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£ 4 . 8 0
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TON VANTAGE DR
78 9 B H P M CL A R E IVEN!
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EXCLUS IVE!

EXCLUSIVE 5
00-MILE VER
DICT

MODEL 3: TES
£30K SUPER LA’S
HERO
It’s here to sav
e us, not drive l
ike a BMW: Musk
’s marvel does
BUNKING OFF
both
Hyundai i30N vs Civic
Type R & Focus RS
We take our hot hatches on a
two-day Welsh B-road blast

BUYING USED

Your dream Lotus

Elise, Evora & Exige in
the £25-35k sweet spot

PLUS
NEW REAR-DRIVE AUDI VW T-ROC BATTLES 70 YEARS OF
R8 VS MCLAREN 570S CROSSOVER RIVALS LAND ROVER
The Audi supercar we’ve Mini and Toyota take on the The rustbucket 4x4 that
been waiting for? £19k do-anything Volkswagen launched the legend
 MAY 2018

92
FEATURES

INSIDER
52
8 BMW’s M2 gets the Competition treatment
12 EXCLUSIVE! On track in the McLaren Senna
14 F-Pace SUV plus raging V8 equals genius!
16 Audi’s A6 Avant & Porsche’s Mission E Cross Turismo
30
Once more with
feeling – new
500 miles in Tesla’s Model 3
Tackling LA in humanity’s four-wheeled saviour

64
Audi R8 RWS vs McLaren 570S
18 Inquisition: Lamborghini’s Stefano Domenicali
20 Supra, Auris, RAV4 – the wild world of new Toyota CLS driven Rear-drive Audi supercar battles the benchmark
23 Watches: spurn the Swiss, get more for less

TECH
74
8 reasons why new Focus matters
24 New Fiesta ST’s go-faster tech
The humble hatchback’s doomed. Isn’t it?
26 DS7’s night vision tested
27 Who’s on the pace with future tech?
28 Audi’s Peter Mertens future-gazes
82
VW T-Roc Giant Test
FIRST DRIVES Crossover takes on Toyota C-HR & Mini Countryman
30 Mercedes CLS The genre-bender’s back
33 Ford Mustang Small changes, big diference
34 Range Rover Sport SVR Loud, crass, excellent
92
Inside Goodwood
35 Range Rover PHEV Now with a battery. (Why?)
The wonderful world of the Members’ Meeting

108
36 Defender Works V8 Can you guess how this goes?
38 2018 Land Cruiser Quick Group Test Monster SUVs
102
OPINION Aston Vantage driven!
44, 46, 46 Gavin Green, Mark Walton and Sam Smith The future, by New Vantage. On road and track. At last
48 CAR Interactive: your hopes, fears and photos Andy Palmer
108
The CAR interview: Andy Palmer
The boss on Aston’s next chapter

112
70 years of Land Rover
The Series 1 that started it all

REAR END
122 Icon Buyer
Buy your first Lotus – without being terrified

128 Our Cars

82
Audi RS5, Civic Type R, Merc E-Class All-Terrain…

141 GBU: every car rated!

Crossover funk: Plus how to spec a fine Bentley Conti GT
the title fight
162 The CAR Top 10
Cars based on vans based on cars
 ALL-NEW PHONE EDITION
CAR’s digital version is now available for smartphones
as well as tablets. Get the app then visit www.
greatmagazines.co.uk for the best subscription deals.

128
Our fleet’s hot hatches call in sick,
then head to Wales. Naughty

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 FROM THE EDITOR
THIS MONTH ON PLANET

Less is more, from

T-Roc crossover to
V10 Audi supercars
Sufering for his art
t, March. If photographer
Sub-zero temperatures, Kielder fores
s drained and ever so slightly spent, that’s THAT THE SWEETEST version of a car might not be the
Alex Tapley look
of the fines t sets of images ever to
because he’s just shot one one at the top of the spec tree – where the equipment list
570S and an Audi R8 RWS
grace the pages of CAR. A McLaren runs to pages of ticked boxes and the monthly payments look
part, as did weat her that com pensated for a brutal
played their
lack of warmth with stunning light
. like a second mortgage – is nothing new. As long ago as the
, p64
Audi R8 RWS vs McLaren 570S Peugeot 205 GTI it was seen as painfully obvious to express a
preference for the 1.9. Better to knowingly mutter something
about the ‘lighter nose’ and ‘sweeter balance’ of the 1.6 over the
‘over-tyred’ 1.9 before gazing enigmatically into the middle
distance. But less so often is more, and more so now than ever:
as technology gently saturates every aspect of driving, from
rain-sensing wipers to slightly wobbly lane-keep assist, so the
option of going without (and thereby going without all the
implicit weight, faff and complication) grows more tempting.
On page 92 you’ll find our story on the Goodwood
Members’ Meeting, and in particular the absolute ball
had by ex-McLaren development driver Chris Goodwin.
The nub of his job is blessing digital systems with the
honesty, transparency and consistency of feedback that
define good cars. To remind himself of how those attributes
Working the vroom
d an in-house app, ‘Where’s my feel – and why they matter – Goodwin raced his featherlight
Word is Aston Martin has develope
Andy Palmer. Giving it his all? Lotus at Goodwood, a car with less power than a McLaren P1
CEO?’, so furiously busy is main man
som e, judg ing by his diary . But even Palmer pauses for GTR’s electric booster motor.
And then
ict on the all-im port ant new Vantage on page
CAR – read our verd Then there’s the Audi R8 RWS on p64 – the first R8 without
Phil McN ama ra’s (blue jacket) story on
102, then editor-in-chief four-wheel drive and, not coincidentally, the most enthralling
n are goin g next.
where Palmer and Asto
Aston Martin’s Andy Palmer, p108 iteration yet of Ingolstadt’s supercar. And just a few pages later
there’s VW’s T-Roc without the 2.0-litre engine, twin-clutch
’box and four-wheel drive it
would be tempting to unthink-
ingly throw at it. Slick, capable
and charming, it’s a crossover
to convert the doubters – if not
quite a 1.6 205 GTI.
Enjoy the issue.
Ben Miller
Editor

Cold, Ben? WE’RE ALSO

in late summer: warbirds in a PUBLISHED IN:
The Goodwood dream is Revival AROUND THE WORLD
sky and hot race engines torturing still hotter tyres
cloudless
asph alt. And then there ’s the recent Members’
on sun-kissed
Barry strug gling to stay conscious
Meeting, and CAR’s Ben CHINA INDIA ITALY KOREA
e make mea ningful notes with
after 30 hours’ exposure, let alon
useless fingers and a frozen pen.
’ Meeting, p92
Inside the Goodwood Members MALAYSIA SPAIN THAILAND TURKEY GREECE

May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 7

Cars, people, scoops, motorsport, analysis: the month according to CAR

M2 Competition: BMW’s
404bhp giant killer
Can’t shake that 2-series in your mirrors? Could be the new
Competition, the car the M2 wanted to be all along
By Ben Miller & Georg Kacher

8 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018

W
HITE-WITH-STRIPES 2002 Turbo.
Black ’n’ orange Alpinas, low on fat
slicks. Roll-caged Schnitzers at every
conceivable angle of oversteer. It’s fair
to say Munich’s back catalogue heaves
with outstanding examples of quick,
compact saloons fettled to kill giants. And now we’ve a new one,
the M2 Competition.
The M2 you’ll remember from the world’s rapturous response
way back in 2016. Lighter, more affordable, better balanced, use-
fully compact and with a more satisfying engine than the M3/
M4 above it in BMW’s hierarchy – a turbo six that loves to rev
freely, feeling closer to the sparkling M140i than the grunt-laden
M3 – the M2 was immediately hailed as M division’s return to
form. ‘The E30 M3 reborn!’ screamed the hysterical masses,
and to an extent they had a point. Trademark M visual menace,
delicious throttle adjustability you didn’t have to be Winkelhock
to enjoy and, if you were of sound mind, a six-speed manual
gearbox – as a proposition it was enticing enough to swallow the
hefty £47k asking price. (As ever, PCP helps. Right now BMW
will do you an M2 for £400 a month if you can find a £7k deposit.)
The new M2 Competition enjoys a clearer position than the
mildly baffling relationship between the standard M3/M4 and
the Competition Pack cars. With an M3 or M4, the Competition
Pack version effectively replaces the standard car – in truth if
not in actuality – by bringing such a tangible increase in driver
appeal (not to mention visual appeal) via its bigger, wider wheels
and re-tuned suspension, and for such a meagre premium

May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 9

 Lightweight alloy
sports exhausts
give the game
away at the rear

(£3k) that the Pack may as well be standard-fit. With the M2 it’s deviants are sure to do regularly, and you’ll find a delicious cross-
simple: the Competition is the M2 now, replacing the 365bhp car brace in glossy black carbonfibre.
we’ve come to know and love with something even more desira- Want more from the M2? Sources suggest a still more
ble: faster, tauter, meaner. extrovert M2 CSL hangs in the balance, its future hinging on
The M2 Competition is one of the first petrol-engined BMWs production capacity. Think M4 GTS in terms of character – raw
to meet the latest EU emissions standards, employing a particu- and a little wild, with no back seats, big power (440bhp via water
late filter in order to do so. Such filters typically strangle output injection) and less weight – and price: in excess of £85k.
but Munich’s engine whisperers have thoughtfully wound up Until then the M2 Competition will tide us over nicely.
the S55 3.0-litre turbo six to more than compensate. Peak power
heads north of 400bhp (404bhp: 39bhp up on the standard M2)
while peak torque is a useful, tyre-troubling 406lb ft. Little tykes: BMW’s feisty compact saloon CV
For the modest price hike – at £47,260, the Competition’s
£2545 dearer than the outgoing M2 – those are decent gains.
The 0-62mph sprint time drops a tenth from 4.5sec to 4.4sec for
the manual, and to a rapid 4.2sec for the DCT-equipped car. Top
speed, with the limiter removed, is 181mph.
But it’s the detail stuff that’ll have wavering buyers grabbing 1800TI, 1963 2002 TURBO, 1973 325TI (E46)
their credit cards and making The Call. The M2 Competition Truth is the 1800TI doesn’t Tacked-on wide arches, COMPACT, 2001
rides lower on revised springs and dampers, promising still look like much – a kind of cool graphics, a dynamic Okay, so it’s just a
Bauhaus Lotus Cortina whif of jeopardy – key hacksawed 3-series, and
greater highs on roads with the space and the spice to do the car without the stripes or the DNA strands for any self- not pretty. But it doesn’t
justice. The standard wheels are new Y-spoke 19-inchers, with Scot at the wheel. But respecting M car, and they matter that the Compact
optional 20s available, and they set off a body given a decent this was the first BMW were present and correct looked nasty from either
wedge more road (or track) presence by extended ‘shadowline’ to validate the template back in the ’70s when end because it was
Munich’s used ever since: BMW’s engineers fitted a beautiful underneath:
black detailing, a new lower front bumper, trick new M-spec sports car-bothering KKK turbo to the 2002’s sweet and smooth M54
wing mirrors unique to the M2 Competition and two new metal- speed from a subtle, 2.0-litre four to create straight-six under the
lic colours, Sunset Orange and Hockenheim Silver. more practical saloon. Big the light, grunty Turbo. bonnet, rear-wheel drive
valves and gaping ports Drive one now and the and actual steering feel
Inside, the 2-series cabin’s lifted by M sports seats (standard helped provide 110bhp overwhelming impression so that going into corners
on UK cars), the M5’s red starter button, new M-specific dials and on-demand oversteer, is one of delectable was almost as much fun
and M drive manager to calibrate and corral the car’s various wet or dry. chuck-ablity. as coming out of them.
steering, powertrain and damper settings. Pop the bonnet, as M

10 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018

McLaren Senna: in the
789bhp hypercar hot seat
Nobody outside of McLaren has sampled its latest creation, the
high-downforce, high-drama Senna – until now. By Ben Barry
T
HE MCLAREN SENNA is billed as ‘the ultimate
road-legal track car’. A dry weight of 1198kg and
789bhp combine for a 659bhp-per-tonne power-to-
weight ratio, and mind-bending acceleration: 2.8sec
to 62mph, 6.8sec to 124mph, a 9.9sec demolition of the quarter
mile and a 211mph top end.
We’ve come to the Goodwood Members’ Meeting to get a
world exclusive passenger ride in a final verification prototype.
Vehicle line director Andy Palmer (the other Andy Palmer is
on p108) will be driving, and heroically navigated the £750k
Senna from Woking through snow at 5.30am.
This prototype is tasked with signing off the Senna’s
dynamics, levels of refinement and electrics. Palmer says
12 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018
he was pondering some small tweaks to the steering on the
drive down – minor alterations to the suspension geometry
and steering-pump map, perhaps – and chats me through the
incredible spec. The Senna is built around an evolution of the
McLaren 720S’s MonoCage III carbon tub, but with a new rear
crash structure, which means it shouldn’t require a rollcage
should it race (which it probably will). The body is entirely
carbon – the front wings weigh just 0.66kg, and even the doors
are under 10kg, half that of a 720S door. Vast and active
Select Race and the hydraulically interconnected suspension rear wing
drops 30mm at the front, 22mm at the rear, opening the door to instrumental in
the breakfast-
ground-effect aerodynamics. But it’s perhaps the Senna’s active troubling levels of
aerodynamics that are most astonishing: the rear wing weighs brute downforce
just 5kg but can generate up to 500kg of downforce alone as it
adjusts through 45°. The front splitter is 150mm longer than a
P1’s but the red aero blades under the front lights automatically
adjust to balance out the rear wing’s movement. The result is up
to 800kg of downforce at 155mph – 40 per cent more than a P1.
I lower myself into the laid-back, embryonic embrace of a
carbon seat that weighs just 3.5kg. Palmer fires up the twin-
turbo V8 and immediately you feel one key difference versus
the mechanically similar 720S: there’s a much stronger fizz
of vibration through the seats, like you’re sitting on a lightly
struck tuning fork. Solid engine mounts are responsible, and
they promise to contribute to the Senna’s sharper dynamics.
You hear more of that engine too, because the carbon doors
and bare floor let more noise in, so already the Senna feels alive
with mechanical energy.
The digital dash flashes up a ‘caution frost’ warning,
and puts tyre temperatures at 0°C. ‘I don’t know if we actually
have a minus reading,’ jokes Palmer. As we ponder the wisdom
of 789bhp on a slippery track, I ask if the P1 wasn’t already
far beyond the capabilities of most drivers, and if the Senna
is only further out of reach – its lap times, after all, are said to
be comparable to the track-only, slick-shod P1 GTR. ‘The
Senna is easier to drive,’ replies Palmer. ‘We’ve worked
hard on our control systems, tyre technology
has improved, and the active aerodynamics
make a big difference too.’
As we head out onto the track in a
flurry of wheelspin, tarmac blurs
through the Gorilla Glass in the
lower doors, and I’m struck by
how unintimidating the Senna
feels. But there’s no doubt it’s
scarily quick, and even moderate
throttle punts it down the straights like it’s been kicked up
the backside. No consideration was given to adding a P1-style
hybrid powertrain, but power and torque are up 79bhp and
22lb ft on the similar 720S engine, and the 4.0-litre gets lighter
cams and pistons, plus a recalibrated ECU. Throttle response
is sharper too, and there’s more aural drama as air is dragged
through the roof snorkel and into the induction system (as it
was to such great effect on the F1-apeing 650S LM), more turbo
whoosh when Palmer releases the throttle, and a louder roar
from the iconel and titanium exhaust when he flattens it. But
this remains the domestic appliance of supercar soundtracks.
As Palmer carries good speed up to the chicane, though, it’s
the authority of the way in which the Senna changes direction,
how it snaps down through the faster gearchanges and, above
all, how it stops thanks to 390mm carbon ceramic discs and
six-piston monobloc calipers that really shock. We go out in the
Sport chassis and Track Powertrain setting first, switching to
max-attack Race mode later and feeling the dramatic increase
in suspension stiffness, but the conditions mean we get only a
glimpse of the Senna’s staggering performance for now.
The Senna will be limited to 500 examples, plus prototypes
like this, which have a cult following that dates back to the
McLaren F1 XP prototypes. This car’s story isn’t
over yet. With the Senna soon going into
production, it’s likely to be converted into
GTR spec, a track-only evolution with
more power, more downforce and
slick tyres. For now, let’s just hope
for better weather when we drive CAR with
a prototype Senna at Silverstone McLaren’s Andy
for the June issue of CAR. Palmer, who
can be forgiven
O Inside the Goodwood for looking a
Members’ Meeting, p92 touch pensive
It’s the authority of the way
in which the Senna changes
direction that really shocks
May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 13
 F-Pace with a V8
adaptive dynamics and all-wheel-drive
systems all get their own go-faster SVR
modifications.

What’s not to like? Other details making the F-Pace

SVR unique include 21-inch standard
or 22-inch optional alloy wheels, stiffer
Jaguar’s Macan Turbo rival squeezes a supercharged anti-roll bars and an active exhaust
V8 into an upgraded chassis. By Jake Groves that’s not only 6.6kg lighter than the
standard F-Pace system but also allows

I
T WAS ONLY a matter of time before JLR’s Special Ve- that supercharged V8 to howl.
hicle Operations department got its hands on the F-Pace, ‘Everything from the steering to the bespoke suspension set-
and here it is: Jaguar’s first high-performance SUV. The up has been tuned specifically for our performance SUV,’ says
F-Pace SVR crams in a supercharged 5.0-litre V8 and a Mike Cross, chief engineer for vehicle integrity at JLR. ‘The
feast of chassis and cabin upgrades. result is a vehicle that lives up to the promise of both the F-Pace
There’s 542bhp and 502lb ft on tap, good for a 0-62mph and SVR names.’
sprint in just 4.3 seconds, maxing out at 176mph. But as SVO’s At the front there are huge air intakes to feed the engine and
Duncan Smith says: ‘It’s not just the engine. There are really cool the brakes, while at the rear there are bulbous fins in the
special brakes and important work done on the suspension and rear bumper and a flip-up spoiler to keep the car pinned to the
chassis. It’s a complete package.’ road at speed.
The uprated brakes – 395mm discs at the front, 396mm Inside, the rotary gear selector has been replaced by a
at the rear – are joined by rear tyres that are 25mm wider trigger-like shifter for the transmission. Leather sports seats
than the fronts (a handling-enhancing trick also used on the with bespoke SVR detailing are standard, as is a digital
Porsche Cayenne) and an electronic active differential for the instrument display and Jag’s InControl Touch Pro system with
rear wheels, all optimised to make sure you can make the most a wireless 4G hotspot. Yours for around £75,000, and available
of that V8. The automatic transmission, torque vectoring, to order this summer.

CLEAN
BEEFY AERO
V8 Deeply vented
Supercharged bumpers, fins in
542bhp powerplant the rear flanks and a
a favourite within JLR; flip-up spoiler amp
capable of 0-62mph up cooling and
in 4.3sec and reduce drag
SVO
176mph flat-out LUXURY
here Lozenge
stitching on leather
seats, unique SVR
steering wheel and
up-to-date tech
all standard

THUNDEROUS
NOISE
Variable Valve MAXIMUM
Active Exhaust GRIP
means bellowing All-wheel drive,
V8 can sing like a electronic active
Jag should rear diferential and
mixed-width tyres
make for a sticky
recipe

14 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018

 Back with a bang
And then it all goes very quiet
Audi and Merc favourites fight on, while our electric future closes in fast. By Jake Groves
Mercedes C-Class facelift
The updates to every body style of The warm C43 gains a 23bhp
the Merc rival to the BMW 3-series power boost from its V6. Go for the
and Audi A4 are individually minor unhinged V8 C63 (pictured) and,
but add up to a significant tech while power outputs are unchanged,
upgrade and some serious new you get an electronic limited-slip
hardware. A wider infotainment diferential and a nine-speed
screen is available in the increasingly Speedshift auto instead of the old
digital cabin, which hosts a new seven-speeder. The hotter 503bhp
steering wheel and fresh upholstery. C63 S gets active engine mounts.
NEED TO KNOW
> What is it? Merc’s updated C-Class family (saloon, estate, coupe, cabriolet)
> Tech specs Digital instrument display, new transmission for the C63
> Aimed at? Keeping up with premium rivals > Chances of making production?
Orders open now; first cars delivered from summer. Autumn for the AMGs
Audi A6 Avant
Audi’s A6 hasn’t even gone on sale All engines have mild hybrid
yet and they’ve already cranked out assistance, while quattro and
the estate version. It follows a well automatic transmissions are fitted
proven formula: take one A6 and across the range. If you’re after a
give it a bigger rear. Luggage space more spirited driving experience,
is rated at 560 litres with the seats rear-wheel steering, a quattro sport
up – 10 litres shy of the BMW 5-series diferential and sports suspension
Touring and 80 litres short compared are all optional, as are air springs and
to the Merc E-Class Estate. Audi’s Drive Select mode system.
NEED TO KNOW
> What is it? Audi’s fatter-bottomed A6 exec > Tech specs A8 interior, mild
hybrid engine assistance, quattro all-wheel drive across the board > Aimed
at? Taking the A6’s usability up a couple of notches > Chances of making
production? Bound for showrooms in the second half of 2018

Hyundai Le Fil Rouge concept

What is it with car makers getting into ‘the common thread’, which
kinky with their design language? ‘is a reflection of Hyundai’s belief
Mercedes has brought us Sensual that the brand’s past, present and
Purity and now Hyundai is upping the future designs are all connected’.
ante with Sensuous Sportiness. This Inside, there are four separate seats
long four-door grand tourer concept positioned facing a wraparound
is here to point to design elements dashboard that uses lots of swoopy
in Hyundai’s future model range. wood and a haptic display for
Hyundai says the name translates infotainment and climate controls.
NEED TO KNOW
> What is it? Grinch-mouthed design study from Hyundai > Tech specs
Aeronautics-grade aerodynamics, panoramic and haptic driver display
> Aimed at? Injecting some emotion into Korean car design > Chances of
making production? The shapeliness will influence future Hyundais

Porsche Mission E Cross Turismo concept

The sleek, low-slung Mission E time of less than 3.5 seconds, and
electric coupe concept that featured 0-125mph in 12 seconds.
in our December 2017 issue has now It rides on 20-inch wheels with
spawned this four-door, four-seat adaptive air suspension. Styling
electric crossover, previewing a 2019 borrows heavily from the Panamera
production car. Sport Turismo at the rear, but with
It has two electric motors delivering contrasting wheelarch and door sill
around 600bhp and on-demand all- extensions and – in case you were
wheel drive, with a claimed 0-62mph too polite to notice – blue wheels.
NEED TO KNOW
> What is it? Jacked-up Mission E hit with ugly stick > Tech specs Two hefty
electric motors, all-wheel drive, 250-mile recharge in 15 mins > Aimed
at? Realising the potential in the Mission E platform > Chances of making
production? Production model coming 2019

16 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018

 The CAR Inquisition: Stefano Domenicali
‘Urus had to feel like a Lamborghini’
Relatively new to Lamborghini, Stefano Domenicali recently unveiled the company’s most divisive
car yet, the Urus SUV. Flak? The glare of the spotlight? All in a day’s work for the former Ferrari F1 boss
A
T THIS YEAR’S Geneva motor show, a new sharply
styled 190mph tallboy Lamborghini was one of the
stars. Unlike many of the new upmarket SUVs
scattered through the halls of the Palexpo, the Urus
at least has some 4x4 pedigree. Remember the ’80s ‘Rambo
Lambo’ LM002, the first SUV with supercar genes? If you’ve
ever seen one, they’re impossible to forget.
That monster, originally conceived as a (failed) military
vehicle, was the most outrageous, thirstiest, and most in-yer-face
SUV of its time, and probably of all time. No big car, in history,
has ever intimidated other road users quite like an LM002. It
was powered by a Countach V12, so no SUV has ever sounded
like it, either. It was also the fastest SUV of its day. Owners
included Sly Stallone and Mike Tyson.
18 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018
ILLUSTRATION: SENOR SALME
Did Lamborghini CEO and president Stefano Domenicali
ever have the tiniest worry that a new SUV might sully the Sant’
Agata maker’s hallowed Ferrari-rivalling supercar reputation?
‘No,’ he says when we meet in Geneva, just a few hours after the
Urus is unveiled. ‘The biggest challenge was to make sure it had
the soul of a super sports car. It had to have the design, technol-
ogy and – very importantly – the feel of a Lamborghini.’ I haven’t
driven it yet. But our man Georg Kacher, who has (see CAR,
January 2018), says it feels like a proper Lambo – albeit from an
elevated perch. There is even a Corsa mode for track use.
Almost 70 per cent of those ordering the Urus, according to
Domenicali, are new to Lamborghini. So, like the Bentayga
and Cayenne, it’ll mean significant extra business for its maker.
Lamborghini production will jump this year to almost 7500 cars,
 CAR’S
from 3800 last year. It’ll also be the
CURVEBALLS first Lamborghini, ever, designed for
6 questions only
we would ask everyday use. (Something that could

Tell us about your first car…

never be said of the LM002.)
Disappointments include a less
Connect 4
‘A 1984 Alfa Romeo Giulietta. My
dad was an Alfa fan.’
adventurous style than the Urus CIVIC TOURING CARS
concept – though it’s hardly going to Want to win in BTCC? Get a Civic –
What achievement makes you go unnoticed at Sainsbury’s – and the champion five times since 2011
most proud? lack of a Lambo V12 up front. Instead,
‘Winning the Formula 1 drivers’ we find a VW Group twin-turbo V8
and constructors’ world
championship in 2000, with and a Q7-like platform. Domenicali
Michael Schumacher and Ferrari. insists turbocharging is right for an
After so many years of being so SUV, and why not use the (modified)
close, we were world champions
again. [Domenicali was team
VW Group platform, when it was
manager, working under Jean available and so much more cost
Todt, whom he eventually effective? The car is to be made at Sant’
replaced as team principal.] Agata, in a new factory alongside the
Huracans and Aventadors. A Lam-
The scary new one
What’s the best thing you’ve
ever done in a car? borghini, says Domenicali, must be Honda Civic Type R FK8 (2018)
‘Driving in the Dolomites in a This is based on the current Type R and built by Team
made in Italy. Dynamics. Slight hitch: although Matt Neal is still driving, three-
Huracan Spyder. The road, the
fresh air, the sun, the car…’ A Lamborghini must also have a time champ Gordon Shedden has nafed of to drive Audis in
V12, at least the sports cars. Domen- the World Touring Car Cup. Still, replacement Dan Cammish is
Tell us when you screwed up… handy – he won the Porsche Carrera Cup GB in 2015.
icali confirms the next generation
‘In 2010, in Abu Dhabi, I trusted
Aventador will get naturally aspirated
the strategy guy to get the
pitstop timing right. I felt it was V12 power, including electric hybrid The one that outstayed its welcome
wrong. But I followed procedure. assist. The V10 will continue too, Honda Civic Type R FK2 (2017)
So, I take responsibility for unturbocharged, but with hybrid help. While the current roadgoing Type R was winning friends and
that [Alonso’s ill-timed pitstop admirers, the Civic being raced in the 2017 BTCC season was
may have cost him the world Before joining Lamborghini in the last-generation FK2 car. It was a winner in 2016 – Gordon
championship].’ 2016 – replacing sharp-suited German Shedden taking his third title – but struggled in ’17.
Italophile Stephan Winkelmann –
Supercar or classic car?
‘A new supercar. I’d buy a
Domenicali was team principal of
Huracan Spyder. But my favourite the Ferrari F1 team. He guided the
Lamborghini ever is the Miura.’ Scuderia to the Constructors’ champi-
onship in 2008, and under his watch
Company curveball… When was
the Miura introduced? the team narrowly missed the drivers’
‘It was born in 1966. The first-ever championship with Felipe Massa
Lamborghini, the 350GT, was in 2008 – ‘we were champions for 22
unveiled in 1963 [at the Turin
show. A production version came seconds, I think’ – and with Fernando
Alonso in 2010.
The estate
a few months later, at the 1964
Geneva Show].’ Domenicali, 52, says running Ferrari Honda Civic Tourer (2014)
The Civic Tourer was the first estate to finish in the top three
has helped him manage a car company. of a BTCC race (doing it three times at Brands). And Gordon
‘In F1, everything is fast, including Shedden later went the whole hog and won at Donington Park.
decision making and car development. It didn’t, unfortunately, prompt Honda to ofer a Type R estate.
In the automotive industry, things are
slower. But we are now in a world of very strong competition,
and not just from mature companies. Fast decision making
and development now is crucial. I also believe we can be the
reference for the VW Group. We’re small. We can help them do
things faster.
‘But it isn’t just about speed. In F1, everything is about pure
performance. Here, you need to balance speed of decision
The first winner
making with the demands of the market and profitability.’
Which is more stressful, running a car company or an F1
Honda Civic Type R EP3 (2002)
There had been Hondas in BTCC for years, but the real
team? ‘The spotlight, as an F1 team manager, is very strong. breakthrough came in 2002 when the EP3 Civic Type R got
You’re in the public eye all the time, especially when you run the its first race win at Knockhill, driven by the future European
most famous team in motor racing. It’s a bit like being a football Touring Car Champion Andy Priaulx.
manager. But I loved the excitement and the adrenaline. I was
born to go racing [he is from Imola, near the racing track, and
managed the Mugello circuit before joining Ferrari’s sporting
department]. Now it’s a new experience. But look how lucky I
am! An Italian who has run the Ferrari racing team and now
another Italian icon, Lamborghini!’
GAVIN GREEN

May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 19

 Toyota
gets its
mojo back
Fun used to lurk near the bottom of Toyota’s
agenda. That’s all changing, says Jake Groves
S
AYING TOYOTA is on a roll is quite an understatement.
Traditionally, understatement is a very Toyota quality – but
that’s changing fast, and soon you won’t be able to avoid seeing
the signs of Toyota’s newfound flair and confidence. In its
engineering, styling and ambition, Toyota is getting loud and proud.
The company is going through fundamental and far-reaching changes
in what it makes and how it’s made. Fuel efficiency continues to be a
priority, but it’s now joined by vibrant motorsport and performance car
divisions. Its previously deadly dull family hatch has just had a complete
TOYOTA’S
2019 STAR CARS:
THE LOWDOWN Auris stops being boring
It’ll be built in the UK. Styling is transformed,
while the engine choice is the C-HR’s
1.2-litre turbo and two hybrids, a 1.8- and
2.0-litre. A Gazoo version is on the cards.
20 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018
overhaul that ramps up its desirability, while its SUVs and crossovers are
set to stand out from a packed field.
The brand’s latest Golf-class platform – Toyota New Global Architec-
ture, or TNGA – underpins most of it. First seen on the current Prius,
TNGA’s flexibility means it’s now used in the funky C-HR and will un-
derpin the new Auris and RAV4 SUV. It’s good enough for the Lexus UX
baby SUV too. Toyota claims a 65 per cent rigidity boost compared to its
previous platform, and allows engine bay components and suspension
mounts to be positioned lower, improving the centre of gravity for better
handling.
The design of mid-size Toyotas has delivered equally radical changes.
The quirky C-HR – as featured in this month’s Giant Test – is selling
like the warmest of buns, and the wildly styled Prius is still one of the
best-selling hybrids. The new Auris hatch, due on sale in the UK in early
2019, is as eye-catching but much better resolved. Although Johan Van
Zyl, Toyota’s European boss, reckons the previous Auris did what was
asked of it, selling around 460,000 units since 2010, this latest version is
way more exciting. Adds Toyota’s global design general manager, Simon
Humphries: ‘Our primary goal was to create the most bold and dynamic
hatchback on the market, without compromising interior usability.’
The RAV4, meanwhile, was North America’s best-selling car in 2017.
That sort of success might once have made Toyota play safe with its suc-
cessor, but not this time around. Design-wise, it’s clearly inspired by last
year’s maximum-lifestyle FT-AC concept, and it’ll come to Europe with
petrol or hybrid power and four-wheel drive in early 2019.
RAV4 goes funky
Like the Auris, there’s no diesel power for
the next RAV4, which reaches Europe next
year – choose between a 2.0-litre petrol and
a 2.5-litre hybrid on the TNGA platform.
 The pinnacle of Toyota’s rebirth, though, comes in the form of the
new Supra – a car the Gazoo Racing team has had a hand in.
Gazoo Racing may only be a minnow in the performance car world,
but it’s going from strength to strength: 2018 began with podium
success in the Dakar rally, the Yaris has been competitive in the World
Rally Championship, and Fernando Alonso will co-drive a Toyota at Le
Mans this summer.
Much of Toyota’s previous motorsport activity has occurred in a
vacuum, but now it’s clearly joined up with the road-car range; the Yaris
GRMN wasn’t just a quirky novelty. It’s understood there will be two
versions of the Gazoo Racing performance car models. Gazoo Racing
Meisters of the Nürburgring, or GRMN, are hardcore performance
models: the Yaris has just had the supercharged GRMN treatment.
More accessible but still potent will be the GR models: think VW Golf R
and GTI respectively and you’re not far off.
This is all feeding into next year’s Supra, co-developed with the next
BMW Z4 and to be built alongside it by Magna Steyr in Austria. The
fifth-generation Supra will deploy straight-six petrol power – a far cry
from the Verso, Avensis and other old-school Toyotas. Van Zyl even fist-
pumped the air when the wild-looking Supra GR Racing concept took
the stage at the Geneva show. ‘This concept is a clear signal of our inten-
tion to bring back one of our most legendary sports cars to the market.’
You can understand his excitement – after so much tedium, Toyota is
making its family cars exciting again, hammering out clever new tech
left, right and centre, and resurrecting a performance icon.
Toyota’s five-step path
to a brighter future
1 Make more powerful hybrids
If you thought Toyota had been going
big on hybrids, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
Half their passenger car range has a hybrid
powertrain variant, and more than 40 per
cent of Toyotas sold in Europe are hybrids.
The familiar 1.8 is being joined by a more
powerful 2.0-litre option in the new Auris.
2 Shun diesel
Toyota’s investment in hybrids looks spookily prescient,
allowing it to ditch diesel from its cars by the end of the year.
The fuel accounts for just 6% of UK sales from just two models,
the outgoing Auris and anonymous Verso MPV. Vans, the Hilux
pick-up and Land Cruiser remain diesel-powered for now.
3 Go wild with the style
The next Auris and RAV4, like the current C-HR, may not be
to everyone’s taste, but Toyota’s designers are turning heads
not just with marginal models but with mainstream big sellers.
4 Breathe new life into the legend
We’re expecting a Supra with substance. Developed with
BMW, the rear-wheel-drive coupe will be ofered with four-pot
and straight-six engines. It’s not badge-engineered like the
GT86 and its Subaru BRZ twin; Z4 is a roadster, Supra is coupe-
only and hardcore. ‘There are only about eight common parts,’
claims a source.

The Supra is reborn
Look beyond the motorsport bodykit – the
Supra Gazoo Racing Concept previews the
2019 production car. Insiders vow it’s far
more hardcore than its BMW Z4 sibling.
5 Go racing
The motorsport team has
been taking on the Dakar, the
World Rally Championship
and the World Endurance
Championship, with Fernando
Alonso among the driver line-
up at Le Mans. And there’s
now a direct road car link;
the hot Yaris GRMN.

May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 21

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 W AT C H E S Nomos Autobahn
£3800
Time on We’ve long loved Nomos
watches for their unshowy
simplicity, and for the fact

your Hans that the firm helped restart

the German watch industry in
Glashütte, near Dresden, after
reunification. Prices have crept
German watches with the same skinny up, though, and it has now
been tempted into doing a
elegance as an early 3-series driver’s watch like all the Swiss
brands ofer. But name aside,
THIS MAGAZINE IS often accused of a bias towards it doesn’t seem to have much
German cars. And British cars. And Italian cars. to do with motoring: it’s just a
really great-looking watch by
You get the idea. But we’re definitely guilty of a bias acclaimed product designer
towards German watches. Unlike their four-wheeled Werner Aisslinger. With 100m
compatriots they are often the affordable, leftfield water resistance and a slightly
choice, and these three new models typify the German more macho diameter than
most Nomos watches, its
watchmakers’ usual design restraint. appeal will be broader.
BEN OLIVER @thebenoliver nomos-glashuette.com

Braun AW10 Junghans Max Bill Edition 2018

£200
Legendary German designer
Dieter Rams applied his
Bauhaus-inspired, minimalist
look to countless Braun
products, from travel clocks
to radios and record players.
This was his first analogue
watch, launched in 1989 and
just reissued unchanged in its
unfashionably small 33mm
case. Much of Germany’s
look in the late ’80s can
remain un-reissued: the
loafers, white socks, bright ski
jackets and mullets. But the
AW10 is a stone-cold design
classic, and if you have an E30
3-series you need the watch
to match.
braun-watches.com
£490
Junghans is a long-estab-
lished German watch maker
that once made watches for
the Luftwafe. In peace, it
asked the Swiss Bauhaus artist
and designer Max Bill – who
studied and worked exten-
sively in Germany – to design
its watches. This dial, first seen
in ’61, is a perfect example
of German watch-making’s
usual simplicity and balance.
This limited-run 2018 special
edition adds a Max Bill graphic
artwork from 1972 on the
caseback, and subtle green
highlights taken from the art
on the date numeral and the
strap’s stitching.
watches-of-switzerland.
co.uk

not just power]. We’ve got not going to bank on this Marchionne sees potential in platform, the four-door EV

We hear mules running about now.’

Juicy gossip from
the CAR grapevine
FERRARI’S product plan is
set until 2022, boss Sergio
Marchionne has revealed.
It contains the first series
production hybrid, because
the V8 will be electrified.
‘With LaFerrari, it’s an
interesting add-on but in
the case of the next hybrid,
it needs to become more
traditional because it needs
to fulfil a diferent role [ie
delivering on emissions,
The supremo confirmed the
hybrid drivetrain for 2019,
which means it will be ready
for the forthcoming CUV
(which could look like the
image below). The four-door,
all-wheel-drive coupe will
leave McLaren as the last
SUV-free zone.
What about Jag-style
continuation models?
‘Reinventing the 250, for
example, is a tough gig. We’re
because living of the spoils
of your past ain’t a happy
place to be.’ Marchionne
says there’s an ‘opportunity’
to take the simpler elements
of Ferrari’s classics ‘to a
diferent space’ – could
that mean limited runs of
retro designs on modern
mechanicals? Runs contrary
to design chief Flavio
Manzoni’s ideals though...
Ferrari HMI was
dismissed as ‘prehistoric’
but ‘in the next car
you will see significant
improvement’. And while
Aston is busy following the
Ferrari blueprint (see p108),
the gran turismo segment.
‘The world of Aston Martin is
one that we are not in. We’ve
left them alone to do the
DB11 and DB9 – phenomenal
cars. But I think we can
match or exceed.’
Over at Audi, executives
have confirmed production
of the electric coupe
revealed by CAR back in
January – the e-tron GT.
Spun of Porsche’s Mission E
will be propelled by 400,
530 or 660bhp motors.
Boss Rupert Stadler says
the target price is around
€80,000, and the EV will
be built at the Neckarsulm
plant from 2020.
The J1 components
set should spread wider
than just Audi: Bentley’s
ambitions for a small
coupe could realise the
Barnato, and Lamborghini
might resurrect the Espada
coupe. It’s even caught the
imagination of new Bugatti
boss Stephan Winkelmann,
said to be considering a
Royale ultra-luxury limo…

May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 23

 The innovations transforming our driving world

5 steps to hot
hatch heaven
The old Fiesta ST was a joy to drive, and still at the top
of its game as it retired. Fortunately Ford is throwing
everything at the sequel. By Chris Chilton

24 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018

 E KNEW WE got the
‘W
handling right on the
old ST,’ Leo Roeks,
Ford’s European
performance car chief tells CAR at an
ST preview at Ford’s Lommel test
track, where we got to ride shotgun
ahead of the car’s May launch. ‘But
the ride could be a little… harsh,’ he
admits. ‘With this car we looked at
retaining all of the fun but adding
some polish to the refinement to make
it more usable.’
We’ve come to Belgium to get a
first taste of this new, more cultured
replacement for the greatest junior
GTi in the game. Ford test vehicles
rack up over 3.5 million miles every
more on less fuel
year during testing on Lommel’s
50 miles of dirt, gravel and asphalt
tracks. But the chunk of track we’re
using is the most fun of all. Lommel’s
Route 7 is a Disneyland B-road: 2.7
miles of the smoothest, twistiest
and yumpiest road you can imagine.
And you’ll never encounter anything
coming the other way.
The advances in the ST’s comfort
and road-noise suppression are
immediately obvious, but don’t think
for a minute that Ford has gone soft
on performance. Under the very
similar-looking skin there’s a
high-output three-cylinder engine,
wider track, 278mm front brakes to
match the old ST200’s, and a special
brew of Michelin Pilot Sport tyre.
A clever set of dampers promises
adaptive-level sophistication for zero
outlay, and vital kit like the Recaro
seats – now sitting on lower frames
than other Fiestas – is standard across
the ST range. You’ll still be able to
spend more than the likely £20k base
price by upgrading from ST to ST2 or
ST3 spec.
Really serious about your fast
Fords? You’ll want the optional
Performance Pack. Price is still
month. Until then
unconfirmed but the highlights
include launch control, shift lights and
a Quaife torque-biasing differential to
help put all 197 horses to the ground.
Ford Fiesta ST
> Price £20,000 (est) > Engine 1499cc
12v turbocharged 3-cylinder, 197bhp @
6000rpm, 214lb ft @ 1600rpm
> Transmission 6-speed manual,
front-wheel drive > Performance 6.5sec
0-62mph, 144mph, 51mpg (est), 125g/km
CO2 (est) > Weight 1205kg (est)
> On sale June
and Track driving modes.
1 THREE-POT MAGIC
The ST’s big news is a switch from a
1.6-litre turbocharged four to a 1.5-litre
A six-speed manual is the only
transmission option, but there’s launch
triple. Despite the pot drop, power is control and a flat-shift feature that lets
rated at the same 197bhp the old ST you storm through the gears without
made on overboost, when it briefly lifting your right foot. The smartest
swelled output from 178bhp, along tech, though, is cylinder deactivation,
with a generous 214lb ft of torque. which allows the engine to drop to
Zero to 62mph flashes by in 6.5sec – two cylinders at speeds up to
four ticks quicker than the old ST. 4500rpm in just 14 milliseconds. We’ve
seen this before, but not on a triple
Like most triples it doesn’t pick up
revs quickly but it makes a wicked due to noise and vibration issues. It
offbeat burble that’s amplified both works so well on the ST most drivers
through the speakers and via an won’t even notice it (or, admittedly, the
exhaust valve that’s open in the Sport claimed six per cent fuel saving).
1.5-litre turbo
triple delivers
2 GOT QUAIFE
Rush through the Ford configurator
without ticking a single box and you’ll
end up with an ordinary open dif and a
brake-based pretend torque-vectoring
system to tame the understeer. But
an optional Quaife ATB dif already
available on the Focus RS Edition
biases torque away from the spinning
inside wheel for more cornering fun.
Even from the passenger seat the
diference feels huge, the Quaife car
reeling in every apex and letting you
get back on the gas super-early.
5 STEERING
True blue ST pilots
3 ADAPTIVE RIDE
Adaptive dampers are a clever
but costly way to serve both ride
RACK
Ford’s bean
won’t countenance
a car not fitted with
the optional Quaife
and handling masters. The ST uses counters weren’t differential; less
a mechanical ‘selective frequency’ happy but Roeks understeer, quicker
roundabout exits
system from Tenneco to do it for a was insistent that
fraction of the price. When the shocks the ST get its
sense low-frequency inputs (associated own quick-ratio
with hard cornering) they firm up, then steering. The
slacken with higher frequency inputs 12:1 electrically
by opening a valve. assisted rack
is 14 per cent
quicker than the
4 REAR SUSPENSION
For reasons of cost and packaging
the Fiesta sticks with a torsion beam
old ST200’s,
itself significantly
faster than the
rather than the Focus’s multi-link rear. original ST’s. We’ll
But the beam is thicker than on lesser have to wait until
Fiestas, for more anti-roll efect – the next issue
strong enough to cock a wheel (17-inch to know how it
Full Fiesta ST as standard; 18-inchers optional) under feels, but judged
drive next
on previous
really hard cornering. The ‘vector’
springs are interesting too: their experience
we’ll just keep
counting down banana shape helps improve lateral Ford’s unlikely
the hours stifness. to mess it
up. Certainly,
watching Ford’s
test driver flinging
STs around
Lommel’s hairy
Route 7 loop from
the passenger
seat, there didn’t
seem to be
much kickback
or torque steer
spoiling his fun.
May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 25
Does it work?
DS7 Crossback Infra-red camera in

Night Vision
grille supplements

CHRIS TEAGLES
excellent adaptive
LED headlights

HEN YOU’RE DRIVING Spots hazard, sounds alarm, leaves the rest to you

W at 30mph you’re covering 44

feet per second. A miracle,
frankly, that you notice
anything at all at the roadside. And then
the sun goes down, and many of the people
and creatures at the roadside start behav-
ing even more erratically than they had
been in broad daylight.
So a little help might come in handy. The
DS7 Crossback is available with a bunch of
driver-assistance systems including Night
1 2 3
Vision. The general idea is familiar, espe-
NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT RED ALERT WATCH OUT!
cially if you’ve driven a Mercedes S-Class
Most pedestrians are either Pedestrian stepping into Confused bloke with a death
in the last decade. But what’s new is that ignored or put in a slightly road gets a red box, but wish triggers visual warning
it’s fitted (as an option priced £1100-£1600, spooky yellow box he’s a good distance off accompanied by beeping
depending on which spec your car is) to
a relatively affordable car, as part of a package of system is happy to accept adults walking across
experience-enhancing and life-preserving features. your path when you’re stationary at traffic lights,
DID IT WORK?
An infra-red camera mounted in the grille looks even if they’re very close to the car.
Yes. Even in heavy rain,
at the road ahead for about 100 yards and can dis- Night Vision can be on or off, and if it’s on it can
the camera was extremely
play what it sees on the screen in front of the driver. be set up to provide a live stream in the instrument
effective at spotting
Mostly it’s greyed-out trees, cars or buildings. panel in front of you, or only flash up if it’s got some- things before I did, and
Exhaust pipes, brakes and living creatures (over thing for you to worry about. the system seemed well
50cm tall) show up lighter. The field of vision is narrow, focused on road and able to judge the level
But here’s the clever bit. It’s programmed to spot pavement, so it’s not alerting you to people doing of likely hazard. But the
which of these living creatures you need to worry night-time rose-pruning in their front gardens. But potential for distraction is
about. Most pedestrians on the pavement are either it’s remarkably effective at spotting adults, children high if you have the Night
ignored or highlighted by a yellow rectangle. If, and dogs at almost a football-pitch distance ahead Vision screen on at all
however, they seem to be a likely hazard – perhaps of you, giving you time to decide whether any times. And although it will
sometimes help, there are
because they’re moving towards you, or lurching action is required. It’s good at ignoring the glare of
other times when you still
into the road, or because they’re a child or a dog oncoming car headlights. And the driver is still very
don’t have time to take
– they’re put in a red box, or a red triangle, and her- much in control – a red box doesn’t trigger the car’s evasive action.
alded by a bonging noise. emergency braking or take over the steering.
While kids and dogs get special attention, the COLIN OVERLAND

26 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018

 Which car makers will
survive tech Armageddon?
New research reveals who’s most serious about going green. By Phil McNamara

E
LECTRIFICATION, autonomy,
tough emissions targets and
disruption from mobility companies
such as Waymo – we all know the trends
turning the car world upside down. But
which car makers are best placed to
weather this perfect storm?
CDP, a research company probing
climate change, has pulled together a
fascinating report, Driving Disruption,
which ranks 16 of the largest publicly listed
car companies on their readiness for the
low-carbon future.
The report scores the car makers on
three factors: their ability to meet threats
such as tough CO2 targets; their progress
in electrification, autonomy and mobility
services; and their corporate carbon
footprints. It paints a picture of who’s
leading on autonomy (GM and Ford)
and who’s top dog for alternatives to the
combustion engine (the Japanese), with
the highest ranked companies performing
strongly in all three disciplines.

