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NOVEMBER 2021 I £5.25 ISSUE 712 Electric Porsche 911: the masterplan + Sports Car Giant Test 2021

Electric

SPORTS CAR OF THE YEAR FERRARI! BMW! LAMBO!

REVEALED: PORSCHE’S PLAN TO ELECTRIFY THE CAYMAN – AND THE LEGENDARY 911

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Lotus: it’s game on!

N OV E M B E R 2021 ISSUE 712 £5.25

The electric tech, new cars and design genius transforming Lotus

ISSUE 712 | N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 1

88

The world’s fastest woman tests the year’s wildest sports cars

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Insider 10

Five new cars in five years from Lotus

14

Secrets of the reborn Renault 4

16

Concepts great and small

18

Exit Räikkönen. Where next for F1?

20 AMG after Tobias Moers: same but different 21

Smart after the ForTwo: different

22 Nio: the Chinese brand to watch 24 Inquisition Fashion legend Paul Smith 25 EQE: Merc’s all-electric E-Class 26 Watches: timeless designs

24

The CAR Inquisition: Paul Smith

Tech

66 74

The sports car’s future is bright – and electric, according to Porsche

A battery-powered 911?

Believe – and don’t fret

28 Over-the-air updates: rip-off, lifesaver, or both?

30 BMW’s new iX is beautiful on the inside 32 Meeting of minds The 3D printing revolution 34 Does it work? What3Words

80

138 Retro tech Hybrid racing cars

First drives

74

36 300-mile test Genesis GV70: Korea’s X3 44 Bentley Continental GT Speed Convertible 47

VW Golf eHybrid: like a GTE, but slower

48 Porsche 911 GTS: sweet spot of the range?

52 Peugeot 308: upmarket and electrified

108

911 GT3 versus SF90 on road and track

55 Caterham 170S: new sub-£30k entry model

The Max Power phenomenon, revisited

911 goes electric The Stuttgart grapevine comes good with our exclusive story of Porsche’s icon turning green

80 The Max factor We visit a huge reunion of Max Power readers, still living that dream after all these years 88 Sports Car Giant Test: on the track Ferrari vs Lamborghini vs Porsche vs BMW vs VW vs Hyundai vs Alfa at epic Anglesey circuit 108 Sports Car Giant Test: on the road The top two contenders take it outside to fight for the 2021 crown across idyllic Welsh roads

56 BMW iX: all-new Jaguar i-Pace rival

Our cars

116 Just what is a Mazda MX-30?

And is it as good as some people say? Plus life with a Peugeot 508 Sport Engineered, Range Rover Velar, Audi Q5 Sportback and more

36

Infiltrating BMW central in Genesis’ X3

Opinion 58 Letters: EVs for petrolheads – really?

62 Gavin Green: lost celebrity cars 64 Mark Walton: the data-farming peril

The big reads

66 Cayman goes electric What the Mission R concept tells us about the electric Cayman and Boxster that are just a couple of years away from production

116

Will our MX-30’s tiny range mean finishing on foot?

NEW 508 PIONEERING PERFORMANCE AGAIN 360 hp – CO₂ From 46 g/km* – All Wheel Drive

Official Fuel Consumption in MPG (l/100km) and CO₂ emissions (g/km) for the new 508 PEUGEOT SPORT ENGINEERED range are: Combined N/A – 138.9 (0.0 - 2.0) and CO₂ 0 - 46 g/km.

The fuel consumption or electric range achieved, and CO₂ produced, in real world conditions will depend upon a number of factors including, but not limited to: the accessories fitted (pre and post registration); the starting charge of the battery (PHEV only); variations in weather; driving styles and vehicle load. The plug-in hybrid range requires mains electricity for charging.

The WLTP (Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicles Test Procedure) is used to measure fuel consumption, electric range and CO₂ figures. Figures shown are for comparison purposes and should only be compared to the fuel consumption, electric range and CO₂ values of other cars tested to the same technical standard. The figures displayed for the plug-in hybrid range were obtained using a combination of battery power and fuel. *Figures shown are for the new 508 PEUGEOT SPORT ENGINEERED. Information correct at time of going to print. Visit peugeot.co.uk for further details.

Welcome ‘No rare earths… crystal glass… a magic carpet over the road…’

Well, thank God for that. BMW’s iX is superb.

I can’t describe the sense of relief. (It’s right up there with getting the call from features man James Taylor to say that our Sports Car of the Year test – page 88 – had passed without incident. No Ferrari SF90s in the Irish Sea; no 911 GT3-shaped holes in the Welsh landscape; no calls to our insurance company trying to explain that, really, dangling a photographer from a sideways M4 is absolutely essential business, and had never gone wrong before…)

Why so relieved that the iX isn’t a duffer?

Because while every single BMW-affiliated soul I’ve spent time with over the last year and half has been very keen to tell me what a mightily important car it is, no one was being very clear about precisely why. What will the iX achieve that the Audi e-Tron or Jaguar i-Pace have not?

What, a decade from now when I can afford one, will the iX be famous for?

This month I had the opportunity to ask the chap in charge of the project, so I did. Frank van Meel is as charming as he is clever (the M5’s xDrive system was his baby, and remains pretty much a textbook example of how to introduce a potentially divisive bit of new technology: ask people not to judge until they’ve tried it, then make it virtually flawless), and not a man prone to waffle. But his iX mission statement is less a soundbite, more a soliloquy.

‘Well, from my perspective it is the only SUV right now that’s both an electric vehicle and really cool. Of course, you can say it’s a new interpretation of design, of sheer driving pleasure, of multi-functionality and of luxury,

all in one. And it’s both i and X, so you get the best of i, with our fifth-generation powertrain… no rare earths… over 600km of range… good 0-60mph… And of course real luxury on the interior. This inside-out feeling – a sense that you’re in your own luxury compartment, above everything else, floating on a magic carpet over the road.

‘Plus you have our shy-tech technology, so the functionality is there but you don’t have switches everywhere. We wanted to achieve something that was hassle-free, beautiful, luxurious, a typical BMW, very comfortable, with amazing details… the crystal glass in the interior, the electro-chromatic glass… the frameless curved display… It’s the newest of the new combined with something special.’

I mean, it’s a hell of an elevator pitch, though you’d need to wedge a fire extinguisher in the doors to buy yourself the time to deliver it.

I’m relieved because it turns out all of the above is true. The iX is luxurious in a refreshingly modern way – indulgent and feel-good as much for what it leaves out as the stuff it shoehorns in. Turns out it does ride better than a limo. And its new iDrive architecture really does hint at enormous capability without freaking you out on first acquaintance.

But mainly I’m relieved because the iX – and Frank did pledge this to be the case – is a true BMW: engineered like a Rolex (arguably over-engineered in places, but we like that), with a powertrain that’s both state-of-the-art and emotionally engaging, and, within the confines of its class, something of an ultimate driving machine. Phew.

Enjoy the issue.

SPAIN

INDIA

A car with as many facets as the BMW iX requires a writer of uncommon gifts and good sense. CJ Hubbard is that writer (p56).

For those on the outside, the Max Power scene (p80) was/is baffling. But Ben Barry was on the inside, and tells all.

Ben Miller Editor

WE’RE ALSO PUBLISHED IN:

CHINA

Star contributors

ITALY

TURKEY

GREECE

You could say shooting cars at the UK’s prettiest track is easy, but that’s twaddle – Jordan Butters (p88) is top-drawer.

NOVEMBER 2021 | CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK

9

THE MONTH ACCORDING TO CAR

Five Lotus EVs to end the dark ages Huge investment, a big increase in production capacity and a Porsche-rivalling line-up. Rejoice!

By Phil McNamara and Guy Bird

10 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | NOVEMBER 2021

Evija (far left) will be joined by four more Lotus EVs, plus the petrol Emira

F

ive years ago, car lovers would have scoffed at the dream of Lotus introducing five all-new cars in five years. But that’s the emphatic statement of intent from Lotus Cars and its parent company Geely Holdings, with key details outlined by managing director Matt Windle in an interview with CAR. Since car number one of the new model offensive – the mid-engined, petrol-powered Emira coupe – was revealed in CAR’s August issue, a wave of transformative developments has broken. There’s a £900m investment in a Lotus Technology R&D campus in Wuhan, China, also including a purpose-built Lotus factory. Lotus Cars has shown its lightweight electric sports car architecture, sharing key technical details. And Peter Horbury, a grandee of car design who transformed Volvo and

Ford’s North American range, has shed his global Geely role to focus on Lotus.

He – along with Russell Carr, who leads sports-car design out of Hethel, and Ben Payne who runs Lotus Technology’s Coventry studio focusing on ‘lifestyle’ cars – have their hands full collaborating on the four new cars. All are electric, all have ‘type numbers’ which designate a Lotus car or motorsport project.

First up is Type 132, a big SUV to rival Porsche’s Cayenne. ‘The Wuhan factory [construction] is due to finish soon, and Type 132 will be coming off the line at the end of 2022,’ says Windle.

Up next in 2023 is Type 133, a four-door coupe with shades of the Porsche Taycan. And the final lifestyle car is an SUV challenging – you’ve guessed it – the Macan. That’s Type 134, due in 2025.

Windle explains: ‘Lotus Technology in China is primarily ⊲

NOVEMBER 2021 | CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK

11

‘We can continue the Lotus look into more than sports cars. We have to think globally’

Peter Horbur y

developing, engineering and manufacturing these lifestyle vehicles, in conjunction with Lotus Cars. The cars have been designed in the UK, we’ve set the attributes and we’ll do some of the testing.’

A dedicated, electric vehicle platform – the Premium architecture – underpins all three. The wheelbase can stretch from 2889mm (for C-segment cars) to 3100mm, spot-on a standard Mercedes S-Class’s, while the low-slung battery packs will range from 92kWh to an immense 120kWh, more than a Mercedes EQS 450+.

The platform’s 800-volt electrical system enables ultra-rapid

A long way from rural Norfolk: how the new Wuhan plant will look

charging, and some models will be capable of sub-3.0sec 0-62mph acceleration runs. And the SUVs will have the torque and stamina to do something no Lotus has done before: tow.

And their look? Modern but with obvious Lotus DNA, and graced with the ‘porous’ surfaces of the Evija, the hypercar that kicked off Lotus’s electric era.

‘The practicalities of aerodynamics tend to give you smooth and flowing lines rather than abrupt ones’, explains Horbury.

‘And if you look at Lotus over the last years it’s been a mid-engined car – which gives a certain proportion.

‘The top of the car is centred between the wheels to give a beautiful balance and you can do the same with electric. You can move the windscreen forward – there’s no V8 engine in the way – so we can continue the Lotus look into more than sports cars.

And the longer the wheelbase, the more batteries you can add.’

Horbury, who built the group’s design capability, also gives Lotus an experienced voice hard-wired into the Geely hierarchy.

‘I’ve had 10 years’ experience with Geely and China and between there and the leafy lanes of Norfolk it’s a big contrast,’ Horbury says. ‘Now we’re going into completely different market areas and I’m piggy in the middle. I bring the Chinese needs to Hethel and take the rest of the world to China to say, “you can’t do

ADDING LIGHTNESS – EVEN FOR EVS ‘The thing about EVs is they’re not light,’ wryly notes Lotus head of vehicle concepts Richard Rackham. But with Lotus’s forthcoming electric sports car architecture, they have to be.

Rackham’s team have painstakingly finessed LEVA to get weight out.

‘Biomesh’ computer modelling the rear suspension enables sections to be scooped out to reduce mass, while calculations ensure the material still has sufficient rigidity. It leaves a beautiful aluminium structure with a finish resembling Swiss cheese.

The rear electric motors don’t have their own subframe, but are bolted directly onto the cradle. Similarly the modular battery has no enclosure –

12

CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | NOVEMBER 2021

that’s provided by the vehicle, once the battery tray is slid into place.

The die-cast rear structure, made from a special alloy developed with help from Brunel University, is designed to pass US crash tests, with the shock wave transmitted along load paths around the battery. And extra bonding replacing heavy welds also saves weight. The upshot is a rear structure

that’s 37 per cent lighter than the new Emira V6’s. Ultra-thin control arms make space for 18-22-inch rear wheels and an extended underbody diffuser, smoothing air flow to boost range.

Tight component packaging gives boot space for two golf bags, with the charge cable in a ‘frunk’.

‘I had a similar feeling with the Elise 25 years ago,’ says Rackham. ‘I think we’re doing something special here.’

Insider that” or “you should do this”. We have to think globally.’

The final car in the ensemble, Type 135 in 2026, will be a twoseat, pure-electric sports car. It’ll use a version of the Lightweight Electric Vehicle Architecture, shown in prototype form (below).

LEVA is simple but highly flexible, with sections that can be lengthened to enable a choice of three wheelbases and two ‘chests’ of batteries mounted amidships, stowing either 66.4kWh or 99.6kWh of energy. Or the battery can be housed beneath the floor, for 2+2 seating in a gran turismo body style.

‘Type 135 will have a chest battery, as with Evija,’ says managing director Windle. ‘We like this arrangement for dynamic reasons; we can control how the vehicle is going to perform. Also, it gives us a sleek sports-car exterior, with the feeling of the vehicle wrapping around the driver.’ But the boss would be delighted to see a Lotus 2+2 in time: ‘I want Lotus Cars to be multi-model, producing a range out of Hethel.’

Windle set his engineers the challenge of at least matching the Emira V6 for weight, and LEVA’s rear structure comes in 37 per cent lighter. Up to two electric motors can spin the rear axle, but Windle admits they’re working on a front-mounted motor for four-wheel drive.

All this flexibility is designed to help Lotus Engineering sell the LEVA platform to other companies – Renault’s sporty Alpine division is already involved. But the lifestyle electric platform is also available to other OEMs: Lotus is happy to design, engineer and even assemble partners’ cars, in Hethel or Wuhan.

That Chinese factory has a capacity of 150,000 cars a year – a mind-blowing 100 times Hethel’s typical volume in recent years.

If Lotus fills that factory, it will eclipse Jaguar’s current size.

Finally, after years of stagnation, Lotus has the masterplan, funding and intent to truly go global.

Boss Matt Windle (left) design chief Horbury: plenty to be happy about

Georg Kacher’s inside line

Future of EQ... dreamy electric halo car... new retrofuturist droptop planned You’d think the last thing on the priority list of top managers would be low-volume, high-end niche models. But halo cars are the salt in an increasingly thin soup of me-too products devoid of truly significant USPs. Mercedes is now actively embracing the category of future electric trend-setters.

The one-off EQXX, bound for January’s Consumer Electronics show, will soon demonstrate what can be achieved when R&D is prepared to pull out all the stops, irrespective of cost and feasibility. Why? Because, right now, the focus is very much on EVs and thus on advanced batteries, software, drivetrains and design, even if the EQ prefix becomes dispensable at the end of the decade when most of Merc’s range is electric anyway.

One of those new models is a two-seater designed to merge two of the brightest stars in Merc’s history: the 300SL Gullwing (pictured) and the experimental Wankel-engined C111. Both involved eye-catching

door concepts which may reappear in motorised insect-wing form. Both originals also had radical styling that could be remixed to take advantage of today’s aerodynamic know-how, with the possibility of on-demand enhanced downforce and an airbrake.

But mere retro-futurism in design won’t suffice – expect a mix of AMG and Merc componentry with Level 4 ‘hands off’ capability.

The definitive EQ package is yet to be defined. We’re led to believe the target vehicle attempts to recreate both the estate car and the conventional upright SUV, likely based on the mid-size version of the scalable new MBEA platform. Low solid-state batteries would create the seating position of a sporty crossover, while other rumoured highlights include select morphing body panels. Watch this space.

NOVEMBER 2021 | CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK

13

Insider

Future scoop

The Renault 4 returns!

Hatchback that served generations of French families from the ’60s into the ’90s will be revived as the 4Ever EV. By Jake Groves

Factfile POWERTR AIN

52kWh battery, single e-motor, 250-mile range (est) CHASSIS

Steel and aluminium monocoque DUE

Illustration: Andrei Avarvarii

2025

2

4

Leaked patent images of the new Renault 4 show a crossover-like shape with a tall rear end, while the ‘face’ that comprises the headlights and grille-like panel has been compared to the Honda E’s.

Chunky design cues and similar wheels to the Renault 5’s are expected, too.

Renault’s new power unit houses the e-motor and power electronics in one small package.

Renault says it’s the size of the Clio’s fuel tank, fed by lithiumion batteries in the floor. Expect the 4Ever to be capable of around 250 miles, thanks in large part to those weight savings.

LOFTY GOALS

1

BACK TO THE FUTURE Renault is looking forward as well as back when it comes to its new-generation EVs. While the VW ID.3-rivalling Megane E-Tech Electric is a thoroughly modern car, the planned 5 EV and the new 4Ever are distinctly retro in their design, aiming to draw in those who fondly remember what the originals looked like.

14

CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | NOVEMBER 2021

BIG THING, TINY PACKAGE

3

MAKING IT COUNT Renault’s agonising over costs and weight to make its new EVs competitive. The new CMF-BEV platform that’ll underpin the 4Ever shares 50 per cent of its components with the CMF-B architecture used by the current Clio, with Renault claiming it’s around 33 per cent cheaper to make than the Zoe’s platform.

Luca De Meo CEO, Renault Group ‘We’ve taken the iconic Renault 5 and given it an electric twist. But, as well as the 5 EV, we will revive another major star.

Internally, we’ve named it 4Ever to signify our intention to make it an instant classic.

This is our nouvelle vague (new wave); an intent to bring modernity into the conversation.’

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Insider

A look into the crystal ball Time to stop worrying that all EVs will look the same, if this quartet of show cars is anything to go by. By Jake Groves

Mercedes Concept EQG

VW ID.Life

It was inevitable – even Merc’s G-Class is going electric. This one’s a preview, and is from the school of concept-car thought that reckons every electric car needs to look like it’s fresh from the set of some classic Star Trek. A glowing animated grille, blue touches everywhere and monobloc wheels all feature, as do illuminated beltlines. Merc says it’ll be good off-road but, as our European editor says, the weight of the ladder-framed G might limit range to around 150 miles.

The smallest ID yet has been confirmed, and this is our first look.

The ID.Life concept previews what will become an ID.2 (so the same size as a Polo, but electric) and is promising a lot for the production car. It’ll have loads of space inside and an interior fit for the most switched-on young ’uns to the point there’s no central infotainment screen – you just use your phone. There are recycled materials and real wood inside, and a rolltop roof allows for open-air driving.

NEED TO KNOW

NEED TO KNOW

What is it? A look at an electric G-Class Tech specs LED lighting EVERYWHERE, electric all-wheel drive Aimed at? Taking the rugged G ethos into the electric age When can I get one? It’s just a concept for now, but a production version will follow in a few years

What is it? Preview of the smallest ID yet Tech specs First use of frontwheel drive on the MEB platform, with 231bhp and 248 miles of range Aimed at? Being your eco-conscious, switched-on city prowler When can I get one? The real one will come in 2025, likely named ID.2

Cupra UrbanRebel

Mercedes-Maybach EQS Concept

Like VW with the ID.Life, Cupra is readying a supermini crossovery thing. As Cupra’s all about sportiness, the first look at the new car is clad in all kinds of mad aero, big wings and colourful paintwork. The windscreen wraps around the A-pillars, visor-style, like Cupra’s 2019 Tavascan concept, and the rear light bar is lifted from the production Formentor. This concept has 335bhp, with a boost function up to 429bhp, but we suspect the real thing will have a bit less than that.

Riding on the coat tails of Merc’s new range of EVs, Maybach’s playing around with the upcoming SUV version of the EQS. Contrast paintwork tries to shrink the body’s size, while inside there’s lots of opulence and craftsmanship – four huge chairs, rose-gold metalwork, white lacquered wood and door panels designed like ‘high-quality’ sideboards. All this plus faux fur carpeting in the rear and a place to store your seasonal blooms.

NEED TO KNOW

NEED TO KNOW

What is it? The wildest thing to come out of Cupra yet Tech specs Racing car aero with massive front splitter and rear wing Aimed at?

Reminding us all that Cupra is sporty When can I get one? A production version without all the angry bits is coming in 2025

What is it? Merc’s upcoming EQS SUV with a Maybach treatment Tech specs ‘First class’ rear seats, automatic opening doors, a vase Aimed at?

The green-thinking, yet tacky, billionnaire When and how much? The Mercedes EQS SUV is due in 2022; Maybach version will arrive later

16 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | NOVEMBER 2021

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The Iceman leaveth One of the most enigmatic drivers in F1 history, Kimi Räikkönen, is retiring – here’s what we’ll miss.

By Curtis Moldrich

18 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | NOVEMBER 2021

Insider

T

he 2001 Australian Grand Prix went the same way as most in the early 2000s; a Schumacher win, ahead of a McLaren and his Ferrari team-mate.

But that race in Melbourne 20 years ago also marked the debut of one of F1’s biggest yet most opaque personalities.

Now aged 41, Kimi leaves F1 from the same team with which he joined the sport (Alfa now; Sauber then). He’s racked up a championship, 21 race wins, 103 podiums and a legion of fans.

THE DEADPAN CHAT You’d imagine an F1 driver might struggle to sleep in the days before his first F1 race. Not so Kimi, who enjoyed a nice nap 30 minutes before lights-out on his debut. He’d go on to finish sixth and a score a point in his first race.

His reputation as a man of few words continued the theme of Finnish succinctness begun by Mika Häkkinen before him, and it became a real advantage as Kimi’s profile grew. When faced with endless tedious media questions, monosyllabic answers were the perfect get-out clause.

They also made for great pit-radio chat, not least the priceless ‘Leave me alone, I know what I’m doing’ during the 2012 Abu Dhabi GP. When the same hapless engineer chimed in again with some tyre-management tips, Kimi struck again: ‘Yes, yes, yes, yes; I’m doing that all the time… You don’t have to remind me every 10 seconds.’

THE ANARCHIC DISRUPTION Kimi was the antithesis of the polished, soundbite-spewing, gym-crazed modern F1 driver, preferring instead to take to his yacht with a few friends and a drink or two to get over a DNF in Monaco, deliver painfully awkward interviews of nonsensical answers and casually grab an ice cream when rain stopped play.

‘I don’t know if I have a personality or not,’ he told CAR in 2017. ‘I do things that I feel are right for me, you know? It’s much easier now for me [as an established driver] than it was then, coming

What the hell would Enzo Ferrari have made of Kimi?

‘I don’t know if I have a personality or not’

KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN

from Formula Renault to F1 – it was massively different. I just thought, “I’ll just try to do my racing stuff.” I wasn’t interested in anything else.’

THE SPEED Within a year of his debut, Kimi was the new Häkkinen; fast, Finnish and incredibly cool. Kimi paired that speed with the total commitment and bravery of youth.

The sight of Kimi throwing his McLaren (his debut season with Sauber was strong enough to convince Ron Dennis to sign him) over the kerbs and whipping its V10 mercilessly was just like watching his mentor Mika. Powerful, light, and highly-strung, the cars of the early 2000s were a perfect match for his driving style.

After McLaren, he spent three years with Ferrari, bagging the title in 2007, before leaving F1. When he returned – with Lotus in 2012 – his blinding pace was undimmed. Räikkönen was a podium regular in the black and gold car and dragged it to two wins.

THE BRAVERY Kimi’s bravery is without question. For proof, look no further than the 2002 Belgium GP. Flying up Eau Rouge onto the Kemmel straight,

Kimi came upon a cloud of engine smoke. Where most would’ve lifted off, Räikkönen picked a side and kept it pinned. The McLaren emerging from the fog at full pelt remains an iconic F1 image.

THE RACECRAFT From day one Räikkönen had the racecraft to make use of his blistering pace, and his wheelto-wheel racing was always firm but fair. The 2005 Japanese Grand Prix was vintage Kimi, the Finn scything through from 17th to win. More recently, he gained 10 places on the opening lap of the 2020 Portuguese GP. Cheers, Kimi, and shine on.

Coming at you with a one-word answer

KIMI’S DOMINO EFFECT Kimi’s retirement has prompted a cascade of driver moves, including the first change at Mercedes in five years. Valtteri Bottas replaces his fellow Finn in a three-year deal with Alfa Romeo, thereby ending his partnership with Lewis Hamilton. The outlandishly talented George Russell

will join the Mercedes team from Williams, replaced by F1 returnee Alex Albon.

For the team at least, Bottas’s stint has been productive; since 2017 he’s helped them secure four constructors’ and four drivers’ world championships – though none of the latter went to the Finn.

Bottas’s career – or the Mercedes part of it – will go down as being in the right place at the wrong time.

Or, more specifically, with the ‘wrong’ team-mate. His qualifying record against Hamilton was nearly as good as that of Nico Rosberg, but on Sundays he’s failed to Go all Mystic trouble his team-mate.

Meg with the drive selector

NOVEMBER 2021 | CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK

19

Insider

AMG 2.0: the new dynasty AMG’s post-Moers management has a big to-do list. By James Taylor

E

rstwhile AMG boss Tobias Moers left a big hole when he departed last spring to run Aston Martin, not least because he held two roles: CEO and CTO. Moers’ successors – chief executive Philipp Schiemer and new chief tech officer Jochen Hermann – have plenty on their plate.

