Issue 305 February 2018

Welcome

073
Secondhand superheroes

As 2018 begins to spool up, our collective
appetites have been spiked by the promise
of 12 months punctuated by stunning and
varied automotive wonders – including the
Aston Martin Valkyrie, new Ford Fiesta ST,
Porsche Mission E and Jaguar I-Pace.
Yes, the start of the year is an excellent time to dream a little.
While new cars are the lifeblood of our shared interest, they
tend to be tough to describe as a bargain. This month, we help
to lift the ongoing pre-Brexit blues by offering the TopGear
guide to buying secondhand, brought to you with the help
of ‘Honest’ Harris.
Few early conversations about an issue have elicited such
an animated response from the team as our first discussions
about the cars we’d buy if we had the time or, more importantly,
the money. For some, the focus remained squarely on the
rarified air of supercar ownership and bagging an appreciating
asset; for others, it was about finding their perfect hot hatch now
there was a chance they could insure it. A few of us wanted
to nail the brief for a family car that had soul, while pretty
much everyone had that one nostalgic car from their early
history responsible for jump-starting their automotive interest.
After weeks of finessing the list, we humbly present our
Secondhand superheroes, the TopGear guide to used cars
that get the pulse racing. For some, this list will be a source of
entertainment, while for others it will be the start of a journey
to ownership, but we hope you enjoy reading it as much
as we did creating it, and let us know what you end up buying
by emailing editor@topgear.com.
editor@bbctopgearmagazine.com.
Elsewhere in the issue I’m delighted to give you an exclusive
preview of the next series of TopGear in our 17-page special. What
leaps off every page is the sense of ambition, excitement and
entertainment coursing through the veins of every film, and we’re
sure you’ll be watching as it comes crashing back to your screens
to brighten up your Sundays
Sundays. every week from 8pm on 25 February.
Enjoy the issue,

Charlie Turner E D I T O R - I N - C H I E F
@TopGearEditor

TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 007

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 Contents
Harris
“Modern cars would
be more comfy if they
ran 15-inch wheels
and lovely plump old-
fashioned tyres” 029
Reid
“There have been
several times when
I’ve almost given up
and put my kids into
a roofbox” 031

100 the ten

011 TGTV preview
016 Harris hearts 2CV
022 Horse trials
073 Used approved 024 Sumo wrestling
The TopGear team delves into the
murky world of secondhand cars.
011 Intake
Chris Harris Arthur Daleys it up
038 My life in cars
076 New 2U heroes 039 Top 9
If you’re looking for a secondhand 040 TG gadgets
car, have we a treat for you. Our top 041 Insider report
used choices in all categories. Woop! 042 A day in the life
043 TG watches
100 Winter Nomad
Winter testing the Nomad required Drives
just one tiny thing... a mountain of
our own. Thank you, Mont Ventoux 048 Hyundai i30N vs
Honda Civic Type R
110 McRae Impreza 053 Volkswagen Polo GTI
“We can really have a go in Colin 054 Renault Symbioz
McRae’s WRC Impreza?” Dobie was 056 Audi RS4
on the next flight out to... Japan 058 Subaru XV
060 Lexus LS
115 Leccy cab
Filthy, dirty London cabs will soon be
048 062 Kia Stinger GT-S vs Audi S5
064 Toyota Yaris GRMN
a thing of the past. Rory tries out the
067 Liberty Walk Ford Mustang
068 Porsche 911 T vs
electric future of our iconic taxis
Porsche 911 GT3 T
120 X-Class in Chile Garage
Some of the most carjacky roads
in the world, you say? In that case,
we’ll travel entirely off-road. Yeah! 042 131 What we’re running at TG:
hi Insignia and E350d All-Terrain

TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 009

THINGS WE’VE LEARNT THIS MONTH

TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 011

 SERIES 25

012 FEBRUARY 201 8 › TO P G E A R . C O M

TopGear telly is back! The world’s biggest
motoring show returns to your screens this
February with an all-new six-part series,
starring Matt LeBlanc, Chris Harris, Rory
Reid and a veritable cornucopia of motor
vehicles new and old. There will be speed.
There will be noise. There will probably be
several occurrences of driving into things
that shouldn’t be driven into.
Since we were last on your screens, the
motoring landscape has entered a state
of flux. The UK government has signed the
death warrant for the internal combustion
engine, self-driving technology is on the
rise, our roads are under closer surveillance
than ever before. What the world needs is
a voice of automotive sanity. Some wisdom
amid the chaos. Series 25, therefore, sees
Matt, Chris and Rory, um, entirely ignoring
all these big issues. Instead they set about
speeding up the humble tractor, settle the
“what’s the best SUV” debate through the
medium of horse trials, discover whether a
muscle car can land a NASA space plane,
embark on a big US roadtrip in celebration
of the V8 sports car, attempt to unwrap the
mystery within the riddle within the puzzle
that is Japanese car culture and discover
whether Korea can build a not entirely
boring car.
It’s all brought to you with a little help
from the woman they call “the Queen of
the ’Ring”, Sabine Schmitz. And the white-
suited automaton they call, um, The Stig.
Because you don’t want to find out what
happens if you call him anything else.
Read on to find out what’s coming
up in Series 25...
TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 013
The V8 engine
is definitely
not dead yet
Just hearing the words is enough to raise the
heart rate. And then there’s the cars themselves...

he V8 engine. In the modern world

of gastric-band-spec emissions
T regulations, the favourite of
petrolheads worldwide should
be a relic. Deceased. An ex-engine. But it isn’t.
Because, gloriously, the V8 keeps evolving.
Developing. Moving with the times. So with
2018 marking, as you’ll all know, the 116th
anniversary of the most enduring sports car
engine of them all, it seemed the perfect time
for a little celebration. So Matt, Chris and
Rory each chose their ultimate all-round V8
sports car, and headed to Utah’s Wild West
for a series of challenges.
Rory arrived in a Jaguar F-Type SVR, while
Chris went practical in the shape of the McLaren
570GT. Which is a practical, spacious GT car in
very much the same way a pair of rollerblades is
a practical, spacious GT car. Matt, in patriotic
fashion, opted for a Ford Mustang GT350 R.
But not just any Ford Mustang GT350 R. Oh no.
A Ford Mustang GT350 R tuned by a man called
John Hennessey, that tune being approximately
800bhp. V8 weapons selected, the trio set off
on a motorsport-inspired pilgrimage across
the States, a pilgrimage including oval track
racing, a visit to the Bonneville Salt Flats…
and a moonshine run to the border. Being
hotly pursued by Officer Kenneth Block.
Yee, and, indeed, haw.

014 FEBRUARY 201 8 › TO P G E A R . C O M

Officer Block
demonstrates how
to intimidate perps

PUB AMMO
Much like French fries
are actually from
Belgium, the first V8
wasn’t designed by
a cheeseburger-
wielding American, the
idea was patented by
Léon Levavasseur, a
Frenchman, in 1902. His
creation, the Antoinette,
had up to 50bhp.

The demolition derby

suddenly decided to
mimic flying geese

TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 015

Harris hearts
the 2CV
Yes, it’s true. Oversteery racecars don’t fill
up all of Chris’s atria and ventricles

ou’ll know Chris Harris. Small,

shouty chap, very much enamoured
Y with oversteery supercars and
sticky-tyred racecars. But it turns
out our man Harris, as well as being rather a fan
of cars with four-figure horsepower outputs, also
has a soft spot for the oldest and Frenchiest of
old French cars: the Citroen 2CV. To explain
exactly why the car the French call “le 2CV”
is such a masterpiece, Harris headed to rural
France to relate its glorious history, a
swashbuckling tale of derring-do and
Nazis, and the smoking of a vast
number of Gitanes. At which
point a very sceptical Matt
LeBlanc rocked up. With a
stovepipe hat. And, for reasons
unclear, some eggs. And, for
reasons even more unclear,
a couple of sheep. Can Harris
convince MLB – and indeed the
sheep – of the paysanne charms
of the Deux Chevaux? Can the
smell of raw egg ever be removed
from 50-year-old upholstery? Only
TopGear has the answer.

016 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 › TO P G E A R . C O M
Hybrids? EVs? Who
needs them? The 2CV
had fuel economy
cracked decades ago
with early cars returning
95mpg. The fact it takes
the best part of a week
to travel 95 miles is
beside the point.

If you want to go
faster, you need
a Sabine Schmitz
Rory heads to the spiritual home of muscle cars
where a very strict teacher is waiting for him

The Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. Springs racetrack, really rather

A muscle car so extreme that
it’s actually been banned in
Europe. So Rory Reid, always
prepared to put his own life
on the line in the name of
consumer research (and
skidding around in muscle
cars), was on the first plane to
America to discover whether a
European could indeed drive
the 650bhp Camaro without
instantly bursting into flames
or being chopped into a
thousand wafer-thin slices.
Luckily for Rory, it transpired
the ZL1 1LE was non-toxic to
European drivers. And, as he
discovered at Willow
good fun to drive on a big fast
racetrack like “Big” Willow. So,
inevitably, the producers –
never keen to allow anyone
to have too much fun without
stepping in to spoil things –
ordered Rory to find out exactly
how fast the MegaMaro could
lap Willow’s very unforgiving
2.5-mile course. Naturally,
they’d also laid on a spot of
tuition. In the shape of Sabine
Schmitz, a teacher very much
from the ‘tough love’ school of
race schooling.

TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 017

Britain’s roads need
speeding up, and
TG is the telly
programme
to do it
TG stalks the corridors
of power to shape future
policy. The solution?
Souped-up tractors, obvs

018 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 › TO P G E A R . C O M
 How tractors look before
they’re given the TG
treatment. Dull, no?

opGear TV, as you know, is

always on the lookout for ways
T to improve the lives of British
motorists. And heavy machinery
enthusiast Matt LeBlanc reckoned he’d
spotted a problem ripe for improvification.
The tractor. Now, MLB’s a big fan of tractors
when they’re doing their tractoring thing on
the farm. In fact, he owns a whole load of
them. The problem, as he saw it, comes when
tractors leave the farm, and join the public
highway. Yes, the tractor is holding up
Britain’s motorists, and TopGear needed
to do something about it.
Now, the sensible policy solution to this
issue would be to, say, ban tractors from the
public highway during rush hour. But Matt
had a far more exciting solution to the
problem of slow tractors. Involving the
TopGear Agricultural Technology Centre.
And a lot of horsepower. And a can of paint
borrowed from Lamborghini. And a speed
record. And the reigning Farmer of the Year.
This man has a very
And the cast of Countryfile. And a greyhound. special skill set. And a
And, for some reason, Captain Birdseye. special garage too...

Massive back wheels,

small fronts. Just
like a drag racer...

The current speed record for a tractor is

heady 80.88mph – set by four-time rally world
champion Juha Kankkunen in a Valtra T234,
achieved with a mere 247bhp at his disposal.

TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 019

 Does the 720S stand a
chance? McLaren claims
a standing quarter for
Little Mac takes on Big
the P1 in 9.8 at 152mph.
Mac in a battle of the
We’ve clocked the 720S
McLaren buggies
in 10.19 at 146mph. So the
P1 has it on paper, but
throw corners into the
mix, and lightness, and
the 720S claws it back.
Should be close...

