAAB 1.2 Easy 102 14.6 — 15.3 19.9 3.0 68 4x4 Twinair 103 14.6 — 15.8 16.0 3.0 84 1395 27.5.15 500 3dr hatch AAAAC Abarth 595 130 7.5 20.1 6.4 7.0 2.8 158 1450 19.3.14 500 Twinair 108 11.7 — 13 15.3 3.3 84 1610 1.4.15 Tipo 5dr hatch AABCC 1530 23.4.14 1.6 M’jet Lounge 124 9.6 31.6 9.8 8.7 2.9 118 1595 15.6.16 124 Spider 2dr roadster AAABC Lusso Plus 134 7.3 20.9 7.1 7.2 2.8 138 1450 24.12.14 Abarth 124 Spider 2dr roadster AAAAC 124 Spider 144 6.8 18.6 6.5 6.5 2.8 168 1535 22.2.12

i10 5dr hatch AAABC 1.0 SE 96 14.7 — 16.2 19.9 i20 5dr hatch AAAAC 1.4 SE 114 12.2 42.4 12.1 17.3 i30 5dr hatch/estate AAABC i30 N 155 6.4 14.8 5.6 6.1 1.4 Premium SE 129 9.5 28.9 9.7 10.9 i40 5dr estate AAABC 1.7 CRDi 118 12.2 41.4 12.5 12.3 Santa Fe 5dr SUV AAAAC 2.2 CRDi 118 9.0 27.6 9.2 *5.5

1539 8.10.14

DACIA

3 5dr hatch AAABC 1555 30.12.15 BlueHDi 120 118 9.9 32.2 9.4 11.1 3.1 118 4 Crossback 5dr hatch AAACC BlueHDi 120 117 12.0 48.8 12.3 18.0 2.9 118 5 5dr hatch AAABC 2470 4.4.12 2.0 HDi 160 134 9.1 26.5 8.7 11.0 2.9 161 2375 1.6.11

2.1.13 9.8.17

JAG UAR

5.9 2.6 1183 1106 40.6 12/18

Sandero 5dr hatch AAACC 1.2 75 Access 97 15.3 — 17.6 23.0 3.0 74

1345 1147

HYU N DAI

50.2 40/49 —

147 23.6 35/41 125 29.3 42/52

H O N DA

Civic 5dr hatch AAAAC 1.5 i-VTEC Turbo 126 7.8 19.3 7.0 8.7 Civic Type R 5dr hatch AAAAB 1735 21.11.12 2.0 Type R GT 169 5.7 12.5 4.4 6.1 1615 17.7.13 CR-V 5dr SUV AAABC 1660 4.10.17 2.2 i-DTEC EX 118 9.7 31.3 9.9 5.9 Clarity FCV AAAAC 1585 18.9.13 Clarity FCV 104 9.0 29.2 8.3 *5.3 1585 9.7.14 HR-V 5dr SUV AAABC 1.6 i-DTEC SE 119 10.5 34.9 10.4 11.2 1635 31.5.17 NSX 2dr coupé AAAAB NSX 191 3.3 7.3 2.6 4.3 1840 2.11.11

50.2 40/54

1165 10.11.10 1390 28.5.14

29/35 27/37

Weight (kg)

Mpg test/touring

Mph/1000rpm

Torque (lb ft)

Power (bhp)

Braking 60-0mph

50-70mph

30-70mph

0-100mph

0-60mph

Top speed

330d Touring 155 5.5 14.2 5.1 8.8 2.6 255 413 318d Sport GT 130 9.5 28.6 9.5 12.4 2.7 141 236 330e M Sport 140 6.3 15.7 5.7 6.9 2.9 249 310 4 Series 2dr coupé AAAAC 435i M Sport 155 5.5 13.2 5.2 6.3 2.7 302 295 M4 155 4.1 8.8 3.2 6.1 2.4 425 406 New 5 Series 4dr saloon/5dr estate AAAAB 520d M Sport 146 7.4 21.3 7.4 14.3 2.7 188 295 6 Series 2dr coupé/convertible AAAAC 640d M Sport 155 5.3 13.1 4.6 *2.7 2.6 309 464 6 Series GT 5dr hatch AAABC 630d xDrv M Spt 155 5.9 15.7 5.4 7.6 2.8 261 457 7 Series 4dr saloon AAAAC 730Ld 153 6.4 17.1 6.0 8.2 3.1 261 457 i3 5dr hatch AAAAC 1.3 Range Ext’er 93 8.1 — 7.6 *4.9 3.4 168 184 i8 2dr coupé AAAAB i8 155 4.5 10.6 3.7 3.3 2.8 357 420 X1 5dr SUV AAAAC xDrive20d xLine 136 8.2 24.2 8.0 11.8 2.8 187 295 X3 5dr SUV AAAAC xDrive20d M Spt 132 8.3 26.6 8.6 17.5 3.3 188 295 X4 5dr SUV AAABC xDrive30d 145 5.9 16.9 5.8 11.1 2.6 255 416 X5 5dr SUV AAAAC xDrive M50d 155 5.7 15.3 5.2 9.5 2.9 376 546 M 155 4.2 9.8 3.5 10.2 2.8 567 553 X6 5dr SUV AAAAC xDrive35d 147 7.3 21.2 7.1 *4.1 2.6 282 428

120 148 30.2 34/43 228 273 25.6 30/39

9.2.11

0-100mph

FORD B-Max 5dr MPV AAAAB 1.0T Ecoboost 117 11.6 39.0 11.1 11.0 2.8 118 Fiesta 3/5dr hatch AAAAC 1.0T Ecoboost 122 9.6 28.1 9.6 13.2 3.2 123 Focus 5dr hatch AAAAC 1.5 TDCi Zetec 121 10.9 36.3 10.9 10.3 3.35 118 RS 165 5.3 13.9 5.3 6.9 3.5 345 Grand C-Max 5dr MPV AAAAB 2.0 TDCi T’ium 124 9.2 28.6 8.8 11.1 2.8 138 S-Max 5dr MPV AAAAC 2.0 TDCi T’ium 123 10.5 32.0 10.4 13.9 2.5 148 Grand Tourneo Connect 5dr MPV AAAAC 1.6 TDCi T’ium 103 13.2 — 13.9 19.1 2.9 114 Mondeo 4dr saloon/5dr/estate AAAAC 2.0 TDCi 130 10.0 28.8 9.4 12.7 3.1 148 Mustang 2dr coupé AAAAC 5.0 V8 GT F’back 155 5.2 11.6 4.2 9.4 2.7 410 Ecosport 5dr SUV AABCC 1.5 TDCi 99 14.3 — 15.2 14.4 2.7 89 Kuga 5dr SUV AAAAC 2.0 TDCi 122 10.9 44.2 11.8 7.4 2.6 161 Edge 5dr SUV AAABC 2.0 TDCi 131 9.7 27.6 9.2 5.6* 2.6 207

» 50 -70 M PH Recorded in top gear (*kickdown with an automatic) and demonstrates flexibility » FU E L ECO N O MY Prior to 7.1.15, figures are touring (recorded over a set road route) and test average. From 7.1.15 on, figures are average and extra-urban, to the What Car?/True MPG standard. **denotes mpkg (miles per kilogram) for hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles » B R AKI N G 60 - 0 M PH Recorded on a high-grip surface at a test track » M PH/1000 R PM Figure is the speed achieved in top gear Make and model

TEST DATE

Weight (kg)

Mpg test/touring

Mph/1000rpm

Torque (lb ft)

Power (bhp)

Braking 60-0mph

50-70mph

30-70mph

0-100mph

0-60mph

Top speed

Make and model

No one produces as thorough a judgement on a new car as Autocar. As well as acceleration, braking, fuel economy and noise tests, we carry out benchmark limit-handling tests, setting lap times if appropriate.

But we don’t just drive at the track, essential as it is for finding the limits of performance; we also drive on a wide range of roads. Where we have tested more than one model in a range, the rating is for the range overall; where a model within the range meets our coveted five-star standard, it is highlighted in yellow. » 30 -70 M PH Indicates overtaking ability through the gears

0-60mph

Facts, figures, from the best road tests

Top speed

Make and model

ROAD TEST RESULTS

1502 28.10.15 1846 24.6.14

KIA Carens 5dr MPV AAABC 1.7 CRDi 2 112 12.9 51.2 13.9 Rio 5dr hatch AAABC 1.0 T-GDI 3 Eco 115 10.0 37.0 10.5 Niro 5dr SUV AAABC 1.6 GDI DCT 2 101 9.7 30.0 9.5 Sportage 5dr SUV AAABC 1.7 CRDi ISG 2 109 12.1 46.4 13.1 Sorento 5dr 4x4 AAABC 2.2 CRDi KX-4 128 9.3 28.6 9.4

15.2 2.8 114

192 31.7

47/56

12.3 3.2 99

127 27.1

40/50

12.8 3.5 139 108/125 31.9 49/50 16.8 3.3 114 *5.7 —

1581 29.5.13 1228

1.3.17

1500 31.8.16

207 34.4 50/51

1500

2.3.16

197 325 35.2 35/39

1953

8.4.15

LAMBORGHINI Huracán 2dr coupé AAAAB Performante 201 2.9 5.9 2.0 4.9 3.0 630 442 24.5 17/22