They need to steer AMG into the electric age without alienating its petrolhead fanbase, keep the finances in the black despite the R&D investment required to make that shift, and finally deliver the awesome but troublesome F1-engined AMG One hypercar to customers without compromise.

The 2021 IAA motor show in Munich saw AMG kick off its new era with two new electrified machines: its first purely battery-electric production car, and a mega-powerful plug-in hybrid. The former is the new AMG EQS 53. Based on the regular Mercedes EQS, its twin-motor set-up generates up to 751bhp and allows up to 360 miles on a single charge. The latter is the GT 63 S E-Performance, a new flagship for AMG’s four-door grand tourer with an electric rear axle plus the V8 up

20 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | NOVEMBER 2021

Petrol, electric, F1… It’s a complex set of challenges but AMG’s mission statement is at least consistent: power!!!!!!

front for a total power output no less than 831bhp: 141bhp more than the Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid. ‘We’re working on E-Performance hybrids with a small battery, around 80kg, but with a lot of power,’ says Schiemer. ‘The disadvantage we’re accepting is the range is not as high as a normal hybrid, but it is a performance hybrid.’

How to combat weight – the enemy of dynamics – in future EV AMGs? Schiemer: ‘When people today think about battery cars, they’re looking for the highest range possible. That’s automatically a lot of weight. I think in the future when people are more experienced with EVs and home chargers, they’ll accept lower range as the price of better performance. It will take time but with infrastructure development there’ll be a decrease in range anxiety and we can offer smaller batteries in pure EVs.’ That’s not all. Sources suggest AMG is also planning an electric Project Two hypercar, using synergies with Aston Martin and Multimatic to get it into production within the next decade. And AMG won’t retire its rorty V8s just yet...

PHILIPP SCHIEMER

JOCHEN HERMANN

Who are you?

The man who has to make the decisions, get the board on side, predict the future…

Who are you?

The man turning decisions into cars, and making them drive like AMGs.

What’s on the CV? Bossed the original A-Class, then bossed overall Merc marketing.

Seven years as CEO of Mercedes Brazil.

What’s on the CV? In charge of overall vehicle development at AMG until 2016; since then, head of Daimler’s EV development.

On electrification...

‘We can develop and build electric AMGs which will be emotional and fun to drive but we need to be aware: it will be a different experience to today. Half the reason to buy an AMG is the sound; we’re working on our own sound for the electric age. Many of our customers today won’t like it. But there will be new customers who’ll love it.’

On electrification...

‘We can make sure that no matter if it’s a combustion engine or electric drive, you will feel the AMG DNA. Performance is much more than 0-62mph; it’s steering around the corner, it’s a vehicle’s precision, it’s the predictable behaviour of a sports car. I really think as a company we couldn’t be better prepared.’

On the One hypercar...

‘Probably the most challenging project we’ve ever worked on. We’re fighting for our targets to start production this year but it’s still a really tough fight. But we have driven the cars and they are absolutely mind blowing.’

On the One hypercar...

‘As an engineer, I can tell you it’s the most complex powertrain somebody can think of. That’s also the uniqueness of this car. I’m positive that we will finish this car.

There are highly excited customers waiting for it; it’s definitely worth it.’

On V8s...

‘We’ll keep V8s for as long as there are customers. As long as there are markets, we will do everything to build them.’

On V8s...

‘With the PHEV GT 63 S having an independent slip-control at the rear e-axle, it takes dynamics to the next level.’

Chairman of the board, Mercedes-AMG

Chief technical officer, Mercedes-AMG

How Smart will rise from the ashes Going from zero to hero in three steps Smart, the maligned city car brand that’s circled the drain for the past few years, has a new future. Now a joint venture between Geely and Daimler Group, Smart is laying a new path to small-car greatness starting with a production version of the Concept #1 in the first half of 2022. Global sales and marketing head Daniel Lescow outlines the plan.

1. Change the perception of the brand

‘Smart is well known, but only associated with one vehicle,’ says Lescow. ‘We want to broaden that brand to a much bigger audience. There’ll be additional products coming into the Smart brand,’ he adds, including stepping into ‘high growth’ segments like small SUVs, as well as reinventing the tiny city car that got the ball rolling in the first place.

2. Take advantage of Geely tech

While Daimler’s chief design officer, Gorden Wagener, is hard at work penning the new look of Smart’s future range, it’s all Geely underneath. ‘Having Geely on the technology, cost and supplier side is very helpful,’ says Lescow. ‘This first car will be competitive in terms of charging and range; this architecture supports up to 267 miles – certainly on the upper end of what this segment is used to seeing.’

3: Sell cars in a smart way

A young target audience means moving away from a traditional retail model. Along with generous connectivity tech ‘at a very reasonable price’ and working with retailers, Smart will sell its cars online: ‘We’re in the midst of ramping up a powerful e-commerce system – that’s the next chapter.’

NOVEMBER 2021 | CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK

21

Making all the right noises Electric-only Chinese car maker Nio is setting up in Europe, aiming to out-tech Tesla with its fine-looking line-up. By Jake Groves

Getting the priorities wrong Ford has missed a trick or two in its Fiesta refresh

22 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | NOVEMBER 2021

WASN’T BROKE, WASN’T FIXED Thankfully, Ford has resisted the temptation to play around with the chassis and (more or less) the engines. It’s dropped the weedy 1.1 from the basic range, leaving only mild hybrids, and the ST keeps the same firecracker 197bhp turbocharged 1.5-litre triple and optional Quaife diff. Hurrah.

Insider

I

products global appeal.’

Nio has gained the necessary type approval to sell cars across the EU, but won’t be rushing.

Having decided to start with Norway, the continent’s most advanced EV market, it will expand from there slowly, testing the waters as it goes.

‘Entering Germany is the objective that we’re striving for,’ says Nio founder and CEO William Li. ‘Our target is to have the [sleek four-door] ET7 in Germany by the end of 2022.’

Nio isn’t going to be just another brand selling also-ran EVs, though – it’s promising and delivering far more. Its first Euro-spec car, the ES8 SUV, is already on the streets of Oslo, available as a six- or seven-seater, capable of 310 miles on a charge and with up to 536bhp on tap.

Then there’s the ET7, due in 2022. It’s a Taycan rival with road-scanning air suspension and a dramatically sparse interior, not to mention some establishment-worrying numbers: solid-state battery packs (beating the likes of Tesla to market) with up to 150kWh, and a targeted 620-mile range – far more than the longest-range Mercedes EQS or Tesla Model S. And it looks pretty fabulous. Flush door handles, aerodynamically-sculpted wheels and subtle flourishes here and there are all down to maximising drag. ‘We’re very aggressive with our aero targets,’ says Tomasson, ‘but it doesn’t have to look boring. Look at planes and jet fighters – they’re super-aerodynamic but look super-cool.’

Technology is subtly incorporated into the ET7’s design: a suite of lidar sensors for handsoff Level 4 ‘Nio Pilot’ autonomous driving are merged into the roof lining, and cameras are incorporated into design strokes on the wings.

Inside, along with an animated assistant named Nomi atop the dashboard, a rattan-like material called karuun – a sustainable alternative to

plastic – is used as a classy veneer.

As the world scrambles to improve charging times, Nio’s battery-swap stations (under the Nio Power banner) are circumventing that problem entirely. There are some set up in China already (and plans are underway to install some in Norway), where Nio owners can swap out a discharged battery and have a fully charged one installed in minutes.

Excited yet? We are. As the established automotive world continues its massive rollout of electric cars, newcomers like Nio (and Tesla before it) are setting the pace.

WAS BROKE, ISN’T FIXED

WASN’T BROKE, FIXED ANYWAY

WAS BROKE, NOW FIXED

Unfortunately, Ford has done little to boost interior quality, which has long been a black mark on an otherwise ace little car.

The cockpit lags behind the Peugeot 208, Renault Clio and its big UK sales rival, the Vauxhall Corsa, in terms of fit and finish.

Functional? Yes. Feelgood? No.

Only the nose has really changed designwise, with Ford moving the front end’s shapes around to give it a fatter snout and shallower headlights. On the ST, out go the fantastic Recaro-spec seats, making way for some electrically-operated Ford Performance pews.

The regular analogue dials can now be replaced with digital ones. While you may groan, almost all of the Fiesta’s rivals offer them on higher trims, so Ford needed to compete. Meanwhile, the pointless Vignale trim has been downgraded to a very forgettable options pack.

t’s been in Formula E since the sport’s inception, created a Nürburgring lap record-smashing electric hypercar and has been working hard to become China’s answer to Tesla, with considerable success.

Now, though, Nio faces a new set of challenges as it enters the European market, where buyers will settle for nothing less than massive battery range, futureproofed tech, clean design and ease of use.

Nio has done its homework. ‘Europeans are a picky bunch, but what we’ve learned is that our Chinese customers are also picky,’ Nio’s VP for design, Kris Tomasson, tells CAR. ‘The world is getting smaller, so when we started this company, we wanted to give our brand and its

Nio’s new ET7 will be one of the first cars with a solid-state battery

Nio’s rolling out its batteryswapping stations

Tomasson is big on clean design and eco materials

NOVEMBER 2021 | CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK

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The CAR inquisition

S I R PA U L S M I T H FA S H I O N DESIGNER AND MINI C O L L A B O R ATO R

‘Sometimes you need a shock’

A

s one of the most iconic designers in British history, Sir Paul Smith’s career has spanned decades.

His work includes high fashion and formalwear, regular seasonal looks and handmade tailoring, with patterns like his trademark stripe motif featuring heavily in an ever-changing range. He’s long been at the cutting edge of fashion, growing his label from a small shop in Nottingham in 1970 into a global clothing business encompassing clothing, watches, fragrances and more.

On top of his illustrious career in the fashion industry, Smith has also dabbled in collaborations with (mostly British) automotive marques. The first was a 1997 Rover Mini painted in that most familiar of his striped patterns. After designs with Jaguar’s X-Type, a classic 911 and a Land Rover Defender, Smith once again chose to work with Mini to create the Strip.

Talking ahead of the Strip’s reveal, Smith is relaxed, affable and enthusiastic about the project (working with Mini design boss Oliver Heilmer and his team), admitting that he’s not much of a car enthusiast. ‘I jokingly say I’m not a caroholic – I couldn’t tell you much about cars. But maybe that was the key point; the joy of having a child-like approach to something. When you

24 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | NOVEMBER 2021

haven’t collected information and references it means you can be more radical.’

The Strip’s certainly radical, with no paint on the bodywork and an interior devoid of any mouldings or flooring. There’s no infotainment, either, just a slot for your phone. Even key safety details like the airbags have been left exposed. As for sustainability, the Strip is a Mini Electric under what’s left of its skin, and sustainable materials like cork are used extensively.

‘I know it’s an over-used phrase but less is more. My father was a very practical man. He was always in his garage or workshop and never really employed anyone to do anything to the car or the house, not because of money but because he just loved doing things himself,’ says Smith. ‘So I was brought up as a kid, making do and getting by, being told “you can do this” and “of course you can do that”.’

Smith celebrates imperfections and individuality, both of which feature in his business and the Strip. The bare metalwork on his Mini creation has scuffs and blemishes on it, for example.

‘As a clothes designer, I’ll often hand-stitch a lapel. We have a bespoke tailoring service and the reason I do that is because of the imperfections. Everything is so modernised and

Illustration: Chris Rathbone

Legendary designer Paul Smith is challenging the car industry to think smaller and simpler

Insider manufactured, so I just found it interesting to have something that indicates a hand-made, hand-finished, raw feeling.’

Smith’s use of colour shines through in the Strip, too. ‘During my fashion shows, when someone is wearing a classic piece of clothing, you’ll have one brightly coloured scarf or tie – I call them punctuation marks.’ Flashes of orange in the rope handles and a deep blue chassis shine through in the car, which Smith says is meant to be like the lining of a suit jacket.

Sustainability is the buzzword of the moment, on the lips of everyone and every business claiming to have a conscience, but Smith discusses the subject with the enthusiasm of someone for whom this has long been an area of interest. He also understands the challenge of implementing this kind of thinking into mammoth industries like the automotive sector.

‘It has to do a lot with commerce. The manner in which you revitalise a product – it’s a complicated decision. How do you keep attention on your company, and how do you satisfy the desire of the people?’ he says. ‘This isn’t a criticism of Mini, but it’s just worth asking: could the future be different? Sometimes you need a little shock.

‘The difficult thing for the automotive industry is that all the processes take so long, and investments are so expensive. With fashion, you just grab a piece of fabric and a pair of scissors,’ he adds. So how should a huge car company go about giving itself a little Smith-style shock and awe? Work with younger generations. ‘It’s very hard to break into these systems but, in order to really tackle climate change, proactive young people will have to add a little spice and crack mass production.’

The world has already begun the process of rethinking how it manufacturers products; everything from T-shirts to cars. ‘In the future more things will be added that are sustainable and recyclable,’ adds Smith. ‘The planet is telling us all to behave.

It’s saying, “Sort it out”. This sustainability approach is all about promoting and pushing us all to just think.

‘What if? Can we? Could we? Let’s just try it.’

JAKE GROVES

Six questions only we would ask What was your first car?

‘A secondhand ’48 Morris Minor bought aged 18 for £20 in 1964. I had to balance a radio on the passenger seat!’

What’s your proudest achievement?

‘Growing Paul Smith from a 9m2 shop in Nottingham. We always did things within our means – key to its success.’

EQE plays mini-me Merc’s new family EV is a less huge EQS The range starts sensibly

Before any all-wheel-drive or AMG variants turn up, Mercedes is getting the ball rolling with the 350.

Rear-driven, and with 288bhp and 391lb ft on tap, claimed range is 410 miles from the 90kWh battery.

Turns on a dime

Every EQE has rear-wheel steering, with 4.5º lock as standard. You can switch on 10º via an over-the-air upgrade. Standard suspension is shared with the S-Class, with air suspension available as an option.

Grab the popcorn

EQS’s Hyperscreen is also available as an option here, involving three screens under one glass panel with haptic feedback, AI-assisted menus and extreme processing power. Oh, and an enormous options bill.

Plug in, blast off

Mercedes promises up to 170kW charging speeds, so you can add 155 miles in just 15 minutes. When you’re burning away all that fresh charge, different sounds can be applied to the powertrain via the speakers.

Tell us about a time you screwed up…

‘Driving with mates I fell asleep at the wheel, hit a tree and went through the windscreen. Broke a couple of bones!’

What’s the best thing you’ve ever done in a car?

‘The Strip. It was a great process to be a part of and it was fun to play with different perspectives on the car’s future.’

Supercar or classic car?

‘Classic.’

Curveball: what’s the record for the most people to fit inside an original Mini?

‘I haven’t a clue, but I’ve managed to squeeze a surprising amount of stuff into mine over the years!’

New EQE is similar in size to the CLS four-door coupe, rather than the E-Class saloon – first deliveries in the summer of 2022

NOVEMBER 2021 | CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK

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Insider

Wrist muscle

Watches

A US automotive icon’s essence, in watch form. By Ben Oliver

T

his month, three just-launched watches from three very different watch makers which will all appeal to drivers (or bikers), even if only one of them makes overt reference to a car.

What makes a watch a driver’s watch? It isn’t a paid-for marketing tie-up and a logo on the dial, but more a design ethos: slimmer than a diver’s watch but equally legible; maybe with a chronograph function; and ideally leathertrimmed, comfortable and mechanical, like cars used to be.

Despite their differences, these three all qualify.

02

01

03

01 I Breitling Top Time Shelby Cobra £4360

02 I Bamford B347 £2500

03 I Alsta Motoscaphe £645

Launched in ’64, Breitling’s Top Time range spawned some bonkers period designs which are now hugely collectible.

The recently reborn line-up now includes three special editions inspired by ’60s US musclecars. This Cobra-logo’d watch is our favourite: there are also Mustang and Corvette versions. breitling.com

This new model from London-based petrolhead George Bamford – the company’s founder and designer – isn’t billed as a driver’s watch, but with its forged carbonfibre case, monopusher chronograph function and echoes of classic Heuer in the design, it’s clear where its inspiration comes from. bamfordlondon.com

This is the first major departure for the resurrected Alsta, which usually focuses on re-imagining the company’s back catalogue. It’s designed for bikers, but whether on two wheels or four you’ll appreciate the super-legible layout, cool perforated leather strap, and left-hand crown that won’t dig into a bent wrist. alstawatch.com

26 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | NOVEMBER 2021

Tech THE INNOVATIONS TR ANSFORMING OUR DRIVING WORLD

Something in the air

The truth about over-the-air updates and what they mean for your current or next new car. By Colin Overland

28 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | NOVEMBER 2021

Software upgrades can be activated via a companion app

Y

ou want the good news or the bad news about over-the-air updates? The reality is, it’s exactly the same news, but viewed from contrasting old-school petrolhead or digital-first Silicon Valley perspectives. As pioneered

by Tesla, and increasingly being adopted by other car manufacturers, new software is beamed to your car while it’s parked, ready to offer an enhanced experience the next morning. It’s often small tweaks to sat-nav mapping, or the infotainment, or the virtual owner’s manual, but might also be something more significant like a revision to an electric car’s energy management, giving more power, more range or quicker charging.

Polestar, for instance, recently provided a new feature called Connected Safety, which warns the driver of potential hazards, using information gained from other Polestars and Volvos – which wouldn’t have been possible a couple of years ago, but now there are enough connected cars for it to make sense.

CAR SPEC IS NO LONGER SET IN STONE You didn’t have a dog when you bought your Tesla, but you’ve got one now. Scroll through your menus and you’ll find that Dog Mode is there, and was recently improved to send you push notifications when your parked car’s battery drops below 20 per cent, so you can be sure the dog is still being properly ventilated. Or you acquire a pre-owned car spec’d by someone with different tastes. They didn’t want auto high-beam assist, but you do – even if it means paying extra. As Volvo puts it, a new car is no longer at its finest when it leaves the factory, but keeps improving over time as more OTA updates are launched.

YO U W O N ’ T N E E D A D E A L E R V I S I T OTA updates fit into a pattern of car makers and owners having a more direct relationship, at the expense of the

LIVING ON CLOUD V9.0 H O W D O I U P D AT E M Y C A R ?

Every car with an infotainment system can be subject to software updates.

More basic, less connected systems require trips to the dealer for updates, but more cars now feature their own wi-fi receiver (allowing you to update via your home network, if your car’s within range of your router), or have a dedicated SIM card, able to download the update when there’s cellular signal. More sophisticated systems like BMW’s OS 7 and 8, Merc’s MBUX variations and Tesla’s system routinely check for updates of their own accord.

W H AT U S U A L LY C H A N G E S ?

Mostly small things; bug fixes for glitchy programs, alterations or refinements to safety systems, or simply new mapping data. Sometimes updates go awry, though; SiriusXM in the US issued an update to Uconnect systems in Jeep vehicles which resulted in an endless reboot loop, effectively disabling the system. But plenty of car makers allow the existing

version to continue to run if an update should fail.

W H AT U P DAT E S C A N I B U Y ?

Mercedes in the UK, at the time of writing, charges £200 for using the front-facing camera as a dashcam, and a ‘beginner driver mode’ that limits acceleration, from £19, or AMG’s Track Pace app for £219 and that more extreme rear-steer from £429 on the EQE and EQS. BMW even offers adaptive cruise for £750 or adaptive M suspension for £399 if your car has the physical tech to allow it as well as a BMW Connected subscription.

Mercedes is among the leaders in paid OTA updates

Want more extreme rearwheel steering from your EQS? That’ll cost you owner-dealer bond. It’s now easier than ever to buy – new or approved-used – straight from the manufacturer, and the car is delivered to your home. Service intervals on combustion cars have got further apart, and EVs have fewer moving parts in need of maintenance. Widespread adoption of measures such as lane-keep assist and adaptive cruise control means fewer crash repairs are needed, too. And where previously a recall might have been needed to sort a software glitch, now it’s dealt with while you’re snoozing indoors.

B U T S O M E U P D AT E S C O S T M O N E Y Not the majority of over-the-air updates, which are regarded as part of the service. But other – optional – upgrades aren’t free.

Decide you want the more extreme form of rear-wheel steering in your Mercedes EQS, or want to activate the heated seats in certain BMWs? That’ll cost you, even though the hardware was there all along. The CAR team has had personal experience of this; pressing a physical adaptive high-beam switch on the stalk of a 5-series prompted a message inviting us to the BMW Store to pay for the privilege.

And the same technology can be used to switch on or switch off your access to Apple CarPlay, for instance, at the start or end of a subscription to something like real-time traffic alerts.

Manufacturers aren’t shy about their money-making intentions with OTA updates; Markus Schäfer, head of research for Mercedes cars, tells CAR: ‘We’re aiming for an additional €1bn by 2025 to be added from packages and services that we’re selling over the air. Of course, we want to provide features and new experiences to our customers, but also ultimately to do additional business in the future after we’ve sold the vehicle.

That’s going to be more and more important.’

NOVEMBER 2021 | CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK

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Tech

CAR explains

BMW iX: the science bit

Your guide to the structural and powertrain genius in Munich’s new powerhouse. By CJ Hubbard

Required to pass a five-metre drop test on its own, the battery is immensely strong, adding a secondary chassis structure to the iX while lowering the centre of gravity.

he iX may not be quite as radical in its construction as the intensely cutting-edge i3 was in its day. But it’s not far off. Its structure saves 50kg in body-in-white weight compared with an X5, while also providing a great platform for comfort and handling. In fact, the iX (driven on p56) is BMW’s new benchmark for Bentley-esque rigidity and refinement.

T

S E C O N D - L I F E M AT E R I A L S In an effort to entice keenly green buyers, BMW has incorporated significant amounts of recycled materials, including using ‘up to’ 50 per cent secondary aluminium and 20 per cent recycled thermoplastics. In total, 60kg of the car’s plastic comes from recycled sources, and supposedly the total carbon footprint of the iX is 45 per cent less than a regular crossover.

CARBONFIBRE: THE COME BACK This is the first bespoke BMW EV since the i3, and Munich’s proficiency with the wonder material is clear to see. Open the doors and you’ll see the visible – and structural – carbonfibre-reinforced plastic that forms the body sides. This skins a sectioned aluminium skeleton forming the floorpan up to the window line. The A-pillars through to the roof rails are formed from high-strength steel with a carbon core, and there’s further CFRP support at the front and rear of the roof.

BMW calls this its ‘carbon cage’, and it’s central to an ‘intelligent material mix’ that optimises torsional rigidity while saving weight. The saving weight part might seem a moot point when the car tops 2.5 tonnes, but consider that there’s a 650kg battery pack integrated into the underside.

B AY E R I S C H E E - M O T O R E N W E R K E These fifth-generation motors use magnets created from copper-wound iron. This makes them ‘electrically excitable’ rather than permanently magnetic, allowing for minute manipulation of the magnetic fields. So, if you were worried all electric cars will feel the same under your right foot, think again – the way these motors deliver performance is now precisely tuneable. The iX uses this to maintain maximum power and torque at higher revs – something most EVs struggle to do.

Behind the wheel, there’s no sense of the motors’ performance dying away at higher speeds. Instead the iX just pulls and pulls, much to the frustration of Germans on the autobahn, angrily thrashing their big diesel-engined cars like two-strokes in a bid to keep up…

INSIDE BMW’S STRONG BUT L I G H T PA R T- C A R B O N C A G E A ROOF OVER YO U R H E A D

For the A-pillars, highstrength steel forms the outer surface, with a carbonfibre core beneath. The combo extends to much of the roof line, with supporting cross pieces also made from CFRP.

CFRP FLANKS

The entire lower body side of the iX is made from carbonfibrereinforced plastic, using techniques perfected during development and production of the i3.

The metal beneath is aluminium.

30 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | NOVEMBER 2021

BMW’s tuning its motor units now as it has its engines for decades

S E V E N H E AV E N

iX’s ‘intelligent material mix’ not only makes for a stiff structure, it also means it can be built on the same production line as cars like the 7-series (which has its own CFRP elements).

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Meeting of minds

Is 3D printing revolutionary?

A game-changer, set to radically alter how cars are designed and engineered, or an over-hyped process that can’t be scaled? We quiz the experts. By Ian Adcock

I A N DY S M IT H GORDON M U R R AY DESIGN

FAD I AB RO S T R ATA S Y S

IAN CALLUM C A LLU M DESIGNS

t’s been called a manufacturing process so revolutionary that, like Arkwright’s Spinning Jenny of 1764 or Henry Ford’s 1913 Model T production line, it could turn a whole industry on its head, and those who fail to recognise its import will fall by the wayside .3D printing, or ‘additive printing’, is a process that goes straight from a computer-aided design to a finished item with no waste – none of the swathes of discarded materials that result from traditional machining, casting or moulding. With 3D printing, materials are built up layer upon layer in only the exact areas and quantities required.

It also opens the door for complex biomimicry structures – ingenious engineering inspired by nature – that add strength only where it’s needed.

Andy Smith is chief engineer at Gordon Murray Design, a company with a strong focus on industrial processes as well as car design and manufacture. Fadi Abro is an automotive expert at 3D printing specialist Stratasys. We also talk to Ian Callum, the former Jaguar design chief who now runs his own design and engineering business.