The McLaren few years back, when he lived in 720S get to its track-optimised big brother P1

720S will give A the internet rather than being

shackled in the belfry of TopGear
Towers, Chris Harris was the
its big brother first journalist to bring together the modern
around a race circuit?
On paper, it should be an easy win for the
P1, which has more than 200 horsepower
extra, clever hybrid gubbins, and costs four

P1 a proper run hypercar trinity of McLaren P1, LaFerrari and

for its money
Yes, it’s Mac versus Mac
in a McSpecial McRace
round McPortimão
Porsche 918 on track. That track, specifically,
was Portimão, on Portugal’s Algarve coast. The
fastest of the trio, in Harris’s annoyingly able
mitts, was the McLaren.
Now, two years later, Harris is back at
Portimão to answer a supremely interesting
question. Just how close can the new McLaren
times the amount. But the 720S is lighter,
and boasts a bunch of clever aerodynamic
stuff… and a snazzy flip-down instrument
binnacle, which has to be worth at least half
a second a lap for show-off factor alone. Can
the upstart McLaren get within touching
distance of the big daddy? Harris straps on
his fastest driving shoes to find out.

Rory’s got some

Korea advice for you
Break out the soju – the Koreans have arrived

In recent years, South Korea has
produced many millions of cars.
Very few of them have been in
any way interesting. In fact, it’s
interesting how few of them have
been interesting. But with recent
signs of excitement in Korea, in
the explosive shape of the Kia
Stinger and Hyundai i30N, Rory
Reid headed to Dunsfold to see
if the Korean upstarts could really
mix it with the European big boys.
And, importantly, how all this
excitement would affect the
TopGear International League
Table of Countries That Make
the Fastest Cars, or the
TGILTOCTMTFC for short.

0 20 FEBRUARY 201 8 › TO P G E A R . C O M
 If you want to test
off-road toys, you
need to get off-road
“Come visit me and have some fun in my backyard”, said Matt. “OK...”

n Britain, a “weekend away in he wanted to know which was the most fun

I the country” generally means a

welly-clad tramp across a muddy
field, a poke around an antiques
shop, maybe even a teacake or two. In America,
however, they take the whole “weekend away
in the country” thing rather more seriously.
Barbecues the size of bison, tents the size of
even-larger bison and, most importantly, a
trailer full of off-road toys. We’re talking ATVs,
dirt bikes, personal tanks. These off-road toys are
big business in the States, and Matt LeBlanc said
for a weekend away in the country.
So he rounded up a literal truckload of the
things and headed deep into the Californian
wilderness equipped with nothing but a
house-sized tent, several hundred kilos of
meat, and a Chris Harris to help erect the
former and eat the latter. Upon arrival in the
wilderness, Matt disclosed he may have had
an ulterior motive for bringing a bunch of
all-terrain vehicles into the forests of upstate
California. Things got a bit… Revenant.

Training for the 2019

Dakar started well, but
then the BBQ arrived

TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 021

Modern SUVs are
really not very good
at being horses
Eat your heart out, Oliver Townend – you may have won
Burghley Horse Trials, but you chickened out of this game...

hat’s the best sporting SUV on sale a series of equestrian-inspired challenges,

today? It’s a question that serious
W consumer publications have sought
to answer by diligently measuring
bootspace, second-row legroom and bootspace
again, just to be on the safe side. TopGear,
however, knows the only real way to rank
SUVs’ suitability for the hustle-bustle of
everyday family life is through the time-
honoured sport of… horsey games.
And so it was that Matt, Chris and Rory
arrived at Burghley House with an Alfa Stelvio, a
Volvo XC60 and a Range Rover Velar, whereupon
they were ordered to saddle up and take part in
including an arena show-jumping event, and a
cross-country race through Burghley’s grand,
really-quite-bumpy grounds. What we’re saying
is, quite a lot of jumping.
Now, some people will tell you that modern
SUVs can’t cope with being jumped several
feet in the air. This is completely untrue. The
jumping, no problem at all. It’s the landing
at the end that causes all the problems. Cue
a very thorough consumer test of the engine
mountings of three expensive SUVs. And,
afterwards, some rather awkward phone calls
to the nice people who had lent us said SUVs.

Let’s apply some

science here. As the
lightest by some margin,
the Stelvio should
be the best jumper,
and walk this one.
Then again, one must
remember that however
many sugar lumps we
fed it, it is not a horse.

022 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 › TO P G E A R . C O M
 If you’re going
to test a Dodge
Demon, you
really need a
drag strip. And
a space plane
Matt LeBlanc channels his inner
devil for a spin in the Dodge Demon

In America there is a car company called

Dodge. And, in frankly hilarious news, Dodge
recently announced it had built a car that would
outrun the fastest offerings from Lamborghini,
Ferrari, Porsche and the rest of Europe’s
supercar elite. It’s called the Demon, it boasts
the slinky aerodynamic profile of a scout hut,
and it’s yours for the laughably modest sum of
85 thousand dollars. To discover exactly what
grade of utter nonsense Dodge was spouting
with this “faster than the European supercar
elite” stuff, TopGear sent its American
correspondent Matt LeBlanc to America
in search of answers. Where, it’s fair
to say, things rapidly escalated.
First in the shape of a drag race.
And secondly in the shape of
“landing a priceless, very-
difficult-to-land NASA research
plane”. Because there’s no
way that could ever end
anything but excellently.

The Demon has been banned by the

National Hot Rod Association for being too
fast. It’s also the first production car that can
pull a wheelie, albeit for a scant 0.89m.

TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 023

 Japanese car culture
is strange and
strangely brilliant
Take one American and two Brits to Japan, steep in
the local car culture, add Sumo and stand well back...

0 24 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 › TO P G E A R . C O M
 Fair to say left-hand
corners were speedier
than rights for this test

f you like cars – and if not, may
PUB AMMO
The life of a Sumo is as
far from a pampered
Premiership footballer
obliged to refer to as ‘The Land Of The Rising as you can get. There’s

I we humbly direct you down the

magazine rack to the “Needlecraft
Sun’ at least once in each paragraph. First
off, Chris sets out to discover the two most
no salary until reaching
the upper ranks,
traditional dress must
and Patchwork” section – you’ll Japanesely (it’s a word) styled cars on sale
be worn at all times and
be aware Japan is a Really Quite Interesting today, comparing the thuggish Honda Civic
driving a car is strictly
Country. So Really Quite Interesting, in fact, Type R with the manga-esque Lexus LC500, forbidden... presumably
that Series 25 dedicates a full hour to exploring through the time-honoured medium of driving for the sake of poor old
the quixotic charms of the country we’re legally really fast around a circuit. power-to-weight ratios.

TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 025

 Bōsōzoku, as you’ll know if you purchased the excellent
TopGear magazine issue 304, is a bizarre Japanese car
culture with its roots in motorbikes that’s found its way
onto cars. Look out for huge spoilers, skirts and
exhausts like telephone pylons.

“Matt, when you said we

should stick together, I didn’t
think you meant literally...”

0 26 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 › TO P G E A R . C O M
 Elsewhere in The Land Of The Rising
Sun (tick), Rory attempts to cram as much
weird Japanese car culture as possible into
a single night, meeting up with the mad
Bōsōzoku car tuners and a bunch of very
lurid Lamborghini owners, before sneaking
a drive in a car that really, really shouldn’t
be road-legal. Or driven by anyone taller
than about five foot one.
Then Chris and Matt come up with a frankly
genius plan to balance the severely imbalanced
TopGear books. Nineties Japanese sports cars:
they’re amazing, but if you live in the United
Kingdom and you want one that’s neither
been substantially modified or substantially
Air-traffic-control centre at
Heathrow? NASA’s launch
room? Nah, a car auction
The new series of TopGear starts
8pm, 25 February
on BBC2 and BBC iPlayer
crashed, you’ll pay silly money. Chris and
Matt reckoned they’d figured the solution:
buy a couple of mint Japanese sports cars
at an auction in The Land Of The Rising
Sun (tick), ship ’em back to the UK and sell
them on for a tidy profit.
Which, in fairness, actually sounded like
quite a sound idea. Unfortunately neither
of them had reckoned with a) coming to
terms with the madness of Tokyo’s traffic,
b) negotiating the utter madness of Tokyo’s
conveyor-belt car auctions, and c) the
inevitability of the producers stepping in
with a series of challenges to prove the
roadworthiness of their new purchases.
TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 027
 “Modern cars would be
more comfy if they ran
15-inch wheels and lovely
plump old-fashioned tyres”
How much do motorists and the motor trade
spend repairing or replacing cosmetically
damaged alloy wheels? I suspect it’s a figure
somewhere in the high hundreds of millions
per year. Just typing that makes my piss boil –
and it probably comes as no surprise to learn
that the reason I’m currently contemplating
its hatefulness is that I’ve just kerbed an alloy
wheel. A needlessly large and swanky twenty-
one-inch Porsche rim which I cretinously
pinched against a stone – and ruined.
I’m not sure what I despise more, the car industry’s move
towards vast wheels with exposed perimeters just waiting to be
scrunched against the next kerb, or the realisation that you’ve
gone and done it. Again. Maybe writing this will help me decide.
To be absolutely clear, there is no engineering or
performance-based explanation that justifies the move
towards increasingly lower-profile tyres and larger-diameter
wheels. It’s an aesthetic position perpetrated by designers
and marketing departments. And accountants. A Formula One
car doesn’t need a low-profile tyre, and it can pull 4g lateral
acceleration. A Porsche Carrera Cup car – effectively the
racing version of the 911 GT3 – has smaller wheel rims and
higher-profile rubber than the road car. Go figure.
In fact, the truth is even more exasperating – almost all
ordinary modern cars would be more comfortable if they
ran a 15-inch wheel and a lovely plump old-fashioned tyre.
But because us lemmings have been brainwashed into
thinking a 3-Series looks crap unless its wheelarches are
crammed full of shiny metal, we now accept that most
modern cars should ride like a Victorian mail coach.
There are many things I don’t understand about
my industry, but chief among them is that most
people who review cars seem
totally insensitive to ride
quality. Surely comfort is one of, if not the most
valuable attribute of an everyday car? And yet a
1997 BMW 523i on standard wheels is way more
comfortable than the new 5-Series. How the hell
is that progress? Why do we tolerate it? It’s
genuinely one of the great paradoxes of life.
And it pushes me, in my admittedly strange
little world, into an angry place. But perhaps not
as dark a place as the moment your hands and arse
receive the unmistakable message that putty-soft
aluminium alloy has just crunched against rock. It is one of life’s
more horrible feelings, isn’t it? Well, it is to people who love cars
– in fact, a person’s reaction to kerbing a wheel might be a decent
way of arbitrating between car people and non-believers. If you
shudder when you feel that awful gravelly sensation through the
steering wheel, then feel faint before quickly wanting to damage
something or someone, then I suggest you are a car person.
If you can graunch a wheel without it even registering and
continue chatting as you grind it even further to free it from the
original offence, before climbing out and walking off without
checking the damage – if that doesn’t make something inside
you scream – then you simply cannot love cars.
But, on reflection, it’s the wholesale bullshit circus
surrounding large-diameter wheels that I hate more. I don’t
even think they look good. For me, a deep-dished smaller-
diameter wheel looks miles more alluring. The rears of a 1973
Porsche 911 2.8 RSR are perfection – spokes hidden inside a
great bowl of unpolished metal. Modern rims are so thin and
fragile they can’t support the spokes being anywhere but right
I M AG E : M A N U FAC T U R E R
at the face of the wheel, which makes them – yes, you’ve
guessed it – the first thing you smash against the kerb.
It’s all just a conspiracy. Refurbishing and replacing wheels
is another needless tax on our motoring lives. It’s madness
– paying to repair something that looks crap and makes your
car worse to drive. How we ended up like this is anyone’s guess.
TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 029
 “There have been several
times when I’ve almost
given up and put my
kids into a roofbox”