1382 11.10.17

L AN D ROVE R

2475

561 28.9 —/—

1525 25.5.16

509 29.7 13/18

1630

6.11.13

75 22.2 39/49 107 20.8 37/44

1020 25.4.12 1050 17.4.13

170 23.9 34/39 107 22.9 35/39

1035 26.2.14 1070 24.11.10

236 35.0 49/62

1295

2.11.16

177 24.9 34/38

1050 28.9.16

184 25.2 35/45

1060 22.3.17

Discovery Sport 5dr SUV AAAAB TD6 HSE Luxury 130 8.7 27.7 8.7 8.9 3.4 254 Range Rover 5dr SUV AAAAB 4.4 SDV8 135 7.0 19.0 6.7 *3.8 2.9 334 Range Rover Evoque 5dr SUV AAAAC 2.2 DS4 121 8.4 30.8 9.5 *5.7 3.1 187 Range Rover Velar 5dr SUV AAABC D240 HSE 135 9.3 27.4 9.0 15.7 3.8 237 Range Rover Sport 5dr SUV AAAAB 3.0 TDV6 130 7.8 22.5 7.5 12.2 3.1 255 SVR 162 4.4 10.3 3.8 12.6 2.6 542

443 37.1

26/34

2230 12.4.17

516 41.8

25/35

2625 12.12.12

310 37.3 30/36

1815

369 41.8

33/48

2089 30.8.17

13.7.11

442 43.1 502 41.8

33/42 22/19

2115 2.10.13 2335 15.4.15

LC 2dr coupé AAAAC LC500 Sport+ 168 5.2 11.3 4.2 12.0 3.1 471 398 60.6 27/39 GS 4dr saloon AAABC GS250 144 9.2 26.0 9.0 16.2 2.9 207 187 34.4 26/32

1970 18.10.17

LEXUS

1695

1.8.12

ABARTH

NEW CARS

A-Z For full reviews of every car listed here, visit our website, autocar.co.uk

595 3dr hatch £15,260-£21,710 Good value hot hatch and great fun to drive AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.4 T-Jet Competizione 595 Convertible 2dr open £17,260£23,710 Open-top hot hatch has a softer ride than the tin-top version AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.4 T-Jet C Competizione Biposto 695 3dr hatch £33,110 Fastest Abarth has merit as an entrylevel track car, but a firm ride spoils its otherwise convincing dynamic ability on public roads AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.4 T-Jet 124 Spider 2dr open £26,920-£31,920 Only a mildly tuned upgrade of Fiat’s standard car but it’s a revelation, albeit one that comes with a hefty price tag AAAAB TESTERS’ PICK: 1.4T Multijet Spider

A L FA R O M E O Mito 3dr hatch £13,840-£21,380 Likeable hatch is well-equipped, good looking, cheap to run and practical, but dynamic flaws make it a class also-ran AAACC TESTERS’ PICK: 0.9 TB Twinair 105 Super Giulietta 5dr hatch £19,715-£29,950 Long in the tooth, but styling and dynamic verve still have the power to seduce. Not rounded enough, nor quite expensive enough to the touch AAACC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.4 TB Multiair 150 Super Giulia 4dr saloon £29,550-£61,300 Alfa is taking the fight to the Germans with its good-looking saloon. Lacks the finesse of its rivals and only available as an automatic.

However the V6 Quadrifoglio is a compelling car AAAAB TESTERS’ PICK: 2.9 V6 Quadrifoglio 4C 2dr coupé/spider £52,820-£59,820 Flawed, but the best current Alfa by miles. Rewarding to drive, if not the last word in finesse AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.75T Spider

ALPINA B3 S 4dr saloon/5dr estate £62,000- £63,000 Previously, it was falling behind on the power stakes. However, the S facelift rectifies that AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: B3 S Biturbo

STAR RATINGS EXPLAINED CCCCC 0-20% Inherently dangerous/ unsafe. Tragically, irredeemably flawed.

BCCCC 21-35% Appalling. Massively significant failings.

ACCCC 36-50% Very poor. Fails to meet any accepted class boundaries.

ABCCC 51-60% Poor. Within acceptable class boundaries in a few areas.

Still not recommendable.

AACCC 61-65% Off the pace. Below average in nearly all areas.

AABCC 66-70% Acceptable. About average in key areas, but disappoints.

AAACC 71-75% Competent. Above average in some areas, average in others. Outstanding in none.

AAABC 76-80% Good. Competitive in key areas.

AAAAC 81-85% Very good. Very competitive in key areas, competitive in secondary respects.

AAAAB 86-92% Excellent. Near class leading in key areas, and in some ways outstanding.

AAAAA >93% Brilliant, unsurpassed. All but flawless.

82 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 24 JANUARY 2018

B4 S 2dr coupé/convertible £63,000-£67,000 Less well mannered than an M4.

Better on the road than the track AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: B4 S Biturbo B5 4dr saloon/5dr estate £89,000- £91,000 Based on the almost flawless new 5 Series, and the B5 will whet the appetite until the M5 arrives AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: B5 AWD Saloon B6 2dr coupé/convertible £96,950-£101,950 A ballistic coupé and convertible, but more at home on the autobahns AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: B6 Biturbo B7 4dr saloon £115,000 A luxury saloon without a huge amount of power — an S-Class AMG challenger AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: B7 Biturbo LWB D3 4dr saloon/ 5dr estate £48,000-£50,000 An intoxicating mix of performance and fuel economy AAAAB TESTERS’ PICK: D3 Biturbo Saloon D4 2dr coupé/convertible £52,000-£56,000 Precise dynamics with added Alpina kudos and a great engine AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: D4 Biturbo Coupé XD3 5dr SUV £56,450 Alpina’s first SUV is a triumph.

Hugely fast, capable and desirable AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 3.0 XD3

ARIEL Atom 0dr open £30,572 Superbike-fast lightweight mentalist is as exhilarating as they come.

Less usable than some but no less marvellous AAAAB TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 i-VTEC 310 Nomad 0dr open £38,000 Off-road Ariel is well inside the top 10 on the list of our favourite cars. A revelation and a riot AAAAA TESTERS’ PICK: 2.4 i-VTEC 235

ASTON MARTIN Vantage Coupé £96,044-£171,249 What the Vantage lacks in agility it makes up for with pomp, presence and grunty V8 power. V12 S version is very special AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 5.9 V12 S Vantage Roadster 2dr open £105,044-£150,744 Drop-top suits the Vantage’s relaxed nature AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 5.9 V12 S DB11 2dr coupé £159,955-£169,070 The stunning replacement for the attractive DB9. Simply tyreshreddingly good AAAAA TESTERS’ PICK: 5.2 V12 Vanquish 2dr coupé £198,005-£217,050 Dazzling exterior beauty and a warm, expressive motive character are the big Aston’s selling points. Plays the cruiser very well AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 5.9 V12 S Vanquish Volante 2dr open £202,050-£210,005 A dazzling cruiser at heart with infinite head room AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 5.9 V12 Rapide S 4dr saloon £152,749-£155,249 There may not be room in the back for top hats, but the Rapide is the most elegant four-door sports car in the world AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 5.9 V12 S

AU D I A1 3dr hatch £15,765-£29,565 Audi’s answer to the Mini. Fun and refined. AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.4 TFSI 150 S Line A1 Sportback 5dr hatch £16,385-£30,185 Rear doors add convenience to an attractive package AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.4 TFSI 150 S Line A3 3dr hatch £20,365-£36,305 Outstanding cabin quality, peppy engines and low costs of ownership make it eerily good for more disinterested drivers AAAAC TESTERS’ PICKS: 2.0 TDI 150 Sport, S3 A3 Sportback 5dr hatch £20,985-£36,925 All of the above but with five doors and a usefully larger boot AAAAC TESTERS’ PICKS: 2.0 TDI 150 Sport, S3 A3 Saloon 4dr saloon £25,270-£39,220 Undercuts the case to own an A4 very effectively indeed. Upmarket interior and unexpectedly good to drive — if a bit shy on space AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 TDI 150 Sport A3 Cabriolet 2dr open £27,705-£41,655 Compact, affordable, usable and refined, with strong performance and composed handling AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 TDI 150 Sport A4 4dr saloon £27,260-£45,200 High quality and competent; leaves the dynamic finesse to its rivals AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 TFSI 252 Sport quattro A4 Avant 5dr estate £39,680-£43,850 Classy, demure and very tech savvy Audi estate AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 TDI 190 Sport Ultra A4 Allroad 5dr estate £38,425-£43,295 The classy and demure estate gets a rugged makeover making it a capable 4x4 A4 AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 TDI 190

A5 Coupé 2dr coupé £31,535-£62,900 Refreshed A5 gets a sharper look and a refreshed interior. Still fairly mundane to drive AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 3.0 TDI 286 S Line A5 Sportback 5dr hatch £32,965-£47,875 Refined , good-looking four-door coupé is short on charm and finesse AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 3.0 TDI 286 S Line A5 Cabriolet 2dr open £35,235-£51,835 A refresh doesn’t chage a solid formula – more practical than smaller options. Lower-powered, steel-sprung trim is best AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 TFSI 190 S Line A6 4dr saloon £33,880-£60,790 Perfect choice for anyone looking for a smart office cubicle on wheels.

Supremely constructed but a bit soulless to drive AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 3.0 TDI 218 S Line A6 Avant 5dr estate £35,980-£88,345 A capable stress buster; BiTDI engine is a giant-killer, while the RS6 is monstrous AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 3.0 BiTDI 320 S Line quattro

Mulsanne 4dr saloon £231,415-£289,765 If the Phantom is best experienced from the back seat, the Mulsanne is best sampled from the front.

Uniquely torquey, laid-back V8 AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 6.75 V8 Speed Flying Spur 4dr saloon £134,555-£171,855 Undoubtedly luxurious and with a lovely interior, but misses the class mark on rolling refinement and tech sophistication AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: V8 S Mulliner Bentayga 4dr SUV £164,755-£229,555 Bentley’s first attempt to crack the luxury SUV market is a solid attempt, but the W12 is very thirsty AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 6.0 W12 Bentayga Diesel 4dr SUV £137,055-£146,885 Bentley’s first SUV gets Crewe’s first diesel engine and it is a cracker.