W H AT ’ S S O C L E V E R A B O U T 3 D P R I N T I N G ?

Andy Smith, Gordon Murray Design: ‘You can do trick things with it that you can’t do with conventional mouldings.

For instance, as there’s no need to worry about die draws and

32 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | NOVEMBER 2021

Porsche has experimented with 3D-printed custom seats

draft angles [design compromises caused by manufacturing practicalities], you can do whatever you want within reason.

‘Titanium is a good example: it’s not cheap, but you can use it very effectively in the right places, saving weight and cost. It helped to keep the T.50 [Murray’s lightweight V12 supercar] as light as it is. With Gordon’s obsession for weight-saving it was a natural thing for us to do.’

Ian Callum: ‘The biggest advantage for me is getting to the final design of a component, either mechanical or aesthetic,

Tech

‘The biggest 3D printing advantage is getting to the final design very quickly from a prototype’ IAN CALLUM

very quickly from a prototype. I am not a great fan of assessing a product only on CAD. You can build prototypes from them and still get issues.

‘For us it also means we can produce one-off items for customers or limited production runs without huge investments in moulds or castings that aren’t financially viable.’

Fadi Abro, Stratasys: ‘Ford and GM are investing heavily in 3D printers that are part of the manufacturing process; a production application but not a production part. 3D printers can produce manufacturing tools that are lighter, 90 per cent cheaper and free of design restrictions that conventional machining, casting or moulding places on engineers.’

Thousands of the Bugatti Bolide’s fixings are 3D printed

W H AT W I L L 3 D P R I N T I N G B E U S E D F O R ?

Andy Smith, Gordon Murray Design: ‘Currently we’re using it for mundane items such as clips and locks for cables and pipes.

It’s ideal for that, but also interior panels.

‘You can also do some really trick heat exchangers that you can’t make in any other way, putting the channels wherever you like. But you need to understand the manufacturing method and how you can drastically alter the performance of the part depending on how it’s produced. Design limitation is really down to your imagination, but there’s a need to be aware of the material properties and manufacturing times. It’s fascinating and moving very fast; it challenges you to think about what might be possible.’

Ian Callum: ‘You can do parts that have no respect to draft angles and shape them as we want them, with returns and negative surfaces, or even parts within parts.

‘I see it as an opportunity. I went through 40 years of respecting draft angles, and I still do when it comes to a panel pressing, but 3D printing gives us more scope to do things in a simpler way; no tool inserts, flash lines or fabrication.’

‘We will be able to make bespoke parts that wouldn’t have been feasible before: switches, door handles, mirrors, badging.

With bigger printers we could make wheels with an infinite number of shapes and returns on the spokes that would otherwise require a several-piece tool to achieve the same result.

‘It takes us to a different mindset where we start to explore things we wouldn’t have even contemplated before.’

Fadi Abro, Stratasys: ‘The past decade has been about material development. The next five to 10 years will all be about ramping up production speed to be competitive with traditional technology. By then, OEMs will be thinking about 3D printing first rather than today’s traditional manufacturing techniques.

‘It’ll enable biomimicry; think about a spider’s web, which is created in a minimalist way to support its activity. Organic designs, combined with lightweight polymers, will deliver big weight savings for electric vehicles, pick-ups and large SUVs.’

3D -PRINTED PISTONS? S E R I O U S LY ?

The pistons for Porsche’s 991-generation 911 GT2 RS, made by Mahle, were 3D printed. They’re 10 per cent lighter than forged series-production pistons, and have a cooling duct in the piston crown that could not have been produced by conventional methods. ‘That made it possible to get up to 29bhp more power from the 690bhp engine, while at the same time improving efficiency,’ says Porsche advanced engineering boffin Frank Ickinger.

3D printing also allows for more personalisation

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Tech

YO U R G P S D I C T I O N A R Y HOW IT WORKS

1

Does it work?

An all-new kind of mapping service

TO A FINE POINT What3Words has diced up the entire globe into 3m2 squares to hone vague addresses or location markers

A bunch of gobbledygook? Not so. What3Words is all about going beyond postcodes and street names. By Jake Groves

E

ver tried to visit somewhere that has a huge acreage but only one postcode? Do you find using super-accurate coordinates to nail down a precise location far too fiddly? Mapping service What3Words might have the answer. What3Words claims that 70 per cent of addresses don’t take you to the front door, and 74 per cent of 3000 people surveyed across the UK, US and Germany admitted they struggled to find locations because of wonky addresses.

So What3Words has cut up the entire planet into 3m2 squares, each of which is given a name consisting of three random words. So the front door of 10 Downing Street is ‘indoor.myself.rather’; the front door of our office is ‘feel.dose.expert’.

What3Words says it’s used by businesses that deliver and can help the emergency services locate you, especially in the wilderness.

There’s an app for iOS and Android devices that allows you to find these three words, but it requires a bit of a brain reset. It seems odd, but you can’t key in an address to find the appropriate three words on the app – instead you need to either use your current GPS location or trawl the map for it. Also, the app doesn’t provide its own direct navigation to that exact point, relying on third-party mapping like Google, Apple Maps or Waze to do it.

What3Words is more user-friendly in those instances where it has teamed up with car

34 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | NOVEMBER 2021

manufacturers. Ford, for example, lets you use What3Words via its Sync AppLink catalogue, while Mercedes goes one step further by letting you type What3Words ‘addresses’ into the MBUX nav if it’s connected to online services. It can also be used via Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, but needs allowing on the What3Words app on Apple devices first – and, during our investigation on Android, refused to appear in the app menu even though we carefully followed the instructions.

While testing, we tried it with numerous locations including a fast food drive-thru via Ford’s AppLink system. After finding the three words on the app, that point then gets sent to the car’s in-built navigation system and we’re on our way.

You can also use voice control to find a map point, provided you already know the words. It takes an extra few seconds to retrieve the words required, but could be of benefit if it reduces the number of U-turns in that journey’s last mile. It’s also far, far less clunky than memorising a 16-digit set of coordinates.

Does it work?

Sort of. It has very specific cases for personal use, and we found that integrating it into a car can be difficult. But it’s likely to be valuable for some businesses, and could be a life-saver when used by the emergency services in your time of need.

2

’A P P Y S E A R C H I N G The mobile app is a requirement; either to find the words for the location or to connect to your car

3

N AV I G AT E YO U R S E L F The app only retrieves the words.

Then you need to use another map service to give you a route

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drives First

THE WORLD’S BEST WRITE RS IN THE NEW CARS THAT MATTE R

GENESIS GV 70

Into the lion’s den

Korea’s answer to the X3 tackles town, country and motorway on a visit to BMW’s British heartland. Can it really beat the Germans at their own game?

Words Adam Binnie Photography Olgun Kordal

36 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | NOVEMBER 2021

The 300-mile test NEW CAR MEETS REAL WORLD

NOVEMBER 2021 | CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK

37

Given a good sweeping road, the GV70 slips easily into a steady gallop

Black dash-top is digi-only, while red lower part gets the physical switches 38 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | NOVEMBER 2021

First drives 300-mile test

T

Maybe not pretty, but distinctive enough to get talked about

his morning is both drizzly and misty, but the bright red SUV still manages to stand out. It needs to. The GV70 is the car most likely to do the business for Hyundai as it reintroduces Genesis to the UK, now as a multi-model sub-brand, where previously it was the name of an attempt at a flagship saloon. But in order to do the business, it needs to get itself noticed in this highly competitive part of the market, and to offer something to woo image-obsessed BMW X3, Audi Q5 and Mercedes GLC buyers. A real challenge for a relatively unknown name – just ask Infiniti.

Visually, it’s off to a good start. There are shared elements with the larger GV80 SUV – the wing-shaped grille and ‘double strike-through’ daytime running lights, for example. It looks better with those LEDs on, and with the usual bright chrome subdued by a tint that comes with this Sports Line model.

That’s the middle trim between Premium and Luxury Line and adds a three-dimensional mesh grille, 19-inch wheels and big round exhausts, set below a bootlid that’s largely uninterrupted metal, with the release button hidden in the wiper base.

The 2.5-litre four-pot petrol – unusually large for the class – is one of two available engines (alongside a 2.2-litre diesel, both all-wheel drive and auto only) and as we join the A1 at Peterborough I start wondering whether that means the fuel bill for this trip will also be unusually large. Our destination is Leeds, chosen chiefly because it’s one of the most pro-BMW cities in the UK, so it’ll be a chance to see how well the Genesis fits in. Our route also means giving the GV70 a proper test on motorways, urban roads and country lanes flanked with drystone walls that predate automotion entirely.

This section of the A1 has only two lanes, so we start in slow-moving traffic. While the adaptive cruise control and optional lane-keep take the strain, I take in my surroundings.

The cabin is not a tightly buttoned-up tech fest like the Q5, nor flashy like a GLC, and the ergonomics haven’t been fettled to obsession like an X3’s. It’s something of all three.

Quality materials are used well – from the knurled indicator stalks to the impressive glass gear selector and infotainment wheel, everything feels nice, with a smooth action. The leatheralike material on the dashboard stretches way down, and there are soft-touch plastics as low as the doorbins. I’m also struggling to find any recognisably Hyundai bits. The menu keys for the screen maybe? Certainly nothing else stands out.

As traffic clears the GV70 proves quiet on the move. Comfortable too, despite the sportier trim and large wheels; it rides with a soft-edged and nicely controlled gait. The driving

Pick-up

position is more car than SUV, but you still get a good view of the road over the wheel. Round rather than flat-bottomed, despite this being a sportier trim, the wheel has the same sort of bratwurst girth as a BMW rim. Controls for cruise and lanekeep are housed within minimalist, touch-sensitive plastic.

This ovoid swoop of the dash trim was inspired by an aeroplane’s wing, says Genesis, like the grille and badge. We’ve pulled over at Newark Air Museum for a breather (and because I like looking at the Vulcan), and I realise the GV’s interior is full of ovals – like an RX-8’s triangles or a Lamborghini’s hexagons.

As the road continues north it gathers pace and it’s a good chance to test the auto lane-change function. Use the indicator and the car does the rest – although it takes longer than if you were to just do it yourself, and gets annoyed if you interfere, like a toddler doing up their shoes.

The many electronic functions can be adjusted via the 14.5inch main touchscreen, which is a stretch to reach, and better navigated using the rotary controller. That’s when you haven’t ⊲

49 miles An early start at the office to pick up the GV70. You can’t miss it in the car park: with its red paint and arresting styling, it announces itself with confidence.

Chunky grille could snare you a whole pie’s worth of blackbirds on the drive home

74 miles Genesis says the recurring oval motif was inspired by an aeroplane’s wing, so we make a quick pitstop to compare it to the real thing.

A big expanse of bonnet stretches out in front, causing considerable brow sweat when trying to nose it into a parking space at sausage roll o’clock. Handy camera helps guide it in.

NOVEMBER 2021 | CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK

39

Road-reading tech helps suspension cope with anything

Sport Line brings big pipes, if not much sportiness

117 miles

152 miles Navigating an unfamiliar city in an unfamiliar car can be nerve-shredding, but the GV70’s 3D sat-nav makes it easy to weave through the tall buildings in Leeds.

40 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | NOVEMBER 2021

192 miles Calming vibes from the stereo courtesy of some preloaded nature soundtracks. Forest: good. Seaside: makes me need the loo. Snowy village: just a bit odd.

Most of the cabin feels special, but the centre console was designed by scattergun, the sat-nav’s ancient and the shift paddles would look cheap in a car worth half this much.

First drives 300-mile test

It’s no Macan but it’s good, ordered fun on an open road, with bags of trustworthy traction grabbed the gear selector by mistake, because it’s the same shape and barely a few inches away. The screen’s graphics are lovely and crisp, and while the interface is easy enough to use, it’s not as intuitive as BMW’s or Audi’s, and doesn’t have the advantage of a Volvo’s portrait nav-screen orientation.

Not that we’ve needed much in the way of navigation up to this point, as it’s just been a case of sitting on the A1. But soon Leeds beckons, with the promise of some cut-and-thrust city driving. Helping out here as straight roads turn to wiggly city capillaries are traffic sign recognition and a camera that scans the road for potholes and speed bumps so it can prime the dampers to reduce wheel impact. This works well – not up to a Mercedes-Benz S-Class equipped with similar tech, but the GV70’s comfortable motorway ride is well maintained on slower roads too. There’s a firmer edge you don’t get in an air-suspended set-up, but also no wallowing.

Leeds turns out to be a bit of maze as we try to navigate towards some lunch, but the 3D sat-nav display helps bring the map on the screen to life, and soon we’re nervously making our way up to the top floor of a tight multi-storey car park, surround-view camera on full-time and parking sensors beeping like R2-D2 in a dogfight. When we return to the car someone’s parked perilously close, but salvation exists in the form of the ‘park out’ button on the key, which starts the engine and inches the car out of a tight spot so you can get in.

However, it’s not just here that the GV70 feels a little wide.

Later, as we thread through roadworks I’m drawing my knees together like I’m on a motorbike. Marginally wider than an X3 or Q5, it’s on par with an XC60, so maybe it’s an illusion brought on by the airy cabin. Either way, I’m not overly concerned about a meeting of 19-inch wheel and low cobblestone kerbs, as there’s a fair bit of sidewall, which is also helping to take the edge off lumpy tarmac as we pass Leeds Town Hall, on the way to finding some more involving roads in the Yorkshire Dales.

The standard eight-speed auto has been a little sleepy in town so I’m hoping a dive into Sport mode and maybe some interaction with the paddles will wake it up. The auto-hold handbrake also pings off with some ferocity when red lights turn green, so altogether the GV70 hasn’t felt as relaxing to drive in town as on faster roads, and a fair way behind a wafty plug-in hybrid rival.

It feels weird complaining about a large, uncomplicated petrol engine – the sort of thing we often champion – but

258 miles

really what a car like this deserves is a big, lazy six-cylinder diesel, serving up platefuls of torque and getting a million mpg. Performance isn’t lacking but it needs winding up – the gearbox seems reluctant even in its sportier mode, as the city melts away and the geography changes once again. We’re into rolling hills and blind bends now, not much elevation change but plenty for the driver – and the car – to think about.

Given a good sweeping road, and gears selected manually on the nicely sized wheel-mounted paddles, the GV70 slips easily into a steady gallop, although its 311lb ft lives mostly in the midrange and it’s possible to get bogged down if the revs drop too low. A full sweep of the tacho reveals a whooshy turbo soundtrack not unlike an old Renault Megane RS, but held on a steady throttle the four-cylinder motor tends to drone. An augmented soundtrack can be turned up, down or off; the lowest volume setting adds a welcome bit of character.

The brakes are plenty strong enough but a bit vague at the pedal’s top, and the body movement (although better controlled in the sportier modes) and heavy steering discourage sharp direction changes. The steering’s good, though – direct off the centre and linear.

The rear-driven sensation is there, not like an Alfa Romeo Stelvio (with the world’s most reluctant all-wheel-drive system) but nonetheless delivering a handy push out of a corner and a ⊲

NO, IT’S REALLY NOT A HYUNDAI You can’t just walk into a dealership with a load of cash and drive one away, because there aren’t any dealerships. Genesis sells its cars directly to its customers via an experience centre (one in London, more to follow) or online.

Once you’ve made contact, a ‘Genesis Personal Assistant’ arranges test-drive cars to come to your home or office (only if you’re in the South East, currently). The price is fixed wherever you live and there’s no room for haggling.

Your GPA remains your single point of contact for all aftersales matters,

from questions about how the car works to servicing. Genesis has headhunted staff working in luxury retail or hospitality, not car dealership staff.

All cars come with a five-year, unlimitedmileage care plan, including warranty, servicing, roadside assistance, and overthe-air updates for

301 miles Trying to remember the last time I drove a Simply Petrol engine with no electrification.

Economy has hovered in the mid-20mpg zone. Yikes.

software and maps.

When the car needs a service an equivalent (or larger) courtesy car arrives and yours is taken away on a transporter to a ‘black box aftersales facility’, where Genesis techs carry out the work.

Basically, you never need go to a Hyundai garage.

Drop-off: 366 miles Car seat massages are less disappointing when you think of them as just a way to mobilise numb bits, rather than a full-on deep-tissue experience.

The GV70’s is working wonders.

We part ways with no small amount of sadness. The GV70 exceeded my expectations and has been an entertaining and intriguing (but thirsty) companion.

NOVEMBER 2021 | CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK

41

First drives 300-mile test

▲ PLUS

Luxurious; intriguing look; the unconventional but still safe choice MINUS ▼

Petrol version’s fuel economy; relatively unknown brand

A LT E R N AT I V E S ⊳⊲

BMW X3 Practical; fun to drive; engine options to suit all

Audi Q5 Nadal to the X3’s Federer, always challenging for the top spot

small tuck of the nose into the corner if you get on the gas early.

The optional electronic rear diff is the key element, able to push 100 per cent of the rear-wheel torque to one side if necessary.

Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tyres offer huge grip, and if you try to go beyond that the seatbelts tighten as a suggestion that you might want to slow down. It’s no Macan but it’s good, ordered fun on an open road, with approachable limits and bags of trustworthy traction. It’s just a shame you can’t mix and match drive modes to combine the faster drivetrain setting with a more relaxed chassis for a cross-country blast.

Back into Comfort mode for the journey home, the seat bolsters automatically loosen their grip. This car has the upgraded Ergo Motion front seat (part of the Comfort Seat Package) with 18-way adjustment, and it’s excellent. When you run your hand over the controls, a graphic on the screen explains what they adjust, and there’s a massage function that moves sections of the seat around to help loosen up any numb bits. It works well, but the passenger doesn’t get one, which will cause arguments.

With 70mph locked in and the light outside fading there’s a bit of surprise and delight to be found – the gear selector is illuminated red or blue depending on direction, and the doors have ambient lighting panels with fancy shapes that I hadn’t noticed earlier. I’ve also discovered the controls for the 12.3-inch 3D driver display. When dialled down it’s barely noticeable, but turned right up it looks superb. Part of the Innovation package that also includes a head-up display, it doesn’t offer quite the effect you get in a Peugeot 208, but gives depth to the needles and clocks so they look almost like a set of proper physical dials, while retaining the additional functionality of a digital screen.

It goes back to 2D when you’re not looking, because there’s a sensor that can detect your gaze and deactivate the effect. It takes just long enough to reactivate to appreciate how good it looks in 3D, particularly in Eco mode, but not so much in Sport where everything appears to be on fire.

It’s not all wonderment, though – parked up outside a dinner stop and poking around in the back of the car it becomes clear there are no keyless sensors in the rear doors (thumbs down from parents who load their children in first) and the bootlid won’t open unless the gearbox is in Park. Probably a good safety feature, but more often than not an annoyance that results in your passengers banging on the glass.

Really, though, the snagging list is admirably short for a new car and mostly centres around the engine and its running costs. Undoubtedly there’s a really good car in there, but the petrol version is thirsty at one end of the scale and not particularly exhilarating at the other. We’ve not tried the diesel but on paper at least it seems like the much more considered option.

Is this car better than an X3? At the moment, not quite, especially for those company car drivers who have got used to their Volvos and their premium German brands. A missed opportunity maybe. But at least, on its travels in the lion’s den, the Genesis looked both striking enough to stand out and classy enough to fit in. With the right powertrain, the gap would close considerably, but for now the GV70 is an unconventionally appealing challenger.

Next month:

MCLAREN ARTURA

BRITAIN’S HYBRID SUPERCAR TESTED

42 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | NOVEMBER 2021

The snagging list is short for a new car and mostly centres around the engine and its running costs

PRICE

Data

£43,350 (2.5L Sport Line; £54,5540 as tested)

POWERTRAIN

2497cc 16v turbocharged fourcylinder, eight-speed auto, all-wheel drive

PERFORMANCE

300bhp @ 5800rpm, 311lb ft @ 1650rpm, 6.1sec 0-62mph, 149mph top speed

WEIGHT

1985kg

EFFICIENCY

29.7-30.0mpg, 216-230g/km CO2

ON SALE

Now

R AT I N G

★★★★★

APRIL 20NOVEMBER 2021 | SUBSCRIBE TO CAR FOR JUST £4.20 A MONTH! GREATMAGAZINES.CO.UK

43

The Conti’s omnipresent torque and unimpeachable composure flatten climbs and melt distance

44 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | NOVEMBER 2021

First drives Drives

B E N T L E Y C O N T I N E N TA L G T S P E E D C O N V E R T I B L E

Hedonism

Bentley’s new flagship Conti GT droptop – because you’re worth it

Carbon trim part of the £9180 Styling Specification; the 22s are standard

Half an hour in the company of the Continental GT Speed Convertible, the droptop version of Bentley’s most dynamic road car yet, and not only have I stopped worrying, I’ve entirely forgotten exactly what it was I was fretting about. My previously furrowed brow is pebble smooth, the knot in my stomach untangled and replaced by a blissful contented calm.

After all, it’s hard to wring your hands about your carbon footprint (a cool 320g per km), or whether or not the Convertible might be a vaguely nonsensical way in which to enjoy Speed specification when they’re clasping one of the most deliciously tactile steering wheels in all existence, its flawless circumferential stitching just so in the hand like a new Dukes cricket ball. (The droptop’s £20k dearer than the coupe, 163kg heavier and, being less rigid, a less promising baseline to which to bolt the Speed’s exclusive chassis tech.)

We’re in Sicily, in early September, and last night’s storms have cleared. The Bentley’s thick fabric roof is stowed, and every trivial concern my passenger and I may have carried with us into the car has since been obliterated by the magnificence of the moment. As we drive – the Conti’s omnipresent torque and unimpeachable composure flattening climbs and melting distance – the views evolve hypnotically. Wild, stone-studded hillsides of olives, cacti and hardy grasses bake in the morning heat, the only signs of life the birds whose shadows race over the parched ground. Labyrinthine medieval towns snooze in the early afternoon. And now and then, as we skirt closer to the coast, the Mediterranean fills our world, a shimmering expanse of fathom-deep azure.

You’d get much the same views in the coupe, of course, but the magic of the Convertible is that you experience this unfolding narrative with every sense, not just your eyes. The heavy heat of the noon sun on your arms. The welcome chill as you break free of the tree line at altitude.

The faint smell of vineyard bonfires on the breeze. The pavement chatter and bustle as you pass through town. In complete comfort you live these moments rather than just observe them in an approximation of the experience of riding a motorcycle, though without the hardship, discomfort, vulnerability or loneliness.

That the Continental GT is nice inside won’t come as news to anyone, but it’s worth reiterating

Speed the only W12 Conti available in the UK. V8 is less potent, more charming

just what a spectacular interior this is. It’s a place of impeccable design and flawless execution, one that understands that there’s a time and a place for simplicity and calm, just as there’s a time and a place for theatre, for jewel-like ornamentation and for technology, should you want it. It’s also a cockpit that understands that all of the above means nothing if you can’t nail the basics. The Conti GT does, with seats that cosset as they support and infotainment for which you need make no excuses.

All of which was already true of the V8 Convertible, of course. Charismatic, fast, handsome and, with its deft, oleaginous powertrain and implacable all-wheel drive, outrageously capable, there’s little not to like about the droptop Conti GT V8, particularly when you remind yourself of the two most important letters in the GT’s name. Relatively tall, weighty and inert next to more sporting but noticeably less luxurious rivals, to date the Continental GT hasn’t tried to be a sports car.

To an extent that’s still true of the faster, more expensive new Speed. It is not a car cut from the same cloth, say, as say the first-generation Supersports. You’ll find no deleted rear seats here, no motorsport-inspired weight-reduction measures, and no rollcage. The Speed expands the Continental’s remit rather than attempting ⊲

THE FIRST HOUR 1 minute

Phew. Speed spec doesn’t bring with it an ill-advised bodykit or swathes of interior carbonfibre 2 minutes

You’re paying dearly for the convertible roof, so for heaven’s sake let’s get it down 32 minutes

Couple of hillside hairpins. Speed’s newfound agility is startling 42 minutes

Twin-turbo W12 versus a long queue of slower traffic.…

W12 wins 58 minutes

Buying a Speed?

Bravo. But go coupe

NOVEMBER 2021 | CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK

45

There is no finer luxury interior on sale, which helps make the price easier to swallow

to shift it wholesale upon its axis. Comfort mode remains imperious. It’s just that now, thanks to lessons learned creating the Conti GT Pikes Peak car, and the fitment of some purposeful new hardware on the chassis side, in Sport mode the Speed’s far truer to the word.

Pricing is not shy, taking the Conti GT north of £200k before options. The coupe costs £209,900 and the Convertible’s £20k premium persists, making the droptop a £230k car. For your money you get stuff you’d expect of a car badged Speed, including a fettled W12 good for 650bhp, more speed (208mph), exclusive 22-inch wheels in a choice of finishes, Speed badging inside and out, dark meshwork to the car’s imposing grilles and two vast exhaust pipes. But, before any sense of being short-changed creeps in, let’s run through the stuff that really makes the Speed tick.

