Tag Archives: Autocar

News

Autocar journal 7 February: on sale now

This week in Autocar, now we have all it’s essential know in regards to the new Audi RS5, reveal the brand new Porsche Taycan, and have a look at a Renault redesigned with Lego.

News

The Audi RS4 will quickly be referred to as the RS5, bringing with it a hybrid-assisted V6 and a set of dynamics to take the combat to Merc-AMG’s 671bhp C63 – now we have all there may be to know.

Staying with Audi, we cowl the reveal of the RS6 GT – a limited-run, £180,000 property with carbonfibre all over the place and revised aero.

Over to Porsche and the launch of the brand new Taycan, stated to be ‘higher in each self-discipline’. We have what it’s essential learn about its drivetrain, vary, charging, inside and dynamics.

Meanwhile BMW has formally revealed the brand new 5 Series Touring, set to be bought within the UK initially with two EV choices and a PHEV.

Reviews

Subaru has launched the Crosstrek because the substitute for the XV, full with updates to 4×4 chassis and a brand new mild-hybrid engine – we discover out what they quantity to.

The Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid Coupé might need a 470bhp V6 and 0-62mph time of simply 4.9sec, however we reckon it is essentially the most compromised Cayenne you should buy – Murray Scullion investigates.

The BMW X6 has been handled to enhanced powertrains and next-generation inside tech, in addition to a model new look. But is it higher than an Audi Q8 or Range Rover Velar?

We’re additionally testing the Range Rover Sport, Audi Q8 and SQ8, and for street check 5660, we have the Lexus LM.

Features

Nicolas Fremau constructed a Lego mannequin along with his youngsters one Christmas. Then he and his colleagues at Renault scaled it up into the unconventional E-Tech Hybrid system. Steve Cropley pays a go to to listen to the story.

There’s now an 800lb ft value-led Czech electrical off-roader on sale within the UK – and it’s not a Skoda. Kris Culmer takes a drive of the MW Motors Spartan EV 2.0.

What is it wish to dwell with a traditional? After shopping for, restoring, and promoting an previous Beetle 1302 S, Felix Page tells us why it’s best to get pleasure from traditional motoring when you nonetheless can.

Opinion

Matt Prior riffs on the event of vehicles during the last 20 years and why, if you happen to’re drained or bewildered by most new fashions, there’s nonetheless a pocket of thrills obtainable to you from grassroots British makes.

Steve Cropley, in the meantime, talks in regards to the newest Ford Mustang Mach-E and rejoices at lastly with the ability to advocate it to a pal, why his time with the Audi SQ8 E-tron reminds him of studying to fly, and offers us a remaining replace on his potential buy of a traditional Range Rover.

News

Autocar journal 24 January: on sale now

This week in Autocar, we reveal the model new Volkswagen Golf, drive the the oblique successor to the Ford Fiesta, and why the 3D-printed Czinger 21C might rework the automotive business.

News

The overhauled Volkswagen Golf has been given massive ergonomic , powertrain and design revisions aiming to invigorate the hatch’s attraction – and it will be topped by a GTI that is extra highly effective than ever earlier than.

Over at Honda, the enduring NSX is about to return because the model’s halo EV, with its boss confirming the electrical sports activities automotive might be launched because the flagship to its 0 Series of EVs.

Staying in Japan, we’re reporting on Lexus teaming the LBX with the Toyota GR Yaris to create the Morizo RR – a 300bhp crossover full with go-faster aero.

Reviews

Ford has renewed the Tourneo Courier, its smallest van and MPV, to create what might be the successor to the Fiesta. We learn how it performs with new Puma underpinnings.

The Lexus LM is a newcomer within the luxurious MPV class, nevertheless it’s a lot greater than only a van with seats. Matt Saunders finds out why limousines ought to be fearful.

The beloved Suzuki Jimny has been given a lift in practicality with an additional pair of doorways, however solely in sure markets. We discover out what we’re lacking out on.

Ford street take a look at 5658, we’re testing the 2023 World Car of the Year – the Jeep Avenger. Does this maiden EV for Jeep have what it takes to crack Europe?

Features

The new Kia EV9 finds itself rubbing shoulders with luxurious massive SUVs from established manufacturers, so we have determined to search out out if patrons pays for Korean luxurious by pitting it in opposition to the Land Rover Defender 110 and Audi Q8 E-tron. 