There’s not a lot in this world that really
annoys me. If someone cuts me up in traffic,
my usual reaction is to take a deep breath and
let them go, because the alternative might lead
to jail time. If someone hogs the overtaking
lane doing 50mph, I patiently find another
way around, because the alternative might
damage my paintwork.
But then there’s child seats. Child seats cause
me huge stress on a daily basis. Why are they so difficult to
install? Why are they so badly designed? Why do I want to slam
my head against my own steering wheel every time I have to
strap a child into one?
Most parents will be aware of how awful they are, but allow
me to elaborate for the uninitiated. Fitting a seat for the first
time, or moving seats between cars (a common requirement
in my household) is frustrating beyond belief. Trying to work
out which bit of the inertia-reel belt loops through which tiny
flap in your Britax is an absolute nightmare. As for Isofix bases,
I’ve literally lost count of the number of times I’ve scratched
paintwork, ripped a hole in my seat or nearly severed an index
finger while trying to fit one.
It’s bad enough trying to do all that while you’re in a calm,
rational frame of mind. But imagine having to do it
while your children are screaming into your ear,
threatening to run off into traffic or urinating
in the glovebox. How are you supposed to stay
calm, and fit these things effectively, if you’re
hunched by the rear door, heavily pregnant, in
for family life, because there isn’t a single ‘family
car’ that can legally carry a nuclear family as
standard. Every one has to be modified with
these hateful contraptions.
UK law states no child under the age of 12 (or
under 4.5ft) can ride in a car without a child car
seat. It doesn’t matter how fancy the car is, how
new it is, how many thousands of pounds you’ve
spent on it. If you put a child into an ordinary
vehicle, buckle it up and drive away, you’re committing a crime.
So what’s the solution here? Well, there have been several
times when I’ve almost given up and put my kids into a roofbox
(interestingly, I don’t think there are laws against this). Hell,
I’ve even considered sending them everywhere by themselves in
black cabs, which are legally exempt from child seats. You simply
whack a pushchair in the back, pay the driver, send them on their
way and meet them at the other end. But it’s a tad expensive.
We need to tackle this problem: I propose (and this is radical,
so bear with me) family cars with seats that accommodate all
members of a family. We’ve all seen those fold-out cabinets in
Rolls-Royces and Bentleys, right? The ones that flip down to
reveal a coolbox with champagne or whisky decanters and such?
Well, why can’t we have seatbacks with a similar fold-down
section that works as a booster seat? And behind those fold-
down panels, why can’t we have optional five-point harnesses?
I know Volvo is on the case, but where’s everyone else?
It might be expensive to integrate, but have you seen the
cost of a new aftermarket child car seat? People will pay. I’d
pay through the nose. It would make me a happier, nicer
I M AG E : R E X

the freezing rain? person – one with far less pent-up rage at the start of every
Families are forced to go through this journey. It would turn our family cars into cars actually built
even if they own cars designed specifically with families in mind.

TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 0 31
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#12: Matt Becker,
You’ll often hear racing drivers
talk about working on car set-up,
spending time fine-tuning their
racing car for the upcoming attack
on pole position and race. There
are various settings you can change
yourself on road cars but before cars
are delivered to customers they need
a perfectly honed baseline set-up. That’s my job.
The key to setting up a car is getting the basics right before
you begin to tune in the magic. The dark art of vehicle dynamics
is all about balance in the final changes we make to a car. The
fundamentals deliver what we need for a ‘good’ car – stiffness,
how much it rolls and so on. But to transform a ‘good’ car into a
‘great’ car, we have to balance everything down to the last detail
– how each axle reacts to a steering input, how much response,
how much overshoot, etc. When balancing the front to the rear,
the smallest of changes can make a huge difference to how a
car feels, but you couldn’t objectively measure or model these
differences – you have to drive and feel the car.
At Aston Martin we have a hand-selected team of dynamics
engineers who are the best in the business and who you trust
and respect. Not only can these engineers drive, they can also
engineer the cars at the same time. This means they understand
every nuance of all the components and which levers they need to
pull in order to solve any issues quickly. We also use specialists
such as high-performance test driver Chris Goodwin – who’ll
work primarily on the Valkyrie – and Aston Racing works driver
and three-time Le Mans winner Darren Turner, who also
supports us with road-car development.
“Vehicles set up to work
around the ’Ring become
too compromised for
every other road surface”
Aston Martin vehicle attribute engineer
Sometimes it can be tricky. You’ll get a car that doesn’t
communicate via steering or the rear axle, or if the increase
in steering effort is too flat or not perfectly aligned with
how the yaw and lateral acceleration builds, the car can feel
disconnected and unresponsive. Steering effort needs to build
linearly, and provide resistance to push up against, from centre
right to the limit, where the effort should reduce and give the
driver the first clue the limit is close. Nowhere is this more
important than on a road car where the road conditions, grip
and the corners coming up are changeable and unknown. A
good steering tune is imperative to get the most out of a drive.
We have a strong presence at the Nürburgring and we test
there for brake, ESP and high-speed stability, but we don’t
compromise our cars just to work there. My experience is that
vehicles set up specifically to work around the ’Ring then become
too compromised for almost every other road surface. That’s
because the ’Ring requires a lot of damping control due to the
elevation changes, which becomes too much for normal roads.
In terms of challenges for the future, electric and autonomous
vehicles provide a new test of our craft. Electric vehicles will be
a challenge in terms of road isolation, while maintaining good
handling and steering performance. When you remove the engine
you notice all the other noises you couldn’t hear before, so the
NVH (noise, vibration and harshness) team become key at the
concept stage of any new electric vehicle platform. Autonomy will
be a massive shift for the industry and change the way carmakers
set up cars. Remove driver involvement altogether, and ride
quality and NVH performance move up the pecking order.
Fingers crossed, I’ll still have a job when self-driving cars
become the new normal.
TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 0 33
Intake
EDITED BY JACK RIX

Faces. Retro. Entertainment. Car Culture. Every month

PIC OF THE MONTH

MINI ADVENTURE
No, not a prototype for a next-gen Countryman undergoing unsympathetic hot-weather testing,
but the new X-raid Mini Buggy recently seen chasing Peugeots across the deserts of Peru, Bolivia
and Argentina in the Dakar Rally. After Peugeot locked out the 2017 podium with its rear-drive
3008 DKR, this is Mini’s lighter, RWD response, claimed to be three seconds per km quicker than
the 4WD Countryman Dakar car with which it shares its 3.0-litre diesel engine. No stage wins at
the time of going to press, but early signs say the pace and durability is there.

TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 0 37
 MY LIFE
INExample
CARS
Elliot Gleave – better known
as rapper Example – talks us
through his car history, and
buying his schoolboy bedroom
poster heroes for real

I
used to love memorising cars’ engine size,
horsepower, years of production, things like
that. I’ve always liked lists, and facts and
figures. Cars were one of those things other
people were into when I was a kid, and to gain
people’s acceptance and impress them I started
learning all the numbers. It’s the same thing that
made me start rapping when I was 11.
My first car was a Vauxhall Corsa, a little red
thing. I crashed that into a lamp post a few weeks
after passing my test. The first and last thing I’ve
ever crashed, bar a Renault F3 car, but that’s
another story…
After that I was in an old Mercedes E-Class,
my dad’s old car. I then took a break for a bit. I
was in debt trying to get my career going. For a
while we had an old Royal Mail van, we would sit
in the back on the way to gigs and if it braked
suddenly an acoustic guitar or bass drum would
come and smack you in the face.
Then in 2010 I had my first hit – Kickstarts
– and number ones in the charts followed.
My dad always said I could only be stupid with
cars if I bought a few properties first. So I bought
an apartment in Fulham then treated myself
to a secondhand Audi RS5 for about 44 grand.
It was very exciting compared to anything else
I’d had before, but being four-wheel drive, it just
stuck to the ground and didn’t really scare the
life out of me.
When the career was going really well,
I bought another apartment, and that
subconsciously made me think “I can go
stupid with cars now,” because my dad would
be OK with it. That’s when my love affair with
Jaguar F-Types started. I started with a V6 S
Convertible, then a V8 R coupe, then the SVR.
I think it’s one of the most beautiful cars of
the last decade.
I also had a Ferrari 355 Spider. It’s probably
my favourite Ferrari of all time, which is why I
wanted one. It depends what era you grew up in;
some people will have had an F40 or Testarossa
poster on their wall. I had a 355. I had a McLaren
F1 poster too, so I’d always wanted a McLaren.
The next car I bought was a 650S Spider. I was
using it pretty much every day last summer. It’s
my pride and joy. I love performing on stage, but
I don’t go out to be noticed. But that all changes
when I’m out in my yellow Spider. Everyone asks
for a wave or a little rev. I don’t wear jewellery or
flash watches and I wear tracksuits day to day;
my cars are my only flash things.
I currently have the 650S, a Lamborghini
Murciélago LP640 and a Range Rover Sport. For
me that’s the best car in the world for comfort.
I can sit in the car and have a meeting. If I’m
with my manager listening to a load of new
music, it’s better than an office!
I might swap into a McLaren 720S in the
summer. I just want to enjoy as many cars as
possible. I had a Porsche Cayman GT4 for about
10 months; it had one of the best gearboxes I’ve
ever experienced. I made a little bit of cash when
I sold it. If I can do that on each one, then it’s a
hobby that feeds itself.
I reckon I’ll probably have another year or two
of being mad with it, then I’ll have an SUV and
maybe one fun car. Then I’ll have to wait until I’m
60 and the kids have grown up and I can get back
into it. By then, who knows what we’ll be driving!
Example’s new single ‘The Answer’ is out now
on Columbia Records

038 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 › TO P G E A R . C O M
 TOPGEAR TOP 9

DEAD CARS WE’LL

MISS IN 2018

SUZUKI FORD LAND ROVER

SWIFT SPORT FIESTA ST DISCOVERY 4

EXAMPLE’S CARS

Vauxhall Corsa

CITROEN VAUXHALL SUBARU

C4 CACTUS VXR8 WRX STI

Audi RS5

Jaguar F-Type

Ferrari 355 Spider MERCEDES-BENZ ASTON MARTIN DODGE

CLS SHOOTING BRAKE V12 VANTAGE VIPER

McLaren 650S Spider

TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 0 39
 GADGETS

LIFE THROUGH A LENS

LEICA M 246 JIM MARSHALL EDITION With fast cars come rock stars, and no one was more known for their
backstage photography than Jim Marshall. Leica has released this limited-edition M 246 masterpiece, complete with
Summilux-M 50mm f/1.4 lens, brass components and the famed Jim Marshall signature. If, however, you don’t have your own
international music genius to get your Instagram-worthy pics of, it’ll add an extra pro touch to the countless album snaps of
your pride and joy. Just make sure you get the shot before you drive it into a swimming pool. £9,575; leicastoresf.com

ARSENAL DSLR TRANSMITTER WAYLENS HORIZON DASH-CAM

Arsenal has produced an app-controlled wireless transmitter. If you’re still not convinced by the advantages of dash-cams,
Manual lets you adjust everything on your phone while ‘Smart the Horizon lets users add performance data, such as
Assistant AI’ assesses the scene to give the best settings. speed and timings, to their videos, as well as edit or stream
Perfect for spur-of-the-moment shots. £130; witharsenal.com in real time. YouTube-ready. £369, shop.waylens.com
 #TWITS
Susie Wolff
Celebrity ‘wisdom’,
as seen on social media