It makes the Bentayga nearly flawless AAAAA TESTERS’ PICK: 4.0d V8

BMW 1 Series 3dr hatch £21,420-£32,650 Strong on performance and economy but not as good as it could be AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: M140i

A6 Allroad 5dr estate £47,480-£57,900 Rugged 4x4 A6. Even more pricey 1 Series 5dr hatch £21,950-£33,180 AAAAC Still looks clumsy from some angles, TESTERS’ PICK: 3.0 TDI 218 quattro and not as fine-handling as the feeder BMW ought to be. Strong on A7 Sportback 5dr hatch performance and economy AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: M140i £48,045-£94,185 Curiously droopy looks don’t flatter 2 Series Coupé 2dr coupé an otherwise impressive machine. £23,530-£48,675 Packed with gadgetry. Excellent A proper compact coupé now. Could engines; a bit remote to drive AAABC be better equipped AAAAB TESTERS’ PICK: 4.0 TFSI 560 RS7 TESTERS’ PICK: M2 quattro 2 Series Convertible 2dr open A8 4dr saloon £64,820-£100,565 £27,130-£39,165 Doesn’t succeed across the board, Better than 1 Series forebear, but still but there’s no denying that the lacks truly distinguishing premiumbrand’s strengths make for a brand qualities AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: M240i convincing limousine AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 4.2 TDI 385 SE Exec 2 Series Active Tourer 5dr MPV Q2 5dr SUV £21,360-£36,620 £23,880-£34,935 Another small SUV from Audi, and a BMW’s front-drive hatch is a proper decent stepping stone between the contender, but not as practical as A3 and the SUV range AAAAC some of its rivals AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.4 TFSI 150 S Line TESTERS’ PICK: 220d Sport Q3 5dr SUV £27,610-£37,600 Typically refined and competent but feels more A3 than SUV AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 TDI 150 S Line Q5 5dr SUV £39,100-£51,200 Appealing combination of Audi brand allure with affordable SUV practicality, and now even more attractive AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 TDI 190 S Line quattro

2 Series Gran Tourer 5dr MPV £25,580-£35,250 Brings a proper premium brand to the table but appeals for more reasons than that. Third row seats are not adult-sized AAAAB TESTERS’ PICK: 220d Sport

3 Series 4dr saloon £26,790-£60,905 Beats the rival Jaguar XE on cabin space and engine range; doesn’t quite measure up on handling Q7 5dr SUV £50,060-£72,895 finesse. Still a talent, mind you AAAAB Biggest Audi is typically remote and unengaging to drive but fast and light TESTERS’ PICKS: 320d M Sport, M3 on its feel. Cabin is both huge and 3 Series Touring 5dr estate brilliantly classy AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 3.0 TDI 218 SE £28,130-£45,620 There are more practical estates, but TT 2dr coupé £28,500-£43,920 the 3 Series Touring’s handling and TT is still doing what it always did well: performance make it one of the most serving up plenty of pace, style and enjoyable options AAAAB TESTERS’ PICK: 320d M Sport usability for the money. Now better to drive, too AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 TFSI Sport 3 Series GT 5dr hatch £30,880-£43,890 TT Roadster 2dr open Hatchback practicality meets £30,250-£45,670 3 Series talent. Duller but decent AAAAC Plenty of pace and driver reward, TESTERS’ PICK: 320d M Sport as well as Audi-brand prestige and design-icon style AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 TFSI S Line 4 Series 2dr coupé £32,580-£121,780 More of a talented GT than brilliant R8 2dr coupé/spyder B-road steer. Recent facelift gives £122,450-£137,450 the interior a refresh AAAAC TESTERS’ PICKS: 420d M Sport, M4 Usable but no less involving or dramatic for it. V10 is brutal AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 5.2 FSI 540 V10 4 Series Convertible 2dr open £37,630-£64,660 BAC Mixes creditable, sporting driving Mono 2dr open £135,950 dynamics with fine engines and An F-22 Raptor for the road — only usable back seats. Balanced and better built AAAAB complete AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: Mono 2.3 TESTERS’ PICKS: 420d M Sport, M4

BENTLEY Continental GT 2dr coupé £142,055-£214,555 Brand new Continental gets a whole new look, more luxury, better efficiencies , while still remaining a capable cruiser AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 4.0 V8 S

4 Series Gran Coupé 4dr saloon £32,525-£46,495 A prettier 3 Series. Very good — but not better AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 420d M Sport 5 Series 4dr saloon £36,165-£50,260 The new 5 Series carries on where the old one left off. The perfect compromise between the dynamic

NEW CAR PRICES XF and comfy E-Class AAAAB TESTERS’ PICKS: 530d M Sport 5 Series Touring 5dr estate £38,385-£52,760 The excellent 5 Series made into a more practical form. 520d is the best AAAAB TESTERS’ PICK: 520d M Sport 6 Series Coupé 2dr coupé £61,080-£95,580 Munich’s big GT comes in two-door, four-door and drop-top guises. All feel heavy and just a little bit ordinary to spend time in AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 640i SE 6 Series Gran Coupé 4dr saloon £61,080-£97,980 Back doors prove to be a brilliant visual coup AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 640i SE 6 Series Convertible 2dr open £66,980-£100,530 Great engines and interior. More GT than sports car AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 640i SE 7 Series 4dr saloon £65,300-£135,340 Rules on in-car entertainment and diesel sophistication; otherwise too bland to stand out. The M760Li is a monster AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 730d M Sport X1 5dr SUV £27,990-£37,200 Pick of the premium brand bunch, but doesn’t rule the class as BMWs do elsewhere. A bit unrefined and ordinary-handling AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: xDrive 20d M Sport X3 5dr SUV £34,455-£46,755 Close to matching the Discovery Sport and F-Pace on practicality and on-road dynamism, with better engines and better equipment levels AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: xDrive20d M Sport X4 5dr SUV £37,990-£50,335 A downsized X6 is respectable enough, but the cheaper X3 is a better option AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: xDrive20d M Sport X5 5dr SUV £48,140-£94,910 Accomplished and luxurious but no longer the standard-setter on SUV handling. Comfortable and capable; avoid the blingy M50d AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: xDrive30d SE X6 5dr SUV £59,060-£97,810 The world’s first off-road coupé, but appearances make it difficult to love AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: X6M i3 5dr hatch £33,070-£36,220 Our favourite high-end small car of the moment happens to be an EV. With a generous budget and modest miles in mind, it could revolutionise your motoring AAAAB TESTERS’ PICK: i3 94Ah EV Range Extender i8 2dr coupé £106,310-£114,655 If BMW’s plug-in hybrid is what the future of the sports car looks like, we welcome it. A visual knock-out; not quite mind-blowing to drive — but close AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: BMW i8 1.5

CAD I LL AC CT6 4dr saloon £70,485 Sharp-looking big saloon is a replacement for the CTS, but still needs a diesel AACCC TESTERS’ PICK: 3.0TT V6 AWD Platinum CTS-V 4dr saloon £76,240 Supercharged Chevy V8 serves up 640bhp: eat your heart out, Germany. Handling lacks distinguishing finesse AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 6.2 V8 Escalade 5dr SUV £82,515-£96,665 Cadillac’s luxury SUV, but it remains large and ungainly AACCC TESTERS’ PICK: 6.2 V8 Premium AWD

C AT E R H A M Seven 2dr open £16,995-£50,490 360R is the sweet spot in the revised range, its remapped Duratec giving just the right hit of performance AAAAB TESTERS’ PICKS: 0.7 160S, 2.0 360

FO R D F I E STA ST

‘Our reigning hot supermini provides enormous fun for the money’ M O R E AT AU TO C A R.CO.U K

CHEVROLET Corvette 2dr coupé/convertible £63,295-£96,465 LHD only and less usable and defthandling than the class standard, but disarming and inimitable. Serious engine for the money AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 6.2 V8 Z06 3LZ Camaro 2dr coupé/convertible £32,145-£47,305 An affordable American muscle car, but LHD only and less usable than the class standard. Charming and fierce nonethelessAAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 6.2 V8

CITROEN C-Zero 5dr hatch £15,995 Well-engineered electric city car. Too expensive AAACC TESTERS’ PICK: 49kW C1 3dr hatch £8835-£12,265 Slightly better priced than its Toyota sibling but less visually charming AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.2 PureTech 82 Feel C1 5dr hatch £10,895-£13,115 As above but with rear doors AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.2 PureTech 82 Feel C3 5dr hatch £11,135-£17,625 Funky fresh look gives the C3 a new lease of life, shame it’s on old running gear underneath AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.2 PureTech 82 Feel C4 5dr hatch £17,270-£21,270 Good looking but lacks the polish of the latest rivals AAACC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.6 BlueHDi 100 Flair C4 Cactus 5dr hatch £13,400-£20,865 Interesting and novel but flawed to drive AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.2 PureTech 82 Flair C3 Picasso 5dr MPV £17,135-£19,180 Soft-handling, square, quirky. Not up to Citroën’s latest standards on cabin finish or handling AAACC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.6 BlueHDi 100 Edition C4 Picasso 5dr MPV £20,335-£28,360 Plushness and an improved dynamic make for a better car AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.6 BlueHDi 120 Exclusive S&S Grand C4 Picasso 5dr MPV £22,635-£30,060 Alternative approach to MPV design produces something fresh and unusual, as well as comfy, spacious and quietly upmarket AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.6 BlueHDi 120 Exclusive S&S Berlingo Multispace 5dr MPV £16,245-£20,505 Likeable, practical van-based MPV AAACC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.6 BlueHDi 100

DACIA Duster 5dr SUV £9495-£18,395 The value champion of the crossover world. Basic in entry-level trim, but if cheap family transport is what you need, the Duster provides it AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: SCe 115 Ambiance Sandero 5dr hatch £5995-£10,795 A clever budget prospect, but its limitations are unavoidable, even after being given a smart facelift AAACC TESTERS’ PICK: TCe 90 Ambiance Sandero Stepway 5dr hatch £8995-£12,595 More expensive and slightly more rugged — but still limited AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 0.9 TCe Laureate Logan MCV 5dr estate £7295-£12,095 Lacks its stablemates’ charm but retains their cheapness AAACC TESTERS’ PICK: TCe 90 Ambiance

Logan MCV Stepway 5dr estate £11,495-£13,895 Given a rugged makeover. Still lacks charm but remains practical AAACC TESTERS’ PICK: TCe 90 SE Summit

DS 3 3dr hatch £14,875-£25,655 Premium-brand philosophy and adventurous aesthetics appeal, but those more focused on dynamics will prefer the latest Mini AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.6 BlueHDi 100 Prestige S&S 3 Cabriolet 2dr open £19,055-£25,945 A zesty car that remains fun to drive despite removing its roof. Not as composed as some of its rivals AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.6 BlueHDi 100 Prestige S&S 4 5dr hatch £20,655-£27,455 Jack of all trades, master of none.

