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Car review

Mini Cooper SE evaluate

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The Mini Cooper, then, comes as a Cooper C or -S (constructed at Mini Plant Oxford, and powered by combustion engines) or as a Cooper E or SE (inbuilt China, at BMW Group’s three way partnership Spotlight manufacturing facility, with the assistance of Great Wall Motors). UK first drives within the former ought to come quickly – however for the latter, Mini laid on a pan-European press launch occasion in Barcelona final week, with right-hand drive UK examples arriving in summer season 2024.

This time, there are two electrical Minis, then – and, critically, each supply larger drive batteries and extra electrical vary than the famously nippy-but-short-legged outgoing Mini Electric. The Cooper E will get a brand new nickel-manganese-cobalt drive battery with 36.6kWh of usable capability, up from 28.9- within the outgoing automobile – and a WLTP Combined electrical vary of 190 miles (up from 140-) – with costs ranging from slightly below £30,000. That’s Mini delivering a 36 per cent enhance on usable vary, and preserving peak energy the identical because the outdated automobile, for broadly the identical worth for cash. Not unhealthy.

But if you would like extra of any of the above, the brand new Cooper SE now goes that little bit additional. Here, usable battery capability climbs to 49.2kWh; electrical motor energy to 215bhp; WLTP Combined vary to 249 miles; and the departure-point value to £34,500. There had been solely Cooper SEs to check in Barcelona, in order that’s the mannequin we’ll deal with right here – however Mini expects most Cooper electrical consumers to plump for the SE in any case.

And design-wise? Well, Mini has handled the design of its three-door, heartland-territory ‘icon’ mannequin moderately rigorously because it first appeared in 2001 – however this fourth-generation automobile is a bolder transfer. In pursuit of a cleaner- and extra upmarket look, it has taken away a lot of the outdated automobile’s brightwork, and some of its trademark design particulars.

There are not any cutsie foglamps, entrance wing badges, plastic wheelarch extensions or chunky chrome doorhandles on the brand new automobile. There’s a way more restrained entrance grille; and the wraparound clamshell bonnet – which so famously helped to outline the look of the 2001 BMW Group fashionable Mini, and thru which the headlights of subsequent generations have cheekily poked – has gone, too. The designers wished a smooth ‘pebble-like’ search for the brand new automobile, they are saying; however to those eyes, the impact is barely much less charismatic and endearing on the attention than we’ve develop into used to from Mini. Neater, maybe – however a bit bit much less distinctive and extra generic.

Car review

Jeep Grand Cherokee

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The plug-in hybrid powertrain within the Grand Cherokee consists of a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol engine making 270bhp and 295lb ft, two electrical motors and a 17.3kWh (15.0kWh usable) battery pack.

The predominant motor is a 134bhp, 195lb ft unit mounted inside the eight-speed computerized gearbox, between the clutch plates and the gears. This is what drives the automobile when you choose EV mode and permits gearchanges and swapping into the low set of ratios simply as if you have been driving on petrol.

Then there’s a 48V built-in starter-generator on the entrance of the engine, making 39bhp and 44lb ft. It’s  obtainable to spice up low-end torque however primarily to start out and cease the petrol engine and cost the battery when the automobile is stationary and in gear.

With a full battery, efficiency is powerful. With whole outputs of 375bhp and 470lb ft and the principle electrical motor pitching in from relaxation, the 0-62mph time is simply 6.3sec. Sometimes, although, the motor and petrol engine take a second to resolve who’s doing what, so the latter will spin up audibly, and typically on again roads it’s preferable – and never unsatisfying – to take management of the gears your self. If you do go for a full-on burst of acceleration, you’ll be able to anticipate pretty coarse engine noise too.

However, even with 1 / 4 cost within the battery, efficiency is degraded noticeably. The coarse four-cylinder turns into a relentless presence, revving excessive and infrequently, returning solely common efficiency and MPG figures within the low 20s. The gearbox turns into fairly clunky too.

Off-road notes

The Grand Cherokee’s off-road credentials are fairly spectacular, as you’d anticipate. On all variations besides the entry-level Limited, there’s air suspension as normal with 5 totally different peak settings and as much as 275mm of floor clearance. Its most strategy angle is 28.2deg, breakover angle 20.9deg and departure angle 30deg – much like the Discovery.

Jeep has a path score for its automobiles: the three-door Wrangler scores the utmost 10, the Grand Cherokee six or seven, relying on the variant. It’s additionally an affordable tow automobile, with a most braked trailer load of two.2 tonnes (2.3 tonnes for a drawbar trailer), however the Range Rover Sport PHEV and Mercedes GLE PHEV will each tow usefully extra.