The big
threat:
tightening The big
CO2 targets opportunities:
autonomy and
electrification

The report considers the Patent data shows the US

emissions crackdown facing leading on autonomous
the industry in the US, China
and Japan, but it’s Europe
1 BMW vehicles, with General Motors
filing the most per employee.
where the toughest targets
are closest. The 16 car makers
2 DAIMLER GM is also one of only six car
makers testing autonomous
need to step it up, and fast:
they reduced their fleets’ 3 TOYOTA vehicles on Californian roads,
and it’s invested heavily in
CO2 on average by 3% a year
between 2010 and ’16 – but 4 NISSAN mobility services provider
Lyft. But its overall score is
now need to make a 4.5% cut dragged down by lagging
every year to avoid fines. 5 HONDA badly for fleet emissions in the
crucial Chinese market.
6 VW
7 RENAULT When it comes to advanced
powertrains, Toyota is the
With heavy SUVs rising in
popularity and diesel in 8 TATA/JLR top dog. Only it, Honda
and Hyundai have fuel cell
vehicles on the market, and
decline, some companies
need to make 20% of their 9 PSA it’s scooped up 6.5% of the
world’s hybrid sales.
sales electric to stand a
chance: a sobering thought.
CDP estimates half the car
10 FORD
makers will face financial
penalties, with Fiat Chrysler
11 MAZDA Half the cost of an electric
vehicle is from the battery
pack. But CDP predicts BEVs
most at risk. It’s dragged its
feet on electrification and 12 GM will cost the same as cars with
combustion engines by 2022
Jeep’s thirsty SUVs don’t help
the cause. 13 HYUNDAI – helping ofset one of the
greatest barriers to take-up.
14 SUZUKI
BMW is doing well on
Tata’s Jaguar Land Rover
15 FCA electrification: second behind
Nissan for EV sales, and top
is ranked top on meeting
European emissions 16 SUBARU for plug-ins. Throw in BMW’s
progress with autonomy – the
obligations. As a niche fewest driver interventions
manufacturer, its 2021 target of any car maker testing
is only 130g/km (compared in California – and strong
with 95g/km for others) – and board level commitment to
the i-Pace’s introduction will Hidden factor is
sustainable car making, and
lower the average and protect corporate carbon
the Ultimate Driving Machine
sales in the Chinese and footprint; if a company
is now the ultimate low
Californian markets. is making clean cars in a
carbon manufacturer.
dirty way it scores badly

May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 27

 Pop.Up Next vertical-take-off
electric concept developed
with Airbus and ItalDesign

The next step will be solid-state bat-

teries. The problems we have now will
be solved in this [solid-state battery]
PETER concept, like the cooling, all the chemis-
MERTENS try, the danger of fire, and it will further
reduce weight, improve performance
and range. If we’re lucky it will be here
around 2025.
> THE SWITCH to [new emissions
standards] WLTP and RDE is a difficult
journey for us – it’s a significant journey
for the industry. You have to imagine
how many powertrain combinations we
have; all cars, even existing vehicles in
the market, have to be re-homologated
by 1 September 2018. It’s maybe the
biggest challenge we have.
> WE HAVE the first vehicle in the
industry which is prepared for Level 3
autonomous driving, meaning it can

The next big things
From self-driving to flying cars
Audi R&D boss Peter Mertens guides us through
10 years of increasingly ambitious transport ideas
> THE GROUP has made a bold commitment
to electrification. We will have two electric
platforms: MEB, the equivalent of the Golf’s
MQB platform, and Premium Platform Electric,
equivalent to [Audi’s] MLB. Together with Porsche we are de-
veloping PPE for all cars from A4 upwards; all the cars below
will be MEB. In 2025, we expect 30 per cent of our cars to be
electrified, including plug-ins. Half will be pure EV.
> WE’VE MADE a very brave decision to have dedicated
architectures. There’s a combustion architecture and a bat-
tery-electric: they’re so different in terms of package, weight
distribution, proportions, silhouette.
> THERE WILL be lots of improvements in conventional lith-
ium-ion batteries, performance and range, size and weight.
take over [legal] responsibility, so it needs redundancies in
the system. In our verification, we see system faults, which
is no surprise: it sees some pictures of trucks or people and it
thinks it’s real but it’s only an advertisement. Easy to resolve
but it shows the complexity.
> TOGETHER WITH the German authorities, we’re in the
process of homologating. We’re breaking new ground with
them, making progress, but they need to find a methodology
of verifying it. That’s a challenge we have right now – it takes
months and months, millions of kilometres to verify the sys-
tem. Will we be ready this year or longer? I can’t say.
> SPORTINESS IS one of the most important brand pillars
we have. We will have sports cars, and in different ways in
the future. Motorsport, sportiness, sustainable sportiness
is important for us. It will become a bit more difficult in the
future with autonomy and other technologies. Sustainable
sportiness is still to be defined.
> FLYING CARS will definitely come. There are areas of the
world where infrastructure can’t be expanded any further;
there’s only one way to go and that’s up. The idea we showed
with ItalDesign and Airbus combines two worlds: a car that
adapts to go into the air. But it will take 10 years plus.
PHIL MCNAMARA

FRESH THINKING Living, breathing, talking tyres…

Mossy sidewalls help counter urban air pollution
This tyre has got moss
growing in it…
Leave a car stationary for
long enough and it will
start to turn green, but the
moss on these Goodyear
Oxygene concept tyres is a
key part of the construction.
They’re non-pneumatic
tyres, instead using a
lightweight rubber shock-
absorbing construction that
involves recycled materials.
The tread is designed to
absorb moisture from the
road. This moisture goes
into the living moss in the
sidewalls. There it reacts
with carbon dioxide from
the atmosphere and,
through the process of
photosynthesis, breathes
oxygen out, helping ease
urban pollution.
Blimey. What other
tricks can it do?
Electricity is produced
during photosynthesis,
and that’s used to power
the electronics embedded
in the tyre, which include
sensors, a processing unit
and a light strip that can
change colour to signal
diferent manoeuvres.
Data from the sensors can
be transmitted to other
connected vehicles and
to roadside infrastructure
as part of a broader smart
mobility project.
Sounds expensive…
It won’t go into production;
it’s exploring sustainable
urban transport possibilities.

28 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018

10 cars tested, starring the Mercedes CLS, Land Rover
Defender V8, Range Rover hybrid and four tough 4x4s…

MERCEDES-BENZ CLS

Behind
the curve
Merc started the coupe/saloon gold rush but it’s
toned down the drama for CLS Mk3. Has the
magic gone with the shapeliness? By James Taylor

30 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018

S
OGGY, SNOW-LINED autopista
north of Barcelona, cruise control
engaged. The new Mercedes CLS is
keeping itself within its own lane,
and its own distance from the car
ahead (an appealingly careworn Renault 4, if
you’re interested). Should that come to a halt,
so will the CLS, before autonomously following
it away again up to 30 seconds later. Using map
data, it can slow itself in advance of changing
speed limits, junctions and roundabouts.
Feeling trusting? Nudge the indicator and it
can swap lanes autonomously. Feeling stressed?
Select a ‘wellness programme’ for the most zen
possible combination of seat heating/cooling/
massage motors, ambient lighting and music.
About to hit something? If the CLS detects an
impending collision neither you nor it can avoid,
Pre-Safe Sound plays a brief rushing noise
through the speakers to trigger your stapedius
muscle reflex to try to protect your eardrums.
Suffice to say, the CLS is crammed with tech.
Some of it’s from Merc’s flagship S-Class, and
some from the latest E-Class family, with which
the CLS shares much of its underpinnings.
This is the third generation of CLS. The big,
banana-shaped coupe first swooped its way
onto the world stage in 2004, and kickstarted
the fastback-with-four-doors luxury niche since
joined by the likes of Audi’s A7 and BMW’s
6-series Gran Coupe (reborn as the 8-series).
Many of the original’s design hallmarks 
May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 31

remain: arched waistline, plenty of rear over-
hang and the illusion of a roofline that drags the
boot down with it as it falls away – but I’m not
sure the new CLS possesses quite as much visual
drama as its ancestor. Despite being a big car it
carries less presence than it used to. It’s as slip-
pery as it looks, though, with a drag coefficient
of 0.26. There won’t be a five-door Shooting
Brake estate version this time (a successor was
deemed just a bit too niche, even for today’s
markets). The coupe compensates by becoming
a five-seater (previously its rear chairs were di-
vided by a console), with 40:20:40 split-folding
seatbacks. And the boot’s still big – big enough
to accommodate a 5ft 11in road-tester with
space to spare… mobsters take note.
However short your rear passengers, they’ll
need to stoop to duck their heads under the roof
as they climb in, but headroom’s okay inside, as
is kneeroom, courtesy of new, very slim front
seats. Slim but enormously comfy, they’re so
supportive you could happily degenerate into
a corpulent sack of potatoes on a long journey,
each elbow propped on a heated armrest
until the tank runs dry. You don’t even need
any core strength to hold yourself up as the
Two diesel sixes and a petrol six are available now,
with a petrol four due to catch up later this year
32 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018
Not convinced
genius is close to
insanity? Exhibit 1:
CLS cabin lighting
actively flexing seat bolsters do it for you. It’s a
typically swoopy modern-era Mercedes cabin,
with a blend of familiar E-Class architecture
and bespoke details, a highpoint being the jet
turbine-shaped air vents, which illuminate in
blue or red depending on what you’re doing with
the climate control temperature. There’s further
ambient lighting everywhere, with more than 60
changeable colours to pick from if you’ve time
on your hands. Two widescreen digital displays
stand upright within the dashboard’s curves,
with customisable instruments and a reversing
camera display that makes bay-parking look
like a blockbuster movie.
All versions are all-wheel drive, and from
launch the core range offers a choice of straight-
six petrol and diesel engines, with a four-pot
petrol option on the way this autumn. The diesel
versions are, nonsensically, branded CLS350d
and CLS400d – that’s the same 2.9-litre engine
but different outputs, 282bhp/443lb ft and
335bhp/516lb ft respectively.
The petrol CLS450 is a more complex beast.
Its 3.0-litre six is partnered with EQ Boost,
which combines starter motor and generator
in a powerful electric motor housed between
the engine and transmission. It can provide an
extra 22bhp/184lb ft slug of acceleration when
called upon, as well as energy recuperation and
a gliding function to save fuel. The 362bhp/
369lb ft petrol six itself uses one conventional
exhaust-driven turbocharger, with an addition-
al electric compressor to help vanquish turbo
lag. It’s all quite complicated.
You might just find the straightforward diesel
400d is the most pleasing CLS variant to drive,
however. With a monster 516lb ft of torque (a
Huracan Performante has 443lb ft), the top die-
sel CLS is seriously quick, yet quiet at a cruise,
aided by the laminated (and still frameless)
windows. The optional air suspension prior-
itises comfort over poise, the CLS dipping its
Less distinct looks
easily confused
with GT 4-Door or
E-Class Coupe
door handles at roundabouts like a small plane
dipping a wing, but its large body’s movements
are well controlled. It’s wafty without being wal-
lowy. It’s worth mentioning at this juncture that
poor weather meant every CLS we tested was
fitted with winter tyres on smaller-than-stand-
ard 18-inch wheels (19s are standard; most cus-
tomers are expected to choose bigger than that).
So torque-rich is the 400d that, in a straight
line at least, it feels no slower than the top
Mercedes-AMG CLS53. Yep, there’s still a
flagship AMG version of the new CLS, although
unlike the previous Affalterbach-fettled CLS63
variants the new 53 model doesn’t have a
rip-snorting V8. As the lower number suggests,
it employs the same 3.0-litre straight-six/48-volt
mild hybrid powertrain as the regular CLS450,
albeit wound up to 429bhp/384lb ft, with the
EQ Boost shot in the arm available here too.
It’s blessed with a linear power delivery, but it
feels quick rather than fast, not quite the full
sledgehammer experience you might expect
Mercedes-Benz CLS400d 4Matic AMG Line
> Price £60,410 > Engine 2925cc turbodiesel
6-cyl, 335bhp @ 4400rpm, 516lb ft @ 1200rpm
> Transmission 9-speed auto, all-wheel drive
> Performance 5.0sec 0-62mph, 155mph
(limited), 47.9mpg, 156g/km CO2
> Weight 1935kg > On sale Now
 FORD MUSTANG

Now with added

21st century

P
LASTIC SURGEONS SAY the best
facelifts are the ones that are hard to
spot. In the Mustang’s case the tell-
tale stitches behind the ears include
lower-set headlights, LED rear lamps and,
on the V8 GT, M3-style quad tailpipes.
Inside there’s more metal (or metal-look)
jewellery, plus some hand stitching on the
console and an optional 12-inch digital
instrument cluster that’s got plenty going on
to distract you from the road ahead. Just as
well Ford’s updated the safety kit with stuf
like pre-collision assistance and pedestrian
detection to boost the last version’s retro
two-star Euro NCAP score by one star.
The soulless EcoBoost 2.3 is now rated at
286bhp instead of 313bhp, but the 5.0 V8
gets a boost from 410 to 444bhp, a wicked
new exhaust soundtrack and, in the case of
the optional auto, an extra four ratios thanks
to a new ’box co-developed with GM.
Giving a burly Yank V8 10 gears sounds
about as crucial an upgrade as fitting an extra
pair of legs to a caterpillar. The real reason is
this north-south transmission was engineered
for Ford’s F-series trucks, which need more
cogs for towing. But since the Mustang’s
389lb ft actually peaks at a high 4600rpm,
the new transmission makes it easier to keep
in the sweet zone. The ability to skip multiple
ratios on the way down the ’box is useful; a
Dragstrip mode, which sacrifices refinement
in search of tenths, isn’t, but is fun anyway.
The real shock here, though, is how much
from a high-end AMG. The 1980kg kerbweight car’s upmarket positioning. It’s nimble for its better this Mustang is over a tough road on
might have something to do with that. It sounds size, however, feeling keener to change direction its retuned suspension and new optional
reasonably rorty without being intrusive, with than the 400d, presumably down to the lighter Magneride dampers. It doesn’t turn like a
hot hatch but it feels tight and
a muted rasp and a slightly synthetic-sounding load in its nose.
together. Pity about the
whumph from the exhausts on upshifts. The Prices start from around £57k for the 22mpg economy and now
nine-speed auto transmission tends to take a CLS350d and CLS450, rising past £60k for the £43k+ price.
while hunting for the right gear – it does have top diesel 400d. AMG prices are yet to be con- CHRIS CHILTON
a lot to choose from, after all. Once it’s decided firmed, but will head north of £70k. Incidental-
on one, traction is stupendous (the 53 gets fully ly, the new AMG GT 4-Door super-grand-tourer
variable torque distribution as opposed to the revealed last month will also be available with
regular car’s fixed 45:55 front-rear split), and the the 53 powertrain, but Mercedes says there’ll be
steering feels as quick and precise as you’d hope a ‘significant’ price jump to that car, avoiding
of an AMG; air springs and adaptive dampers overlap with the CLS.
are standard on the 53 (optional on the regular If you’re going to sink £60k into a big coupe,
CLS), along with revised geometry. you want it to feel special. In many ways, the
We have a brief drive in the CLS does; it’s epically comfortable,
upcoming four-cylinder petrol loaded with interesting tech, and
CLS too. This also features a LOVE possesses one of the more visually
48-volt starter-generator, albeit a Superb comfort, arresting interiors on sale. I just Lights are new, and set lower, but the bigger
400d’s torque and changes are under the skin, and very successful
belt-driven one, similarly able to refinement wish it had a little more of the
recover energy and provide a bit of original CLS’s theatre, both to look
extra oomph under acceleration to HATE at and to drive. The more time you
No Shooting Brake, Ford Mustang 5.0 V8 GT
fill the natural torque gap. There no AMG 63, no spend with it, the more it grows > Price £43,095 > Engine 4951cc 32v V8,
is still noticeable turbo lag on an drama on you – but surely a car like this 444bhp @ 7000rpm, 389lb ft @ 4600rpm
> Transmission 10-speed auto, rear-wheel
admittedly hilly test route, but once should grab you straight away? On drive > Performance 4.3sec 0-62mph,
VERDICT
into its powerband the four-pot A fine car, but first acquaintance, the new CLS 155mph, 23.3mpg, 270g/km CO2 > Weight
can punt the heavy CLS along at a doesn’t swagger like feels as if it’s missing just a little of 1831kg > On sale Now > Rating +++++
handy lick, although its coarse note a CLS should that elusive sense of occasion.
+++++ VERDICT More gears, more go, more money
at higher revs feels at odds with the @JamesTaylorCAR

May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 33

RANGE ROVER SPORT SVR
Hang the
expense
It’s the fastest Land Rover ever, and one of the
brashest… and maybe the new SVR is also one
of the best. By Anthony french-Constant
S
ERIOUSLY VULGAR RENDITION,
in case you’re wondering. Especially
presented in Madagascar Orange which,
like a queasy orangutan on an Alton Towers
rollercoaster, changes hue when glimpsed from
different angles.
This Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Not
Remotely Streamline Baby boasts just the one
exterior detail of any artfulness whatsoever:
the junction between paint and exposed mat on
Land Rover’s first carbonfibre bonnet (a weight
saving of 25kg) is wonderfully, obsessively
seamless. Less subtle details are easier to hunt
down; a choice example being the Starship
Trooper rank insignia masquerading as engine
bay vents aft of the front wheels.
On board, mercifully, all is much easier to
like. The crisp, ruthlessly padded architecture
is dominated by the two 10-inch screens of a
Range Rover Sport SVR
> Price £117,260 > Engine 4999cc 32v
supercharged V8, 567bhp @ 6000rpm,
516lb ft @ 3500rpm > Transmission 8-speed
auto, all-wheel drive > Performance 4.5sec
0-62mph, 174mph, 22.1mpg, 294g/km CO2
> Weight 2310kg > On sale Now
34 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018
Touch Pro Duo infotainment system hatched in bespoke front seats. Whereas the seats of the
the Velar and now range-wide. ‘Pro’ is a useful phull-phat Range Rover offer all the lateral
word in this context, optimistically distancing hold of a previously owned sherry trifle, those
the system as far as possible from its woefully of the SVR make a far more decent fist of
tardy predecessor. Indeed, an image of George actually maintaining an appropriately head-on
Gilbert Scott’s phone box is about the only relationship between driver and helm.
relic to survive the transition to a far faster and And this is a Good Thing because – although
more graphically pleasing offering which, like it’s brazen as bare legs on a Newcastle night
so many current touchscreens, is best left on to out in February and vulgar as streaky fake
disguise the symphony of fingertip smears that tan – the Sport SVR is a gigglingly, guinea-
quickly accrue. a-minute enthrallingly quick bungalow, and
But the driver’s binnacle centre screen embarrassingly loud.
requires an ecstasy of steering- As before, JLR’s 5.0-litre
wheel-switchgear fumbling to supercharged V8 is pressed into
manipulate. When you do finally LOVE service, but power has been
find the presentation you require, Power, noise, all- boosted by 25bhp to 567bhp, and
round capability
a simple confirmatory stab is torque by 14lb ft to 516lb ft. This
insufficient; you must also then HATE shoves the Sport SVR to 62mph
painstakingly back-track through Vulgarity, waiting in 4.5 seconds, and on into a wall
forever at junctions
the menu to where you started of air that becomes solid enough
before activation occurs. One VERDICT to halt proceedings at 174mph.
slip and – pausing only for your Soon to be appearing It’s delivered via an eight-speed
all over a Premier
first glimpse at the road ahead automatic transmission with
League car park
since yesterday evening – you must flappy paddles (and a conventional
near you
start again. +++++ gearknob to make manual access
Best of all, and saving 30kg, are easier) and all-wheel drive.

Quad pipes are
tuned for two stages
of loudness; stock
wheels 21-inch
Infotainment
is from Velar;
steering wheel
is bespoke
Bury the throttle, and the SVR leans back on
its haunches like a Riva Aquarama as the screws
bite (albeit without the yacht’s beauty), and
blares off the line with absurd alacrity and a not
inconsiderable racket in the finest V8 tradition.
Gearchanges – both automatically and
manual selected – are seamless, but the
sudden, cacophonous appearance of the 7th
Cavalry firing from the saddle, most notably
on downchanges, is hardly conducive to the
imperceptible swapping of cogs.
The SVR rides on air springs, adaptive
dampers and active anti-rolls bars both fore
and aft, the settings of which have been
ministered unto with a view to shackling
pitch under throttle and braking (almost), and
to optimising the turn-in, body control and
cornering grip of 2310 bags of sugar. This makes
for a decidedly firm straight-line ride, but it’s
never uncomfortable.
This, allied to meaty steering, allows this
monstrosity to be hustled down a sweeping
A-road at a fair old lick. It all does feel rather
more like grip than handling, however, and you
need to be smooth with your inputs.
Clearly not to everyone’s taste, but you can
see why some would happily cough up over
£100,000 for something so vulgar, so overtly
shouty and attention seeking, so swanky on
board, so extraordinarily capable off-road, so
hilariously loud, and, above all, so absurdly,
gloriously, thrillingly rapid.
RANGE ROVER PHEV
This one will tax
your patience
‘S
O, WHO BUYS a plug-in hybrid Range Rover?’ I
asked a senior JLR bod. ‘Well, I haven’t got their
names,’ he snapped back – deploying what seemed
an unnecessarily stout salvo of huff in riposte to an innocuous
query elicited by the pronouncement that some 20 per cent of
Range Rover buyers will henceforth opt for the PHEV variant.
One opulently cosseting smear on tarmac and an occasionally
challenging squelch off it later, I’m still none the wiser... Hunting
down a £35k deal on a Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV with the
tax-friendly promise of 41g/km and 166mpg I vaguely get. But if
you’re forking out over 100 grand to get your nose higher in the
air than anyone else, do you care about the price of petrol? You’d
better, because, despite a quoted average of 101mpg, my day’s
driving rewarded me with 21.4mpg. And there’s the rub: must
we now wave goodbye to engineering for excellence in favour of
engineering to exploit ill-conceived regulation?
The 31 miles of all-electric driving is so quiet that Land Rover
has installed a ‘synthesised sound for pedestrian alert’ which
cannot be heard from on board. What can be heard, though, is
the wince-worthy rasp of metal-on-metal under regenerative
braking. Land Rover has also gone to a deal of trouble to ensure
the 85kW (114bhp) electric motor doesn’t deliver maximum
torque from zero rpm when off-roading; what’s 6.8 seconds to
62mph sauce for the goose on the loose isn’t such an asset for the
gander getting to grips with the gloop.
The 2.0-litre turbo makes an unseemly racket in getting two
and half tonnes moving with any alacrity, while dealing with the
extra weight of the batteries elicits an over-tough ride by Range
Rover standards, and brake pedal modulation lacks finesse.
All of which hardly adds to the long list of attributes we
already admire in the stock Range Rover.
ANTHONY FFRENCH-CONSTANT
Carbonfibre on the
engine, the bonnet,
the centre console…
Seats are brilliantly
supportive
Heavy batteries in the boot afect the handling, and if your journey is
more than the 31-mile battery-only range then they’re dead weight
Range Rover P400e Autobiography
> Price £105,865 > Engine 1997cc 16v turbo 4-cyl,
296bhp @ 5500rpm (plus 114bhp electric motor), 472lb ft
@ 1500rpm > Transmission 8-speed auto, all-wheel drive
> Performance 6.8sec 0-62mph, 137mph, 101mpg, 64g/km
CO2 > Weight 2509kg > Rating +++++
VERDICT Show us an owner who’s ever going to plug it in
May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 35
LAND ROVER DEFENDER WORKS V8 eight-speed ZF automatic, which lets you
enjoy manual shifts with an F-Type-style
trigger shifter. The transmission comprises

History, physics a dual-speed transfer box with a centre

differential able to shift up to 90 per cent of the
shove fore or aft. Fortunately the suspension

and economics boasts upgraded springs and dampers, bigger

brakes (335mm discs up front; 300mm at the
rear) and all-terrain tyres as standard.
You can’t currently buy a new Defender. But for a while you could buy a Quite a recipe then, and Gregory King – the
secondhand one with 400bhp – until they sold out… By Jake Groves Works V8 restoration co-ordinator – admits the
Classic team have pushed the Defender chassis
just as far as it will go. No kidding.

S
EVENTY YEARS IS an awfully the sofa, as Jaguar did with the recently
long time, but that’s how long Land announced D-Type continuation cars, Land
Rover’s go-anywhere 4x4 has been Rover has instead prodded the team at JLR
around; from embryonic Series 1 Classic to take used Defender 90 or 110 Station
(see p112) through to the late, fairly Wagons registered between 2012 and 2016,
great Defender. strip them down and rebuild them around the
While the eternal wait for Defender’s aforementioned V8 at its Coventry facility.
replacement goes on, Land Rover’s wheeled out The result is this, the Defender Works V8 70th
the birthday cake, lit the candles Edition.
and pumped up the bouncy castle There have been factory V8s
to celebrate the 4x4’s platinum LOVE before, of course, notably 1998’s
anniversary. Engine, speed, 50th Anniversary car, but none as
character
Less conventionally, it’s also potent as this. The 70th Edition
crammed a big-capacity V8 under HATE uses the 400bhp unit already in
the bonnet – which is an interesting Price, thirst, handling, service within the JLR range, just
driving position
development direction since few without the usual supercharging
people have ever driven a Defender VERDICT you’ll find in the Range Rover or
and wished it was much, much A loud and silly Jaguar XJR575. Continuing the
triumph/oddity
faster. cost-effective, known-quantity,
Rather than pluck some unused +++++ parts-bin approach, the Works
chassis numbers from beneath Defender also uses JLR’s beloved
For all this modification work, the car still
looks like a Defender – 70th Edition-specific
detailing includes 18-inch ‘Sawtooth’ alloys and
a couple of positively tasteful badges.
Clamber into the body-hugging and heated
Recaro sports seats and bask in the contrasts of
high-grade Windsor leather upholstery mated
with stalks, buttons and dials that look and feel
decades old. There’s infotainment with nav, but
you’d be forgiven for missing it – the screen’s no
bigger than your phone’s and set so low you have
to duck down to read it.
Fire it up via a good old-fashioned key and the
burly V8 shudders into life, the car trembling
like a greenhouse in the wind. Stripped of
its supercharger it may be, but this is still an
absolute corker of an engine. Burbling, growling
and fizzing at a cruise, it dominates the whole
driving experience like a habanero chili pepper
in your porridge. Stamp on the throttle pedal
and a cacophony of snorts, howls and bellows

Petrified of
screwing up the
sequel, Land Rover
busied itself with
engine transplants

36 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018


Out of place…
until you put
your foot down
erupt once the auto ’box has dropped sufficient
ratios, the Land Rover squatting as it launches
itself into the middle distance.
Then you reach a corner, and immediately
regret your heavy-footed approach. The brakes,
for example, will stop your Defender but
they’re nowhere near as sharp nor as effective
as something you’d get on a modern SUV, and
to say the steering’s vague would be quite an
understatement. The wheel itself requires
significant effort to turn – its huge diameter
and increased leverage doing nothing to
counter the system’s innate heft – and there’s a
disconcerting lack of any sort of feedback.
The Defender pitches and wallows mid-
corner, and if you chicken out of the speed you’re
carrying it will engage in a little lift-off oversteer
like an ’80s French hatchback just to make sure
your heart rate stays sky high and your throat
dry like the Namib.
So lobbing a V8 into the Defender hasn’t
magically created a refined, urbane, agile
Porsche Macan rival – no surprise there. What’s
more, this is an expensive toy, costing £150k
for the 90 and £160k for the 110. The driving
position is crummy, leaving you no obvious
place to tuck your right arm or left leg, fast
cross-country driving is a challenge, using the
After a ten-tenths
thrash, Giles
parked up and
went for a little lie
down
navigation nigh-on impossible and you’ll need
to break into Fort Knox if you’re to keep it in
98-octane fuel.
But chances are you won’t stop laughing
when you’re behind the wheel. As a car this
thing’s just so silly, so unnecessary, so…
lovable. You ignore all of those significant yet
somehow inconsequential flaws and just enjoy
the Works Defender for what it is: an expensive,
uncomfortable, thirsty and dynamically
challengingly 4x4. Give it some welly, take
in that sensational soundtrack and try not to
accidentally stuff it in a ditch. That said, it’ll
effortlessly haul itself out of said ditch anyway.
One for the hardcore, then, and the investors
no doubt. Just 150 units will be built, with Land
Rover claiming demand has far outstripped
supply. Further proof of the Defender’s
enduring, slightly masochistic appeal, and of
the fact that – fortunately – there’s a good deal
more money in the world than sense.
Defender 110 Works V8 70th Edition
> Price From £160,000 > Engine 4999cc 32v
V8, 400bhp @ 6000rpm, 380lb ft @ 5000rpm
> Transmission 8-speed auto, all-wheel
drive (with low-range) > Performance 5.8sec
0-62mph, 106mph (limited), 19mpg, 352g/km
CO2 > Weight n/a > On sale Sold out
MINI COOPER S
Cute! British!
And still good
INI IS A British brand – a
M blindingly obvious statement,
but Mini thinks you might have
forgotten the fact judging
by its refreshed hatch and convertible
models. So now we’ve rear lights that
look like illuminated Union Jack flags…
just in case Union Jack roofs weren’t
enough to remind you.
Very little else has changed with the
update – because the Mini formula is
a winning one. All cars now come with
full LED front lights, there are some new
colour and wheel choices, and you can
now have your name 3D printed onto
parts of the car, or even beamed down
onto the ground by the puddle lights
if you feel so inclined. Mini owners are
clearly a forgetful bunch.
The Mini does at least drive as well
as it always has. When presented with a
series of tight and twisty bends, there are
few cars as chuckable as the Cooper S.
And as the road unfurls again the engine
pulls strongly from low revs all the way to
the redline, letting out a naughty crackle
from the exhaust whenever your throttle
foot wavers.
In true Mini fashion, the rear of the
car is ever-mobile – which might be
unnerving were it not for the hefty,
feelsome steering that lets you know
exactly what’s going on.
For all this trad Britishness, there must
be a hat-tip to Mini’s German parentage,
though. That BMW’s comprehensive
catalogue of tech has been shoehorned
into the Mini’s tiny body without
corrupting its incorrigible, fun-loving
nature, is an impressive achievement.
TOM GOODLAD
Everyone’s talking about the Union Jack
lights. They should be out driving
Mini Cooper S
> Price £20,630 > Engine 1998cc 16v
turbo 4-cyl, 189bhp @ 4700rpm, 221lb
ft @ 1250rpm > Transmission 6-speed
manual, front-wheel drive > Performance
6.8sec 0-62mph, 146mph, 47.1mpg,
138g/km CO2 > Weight 1235kg
> On sale Now > Rating +++++
VERDICT More of the same (in a good
way for once)
May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 37
 MERCEDES-BENZ GLE250D TOYOTA LAND CRUISER
Give me the back Give me the back
story… story...
Pre-2015 this was the Toyota’s tectonic plate
M-Class; it sits above with wheels has been
the GLC and below the facelifted, but its long-
GLS. Five seats rather running recipe remains
than seven, but uses Handy for keeping up with the the same: a big body Handy for surviving a
double-barrelled Joneses zombie apocalypse
the space to provide a on a big frame, five or
humongous boot instead. Also available in a muscle vest seven seats, and the ability to drive around/over/through
with a V8 or V6, but this is the entry-level diesel four-pot. anything in its path. No V8 in the UK any more; just a
2.4-litre four-cylinder turbodiesel.
Country mud-plugger or catalogue model?
It’s the M-Class shell with a C-Class nose job, and it looks Country mud-plugger or catalogue model?
the most road-ready of this quartet, more likely to be seen Definitely the former, although new Jeep-esque grille
on a school run than near a chicken run. Spec optional of- means re-nosed Land Cruiser no longer resembles
road package for dif locks, low-range ’box and underbody Predator’s fizzog. Plethora of mysterious dashboard
guards, then proceed to the school gates as the crow flies. buttons adjust ride height and transmission for crawling,
wading, descending and sundry advanced of-roadery.
Fleet-footed back on terra firma?
ANGUS MURRAY

A pleasant mode of transport to cruise around in, with air Fleet-footed back on terra firma?
suspension biased more toward squidgy comfort than Feels as big as it looks. On tall tyres and taller suspension,
keen direction-swapping. The 2.1-litre diesel can be clattery the body never quite stops moving after a bump or a
in other Mercs but is more mufled within the giant GLE. corner, like a jelly being couriered to a table by a waiter.

Flintstones vs
Transformers
Timeless 4x4 virtues live on in the Land Cruiser
and Shogun, but do they ofer anything their
more sophisticated rivals don’t? By James Taylor

MERCEDES-
BENZ
GLE250D TOYOTA
LAND CRUISER
INVINCIBLE
Distant cement works on
a par with these four for
handling alacrity

38 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018

LAND ROVER DISCOVERY MITSUBISHI SHOGUN LWB
Give me the back Give me the back
story... story...
Now into its fifth The world’s least
generation, the once- pretentious SUV,
boxy biggest Landie has and one of its more
smoothed of and now capable ones. Believe
resembles an Evoque Handy for just about it or not, the current Handy for actual of-roading,
anything and everything tarmac-based driving less so
gradually digesting a fourth-gen Shogun has
wardrobe. You can get a petrol or diesel V6, but this is the been around since 2006. Actually not so hard to believe,
entry-level diesel four-pot. Still costs more than 50 grand. because it feels even older than that to sit in and to drive.

Country mud-plugger or catalogue model? Country mud-plugger or catalogue model?

With poshness pouring from every pore, the Disco’s parked
closer to its Range Rover stablemate’s patch than ever.
About as big as an actual disco, like Studio 54 on wheels,
but curiously tall and narrow with polarising rear styling.
Still the best-resolved, most modern design here, though.
Fleet-footed back on terra firma?
Equally at home in Knightsbridge or Kathmandu, the Disco
can wade deeper than the Cruiser and crawl over bigger
obstacles, yet could also look the part picking up a VIP
from a party. Not sure the other three could pull that of.
In a world of faux-by-four crossovers, the Shogun is the real
deal. As GBU says, if you don’t think you need this car, you
don’t need this car. Chunky arches look great, but the clear
tail lights could be from a rushed Max Power project car.
Fleet-footed back on terra firma?
Like a full-size Suzuki Jimny, it excels of the road as much
as it makes life hard work on it. Shakes, rattles and body-roll
make every journey feel like going on safari. Actually quite
quick in a straight line but makes a heck of a lot of noise
getting up to speed. Brake early to avoid disappointment.

CONTINUED…

MITSUBISHI
SHOGUN LWB SG3
LAND ROVER
DISCOVERY
SD4 HSE

May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 39

 CONTINUED…
MERCEDES-BENZ GLE250D
Interior made of Gore-Tex and tarpaulin?
Aluminium trim and swathes of man-made leather,
yet the GLE’s interior feels curiously underwhelming
for a premium-brand, premium-price car. Back-dated
switchgear doesn’t help. Luxuriously roomy, though.
From before
Merc interiors
were interesting
Best toys to bore my friends about are...
Puddle lamps project the Benz three-pointer onto the
pavement like some kind of misdirected Bat Signal;
optional towbar has its own ESP system with trailer
stabilisation for up to 3.5 tonnes; downhill speed
regulation (DSR) enables ‘Look mum, no feet!’ descents.
Can I carry lots of skis/furniture/family/other cliches?
This is the only five-seater in the test (to carry six
passengers you’ll need the more expensive GLS),
but there’s business-class legroom and the same
braked towing capacity as the Disco and Shogun
(and more than the Toyota).
VERDICT Pleasant, but pricey. Not memorable
enough to stand out in a class of big characters.
MERCEDES-BENZ
GLE250D 4MATIC AMG LINE
> Price £53,690
> As tested £55,185
> Engine 2143cc 16v turbodiesel 4-cyl,
201bhp @ 3800rpm, 369lb ft @ 1600rpm
> Transmission 9-spd auto, all-wheel drive
> Performance 8.6sec 0-62mph, 130mph,
42.8mpg, 156g/km CO2
> Weight 2165kg
> Example insurance quote* £830.14
> On sale Now
> Rating +++++
*Insurance quotes are from mustard.co.uk and are based on a 41-year-old married male living in Sufolk with nine
40 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018 years’ NCD and no claims or convictions. Insurance quotes will vary depending on individual circumstances.
TOYOTA LAND CRUISER
Interior made of Gore-Tex and tarpaulin?
Monumental slabs of plastic designed to look like
aluminium (they don’t), now with a bigger touchscreen
and a redesigned centre console. Huge body to work with,
so why the knee-bashingly low steering column?
Looks cheap,
feels cheaper,
costs £52k. Eh?
Best toys to bore my friends about are...
Might not be the nicest-looking interior, but it wants for
nothing on the kit front. You name it, it’s got it; bird’s-eye
parking cameras, chilly ventilated seats in the front and
toasty ones everywhere, powered coolbox between the
front seats...
Can I carry lots of skis/furniture/family/other cliches?
Easily. Electric seats (as in powered by electric motors, not
capital punishment) rise out of the boot floor to carry kids
or yoga-practising adults, and the second row is split three
ways – drop the middle seat as a ski hatch, or just to create
more elbow-waggling room when travelling four-up.
VERDICT When Donald’s blown the world to
smithereens, Land Cruisers will still be standing.
TOYOTA LAND CRUISER
INVINCIBLE 7-SEAT
> Price £52,295
> As tested £57,330
> Engine 2755cc 16v turbodiesel 4-cyl,
174bhp @ 3400rpm, 332lb ft @ 1600rpm
> Transmission 6-spd auto, all-wheel drive
> Performance 12.7sec 0-62mph, 108mph,
38.1mpg, 194g/km CO2
> Weight 2125kg
> Example insurance quote* £819.04
> On sale Now
> Rating +++++
 LAND ROVER DISCOVERY
Interior made of Gore-Tex and tarpaulin?
Quite the opposite, actually. This is a beautifully finished
interior, with soft-touch trim for doors ’n’ dash like dolphin
skin, thoughtful storage solutions and impressive-feeling
quality. Shame to get it muddy, really.
Toyota take note:
this is how you do
fake aluminium
Best toys to bore my friends about are...
Remotely lowering the suspension to make it easier to lift
your shopping into the boot; stomach-wobbling bass from
the 380W Meridian sound system; the Bond-esque hidden
compartment behind the air-con panel.
Can I carry lots of skis/furniture/family/other cliches?
Second-row seats slide in two sections and drop their three
backs individually (optional Intelligent Seat Fold lets you do
it via a phone app), the lid for the enormous centre cubby is
double-hinged to act as a tray table for the back and while
there’s no longer a split tailgate there is a powered fold-
down ledge to sit on. The picnic dream is alive.
VERDICT Go anywhere, do anything, feel smug about it.
The best 4x4x7 seats by far.
LAND ROVER DISCOVERY
SD4 HSE
> Price £55,595
> As tested £59,970
> Engine 1999cc 16v turbodiesel 4-cyl,
237bhp @ 4000rpm, 369lb ft @ 1500rpm
> Transmission 8-spd auto, all-wheel drive
> Performance 8.3sec 0-62mph, 121mph,
43.5mpg, 171g/km CO2
> Weight 2184kg
WINNER > Example insurance quote* £660.72
> On sale Now
> Rating +++++
May 2018 | SUBSC RIB E TO CAR & SAVE UP TO 62 %! G RE ATMAGA ZINES.CO.UK /CAR
MITSUBISHI SHOGUN LWB
Interior made of Gore-Tex and tarpaulin?
Cheapest dash plastics known to man, liberal quantities
of leatherette, and an obfuscating generic radio-nav
touchscreen. Some fixtures feel discouragingly flimsy and,
arm-achingly, the steering column doesn’t adjust for reach.
Let’s party like it’s
(a particularly grey
day in) 1999
Best toys to bore my friends about are...
Bless it, the Mitsu’s a little behind the bunch here, but
it can shyly boast a useful reversing camera, Bluetooth
connection, heated leather seats and air-con for all three
seat rows. Not much in the way of new-fangled USB ports.
Can I carry lots of skis/furniture/family/other cliches?
Second row of seats manually fold and tumble forwards
easily to access two fold-up chairs in the boot (next to a
giant plastic subwoofer, handy for short-legged D’n’B fans).
Middle-row seatbacks can be tilted to almost any angle to
create more or less space, and the Shogun can haul up to
3500kg of braked trailer behind it if the boot’s full.
VERDICT Likeably honest, and a lot of car for the money,
but feels outmoded in this company.
MITSUBISHI SHOGUN
LWB 3.2 SG3
> Price £38,305
> As tested £38,305
> Engine 3200cc 16v turbodiesel 4-cyl,
187bhp @ 3500rpm, 325lb ft @ 2000rpm
> Transmission 5-spd auto, all-wheel drive
> Performance 11.1sec 0-62mph, 112mph,
30.4mpg, 245g/km CO2
> Weight 2300kg
> Example insurance quote* £700.45
> On sale Now
> Rating +++++
41
 ‘Designers are a
timorous bunch.
In the 21st century,
their caution is less
excusable than it was’
L ETTERS PAGE CONTRIBUTOR Gary Sutton
writes, ‘Why are electric car designers persisting
with the decades-old three-box paradigm?’
(CAR, March 2018). And he’s right to ask.
Most electric cars are cautious petrol-car
clones, which fail to utilise the numerous
packaging and styling advantages of their electric
powertrains. And this caution is, sadly, not new.
We saw it more than 100 years ago, when petrol cars
first stuttered into life (and Karl Benz’s ran well enough to
hit a brick wall). Perhaps not surprisingly, they were clones of the
form of transport they usurped: motorised carriages minus the
horses. There was no need for their big dashboards (a barrier of
wood to stop mud being ‘dashed up’ from horses’ hooves), tall
wagon-style wheels, open bodywork or their high exposed seats
(to see over the horses). Just as there is no need for three-box (or
even two-box) architectures, voluminous front engine bays and
upright grilles on electric cars.
Car designers are a timorous bunch. In the early 21st century,
their caution is less excusable than it was in the late 19th.
Some horseless-carriage compromises continue. We
still have dashboards that are mostly mere space-grabbing
ornamentation. Issigonis dumped it on the early Minis, which
had a central instrument pod and a useful front storage shelf
instead. On the new Phantom, Rolls-Royce has turned it into a
display case for artwork. On most luxury cars, the dashboard is
simply a useless piece of wood applique.
It took a few decades for the horseless carriage to morph into
a ‘proper’ car. It may well take the electric car a similar length of
time to evolve. The Jaguar i-Pace at least hints at the possibilities.
Its design is the work of Ian Callum, a man more used to
styling long-bonnet sportsters than compact electric cars. ‘It’s
the most exciting project I’ve worked on in 40 years as a car
designer. It’s a new hero Jaguar for a new era,’ he told me at the
recent Geneva motor show. He believes the i-Pace is the most
significant Jaguar since the E-Type.
Packaging all the major mechanicals in a ‘skateboard’
Gavin joined floorpan gives enormous design freedom. Most modern electric
CAR just 33 cars continue – unnecessarily – with bulky front engine bays,
years ago. He’s
driven one or high noses and deep grilles. Rejecting all this allowed Callum
two horseless and the engineering team to use a cab-forward design, as on a
carriages in
his time mid-engine sports car. This not only looks desirable and sporty,
42 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018
it liberates a vast amount of cabin space. The driver and front
passenger sit much nearer the front wheels. So there’s more back-
seat room and boot space. The i-Pace has the same footprint as a
Porsche Macan but is roomier than the bigger Cayenne. It looks
like a mid-engined sportster on steroids, and the closest Jaguar
to it, in style, is the stillborn (and stunning) C-X75 supercar.
Electric cars need less cooling than petrol cars. So EVs can
have lower noses, to help aerodynamics and style. Yet most
don’t. The i-Pace’s lower nose helps to give it a clean aero profile,
accentuating its mid-engine stance. Callum admits he could have
made it lower still. ‘Instead we made it a little higher to retain
that Jaguar presence.’ EVs also don’t need gearboxes, clutches,
bell-housings, exhausts and petrol tanks – their omissions
should all liberate cabin space. Heating and ventilation can also
be more compact – see the Tesla Model 3.
There are encouraging signs that the car industry is about to
throw off the petrol-car design shackles. Volkswagen’s quartet
of upcoming ID electric cars are all freshly styled and superbly
packaged, although still a few years from market. New concepts
from Lagonda and Porsche hint at bold new design possibilities.
Meanwhile, most new EVs are still electric conversions of
existing petrol or diesel cars: too heavy, poorly packaged and
little more than convenient EV entrées for their manufacturers.
This is true of all EVs currently sold by Ford, Volkswagen,
ILLUSTRATION BY PETER STRAIN
Hyundai, Kia, Peugeot, Citroën, Mitsubishi, Smart, and others.
Even bespoke EVs – the Leaf, the fine Zoe, the innovative Model
S – are mostly cautiously designed, probably to avoid frightening
circumspect petrol-car owners whom they wish to woo.
But, Mr Sutton, the times they are a-changing. The Geneva
show was proof that, to quote Dylan, the old road is rapidly agein’.
And, very soon, he that gets hurt will be he who has stalled.
 GET ON
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 ‘Redact your Xs
and embrace the Z.
It’s the end of the
alphabet, not The
End Of Days’
T HERE WAS A clear trend at this year’s Geneva
motor show, a sign that we have finally moved on
from our grey and foggy past to enter a bright new
chapter in the history of the automobile. It’s the
arrival of the perennially futuristic letter Z.
Just to recap, the 2018 Geneva show featured
the latest Danish supercar from Zenvo and the
Italdesign Zerouno Duerte. Renault unveiled its
EZ-Go taxi, alongside the latest Zoe hatchback.
Volkswagen went the full hog with its maximum-
strength, double-zed Vizzion. Subaru unveiled its Z-enabled
Viziv (or was it the Ziviz?), and Lamborghini was there with its
electric Terzo Millennio. Mazerati was also present, though its And don’t think that this naming policy has anything to do
stand was unfortunately blighted by a small spelling mistake. with Generations X, Y and Z. Conventionally, there’s a 20-year
Of course, many of these new cars were just concepts, not divide between these demographic groups, but the car makers
production-ready cars, but what does the arrival of the Z aren’t carefully targeting 20-year-olds, 40-year-olds and 60-year-
mean for the rest of us, in our day-to-day lives? Well, this olds. For starters, no matter what the date or the car or the target
represents the culmination of decades of development by the car market, the manufacturers launch all new models at the Geneva
manufacturers, as they have ranged up and down the alphabet show with some dreadful ’90s hip hop and a cheesy dance troupe
looking for model-name nirvana. It all started with the Model wearing their baseball caps backwards. To a middle-aged car
T in 1908, though Henry Ford soon realised he’d got things all executive for whom wearing a baseball cap is unthinkable, let
mixed up and in the wrong order and launched the Model A in alone wearing a baseball cap backwards, this represents the very
the ’20s. By the ’60s we’d moved on from primitive ABC and essence of eternal youth. In fact, I’d love to see a launch using
everything had to be a GT – Ford Cortina GT, Capri GT, Mini actual Generation Zeds like my teenagers: the lights would
1275 GT, MGBGT GT. go up, and a bunch of kids would wander on stage in silence
Then, in the ’80s, there came the racy GTi. The shift from two looking at their phones, before glancing up at the audience and
letters to three showed clear progress – things had changed, and mumbling ‘What?’
no mistake. Then the i shed the G and T (they were holding it Anyway, those X days are gone now and (apart from that
back, creatively) and struck out on its own. We’ve been living in old-fashioned electric Jaguar thing) the era of i is over, too.
an i-world for two decades now, ever since Apple launched the We’ve entered the Epoch of Z – Z for zoomy and zesty and zingy
iMac in 1998. So, since 2000, there’s been an avalanche of i cars – and zero emissions! And er… faltering… er… autonomouz…
Toyota unveiled a string of i concepts like the i-Unit and i-Road; and optimiztic. Z-car drivers are flamboyant and colourful
Mitsubishi launched its i-Miev electric car; Hyundai adopted an and they’re completely at ease upgrading an operating system
‘i’ naming policy across the range; and BMW unveiled a whole ‘i’ without losing all their contacts. Z drivers care about kittens,
sub-brand. meadows of wildflowers and the environment and all that stuff,
ILLUSTRATION BY PETER STRAIN

What’s so surprising is how concentrated these trends are. but they’re not going to let it stop them having fun! It’s the end of
Take the X – ooh, what an exciting and mysterious letter, an the alphabet, not The End Of Days! So redact your Xs and don’t
A master of the X! No kidding. Within the space of about three years between ask Y, it’s time to embrace the Z, buy with Bitcoins, put aside
alphabet, editor- 2004 and 2007, the world went X crazy. At the Geneva motor your Brexit fears and embrace Brezit!
at-large Mark
is convinced show alone there were concepts called the Ix-onic, the Trixx, the (Wait, I sense you have reservations. How long will it last,
brewing up sexy Flexa, the gen-X, the Xasis, the Hybrid X, the Xover. Land Rover you ask? Dunno, maybe a year or two. And where next, now that
car names is as
easy as ABC unveiled the LRX, Honda the FCX and Jaguar the C-XF. we’ve exhausted the alphabet? Dunno. WTF?)