Nice styling AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.6 BlueHDi 120 Prestige 4 Crossback 5dr hatch £22,905-£30,205 A more rugged form of the DS 4 doesn’t make it any better AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.2 PureTech 130 S&S 5 5dr hatch £27,590-£33,740 Design marvel. Shame it doesn’t function so well AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.6 BlueHDi 150 Elegance

FERRARI California 2dr open £156,060 New turbocharged engine brings entry-level Ferrari back to a competitive mark. Heavy but slick and rewarding to drive AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 3.9 V8 T 488 GTB 2dr coupé £184,844 Calm ride mixed with explosive performance AAAAA TESTERS’ PICK: 4.5 V8

Panda 5dr hatch £9405-£18,155 May not have quite kept pace with its rivals on equipment and value but still sells robust, practical charm better than most AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 0.9 Twinair Lounge

500X 5dr hatch £15,250-£26,470 Familiar styling works rather well as a crossover. Drives okay, too AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.4 Multiair 140 Cross Tipo 5dr hatch/estate £13,485-£20,485 A 1990s reboot, but without the flabby and uninspiring nature. The new Tipo is a decent car to drive and has ample space inside AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 0.9 Twinair Lounge

FA M I LY H AT C H BAC K S

Punto 3dr hatch £11,795-£13,670 Spacious and characterful supermini. Still heavily dated, though AAACC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.2 Easy+ Qubo 5dr MPV £12,160-£16,005 Fiat’s take on a versatile van-based MPV AAACC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.4 Active Doblo 5dr MPV £14,240-£20,145 Outdated MPV kept afloat by new engines AAACC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.4 95 Easy Air Fullback 4dr pickup £26,683-£30,943 Based on the reliable and tough Mitsubishi L200 workhorse and given some Italian flair AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.4 180 4WD LX

1 Volkswagen Golf From £17,600 Expensive it may be, but there’s enough class here to make the price look reassuringly precise. A cut above. AAAAB

124 Spider 2dr open £21,050-27,060 The 124 name revived , although not perfect is fun to drive AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.4 Multiair Lusso Plus

FORD Ka+ 5dr hatch £9545-£11,445 Besides the plus added to the name, the Ka gets two extra doors and signals a breath of fresh air for the range AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.2 Zetec Fiesta 3dr hatch £12,715-£20,575 Updated supermini keeps winning formula, and now with a modern interior AAAAB TESTERS’ PICKS: 1.0T 100 Ecoboost Zetec

2 Ford Focus From £14,000 Has a blend of ride and handling that rivals can’t match. One of the UK’s most popular cars for all the right reasons. AAAAC

Fiesta 5dr hatch £13,365-£21,225 As above, but even more handsome and with useful rear doors AAAAB TESTERS’ PICKS: 1.0T 100 Ecoboost Zetec Focus 5dr hatch £19,695-£32,265 Still appeals for its ride and handling, although not as much as perhaps it should. Spacious, stylish and wellpriced. AAAAC TESTERS’ PICKS: 1.0T 100 Ecoboost Style, 1.5 TDCi 120 Zetec

488 Spider 2dr open £203,271 The complete supercar, minus roof. A world-class head-turner AAAAA Focus Estate 5dr estate TESTERS’ PICK: 4.5 V8 £20,795-£29,755 Well mannered and comfortable, GTC4Lusso 2dr coupé £231,310 but a Skoda Octavia carries more AAAAC V12 Prancing Horse with four-wheel drive and four-wheel steer plus room TESTERS’ PICKS: 1.0T 100 Ecoboost Style, 1.5 TDCi 120 Zetec for extra passengers. AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 6.3 V12 Mondeo 5dr hatch/saloon F I AT £22,745-£33,595 500 3dr hatch £11,490-£18,350 Massively over-delivers on Super-desirable, super-cute city car. practicality, value and handling.

Pleasant, if not involving, to drive Cabin low-rent in places AAAAC AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0T Ecoboost 240 TESTERS’ PICK: 0.9 Twinair 105 Lounge Mondeo Estate 5dr estate £24,245-£35,695 A vast and enjoyable estate.

500C 2dr open £14,140-£21,000 Roll-top cabriolet is a better drive Reasonably priced AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 TDCi 180 Tit’m than the hatch AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 0.9 Twinair 105 Lounge B-Max 5dr MPV £16,145-£20,595 Sliding back doors, responsive handling and keen value give 500L 5dr MPV £14,630-£21,275 A costly option but has the style to supermini-sized B-Max some fill out some of its missing substance convincing selling points AAABC AAACC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.6 105 Titanium X TESTERS’ PICK: 1.3 Multijet Lounge Powershift 500L MPW 5dr MPV £19,495-£22,015 Loses some of its charm as it gets bigger, but has seven-seats AAACC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.3 Multijet Lounge

AUTOCAR TO P FIVES

C-Max 5dr MPV £19,995-£28,295 A fun to drive and easy to live with five-seat MPV AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.6T 182 E’boost

3 Seat Leon

From £16,200 As always, a Golf in cheaper Spanish drag. Margins are cleverly engineered as a result, but this is the best Leon yet. AAAAC

4 From £19,200 Audi A3 Sportback Outstanding cabin quality, peppy engines and low ownership costs makes it good for those less interested in dynamic zest. AAAAC

Grand C-Max 5dr MPV £22,195-£29,795 Mid-sized Ford handles well and can be had in five or seven-seat versions.

Good value, good to drive AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 TDCi 150 Titanium S-Max 5dr MPV £26,445-£38,395 Better looking and better to drive than most but not quite the class leader its predecessor was AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 TDCi 150 Zetec Galaxy 5dr MPV £27,995-£38,645 Huge seven-seat MPV. Easy to place on the road. Not cheap AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 TDCi 180 Titanium

5 Vauxhall Astra

From £15,500 The current Astra is big on practicality, standard specification and choice of engines, but it is still an ordinary car to drive. AAAAC 24 JANUARY 2018 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 83

NEW CAR PRICES CLA Shooting Brake 5dr estate £27,080-£49,600 Facelifted and equally appealing AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: CLA250 AMG 4Matic C-Class 4dr saloon £29,035-£69,125 Merc ramps up the richness with outstanding interior plushness and curvaceous good looks. Engines and dynamics not quite as refined AAAAC TESTERS’ PICKS: C220d SE, AMG C63 C-Class Estate 5dr estate £30,235-£70,325 Decent practicality and fantastic interior. Only okay to drive AAAAC TESTERS’ PICKS: C220d SE, AMG C63 C-Class Coupé 2dr coupé £32,325-£70,385 Nice balance of style, usability and driver reward AAAAC TESTERS’ PICKS: C200d Sport, AMG C63 C-Class Cabriolet 2dr open £36,945-£73,770 Nice balance of style, usability and driver reward AAABC TESTERS’ PICKS: C220d Sport, AMG C63 CLS 4dr saloon £47,995-£88,675 Original added-desirability fourdoor. Almost as refined to drive as it is to behold. Shooting Brake is a car of rare elegance AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: AMG CLS63 S CLS Shooting Brake 5dr estate £49,485-£89,175 Handsome and practical estate AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: AMG CLS63 S E-Class 4dr saloon £35,205-£106,780 A wee bit pricey, and less sporting than key rivals. Four-pot diesels a bit sluggish AAAAC TESTERS’ PICKS: E350d SE, AMG E63 S E-Class Estate 5dr estate £37,205-£108,780 Far more practical than its rivals but it is pricier and less sporting AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: E350d AMG Line E-Class All Terrain 5dr estate £58,880 A rugged version of the practical estate, which is also lavishly appointed AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: E350d 4Matic E-Class Coupé 2dr coupé £40,180-£51,415 Big, laid-back, genuine four-seat tourer. It also borrows its looks from the ravishing S-Class Coupé AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: E400 AMG Line E-Class Cabriolet 2dr open £44,675-£55,910 Refined and sophisticated four-seat convertible very much in the same mould as the S-Class Cabriolet AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: E400 AMG Line S-Class 4dr saloon £70,430-£185,985 So long in the legs that continents flash by mid-stride. Has a businesslike opulence. Still the best luxury car in the real world. Calm, advanced, rewarding AAAAA TESTERS’ PICK: S500 AMG Line L Maybach S-Class 4dr saloon £172,285 The best luxury car gets an opulent makeover to make one of the world’s most exclusive limousines AAAAB TESTERS’ PICK: S600 S-Class Coupé 2dr coupé £100,985-£188,595 Heavyweight contender. Continentsmothering luxury AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: AMG S63 S-Class Cabriolet 2dr open £112,905-£195,920 As above, with the option to open it up to the elements AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: AMG S63 V-Class 5dr MPV £47,235-£57,195 Expensively appointed minibus — with matching price . The Marco Polo is a home away from home AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: V220d Sport