The standard car’s open diff is replaced with an eLSD, to better control the vast performance now directed at its rear axle. In too comes fourwheel steering, for the first time on the Conti GT. And most everything else, from suspension calibration to active anti-roll-bar set-up, drivetrain torque splits to ESC thresholds, has been re-worked to nail the brief: to turn a benign GT into an agile and exploitable plaything.

Off-the-line performance is surreally spectacular. Push down hard on the brake with your left foot and, with your right, introduce the accelerator pedal to the carpet. The

PRICE

£230,900

Data 46 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | NOVEMBER 2021

W12 makes whooshy noises. And makes the car go whoosh

Gummy Pirellis lazily over-rotate on dusty Sicilian concrete and then, bam!

W12’s engine speed climbs, hangs, waits. Release the brake. Gummy Pirellis lazily over-rotate on dusty Sicilian concrete and then bam: the twin-turbo W12 and rear-biased four-wheel drive (the Speed only ever punts about 18 per cent of its drive to the front axle) duly deliver an unlikely slug of physical dislocation, with 0-62mph done in a little over three and half seconds.

The Speed’s optional carbon brakes (£12k… justify them on grounds of their weight saving – 33kg in unsprung mass – and their fade-free power) are thankfully up to the task of killing speed as effortlessly as the W12 is able to create it, the two locked in a good-natured dispute for supremacy down any decent stretch of road.

But it’s the Speed’s deliciously controllable

POWERTRAIN

5950cc 48v W12, eight-speed twin-clutch auto, all-wheel drive

PERFORMANCE

throttle-adjustability that lingers in the memory.

Where previously this third-gen Conti GT has met optimistic entry speeds, playful lifts and big mid-corner throttle inputs with dogged neutrality and lashings of ESC interference, the Speed is Bentley’s two-door set free – that 650bhp W12 as fundamental to the endlessly enjoyable, steered-from-the-rear cornering experience as the weightier, more direct steering rack.

BEN MILLER

First verdict A startling lesson in what Bentley can achieve when it lets its hair down, the Speed adds real depth to the Conti GT proposition ★★★★★

650bhp @ 5000rpm, 664lb ft @ 1500rpm, 3.7sec 0-62mph, 208mph

WEIGHT

2436kg

EFFICIENCY

20.0mpg, 320g/km CO2

ON SALE

Now

First drives Drives

V W GOLF eHYBRID

Same difference

Sensible, comfortable new plug-in Golf struggles to stand out from its many rivals

▲ PLUS

Smooth powertrain; comfortable; decent e-range

I’ve just managed 62mpg from a 200-mile motorway journey, even though I didn’t start with a fully charged battery. That’s what I’m talking about! Take that, diesel.

And it’s been relaxing along the way. Podcast on, e-motor and engine working in perfect harmony, and not a lot of wind noise either.

Whether or not you like the face (complete with glowing bar at night) the Golf certainly cuts cleanly through the air. And this new plug-in hybrid – a detuned Golf GTE, essentially – has fat balloon tyres that bring two benefits: they’re great for reducing rolling resistance and translate fewer jolts up your back. Lovely.

To get the best fuel economy you need to be gentle, obviously, and to have a route programmed into the standard-fit sat-nav, with the hybrid system in auto, so it can juggle e-assistance and engine power most effectively. Do this and it really works. Instead of the Golf just burning its charge away in the first quarter of the journey, it sips that e-juice over the whole route.

PRICE

MINUS ▼

Soggy brake pedal; austere interior

Data

£33,640 (eHybrid Style)

POWERTRAIN

In town, the eHybrid is peppy and keen to keep you in e-mode as much as possible. You pretty much have to kick the throttle into the firewall for the 1.4-litre TSI to wake up. That’s especially noticeable if you’re flinging yourself up a motorway sliproad – the turbocharged four-cylinder growls like a wolf with a cold but doesn’t add much to overall acceleration.

This being a Mk8 Golf, you must contend with a fiddly infotainment set-up and a desperately plain interior. And the eHybrid brings a weakness all of its own: a tremendously soggy and inconsistent brake pedal – frustrating when you’re pootling around in town.

VW claims that, managed right, the eHybrid is capable of up to 44 miles of e-range. During our test, we saw no more than 34 on the range predictor – still good, but those lost 10 miles would elevate it above some of its myriad rivals. Your choices for similar money include Skoda’s Octavia iV and Seat’s Leon eHybrid, which use the same tech but clock in cheaper whether you’re buying outright or leasing, while Ford’s Kuga PHEV offers SUV looks and the potential for better efficiency. You’d need to really want a Golf to be won over by the eHybrid.

JAKE GROVES

First verdict

PERFORMANCE

201bhp, 258lb ft @ 1550rpm, 7.4sec 0-62mph, 137mph

30 seconds

Only visual difference is the front wheelarch charger cap 1 minute

No difference inside, other than some bonging when you hit the starter button 6 minutes

Ooh, it’s brisk!

Great for taking advantage of traffic gaps 18 minutes

Ugh, this brake pedal doesn’t know what it’s doing 38 minutes

Power shuffling is seamless, though, and engine is muffled 57 minutes

A refined PHEV, but one that’s flanked by many other good part-electric rivals for similar dosh, so there’s little to set it apart ★★★★★

1395cc 16v turbo four-cyl plus e-motor, six-speed dual-clutch auto, front-wheel drive

THE FIRST HOUR

WEIGHT

1590kg

What does this offer over loads of other PHEVs? Not enough

EFFICIENCY

313.2mpg (WLTP), 21g/km CO2

ON SALE

Now

Like a GTE but cheaper, slower and greener

NOVEMBER 2021 | CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK 47

The 911 can do everyday driving.

But this remains the dream

MARCH 20202021 48 50 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | NOVEMBER

First drives Drives

PORSCHE 911 CARRERA GTS

More, for a lot more The GTS slots into the 911 range between the Carrera S and the wicked Turbo. Sweet spot or expensive excess?

The GTS shrugs off late ABS-assisted braking, ambitious turn-in speeds and frivolous throttle ‘events’

If you’re in the market for a new 911 it’s a fair assumption you don’t have to watch every penny. Porsche certainly assumes this, with stiff pricing to which most buyers duly add a Sandero or two in options.

If there’s a value-for-money 911 it’d be the base car at £85k, and not the new GTS, which carries a £25k premium. Over the Carrera S the GTS surcharge is £15k, and it nets you a power hike to 473bhp, a bespoke GTS chassis tune, upgraded brakes, a sports exhaust and exterior design tweaks including a unique GTS front bumper/splitter and tinted headlights. A GT3 for the people? Let’s find out, first on track.

The Franciacorta circuit is, thankfully, easy to learn, though we’re told to keep ESP switched on at all times; even PSM Sport is prohibited.

It’s a great track and brand new, still sweating chemicals, with mostly third- and fourth-gear stuff, flat kerbs flanking big gravel traps and no significant elevation changes.

Sport mode feels chipper. Sport Plus whips through the PDK’s gears with a vengeance, doesn’t mind holding the revs high and changes down nice and early. On the road, this mapping is a nuisance. But it works a treat here, even if sixth, seventh and eighth go unused in this competitive environment.

The pace is brisk, the GTS – shod with Pirelli P Zero tyres (245/35 ZR20 and 305/30 ZR21) – refusing to wilt under a combination of my best efforts and some uncomfortably high ambient temperatures. The Italian rubber shrugs off late ABS-assisted braking, ambitious turn-in speeds and frivolous throttle ‘events’.

Further enhancing grip are the ground-effect aerodynamics. You can carry huge momentum through the esses, the car refusing to budge like it’s on slicks. It takes a brusque lift to trigger more than a wriggle of the tail, but towards the end of the first stint understeer suddenly becomes an issue through both second-gear kinks. This attitude prevails in Sport Plus. ⊲

THE FIRST HOUR 1 minute

Another red 911 with black trim. Still, it’s a looker 20 minutes

If cars were made to measure, the GTS would be exactly my size 22 minutes

A barren centre stack and a touchscreen stuffed with tiles. What kind of progress is this?

43 minutes

I smell brake pads, feel rubber marbles, hear tailpipes rage.

The 911 remains one of the greatest track tools ever

▲ PLUS

Oozes 911-ness; fits like a second skin; makes more of the right noises MINUS ▼

The icon has gone digital; handling less edgy now; pricing remains painful

NOVEMBER 2021 | CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK

49

WATCH THE VIDEO!

HEAD TO THE CAR MAGAZINE YOUTUBE CHANNEL

New Lightweight pack brings carbon buckets and rearwheel steering.

Saves 25kg all-in

50 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | NOVEMBER 2021

First drives Drives Low, fast and focused – a proper sports car, then

Up here the GTS excels, with a majestic flow that focuses on – and indulges in – an immersive dynamic cadence So, let’s return to the pits and jump from the rear-drive Carrera GTS into the Carrera 4 GTS. Same story: as soon as the fronts get agitated the cornering grip wanes enough to suggest you try a less aggressive turn-in and throttle-on sequence. Which helps, but not much. I can understand why the rear-drive Carrera GTS might behave in this manner, but why does the Carrera 4 GTS not reduce the push?

Senior project engineer Thomas Veit: ‘With all the assistance systems deactivated, that’s exactly the response you will get. But we feel less experienced drivers are safer with a subtle warning relayed by a smidge of understeer at the limit.’

After two more stints, man and machine finally bond and we have the ‘this is all the 911 you’ll ever need’ epiphany. The GT3 has that magic new front suspension, along with a chassis tuned by the motorsport division. It is even more expensive than the GTS and no quicker against the stopwatch. The Carrera S may well be the better balanced daily driver, and its performance disadvantage is in, real life, purely academic, right? Let’s hit the road.

Spending big on a GTS is not imperative to enjoy the essential facets of the 911 theme, but it makes for a quantifiably speedier road trip.

PRICE

Data

£108,920 (Carrera GTS coupe)

POWERTRAIN

The sixth-generation PCM system introduces Android Auto, the next stage of Apple CarPlay, better-educated voice recognition, faster nav and improved smartphone connectivity. Also new is a self-parking system, which costs big money yet is without a doubt the stuff heart attacks are made of. Watching your £110k car steer itself into a marginal space takes guts.

While the matrix LED headlights are certainly nice to have, the rather defensive cruise control struggles to comply with the car’s sporty character, and lane-keep is too easily confused by provisional road markings and foul weather. It also needs to be deactivated in three tedious steps every time you restart the engine. According to Porsche, most customers

2981cc 24v twin-turbo flat-six, eight-speed twin clutch, rear-wheel drive

embrace these electronic helpers and can’t wait for Level 4 autonomy… God help us.

Although the 911 GTS is functionally well equipped, the cockpit can lack flair if you don’t work the configurator hard. Everything’s on the table, assuming you have the money and the vision, via the Exclusive trim options, which mean you can paint the car almost any colour you like, trim the seats in some snazzy shades and customise every detail to order. Use the money you had perhaps planned to pump into the £6k carbon brakes (you won’t need them) and the front-axle lift, which is superfluous even for cave dwellers.

The understeer phenomenon persists, even on cobbled hairpins. How come, Herr Veit? ‘It’s a safety-first set-up. Give it a quick flick of the wheel paired with a brief lift-off, weight transfer, followed by a firm stab on the throttle. The car will be putty in your hands, I promise.’

Near Brescia, heavy traffic forbids such cheeky activity. But, once over the mountains, the roads finally unspool between knots of spiralling bends and impromptu roundabouts, meandering switchbacks and longer sections of refurbished go-faster superstrada.

Here the GTS excels, with a majestic flow that focuses on – and indulges in – an immersive dynamic cadence, the car converting your inputs swiftly and accurately into output. Now the 911’s a precision tool adjustable between dolce and arrabiata as you see fit, the driving experience a delicate balance of power, compliance and control, with you, the conductor, in total control of this mechanical orchestra.

Late in the day, the answers to this morning’s questions finally emerge. It does not really matter which 911 you go for, because you acquire first and foremost a species rather than a particular specimen. As a daily fix, the base Carrera is almost as satisfying as the thundering Turbo S. But when you consider the finer nuances it is the Carrera S which offers the fullest flavour at the most reasonable tariff.

The GTS is kind of like a second scoop of ice cream on the cone – very nice to have, but not absolutely essential.

GEORG KACHER

First verdict GTS can be more relaxed or more raucous than its predecessor. Epic at times, Carrera S remains the default 911 nonetheless ★★★★★

PERFORMANCE

473bhp @ 6500rpm, 420lb ft @ 2300rpm, 3.4sec 0-62mph, 193mph

WEIGHT

1545kg

EFFICIENCY

24.8-26.4mpg (official), 258244g/km CO2

ON SALE

Now

NOVEMBER 2021 | CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK

51

Grille gives the front strong presence; cabback proportions are pure 1-series

52 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | NOVEMBER 2021

First drives Drives

PEUGEOT 308

Going on a Golf hunt

The upmarket new 308 aims to reclaim sales lost to premium German rivals ‘My ambition is for Peugeots to be as good as Volkswagens and sell at the same price.’

So said new CEO Carlos Tavares in 2014, talking to us across a white linen tablecloth in PSA HQ’s executive dining room. Cost-cutting put an end to that building near the Arc de Triomphe, while ambition and self-preservation finished PSA, folded in with Fiat-Chrysler to form the Stellantis automotive giant.

And what of Peugeot?

The new 308 is the final core model to be renewed under the Tavares regime. Time to press the start button, mounted on a solid plinth between the rotary gear selector and the wireless phone charging recess. This penultimate-tier GT trim has green stitching on the petrol-blue leather seats, dashtop and knee pads, tantalising aluminium inserts and a curved dash seemingly inspired by Sky Brown’s half pipe.

There’s plenty of flair and class – but practicality too. A six-footer could get comfortable behind a similarly-sized driver, though the high-set, shallow glasshouse might make some claustrophobic in the back. The hatchback stores up to 412 litres of luggage, and for a £1200 premium there’s a stylish SW estate snaffling 608 to 1634 litres in the loadbay. Note that plug-in hybrid versions sacrifice some stowage because of the boot-mounted battery.

Yes, Peugeot has electrified the 308 for the first time, and our test car runs the Hybrid 180 drivetrain. A 1.6-litre four-cylinder provides the petrol power, with a 109bhp electric motor sandwiched between it and the eight-speed automatic transmission, sending power to the front wheels. The model’s badged 180 because that’s the combined peak power in PS (178bhp).

The 12.4kWh battery is fully charged, and the 3D-effect digital instrument cluster (a jumble of too much information for me) indicates 34 miles of EV range. Scorching sun is bleaching Cannes’ pastel-coloured high-rises today, and after some fumbling with the air-con fan’s slider bar via the touchscreen, we’re under way. The steering feels light and fluid, and we dice with uncharitable locals to reach the autoroute on-ramp.

I turn the shrunken hexagonal wheel and experience Peugeot’s trademark quick response.

The front end grips, I get on the power, and the 148bhp petrol engine comes to life with a murmur. The autoroute’s velvety blacktop has nothing to trouble the suspension, MacPherson

Needs tailpipes for now: petrol, hybrid or diesel joined by full EV in 2023

front struts and a semi-independent twist-beam rear. It cruises quietly, majoring on electric but calling on petrol when needed, with only some windscreen whistle undermining the bliss.

Off the motorway, through a sleepy village, it feels neighbourly to waft through at 20mph with zero emissions. Then we’re on to winding mountain roads, where charging into corners highlights the weight of this 4.36m-long hatch.

The Michelin Primacy tyres chirrup as they work hard to keep their line, the steering feels a little stickier and the body lists from side to side.

The Hybrid 180 weighs a colossal 312kg more than the PureTech 130 petrol hatch. The performance isn’t blunted, though. The 266lb ft of twist action troubles the front tyres if you launch it, and midrange pick-up can exploit straights for overtaking a dawdling Dacia or tired-out TT. Rapid progress is not reliant on combustion: back on the hilly autoroute, the electric engine accelerates stoutly after a lorry pulls over. I keep adding accelerator increments and the e-motor keeps responding from 45 to 75mph, without once calling in petrol reinforcements.

There’s also a Hybrid 225 version, with the same e-motor output but an extra 29bhp from the engine. It’s a £1400 premium over the £35,800 Hybrid 180 GT, for a 0.1sec advantage in the 0-62mph sprint and a couple more percentage points of company car tax liability. ⊲

THE FIRST HOUR 8 minutes

Great interior, dithery touchscreen 17 minutes

Hybrid is nicely chilled out 18 minutes

Boot it and the ’box reacts sharply but smoothly 32 minutes

Weighty in corners.

Time to try the petrol 53 minutes

Better in the bends but engine is gruff ▲ PLUS

Design; efficiency MINUS ▼

Hybrid’s a cruiser, not a carver

NOVEMBER 2021 | CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK

53

10-inch screen is standard, although entry level skips some fancy functions

On a 37-mile test loop, the Hybrid 180 ran on electric for just over half the journey, and returned 81mpg according to the trip computer.

Charging it back to full takes one hour 40 minutes on a 7.4kW wallbox, or eight hours on a plug socket.

In the UK, Peugeot will also offer petrol and diesel 308s, each mustering 128bhp, and paired with the eight-speed automatic transmission.

The 308 petrol has a more rugged character.

The engine is Peugeot’s familiar 1.2-litre, but it’s lost some of its fizzy three-cylinder charm and become gruffly vocal under acceleration, the antithesis of the smooth hybrid. The auto works fine in both drivetrains, responding sharply to kickdown and anticipating your next move well.

Dynamically, the petrol car (costing from £24,000) has an edge over the hybrid. There’s less mass, so roll is better contained, with the front end more eager and agile. Both the petrol and hybrid ride pretty well, with potholes causing minimal intrusion and a suppleness over high-frequency motorway bumps. The seats are firm but comfortable too. Our 130 PureTech SW returned a respectable 39mpg on the motorway and mountain loop; the official fuel consumption is 43-52mpg, depending on spec.

Peugeot is making a big deal of the standard 10-inch touchscreen running its latest operating system, though you’ll need to fork out £1850 for the upgrade from entry Active to Allure

PRICE

Data

App lets you check charge status remotely

Dynamcially the petrol car has an edge over the hybrid: less mass, less roll trim to add two showpiece functions. The first is customisable i-Toggle digital shortcut buttons, where you choose your favourite functions and they respond with some snappy haptic feedback.

The other is i-Connect, where saying ‘Okay Peugeot’ triggers voice control, as pioneered in this class by the Mercedes A-Class.

It’s no coincidence: Peugeot hopes to turn the tables on the German car makers whose hatches have annexed mainstream car brands’ sales.

Hence the cab-backward, wheel-at-each-corner stance reminiscent of BMW’s 1-series, and digital graphics that take a swipe at – but can’t quite match – Merc’s splendour. All underpinned by a Tavares-led obsession with perceived quality, fit and finish, where Peugeots are obsessively

£35,800 (Hybrid 180 GT)

54 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | NOVEMBER 2021

POWERTRAIN

12.4kWh battery, 1598cc 16v four-cylinder plus e-motor, eight-speed auto, front-wheel drive

PERFORMANCE

177bhp @ 6000rpm, 266lb ft @ 500rpm, 7.6sec 0-62mph, 140mph

benchmarked against their VW equivalents.

Which leads us back to Carlos Tavares’ mission statement. The 308 offers stiff competition for the Golf, making its evolutionary design look timid and its interior seriously lacking in flair. The VW’s still a fine car dynamically. But the 308’s a refined, comfortable and sophisticated alternative. Just don’t expect to get it for a steal – Carlos does what he says.

PHIL MCNAMARA

First verdict Peugeot does it again: a desirable mid-size car that’s good to drive and well equipped, if ambitiously priced ★★★★★

WEIGHT

1603kg

EFFICIENCY

235mpg, 24-27g/km CO2

ON SALE

January 2022

First drives Drives C AT E R H A M 1 7 0 S

More. But still less Sick of big, heavy electric cars? Then may we prescribe an 84bhp, 660cc Caterham…

▲ PLUS

Caterham’s single-minded approach MINUS ▼

The great British summer

There’s a knack to climbing aboard the 170S, as there is with all narrow-bodied Caterhams.

Your left leg goes in first, then you lean to the passenger side while pulling your right leg in.

Actually driving the car requires one more step: the removal of your shoes. The close-set pedals are ideal for heel-and-toe shifting but too tight if you’re a size nine or bigger.

Still, it’s worth the hassle, especially so in the case of the 170S. An evolution of the 160 with a smidge more power, it replaces that car as the entry-level ’ham, and arguably the most Caterham of Caterhams thanks to its paucity of power, weight or grip. Weighing 466kg and making 84bhp means the 170 has the powerto-weight ratio of a flea, and rarely feels slow.

Lacking out-and-out power, the Caterham’s key assets remain visceral communication and fun.

Get the 170S on a sunny B-road and driving is somehow both engaging and relaxed. The turbocharger means you don’t endlessly chase the redline, the triple instead feeling most at home riding a wave of chirping boost. You’ll

PRICE

£29,850

Data

POWERTRAIN

want to play with the stubby shifter and mechanical five-speed ’box nonetheless.

The detachable Momo wheel is small, quick in its steering action but heavy, giving you ultimate command of the 14-inch wheels up front. It makes for an experience of purity and directness bettered only by the memories of your favourite pedal go-kart. Only now, instead of six-year-old leg power, you’ve a towering 84bhp.

The brakes aren’t powerful but they are well matched to the car’s weight, and the suspension also works well with the 170’s unique attributes.

It’s not skateboard stiff, but it’s certainly communicative. Just as well, since the absence of traction control or ABS means you really need to be able to feel everything the Caterham’s doing.

Want a slightly more track-focused version?

There’s also a 170R, more stripped-down and fitted with a limited-slip diff, for £1000 more.

It’s a car that you feel connected with even when travelling in a straight line. Driving the 170S is about keeping busy, whether it’s flicking a switch for the wipers, manually cancelling indicators or trying to use the heater. There’s a rear-view mirror too, but such are the vibrations that’s it’s not hugely useful over 50mph. Worry not. You’ll be having too much fun to care.

THE FIRST HOUR 4 minutes

It’s loud, busy and communicative rather than fast 18 minutes

The required extra observations and indications are like riding a motorcycle 20 minutes

Only 660cc, but the turbo means you don’t need to rev it 58 minutes

Still the purest form of motoring 60 minutes

Autonomous driving stands no chance so long as cars like this are street-legal

CURTIS MOLDRICH

First verdict The simplest, least expensive Caterham on sale remains the perfect antidote to modern life and its overweight excesses ★★★★★

660cc 12v turbocharged triple, five-speed manual, rear-wheel drive

PERFORMANCE

84bhp @ 6500rpm, 86lb ft @ 4000rpm, 6.9sec 0-60mph, 105mph

WEIGHT

466kg

EFFICIENCY

44mpg (est), 109g/km CO2

ON SALE

Now

Nope, your right elbow doesn’t get the space to join you in the car NOVEMBER 2021 | CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK

55

BMW iX

Hype(r) beast

BMW is adamant its new e-SUV really matters. But does it?

The iX may have a face like a digitised owl and a body like a fractal hippo, but you should prepare yourself to see these things hassling your mirrors very soon. For they also have the unexpectedly deft handling of a slightly over-stimulated ballet dancer, a truth made all the more incongruous by interior decor like an oligarch’s boudoir. Full of faceted crystal, matt wood, curious angles and big quilted chairs, it’s as if BMW has weaponised a luxury hotel room.

Which, in a sense, it has. This is BMW’s flagship for its latest electric vehicle technology, comprising not just its fifth generation of batteries and e-motors but a bespoke EV platform for the first time since the i3. The target here is luxury buyers, hence the SUV form-factor and the emphasis on space, comfort and way-out design: acres of display screen a given; the hexagonal steering wheel a sad but surprisingly untroublesome inevitability. It is the concept cars of my youth made reality.

Carbonfibre and aluminium construction is key to the car’s stiff body structure, further buttressed by the 650kg battery bolted to the underside. Stuffing 111.5kWh of capacity into this xDrive50 variant is enough for a claimed range of 380 miles, depending on how often you make use of the full 516bhp and 564lb ft. This is split between a primary rear motor and less powerful front motor, making the iX the first BMW with electric all-wheel drive.

The motors integrate all the control hardware for better packaging and performance, and use copper-wound iron electromagnets instead of the usual rare-earth permanent magnets. Not just a green touch, BMW reckons this innovation creates a tuneable magnetic field that enables the motors to hold onto their maximum output for longer. Maximum warp is a modest 124mph, but the iX gets there with ferocious alacrity.

And it does so incredibly quietly. There’s some distraction from the Hans Zimmer sound effects, but mute these and there’s still only a modest rustling at terminal velocity. Foam-filled tyres and aerodynamically optimised alloy

PRICE

Data

POWERTRAIN

From £91,905 115.5kWh battery, (xDrive40 from twin e-motors, single£69,905) speed transmission, all-wheel drive

56 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | NOVEMBER 2021

THE FIRST HOUR 1 minute

Where we’re going, we don’t need keys: iX can be accessed and activated from your iPhone (bad luck if you’re an Android user) It’s not just the nose; but at least it’s distinctive

wheels are among the tricks used to achieve this.

Enhancing the impression of ruthless serenity is all-round air suspension so good that the Sport setting feels more comfortable than most limos.