44 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018

 ‘Sunshine and hills!
Attractive individuals
in tight pants! Neat
cars everywhere!
Also kind of a toilet’
B RITISH PEOPLE MOVE to Los Angeles.
Especially in the city’s car circles, where UK
expats seem to grow on four-wheeled trees.
Over here, a 911 at some Cars and Coffee show,
disgorging two London accents. Over there, a
Ford GT40 carrying a man who spells that non-
ferrous metal A-L-U-M-I-N-I-U-M, instead of
just saying ‘lightweighted freedom steel’ like every
colonial south of Canada. Car collectors, journalists,
racing drivers, anyone who has decided that rain is stupid
– the type list of British imports is endless. Some parts of LA
sound more like Blighty than Blighty.
None of this should be surprising. Los Angeles is famously a
city of transplants, and everyone knows why: you see the region
in movies, and it looks good. (Sunshine and hills! Attractive
individuals in tight pants! Neat cars everywhere!) Then you visit
and realise that it’s also kind of a toilet. (Infamous pollution
and living cost; nasty sprawl, because all those individuals
have to live somewhere; horrendous traffic, because everyone is
constantly driving to the store, buying the latest in tight pants.)
Like many things American, Southern California makes its first
impressions in blazing neon, whether you want that or not.
I pondered all this while driving around the place last month,
testing the Tesla Model 3. The photographer on the job, a lovely
dude named James Lipman, grew up outside London. He moved
to California a year ago. We discussed the implications of that
move, mostly while stuck in traffic in the Tesla.
Lipman loved Los Angeles, he said, but – like a lot of people
there – couldn’t stop thinking about its problems. It occurred to
me that I was in the same boat, despite not living there. Every
visit produces the same train of thought on the town’s trade-offs.
Call it one of those odd quirks of human nature: we can seem
hard-wired to focus on the negative, even if we don’t want to.
Perhaps this quality is rooted in some pessimistic caveman-
nomad urge to perpetually improve our personal lot. While
talking to Lipman, I did a reflexive inventory of the good I could
see from the road. The way old cars are street-parked everywhere,
US journalist
Sam is equal unrusty and patinated, from faded ’60s muscle to carburetted
parts helmsman, Ferraris. How the city’s borders of ocean and mountains
car geek and
speed freak. somehow help it feel vast and homely at once. The impossible
He’s editor at
large at Road & air clarity when the smog retreats, and how the weather always
Track magazine manages to be just warm enough to make you wonder if you
46 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018
should leave work without notice and just crack off to a canyon or
a beach. The sweet smell of eucalyptus up in the Angeles Forest,
north of downtown, where the pavement is cambered and sing-
songy for miles, sprinting to the Mojave Desert through empty
and painted hills. And the rest of the state, over the mountains,
a world as varied as the LA basin is predictable, Death Valley
and the Sierra Nevada and everything else California, massive,
heartbreakingly pretty, and mostly empty.
Later that day, out of curiosity, I emailed a man named Rob
Dickinson. Rob moved to California from England in 2003, and
runs Singer Vehicle Design. You’ve probably heard of his cars.
Restored and re-imagined Porsche 911s, they’re ass-engined
Fabergé eggs. Famously unique, famously expensive.
I asked Rob why he crossed the Atlantic and came to Los
Angeles. What made it worth it?
‘Optimism,’ he said. ‘Incredible light, skill, talent, and year-
round car madness. I realised I could do whatever I wanted here
– nobody to tut-tut and to say, “You can’t do that.” Bliss.’
I thought about Rob’s words for a bit. I may have thought about
them on Latigo Canyon Road, high above Malibu, while parked
and staring at the Pacific. Possibly after more than an hour of
turning the Tesla’s tyres to powder, on one of city’s best roads, in
some of the prettiest and most unaffordable real estate on Earth.
In that moment, staring at the ocean from atop a mountain,
ILLUSTRATION BY PETER STRAIN
the benefits of LA seemed both intangible and endless. A fuzzy
possibility set that you work to remember on the ground, so
you don’t get swamped in the more obvious negatives. But also
something you don’t get anywhere else. A value exchange.
A terrible, horrible place. A crowded smog by the sea. But then,
I’m biased: like a lot of people, I’m thinking about moving there.
It sounds perfect.
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NAMES WORDS NAMES WORDS NAMES WORDS

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 S P O N S O R E D BY

The early bird

catches the worm
> VIA EMAIL

Hmm, not convinced about the looks of the

LC500 featured in your April issue, or indeed
any current Lexus. But the Californian roads
you shot it on looked wonderful. The only
time I drove there, the whole state appeared
to be ridiculously congested, not just LA.
Either you got up very early indeed or I need
to go back to California and try some of the
roads you mentioned. Just hope they’re not
full of other CAR readers…
Ray Morrison

Want to know
where the great
curves are? Follow
the drones…

Skills shortage
> VIA EMAIL
I have been singularly unimpressed by
the reaction to a few inches of spring
snow. I dug the car out this morning
and went for a drive as I couldn’t get a
bus – despite local bus companies having
skilled staff perfectly capable of driving
in these conditions. All the major roads
were black. Side roads were passable with
care, although there was no sign of any
salting even on comparatively busy ones
like my own. And our local supermarket,
with empty shelves reminding one of the
best of Soviet-era Russia – and milkless
like everywhere else in town – had closed
their car park rather than grabbing some
unemployed or homeless folk and giving
them a bung to dig out the access road.
Sadly, the skills of driving in snow
and ice seem to have been lost – much
skidding around at totally inappropriate
speeds. And don’t start me on the in-
competents in the latest-model cars with
spinning wheels failing to do hill starts.
John Hein
How to Nurse! The screens!
have your > VIA EMAIL
say: It’s not safe to use a mobile phone
while on the move as it takes attention
@ away from the act of driving. So why
VIA EMAIL do car manufacturers seem hellbent on
CAR@ pursuing more and more touchscreen
bauermedia.co.uk functionality in a car?
The following points, all made in the
March 2018 CAR, betray a little unease
VIA TWITTER with the way things are progressing.
@CARmagazine Audi A7: Having spent 20 years per-
fecting its MMI set-up, Audi has binned
the lot for a pair of touchscreens, which
VIA FACEBOOK require you to take your eyes off the road
facebook.com/ for longer than the old system. Bad.
CARmagazine Lucid: Volume and basic climate con-
trols are analogue. Good.
Audi A8L: Headlight control is a flush
VIA POST panel. Bad.
CAR magazine, Mercedes S350: Touch-sensitive but-
Media House, tons on the steering wheel are harder to
Peterborough use than the switches they replace. Bad.
Business Park,
Lynchwood, VW Golf GTE: Cannot see the on and
Peterborough, volume controls in the dark. Bad.
PE2 6EA Just because it can be done does not
mean it is a good idea. More tech is not
necessarily better; I cannot understand
how these ideas get signed off and into
production. Yes, they are clever but ulti-
mately take away from the concentration
and focus needed to pilot two tonnes of
metal on the roads safely.
David Loveland
Dim view
> VIA EMAIL
It’s time someone took a stand against
silly so-called privacy glass. All it does
is ruin the lines of the car, make the
quick look over the shoulder harder and
keep the kids in the dark so that they
have to resort to more screen time. Give
them light! Let them see out! Let them
read books!! Get them playing I Spy and
dreaming about making billy carts!!
Dr Philip Thomas
Who cares about 0-60?
> VIA EMAIL
Like Chris Waite (CAR Interactive, April
2018) I too find the high-performance

48 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018

cars I enjoyed while younger no longer feel
appropriate in 21st century traffic.
My last two cars have been a ‘pipe
and slippers’ Mercedes C200 (great car,
ridiculously pushy dealer trying to per-
suade me to upgrade regularly from three
months after I bought it brand new), and
now an ex-demonstrator Lexus GS300h: a
comfortable, extremely quiet cruiser, and
the front end gives better confidence on
twisty roads than the Merc. It returns fuel
consumption in the mid-40s (12 per cent
better than the Merc) and is more com-
fortable. The problems with the CVT that
you harp on about are irrelevant as you
rarely get the chance to accelerate hard.
Advice for Steve Moody, though (Our
Cars, April). I had the same problem as
him with the reversing camera on the
C-Class. It doesn’t need to be that dark as
you can adjust it. Read the manual. Took
me six months then changed my life at
night. And it’s better than the Lexus one
because of the flap that protects the cam-
era when reverse isn’t engaged.
Reg Holmes
The book of Elon (1)
> VIA FAC EBO O K
I fear for Tesla. At the moment the cars feel
like a proof of concept for the battery tech.
The big boys, with their manufacturing
bases already established, will be able to
ramp up far quicker once the appetite for
electric vehicles starts to hit.
Aindriú Raghallaigh
The book of Elon (2)
> VIA FAC EBO O K
Producing the Tesla Model 3, and produc-
ing the car with sufficient quality control,
are two different things. The Model S
scores low on fit and finish. But the own-
ers don’t care. They are like cult members
who think they are saving the planet by
buying this car. They will take anything
Musk gives them.
Chris Arnone
No time to
chat – planet
to save
Double standards
> VIA EMAIL
Like letter writer Chris Waite in April’s is-
sue I’ve owned some great cars – currently
And what if that
flap gets iced shut
in the winter?
The heat is of
> VIA EMAIL
LETTER OF In the headlong rush
THE MONTH
to embrace electric
vehicles one critical
safety issue appears not to have been given the
prominence is deserves.
In January several hundred motorists were
stranded for up to 13 hours on the M74/
A74 as a result of heavy snow and sub-zero
temperatures. The mountain rescue services
had to be deployed.
If such a circumstance were to happen again
in 30 years’ time, when a significant proportion
of cars, vans and even trucks may be electric,
the situation may well escalate from an
emergency to a catastrophe for those involved.
Given the M74/A74 is a main trunk road, many
of these electric vehicles would be approaching
the limits of their battery range. They would then
be totally reliant on the same battery technology
for cabin heating and this at a time when, due
to the sub-zero temperatures, the performance
of the existing battery technology will be at its
poorest. Delays in the re-opening of the route
will undoubtedly be extended due to the need
to recover significant numbers of stranded
vehicles with low or flat batteries.
Thankfully such adverse
weather events are relatively Letter of the
month wins £25
rare, but I suggest this issue worth of tickets
may have been overlooked. for the Dream Car
competition held
David Harvey by botb.com
a Porsche 997. I still enjoy driving enthusi-
astically when road conditions and traffic
permit, but agree with him that the public
now take a dim view of this.
Yet when I venture onto any motorway
it seems like the Wild West. I drive mostly
in the high 70s, traffic permitting, and am
tailgated and overtaken (on both sides)
by everything from diesel vans to city
cars. On occasion I fear for my life as they
cut in front of me and brake, all totally
unpoliced.
I now avoid motorways when possible,
but today’s traffic often ensures a boring
drive, moving at the pace of the slowest,
and reluctant to overtake lest I arouse
flashing headlights and blaring horns.
Call me nostalgic, but how I long for
the days when motoring was skilful, cour-
teous and fun, and parents used to say to
their family, ‘Let’s go out for a drive’.
Rob Fidler
Still fun to be had
> VIA EMAIL
Regarding Chris Waite’s letter in the April
issue, I became enthralled with cars and
driving through reading the epistles of
Setright in CAR from the age of 14.
Thanks to the high standards estab-
lished by the likes of LJKS, Mel Nichols
and Steve Cropley, CAR has helped ensure
that I’ve never lost my appetite for won-
derful cars and fast driving.
It’s true that it is now socially unaccept-
able to go haring around on public roads
in excess of the increasingly reducing
speed limits, but there’s still immense fun
to be had!
As soon as the weather improves, we
will be off on another 3000-mile Euro-
pean tour in our Ferrari 575M. (A dream
realised in 2014 just before Ferrari prices
really started to rise.) Not enough enthu-
siasts venture onto the continent, where
there are brilliant driving roads.
These days, bikes provide more excite-
ment than cars within UK legal limits but
there’s too much traffic for my liking so
I take to the rural roads of France on my
brilliant Triumph Tiger 800.
Unlike the other Chris, I have no
intention of giving up my enthusiasm for
driving in retirement. That old adage is
right – you really are as young as you feel.
Chris Sheldrake
A true hero
> VIA EMAIL
I was simply astonished that the feature
Top 10 IndyCar Heroes in the April issue
of CAR omitted the great Jim Clark. Jim
won the Indy 500 in 1965, becoming the
May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 49
first European to do so for 51 years, and
in the process broke multiple records
including becoming the first to complete
the race at an average of over 150mph. On
the way to victory, he led for 190 0f the
200 laps. It was also the first Indy 500 to
be won by a rear-engined car.
He remains the only driver to win the
Indy 500 and the F1 World Champion-
ship in the same year.
In 1963, his first attempt, he came
second and would have won if the winner
Parnelli Jones had been black flagged for
dropping oil. In 1964, while leading the
race, he had a rear tyre and suspension
failure.
In 1966, he came second to Graham
Hill but it is thought by many that he
should have won that race due to an error
in lap counting.
How can it be that, in comparison to
Jim Clark’s amazing record, Fernando
Alonso is regarded as being meritorious
for leading 27 laps in one race?
Dr John Macrae
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Just received my March 2018 CAR and in
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In recent reviews of new Audis you have
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500 miles in Tesla’s Model 3

Words Sam Smith | Photography Jamie Lipman

FOR D’S MODEL T

The Model 3 matters. It will either usher in

IS SIGONIS’S MINI
the electric age or destroy Tesla. Built to save

MUSK’S MODEL 3
humanity, is it actually any good to drive?

52 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018

May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 53
500 miles in Tesla’s Model 3
Low-resistance
Michelins but the
Model 3 loves a
good corner
I
F YOU’RE GOING to nitpick, it is a car to
nitpick. The dash controls – everything from
the cruise control to radio and climate – are
accessed almost entirely through a 15-inch
touchscreen. Even adjusting the heater vents
requires pulling your eyes from traffic. Panel
and trim fit ranges from Toyota-perfect to
embarrassing. You can’t turn off stability
control, which is fine for ordinary people but
depressing for you and me. The front boot is so
small, it should be labelled ‘second glovebox’.
The rear view is a letterbox. The list goes on.
That’s if you’re going to nitpick.
If you’re not going to nitpick, this is argu-
ably one of the most impressive machines in
history. A landmark, like the Ford Model T or
original Mini.
Assuming, of course, that its manufacturer can meet
demand. More than half a million people have put down
refundable deposits (£1000 in the UK). And the car maker in
question has never built this many vehicles, ever, in any form.
That is also assuming that said manufacturer can make
car-making into a profitable business.
Meet the Tesla Model 3. Or rather, meet the Tesla Model 3
as built in late 2017 and experienced in early spring of 2018, in
left-hand drive, in America, on a Monday and a Tuesday. If we
had tried it on a Thursday or a Friday or maybe a week later,
54 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018
HUNDREDS OF MILES AROUND
CALIFORNIA FOR TWO DAYS
STRAIGHT – CALL IT THE
COMPLETE EXPERIENCE
the car might have been different. Better, probably, because
that is how Tesla works; the company constantly updates its
cars’ software, over-the-air. New Model 3s built six months
from now have a chance at being better still, because Tesla
is still sorting out how to make cars like this, at this price,
in a hurry. As of March 2018, the 3 carries a list of technical
service bulletins – factory fixes, applied after the car is sold –
that includes leaky rear lights, pre-production parts sneaking
onto production cars and whole motor assemblies in need of
replacement. Some owners have even developed post-delivery
checklists, shared on the internet, so Model 3 people can make
sure their car left Tesla whole and proper. (Actual questions
from one of those checklists: Are there waves in the glass? Are
all interior lights present?)
This is a strange car. Potential for a lot of hassle.
Good thing it’s wonderful.
AT THE MOMENT, new Model 3s have been delivered only
in America. So we went to Los Angeles, where American car
culture is simultaneously at its best and worst. Given the
discussion around Tesla’s production ramp-up and quality,
we passed on a press car. Instead we rented a privately owned
Model 3, in good nick, with more than 4000 miles on the
clock. It wasn’t flawless, but it wasn’t an unrealistically per-
fect media tester, either.
We drove that car around Southern California for two days
straight: hundreds of miles in traffic and on the freeways. I
got lost in the canyons and idled by the beach. I even sat in a
Tesla service centre, waiting on a replacement key. The sun
was out, relentlessly, because that’s California. Call it the
complete experience.
The base Model 3 costs $35,000 (£25,000) in the US. Or at
least, it will cost $35,000 once you can buy it. Every customer
Model 3 to date has featured a long-range, 75-kWh battery
($9000, or £6500), a 120,000-mile, eight-year powertrain war-
ranty – the base model is 100,000 and eight years – and the
mandatory inclusion of Tesla’s Premium Upgrade package.
The latter includes leather, open-pore wood trim, upgraded
audio and a glass front roof (a glass rear roof is standard). Plus
items like power seats, power-fold mirrors, LED foglamps
and a centre console with covered storage.
Small digression. If that last bit seems a bit unlike a
premium option, consider that the base Model 3 features an
uncovered centre console. That feature is thus obviously for
plebeian dipwits. Or those who have never driven a new car,
most of which give you covered console storage for free, and
which might talk to your phone through something smarter
than Bluetooth. (Bluetooth is currently the only way a Model
3 communicates with a phone, despite the fact that Tesla is
one of the world’s leading tech companies and run by Elon
Musk, a man who built himself a self-landing, reusable mira-
cle of a space rocket simply because he needed it.)
Sometimes, you wonder if the people at Tesla just want to
be different for the sake of it.
 Only single
motor so far
but the Model 3
never feels slow

The Tesla electric

railroad loco
is surely only a
matter of time

May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 55

 Model 3s sold to date offer a 267bhp, 307lb ft electric motor
driving the rear wheels. Tesla says the car is good for 310 miles
of range (220 on the base 50kWh model), 0-60mph in 5.1sec
(the base model will be 5.6sec) and 140mph with your foot to
the floor. This upgraded spec leaves few options. Chief among
them are 19-inch wheels (dumpy-looking 18s, as fitted to our
test car, are standard), metallic paint or the auto-steering,
lane-changing version of Tesla’s best-in-the-business Autopi-
lot cruise control ($5000, or £3500). You can also spend $3000
(£2100) on what Tesla calls ‘future compatibility,’ to make
the car fully capable of driving autonomously, entire journeys
without a human at the wheel, when such software is ready.
Call that last bit one more of those different-for-the-sake
‘Listen, you bits. Tesla’s online configurator says: ‘It is not possible to
back up. I’m know exactly when [that autonomous software] will be
the future and
you’re history’ available.’ If you’re even a little cynical, that might smell like
a long-term, interest-free loan to a currently unprofitable car

56 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018


Really want to
de-clutter your
life? Start with a
Model 3 Tesla
company, remittance date unspecified. For a car that looks
remarkable from some angles – the wind-slicked offspring of
a bullet and a pompadour – and fat-headed and generic from
others. With a front bumper recalling that creepy moment in
The Matrix when Hugo Weaving erased Keanu Reeves’ lips.
On paper, this all sounds mildly ridiculous.
The details grab you. The neat little tri-fold alcantara flap
over the sun-visor mirrors, held down with magnets, which
you play with endlessly, because it’s cool and simple and a
sheer delight to touch. The motion sensor that shuts off the
boot light when the lid has been left open too long. How
the damped console doors are held shut by magnets, a soft
little two-jawed ballet every time they open or close. The nav
system that just plain works, and is faster and more intuitive
than any other nav system on the planet, at any price. The
way the window switches and door handle are both hidden
and obvious at once, blended into the door panel. The interior
500 miles in Tesla’s Model 3
Other, more
exciting colours
are available
in general, simple and staggeringly clean,
like a dreamy sketch come to life. It’s like
IN SPORT MODE
someone drew up a car and then removed
all the things you think you might want,
THE STEERING
and then realise you don’t want them, so SNAPS TO CENTRE
who cares?
You marvel over this stuff, in little
AND MURMURS
wake-up moments, over the first few
miles. The cabin is tighter than it looks,
WITH ACTUAL
airy but surprisingly close quarters. The FEEDBACK
roof rails are low; I’m only 5ft 10in, but
the 3’s window tops fell below my eyes while sitting in the rear
seat. But the roofline between those rails gives lots of head-
room, front or rear, and the cockpit feels airy, thanks to that
low dash, the low doors, the acres of roof glass. The combined
effect gives the odd and not unpleasant sensation of sitting in
a bathtub, surrounded by bodywork like water. At the wheel,
the bonnet duck-bills in front of you, low, like a ’90s Honda.
Visibility is great everywhere but directly aft, where the high
trunk collapses the rear view into a glass sliver.
The steering is interesting. Electrically assisted, with three
settings. Comfort is woolly and distant; the car mushes into
a lock and stays there, hands-free. It seems to aggressively
want to be driven with a finger – use two hands, and you tend
to struggle with maintaining a course, never a light-enough
touch. The wheel just ends up gooping back and forth, as
if the car’s nose were sat in a vat of pudding. The steering’s
Standard setting is more lively and heavier, but still muddy.
Sport is the best of the bunch. You hit the button on the
touchscreen and find yourself wondering if someone has
monkeyed with the suspension and somehow dialled a bunch
of caster into the car. It snaps to centre and murmurs actual
feedback, loading up like magic.
I went to the hills first – the Angeles National Forest,
north-east of town, and the canyons outside Malibu – be-
cause LA traffic is terrible and hills are not and I desperately
wanted to know if the car was going to be any fun in a corner
at all. It was, but in an odd way. Most EVs shout their weird-
ness at you. In the Model 3, you don’t think so much about
what makes the car different as forget that it’s different at
all. The seats are fantastic, supportive and free of fatigue.
May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 57
 IT’S NOT QUICK
BUT IT’S NOT
SLOW EITHER, AND
THERE’S A SOLID
SMACK OF TORQUE
FROM TIP-IN TO
FULL THROTTLE

Coil- rather
than air-sprung,
and all the
better for it

58 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018

 500 miles in Tesla’s Model 3

Road and driveline noise are hushed, the interior eerily quiet.
At speed, you mostly hear the air-conditioning fan blowing
in the ducts, and tyre scrub – the subtle grumble of shifting
tread – from the low-resistance Michelins. Plus a surprising
lack of wind noise. Like Tesla’s Model S (but not the X, which
suffers from excessive wind shout), the car just glides around
in a subdued whirr.
This is not a light car. Tesla says the 3’s kerbweight is
1730kg, and you feel it. Most of the 3’s mass is in the battery
pack and motor, and that stuff lives low in the car’s frame, as
it does on the Model S. But a few engineering band-aids help.
There’s enough spring rate to hold up a house, for one. There
are also steel coils here, unlike the Model S’s air suspension,
so the car reacts a bit more traditionally in transitions, and
over lumpy Tarmac. Body roll could be measured with a
microscope; the dampers and anti-roll bars are stout enough
to keep the car feeling locked down, with a ride that’s firm but
never flinty.
The hills around LA look like Spain, if Spain were less up-
tight. They’re dappled with bony trees and the smell of euca-
lyptus. On weekends, they fill with slow parades of Corvettes
and motorcycles, trains of hot hatches and a hundred classics.
But during the week, the place is mostly empty. So you find
where the road gets giddy, and you see how slow you can make
your hands, to compensate for the 3’s bulk. The Tesla skates
through corners, much of its compliance in the tyre. The car
isn’t quick but it’s not slow either, and there’s a solid smack
of torque from tip-in to full throttle. Which means you use MUSK & THE
the throttle for glassy little instantaneous acceleration hits,
leaning on the car’s nose like you can’t in a Model S, doing TICKING CLOCK
silly and inadvisable things in canyons.
When SpaceX successfully launched its Falcon Heavy
So you lean on it, and then you lean on it more, because
rocket in early February, it gave to the world a couple
it’s fun and pretty talkative and seems to want it. The non- of technically impressive and quite profoundly moving
defeatable stability control tends to grab a brake caliper in moments of wonder. The first was the choreographed
quick transitions, or when the road compresses or yumps return, post-launch, of two of its three booster rockets,
suddenly; if you put the system in its ‘Escape a snowy drive- which touched down on nearby launchpads instead
way’ slip mode it gives up a smidge of yaw, and the car does of smashing into the ocean. Where launchers have
tiny little scrabble-slides on throttle. It feels like an odd cross traditionally been seen as fire-and-forget, SpaceX’s
between slaloming a boat through choppy seas and dancing commitment to re-usable hardware is key to Elon Musk’s
with working feet but wooden knees. cost-reduction sums – sums that have seen SpaceX
In the city, the Model 3 feels more normal. That instant move from near-bankruptcy to domination of the global
commercial launch market. The second moment of
torque again makes the car feel quicker than it is, because
wonder came later in the same space flight, when the
there’s always enough squirt on tap for darting into traffic rocket opened to reveal a red Tesla Roadster silhouetted
gaps. The battery appears to sip charge in normal driving, against the swirling blue and white marble of Earth.
even with the air-con on; after two days on the move While humbling NASA sounds even more far-fetched
than transitioning the world to electric cars, Tesla is the
more troublesome of the two ventures. And ‘ventures’ is
the right word: Musk insists the motivation for both is a
desire to better humanity’s lot, not to make money.
Which is just as well. Tesla’s expected to burn more
than $4 billion this year. Production ramp-up remains
the key challenge. Musk’s charisma and vision grants
his companies an astonishing amount of goodwill, as do
their still uniquely desirable products and services, but
the fact is Model 3s are being built at a fraction of the
rate promised just a couple of years ago. In 2016 Tesla
claimed it would be building 5000 Model 3s a week by
the end of 2017, and 500,000 cars a year by the end of
Does the US
2018. The latter looks unlikely given Model 3 production
road-trip dream for the last three months of last year was just 2500 cars.
evaporate But so long as they can’t go anywhere else – and for
when you’re not now they can’t – people are willing to wait for Elon.
running on gas?

May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 59

500 miles in Tesla’s Model 3

Model 3 drivers
must pay for
Supercharger
use – S and X
pilots ‘fuel’ for
free

3 is a five-seater
– and almost
entirely normal
back here

AFTER TWO DAYS IN in LA and two charges, Tesla’s claimed

310-mile range feels pessimistic.
LA, TESLA’S CLAIMED Most of the complaints are rooted in
the build. Quality is noticeably dumpy
310-MILE RANGE in places. Our test car exhibited varying
FEELS PESSIMISTIC fender gaps and door seals with whole
inches of untrimmed mould flashing.
If you open the door in a hurry you
can beat the automated window-drop mechanism, clanging
the frameless glass against the body trim, because the glass
has a huge drop to get past the roof. (Likely because it tucks
extremely deep into the seal when you shut the door, to mini-
mise wind noise.) As on the Model S and X, that touchscreen
can also be genuinely maddening. It is an enormous billboard
of light, even when dimmed, and perpetually distracting. It
occasionally goes reflective in direct sunlight. You can’t use it
eyes-free. And while most of the controls are logically placed,
you can find yourself on a crowded road, wanting simply to
change some minor detail of the car’s interior or behaviour or
stereo, and having to pull over simply to yell at the dash and
madly poke around for the right sub-menu.
Especially if it’s a feature you might use a lot. The Model S
and the Model X sit their main controls for Autopilot on a col-
umn stalk, and the system’s critical road-display and ‘prepare
to take the wheel back’ graphic lives in the instrument cluster.
But the Model 3 places both those items in that centre screen.
It was annoying enough to use – the S and X make the system
a delight – that I eventually slogged through LA freeway
traffic without touching Autopilot, fuming at the screen.
These are not small issues, but they are solvable. The funny
thing is, you find yourself wondering how much they matter.
I’ve met several Model 3 buyers or reservation holders over the
past six months. All followed car news, which means all were
aware of Tesla’s production stumbles. None cared. Which says
something about the car’s appeal, and why people are buying
it. It’s so good at being a stylish, functional, innately special
thing, you brush over the unpleasant bits.
In other words, to borrow a phrase from one of those cus-
tomers, ‘Why should I care about fender gaps? I don’t want
anything else. And what would I get, at this price, anyway?
All the other EVs for similar money are commuter penalty
boxes. This is a real car.’
Maybe that’s you, then. If you’re buying the car in America
and want the cheaper Model 3, get in line. Delivery starts

MODEL 3: THE 30 -SECOND BRIEFING

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HUMANITY’S SAVIOUR
i IN A NUTSHELL
In size, the 3 is a compact
saloon – think BMW 3-series with
sawn-of front and rear overhangs
(maximising wheelbase and
battery packaging) and an over-
sized passenger compartment
(facilitated by the compact
powertrain).
i HOW MUCH?
UK pricing is still subject to
confirmation. A refundable £1000
deposit gets you a place in line
but it’s likely to be a long wait (12-
18 months minimum) – right-hand
drive production doesn’t start
until 2019. Basic cars (215-mile
range) will cost $35k in the US –
reckon on £30k here. Long-range,
twin-motor cars will cost north of
£40,000.
i CONSIDER ALSO
Right now, at this price point, not
much. A loaded Nissan Leaf costs
£28k and, at 235 miles, goes toe-
to-toe with the Tesla on range for
the money but gives ground on
interior space, speed and driver
appeal. On the plus side the Leaf’s
available now, as is BMW’s i3 (now
also in S guise: 181bhp, 174 miles,
£37k) and the VW e-Golf (134bhp,
186 miles, £31k).
i THE THREATS
The mainstream is coming for
Tesla but it’s taking its sweet time.
While the Jaguar i-Pace arrives
imminently to give Model S and
X buyers a dilemma, true Model
3 rivals won’t arrive until next
year, in the form of VW’s ID hatch
and Mercedes’ GLC-sized EV
crossover.

60 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018

later this year. Ditto if you want the coming all-wheel-drive
version, or left-hand drive outside America. UK pricing has
yet to be set, and Tesla says right-hand-drive vehicles will
start leaving the plant in 2019.
‘Says’ is the key word there. Tesla is a company of caveats.
But it also has the ability to tweak its course more than most;
to revamp its production process, chasing quality issues,
or to software-fix mistakes while you sleep because those
processes are so new, and the company is so motivated by the
desires of the firm’s detail-obsessed, micro-managing chief
executive. (Musk describes himself as a ‘nano-manager’.) If
Tesla wants to make the touchscreen easier to read and use,
to make it more justifiably replace a traditional dashboard,
the company can do that in an air reflash, for every Model 3
in a given market. If they want to solve control problems by
making the entire car voice-activated, they can chase that,
and they might actually pull it off.
And at the end of the day, the basic product is sound. Like
the Model T, the Model 3 democratises a previously flawed
and bourgeois experience; like the first Mini, it resets a blue-
print while sneaking a bit of fun-to-drive under the radar.
It works remarkably well as a car. It works even better as a
stylish, usable piece of tech that makes most current EVs feel
stuck in the Dark Ages.
Is that enough to continue floating a company? Are Tesla’s
factory staff capable of jibing ambition and potential with the
kind of quality you need to sell half a million cars without
excuses?
If it is, and if they are – if Elon Musk can do all that – he will
have truly launched the first genuinely cool and affordable
EV. A luxury that isn’t a one-trick pony. Which means he will
have legitimately changed the world.
If Musk can’t do it, then we can at least salute one hell of an
idea. And hope that, years from now, we won’t have to point to
the Model 3 with a little sadness, saying, ‘Shame, isn’t it? That
a good car just wasn’t enough’.

Tesla Model 3 (75 kWh)

> Price £43,000 as tested
(from £30,000, est)
> Engine Rear e-motor,
267bhp, 307lb ft
> Transmission Single-speed,
rear-wheel drive
> Suspension Double-wishbone
front, multi-link rear
> Performance 5.1sec 0-60mph,
140mph, 310-mile range,
0g/km CO2
> Weight 1730kg
> On sale Now (UK deliveries 2019)

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 WWW.GREATMAGAZINES.CO.UK/CAR
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Audi R8 RWS vs McLaren 570S

64 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018

 How do you bring
Audi’s R8 to life
and challenge the
epic McLaren 570S?
Easy – just whip out
the front driveshafts
Words Ben Barry | Photography Alex Tapley

May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 65

 High-performance Audis can now unshackle their front
driveshafts like they’ve discovered the key to a chastity belt

66 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018

 Audi R8 RWS vs McLaren 570S

T HE MATRIX BOARDS flashed severe weather warnings

when I pointed the Audi R8 north up the A1 last night, on
towards Kielder Water. Those warnings gave just a day to bag
this drive, but next morning the weather’s creeping in: flecks of
snow dance over the road as it stretches up past the reservoir,
hypnotic like static interference on a television, thankfully
melting away quickly into the frostbitten surface. Tempera-
tures hover around zero as we push over the border into Scot-
land. Timber lorries bustle past in noisy, turbulent assaults,
coating the road with clag dragged from clear-cut hillsides.
Thick initially, the mud bleeds to almost nothing a few corners
later, like a corpse pulled from a diner in a mafia thriller. Grip
up here is tricky, but the draw is roads that endlessly coil and
challenge, and so little traffic that the clear-cutting could be
mistaken for some devastating nuclear aftershock.
The Audi’s V10 thrums away sweetly behind me, its range
rising from the smooth bass of lower revs to a vicious high-rpm
wail that’d make a modern F1 driver swoon – and instils just a
little fear when you unleash the 8000rpm fury.
We’re keeping up a good pace, CAR features brain James
Taylor in the McLaren behind, the Brit’s V8 boosty and gruff
and sci-fi futuristic all at the same time, its chassis so intimate-
ly communicating road-surface texture that there’s no fear in
smearing its tyres delicately over the modest limits. ‘It’s that
cocktail-stick feeling,’ says JT, ‘like there’s one stuck in the
centre of the car around which everything pivots.’
Normally, these conditions tip the balance in favour of
quattro all-wheel drive. But switch off all the Audi’s electronic
guardians, carry some speed into a corner, pin the accelerator
early and our R8 will drift through the apex like no Audi you’ve
ever experienced before. That’s because this is the Audi R8
RWS, or Rear-Wheel Series, Audi’s first ever rear-wheel-drive
production model.
Not long ago, the RWS would’ve been impossible. Audi’s
performance division was called Quattro GmbH, a name
synonymous with all-wheel-drive technology proven in part
on the forest rally stages around here. Hot Audis had to be
all-wheel drive. But in late 2016, ex-Lamborghini main man
and then Quattro boss Stephan Winkelmann re-christened
the division Audi Sport, paving the way for high-performance
Audis to unshackle their front driveshafts like they’d discov-
ered the key to a chastity belt.
Available as a Coupe or Spyder, the R8 RWS is the first; the
lightest, purest R8 you can buy, its ditched hardware contrib-
utes to a 50kg reduction over all-wheel-drive variants – 1590kg
for our Coupe. There’s the same 5.2-litre naturally aspirated
V10 with 533bhp as the non-Plus R8 quattro, so the power-to-
weight ratio is improved by 10bhp, though the traction-limited
Carbon-tubbed,
turbo V8 Brit 0-62mph sprint drops a couple of tenths to 3.7 seconds.
seeks young- The RWS template was already there, of course: the Lam-
at-heart V10
German for
borghini Huracan – from which the R8 is spun – is available
good times with rear-drive. Audi also points out that its R8 LMS GT3

May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 67

Audi R8 RWS vs McLaren 570S
This is his elated
face, honestly
Virtual Cockpit
handy for at-a-
glance navigation
at speed
racer is rear-drive, if not that racing regulations forced its hand.
Like Lamborghini, Audi positions the R8 RWS at the gates
to R8 ownership. Priced from £112,450, it’s almost £14k cheap-
er than the quattro R8 (almost £29k cheaper than the Plus)
and options like Dynamic steering (normally £1200), adaptive
dampers (£1600) and ceramic brakes (£7700) are unavailable.
Our test car gets a relatively restrained £4k of options; £1800
goes on a sports exhaust to unleash all kinds of sonic majesty,
particularly the deeply rich tones unlocked in Dynamic mode.
Just 999 examples of the RWS are being assembled almost
entirely by hand at Audi Sport’s Böllinger Höfe facility. Could
it be that the cheapest R8 is also the best? Fact is, there just isn’t
anything comparable at this end of the market, other than the
£43k costlier, bit-too-similar Huracan.
The McLaren 570S comes close, and easily wins the show-
room showdown. Bystanders gravitate towards its cab-for-
ward, nose-down, low-slung proportions that immediately
communicate sporting intent and supercar otherworldliness.
Like Audi tapping into the benefits of its ownership of
Lamborghini, economies of scale trickle down to the 570S.
It’s built around the same carbon cell as the recently replaced
and significantly more expensive 650S, and borrows the same
dual-clutch gearbox and 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8. The latter is
de-tuned by 79bhp, if still good for 3.2 seconds to 62mph.
The 570S costs from £149,000, but there is an even more rel-
evant McLaren, the modestly de-contented 540C. It’s yours for
a slightly more comparable £135k and serves up the exact same
533bhp as the R8 RWS. But just as most UK buyers upgrade to
the 570S, so too have we. We’ll cut the R8 slack for that.
You reach under the suspension-bridge-like beam that
68 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018
spans the McLaren’s dihedral door, lift it up and peer into a
cabin that looks minimalist if intensely driver-focused all the
same – though spoiled by our car’s interior drawing inspiration
from a highly aroused baboon. Step over a chunk of (carpeted)
carbonfibre sill a handspan wide, and you sink into seats
dramatically low on the floor, accelerator pedal close to the
carbon tub, brake pedal dead ahead of your left foot.
The McLaren instantly feels special, no matter how slowly
you drive. Carve up through these hillsides and its hydraulical-
ly assisted steering is fast-paced, weighted modestly enough to
make the car feel sparky and nimble, if heavy and consistent
enough to contextualise lateral loads building through the
suspension. Thin, solid and wrapped in alcantara, the wheel
trembles continually with delicious analogue feedback.
The chassis is equally tactile. The track feels wide, the centre
of gravity low, and despite a more conventional set-up than the
inter-connected dampers of pricier McLarens, the 570S still
pulls off that Woking witchcraft of zinging the road surface
out in unfiltered detail, yet shushing bumps too. The carbon
tub contributes to a kerbweight some 138kg fleeter than the
Audi’s, and you feel that lack of mass in the energy of its direc-
tion changes, and how weight transfer is so expertly controlled
through quick corners and under heavy braking.
Today’s supercars are in another league of demented
performance, so the 570S – billed a Sports Series by McLaren
– feels more manageably fast in comparison, and yet it’s still
riotously quick, still powers past traffic like Gulliver striding
over Lilliputians, and still feels restless when you try to keep it
below 90mph on the autobahn. Its delivery is pretty thuggish
too: almost entirely without a pulse at low revs, there’s a snap
of boost at around 3500rpm that sends shockwaves through
the rear rubber if it’s damp, and a hold-on-tight run to a manic
7400rpm when you find the space and courage to give the V8
its head. Intense doesn’t quite cover it.
But after the clarity of the suspension and steering, there’s a
fuzz to the McLaren’s powertrain like a camera a fraction out
of focus. The throttle has a certain mush to its travel, and while
the gearshifts are quick and bang down through multiple
ratios eagerly, there’s a small disconnect between you clicking
the carbonfibre paddleshifter and something mechanical
actually happening.
The standard carbon-ceramic brakes betray a similar blur-
riness, though other 570s I’ve driven felt better. It’s not that
their outright stopping power is in doubt, because they’ll stop
the McLaren like security spotting Ron running through
Warm air pours
from the back of
the Audi, even
when it’s -2°C
 Perversely, the
RWS R8 is both
entry level and
limited edition.
Eh?

Thin, solid and wrapped in alcantara, the McLaren’s wheel

trembles constantly with delicious analogue feedback

There is a
McLaren ‘below’
this one, the
540C, but if you
ever see one,
congratulate
yourself

May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 69

Audi R8 RWS vs McLaren 570S

I run up the hillside

quickly and fall
completely under the
R8 RWS’s spell

70 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018

the McLaren Technology Centre, but there’s an inch or so of
travel where the feel is nebulously defined, so you press harder
and they suddenly wake up.
There’s another, more causal counterpoint to the vivid
immediacy streaming through the McLaren driver’s palms: a
more highly strung feeling on longer journeys. The seats are
great, the ride fantastic, but that carbon tub, Pirelli P Zeros
that measure 19 inches up front, 20 at the rear, and the firm
Just enough
suspension bushings transmit road noise like breakers hitting funk, with the
the beach. And because McLaren is a low-volume producer, the Audi solidity
infotainment is unintuitive and patchy. you expect
There’s no doubt that the Audi does the daily stuff better,
and perhaps that’s what dilutes its specialness, why people
pass it by like it’s a TT and gawp at the McLaren; the R8’s
more rounded, no matter that the more knowledgeable will be
dumbstruck by the V10 showcased through the rear window, or
know that the aluminium body has a rigid carbonfibre trans-
mission tunnel and rear bulkhead like a capital T at its core.
You open the door with a conventional – boring! – door
handle, it swings open in – yawn! – the normal way, and you
sit in a nice seat spoiled by what feels like a command driving
position after the McLaren. The upside of all this sensibleness
crystallized as I took that late-night run up the A1: less road
noise permeates the Audi’s cabin from its 19-inch P Zeros, and
you get the virtual cockpit and all the intuitive logic of Audi’s
MMI-based infotainment. If you want to chat to your passen-
ger and not get lost as you drive somewhere, there’s appeal in
that. Many people do.
The only chink in the Audi R8’s daily-driver armoury is
its ride quality. Clearly, with only 999 units – and Coupes
and Spyders carved out of that number with different set-up
requirements – tuning passive and adaptive dampers wouldn’t The 50kg reduction isn’t particularly noticeable in itself, but
have made sense. So passive dampers it is, meaning the the effects of losing the driveshafts are more transformative
Audi must strike a compromise where the McLaren’s adaptive on the steering. There’s still gloopiness to push through off-
set-up allows it to morph from long-distance comfort to apex centre, but no longer does it stiffen when you accelerate hard
destroyer. At times, whether at low speed in town or during from corners – a benefit of torque no longer being channelled
faster runs on the A1, the R8’s damper travel is too choppy. to the front axle and corrupting the linearity of the steering.
But on the fast, smoother roads that flow north of Kielder, The McLaren feels quicker, partly because it wins the pow-
they’re very effective, controlling the body neatly, but always er-to-weight war with 387bhp per tonne to the Audi’s 335bhp
allowing the breathing space to build a rhythm. per tonne, but also because its turbocharged delivery is full of
There’s no escaping that the McLaren has the more com- violence. But the Audi’s naturally aspirated V10 is better. It still
municative steering and chassis, though. There’s less surface hauls hard from low revs, no matter that the relatively modest
information to process, less raw energy to how the R8 changes 398lb ft takes 6500rpm to kick in, and there’s an intoxicating
direction, and more body roll too. But the RWS is still very second wind that bursts in from around 6000rpm and surges
sweetly balanced. towards 8000rpm like a 1500-metre runner mugging everyone
at the finish. That final hurrah sounds inconse-
quential when I tap it into a keyboard, but when
The big questions Audi R8 RWS you’re in the meat of it, consumed by the mechani-
cal ferocity of it all, feeling the R8 gather pace like a
rollercoaster suddenly falling faster than expected,
well, it becomes almost the entire point. Yes, it
lacks the mad adrenaline rush served up by the
Call the divorce I don’t If it were a race Can I have faster R8 Plus, but give a specialist likeLitchfield
lawyer? recognise driver, who some more Motors £1200 and they’ll magic that difference
No need. R8 is your name, but would it be? please, sir?
comfortable, your fez seems For sure it would Certainly. away with an easily reversible tweak.
well equipped, familiar… be like James The R8 range Perhaps the purity of this concept deserves a
not so rowdy on Possibly Hunt: strikingly stretches up to manual gearbox but the S-tronic gearbox is punchy
the motorway because the good looking, the all-wheel-
and has good R8 looks like smooth and drive Plus, and smooth, even if it does strangely interrupt
sat-nav too. a bigger TT, suave when it with an extra engine braking during downshifts, like there’s a
If you’ll share and possibly needs to be, 69bhp from the little slip.
the driving but because its hard but with a glorious V10.
For all its disruptive rear-wheel-driveness,
the other half’s points betray wild streak Sadly that’s
not massively the Huracan bubbling just verboten with one thing remains very much Audi: the stabil-
car-fussed, beneath. A below the the RWS, but a ity control. It allows so little slip in its default
they’d probably supercar in surface. Careful chip-tuner can
prefer it. Don’t a sensible with that 98 easily remedy
mention mpg. wrapper. octane, chap. that.
May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 71
Audi R8 RWS vs McLaren 570S

These two,
er, bridge the
gap between
normality and
the likes of the
Ferrari 488 and
McLaren 720S

setting that leaving a junction can be a struggle, and while you the messages filtering up through its chassis and tyres.
can relax that by progressing up through to Dynamic mode, We run on into the darkness, our convoy moving further
you can still sense the hand-wringing in Ingolstadt. north into Scotland, headlights flicking over the fast crests and
It’s this, along with the confidence-inspiring linearity of dips that run through the evergreens. It’s an intense journey,
the V10, that encourages me to disengage the R8’s electronic the brief respite of a T-junction broken when the sat-nav in-
systems first. The threat of snow has melted away, and structs us to follow the road for 39 more miles. I laugh out loud.
early-evening sunshine glows over the landscape, leaving the Thirty nine more miles of this? In these cars? Oh, go on then.
road smeared with a palette of greys and whites and blacks. The McLaren 570S blends analogue feedback with digital
I run up the hillside quickly and fall completely under the performance to deliver an experience that’s rewarding and
RWS’s spell. Lean hard on the front end as you carve into a cor- challenging in equal measure. It’s a bargain in this rarefied
ner until you feel the front tyres squirm, back off the throttle market, and there’s mischievous black-sheep provocation in
quickly, and you sense the R8 is keen to rotate into oversteer owning an Audi with rear-wheel drive, too. That neither the
– you’ve already set a pendulum in motion, and the weight of R8 nor its stunning, turbo-free V10 are long for this world
the V10 does its best to continue it. Wind on opposite lock and lends the RWS still greater appeal. You might also feel more
accelerate and you’ll crack open that final layer of involvement reassured that it’s a supercar you can service at your local
that the RWS perhaps hides on first acquaintance. It helps that Audi dealer. On a great stretch of road, and judged on driving
there’s bandwidth to this engine like a yo-yo on a extra long dynamics alone, the McLaren is ultimately the more capable
piece of string. It’ll loosen the rear end with what feels like just car. But the Audi R8 RWS represents something so unique and
a few thousand rpm on the dial, and then stretch on and on so unlikely to be repeated that it’s the car I’d buy.
as the rear tyres spin up, the engine smooth if wavering just
a little at the highest notes, like a Clapton vibrato riding into
squalls of feedback. It’s such a refreshing balance after the The big questions McLaren 570S
all-wheel-drive version, which turns manically neutral given
similar treatment and hauls itself out by the front driveshafts.
Truth is you take a deeper breath before turning off the
McLaren’s stability control – and endure more faffing to get
there. There’s a more neutral feeling to the McLaren’s chassis, Call the divorce I don’t If it were a race Can I have
a sense that you can overstep the limits and then retreat, where lawyer? recognise driver, who some more
Might as well. your name, but would it be? please, sir?
the R8 driver battles more weight transfer once committed. The McLaren your fez seems For sure it would Not yet, but
Less progressive is the McLaren’s power delivery – catch rides nicely familiar… be Michael you can have
it off-boost and the rear end remains stubbornly inert, but but there’s a The 570S is part Schumacher less. McLaren
tonne of road of McLaren’s in his scarlet, 540C is actually
get the fuse lit and the oversteer needs a quick response. The noise. And Sports Series dominant the entry-point
McLaren still feels benign and trustworthy at the limit, and while people range and most pomp. Ruthless- to the Sports
it’s hard not to be sucked in by the burning intensity of its will stare at comparable to ly capable and Series range. It
you, you could the 650S that remorselessly looks much the
delivery. Ultimately, though, it’s more enjoyable to thread the
have had a very just went of fast, the 570S same as a 570S,
McLaren fast and smooth cross-country, easing in and out of nice kitchen, sale, with the delivers like costs £14k less,
the throttle, marvelling at the pace you can keep up, feeding off bathroom and same carbon a cyborg on and loses just
holiday for the tub and a repeat; no 30bhp. Expect
price diferential de-tuned mistakes, no a hardcore LT
to the Audi. version of its V8. mercy. version soon.
72 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018
 AUDI R8 RWS
> Price £112,450
> As tested £116,550
> Engine 5204cc 40v V10,
533bhp @ 7800rpm, 398lb ft @ 6500rpm
> Transmission 7-speed dual-clutch auto,
MCLAREN 570S rear-wheel drive
> Suspension Double wishbones all-round
> Price £149,000
> Performance 3.7sec 0-62mph, 198mph,
> As tested £161,610
22.8mpg, 283g/km CO2
> Engine 3799cc 32v twin-turbo V8, 562bhp @
> Weight 1590kg
7400rpm, 443lb ft @ 5000rpm
> On sale Now
> Transmission 7-speed dual-clutch auto,
rear-wheel drive +++++
> Suspension Double wishbones all-round
> Performance 3.2sec 0-62mph, 204mph,
26.6mpg, 249g/km CO2
> Weight 1452kg
> On sale Now
+++++

Truth is you take

a deeper breath
before turning
of the McLaren’s
stability control

May 2018 | SUBSC RIB E TO CAR & SAVE UP TO 62 %! G RE ATMAGA ZINES.CO.UK /CAR 73
Analysis New Ford Focus

74 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018

 REASONS NEW
FOCUS WILL SAVE
THE HATCHBACK
The hatchback is on the
ropes, reeling from the
rise of the crossover. But
Ford is fighting back. Hard
Words Phil McNamara | Photography Olgun Kordal

May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 75

 ERE’S A BRAIN-TEASER for you: name the
most influential cars launched in Europe over
the last 20 years. How about the Qashqai for
inventing the crossover, the Leaf and Prius
for popularising alternative powertrains, the
Mini for making superminis aspirational and
the X5 for making SUVs sporty? But there’s
one more, a car that exerts a faintly mystical
power on 40-something road testers, an
unpretentious family hatchback that’s cele-
brating its twentieth birthday this year with
an all-new model. That car is the Ford Focus.
You know the story: before Focus, CAR dis-
missed Ford as the cynical purveyor of attractively styled but
mechanically stunted ’80s cars. But a gaggle of engineers led
by Welshman Richard Parry-Jones convinced management
the Mk5 Escort’s replacement would be different. ‘It trans-
formed us as a company,’ says Joe Bakaj, NVH (noise, vibra-
tion and harshness) engineer on the first Focus, now Ford of
Lowered ST-Line
gets bespoke
springs, dampers
and anti-roll
bars; costs from
£21,570
76 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018
Europe’s product development boss. ‘And it set new standards
for design, packaging, technology and driving dynamics.’
That it did, Joe, that it did. The 1998 Focus was a hatchback
gamechanger, blooding a multi-link rear suspension with
unequal-length arms, to alter the camber as the body rolls
in corners. The enhanced grip accounts for some of that
road-tester love, but the Focus did comfort too. It raised the
bar for hatchback ride and handling; VW had to follow suit
with the Golf Mk5’s independent rear end. The Focus also
gave feelsome rack-and-pinion steering to the masses. And
its New Edge design was the automotive equivalent of Cubist
art, rendering neat and tidy designs like the Vauxhall Astra
and Peugeot 306 as outmoded as Impressionism.
But that was 20 years ago: how do you make the Focus mat-
ter in 2018? Can it stem the flight to crossover SUVs? How
does the new model, ahead of UK sales in September priced
from £17,930, balance driver aids and driving dynamics? And
how does the drivetrain line-up adapt, with such pressure on
economy, emissions and electrification? Here’s how.
 Analysis New Ford Focus

Under that
handsome skin lurks
a box-fresh chassis
'THIS WAS A one-time chance with an all-new vehi-
cle,’ says Helmut Reder, the Focus’s vehicle line direc-
tor. The new architecture gave Ford the opportunity
to transform the proportions, cabin space, weight,
electronics and aerodynamics. In short, everything.
This five-door hatch (here in ST-Line trim) is barely
a thumb-width longer than the outgoing car, but it’s
now class-leading on interior space, Ford claims. The
base car’s 16-inch wheels have been dragged out to the
corners, freeing up 2700mm between them (a 52mm
wheelbase increase). That’s good for the proportions,
as is the lower roof – and the ST-Line is dropped a fur-
ther 10mm on its sports suspension, over 17in rims.
And the new design, led by European design di-
rector Amko Leenarts, has lovely attention to detail.
The line of the windscreen pillar points downwards
precisely to the front wheel centre caps, and the
triangular rear pillar sits directly over the back rim.
Wraparound tail lamps visually extend the width of
the car, and the voluptuous sheet metal on bonnet and
doors is pinched to create muscles that beautifully No hatchback prioritises
catch the light. This design adds something no Focus
has managed before: genuine desire. dynamics like this one
The architecture employs a mix of metals and thick-
nesses to get the optimum blend of stiffness, weight 'THESE DAYS, DYNAMIC performance isn’t enough
saving and crash performance. The front structure to sell cars. Connectivity, cabin space, the man-
and one crash load path are made from aluminium, machine interface – if you’re not up to customers’
while boron steel – which adds strength while reduc- expectations, you don’t get considered,’ says Joe Bakaj.
ing mass – is also used. This patchwork quilt of mate- That said, the development chief has reassuring
rials yields a maximum saving of 88kg compared with words for car enthusiasts, and for customers who ap-
the outgoing car, while torsional rigidity improves by preciate a different kind of connectivity, that between
20 per cent – but by up to half in an area that’s crucial a communicative steering rack and a responsive front
for driving dynamics: suspension attachment. end. ‘With the new architecture, you still get a car that’s
fun to drive and our trademark steering feel, things
that customers have always loved about the Focus. It
puts a smile on your face on a country road.’
More powerful
and heavier Two rear suspensions are offered. The smaller en-
models get SLA gines (1.0-litre petrol and 1.5-litre diesel) use a similar
suspension
twist beam to the Fiesta ST, featuring Ford’s patented
force vectoring springs, which channel cornering loads
into the spring to boost lateral stiffness and sharpen
turn-in. Bigger engines, plus the estate, plusher
Vignale versions and the Active (think Focus that’s
wandered onto an Audi Allroad production line) all get
short-/long-arm (SLA) suspension. Rubber isolation
bushes between body and rear subframe are claimed to
reduce noise and vibration.
Customers can link the SLA with adaptive damping,
which adjusts the shocks every two milliseconds based
on inputs from the body, suspension and steering.
And all models get the Focus’s first adaptive drive mode
system, which varies the feel of the electric power-
assisted steering, throttle, automatic transmission and
even the Active Cruise Control through Eco, Normal
and Sport modes.