Off street, it’s terrific. The pretty factor is which you can stick it in EV mode and do all of your driving that method. Because the motor is on the gearbox facet of the clutch, it pulls off extremely easily and with out hesitation, plus with all of its obtainable torque from relaxation.

And as with most correct 4x4s, you’ll in all probability run out of bravery – particularly at this value – earlier than it runs out of skill. We had it on a facet slope exhibiting greater than 30deg, and if there wasn’t a Jeep bod on standby telling me that was high-quality, we might have satisfied ourselves it was going to tip over. In different phrases, a winter shoot or the typical horse yard treacherousness are issues that the Grand Cherokee will deal with simply high-quality. 

Car review

Bentley Bentayga Extended Wheelbase

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For the primary time, Crewe’s most extravagant providing is an SUV. Does it stack up?

The Bentley Bentayga EWB – all 5.3m, 2.6 tonnes and, in top-billing Mulliner specification examined right here, virtually £260,000 of it – represents not solely a great deal of metal, leather-based and knurled aluminium, but in addition a automotive that’s a superb deal extra vital for the model than the considerably prosaic Extended Wheelbase denomination may recommend.Outwardly, that is little greater than an elongated model of Bentley’s best-seller. It options again doorways which might be 18cm longer than these on the traditional Bentayga, in addition to comfort-enhancing additions corresponding to ‘postural adjustment technology’ and push-button door closures, à la Rolls-Royce. There are additionally some significant dynamic evolutions to a luxurious SUV that first appeared virtually a decade in the past however, in the primary, there’s nothing you’ll label transformative.However, in dialling up the opulence and expansiveness of the rear portion of the Bentayga’s cabin, the EWB additionally turns into the religious successor to the 6.75-litre Mulsanne. The limousine, whose cabin famously required 16 hides to upholster, was retired in 2020, nevertheless it was the definitive trendy Bentley flagship. Its absence hasn’t adversely affected the underside line however the vary has maybe lacked the aura of a very talismanic mannequin.   The EWB plugs that gap and, in doing so, seeks to cater for the driver and the demanding VIP passenger alike. Factor in off-road capacity and, on paper, we have now right here arguably one of the full vehicles cash should purchase. But in actuality? Let’s discover out.Range at a glanceVersionpowerBentley Bentayga Hybrid456bhp4.0 V8542bhp4.0 V8 EWB542bhpWith Bentley retiring the W12, the Bentayga now comes fitted with both the 4.0-litre V8 examined right here or a 3.0-litre V6 hybrid set-up. In trim phrases, a brand new ‘A’ spinoff sits between the entry-level mannequin and the comfort-focused Azure. There additionally stays an S choice for many who desire a sportier-feeling SUV, not least by the use of elevated damper charges and a sports activities exhaust. Mulliner trim opens up an unlimited array of choices for all the pieces from the wheels to the inlay veneer and, after all, brings the airline-style seats.

Car review

Used Renault Twizy 2012-2021 evaluate

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A reasonably typical seatbelt, two pedals, two indicator stalks and a wholly regular steering wheel characterise a driving setting that may make the Renault Twizy really feel fairly acquainted.

This can be true have been it not for the central driving place and for the truth that – even with the non-obligatory scissor doorways of our check automobile lowered – the cockpit by no means feels remotely enclosed.

A excessive driving place makes for good all-round visibility. But most testers agreed that they felt as in the event that they have been driving on the Twizy moderately than driving in it. It’s an impression underlined by the air speeding into the cabin the place typical home windows would possibly in any other case be, and on a cold day at cruising speeds it makes you conscious about the shortage of any cabin heating.

The Twizy gives its driver as a lot room as any supermini. Its controls are simple to make use of and the digital speedometer, journey pc and battery meter are clear. 

The inside plastics are hardy sufficient and simple to wipe clear – necessary provided that there’s no solution to shield them from rain and street grime – however they do really feel low cost, reminding you extra of the cubbies and fittings on a mass-market bike than these of a up to date automobile. 

Ironically, a giant bike would possibly provide extra storage than the Twizy. The principal cubby – a 31-litre field behind the rear seat – is fiddly to open and difficult to entry and would barely accommodate a small purchasing bag.

Although it might be a a lot safer and extra energy-efficient technique of getting across the metropolis, the Twizy barely appears to supply any extra practicality than a giant scooter. 

On the gear entrance, the usual Twizy acquired disc brakes, an digital engine immobiliser, regenerative braking, day-time-running lights, and a driver’s airbag included, whereas Expression trim added a digital drive and speedo show, a lockable rear cupboard space and heated windscreen.