That the iX wallows a tiny bit when cornering to extremes just gives you something to do, as steering precision and agility are superb. More cutting-edge cleverness manages the front/rear power split with genuinely seamless instantaneity, vanishing low-traction situations into the distance some way behind you. Your passengers probably won’t even notice the disturbance.

‘Adaptive’ regeneration puts another nail in the coffin of the combustion engine, modifying the amount of speed reduction you get via the motors using nav data and sensor analysis of the surroundings. Activate full B-mode and it gives you near-flawless one-pedal driving. Still want to use the brake pedal? You’ll find it totally unfoxed by the need to balance regen and friction.

The new iDrive (dauntingly comprehensive at first but swiftly intuitive), with augmentedreality route guidance and stacks of active safety kit, completes a very convincing package.

CJ HUBBARD

Some will scorn. Others will wince. But as a statement of electric capability, BMW’s new disco hippo is unapologetic and emphatic ★★★★★

516bhp, 564lb ft, 4.6sec 0-62mph, 124mph (limited)

45 minutes

My reality’s been usefully augmented and I’ve had a massage. This is modern luxury 1 hour

Who cares what it looks like?

▲ PLUS

Modern luxury; modern performance; as far from boring as the mainstream gets MINUS ▼

First verdict

PERFORMANCE

5 minutes

Haven’t thought about the weirdly shaped steering wheel yet. Ride quality is fantastic, as is performance – incredibly assured and composed during fast cornering

WEIGHT

2510kg

Did it have to be so ugly? Interior treads a fine line between classy and crass

EFFICIENCY

ON SALE

3.0 miles per kWh November (official), 380-mile range

First drives Drives

That the iX wallows a bit when cornering to extremes just gives you something to do, as steering precision and agility are superb

Poised, pampering and preposterously quick, overlook the iX at your peril

NOVEMBER 2021 | CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK

57

Opinion

S P O N S O R E D BY

P O S T- P E T R O L P E T R O LH E A D S + LI T T LE F I AT S + B E R LI N G O + G B U

Fortune favours the brave

Letter of the month

Bring on the EVs, hold the suds Having read CAR for about as long as Alan Pink (September 2021), I still have a copy of the December ’72 edition in which you warned of our future with ‘The automobile as a domestic appliance’. Much of the article was prescient but the motoring riches you’ve shared over the past 50 years prove we didn’t need to be so worried. I hope this will be the same with electric cars.

Over the next five years things should get really interesting as the technology becomes more mainstream and affordable. I for one will be in the queue when the high-cost electric conversions become more affordable. Dropping in a battery pack in place of a dirty diesel, the engine in a hybrid or the clapped-out battery of an old electric car is appealing.

Tony Churchill

As my very first car was a new Fiat Panda (acquired in 1981, at the same time I became a CAR regular) and I now own a 1972 Fiat 500 and a 500 TwinAir, I was drawn to Gavin Green’s article in the September issue.

As always, Gavin was spot-on. I agree the new 500 Electric is an appealing car but not one destined to be a motoring landmark like some of its predecessors.

Gavin bemoans the fact that, to date, no car maker has grasped the opportunity offered by electricity to build a boldly styled and brilliantly packaged small car. What about BMW’s brilliant and still futuristic looking i3 from 2013?

One more point. Where has GBU gone? Hopefully it’s just taking a break.

Paul Eaton Yep, GBU just recharging its batteries. BM

Small is beautiful I very much enjoyed reading Gavin’s review of small Fiats, putting the electric 500 into context. I’m sure LJK Setright would have approved.

In the same issue you reviewed the current family EV offerings, all of

which are about 4.6 metres long, or just under a banana shorter than a standard 4.8m parking space. I agree with your correspondent Steve Dickinson: we enthusiast motorists want small, stylish coupes or convertibles and hope SUVs might be banished to Caravan Weekly.

Chris Lloyd Quite so. If any car turns up in my world looking bigger than a Fiat Uno, it better have a very good excuse. CO

Groundless optimism I have just finished reading Phil McNamara’s Welcome piece (CAR, September), and while most of its contents are undeniably factually correct, the conclusion that the enforced battery future offers plenty for petrolheads is, I’m afraid, somewhat wide of the mark. How can one really be a petrolhead without petrol?

Sure, there is plenty of excitement and optimism as the industry transforms itself, and the technology in battery and electric motor development will provide opportunities for certain individuals. However, petrolhead-ism is surely more than just the efficiency and performance of the vehicle that

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New 500 is big.

Just not as big as it looks here

58 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | NOVEMBER 2021

electrification offers. It is about the whole driving experience, and the satisfaction of honing the complete set of driving skills. The removal of the sounds engines make is a big enough disappointment. But the removal of the skill and ability to select the correct gear while controlling the revs for those perfect changes, whilst also judging the timing to perfection, will ultimately be lost to all but a few.

I, for one, will keep my various V8s rumbling on as long as possible (on vastly reduced annual mileages) and enjoy them to the full, including the ‘tinkering’ required to keep them going, until such time as the lack of fuel or parts consigns them to the scrapyard.

No doubt I will also procure a BEV in the near future for mundane journeys.

I’m sad, but also grateful that I was able to be part of what will surely prove to be the zenith years of motoring.

Martin Evans

Ben’s Berlingo: it feels big because it is big

Absolutely. Phil’s sold. Colin’s well on his way. James and I are sitting in the corner clutching jerry cans of fuel and sobbing. BM

I want to believe I’m afraid I was not convinced by Phil McNamara’s editorial in the September issue. With issues of CAR going back more than 40 years, and having spent far too much money on a succession of ‘interesting’ cars over the years, I think I qualify as an enthusiast (or petrolhead, if you prefer). Nevertheless I really try to be forward-looking and open minded. I have praised the driving characteristics of certain EVs (and now own a PHEV).

I remain happy to concede that their low centre of gravity and instant torque can make for an entertaining drive.

However hard I try, though, I fail to see how much there is for petrolheads to get really enthused about, since the experience is so anodyne and one dimensional.

As Philip Rodney described so well in the same issue, talking about his Morgan, being a petrolhead isn’t all about speed but a broad range of stimuli for the senses, the most important of which are missing from EVs. Reading

between the lines I suspect many of you at CAR feel the same way despite the apparent optimism.

Nick Georgiadis

Make it count In your reviews of cars, one-off and long-term, it would be more helpful if you gave the range per charge as used in your hands rather than miles per kWh, which has us grabbing for our calculators. Could you also say whether you are driving with the air-con on?

All of this matters, as demonstrated

by Gavin Green’s comment in the August issue of getting barely 80 miles in a Honda E in bad weather. We need real-world figures to make an objective choice, which isn’t going to come from manufacturers’ figures.

Jeffrey Box

An EV, doing a passable impression of being fun to drive

Where they’re in any way representative we do run tested range figures in the Giant Test and some First Drives. We’re adding it to Our Cars right now, on your suggestion.

Many thanks. CO

One step at a time

Nothing I’ve read in CAR has yet persuaded me to consider going electric. Despite what some of your correspondents say, range anxiety is an issue, while a five-minute stop for fuel is really only the smallest of inconveniences.

Yes, I know, we have to reduce our carbon footprint drastically, and last year I made what was for me a major move in that direction. For decades

I’ve had either six or eight cylinders pulling me about, but I took the plunge and bought a BMW 430i Grand Coupe.

This four-pot equals or betters the performance I’ve been used to for so long and surprised me with its midrange pull. Crucially, however, it’s delivering comfortably more than 40mpg on a run and the high 30s on local trips, which is way better than I’ve been seeing on anything else and – all while emitting much lower CO2 levels.

Yes, I really like this car but have one issue. The M Sport suspension and runflat tyres mean the ride is terrible.

My fault; should have ensured it had adaptive suspension.

Peter Bond

Funny money

I consider the CAR road tests and First Drives to be the crux of the magazine, and they’re the reason I subscribe.

That said, reading July’s edition I tallied the cost of the 12 cars tested (not including the ridiculous AM Speedster and Rimac) and ended up with a scary average price of £171,000 per car…

That’s precisely 10 times the cost of my five-year-old A3 convertible, which I ⊲

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59

Opinion won’t be replacing any time soon with anything you drive. I suppose Richard Branson can call CAR a buyer’s guide, but for me it’s now a coffee-table glossy to be kept in case I win the lottery.

Alan Heaton Alan, thanks for subscribing. And forgive us. I just totted up October’s First Drives and we averaged £58.8k – better, but we still have work to do, granted. BM

Ineos, you have a customer Technically I think the new Defender is wonderful and I thoroughly enjoyed the Scotland piece (CAR, October 2021).

But reading about the trip into the Highlands camping didn’t help with my confusion. Why would you buy it?

Just look at the numbers: ‘From £65,000’ (so, overpriced to begin with) plus another £3480 for a TENT! plus another £2020 for a ladder and roof rack; over £5000 all-in. This surely, is a world gone mad or, more likely, a genius strategy from the major motor manufacturers to get us to believe these numbers offer value for money.

Tent aside, look what you could get for £65,000 in any of the other Land Rover models: more luxury and comfort, but still with excellent off-roading credentials.

The Defender should attack the market segments the Ineos Grenadier will, with appropriate pricing, but it’s pitched as just another Chelsea tractor. The PHEV is practically useless in terms of electrical contribution. I regularly drive both the Range Rover Sport and Range Rover PHEVs – and even without a tent and heavy right foot, the consumption is risible.

Gareth Morgan From a consumer testing standpoint, our drive couldn’t have been

911 GT3 Touring Package, doing its bit to keep the average price of the First Drives section sky high

worse for a PHEV… For myriad short journeys, from home, they have their place. CAR’s Tim Pollard has a plug-in Passat, and troubles the engine so rarely he wonders about removing it, to save weight. BM

At last! A proper car Please can we have some more light thrown onto the good old petrol heroes? Just about every article involves another EV. We’ve got a Golf VR6 and you cannot in anyway replicate such beautiful sounds. One day we will miss such beautiful masterpieces. There is virtue in what’s new, but how can we afford to let the dinosaurs go extinct? If you get bored of EVs just shout and you can have a spin.

Kieran Pons

Ben’s Citroën is big

Grenadier will soon be on sale, for those who think the Defender’s gone soft

Part of the reason Ben Oliver (Our Cars) finds his Citroën Berlingo XTR so roomy is that it’s actually a very big car. A couple of generations ago, those (mostly) French utility car/van things were cheap, useful transport that you wouldn’t mind getting a few dents in.

They didn’t try very hard to be fun to drive, but actually tended to handle quite friskily, especially when unladen.

And they were still closely related to the Clios, 306s etc that they were based on.

But Ben’s XTR is a whopper, and not cheap.

Ian Pardew True, but don’t forget there’s a generation of smaller ones as well, and they tend to have even odder names – Citroën Nemo, Peugeot Bipper etc. CO

New abacus needed I’ve been reading with ever-increasing interest your long-term reviews of the Cupra Formentor VZ2, especially now that I have bought one of my own. Thus far, I’m finding it an extraordinarily 60 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | NOVEMBER 2021

well-resolved piece of design. One of those rare cars that seems to do everything it’s meant to do, to a high standard, while managing to display a degree of originality and panache.

James Taylor’s report in the September edition mirrors how I feel about mine, although I’ve had fewer problems with the infotainment. What I would take issue with, however, is the view that the Formentor is pricey in VZ2 spec. May I ask what alternatives it’s being compared to?

There aren’t that many compact allwheel-drive SUVs with a DSG gearbox and 300+bhp. The obvious competitors are its stablemates the VW T-Roc R and Audi SQ2, plus the BMW X2 M35i.

All are substantially more expensive once they have been spec’d with all the extra-cost options that are standard in the Formentor. I know this because I spent a long time configuring all four to my desired spec and cross-referencing deals available through the online buying sites. Believe me, the Formentor is not just a great car in its niche, it’s a bargain too.

Jeff Parrington I’ve become a big Formentor fan and, as you say, the design is really well-resolved, unusually so for a crossover/SUV. I think you’re right in terms of new alternatives – the Cupra stacks up well against the likes of BMW’s 330i Touring. But my £40k would go on a lightly used AMG C43 Estate or similar. JT

5

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EDITORIAL

Sharpening our nails Over the years there have been many memorable pieces in CAR from LJKS, Steady Barker, George Bishop, Mel Nichols, Goodwin, Bremner, George Kacher, Doug Blain, Ian Fraser, Steve Cropley, et al.

Editors, writers and photographers come and go, but through these last 48 years there has always been a constant friend ensconced at the back section – GBU. Its acerbic wit always stood out.

So, has GBU been quietly laid to rest in that great archive in the heavens above or will we witness a reincarnation in the coming months?

Marc Hastings Don’t worry, we’ve ordered a big vat of bile and will ingest that in order to provide the new-look GBU with a suitable amount of unreasonable hostility. CO

Tent and ladder both pricey, and the car’s not cheap. But what price that view?

drop in winter when driving an EV. You’re using more lights and heating, and batteries aren’t too keen on the cold, but the big thing is having to push water out of the way of your tyres a lot more often – you do actually get a similar drop in range in a car with an engine but you don’t notice it because it only affects that 20-30 per cent of useful energy; the 70-80 per cent waste heat is the same all year around so it’s not as obvious to the driver.

Thanks for attending my lecture.

Trevor Bourner

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The new Nissan Z

ADVERTISING Commercial director Kelly Millis Digital commercial director Jim Burton Key account manager Dan Chapman Account manager Claire Meade-Gore Regional sales

A boffin writes, again In response to Alan Spray’s letter in the September issue: he’s correct on the laws of physics and the energy to move a vehicle being the same regardless of its point of use. We don’t need to go into detail about entropy of isolated systems, but we do need to talk about efficiency.

An internal combustion engine is only around 20 to 30 per cent efficient; a current F1 engine can just about hit 50 per cent thermal efficiency. By contrast an electric motor is over 90 per cent efficient, and (depending on the voltage used) so are the batteries and cabling.

That means an ICE car is generating vast amounts of heat which are not moving the vehicle, whereas EVs use almost all of their energy to push you along. This is why you notice a range

Editor Ben Miller Editor-in-chief Phil McNamara Managing editor Colin Overland Deputy features editor James Taylor Deputy news editor Jake Groves New cars editor Alan Taylor-Jones Digital editorial director Tim Pollard Online editor Curtis Moldrich Art director Mal Bailey Editors-at-large Chris Chilton, Mark Walton, Ben Barry, Ben Pulman Contributor-in-chief Gavin Green European editor Georg Kacher Contributing editors Ben Oliver, Ben Whitworth, Anthony ffrench-Constant, Steve Moody, Sam Smith F1 correspondent Tom Clarkson Office manager Leise Enright Production controller Richard Woolley

Graham Roby

PUBLISHING Dull is the only word coming to my mind. And I am one to think the world needs more affordable sports cars. Hopefully it’ll be better in real life than in the pictures… dreambackup When is the last time anyone saw a new Supra? Or its ghastly BMW Z4 twin? There’s no appetite to buy these things any more.

Johann van Rensburg The market is too crowded with European competitors.

David Erikson

Acting publisher Rachael Beesley Acting marketing manager Sarah Norman Direct marketing manager Julie Spires Direct marketing executive Raheema Rahim Editorial director June Smith-Sheppard MD, automotive group Niall Clarkson Chief financial officer Lisa Hayden CEO, Bauer Publishing UK Chris Duncan President, Bauer Global Publishing Rob Munro-Hall

SUBSCRIPTIONS To ensure you don’t miss an issue visit www.greatmagazines.co.uk. To contact us about subscription orders, renewals, missing issues or any other subscription queries, please email bauer@subscription.co.uk or call our UK number 01858 438884, or overseas call +44 1858 438884. To manage your account online visit www.greatmagazines.co.uk/solo BACK ISSUES To order call our UK number 01858 438884, or overseas call +44 1858 438884 COMMERCIAL REPRINTS If you require multiple reprints of a feature, tel +44 (0)20 7295 5470 SYNDICATING CAR CONTENT syndication@bauermedia.co.uk PRINTING & DISTRIBUTION © CAR ISSN 0008-5987.

Printed in the UK by Walstead. Distributed by Frontline Ltd, Park House, 117 Park Road, Peterborough PE1 2TR, 01733 555161. International distribution by Seymour International Ltd, 86 Newman Street, London W1T 3EX, +44 20 7396 8000. Published 12 times a year by H BAUER PUBLISHING Academic House, 24-28 Oval Road, London NW1 7DT © All material published remains the copyright of H Bauer Publishing. No part of this magazine may be reproduced in whole or in part without the written permission of the publisher. CAR can’t accept responsibility for unsolicited material COMPLAINTS H Bauer Publishing is a member of the Independent Press Standards Organisation (www.ipso.co.uk) and endeavours to respond to and resolve concerns quickly. Our Editorial Complaints Policy (including full details of how to contact us about editorial complaints and IPSO’s contact details) can be found at www.bauermediacomplaints.co.uk. FINANCIAL REGULATION H Bauer Publishing is authorised and regulated by the FCA (ref no 845898). THIS ISSUE ON SALE 6 October 2021 NEXT ISSUE ON SALE 10 November 2021

‘Replicas of the stolen Bond DB5 were sold for £2.75m, and you can’t even drive them on the road’

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62 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | NOVEMBER 2021

celeb cars were as valuable as Old Master artworks found in grandma’s loft.

Two Mustangs were used to film Bullitt. One jumped the streets of San Francisco, tyres smoking, V8 rumbling, underside crashing, in the greatest car chase in movie history. The other was for the pretty shots. As neither apparently had any special value, the action car was scrapped (of which more later) and the non-jumping car sold to a Warner Bros employee, who then sold it to a policeman.

In 1974, it was bought for $6000 (£4400) by a New Jersey family who drove it every day until 1980, when the clutch gave out. It then disappeared from public view, until that 2018 Detroit show. Last year, it sold at auction for $3.7 million (£2.7 million). In a typical Hollywood twist, the action car has also resurfaced, exhumed from a Mexican scrapyard. As this is the yumpin’, jumpin’, tyre-smokin’, V8-rumblin’ Bullitt ’Stang, it will undoubtedly sell for a fortune after a much-needed total restoration.

The craziest example of celeb-car inflation is for a car that isn’t even a car: the white Lotus Esprit S1 that morphs into a submarine in The Spy Who Loved Me. This submersible Lotus is essentially an Esprit with no wheels, four rear electric propellers (each with steering vanes) and adjustable stabiliser fins. It was built for the underwater action sequences and was steered – with difficulty, apparently – by a retired US Navy SEAL. After the 1977 film, the car/sub was perceived to have no value. It was stored for years in New York before someone bought it for $100. In 2013, it sold at auction in London for $1 million (£725,000). No surprise the buyer was Elon Musk.

International man of mystery Gavin Green has been with CAR since Mooreera Bond, and has also seen off Dalton and Brosnan. Craig, you’re next

Illustration by Peter Strain

he lost James Bond Aston Martin DB5 has supposedly been found. First used by Sean Connery in Goldfinger, it was the first DB5 to offer optional extras such as an ejector seat, front machine guns and tyre-shredding blades.

‘Celebrity’ cars in those days (1964) were worth no more than non-celeb cars. This was before celeb worship, when actors, supermodels and pop singers were merely actors, models and musicians, rather than social-media savants on issues as diverse as climate change and Afghan affairs. Equally, an Aston Martin that appeared in a movie was just a used Aston Martin. After its film career was over, Aston converted it back to normal, non-ejector seat and non-machine gun spec and sold it as a 50,000-mile used car.

The gadgets were eventually retro-fitted and the car was sold at auction for $275,000 (£200,000) in 1986. Then, in June 1997, it was stolen from a private aircraft hangar in Florida. It hasn’t been seen since.

Now, an investigator who specialises in tracking down stolen works of art apparently knows where the DB5 is – at an undisclosed location in the Middle East. It could be worth £18 million. If that sounds crazy money, then remember that 25 ‘continuation’ Bond DB5s – replicas of the stolen car – were recently sold for £2.75 million (plus taxes) each. And you can’t even drive them on the road.

Now, the values of the best classic cars have blossomed. McLaren couldn’t sell all the roadgoing F1s it intended, and now they’re worth £15 million. Ferrari sold only 36 250 GTOs out of a planned run of 100, and now they go for £50 million. In most cases, if a car – any car – has an A-list celeb link, then you can usually start multiplying. Princess Diana’s 1981 Escort Ghia recently sold for £52,000.

Until the Bond DB5 is recovered and displayed, the most famous missing car ‘find’ was the one revealed at the Detroit Auto Show in 2018.

At the launch of Ford’s new Bullitt Mustang, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Steve McQueen movie, the Highland Green Mustang GT 390 Fastback used in the film made a spectacular re-entry, rusty, a little battered and gloriously unrestored. It had been lost for almost 40 years.

Turns out the old ’Stang was living in a small garage in Tennessee, its owners aware it was the ex-Bullitt car but refreshingly unbothered that

‘Big Data sees every charging station as an opportunity to milk you for your personal information’

H

64 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | NOVEMBER 2021

mined to sign you up to some kind of subscription, so you use their charging stations exclusively. Tesla is the template for this, with its own charging network; now the other providers are playing catch-up. But while they’re treating EV charging like it’s your home wi-fi, in reality it’s more like your Netflix subscription. Drivers just want to ‘fill up’ with 70 litres of electricity, like they did with petrol; and that means stopping at any fuel station along the journey. Soon you find you’ve got a Netflix subscription, one for Britbox, Disney, Apple+, Amazon Prime, you’re paying for Now TV, BT Sport…

And even if many of these subscription models don’t actually need a fee, the admin involved is horrendous. I don’t want to use an app every time I fill up with fuel. I don’t want to register to create an account, provide an email, think of yet another password (Pa55w0rd123!) and tick the box so they won’t send me news and offers.

And the RFID cards – the plastic credit cards with the little transponders you often need to switch on the charging boxes. I stopped at a Starbucks the other day and there was a nice elderly couple in the car park, trying to get an Ecotricity charger to work so they could put some juice in their VW ID.3. She was fretting and on the phone to Ecotricity; he had his wallet open with what looked like 20 plastic RFID cards stuffed in it. And despite all the brilliant engineering VW put in that car, they were going nowhere.

I wanted to go over and start ranting about how our infrastructure has turned into a tangled-up, corporate turf war; and how the charge suppliers don’t give a stuff about us, the end users, they’re just like Facebook, only without the friends. But I thought that probably wouldn’t help.

So forget the headlines: charging remains a nightmare.

Who should play Mark Walton in the Hollywood prison-break movie we’re pitching, Editor at Large? Craig? Cage? Keaton? Costner? Affleck? Biggins?

Illustration by Peter Strain

eard a great story in the news the other day, about a convict who ‘escaped prison using a teaspoon’.

If, like me, you’re familiar with the film The Shawshank Redemption, your imagination will immediately picture a man, stoically scraping away for 30 years, labouring through the prison wall, through the earth and mud like a worm armed with a blunt stub of cutlery, finally breaking free 100 metres beyond the barbed wire fence. An impossible quixotic tale, come true.

But no. In fact, the man stole the spoon from the canteen and jammed it into the ignition of a forklift, which he started and then used to reach a rooftop and freedom. Hmm, not quite so heartening. Plus, he was inside for torturing an old lady, so I can’t see Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman rushing to sign for the remake.

I begin with this tale to prove something you already know: you can’t trust a headline to tell the whole story. So here are some other headlines: the UK now has over 42,000 charging points in over 15,500 locations, according to energy giant EDF. In August, Shell announced plans to install 50,000 new charging points by 2025, mostly through its recently acquired infrastructure company, Ubitricity, which specialises in on-street chargers built into lampposts. And the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) announced that new plug-in cars made up 18.3 per cent of overall vehicle sales in August, meaning battery and hybrid cars now account for 15 per cent of UK sales overall, so far this year.

So, EVs then – tick! We’re all sorted.

Again, not quite. Because while battery cars are definitely getting better and our UK charging infrastructure is growing, there’s a spanner in the works, a thorn in the side – a tortured old lady in the back story, if you like.

And that is data farming.

Back in the good old days of four-star petrol and shameless air pollution, Shell just wanted to exchange some refined oil in return for cash, lots of cash. But now, in the age of Big Data, every charging station is seen as an opportunity to milk you for personal information. ‘The rapid deployment of EVs has generated many new potentially informative data streams related to user schedules and preferences, charging profiles and power system requirements,’ an independent report recently said.

And in order to keep all that data to themselves, each supplier is deter-

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Porsche saves the sports car Phew. For a moment there it looked touch and go, like the sports car might die with the engine. Not on Porsche’s watch. Meet the electric 911 and Cayman/Boxster Words Georg Kacher and Ben Miller Illustrations Avavarii

66 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | NOVEMBER 2021

Porsche’s electric sports cars

Mission R racing concept paves the way for electric versions of the next Cayman (top left) and the iconic 911

NOVEMBER 2021 | CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK

67

Porsche’s electric sports cars

he battery-electric car is becoming many things – commonplace, almost affordable, practical, indecently quick – but still it struggles to trigger drive lust: that urge to jump in, lay thick black arcs of rubber on the road and just drive for the indulgent, hedonistic thrill of driving. A 911 GT3 has this. The Taycan, for all its merit, does not.