Hey y’all - so sad

to have missed the
chance to wear my
cowgirl outfit...
#C4F1 #USGP

Yes, I’m colour INSIDER REPORT #2

CALIBURNUS :
coordinated from
shoes to car

PROJECT 300MPH
WHEN YOU GO FOR AN
EARLY MORNING WALK
AHEAD OF THE #ITALIANGP

H
& CHANCE UPON A
@FERRARIOWNERSGB elo!* I’m Simon Coggle, co-founder and
GATHERING... Disruptor-in-chief of Caliburnus Automotive,
the start-up aiming to beat Bugatti to build
the first 300mph production car.
Now, if you think running Wales’s most exciting
supercar company means a life of schmoozing
millionaires, and rebuffing the advances of
Just watched the Europe’s least inhibited supermodels, you’ll be as
@WilliamsRacing surprised as I was to discover it involves a whole lot
of hard work, tough decisions and heated meetings
documentary. with strong-minded investors.
Emotional. For example, this week we were treated to a
welcome, but surprise, visit from Dimitri, one of
Touching. our biggest, and indeed widest, backers.
Honest. “Coggle, I see you hiding behind water cooler.
Answer door or I smash door down and cut your
A must see. xx bloody feet off,” he greets me with his customary
ribald humour.
Once I retrieve my biro from behind the
water cooler and let Dimitri in, I discover he
Being that slim has a few interesting thoughts on the company’s
direction of travel.
is just a distant “Coggle, how you spend my bloody money?” he
I M AG E S : G E T T Y, R E X
“Car is a one point zero?” asks Dimitri. “My
babushka’s Lada has bigger engine than that.”
No, I say. In this era of 3D printing and modular
platforms and next-day Amazon delivery, the actual
process of designing and building a car is the work
of a moment. Instead, I tell Dimitri, the first thing a
start-up looking to shake up the staid work of
supercars must do is build its brand. Millennials,
I explain, will only align a company philosophy
synergistic with their own creative mindspace.
“And I thought my bloody English was bad,”
he says.
I walk Dimitri around the glittering
centrepiece of our new Merthyr Tydfil facility:
the Ventricle. A multi-dimensional creative
break-out space in which our customers will be
invited to sip good coffee, while visualising and
specifying the colour and trim of their utterly
bespoke new car before it’s even been built.
“Is bloody garage painted black, with
Homebase carpet swatches stuck to wall,” he says.
“And Homebase leather swatches,” I point out.
Dimitri leaves, shaking his head. Another sceptic

memory... asks. Never been able to place his accent. Glasgow,
maybe? “Four million pounds, no factory, no parts,
no mechanics. Not even bloody sketch of car.”
I explain to him that’s a very Car 1.0 way
of thinking.
bowled over by the power of the Caliburnus vision.
NEXT MONTH – DEVELOPMENT
*Apparently this is Welsh for ‘Hello’. Such a
mysterious people!

TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 041

 A DAY IN THE LIFE OF...
Simon Kidston
Historic car broker
6.00am
Every other day, I’ll do an hour in
the gym with a personal trainer.
I need someone to shout at me.
The only stipulation I have is that
there’s Eighties music on.
7.30am
I’ll have breakfast at home, before
going to work. I’m currently based
between Dubai, Geneva and
London. If I’m in Geneva, I’ll go to
the office, if I’m in London I’ll visit a
restorer, a dealer or meet collectors.
No two days are the same, but when
the weather is appropriate and I’m
in Switzerland I’ll drive the
Countach, Miura, Dino or maybe the
McLaren F1 to work. We’ve recently
opened an office in Dubai; the UAE
is developing an appetite for classic
cars now. I’ll spend time on the
phone talking to new prospects,
most likely persuading them to
graduate from modern supercars to
something with more lasting value.
9.00am
Today, I’m driving my BMW i8 from
Geneva to Milan to have lunch with
the owner of a very sought-after
Ferrari. It’s a car he’s owned for
decades, one that everyone has tried
to buy off him over the years. It’s a
spontaneous approach on my part,
prompted by the fact that we have
a very serious buyer in mind.
Normally people want to know the
price and not much more, but it’s
nice to have an ace up your sleeve.
1.00pm
An Italian magazine is doing a
feature with the Countach at
Vairano circuit. It’s a purple
Periscopica, which we’ve had
completely restored. It was
delivered new to Sweden of all
places, to a fairground owner.
It’s one of only two in purple
with a white interior. Even in the
042 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 › TO P G E A R . C O M
Seventies, you had to be brave to
order that spec.
3.00pm
When I started in the business 30
years ago, the number of really
special cars was said to be around
2,000. Since then, some cars have
grown in stature – a Porsche 956,
some Jaguars or Saubers, all
McLaren F1s, and you could argue
that a Schumacher-era Ferrari F1
car is in there now, too. So let’s say
it’s between 2,000 and 3,000 cars in
total. Collecting has become rather
over-simplified, though. My
colleague took a call the other day
from someone with a Porsche that
was only a few years old, and the
hook was that it was one of only
four made without a radio. That
demonstrates a fundamental lack
of understanding of intrinsic value.
Evening
I’ll be dining with another
well-known collector. I live in
a bubble where all the cars are
beautiful, the locations are fabulous
and the people are fascinating.
I hope I can learn from them. It’s
important for my business and the
classic-car market in general that
we bring in new people.
Even at 50, I’m the youngest
judge at Pebble Beach. The
knowledge in the room is greater
than anywhere else in the world,
but for the future of the classic-
car world it needs to get younger,
faster. I love pre-war cars; they
weren’t made for old men, they
were rakish, expensive and
I L L U S T R AT I O N : B I L L M c CO N K E Y
flamboyant when new. Some
Eighties and Nineties cars are
coming of age, though. Does it
make them all great? No. Does
it make them saleable? Yes. Nobody
worships an XJ220 like they might
an F1, but there’s unquestionably
a market for them.
WATCHES OF THE MONTH

TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 0 43
seoul
Creators
THE STORY BEHIND THE CITY AND
ITS INFLUENCE ON THE DESIGN OF
THE ALL-NEW HYUNDAI KONA...
 difficult to imagine how different the South
Korea of today is, compared to the country
that was still emerging from social and
political unrest at the start of the Seventies.
What was once one of Asia’s poorest nations
has developed into one of the world’s
wealthiest. The capital, Seoul, is now among
the world’s most visited cities, due in no small part to the combination
of a rich and varied history (more than 2,000 years of it) and an
increasingly thriving economy.
But what South Korea didn’t have, back in the day, was much of a
car culture. The Hyundai Motor Company, for example, was not
founded until the late Sixties; it did not build its first, all-Korean model
– the Pony – until 1975. And yet, today South Korea is one of the
world’s most advanced motor manufacturing countries, the fifth
largest exporter of cars, by volume.
Nevertheless, how did a young boy growing up in 1970s Seoul
become Head of Design for Bentley Motors? The man in question,
Sang-Yup Lee, laughs at the question. “I think I am unique compared
to other designers. Korea had no history with the car, true, but then
neither did I. I started from nothing, so I had nothing to lose. Maybe I
am more daring. I have moved around, live in many other countries.
For me, being a car designer is about so much more than simply
designing cars. I have worked with many amazing people who have
helped make this happen. It has been a fantastic journey for me.”
And it’s a journey that has come full circle for Sang-Yup. In the
Spring of last year he returned to South Korea to take up a new position
as Vice President of Styling at the Hyundai Design Centre. After 24
years away, the boy from Seoul was home. By way of illustration of
how much of an influence that time away has been, Sang-Yup truly
believes his home town has a huge part to play in influencing a new
es
ketch ith
generation of Hyundai models. His Hyundai models.
Lee s
an g-Yup he Kona w “I was 20 when I first found out that designing cars was something
S ft
ont o ents
the fr elem
light that I could do as a job and I knew very little. Today, when I talk about
its six
design, I feel much more informed. For example, I realise that the
visual is only one part. Design is also about something we smell, things
we hear, and touch. Ultimately, design, for me, is about how you
combine all of this together.”
Sang-Yup also believes that Hyundai’s new small SUV, the Kona, is
the first fruit of this vision. “Seoul inspired us a lot during the
development of this car. Seoul is a truly diverse city, a city of
contradiction. But also, a city with real balance. On the one hand, it is
famous for its technology, but then it is also known for its traditional
craftsmanship. And then we have the surreal cultural movements, like
K-pop, for example. Seoul is most definitely unique.”
This subject is often the topic of conversation between Sang-Yup
and Luc Donckerwolke, Head of Design at Hyundai and its luxury
sub-brand, Genesis. The two have been colleagues at car makers
around the world for many years but these days, their discussions
invariably return to the fact that the Seoul of 2017 is a very different
place to the one Sang-Yup left almost a quarter of a century ago. “The
concept of multiculturalism did not exist back then,” he explains.
“Everything was traditional but now it has all changed. On every
corner, there is something cool to enjoy. I have lived in eight different
countries but you know what? Seoul today reminds me a little of
London. Traditional old buildings, immediately alongside brand new
skyscrapers. So culturally rich. It is just perfect for design inspiration.”
 &(H!
colours of
Seoul especially
#(A3#@#(
Ah, design inspiration. Something Luc himself knows a thing or
two about. While at Lamborghini, the 52-year old Belgian oversaw
design of the Diablo, the Murcielago and the Gallardo. While at Audi,
he was responsible for one of the most innovative cars of its era: the
A2. Regarding Seoul and South Korea, Luc agrees wholeheartedly
with Sang-Yup. “This is an incredibly motivating country. It remains
in a state of constant reinvention, always evolving. Leave Seoul for a
week and when you return, you will notice something new.”
It is, of course, no coincidence that these two masters of
automotive design have worked together for so many years. It is a
working relationship unbound by the convention of office hours. “We
never stop,” explains Luc. “No matter where we are – at dinner;
driving; on a plane – we may well see or hear something that helps us
see a project differently. This could be colours, sounds, anything...”
Sang-Yup agrees. “It is true. I find the colours of Seoul especially
inspiring, I think it is something to do with the balance of contrasts in
the city.” It’s worth noting that these are not the carefully chosen
fact consumerist thoughts of two well-briefed marketing men. This is the
screen
The 8” touch shared vision of two of the greatest contemporary car designers on
navigation,
integrates 3D
nnectivity the planet, together with an insight into the design direction of one of
media and co
es. It also comes
featur the world’s foremost motor manufacturers. With Kona, Sang-Yup and
Ap ple Ca r Play,
with
ffic and Luc provide us with tangible demonstration of how this cultural
real-time tra
tes; speed
weather upda inspiration has influences their work.
re co gn itio n and
sign
s of interest.
nearby po int Christian Shim aka Royyal Dog, if you fancy following him on
Instagram – is a Korean ‘graffiti writer’ who also grew up in Seoul. He
was a teenager when he first picked up a spray can – he’s 28 now –
and over the past decade, has honed his craft as a graffiti writer,
painting murals that offer a unique and abstract vision of what
multiculturalism (perhaps) means to him. Royyal Dog’s murals often
depict black women and children wearing traditional Korean dress
but their appeal has less to do with the unique combination of one
recognisable ethnicity wearing the traditional clothing of another,
and rather more to do with the effortless way in which
what he paints just… works.
With one caveat. “Don’t call me an artist,” he insists, dismissing
the idea that what he does might even be considered art. “I just love
hip hop music and my favourite hobby was always painting. So, I love
to paint, but more than anything I want to spread messages of love
through my work. This is my favourite thing. To show people hope; to
make them happy.”
And like Sang-Yup, Royyal Dog believes travel has truly broadened
his mind (17 countries in the last four years) but is also in no doubt
 T R IP T O S E O U
WI(N& rAeliNve the Kona’s journey!) L
that it is Seoul that made him. It is now, once again, his home. “I
didn’t really know who I was before I left, but not anymore. Now I
know what makes me special, and I also know what makes Seoul
· 5 day tri p to Se o u l, S outh Korea
special.”
“It is also why music is so important,” explains Sang-Yup. “At a
· Return flights