The range-topping Dynamique mannequin gained flooring mats, alloy wheels and a selection of 14 color collections, whereas these wanting to make use of their Twizy as a industrial automobile can achieve this with the Cargo mannequin, which eliminated the rear seat and changed it with further cupboard space.

Car review

Ferrari SF90 XX and Spider assessment

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This strategy does bear fruit, after you have the boldness to make use of it, and it makes what can in any other case really feel like a barely straight-laced chassis much less naturally poised and extra given to understeer in sure circumstances than, say, a 296 GTB or 488 Pista, extra animated and interesting when cornering just-so. The SF90 XX’s additional downforce is clear coming into quick braking zones, too, and in preserving the rear axle secure by means of fourth-gear corners.  

The hassle is that it isn’t like a Ferrari to be so prescriptive about how and when it’s actually ready to deal with. Typically, they really feel agile, alive and interesting in so many various methods. 

The SF90 XX desires to set some floor guidelines. It could be rewarding whenever you play by them, and it’s all the time preposterously fast. But it’s a straightforward automotive to overdrive in slower corners, getting scruffy whenever you don’t fairly give it the best enter. In faster ones, in the meantime, all of that mechanical and aerodynamic grip, allied to a barely unpredictable entrance axle, nonetheless makes it a nerve-testing prospect – simply because the common SF90 could be.

On the street, a few of these dealing with traits nonetheless apply, although speeds are a lot decrease and downforce will not be taking part in a component. But on twisting roads, the XX likes to be braked deeper right into a bend, the place it turns extra readily than for those who do not, and with immediate electrical increase out there to complement a cracking V8 soundtrack on nook exit. 

It rides nicely, too. The roads round Modena are nearly as unhealthy because the UK’s, and it is certainly one of many causes Ferraris journey as compliantly as they do. Even an XX on 255/35 R30 entrance and 315/30 R20 rear tyres rolls over, reasonably than lumping into, bumps and ruts.

You can inform a little bit that some chassis stiffness has been given away within the conversion from coupé to convertibe. That’s inevitable in nearly each drop-top besides a carbonfibre-tubbed McLaren. But as soon as you’ve got stopped noticing a small shimmy of the rear view mirror over huge lumps, you possibly can neglect it fairly simply.

Wind buffeting within the XX Spider is barely modest, too.

Car review

Mercedes-AMG CLE 53 Coupé

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The CLE 53 comes as customary with AMG Ride Control adaptive dampers, which modify to the street floor and driving situations. Cruise round in Comfort mode and it is stress-free and easygoing, even when the big alloy wheels and sporty suspension do decide up sharper edges. 

Sport and Sport+ modes each make the automobile firmer, however neither of those are as harsh as Race. Sure, you get the advantages of higher throttle response and a extra reactive gearbox, however this comes at a price of experience consolation. And you get a extra noticeable jolt in your again whenever you shift up utilizing the paddles. Thankfully, you’ll be able to combine and match settings.

On steep and twisty roads, the CLE 53 consists and interesting. Turn in to a bend at tempo and there is an preliminary dose of physique roll earlier than the automobile tightens up by way of the nook. You do really feel the burden by way of bends, however it maintains a impartial stance. 

There isn’t a lot really feel to the steering, nonetheless. Sure, it’s correct, however there isn’t any change to its weight as you flip right into a nook. Four-wheel-steering comes as customary on the CLE 53: you discover its impact extra when manoeuvring at decrease speeds, for instance round roundabouts. When urgent on, its results are properly refined.

There’s loads of grip, due to four-wheel drive, though this does restrict the automobile’s playfulness. In Sport mode or above, the 4Matic+ system will get extra rear-biased and the ESP extra lenient, but the automobile not often feels prefer it’s going to interrupt traction, even with extra abrupt throttle inputs.

There’s a Drift mode as a part of the Pro Performance Pack, which sends all the energy to the rear wheels, however we should await some observe time to check that.  

Car review

Peugeot 5008

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The inside structure of the 5008 hasn’t modified – and so this stays fairly a cleverly organized cabin with a couple of reservations to look at.

The rear passenger doorways open usefully extensive, and the second-row seats each slide fore and aft and fold down simply. None of the rearmost 5 seats supply nice outright house for taller adults, although, with headroom significantly restricted within the case of vehicles with Peugeot’s panoramic glass sunroof. Legroom is best – besides, for those who’re more likely to carry full-sized passengers within the second row, a Skoda Kodiaq can be roomier, and a Kia Sorento or Hyundai Sante Fe roomier once more.