The Mission R? Electric, and yet there’s drive lust.

Officially the R is a concept: a study into what Porsche customer racing might look like in the nascent electric age. But Stuttgart’s track record for turning electric concepts into road cars is second to none. (Think Mission E and Mission E Cross Turismo, both of which debuted as show cars and are now on sale.) And Porsche is not being shy about the Mission R, both as a feasible racecar and as a testbed and preview for the electric Cayman and

Boxster, due on sale in the next two or three years.

Wait, testbed? Oh yes. ‘We already tested some solid laps with the rolling chassis, with Timo Bernhard driving,’ admits Matthias Scholz, director of GT race cars. ‘It’s a totally drivable car. We have a lot of development work to do, for sure, but it’s a proper working car.’

That the Mission R is also the same size as a Cayman is no accident.

‘In terms of dimensions it’s very similar to the current Cayman and Boxster,’ says Ingo Scheinhütte, exterior design manager at Porsche’s advanced studio. ‘It looks bigger because it sits on proper 18-inch racing rims. Of course, at the same time as working on this car we are also working on production cars. It’s the same team. You will definitely see very similar design cues on many of our future production cars.’

Scheinhütte’s boss, Porsche design overlord Michael Mauer, is in no hurry to contradict his colleague. ‘It’s always fun to design a car and, when you love cars, it’s even more exciting when that car has the potential to become a racing car,’ says Mauer. ‘But there is a challenge in the fact that, with a customer racing sports car there always has to be possible connection to a production car. But this was not limiting. It was exciting.’

That the Mission R makes so much sense in both its timing and its feasibility as a design and engineering preview is no accident. It’s a key part of Porsche’s plan to electrify – and by extension to save – the sports car.

And that plan that wasn’t hurriedly cooked up in the nine months it took to create the Mission R. ‘Ten years ago we started with electric prototypes that used the [same] mid-engined layout [as the Mission R], with the battery in the space of the engine and transmission,’ confirms Dr Michael Steiner, member of the board for R&D. Yes: 2011, people. Tesla was yet to release the Model S. So, Herr Bernhard’s already busy cutting laps. But is he enjoying himself? ⊲

Vast 911 RSR wing won’t grace your electric Cayman…

68 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | NOVEMBER 2021

Mid-engined, only the engine’s a battery

Can’t afford to race the car?

Seat module also works as a simulator

Cooling is a key battleground in fast-EV development

We suspect so. The Mission R is fast. Like most cars in the Taycan range it uses twin e-motors (the front rated at 429bhp, the rear 626bhp) for fourwheel drive. The concept claims 1073bhp in qualifying trim or 671bhp for races. It promises to launch 0-62mph in just 2.5sec (eek) and power on past 186mph in a cacophony of tyre roar and gear whine (motorsport insiders claim it’s anything but silent).

But power alone cannot inspire drive lust. It’s the Mission R package that’s exciting. It carries its battery where you’ll find the engine in a Cayman. So, it should drive like a Cayman. And while the production cars it previews almost certainly won’t generate the same power outputs as the Mission R, they should be similarly lightweight for an EV. The concept weighs less than 1500kg, for the power-to-weight ratio of a 911 GT2 RS. Accepted battery-electric packaging wisdom suggests you arrange the cells in a giant slab in the floor because, well, where else are you going to put them? It’s a good layout for crash protection and for a low centre of gravity, but it elevates the occupants, relative to the road. Not a problem in an SUV, and the Taycan solved the problem in part with cut-outs for your feet, but a problem in something claiming to be a sports car.

‘In a sports car the silhouette should be as low and the driver needs to be sitting as low as possible,’ explains R&D’s Dr Steiner. ‘There is no space for the battery below the seat or the driver’s feet. Instead we have our core battery design. In terms of packaging and centre of gravity it’s more or less a copy of a mid-engined design. But now it’s not the engine – because the electric motors are pretty small – it’s the battery. Now you have a weight

distribution optimised for sporty driving, and we reflect this in the fourwheel-drive system’s torque split. We have much more torque in the back than the front.’

The Mission R is able to accept 340kW charging, enabling it to go from five per cent charged to 80 per cent in just 15 minutes between races. While Porsche cedes these figures are based on another step forward in battery development, this isn’t pie-in-the-sky stuff, just good old lithium-ion, done right and properly managed. Direct oil-cooling for the battery pack means it’s able to run hard without thermal degradation, while 900-volt electrics (the Taycan is 800 volt) bring rapid charging and improved efficiency without requiring all-new componentry or infrastructure.

‘For us, the key in this decade will be the cell chemistry and the cooling capacity of the cells,’ confirms Dr Steiner. ‘In the Mission R oil flows directly around the cells. It’s the same principle as liquid cooling in an engine – the closer the cooling fluid comes to the source of heat, the better. We’re working on technologies where we could bring the cooling fluid directly to the terminals of the cells.

‘Of course, you could not put water directly to the cells. This would be a problem! But there are already fluids, used in power stations, that could be used; a transformer oil. We used it in the 919 Hybrid [Le Mans car]. We did not say this back then but today I’m willing to tell you we had fluid cooling in the battery and also in the electric motors and inverters. You will not see this direct cooling in volume production cars but, from our point of view, it is a must in serious racecars and, at some point, maybe in ⊲

The road cars the Mission R previews should be similarly lightweight for EVs

70 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | NOVEMBER 2021

Porsche’s electric sports cars

D E S I G N

E V - L U T I O N

Porsche’s design boss Michael Mauer talks electrification Evolution versus revolution ‘With the Taycan we introduced certain elements that we defined as EV elements. And now with the Mission R we’re showing how these styling elements can be further developed. What are the next steps? Because some have already said, for example, that on the existing 992-generation 911 that it’s not possible to further develop the horizontal band of the tail lamp.

But we have a pretty good track record – and I believe this is part of our success – of always managing to

develop our design language. You see this here. Sure, sometimes this development is evolutionary but at least we are still moving forward, and by doing this we never put ourselves in a situation where we have to make really radical changes.’

The joy of working on racecars ‘We [Porsche design] always have

a good experience working with the GT team on cars like the GT3 and GT3 RS. Even on the prototype LMP cars, which are driven by functionality, we give our advice. I like the very agile development style.

Their mentality is similar to ours. If one path isn’t working we have a quick discussion, make a decision and look for other solutions.’

Mission R racer and our illustration of the road car it’s inspiring, the electric Cayman

NOVEMBER 2021 | CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK

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M I S S I O N

CAYMAN GT4 CLUBSPORT At the almost affordable end of Porsche’s customer racing programme sits the GT4 Clubsport, a mid-engined partsbin special that marries the best of the Cayman GT4 road car with plenty of racederived stuff, including a plumbed-in fire extinguisher, welded-in rollcage and six-point harness. Available in full ‘competition’ and slightly more affordable ‘trackday’ specs. Mission R has a similar ethos.

72 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | NOVEMBER 2021

R :

935 Mission R’s aerooptimised, rotor-cooling wheels are a nod to the similar rims fitted to Porsche’s wildly successful (and much modified) motorsportdeveloped 911 variant, the 935 (and its modern reboot, above). Mission R also one of few cars able to eclipse Moby Dick’s power output. That car punched out 845bhp from a 3.2-litre flat-six with everything dialled up – Mission R clears 1000bhp.

T H E

I N S P I R AT I O N

VISION 920 One of several futuristic racers in Porsche’s Unseen series, the 920 donates its front wings, colour scheme and pronounced horizontal upper/lower split to the Mission R. Michael Mauer: ‘The idea [of the Unseen cars] is to let your thoughts jump to the day after tomorrow, and to then move back from there to tomorrow.’

The 920-inspired Boxster and Cayman will be along in a couple of years, not tomorrow.

919 HYBRID Porsche’s Le Mans hybrid was ambitious and, in its early running, plagued with technical issues. But it evolved into a winning machine, and helped rapidly accelerate Porsche’s EV development. The 919 Hybrid, which won Le Mans in 2015, 2016 and 2017, blooded the 800-volt architecture the Taycan employs, and used the direct oil-cooling system Porsche plans to use in the batteries of its performance roadgoing EVs.

Porsche’s electric sports cars Aston’s next chapter

The engine’s on borrowed time. Not so Porsche, it would seem

Flip your combustion-engined mindset to e-power and the Mission R’s all-wheel drive makes sense some high-performance street cars as well.

‘In term of the battery, there is still huge potential within what I call the 1000-volt class. You can go from 800 to 900 volts within more or less the same specification, whereas it is another huge step from 1000 volts to 2000, as it was from 400 to 800. You have to change the specifications of every component and the infrastructure.’

If all of the above sounds like ferociously logical Porsche thinking, it’s the same with virtually every aspect of this car. Take the all-wheel-drive system. On a racecar and, potentially, a roadgoing Cayman? Doesn’t sound right. But flip your combustion-engined mindset to e-power and it all makes sense.

Steiner: ‘There are a lot of good reasons for this – it is not only wet and winter conditions that favour four-wheel drive. With e-mobility there is another dimension that doesn’t exist with conventional cars: energy regeneration. Under deceleration the front axle has more grip, which is why on a sports car the front brakes are always bigger than the rears, and this is the main reason electric race cars benefit from four-wheel drive – to maximise regeneration potential.’

To drive, then, both the Mission R and the production cars it previews will feel rear-wheel drive, even if their front axles will work to reclaim power that’d otherwise be lost to hot discs and pads.

The Mission R’s shot through with design logic too, heading in a direction design boss Michael Mauer plotted years ago between the EV aesthetic excesses of cars like the i3 and the ultra-conservative approach of, say, Tesla’s Model S. ‘We have seen very different approaches from the car industry,’ muses Mauer. ‘We saw the full bandwidth of possibilities but we already had a very well defined design strategy based on the concepts of brand identity and product identity. We knew from the beginning we needed elements

that were about brand identity, because the Taycan needed to be a Porsche.

But it also needed new elements to make it a Taycan. The headlamps are product identity but right now we’re in a transition phase. We’re using the same themes for all our EVs. But in the future, when we have more of them, we will start playing around more with this.

‘On the Mission R I would say anything below the line around the middle of the car is purely racing. Some of those sections, like the side air intake – they’re pretty radical. Anything above this line, like the proportions, the design of the headlamps, the tail lamp, the daylight opening [glasshouse] – stuff like this is all based on Porsche’s design DNA. My favourite parts are the tail lamp – really nice – and the section to the sides of the car, which are very expressive. If you take the Taycan in the same perspective, there is already a lot of tension for a production car. I would love to see even more of this in future.’

Until then, let’s not fail to enjoy the Mission R concept for what it is: a labour of love from a company more obsessed with racing than just about any other. This much is evident in the details, from the neat active aero and a drag-reduction system to the car’s extensive use of ultra-light yet renewable materials, notably plastics reinforced with natural fibres rather than carbon. Inside, you sit within a protective module that could also be offered as an eSports simulator, blurring the lines between real racing and its online twin. Displays show video feeds behind and to the sides of the car, replacing mirrors, and a neatly integrated roof-top air vent feeds a cool breeze to your fevered brow. The steering wheel is a deadly-serious prototype-style design while a touchscreen displays your biometric read-outs, so you can see just how worryingly high your heart rate is…

Little of that lot is likely to make it to your electric Porsche Cayman. But what matters – design and engineering worthy of a true Porsche sports car – will. ⊲ NOVEMBER 2021 | CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK

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All electric, totally 911

The Porsche 911 will go electric – in two giant leaps. We unveil Porsche’s plan to save its defining model. By Georg Kacher

First we’ll see the hybrid 911, the 994, then the full-electric 998-gen car before the end of the decade. Porsche’s plan for the 911’s electrification is a bold transformation strategy – with plenty of imponderables. Like which type of battery to use, how to package it, and what shape to choose for minimum drag with maximum 911-ness. This story is a work in progress – progress that began in the last decade.

While we tapped a variety of sources to shed light on the means and the end, a lot can change between now and 2028. But the wheels are in motion – as they must be. As Michael Steiner, Porsche’s R&D boss puts it: ‘Deciding too early can be wrong. But deciding too late is always a mistake.’

2018 The first clues A decade prior to its tentative due date, a mysterious red dot marked 998 made its first appearance on the top-secret product-cycle plan at Porsche’s Stuttgart HQ. This at a time when the company was making final preparations for the launch of the eighth-generation 911 (codenamed 992 and complete with mount points on the new gearbox for an e-motor) and the second Macan facelift. Even though the combustion engine was under pressure from increasingly strict emissions controls and growing social acceptance issues, European EV sales were still in single-digit percentages; the Taycan still more than a year away.

2021 If Porsche can make an electric racer…

Three years on from its first appearance on the product plan, the 998 is still there. This far out from the start of production, the cycle plan normally shows white and green clouds to underline the provisional character of the project. The 998, however, appears to be a solid programme with no asterisks or comment attached. But there’s also no official confirmation; in fact, when I steer the conversation toward that still-classified threedigit code at the IAA auto show in Munich, Dr Steiner is not amused.

But lift your eyes from secret documents to gaze at the Mission R show car, and you grasp Porsche’s confidence in its electrification capabilities.

2022-27 The transformation The Taycan is a huge success, its 19,822 sales in the first half of 2021 nip-and-tuck with the 911’s. Next we’ll see Porsche start to transform its familiar name plates from combustion engines to fully electric.

First up is the Macan, Porsche’s biggest-selling car. The new electric-only version will be a 2023 model, Porsche has confirmed. There’ll likely be a transition period while the new EV is sold alongside the current combustion model. We’re expecting the electric Cayman and Cayenne to follow in 2024, and the Panamera in 2027 at the latest. The Taycan could ⊲

74 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | NOVEMBER 2021

Our illustration is clearly a 911, but not one with a boxer engine

Porsche’s electric 911

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K E E P Porsche’s engines will keep running for a good few years yet, helped by a Porsche/Siemens project to produce synthetic fuel – which they call eFuel – that isn’t based on fossils and produces negligible CO2.

Work has begun on a plant in Chile that by 2030 will

YO U R

M O T O R

produce 550 million litres of eFuel a year.

Initially it will be used in the Porsche Supercup race series, and at Porsche Experience Centres. It might be made available to other manufacturers, and even F1,

Designed with past, present and future in mind, and pacesetting in terms of its drivetrain

76 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | NOVEMBER 2021

R U N N I N G

depending on the details of a distribution system yet to be mapped out.

Chile is particularly well suited to the creation of eFuel thanks to its strong, consistent winds, which provide a CO2-neutral way of powering the process in which usable hydrogen is extracted from water for conversion into fuel.

But don’t think this means a long-term reprieve for combustion engines.

Michael Steiner, Porsche’s

R&D chief, says: ‘Our main strategy is e-mobility, but to be CO2-neutral by 2030 we need additional measures.

We see this as an important additional measure and as a role model that could be feasible for on-road, offroad transportation, but also shipping, maybe aviation.

‘This is no competition to e-mobility. Wherever you have renewable electricity in the grid, it’s always more efficient to just drive with this electricity.’

Porsche’s electric 911

be ready for a switch from the MK1’s J1 architecture to the group’s SSP platform in 2026. Expect a large super-Cayenne crossover around the same time, which shares its DNA with the Audi Grandsphere and a Bentley.

These EVs will help Porsche towards its aim of CO2 neutrality by 2030 while also providing valuable data for the 998 project.

2025 Next-gen batteries The batteries are critical to the whole project. Even the Mission R’s sophisticated high-performance cells may not be progressive enough for the second half of the decade. That’s when American firm QuantumScape hopes to deliver the Holy Grail: the very first high-performance solid-state energy cells. Exactly when QuantumScape can deliver its dedicated power banks is another matter. In an ideal world, hands-on work with the supercells would begin in 2025 at the latest.

Key assets of the multi-dozen-layer cells are claimed to include an 80 per cent range extension over lithium-ion, greater stability and a dramatically faster six-minute charge time from five to 80 per cent. The supplier community tells us that the Porsche specification emphasises flexible packaging for optimised weight distribution and space utilisation, as well as efficiency and high-speed robustness on road and track.

And where exactly would these batteries go? Has Porsche built a proto-

Challenges include making it look and feel different from e-Cayman

type 911 with its rear-mounted flat-six substituted for a battery?

R&D man Steiner: ‘In CAD, yes, we did such studies. But there was never a prototype like that – too many problems [with safety; batteries need to be within the wheelbase]. We would not like to see this on the road with today’s technology. But we could split the battery, with a T-shaped layout; big battery pack behind the seats and the rest in a corridor between them.’

2026 The hybrid The only combustion-engined Porsche that’s not part of the mid-decade switch is the 911. Expect the next-gen 994’s design to be frozen in the autumn of 2025, and production to begin at the end of 2026.

Powered by a hybrid (but not plug-in) petrol engine, the flat-six is likely to rise in capacity from 3.0 to 3.4 litres – not in pursuit of higher performance, but to compensate for the muffling effects of EU7 emissions regs.

A plug-in hybrid would mean more weight, less space, increased complexity and dynamic compromises. Porsche’s solution adds slugs of additional grunt to beef up the low- to mid-rev performance. We hear the compact e-boost system will throw in an extra 270bhp for a total output of over well over 800bhp…

Once the 994’s design is set, the same team will switch to finalising the 998, a car that will pose some big challenges for the engineers and designers who must define it.

Or will it? Perhaps an electric 911 designs itself… Head of design Michael Mauer told CAR: ‘The silhouette of today’s 911 is so iconic. That has to stay, as we have proved over the years – the new 911 is always a 911; just a new one. Listening to the engineers now, when we talk about combustion engines, the limitations, exhaust systems… Honestly, I am more worried about how we’d package this in 10 or 15 years’ time because most likely the overhang would be almost two metres…

‘Electric technology brings more freedom but yes, the Cayman and Boxster are mid-engined and the 911 is rear-engined, and we have to make sure these cars are differentiated. We’re going to see. We can make it work.’

2028 They said it couldn’t be done…

The date may shift a little. Something might change in the wider world of emissions regulations, battery supply, charging networks and indeed global pandemics. But if all goes to plan, as we understand it, then in 2028 the 998 – the 100 per cent electric 911 – will arrive.

Developed from scratch, designed with the past, present and future in mind and pace-setting in terms of drivetrain and batteries, it promises to be a revolutionary concept wrapped in an evolutionary skin. Can we expect a car a little like a larger and more potent Cayman EV derivative? Or something on a new architecture conceived around SSP, the VW Group’s performance EV platform?

All these ideas are in the mix. The Weissach grapevine reports that the scalable platform principle will be complemented by bespoke modules.

There could be two different underbodies, shaped for more and less ground effect, and interchangeable uppers defining the character and style of the individual models. Think Spyder, Speedster, Sahara, Sportster…

The challenges are vast, not least because the e-drivetrain will occupy more space than a combustion engine and its fuel tank. Then there’s the battery-induced weight disadvantage… But Porsche has shown a formidable ability to rise to challenges.

‘A real sports car has to perform on the racetrack, and there the car’s lateral capabilities [its ability to hustle corners] are at least as important as longitudinal [its acceleration]. Maybe even more important,’ muses Dr Steiner. ‘When electric cars become superior to combustion-engined cars – and this will happen by the end of the decade – then there will be more and more customers willing to switch concepts.’

When that time comes the 911 will be ready.

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The Reunion

Spoiler alert In its pomp, Max Power magazine sold a quarter of a million copies per month and defined a scene.

Then the world moved on – well, most of it did…

Words Ben Barry Photography Jordan Butters

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The big question: have they notified their insurers?

Nowhere for your shopping, but feel the bass

Fourth-gen Supra remains icon of the scene

The Reunion Smells like sun cream and Meguiar’s

odified hatchbacks, barely-clad ‘babes’, subwoofers pinballing my brain around in my skull – suddenly I’m transported back 20 years. We’re at The Reunion, unofficially the Max Power Reunion (otherwise CAR’s publishers would want a word), and you can’t move for lairy motors and up-for-it punters. Organiser Mark ‘Smurfy’ Smith has up-sized The Reunion venue three times due to demand, before selecting Towcester Racecourse, which he’d worried would look empty. It’s packed.

Walking around you’d think the modified scene never went away, but 10 years ago Max Power – strap-line ‘The Definitive Guide To Arsing About In Cars’ – closed in the wake of collapsing sales and a scene that vanished overnight. At its peak in the early 2000s, Max was the biggest-selling car magazine of all, out-punching CAR (with which it shared an office). Such was the magazine’s impact on popular culture that boy- and girl racers became ‘Maxers’ who ‘Max’d’ cars, and it sailed so close to the wind that politicians, police and puritans all queued up to give it a beating. A publisher once told a Max editor: ‘If you’re not giving me nightmares you’re not doing your job.’ Or words to that effect; I can’t quite remember.

But I do remember my start date: 1 February 2000, first job after uni.

Working under editor John Sootheran, I was tasked with organising 500 cars for Max Power Live at the Birmingham NEC, while also contributing editorial content. I was on £6k for six months, including a £1k bonus if things didn’t end in disaster.

At least I knew the subject. Max launched in 1993, the concept of the talented young Grahame Steed, ably assisted by legendary scene photographer Andy ‘Fly’ Tipping. I was 17, and for me the mix of 10-year-old hatchbacks, Cossies and Mk2 Escorts hit the spot. They were attainable, far more interesting than the mainstream dross (back then it was mostly a post-joyriding hot-hatch wasteland), and ‘street sleepers’ with mighty engine transplants got me dreaming – Vauxhall red-tops in Novas, Mi16 engines in Peugeot 205s, Cossie lumps in Mk2 Escorts…

Max had great captions and clever humour. (The anonymous Gatso Terrorist Squad dressed up speed cameras in the Peterborough area, there was an amnesty for OAPs to hand in their vehicles, and Max embroiled itself in a war with former car dealer Quentin Willson, who it dubbed ‘a keen horologist’.) Reading the mag I learnt technical stuff about cars that didn’t require a mechanical engineering degree.

Sales picked up fast from a strong base of around 40,000 copies per month initially. Lad culture was in the ascendancy, and Max became Loaded magazine on wheels. The ‘babes’ appeared, some pro models like Jordan and Olivia, others just girls in a car park asked the most probing questions for the infamous ‘On The Pull’ back page, which displeased

some but greatly pleased an estimated 40,000 or so extra readers.

The genre was ‘performance tuning’, but Max embraced the rise of entry-level insurance-friendly hatchbacks with wild styling, huge stereo systems and tiny engines barely able to propel the mass of fibreglass and speakers through the McDonald’s drive-though.

But there was also stuff that still dries my mouth today, mostly based around the Japanese import scene. Max hosted Smoky Nagata of tuning house Top Secret. He hit 197mph on a deserted A1 in a Japanese-registered Supra, and found himself without English in a Cambridgeshire police station after midnight. Can you imagine the copper on the front desk?

Assembling all those cars for Max Power Live meant I was constantly on the road, often attending other modified car meets, occasionally the dreary sound-offs (basically cars stuffed with concrete and speakers ⊲

Max hosted Smoky Nagata, who hit 197mph on the A1 in a Japanese-registered Supra

Serious car, serious security entourage

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The Reunion

King of the scene Jamie Shaw

farting in car parks), and also ‘cruises’. These were the raves of the modified scene, usually held in retail parks, organised by text message.

Word of Max’s presence guaranteed a large turn-out. Packs of lads would press down on Nova bonnets while the front tyres spewed smoke, young girls would flash things other than headlights, and we’d score the event in the mag, printing a league table in the back.

Aged 24, it gave me a crash course in libel and legal. A national TV news crew followed me and young designer Simon Freeborough to a cruise, and soon the very bright Si was snared under spotlights somehow saying ‘It’s just like Frank Butcher’, who’d run down and killed a teenage girl in an EastEnders plot line. It was fantastically bad publicity.

Max Power Live was a success, I was promoted, and new recruits Andy ‘Millsy’ Mills and Dan Anslow were drafted in, soon becoming the real faces of the mag. Millsy placid, passionate and affably surreal, Anslow the lanky softie beneath a thuggish appearance but always ready to go native – lagered up with a mic on the NEC stage, he once asked a reader if he’d lost ‘his f**king dog on a piece of string’. I could only run away.

Under John Sootheran the covers were all bright cars popping out of bright-blue skies, and sales sky-rocketed – in 2001 it’d be a disappointment to sell fewer than 180,000 copies, and a little over 200k wasn’t uncommon.

We did 240k on one Oasis-at-Knebworth-like occasion around 2003.

Cheap credit, a strong economy, and the release of The Fast and the Furious in 2001 all had a kind of afterburner effect on an already booming scene. Readers racked up thousands of pounds of debt building feature cars. I remember a guy in Northampton having £30k of credit-card debt from his Renault 5 GT Turbo build, which ran a claimed 300bhp or so from 1.4 turbocharged litres. Naturally the aftermarket expanded to sate demand. Some were reputable companies, some peddled nasty stuff to make a quick buck, and all of them advertised in Max, almost 300 pages and 50 per cent full of ads.

Things were going so well that following Max Power Live, publishers Emap flew the entire editorial, advertising and marketing team away for a weekend break in Ibiza. But by 2004 it was all starting to go wrong, with sales falling below 20,000 copies at its closure in 2011.