Bicester Scramble, in the meantime, is swapping panama hats for crocs – Murray Scullion finds out why a brand new technology is flocking to the main automotive occasion.

Designed by synthetic intelligence and 3D-printed by robots, the Czinger 21C has the potential to remodel the automotive business, in keeping with these behind it. We head to their US base to search out out what’s what.

Opinion

Matt Prior riffs on automotive prejudice and the way it can have an effect on us all, and why there could quickly be an enormous shift in how we view producers.

Steve Cropley, in the meantime, has change into obsessive about a uncommon 1973 Range Rover, describes an expertise with EVs that we do not worth sufficient, and why he is change into irritated with Zap-Map.

Used

News

My Week In Cars: New Steve Cropley/Matt Prior podcast (ep. 71)

Episode 71 of the Autocar podcast My Week In Cars finds our resident automobile hacks Steve Cropley and Matt Prior dazzled by headlights, blissfully having fun with low-cost vehicles till a Bentley turns up, driving the implausible new Toyota GR Yaris, listening to the SMMT and speaking rather more apart from, together with your correspondence.

Make certain you by no means miss an Autocar podcast. Subscribe to our podcasts through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Podcasts or through your most popular podcast platform. And if you happen to subscribe and charge and evaluation the pod, we might actually recognize that too.

News

Power List 100 Podcast: The prime designers and engineers (ep.4)

Welcome to episode 4 of the all-new, five-part Autocar Business Power List 100 Podcast, produced in partnership with automotive expertise platform Keyloop.

The annual Power List 100 particulars all of the achievements of the main movers and shakers within the automotive business, rating the highest 100 most influential individuals based mostly on the next standards: international attain and affect, spending energy, share of voice, technological affect, future development potential and market capitalisation.

Each episode of the podcast will welcome an business knowledgeable to discover and focus on a number of the largest names, firms and subjects outlined within the Power List – providing unique perception into the individuals actually reshaping the automotive panorama.

In episode 4, Autocar information editor Felix Page sits down with Autocar Business correspondent Nick Gibbs and Keyloop VP gross sales, Ireland and APAC Graham Stokes to debate the actions of, and challenges confronted by, a number of the prime automotive designers and engineers – together with why, in a world of platform sharing, automobile design and model id is extra necessary than ever, the engineering hurdles posed by relentless price saving, and the way the outsourcing of software program improvement might change the face of automotive manufacturing.

We additionally speak about Gerry McGovern’s function in JLR‘s future, how Kia and Hyundai have been altering the sport for automobile design, and the Tesla Cybertruck. To hear all this and extra, hearken to episode 4 under.

The Autocar Business Power List 100 Podcast is crucial listening for all business professionals with an curiosity in the way forward for automotive. To hear now, subscribe to our podcast by way of Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

News

The finest automobiles Autocar lived with in 2023

Each 12 months a string of automobiles we are able to briefly name ‘our personal’ arrive at Autocar towers, able to be examined over a set of months and subjected to the rigour of a journalist’s on a regular basis life.

In getting attending to stay with them as in the event that they had been ours, we are able to dig into the less-obvious high-points and gritty flaws that solely increase their heads after an intensive interval of testing.

Some of our automobiles present a way more memorable expertise than others. Without additional ado (and deliberation), then, listed below are our picks of Autocar’s 2023 fleet.

The long-distance award

For the automobile we’d most wish to tackle a really lengthy journey

Winner: Bentley Flying Spur

Runner up: Toyota GR Supra

No want for a play-off or penalties right here: the Bentley Flying Spur was only a single vote away from having extra nominations than each different automobile on this 12 months’s fleet put collectively. 

Steve Cropley sorted Crewe’s best and – unsurprisingly – “enjoyed every mile”. Chief sub-editor Kris Culmer loved studying about Cropley having fun with it a lot that he voted for the Bentley with out ever having pushed it… 

Bentley Flying Spur driving

Deputy highway take a look at ed Richard Lane marvelled at “the magical combination of connection to the machine but isolation from the road”, whereas Mark Tisshaw (that’s me, by the way in which) stated “nobody does seats like Bentley” whereas pondering the grammatical protocol for quoting oneself within the third particular person. 

Lane’s highway take a look at desk colleague Illya Verpraet, all the time the iconoclast, was one to place ahead the Toyota GR Supra “for its excellent driving position, nice seats and good old ‘dumb’ cruise control that doesn’t have a mind of its own and which helps to make this a very relaxing long-distance car”. 