MITSUBISHI

GLA 5dr SUV £26,220-£53,405 Not the most practical crossover but good looking and very decent to drive AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: GLA200 AMG Line

Mirage 5dr hatch £11,499-£13,499 Straightforward hatchback. Not for the likes of us AAACC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.2 MiVEC Juro

GLC 5dr SUV £36,425-£49,005 Not exactly exciting to drive, but does luxury and refinement better than anything else in the class AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: GLC250d AMG Line

ASX 5dr hatch £15,999-28,349 Decent engine, but otherwise an unexceptional crossover AAACC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.6 MiVEC ZC-M 2WD Leather

GLC Coupé 5dr SUV £41,335-£51,895 A SUV with coupé looks. Destined to be outrun by the X4 AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: GLC250d AMG

Shogun 5dr 4x4 £29,634-£40,299 Has its appeal. Needs more chassis finesse, but still charming AABCC TESTERS’ PICK: 3.2 Di-DC SG2 SWB Barbarian

Navara NP300 5dr 4x4 £25,120-£33,330 A tough pick-up happy both on the road and off it AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.3 dCi 160 Acenta+ Double Cab

‘A contentious five-star car. Power and absurd peacock pomp are the kickers’ M O R E AT AU TO C A R.CO.U K

SPORTS CARS

370Z 2dr coupé £29,185-£39,375 Old-school, profoundly mechanical and quite hairy-chested. An Austin Healey 3000 for our age — but meaner AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 3.7 V6 Nismo

GT-R 2dr coupé £82,525-£151,525 The monstrously fast Nissan has been tweaked and sharpened to GLE 5dr SUV £51,290-£96,995 close the gap on rivals AAABC The ML replacement isn’t inspiring Outlander 5dr SUV £24,999-£43,499 TESTERS’ PICK: 3.8 Track Edition Creditable effort from Japan’s SUV Engineered by Nismo to drive but it has a classy interior AAAAC specialists offers a lot for the money.

NOBLE TESTERS’ PICK: GLE250d AMG Line Still feels cheap in places: PHEV a M600 2dr coupé £248,184-£287,630 boon for fleet users AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 PHEV GX3h+ Deliciously natural and involving; GLE Coupé 5dr SUV £35249 ergonomically flawed. Outrageous £62,420-£98,885 A SUV with coupé looks. Destined to pace and handling AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 4.4 V8 Sport Coupé be outrun by the X6 AAAAC L200 5dr pickup £18,299-£29,879 TESTERS’ PICK: AMG GLE43 L200 pick-up is a practical, efficient PEUGEOT and muscular workhorse AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.5D Series 4 iOn 5dr hatch £20,495 G-Class 5dr SUV £92,070-£154,245 Massively expensive and 4Life Single Good electric powertrain, comically compromised, but with character expensive AABCC MORGAN TESTERS’ PICK: 47kW in abundance AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: AMG G63 3 Wheeler 0dr open £32,395-£35,255 The eccentric, characterful and 108 3dr hatch £8995-£14,060 deftly brilliant Morgan is a threeSister car to the Aygo — and distant GLS 5dr SUV £71,430-£104,850 The impending replacement for the wheeled testament to English second to most city car rivals AAABC GL-Class AAABC creativity AAAAA TESTERS’ PICK: GLS350d AMG Line TESTERS’ PICK: 1.9 115 Sport TESTERS’ PICK: 1.2 PureTech Allure Top SLC 2dr open £32,039-£47,645 4/4 2dr open £30,250 Another small convertible edition Has its appeal, but not as rewarding 108 5dr hatch £11,060-£14,460 Five-door version is less appealing with all the Mercedes charm to drive as it could be AACCC AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.6 than its Citroën and Toyota siblings TESTERS’ PICK: SLC300 AMG Line AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.2 PureTech Plus 4 2dr open £35,955-£43,755 Needs more chassis finesse, but the Allure Top SL 2dr open £75,855-£175,890 Big, luxurious drop-top is classier Plus 4 charms nonetheless AABCC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 2 Seater than a royal stud farm. Few cruisers 208 3dr hatch £15,035-£23,385 A big improvement for Peugeot, if feel more special for the money AAAAB Roadster 2dr open £49,755-£56,896 not for the supermini class AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: SL400 AMG Line TESTERS’ PICK: 1.6 THP GTi Prestige More advanced, but pricey and needs better brakes AACCC TESTERS’ PICK: 3.7 V6 208 5dr hatch £14,465-£19,595 AMG GT 2dr coupé/roadster As above, with added five-door £98,760-£151,255 Million-dollar looks and a railgun V8, Plus 8 2dr open £75,549-£78,549 practicality AAABC Old V8 charm lives on, but there’s no TESTERS’ PICK: 1.2 PureTech but uncompromisingly firm chassis Allure Premium undermines its every-occasion, any- ignoring the high price AAACC TESTERS’ PICK: 4.8 V8 road usability AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 4.0 V8 308 5dr hatch £17,945-£29,405 NISSAN Classy all-round appeal. A bit tight MG Micra 5dr hatch £11,995-£18,765 on space but a serious contender 3 5dr hatch £8695-11,695 A refreshed look and better handling nonetheless AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.6 THP 270 Neatly tuned and nice sporty style. makes the Micra finally an inticing Breaks the mould of sub-£9000 proposition. Still has its flaws though GTi by PS AAAAC superminis AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.5 3Form TESTERS’ PICK: 0.9 308 SW 5dr estate £18,895-£28,415 DIG-T N-Connecta Estate body style enjoys the classy GS 5dr SUV £15,095-£19,595 appeal of the hatch AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.6 BlueHDi 120 Allure MG’s first attempt at a small SUV is Pulsar 5dr hatch £13,275-£21,035 an attempt to re-establish the brand Undeniably fit for purpose, but its AAACC 508 4dr saloon £25,045-£32,915 appeal goes no deeper than that TESTERS’ PICK: 1.5 TGi Explore AAABC Competent and likeable package, TESTERS’ PICK: 1.2 DIG-S Acent although it lacks any real spark MINI AAABC 3dr hatch £14,620-£25,160 TESTERS’ PICK: 1.6 BlueHDi 120 Allure Leaf 5dr hatch £26,180-£32,290 Three-pot engines and cleverly Comfortable and still the cheapest 508 SW 5dr estate £26,370-£39,360 redesigned interior make the Mini way into the EV world AAACC TESTERS’ PICK: 24kW Acenta As good as the saloon, only better a superb choice. Pricey but worth it AAAAB looking AAABC TESTERS’ PICKS: 1.5 Cooper, TESTERS’ PICK: 1.6 BlueHDi 120 Allure Juke 5dr hatch £14,880-£25,800 2.0 John Cooper Works High-riding, funky hatch is a 2008 5dr hatch £16,300-£22,130 compelling package. High CO2 figures AAABC Efficient and well mannered but 5dr hatch £15,250-£22,665 Mini charm in a more usable package, TESTERS’ PICK: 1.6 DIG-T 190 Tekna short on space and style AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.6 BlueHDi 120 Allure but still not as practical as rivals AAAAB Qashqai 5dr hatch £19,295-£27,830 TESTERS’ PICK: 1.5 Cooper 3008 5dr MPV £22,495-£33,695 The defining modern crossover.

Mk2 is better in all areas, with a small Cleverly packaged Peugeot offers Convertible 2dr open just enough SUV DNA to make the facelift giving it an added boost AAAAB £19,265-£28,910 difference AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.6 dCi 130 TESTERS’ PICK: 1.6 BlueHDi 120 Allure Open-top fun but compromised on N-Connecta practicality and dynamics AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.5 Cooper 5008 5dr MPV £23,320-£27,190 Another mid-sized 5+2-seater. Feels X-Trail 5dr SUV £22,855-£36,045 There aren’t many cheaper routes Clubman 5dr hatchback its age but offers a more engaging into a seven-seat SUV. Light on £20,370-£31,895 drive than many AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.6 BlueHDi 120 Allure Cheery and alternative Mini power and 4x4 capability AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.6 dCi n-tec 2WD ‘six-door’ takes the brand into Partner Tepee 5dr MPV mainstream territory. Not as £16,245-£20,565 NV200 Combi MPV rounded as some, but usable and Likeable, practical van-based MPV £21,351-£22,091 likeable nonetheless AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.5 Cooper, 2.0 AAACC Van-based multi-seat vehicle is TESTERS’ PICK: 1.6 BlueHDi 100 John Cooper Works flexible and economical AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.5 dCi Acenta 7st Active Countryman 5dr SUV PORSCHE E-NV200 Evalia MPV £28,907-32,249 £22,625-£32,590 Battery-powered people-mover 718 Boxster 2dr open Big, but still more funky than useful, is world’s first seven-seat EV MPV £44,758-£55,714 despite being bigger. It is still not all AAABC Our idea of drop-top perfection that pretty AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.5 Cooper TESTERS’ PICK: 80kW Tekna Rapid is also an outstanding sporting twoseater. Exceptional to drive, whether cruising or hurrying AAAAB TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 718

R A N G E R OV E R S P O RT SV R

AUTOCAR TO P FIVES

718 Cayman 2dr coupé £42,8978-£53,853 Scalpel-blade incisiveness, supreme balance and outstanding driver involvement. Very practical, too — for a two-seater AAAAA TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 718

1 Porsche 911 Carrera

From £73,500 Delivered on the eve of its sixth decade, the 991 is as brilliant and distinctive as any before. Tweaked GTS is the best. AAAAB

2 Jaguar F-Type

From £51,300 A full-blooded assault on Porsche’s back yard, with noise, power and beauty. As characterful as any Jag, ever. AAAAB

3 Aston Martin Vantage

From £85,000 What the Vantage lacks in agility it makes up for with presence and grunty V8 power. V12 S is something special too. AAAAC