May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 77

Analysis New Ford Focus
No digital dash
While you can see
digital info between
the analogue dials,
it can’t switch to
full-screen 3D nav
mode, unlike in a
VW. Driver’s seat
drops nice and low,
addressing an age-
old Focus bugbear

Its aero is just one

class-leading attribute
MARGINAL GAINS were the making of cycling’s
Team Sky before its reputation went downhill faster
than 130km/h descent king Marcus Burghardt. Ford
too has been layering on incremental performance
enhancements, to make its family hatchback cleave
the air more smoothly. So all Focus models now have
a vent outboard of the foglamps to channel part of the
front airflow through the body and into the wheelarch.
A secondary flow follows the lower bumper’s contours to
the wheels, where the two streams unite to calm the air
in this incredibly turbulent area of the car.
There are heaps more efficiency-boosting measures: a
standard active front grille shutter, stiffer brake calipers
to reduce drag from the pads, a host of underbody shields
to smooth airflow under the car. And Ford has worked Shortcuts
Today’s Focus is
with Michelin to co-develop a new line of tyres that worst-in-class for
slash rolling resistance by one-fifth, supposedly without ugly switchgear
making the car handle like Bambi on ice. proliferation, but
Ford has binned
The upshot is a five-door hatch with a drag coefficient
half of them on the
of 0.273 – that’s ‘best-in-class by a big margin’ according Mk4. But there are
to Helmut Reder. It also sums up just how difficult it is still shortcuts to
to extract improvements – the outgoing Focus posted control climate and
audio – ’it’s not the
0.274. So to Ford’s best-in-class claims for handling and autonomous age
spaciousness you can add aerodynamics. That slickness yet,’ says design
helps yield a double-digit improvement in fuel efficiency. boss Amko Leenarts

FOCUS ESTATE FOCUS ACTIVE FOCUS VIGNALE

The estate preserves the hatch’s
handsome side glass and surfac-
ing, while grafting on a big rear
overhang for a 1.7m load length.
SLA rear axle frees up a 1.15m-wide
Surprisingly attractive crossover
variant, adding 4x4 styling and
30mm ride-height boost, without
an SUV’s dynamic compromises.
Doesn’t look over-bodied despite
Luxury trim (from £25,450) is ful-
filling its raison d’etre of driving up
Ford transaction prices. Vignale is
marked out externally with unique
colours and a satin chrome strip

Because load bay, and Ford is delighted

with a parcel shelf you can work
the platform limiting wheel size to
18s. Cabin gets textile seats and
across the car’s chin; inside there's
leather upholstery and dashboard

there’s a one-handed and stow easily. rubberised trim. inserts made of fine-grain wood.

Focus for
everyone

78 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018

 Third-gen SYNC
ST-Line has the 8in
touchscreen that
comes with Ford’s
Sync 3 interface,
powered like many
cars by a BlackBerry
OS. It includes Apple
CarPlay and Android
Auto, plus improved
voice control

Auto ain’t boxy

Ford has blatantly
stolen Jaguar’s
rotary gear
selector to operate
its new eight-
speed automatic
transmission.
Essential to unlock
full benefits of driver-
assist technologies

The cabin ofers

space in spades
LET’S BE HONEST, the new Focus’s cabin will
not have Volkswagen’s interior team stringing
themselves up by their designer scarves. It majors
on rational benefits rather than surprise-and-
delight design or material flourishes.
The dashboard has been pushed 100mm closer
to the engine, freeing up more space for occupants.
Those in the rear are particularly spoiled, with more
leg and shoulder room than in rival hatches. And Ford
has made the middle rear seat more accommodating by mini-
Focus will be the
first European
mising the central tunnel, to reduce knee and ear skirmishes.
Ford with head- That has an engineering implication: no room for a prop-
up display; shaft, which scotches the prospect of conventional four-wheel
drivers can
customise the drive. Sources say Ford is considering a hang-on electric
info shown rear axle, as used by the Mini Countryman PHEV, as one
approach for hybridisation and all-wheel drive. Which would
be an intriguingly leftfield solution for the next Focus RS...
The big breakthrough – at least for Ford – is in connectivity,
if customers specify an embedded modem. You can turn the
car into a 4G wi-fi hotspot which works up to 10m away, even
with the engine off, and tether up to 10 devices. Downloading
the Ford Pass app enables you to remotely locate your car,
check the fuel level and whether it’s locked, and warm up the
cabin on cold days. The car will be able to alert the emergency
services in the event of an accident too.
There’s also Ford’s ingenious MyKey: programme your tes-
tosterone-addled son’s key to restrict top speed and incoming
calls, and disable the audio system if seatbelts aren’t in use.
And that would be terminally damaging to his street cred, es-
pecially if the car has the 675 watt B&O Play sound system.

May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 79


It has a fulsome
fan base
Mk1 (1998-2005)
Looked and drove like nothing else
around; 3m sold in its European
lifetime. Back then, SUVs were less
than 4% of the C-segment market
Mk2 (2005-2011)
Dificult second album syndrome,
though five-pot ST started something
great. 2.2m sold in Europe. By 2011,
SUVs totalled 16% of segment
Mk3 (2011-2018)
The global Focus, with big Chinese
sales and a US footprint, was world’s
top-selling car in 2012/13. Last year,
C-SUVs took 34% of Euro sales
80 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018
If we won’t buy
into Ford’s clean
diesels there are
plenty of petrols
The drivetrains
promise punch
and parsimony
FOR A STEP CHANGE in fuel efficiency you need new en-
gines, and three of the four Focus powerplants are box-fresh.
The UK’s Dunton diesel R&D centre has developed a new
2.0-litre, while the 1.5 diesel is a joint effort with PSA Groupe.
High-pressure common rails carefully meter out fuel to boost
economy and suppress noise, while exhaust gas recirculation
occurs over a wider operating range to minimise nitrogen
oxide emissions. Also helping in the war on NOx is an AdBlue
urea injection system on the 2.0-litre.
The big diesel also features Ford’s first steel piston: its phys-
ical size and maximum extension are reduced, as crucially is
friction. Max power is 148bhp; the 1.5-litre comes with 94 or
118bhp. Joe Bakaj admits Ford can’t predict diesel demand
due to the uncertainty facing the fuel: ‘Exhaust after-treat-
ment to meet the Real Driving Emissions test means diesels
are clean; it’s a shame society is turning away from them.’
That means the top-selling engine will likely be the up-
graded 1.0-litre turbo petrol, available with 84, 99 or 123bhp.
This triple gets a new cylinder head, higher-pressure injection
and a catalyser that heats up more rapidly to minimise CO2.
The 1.0-litre – and its 1.5-litre three-cylinder brother – also
feature cylinder deactivation and exhaust filters, reducing
particulate emissions by 90 per cent. The 1.5-litre is largely
the same as the unit in the new Fiesta ST (see page 24) but
tuned for low-end torque rather than peak power.
Transmission is via six-speed manual or eight-speed auto-
matic ’boxes. And what about fuel economy? Ford predicts an
11 per cent improvement, and base CO2 emissions of 94g/km
for the 1.5-litre diesel, and 108g/km for the 1.0-litre petrol.
 Analysis New Ford Focus

It’s more high-tech

than today’s Golf
FORD’S BIG PITCH for the last Focus was its suite of driver-
assistance tech; the Mk4 doubles down on that promise. ‘We
have more driver-assistance systems than our closest compet-
itors, the Golf, Astra and new Ceed,’ vows chief programme
engineer Glen Goold.
The Focus is introducing two technologies we’ve tested in
CAR’s Tech section: ZF’s Wrong Way Alert, which monitors
no-entry signs to warn a Focus driving the wrong way down a
motorway on-ramp, and Bosch Evasive Steering Assist, which One advance is
adds or subtracts torque from your steering input to help active cruise that
obeys variable
avoid an upcoming obstacle. Another claimed family-hatch speed limits
first is pre-collision detection system monitoring for cyclists,
as well as pedestrians or other cars.
But perhaps the most appealing bit of kit for drivers using drivers, bending through curves and even adjusting the beam
Britain’s network of gummed-up smart motorways is Active pattern to best illuminate upcoming corners.
Cruise Control with Traffic Sign Recognition. The forward There are more chapters to be written in the Focus tech
camera will monitor the variable speed limit and speed up story. Sources say a mild-hybrid Focus will follow in 2019,
or slow the Focus according to the road signs; throw in the and the new architecture is future-proofed for plug-in capa-
car’s lane-centring and stop/start abilities and the Focus can bility too. And ‘the Ford performance team is hard at work at
theoretically surf jams all on its Level 2 lonesome, so long as Lommel’ to up the ante on Focus driving dynamics with a hot
you keep your hands on the wheel. The headlamps can be ST version, admits Joe Bakaj. But that’s for another day. With
smart too, automatically dipping to avoid dazzling oncoming this forensically conceived update, Ford
looks good to deliver on Bakaj’s
goal: ‘To achieve the ultimate
evolution of the Focus species.’
And be a worthy successor to
one of the most influential
European cars of the past
20 years.

Smart lighting
anticipates
corners and dips
automatically

May 2018 | SUBSC RIB E TO CAR & SAVE UP TO 62 %! G RE ATMAGA ZINES.CO.UK /CAR 81
 Toyota C-HR
1.2 Turbo
Dynamic

Toyota’s C-HR and Mini’s Countryman are crossover sales go

82 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018

 Giant Test VW T-Roc vs rivals

Volkswagen
T-Roc 1.0 TSI
Design

Mini Cooper
Countryman

d. Can VW’s much-vaunted, very polished T-Roc pan them?

Words Jake Groves | Photography Greg Pajo

May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 83

 Mini’s recipe is simple: retain the
hatch’s character but give the
buyer more of everything

This is what success

looks like in 2018:
bold, bright and
family-friendly

84 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018


W
OLFSBURG IS PINNING a lot on the new T-Roc, its
shiny new crossover. VW killed off the Scirocco in order
for the crossover to take the slow-selling coupe’s place on
VW’s Portuguese production line. Head honcho Herbert
Diess says VW is ‘evolving into an SUV brand’, and VW
counts two versions of the Tiguan (regular and Allspace)
and the Touareg among its SUV offerings in Europe. A
Seat Arona-based T-Cross is coming later in 2018, and a
T-Roc convertible will be built in Austria from 2020.
Why? Because the ‘dual-purpose’ segment was the only
part of the UK market to grow in 2017. One in every five
new cars sold was of the chunky, tall-riding kind.
VW UK expects the T-Roc to become one of its three top
sellers, joining the Polo and Golf, while doubtless stealing
Giant Test VW T-Roc vs rivals
some sales from those traditional hatchbacks. It’s 24mm
shorter than a Golf, but taller and wider and with a much
bigger boot nestled beneath that angular, coupe-like rear
hatch. Perfect for those aiming to trade up.
It shares elements with the Golf and that burgeoning
VW Group collection crossovers and SUVs, but T-Roc
has personality enough to merit being treated as an
entirely distinct product. Your engine choice (all turbo)
spans 1.0-litre petrol to 2.0-litre petrol and diesel, with
a 1.5 petrol in between, and a choice of manual or DSG
gearboxes. All-wheel drive is reserved for the big engines.
It’s available in four trim levels; S, SE, Design and SEL.
The T-Roc faces off against one of the UK’s most popular
crossovers, the Mini Countryman. By some margin the
biggest car Mini makes, if I had a pound for every time I
heard someone say ‘they should have called it the Maxi’
I’d have enough to buy one. But it’s such a success because
the recipe is simple: retain the Mini hatch’s character but
give the buyer more – more space, more drivetrain options
and more flexibility. It has the same brief as the T-Roc –
to give Mini hatch owners something familiar to trade
up into. The recipe is clearly working. Now in its second
generation, the Countryman is the second most popular
car in Mini’s line-up: with more than 11,000 sold in 2017,
that’s a 17 per cent share of all Mini sales in the UK.
Its underpinnings share much with the BMW X1, but
the two cars don’t look or feel alike. The Countryman
May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 85
 Dash materials not from the
Group’s top drawer and body-
coloured inlays look cheap.
At least switchgear and steering
wheel feel solid.
Crisp, glossy infotainment
a doddle to use and
thankfully keeps a couple of
manual dials. Think Blue
training feature neatly
encouraging eco driving.
is available in various combinations of
petrol or diesel, manual or auto, front- and
all-wheel drive, with the familiar Mini
family choice of Cooper, Cooper S and
John Cooper Works spec, with a load of
options and packs to pick from.
The Toyota C-HR (Coupe High Rider)
KEY TECH: VOLKSWAGEN has a slightly different mission. It’s less
about appealing to those trading up and
Cylinder deactivation more about getting people interested in
If the thrummy triple isn’t enough
for you, VW’s other engine choices Toyota in the first place – moreprecisely,
include a clever 148bhp 1.5 turbo a different, younger bunch of people who
petrol. This TSI Evo uses cylinder
deactivation tech to assist in fuel weren’t browsing the Toyota range at all,
eficiency, shutting of two cylinders because they couldn’t picture themselves
smoothly under low engine load. in an Avensis or RAV4. Toyota has given
We’ve tried it and it really helps mpg.
its wilder side a rare outing, said ‘stuff
it’ to design and packaging conventions
and carved a brave new path for its compact crossover. With
its elaborate rear lights, whopper of a rear wing and over-sized
alloys, it wouldn’t look out of place as a show-stand concept car
– it certainly turns heads on the public road. It’s a truly striking
package. Pry off the badges, park it next to an Avensis and few
would guess they were from the same brand. At the very least it’s
thoroughly un-boring to look at, even if enthusiasm for its looks
isn’t entirely universal. It’s finding plenty of owners in the UK;
Toyota sold 14,677 of them – around 14 per cent of all Toyota’s
2017 annual sales – last year.
That wild exterior isn’t there merely to disguise mundane
underpinnings. The C-HR’s chassis is based on the same
hardware as the Prius, but heavily modified for duty here, with
the development work carried out on European roads and
86 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018
T-Roc’s pews flatter than a
steamrollered pancake, and
are more than happy to give
the driver a numb bum after
as little as an hour at the wheel.
racetracks. As well as our 1.2-litre turbo four, there’s a 1.8 petrol
hybrid, derived from the current Prius. The 1.2 is the only version
available with a manual gearbox and front-wheel drive – hence
its inclusion here. The hybrid comes with a continously variable
transmission (CVT), which is also available with the 1.2. There
are three main spec levels; Icon, Excel and Dynamic (tested here).
All three test cars have a small-capacity turbocharged petrol
engine, a manual gearbox and front-wheel drive. The weeniest is
the T-Roc’s 113bhp three-cylinder 1.0-litre TSI – the same engine
used in a lot of small and mid-size VW Group cars including
the Skoda Octavia, Seat Ateca and excellent Up GTI – while the
C-HR adds a couple of hundred cc to the party for one extra bhp.
Punchiest on paper is the Countryman: you’ll find a 1.5-litre
turbocharged triple under that bulbous bonnet, good for 134bhp.
It’s the same unit that sees action in the Mini hatch and BMW’s
1-, 2- and 3-series.
All three are also personalisation-ready, with options lists
bringing the scope to tweak every detail. Mini has been doing
this for almost 20 years, though this test car isn’t perhaps the
greatest showcase for the possibilities on offer – white with
black wheels gives it a grumpy panda look. Our C-HR is a decent
combination, if on the restrained side, but rest assured there are
some far more challenging colour combinations available if you
want them. With the T-Roc you need to buy into Design spec (or
higher) if you want to go all Jackson Pollock with the paint, roof
and interior trim options.
I start out in the Countryman, thrumming along gently
twisting and turning rural A-roads that reveal quite a lot about
the big Mini from the get-go. You’re struck first by how little of
the engine you hear at speed. There’s generous soundproofing,
so that on the move you’re left with just a little tyre roar and
 Giant Test VW T-Roc vs rivals

Mini’s animated LED halo

around infotainment system a
gimmick but well executed. It
can show start-stop activation,
drive mode changes and more.

Widescreen infotainment
screen is BMW iDrive in
disguise with high frame-rate
animations and a premium feel –
shame it’s too low
for lankier drivers.
Supportive, body-hugging
seats can be specced in this
part-leather, part-tweed
combo. Looks great, feels
durable and adds character.

Toyota’s infotainment
system looks behind the curve
compared to rest of interior;
easy to use, though, and JBL
sound system is stellar.

Many, many diferent

materials living together in
something like harmony.
C-HR’s design translates
inside and metallic blue
blade gives a real
concept-car vibe.
Diamonds really are the C-HR’s
best friend – the shape is
everywhere from the climate
buttons to the cupholders and
indentations in the headlining.

May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 87

 A modest, front-wheel-drive spec brings
out the best in Volkswagen’s new baby

wind noise. It’s only when you push it that it gets really vocal, and
a tad gruff. Power is progressive through the rev range, right up
to the redline, but it never feels urgent.
What strikes you first, though, is that the Countryman
doesn’t actually feel that crossover-like. Firmly grip the fat-
rimmed wheel and you quickly get a sense of the weight and
precision of the steering, even at low speeds. On weaving roads
the responsive steering and well-resolved body control make for
a car you’re happy to hustle, barely slowing for corners.
But these three aren’t destined to spend much time hustling,
which makes the Countryman’s adherence to Mini’s brand
DNA both admirable and mildly puzzling. Crossovers should
excel squeezing into car parks, negotiating city centre traffic and
swerving around badly-parked cars in cul-de-sacs. Bowling into
Leicester’s frantic city centre means dealing with a rapid-fire
succession of traffic lights, speed cameras and erratic traffic –
and the Mini isn’t entirely comfortable.
A family-centric car shouldn’t feel like it’s tapping its fingers
in traffic, on edge like a junkie in the throes of withdrawal. The
clutch is supercar heavy, making your left leg beg for mercy
in stop-start congestion, while the short, meaty shifter – just
moments ago your trusted ally on those twisty B-roads – works
against you now, jarring with its weighty clunkiness. The firm
springs don’t help, struggling over even modest potholes. It all

88 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018


T-Roc light and
easy in trafic, while
C-HR smothers
potholes
adds up to the feeling of a fish out of water.
Jump from the Countryman to the
T-Roc and the VW feels woolly by
comparison. The T-Roc’s just so much
more chilled out, with a slick six-speeder
at your left hand and a much more pliant
ride that deals happily with scarred
surfaces. VW’s little TSI is the most
eager engine here too, despite being the
KEY TECH: MINI
weakest. It’s always ready for the sudden
Rev matching bursts of urgency you sometimes need in
The Mini hatch’s rev-matching tech
for slicker gearshifts – rarely seen town, complete with a gravelly growl and
this side of a Civic Type R – features a hearty glut of midrange torque.
on the Countryman. It’s active
This configuration brings out the best
regardless of the Mini’s drive mode –
Green, Mid and Sport. The C-HR has in the VW. When I first drove the T-Roc
the tech too, activated by the i-MT on the European press launch the test
switch far down the dash. cars were all high-powered TSIs or TDIs
with all-wheel drive and DSG twin-clutch
boxes. For all that those niceties bring, that engineering adds a
whole load of extra weight. They felt a little stodgy and provided
little to write home about in terms of driving dynamics. It’s a
different story here, up to a point. Squirt it down the same road
as the Mini and the T-Roc is less inclined to let you know exactly
what’s going on, for better or for worse. Where the Countryman
Giant Test VW T-Roc vs rivals
If your driving ever
takes you outdoors,
all-wheel drive is
available
feels tight and communicative
on decent road, the T-Roc does a
good impression of a Golf; rapid
and trustworthy, if a touch numb.
That’s no bad thing, but it’s the
Mini that has the last word in driver
involvement here.
Trying to get a word in edgeways
is the Coupe High Rider. Is it a
tall-riding go-kart like the Mini?
Not really. Is it a super-light traffic
breezer like the VW? Nope, not
really that either. The Toyota’s
steering is neither progressive
nor light enough to pip the VW,
With a young
family, the textbook nor meaty and pin-sharp like the
shift from hatch to Mini’s. The pedals lurk in this same
Countryman…
slushy void; they’re light enough for
town driving but bring little to the
party when the road opens up. It’s the comfiest car here by some
margin, riding over pockmarked roads without a flinch, yet body
roll is equally well contained – impressive stuff, were it not for
that disinterested steering.
The flat, fairly dull four-cylinder engine doesn’t help
the C-HR’s conspicuous lack of dynamism. Its delivery is
impressively linear but the only way to make what feels like
decent progress is to rev it hard. Torque is frustratingly scarce.
Truth be told the comfy ride and soft-edged driving controls
are a better fit with the Prius-derived hybrid C-HR. It’s not that
much more expensive, running costs should be lower – should…
– and the electric motor alone provides more torque than this
1.2-litre turbo four. When the C-HR plays the suburban prowler
so well, why rev when you can waft and whirr?
So the C-HR’s no go-kart but there’s much to like here, not
least what must be by some margin the wildest Toyota interior
of all time. There are more material types and unexpected
shapes on show here than the catwalk at London Fashion Week,
including a striking blue blade that scythes right across both
doors and over the top of the infotainment screen, tying together
everything from the soft-touch plastic dash to the leather-bound
armrests and the diamond-relief door inlays. That diamond
theme’s everywhere in the C-HR: the wheel and dashboard
buttons; indentations in the headlining; the cupholder
May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 89
 Volkswagen T-Roc 1.0 Toyota C-HR 1.2 Turbo Mini Cooper
TSI Design Dynamic Countryman
Price | £21,125 Price | £24,595 Price | £22,440
As tested | £24,385 As tested | £28,235 As tested | £30,740
Engine | 999cc 16v turbocharged 3-cyl Engine | 1197cc 16v turbocharged 4-cyl Engine | 1499cc 16v turbocharged 3-cyl
Transmission | 6-speed manual, front-wheel drive Transmission | 6-speed manual, front-wheel drive Transmission | 6-speed manual, all-wheel drive
Suspension | MacPherson strut front, Suspension | MacPherson strut front, Suspension | MacPherson strut front,
multi-link rear double-wishbone rear multi-link rear
Made of | Steel Made of | Steel Made of | Steel

1565mm

1557mm
1573mm

1819mm 4234mm 1795mm 4360mm 1822mm 4299mm

Power and torque Weight Power to weight

We say | Toyota’s extra cylinder We say | Hollow interior probably helps with We say | …yet the Mini is the punchiest here; Toyota
trumped by Mini’s extra capacity T-Roc’s dainty weight; Mini lardy in comparison… lags behind in outright grunt

113bhp @ 5000rpm
VW
148lb ft @ 2000rpm

Toyota

Toyota
114bhp @ 5600rpm
1320kg
136lb ft @ 1500rpm
VW Mini

Mini
134bhp @ 4400rpm
1270kg 1440kg VW Toyota Mini

162lb ft @ 1400rpm 89bhp 86bhp 93bhp

per tonne per tonne per tonne

0-62mph Oficial and test mpg Top speed

We say | Mini We say | Toyota needed biggest post-test drink We say | Well, they aren’t exactly sports
only one to dip out of the three cars, are they?
under 10sec,
T-Roc feels more
eager than its
figure admits VW 100
116mph
VW Toyota

15
50

10.1sec Test Mini Toyota

0
VW
Test
27.4mpg Test 118mph
Toyota Oficial 27.1mpg
10.9 sec V
W
37.1mpg 47.1mpg Oficial
Mini
20
Mi

126mph
0

Oficial 41.2mpg
ni

0
To
Mini yot 55.4mpg
a
9.6sec

Fuel tank Range C02 Lease rates

We say | Our Mini test car has larger We say | Countryman’s big tank isn’t We say | Toyota relies on the hybrid We say | Watch out for the VW’s
fuel tank as part of Activity Pack enough to pip the T-Roc here C-HR to balance out the numbers much bigger up-front payment

VW: 408 miles

Toyota: 301 miles VW £215
Mini: 364 miles Mini 36 months, 10k miles pa, £4508 up front

VW Toyota Mini
VW
130 g/km Toyota £273
50 50 61
litres litres litres 117 Toyota
36 months, 10k miles pa, £2460 up front

g/km

136
g/km
Mini £249
36 months, 10k miles pa, £2243 up front

90 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018


1st
The best all-rounder
of the three: perky
engine, easy to drive
and good value
surrounds. There’s real attention to detail in here, even if the
infotainment and instrument binnacle displays have the screen
resolution of one of those cheap VTech tablets parents give their
sprogs to keep them quiet in supermarkets. At least the JBL
audio system is up there with the best on the market.
What the interior lacks, though, is any sense of space. The
low coupe roofline makes the whole cockpit dark, with the rear
especially claustrophobic. That swooshing rear window line
might look cool from outside but it means your little ones have
an ice cube’s hope in hell of getting a view from the window – not
something they’ll appreciate on a long drive. The boot is also
measly in outright capacity and the rear seats don’t fold flat like
those of its rivals, making lugging boxy things a faff.
By contrast the Mini feels – and is – refreshingly spacious. It’s
by far the most practical cabin and boot here, with even a lanky
6ft 3in driver like me having the room to sit behind myself with
legroom to spare. The big boot also has a low load lip.
From the driver’s seat the Mini’s less roomy, but you don’t
mind because the cabin is well designed and built from quality
materials. Every button or dial is either comically sized or
oddly shaped, but press, flick or twist anything and you get
a comforting sense of robustness. Still, there are a couple of
ergonomic niggles. The infotainment screen is way too low
to glance at easily and the armrest between the seats gets in
the way more than it helps. It also irks that you can’t really get
away with having a truly basic Countryman, because Mini is
criminally tight with standard kit. Tick the Chili Pack box and
you’re treated to a smattering of luxuries that not only help you
feel pampered but also help your wallet at resale time.
VW, meanwhile, can tart up the T-Roc’s cockpit with bright
inlays all it likes but there’s no escaping how budget the
dashboard feels and looks compared to the other two. The
body-coloured inlays, while effective at piercing the traditional
VW interior gloom, don’t feel built to last, and the seats are
about as supportive as your mum when you went through ‘that
May 2018 | SUBSC RIB E TO CAR & SAVE UP TO 62 %! G RE ATMAGA ZINES.CO.UK /CAR
Giant Test VW T-Roc vs rivals
3rd 2nd
Comfortable cruiser, Great fun to drive, well
striking inside and out built and the most
but impractical and practical but lacks last
gutless degree of usability
phase’. Will you care, though? Maybe not,
especially given the glossy infotainment
system nicked from the Golf, the excellent
driving position and the melange of
genuinely useful storage spaces. It’s
austere in the back, but at least it’s roomy
enough for your lanky, brooding teens
and the boot is only five litres smaller
than the Countryman’s. I doubt your dog
would want to be cooped up behind the KEY TECH: TOYOTA
coupe-cut tailgate, mind… Hybrid alternatives
The really good news? That going If cheaper fuel bills and a bit of silent
crossover doesn’t mean accepting running are more your thing, you can
pick the C-HR Hybrid, which uses
dullness. The C-HR shines best when the Prius powertrain to great efect.
you’re out showing off its zany looks to A plug-in hybrid Countryman is
your neighbours, revelling in its cutting- available, too, with a claimed electric
range of 25 miles.
edge interior design and gliding like a
Range Rover over those huge potholes on
the school run. But your kids won’t appreciate being forced into
the back seats, if they can even reach the rear door handles to
climb aboard in the first place.
The Mini is the most practical car here and by far the best to
drive, with crisp controls and a taut chassis worthy of a hatch.
But there are a couple of interior niggles, and there’s no doubt it’s
by far the least cosseting of this trio. If you just want to tune out,
the Mini’s not the place to do it.
The T-Roc’s budget-conscious interior smarts, particularly as
the Design specification costs £2175 more than the S, but there’s
a high level of kit and the VW’s almost as practical as the the
Mini – it’s a rounded, pretty compelling package. And this is
definitely the best way to spec it. Keeping it simple helps keep
it light, with the engine from the Up GTI and drive to the front
wheels via a sweet manual gearbox. So the T-Roc edges the win,
if only by a fly’s eyelash. For a slick, distintive all-rounder, look
no further.
91
 IN SID E THE G O ODWO OD MEMBERS ’ MEE TIN G

SOMETHING
FOR What does the world’s
best development
driver do to relax?
Race in the world’s
best classic event,

THE
naturally. Join Chris
Goodwin and his Lotus
at the 76th Goodwood
Members’ Meeting
Words Ben Barry | Photography Richard Pardon

WEEKEND
92 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018
May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 93
 S UNDAY OF THE 76th Goodwood
Members’ Meeting and Chris Goodwin
is pondering the suspension set-up of his
Lotus 23B. In a few hours’ time he’ll race
in the Gurney Cup, but for now the flimsy
rear bodywork is propped open to reveal
the 1600cc Lotus Cortina twin-cam engine.
He’s talking me round the rear suspension
with its tiny dampers and springs and
slender anti-roll bar. ‘That’s all there is,’
he laughs. ‘All I can do is play around with
those three things and try to go faster.’
The wind’s so cold that my fingers are mottled pink and white,
and grapple torpidly with pen and paper, the track’s damp after
snow the night before, and gut feel says Goodwin should soften
off the suspension, to give it more compliance so that the tyres
can bite into the greasy surface. Goodwin disagrees. ‘Maybe if it
was wet and warmer I’d go softer,’ he smiles, ‘but I need to get
heat into the tyres, and that means a firmer set-up.’
I don’t argue. Not only is the 51-year-old an expert race driver
who’s previously won the Gurney Cup, he’s best known as
McLaren’s ‘chief test driver’, a key cog in the machine respon-
sible for McLaren Automotive’s rise from patchy MP4-12C to
sublime 675LT and 720S. He seemed like a McLaren lifer. Then
in December last year, Goodwin walked away from 20 years at
Woking, taking on a new challenge at Aston Martin and the far
superior job title of ‘expert high-performance test driver’.
Some say he left because of a clash with CRS Racing; Goodwin
has an interest in the race outfit, which prepares McLaren GT3
cars, but McLaren CEO Mike Flewitt wants to take that business
in-house. Goodwin is too diplomatic to say as much.
He’s busy. This week he’s been at Portimao, testing on the back
of the Vantage launch (p102), at Paul Ricard in GT3 machinery,
and in the simulator at Red Bull. Most of us would be exhausted,
but Goodwin is relaxing with a weekend’s racing on one of the
country’s most demanding circuits. His dad’s here, so too his
wife, and post-race they’re all eager to get to the pub. Not before
Goodwin’s left his mark on this fantastic event, though.
If you’ve been to the Festival of Speed or the Revival, the
Members’ Meeting will feel quiet. This is intentional. ‘When
we re-opened the circuit in 1998 after it closed in 1966, we
got five days’ planning permission to run events,’ recalls the
Duke of Richmond, the aristocrat formerly known as Lord
March, and owner of the Goodwood estate. ‘The Revival
accounted for three days, so we wondered what to do with the
other two. We looked at motorbikes, but the Members’ Meetings
were real grass-roots events at Goodwood. There were seven or
eight a year in the early days, and there’d been 70 or 71 of them
before the closure. They’re an important part of our history,so
we wanted to recreate that feel with an event that opened the
season and gave something back to our members.’ 

94 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018

Inside Goodwood Members’ Meeting

TO RELAX,
GOODWIN’S
RACING AT
ONE OF THE
COUNTRY’S MOST
DEMANDING
CIRCUITS

Far smaller crowds

than Goodwood’s
other events make
for great access

May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 95

Goodwin fends
of Richard Meins’
thundering Ford
GT40 prototype

THE FORMULA 500 RACERS’

‘MINUTE OF NOISE’ IS A
THUNDEROUS, VISCERAL RACKET
96 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018
 Inside Goodwood Members’ Meeting

You want Emanuele Pirro revving the nuts off the ex-Count

Only members can buy tickets, which means paying at least
£39 to join the Goodwood Road and Racing Club Fellowship. A
weekend ticket is then at least a further £120. There’s no dress
code (unlike the Revival), less fluff in terms of presentation
(though the Main Hall eaterie has a Hogwarts vibe and St
Trinian-types singing), and around 20,000 visitors compared
with the 160,000 who show up for each day of the Revival. The
Revival’s insistence on originality is also relaxed. ‘Would you
allow the new “continuation” cars from Aston and Jag to come
along?’ I ask. ‘Good question,’ ponders the Duke.
The low-key atmosphere puts the spotlight firmly on the
metal. Some of the invited cars do overlap with the Revival, so
you’re still treated to waist-high Ford GT40s, to the warm burble
of Aston DB4 GTs throttle-blipping past you in the paddock, to
skinny-tyred Bugatti Type 35s with pirate-ship steering wheels,
and there’s still top-class racing courtesy of motorsport royalty.
Volpi Ferrari 250GT SWB ‘Breadvan’? World Touring Car ‘My hat’s warm, if a
champ Rob Huff drifting an E-Type and going faster than any- little itchy. Yours?’
‘Can we just talk
one else? We saw all that at the 76th Members’ Meeting. about the racing?’
‘It’s a pensioners’ day out,’ jokes BTCC legend Patrick Watts,
now 61, after he’s punted off the track in the Gerry Marshall
Trophy. ‘But if rock stars can keep on touring, why shouldn’t we
keep on racing? We’re no slower than we were!’
Wander the paddock and you’ll find more modern cars too,
many of them high-performance Ford Fiestas, Escorts and
Capris, but BMWs, Rovers and Porsches, too – indeed, Watts is
driving a Capri. For a Generation X-er like me, there’s more of an
emotional pull to those formative years.
Cars invited to the Revival competed during the circuit’s
first era, from 1948 to 1966; the track is fast and unforgiving,
and never was upgraded to the safety standards required for
quicker machinery. The Members’ Meeting gets more free rein,
but those safety concerns still throttle it back. Cars like the
Porsche 935 ‘Moby Dick’ run in high-speed demonstrations with
a handful of period rivals. Later on Sunday we watch as Jochen
Mass squeezes out past the rollcage and hands over to stick-thin
Dan Harper, the latest Porsche Carrera Cup GB scholar. It’s the
driver-change as generational baton-pass, and we eavesdrop as
the old master carefully details where to take it easy before the
young hotshoe heads onto the circuit in a rush of flat-six turbo
chatter. ‘Huge credit to those who raced these cars in that era,’
Harper says later. ‘I didn’t realise how challenging they’d be.’
Formula 5000 racers are allowed on the circuit with similar
‘demonstration run’ caveats. These single-seaters combine back-
of-a-fag-packet aerodynamics with – usually – thumping great
Chevy V8s with over 500bhp. They honour commentator Henry
Hope-Frost, killed in a road accident in March, with a minute
of noise, and they make such a thunderous, visceral racket that
your instinct is to run away, far from Goodwood, not climb into
the driver’s seat, buckle up and head out. We watch the demo
runs in actual snow on Saturday, wincing as one slithers over the
snow-flecked grass and punches the tyre wall.
Other post-1966 cars race for real. The distinction, explains
motorsport director Lloyd McNeil, comes down to lap times
– contain the times and the MSA will let newer cars race. This
includes the brilliantly eclectic Group 1 category, which closely
resembles production-car specification. Competitors include a
Datapost Austin Metro, plus Rover SD1s, Camaros, Capris and
Mk2 Escorts. Back in the day they’d have been on slicks for 

THE UNMISSABLE RACES

GERRY MARSHALL CARACCIOLA SPORT- MOSS TROPHY GURNEY CUP SEARS TROPHY
TROPHY AND SPRINT WAGENRENNEN Who’s it named after? Who’s it named after? Who’s it named after?
Who’s it named after? Who’s it named after? Stirling, obviously Dan, the recently Jack, two-time British
That burly bloke who Rudolf, the first non-Ital- The era 1960-1962 departed US race driver Saloon Car winner
raced Vauxhall Firenzas ian to win the Mille Miglia The cars Aston DB4 GTs, The era 1960s The era 1958-1963
The era 1970-1982 The era 1920s and 1930s Porsche 356s, Jaguar The cars Lotus 23Bs, The cars Jag Mk2s, Lotus
The cars Capris, The cars Alfa 8Cs, E-Types and more GT40s, Shelby Daytonas, Cortinas, Alfa Giulias…
Camaros, Fiestas, Minis… Bugatti Type 35s… The talent Stig Porsche 910s… The talent BTCC aces
The talent Blundell, The talent Jochen Mass Blomqvist, Rob Huf, The talent Aston test Andrew Jordan and
Soper, Blomqvist… in a Mercedes 710 SSK Anthony Reid… driver Chris Goodwin Steve Soper
The talking point A first- The talking point Price- The talking point Huf The talking point The talking point The
corner shunt put a Capri less, powerful cars going oversteering past the Goodwin putting the four-way Lotus Cortina
and an SD1 in the wall at it in a snowstorm Ferrari Breadvan Lotus up the sharp end battle for victory

May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 97

Inside Goodwood Members’ Meeting

The Duke of
Richmond insists
the Members’
Meeting is
an important
counterpoint to the
riotously popular
Revival and Festival

Nick Mason’s
delicious Maser
Birdcage defies
the weather to
bring the glamour

BUILDING A WINNING FORD

AT GOODWOOD, the drivers who aren’t
famous are sometimes as interesting as
those who are. Take Kerry Michael. The
businessman was the commercial director
of the RAC until last year. He paired with
Mark Blundell in a beautiful Group A Mk2
Escort RS2000, in which he’s only around
a second a lap slower than Blundell.
His Mk2 was built from scratch
especially for last year’s Members’
Meeting. Group A spec means even
the brakes are standard, but Michael
estimates a £80k-£100k total build cost.
‘There was already an abundance of
Camaros, Capris and Rover SD1s, so we
went for the Escort,’ explains Michael.
‘I love Mk2 Escorts because they’re
awesome to race. They have such a
lovely, predictable balance. You can just
chuck them into corners and they’re very
predictable, talking to you all the time
where a Lotus Cortina can snap.’
Blundell and Michael drove the Mk2 to
victory in the Gerry Marshall Trophy. ‘It
was quite hairy out there with the weather.
It’s quick and unforgiving anyway, and if
dry races, but here they’re on treaded rubber, what-
you lose concentration for a second you’ll
have a moment,’ said Michael afterwards, ever the weather. They can lap in the high 1min 20s.
‘but I do love racing here.’ The Group 1 Gerry Marshall Trophy signs off
Saturday. They race into the dark, and we watch from
above the pits, teeth chattering as the rasp of four-cyl-
inder Mk2 Escorts mixes with the rumble of Rover V8s
and the roar of V6 Capris. But it’s Mark Blundell and
businessman Kerry Michael (see panel, left) who take the
win, chased all the way by Mike Jordan – father of BTCC
ace Andrew – in a gorgeous 3.0S Capri, the pair balancing
right on the limit of grip to deliver a thrilling finale. ‘Life in
the old dog yet!’ says Blundell as he energetically bounces
around parc ferme.
As we leave, I text Goodwin and ask where to meet tomor-
row. He could’ve just said ‘12.30pm, paddock’, but he adds
that ‘it was freezing today and I qualified mid-grid. Ahead of
all the other 1600s but in amongst the big V8s… a lot of fun!’
Even without an emoji, the buzz is palpable.
The next morning the Duke of Richmond anxiously eyes the
circuit, which was earlier specially treated to clear the snow. ‘It

98 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018


was so cold last night we even had our own gritters out on the
public roads at 4am,’ he grimaces. ‘But people are coming from
all over, it’s incredible – I met one bloke from Adelaide who
remembers snow at the April 1965 meeting!’
As temperatures hit 0.5°C, snow flurries return and the open-
topped ’20s and ’30s sports cars of the Caracciola Sportwagen-
rennen head out to the track. One commentator notes that ‘it’s
warming up a bit’, which makes us feel immensely patriotic, but
the show can’t carry on entirely regardless: all motorbike races
have been cancelled, and their owners reluctantly pack up.
At the appointed 12.30pm I hook up with Goodwin, who talks
me round his Lotus 23B. Conceived for Group 4 competition
in the ’60s, the 23B was built around a spaceframe chassis and
fibreglass body that makes the GT40s he’ll compete against
look like leviathans. This car was ‘a bag of scrap’ when Goodwin
bought it but he’s worked at it with his dad, and now it’s restored
back to the specification in which it raced in Swiss hillclimbs,
right down to the cream with twin red stripes livery and the
‘T22222’ serial code by the headlights. ‘I wanted it to be as au-
thentic as possible, so I could feel what life was like in that era,
Porsche 911s (and
904s) swelled the
grid for the Ronnie
Hoare Trophy
IN QUALIFYING, GOODWIN
CAN’T USE FULL POWER
IN FIFTH GEAR, SO TRICKY
IS THE GRIP
not an improved version of it.’ The 23B makes 180bhp but weighs
around 450kg and yesterday in qualifying Goodwin couldn’t use
full power in fifth, so tricky was the grip. His best lap of 1:54.44
around the 2.4-mile circuit will tumble if the snow holds off.
Goodwin also owns a McLaren M6 Can-Am car, a Formula
Junior, and even gets kicks in Rotax-powered go-karts, and he
insists it’s all relevant to the day job. He’s been brought in to
Aston Martin to develop its first ever mid-engined cars, overlap-
ping with ex-Lotus man Matt Becker ‘like a Venn diagram’.
First comes the Valkyrie hypercar, designed by F1 brainiac
Adrian Newey. Later comes a Ferrari 488 rival, plus a second 
May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 99
Inside Goodwood Members’ Meeting
GOODWIN SCORCHES
INTO VIEW AND RUNS THE
CHICANE WALL SO CLOSE THE
DAFFODILS FLINCH
hypercar to sit below Valkyrie and pick up where the McLaren P1
and LaFerrari left off.
‘I’m a big believer in basic principles,’ says Goodwin, ‘and a car
as pure as the Lotus reminds you what you’re ultimately trying to
achieve. I was racing my Can-Am car, jumping out of that feeling
more alive than ever, then tuning the McLaren P1. Now I’m play-
ing around with the Lotus’s anti-roll bars while also working
on active aero and active ride control on the Valkyrie. There are
some engineers developing cars and they’re the best cars they’ve
ever driven; they don’t have the benchmarks.’
Two hours later, Goodwin takes up his 12th slot on the grid.
With a wave of the flag the cars roar off the line and jostle into
Madgwick Corner before disappearing out of sight. We stand by
The hardy folk of
the Caracciola
Sportwagenrennen
100 SUBSC RIB E TO CAR & SAVE UP TO 62 %! G RE ATMAGA ZINES.CO.UK /CAR | May 2018
the chicane, framed by what looks like a brick wall but is actu-
ally polystyrene blocks – though the potted daffodils on top are
incentive enough not to crash into it. Goodwin scorches into
view chasing a blue Ford GT40 on his first lap, with a Shelby
Cobra closing fast. He runs the wall so close I swear the daffodils
flinch. Earlier, Goodwin had said that it’s this last sector that he
really relishes. ‘Most people over-slow for that, so I can make up
some places through there.’
A couple of laps later and the much more powerful Shelby is
through, but it’s an action-packed race, and I get so caught up
watching another Lotus 23B get increasingly lurid through that
chicane – and gasping as another car spins and stalls just off the
racing line – that I lose track of where Goodwin is.
The race finishes, and we dash back to the paddock to catch
up. He’s still flushed with excitement when we arrive and says he
gained five places to finish seventh and rank as the fastest of the
four-cylinder cars. He’s ahead of some GT40s and McLarens too,
and his best lap of 1:26.958 is only 1.8sec off the fastest time set
by the far more powerful Shelby Cobra. ‘I got a good start, but the
grip was very low and there was a fair bit of oil, so I had some big
moments in fourth gear and had to make some big catches.’
What, I ask, does Aston boss Andy Palmer make of his new
signing racing other marques? ‘He’s cool with it,’ says Goodwin,
who hopes to do something more on-brand soon. ‘I’d love to
race an Aston DB4 GT while I’m developing the Valkyrie,’ he
says. ‘I have to find a way to do that.’ Then a German gentleman
approaches. He runs a race series and invites Goodwin to bring
his Lotus to the Norisring. ‘Sounds like fun, and I’ve never been,’
says Goodwin. ‘Why not?’
With that, he packs up and heads to the pub with his family.
It’s hard not to be impressed by his ‘live it, breathe it’ attitude.
After all, if Goodwin puts the same enthusiasm into his 9-to-5,
those mid-engined Astons are in safe hands.
Goodwood Festival of Speed: July 12-15. Goodwood Revival:
September 7-9. For both, see ticketing.goodwood.com
 Inside Lucid

Much like the

dogfights of the
Battle of Britain,
only the German
on your tail’s a
BMW 530i

Possibly
turbocharged…

March 2018 | SAVE UP TO 62% WHEN YOU SUBSCRIBE TO CAR! GRE ATMAGA ZINES.CO.UK 101
 AD
VA
NT
AG
E
Huge ambitions, a
healthy balance sheet
and now this: the
Vantage that delivers
on Aston’s Porsche-
baiting promises
Words Ben Barry

102 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018

At last! New Vantage driven

May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 103

At last! New Vantage driven
Digital rev counter
gives that ‘my
other car’s a
Eurofighter’ feel
T
HERE’S A SEQUENCE of corners at the Portimao race
circuit in Portugal where the new Aston Martin Vantage’s
strengths settle right between the crosshairs. It starts when
you pop over a blind brow and run downhill towards the fish-
hook Turn 6. You probably braked sooner on your first laps,
but experience says you can leave it much later, so you hold the
throttle flat in fifth long after the kerbing starts strobing red
and white. With the gravel trap rushing up, finally you stand
on the pedal and the optional carbon-ceramic brakes wipe off
speed like a child skipping into a conservatory door.
You drop three gears – crisp, quick shifts the lot of them –
kiss the apex in second, then feed in the torque as you run
back up the hill. Third pulls hard, fourth barely registers
the higher ratio or increasing uphill gradient as 505lb ft gets
toiling. The track’s damp, so pull for fifth before you tease it
through the fast-left kink at the crest, give the brakes a quick
dab and drop to fourth when you’re straight.
Take a deep breath and commit to the fast downhill
right-hander – the Vantage pivots for the apex, the rear slips
obediently out of line with the fluidity of Tesco’s best-main-
tained trolleys and you glide out to the kerbing in the most
beautifully balanced four-wheel drift. A few laps in and
already you’re asking where you sign and how much it costs.
Ah, yes, that… The new Vantage costs £120,900. The last
104 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018
model was pitched just a little above a Porsche 911 Carrera S,
but the new one misses its braking point at one-notch-higher
Carrera GTS money and stops just £8k shy of the 911 Turbo
with a squeal of tyres and judder of ABS. Similarly, perfor-
mance slots between the two 911s, with 503bhp, 0-62mph in
3.6 seconds and a 195mph top whack courtesy of a twin-tur-
bocharged 4.0-litre V8 sourced from Mercedes-AMG.
I won’t blame you if you buy without so much as a test drive.
The proportions of the old Vantage are still echoed in the
long bonnet and Manx-cat tail, but there’s a complexity and
definition to the steel bodywork’s muscle tone that betrays a
giant leap in production processes. Looks great.
The interior feels similarly racey. The seats are low-set,
comfortable yet supportively bolstered, the windscreen
dramatically raked, the glasshouse like a hot-rod from Amer-
ican Graffiti. The leather and alcantara finishes impress, the
central digital speedo provides a kind of fighter-jet theatre to
proceedings, and the Mercedes infotainment is a quantum
leap to what went before – later, the little controller will budge
back slightly and a manual gearstick will sprout from here.
Shame some of the buttons seem very oddly positioned – it
took entire laps to find the traction control. And the quality
falters sporadically: the buttons that control drive modes
from the steering wheel click unresponsively and unconvinc-
ingly. All too often you’re not sure whether you’ve engaged
a mode, and have to scroll through them all to check. The
air-con controls and paddleshifters look cheap, especially
finished in silver; graphite looks better.
Underneath, the Vantage’s bonded aluminium platform
is derived from the larger DB11, and you get the same dou-
ble-wishbone front and multi-link rear suspension, but nat-
urally the springs and dampers have specific tuning overseen
by vehicle attribute boss Matt Becker (who learnt his trade at
Lotus), and the 20-inch Pirelli P Zeroes are bespoke too. The
rear suspension subframe is solidly mounted – the DB11 gets
mushier, more comfort-focused bushings – and there’s an
electronically controlled differential, a first for Aston Martin.
Some of these changes can be felt a soon as you move away.
Aston has gone for a much more aggressive set-up on the
Vantage compared with the DB11, something evidenced by
adjustable settings for the chassis and powertrain that kick
off in Sport (not GT like the DB11), and move through Sport
Plus and Track levels of seriousness. The suspension does a
great job of wafting over some pretty fragmented bumps,
especially considering how focused it is, but it also feels very
tightly controlled over sharper undulations, even in that
initial Sport setting – at times it’s like you’re the toddler being
given a ‘tractor ride’ on a parent’s knee. And plenty of road
noise seeps up through that unpartitioned boot and from the
fat 295-section rear tyres.
The standard exhaust system is noisy, but this is a good
kind of noisy, a deep, rich, bassy noisiness that’d get a lion
tamer sprinting, even if the occasional pops and bangs on the
overrun are more measured than those of the AMG GT. This
is more than a substitute for the old 4.7’s flamboyance – and
the sports system is like removing your earplugs in compar-
ison. I’d never tire of it, although there are times when I’d be
glad of the don’t-wake-the-neighbours button.
Already, on the autoroute, the 4.0-litre turbo V8 feels much
stronger than it does in the perfectly-fast-enough DB11, not
because it is – 503bhp and 505lb ft is near-as-dammit the
same – but because the Vantage is 129kg lighter, sings louder
to take care of the psychological side of things, and drops
Preview AMG Project One Key underpinnings
are from the DB11,
but this is a lighter,
nimbler car