Now 48, Reunion organiser Mark Smith began reading in 1995. Three years ago he was helping his then 15-year-old son with his supercarspotting Instagram account, which had 20,000 followers. Son challenged father to do better. ‘There were some Max Power magazines in the room 84 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | NOVEMBER 2021

and it went from there,’ says Smith. ‘Someone said, “Why don’t you organise a show?” Last night [Max Power Reunion] hit 25,000 followers.’

Smith has done all the show organisation, but handed over logistics on the day to Petrolheadonism. There are 680 show cars (‘I wanted ’80s, ’90s and early 2000s cars, real cars and real people’), DJ Richie Don on the stage (his mix CDs were freebies on the cover, spiking sales) and a roster of sponsors including cleaning product specialist Meguiar’s, who had lucrative tie-ups with Max Power in the early 2000s. The company has even restored a modified wide-arched Renault 5 GT Turbo that’s on display.

In fact, the number of original Max feature cars in attendance is unreal.

Project Slam was an Astra Coupe project car given to the magazine by Vauxhall (the mainstream manufacturers couldn’t ignore Max in the end), and subsequently fitted with a bodykit so tarmac-scraping that it became a static display. The driver and passenger seat can be rotated through 180º for a game on the PlayStation in the back.

Nearby there are three Carisma Automotive cars, built by Jamie Shaw.

For Maxers, Jamie was king modifier, then in his 20s and bringing skills he’d learnt trimming Rolls-Royces to bear first on hot hatches, later a TVR and a Porsche. The quality of work and creativity is incredible, and his Renault 5 GT Turbo remains in time-warp condition (see interview over the page) and rightly elevated on a pedestal in front of the main stage. ⊲

THE FOUR PILLARS OF MAX POWER

1

Bad behaviour Whether it was doing a burnout in your Vauxhall Nova or drifting the A1 in your Nissan Skyline (the Max snapper just happened to be there), Max was never far from late-night bad behaviour and a stern word from the law. This was ‘The Definitive Guide To Arsing About In Cars’, after all.

2

Humour Max was never high-brow, but it was probably cleverer than its reputation suggests. Guinness was lubrication for production editor Paul ‘Rusty’ Stratton’s (RIP) genius captions and headlines. A personal highlight included ‘sabotaging’ the London to Brighton Rally in a modified Megane with ‘Opium Den’ signage, extremely tall staffer Dan Anslow dressed as a 19th century lady.

3

Smut Girls weren’t in Max at the start, but they supercharged sales soon after and became as essential as the metal. Models including Olivia (blonde, buxom, brainy too) were celebrated in studio shoots, but so too were girls picked from crowds at cruises, eager to feature in ‘On The Pull’. Those unable to make it sent submissions for ‘Er In Drawers’.

4

Modified cars Ah yes, the cars. Core models included Novas, Corsas, Renault 5 GT Turbos, Saxos, Fiestas, Golfs, Civics, Astras and Escorts, but the Japanese import scene added Skylines, Supras and RX-7s.

A guy in Northampton had £30k of credit-card debt from his Renault 5 GT Turbo

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Does it get any better than a Dimma-kitted 205?

That’s ICE as in in-car entertainment – the engine’s up front

And you were worried about the move to E10

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The Reunion

The rise of cheaper weekly lads’ mags, the decline of magazine sales, YouTube, social media, CCTV… They all piled in on Max A million cuts killed Max Power. The focus on style at the expense of performance cost credibility, and there was poor decision-making, including The Chavalier, a Burberry Mk3 Cavalier project car that was a little close to the bone for too much of the readership. A circa-2004 re-design took the tone more aggressive and downmarket, perhaps underestimating the passion and intelligence of the readership, then the pendulum swung too far in the opposite direction.

But forces outside the mag’s control were more decisive: the brief rise of far cheaper weekly lads’ mags Zoo and Nuts, the general decline of magazine sales, the reinvention of Top Gear TV and its magazine with a more youthful attitude, then YouTube and social media, CCTV… It all piled in. Factor in tempting finance deals on new hot hatches straight from the factory, warranties that were voided if you messed with your car, then the credit-crunch, and Max was in a death spin.

Is The Reunion sign of a revival? Certainly judging by this turn-out.

There are still plenty of car shows and meets, and a significant number of readers were in their early to mid-teens and unable to drive in Max’s heyday. They’re in their late 20s and 30s today. I chat to 32-year-old Matthew Gurden, who’s previously owned an Evo 6 and bought his readymodified – yep – Renault 5 GT Turbo off eBay. He and wife Hannah left their wedding in it. There’s nostalgia for those who were there in the day, too. Show organiser Mark Smith has noticed the prices of old copies of the magazine on eBay going up, and a lot more Max-style cars being offered for sale as barn finds. Unable to afford to build a modified car two decades ago, he’s building a three-door Sierra Cosworth that’ll run around 350bhp.

CAR’s publisher Bauer still owns the Max Power name. When it closed the title after 17 years, it described the move as ‘suspending publication’, and promised to keep the brand alive in the future with a series of ‘one shots’ and special issues. Judging by the Towcester turn out, there might just be a market.

Ex-Max men Dan Anslow, Andy Mills and CAR’s Ben Barry (right)

Donato Coco designed the Saxo. Sorry, Donato

‘ E V E RY B I T O F T H AT C A R I S A B I T O F M E ’ Aged 25 in 2000, Jamie Shaw was king of the modifying scene. His business, Carisma Automotive, specialised in leather re-trims and created several cover cars. The combination of craftsmanship and creativity fed the scene, but it didn’t last…

‘When they asked me to come here I said, “Nah, I’m not interested.” And then I thought, “What would a Reunion be without my car?” It’s probably responsible for thousands of Renault 5 GT Turbos

being butchered or scrapped!

‘It’s the only car I ever kept, and every bit of it is a bit of me. The design was in my head. I’d get styling foam from the boat-building industry, stick the blocks on, cut bits off, sand it, then fibreglass it.

‘Back in the day we’d charge £1500 for a basic leather re-trim, and we’d normally spend 12 weeks building a demo car, mainly me, and it’d probably be £50k if someone wanted something similar.

‘When the mag was going down we went in a different direction with VIP vehicles. I built cars for the Sultan of Brunei and another for Roman Abramovich, with a built-in oxygen supply. That business went pear-shaped, someone tried to sue me for a couple of million euros, nightmare.

‘Roman wanted a couple more cars, but I was winding the company up. I can’t tell you how gutted I was. I’d worked for 20 years to get to that point, and I was so proud of the interiors.

‘I now work at P&A Wood, the largest Rolls-Royce and Bentley heritage dealer in the world. I’m in charge of the trim shop, mostly working on cars worth more than £2m. I used to earn a little more when Carisma was at its peak, but the pressure… Now I’ve got no bills, no one to worry about, I’m happy.

‘I’ve spent £12k keeping my Renault 5 in dehumidified storage, and that’s my boy’s inheritance. I’m not saying it’s the best car in the world – it’s a Renault 5 GT Turbo – but it is the car that inspired thousands of people to join the scene.’

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Sports Car Giant Test 2021

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2021

SPORTS

CAR

GIANT

TEST

AS GOOD AS IT GETS Is this it? Do 2021’s best new performance cars represent peak combustion-engined supercar, before everything goes electric?

Either way, we still need a winner…

Photography Jordan Butters

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THE CARS FERRARI SF90 STRADALE ASSETTO FIORANO

PORSCHE 911 GT3 Walking the tightrope between track prowess and road usability isn’t easy, but Porsche’s latest GT3 would appear to have both covered. Still with a shrieking naturally-aspirated flat-six and, here, still with a manual gearbox too. Hopelessly outgunned by the turbocharged, battery-boosted hybrid SF90?

Price | £123,100 (£137,709 as tested) Powertrain | 3996cc 24v flat-six, six-speed manual, rear-wheel drive Performance | 503bhp @ 8400rpm, 347lb ft @ 6100rpm, 3.9sec 0-62mph, 199mph, 22.8mpg, 294g/km CO2 Weight | 1418kg

E-power assisting a fierce V8 makes this the most powerful car here, by miles, with all-wheel drive to make the most of it, aided by enough computing power to manage a moon landing. This one’s the 30kg lighter, carbon and titanium-riddled Assetto Fiorano version.

ALFA ROMEO GIULIA GTAm The GTA is the Alfa we didn’t know we needed. Take one Giulia QF, rip out 100kg, fit a titanium exhaust, race-spec splitter and wing, boost power. This GTAm version is a further 40kg lighter, with Sabelt carbonfibre seats and a half-cage replacing the rear bench. One very serious Alfa.

Price | £156,000 (£156,000 as tested) Powertrain | 2891cc 24v twin-turbo V6, eight-speed auto, rear-wheel drive Performance | 533bhp @ 6500rpm, 443lb ft @ 2500rpm, 3.8sec 0-62mph, 186mph, 26.2mpg, 206g/km CO2 Weight | 1580kg

90 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | NOVEMBER 2021

Price | £413,780 (£540,764 as tested) Powertrain | 3990cc 32v twin-turbo V8 plus three e-motors, eight-speed twin-clutch auto, all-wheel drive Performance 986bhp @ 7500rpm, 590lb ft @ 6000rpm, 2.5sec 0-62mph, 211mph, 29.7mpg, 217g/km CO2 Weight | 1570kg

Sports Car Giant Test 2021

VW GOLF GTI CLUBSPORT 45

HYUNDAI i20N

BMW M4 COMPETITION The latest generation of M’s icon has a lot to prove but it’s already risen to the challenge of standing up to Porsche’s 911 Carrera in these pages. The engine is again a turbocharged straight-six, although a different one from before, but it’s the M chassis we’re falling for in a big way.

Price | £75,080 (£87,745 as tested) Powertrain | 2993cc 24v twin-turbo straight-six, eight-speed auto, rear-wheel drive Performance | 503bhp @ 6250rpm, 479lb ft @ 2750rpm, 3.9sec 0-62mph, 180mph, 27.7mpg, 229g/km CO2 Weight | 1725kg

Out-gunned and out-classed by everything else here? Based on our seat time in the i20N to date, we doubt it. Stiff chassis allows for mid-corner wheel-cocking, and the punchy turbo engine is backed up by endlessly configurable drive modes, automatic rev-matching and a physics-defying limited-slip diff.

VW’s GTI name is 45 years old, so Wolfsburg’s built a limited-run super-hatch. Decals and wild wing aside, this is the sharpest GTI in years; power’s up to near-R levels, there’s a pop ’n’ bang soundtrack courtesy of Akrapovic, and a specific drive mode for driving the ’Ring. Natch.

Price | £24,995 (£25,545 as tested) Powertrain | 1598cc 16v turbocharged four-cylinder, six-speed manual, front-wheel drive Performance | 201bhp @ 5500rpm, 203lb ft @ 1750rpm, 6.2sec 0-62mph, 142mph, 40.4mpg, 158g/km CO2 Weight | 1190kg

Price | £40,715 (£44,390 as tested) Powertrain | 1984cc 16v turbocharged four-cylinder, seven-speed twin-clutch auto, front-wheel drive Performance | 296bhp @ 5300rpm, 295lb ft @ 2000rpm, 5.6sec 0-62mph, 166mph, 38.1mpg, 168g/km CO2 Weight | 1461kg

LAMBORGHINI HURACAN STO How could we say no to the purest Huracan yet? The Super Trofeo Omologato smashes together a rear-driven, highoutput powertrain with lessons learned from the one-make Super Trofeo race series and the even more serious Huracan GT3 Evo. Loudest car here by far.

Price | £260,012 (£294,357 as tested) Powertrain | 5204cc 40v V10, seven-speed twin-clutch auto, rear-wheel drive Performance | 630bhp @ 8000rpm, 417lb ft @ 6500rpm, 3.0sec 0-62mph, 193mph, 20.3mpg, 331g/km CO2 Weight | 1339kg

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‘How do you turn the traction control off?’

First question Jamie asks in every car

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JAMIE

CHADWICK

THE DRIVER

J

oining the CAR team for Sports Car Giant Test 2021 is reigning W Series champion and Williams F1 development driver Jamie Chadwick.

She’s here because, apart from having the talent to hot-lap each car on the limit and to pass the kind of unflinching judgement only a hard-nosed pro racing driver can, she also has a limitless enthusiasm for driving and appreciates what makes a well-rounded road car as well as an uncompromising track car.

Since Jamie last joined CAR, to co-judge our Track Car of the Year 2020 test, she’s returned to defend her title in W Series, the international single-seater championship for female drivers on the F1 support bill. At the time of writing she’s tied for first place in the championship, with two rounds remaining.

She’s been combining that with a campaign in Extreme E, the global off-road electric racing series, going wheel to wheel with legends on its driver roster including Sebastien Loeb, Carlos Sainz (the father, not the Ferrari-pedalling son) and Jenson Button.

‘I’d never driven off-road before; it’s something that’s very new to me, and being able to have that opportunity is fantastic,’ she says of Extreme E. ‘Any driving skill, whatever you’re competing in, is valuable, and I think to have that adaptability regardless of the conditions teaches you a lot. No matter what you apply that to, whether it’s racing W Series at Silverstone or something completely different, like today, there are always new challenges to master and work into your skillset for use elsewhere.’

Hell, lapping Anglesey with us might even come in handy during the course of her development driving for the Williams F1 team… Jamie signed with the squad in 2019, and in Friday practice at the F1 weekends that don’t clash with W Series she’s often behind the wheel of the team’s simulator back at base, sending real-time set-up feedback to the team at the track.

Highlight of Jamie’s diverse career so far? ‘The Nürburgring 24-hour race. I’ve only done it twice in a GT4 car, and it’s enough to put your eyes out on stalks. An incredible event and an incredible race.’

She also knows Anglesey circuit inside out, having tested here in F3 and W Series (‘It’s fast, and physical in a downforce car’), so a 1000bhp Ferrari and a virtually unsilenced Lamborghini should be a doddle… ⊲ NOVEMBER 2021 | CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK

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Sports Car Giant Test 2021 2. BANKING Swing to the left of the circuit on approach and take full advantage of the camber at the apex to sweep your way to the exit on full power.

9. HAIRPIN Straightforward and smooth 180º turn, provided you haven’t been wildly optimistic. There’s even a bit of run-off…

8. SEAMAN’S Steep downhill approach means you have to take care on braking. Hatches want to understeer if you carry too much speed.

7. PEEL Looks tighter than it is, and the technical racing line challenges novices.

Off-camber as you drop down the hill.

6. ROCKET OUT A slow entry speed and early apex allow you to get back on the power quickly as you exit.

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3. CHURCH Huge sweeper that needs laser-accurate steering control for a clean lap. Lift off in the hatches here and the rear will step out.

1. TARGET Your lap starts here. Fasterthan-it-looks left-hander requires bravery. BMW M4 a real adventure through here in the wet; SF90 just monsters it.

4. SCHOOL

Flat through here. Don’t get distracted by the view, or what lies ahead, just thread the needle straight and true from entry to exit.

5. ROCKET IN A corner that can catch you out, but a real thriller.

Left-hander is blind on the approach, with the apex right at the summit. Incline helps you brake hard.

THE TRACK One of the UK’s most beautiful circuits, Anglesey has it all: high-speed straights, technical direction changes, epic sweepers and camber changes galore. It’s not a track for the faint of heart, so remember to pack bags of commitment and bravery as well as your helmet and driving licence for that trackday.

Yes, this place is an absolute trek from almost everywhere in the UK. But your route there can take in some of the world’s best driving roads, and Anglesey’s location on the cliff’s edge high above the Irish Sea means the views are always breathtaking, whatever the weather (and there’s always plenty of weather).

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Sports Car Giant Test 2021 Lamborghini, honestly, who designs your graphics?

BY

JAMES

TAYLOR

PARTY TIME

E Guest tester Jamie Chadwick, W Series champ

GT3 so intuitive to drive that big angles like this aren’t scary

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eek! Fourth gear through Anglesey circuit’s dare-you-quick first corner and the BMW M4’s bootlid makes a sudden bid to overtake its infamous nose. Whoa! Banked hairpin behind us, the rear wheels are still spinning down the straight, revs soaring. Ulp. Over the kerb into the blindentry hilltop left-hander, the M4 slews sideways under power and its fat wheel begins racking itself towards the lock-stops.

With the 10-step traction control system turned almost all the way down, M Division’s super-coupe is A Bit of a Handful. Maybe BMW had second thoughts about the grille after sign-off and asked the chassis engineers to ensure that the car only ever comes into view side-on.

One important caveat, however: at this moment, Anglesey is wet. On a clear day, this clifftop track perched on the isle’s edge is the most photogenic circuit in Britain. But right now it’s hard to tell where the Irish Sea ends and the primer-grey sky begins.

And like jump-scares in a second-rate horror movie, the M4’s oversteer moments mostly turn out to be false alarms; nothing to worry about, really. And a bit of a laugh. Once you trust it, you’re soon intentionally using the quick steering and understeer-repelling front-end grip to get a slide going, then relying on the long wheelbase to balance everything, and tapping into the bottomless well of torque to ride it out, all the time wearing a grin wider than the spinning rear Michelins. Not the most intellectual pursuit, perhaps. But addictive. I’m having so much lowbrow fun I’m tempted to crown the M4 the winner here and now. But there are six other cars to drive first, and a special guest to swap notes with.

Guest judge Jamie Chadwick is with us and settling into the Porsche 911 GT3 for a sighting lap. I jump into the passenger seat to take notes. The GT3’s already wowed us this year and Jamie’s taken with it before turning a wheel: ‘This is just fantastic. I’d go for the Touring Package-spec if I were a customer, though; lose the rear wing, so it’s a bit more subtle.’

This is a new breed of 911 GT3: bigger and wider than ever (yet no heavier than before). The rear wing’s borrowed from the 911 RSR Le Mans car and so is the new front axle, with double-wishbone suspension replacing MacPherson struts. That’s a first for roadgoing 911-kind. But it still packs a 4.0-litre flat-six with a 9000rpm redline and a complete absence of turbos, and it’s still available with a manual gearbox – as fitted to this car.

Jamie slots it into first and we head out of the garage. The rain’s easing off, and Jamie experiments with different lines to find the driest part of the track, like a reverse water diviner. Even in these conditions, the grip the GT3 finds is startling. ‘The response from the front end is impressive – this feels different to other Porsches I’ve driven. I really love the weight of the steering, too – lots of feedback,’ gushes Jamie. ⊲

Wet trackday?

GT3 starts to feel the Hyundai heat

Ferrari the only four-wheel-drive car here. M4 gets xDrive soon

Describing the Alfa as exuberant would just be lazy stereotyping, no?

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Sports Car Giant Test 2021

Invert the wings and you could comfortably fly the Atlantic

Despite the abundant traction, the flat-six’s revs still occasionally scream skyward as the rear tyres hit a banana-skin patch of water.

‘I like the gear ratios: you can keep it in second gear all the way around the longer hairpins, and it’s easy to short-shift to help traction.’ Jamie’s more than capable of heel-and-toeing but switches on the automatic throttle-blip for downshifts for the first exploratory laps. ‘It’s ridiculously good – somehow it always finds exactly the right amount of revs. And the engine responds so quickly!’ she adds, as the revs zing upward again on the downshift-downshift-downshift approach to Anglesey’s tightest hairpin.

‘I don’t love the seating position – I find it a bit too upright, especially wearing a helmet,’ she shouts over the engine’s racket, though the bucket’s position can be tilted using spanners. ‘Other than that, I don’t have many bad things to say about it…’ Ominous.

She’s right: the GT3 feels born for this. It is in possession of the most responsive front end of any 911 I’ve driven that isn’t wearing slicks; it is razor-sharp. So too is the throttle response, and the overriding impression is of absolute tactility: feedback through steering, pedals and the seat of your pants is so transparent you feel as if you’ve been driving this car all your life. It’s a 503bhp sports car with the engine in the ‘wrong’ place that you feel instantly at one with: quite some achievement.

While we wait for the track to dry a little more (‘Shouldn’t be long – it’s an abrasive surface, and the wind dries the circuit quickly here too,’ says Jamie, with the weather-eye of someone used to waiting out rain at race circuits), we warm up with the two hot hatches.

They’re here because the Ferrari and Lamborghini cost a collective £674,000 (before options), the Alfa and Porsche are both deep into six figures and the M4 starts at £75k. The Golf GTI and scampish Hyundai i20N bring some perspective and, rather than being lambs to the slaughter, they might just provide a rude reality check to the exotica. That said, the Golf looks worryingly expensive at just over £40k…

But in wet conditions it’s the Golf that springs an early surprise. ‘I think that’s my new favourite car,’ says Jamie, stepping from the GTI Clubsport to a timpani accompaniment from its furiously ticking titanium exhaust system (largely responsible for the 45’s £2790 price hike over the mechanically identical regular GTI Clubsport). ‘In these conditions, you know exactly where the limit is and you feel comfortable to push straight away. It rotates really well if you trail the brakes into corners slightly, getting rid of that horrible understeer I’d expected, and then out of the corner it finds a lot of traction and hooks up nicely.’ (The Clubsport has its electronically ⊲ 98 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | NOVEMBER 2021

LIKE JUMPSCARES IN A HORROR MOVIE, THE M4’S OVERSTEER MOMENTS MOSTLY TURN OUT TO BE FALSE ALARMS; NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT

The BMW’s relentless front axle is a thing of joy

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Somewhere down there, mounted unfeasibly low, is a magical V8

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Aero kit on the i20N more to balance front-torear lift than add real downforce

The smile of someone who’s just driven an SF90 in Qualifying mode

if your foot’s still brushing the throttle (the run-on controlled mechanical limited-slip diff to thank for ‘REAR-LIMITED’ effect of a weighty flywheel). that, and the Hyundai gets one too).

IS THE RACINGThe H-pattern gearbox is good, foolproof and On the road the GTI can feel a little oneDRIVER PHRASE flickable. But the standard is high in this class, and dimensional but here, with extra space to play with, the Hyundai’s isn’t as sweet as rival ’boxes from it’s a joy. There’s great stopping power (though, as JAMIE USES TO Ford and Honda. Still, at least you’re changing gear Jamie notes, the pedal’s initial response is a little DESCRIBE THE M4 yourself – Golf Clubsport is paddles-only. And the over-sensitive), the honeycomb-grilled nose tucks COMPETITION’S cheapest car here gives a good account of itself: the in neatly to every apex, and the Golf’s attitude can HANDLING Golf is more fun but it’s not £15k more fun. be adjusted neatly with the throttle.

‘The Hyundai feels at home on track,’ says Jamie.

More fun than the BMW, though? Believe.

‘I’d say the balance is better than the Golf in the dry; it’s got a better front ‘I’m having more fun in the GTI than I did in the M4,’ says Jamie. end. Here, every gear ratio feels like it needs to be a bit shorter. It’s a circuit(‘Rear-limited’ is the racing-driver phrase Jamie uses to describe the M4’s specific thing, but the long, wide hairpins here are too fast for second gear handling – ‘scarily tail-happy’ is the rough translation.) ‘The GTI’s more but too tight for third. It could do with a 2.5th gear for more oomph...’ confidence-inspiring, and you can use its full potential in the wet. In the No lack of oomph in the Ferrari SF90 Stradale, here in track-focused M4 you’re always under the limit, until you’re over it.’

Assetto Fiorano spec. Since the surface is dry, it seems only right to jump Editor-at-large Chris Chilton pulls in next to us in the Hyundai. ‘It’s less straight from the cheapest car here into the most dizzyingly expensive. predictable than the Golf in the wet,’ he says. ‘I found myself gathering up a Ferrari’s first plug-in hybrid can summon 986bhp. Its 4.0-litre twinbig slide at the first hairpin. But it’s good fun.’ turbo V8, a (very) thoroughly re-engineered evolution of the 488/F8’s On the move there are good signals immediately. You can feel the i20N’s 3.9-litre engine, generates 770bhp on its own. On show beneath the polycarstiff structure and light weight – at close to 1100kg, it’s by far the lightest bonate rear screen (slashed with F40-style louvres), the engine’s mounted car in the test – and, like the bigger i30N we’ve come to love, its quick-flick unfeasibly low in the SF90’s aluminium chassis, nestling up against a buttons on the wheel to shortcut settings for exhaust rortiness, steering carbonfibre bulkhead. It’s like looking down through a glass viewing platheaviness, rev-match blippiness and throttle-map sensitivity allow Jekyll/ form at ancient Roman foundations, the wide-angled, red-crackle-painted Hyde toggling at will. (That the M4 also has them isn’t all that surprising vee of cylinders way down there in the shadows. given the former M division folk in senior positions at N.) An electric motor hides between the engine and transmission, driving The locking diff heaves the i20N out of Peel corner, the coastal circuit’s the rear wheels, and you’ll find two more on the front axle, opening up a highest point. Ahead, a breathtaking vista: the rain’s gone and mist rises brain-scrambling world of both positive and negative torque-vectoring on from Snowdonia’s now-visible peaks in the distance. A lap later, the sea individual front wheels. The effect is uncanny; around Anglesey’s steeply sparkles like an H Samuel window display. banked Turn Two, you can be really quite heavy-handed with the SF90, The driving seat of the i20N is a great vantage point from which to chucking its fast-responding nose towards the apex and then applying far take it all in: grippy, stable and eager. The knife-edge balance Chris more throttle than feels in any way appropriate. The rear begins to slide noticed in the wet has gone – it does exactly as it’s bid. But a few dynamic and then, spookily, you feel the front tyres almost instantly hooking up, shortcomings are also exposed. The new four-cylinder turbo engine feels pulling the car straight and helping the scarlet charger claw its way out of surprisingly tight and reluctant to rev towards the top of its range. And the corner, like a rock climber suddenly gaining a strong handhold. ⊲ barrelling into the first hairpin, there’s a lack of engine braking, almost as NOVEMBER 2021 | CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK 101

THE OVERRIDING IMPRESSION IN THE GT3 IS ONE OF ABSOLUTE TACTILITY: YOU FEEL YOU’VE BEEN DRIVING IT ALL YOUR LIFE

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BMW, we need to talk about your ridiculously thick wheel rims

Huracan’s mode switch: Trofeo for a dry track, Pioggia for rain

This, or a pretty special ’70s Alfa Giulia? Hmm

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Sports Car Giant Test 2021

One of these is travelling silently.