4 Nissan GT-R From £80,000 MonstrouslyfastNissan ismorerounded,but remainsa bluntinstrument among sharper and more charismatic rivals. AAAAC

5 Lotus Evora From £64,000 Therideandhandlingputnearlyeverythingelse in its shade. Shame the interior doesn’t match the pricetag. AAAAC 24 JANUARY 2018 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 85

AUTOCAR TO P FIVES

MID -SIZED EXECS

911 2dr coupé £77,891-£186,916 Delivered on the eve of a sixth decade, the 991-generation 911 is as brilliant and distinctive as any before it. Still more than worthy of its iconic status AAAAB TESTERS’ PICK: Carrera S 911 Cabriolet 2dr open £86,732-£156,381 As above, but with an uninterrupted view of the sky. AAAAB TESTERS’ PICK: Carrera S Panamera 5dr hatch £67,898-£146,545 Porsche revamps its big saloon and makes an absolute belter. Almost the perfect grand tourer AAAAA TESTERS’ PICK: V8 4S Diesel PDK

1 BMW 5 Series

From £31,900 Not totally peerless, but nowhere is a segment class leader represented by such an obviously talented all-rounder. AAAAB

Panamera Sport Turismo 5dr estate £74,652-£118,828 Porsche has made its Panamera even more practical and it’s fair to say that it’s a good-looking beast AAAAA TESTERS’ PICK: V8 4S Diesel PDK Macan 5dr SUV £45,915-£69,505 Spookily good handling. A sports utility vehicle in the purest sense AAAAB TESTERS’ PICK: 3.6 V6 Turbo PDK Cayenne 5dr SUV £53,875-£121,550 Agile, capable, desirable. V8 diesel makes the line-up more varied. Not as practical as some, but a classy cabin and mostly good fun AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 4.2 V8 S Diesel Tiptronic S

RADICAL

2 Jaguar XF

From £29,900 Knocked from its perch by the new BMW, although it remains best for keen drivers. Reward and repose aren’t packaged any better. AAAAC

SR3 2dr open £58,200-£66,958 Spectacular on the track; not so good on the way home AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: RSX RXC 2dr coupé £94,500-£117,500 Designed for pounding around a track. Not for the open road AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 3.7 V6

R E N A U LT Twizy 2dr hatch £6895-7795 Zany solution to personal mobility.

Suitably irreverent and impractical AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: EV Dynamique Zoe 5dr hatch £19,845-£26,020 Far more practical zero-emission solution. Attractive price AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: Dynamique Nav

3 Mercedes-Benz E-Class From £34,400 A bit on the pricey side and less sporting to drive than its key rivals, but supremely comfortable, well put together and luxurious. AAAAC

Twingo 5dr hatch £9875-£14,085 Handsome, unusual rear-engined city car — but not the class leader AAACC TESTERS’ PICK: 0.9 TCe 90 Dynamique Energy Clio 5dr hatch £12,225-£22,775 An attractive, stylish and fairly practical proposition that does the French tradition credit. Fluent handling; cabin cheap in places AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: RS 220 Trophy Captur 5dr hatch £15,355-£22,705 Jacked-up Clio is among the better downsized options. Cabin space and value better than the class norm.

Stylish and fluent-riding AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.5 dCi 110 Signature Nav

4 Volvo S90

From £32,600 Tears up the business-smart formality of the segment and plays the refreshing, comfortable, appealing alternative well. AAAAC

Mégane 5dr hatch £17,540-£27,740 Stylish and refined but bland.

Nothing exceptional AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.2 TCe 115 GT Line Nav Mégane Sport Tourer 5dr estate £18,840-£29,040 Stylish and refined estate but, like the hatch, it is bland. Nothing exceptional AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.5 dCi 110 Dynamique S Nav Scenic 5dr MPV £21,605-£30,805 Stylish and riding on 20in wheels as standard, which doesn’t corrupt the ride. Still bland to drive AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.5 dCi 110 Dynamique S Nav

5 Audi A6 From £32,300 Perfect for anyone looking for a smart office cubicle on wheels. Supremely well constructed, but soulless to drive. AAAAC 86 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 24 JANUARY 2018

Grand Scenic 5dr MPV £23,445-£32,605 Also stylish and riding on 20in wheels as standard. Bland to drive and third row seats are tight to use AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.6 dCi 130 Dynamique S Nav Kad jar 5dr SUV £19,485-£29,365 Fine value, good cabin space, decent to drive and fine-looking. Not quite

ARIEL NOMAD

‘The distilled essence of what makes a car fun. With added mud’ M O R E AT AU TO C A R.CO.U K

as classy as its Nissan sibling, but not far away AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.6 dCi 130 Signature Nav 2WD Koleos 5dr SUV £27,500-£34,200 A return of the Koleos name sees this SUV top the range AAACC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.6 dCi 175 Signature Nav 4WD

R O L L S - R OYC E Wraith 2dr coupé £244,823£280,223 An intimate, involving Rolls-Royce.

Less grand than its range-mates, but often in the measures that make it great in other ways AAAAB TESTERS’ PICK: 6.6 V12 Dawn 2dr open £266,055-£302,655 Essentially as above, but de-tuned and in an elegant convertible form AAAAB TESTERS’ PICK: 6.6 V12 Ghost 4dr saloon £227,423-£262,823 ‘Affordable’ Rolls is a more modern, driver-focused car than its bigger brother. Still hugely special. Ride just a little bit unsettled at times AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 6.6 V12 Phantom 4dr saloon From £310,200 Next generation Phantom takes opulent luxury to a whole new dimension AAAAA TESTERS’ PICK: 6.75 V12

S E AT Mii 3dr hatch £9795-£11,475 Not as desirable or plush as the Volkswagen Up, but nearly as good to drive — and well priced with it AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.0 75 FR-Line Mii 5dr hatch £10,150-£11,830 As above, but in more usable fivedoor form AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.0 75 FR-Line Ibiza 5dr hatch £13,130-£17,310 Seat gives the Ibiza a more mature look and refined the formula. The upcoming battle between it and the new Fiesta will be interesting AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.0 TSI 115 FR Leon SC 3dr hatch £19,340-£31,545 As ever, a Golf in cut-price Spanish clothing — except crisper-looking and better-handling.AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 TSI 300 Cupra Leon 5dr hatch £18,470-£31,805 Ditto above, but here in more conventional five-door form AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 TSI 300 Cupra Leon ST 5dr estate £19,465-£34,485 Good-looking and responsive hatchback-turned-estate AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 TSI 300 Cupra Toledo 5dr hatch £17,830-£21,895 Makes practical sense but leaves no other lasting impression AAACC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.6 TDI 115 Style Alhambra 5dr MPV £25,435-£35,960 A cheaper, plainer and less desirable sister for the VW Sharan. Spacious, versatile and decent to drive AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 TDI 150 SE Ecomotive Ateca 5dr SUV £18,340-£31,260 Seat’s first attempt to take on the SUV market — and it’s good AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.6 TDI 115 SE Ecomotive

S KO DA Citigo 3dr hatch £8635-£11,240 Czech take on the city car is more plain than some but well finished and strong to drive AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.0 60 SE Citigo 5dr hatch £8985-£11,590 As above, with added rear-door practicality AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.0 60 SE Fabia 5dr hatch £11,295-£18,600 A touch derivative in its design and no class leader on handling or cabin space, but strong claims everywhere else AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.2 TSI 110 SE

Fabia Estate 5dr estate £13,195-£19,865 Like the hatchback version but with the added practicality of an estate space AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.2 TSI 110 SE Rapid 5dr saloon £15,345-£19,855 Essentially a Fabia in saloon form, so likeable if slightly dull AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.2 TSI 110 SE Rapid Spaceback 5dr hatch £14,410-£19,210 Hatchback shape makes most sense of the Rapid’s skinny body AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.2 TSI 110 SE Sport Octavia 5dr hatch £17,195-£28,985 Almost too big to qualify as a hatchback. Does comfort and practicality like no other AAAAC TESTERS’ PICKS: 2.0 TDI 150 SE L, 2.0 TSI 245 vRS Octavia Estate 5dr estate £18,395-£30,185 Class-leading amount of space and practicality. Comfortable, too AAAAC TESTERS’ PICKS: 2.0 TDI 150 SE L, 2.0 TDI 184 vRS 4x4 Superb 4dr saloon £20,050-£35,180 Another commendable Czech value option big on quality and space, small on price AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 TSI 220 SE L DSG

Turismo 5dr MPV £19,750-£25,750 Incredibly ungainly but offers huge real estate for the money AAACC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.2d EX

SUBARU Impreza 4dr hatchback £18,995-£20,495 Appealing hatchback, but feels a tad old-fashioned AAACC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.6i-S WRX STI 4dr saloon £31,995 Appealing and behind the times all at once AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.5 STI XV 5dr SUV £22,495-£27,495 No-nonsense crossover doesn’t quite make enough sense AAACC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0D SE Levorg 5dr estate £29,995 Impressively practical but only available with an auto ’box and one trim AAACC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.6i GT Auto AWD Forester 5dr SUV £26,495-£32,495 Solid, spacious and wilfully unsexy AAACC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0i XE Outback 5dr estate £32,995-34,995 Acceptable in isolation but no benchmark AABCC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.5i SE Lineartronic BRZ 2dr coupé £26,495-£27,995 The GT86’s half brother looks just as good in Subaru blue. Cheaper, too AAAAA TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0i SE Lux 6MT

SUZUKI Celerio 5dr hatch £7499-£10,699 Pleasing to drive, cheap to buy and decent to sit in, the Celerio is a no-nonsense option — and very likable for it AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.0 Dualjet SZ3

Superb Estate 5dr estate £21,330-£36,460 Even more commendable than the saloon thanks to a huge estate boot AAAAC Ignis 5dr hatch £10,714 -£14,714 TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 TSI 220 SE L DSG Cute and rugged-looking 4x4 city car that is capable enough when the Yeti 5dr SUV £20,255-£27,195 asphalt runs out AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.2 Dualjet SZ-T One of the first to successfully miniaturise the crossover formula.