Up entrance the top-level, extra-adjustable entrance seats that Peugeot suits to upper-level vehicles do get massagers as commonplace; they’re price having. The richness and perceived high quality of the 5008’s cockpit is in any other case spectacular; the chrome trims each feel and appear high-quality, the switchgear all feels strong, and the automobile’s varied fascia and door mouldings are properly completed.

The layered dashboard components entice your glances additionally. The means it curls across the cockpit and makes use of a number of uncommon however – outwardly, no less than – high-quality supplies may have you reaching for a contact once you first climb in. The extensive centre tunnel, in the meantime, and the way during which it separates the front-seat occupants, lends the cockpit a GT-car really feel that’s uncommon, however very welcome on this class.

The 5008’s infotainment system makes use of a ten.0in touchscreen but additionally employs separate toggle switches to convey up media, local weather management, navigation, car info and cellphone purposes. Along with the rotary dials for quantity, this makes it simple to barter on the transfer; though it’s a disgrace to see a lot of the show misplaced to temperature show, when separate bodily HVAC controls can be each simpler to make use of and liberate show actual property for different issues.

Latency of the touchscreen is pretty low, with the software program — which options Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility — exhibiting solely the occasional delay. The voice management operate works properly for easy instructions, comparable to selecting a radio station, nevertheless it was stumped each time we tried to set a navigation vacation spot.

There’s additionally Peugeot’s 12.3in display screen inside the instrument binnacle. It reveals fluid graphics and, together with the small steering wheel and central touchscreen, makes up the i-Cockpit. However, it’s a disgrace the 5008 doesn’t get the neat 3D floating graphics that function on the smaller 208 and 2008 fashions.

Peugeot’s compact steering wheel stands out, for higher or for worse. It’s designed to take a seat beneath the high-mounted 12.3in digital instrument binnacle, which is itself positioned in a means that shrinks the interval throughout which the motive force has his or her eyes off the street, like a midway home HUD.

This small, elliptical wheel is comfy to carry however laborious to place simply the place you need it; and in the meantime, a clumsy, distant feeling of steering the automobile from between your knees, regardless of how the column is adjusted, by some means outcomes from utilizing it. Perhaps it really works higher on the marque’s extra compact hatchbacks, with their decrease driving positions. 

Crucially, the brand new 5008 retains the flexibility that outlined the unique – that’s, all three middle-row seats will be individually folded, and boast adjustable size and inclination. With the third-row seats stowed away, the boot is cavernous, and accessible through a powered tailgate that may be operated by gesture management, swiping your foot underneath the rear bumper (in our expertise, it really works about three-times-out-of-five-attempts).

Car review

Dacia Duster

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Inside is the place the outgoing automotive is feeling its age, being only a bit plain. The new one addresses that. It nonetheless doesn’t really feel like an costly, upmarket automotive: it’s all exhausting plastic in right here, but it surely’s a bit extra designed. The exterior has Y shapes as a motif within the lights and that continues with the inside air vents. Cheaper trims could be greyer, however our take a look at automotive had a splash of color on the dashboard and I used to be actually charmed by the ‘jeans’ upholstery. There’s a wide variety of trays and cubbies too.

More digital tech has sprung up, one thing I’d argue the Duster didn’t want. Entry-level trims have analogue gauges with a small display screen between the dials, and a telephone holder as an alternative of a centre display screen. I believe that could be the perfect set-up. The take a look at automobiles on the launch occasion all had a digital gauge cluster and a ten.1in central touchscreen. Both of them look good and work tremendous, however the driver show doesn’t actually present a lot added worth other than trying extra trendy for the sake of it.

For the centre display screen, I anticipated to see a model of the Google system in current Renaults, however the Duster really makes use of a bespoke system as a result of it’s cheaper to make and doesn’t tread on Renault’s toes. It’s pretty primary and due to this fact straightforward to navigate but in addition fairly laggy. A deficit in processing energy might be the place the price saving comes from.

Dacia has caught with buttons the place it counts, although, and that deserves reward. A panel of bodily switches operates the local weather management and there’s one other financial institution of buttons to the left of the steering wheel. One of these units all the driving force help methods to a private preset, which is the way in which all trendy automobiles ought to work, actually.

You can sit comparatively low, on pretty supportive seats, however the placement of the steering column makes it extra pure to take a seat greater, as does the view over the flat bonnet that this offers you. In mixture with a barely pillboxy view out (blame the decrease roofline), it conjures up one thing of a child Toyota Land Cruiser vibe.

The engineers say that the swap to the brand new platform has allowed them to create extra inside area throughout the identical footprint. Indeed, rear passengers have a bit extra leg room and boot area has risen from 445 litres to 594 litres in front-wheel-drive fashions.