Invisible gear stick

expected to be
replaced by real
one later this year

ASTON HAS GONE FOR A MUCH MORE

AGGRESSIVE SET-UP THAN ON THE DB11

It’s not just the paint

that’s lairy. DB11 is
bewitching with its
electronics of

May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 105

 THE SPEED OF THE
VANTAGE IS NOT
LOST AMID THE
RELENTLESSNESS OF
THIS INCREDIBLE PLACE
its final-drive ratio from 2.7:1 to 2.9:1. This engine always
feels ‘on’, pulling from little over idle speed, with a big kick
at 2400rpm, and a relentless pull to the 7000rpm redline,
like there are two Red Bulls as well as twin turbos plumbed
into the engine’s vee. There’s a trigger-happy yet surprisingly
controllable reaction to every little throttle twitch; it has
performance everywhere, and yet delivers it in incrementally
more thrilling bursts. A Carrera GTS might be around 160kg
lighter than the 1630kg Aston, but no one told the V8.
Like the engine, the gearbox feels transformed compared
to the version in the DB11. It’s still an eight-speed auto, still a
transaxle positioned between the rear wheels to complement
the front-mid-mounted engine and help hit the 50:50 weight
distribution. The shifts are as subtle as you like for low-speed
mooching, but now punch with more mechanical conviction,
if not with any greater speed. Smoke and mirrors, yes, but all
this calibration and dialling in of emotion is what separates
the best modern cars from the merely very good.
106 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018
Last month, we got to grips with a final-verification proto-
type on an ice-rink in Northern Finland, but the near-desert-
ed N267 winding over Portuguese hillsides provides a more
instructive insight. Despite being no faster than a DB11’s,
the electric steering feels significantly more responsive. Try
to trick it with almost imperceptible inputs and it’ll respond
eagerly, and feeds back with both a chunky if not overly heavy
detailing and a wieldiness that immediately makes the Van-
tage feel nimble.
It’ll swoop in to corners as quick as you can eye the apex,
carves like it needs a dictionary to decode understeer, and
controls its limited body roll with a progressive, firmly cush-
ioned authority. Clearly, powerslides are up for grabs, yet it’s
possible to drive neatly within the stability control settings
on the road without feeling like you just pressed the nitrous
button in a Fast & Furious film.
All this translates rather well to the Portimao racetrack, a
place that rubbishes any notions that modern tracks must be
 At last! New Vantage driven

ASTON MARTIN VANTAGE

> Price £120,900
> Engine 3982cc 32v twin- turbo
V8, 503bhp @ 6500rpm, 505lb ft
@ 2000rpm
> Transmission 8-speed auto,
rear-wheel drive
> Suspension Double wishbone
front, multi-link rear
> Performance 3.6sec 0-62mph,
195mph, 26.8mpg, 245g/km CO2
> Weight 1630kg
> On sale Now
+++++

sanitised. Just a decade old, it rollercoasters over the terrain
like someone’s tarmacked over Roadrunner’s tracks. Abrupt
stops, big-commitment curves, blind crests, scary speed – it’s
all present and correct.
The Vantage is right at home, still feeling eager to change
direction, and still composed in the way it resists body roll
and understeer (unless you go out of your way to trigger it).
The way it tries to come back into line if you really provoke
it is a little aggressive, and it’s much sweeter when you just
drive it hard. And, of course, there’s that magic run through
Turn 8, where you revel in the sweet adjustability of the Van-
tage’s chassis. Some of the faster, longer turns did induce an
irritating lateral oscillation from the rear axle, while at low
speeds the traction needs careful attention if you switch all
the stability systems off.
The speed of the Vantage is not lost amid the relentlessness
of this incredible place. There’s also no doubt that a mid-en-
gined machine would feel more agile still, nor that a Porsche
911 feels a purer sports car with less weight to manage, and 911 Carrera S is
less expensive,
that the Vantage could fizz with a little more communication, lighter, slower and
both through your driving gloves and corduroys. But the Van- more obvious
tage already feels like a great sports car, one with a ruthless
turn of speed and a chassis entirely in balance with it all.
There are, of course, more variants coming. An entry-level
version could work well with the new AMG 53 six-cylinder
engine, something that would reduce the Vantage’s hefty
price tag and make this an even more accessible drive. Aston
boss Andy Palmer insists it won’t happen. ‘This,’ he says, ‘is
already our Ferrari Dino.’ But there are nods and winks – if
not outright confirmation – that the stronger 4.0-litre V8
from the 604bhp Mercedes E63 S will find its way under that
bonnet, and that the DB11’s V12 will definitely fit too. Great
car already, but the Vantage journey only gets more serious
from here.
Turn the page for the CAR interview with Aston CEO Andy Palmer

May 2018 | SUBSC RIB E TO CAR & SAVE UP TO 62 %! G RE ATMAGA ZINES.CO.UK /CAR 107
108 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018
 The CAR Interview Andy Palmer

BENCHMARK’
IS THE ONLY
‘FERRARI
‘P
ORSCHE, FERRARI, move aside: Aston Martin
is back!’ That was the final flourish with which
Andy Palmer, Aston Martin CEO, presented the
new Vantage to the world. Though its V8 engine is
at the opposite end of the car, the second-generation
Vantage (see page 102) is clearly a serious rival for
Porsche’s 911. But it’s the company that sold 33 times fewer cars
than Porsche last year, the pinnacle of performance car makers,
that Palmer is truly targeting.
From Formula 1 to a financial float, from luxury brand aspira-
tion to developing mid-engined supercars, Aston Martin is taking
the fight to Ferrari head-on. It’s an incredibly ambitious strategy
founded on last year’s groundbreaking financial results, new levels
of strategic planning and an inherent belief in the potential of the
105-year-old company.
‘Ferrari is the only benchmark,’ says Palmer when we meet. Not
in the type of cars, he caveats, though there will be convergence
there: 2019 will herald the mid-engined Valkyrie, the hybridised
V12 hypercar co-designed with Red Bull engineer Adrian Newey,
gunning to be the fastest car ever. Take that, LaFerrari.
No, Aston’s 54-year-old CEO is referring to how he wants to
position the company, before it’s floated in an initial public offering
(IPO). Aston’s majority shareholders are investment groups from
Kuwait and Italy (with a slither owned by tech partner Daimler),
and they will want a big payday when they sell their stakes.
‘They’ve asked me to study various options,’ explains Palmer,
when I ask him what dictates the correct timeframe for going
public. ‘The longer you hold on, your quarters of success become
years of success and the comparison to Ferrari and its IPO becomes
ever more powerful. On the other hand, the longer you wait, the
more you risk a bull market becoming a bear market, or unexpected
events happening in the world.
‘Ferrari established the principle that a car company can be a
luxury company,’ continues Palmer, citing the fact that its company
worth (called ‘enterprise value’ in financial circles) is around 18
Phew – the new Vantage times its projected EBITDA (earnings before income tax, depreci-
ation and amortisation – a measure of its annual income). ‘Every
isn’t a dud. Now for the other car company is two or three times,’ says Palmer. ‘In my view,
there really is only one other company that could replicate that – us.’
next phase of Aston CEO Given Aston Martin was heavily indebted and lost £72m in
2014, the year Palmer took over, the company has come a long way:
Andy Palmer’s masterplan: DB11 sales drove record revenue of £876m in 2017. Equally it has
become the British Ferrari a long way to go yet: Ferrari raked in €3.4bn (£2.98bn) in revenue.
Aston’s 5117 retail sales lagged Ferrari’s by more than 3000 units
too. This year the Brits should close the gap, with a full 12 months of
Words Phil McNamara | Illustration Senor Salme DB11 V8, plus the Volante roadster and new Vantage coming on

May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 109

The CAR Interview Andy Palmer
stream. If 7200 cars in 2007 was
a record year (when, pointedly,
earnings were less than half 2017’s
total), what’s the production
limit on Aston Martin’s second-
century plan?
‘I would say 14,000,’ the
former head of Nissan product
development responds. ‘Gaydon
is land-locked: it can’t expand
any more. On a properly efficient
system we can produce 7000 cars
at Gaydon and we’ll hit that in
the second half of this year. Then
you’ve got St Athan [the Welsh
Ferrari boss Sergio factory that will assemble the DBX crossover from 2019]. It’s being
Marchionne (right)
has suggested the kitted out for 5000 cars initially, but the line is sized so it could be
company may opt further upgraded to 7000 cars. That’s 12,000-14,000.
out of F1 – in which ‘But exactly where the peak is no one really knows. It’s not
case Aston’s keen
to opt in 250,000 like Porsche or 40,000-50,000 like Maserati, but could
it be 20,000? I don’t know. The temptation is always to push. The
reality is build the capacity, then run that capacity at maximum.’
The mid-engined supercar will help keep Gaydon at full steam,
by arriving as the DB11 and Vantage age. Why else do that car?
‘Let’s set aside that we’re all petrolheads and would like to develop
a mid-engined Aston,’ is Palmer’s gratifying answer, before he
outlines the business case. ‘It’s also about the average transaction
prices of the company: we peak at Vanquish, broadly £200,000.
If you want to look like Ferrari or Rolls-Royce, you need to have
an offer that’s £250,000, £300,000, £350,000. Going into other
segments allows us to do that.’
Like the Valkyrie, the mid-engined cars are being developed
in partnership with Red Bull Advanced Technologies; Aston will
relocate 130 staff to the F1 campus, and establish a design centre
there. The collaboration’s biggest goal is to reduce mass: ‘Adrian
Newey is a man possessed on weight, and weight is the evil of the
car,’ says Palmer. And will the engine come from another partner
with F1 links, Mercedes-AMG?
‘We’re not simply tied into buying other people’s engines,’ the
CEO says. ‘The V12 we did ourselves…’ And must it be electrified to
reach the 800bhp threshold Ferrari will surely achieve? ‘It will use a
hybrid KERS system; by the middle of the 2020s we’ll offer a hybrid
in every model line, but not plug-ins. That’s one of the technological
choices we’ve made. We will continue to develop V-configuration
engines, and we will do an EV, but we won’t do downsizing to
inline-four engines, diesel or hydrogen.’
Aston’s mission to revive Lagonda as a pure-electric brand
epitomises the company’s relentless advancement under Palmer.
‘There’s a duopoly in Rolls-Royce and Bentley, but both are very
conventional and the intention of Lagonda is to disrupt. So we’ve
got a car that’s broadly the overall length of a Ghost but with the
interior space of a Phantom. We wanted to show a car which doesn’t
need to have the Parthenon grille. And we’re saying this brand will
only be EV – which is exactly the space Tesla sits in.’
Rolls-Royce reacted somewhat peevishly when the Financial
Times relayed a similar Parthenon comment from Aston design
chief Marek Reichman: I suspect the straight-talking Palmer
would only have chuckled at the resulting furore. Well, here’s a
grenade for Elon Musk too…
‘It’s about to get much harder for Tesla because everyone’s
coming with an electric car now. The car industry is often called
a dinosaur but we are phenomenally good at making [volume
110 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018
manufacturing] work. The likes of Tesla need to get their act
together quickly or die. How many months is the Model 3 behind
schedule and struggling with build quality?’ Ouch.
But the ultimate disruption is targeted at Ferrari. Aston is the
headline sponsor of this year’s Red Bull Formula 1 racer, but the
CEO admits it’s about marketing rather than technology transfer.
For now. ‘[F1 chief] Ross Brawn has published his [2021 engine]
draft specification, and it’s now in consultation. Ferrari and Merc
hate it and we like it. To some extent Renault and Honda sit on
the edges. If it’s going to have heat recovery we won’t be doing the
engine. If it isn’t, there’s a good chance we will be doing an engine.’
Ferrari chief Sergio Marchionne has threatened to pull Ferrari
– an ever-present – out of the series, if the company’s know-how
in exhaust and brake energy recovery becomes redundant. Which
leads to a fascinating notion: could Ferrari bow out of F1, leaving
space for its aspiring luxury brand rival? You can bet this calcula-
tion is all part of Palmer’s masterplan.
Making a Midlands Maranello? You’d better believe it.
SEVEN ASTONS FOR SEVEN
DEMOGRAPHICS: THE PLAN TO 2022
Palmer’s plan is built on seven core models (excluding
special series like the Valkyrie), each designed to cater for
the needs of seven diferent target customers
DB11 2016
In a nutshell: 2+2 Gran Turismo with V8
or full-fat V12, from £150k
Aimed at: Aston traditionalists seeking
style, grunt and comfort
Vantage 2018
In a nutshell: Strictly two-seat sports car
packing V8 power, from £120k
Aimed at: Executives in a hurry who find
the Porsche 911 passé
New Vanquish summer 2019
In a nutshell: Flagship front-engined GT
built on honed DB11 V12 mechanicals,
from £230k
Aimed at: Wealthier Aston traditionalists
DBX crossover late 2019
In a nutshell: All-wheel-drive crossover,
with petrol, hybrid and EV power
Aimed at: ‘Charlotte’, an affluent,
30-something American
Supercar late 2020
In a nutshell: Mid-engined hybrid
supercar co-developed with Red Bull –
Valkyrie (right) is the tech testbed
Aimed at: Ferrari and McLaren
Lagonda 1 2021
In a nutshell: An all-electric,
all-wheel-drive SUV
Aimed at: People who like the idea of a
Rolls-Royce Cullinan, but not its V12
Lagonda 2 2022
In a nutshell: Electric like Lagonda 1 but
limousine body and 400 miles of range
Aimed at: Silicon Valley squillionaires
 THE COMPANY
HAS COME A
LONG WAY SINCE
PALMER TOOK
OVER: DB11 SALES
DROVE RECORD
REVENUES OF
£876M IN 2017

Palmer is deadly
serious about
challenging
Ferrari. You
wouldn’t argue
with him

May 2018 | SUBSC RIB E TO CAR & SAVE UP TO 62 %! G RE ATMAGA ZINES.CO.UK /CAR 111
 I AM

LEGEND

112 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018

 Land Rover at 70

70 years ago, at the 1948

Amsterdam motor show, this
very car heralded the arrival
of Land Rover. Unrestored,
it is the essence of the
marque’s utility 4x4 DNA
Words Mark Walton | Photography Wilson Hennessey

May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 113

 THE GOVERNMENT WAS ONLY
SUPPORTING FIRMS ABLE TO EXPORT
THE NATION OUT OF ITS KNEE-HIGH
FINANCIAL MANURE

114 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018

 Land Rover at 70

ERIOUSLY, AFTER ALL this time, you’d think there’d be

no more barn finds left to find. With the classic car market
frothing like champagne in a blender, surely there isn’t an
unopened shed left in the world. Everyone’s dream is to lift
a rusty garage door and discover your elderly aunt has been
hiding a long-lost Facel Vega, once owned by Elvis. In 2018,
aren’t we at least decade too late for all that?
Well, the stories keep coming: in 2016 a Lamborghini
Miura was dragged out of a tiny back-street garage in the
US, covered in dust, after nearly 20 years in hibernation. In
2017, Steve McQueen’s Bullitt Mustang, no less, turned up in
a Mexican scrapyard after being lost for nearly 50 years.
And now this car. Not just any old Land Rover. Not just one
of a handful of super-collectable pre-production cars. This is
the actual launch car from the 1948 Amsterdam motor show,
where the Land Rover was first revealed to the world, 70 years
ago. An incredibly important car that until recently was aban-
doned in a back garden about three miles from Solihull.
In some ways this story is even more remarkable than
those of barn-find Lamborghinis and long-lost Ferraris.
Not because of value but because Land Rovers are for nerds,
obsessives and trainspotters. The early Series 1s have got to
be among the most energetically researched and documented
cars of all time: chassis numbers are catalogued, archives
are trawled, former engineers are tracked down, dragged out
of old people’s homes and pumped for information. No one
escapes the Series 1 Inquisition! So how could the Amsterdam
show car disappear for so long?
To answer that, we need to go back to the beginning – and
if you’ve heard this story a thousand times, feel free to skip a
couple of paragraphs…
The Land Rover story begins in 1947 on Anglesey. Maurice
Wilks, the technical director of Rover, owns a farm there,
where he uses a demobbed army Jeep as a farm hack. Raw
materials are scarce in post-war Britain, and the government
is only supporting firms that can export the nation out of its
knee-high financial manure. Wilks knows that, as a luxury
car maker, Rover isn’t going to be building luxury cars any
time soon, so he has an idea: how about an agricultural vehi-
cle, a lightweight car-tractor? A British Jeep, in other words,
that improves on his old farm hack?
So, using another ex-army Jeep as a guinea pig, Wilks
develops a single, crude prototype with a Rover P3 engine and
gearbox, three seats and a steering wheel in the middle (which
at the time seemed like a good idea for exports, but proved to
be a terrible idea for legroom).
Moving with suitable we’re-all-about-to-go-bust post-war
haste, Rover quickly progresses from that single proof-of-
concept to the pre-production stage: 50 chassis, of which 48
are built up into completed cars, all numbered 01, 02, 03 etc,
prefixed with either an R or an L depending on whether it
was right-hand or left-hand drive (the centre-steer idea was
dropped as soon as someone tried to drive it).
Massively over- The remains of those 48 pre-prod cars are now holy relics
engineered tailgate
didn’t make final to the Land Rover fraternity. Mike Bishop, Land Rover Clas-
production sic’s Series 1 expert, tells me around 20 pre-prod cars have

May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 115

 Steering wheel is
original, as is the
horribly corroded
front bulkhead

116 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018


survived. ‘There are a couple where literally a buff logbook is
all that’s left,’ he says, ‘but at least we know when their lives
finished. Of the complete cars, they rarely come up for sale
– R12 sold about eight years ago, but it wasn’t really public.
They tend to sell from one collector to another.’
I ask him how much they go for. ‘I’m probably not the best
person to answer that, because I own R16!’ Bishop admits.
‘But it’s easy to speculate it would be in six figures nowadays
for a pre-production Land Rover.’
The most famous of the early cars is the first, chassis R01,
known as ‘Huey’ after its number plate HUE 166. Huey’s a
celebrity – the final, limited edition Defender Heritage
models in 2015 all had HUE graphics. Huey was built in
March 1948, and he was saved for posterity by Maurice
Wilks himself. ‘In 1949, Huey was put to use on a farm near
the Wilks’ home near Kenilworth,’ explains Bishop. ‘It was
there until 1955, when Wilks rescued it and put it in the
Birmingham Science Museum. It was used for Land Rover’s
10th birthday celebrations in 1958, when it was placed on a
massive cake. It’s now owned by the British Motor Museum.’
Just six chassis after Huey, Rover built the car you’re
looking at now. Susan Tonks takes up the story – Susan’s an
engineer who has been with Jaguar Land Rover for 18 years,
the last six months of which has been with Land Rover Clas-
sic, and she’s now this car’s restoration project leader. ‘It was
originally left-hand drive, so the chassis was stamped L07,’
she explains. ‘It left the factory on 27 April 1948, and was
driven to Amsterdam in time for the car’s official unveiling
on the 30th.’
Ha! Anyone who’s driven a Series 1 Land Rover for three
Land Rover at 70
ANYONE WHO’S DRIVEN A
SERIES 1 WILL GUFFAW AT THE
IDEA OF A 300-MILE DRIVE
miles will guffaw at the idea of this car, canvas flapping and
gearbox droning, driving 300 miles to the Netherlands. The wheels are later
‘They put chassis L05 on the stand, inside the show itself,’ additions and the
towbar is a farmer’s
continues Tonks. ‘This car was the exterior driving demon- bolt-on, but much
strator, used by the press.’ of the bodywork
Of course, we know how well the show went – Rover’s post- is original
war, stop-gap model became a gigantic success, and a global
brand in its own right. But between the launch in April and
the first cars going into production in July, there was still a lot
of work to do. ‘After the launch, L07 went to Rover’s engine
department, where parts were changed, tested and upgraded
to production spec,’ Tonks explains. ‘We believe this is when
it was converted to right-hand drive, and you can see on the
chassis where they stamped an R over the L to make it R07.’
It stayed at Solihull until 24 June 1955, when it was sold to
its first private owner, but here’s where its importance as the
1948 show car begins to get lost in the fog. On the dispatch
note it’s recorded as E07, presumably because it was the
Experimental Department that built the pre-prod cars.
Also, its first registration number – SNX 910 – never showed
May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 117
 up in Rover’s own records, because it was registered by its new
owner the day after he’d bought it.
So, like a rare Roman coin slipped into your pocket, R07
disappeared into all that loose change on Britain’s roads,
and was lost. The original logbook (which miraculously still
exists) shows the car was sold on to new owners in Sutton
Coldfield, then Stratford-upon-Avon, before ending up in
Wales in 1968. It was parked in a field and used as a static
power source for 20 years, its power take-off running a farm-
er’s wood saw. Twenty years of sitting out in the rain and the
frost, overgrown by nettles and inhabited by wildlife, until
eventually the engine seized and its working life was over.
In 1988 it was sold to a collector of early Land Rovers who
– ironically – lived just three miles from the Land Rover facto-
ry, back in Solihull. This enthusiast knew the car was special,
possibly a prototype, but didn’t realise its full significance. So
the car stayed in his garden, awaiting a restoration that never
came, until 2016, when he decided to clear it out. By then the
car was up to its axles in mud, and it had to be jacked up before
it could be hauled out of its shallow grave. Through a network
of tip-offs, news of the car reached Land Rover Classic, who
If, like us, you
bought it for an undisclosed sum.
love the paint It’s worth noting Mike Bishop already knew the signifi-
finish, you’ll cance of the car before it was found: ‘From documentation
need a Welsh
field, a Midlands and photographs, we knew the only cars that were built and
garden and time available to go to Amsterdam were chassis 01 to 08, and we
IT WAS PARKED IN A FIELD
AND USED AS A STATIC POWER
SOURCE FOR 20 YEARS
118 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018
knew they were both left-hand drive, which means they were
odd numbers [apart from Huey, right-hand-drive chassis
were evens]. By a process of elimination, we knew the miss-
ing L07 was one of them.
‘Other early cars had been traced though old MoT records,
that kind of thing,’ explains Bishop. ‘But 7 was one of the few
pre-prod cars we didn’t have the registration for, so we had no
knowledge of what had happened to it. There were all kinds
of rumours – one was that a family had gone to the show in
1948 and bought a Land Rover directly off the stand, and
they’d gone on an expedition from Amsterdam to South Af-
rica. They’d gone to look after a lighthouse, and number 7 was
supposedly still there, at this lighthouse. It always seemed far
fetched, but that’s the way with Land Rovers and stories.
‘So we had nothing, absolutely nothing, about 07,’ he
goes on. ‘For it then to just appear, out of the woodwork,
was fantastic. I was at home late one evening and a friend of
mine who’s a Land Rover historian rang up and said, “You’re
never going to believe this, I’ve got someone who’s got chassis
number 7!” He sent me a photo and as soon as I saw it, I knew;
I could tell by the pre-production features. I went to have a
look at it about a week later, and confirmed it – we’d found the
missing number 7.’
Hand on heart, I cannot claim that an audience with the
1948 Amsterdam show Land Rover is like being in the pres-
ence of a Mille Miglia-winning Maserati or an ex-Senna
 Land Rover at 70

The modest 50bhp

1.6 petrol four is
original, though it’s
seized after years of
punishing work

May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 119

 THE CHASSIS IS AMAZINGLY
SOLID GIVEN IT SPENT FOUR
DIRT PROWESS
DECADES PLANTED IN THE
IS LAND ROVER’S
CORNERSTONE–
GROUND LIKE A CARROT
AND UK BOSS
HICKS KNOWS IT
Company sales may
boom. There have never
been so many people
keen to buy posh Range
Rovers, often for upwards
of £100k – the 70-year-old
name plate has never had
it so good.
And yet Land Rover
without a true adventure/
utility model is a house
without foundations.
Currently, there is not a
single new Land Rover or
Range Rover that looks
ready to conquer the
Sahara or the Serengeti.
Although in reality, to
prove that looks can
deceive, both the Range
Rover and Discovery could
tackle such terrain.
‘The lack of a new
Defender hasn’t hurt our
image,’ insists Hicks, MD
of Jaguar Land Rover UK.
‘That’s because we’ve said
all along that it’ll be back.’
The new Defender, due
2019, will likely be Land
Rover’s best of-roader.
‘It’s an essential part of
who we are,’ notes Hicks.
Although there are
some who wonder why
Land Rover persists
with class-leading of-
road ability when most
customers rarely venture
from tarmac, Hicks insists
all-terrain prowess will
always define the brand.
‘People like having the
technology. Even if you
don’t use it, it’s good to
know it’s there.’

120 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018


McLaren. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think you were
looking at scrap.
But if I could get poetic for a moment (cue rousing music)
there’s something beautiful in the scars and scrapes, a nobili-
ty in its flaking paint and sagging suspension, the hallmarks
of a life lived to the full.
It’s called patina and it’s worth a fortune.
The paint is like some kind of Jackson Pollock, a random
mosaic of three distinct colours, with an alloy base-layer
beneath. ‘The light green is the original paint from the Am-
sterdam show,’ explains Susan Tonks. ‘It was then painted
dark green, and at some point in its life it was painted blue.’
Most of the panels are original, and just by tapping you can
hear the thicker alloy in the outer wings and the one, surviv-
ing pre-prod door. ‘The curves on the front wings are slightly
different too – they were obviously trying things out on the
pre-production cars.’
The rear tub is also prototype, though the rear lights
are later additions; the tailgate is pre-production with a
lot more reinforcement than the final spec. The bonnet,
windscreen and axles are all original. The engine is seized,
but it too is original, stamped number 6. The brakes were
an experimental Lockheed system, later converted to pro-
duction-spec Girling. The plan is to re-make the Lockheed
system from scratch using archived drawings. Amazingly,
the steering wheel is original too, its Bakelite proudly pol-
ished up by the Classic team. How on earth did that brittle
plastic survive 70 years of neglect and hardship? There are so
May 2018 | SUBSC RIB E TO CAR & SAVE UP TO 62 %! G RE ATMAGA ZINES.CO.UK /CAR 121
Land Rover at 70
many details that make you shake your head in wonder. ‘It’s
undoubtedly the most original survivor of all the pre-produc-
tion cars,’ says Tonks.
Most amazing of all, though, is the condition of the steel
chassis. Hand-made back in 1948, it was galvanised, unlike
the later production cars that were painted (galvanising
was dropped for mass production because of the finishing
required, drilling the zinc out of all the blocked-up bolt holes).
Climbing under the car for a closer look, the chassis is amaz-
ingly solid given it spent the best part of four decades planted
in the ground like a carrot: here and there you can still see
the silvery galvanised finish; elsewhere there’s a white, salty
looking crust, but no rust and no ragged holes.
That can’t be said of the bulkhead, the vertical steel wall
between the engine bay and the cockpit. This is the weak
spot of all Series 1s, so much so they’re re-manufactured and
galvanised nowadays, for restorers. This car wasn’t so lucky
– again, it’s clearly handmade and crudely formed compared
to later production cars, and it was painted. The weather has
ravaged the steel, and there are big holes in the footwells.
Of course, it can be fixed – cut out the rust and weld in the
new – but the bulkhead question goes straight to the heart of
the challenge facing the Land Rover Classic team: how far
should they go to restore this car? Should it be rebuilt at all?
And if so, to which spec? Left-hand-drive Amsterdam? Or
Welsh farmer sawmill? The bulkhead is key: there are lots of
early Series 1s coming over from Australia these days with a
lovely patina. But it looks really odd if the faded panels are
left but the rusting bulkhead is restored to a glossy, greeny
newness. Patina is as fragile as a snowflake – touch it and
melts away.
‘It definitely won’t be a Reborn car,’ says Tonks, referring
to Land Rover Classic’s factory-fresh Series 1 programme.
‘The idea is to preserve the patina – though to return it to a
proper, functioning condition we do need to decide, what do
we replace or repair? Do we repair then “age” the bulkhead, so
it looks in keeping with the rest of the car?’
Whichever way the team decides to go, the plan is for the
car to take centre stage in Land Rover’s 70th anniversary
celebrations this spring, and then it’ll be painstakingly
dismantled, documented to death and rebuilt within 12
months (somehow).
But if you think that’s the last one, don’t worry. The other
car at the Amsterdam show in 1948, chassis L05 has also
never been found – it might still be out there, sitting in a
field or a garden, up to its axles. Even more intriguingly, the
whereabouts of the original centre-steer prototype has never
been conclusively pinned down either. Was it torn apart, or
turned back into a Jeep and sold, or did Maurice Wilks save it
and park it up somewhere?
I’ve decided to go to Anglesey this weekend, to start open-
ing barn doors.
 THE
PORSCHE 911
FRIGHTENER
Lotus Evora,
from £35k

THE PERFECT
START
Lotus Elise,
from £25k

HITTING THE
High performance,
low running costs and
SWEET SPOT
The planets of price, age and quality have aligned.
a great incentive to Now’s the time to buy a modern used Lotus
avoid succumbing to
middle-aged spread Words Ben Barry | Photography Alex Tapley

122 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018

 THE ELISE
WITH A HOT V6
Lotus Exige,
from £35k

W
E LOVE OUR Lotuses here at CAR
– whether it’s steering, chassis, looks
or that hard-to-quantify feelgood
factor, all of it makes our hearts beat
faster. But new prices do rule them out for many. The
very cheapest, slowest Elise retails at £31,500 new, the
Exige is almost £60k these days and the Evora keeps
the throttle pinned past £73k.
But there’s good news for secondhand buyers,
because all of the current line-up (bar the very niche
3-Eleven) have been around since at least 2012, and
as far back as 2009 in the case of the Evora. These
lightweight sports cars are not bargain-basement
territory, but for a budget of £25k-£35k you can
get in an earlier example of the Elises, Exiges and
Evoras that remain on sale today. Chances are you’ll
You’ll retain much if not all
of your initial outlay because
Lotuses depreciate so lightly
retain much if not all of that outlay, because Lotuses
depreciate lightly and typically hold their value well
following the initial dip. Combine that with some
reasonable running costs and the overall price of
ownership can be refreshingly affordable.
To find out more, we’ve jumped in an Elise, Exige
S and Evora from Bell & Colvill – ‘the world’s longest-
serving Lotus dealership’ – and asked their experts to
enlighten us… 

May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 123

 LOTUS
ELISE S
> On sale 2010 to present
> Price then £27,450 (1.6)
> Value now From £25k
> Engine 1796cc 16v
supercharged 4-cyl, 217bhp,
184b ft > Transmission 6-speed
manual, rear-wheel drive
> Performance 4.2sec
0-62mph, 145mph, 37.7mpg,
145g/km CO2

Lotus Elise S3 2010-present

THE ELISE HAS been core to Lotus since a modest 900kg for that. Perhaps most
it saved the company in 1996. The third- impressive is how the suspension delivers
generation S3 arrived in 2010, essentially both a firm and focused fizz without
a very lightly facelifted S2 (produced brittleness.
from 2000) with even the chassis settings It’s almost easier to go arse-first into
unaltered. Notable differences were more a postbox than it is to land in the Elise’s
generic headlights and a new 1.6-litre pared-back cabin, but it’s actually highly
naturally aspirated engine. With 134bhp comfortable once you’re in, especially the
it’s quick enough if you’re willing to work seats, which cup you firmly and yet still
it hard, but our test car gets the 1.8-litre feel comfortable after a two-hour stint.
supercharged unit. It stirs a far ruder Rolling back the soft-top makes entry
217bhp into the equation, with the shriek and exit easier too – as well as unlocking
of supercharger whine injecting extra an extra dimension to the Elise’s sensory
drama too. It’s the one we’d buy. experience.
Whatever the engine, the Elise zings The Elise has a large number of sub- models. Today, most S3s tend to hover Air-con, radio,
cupholder inspired
with communication and handles with variants, including the Club Racer and around the mid £20k to mid £30k mark – by butterfly net…
instinctive purity – thank unassisted Sprint, but ultimately it comes down the car we’re driving is a 2013 model up for this is Elise luxury
steering, a lizard-low centre of gravity and to naturally aspirated or supercharged £30,995 at Bell & Colvill with 16k miles.
We wouldn’t expect it to depreciate, unless
you plan to use it much more regularly
than most owners. And because the Elise
NEED TO KNOW > Upgraded interiors with > Check the air-con blows
is light, it’s easy on its (affordable) tyres
alcantara, leather and air- cold, and that all three
> A stereo and extra sound con are sought after heater speeds work and brakes, and can turn in 45mpg as a 1.6
insulation were initially > Headlights can too. For such an irrational purchase, it’s
> 2008-2011 S2 Elises
standard, but they were
got the 2ZZ Yamaha-built delaminate on Elise, unusually sensible.
removed to create the Toyota engines, where Exige and Evora Other Lotuses might be more powerful,
Sport around 2015. Most 2012-on cars get a 2ZR > Budget on around £400 but it’s the Elise that distils the Chapman
people optioned them Toyota engine – more for an average annual DNA to its purest essence. Nothing else
back in, thankfully torque, but it’s less revvy service at Bell & Colvill here strikes a finer balance for the road.

124 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018

Lotus Exige S 2012-present
THE EXIGE S is essentially an Elise with the Elise, and comes closest to the intense
the Evora’s V6 supercharged engine – the buzz of a quick Caterham in a more
bonded aluminium tub at the centre of sensible package.
the car is shared with the Elise, but there’s Priced from £52,900 new, Exige S
new bodywork front and rear. You notice coupes now typically hold firm at around
that the suspension is still resolutely firm the high £30k to mid £40k mark – the
and focused, but the damping seems car we’re driving is up for grabs at Bell
even more sophisticated than the Elise’s, & Colvill for £44,995, with 5000 miles.
perhaps because the Exige S weighs over But sales manager Jamie Matthews also
250kg more. A faster steering rack adds highlights what great value the roadsters
extra energy to direction changes but are. ‘The coupe has a 172mph top speed,
demands even more of your attention – but the roadster is limited to 142mph,’ he
it’s not nervous, but every input elicits a explains. ‘That puts off some people and
response. Most of all, though, you notice makes the roadster really good value, with
the grumble of the single-mass flywheel most in the mid-to-high £30k bracket.’ alternative – which brings the open-air It could be an
Elise, until you
at idle, the didgeridoo exhaust and the Coupes are also easily converted to experience without the limited top end, floor the throttle
visceral thump of that 345bhp V6. It’s a roadster-spec – basically you’re just though, clearly, that speed was restricted and discover what
whole new level of performance versus swapping the roof panel for a fabric for a reason. a supercharged
V6 can do
The Exige stepped up a notch in late
2015, with an exposed gear linkage and a
diferent modes to suit carpets. Premium Sport better shift quality, less weight, and a range
NEED TO KNOW road or track driving gave a choice of alcantara that stretched from Sport 350 to Sport
> Both coupe and roadster or leather and less sound 380 and 430 Cup, with those numbers
> Race-spec suspension insulation – the latter is a
models are available,
was optional at £2k, so too reflecting the power outputs. The torque
popular option
but coupes are easily Pirelli Trofeos, an additional converter IPS auto was offered too.
converted into roadsters £800 over standard P Zero > Budget around £500 for These later Exiges start from at least
Corsas. The Trofeos are no an annual service at Bell & £45k for a Sport 350, but even if £35k is
> The Race Pack included Colvill. Pirelli Corsa tyres
longer road-legal, however your max, the Exige S roadster makes
the brilliant Bosch are £210 for fronts, £282
Dynamic Performance > The Premium Pack per rear. Brake pads are an excellent choice for Sundays and
Management with added full leather and full £240 per axle trackdays. 

LOTUS
EXIGE S
> On sale 2012 to present
> Price then £52,900
> Value now From £35k
> Engine 3456cc 24v
supercharged V6, 345bhp,
295lb ft > Transmission
6-speed manual, rear-wheel
drive > Performance 3.8sec
0-60mph, 170mph, 28mpg,
236g/km CO2

May 2018 | SUBSC RIB E TO CAR & SAVE UP TO 62 %! G RE ATMAGA ZINES.CO.UK /CAR 125
 LOTUS EVORA S
> On sale 2009-present
> Price then £47,500 (non-S)
> Value now £35k
> Engine 3456cc 24v
supercharged V6, 345bhp,
295lb ft > Transmission
6-speed manual, rear-wheel
drive > Performance 4.6sec
0-62mph, 172mph, 33.2mpg,
235g/km CO2

Lotus Evora 2009-present

THE EVORA WAS the first all-new Colvill for £35,995 with 32k miles. chassis and steering, plentiful urge from Evora interior is
well-specced
Lotus in 15 years when it launched in The Evora is a much more mature, our car’s supercharged V6, and an agility cheese next to
2009, and immediately romped to our more usable machine than Elise-based and precision to the way the Evora flows the sparse chalk
Performance Car of the Year award. Two Lotuses. It’s easier to climb in and out of, down even a badly surfaced B-road. It’s of Elise and Exige
basic variants were available: one with more comfortable and refined too, but also a far better daily driver than the
a naturally aspirated 3.5-litre Toyota it also takes Lotus out of its pared-back Elise and Exige, explaining why Evoras
V6 making 276bhp, and a supercharged comfort zone – the more luxurious cabin generally wear higher mileages.
S version with 345bhp. Transversely introduces more complexity, after all, and Early ‘launch edition’ naturally
mid-mounted, the engine location also some of that shows in the fit and finish. aspirated manuals had acceleration-
provided space for optional +2 seats, The leather Recaros are world-class, blunting fourth and fifth ratios, but a
which most owners specified. The though, both in terms of the hide and the sports ’box with lower ratios was available
majority of UK cars are manuals, but the manner in which they hold you. soon after, and is fitted to all S models.
IPS auto was offered from 2011. The drive, too, still shines. There’s less Key options included the Sport Pack
Pricing starts from the high £20ks for immediacy than the Elise/Exige due (sharper throttle, increased rev limit from
an early naturally aspirated model, but to extra weight and power steering, but 6800 to 7200rpm, slackened stability
the S we’re driving recently sold at Bell & there’s still benchmark delicacy to the control) and the Tech Pack (sat-nav,
reversing sensors). Both are must-haves,
but the Tech Pack can be retro-fitted.
power-fold mirrors, just fit poor Alpine Blackbird head
NEED TO KNOW the button – the motors unit but most are updated
The Evora has since been overhauled
with a frankly bewildering array of
> Premium Pack and wiring are there
introduced full leather; already
> Budget on around £500 400, GT410, GT430 and GT430 Sport
for an annual service at derivatives, but almost a decade on an early
stock cars are part leather
> Listen for knocks from Bell & Colvill. The
Evora is still a great drive and a compelling
> Evoras can leak, so the anti-roll bar bushes Evora came with 18in front
(£162)/19in rear Pirelli alternative to the default 911.
check for wet carpets
> Reversing cameras were tyres (£234), or optional
> If your car doesn’t have optional. Early cars had the 19s (£300) and 20s (£375) With thanks to Bell & Colvill, bellandcolvill.co.uk

126 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018

Car
PROBLEMS
can be
complex
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Leighton, March 2018

WARRANTY I SERVICE I MOT I REPAIRS I GAP I TYRES

Duncan McClure Fisher

Founder and CEO The smart way to run your car
A month in the life of 16 cars – starring the Merc All-Terrain, Peugeot 5008 and our three hot hatches
4x4 minus
all the flab
Real of-road ability combined with traditional estate
refinement? Sounds like a dream come true for Ben Oliver
THESE LONG-TERM tests require us to
HELLO swap cars every few months, which is fine
MONTH 1
MERCEDES E350D until you have one which you’d happily
ALL-TERRAIN keep for the rest of your life. My outgoing
Volvo V90 was one such car. A premium
diesel estate has long been on my list of cars
I’d buy and drive forever if I gave up this job – although the
diesel element of that plan may soon need to change.
I was left wondering what to replace the Volvo with,
knowing that my next car would probably fit into my life
slightly less well. Yes, I know, poor me. Brilliantly, I hit on
the plan of replacing it with… another premium diesel estate
car. But this time, with a twist.
As part of its plan to occupy every market niche, Mercedes-
Benz has produced this All-Terrain version of the E-Class
estate. Volvo got there first 21 years ago with the Cross
128 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018
METALLIC
DRIVING PAINT £695
ASSISTANCE
PLUS PACKAGE £1695 Why is metallic paint
still a cost option
This is Merc’s full suite of driving on a £60k car?
aids – the only major package you Honestly…
can add. It brings the ability to steer
itself within lane markings so long as
there are frequent ‘check-ins’ from the
driver, and can perform motorway
lane changes with just a flick of the
indicator. A simpler package
for those happy to change
lanes for themselves
costs £595.
Country variants of its big estates. The first Audi Allroad
arrived a couple of years later, but BMW has left the jacked-
up estate market alone, for now.
Volvo reports that over its long lifetime the Cross Country
has accounted for around a quarter of V70 or V90 sales. That
percentage is far higher among private buyers, given the
large numbers of standard models which go to fleets. This
E-Class All-Terrain’s spec suggests that Mercedes is aiming
it at the same relatively cost-insensitive, discretionary
private purchasers. The 350d V6 diesel is the only engine
offered, the kit list is impressive, but at £59k the list price is
high to match.
CHRIS TEAGLES
The All-Terrain gets the Premium Plus package from
the standard E-Class estate, which brings keyless go, a
panoramic sunroof, memory seats, intelligent LED lights
and a Burmester sound system with its beautiful filigree
 PREMIUM
PLUS PACKAGE

It’s an option on other

E-Class estates, but part
of the All-Terrain deal:
panoramic sunroof,
memory seats, WINTER
posh audio. TYRES

You see the car here on

19in wheels and winter
tyres, but it’s about to
switch to standard 20in
wheels. Will it make a
diference? We’ll
see…

speakers. Underneath, there’s a nine-speed transmission and
Merc’s 4Matic system, giving a 31/69 torque split in normal
driving. Air springs and 20-inch rims together give a 29mm
boost in ride height, and an off-road mode in the Dynamic
Select system puffs it up another 20mm. My car is currently on
19s wearing Pirelli Sotto Zero winters. It hardly looks under-
tyred, but the standard wheels will go back on soon.
First impressions? In Selenite Grey with hazelnut leather,
I like the way it looks, but I’d like it more if Mercedes had
resisted the predictable design shorthand for ‘this is our
jacked-up estate’ and not compromised the standard E estate’s
lovely lozenge lines with black plastic wheelarches and a
slightly tacky grille and rear venturi treatment. Proper SUVs
do without plastic wheelarches: I’m not sure why less capable
vehicles need to look more butch.
Inside, the E’s cabin still provokes a little ‘ooh’, even after
the V90’s fine effort. If you order an All-Terrain now, yours
will feel even fancier, with a stitched leather dash top-roll in
place of the plastic on mine.
I appreciate that this is atypical, but I live at the end of a
three-quarter-mile unmade, muddy, heavily potholed track. I
use off-road mode at least twice every day. And when I reach
the asphalt, a long, sweet and often empty stretch of B-road,
I switch everything to Sport Plus,
and even on winter tyres and with
its extra ride height the All-Terrain LOGBOOK MERCEDES-BENZ
does a very close impression of a E350D 4MATIC ALL-TERRAIN
standard fast estate. It’s satisfying to > Price £58,880 > As tested £61,260
feel that you’re using the entire span > Engine 2987cc 24v turbodiesel V6, 254bhp @
of your car’s ability, and not paying 3400rpm, 457lb ft @ 1600rpm > Transmission
in money and weight and bulk and 9-speed auto, all-wheel drive > Performance
6.2sec 0-62mph, 155mph (limited), 179g/km
emissions for off-road capability CO2 > Miles this month 759 > Total 3274
you’ll never use. I’m missing that > Our mpg 34.3 > Oficial mpg 41.5 > Fuel this
Volvo a little less already. month £131.07 > Extra costs None

May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 129

 As nature
intended
We forget all the ‘hatch’ stuff and spend a day focused on
the ‘hot’ bit as the Honda Civic Type R, Ford Focus RS and
Hyundai i30N revel in some of our favourite rural roads

Feedback through It was here that Curtis

the brake pedal is stopped griping
uncannily good about how long it
on the Type R took to get to Wales

130 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018

 THERE COMES A moment – after five
MONTH 7 hours of motorway torture – when the Focus
FORD RS and I finally click. I’ve slogged up from
FOCUS RS London to escape the day-to-day grind
where this fast Ford frustrates, to get away to
North Wales, to the sort of roads on which
we all originally fell for this car. Meeting me somewhere
ahead are Curtis and the Civic Type R and James and his
Hyundai i30N. And by the time I meet them in Snowdonia,
my little epiphany has me wondering whether these two
newcomers are also-rans to an ageing hot hatch that’s nearly
out of production.
First on a shortcut I’ve never taken before, and then on old
favourite B-roads, the Focus RS is just so damn fast. So quick
I accidentally jump it. Twice. You stop thinking about the
jarring ride, the Recaro seats mounted closer to the roof than
the floor, and the diabolical range. Instead you engage Sport
mode and relish the way the exhaust spits and pops, marvel at
how agile and alert it feels. The Focus RS just grips and goes
(whereas I’ll later discover the other two will spin their front
wheels in the wet). And with all the power and torque, this
Ford really does fly along even the wettest, roughest roads.
By the time I arrive in Betws-y-Coed covered in a thick layer
of winter grime, the brakes are stinking and the tank is nearly
empty but I’m thinking there might not be a finer hot hatch
for that moment when you’re alone on your favourite road.
Which is what we’re doing here today. Hot hatches are built
to cover all the bases, but for 24 hours we’re forgetting about
them having to do the school run or trips to the shops. We’re
escaping the straitjacket of the everyday; instead, it’s three
mates, on an old stomping ground, having fun with their cars.
Let me point out the faults of the others before they have a
chance to get stuck in to the Focus. The Type R channels the
’90s Impreza or Evo vibe, complete with embarrassing rear
wing and bonnet intake. The rear wheels look lost inside the
arches, as if design forgot to tell engineering to order some
5mm spacers. At speed there’s too much road noise, while the
engine is inaudible. And initially all of the N elements feel
tacked onto the i30: at parking speeds the clutch and steering
are in ultra-light OAP mode, and it has an inordinately thick
steering wheel – one of the less welcome things N division
chief Albert Biermann brought with him from BMW’s M
division. The wheel also has a woeful lack of adjustment.
Move beyond the foibles, though, and both start to show
some real brilliance – enough to trouble the Focus RS.
Everyone sits
high in the Focus
The Type R has great seats and a superb gearbox, and the
RS – lanky Pulman modulation through the brake pedal is fantastic. Nothing is
needs oxygen quite so obviously standout on the i30N, and yet the overall
package might even be better. The seats are good, the gearbox
is good, the brakes are good, the engine makes the best noise
here (at least inside the car), but overall it’s the togetherness,
the way the i30N flows down a road that impresses me most.
BEN PULMAN

YOU GROW attached to a car when you

MONTH 3 drive it every day and use it for countless
HONDA CIVIC trips to Ikea while moving house. But as
TYPE R the sat-nav flashes up a four-hour journey
time to Betws-y-Coed, I realise this is the
strongest test of our relationship yet.
I know I’ve a whole day of far more spirited driving in
ALEX TAPLEY

prospect tomorrow, so the majority of today’s journey takes

place in Comfort mode, with the car’s lane-keeping and
adaptive-cruise toys on – and it’s relatively painless. For 

May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 131

 The cheaper, less powerful
Hyundai gives both the
established stars a black eye

most of the four hours the Civic Type R and I happily bomb
across England, podcast on, with only a mire of traffic near
Birmingham interrupting things.
Four hours gives you plenty of time to wonder why your
colleagues are dragging you to Wales – but as I draw closer
to the destination, the reason soon becomes obvious. As
motorway gives way to B-road and then ever more intricate
winding tarmac, it’s clear that this is exactly the sort of
landscape the Type R was made for. But before that I need to
stop for a curry, because I’ve been warned that the hotel we’re
staying at won’t be serving food by the time I arrive.
Main beams on, balti, garlic naan and rice in the footwell,
podcast paused; it’s time for a quick shakedown. My three-
mile drive from the takeaway to the hotel is more enjoyable
than it should be, and would probably disqualify me from
working for Deliveroo.
When the road ahead invites you to attack it, the Type R
does so with such unfussed speed that it’s easy to forget just
how fast you’re going – and just how composed it is. It’s only
after I arrive and open my grease-covered takeway bag that
I realise just how spirited the driving was. We find the garlic
naan the next day.
When paired up against the i30N or the Focus RS, it
becomes immediately obvious just how precise the Honda is.
The Type R makes you feel like you’re cheating when you’re
following the Ford or Hyundai, so clearly does it seem to have
been made for these roads.
The Hyundai is one of the most enjoyable cars I’ve driven,
and it’s one of the most silly too, but where it weaves and bobs
along B-roads, the Type R surgically slices its way through
Civic has the
smallest tank
but by far the best
fuel economy
them, with its subtle engine note and keen steering. The
brakes are predictable and intuitive too, constantly goading
you to brake later – and giving you ample feedback when
you’re a little too ambitious.
Unlike the Hyundai there’s almost no torque steer here
– it’s been successfully engineered out – and there are no
electronically enhanced parps or warbles either. It’s just about
going as fast as possible with the equipment provided.
As for the Focus RS, I never seem to gel with it in the same
way I do the Hyundai or Honda. Whether it’s the odd driving
position, or perhaps the heavier four-wheel drive, I’m not
sure – but it just doesn’t seem to inspire the same level of
confidence as the Type R. What’s more, its ride is firmer than
the skateboard-like i30N’s, and around 10 minutes into my
time with the Ford I’m relieved this isn’t the car I’ll be driving
home. From the outside at least, it’s also rather plain, although

132 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018

 LOGBOOK
FORD
FOCUS RS
> Price £32,265
> As tested £35,390
> Engine 2261cc 16v
turbo 4-cyl, 345bhp
@ 6000rpm, 347lb
ft @ 2000rpm
> Transmission
6-speed manual,
all-wheel drive
> Performance
4.7sec 0-62mph,
165mph, 175g/km
CO2
> Miles this month
728
> Total 6817
> Our mpg 24.2
> Official mpg 36.7
> Fuel this month
£181.21
> Extra costs None