I used to be stunned to not see extra votes for the Alpina D3 S, though in voting for it, Cropley’s My Week In Cars podcast co-host (new episodes each Wednesday out of your favorite podcast supplier) Matt Prior maybe defined why: “The Alpina D3 S, so long as it was on the continent so I didn’t have to stress about potholes.”

News

Autocar journal 20 December: double situation on sale now

Merry Christmas from the Autocar workforce! This week, seize a replica to seek out one other full-fat 132-page double situation, full with our annual highway check yearbook, a check of the BMW i5 towards its closest rivals, and a scoop on the Lamborghini Huracan’s successor.

News

The successor to the Lamborghini Huracán might be revealed within the coming months as the ultimate entrant into the Italian agency’s all-electrified mannequin line-up – we’ve all you’ll want to know. 

We additionally ship the lowdown on MG’s plans to completely refresh its whole line-up in 2024, forward of its transfer to launch a brand new electrical SUV.

Meanwhile, over at Rimac, the agency is about to point out a extremely autonomous ‘robotaxi’ in early 2024, and plans for it to be in industrial operation by 2026. And the Croatian model would not cease there – its subsequent supercar might ditch battery-power for diesel. 

We additionally take a dive into the enterprise aspect of the business, counting the producers which have received or misplaced. This was one other difficult 12 months, however which fared greatest? 

Reviews

The Lexus LBX has arrived as amid Toyota’s hopes it’s going to increase gross sales for its luxurious arm. Can this plush tackle the Yaris Cross certainly show a ‘breakthrough crossover’? We discover out…

The McLaren 750S is a blinding evolution of the already magical 720S, however up to now we have solely examined it on a heat monitor. So how does it fare on frosty British lanes?

The Land Rover Defender’s extremes of dimension and propulsion are mixed to create the monstrous 130 V8 – is it simply pretty much as good as it’s foolish?

The head-turning Kia EV9 is a generously-propotioned flagship for the South Korean firm, however how does it deal with freezing Scottish countryside? Matt Prior finds out.

Features

Almost £4 million value of vehicles highway examined, a whole bunch extra reviewed, information scoops, landmark moments, the primary true driver’s EV and a shock Lambo win. Take a take a look at all of this 12 months’s highlights in our 2023 highway check yearbook. 

The government super-saloon market is quick evolving as BMW and Mercedes set their sights on the Tesla Model S with the i5 and EQE. But do these new EVs pack the motive force enchantment of their ICE alternate options?

Autocar is as a lot about information as it’s about vehicles, so what higher approach to rejoice the automobile business’s propelling to the highest of the 2023 information agenda than take a look at the 12 months’s greatest moments. Our information editor Felix Page explores.

As is the way in which with the final situation of the 12 months, it is time for our staffers to select their favorite vehicles of 2023 – from the Prodrive P25 to the BMW M340i, they rely their winners.

News

Power List 100 Podcast: The rise of China’s automobile makers (ep.3)

Welcome to episode three of the all-new, five-part Autocar Business Power List 100 Podcast, produced in partnership with automotive expertise platform Keyloop.

The annual Power List 100 particulars all of the achievements of the main movers and shakers within the automotive {industry}, rating the highest 100 most influential individuals primarily based on the next standards: world attain and affect, spending energy, share of voice, technological affect, future development potential and market capitalisation.

Each episode of the podcast will welcome an {industry} knowledgeable to discover and focus on among the largest names, firms and subjects outlined within the Power List – providing unique perception into the individuals really reshaping the automotive panorama.

In episode three, Mark Tisshaw, editor of Autocar, and Peter Campbell, world motor {industry} correspondent on the Financial Times, sit down with Jacqui Barker, world OEM director at Keyloop, to debate Chinese automobile makers and the influence they’re having on the worldwide automotive scene, their industry-leading battery expertise and why Chinese automobiles have gotten ever extra fascinating for European customers.

We additionally speak concerning the actions of manufactures reminiscent of BYD, Great Wall and MG, which retail avenues Chinese OEMs are taking into Europe and what laws could be essential to permit European automobile makers to proceed to compete with Chinese adversaries. To hear all this and extra, hearken to episode three under.

The Autocar Business Power List 100 Podcast is important listening for all {industry} professionals with an curiosity in the way forward for automotive. To pay attention now, subscribe to our podcast by way of Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

Opinion

The unique inspiration behind the creation of Lotus Evija

While researching for a recent Lotus Elise feature, I came across information about and tests of the 340R, a limited-run, extra-light, Elise-based roadster made by Hethel in 2000.