·
recent design presentation we played a particular piece of music that
odation
changed the mood immediately. It really emphasized the role music
4/5* Accomm

·
can play, and we are more than aware of this when it comes to how
travel in
Hyundai car to
people listen to music in our cars.” Which is why Seoul musician,
DJ Ssom, was every bit as fascinating to the Hyundai designers as
(in Korea) as
Royyal Dog.
“Seoul is so popular with tourists now,” the Club VERA resident DJ
explained. “So now we hear all kinds of music in the city. I get to
listen to all of it and then when I’m in my club, I think I am the
· You’ll be a
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ed including
happiest person in the world. I give the crowd my energy and in
return, I receive theirs!”
Like DJ Ssom, Seoul is a city that really comes alive at night and the
· Full itinerary
Royyal Dog G
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importance of cultural touchpoints such as these to Hyundai’s new
era of design is impossible to overstate. As Sang-Yup explains, “we

·
designed Kona to reflect the strong character that is to be found in
line
Full T&C’s on
Seoul. We questioned all aspects of its design. It was vital that this car
was not regarded as just another SUV.”
It isn’t. Kona is a car that has been inspired by the streets of Seoul,
the same as artists like DJ Ssom and Royyal Dog have been. And Luc
d on e friend, a chance tot
agrees.“I want our work to polarize opinion, to have an appeal for the For you an t you see in the video a
long term. This is how we progress. A car should be like a piece of art
re-live wha ar.com/hyundaicomp
that creates discussion. Is it right? Is it good? A car needs time to be
digested, to be understood.”
www.topge
EDITED BY OLLIE MARRIAGE ew
Every nat
car th s,
matter r
rated o
slated

CONTENTS

Renault Symbioz
p54

Audi RS4
p56

Subaru XV
p58

Liberty Walk Mustang

p67

Porsche 911 T vs GT3

p68
 Asian T
he Fender Telecaster is one
of the great sounds of rock,
but too often it’s on rhythm
cooking
while the Stratocaster
takes lead. Venus Williams
brought the world a new kind of tennis. But
Serena has won more matches. The i30N
Hyundai i30N Performance pack is a hot hatch of awesome
£27,995 engineering depth, and 275bhp for 0–62mph
in 6.1secs. Its only issue is the car whose
Honda Civic Type R triple exhausts it is now chasing. The Civic
£32,995 Type R, ditto, but 320bhp and 5.8.
Hyundai’s argument goes that the i30N
isn’t about chasing numbers or headlines.
WE SAY: ONE IS OUR It’s got the engine that its chassis wants, and
REIGNING CAR OF THE the chassis that its hot-hatch driver wants.
YEAR, THE OTHER IS The Type R, meanwhile, has zero patience
CHASING IT HARD with moderation. Its engine, like its
bodywork, cleaves to the philosophy that too
much is seldom enough. The Honda doesn’t
only rock an extra 45 horsepower. It’s the TG
Car of the Year. It’s also got generations of
breeding, while the i30N’s bloodline is a
lot shorter. But if the Hyundai doesn’t quite
manage to emerge fully from the white car’s
jagged shadow, there’s no disgrace. Really
TO P G E A R . C O M
it’s competing more with the 308 GTi and
various Golfs, but we put it against the Civic
as these are the hatches of the moment.
The Hyundai is £5,000 cheaper. Mind
you, Liberty Walk or Mansory would charge
all that and more for making a base Civic
look like the Type R, and never mind the
engineering changes Honda has made. To
be clear, though, this body kit isn’t just high-
street attention-seeking, but a sign of a
comprehensive aerodynamic makeover.
Some of the details – air breathers for
the arches, the black blades ahead of the
wheels that give drag-free downforce,
the vortex generators – are gorgeously,
spoddishly, right. But the size of the rear
wing, on a street hatch, might give you
rear-view issues, and make the driver
behind think you’ve got self-esteem issues.
I wish the Type R kit had wiped away
that silly blanked-off fake mesh, also used
on the normal 1.0-litre Civic, around the
front fog lights and rear reflectors. And why
are some of the parts fake carbon fibre, not
just black plastic? Without that nonsense
the rest of the kit would seem more real.
› FEBRUARY 201 8 0 49
February I 2018
“While the Honda Civic
Type R is about lap times,
the i30N is about feel”
Your personal attitude towards the
Honda’s looks will be a good bellwether for
the way you think about the Hyundai. If
you think the Civic is too much, you might
enjoy the i30’s subtleness. And if you love
the white car’s single-mindedness you’ll
probably think the blue one is a bit wimpy.
The N’s bodywork is no wider than
standard. Wider tracks and a bit of arch
bulge might argue its case more, but while
the R is about lap times the N is about feel,
so maybe doesn’t need a wide track.
The Honda even has an aluminium
bonnet with an air vent. Under which reside
those crazed 320 horses. Well, not that
crazed actually. Not unless you give them a
bootful of encouragement. Up to 4,000rpm,
it’s a performer, but with the downside of
lag. But if you take the express lift via the
fifth and sixth floors to the big seven, it’s a
storm, and it has your arm flailing at the
gearlever like a white-water canoeist’s.
So, yes, the i30N is left behind. But, 275
horseradishes are still pretty saucy. The lag
is marginally less of an issue, and with the
variable exhaust and electronic sound
enhancement in their top settings, the
soundscape is perhaps the most satisfying
in all of hot hatchery. And it has a manual
’box, with a superb shift. As good as the
Honda’s – and neither of them are as
insanely light and clicky as the old nat-asp
Type Rs were. That’s presumably because
you’re shifting cogs that have to be more
robust to cope with the torrent of torque.
To try to ameliorate the corruption of
torque on steering, Honda has given the
R double-pivot front suspension, not the
usual Civic struts. That’s a badge of honour
for premier-league front-drivers. Hyundai
didn’t go that far, but it did re-engineer
itself a tighter, lighter front suspension vs
the base car. The Civic has a helical diff, the
Hyundai an electrically controlled job.
So what we’re saying here is, both sets of
engineers bust a gut to get the power to the
road without the commotion of a spinning
inside tyre or the rim-yank of torque steer.
The Honda is more successful. On the
wet roads of our test, it ekes out a load of
05 0 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 › TO P G E A R . C O M
unlikely traction, so full credit to its tyres,
diffs and damper settings. In the dry,
it’s amazing. And when the roadway is
lumpy, the first time your right foot goes
adventuring it’s apparent the Honda has
the torque-steer business better sorted.
The i30’s wheel yanks and frets in your
hands and the nose darts around as its
tyres sniff the hollows and lick the lumps.
Let’s not get out of hand, mind. Versus an
Astra VXR or Focus last-gen FWD Focus RS
(both of which sported Honda-like double-
pivot struts), the Hyundai is a model of
decorum. But the Type R is by some way
better again, and has more feel too.
The Honda has a borderline insatiable
gluttony for corners, as well as the straights
between them. You bear down on a bend
Brave styling,
with the massive brakes clenched, pitch it
courageous exhausts, in, mash the throttle improbably early, and
great bucket seats off it catapults. The drama lies in the combo
of extraordinary precision with sky-high
g-loads. The ferocity is eye-widening.
Both these cars steer quickly (but not
too quickly) and roll little. Both are
fundamentally well balanced. But the
Hyundai, as it clings slightly less hard, is
a different proposition. It’s a dance for
two. Driver leads and car follows, then car
leads and driver follows. Lift off and it’ll
oversteer (even in the ESP’s on-but-loose
mode). Get on the throttle too soon and it’ll
wash the front tyres out. It doesn’t just give
you more options than the Honda, it feeds
you more communication. On the track, it’s
prepared to trade lap times for fun. So it
goes on the road.
In the set-up of its electronics, the i30N
goes beyond interactivity into parody. On
its steering wheel are two blue buttons. The
left one cycles through modes affecting
eight parameters: throttle map, exhaust
flaps and sound enhancement, downshift
rev-matching, dampers, diff, steering
weight, ESP. The right one, the one with the
chequered flag icon, calls up the N mode.
That cranks all those systems one louder.
Finally you can configure, via the main
screen, all those eight parameters through
up to four stages to form a Custom mode.
1. Bigger wheels and brakes in
Hyundai N Performance pack 2.
Much of Honda’s front-end grillage
is just fakery, sadly 3. Hyundai’s
pinstripes subtler than Honda’s
acres of red 4. Brown smears a
consequence of over-exuberant
puddle-diving episode. Sorry Mr
Photographer 5. Hyundai dash
clear and businesslike. Honda
all manga. You sit lower in the Civic:
it feels racier but wider

TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 051

February I 2018
Well, you can, but trust me after a while
you won’t, because picking your ideal
from those combinations will do your
head in. My maths days are long gone,
but I tentatively calculate you have 1944
possible options. If you devote yourself to
the task you might eventually find one
set-up that feels dead right, but then the
road or your mood will soon change and
you’ll have to start again. By which time
you’ll have forgotten to look through the
windscreen and crashed.
The Honda has Comfort, Normal,
Sport and R+. Sometimes you might feel
deprived of a way to combine livelier ESP
with gentler dampers. But as an escape
route from the Hyundai’s tyranny of
choice, the simplicity is just fine, thanks.
Anyway the Honda provides its own
driver distractions. On the steering
wheel are menu buttons to control its
entertainment and driver info. It’s a
howling lash-up of counterintuitive
ergonomic inconsistencies. Its main
touchscreen isn’t a whole lot better, and it
runs horrid graphics. Fortunately you can
just mirror your Apple or Android device.
That, though, won’t cover up the rest
of the cabin’s visual clutter, or its
“The Type R operates in a
plane where you didn’t think
FWD hatches could ascend”
05 2 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 › TO P G E A R . C O M
mishmash of materials and subtlety-free
rude redness. But then, the Hyundai goes
the other way. As with its outside, the
HYUNDAI SPECIFICATION
1998cc 16V turbo four, FWD,
basic hatch is never buried. Maybe that’s 275bhp, 279lb ft
what Hyundai wanted. This is the first N 39.8mpg, 163g/km CO2
car, and it has to give you a mental track-
0–62mph in 6.1secs, 149mph
back to the rest of the range, giving the
whole Hyundai brand a lift. 1429kg
The Hyundai might have a strut brace
VERDICT: Exterior is
8
in the back but it doesn’t ruin the boot. under-the-radar subtle.
The Hyundai back seat is more habitable, But it’s super-playful to
drive, if less quick than
but the Civic’s is OK. Their powertrains
don’t shunt and cough in town, and their
its Japanese rival.
10
exhausts quieten down on m’ways. Their
springing is stiff but they don’t convulse
you to a pulp. Both of them, in other
words, operate as normal cars.
HONDA SPECIFICATION
1996cc turbo four, FWD,
But they are also fabulous machines 320bhp, 295lb ft
Unique lever, engine for pure driving. The Type R operates 36.7mpg, 176g/km CO2
and buttons. in a plane where you didn’t think FWD 0–62mph in 5.8secs, 169mph
How it should be
hatches could ascend. It’s focused to a
1380kg
pixel-sharp philosophy: get there quicker.
The i30N isn’t such a mad intrusion into VERDICT: Amazingly
9
your visual field, and its power and lap fast and incredibly sorted
times reflect that. But for simple – almost clinically so.
Looks a bit crazed
10
rumbustious hot-hatch fun, it has enough, for everyday.
maybe even more, going for it. Sure, the
R is the Strat, but the N, the Tele here, is
music we love to hear too. PAUL HORRELL
Mini Golf
Volkswagen Polo GTI
£21,140
WE SAY: POLO GETS MADE OVER
BY A MAN WITH SERIOUS PREVIOUS
ew Polo means new Polo
GTI. This is good news
N for many reasons. Chief
among which is a man
called Karsten Schebsdat,
VW’s head of chassis engineering and
dynamics. He had a hand in the first Ford
Focus, then he went to Porsche for a bit and
did GT3s and much besides. Now he’s at
VW – leading a team whose credits include
the Golf GTI Clubsport S and Up GTI. This
is a man who knows how a car should
handle. And his head is awash with reasons
why the new Polo GTI is measurably better
than the car it replaces.
Since it’s based on the new MQB A0
platform, like the Seat Ibiza, the new Polo
is 7cm longer, 7cm wider and 2cm taller
than the old one. Its proportions, stance
and aesthetic scream Golf. And so does the
engine. It’s the entirely familiar 2.0-litre
turbo from, yep, all fast Golfs. Here it
makes 200PS (197bhp in old money),
which is enough for 0–62mph in 6.7secs
and 147mph. At launch the only available
gearbox is a 6spd DSG, but a manual
will follow. Good news, because the auto is
not without flaw – even locked in Manual
mode it’ll upshift for you. And if you
coincidentally pull a paddle as it starts
to swap cogs, you get two gears
instead of one, taking you, say,
from second to fourth in what
feels like a split second.
That aside, it’s an accomplished thing.
Not as pointy, frenetic or playful as a Fiesta
ST or 208 GTI, but very capable. Rides well
in either of its modes (the car we tried had
optional, two-mode switchable ‘Sport
Select’ suspension), changes direction with
poise and agility and steers faithfully, with a
degree of feel and reasonable weighting. But
it’s so Golf in every way you might regret it
if you didn’t find more money and buy the
car everyone really wants. Or save it and
buy an Up GTI, which is juvenile, playful
and therefore fun in a way the Polo isn’t.
With the Polo GTI, VW nailed the brief
it created for itself – this is as good as a fast
Polo has been in (my) living memory, and
close as ever to the Golf. But it’s not entirely
free from the reputation that’s dogged it for
years – that it’s simply too grown-up for a
Tartan seats? Check.
Solid and fast? Check.
hot hatch of this size/type. TOM HARRISON
Golf-ball ’knob? Ah...
SPECIFICATION
1984cc, 4cyl turbo,
197bhp, 236b ft
47.9mpg, 134g/km CO2
0–62mph in 6.7secs, 147mph
1355kg
VERDICT: Best fast Polo
7
there’s been for a long
time. Every inch a mini-
Golf GTI... with all those
10
benefits and drawbacks.
TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 0 53
Technologie
Renault Symbioz
£n/a

WE SAY: RENAULT
GAZES INTO THE
BOULE DE CRISTAL

he Renault Symbioz is not
a real car. It’s a one-off,
T designed to showcase
Renault’s vision of what
motoring will look like in
the year 2023, when the level-four autonomy
it offers will not only be legal, but also
commercially viable and socially acceptable.
This is not the next Espace. It does not
preview a future Renault (or so they say…),
but lessons learnt and technologies
implemented here will work their way onto
series production cars in the coming years.
And the Symbioz isn’t based on an
existing Renault, either. That would defeat
the point. This purpose-built, semi-
autonomous, ‘connected’ EV was developed
from the ground up over two years. It rides
on a bespoke EV platform – the 72kWh
battery giving a continuous output of
483bhp and 405lb ft, though Renault claims
a peak of 670bhp and 487lb ft, enough for
0–62mph in 6.0secs. Not fast, considering.
That’s because although the body is
mostly aluminium, the Symbioz weighs a
hefty 2.2 tonnes. It’s basically as long as a
Mercedes E-Class Estate too. Still, with four-
wheel steering and a Dynamic mode that
Rear of the cabin
sharpens throttle response, quickens the
modelled on a bison steering and hardens the three-stage active
skull. Not really... (not adaptive) dampers, in manual mode it
does a decent impression of a regular EV.
But it’s in ‘AD’ mode where things get
properly interesting. Level-four autonomy
is where you can mentally check out from
the business of driving in certain situations
– in this case, on the motorway – because
whatever happens, the car will be able to
bring itself to a safe and controlled stop if
it can’t handle an unexpected situation.
Here the Symbioz is in its element,
changing lanes when necessary and even
navigating a couple of tolls. An augmented-
reality-enabled HUD tells you what the car’s
doing – or thinking of doing, and video
February I 2018
playback is enabled on the centre screens.
A number of things make this possible. The
35 sensors, the antennae placed at certain
intervals along the carriageway to enable
vehicle-to-infrastructure communication
(telling of traffic flow, roadworks, which
toll gates are open, etc, and the high-def
TomTom maps which are far, far more
accurate than the ones for your satnav.
Clever, certainly, but not ready (its
minder had to retake control a few times).
But still a useful demo of what commitment
is required from carmakers to get this tech
up and running, and what impact it might
have on our lives. Ho hum. TOM HARRISON
SPECIFICATION
72kWh electric motor, RWD,
670bhp, 487lb ft
n/a mpg, 0g/km CO2
0–62mph in 6.0secs, n/a mph
2200kg
VERDICT: The future is
N/A 10
now. Possibly. Symbioz
gives best idea yet of
what driving might look
like five years from now.
February I 2018
Leaner, meaner,
greener machine
Audi RS4 Avant
£62,175
WE SAY: MAKE A DULL FAST AUDI TALLER, HEAVIER
AND MORE PRACTICAL. RESULT? A GOOD FAST AUDI…
ike Tottenham Hotspur,
or the served temperature
L of Chicken McNuggets,
the quality of an Audi with
the RS initials embedded
in its front chickenwire is one of life’s
great dependable inconsistencies. In
2017 we got a cracking TT RS, a numb and
crushingly disappointing RS5, then the
vastly improved RS3. Previous RS4s have
wavered between must-try-harder and
hard-to-beat. And the new one is basically
that RS5 with a loft conversion.
So the old RS4’s naturally aspirated,
8,000rpm V8 is gone, as is its twin-clutch
gearbox. Instead, a 40 per cent torquier,
31kg lighter, 2.9-litre, twin-turbo V6 is
crammed between four rings and the front
axle. Behind it lives an 8spd automatic
gearbox identical to the one in the £15k
cheaper S4. Is anything bespoke? The
RS4’s quattro all-wheel drive, to a point.
It’ll send up to 70 per cent of torque to the
aft axle, via an electronic differential to
shove that thrust between the rear wheels.
Claims of 0–62mph in 4.1secs and top
speeds of 155mph or 174mph (depending
056 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 › TO P G E A R . C O M
on the boxes you tick) don’t do the RS4
justice. Partly because they’re blatant
lies, obviously. We clocked an RS5 from
0–60mph in 3.2 seconds in the UK.
How absurd is that?
The old V8-powered RS4 cracked
0–62mph in 4.7 seconds. It was rapid.
The new car is a rocketsled with ambient
lighting and diamond stitching, and
though you’ll occasionally catch it napping
off-boost on part-throttle mid-corner,
there’s no doubt it’s the quickest, most
effective wagon for the money. Though
it’s not one horsepower stronger than
the V8, the on-demand torque is
outrageous. You never even need use
the full 1,900rpm–5,000rpm torque
band. Short-shifting at 4,000rpm keeps
the RS4 pummelling along at a
New RS4 drives like the phenomenal rate, and keeps the V6 in
definitive fast Audi. It’s the woofliest sweet spot.
built like one too...
The RS4’s burble reverberates harder
through the estate echo chamber than it
does in the restrained RS5, but it’s lacking
the crispness of the (saloon-only) Alfa
Giulia Quadrifoglio’s V6, and nothing else
for this size and £60k gives a V8 Merc C63
singing lessons. So maybe don’t bother
with the optional sports exhaust.
Do, however, check out the Dynamic
Ride Control suspension. Similar to a
McLaren Super Series car, DRC adds
three-mode dampers to the RS4, which
are then diagonally linked with hydraulic
fluid. Accelerate hard and it pumps up the
back to stop the car rearing up like a
startled racehorse. Jump on the optional
carbon-ceramic brakes and it keeps that
V6-cradling nose off the deck. Change
direction like you’re avoiding missile
lock, and each side gains instant support
to stay level (handy when the massaging
seats lack some torso support). It’ll
work the tyres as effectively as
Newtonian laws allow.

Result? First off, the RS4 is superb at
going slowly. It’s so agreeable at town
speed, mooching pliantly in Comfort.
Go a little quicker and it softens the
edges off nasty roads. It likes being poured
into corners with a mild trailbrake, settled
steady-state, awaiting a two-footed jump
onto the throttle. And bye-bye, C63. The
ride is busy in Dynamic mode, so you just
opt back into long-travel Comfort. Body
control is ace, and you have to attack a
gnarly mid-corner compression before the
RS4 thinks about dropping its composure.
The conundrum is, then, why does the
workaday RS4 make a more endearing
first impression than its designer
tuxedo’d RS5 brother?
Maybe it’s the taller, heavier body
shifting the weight bias. Maybe it makes
improvements to the stock A4 more
oblique than the RS5 does to the A5. Audi
says it’s improved the DRC system since
the RS5 too, but it’s got the same hardware,
so it can only be a software map to thank.
Either way, once you’ve got the car
flowing down a twisty road, it’s bloody
impressive. It’s not nape-prickling or
DRIVE IT BEFORE YOU DIE
A-7000, Spain
Which bit?
The climb out of central
Malaga. Leave the shot
bars behind you and marvel
at this spectacularly smooth
and twisting ribbon of road.
I still can’t find it…
Look north of Malaga on
Google Maps.The start point
co-ordinates are 36.747641,
-4.407670. End point? When
your stomach gives out.
When should
I go?
December. It’s dead quiet,
scintillating, but if you live for estate for traffic and cyclists (plus
cars that marmalise tyres on the front hotels are cheaper). Rise
page of Instagram, you’ll want a C63 early for a superb sunrise.
anyway. The RS4 thrives on usability, like
a big hot hatch. It’s a step on from the old
V8, as a tool.
The RS4 does all the standard Audi
traction-weapon tricks, but with proper
Why the
agility. Unlike the RS5, you can feel it’s RS4?
80kg lighter than the predecessor, too. The You’ll marvel at how the RS4
more I drove it, the more I liked it, and fell carries speed from apex
under its merciless road-conquering spell. to apex – all while gaining
The opposite to the RS5, then. OLLIE KEW altitude. Its appetite for pace
is utterly relentless.
SPECIFICATION
2894cc bi-turbo V6, AWD,
444bhp, 443lb ft
32.1mpg, 199g/km CO2
0–62mph in 4.1secs, 155mph
1715kg START
Malaga
VERDICT: There’s no
7
situation when you couldn’t
extract almost all the
performance from the
10
comfy and clinical new RS4.
TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 0 57