Tacky overdose
of red fades next
to the Civic’s
HONDA CIVIC
dynamic brilliance TYPE R GT
> Price £32,995
> As tested £32,995
> Engine 1996cc 16v
some will prefer the shoe. Considering there’s 316bhp coursing through its front turbo 4-cyl, 316bhp
subtle look. It’s clearly wheels there’s barely any torque-steer, thanks partly to a dual- @ 6500rpm, 295lb ft
a technically impressive axis front axle with a separate hub-carrier. The less expensive @ 2500rpm
> Transmission
car, but of this trio it’s i30N doesn’t have that, and suffers from more torque-steer as
6-speed manual,
not the one I’d want to a result, but it’s not unmanageable. Its steering is very heavy, front-wheel drive
buy. perhaps to reinforce the idea of ‘sportiness’, and isn’t all that > Performance
While the i30N is a feelsome. Likewise its ride is overly firm, even in the adaptive 5.8sec 0-62mph,
cheeky, classic hot hatch, I’m dampers’ softest setting. 169mph, 176g/km
CO2
leaning towards the Civic Type R. At least, I thought it was before I climbed into the Focus. > Miles this month
The Honda wears its character on its sleeve, with outrageous I’d forgotten just how harsh it is, bumps making it pogo like a 2317
angles, edges and curves all over its widened shell. It’s supercar Sex Pistols front row circa 1977. I reach for the damper mode > Total 4525
drama on a hot-hatch body, but somehow it also has scope to be switch (positioned on the end of the indicator stalk) to soften > Our mpg 32.1
> Official mpg 36.7
comfortable – and still have enough room for a TV stand and them – before realising it’s already in its comfiest setting. And
> Fuel this month
Billy bookcase. It’s the car I’d part with my money for, because it the turning circle! I thought the i30 was bad but at one point £431.19
just does everything. the Focus needed reverse to get around an empty car park. I > Extra costs None
CURTIS MOLDRICH have fond memories of great drives in the RS, but today its
overservo’d brakes, overbolstered seats, overbuilt dashboard
I TURN UP in the i30N expecting it have its and comedy ergonomics all marr the experience. Until, that is,
HYUNDAI i30N
PERFORMANCE
tailgate handed to it by the two established we reach a favourite road, and I experience an epiphany similar > Price £27,995
MONTH 2
stars. After all, it’s more than £4k cheaper, to Ben’s. Having the rear axle in play gives its handling an extra > As tested £28,550
HYUNDAI > Engine 1998cc 16v
i30N its power output starts with a 2 rather than dimension compared with the front-drivers. Here it’s impossible
4-cyl turbo, 271bhp
a 3, and it’s the first proper go at this sort of not to like the Focus. You get the impression its engineers are
@ 6000rpm, 260lb
thing from a company with no track record still giggling with glee at having got its incredible bitsa running ft @ 1500rpm
in driver’s cars. But it goes on to give both a black eye and very gear past the accountants and into production. It’s a great drive, > Transmission
nearly win on points. but I’m not sure I’d want to live with one all year round. 6-speed manual,
The i30 feels right at home in the Welsh hills, with tireless Despite its wild looks, the Civic is actually the most practical. e-LSD,
front-wheel drive
brakes, a neutral handling balance, and serious straight-line It has the biggest boot, the best ride quality and the least droning > Performance
speed. Both Ford and Honda are fast enough to make your eyes exhaust on the motorway. Let’s gloss over its unfathomable 6.1 sec 0-62mph,
go wide like a Warner Bros cartoon character, but it says a lot for touchscreen. It’s my favourite to drive, with the best damping, 155mph (limited),
the Hyundai that it doesn’t feel slow by comparison. the best-weighted controls and incredible point-to-point pace. 163g/km CO2
> Miles this month
As Curtis says, the Type R could have been made for these It’s more a go-where-you-point-it guided-missile experience
1214
roads. Well, it was made for the Nürburgring, but this bit of than the i30, but some drivers might prefer the Hyundai’s more > Total 2465
Wales is kind of the same thing. I loved it on its launch in mobile rear axle, just as they might also prefer its vastly better > Our mpg 26
Germany and fretted it might not feel as good back in the UK, ergonomics and less outré styling. In the right circumstances > Official mpg 39.8
but needn’t have worried. It feels spot-on from the moment the Focus is the most fun, while the Civic is usually the best to > Fuel this month
£266.06
you leave the car park, the steering pin-point precise, the drive – and as we head home from Wales I’m more convinced > Extra costs None
gearchange even more so, and the brake pedal X-raying the road than ever that the i30N is the best to live with.
surface and transmitting the data straight to the sole of your JAMES TAYLOR

May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 133


Three hours later, unplug and free up the
space for someone else… if you remember
The car everyone likes
Kids, wife, jurors – the XC60 gets everyone’s vote… once
the audio’s sorted, anyway. By Anthony ffrench-Constant
WHEN, IN AN ear- system output more strongly towards the
lier round of voting, aft accommodation. Turns out you can
MONTH 2 m’learned colleagues do this, but not using the permanently
VOLVO XC60
of the UK Car of the on-screen sound adjustment panel that
Year jury took it upon pertains specifically to the delicious B&W
themselves to award the stereo installation.
Performance Car gong to the most mus- Rather than straightforward bass,
cular iteration of the Kia Stinger, I was treble, balance and fade adjustment, the

Captain tempted to see just how far my toys could

actually be thrown from the automotive
pram. Don’t get me wrong; the Stinger’s
B&W controls are dedicated solely to
offering a range of enthrallingly diverse
environments for your listening pleasure:
plug watch no stinker, but a better performance car
than a McLaren 570S? Seriously?
studio, concert hall, jazz dive, Minack
Theatre on Cornish cliffs, motorway
Obsessing about charging Happily, said jury has now redeemed underpass reeking of wee…
opportunities is a waste of itself by agreeing with me that the XC60 is Turns out Volvo’s own sound adjust-
time. By Colin Overland a sufficiently Jolly Good Thing to take this ment platform, which does subscribe
year’s top slot. Moreover (and wonders will to the more traditional tweakage
THE PHOTO YOU see never cease), the missus is – as a motoring techniques, is buried deep within some
here shows that happy TV presenter who shall remain nameless sub-menu that requires a fair degree
MONTH 5 but rare sight: a plug-
VW GOLF in hybrid plugged insists on putting it – in ‘agreeance’, sum- of swiping and prodding to unearth.
GTE in. I don’t think it’s ming it up with the same enthusiasm that Mercifully, being entirely au fait with an
just me who finds the baddy in RoboCop demonstrated for iPhone, the missus has pronounced the
the fuss of finding the Cobra Assault Cannon: ‘I LIKE it’. infotainment screen a veritable piece of
a vacant charger, and then leaving it
Indeed, such is her overall enthusiasm piss to live with.
plugged in for more than three hours
in exchange for less than 30 miles of that, to date, the missus’ only gripe
electric-only running, rarely worth the concerns the keyfob, which has been dis-
bother. If the efect of not plugging in missed as ‘An ugly custard cream... And LOGBOOK
vs plugging in was dramatic in terms of the buttons are far too small.’ Happily, a VOLVO XC60 D4 AWD INSCRIPTION PRO
petrol consumption, it might become
worth the bother. But it’s not. You end quick lesson in the joys of keyless entry > Price £45,655 > As tested £49,535 > Engine 1969cc 16v
and start (I know, I know) have gently tor- turbodiesel 4-cyl, 187bhp @ 4250rpm, 295lb ft @ 1750rpm
up getting something in the region of
> Transmission 8-speed auto, all-wheel drive
37mpg, and 250 miles between £40-ish pedoed the latter gripe, if not the former.
> Performance 8.4sec 0-62mph, 127mph, 136g/km CO2
fills (with about 80 miles of careful petrol- The hooligans, meanwhile, have com- > Miles this month 741 > Total 1608 > Our mpg 30.2
only running still in the tank at that point),
plained of not being able to fade the sound > Oficial mpg 54.3 > Fuel this month £67.45 > Extra costs None
come what may. Yes, it would be possible
(for some people) to be very disciplined
and plug in at both ends of every journey,
and to drive in whichever mode made
the best use of the available petrol and
electricity on any given journey. But,
for me, part of the attraction of a hybrid
(plug-in or otherwise) is that you don’t
have to worry about this much. So I’ve
made the mental shift to regarding any
electricity as a bonus. It’s a petrol car.
Sometimes it goes in all-electric mode.
Sometimes – good times! – the electricity
and the petrol work together. But usually
it’s a petrol car. COLIN OVERLAND
@ColinOverland

LOGBOOK VW GOLF GTE

ADVANCE 1.4 TSI
> *Price £32,135 > *As tested £38,510
> Engine 1395cc 16v turbo 4-cyl, 148bhp @
2500rpm, 258lb ft @ 2500rpm, plus 101bhp
e-motor (combined maximum 201bhp) >
Transmission 6-speed auto, front-wheel
drive > Performance 7.6sec 0-62mph,
138mph, 40g/km CO2 > Miles this month
ALEX TAPLEY

Exteriors and
295 > Total 7412 > Our mpg 35.7 > Oficial
dynamics are catching
mpg 157 > Fuel this month £45.45 > Extra up fast with Volvo’s
costs £3.50 (screenwash) brilliant interiors
*Plug-In Car Grant reduces prices by £2500

134 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018

 COUNT
T H E C O ST
Cost new £27,165 (including
£1470 of options)
Private sale price £20,055
Part-exchange price £18,425
Cost per mile 15.5p
Cost per mile including
depreciation 94.6p

Roof and
justice
SIMON THOMPSON

The hardtop MX-5 may not be perfect, but it’s always

fun to drive, which is pretty close. By Mark Walton

IT’S BEEN A strange year in the Mazda MX-5
GOODBYE RF. On the one hand, I’ve loved driving it;
MONTH 11 on the other hand, I’ve spent my whole time
MAZDA working out how to improve it. It’s crazy – I
MX-5 RF can’t tell you how many hours I’ve put in, men-
tally converting it into a proper fastback GT:
working out the cool, sloping roofline; the McLaren 570GT-style
side-opening rear hatch; the parcel deck behind the seats. It’s like
I actually work for Mazda and there’s going to be some reward for
all this graft. Instead, I have to remind myself that Mazda didn’t
actually build a GT – it built this.
Any car that causes such nagging thoughts is clearly flawed,
and I think the RF is. It’s heavier than the soft-top, more expen-
sive, the interior is noisy when the top is up and blustery when it’s
down. It’s not as pure or as open to the skies as the roadster, and
it’s slower to 60mph (albeit by a hair’s breadth).
All this, yet Mazda tells me the RF still outsold the roadster last
year: 2911 hard-tops to 1787 soft-tops. So what do I know, eh?
I reckon, though – and please, any RF owners reading this, tell
me I’m wrong – I reckon most RF owners drive with the roof up
virtually all the time. I know I did, over the last year – I probably
had the targa top down about 10 times during the course of the
year, and even then, only in the first six months. After that, it
stayed up – not because of the weather, but because the flapping-
gusts-in-face experience just wasn’t endearing.
However, it’s easy to pick holes in the RF, and equally easy
to gloss over its many charms. There are so few small, light,
rear-drive cars out there, the Mazda is worthy of high praise
just for that. I actually enjoyed driving it every time I got in
it; I never tired of the accurate steering, or the nimble chassis.
As I discovered when I swapped it for a Toyota GT86 for a
week, there are certainly more benign sports cars out there
– the MX-5 has a darty, pointy sharpness that does to your
eyeballs what a horse does to its ears when a dog barks – you have
to be EYES FORWARD when driving
the RF at speed.
It’s certainly engaging and… I’m
trying to think, what’s the opposite of
porridge? Whatever – the MX-5 is the
opposite of porridge.
So, there are some cars that come
and go and frankly you almost forget
you ever drove them. But the Mazda
is a car with character, a car to remem-
ber, a car I’ve taken lots of photos of,
pictures that will get printed and LOGBOOK MAZDA MX-5 RF
stuck in my family photo album, with 2.0 SPORT NAV
the caption ‘This is the car I drove > Price £25,695 > As tested £27,165 > Engine
in 2017’. And that says something, 1998cc 4-cyl, 158bhp @ 6000rpm, 148lb ft @
doesn’t it? 4600rpm > Transmission 6-speed manual,
Still, if you ask my advice, I’ll always rear-wheel drive > Performance 7.4sec
0-62mph, 134mph, 161 g/km CO2 > Miles
say ‘buy the roadster’. Then you can this month 1425 > Total 12,069 > Our mpg
just enjoy it, without the nagging 35.2 > Official mpg 40.9 > Fuel this month
doubts. £230 > Extra costs £195 (first service)

May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 135


What do you mean, it
doesn’t drive itself?
Premium pricing means we’re expecting a lot from
our high-spec seven-seater. By Alex Tapley
YEP, THAT IS indeed how we take the
HELLO car-to-car shots that often grace the pages of
MONTH 1 CAR. Crazy, you might think. My view: just
PEUGEOT don’t think about it… We’re harnessed in, so
5008 we’re a safe load and shouldn’t fall out.
Why are you looking at a picture of me
hanging out of the boot of a Peugeot 5008? After a previous
stint on CAR designing pages, I’m now one of the magazine’s
regular photographers – so regular, in fact, that CAR has asked
me to run a long-term test car. I do a lot of miles in a lot of dif-
ferent places, often having to keep up with some pretty rapid
cars. I need to carry a heap of gear – and hang out the back on
occasion – not to mention the demands of a young family when
I’m not at work. So one way or another this 5008 is going to get
thoroughly tested.
We’ve gone for the high-spec GT diesel. Ours is a 178bhp
2.0-litre four with a six-speed automatic transmission and
front-wheel drive. Some fiddling with Peugeot’s UK line-up
means the GT-spec 5008 with that engine will soon have an
eight-speed auto instead of our six-speeder.
It’s a seven-seater, with a good-size boot even with the re-
movable third row in place, but the on-the-road price of £36,215
still seems on the high side. But then you look at the long list of
standard safety, comfort and in-car entertainment features and
Seven seats and
a big boot means
excellent versatility
136 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018
CHRIS TEAGLES
it starts to make sense. The GT comes with the panoramic glass
roof, full leather (on all seven seats) and multi-point massage
function (only on the driver’s seat, to the annoyance of my wife).
We’ve also added a few extras. Choosing metallic Nimbus
Grey paint adds £525, the Focal hi-fi system adds £590 and the
Visio Park 2 system (360° camera with Automated Parking
Assistance) a further £450. That takes this car’s price to £37,780.
That’s raised a few eyebrows, so we’ll be keenly assessing the
car’s value for money over the next few months.
Having read about Anthony ffrench-Constant’s time with
the Peugeot 3008, documented over six rollercoaster months in
these pages, it’ll be interesting to see if the 5008 is essentially
a bigger version of the same mixed bag. I suspect not; initial
observations are extremely positive.
The 2.0-litre diesel provides enough power to make the
seven-seater a genuinely fun drive; get it flowing on a B-road
and it’s a riot. The i-Cockpit is mostly good, in that the design
is impressive and so’s the quality of the materials used. But let’s
reserve judgment until we’ve clocked up a few thousand miles
and seen how the fit and finish cope.
As I write this first report the car is already back with Peu-
geot, having a faulty electric boot repaired. The silver lining to
that cloud is that its temporary replacement is another 5008, a
1.2-litre PureTech petrol in entry-level Active spec, giving me
the chance to compare my car to a version that costs £10,000
less. I’ll let you know how that works out.
LOGBOOK PEUGEOT 5008 GT BLUEHDi 180
> Price £36,215 > As tested £37,780 > Engine 1997cc 16v turbodiesel
4-cyl, 178bhp @ 3750rpm, 170lb ft @ 1750rpm > Transmission 6-speed
auto, front-wheel drive > Performance 9.1sec 0-62mph, 131mph, 124g/
km CO2 > Miles this month 1113 > Total 2789 > Our mpg 36.4 > Official
mpg 58.9 > Fuel this month £173.28 > Extra costs None
Naughty
and nice
Lack of an AMG badge
doesn’t have to mean an
absence of performance.
By Steve Moody

YOU MAY THINK

I’m a right old sell-out,
MONTH 6
but I’ve become very
MERCEDES-
AMG C43 comfortable with the
C43: homely Mercedes
pipe, slippers and cocoa
rather than wicked AMG whips, chains
and tequila.
Our C43 comes equipped with Distron-
ic Plus active cruise control and Steering
Assist, which combine to let you set it up
to follow other cars and lock itself into
a lane. On motorways, especially when
they’re busy and slow moving, I’ve taken
to switching all this stuff on and letting
the car do as much of the work as possible.
It’s hardly ever scared me, although it
does leave it later than I would to apply
the brakes. But on a long trip, giving a few
per cent of my limited brain power a rest
seems to have an exponential effect in how
refreshed I feel at the end of the journey.
As a trade-off, I have taken to switching
everything to full loony Sport Plus level
every time nice winding A-roads are clear:
it makes all sorts of explosions, bangs and
screams as you speed up and slow down.
I took some stick from Twitterers about
this not being a proper AMG – trust me,
in psycho mode with the nursemaiding
switched off, the C43 is wild.
STEVE MOODY @Sjmoody37
ALEX TAPLEY
Jake’s SZ5 in blue and
Becca’s last-gen basic
Swift in white: both
good, but one’s better
Survival of the swiftest
Driving our Swift back-to-back with the old generation
highlights the pace of evolution. By Jake Groves
I’VE HEARD A lot
from various colleagues
MONTH 8
SUZUKI about how my Swift
SWIFT is in the same spirit as
previous Swifts, but I
wanted to find out for
myself just how the little supermini has
evolved. Luckily, our designer Rebecca
Wilshere owns a previous-generation en-
try-level Swift. She’s driven mine plenty
already, so I just had to have a go in hers so traits of my car – good grip, decent brakes
we could compare notes. and right-side-of-sporty ride – always
The biggest difference is pace. Without make me smile. But Becca’s Swift has a
being too rude, Becca’s Swift is achingly much sweeter gearchange action, shorter
slow; the addition of a turbo and light hy- pedal strokes and weightier steering,
brid assistance in mine makes it feel like which makes throwing it around a corner
a McLaren when pitted against the natu- that little bit more fun. Much to Becca’s
rally aspirated 1.2. There’s a huge lump of dismay, I even managed to get a bit of lift-
shove towards the top end in Lil’ Swifty off oversteer around a roundabout.
accompanied by that weird-but-lovable Smush the two sets of handling traits

We’ll let you know when we discover that
360bhp isn’t enough. Don’t hold your breath
LOGBOOK MERCEDES-AMG
C43 COUPE
> Price £47,650 > As tested £56,870
> Engine 2996cc 24v twin-turbo V6, 360bhp
@ 5500rpm, 378lb ft @ 2000rpm
> Transmission 9-speed auto, all-wheel
drive > Performance 4.7sec 0-62mph,
155mph (limited), 183g/km CO2 > Miles
this month 788 > Total 4287 > Our mpg
28.9 > Official mpg 35.3 > Fuel this month
£148.23 > Extra costs None
three-cylinder growl – neither of which
you get to enjoy in its predecessor.
The safety and convenience tech has
leapt on, too. It’s a little unfair to compare
the two cars here – mine is a top-end SZ5
while Rebecca’s is a basic SZ2 – but it does
highlight how far Suzuki has come in
terms of what it can offer buyers. Adaptive
cruise control, a parking camera, Android
Auto and Apple CarPlay among other
luxuries are fitted to my car. They’re all
slightly decadent features for a budget
supermini, but they’re nice to have all the
same, and the total price is still keen.
It’s the dynamics that bring up the big-
gest debate, though. The eager handling
together and I’m completely sold. The
grip, brakes and ride of my car combined
with the superior controls of the earlier
model would let you make the best of the
willing engine. Let’s hope the new Swift
Sport can make that blend a reality – I’m
really looking forward to it.
LOGBOOK
SUZUKI SWIFT SZ5 1.0 SHVS BOOSTERJET
> Price £14,499 > As tested £14,984 > Engine 998cc 12v turbo
3-cyl, 108bhp @ 5500rpm, 125lb ft @ 2000rpm > Transmission
5-speed manual, front-wheel drive > Performance 10.6sec
0-62mph, 121mph, 97g/km CO2 > Miles this month 549 > Total
9731 > Our mpg 43.6 > Official mpg 65.7 > Fuel this month
£67.90 > Extra costs None

May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 137


It only happens when it rains
Especially at the start of a long trip. Yep, a puncture –
and there’s no spare wheel in sight. By Chris Chilton
AN APOLOGY. Last
MONTH 3 month I mistakenly
SKODA referred to 20in rims
OCTAVIA vRS when whinging about
the otherwise excel-
lent Skoda’s harsh
ride. Had I correctly remembered they
were actually only 19s, I’d have given it a
much bigger kicking. The only thing I’m
kicking right now, though, is myself for
not ticking the £105 space-saver option.
It’s Saturday morning, first day of
the school holidays. A seven-hour drive
to Granny’s beckons. The last thing
we need is five stationary hours before
we’ve even set off. After ditching the
dog at the kennel there’s an ominous
thunk as we hit one of Devon’s million
covert potholes. I jump out to confirm the
worst: the off-side front tyre is pancaked.
Predictably, it’s tipping it down.
I flip the boot carpet. No spare. No get-
me-home skinny space saver, either. Just
a can of foam I can’t use because foam
can’t fix split sidewalls.
AA man Paul arrives 80 minutes later,
admits this happens all the time with
modern low-profile rubber, jacks up
the vRS and throws his yellow AA
space saver on. Klang! It won’t fit over the
245 vRS-specific bigger brakes.
Me and two kids is one body too many
to fit in his van, so he can’t tow us either.
So we wait while he disappears to a tyre
retailer in Plymouth to get our wheel
wrapped in new Pirelli P Zero. Thank
God for Netflix’s phone app and the
Skoda’s comfy seats.
The five-hour fiasco meant the day
was a total loss instead of the 10-minute
inconvenience it would have been 20
years ago, when full-size wheels were still
the norm.
LOGBOOK SKODA OCTAVIA vRS 245
> Price £29,930 > As tested £36,850 > Engine 1984cc 16v turbo 4-cyl,
242bhp @ 5000rpm, 273lb ft @ 1600rpm > Transmission 7-speed
dual-clutch auto, front-wheel drive > Performance 6.5sec 0-62mph,
156mph, 146g/km CO2 > Miles this month 2127 > Total 7129
> Our mpg 29.5mpg > Oficial mpg 44.1mpg
> Fuel this month £416.64 > Extra costs £150 (Pirelli P Zero)

AA man Paul’s van has

its charms, but it’s no
one’s idea of a dream
holiday destination

Having a ball Handling is well

sorted, but ride
isn’t perfect
LOGBOOK
JAGUAR XF

in the curves
SPORTBRAKE
2.0 PRESTIGE
> Price £37,160
> As tested £49,615
The Jag estate can turn a commute into a > Engine 1999cc 16v
turbodiesel 4-cyl,
pleasure, not a chore. By Phil McNamara 178bhp @ 4000rpm,
317lb ft @ 1750rpm
MY COMMUTE IS like watching Blade > Transmission
Runner 2049: engrossing but with only 8-speed auto,
MONTH 2 rear-wheel drive
sporadic bursts of action. (Assuming you
JAGUAR XF > Performance
SPORTBRAKE overlook the visual differences between a Dynamically, the big Jag is in great shape but it’s not perfect. 8.8sec 0-62mph,
futuristic Los Angeles and the Bedfordshire The Ingenium diesel, though smoother and with less turbo 138mph, 120g/km
A1.) Its highlight is that unlikely chicane on whistle than our 2015 XE suffered, makes a bothersome groan CO2 > Miles this
the Black Cat roundabout’s northbound approach, a window and transmits vibrations under measured throttle load, until a month 2007
> Total 2944
into the set-up of every car. First comes a sweeping left-hander 20-minute warm-up passes. I know fourpot diesels can’t sound
> Our mpg 39.0
where the body rolls gently outward as the tyres grip noncha- like NASCARs, but this one’s frequency is shrill on the ears. > Oficial mpg 61.4
lantly, telegraphing that this chassis could swoop through here There’s a two-tone quality to the ride too. The suspension’s > Fuel this month
far faster than the 60 limit permits. Then a nip of the brakes to primary gait is loping and lovely. But the onset of high-frequen- £283.72
trim the speed, a turn of the lovely linear steering, and the nose cy undulations can cause choppy body movements. It’s not that > Extra costs None

locks into the tighter right turn: not a trace of understeer, even if the XF can’t do cruising: tyre and wind noise are pretty well
you’re quickly back on the power because the way ahead is clear. suppressed. But it’s at its best in action hero mode.

138 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018

 THE REST OF THE FLEET
Audi RS5
MONTH 3 By Ben Miller
WHEN THE Beast’s snows came the RS5 proved a handy tool, if nothing
like the oversteering frenzy of revs and flying ice I had in mind. Early
March’s freeze hit Lincolnshire hard and without the RS5 at our disposal
the last issue would have missed its print slot. In the Audi I dutifully
scurried about picking up members of the team otherwise unable to get
to work. But on summer treads progress was slow, alive with slides and
prone to pronounced understeer whenever I dared use the throttle mid-
corner. But the Audi didn’t get stuck and if you ask the poor souls who
spent the night marooned high on the M62, that’s the main thing.
@benmillerwords
LOGBOOK AUDI RS5
> Price £63,575 > As tested £80,015 > Engine 2894cc 24v twin-turbo V6, 444bhp
@ 5700rpm, 443lb ft @ 1900rpm > Transmission 8-speed auto, all-wheel drive
> Performance 3.9sec 0-62mph, 155mph (limited), 197g/km CO2 > Miles this
month 1342 > Total 2932 > Our mpg 22.6mpg > Official mpg 32.5mpg > Fuel this
month £384.40 > Extra costs None
Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio
MONTH 8 By Phil McNamara
AFTER SEVEN months and nearly 14,000 miles, it’s time for new Giulia
Quadrifoglio boots. The rear rubber has worn incredibly evenly but is
too smooth for comfort, while the fronts are down to the warning mark.
Blackcircles.com doesn’t have the approved Pirelli P Zero Corsas in stock,
so I phone Glyn Hopkin Alfa which carried out the 9000-mile service. The
245/35 fronts cost £452 a corner, while the broader 285/30 rears are £538
each. That’s £1980 all in, but dry grip is back to Loctite levels of adhesion.
@CARPhilMc
LOGBOOK ALFA ROMEO GIULIA QUADRIFOGLIO
> Price £61,595 > As tested £72,550 > Engine 2891cc 24v turbo V6, 503bhp @
6500rpm, 442lb ft @ 2500rpm > Transmission 8-speed auto, rear-wheel drive
> Performance 3.9sec 0-62mph, 191mph, 189g/km CO2 > Miles this month 1045
> Total 14,343 > Our mpg 24.4 > Official mpg 34.4 > Fuel this month £236.48
> Extra costs £1980 (tyres)
May 2018 | SUBSC RIB E TO CAR & SAVE UP TO 62 %! G RE ATMAGA ZINES.CO.UK /CAR 139
Tesla Model S
MONTH 3 By Tim Pollard
WHAT’S TESLA build quality really like? Our approved-used 2016 Model
S wears its 18,000 miles lightly. But to get the bigger picture we tracked
down one of the UK’s highest-mileage examples. The red car above
belongs to Chargemaster, the UK’s largest EV charging specialist. The
P85’s odometer had just passed 100,000 miles and I was expecting it to
feel world-weary. Yet electric cars are mechanically simple – and aside
from worn leather upholstery (a problem shared with our 85D) it felt
robust. All the major controls operated smoothly, it rode comfortably and
the structure felt stif. Only a light grumble from the rear e-motor under
part-throttle gave the game away. EV performance has barely dipped;
Chargemaster predicts the battery should outlive the car.
LOGBOOK TESLA MODEL S 85D
> Price £57,510 (approved used model) > Engine 386kW electric motors (518bhp,
485lb ft) > Transmission Single-speed auto, all-wheel drive > Performance 5.2sec
0-62mph, 155mph, 0g/km CO2 > Miles this month 877 > Total 18,425 > Energy
consumption 412Wh/mile > Fuel this month £48.06 > Extra costs None
BMW 440i
MONTH 4 By Ben Barry
THE 440I’S emergency-braking system played up twice in one day. First,
triggered by queuing traffic in the neighbouring lane, the car beeped
and briefly grabbed the brakes. The second was worse. In slow traffic on
a slip road, traffic suddenly stopped. The 440i did a full – and arguably
unnecessary – emergency stop, sucking the brake pedal from under my
foot. The following 6-series almost hit the armco to avoid me. Did it save
me from a prang? Possibly. Did it almost cause one? Definitely. Despite
this, I still feel uneasy switching the system of. @IamBenBarry
LOGBOOK BMW 440I GRAN COUPE
> Price £45,490 > As tested £57,605 > Engine 2998cc 24v turbo 6-cyl, 322bhp
@ 5500rpm, 332lb ft @ 1380rpm > Transmission 8-speed auto, rear-wheel drive
> Performance 5.1sec 0-62mph, 155mph (limited), 41.5mpg, 159g/km CO2
> Miles this month 1742 > Total 7373 > Our mpg 28.5 > Official mpg 41.5
> Fuel this month £344.02 > Extra costs None
THE ULTIMATE IN
PERFORMANCE UPGRADES
AT DMS AUTOMOTIVE
WE’VE BEEN UNLEASHING
AUTOMOTIVE PERFORMANCE
FOR OVER 19 YEARS

DMS CLS63 AMG (EVO AUGUST ‘14) “ENGINE UPGRADE ADDS HUGE PERFORMANCE AND REAL CHARACTER”
DMS 1M (EVO MARCH 12) “THERE’S A REAL RIP TO THE WAY THE REVS PILE ON ABOVE 4000RPM”
DMS SL65 BLACK SERIES (EVO OCTOBER ‘10) “IT FEELS LIKE THE LOVE CHILD OF AN SL65 AND A PORSCHE GT2”
DMS 135I (BMW CAR MAY ‘09) “THE STANDARD CAR IS GREAT BUT DMS HAVE SOMEHOW MANAGED TO TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL”
DMS 997 TURBO 3.6 (EVO SEPTEMBER ‘08) “IT’S EPIC, HILARIOUS AND ADDICTIVE IN EVERY GEAR, YET DOCILE WHEN CRUISING”
DMS 997 TURBO 3.8 PDK (EVO JUNE ‘11) “DELIVERY IS ALMOST UNCOMFORTABLY FORCEFUL”

BELOW IS A SMALL SELECTION OF
OUR MORE POPULAR MODELS TO
UPGRADE. WE ARE ABLE TO UNLEASH
PERFORMANCE FROM SMALL FOUR
CYCLINDER DIESEL ENGINES UP TO
V12 SUPERCARS.
AUDI
AUDI RS6 4.0 T V8 » 690+BHP (+DE-LIMIT) 730D » 305+ BHP
AUDI RS6 V10 » 680+BHP (+DE-LIMIT)
AUDI R8 V10 » 592+BHP (+DE-LIMIT)
AUDI RS4 B7/ R8 » 445 BHP (+DE-LIMIT)
AUDI RS3/RSQ3 » 420+ BHP (+DE-LIMIT)
AUDI S3 / GOLF R » 373+ BHP (+DE-LIMIT)
AUDI 3.0TDi (ALL MODELS) » 315+ BHP
AUDI 3.0 Bi-TDi (ALL MODELS) » 380+ BHP MERCEDES-BENZ
AUDI Q7/A8 4.2 TDi » 400+ BHP
BMW
M5 V10 » 548+ BHP (205 MPH)
X5M / X6M » 618+ BHP
1M » 411+ BHP
M3 E90/92 » 445 BHP (+DE-LIMIT)
M135i/ M235i » 402 BHP
M4/M3 3.0T » 520+ BHP
M5 F10/M6 (STAGE 1) » 680 BHP
M5 F10/M6 (STAGE 2) » 730 BHP
F10 520D » 240 BHP
F10 530D » 305 BHP
335i/135i/X6 » 370+ BHP (+DE-LIMIT)
123D » 252 BHP
316D/216D/116D » 160 BHP
318D/218D/118D » 225 BHP
330D E90 » 296+ BHP
320D E90 » 215 BHP
420i/320i/220i/120i » 275+ BHP
435i/ F30 335i » 390 BHP
428i/328i » 295 BHP
535D / 335D / X5 SD » 355+ BHP
640D/335D/535D/435D » 390 BHP
X5 4.0D / 740D » 370 BHP
X5 3.0D » 305 BHP
X6 X5.0I 4.4 » 500+BHP
X6 M50D/X5M50D/550D » 450 BHP
A200CDi/C200CDi/E200CDi » 175 BHP
A250/C250 » 260 BHP
A45/CLA45 » 420 BHP
C300 HYBRID » 285 BHP
A220CDi/C220CDi/E220CDi » 215 BHP
C350/CLS350/E350/S350 » 315 BHP
E400 /C450 » 420+ BHP
C400 » 400 BHP
‘63’ 5.5 Bi-TURBO ALL MODELS » 690+BHP
‘500’ 4.7 Bi-TURBO ALL MODELS » 498+BHP
S65 (W222) » 780 BHP
SL65 BLACK » 720+ BHP (+DELIMIT)
SL65 AMG » 690 BHP (+DE-LIMIT)
‘55’ AMG KOMPRESSOR » 580+BHP
C63 AMG 6.3 » 530+BHP (+DE-LIMIT)
C63 AMG 4.0T » CALL FOR DETAILS
SL63 AMG 6.3 » 560+BHP (+DE-LIMIT,
RE-MAP & LOWER ABC SUSPENSION)
CL600 Bi-TURBO » 580+ BHP
SLK55 AMG » 420+ BHP (+DELIMIT)
320 CDi V6 » 274 BHP
350 CDi V6 » 312 BHP
420 /450 CDi V8 » 358 BHP
ALL 2015 RANGE ROVERS AVAILABLE
R ROVER SC 5.0 » 580+ BHP
R ROVER 4.4 SDV8 » 395+ BHP
R ROVER 3.0 TDV6 » 315+ BHP
R ROVER 3.0 SDV6 » 345+ BHP
EVOQUE/DISCO SPORT 2.2 DIESEL
» 240+ BHP
PORSCHE
997 TURBO/S 3.8 INC PDK » 611 BHP
997 TURBO 3.6 » 625+ BHP
997 GT2 RS » 670+ BHP
996 TURBO/GT2 » 600+ BHP
997 CARRERA S PDK » 400+ BHP
997 CARRERA S » 376+ BHP
997 CARRERA PDK » 368 BHP
997 CARRERA GTS » 435 BHP
997 GT3 UP » 436 BHP
BOXSTER 3.4S » 336+ BHP
CAYMAN S » 342 BHP
MACAN 3.0D » 315 BHP
CAYENNE GTS » 440 BHP
CAYENNE TURBO 4.8 » 578+ BHP
CAYENNE TURBO S 4.8 » 600+ BHP
CAYENNE 4.2 DIESEL » 450+ BHP
CAYENNE DIESEL » 315+ BHP
PANAMERA TURBO » 600+ BHP
PANAMERA DIESEL » 315+ BHP
EXOTIC / MISC
FERRARI CALIFORNIA » 487 BHP
FERRARI 599 » 647 BHP
FERRARI 430 » 525 BHP
GALLARDO » 546 BHP
LP560 » 608+BHP
LP640 » 707 BHP
HURACAN » 640+ BHP
AVENTADOR » CALL FOR DETAILS
MCLAREN MP4-12C » 700 BHP
MCLAREN 650S » 720 BHP
MURCIELAGO LP640 » 707 BHP
MASERATI GHIBLI 3.0S PETROL » 470 BHP
MASERATI GHIBLI 3.0 PETROL » 400 BHP
MASERATI GHIBLI 3.0 DIESEL » 312 BHP
MASERATI GT/QPORT » 438 BHP
MASERATI GT S / MC » 479+ BHP
BENTLEY 4.0 T V8 » 690 BHP
BENTLEY CGT / F-SPUR (INC 2013) » 680+ BHP
BENTLEY GT SPEED (INC 2013 ON) » 695 BHP
BENTLEY SUPERSPORT » 720+ BHP
FOR ALL OTHER MAKES AND MODELS,
PLEASE CALL US.

SALES@DMSAUTOMOTIVE /DMSAUTOMOTIVE
FOLLOW US FOR OUR LATEST NEWS

WWW.DMSAUTOMOTIVE.COM
WORLDWIDE OFFICES AND INSTALLATION

UK: 0800 030 5555 INT: +44 800 030 5555


The Good, the Bad & the Ugly
ABARTH
595 ★★★★★
> Pricey pocket rockets with divine details,
dodgy dynamics and a choice of 1.4-litre
turbocharged engines in various stages of
steroidal over-compensation > VERDICT Like a
small yappy dog: noisy, excitable and likely to
give you a headache
124 SPIDER ★★★★★
> Tuning division’s take on Fiat’s take on the
Mazda MX-5, with tweaked brakes, engine,
steering and suspension > VERDICT A delight
to drive, but the rational decision is to go for a
better-value Mazda
ALFA ROMEO
MITO ★★★★★
> Decent engines but generally rubbish to drive,
Alfa’s soggy-handling, hard-riding premium mini
is crucified by the real thing and Audi’s A1
> VERDICT At least it’s got its looks. No, wait. It’s
an ugly Alfa. It’s got nothing
GIULIETTA ★★★★★
> Looked like a credible Golf rival for a while but
now the game has moved on. Keen prices, but
several rivals are roomier, classier and more
fun to drive > VERDICT Miles better than a Mito.
Miles better than a 4C, even. But, unfortunately,
miles behind a Golf
4C/4C SPIDER ★★★★★
> Sexy carbon two-seater over-promises and
under-delivers on a double-your-dong-length
web-scam scale. Spider a step in right direction
> VERDICT Shoots for the moon, hits itself in
the foot. Lotus Elise more fun, Porsche Cayman
a better bet
GIULIA ★★★★★
> Good grief – an Alfa Romeo we can finally
recommend that you buy. Auto-only 3-series
rival has sharp steering, sultry looks, great driving
position. Bellissimo! > VERDICT Note to dealers:
don’t cock it up
STELVIO ★★★★★
> Either we’ve collectively entered another
dimension or Alfa has just built two excellent
cars in a row. Now we just need everyone to start
buying them again > VERDICT Worth the risk at
least once in your life
GIULIA QUADRIFOGLIO ★★★★★
> Like a regular Giulia doped up by Lance
Armstrong, this 191mph, 503bhp rocket is
a quadruple shot of espresso for Alfa’s long
lamented soul. At last > VERDICT The closest you
can currently get to a four-door Ferrari. Really.
That good
The home for all your car maintenance and ownership needs
NEW IN THIS MONTH
Ferrari
Portofino p143
‘Sweeter, sharper
and more practical
– it’s measurably
better than the
California in
every way’
ALPINA
D3/B3 ★★★★★
> 3-series derivatives with twin-turbo petrol
and diesel stonk and smooth auto ’boxes
mated to a quality chassis, but watch for some
questionable OAP-spec interior finishes
> VERDICT Try an xDrive D3 Touring – it’s what
the M3 wants to be when it grows up
D4/B4 ★★★★★
> Same blend of fast and frugal as above
but slotted into slinkier 4-series shell. ZF auto
not as snappy as M4’s twin-clutch, but much
smoother > VERDICT 53mpg and 62mph in
4.6sec? And you’re alright with this, BMW?
D5/B5 ★★★★★
> Twin-turbo B5 petrol V8’s 590lb ft could
de-forest the Amazon while planet-loving D5
doesn’t let meagre 155g/km prevent 174mph
max > VERDICT You can’t have a real M5
Touring, but this comes close
p146 Mercedes
CLS
‘Great interior
and loads of tech,
although it can’t
match the original
for visual drama’
Citroën
p143 C4 Cactus
‘A proper
Citroën, with all the
pros and cons that
involves’
B7 ★★★★★
> BMW doesn’t make an M7, but Alpina does.
Twin-blown petrol V8 delivers ‘bahn-busting
performance that’s best enjoyed in Germany
> VERDICT Niche Merc S63 AMG alternative
hamstrung by the ugliness of the raw materials
XD3 ★★★★★
> X3 35d-based high-rise hot-rod delivers
350bhp, 516lb ft, and the horizon through your
windscreen. Spoiled by a rock-hard ride
> VERDICT Another niche BMW that Munich
leaves to Alpina. Porsche Macan is better
ARIEL
ATOM ★★★★★
> Only the Pope’s lips get more up close and
personal with the tarmac than an Atom driver,
but there’s zero protection when the heavens
open > VERDICT Spectacular toy. Great on
track, barmy on road. Chassis doubles as a
clothes airer, which is just as well…
NOMAD ★★★★★
> Not content with terrifying on tarmac, Ariel
now ofers the of-road Nomad. Gains a roll-over
structure but, like the Atom, still no doors
> VERDICT Don’t forget to put the hot water
on – you’ll be needing a long, hot bath when
you get home
May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 141
Totally unique
guide to EVERY
car on sale in
the UK, with a
punchy view
on all of them –
yours included
ASTON MARTIN
VANTAGE V8/GT8 ★★★★★
> Ageing entry-level Aston has ace steering, but
make sure you go manual: plodding semi-auto is
as dynamic as a Ron Dennis interview
> VERDICT ‘Monica Bellucci’ on the desirability/
age scale; madcap GT8 tactile but not as fast
as it looks
VANTAGE V12/GT12 ★★★★★
> Cramming a huge V12 into the V8-sized engine
bay was apparently the easy bit; it took years for
Aston to add a manual gearbox. Worth the wait
> VERDICT Chassis finally has the stick shift it
deserves. Buy it no other way
DB11 ★★★★★
> First genuinely new Martin in a decade gets
slick aero slinkiness, belting V12 turbocharged
charmer and, crucially, Merc help with the
wiring > VERDICT Finally the right blend of
much needed new stuf and classic Aston
charm results in a cut-above GT
VANQUISH S ★★★★★
> Not quite funeral parlour dressing but lipstick
and sorted underpinnings come too near the
end of the Vanquish. DB11 is both fresher and
cheaper. Oops > VERDICT Instant respect, even
though you’ve bought the wrong Aston
RAPIDE ★★★★★
> Take that, Panamera! Aston shows Porsche
how to make a supercar/saloon cocktail. Forget
limo pretensions, though: it’s a four-door 2+2
> VERDICT Pretty, but interior more dated than
a New York socialite and as hard on your wallet
ALPINE
ALPINE A110 ★★★★★
> Desirable, cleverly packaged and dynamics to
die for. A bit pricey and the interior lacks wow
but the Cayman should be worried > VERDICT
Reborn Alpine has smashed it out of the park
AUDI
A1 HATCH/SPORTBACK ★★★★★
> Posh Polo does it all, from 1.0 miser to S1 micro
rocket. Not cheap, even before you’ve splurged
on options; £30k is a mouse click away
> VERDICT Classy Mini rival that doesn’t turn
into Quasimodo when you tick the 5dr option
A3 HATCH/S’BACK/SALOON
★★★★★
> Midlife update adds exterior angles, three-pot
engine and optional digi-dash. Still king of
quality in this sector, but adrenalin isn’t among
the standard kit > VERDICT Brilliant hatch and
not much financial gulf to a Golf. Try sporty
S-line on supple SE chassis
A3 CABRIOLET ★★★★★
> Premium sun-grabber without macho sports-
car posturing. A bit tight in the back, but pretty
tight in the bends too. Try a 1.8 TFSI Sport
> VERDICT Worth the £2k premium over Golf
AUDI > FIAT The home for all your car maintenance and ownership needs

both elicit same incredulous gasp > VERDICT

RS3 ★★★★★ Who needs this stuf? Short people in a rush?
> The superhatch/saloon for those lacking in
imagination and/or driving talent, RS3 struts
Better than a GLA45 AMG NUMBER CRUNCHING
its stuf best in a straight line. But 4.1 to 62mph
is well weapon > VERDICT Only feel a little bit
Q5 ★★★★★
> A4-MLB2 in Barbour, Q5 ups the comfort,
ELECTRIC CARS WITH THE
ashamed for wanting one tech, looks similar to the old one… textbook
Audi v2.0 in other words, but still something
LONGEST RANGE
A4 SALOON/AVANT/ALLROAD you’d want on your drive > VERDICT Expect to The crucial figure that dictates whether a battery EV has any part to
★★★★★ be swearing at one soon play in your life: its range between charges
> Captain Obvious in every way: lighter, smarter,
better to drive than the last one – and only Q7 ★★★★★
microscopically diferent to look at > VERDICT > German heavy metal turns techno as Mk2
As you were, except inside, where tech Q7 sheds weight despite megaload of extra TESLA MODEL S
obsession ofs elegance. Rivals remaining calm gizmos. High-performance SQ7 TDI mind- 100D
bendingly adept > VERDICT They thought of CLAIMED RANGE:
RS4 ★★★★★ everything but the charm 393 MILES
> Estate-only hot A4 ditches free-revving V8 In fact the top six
for RS5’s twin-turbo V6. Covers ground with TT COUPE/ROADSTER ★★★★★
impressive pace and ease and just a tiny bit of > Brilliant coupe gets virtual dash and sharper
EVs with the biggest
proper driver involvement > VERDICT An RS5 in a handling. Try 2.0 TFSI. Boot big, but the rear ranges are all Teslas,
parka and Timberland boots seat’s for handbags only > VERDICT A proper but this version of
real-world sports car – but the same money the luxury saloon
A5 SPORTBACK ★★★★★ buys an early R8 achieves the loftiest
> More tech and even better quality doesn’t claimed range figure
compensate for a lack of personality. Better TT RS ★★★★★
among Elon’s cars.
looking, then so is Dorking after eight pints. You > At the outer limits of the TT’s dynamic
could buy worse but you’ll definitely get bored envelope, a 17% power hike ekes 395bhp from
> VERDICT It’s better to live in than to drive five pots and targets wounded Cayman
> VERDICT Audi springs the ofside trap, rounds
A5 COUPE/CABRIO ★★★★★ the keeper, but hits the bar. So close! RENAULT ZOE
> Deceptive bunny boiler – looks normal until
R8 V10/V10 PLUS ★★★★★
Z.E 40
you realise it’s killed a TT and is wearing its CLAIMED RANGE:
face. Cue B-road mayhem. Not really > Friday-afternoon restyle meets Monday-
> VERDICT Even more of an A4 in a frock morning mechanics. New R8 ofers no V8 for
250 MILES
than the last one, but still better to drive now, but V10 is back with 533bhp or Lambo- No match for the
equalling 602bhp > VERDICT A Lamborghini Tesla’s range or its
RS5 ★★★★★ Huracan for £50k less. Friendly but ballistic; performance, but
> Like a bouncer in a tailored suit, the hot playful chassis a joy it’s also far cheaper,
  
A5’s power bulges through the creases in
its bodywork. Twin-turbo V6 has full-bodied
soundtrack and quattro provides grip in spades
BAC making this a tricky
all-round package to
beat if you’ve gone
> VERDICT A composed four-seat express
that has power to spare, but it’s not the most MONO ★★★★★ electric for cost
involving sports car > Single-seat racer that took a wrong turn reasons.
out of the pits. Pushrod suspension,
A6 SALOON/AVANT/ALLROAD Cosworth-tuned 2.3 Duratec and bath-like
★★★★★ driving position > VERDICT Sublime track tool
> Demure big Audi an unsung hero, refined with a six-figure price that’d net you a Porsche NISSAN LEAF
and cheap to run. Allroad an SUV for Cayman GT4 and an Ariel Atom MK2
agoraphobics; twin-blown 309bhp BiTDi a CLAIMED RANGE:
proper mischief maker > VERDICT Base models BENTLEY 235 MILES
short on wow, but a solid alternative to better-
handling Jag XF The electric car for
BENTAYGA ★★★★★ the masses, not
RS6 ★★★★★ > Cynics will say it’s a Q7 in expensive jewellery, the IT crowd. Now
> For wealthy mentalists who think the S6’s but The World’s Fastest SUV matches 187mph with more miles
444bhp isn’t enough, RS6 delivers 25% more top speed with superb chassis. We flambéed per charge, plus
and gives the R8 V10 a hard time at the lights the brakes, btw > VERDICT Super-lux options
more sober looks
> VERDICT Beautifully finished all-weather include £110k Breitling clock. Or spend the
family wagon that scares supercars silly same on a two-bed semi in Crewe that extend its
appeal beyond early
A7 SPORTBACK ★★★★★ BENTAYGA DIESEL ★★★★★ adopters.
> Think a more stylish A8 rather than A6 spin-of. > They said it would never happen, but we knew

  
Capable of incredible wafting ability and grippier
than Spider-Man covered in superglue. Petrol
properly refined but diesel will make better sense
in the UK > VERDICT Stylish GT with sensible
it would. Still fast, still heavy, still thirsty but now
you get to use the dirty pumps and only need to
stop every other minute > VERDICT You might
have to lie at the golf club or they’ll make you VOLKSWAGEN
engines, but not quite a sports saloon use the tradesmen’s entrance E-GOLF
RS7 ★★★★★ CONTINENTAL GT COUPE/
CLAIMED RANGE:
CABRIO ★★★★★ 186 MILES
> Pricier, less practical RS6 with fastback rear,
Holy smokes!
same guts, but gets clever rear dif as standard > The repmobile of millionaires. Reliable,
An EV that looks
for oversteer here, there and everywhere, given
room > VERDICT An Aston Rapide for the AA-
goraphobic, but we’d have the naughtier RS6
 
REPLACED
SOON
well built and full of VW bits. Death Star-
smooth W12 sounds more rebellious, while
twin-turbo GT V8 S is joyful > VERDICT More of a
like a normal car!
Designed to appeal
sports car than hefty GT image suggests to middle-class folk
A8 ★★★★★ who don’t like too
> Audi exec car in ‘good to drive’ shock. FLYING SPUR ★★★★★
much revolution
  
Ingolstadt’s limousine packs enough tech to
worry Skynet and avoids being wooden behind
the wheel so convincingly you’d think it had a
> Current Spur is sharper to drive, sharper
to look at, softer to sit in, and feels less like a
stretched Conti. Fridge and iPads essential
all at once.