Car review

Audi S3 Sportback

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Underneath the metal physique (seen right here in saloon type, though an S3 Sportback additionally exists) lies the standard mechanical association. The Volkswagen Group’s EA888 turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine is reprised – although now with energy boosted from 306bhp to 329bhp and torque from 295lb to 310lb ft. 

Directly downstream of the engine sits the S-tronic seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox beforehand provided, though it may now decouple and permit the automotive to freewheel when the motive force lifts off the throttle. It’s additionally value noting that the S3 isn’t out there with a guide.

There appears to be some divergence in opinion about ‘performance’. Some of us crave ever-lower acceleration occasions and rejoice within the absurdity of all of it, whereas others way back accepted that something lower than 5 seconds from 0-62mph was greater than fast sufficient for something road-legal.

Whichever manner you see it, the S3’s 0-60mph time of 4.7sec is objectively very fast and comfortably extra so than even essentially the most rabid front-driven options’, reminiscent of the Honda Civic Type R.

But thrilling? Not a lot. The method wherein the two.0-litre turbo engine reliably pumps out these figures is healthier recognized to highway testers than most, the Volkswagen Group (however Audi-designed) EA888 unit having appeared in varied types throughout the Audi, Seat, Skoda and Volkswagen manufacturers for properly over a decade now.

The idle velocity has been turned up by 200rpm and the turbo is pre-loaded from s decrease increase pressue, so there is a heightened sense of urgency in full-bore launches. But thereafter the uniform supply of energy and torque feels endlessly broad and massively efficient, however lacks a lot in the best way of form or crescendo. The gearbox is reliably slick however, once more, not particularly participating, its paddles specifically missing tactility.

Sub-R8 quick Audis have all the time leant into the model’s rallying heritage notably properly, and whereas it requires a sure suspension of disbelief, the S3 does the entire ‘WRC refugee’ factor reasonably properly. The turbo’s sonorous whooshing, sucking and exhaling – extra pervasive now that it’s pre-loaded at a decrease increase stress – would give Michèle Mouton one thing to smile about, and the keener ear will detect one thing of a five-cylinder-esque chirrup from the titanium-tipped Akrapovic sports activities exhaust – although I’d pay additional to do with out the anti-social pops and bangs on overrun. 

Car review

Audi A3 Sportback

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Anyone stepping out of the comparatively minimalist cabin of the earlier A3 and into this new one can be in for a shock, albeit principally a pleasing one. There is a greater diversity of supplies and a dashboard that’s, to a level, break up in two, with a extra driver-focused design.

Audi acknowledges that this era of A3 has been criticised since launch in 2020 for the end and design of its inside, and so the precedence for its mid-life replace was to present the cabin a top quality and charisma enhance. So there are actually illuminated door panels (30 colors obtainable), redesigned air vents with elective chrome surrounds, a smaller gear shifter and a raft of latest upmarket supplies and color schemes.

Plus, the infotainment runs the most recent era of Audi’s infotainment platform – giving entry to inbuilt apps and varied paid-for features on demand – and the usual package listing has been prolonged to incorporate a wi-fi cellphone charger, ambient lighting and luxury air-con.

The result’s a cabin surroundings which straddles the contentious digital-physical divide to nice impact. The touchscreen – properly built-in and unobtrusive as it’s – is crisp of graphic and swift of processing velocity, with its menus laid out sensibly and easy accessibility offered to the features you’ll need to use on the transfer. But it’s removed from all-powerful, with the A3 retaining a wholesome smattering of toggles, switches and buttons throughout the sprint, console and steering wheel – every sensibly positioned and with a satisfying tactility about it. 

Top marks, too, for the ADAS integration; you solely must press one bodily button to carry up the digital driver aids, so turning off the velocity restrict and lane-keep bongs is the work of 5 seconds.

As in different smaller fashions within the Audi vary, there isn’t a secondary touchscreen for the local weather management settings. Instead, there’s a small cluster within the decrease part of the dashboard with easy-to-reach bodily buttons that make frequent changes potential with out glancing away from the street. This is the preferable set-up in our opinion.

Aside from that, there’s 6mm extra elbow room within the entrance than the pre-2020 automobile, and 3mm extra within the rear, due to a rise within the automobile’s width. A 7mm enhance in entrance head room and 2mm extra shoulder room are additionally welcome, if small, enhancements.

The boot capability of the A3 stays the identical as within the earlier era, at 380 litres, and this will increase to 1200 litres when the rear seats are folded ahead. From Sport specification up, these are break up 40:20:40, fairly than 40:60.