Q & A
Scooby doh!
Subaru XV 2.0i SE Premium
28,495
WE SAY: CHALK THIS UP AS handles more securely, steers and brakes
A MISSED OPPORTUNITY. IT with more authority. It can definitely do fairly
COULD HAVE BEEN LOVELY... decent off-roading, and you’re more likely
to baulk before it’ll fail. The interior is nice
Hmm. Looks familiar? enough too – fairly generic but robust.
New, though. Pretty much all the way Well that sounds good, then.
through. It’s now on the better, safer, more Erm. Hold your horses. Because the XV
modular SGP, or Subaru Global Platform. hasn’t really got any. There’s no diesel
You can make out the new one because it option in the UK, and the XV’s top-spec
has slightly more angular wheelarches, a flat-four 2.0-litre only manages 154bhp
sleeker grille and headlights, and a few and 145lb ft. The forthcoming 1.6 is even
other tweaks. more limp with 116bhp. Worse, the XV
What’s it for, exactly? only comes matched to a CVT ’box.
The XV tackles tough
Well, it’s a soft-roader that can actually do
off-road. Permanent AWD (60:40 front:rear)
surfaces with gusto.
Bring on the mud!
This is not a good thing.
Why?
and a set of electronic programmes that The motor is raucous at revs and gutless.
mimic locking diffs – called X-Mode The CVT exacerbates the issues, and
– make slippery surfaces a breeze. It’s having some ‘stepped’ fake ratios doesn’t
also notably safe: in the UK we get really help. If you potter at 40 per cent it’ll
standard-fit Subaru Eyesight dual manage, but accelerating onto a m’way or
monitoring cameras, which means the XV pulling smartly out of a junction will make
detects anything likely to interfere with you wince. The 1.6 is the same, but worse.
your mood and takes action accordingly. Oh dear.
Is it better than the old one? Yep. It’s actually quite an attractive lifestyler
Notably. In all major areas. It rides better, let down by a weak engine and gearbox.
Skoda Karoq 1.5 TSI DSG
£23,525
Engine 1498cc 4cyl petrol turbo, FWD, 148bhp, 184lb ft
Performance 0–62mph in 8.3secs, 126mph,
51.4mpg, 125g/km CO2 Weight 1393kg
The Yeti’s replacement is at last filtering into
the country that was so won over by its
charming predecessor. Karoqs start at just
8 under £21k, the UK’s favourite will be the
entry-level SE model, powered by VW’s
058 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 › TO P G E A R . C O M
February I 2018
Add to that the fact that the 2.0 (you’d go
mental with the 1.6) is £28k, and this Subaru
looks pricey and flawed.
So what would you buy instead?
Well, first thoughts would head towards
pretty much any of the huge amount of
competition: XC40, Karoq, CX-3, CH-R.
Will there be a WRX?
No. There’ll be hybrids – the SGP can
handle all sorts of layouts – but for now, this
isn’t the Subaru you’re looking for. TOM FORD
SPECIFICATION
1995cc, 4cyl petrol,
AWD, 154bhp, 145lb ft
41.0mpg, 155g/km CO2
0–62mph in 10.4ecs, 121mph
1600kg
VERDICT: A decent
5
package let down by weak
engine/’box and optimistic
pricing. A niche offering
10
for Subaru fans.
new 1.5-litre petrol motor. The engine’s
genius and a great companion for the
Karoq: smooth, big-SUV refined and able
to run on two cylinders at a cruise, so
motorway economy can match a diesel’s.
Otherwise, Skoda’s shrunk the clever,
unpretentious thinking that makes the
Kodiaq our favourite seven-seater, creating
a tightly finished, spacious family bus that’s
kept the Yeti’s curiously cheeky chuckability,
and added more polished manners. OK
February I 2018

SO, WHAT exus = different. In a hand-pleated inlays in the door panels

E L S E I S N E W?
market dominated by that reference the Origami tradition. MC

L the Mercedes S-Class,

6 Panamera, the fifth-gen LS refines
Ford Fiesta Vignale
What should I know?
It’s our first go in the ‘premium’ Fiesta,
kitted and priced to give Ford a toehold in
the posh supermini haus of Polo, Mini, and
the DS 3 (remember them?). Our test car
was a 1.5TDCi, for niche diesel interest...
Should I care?
Not on the engine front – it’s a smooth
derv, but blunts the Fiesta’s cornering
keenness. Vignale still feels like an odd
Ford. The quilted seats are so soft, but
£19.5k? No. Get an ST-Line X for £18k. OK
successfully disrupted
by the Tesla Model S,
and populated by heavy hitters like the
BMW 7-Series, Audi A8 and Porsche
Lexus’s aesthetic wilfulness – there are
5,000 separate elements in the spindle
grille – and revels in the fact that this
is a defiantly Japanese product. “Brave
design” is a Lexus USP – much depends
on the emphasis – and this thing is
contemporary verging on the abstract.
There’s quality of execution and
imagination inside to rival Rolls-Royce’s
exquisite new Phantom. Lexus has even
managed to invigorate the interior real
estate where door meets dashboard,
creating a sense of flow that’s heightened
by the ambient lighting (inspired by
traditional Japanese Andon lanterns)
and the floating arm-rests. The top-spec
Premier version can be ordered with
faceted Kiriko glasswork for extra dazzle
Hammer might want his trousers back.
Lexus’s Takumi craftspeople – eye tests
every four months for these lucky souls
– help offset the rampant hi-tech.
The LS 500h has an Optitron main
instrument display, whose 8in TFT screen
mimics the physical bezel seen in the
LFA. The 12.3in central infotainment is
navigated via touch control whose haptic
is much less hyperactive than on previous
outings but still less intuitive than rival
solutions. Nor do you get Apple CarPlay or
Android Auto connectivity. Still, slender
rotary heating dials and a beautiful power
and volume knob confirm some things are
simply better analogue.
The seats are phenomenally
comfortable, as you’d expect, with 28-way
adjustment up front, and similar scope
in the rear (where it’s not quite as roomy
as you’d expect). Scope also for Shiatsu
massage, including spot heaters for the
shoulders and lower back. Forget about
aircon: the LS 500h has Climate

7 (in both senses: it’s a £7,600 option), and Concierge, which splits the cabin into

Hyundai i30N 250PS

What should I know?
You’ve read about how mega the i30N
is with its £3,000 Performance pack
fitted (p48). This is the base car, sporting
25bhp less and a £24,995 price.
Should I care?
Stick with the i30N Performance.
Without its diff and sports exhaust, the
N loses some of its sense of fun. It’s still
a thoroughly engineered fast hatch,
but the £3k pack also adds heated
sports seats, bigger 19in alloys and
more serious tyres. It really is a bargain
for the attitude it brings. SD

7
Subaru WRX Final Edition
What should I know?
It’s time for WReX-it. The AWD, winged
Scooby that rose from the ashes of the
Not the full
package
Impreza rally brand is being binned from
the UK line-up. This special edition with
19-inch rims, bigger brakes and cleverer
diff is Subaru’s parting gift for fans.

Should I care? Lexus LS

Not if you’re spoiled by modern hyper from £97,995
hatches: the Final Ed “only” has 296bhp,
so a Focus RS will lunch it. But there’s joy
to the old-school, analogue, get-stuck-in
character of the WRX. Just 150 will be WE SAY: LOOKS GREAT, HAS AMAZING TECHNOLOGY
made, £34k each, then that’s that. RIP. SD BUT THAT ENGINE IS A BIT, WELL, DISAPPOINTING
16 zones, and monitors the body
temperature of occupants. Four
trim levels will be available, spanning
entry-level, Luxury (adds air suspension
and a choice of rear- or AWD), F-sport
(sportier), and Premier (better equipped
and more tech). The UK annual sales
target is just 100 cars, with no chauffeur
discounts to protect residuals.
The LS 500h uses an extended version
of the Global Architecture – Luxury
platform that underpins the LC 500
coupe. Its chassis is a mix of aluminium
and high-tensile steel, and Lexus claims
class-leading torsional rigidity. It’s 5.2m
long, but the driver’s hip point is close to
the car’s centre of gravity, which is also
lower than before. There’s new multi-link
suspension, with double ball joints in the
upper and lower control arms for better
wheel control, and adaptive damping.
An armoury of chassis electronics is
gathered under the Vehicle Dynamics
Integrated Management umbrella,
further enhanced on the F-Sport
version with an active rear axle,
and variable-ratio steering.
All good. But the powertrain isn’t. The
LS 500h features a petrol-electric hybrid
set-up, the heart of which is a 3.5-litre,
normally aspirated V6 (worth 295bhp
solo), backed up by two electric motors/
generators fed by a lithium-ion battery
and harnessed by a continuously variable
transmission. The total combined power
output is 354bhp at 6,600rpm, with a
meagre 258lb ft at 5,100rpm, resulting
in a combined fuel economy figure of
39.8mpg, and 161g/km CO2 . It’s worth
keeping those numbers front and centre,
because a degree of self-flagellation is
part of the mix here if it’s ethical luxury
transport you’re after.
Seriously, does anyone in their right
mind really enjoy a CVT? Lexus insists
that the new LS 500h circumvents the
The best place to sit is in
the back – comfy... and
dreaded rubber band effect, primarily by
using what it calls a Multi Stage Hybrid
you don’t have to drive
System. It reckons the CVT mimics the
linearity and sensation of a conventional
transmission across 10 ratios. I reckon
not. There’s a manual paddle over-ride,
and two controllers, sitting like ears on
the main binnacle, which let you choose
TO P G E A R . C O M
between six drive modes, from Eco up to
Sport +. Fairly soon, you realise that this
last one will likely see as much use as
your least favourite Christmas jumper.
There’s an ocean of metal to haul
along here – 2.2 to 2.4 tonnes depending
on spec – and the engine is vocal when
pressed. The LS also fails to waft
convincingly, although it’s good on a
steady-state motorway cruise with the
epic sound system turned up. Crucially,
we also only averaged 27.6mpg on a
long, mixed run, during which we were
categorically not thrashing it.
In other words, while there is much to
admire here, the LS 500h is outclassed
and out of sync. JASON BARLOW
SPECIFICATION
3495cc V6, two electric motors,
AWD, 354bhp, 258lb ft
39.8mpg, 161g/km CO2
0–62mph in 5.4secs, 155mph
2200kg
VERDICT: Dazzling in
6
many ways, disappointing
in others. A potentially
great car in search of a
great powertrain.
10
› FEBRUARY 201 8 061
 February I 2018

Q U I CK T WI N TEST

Kia Stinger GT-S vs Audi S5 Sportback

WE SAY: KIA’S BUILT A PROPER, GERMAN-RIVALLING SPORTS SALOON. WATCH OUT, AUDI...

Believe it. The Stinger’s imposing size and neat detailing give it head- While the Stinger GT-S is Kia’s performance and brand flagship, the S5 is
Ha, Kia vs turning, premium barge presence. Underneath, a rear-drive chassis honed merely Audi’s middling sports saloony coupe thingy. But with a turbo V6,
Audi. Really?
by ex-BMW M boss Albert Biermann. It’s loaded with equipment, too. 4WD and eight-speed auto, it’s very similar to the RS5’s set-up...