diferent badge on the front > VERDICT The options for rear-seat recliners > VERDICT Think
new king in the exec tech arms race of it as a bargain Roller rather than a pricey A8
Q2 ★★★★★ MULSANNE ★★★★★ BMW i3
> Odd-looking small SUV is like a Countryman > Huge, hand-built anachronism, with twin- CLAIMED RANGE:
that’s lost a battle with a set-square. Nice turbo V8 born in the ’50s, bufed to perfection, 180 MILES
enough to drive but still a nerd to the Mini’s and a field of cows sacrificed > VERDICT Buy Proof you can have
prom queen > VERDICT The Q doesn’t stand the Speed – any less outrageous display of
your concept-car
for Quasimodo. Probably consumption is just poor form
looks and decent
Q3 ★★★★★ BMW dynamics in a
> Dumpy dinky faux field forager is a yummy production electric
mummy fave. Forget 4wd and the diesels and car. We loved
go for light, zippy, 1.4 TFSI > VERDICT So much 1-SERIES ★★★★★ running ours. The
better to drive than it looks. Which it’d have to > Only rear-driver in its class. Good for handling, sportier i3s claims
be, right? Unless it was an Alfa not for cabin space. Facelift made it 3% less
174 miles.
grotesque. 118i petrol a brilliant all-rounder
RSQ3★★★★★ > VERDICT Want a roomy, well-appointed hatch
> Audi’s first tall-boy RS model. Hearing of the that’s great to drive and look at? Then buy an
£45k price or unleashing that 335bhp five-pot Audi A3
JATO Dynamics is the world’s leading provider of automotive intelligence. Check them out at www.jato.com

142 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018


M140i ★★★★★
> Bavaria’s hot hatch shuns four-pot power
and front-drive for sonorous 335bhp 3.0-litre
straight-six nuke and power to the rears. About
as practical as shorts in a Canadian winter but
you won’t care > VERDICT An absolute riot, just
don’t have kids
2-SERIES COUPE/CABRIO ★★★★★
BEST IN Google’s R&D bunker, confident the
CLASS
> Boot-faced booted 1-series is a Mustang with
a couple of A-levels. 218d is 8.9 to 62mph and
63mpg; 4-cyl 228i a cut-price, cut-down M235i
> VERDICT Plainer than a margarine sarnie, but
TT and RCZ can’t touch its space/pace combo
M240i ★★★★★
> Still hard to look at without squinting but
sweet six-cylinder is even more grunty. The
perfect 2-series if you pretend the M2 doesn’t
exist > VERDICT Ignore the Golf R temptation
and keep it rear
M2 ★★★★★
> 2-series coupe with M4 chassis and 365bhp
turbo six – that’s some crowbar they’ve got
 
at M division. All of the fun, all of the time
> VERDICT Best M car since the E46 M3. Buy
with manual ’box and stacks of tyres
2-SERIES ACTIVE TOURER ★★★★★
> BMW in front-drive MPV shock. Decent
BEST IN drive, great interior. Need to cart OAP
CLASS
relatives around? Get the 7-seat Gran
Tourer. Boom boom! > VERDICT The ultimate
driving (to the park/crèche/post ofice) machine
i3 ★★★★★
> One of BMW’s best cars is home to its finest
cabin. Electric version has short range; hybrid
is noisy and has a fuel tank like a flea’s hip flask
> VERDICT Carbon-chassis supermini, electric
power and £30k price. Did we wake up in 2045?
3-SERIES SALOON/TOURING
★★★★★
> Celebrating four decades of overpriced,
BEST IN undersized family cars. New modular
CLASS
engines make it better than ever, 320d
(now sub-100g/km) still top choice > VERDICT
Jag XE is treading heavily on its twinkling toes
4-SERIES COUPE/CABRIO ★★★★★
> 3-series in a shellsuit subtly better to drive,
but same great engine choices and almost as
practical. Shame about the carryover cabin
> VERDICT Crushes Audi’s A5. Folding hardtop
cabrio weighty but worth it
4-SERIES GRAN COUPE ★★★★★
REPLACED
> Pretty and practical, like a bikini car wash,
hatchback GC costs £3k more than 3-series but
has standard leather. Five belts but four seats
> VERDICT Smart and useful, much more than a
niche exercise. But why isn’t this the 3-series?
M3/M4 ★★★★★
> Competition Pack breathes some life into this
staid M-car duo. £3k more = 444bhp and light-
up seat badges. Classy > VERDICT Buy an M2
5-SERIES ★★★★★
> BMW’s second most important car gets
the full treatment, with new chassis, slightly
forgettable exterior and massive tech injection.
Smart, semi-autonomous and still the best in
class > VERDICT Spirit-crushingly good
M5 ★★★★★
> G30-generation V8 bruiser sends shove to
all four wheels now but you can still drift it like
Ken Block. The sharp-suited and refined yet
ballistically quick autobahn prowler > VERDICT
All-wheel drive hasn’t ruined the M5
6-SERIES COUPE/CABRIO ★★★★★
> Anonymous big GT best enjoyed with mighty
40d diesel power. Plenty of room for four – if
you fire your passengers into the back via a
wood-chipper > VERDICT Under-the-radar GT
bruiser, short on sex, but not on appeal
6-SERIES GRAN COUPE ★★★★★
> Coupe? It’s a bloody saloon! And £20k more
than a same-engined 5-series! BMW must
chuckle at every sale. Still, rather nice
> VERDICT Desirable enough to leave the
6-series coupe in the shade/showroom
M6 ★★★★★
> Six-figure old-M5 in a shiny suit. Two-door
looks good value beside Mercedes’ S63 coupe,
but can’t touch a Porsche 911 GTS for kicks
> VERDICT M6 Gran Coupe almost makes M5
redundant, but at £100k/18mpg you’ll need
two jobs
7-SERIES ★★★★★
> So high-tech BMW must have ram-raided
‘carbon core’ construction would enable it
to drive back out > VERDICT Gesture control,
remote parking, active anti-roll – it’s got it all. But
not quite the kudos of the Merc S-Class…
X1 ★★★★★
> Ugly old one sold by the bucket load; all-new
replacement is miles better to look at and to
drive. It’s a proper mini-SUV now…
> VERDICT It’s even based on the front-wheel-
drive Mini platform. Swallow that bile now
X2 ★★★★★
> Sportier, more stylish X1. Avoid M Sport X if you
 don’t want your SUV to look like Bond villain Jaws
> VERDICT Great to drive and well-built inside
X3 ★★★★★
> Studiously un-gangsta SUV shuns petrol
power – and M Power – options for solid
diesel-only blend of handling and handiness.
Looking better post-facelift > VERDICT The
BMW SUV we don’t hate ourselves for liking
ENTRY now Airbump free. Citroën claims it’s a
X4 ★★★★★
> Blame the Evoque and people who bought the
X6 for this carbuncle. Priced at £4k-£5k more
than an X3, but better equipped and annoyingly
better to drive > VERDICT Depressing X3
spin-of for grown-ups who still dream of being
a footballer
X5 ★★★★★
> One-time Premier League fave looking more
like League 1 beside better-driving and -looking
rivals. Skinflint sDrive 25d is a rwd four-banger
> VERDICT Still impresses with engines and
quality, but thanks to Landie it’s lost its lustre
X6 ★★★★★
> All the impracticality of a coupe and all the
wasteful high-centred mass of an SUV. Genius.
If you must, X40d gives best price/punch/
parsimony > VERDICT Pointless pimp wagon.
Buy a Porsche Cayenne or even an X5
Z4 ★★★★★
> Sports car for post-menopausal women
SOON
in lemon trouser suits. Coupe-cabrio roof
hits boot space when folded. Base 18i spec
sub-Wartburg > VERDICT No match for Boxster.
Stick with mid-spec trim
i8 ★★★★★
> Carbon-constructed 3-cyl hybrid supercar
that’s fun for four, as fast as an M3 and does
40 real mpg. Minor demerit: looks like it’s
crimping of a 911 > VERDICT Fascinating
and fabulous futuristic sports car
BUGATTI
CHIRON ★★★★★
> ‘The Veyron was okay but why couldn’t it have
30% bigger turbos and 300bhp more power?’
Bugatti answers the question nobody asked –
and answers it loud > VERDICT A riot
CATERHAM
SEVEN ★★★★★
> For bobble-hatted Terry-Thomas wannabes
and the track-curious, the Seven comes in
flavours from 160 3-cyl to mental road racers
> VERDICT 80bhp 160 underpowered, 310bhp
620R lethal, 180bhp 360 model just right
CHEVROLET
CORVETTE ★★★★★
> Farm machinery meets Spacelab in fabulous
460bhp V8 symphony of composite materials,
leaf springs and pushrods. Shame it’s left-hook
only > VERDICT £60k for a bargain berserker.
£20k more for the 650bhp Z06
CITROEN
C1 ★★★★★
> Trying hard to escape the clutches of its sister
cars from Toyota and Peugeot, the C1 can have
a funky Airscape cloth roof and half-hearted
personalisation options. 1.0-litre has most pep
> VERDICT Good, solid proletarian urban fare
rather than hipster cool
C3 ★★★★★
> Citroën produces a great small car by looking
up its own Wikipedia entry and remembering
what it’s good at; spacy, compliant and diferent
> VERDICT Are Citroëns cool again? They’re
certainly getting there
C3 AIRCROSS ★★★★★
> Funky mattress on wheels takes C3’s style and
puts it on stilts. Thankfully retains C3 Picasso’s
super-spacious interior and flexi seats
> VERDICT The Vauxhall Crossland X’s much
more characterful Gallic sibling
C4 ★★★★★
> Recently refreshed C4 has all the edginess of a
Hush Puppy deck shoe. But it’s useful, anodyne
transport, and sub-100g/km BlueHDi models
are very economical > VERDICT Nobody would
hate you – or notice you – if you bought one
NEW
ENTRY to Portofino works a treat. It’s sweeter,
C4 CACTUS ★★★★★
> Comfy, roomy, slightly sloppy family car,
NEW
hatch; it’s in fact just as much a crossover
as the previous one > VERDICT A proper
BEST IN GT cars that fly the naturally aspirated V12
CLASS
Citroën, with all the pros and cons that involves
C4 PICASSO ★★★★★
> Defiantly anti-cool family shifter. Touches like
lower rear windows and sprogwatch mirror
make mums go weak at the knees for its peace-
and-bloody-quiet ambience > VERDICT Drives
like a shed, but it makes Satan’s brood shut up
BERLINGO MULTISPACE ★★★★★
BEST IN electric bits exist to save tenths not
CLASS
> Recently refreshed with SUV aspirations,
but still essentially a wipe-clean tin lifeboat
for cagoule-wearing Thermos-sipping
birdwatchers. Rattles and drives like a van. Is
a van > VERDICT Dogging cheap seats for
aspiring Bill Oddies
DACIA
SANDERO ★★★★★
> Cheapest new car on sale, not the worst.
Yoghurt-pot plastics and pre-Glasnost styling
can’t detract from a spacious sub-six-grand
runabout with Renault engines
> VERDICT Austerity rocks. Right, Greece?
LOGAN ★★★★★
> Estate looks like a Sandero that’s reversed into
a phone box. Cavernous boot, but dreadfully
unrefined thanks to all the brittle plastic and tin
> VERDICT You put things in it. It will carry them
for you. You can take them out. Job done
DUSTER ★★★★★
> No-nonsense SUV that’s ideal for wannabe
peacekeepers on a ridiculously small budget.
Buy the boggo 4x4 diesel in white for the full UN
efect > VERDICT The Neighbourhood Watch
will never be the same again
DS
DS3 HATCH/CABRIO ★★★★★
> Best-selling DS gets robo-croc snout and
Apple CarPlay as standard but ‘premium’ claims
got lost in translation > VERDICT Like Prince
William’s bonce covering, the Gallic charm is
wearing thin
DS4/CROSSBACK ★★★★★
> Range now split between regular hatch and
jacked-up Crossback. Softer set-up and fewer
buttons a plus; rear windows still don’t open
> VERDICT Medium rare luxy-Frenchness.
Germany reportedly not worried
DS5 ★★★★★
> Ofice joker in testosterone world of Serious
Business Men. Quite appealing, with a lovely
aerostyled cabin. Diesel Hybrid4 is a good
idea not executed properly > VERDICT Bland
ubiquity will always beat charming quirkiness
DS 7 CROSSBACK ★★★★★
> France’s idea of a premium SUV. Sharp-looking
interior and plenty of tech to boot, but looks like
an Audi Q5 in half-baked drag > VERDICT Neatly
done, but not quite there
May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 143
ELEMENTAL
RP1 ★★★★★
> As expensive as a used Porsche Cayman GT4,
but more refined than any Caterham – and it’s
an absolute weapon on track > VERDICT Crazy,
but worth it
FERRARI
488 GTB ★★★★★
> We were worried the turbos would ruin it, but
while we’ll miss the 458’s 9000rpm wail, the
488 is more playful and even easier to drive.
A stunning achievement > VERDICT Even the
looks grow on you after a while. Rivals better
dust of their gracious-loser faces
PORTOFINO ★★★★★
> The transformation from California
sharper and more practical, if ultimately
lacking focus > VERDICT Measurably better
than the Cali in every way
812 SUPERFAST ★★★★★
 
> Proof that Ferrari can still make truly epic
flag with pride. The screaming 800hp
engine is matched by laser-guided handling
> VERDICT GT? Supercar? Either way, it’s
astounding
LAFERRARI ★★★★★
> 1000bhp hybrid hypercar where the
icecaps. 499 to be built and all sold
despite the £1.2m asking price > VERDICT The
greatest single supercar of all time – except
maybe the FXX K track version
GTC4 LUSSO ★★★★★
> Looking even more like a Z3 M Coupe
battered by a giant spatula, this updated
FF gets four-wheel steering to go with its
improved four-wheel drive and 680bhp V12
> VERDICT Closest Ferrari has got to an SUV
GTC4 LUSSO T ★★★★★
> Deleting four cylinders and a driven axle
sneaks the GTC under the psychologically
distressing £200k barrier, not that the news will
sell thousands more > VERDICT Less is a little
bit more, while also still very much a lot
FIAT
TIPO ★★★★★
> Fiat has another crack at the C-segment, this
time sensibly playing the value card. Dull, yet
still the best Fiat hatch since the last Tipo – and
that dates from 1988 > VERDICT Only consider
buying Fiats with numbers, not names
124 ★★★★★
> MX-5’s step-sister, seemingly intent on
undermining said darling hairdresser’s star turn
with its punchier 1.4 turbo blow-dryer. Awkward
style, for an Italian > VERDICT To drive, this is the
MX-5 you’ve been waiting for
PANDA ★★★★★
> Spacious city car with ‘squircle’ obsession, as
roly-poly as its blobby looks suggest. Two-pot
TwinAir willing but thirsty > VERDICT VW Up
costs less, drives better and is nicer inside
500/C ★★★★★
> Delicate job, modernising a retro cash cow.
Fiat’s approach pairs a korma-grade facelift with
updated tech and even more colour palette
kitsch > VERDICT Fashion victims rejoice! The
cupholders actually work now
500L/MPW ★★★★★
> Bloated supermini-sized people carriers,
desperately attempting to cash in on city car’s
chic. Seldom has the point been so massively
missed > VERDICT In-car cofee machine
option the only purchase excuse
500X ★★★★★
> Compact crossover is the Arnold
Schwarzenegger of the 500 range – steroidal
and somewhat limited in its range of abilities,
but actually rather likeable > VERDICT Worthy
Nissan Juke alternative works the 500 thing
surprisingly well
 FIAT > McLAREN
PUNTO ★★★★★
> Been facelifted more times than Joan Rivers
but is somehow still alive. Now reduced to bare-
bones range and budget price. We still wouldn’t
> VERDICT You might be tempted. Don’t be
QUBO/DOBLO ★★★★★
> Postman Pat’s wheels? Don’t be daft, Pat’s
retired to the Caribbean and is living of
the royalties. Drives a red Bentley
> VERDICT Van-based MPVs. Practicality
first, people second
FORD
KA+ ★★★★★
> Hits the city car target bang-on by being the
complete opposite of the old Ka (good to drive,
decently spacious), but misses by being less
sexy than Borat. And Plus? Plus what?
> VERDICT Ahead of its time, and in danger of
being overshadowed by newer arrivals, but still
pretty good as far as it goes
B-MAX ★★★★★
> B-pillar-free Fiesta-based mini MPV gets rear
sliding doors for maximum practicality but not
the sliding rear seats of some rivals. Firm ride
> VERDICT Buy with a 1.0 EcoBoost triple and
Zetec trim for maximum school-run fun
FIESTA ★★★★★
> Still a peach to drive and now has an interior
design that isn’t from the dark ages, even if
material quality is still a bit ify. ST-Line suitably
sporty but Vignale too expensive to justify
> VERDICT You can thank the heavens they
haven’t ruined it
FIESTA ST/ST200 ★★★★★
> Bargain banzai hot hatch shreds that
REPLACED tricky gyratory complex with style to
SOON
spare thanks to torque vectoring voodoo.
ST200 costs £5k more than base; misses
point spectacularly (if not the apex). Softer
suspension now > VERDICT This is the one that
you want
FOCUS HATCH/ESTATE ★★★★★
> Shows Ford’s chassis engineers know their
stuf > VERDICT Great to drive but the VW Golf
is a more polished destination for your money
FOCUS ST/RS ★★★★★
> Chip-controlled 4wd RS is an overclocked
345bhp mix of outrageous drift angles and
limpet traction. And we used to think the
front-drive ST was impressive > VERDICT In
bhp/£ stakes, both are mega value. But only the
RS does donuts
MONDEO HATCH/ESTATE ★★★★★
> Huge space and you can even have the plucky
little 1.0 EcoBoost engine > VERDICT Everybody
wants them new-fangled SUVs these days, but
this is a great family car
KUGA ★★★★★
> The best-handling mid-sized crossover, but
that’s not saying much > VERDICT If you must
EDGE ★★★★★
> Stupidest Ford name since Maverick, but looks
good and drives like a Ford – a big, ponderous
Ford, hamstrung by 2.0 diesels and slower than
continental drift > VERDICT Comfy, refined,
irrelevant amid premium rivals
ECOSPORT ★★★★★
> Ford’s half-arsed stab at a crossover sold in
droves despite being crap first time round. We’re
more comfortable recommending it, since
144 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018
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it now looks half decent and isn’t built out of
melted wheelie bins > VERDICT Better, but still
isn’t the best
C-MAX/GRAND C-MAX ★★★★★
> More a roomier Focus than full-blown MPV,
C-Max delivers driving pleasure to blot out
family pain. Seven-seat Grand version gets rear
sliding doors > VERDICT Rivals are roomier, but
none is better to drive
S-MAX ★★★★★
> Exploits latest Mondeo’s undercrackers
to full efect. Pricey, but still the best of the
seven-seaters to drive. Toys include electric
everything and speed-correcting cruise control
> VERDICT Harder to beat than FC Barcelona
MUSTANG ★★★★★
> GI Henry’s finally been posted to Europe and
he’s cutting in on the TT’s dance. At last gets
multi-link rear end, but rear space could be better
> VERDICT EcoBoost 4-cyl torquey but tedious;
it’s the V8 you want, if not its 18mpg thirst
GALAXY ★★★★★
> Goose to the S-Max’s Maverick, current
Galaxy is based on the same Mondeo-derived
platform. Just as high-tech, but more spacious
> VERDICT Great if you need a big seven-seater
as it fits adults in all rows with no human rights
violations
GT ★★★★★
> A very expensive hardcore supercar from
Detroit that proves a global mega-seller can
still cut it against Ferrari when it wants to.
EcoBoost V6 is hugely fast if devoid of character
> VERDICT ‘Race car for the road’ translates into
‘brilliant fun but a bit coarse’
GINETTA
G40 ★★★★★
> Pint-sized road-legal racer. Two models:
G40R (civilised version, with carpets) and
GRDC (actually a race car with number plates)
> VERDICT Tiny, twitchy and top fun. Pick the
£35k GRDC and get free entry to race series
HONDA
JAZZ ★★★★★
> Brilliantly packaged supermini with typical
genius mismatch of brain and social skills.
Ordinary performance, more refined than
before > VERDICT If a Skoda Fabia had seats
this smart, other superminis would call it a day
CIVIC ★★★★★
> The might of Honda’s engineering prowess
delivers more space, clever new engines
and an exterior that looks like it was drawn on a
bus on the way into school > VERDICT Easy to
admire, loving requires recreational drugs
CIVIC TYPE R ★★★★★
> Its many angles hide a much more rounded
hot hatch than ever before. Driving one day to
day much easier now but its speed and agility
can still take your head of > VERDICT All the
ills of the old FK2 have been resolved; it’s fast,
practical, agile and easy to live with
HR-V ★★★★★
> It took Honda 10 years to build a second HR-V,
and you’re left wondering why they bothered.
Almost wilfully generic > VERDICT Platform’s
magic packaging the only saving grace
CR-V ★★★★★
> Roomy but unremarkable SUV with a choice
of two- or four-wheel drive. Unlike most Hondas
won’t need ear defenders to drown out road
noise > VERDICT Ford Kuga has the chassis,
Nissan Qashqai has the style, but neither is as
practical as a CR-V
NSX ★★★★★
> ‘We’ve blown all our development cash on an
insanely complex hybrid drivetrain. Do you think
anyone will notice if we fit an interior from a
Civic?’ > VERDICT Like a 918 for half a mil’ less –
mind-blowing to drive, crap to sit in
HYUNDAI
i10 ★★★★★
> Five-door city car that balances mature driving
experience with strong value – even if it’s not as
cheap as it was. Five-year warranty, too
> VERDICT Basic motoring done not just well
but with a dash of style. Mid-spec 1.0 our choice
i20 HATCH/COUPE/ACTIVE
★★★★★
> Update adds Active crossover to 5dr hatch
and 3dr ‘coupe’; suitable for somnambulant
warranty fiends only. Turbo triple lumpy
> VERDICT Fur-lined tartan slippers, Horlicks
and early to bed; repeat
i30 HATCH/TOURER ★★★★★
> Where the current crop of Hyundais got
serious – which means it’s now in need of a
facelift as the mainstream moves ahead again
> VERDICT Tries hard but lacks imagination
i30N ★★★★★
> Ex-BMW M Division head Albert Biermann has
worked his magic – Korea’s first proper hot hatch
is very good indeed, and cheaper than a Golf GTI
> VERDICT An intergalactic leap ahead
i40 SALOON/TOURER ★★★★★
> Vast Mondeo rival with huge boot and lots of
kit. Facelift resembles a lizard with an Audi grille
for a mouth > VERDICT Nearly-but-not-quite
mainstream alternative plays value card well
iX20 ★★★★★
> Compact MPV and Kia Venga’s ugly
step-sister; roomy but ultimately forgettable
> VERDICT Sorry, what were we talking about?
KONA ★★★★★
> Hyundai does a Nissan by trying to make a
forgettable crossover less so by over-styling it.
Rear space and boot tight but plenty of kit
> VERDICT You’d have to like the looks to pick it
over countless others
TUCSON ★★★★★
> Promising initial impressions of shiny-looking
ix35 replacement tarnish quickly
> VERDICT Dull to drive, duller inside, unrefined
SANTA FE ★★★★★
> Biggish SUV has always led Hyundai’s
assault on the European market from the front.
Comfortable, self-assured and easy to live with
> VERDICT A Hyundai you can choose without
shame. Looks fresher than Waitrose parsnips
i800 ★★★★★
> Massive van-based people carrier that’ll seat
eight and still have space for their luggage. Ideal
for part-time airport minicabbers > VERDICT It
is what it is: a van with seats in. But it’s a nice van
GENESIS ★★★★★
> Luxury saloon hamstrung by unsuitable petrol
engine and they-must-be-joking price tag
> VERDICT Start of Hyundai’s move upmarket.
Well, it worked out well for Infiniti. Oh, wait…
IONIQ ★★★★★
> Korean take on the Prius minus Gwyneth
Paltrow smugness and drawn-in-the-dark
exterior. Hybrid, EV or upcoming PHEV –
something in all shades of green > VERDICT
Challenges neither pulse nor helmsmanship
INFINITI
Q30 ★★★★★
> It’s an A-Class in an alternative frock – a
slow A-Class at that. Suspension and seats
comfy, just don’t look too closely at the dash
> VERDICT The fat goth of the premium
hatchback segment
Q50 ★★★★★
> US-aimed Japanese premium product that’s
mostly forgettable. Sport Tech model has
stonking V6 > VERDICT The hot one is a surprise
but it’s not a car that will worry BMW or Merc
Q60 ★★★★★
> Shapely coupe has quirkiness in spades. Tech
overkill includes slightly odd drive-by-wire
steering while porky weight dulls performance
> VERDICT Capable and direct, but those words
don’t scream ‘fun’, do they?
Q70 ★★★★★
> Does it look like a rubbish Maser QP, or a
slightly cooler Daewoo Leganza? > VERDICT
Worth considering over a 5-series, but only if
Harald Quandt ran of with your wife
QX50 ★★★★★
> Once more with feeling, eh Infiniti? Mid-size SUV
looks good, has plenty of kit and clever variable
compression engine tech. Lack of diesel/hybrid
version may make interest wane
> VERDICT The best car Infiniti makes
QX70★★★★★
> Striking jumbo jeep comes with more kit than
a Knight Rider convention but the lavish cabin is
too small and the fuel and tax bills anything but
> VERDICT Taxi for Infiniti! Porsche’s Cayenne
has this one covered, old timer
JAGUAR
XE ★★★★★
> Straight-bat styling hides exotic aluminium
chassis and class-leading handling. Bit tight on
space, though, and engines not a high point
> VERDICT Rivals are better packaged but this is
the driver’s car in the class and a proper little Jag
XF ★★★★★
> Bigger inside, smaller outside, still a great
steer > VERDICT Diddy diesels moo more than a
dairy; insert your own cats/cream joke
XJ ★★★★★
> Questionable styling but unquestionably
an excellent steer – although passengers
may mutiny. Interior looks luxurious but lacks
intelligence, even if it’s fitted with the latest
infotainment > VERDICT Hollywood baddies’
limo of choice. Flawed
XJR ★★★★★
> Absurdly track-ready limo builds on already
ballistic XJ Supersport, but bumps power up
to 543bhp and tightens chassis at expense of
ride > VERDICT Spectacular – if you’re sitting
in the front
F-TYPE COUPE/ROADSTER
★★★★★
> Posh pauper’s Aston Martin sounds superb,
and goes well too. Forget the basic V6 and
choose from V6S and mental V8S. Now with
manual and 4wd options > VERDICT So nearly
sublime, but Cayman/Boxster duo cost less,
entertain more
F-TYPE R ★★★★★
> Supercharged 543bhp almost too much fun in
rear-wheel-drive form (but still less knife-edge
than V8S); 4wd available if you’ve left bravery
pills at home > VERDICT All this drama or an
‘ordinary’ 911? Tough choice…
F-TYPE SVR ★★★★★
> JLR’s SVO black ops division delivers a 567bhp
all-wheel-drive F-Type that goes and sounds
like an elephant on MDMA > VERDICT Quilted
leather and 200mph – but terrible hi-fi for a car
that costs twice the entry V6
E-PACE ★★★★★
> No, not the electric one, the baby F-Pace
one. Wears the Evoque’s undercrackers and
can be had with same engine as the 4-cyl F-Type,
so there’s a solid baseline for it to sell in the
bazillions. Top spec incredibly expensive, mind
> VERDICT Handsome and filled with tech but
lacks polish
F-PACE ★★★★★
> Jaguar’s first SUV is a road-biased Porsche
Macan botherer. Built light to be nimble; body
control brilliance and pokey engines prove
family DNA > VERDICT Macan remains most
sporting choice, but more rounded F-Pace has
plenty of bite
JEEP
RENEGADE ★★★★★
> Strange but true: junior Jeep is built in Italy
alongside Fiat 500X that donates its platform.
Even stranger: it’s not terrible > VERDICT Only
the top Trailhawk cuts it in the rough
COMPASS ★★★★★
> Qashqai rival misses the mark. Looks imposing
and Trailhawk very good in the rough, but
smaller Renegade more charming > VERDICT
Almost as forgettable as the previous Compass
CHEROKEE ★★★★★
> Gimlet-eyed Discovery Sport rival looks like
the banjo-playing inbred from Deliverance.
Despite generous kit, we’d leave it on the porch
> VERDICT Feels too cheap to be premium, too
pricey/ugly to beat Qashqai
GRAND CHEROKEE ★★★★★
> Proper of-road credentials and sensible
running costs, but it feels cheap inside.
Ludicrous SRT8 version demolishes 0-62mph
in five seconds dead > VERDICT Makes sense
at $30k in the US, but doesn’t drive or feel like a
premium car
WRANGLER ★★★★★
> Incredible of-road, and better than a Defender
on it, but that’s like saying Pol Pot was more
benevolent than Stalin > VERDICT When North
Korea nukes us, this cold war cast-of will be all
that’s left moving. Replacement unveiled but
still some way from the showroom
KOËNIGSEGG
AGERA ★★★★★
> Evolution of Lex Luthor’s original CC8S
supercar features carbonfibre wheels and
twin-turbo 5.0 V8. R version even runs on E85
biofuel > VERDICT Yahoo! Yin to Volvo’s yang
keeps Sweden’s car output balanced
KIA
PICANTO ★★★★★
> Now has an angry face and there’s a feisty turbo
triple. GT Line comes with amped-up looks
> VERDICT Accomplished; avoid base 1.0
RIO ★★★★★
> Long on space, short on enjoyment, life with
a Rio is no carnival. Diesel refinement will have
you driving to a favela in the hope of a carjacking
> VERDICT White-goods car gets the basics
right but there are many better rivals
STONIC ★★★★★
> Her name is Rio and she’s put on a bit of weight.
Kia’s first stab at a bestseller has a hard ride but
it’s much more practical than a Juke > VERDICT
Looks good but just as forgettable to drive as any
other baby crossover
CEED HATCH/SW/PROCEED
★★★★★
> Golf wannabe is big on equipment and not
bad to drive. Ceed is five-door, Proceed gets
three, SW is the wagon > VERDICT Now with
downsized turbo engines. Europe still ahead. Just
SOUL ★★★★★
> Improved second-gen chunky spunky SUV
better to drive but ride and noise suppression
poor. Petrol version rubbish, but much cheaper
> VERDICT A Korean with character but other
SUVs are more rounded (in both senses)
OPTIMA ★★★★★
> Sexless Mondeo clone cobbles together
some mojo via the addition of sharp-suited
Sportswagon and a plug-in hybrid > VERDICT All
the car you’ll ever need, but not the car you want
VENGA ★★★★★
> Weird sit-up supermini-cum-MPV packs Focus
space into near-city-car dimensions. Hard to get
comfy though. 1.4 petrol best > VERDICT Too
pricey and too ordinary to drive for us to care
CARENS ★★★★★
> Big, versatile, value-packed seven-seater. Go
diesel – 1.6 petrol is wheezier than emphysema-
riddled asthmatic with a punctured lung
> VERDICT For all its pseudo-premium Euro
aspirations, this is the stuf Kia still does best
SPORTAGE ★★★★★
> All-new, all-turbo SUV truly handles and rides
but somehow a picture of Mr Potato Head’s face
got mixed up with the final blueprints
> VERDICT Improved, except to look at
SORENTO ★★★★★
> Ambitious new flagship SUV reckons it’s a real
Land Rover rival. Now bigger than ever, and so is
the price: up to £40k. Only engine is a 2.2 diesel BEST
> VERDICT Impressive, but lacks the badge and
performance of genuine premium of-roaders
CLASS perfectly acceptable, supercharged V8
for smuggling cash to Switzerland, skiing, turning
up at a ball, game shooting and being smug
STINGER ★★★★★
> Handsome four-door grand tourer has a
mountain to climb to win over German exec
buyers but it’s comfy and a head-turner. Interior
not as well-finished or techy as rivals
> VERDICT A solid first efort; V6 GT-S is playful
KTM
X-BOW ★★★★★
> 22nd century Ariel Atom mixes carbon
construction with hardy Audi turbo’d 2.0 four
> VERDICT Big money, big grins, but single-seat
BAC Mono gives more race car-like experience
LAMBORGHINI
HURACAN ★★★★★
> Way more accomplished Gallardo successor,
twinned with new R8. Dual-clutch gearbox
mandatory, 602bhp V10 flicks Vs at turbos
> VERDICT Beats 488 for aural and visual thrills
but nothing else. So we’ll have the Spyder
AVENTADOR S ★★★★★
> Aventador hits the sweet spot: old enough to
sort the gripes from new and young enough
to not yet be the subject of 31 run-out limited
ENTRY to die for, but hybrid powertrain less
editions. Semi life-afirming > VERDICT Pose
to talent ratio heading in right direction
AVENTADOR/SV ★★★★★
> The F12 may be better in every respect, but
this is what a supercar should look like. Limited-
run Aventador SV closes that gap with shocking
power and agility > VERDICT SV is the one
to have. Sub-7min ’Ring lap makes the hybrid
hypercar crew look stupidly expensive
LAND ROVER
DISCOVERY SPORT ★★★★★
> ‘Educated, professional luxury SUV
desperately seeking decent diesel engine.’
Ingenium replied. Happy ever after? > VERDICT
Comfy silence a promising start. We’ll know it’s
love when they get the interior decorators in
DISCOVERY ★★★★★
> Gen-5 Disco can climb mountains and social
strata with equal equanimity; this is Land Rover
in the 21st century. Worryingly close to Range
Rover, slightly frustrating engine choice
> VERDICT The best seven-seat party wagon
money can buy
RANGE ROVER EVOQUE ★★★★★
> Posh mum’s SUV, now also a convertible,
solving the interior’s claustrophobia-triggering
tendencies. Ingenium engines commendably
hushed > VERDICT Pricey, but perfectly pitched
RANGE ROVER VELAR ★★★★★
> Sport-lite or Evoque-plus? Either way, Land
Rover’s centrally placed SUV is handsome,
capable, well finished and worthy of its name
> VERDICT The new benchmark Range Rover
RANGE ROVER SPORT ★★★★★
> As luxurious as a Rangie, as practical as a
Disco, better looking than an Evoque and
could follow a Defender cross country. Add in
impressive handling and ballistic SVR and diesel
versions > VERDICT Nobody likes a show-of
RANGE ROVER ★★★★★
> A benchmark in luxury SUVs. V6 diesel
IN
petrol hilarious > VERDICT The perfect car
LEXUS
CT ★★★★★
> Pig-ugly premium Prius a mix of decent
STEER
CLEAR handling, woeful performance and a ride so
poor it makes a black cab feel like an
S-Class > VERDICT Wouldn’t merit a single sale
if company car tax bills were less CO2-focused
IS ★★★★★
> Sharp-suited, well-specced 3-series rival
finally gets decent rear space. Good chassis,
but 250 V6 irrelevant, and frugal hybrid hobbled
May 2018 | CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK 145
by nasty CVT > VERDICT So close. Give this a
proper auto ’box and it would be right up there
GS/GSF ★★★★★
> Twin-pronged petrol hybrid cooking range
now spiced up by GSF 5.0 V8. Lack of turbos
admirable but like hunting M5 bear with a
peashooter > VERDICT 300h makes company
car sense, wilfully diferent GSF good fun
LS ★★★★★
> Looks great, and interior materials are
NEW
than convincing > VERDICT You’d have to
REALLY want to be diferent
NX ★★★★★
> Trumps Audi Q5 with a fabulous interior and
arrest-me (for persecuting curves) exterior
design. Fwd or 4wd with electric motor at rear
> VERDICT Doesn’t work as a driver’s car, so take
the NX300h hybrid over faster, costlier NX200t
RX ★★★★★
> Looks like Lord Vader’s helmet with wheels on,
but interior opulence and general tranquillity
make up for idiosyncratic infotainment issues
> VERDICT Build quality and refinement to save
the galaxy, even if the hybrid tech won’t
RC/RCF ★★★★★
> RCF’s old-school unblown V8 completes
charismatic package that shocked M4 in our
Giant Test. Elegance of regular range can’t
overcome lack of diesel option > VERDICT
Deserve more success than they’ll likely get
LC500 ★★★★★
> A serious sports car from the most serious of
makers gets clever hybrid or tasty V8, 10-speed
auto and less bovine acoustics. It’s quite sexy
> VERDICT No longer the Japanese Mercedes
LOTUS
ELISE ★★★★★
> Reminds just how connected cars used to be.
Slothful base 1.6 reminds how they used to go,
too, so pick 1.8. Alfa 4C is a pricey, pale imitation
> VERDICT Still sensational, but a 10-year-old
example does the same job for half the price
EXIGE ★★★★★
> Gym-bunny Elise with supercharged V6 retains
beautifully connected unassisted steering.
Superb new 350 Sport turns up the wick
> VERDICT The Lotus our tyre-frying Ben Barry
would buy. Make of that what you will
EVORA 400 ★★★★★
> Thoroughly refreshed Evora loses its looks
but gains easier access and thumping
supercharged 400bhp > VERDICT The chassis
and steering are Lotus at its sparkling best.
Sublime, but you’ll still buy a Cayman
McLAREN
540C ★★★★★
> The world’s first decontented supercar is still
worth donating a ball to put on your driveway.
Entry-level doesn’t get any better > VERDICT The
work of a very focused company somewhere
near the top of its game
570S/570GT ★★★★★
> Base McLaren ditches carbon body and
super-trick suspension, but keeps carbon
MonoCell and twin-turbo 3.8-litre V8. Now
available with glass hatchback, too > VERDICT S
and GT performance near identical; both make
911 Turbo S feel too normal
McLAREN > NISSAN
720S ★★★★★
> Big Mac’s 650S replacement turns the wick
up and is measurably better in every way than
a 488. Maranello won’t be pleased
> VERDICT Obscenely fast and engaging –
we just wish it was louder
675LT ★★★★★
> Upgraded 650S with 666bhp, stifer
suspension, faster gearshifts, quicker steering
and 100kg less weight. Whatever deal Woking’s
done with the devil, it’s worked > VERDICT This
is the McLaren you’ve been looking for
P1 ★★★★★
> £1m hybrid hypercar with aero straight from
McLaren’s F1 brains. All sold, and if you haven’t
got one you can’t have track-only GTR either
> VERDICT Astounding, but LaFerrari feels
more special (as it should for £400k more)
MASERATI
GHIBLI ★★★★★
> The small exec you wish you owned still
drives great, still looks the business, still doesn’t
have the four-cylinder diesel that will get it on
your shopping list. A shame > VERDICT An
alcohol-free Quattroporte
QUATTROPORTE GTS ★★★★★
> Because Ferrari doesn’t ‘do’ saloons you can
have a brilliant blend of Maranello turbo V8
wrapped in some gracefully ageing Maserati
bits. Remains the coolest four-door car money
can buy > VERDICT It won’t let you in unless
FACELIFT
SOON
you’re in a suit or chinos
GRAN TURISMO/GRAN
CABRIO ★★★★★
> Four genuine seats a rarity in this class, but fill
them and you’ll regret choosing the weedy 4.2
over the 4.7 at the first snif of a hill > VERDICT
Podgy, pretty, practical GT for folk who hate
four-door faux coupes. And luggage
GT MC STRADALE ★★★★★
> Defies hulking 1770kg mass (and that’s after
a 110kg diet) and modest 444bhp to deliver an
engaging driving experience. Epic noise
> VERDICT Massively underrated. A GT3 for
an Italian lothario with a ’Ring season pass
LEVANTE ★★★★★
> Maserati’s long-awaited SUV is better than the
Ghibli. And the UK is getting petrol, after initially
being threatened with diesel-only line-up
> VERDICT Far from flawless but it’ll show you
a good time
MAZDA
2 ★★★★★
> Shot-in-the-arm supermini packs good value,
handling and looks, leaving sweat marks on
the shirts of the VW Polo marketing team
> VERDICT Under-radar Fiesta threatener
gatecrashes the top table
3 HATCH/SALOON/ESTATE ★★★★★
> Another Mazda that’s great to drive and cheap
to run. You like shifting gears? You’ll love the
118bhp unblown 1.5. If not, go diesel > VERDICT
Don’t buy a family hatchback until you’ve tried
one. Oh, a Golf? Apart from that
6 SALOON/TOURER ★★★★★
> Boss won’t let you have a BMW 3-series? This
makes an impressive alternative. Handles well
but rides like the tyres have DTs > VERDICT
Swoopily styled, tax friendly, entertaining
NEW
alternative to po-faced VW Passat
CX-3 ★★★★★
> Late arrival to the compact crossover party,
ENTRY and loads of tech, although it can’t match
but worth a look thanks to smart cabin and
crisp, engaging drive. Pity about the firm ride
> VERDICT Pricey, but better than most and well
equipped. Ideal MX-5 social life support truck
CX-5 ★★★★★
> How an SUV should drive. Better than ever, still
unfairly ignored over inferior rivals > VERDICT
It’s the closest you’ll ever get to a five-seat MX-5
MX-5 ★★★★★
> Shorter than the ’89 original, and in real terms
half the price. 1.5 sweet but a little slow; 158bhp
2.0 quicker but charismatically challenged
146 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018
> VERDICT Brilliantly uncomplicated budget
sports car. Dink the GTI for this
MX-5 RF ★★★★★
> When a folding fabric roof above your head is
just too common to contemplate, pay more for
the heavier and more complicated RF and never
fold the bloody roof down anyway
> VERDICT Right car in the wrong spec
MERCEDES
A-CLASS ★★★★★
> Midlife refresh has softened the A-Class, but
it’s still a little tasteless > VERDICT Expensive
and cramped – A3 and 1-series do it better
A45 AMG ★★★★★
> Mad turbo four-pot now makes 367bhp and
350lb ft. Goes like a banker who knows the
game is up; almost as expensive > VERDICT
Option the Dynamic Plus pack with LSD as well
B-CLASS ★★★★★
> Posh MPV big brother to the A-Class misses
out on the looks and the charisma, but is far
more homely and just as technically savvy
> VERDICT So boring the BMW 2-series Active
Tourer actually begins to make sense
CLA SALOON/SHOOTING BRAKE
★★★★★
> CLS clone based on the A-Class, now
  with swoopy Shooting Brake estate. Lacks
gravitas of former and sex appeal of latter
> VERDICT Just because you can make
something smaller doesn’t mean you should
C-CLASS SALOON/ESTATE
★★★★★
> Latest C impresses with mini-S-Class looks
and almost all the same on-board tech. Denies
muttering it wishes the 3-series would drop
dead > VERDICT BMW still better to drive, but if
you want a relaxing techno cocoon, this is it
C-CLASS COUPE ★★★★★
> All-new sexpot version of latest C-Class (no
shrinking violet itself) now 10cm longer and
available with air suspension. Still tight in the
back > VERDICT Much more of an event than
the 4-series, but new A5 right back in the game
C63 AMG ★★★★★
> Sounds madder than ever despite switch to
bi-turbo 4.0 V8; coupe gets unique 12-link rear
suspension for sharper responses > VERDICT
Saloon, estate or coupe, you get mega traction
and one of the best turbo engines ever
E-CLASS SALOON/ESTATE ★★★★★
> It may look like a fat C-Class but this techno
tour-de-force thinks it can drive better than you.
Exceptional interior out-luxes all comers
> VERDICT New 4-cyl diesel so smooth it churns
motorway miles into butter
E-CLASS COUPE ★★★★★
> Swish, clever and satisfyingly capable, as long
as there’s six cylinders up front. Like coupes
used to be before everyone decided they needed
to be ‘Ring-meisters > VERDICT Middle age has
never been so appealing
AMG E63 ★★★★★
> Only AMG would ofer the E63 with an
all-wheel-drive system that you can switch of
in Drift Mode. Which is exactly why you should
buy one, and possibly open an account at Kwik
Fit > VERDICT Go S or go home
CLS ★★★★★
> Comfy four-door coupe has great interior
the original for visual drama. AMG 53 is
punchy > VERDICT Slick
S-CLASS ★★★★★
> Enormously technically accomplished, with
camera-guided ride quality and stacks of safety
kit. Maybach and Pullman variants immensely
flash > VERDICT Makes 7-series/A8 seem like
toys. Captains of industry should insist on it
S-CLASS COUPE/CABRIOLET
★★★★★
> Over 5m of barking mad indulgence; Coupe
carries it of like Errol Flynn on a bender but, like
a model-turned-MP, will regret going topless
> VERDICT Howard Hughes would approve, but
he went crazy in the end
S63/S65 AMG ★★★★★
> Twin-turbo 577bhp V8 and 621bhp V12 S-Class
variants, because being richer than the world
isn’t enough and you need to out-drag it, too
> VERDICT S63 V8 is bonkers, S65 V12 utterly
certifiable. Does your chaufeur deserve it?
GLA ★★★★★
> Confused A-Class on stilts with lifestyle
pretensions and unnecessary surplus of interior
air vents. GLA45 AMG is entertaining but
simply unnecessary > VERDICT An A-Class for
the bewildered. Maybe you thought you were
ordering a GLC?
GLC ★★★★★
> GLK replacement project, now available in
right-hand drive. Sounds like you shouldn’t care,
but the interior might just make you moist
> VERDICT Rivals are cheaper, better to drive –
GLC makes you feel special inside
G-CLASS ★★★★★
> Cold War relic that’s so solidly built it could
ram raid a bank vault. Obscene special editions
a growing – literally – Mercedes obsession
> VERDICT You shouldn’t want one, but… Will
outlast any Defender. And possibly the planet
GLE/GLE COUPE ★★★★★
> Rebadged M-Class is heavy, ponderous and
depressingly cheap inside. Plug-in hybrid plays
the tech card, new Coupe an alternative to X6
> VERDICT As you were: it’s perfectly adequate
in a class dominated by the outstanding
GLS ★★★★★
> Luxo-monster seven-seater lacks Range Rover
panache but it’s comfy and refined, and the
infotainment doesn’t come from Poundland
> VERDICT Active anti-roll essential, but
otherwise it’s a brilliant bus
SLC ★★★★★
> Buy the SLC43 AMG and it’s like an uglier but
cheaper F-Type with a nicer interior. Buy any
other SLC and you’ve lost your mind > VERDICT
Come back 718 Boxster, all is forgiven
SL ★★★★★
> The plastic surgeon was worth every penny:
post-facelift SL is far more MILF than Morph.
Turning up the sporty makes the most of the
super stif structure, too > VERDICT Think twice
about that Ferrari California. No, seriously
AMG GT ★★★★★
> SLS replacement is smaller (just), cheaper
(considerably) and blessed with a 4.0-litre
twin-turbo V8 > VERDICT It’s got the muscle
but maybe not the finesse
AMG GT C ROADSTER ★★★★★
> Roadster delivers extra buzz without massive
compromise, at massive expense > VERDICT
Current GT sweet spot, for five minutes at least
MG
MG3 ★★★★★
> Tough-looking, spacious supermini has
handling that lives up to the promise of that
badge. As does the woeful build, crap engine
and concrete ride > VERDICT The Chinese are
coming! But so far they’ve only got to Tajikistan
GS ★★★★★
> Spacious, duck-faced SUV hamstrung by
coarse 1.5 turbo petrol, shonky gearboxes
and shoddy interior. Handles okay, if you can
hack the firm ride > VERDICT Cheap, but not
suficiently so. Dacia will sleep well tonight
ZS ★★★★★
> Was called the ZS, then XS, then ZS again. Also
looks a lot like a Chinese knock-of of a Mazda
CX-3 and has the knock-of driving dynamics,
build quality and price to match > VERDICT It’s
quite an achievement to come stone dead last
in the most competitive car sector out there
MINI
HATCH/CONVERTIBLE ★★★★★
> Bigger and less charming, but lovely engines
are smooth and peppy, while ride has improved
without ruining handling. Five-door in danger of
being practical > VERDICT Better than ever to
own, even if you love it a little less
COOPER S/JCW ★★★★★
> Upsized BMW 2.0-litre four-pot-powered
228bhp JCW most powerful Mini ever. Terrific
turbocharged fun, if a tad overwrought and
synthetic > VERDICT Beware the cost of the
options list
CLUBMAN ★★★★★
> Replace circus-freakery of old one with full
complement of portals, add longer wheelbase,
bigger boot; now bake > VERDICT Loaf-alike
maxi-Mini freshness, the grown-ups’ choice
COUNTRYMAN/PACEMAN ★★★★★
> A Mini SUV that drives like the hatch. Spacious,
solid inside and just funky enough, but
expensive > VERDICT A respectable family car
now, rather than just a chubby brand extension
MITSUBISHI
MIRAGE ★★★★★
> Facelift can’t hide the Mirage’s catastrophic
lack of style or charm. As well suited to the small
car segment as a Sopwith Camel is to executive
short-haul flights > VERDICT Want your kids to
stay of the roads? Buy them one
ASX ★★★★★
> Box-ticking small SUV feels like it was designed
on a spreadsheet. At least it’s relatively cheap
and well kitted > VERDICT Best bought on the
internet
ECLIPSE CROSS ★★★★★
> The last of the old Mitsubishis or the first of
the new Renault-Nissan ones? Of-road ability
says former, but cushy ride and renewed
interior quality says latter > VERDICT Petrol-CVT
combination sounds wrong but it’s civilised and
looks sharp
SHOGUN ★★★★★
> Great-value old-school workhorse for those
whose workplace is covered in mud, oil or bomb
craters. Big, noisy diesel, chunky underpinnings
and reliable, with hose-down cabin > VERDICT
If you don’t think you need this car, you don’t
need this car
OUTLANDER ★★★★★
> Midlife overhaul brings sleeker looks and
lifts cabin ambience by miles. Diesel still a bit
of a tractor but PHEV comfy and refined
> VERDICT The UK’s best-selling plug-in hybrid
finally makes sense
MORGAN
3-WHEELER ★★★★★
> As comfortable as riding over Niagara Falls in a
barrel and equally sane. Not as quick as it feels,
but quick enough for a three-wheeler on bike
tyres > VERDICT Brilliant Caterham alternative
without the macho trackday posturing
AERO ★★★★★
> Droptop was first of the new-era Morgans and
goes it alone since Aero Supersports, Coupe and
Squify Perkins bought it at the Somme
> VERDICT Two worlds collide. And with 367bhp
they may not be the only ones doing the colliding
PLUS 4/FOUR FOUR/ROADSTER
★★★★★
> Entry-level Mog still with ‘traditional’ ash frame
and ‘traditional’ (ie, awful) dynamics. Four-seat
4/4 is surprise eco champ: 44mpg > VERDICT
Cheap, considering the craftsmanship, even at
£33k, but if you want an old car, buy an old car
PLUS 8 ★★★★★
> Don’t be fooled by tally-ho styling, 8 is built
on ‘modern’ bonded and riveted Aero chassis.
Fidgety like a child with worms > VERDICT
Classic Morgan style, modern BMW V8 poke,
manners like a five-term borstal veteran
NISSAN
MICRA ★★★★★
> So much better than the old car, the current
Micra is on Wikipedia right now deleting all
mention of its predecessor. Proves that a car
designed by Europeans will appeal to Europeans,
amazingly > VERDICT Bigger and better, and
now providing a serious alternative to the latest
Ford Fiesta
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JUKE ★★★★★
> Mould-breaking compact crossover; you
think it would look like that if the mould hadn’t
broken? Cheap interior and so-so dynamics
belie the hype > VERDICT Does it still count as
‘diferent’ if everybody’s got one?
NOTE ★★★★★
> Like a Honda Jazz with middle-age spread,
this is a small, practical MPV-hatch with limited
aspirations to greatness > VERDICT An automotive
> VERDICT Not so much leaping on the SUV
bandwagon as hitching a ride… but it’s an
attractive hitchhiker SPEC EXPERT
3008 ★★★★★
> Tell friends you’ve bought one and they’ll laugh
BUILD THE PERFECT
until they see it. Sharp to look at, surprisingly
good fun to drive and not too weird > VERDICT
BENTLEY CONTINENTAL GT
Just make it clear you’ve not bought the old one Configuring the Continental GT of your dreams? Allow Bentley’s
Romulus Rost, head of interior design, to steer your thinking
5008 ★★★★★

  
cardigan: deeply uncool but good at what it does > Edgy design inside and out hides genuine
practicality and, in the 5008, seven seats.
LEAF ★★★★★ Rejoice as Peugeot demonstrates it really
> Less gawky then the pioneering first generation has got its act together > VERDICT Annoy the There’s just one engine to This Conti is a First Edition

  
and promises better range to boot. Shame
about the dull and unintuitive interior > VERDICT
Version 2.0 of people’s EV now far more… normal
Germans and buy French