The other is very, very loud

Even spookier is feeling the engine drop out of the equation altogether handles. ‘And the brake feel [the mark of any well-developed hybrid] – the when you back off in Hybrid mode, the SF90 whispering stealthily along pedal has such a short travel [a function of the brake-by-wire system], like it’s borne by the wind alone. You hear sounds you ordinarily wouldn’t: which is great for feel and precision. On the downside, the steering is very grit hitting the wheelarches, and the mechanical sound of expensive pads light, without much feel, which would be difficult to trust in the wet.’ brushing expensive discs when you brush the brake pedal.

The SF90 Assetto Fiorano might feel like a racecar, but the most Ahead of you is a dizzying array of information on the digital instrutrack-focused car here comes from its Sant’Agata neighbours. Lamment panel, and controls on the wheel. Some are physical buttons to press borghini’s Huracan STO has every automotive EQ slider pushed to full: and click, some touchpads to swipe and tap. You have four hybrid modes: visually, aurally, dynamically. While the standard Huracan is the purest eDrive, in which the SF90 never troubles its V8; default Hybrid mode, and shape in the Lamborghini range, the STO stretches the body’s coordinates then Performance and Qualifying, where the V8’s always in play. The with wickedly barbed aerodynamic fins and surfaces. Unlike the intense latter is the best for lap times, and also longevity, good for several fast laps but road-orientated Huracan Performante, the STO’s rear-wheel drive, in a row. To the right, there’s the now-familiar e-manettino with which to not four, and does away with Lambo’s active ALA aero system (all those switch modes. CT Off is Ferrari’s magic wand, giving you just enough rope fixed fins and manually adjustable wings generate more downforce the to make you believe you’re a driving god without quite taking your stabiold-fashioned way). It uncompromisingly (or compromisingly, depending lisers off entirely. ESC Off is best left to those without a self-preservation on your viewpoint) prioritises track performance over road usability; a instinct. (Even Ferrari’s pro testers are quicker in CT Off.)

Lamborghini for trackdays.

Assetto Fiorano spec gives the SF90 a sizeable carbon rear ducktail Jamie takes to the track first, snatches of the V10’s song making their way spoiler (in front of which a second motorised spoiler actively adjusts itself), to us on the breeze as she brings it up to temperature. This car is loud. The lightweight carbon interior panels, track-specific dampers and titanium engine note rises to a shriek as it reaches its 8500rpm redline, revs flicking springs, and adds another £40k or so to the bottom line. up on downshifts as if directed by a conductor’s baton. A new Akrapovic Unlike all the other cars here bar the Lamborghini, you feel g-forces exhaust makes the glorious 5.2-litre naturally-aspirated V10 even more pulling at your body as the SF90 generates gigantic cornering loads. It’s vocal. You’d need generous noise marshals on most UK trackdays, or your absurdly fast, of course, but what’s more absurd own private track. If you’re shopping for an STO, is how easy it is to go fast – how in control of this that might just be an option: it costs £260k. implausibly powerful car you feel.

Jamie hasn’t driven a Lamborghini before and is YOU FEEL Jamie’s full of praise for the Ferrari. ‘I love the surprised to hear the original 2014 Huracan underG-FORCES seating position: almost like a racecar, with your steered. ‘Really? This one doesn’t… The engine and PULLING AT YOUR legs level ahead of you. Visibility is fantastic: you power delivery are amazing – the throttle control is feel very comfortable using all the road. And it so precise. The gearbox is great, too, very fast and BODY AS THE changes direction quicker than the Porsche. The smooth, but the brakes are a little over-sensitive; it’s SF90 GENERATES whole thing feels like a racecar – you don’t get hard to modulate them.’

HUGE CORNERING that road-car roll,’ she adds, moving her shoulders Once inside you begin to appreciate just how LOADS ponderously, miming a car sinking onto its door much Lamborghini’s sacrificed in the name ⊲ NOVEMBER 2021 | CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK 105

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Nature, and an M4 in its natural pose

911 GT3 steering feel: a reason to be cheerful

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of circuit performance. The key has to go in the glovebox since there’s nowhere else to put it in this totally stripped-out (but beautifully finished) interior. Nor is there really a front boot, the aero nostrils cutting a path through the Huracan’s usual luggage space. There is the regular Huracan Evo’s portrait touchscreen, though, which distils all the ergonomic awkwardness of the Golf and SF90’s touch-sensitive interfaces into one even less usable package.

None of that matters, because the STO is built for driving. The front end is simply glued down. Turn-in is aided by rear-wheel steering totally transparent in its operation; you quickly forget it’s there, much as you do in the 911 GT3. The STO isn’t even on its optional soft track-spec tyres (though the ‘sport’ Bridgestones it’s wearing still have a fairly naughty tread pattern). The steering becomes too heavy in the most aggressive Trofeo mode, but there’s zero kickback and it’s incredibly quick in response.

On the road the STO is hard work, and unashamedly so. The aggressive suspension is uncompromisingly stiff in the two-stage adaptive damping’s firmest mode, and there’s enough road and engine noise to ensure your ears are still ringing the next morning (I write from experience). But on the track it’s an intense and unforgettable experience.

Which is exactly what Alfa Romeo is aiming for with its glorious Giulia GTAm: no rear seats, a body-coloured rollcage and a devilishly pointy rear wing in your rear-view mirror at all times. It costs near enough twice the price of the regular Giulia Quadrifoglio, but in return you get rarity value: 500 will be built, production split between GTAm (for modificato) and marginally less hardcore GTA models. And you get thoroughly reconfigured suspension that gives the GTAm a fantastically cambered, squat stance that makes it look like it’s turned up at a round of the old European Touring Car Championship, not a magazine test.

At first, however, it feels a little out of sorts. There’s more body movement than you expect given the aggressive suspension stance, and if you’re clumsy with it, it can begin to get into a nasty shimmying motion, especially through Anglesey’s scary-quick Church corner. You’re constantly aware you’re driving a big car, not least because it takes a bit of stopping. Even though the GTAm has huge carbon-ceramic discs, it doesn’t decelerate quite as quickly as you’d expect, and Jamie notes its pedal is soft initially and then comes on strong just as you’re trying to blend off the pressure on turn-in.

The steering is light, overly so, although Chris finds its response more measured than the darty-racked M4 and the Alfa more intuitive to powerslide as a result. Both he and Jamie question whether the £156,000 GTAm is actually a better drive than the £75k M4, the more road-usable car.

I must admit, though, I love the GTAm: as an object, for its design details (the ‘no-step’ markings on the front splitter and ’70s-era Autodelta decals, not to mention the silly-but-fun option of a body-coloured fire extinguisher ) and for the sheer brio of building a two-seater, 533bhp road racer in 2021 – even if it’s priced so astronomically it’ll only be enjoyed by a few wealthy collectors.

So, a finishing order. In the wet, the hatches duly do some giant killing but their challenge evaporates as the circuit dries. And neither can give quite as spine-tingling a driving experience on the road as the rest of the cars in this test, even if the Golf is the car we all volunteer to drive home. The Alfa and BMW feel like belligerents in their own private battle.

Unanimously the M4’s engine is declared more charismatic and driveable than the Giulia’s, and though both are a handful in the wet, in the dry it’s the heavier BMW that actually feels the more composed and malleable of the two – even if its weight means it’ll chomp through brakes and tyres more quickly than the GTAm. The Lamborghini is intense and absorbing; a car to leave you genuinely dizzy with excitement, if also in need of a lie down. Ultimately, though, the 911 has a finer degree of feedback and tactility, and the SF90 is capable of equally extreme cornering sensations, and so much more besides… ⊲

INTENSE AND ABSORBING THOUGH THE LAMBORGHINI IS, THE 911 GT3 AND FERRARI SF90 ULTIMATELY OFFER MORE

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Photographic evidence of fine weather in the summer of 2021

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Maranello versus Stuttgart: the (half) hybrid years

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Sports Car Giant Test 2021

BY

CHRIS

C H I LTO N

THEN THERE WERE TWO

D

o not adjust your page (or iPhone). You’re right: something about this feels awfully familiar. Three years ago, when only polite Japanese on tube trains wore masks, the 2018 Sports Car Giant Test grand finale pitted Porsche’s 911 GT2 RS against the Ferrari 488 Pista. On that occasion the Ferrari prevailed, and this SF90 is 276bhp more powerful than the Pista. It’s got to be a sho0-in, surely.

To find out, we’re leaving the track and keeping our shoe in as much as we dare, heading south-west into Snowdonia. Much as we like melting away hours and tyres on track, for our hypothetical money even circuitfocused supercars need to be able to entertain on real roads far below the grip limits you can explore around playgrounds like Anglesey.

Neither of these cars is in the optimal configuration for this portion of the battle, something we discover the moment we leave the smooth confines of the circuit. The GT3, which morphed into a surprisingly supple road car more than a decade ago with the advent of adaptive dampers, is much harsher on the road this time around.

And the addition of the Assetto Fiorano package has had a similar effect on the SF90, a car I remember feeling incredibly refined in standard form at the launch in Italy last year. But neither is unusable. We’re not talking wheel-hopping, vision-blurring stiffness, just a purer focus on handling that serves both well on the track – and serves to dim any GT strengths on the road by allowing tyre roar and small bumps in the road surface to permeate the cabin.

Inside that cabin, just as outside, it’s the Ferrari that feels more special.

Acres of gorgeous carbonfibre, an incredibly detailed virtual instrument cluster and a total absence of carpet all serve as reminders that advanced technology and trick materials are central to Ferrari’s DNA. The forward visibility past the low scuttle and beyond the peaks of the wings is superb, but like many Ferraris (with the exception of the Roma GT, and its big ⊲ NOVEMBER 2021 | CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK 109

Spacious cockpit not short of a sense of purpose

Both feel naughty on the road, even when you’re not being naughty

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Sports Car Giant Test 2021 Could have been shot at the N24, which is kind of the point

THERE ARE FEW STRETCHES OF ROAD ON EARTH WHERE YOU CAN REALLY INDULGE YOURSELF

BY UNCORKING THE SF90’S COMBINED 986BHP

centre tunnel) the SF90 never feels cosy. Perversely, it’s almost too roomy.

In the Porsche, by contrast, a human body is virtually an interference fit. That’s not to say it’s cramped, although I do find the carbon-backed buckets force my shoulders into a rounded, caveman-like shape that makes me wonder if I might be the only GT3 buyer under 25 stone to order mine with the regular sports seats. They don’t look as cool, granted, but they still deliver ample support and, unlike the non-foldable carbon chairs, they mean you can make use of the huge cargo area behind the seats.

The SF90 has only a small shelf behind its front seats, and most of the frunk is taken up by the electrical hardware that helps make this hybrid all-wheel drive. Just finding sufficient space to stow your clobber for a trackday weekend could be a challenge. That escape to the south of France might require that you buy fresh underwear en route.

Of the two it’s the Ferrari that feels most different away from Anglesey.

On track, other than satisfying our curiosity to see what a hypercar feels like in EV mode (answer: serene, but city-car slow) or in Hybrid mode (disorientating), we’d had the e-manettino hybrid controller in Performance or Qualifying, to keep the V8 in play at all times.

But on the road Hybrid mode is configured to maximise the benefit of the electric assistance, not only in terms of power but also efficiency.

The way the powertrain leans heavily on its EV capability, sidelining the internal-combustion engine wherever possible – whether that’s bumbling through town at low speed, or cruising down the A55 at 80mph – is incredibly well engineered, and would become a real ally in regular-speed daily use. But it can feel disconcerting.

Because if you want to up the pace in any car, you need consistency.

Having the V8 flit in and out of play is like watching a snooker match in which the coverage keeps switching from colour to black-and-white.

Which is why, as we cross the Menai Strait separating Anglesey from mainland Wales and start picking our way through Llanberis towards Yr Wyddfa, the toggle stays permanently in Performance mode and the V8 stays permanently lit.

But not lit lit. That would be insane. Even at half throttle the SF90 is outrageously rapid. This is a car, remember, that has almost exactly twice the power of the GT3. The merest tickle from your big toe sends it firing down the road, the only lag the one between your eyes and your brain as you scramble to compute what’s happening. Thanks to the seamless way in which the e-motors take up the slack, there’s no respite as you wait for the V8 to summon its boost.

And in a sense, that’s a problem. Because while the SF90 is pretty much unflappable on the road, thanks to its grip and all-wheel-drive traction, there are few stretches of road on Earth where you can really indulge yourself by uncorking the car’s combined 986bhp for any length of ⊲

Swan-necked wing a GT3 hallmark, as the check shirt is for James

A supercar too fast for the road? You might be looking at it

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WE LOVE THE FEEL AND CONSISTENCY OF THE GT3’S BRAKES AND STEERING, AND THE PURITY OF A FRONT AXLE WHOSE ONLY JOB IS TO STEER THE CAR time, and almost none where you can do it legally.

You could argue that the GT3’s 9000rpm redline is similarly out of reach, and that even with ‘just’ 503bhp the 911 is also ridiculously over-endowed.

But the Porsche’s power output feels well judged, while the modest 347lb ft of torque means that you must work for your reward. That work also involves, should you choose it, hustling a six-speed manual gearbox with a deliciously mechanical feel. The narrower 911 is also easier to place and easier to see out of, and we love the feel and consistency of its brakes and steering, and the purity of a front axle whose only job is to steer the car.

There’s nothing revelatory about this GT3. It’s only incrementally more exciting than before, and we’ll admit some people might find the idea of it almost underwhelming as a result. If you already have last year’s GT3, why would you trade up?

Yep, ask us which car fascinates us most and we’ll tell you that it’s the Ferrari SF90, no question. It bravely pushes the supercar into new territory, makes 1000bhp more accessible and friendlier than it has any right to be,

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and bridges the divide between the exotic combustion-engined machinery of the past and the high-performance electric cars that will surely become the norm in the not-too-distant future. It’s a multi-dimensional character in tune with the clean-air zeitgeist in a way the GT3 just isn’t, one capable of gliding silently through city streets one minute and ripping round a track, guns blazing, the next.

But this test’s criteria have always been simple. We’re only interested in the blazing bit. Three years ago the self-assured, single-minded Pista prevailed over the GT2, a car you might describe as a GT3 overcomplicated by the addition of turbocharging, which adds heaps of performance but sacrifices sound, throttle response and purity in the process.

This time, it’s different. We’re mesmerised by the SF90. It’s an incredible machine. But while watching and listening to a world-class orchestra can stand the hairs on the back of your arms so upright you could use them as wire brushes, sometimes a simple stripped-back two-chord jam can be so absorbing you never want it to end.

Sports Car Giant Test 2021

Incremental improvement, sure, but the GT3 is the best performance car money (and sufficient Brownie points) can buy

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Sports Car Giant Test 2021

ANGLESE Y

CIRCUIT

YOUR TURN You’ve seen Anglesey Circuit in all its glory – you can very easily drive it too.

There’s nowhere quite like Trac Môn, to give the circuit its native name.

Perched upon the cliffs next to the Irish Sea, with the mountain peaks of Snowdonia visible beyond on a clear day, the circuit’s layout is a match for its location: cambered corners, corkscrew plunges and an incredibly smooth surface courtesy of £4.2m of funding back in 2008. Think of it as Great Britain’s Laguna Seca.

You can experience Anglesey for yourself in a range of performance driving courses offered by the circuit in single-seaters, sports cars and skid-control cars, or tackle it in your own car (or on your motorcycle) in a packed calendar of trackdays throughout the year.

There’s racing at the circuit too, and Anglesey is home to the annual Race of Remembrance, an event like no other. Each November the forces and motorsport communities come together, with 150 drivers battling the circuit – and the elements. The 12-hour endurance race is temporarily halted for a special pitlane Remembrance Sunday service.

You won’t regret an expedition to the top-left corner of Wales.

Jamie Chadwick, fastest woman on four wheels and Sports Car Giant Test guest judge, says: ‘It’s a real driver’s circuit – very technical, and it’s got everything you need to test a car thoroughly. In an F3 car it’s very fast...’

Sir Chris Hoy, Olympic legend and handy racing driver, agrees. ‘I love the beauty of the views on a clear day, and the fact the track lends itself equally well to chasing lap times or going sideways round the wide hairpins, depending on your mood. I love the place.’

For more, take a look at angleseycircuit.com

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IN A NUTSHELL Fast, challenging, beautiful. Rains occasionally DON’T FORGET...

Wet-weather gear.

And sunscreen.

Anglesey has its own micro-climate ON THE WAY...

Cut through Snowdonia National Park and leave the A5 to head for Pen-y-Pass and breathtaking views CONTACT 01407 811400, admin@angleseycircuit.com

‘IT’S BEAUTIFUL ON A CLEAR DAY, AND LENDS ITSELF EQUALLY WELL TO CHASING LAP TIMES OR GOING SIDEWAYS ROUND THE WIDE HAIRPINS. I LOVE THE PLACE’ SIR

CH RIS

HOY

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Our cars H E LLO M A Z DA M X-3 0, AU D I Q5 S P O RTBAC K , PE UG E OT 5 0 8 S E A N D R A N G E ROV E R V E L A R + G O O D BY E K I A SO R E NTO A N D A LFA G I U LI A

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A local car for local people

Hello

It’s neat and drives well. But if you want long range, look elsewhere. By Ben Whitworth

Mazda MX-30 GT Sport Tech Month 1 The story so far First all-electric Mazda trades range for driver engagement + Dynamics; ride quality; generous equipment levels; visual flair - Limited range; rear doors; tight rear accommodation

Logbook

As urban as a busker, and rather kinder on the ears

Alex Tapley

Price £32,845 (£34,845 as tested, £32,345 after grant) Performance 35.5kWh battery, 140bhp, 9.7sec 0-62mph, 87mph (limited) Efficiency 3.5 miles per kWh (official), 3.7 miles per kWh (tested), 0g/km CO2 Range 124 miles (official), 120 miles (tested) Energy cost 3.0p per mile Miles this month 989 Total miles 989

I like Mazda a great deal. I admire and appreciate its unconventional automotive approach. It behaves like a leftfield independent car maker in an industry characterised by same-again unoriginality and bloated inertia. It is the definitive automotive underdog.

Over the last 100 years it has resolutely – often stubbornly – forged its own largely successful path. Its first vehicle, the MazdaGo commercial trike, was launched in 1931. Three decades later it was producing the bewitching Cosmo Sport 110S, the world’s first rotaryengined production model.

It single-handedly revived the affordable roadster market with the million-seller MX-5. It was the first Japanese marque to win at Le Mans, and still the only manufacturer to do so with

a non-piston powerplant (its winner was rotary-powered).

More recently with Skyactiv-X, Mazda introduced the world’s first production compression-ignition petrol engine, when everyone else was downsizing and turbocharging. And in my opinion it’s one of the few marques with a truly coherent look and feel that’s as handsome and distinctive as it is appealing and desirable. It’s consistently wrapped its obsession with advanced and lightweight engineering in the sleekest and sexiest sheet metal on our roads.

Understandably, then, Mazda has taken its next big step into electric power neither lightly nor conventionally with the MX-30. The fact that Mazda’s first production BEV is honoured with the MX moniker – saved for special occasions – illustrates the significance Mazda has attached to the MX-30. No safe and beige offering here. Instead we get a high-riding urban hatch with a coupe-like profile, RX-8-inspired rear-hinged doors, a ‘right-sized’ battery, an interior swathed in cork and the emphasis, as with all Mazdas, placed squarely on dynamism and driver engagement rather than outright range and pace. Game on.

Our GT Sport Tech, priced at £32,845, sits at the top of the UK’s MX-30 range above the SE-L Lux and Sport Lux. Standard equipment levels are embarrassingly generous, so we’ve limited our options to the stunning Soul Red Crystal Metallic paint with black roof and metallic grey side panels (£1800) to further boost the visual appeal, and the dark grey cloth with brown leatherette cabin trim (£200). That’s £34,845 all in, but £32,345 after the electric ⊲

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Simple and subdued, yet the MX-30 stands out from the crowd.

It’s a neat trick

subsidy is taken in to account.

Even with that £2500 bonus, the MX-30 – like all electric cars – looks expensive next to combustionengined alternatives. A small urban runabout with a £32,345 price tag is pretty punchy. To its credit, the Mazda wants for nothing, with standard-fit highlights including a brilliant 12-speaker Bose audio system, excellent active LED headlights, a slick and intuitive Connect infotainment platform, and a chink-free suit of active and passive safety armour.

It also looks every inch the sleek and stylish urban runabout. To my eyes Mazda’s design team has nailed it, successfully imbuing the MX-30 with a visual character that clearly distinguishes it from the existing range, while still retaining

the core design principles of dynamic proportions, clean sheet metal and tidy details that make all current Mazdas style winners.

Likewise the cabin: excellent driving position, tactile materials, intelligently configured controls, first-rate build quality. And odd as it sounds, that cork covering works surprisingly well, further lifting the cabin and complementing the recycled fabrics and leatherette.

The next six months will tell how we’ll get on with those doors and the less than generous rear accommodation.

All models in the MX-30 line-up have front wheels driven by an e-Skyactiv single-speed water-cooled AC synchronous 105kW electric motor that develops 140bhp and 195lb ft. It’s fed by a

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It’s every inch the sleek runabout, with a distinct visual character 35.5kWh lithium-ion battery for a 0-62mph time of 9.7sec, a governed maximum speed of 87mph and a WLTP range of 124 miles. That prismatic battery weighs just 310kg, for a 1645kg kerbweight – thick-ankled by small family hatch standards, but commendably light for a BEV. A small battery means modest range, but Mazda figures the young urban and suburban families expected to favour the car will prioritise economy and agility over long range.

That deliberate decision to fit the MX-30 with a pocket-sized battery is the result of Mazda’s

Life-Cycle Assessment analysis that aims to measure the total environmental impact of a product. Mazda reckons that over their entire life cycle, EVs with smaller batteries tend to produce lower CO2 emissions than comparable diesel-engined cars.

So then, an athletic and agile car with generous helpings of character, engaging performance over a very well-defined number of miles, a quirky layout and an inimitable sense of individuality.

Ample compensation for a very modest range? We’ll see. @benwhitworth

Our cars

Voyage of discovery

The surf is calling

The annual Moody family trek to Cornwall usually involves a big SUV. But this time around the Golf GTI gets the job. Could be tricky. By Steve Moody

1 1 W H O D O W E LE AV E B E H I N D?

GTI is the car for every job, right? Not here.

Support vehicle needed for dogs and boards. A reminder of the appeal of the massive SUVs we love to hate.

2

3 G L A D T H AT ’ S B E H I N D U S

These seats not only look great in their blocky colour scheme, but they are stupendously comfortable after six hours and the driving position is perfect too.

Seating fans unused due to typical rubbish weather.

4 R O YA L A I R P O D F O R C E

Wireless Apple CarPlay is still a bit clunky and it heats my phone up to melting point. But three hours of podcasts about WW2 helps to pass the time.

2 TA K I N G C O N T R O L

No sign of previous overly-active cruise shenanigans on the slog across from Lincolnshire to the M5 and down to Cornwall. In fact, in heavy traffic and annoying jams it works perfectly, making this bit just about bearable.

3

Golf GTI 2.0 TSI 245 DSG Month 3

4 5

The story so far

6 5 STRINGBACKS ON

After hours of cruising that felt like days, we finally hit some caravan-less roads and Comfort Golf gets replaced by Let’s Just Bloody Get There GTI. It’s not super fast, but is swift.

6 D E C E P T I V E LY B I G B O O T…

In these tight environs the GTI is just fabulous: nippy, precise and compact to park. The car for every occasion indeed (especially with the wife’s Duster in tow).

A delight to drive, sometimes let down by electronic niggles + Great for Cornish lanes…

- …but not so good for lugging your bags

Logbook Price £35,025 (£42,685 as tested) Performance 1984cc turbocharged four-cylinder, 240bhp, 6.3sec 0-62mph, 155mph Efficiency 38.2mpg (official), 32.9mpg (tested), 168g/km CO2 Energy cost 17.6p per mile Miles this month 1298 Total miles 2062

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