Spacious, useful, unpretentious and Swift 5dr hatch £11,484-£16,334 Given more mature looks, a bit more genuinely cheery AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 TDI 110 SE equipment and a hybrid powertrain, but still no market leader AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.0 Boosterjet SZ-T Kodiaq 5dr SUV £21,765-£35,360 Skoda’s first SUV venture and it’s good: a proper alternative to a Baleno 5dr hatch £11,249-£15,599 Suzuki’s family-sized hatchback seven-seat MPV AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 TDI 110 SE makes use of clever little engines AAABC SMART TESTERS’ PICK: 1.2 Dualjet SZ5 Fortwo 3dr hatch £9,995-£16,395 Pricey two-seater has lots of urban Jimny 3dr 4x4 £13,484-£15,684 appeal but out-of-town performance The smallest four-wheel-drive Suzuki is looking dated AAACC and handling aren’t as rounded as TESTERS’ PICK: 1.3 SZ4 others AAACC TESTERS’ PICK: 0.9 Proxy Vitara 5dr SUV £14,999-£24,099 Utterly worthy addition to the class; Fortwo Convertible 2dr open drives better than most AAABC £13,510-£17,190 TESTERS’ PICK: 1.4 Boosterjet A similar story in open-top form as S Allgrip for the hatch AAACC TESTERS’ PICK: 0.9 Proxy SX4 S-Cross 5dr SUV Forfour 5dr hatch £10,490-£16,170 £15,999-£24,749 Four doors gives the Smart more Not a class leader, but a very worthy mainstream practicality. Still crossover. Refreshed look gives it a expensive, though AAACC new lease of life AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 0.9 Proxy TESTERS’ PICK: 1.6 SZ-T Allgrip

S S A N GYO N G Tivoli 5dr hatch £13,300-£20,700 Trails the Duster as the best-value small crossover — but not by much AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.6d EX Tivoli XLV 5dr hatch £19,200-£21,700 Tivoli on steroids — grown in size for more practicality and joined by a range of personalisation options AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.6d 4x4 Korando 5dr hatch £17,000-£23,500 Good for a Ssangyong, poor by class standards AAACC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.2d EX 2WD Musso 4dr pick-up £16,395-£19,395 Formerly known as the Korando Sports, this rugged-looking pick-up lacks all of the finesse shown by its rivals AABCC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0d EX 4WD Rexton 5dr SUV £22,995-£28,995 Rugged seven-seater makes short work of mud. Asphalt more tricky AAACC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.2d EX

TESLA Model S 5dr hatch £71,435-£136,735 Genuine 300-mile range doesn’t just make the Model S a standout electric car: it feels like the future of luxury motoring AAAAB TESTERS’ PICK: P100D AWD Model X 5dr SUV £80,335-£140,535 Genuine 300-mile range doesn’t just make the Model X a standout electric car: it’s a luxury seven-seater with falcon doors AAAAB TESTERS’ PICK: 90D AWD

T OYO TA Aygo 3dr hatch £9255-£10,505 Impactful styling. Strong on infotainment but not as refined or practical as some AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.0 x-pression Aygo 5dr hatch £9655-£14,895 As above, but with rear doors AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.0 x-pression Yaris 5dr hatch £12,995-£19,845 Stylish interior but a scaled-down version of bigger Toyotas AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.33 VVT-i Icon £14265

NEW CAR PRICES Auris 5dr hatch £16,655-£25,805 Disappointingly average. There are many better rivals AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.2T VVT-i Design Auris Touring Sports 5dr estate £17,755-£26,905 Nothing wrong, but nothing exceptional AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.2T VVT-i Design Prius 5dr hatch £24,115-£28,345 Better all round compared with its predecessors AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.8 VVT-i Business Edition Prius Plug-In 5dr hatch £31,695-£33,895 Plug-in hybrid Prius is clever and appealing in its own right AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.8 VVT-i Excel Prius+ 5dr MPV £27,660-£31,930 Expensive and ugly. Bigger, though AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.8 VVT-i Excel Avensis 4dr saloon £19,690-£27,495 Nothing wrong, but nothing exceptional. Good spec AAACC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.8 V-matic Business Edition Avensis Tourer 5dr estate £20,870-£29,300 Good spec but an unexceptional estate otherwise AAACC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.8 V-matic Business Edition Verso 5dr MPV £19,490-£25,450 One of Toyota’s better niche models is unburdened by a hybrid powertrain and offers decent space, a respectable drive and a keen price AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.6 V-matic Icon 7seats Proace Verso 5dr MPV £26,120-£44,510 Provides decent competition to the Vivaro and Transit equivalents AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0D 180 Family Compact C -HR 5dr SUV £21,065-£28,085 Coupé-shaped crossover aims to bring the fight to Nissan and the Juke. Hits the right notes AAACC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.8 Hybrid Excel RAV4 5dr SUV £24,765-£33,975 A solid option, but ultimately outgunned by Korean competition AAACC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 D-4D Icon Land Cruiser 5dr 4x4 £37,230-£58,580 A real go-anywhere vehicle.

Available with seven-seats AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.8 D-4D Active Hilux 5dr 4x4 £23,090-£36,125 A real go-anywhere vehicle with the added practicality of being a pick-up AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.5 D-4D Active Double Cab GT86 2dr coupé £26,855-£30,270 Who knew Toyota had another dynamic masterstroke in it after the Lexus LFA? Almost as much fun as a limited budget can buy. Splendid AAAAB TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 GT86 Pro

VA U X H A L L Viva 5dr hatch £9315-£10,715 Plenty of space for the money but lacking equipment and youthful joie de vivre AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.0 75 Ecoflex SE Adam 3dr hatch £12,880-£18,305 Certainly looks the part, but there are better superminis ahead of it AAACC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.4 150 Rocks S Corsa 3dr hatch £10,635-£19,745 Very refined, stylish and practical, but its engines aren’t so good AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.0T 90 Ecoflex SE

Astra Sports Tourer 5dr estate £17,825-£26,050 More composed and practical than the hatchback AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.6 CDTi 160 BiTurbo SRi GTC 3dr hatch £21,640-£30,110 Good handling and nice engines but it’s really starting to feel its age now AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.6i Turbo 200 SRi Insignia Grand Sport 5dr saloon £17,185-£28,410 New saloon has the look and crammed with technology. Jury’s still out for the moment AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 Turbo D 170 SRi Nav Insignia Sports Tourer 5dr estate £18,685-£29,910 New-look estate has been designed to shake up its premium rivals.

Jury’s still out but hugely spacious AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 Turbo D 170 SRi Nav Meriva 5dr MPV £14,270-£23,345 Clever Flexdoors make sense for young families. Nice to drive AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.4T 140 Exclusiv Zafira Tourer 5dr MPV £19,530-£30,495 Looks upmarket but feels less so on the inside. Some clever packaging features make good use of what space there is. Ordinary to drive AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.4T 140 SRi Nav Vivaro Combi MPV £24,471-£25,805 Vauxhall people-mover based on its popular van AAACC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.6 BiTurbo CDTi 125 L1H12900 Crossland X 5dr hatch £16,555-£21,380 A new compact and competent SUV ready to take on the Renault Captur.

Lacks any real character, though AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.4T 140 Design Nav Mokka X 5dr hatch £20,520-£29,725 Compact and competent but short on persuasive quality, just like the Mokka AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.4T 140 Design Nav Cascada 2dr open £26,815-£33,210 A good-looking cabriolet that is a proper four-seater. Gives premium rivals a real run for its money AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.6T 170 Elite VXR8 4dr saloon/2dr pick-up £66,500-£76,200 Charismatic Vauxhall is more brutish and unsophisticated than some.

Unbeatable on horsepower per pound, though AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 6.2 V8 Maloo LSA

V O L K S WA G E N Up 3dr hatch £9135-£12,210 VW’s city car is no revolution — just a trademark effort to beat its rivals on finish, refinement, desirability and economy AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.0 60 Look Up Up 5dr hatch £9535-£25,280 Ditto above, with added five-door convenience AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.0 60 Look Up Polo 3dr hatch £11,970-£20,835 Usable, refined, easy-going, desirable and very solidly built AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.0 TSI 110 SE L Polo 5dr hatch £12,600-£21,465 And even more useful with five doors AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.0 TSI 110 SE L Golf 3dr hatch £17,765-£33,595 A little expensive it may be, but there’s enough quality here to justify the expense. Classiness democratised AAAAB TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 TSI R 4Motion

Golf 5dr hatch £18,420-£34,250 As above but in the five-door form most buyers are likely to opt for.

AAAAB TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 TSI R 4Motion

S60 4dr saloon £22,545-£35,035 Frugal four-pot diesel has revived the ageing saloon. Understated, mature and laid back AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 D4 SE Lux Nav

Golf Estate 5dr estate £19,470-£35,300 And even more practical in loadlugging body style AAAAB TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 TSI R DSG

V60 5dr estate £23,745-£50,785 Mature and appealing cabin, nice looks and smooth drive. Too small AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 D4 Cross Country Lux Nav

Golf SV 5dr MPV £19,905-£28,260 MQB platform gives the Golf proper MPV proportions. Still no C-Max, though AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 TDI 150 SE Jetta 4dr saloon £19,740-£25,670 Big boot, pleasant dynamics and good pricing. A bit dull AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 TDI 150 SE Beetle 3dr hatch £17,370-£25,940 Huge improvement, but the Golf hiding underneath it is a superior car AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 TDI 150 Sport Beetle Cabriolet 2dr open £20,380-£29,150 Huge improvement and quite chic in open-top form AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 TDI 110 Scirocco 2dr coupé £21,695-£35,330 A complete coupé. Entertaining, practical and stylish AAAAB TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 TSI 280 R Passat 4dr saloon £23,310-£38,170 Lands convincing blows with quality, usability, smart looks and civilised manners. A touch too conservative to be entertaining, though AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 TDI 150 SE

Caravelle 5dr MPV £39,049-£51,579 Robust people carrier AAACC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 TDI 204 SE SWB California 5dr MPV £40,455-£60,099 Robust workhorse built to carry people and put them up for the night AAACC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 TDI 150 California Ocean Tiguan 5dr SUV £23,250-£39,510 An improvement on the previous generation, but is it a winner?

AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 TDI SCR 150 SE Nav Touareg 5dr SUV £45,295-£51,255 An unusually straightforward sort: comfy, capable, refined and obedient-handling. Five seats only AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 3.0 V6 TDI 262 SE Amarok 5dr 4x4 £32,503-£39,391 Volkswagen quality of build and interior matched to a rugged exterior and now with a V6 diesel AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 3.0 V6 TDI 204 Highline

V O LV O V40 5dr hatch £20,715-£34,330 Not perfect, but a handsome, wellpackaged, pragmatic and likeable car: rare commodities in the class AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.6 T3 R-Design

Corsa 5dr hatch £14,025-£19,935 A more practical version of the Corsa, which is refined and practical AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.0T 90 Ecoflex SE Astra 5dr hatch £16,535-£24,760 Good handling and nice engines but its working-class roots still show through AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 1.0T 105 Ecoflex Tech Line

S90 4dr saloon £33,865-£57,705 The new mid-size executive car ready to take on the Germans. A competent cruiser AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: D4 Inscription V90 5dr estate £35,865-£59,705 The new luxury Swedish saloon in a more practical estate form AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: D4 Inscription XC60 5dr SUV £37,205-£57,950 It looks like a mini XC90, but don’t be mistaken: this small SUV has been designed to take on the Jaguar F-Pace at its own dynamic game AAABC TESTERS’ PICK: D5 R-Design Pro AWD XC90 5dr SUV £48,655-£69,615 Cleverly packaged, smartly styled, competitively priced and pleasing to drive. As close a thing to a class leader as Volvo has had in a long time AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: D5 Inscription AWD

VUHL 05 2dr open £59,500-£89,500 Mexican track-day special has a pleasingly pragmatic and forgiving chassis. Turbo engine isn’t the most characterful AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: RR 2.3 Ecoboost

Passat Estate 5dr estate £24,910-£39,770 Smart-looking and civilised estate WESTFIELD AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 TDI 190 SCR GT Sport 2dr open £20,999-£29,745 Entry-level Westfield. Sport Turbo is Touran 5dr MPV £22,955-£32,220 very quick and fun but no Caterham AAAAC The medium-sized people-carrier TESTERS’ PICK: 1.6 Sigma 155 Sport done conservatively — but very well.

Refined and wieldy, with excellent ZENOS infotainment options AAAAC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 TDI SCR 150 SE E10 0dr open £26,995-£39,995 The latest in a long line of English Sharan 5dr MPV £27,355-£37,335 mid-engined marvels. Earns its Seven-seater offers outstanding stripes immediately. Expect a versatility and space with tidy dedicated following AAAAB TESTERS’ PICK: 2.3 R handling and desirability AAAAB TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 TDI 150 SE Caddy Life 5dr MPV £20,825-£27,879 Rugged workhorse AAACC TESTERS’ PICK: 2.0 TDI 150

W H AT ’ S C O M I N G W H E N

VO L K S WAG E N T- C R O S S | L AT E 20 18 Having entered the crossover segment with the T-Roc, which we subject to our road test on page 36, VW is now preparing to go one size smaller to take on the Nissan Juke and Seat Arona. The T-Cross will get chunky styling and engines from the Polo. Price £17,000 (est).

FE B RUA RY Audi A7, RS4 Avant, BMW i3 update, i3 S, DS 7 Crossback, Ford Fiesta ST, Lamborghini Aventador S Roadster, Lexus CT and NX updates, Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross, Porsche 718 Boxster GTS, 718 Cayman GTS, Subaru Impreza, Volkswagen Up GTI M A RC H Aston Martin Vanquish S Ultimate, Zagato Shooting Brake, Zagato Speedster, Audi S7, BMW M5, X2, Ford Ecosport and Mustang updates, Honda Civic diesel, Jazz update, Lamborghini Urus, Land Rover Range Rover Velar SVR, Lister Thunder, Nissan Leaf, Toyota Land Cruiser update (above), Vauxhall Insignia GS and ST GSi, Volvo XC40 A PR I L Audi A6, Citroën C4 Cactus, Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk, Land Rover Discovery Commercial, Mitsubishi Shogun Sport, Porsche Cayenne, Renault Mégane RS, VW Touareg, Zenos E10 update M AY Alpine A110, Aston Martin DB11 Volante, Audi Q8 (left), BMW 2 Series Active Tourer, 2 Series Gran Tourer, M3 CS, Mercedes-Benz A-Class, Suzuki Swift Sport, VW Polo GTI JUNE Aston Martin Vantage, Bentley Bentayga PHEV, BMW i8 facelift, BMW i8 Roadster, Jaguar F-Pace SVR, Mercedes-AMG E53 Coupé, E53 Cabriolet, CLS 53, Mercedes-Maybach S-Class SU M M E R 2018 Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio, Apollo Intensa Emozione, Audi A6, Avant, E-Tron, Q3, Bentley Bentayga PHEV, BMW M2 CS, X3 M, X4, X5, Dacia Duster, Dallara Stradale, Ferrari FXX-K Evo, Honda CR-V, Isuzu D-Max update, Kia C’eed, Maserati Levante GTS, Mercedes-AMG GT four-door saloon, G63, Mercedes-Benz C-Class update, CLS, Porsche Macan update, Subaru Outback (above) L ATE 2018 Audi RS5 Sportback, A1, SQ8, BMW 8 Series, X7, Z4, Citroën C5 Aircross, Hennessey Venom F5, Honda CR-V Hybrid, Hyundai hydrogen SUV, i30N Fastback, Kona-E, Infiniti QX50, Jeep Wrangler, Land Rover Discovery Sport update, McLaren P15, MG 3 update, Morgan EV3, Peugeot 508, Rimac hypercar, Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus SCG 004S, Seat Avila, Ateca Cupra Skoda Kodiaq GT, Skoda Kodiaq vRS, Subaru Forester, TVR Griffith (left), Volkswagen Passat update, T-Cross, Wiesmann new model

ALPINA D4

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MattPrior TESTER’S NOTES

ENJOYED THIS ISSUE? Head to autocar.co.uk to find even more of the latest news, reviews, opinion, galleries and videos

Geneva motor show preview What to look forward to at the biggest new car extravaganza of the year

Keep out of the black, as Jim Bowen once warned us lack is the new white, or new black, or silver, or, I don’t know, whatever.

It has definitely become the best-selling car colour in the UK, anyway, replacing white for the first time since 2012. Last year, half a million of the 2.5 million cars sold were painted what my old science teacher defined as ‘without colour’.

White is now only the third most common colour for new cars, according to Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders figures, with grey moving up to second. Yes, really. Grey. Spitting-Image-JohnMajor on a car. Not silver. Gracious no. Throw silver into the mix – how one in ten cars are painted – and monochrome colours now adorn some 70% of all new cars sold in Britain, giving a line of new cars all the vibrancy of a film reel from a 1930s cup final.

There are reasons for this, I suppose. Most new cars are company or fleet cars and their operators worry about residual values, and monochrome is to the auto industry

B

Are premium cars still premium if we’ve all got one?

90 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 24 JANUARY 2018

Video review: Hyundai i30 N

`

Car designers don’t craft beautiful shapes only for them to be rendered invisible

We appraise the new front-wheel-drive hot hatch on track at Cadwell Park

a what magnolia is to house builders: safe. White and black – and, possibly, grey – are usually a standard solid colour too, which keeps around £400 of metallic coating off of a car’s list price. Silver isn’t, obviously, what with it essentially being metallic grey.

But black. Honestly, I don’t know where to begin. What a stifling colour for a new car; there’s a reason you never see a motor show car or concept car in black. Car designers don’t craft beautiful shapes only for them to be rendered invisible by painting the bodywork so dark; that’s just not the idea. Unless a car’s ugly, of course, which I suppose quite a lot of new ones are.

But there are more reasons than aesthetics for not painting a car black. Black has a reputation for showing more dirt than other colours, and it’s deserved. A previously spotless black car can look filthy the moment there’s been a summer rain shower.

Even then, that’s not the half of it. As someone who spends 12% of his working life on a Welsh hillside with nothing more than Mr Muscle glass cleaner and a microfibre cloth to hand (the careers advisor didn’t mention that little nugget), I can confirm it’s also a cripplingly difficult colour to clean well. You

could lovingly douse black paintwork with water from the purest Icelandic glaciers, warmed by Maldivian sunshine, with suds individually inflated by cherubs and applied to the bodywork with a sponge constructed from princesses’ petticoats, and it would still smear and scratch like you’re spreading molasses with a wire brush. Cleaning a black car is harder than cleaning a cheese grater.

The only possible explanation, then, for the rise in numbers of black cars is that it coincides with the inexorable rise of hand car washes, because if people washed their own cars, I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t be the colour of choice.

■ Also proud about the numbers of cars they sell are certain premium brands, whose press releases this week announce that their cars were bought by the million last year. Great.

Well done you etc. I’m not sure, if I perceived myself as ‘premium’, I’d crow about it quite so much, though.

Surely part of the supposed appeal, and how you justify a higher price, is that not everyone has got one.

GET IN TOUCH

matt.prior@haymarket.com @matty_prior

Europe’s best-selling cars Full-year results for 2017 are in. What have Europeans been buying?

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