PORSCHE
choose from until the V8
arrives, so this custom-
built Continental GT is
model, which for an extra
£34,800 has enough
equipment to satisfy even
PULSAR ★★★★★ powered by a 6.0-litre the most extravagent tastes,
> So dull it can only be explained by a 718 BOXSTER ★★★★★ W12 making 626bhp and including 22-inch alloys,
conspiracy theory claiming it owes its entire > The turbo revolution continues as Boxster bins 663lb ft, with a 0-62mph Bentley’s rotating dash
existence to a long-range Qashqai sales-boost the six for a brace of faster forced-induction
strategy > VERDICT Buy a Focus. Or a Golf. Or a fours. Updated face now flatter than Brian
time of just 3.7 seconds. display, the Touring pack
Ceed. Or an Auris. Okay, maybe not an Auris… Harvey’s > VERDICT Whole lotta lag; chassis still The challenge is to finish (extra driving tech), City
a stairway to heaven the car in a manner pack (more kit designed
QASHQAI ★★★★★ that reflects this high for easy living in town), a
> Crossover for the masses gets more luxury 718 CAYMAN ★★★★★
performance and modern whole load of upholstery
and a facelift > VERDICT It’s no Volvo XC but still > Eficiency march means sublime outgoing
has huge family appeal model ditches choral flat-six for punchy but engineering while also upgrades and stitching,
industrial turbo four. Gets uglier in the process, nodding to Bentley’s rich deep-pile carpets… we
X-TRAIL ★★★★★ still handles like you wish all cars would heritage. could go on. That and the
> The X-Trail used to be a rough, tough of- > VERDICT Better by the numbers but... know Starting price: £159,100 Extreme Silver paintwork, as
roader designed on an Etch-a-Sketch. Now it’s a any nice 981s for sale?
Qashqai put through a photocopier at +10%
part of the Extended Paint
> VERDICT It still ain’t exciting. But it’s probably CAYMAN GT4 ★★★★★ range (£4500), and chrome
going to sell a lot better > Junior GT3 is the first Cayman to get more bumper inserts (£945), is
power than a current 911: 380bhp, manual plenty to get started.
GT-R ★★★★★ gearbox, limited-slip dif and a grin wider than Running total: £199,345
> Now with a slightly thicker veneer of luxury a Glasgow smile > VERDICT Porsche finally
(and another 20bhp) – but still basically a admits that the Cayman and not the 911 is its real
hardcase moments from rage > VERDICT sports coupe
Drivetrain sounds like a drum kit falling down the
stairs; leaves your brain feeling much the same 911 ★★★★★
> 991.2 may not look much diferent from the
PAGANI 991 but under the skin lurks a whole new range
of turbocharged engines. The most grown-up
911 yet > VERDICT Rear-engined appeal
HYUARA ★★★★★ lives on. Proper Turbo now utterly ferocious,
> Spectacular cottage industry supercar with Turbo S unhinged
active aero, AMG-built 720bhp twin-turbo V12
and an interior more decadent than a Roman 911 GT2 RS ★★★★★

  
orgy > VERDICT Want one but they’re all sold > As close to a racing-spec 911 you can get and
still deserves its Widowmaker nickname; raw,
PEUGEOT blisteringly quick and sounds truly evil Yes, we did say ‘get
> VERDICT Is it REALLY worth £100k more than started’. Inside, our Conti
the GT3? also features a Grand
108 ★★★★★
> Pug-faced city car. Go for 82bhp 1.2: the 911 GT3 ★★★★★ Black over Liquid Amber
68bhp 1.0 is so slow we were all monkeys when > Yes, another brilliant 911, but you didn’t really veneer (£1800), the
it set of and it still hasn’t hit 60mph think Porsche would get this one wrong, did Côtes de Genève centre As for bonus tech,
> VERDICT Reasonable no-frills city car but you? Optional manual ‘box makes car nerds console (£1395) and a our extreme-specced
boot and rear space tight. Skoda Citigo is better everywhere weak at the knees > VERDICT More heated, single-colour Continental has a high-end
accessible, more fun and more GT3-ish
208 ★★★★★ steering wheel (£390). Naim audio system (£6500),
> Refresh more than just a prettier face as 911R ★★★★★ The Diamond Knurling digital TV tuner (£965),
dynamic update adds handling chops to 208’s > The 911 that Porsche secretly wants the 911 still pack (£1470) replaces wireless phone charger
interior chic > VERDICT Pug’s recovered that to be. It’s an anti-991.2: a non-turbo 4.0 bruiser the slightly – very slightly (£280) and a remote pre-
VaVaVoom from the back of the sofa. No, wait – in retro disguise, with 493bhp and manual ’box – rough rotary dials and heating system (£1840). To
that’s the other lot > VERDICT Supple, poised, supreme fun. But
we’d still have a Cayman GT4 switchgear from the top it all of, there’s an air
308 HATCH/SW ESTATE ★★★★★ Bentayga for a smoother ioniser (£250), first aid kit
> Hushed 308 at its best when eating motorway 918 ★★★★★ finish. (£105), valet key (£220) to
miles, or when you’re watching it out of the > Epic 4wd hybrid can waste GTis with 6sec Running total: keep your gold bullion safe
window of your Golf. Fiddly touchscreen 0-62mph electric mode, then slay Lambos by
£204,400 in the boot while your car’s
> VERDICT Hatch isn’t up to scratch, but adding 600bhp V8. Superb electric steering,
roomier SW wagon is worth a look too > VERDICT Almost overshadowed in the being parked, and a £3600
P1-LaFerrari posturing war, but easily as good four-piece luggage set.
308 GTi ★★★★★ Total price: £218,160
> Discreet styling hides playful proclivities; MACAN ★★★★★

LSD keeps things tight up front while fantastic
chassis delivers lively rear > VERDICT 250 and
270 variants both great, but 270 gets more kit
508 SALOON/ESTATE ★★★★★
> Little-seen XL Pug with unconvincing cod
German accent. HYbrid4 gets 4wd via 37bhp
’leccy motor on rear wheels > VERDICT RXH
is poor man’s Audi Allroad. Rest of range is
padding on your company car list
PARTNER TEPEE ★★★★★
> Spacious, versatile Tepee so useful it could
almost be a van. Funny, that. More practical than
a regular MPV, drives okay > VERDICT Make
your own clothes? Live in a yurt? This is the
car/van for you
2008 ★★★★★
> Welly-wearing 208 gets a facelift which hits
on the idea of actually resembling an SUV, and
148 CARMAGA ZINE.CO.UK | May 2018
> Baby Cayenne is even better than dad –
BEST IN and better than the rival Evoque too. Base
CLASS
car with Golf GTI 2.0 makes no sense when
S and S Diesel are pennies more > VERDICT GT3
RS for trackdays, Cayman GT4 for weekends,
this for everything else. Sorted
CAYENNE ★★★★★
> Porsche’s cash-cow is masterclass in how to
make a big SUV handle and slick Panamera-
derived interior is great place to sit and be.
Turbo brutally fast, too, but whole thing feels
anally retentive > VERDICT Impressively capable
but Macan more engaging
PANAMERA ★★★★★
> The Mk1 was just throat-clearing; this Mk2 is
the opera. Drips with tech, innovation and better
dynamics – and it looks perfect > VERDICT A
lesson in making nonsensical niches make
perfect sense TOTAL PRICE: £218,160

RADICAL
SR3 SL ★★★★★
> Properly street-legal SR3 gets a 300bhp
blown Ford 2.0 instead of a motorcycle engine,
a heater and even a 12v socket. It’s almost
lavish > VERDICT Toned down for occasional
road use but still hairier than a cave man with
hypertrichosis
RXC TURBO ★★★★★
> Play out those Le Mans fantasies on the
commute with this Peterborough-built Polaris.
Sequential gearbox welcome in town like an EDL
demo > VERDICT When you’ve outgrown your
Caterhams and 911 GT3s, here’s the answer
RENAULT
TWIZY ★★★★★
> Part electric scooter, part social experiment,
it’s easy to love the doorless Twizy, especially
on balmy evenings along La Croisette. Grimy
days in Doncaster a tougher ask > VERDICT
Transportation of the future, if it’s never wet in
the future and you like chatting at trafic lights
ZOE 40 ★★★★★
> Splendid Zoe solves range anxiety by clever
new battery with more power, potentially
induces wealth anxiety instead with £4000
price premium. Unless you’re smart and lease it
of course > VERDICT At least you can guarantee
the emissions are genuine
TWINGO ★★★★★
> Rear-engined, rear-wheel-drive runabout isn’t
as nippy as it sounds, but is roomy, with clever
smartphone connectivity. More cheeky than
sister Smart, and cheaper > VERDICT Lower-
power version with ’80s F1 Turbo paintjob the
way to go
CLIO ★★★★★
> Welcome return to form for the five-door Clio
with even boggo ones looking handsome, a
well sorted cabin and sprightly driving qualities.
Three-cylinder turbo petrol a (slowish) hoot
> VERDICT Fiesta more fun, Clio more stylish
CLIO RS ★★★★★
> Remember when Clio RS was king of the hill?
No? Probably for the best, because even new,
more powerful RS Trophy can’t ofset awful auto
gearbox > VERDICT Brings its own Trophy but
still doesn’t win. Rumoured RS Wooden Spoon
version is pure speculation
STEER
CLEAR feature is that while it looks like a boring
CAPTUR ★★★★★
> It’s a Clio on stilts – but that’s not necessarily
a bad thing. No 4x4 pretensions means focus is
on personalisation. Good engines. It’s no Juke to
drive > VERDICT Technicolor clown car if you’re
not careful with the spec, otherwise okay
MEGANE ★★★★★
> All-new French Golf looks like a foie-grased
Clio outside and a low-rent Tesla inside. Is thus
an instant improvement over the old one
> VERDICT Renault Sport-fettled GT with rear-
wheel steering a keen drive, too. Sacré bleu!
MEGANE RS ★★★★★
> Sport is a credible hot hatch all-rounder but
it doesn’t thrill like the pokier Cup. Go for a
manual Cup version and you have a properly
sorted Civic Type R rival > VERDICT Hurrah!
They haven’t ruined it like they ruined the Clio RS.
SCENIC ★★★★★
> Fourth-generation compact MPV trades the
practicality that made your wife want one for
an exterior sharp enough that you’ll consider
having more kids, although the stif ride could
see you arrive too early > VERDICT Console your
manhood with the fact that 20s are standard
KADJAR ★★★★★
> Nissan may rue the day it left the parts
BEST IN store door ‘Kadjar’, as Renault’s take on the
CLASS
Qashqai bests the original in every way
> VERDICT Aggressive pricing, smooth ride,
great refinement, squishy seats
KOLEOS ★★★★★
> A five-seat-only X-Trail that took a gap year
living at a French vineyard and has come back
with an accent, more stylish clothes and an
avant-garde view on life. Façade doesn’t hide
its Nissan roots > VERDICT Neither great nor
rubbish – c’est bof
ROLLS-ROYCE
GHOST ★★★★★
> A Phantom for millionaires not billionaires
> VERDICT Perfectly built, highly individual
WRAITH ★★★★★
> A 624bhp twin-turbo V12 sporting vehicle
that drives like no other. Dismisses distance but
would never lower itself to squealing through
bends > VERDICT Whisper it, but Rolls has
produced an amazing driver’s car
PHANTOM ★★★★★
> Enough opulence to make Blenheim Palace
look like an abandoned warehouse yet just the
right amount of tech and personalisation to
keep start-up tech billionaires happy
> VERDICT By far the world’s best luxury car
DAWN ★★★★★
> Wraith with the roof cut of – although actually
80% of the exterior panels are new. Best-looking
Roller, it rides like a liner and costs more than
a VW software decision > VERDICT Nothing
between the stars and the stars
SEAT
MII ★★★★★
> Tedious-looking city-box is far less funky than
Renault’s Twingo but roomier and good to drive.
You don’t look at the mantelpiece, and all that
> VERDICT VW Up is more desirable, pretty
Skoda Citigo is cheaper. Siesta time in Seat’s
prod dept?
IBIZA ★★★★★
> Angular Spanish supermini nabs A0 platform
before VW, thoroughly grows up in the process.
FR versions irritatingly don’t look that sporty any
more > VERDICT Ibiza by name, but no longer
by nature
IBIZA CUPRA ★★★★★
> Update to 189bhp 1.8 turbo with manual ’box
makes this a brilliant budget blast. Great interior,
finessed details, tempting choice > VERDICT
Fiesta ST for thrills, this for everything else
TOLEDO ★★★★★
> OAP special whose sole interesting
saloon, it’s actually a boring hatch! Massive
interior > VERDICT This and identical Skoda Rapid
duke it out for UK’s dullest car. Czech please!
LEON HATCH/ESTATE ★★★★★
> Mid-life evolution for Leon means new engines
and tech, plus non-surgical facelift. Will still
be shunned for a Golf > VERDICT Eminently
likeable, just by too few buyers
LEON CUPRA ★★★★★
> Much to the amusement of tyre manufacturers
everywhere, the front-wheel-drive Leon Cupra
now has 297bhp. GTI who? > VERDICT Ballistic,
and best bought with a manual transmission
ATECA ★★★★★
> Spanish latecomer to the SUV party gets
the dress code right, isn’t the life and soul
but neither will it bore you into leaving early.
Another sangria please! > VERDICT SE, petrol,
Manuel (‘I am from Barcelona!’)
ALHAMBRA ★★★★★
> Subtlest of subtle facelifts belies 15%
eficiency improvement. Still a big box with slidey
doors and seven proper seats; put your family first
the VW Sharan, but nearly £2k less
for a change > VERDICT Genetically identical to REPLACED
SOON you don’t want one. Boggo Impreza reduced
SKODA
CITIGO ★★★★★
> Skoda’s all but identical version of the VW Up
and Seat Mii. Pick your badge – they’re all well
packaged but too noisy and slow > VERDICT
Cheaper than the Up, but not by much. Hyundai
i10 also worth a look. Yes, actual advice!
FABIA HATCH/ESTATE ★★★★★
> Very mature little supermini with bodywork
creases a Corby trouser press would be proud
of. Estate version ideal for Jack Russells
May 2018 | SUBSC RIB E TO CAR & SAVE UP TO 62 %! G RE ATMAGA ZINES.CO.UK /CAR 149
> VERDICT Roomy, well made and unexciting –
like a low-rent VW Polo. Which is what it is
RAPID HATCH/SPACEBACK
★★★★★
> Long, narrow notchback hatchback. Big boot.
Spaceback is shorter, more ‘stylish’, still dross
> VERDICT Unless you’ve got a lot of potatoes
and no other way to carry them, just don’t
OCTAVIA HATCH/ESTATE ★★★★★
> Basically the same as a Golf and A3, but bigger,
cheaper and more functional. Hot vRS versions
old-school ballistic fun. 4x4s practical
> VERDICT It’s a lot of car for the money
SUPERB SALOON/ESTATE ★★★★★
> So vast inside it echoes. Sharp lines, stacks
of kit, double the number of umbrellas. Shame
about dull interior and stif price > VERDICT All the
family car you’ll ever need. Only bigger
SKODA KAROQ ★★★★★
>A miniature Kodiaq: practical, sharply-styled and
comfy in a good value package. Shame it’s not as
likeable as its predecessor > VERDICT RIP Yeti
KODIAQ ★★★★★
> Commendably vast SUV takes the Octavia’s
approach by bulking out on a shared platform,
but unfortunately doesn’t share its dazzling
personality > VERDICT The most comfortable
place to die a little inside
SMART
FORTWO ★★★★★
> Wider than the last one, with a much better ride,
higher quality cabin and slicker auto > VERDICT A
brilliant city runabout
FORFOUR ★★★★★
> Renault/Merc tie-up means ForFour is
accomplished with a classy cabin, although
ludicrous pricing seem at odds with budget city
car buyers > VERDICT Its sister car, the Renault
Twingo, is more than two grand cheaper. Work
that out
SSANGYONG
KORANDO ★★★★★
> Borderline rubbish to drive but more practical
than the Teflon-coated trousers you’re probably
wearing if you’re giving it serious consideration
> VERDICT Huge, handy and hellish value, but
we’d have a pre-reg Nissan Qashqai or Mazda
CX-5 any day
REXTON ★★★★★
> SY’s poshest SUV yet, which admittedly isn’t
saying a huge amount. Think old Discovery and
you’re not actually that far of > VERDICT Far less
rubbish than the last one
TURISMO ★★★★★
> Less odious than the old Rodius, but every bit as
practical, this giant seven-seater is slower than the
Crossrail boring machine > VERDICT Has minicab
written all over it, or soon will, which will handily
help disguise the ugliness
TIVOLI ★★★★★
> There’s no getting away from it: Korea’s also-ran
car maker has built a contender. Great value,
spacious and – shock – well-finished inside
> VERDICT Dross heritage now under threat
SUBARU
IMPREZA ★★★★★
> Yes, it still exists beyond WRX and STi. No,
to a 1.6 petrol hatchback only with optional
CVT. Shudder > VERDICT Have you got a brand
new combine harvester? It’s probably a better
drive than this
WRX/STI ★★★★★
> Sorry WRX, I’m breaking up with you. It’s not
you, it’s me. No, it is you, it’s definitely you and
your crashy ride, nasty dash and inflexible engine
> VERDICT Brilliant, on its day, in its day. But that
was yesterday, so let’s call it a day
LEVORG ★★★★★
> Impreza estate with a silly name. Single choice
of 1.6 petrol with CVT auto and 4wd means it’s got
a silly drivetrain too > VERDICT Levorg is grovel
backwards; dealers may need to. Niche, as is all
too common with Subaru
XV ★★★★★
> We admire the engineering that goes into the
XV but you have to pay through the nose for it and
you’re limited to a petrol, all-wheel-drive and CVT
powertrain that dims the driving pleasure
> VERDICT Another very niche Subaru
FORESTER ★★★★★
> Appealingly functional square-rigger is the
kind of crossover that existed before we had
‘lifestyles’. Good on road, great of it, but not
cheap > VERDICT A solid old-school Subaru,
honest and charming. Tweed cap, pipe, sheep
flock optional
OUTBACK ★★★★★
> The unloved Legacy’s only UK legacy is this
Allroad-style crossover. It’s huge inside and
the 4x4 look isn’t all for show
> VERDICT Dependable, not desirable
BRZ ★★★★★
>Gloriously simple but under-nourished rear-
drive boxer coupe, crying out for a supercharger.
Toyota GT86 twin marginally more fun
> VERDICT Loveable car we wanted them to
make but you don’t want to buy
SUZUKI
CELERIO ★★★★★
> Braking-phobic city car otherwise spacious, full
of kit and cheap. Three-cylinder petrol only plus
all the handling vim of a B&Q Value wheelbarrow
> VERDICT Dowdy and rowdy. Be glad you’ve got
DAB and a cupholder
SWIFT ★★★★★
> An unsung hero, and not just the excellent
134bhp Sport. Handles well, spacious and cheap.
Upgraded Dualjet motor sweet > VERDICT Buy
one and challenge anyone who questions your
choice to a fistfight
SX4 S-CROSS ★★★★★
> The cheap way to clone a Qashqai. Won’t score
any points for style, in fact you might hide it at
the back of the school car park. Diesel is the best
bet > VERDICT A crossover to be cross over
JIMNY ★★★★★
> A box with four-wheel-drive bolted onto the
bottom, and a 1.3-petrol engine hanging out
front. There are seats too, if not much of a boot
> VERDICT Simple and highly efective, albeit
extremely limited
VITARA ★★★★★
> Two-tone cross-dresser to rival the Juke, with a
handsome body and usefully economical diesel
engine. Cabin could do with some work, though
> VERDICT Rutting rhinos and pink paint are a
thing of the past: it’s a serious family car now
TESLA
TESLA MODEL S ★★★★★
> Electro-rocket gets a new face and in P100D
guise kidney-thumping amounts of acceleration.
The future, with a cabin from the recent past
> VERDICT Crush supercars, emit nothing
TESLA MODEL X ★★★★★
> You can scare the bejeezus out of your six
passengers by reaching 62mph from zero in 3.1
seconds. Efective, albeit in one dimension
> VERDICT Musky
TOYOTA
AYGO ★★★★★
> Cramped city car with a characterful three-pot
motor is as cheap to run as it feels. See also
Citroën C1 and Peugeot 108 – both are basically
the same car, with details and dealers the only
diferences > VERDICT As ‘Up’hill struggles go,
battling VW with this is like climbing north face
of the Aygo
YARIS/GRMN ★★★★★
> Standard hatch is soulless, while clever but
costly hybrid slashes fuel bills (and boot space).
Feisty GRMN limited edition is fun in a raw kind of
way but ludicrously expensive – and sold out in
any case > VERDICT GRMN is the only one that
makes any kind of sense
 TOYOTA > VOLVO
AURIS ★★★★★
> Most Aurises sold are hybrids, mainly because
the rest of the range is pants > VERDICT Only
worth picking as company wheels if you have a
Starbucks-like aversion to paying tax
PRIUS ★★★★★
> Prius v4.0 boasts entirely new structure,
improved suspension, and is no longer totally
joyless to drive > VERDICT A Toyota hybrid that
handles. Electric-only range still pathetic
MIRAI ★★★★★
> Weird on the outside, Star Trek on the inside
and a hydrogen fuel-cell underneath. Drives just
like a very refined regular car > VERDICT We’re
convinced by the tech, but there’s nowhere to
refuel it yet
AVENSIS SALOON/TOURER ★★★★★
REPLACED to Scirocco. VXR fearsomely fast but
> Does little well – despite using diesel engines
from BMW. Tourer marginally more stylish than
saloon > VERDICT White goods
VERSO ★★★★★
> Safe, stodgy seven-seater with snore-worthy
chassis and a big-selling 1.6 diesel that feels like
half its horses are asleep too > VERDICT Inferior
to Ford C-Max and Citroën Picasso
C-HR ★★★★★
> Compact crossover that’s stylish outside,
huge fun and kooky inside too > VERDICT Buy
one and Toyota will never make another dull
car. Possibly
RAV4 ★★★★★
> Soft-road pioneer has settled for flufy slippers
in its old age. Trump card is boot big enough for
a casino table > VERDICT Roomy, reasonable,
unremarkable. Many more dynamic alternatives
LAND CRUISER/V8 ★★★★★
> Both bare-knuckle ladder-frame brawlers
REPLACED
SOON that wouldn’t know a latte if you spilt it on
their rigger’s boots > VERDICT Rough, but
if we were stranded in the desert we’d trust it
over a Rangie
GT86 ★★★★★
> The slowest fast car you can buy is slightly
better than before thanks to new aero, revised
suspension and better cloth trim. B-road heaven
> VERDICT As pure as Jon Snow. Both of them
VAUXHALL
VIVA ★★★★★
> It may look like it was dropped before it had
set, but it’s comfy, roomy and refined for a city
car, and comes with plenty of standard kit
> VERDICT More generous than it may appear
at first glance. We’d still buy an Up, though
ADAM/ADAM ROCKS ★★★★★
> Obese Fiat 500 wannabe with huge options
list and comedy naming shtick. Adam S warm
hatch worth a thought; Rocks crossover flaccid
> VERDICT Revitalised by new 1.0-litre turbo
triple. Buy a paper bag and try it
CORSA ★★★★★
> Made-over Corsa looks like a candidate for
When Plastic Surgery Goes Bad, but it is more
LEASE ACADEMY: FOUR-DOOR SPORTS EXECS Surprisingly affordable warm coupe-saloons
KIA STINGER GT S
£466pm
A hoot to drive, if a tad thirsty
> Spec 3.3-litre V6, rwd,
8-spd auto, 28.5mpg
> List price £40,495
> Initial payment £4195; then
£466.18/month for 48 months
> Mileage allowance 10,000 miles
> Via jetvehiclefinance.co.uk
refined and better to drive. 1.0T a good motor
> VERDICT Vauxhall keeps trying, but Fiesta still
cheerfully waving from way out in front
CORSA VXR ★★★★★
> Luton’s hooligan now smoother round the
edges. Unless you pay extra for the slippy dif
and hardcore suspension > VERDICT Better but
still not best. Lacks Ford Fiesta ST’s sparkle
ASTRA HATCH/ESTATE ★★★★★
> Massive step forward in terms of driving
dynamics and interior design, plus added
techno-charm > VERDICT In hatchback
grandmother’s footsteps, Focus and Golf turn
round to find Astra standing right behind them
ASTRA GTC/VXR ★★★★★
> 3dr stylish enough to stand comparison
SOON
moody > VERDICT The sexiest Vauxhall.
Let’s hope replacement doesn’t lose its mojo
INSIGNIA GRAND SPORT ★★★★★
> Lack of inspiration makes it too close to how
you’d hope an Insignia isn’t > VERDICT Fine if
you’re given one
CROSSLAND X ★★★★★
> Practical Meriva replacement sits beside
the Mokka X for size. Designed to be the more
pragmatic choice > VERDICT Genuinely
practical if as dull as Luton’s skyline to drive
GRANDLAND X ★★★★★
> It’s a Pug 3008 in disguise, but diferent enough
to appeal in its own right. Not exciting, but a very
good family crossover > VERDICT Up there with
the Astra as Vauxhall’s top car
ZAFIRA TOURER ★★★★★
> Large MPV with slick seating arrangement.
Struggles in the face of S-Max greatness
> VERDICT Accomplished but out-flanked by
crossovers’ rise to dominance
MOKKA X ★★★★★
> Facelift filed under ‘about f***ing time too’,
Mokka gets a better cabin, some new engines
and pointless sufix. Driving misery reduced by
half > VERDICT X marks the spot where the ball
was – about five years ago
VXR8 ★★★★★
> 577bhp Aussie import that’s £20k cheaper
than a BMW M5. Optional automatic gearbox’s
bid to add sophistication is akin to serving lager
in cut crystal glasses. But who gives a 4X?
> VERDICT Big, brutish charm
MALOO ★★★★★
> Never before have so many stereotypes been
incorporated into a single vehicle. Spectacularly
fast, absurd, useless, Australian and brilliant all
at the same time > VERDICT The fastest way to
stick it to the taxman
VOLKSWAGEN
UP ★★★★★
> Box on wheels is the kind of city car the
Japanese have been building for years, except
this is much better quality and has a VW badge
> VERDICT Not a revolution but a spacious small
car with a strong, appealing image
AUDI S5 SPORTBACK
£441pm
Sober but very accomplished
> Spec 3.0-litre V6, awd, 8-spd auto,
349bhp, 36.7mpg
> List price £48,850
> Initial payment £3975.12; then
£441.68/month for 36 months
> Mileage allowance 10,000 miles
> Via vehiclesavers.com
UP GTI ★★★★★
> Pokey engine, near go-kart level dynamics
and great value for money all play second fiddle
to the simple fun this little tyke provides by the
skipload > VERDICT A compelling mini hot hatch
package
POLO ★★★★★
> Mini-Golf isn’t that mini any more. It’s practical,
has a sharp interior and well built… but so’s the
Seat Ibiza > VERDICT Accomplished but lacking
the fun factor
POLO GTI ★★★★★
> Baby GTI right down to the tartan seats.
Responsive engine, sorted chassis, OTT
electronic aids. Wait for the manual
> VERDICT The new Fiesta ST should be nervous
GOLF HATCH/ESTATE ★★★★★
> What every rival would like to be if only it
BEST IN could get away with charging this much.
CLASS
Tweaked and preened but perpetually
desirable, made for a life of Waitrose car parks
> VERDICT Never knowingly undersold
GOLF GTD/GTI/R ★★★★★
> GTD is your dad in running shoes. GTI is
BEST IN your dad when he was wild, young and
CLASS
free. R is your dad having a midlife crisis.
All are ace > VERDICT After seven generations,
VW has this hot-hatch thing nailed
GOLF SV ★★★★★
> The artist formerly known as the Golf Plus. And
by ‘artist’ we mean medium-sized MPV. The car
you always knew the Golf would grow up to be
> VERDICT Not a bad choice, but now the BMW
2-series Active Tourer is breathing down its neck
BEETLE HATCH/CABRIO ★★★★★
> Although better to drive it lacks the design
purity of its predecessor and the charm of the
original > VERDICT Even hipsters are, like, so
totally over this cynical marketing exercise, man
PASSAT SALOON/ESTATE ★★★★★
> Interior design and refinement so good it
shames some limos, cutting-edge kit and
elegant looks. If only it wasn’t so dull to drive
> VERDICT Mega mile-muncher for the
undemanding. Aesthete to Mondeo’s athlete
ARTEON ★★★★★
> Here we go again: Volkswagen tries to be
properly premium and almost pulls it of. Great
interior, huge boot and there’s standard safety
tech aplenty, but it’s a bit dull > VERDICT For
SUV-resistant saloon fans… or those who can’t
aford a BMW
TOURAN ★★★★★
> It’s still more Millets than House of Fraser, but
the current Touran does family stuf well
> VERDICT MPV meets MQB, nearly goes VIP
SHARAN ★★★★★
> Large seven-seater sliding-door people carrier
> VERDICT Nice enough but made to look silly
by all-but-identical and cheaper Seat Alhambra
TIGUAN ★★★★★
> Accomplished but predictable. Have Seat or
Skoda made more of the platform with their
versions? > VERDICT No sex please, we’re VW
BMW 440i GRAN COUPE
£451pm
Arguably even better than an M4
> Spec 3.0-litre 6-cyl, rwd, 8-spd auto,
322bhp, 41.5mpg
> List price £45,490 (M Sport spec)
> Initial payment £4062.36; then
£451.37/month for 48 months
> Mileage allowance 10,000 miles
> Via planyourcar.com
TOUAREG ★★★★★
> The people’s Porsche Cayenne. Do the
people still want their own Cayenne? Well, it is
nearly £10k cheaper… > VERDICT Big, comfy,
competent SUV. Great on and of road
T-ROC ★★★★★
> Golf-sized SUV aimed at hashtagging, selfie
stick-wielding millennials. Massive tech options
list and scope for personalisation make up for
brittle interior and hefty price tag > VERDICT
The funkiest VW
VOLVO
V40 ★★★★★
> Smart Swede in a sector dominated by
Germans. Eficient D4 engine and impressive
kit, but it’s a bit bloated in seat, suspension and
steering feel > VERDICT Sitting uncomfortably
between Golf and A3. A rock and hard place
V60 ★★★★★
> A Frenchman who can’t cook. A Jackson
who can’t dance. A Volvo estate which can’t
carry much. Why? > VERDICT Handsome,
safe, eficient estate hamstrung by one rather
fundamental issue…
V90 ★★★★★
> Sacrilegiously abandons the boot-space
race for style while prioritising comfort and
refinement over German machismo. Lovely
inside. A genuine alternative to the 5-series,
E-Class and A6 now > VERDICT If there’s such
a thing as Swedish zen, this is it; much more
successful in its class than the 60 is in its
S90 ★★★★★
> Smart-looking, well-crafted and adept-
handling exec saloon dances a merry jig on
the grave of unloved outgoing S80; four-door
version of the V90 > VERDICT Loudly purring
Swedish cat enters the 5-series/E-Class pigeon
enclosure
XC40 ★★★★★
> No thriller to steer but fetching premium
crossover has sharp look, practical interior and
charming personality > VERDICT Feels good to
be in and it’ll look after you. Many, many cosmetic
and equipment choices
XC60 ★★★★★
  
> It’s now a shrunken XC90, which is no bad
thing. Calming isolation chamber on wheels
> VERDICT Surprisingly good to drive now and
super safe
XC70 ★★★★★
> A V70 in breeches, with raised ride height and
4x4 option. Awd starts at less than 40 grand,
which is good value if you find SUVs crass
> VERDICT If you don’t like having a dozen
brace of shot pheasant in your boot, don’t buy
one of these
XC90 ★★★★★
> It was worth the wait for Volvo to evolve the
XC90 this far: luxurious seven-seat interior,
clever safety tech, choice of eficient 4-cyl and
plug-in drivetrains, refined drive > VERDICT
One of the most complete cars on sale, of any
style, at any price
All prices inclusive of VAT and correct at time of going to press
INFINTI Q50 SPORT TECH
£441pm
Beast of an engine, so-so package
> Spec 3.0-litre 6-cyl, rwd, 7-spd auto,
399bhp, 31.0mpg
> List price £47,020
> Initial payment £3968.14; then
£440.90/month for 48 months
> Mileage allowance 10,000 miles
> Via fleetprices.co.uk
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N27 AJS £650 N2I BBY £650 MY04 CAT £950 K9 DAT £750 JO07 DYS £I500 RI0 FUN £850 8000 HB £3400 6 JCP £5700 KAT I7N £3500 LEO 328 £2700 L8 MMS £950 MC04 RAE £750 R23 SAL £950 UPR I50 £650
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P24 ALF £850 N30 BEK £650 M400 CAT £650 D44 DAV £950 RI2 EDD £750 75 FY £3900 I87 HBF £650 3333 JE £3900 P25 KAY £750 MO07 LES£2500 V55 MOL £750 RAH 905 £2200 C2 SCL £750 URT 44I £850
ALY 4N £3900 N24 BEN £I400 EI CAY £I300 N24 DAW £650 EDD 77S £I400 976 GAC £I300 HC 6624 £2500 88 JEF £5500 N3I KAY £I400 AI6 LES £I200 LE03 MON £950 W99 RAJ £850 N6 SED £750 57 URY £3500
P24 ALY £850 T222 BEN £II00 N3I CCO £950 TO07 DAY £I500 FR03 EDS £850 HO07 GAN£I500 44II HE £I500 MY04 JEN £I500 TO06 KEN £950 LIL 696 £I200 735 MR £5700 HO07 RAN£I500 P24 SHA £950 DE07 VAL £I500
S7 AMA £I300 G2 BET £950 C8 CEE £950 98 DCD £I200 N2I EEL £950 RO07 GAN£I500 D2 HEL £I500 JEN 6R £3500 M44 KEN £I500 3302 LJ £950 G2 MRD £950 CO07 RAS £I500 JO07 SHY £I500 DU07 VAL £I500
NI3 AMC £750 CII BET £750 GII CEL £650 4I55 DD £I500 87 EG £4300 GAV 7X £I500 HFW I95 £850 N24 JEN £I700 N222 KEN £850 54 LN £3700 N8 MRH £750 DO07 RAS £I500 SIJ 7I3 £650 GI9 VAL £I300
P28 AMG £I300 C6 BEV £I800 T6 CEM £650 JO07 DDY £I500 EHA 642 £850 W3I GAV £950 7777 HH £3900 V400 JEN £I300 300 KEN £3900 LUX 962 £I300 MSF 542 £II00 G22 RAY £2500 SIL 456 £650 54 VAL £4900
K55 AMH £650 NI5 BEV £I500 N2I CER £650 P94 DDY £I500 5I08 EL £I300 NI2I GAV £850 K47 HHH £I500 P25 JES £I300 N2I KER £850 EM06 LYN £I500 7426 MU £850 T22 RAY £I700 H4 SJT £850 8853 VB £850
F9 AMM £950 R27 BEV £I500 534 CER £I900 P23 DEB £I700 NI23 ELA £750 GAZ 6685 £650 M47 HHH £I500 JET 2IE £I600 P2I KER £850 N24 LYN £950 S99 MUM £750 S44 RAY £I700 P27 SJW £750 BI0 VEL £950
BE55 AMS £750 BEV 49S £I500 X9 CGS £650 DE03 DEE £850 E3 ELD £850 E5 GEF £I700 HIL 4665 £650 J222 JET £850 M90 KER £750 MAC I3Y £4500 8984 MX £750 P200 RAY £750 P5 SLK £I500 HA04 VEN £I500
N27 AMY £I300 DI3 BEX £750 N2I CHO £750 P23 DEE £950 S6 ELD £750 GEF 385 £2200 S8 HOE £850 JEZ 343 £650 VO07 KES £I500 N25 MAC £I500 I69 MYD £850 I982 RC £3200 528 SME £I300 NI2I VEN £750
900 AN £3900 P23 BEX £850 CIG 383 £650 N24 DEE £950 NO03 ELS £I500 N27 GEM £950 H3 HOG £I500 JF I03 £4700 R2I KES £750 R9I MAC £I500 DO07 NAL £I500 X8 RDH £750 555 SN £5500 69 VJ £4500
H23 ANA £I500 N3I BEX £750 NI2I CJB £650 W88 DEE £950 EMA 5A £3700 GER 3T £2500 P9 HOP £I400 705 JFC £I200 N28 KES £750 MAL IIW £2500 E9 NAL £750 LO07 RDS £I500 V77 SSA £750 70 VL £4300
GR04 AND £750 BF 5870 £I500 K44 CJM £650 MO07 DEL£I500 N2I EMS £750 LA04 GER £950 I999 HR £2800 JI JGH £I500 KEZ 565 £650 M40 MAL £I500 RO07 NAN£I500 REE 5X £5500 N2I STA £I300 VMR I34 £650
W700 AND £650 BIL 6322 £850 PI23 CJW £650 440 DEL £2800 EO 8769 £650 C8 GES £I500 4444 HS £3900 602 JGN £950 999 KJ £4300 MAL 82IW £750 JO07 NAS £I500 W8 REE £850 XI STD £750 GO06 WAN£750
PL03 ANE £750 600 BJ £4300 JO07 CKS £I500 P24 DEN £I400 27 EP £3900 N2I GES £850 HUG 2H £7500 9000 JJ £2900 444 KL £4800 S54 MAR £950 NAT 8N £6500 AI REO £I800 STU IL £4700 K7 WAX £750
DU04 ANE £950 S7 BJS £850 RO07 CKS £I500 N3I DEN £I300 ER 342 £3300 GES 768 £I700 W4 HUG £750 Y2 JKM £750 59 KN £3900 V77 MAR £850 J200 NAT £750 GO07 RES £I500 K90 STU £I800 WBE 22I £II00
P23 ANG £I400 BL 60 £5900 N666 CLK £650 DER 8IV £850 M7 ERL £850 GIL 5887 £650 900 HW £4700 306 JKP £I500 790 KPF £750 RO07 MAS£I500 857 ND £2500 REX IC £3300 MI55 STU £I500 WBR 36 £I400
Y333 ANG £950 400 BL £3900 P24 CLO £650 DES 2M £2200 N4 ERN £850 2000 GJ £3200 HY 7354 £I300 G3 JMA £850 KPR 288 £I300 N26 MAS £750 WA04 NDA£I500 H6 REX £750 VI72 STU £750 HY03 WEL £I500
M8I ANN £I600 K5 BLU £650 NI2I CLO £650 5I6 DES £2900 8I8 ETM £950 74 GK £5500 P24 JAC £I400 JOD 9Y £6500 8I27 KR £I700 N27 MAT £I200 P23 NDY £750 D7 REX £750 J9 SUE £2800 N3 WEL £2300
E753 ANN £650 W26 BMW £750 CO 6503 £I700 50I6 DF £I300 EVE 7S £3900 800 GL £4300 R25 JAC £I400 PI0 JOE £2000 200I KT £3300 PI2I MAT £850 XG54 NDY £950 I7 RFC £2200 N23 SUE £I700 CO07 WEN£I500
774 ANN £4900 V900 BMW£650 S4II COE £950 2573 DG £I400 N2I EVE £I400 68 GN £4900 TI0 JAD £950 R23 JOE £I500 467 KTA £650 MAV 4W £850 85 NE £4300 RIB 979 £750 SUE 50M £2800 L77 WEN £750
SE07 ANS £950 P23 BOB £II00 N2I COL £2500 LO07 DGE £I500 P23 EVE £750 6000 GP £4400 XII JAG £I500 GIII JOE £2500 I00 KU £3600 LO06 MAX£I500 N2I NES £850 RIJ 74 £950 B72I SUE £950 PO07 WER£I500
APL 3Y £I700 H9 BON £I300 V70 COL £I500 DIL 679 £II00 R29 EVE £850 N23 MAX £I400 I955 NJ £2900 9000 RJ £3200 R777 SUE £I300 LO07 WES£I500
F9 APM £750 T9 BON £I300 NI2I CON £650 5555 DJ £4I00 600 EVE £2400 R24 MAX £I700 700 NK £3900 MA04 RKO£I500 SUL 33Y £5500 WES 89M £850
LI APW £I300 NI3 BOX £650 COO 7K £6500 V53 DJB £750 T8 EVS £750 SIMILAR REGISTRATIONS WANTED S29 MAX £I700 53 NN £4300 YO07 RKS £I500 G6 SUT £I300 I000 WL £3800
SH05 ARA £950 WI8 BOX £650 COR 7Y £4500 3I9 DJU £750 60I EYE £950 R24 MAY £II00 S50 NNA £I200 P2I RKS £750 SYB 6IL £750 WOC 922 £750
NI ARF £850 P24 BOX £750 PA05 COS £950 7775 DK £I600 G3 FAN £850 FOR IMMEDIATE PURCHASE A92 MEL £I400 BO04 NNY £I500 RLG 86I £950 C8 SYD £950 76 WP £5700
PE03 ARL £650 775 BP £3800 N3I COS £750 I65 DKH £I300 FAY 7X £2400 VIII MEL £I400 MO07 NRO£I500 EA04 RLS £950 600 SYF £I500 WSY 698 £850
HE03 ARN £750 4000 BR £3300 TI6 COX £850 4849 DN £I500 8I8 FAY £2800 DO07 GRA£I500 T55 JAG £II00 JON 2A £7500 683I KX £950 PI2I MEL £I200 NSV 8I4 £750 RM 9699 £3400 B6 TAD £950 700 WT £3900
N2I ARN £850 D2 BRE £650 Y444 COX £650 T7 DOL £950 I59 FCG £750 NI2I GRA £750 P2I JAH £750 R23 JON £I700 LAD I53 £I500 EL04 MER£I500 97 NT £5900 C5 RMC £850 A5 TAK £950 734 WYC £650
EW08 ART£I500 R6 BRY £I400 B555 COX £850 DON 23V £I300 95 FD £3700 GRN 53I £950 JAK IN £4500 N27 JON £I700 42 LAN £4I00 HO07 MER£I500 OBW 550 £950 2000 RN £3200 J7 TAS £850 AL04 WYN£I500
P2I ART £750 LI0 BRY £850 M8 CPM £650 XI00 DON £750 FG 4447 £I600 GSU 675 £750 P27 JAK £I500 46I JON £3500 B5 LAW £I600 R2I MER £750 OC 28I6 £I900 RNO 642 £950 N3I TAS £750 N9 WYN £750
N28 ART £750 CI4 BRY £950 C8 CPW £650 T333 DON £850 236 FHO £750 I6 GU £3800 L33 JAM £I500 R28 JOY £950 R26 LAW £I500 93 MER £3I00 OD 4338 £I200 KI8 ROB £I700 TAZ 595 £750 XBK 63I £850
C55 ART £750 673 BRY £I800 HI6 CRA £650 P66 DOT £850 FIL I733 £650 G37 GUY £950 JAM 85Y £3500 MI00 JOY £850 6000 LC £3500 YI MES £750 TO07 OTH£2500 N23 ROB £I700 TBK 85I £750 XWJ 908 £650
B5 ARW £850 KI BSB £950 CSK 859 £950 994 DOT £I200 75 FL £4I00 54 GY £4I00 JAN IIM £2900 243 JOY £2500 LCW 450 £II00 C6 MEW £750 C5 PAB £I200 ROB 48IY £950 WI0 TED £750 YOR 285 £650
P3I ASH £I200 Y9 BSB £650 35 CY £3900 I366 DP £I900 K9 FOS £950 8026 HA £II00 N24 JAN £I600 8384 JP £3900 LEE 3J £3600 737 MFK £950 SI0 PAM £I700 ROC 9K £3500 RIII TED £750 YS 4I38 £I400
D2I ATH £750 I7 BU £3900 299 DA £3500 L5 DRS £I200 G25 FOX £I400 699 HAB £I200 B92 JAN £I500 N23 JRS £750 P23 LEE £I800 MHS 5I4 £I500 PAM 85IM £850 ROD 5Y £6500 P23 TEL £950 I24 YTW £650
G83 ATH £650 R23 BUD £650 V5 DAB £I300 DS 8968 £I300 P26 FOX £I400 HAL I5X £I500 N28 JAS £I300 N2I JUL £750 R23 LEE £I800 MIG 929 £650 D48 PAT £I300 A62 ROD £750 SII5 TEV £850 YUM 773 £750
587 ATR £950 T40 BUD £650 XI0 DAD £650 R3 DSC £750 I52 FRH £II00 JO04 HAN £I500 F77 JAS £I300 E6 KAB £750 N26 LEE £I400 B6 MJE £750 D32I PAT £850 857 ROD £2500 59 TG £5300 8369 YZ £650
CO07 ATS £I500 S8 BUG £I200 DAL 9E £4500 DSN I3 £I600 D3 FRY £I500 HAN 4T £3400 P23 JAY £I400 SO07 KAL £I500 YI LEN £I900 2533 MK £I600 PAU 9L £II500 R999 ROD £750 M8 THJ £750 MA04 ZDA£I500

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Cars based on vans based on cars
TOP 10 IN ASSOCIATION WITH
WWW.WARRANTYWISE.CO.UK
0800 121 4801

Suddenly they’re everywhere. But where have they come

from? And which are the good ones? By Colin Overland

1 2

CITROËN BERLINGO RENAULT KANGOO

MULTISPACE
The Berlingo (and its Peugeot Partner
twin) is the zenith of the no-nonsense
approach to LAVs (for leisure activity
vehicles, as some unwisely label
them). ZX parts meet space for dogs,
kids, luggage and wheelchairs. Room
for everything except driving pleasure.
The Kangoo has been through a
couple of generations since its 1997
debut, but the idea was right from
the of. A five-seater based on a van
based on the Clio Mk2, it’s been a hit
wherever practicality is prized above
all else. Our favourite is the 2002 all-
wheel-drive Trekka.
3
VW CADDY LIFE
A bit posher and more car-like than the dominant French trio, the Life version
of the Caddy van has been around since 2004, joined three years later by the
longer Caddy Maxi Life. There’s Touran in there, and a dash of Transporter.

4 5 6 7

FIAT QUBO
Fiat may have lost its magic touch
with mainstream minis, but this is a
superbly practical and rather stylish
alternative. It’s based on the Fiorino
van, with Grande Punto underpinnings,
but sprinkled with alloys, roof bars and
cheerful paint. Although it’s small, the
rear passenger doors slide.
DACIA LOGAN MCV
Not the current one, but the 2007
Logan Maximum Capacity Vehicle.
It wasn’t directly van based, which
makes this a slightly rogue entry, but
it’s here to highlight the convergence
between estate cars and small vans
and MPVs and SUVs. A huge hit in
France, but never sold in the UK.
MERCEDES CITAN TOURER
The long-wheelbase version houses
seven, the regular one manages five.
It’s essentially a rebadged Renault
Kangoo (itself based on the Scenic),
with tweaked suspension, a new dash
and more soundproofing. It’s also extra
ugly, which is odd when you consider
how handsome Merc’s vans are.
VAUXHALL COMBO LIFE
Vauxhall’s first entry in the full-size LAV
segment is partnered with the new
versions of the class-defining Peugeot
and Citroën, and shares their 308
roots. Like them, it comes in five-seat
and longer seven-seat versions. With
the Zafira having edged upmarket, this
is family utility transport, 2018 style.

8 9 10

FORD TOURNEO CONNECT RENAULT EXPRESS CITROËN ACADIANE

It’s based on a van, but a van
that has taken great strides in an
MPV-wardly direction, coming
close to bridging the gap between
GETTY IMAGES
huge styling overlap between They’ve not been made for 15 years, Okay, so it’s a van. A van with windows.
the Tourneo and Transit vans and but they’re still everywhere in rural A slow van with windows. But it
those MPVs. Original design work France, where fussy British work-time/ inspired everything you see above.
on the first Tourneo Connect (and family-time distinctions don’t apply; Built for a decade from 1977, it’s based

commercial-vehicle crudity and Transit Connect van) of 2002 was nor does the French tax man insist that on the Dyane; the name is a play on AK
S-Max/Galaxy sophistication and by a post-Volvo Peter Horbury; the a van has no side windows. Based on (Citroën’s van prefix) and Dyane. It was
equipment levels. Check the underpinnings were part-Focus. the Mk2 Renault 5, it had proper rear ofered as a van or as a Mixte, with rear
suspension, unlike most vans. bench seat and sliding rear windows.

WWW.WARRANTYWISE.CO.UK 0800 121 4801

car, 0008-5987 is published 12 times a year by Bauer Consumer Media Ltd. Airfreight and mailing in the USA by agent named Air Business Ltd, c/o Worldnet Shipping Inc., 156-15, 146th Avenue, 2nd Floor, Jamaica,
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 GAP Insurance
to fall back on
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Excellent: 4.7/5

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Duncan McClure Fisher

Founder and CEO The smart way to run your car