It received a warm reception, although we were somewhat involved in its development, so it had to be well received, despite being acknowledged as “a very expensive exercise in minimalism.”

I’m not sure if it was as widely adored as the conceptually simpler 2-Eleven of 2007, but it was probably ahead of its time. Special editions of sports cars and supercars have become a common way for niche makers to generate revenue.

But that’s not what I want to discuss this time. What caught my attention was the interior of the Lotus 340R, with its bare spar extending like a bridge across the width, instruments attached to it and a vertical central pillar with functional buttons.

It reminded me of something, and then I looked at pictures of Lotus’s new electric hypercar, the Evija. Twenty years later, there’s a conceptually similar horizontal spar and a vertical pillar housing functions.

Today’s interior is slightly more complex, but today’s production cars are more intricate than an Elise-based lightweight special, and they need air vents.

Another connection is that Lotus “prepared five designs” for the 340R, and “the decision was taken to go with the Russell Carr proposal.”

And who is the designer of the Evija? None other than Russell Carr. There are significant differences between these cars, and Lotus is a very different company than it was 20 years ago, but I was struck by the connection.

Is it feasible to drive a car for a high number of miles?

Have you ever come across a car with an incredibly high mileage? As mentioned in the Elise feature, I found a Series 1 example that has been driven for 290,000 miles. I’m interested in learning more about it and other high-mileage cars, to understand what makes a car suitable for accumulating such high mileage.

Is it only interesting and highly valued cars that are capable of covering long distances, or are there unremarkable vehicles still in operation, clocking up five-figure distances over decades of daily commutes while their counterparts have been scrapped?

News

Exclusive: New Toyota Prius to be Released in the UK

The latest Toyota Prius will soon be available for purchase in the UK, according to Autocar. Previously, the release of the fifth-generation Prius in the UK was postponed due to the high demand for SUV models.

Last year, Toyota explained that the decision not to offer the new Prius in the UK was due to changes in market conditions and their evolving product strategy. The company noticed a shift in UK consumer demand towards SUV-style vehicles.

Toyota also mentioned that Prius sales in the UK were not as strong as their other hybrid models, such as the C-HR crossover and Corolla hatchback.

However, Autocar has learned that the Prius hybrid hatchback will now be introduced in the UK, with an official announcement expected soon. The sales of parallel- and plug-in hybrids have likely contributed to the strengthened business case for this model. In the UK, both types of hybrids saw an increase in market share compared to the previous year, as of September.

2023 Toyota Prius rear tracking

The latest Prius is built on the updated version of the TNGA platform, which was used for the previous generation. However, the new model features significant modifications to enhance its stiffness, refinement, and stability.

Globally, the new Prius offers two powertrain options: a front-wheel-drive 2.0-liter parallel hybrid with 191bhp, and a four-wheel-drive 221bhp plug-in hybrid. The plug-in hybrid version can accelerate from 0-62mph in just 6.7 seconds, making it the fastest Prius to date.

The plug-in hybrid also comes with a 13.6kWh lithium-ion battery, capable of providing an electric driving range of 53 miles, according to official figures.

While the roof of the Prius is equipped with a solar panel that can contribute energy for approximately 777 miles of electric driving per year, it is uncertain whether this feature will be available in the UK.

The interior of the Prius has been redesigned with an emphasis on material quality and driver comfort. It comes with a standard 7.0-inch digital driver display, strategically positioned to minimize distraction while driving. The central infotainment screen is a new-generation version based on the one found in the latest Corolla and Toyota RAV4 models.

Motorsport

Updated Mercedes G63 Getting Lightweight, Adaptive Suspension System

Spy shots indicate that Mercedes-Benz is working on a refreshed version of the G-Class. Recent reports from UK publication Autocar, who had the chance to ride in one of the prototypes, suggest that the updated SUV will feature new suspension technology. Motor1.com has reached out to Mercedes for further details about these changes.

The refreshed G63 is said to offer an optional suspension system that replaces the traditional anti-roll bars with a continually variable electro-hydraulic system. This new technology utilizes flow valves located on each damper to transfer fluid from side to side through valves. To effectively distribute the fluid, a gas-filled metal sphere is incorporated at each axle to act as an accumulator.