The Kia. And not because we’re juvenile rear-drive drift fantasists. The Stinger That’s not to say the S5’s a dullard. In fact, it’s a sweeter product than the

So, which is has a genuinely brilliant chassis – it disguises the car’s weight with agility, RS5, because it’s trying less hard to be special and distills what we adore
best to hoon? and its ride irons out naff British roads. The steering is numb, but quick, and about fast-but-sensible Audis. It’s not too nose-heavy, faster than Audi’s
the turbocharged V6 can silently mooch or rev eagerly when prodded. modest claims, and sounds meaner than the Kia. Stiff low-speed ride, mind.

Not the Kia’s. Sorry. Despite the thoughtful aerospace vents, superbly The Audi’s basic architecture is indeed richer-feeling (and smelling). But
What beats an comfy seats and endless dash displays, material and graphic quality just you pay extra for the Virtual Cockpit dials, keyless go, reversing camera,
Audi cabin? isn’t as posh. Then again, it’s more spacious in the rear, the ergonomics and active driver assists. The Kia has no digital dials, but throws in
and driving position are spot-on, and it smashes the S5’s toy count. everything else for free. And cooled seats. And LED lights. And...

The Kia is good value, on performance and kit, and it has a seven-year
What about
warranty to the Audi’s three-year cover. Both will do low-thirties to the
the costs?
gallon, or mid twenties if you’re extending the V6s. However...
...the Audi’s residuals are on a surer footing and, though the Kia’s humble
28mpg claim is easier to match than the S5’s 37mpg, the Korean’s hefty
225g/km emissions equal a £700 steeper tax bill in year one. Ouch.

Kia Stinger GT-S 3.3 T-GDi

£40,495 (£41,140 as tested)
8 10
Audi S5 Sportback 3.0 TFSI quattro
£46,015 (£49,820 as tested)
7 10
WO R DS: O L L I E K E W/P H OTOS: R OWA N H O R N C A S T L E

VERDICT: A handsome, engaging sports VERDICT: The S5’s a fine machine, but
3342cc, V6 turbo petrol, 2995cc, V6 turbo petrol,
saloon of philantrophic value. Top work. pricier, more spartan, and ubiquitous.
RWD, 365bhp, 376lb ft AWD, 349bhp, 369lb ft

28.5mpg, 225g/km CO2 37.7mpg, 170g/km CO2

1400mm

1640mm

0–62mph in 4.7secs, 168mph 0–62mph in 4.7secs, 155mph

1909kg 1735kg
4830mm 4641mm

06 2 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 › TO P G E A R . C O M
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*
Get 15% dis c o u n t with your
next order at emp.co.uk
with this code: EMPTG15D
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visit us at
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February I 2018
The car in front
is a Gazoo
Toyota Yaris GRMN
from £26,295
WE SAY: A HOT HATCH OF
QUALITY FROM TOYOTA SUB-
BRAND GAZOO RACING
he best Toyota Yaris ever.
And that’s not merely
T the faint praise that it
first appears…
It also happens to be a
26-grand Toyota Yaris. A completely
sold-out 26-grand Toyota Yaris, making
any qualms you have about its price null
and void. And it’s a car whose ethos needs
celebrating. Toyota was among a number
of manufacturers seemingly dropping
performance cars a decade ago, as
an economy crisis (and increasingly
stringent emissions rules) put lots of
them off making fast stuff entirely.
The Yaris GRMN is a car that
simply wouldn’t have made sense back
then, but an increasingly strident hot
hatchback market seems the perfect
time for Toyota to launch a new
performance onslaught, via a sub-
brand called Gazoo Racing. It’s been
prevalent in Japan for a while, but
now it’s going global.
064 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 › TO P G E A R . C O M
While Toyota cites links to the
Yaris that competes in the World Rally
Championship, it does seem an odd
car to start things off when there’s the
GT86 coupe crying out for more power
and a new Supra around the corner.
There have been mildly heated up
Yarises in the past, but none hot
enough to even slightly chip away at the
car’s OAP-friendly image. Yet one small
blip of the GRMN’s throttle immediately
takes a whole chunk out of it.
Squeezed under the bonnet is a
1.8-litre supercharged engine very
closely related to ones used by Lotus
in the Elise. Not resorting to a turbo
makes the Yaris completely unique
among its rivals, though it’s more down
to Toyota utilising its relations with Lotus
– given the GRMN’s tight development
schedule – than any wish to offer
something surprising.
Unlike the WRC car, it’s front-
wheel drive, but a Torsen limited-slip
differential ensures none of the
209bhp/184lb ft is scrabbled away.
Even with a huge amount of steering
lock in a tight corner, you can use the
throttle early without wheelspin. It’s
extraordinary, and the power goes on
to be delivered in a keen and linear way
most turbos can only dream of. The
gearbox is one of Toyota’s six-speed
manuals with reinforced components,
while the suspension incorporates very
expensive Sachs dampers.
Weight has been cut wherever possible,
with the wheels 17 inches, not 18, and
the brake discs they house kept as small
as possible to reduce unsprung mass,
minimising how much work the already
busy front axle has to do. Weighing just
1,135kg, the GRMN goes on to claim the
best power-to-weight ratio in its class,
Enjoy the bucket aiding a 6.4secs 0–62mph time.
seats; despair
at the plastics
It’s a bit of a nerd’s car, if you’d not yet
noticed. But driving nerds will find no
small hot hatch on sale as exciting as this.
It’s just so raw. The throaty roar from the
exhaust is louder and more encompassing
than anything else in the class. Get to a
corner and its agility and alertness are
unmatched, too.
The dinky steering wheel is borrowed
from a GT86, and flicks you urgently into
a corner, and there’s a lot of fun to be
had. Lift off the throttle, or turn in on
the brakes, and the GRMN is willing to
move around a bit. If you want to just grip
and go, you can, but there’s amusement
if you go looking for it. With the freedom
of a track, the rear end can really be
teased out of line.
GRMN stands for Gazoo Racing tuned Yet I’m not sure the Yaris GRMN’s
by Meisters of the Nürburgring, which
gives you a clue as to where a reasonable OR TRY THIS 600 buyers will care. Its dynamics manage
to be mature yet highly entertaining, and
amount of development has taken place. it feels extremely durable on track. As a
You might expect the Yaris to be a bit stiff car to launch Toyota’s new Gazoo Racing
as a result. It is indeed a firmly sprung car, brand, it’s a brilliant demonstration of
and with just one suspension setting; no the engineering prowess that will go
driving modes here. Toyota’s engineers into future products. Ones which will
seem to have softened it off a bit since we be larger in number and lower in price,
drove a development car last July (issue perhaps. STEPHEN DOBIE
299), however, and they’ve also quietened
down the exhaust when you’re only on a Peugeot
light throttle, so motorway cruising and Sport 208 GTI SPECIFICATION
urban driving are now far less antisocial. £3k less and about
1798cc supercharged 4cyl,
It should still be habitable. as hardcore. Bring FWD, 209bhp, 184lb ft
Does it feel special enough for £26k? on the twin test... 37.7mpg, 170g/km CO2
The mechanicals say yes. The interior, not 0–62mph in 6.4secs, 143mph
so much. There’s a pair of exceptional
1135kg
suede bucket seats, but you can tell the
Yaris cabin was never meant to feature VERDICT: Toyota’s first
8
such things. They’re squeezed in, and hot hatch in yonks is
getting a perfect driving position is tricky. pricey, but thoroughly
done. And sold out. Bring
10
The plastics and switchgear are also clearly on the next one…
from a cheaper, less interesting car.
TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 065
M A G A Z I N E
February I 2018
Walk the T
his is not a regular Ford
Mustang. No, this is a
Ford Mustang that’s been
Walk worked on by a Japanese
tuning company called
Liberty Walk. Mechanically, it’s pretty
Liberty Walk much standard: 5.0-litre 416bhp V8,
Ford Mustang six-speed manual gearbox, rear-drive, etc.
c£55,000 What Liberty Walk does is add stance. It
started off doing this to Lamborghinis
back in 2008, which was... controversial.
The European distributor is the
WE SAY: HOW TO
Performance Company. What it does is
STANCE YOUR STANG
cut away the arches, fit different dampers,
wheels, and bolt on perhaps the most
outrageous set of body panels ever to be
wrought in fibreglass. The work takes 3–4
weeks and the kit costs around £5,500.
The dampers are central to the car’s
look. They feature integrated airbags
which inflate (and deflate) via a
compressor mounted in the boot and a
controller in the cabin. Lower it right
down and a good proportion of the wheels
disappear inside the arches and the front
splitter settles on the ground. Like this,
it rides around 170mm lower than the
standard Mustang. But you can raise it
up by around 240mm, meaning it can be
driven around like a regular car with
proper ground clearance.
Do so and it’s actually surprisingly
drivable. You expect the ride to be harsh
and crashy, but the airbags ensure you
don’t hit the bumpstops, and there’s much
more cushioning than you expect from
looking at it. It’s not far off as good-
natured and easy-going as a regular
Mustang, just with a little more bump
steer under compression.
The biggest issue, then, isn’t the way it
drives, which is pretty magnanimous, but
the car’s ridiculous width. The rear wheels
are pushed out 6.5 inches. On either
side. Approaching 2.3 metres wide, the
Liberty Walk is getting on for the width
of a 44-tonne truck. Which causes issues
almost everywhere. The view out the wing
mirrors is so full of arch as to be alarming.
But this car isn’t really about driving.
I had more fun parked up by the side
of a village pond watching its effect on
the local populace. As with everything
Boot mounted Liberty Walk does, it’s not designed
compressor raises and to be a dynamic enhancement, so
lowers air suspension much as a cultural project. And I
rather liked it. OLLIE MARRIAGE
SPECIFICATION
4951cc V8, RWD,
416bhp, 391lb ft
20.9 mpg, 299g/km CO2
0–62mph in 4.8secs, 155mph
c1820kg
VERDICT: Want to make
7
your Mustang stand out?
Send for Liberty Walk.
Drives pretty well, but
that’s irrelevant, isn’t it?
10
TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 067
February I 2018
here’s a bit of an analogue
revolution going on at
T Porsche right now. No,
not a return to hand-
rolled panels and cross-
ply tyres, but a recognition that pleasure
isn’t necessarily linked to lap times. The
Cayman GT4 was the first to place sensory
experience ahead of raw speed, then the
911R, then the GT3 with an optional
manual gearbox, and now there’s two more
old-school-flavour 911s to add to that list.
We begin with the 911 GT3 Touring
Pack, essentially a GT3 with its wing
deleted… but there’s a little more to it
than that. For instance, did you know the
Touring name was first used on the 2.7-litre
Carrera RS from 1973? That’s heritage,
right there. The missing wing is replaced
with a classic pop-up rear deck embellished
with a GT3 Touring badge and a unique lip
spoiler on the trailing edge.
You can have any gearbox you like, so
long as it’s a six-speed manual, and it’s
Smooth porkers
Porsche 911 T vs GT3 Touring
£85,576 vs £111,802
WE SAY: ZUFFENHAUSEN
DOES IT AGAIN, STOKING
YOUR FANBOY DESIRE...
06 8 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 › TO P G E A R . C O M
all-leather and cloth on the inside, no racy
Alcantara or roll cages here. Other than
that, it’s as per the GT3, with the same
options (ceramic brakes, nose lift, LED
headlights, Chrono Pack, audio upgrades).
There are no rear seats, but 20-inch
centre-locking wheels, a 44mm wider and
25mm lower stance than the base Carrera
and four-wheel steering are all standard.
Oh, and a 4.0-litre flat-six touched by the
hand of God, with 9,000rpm to play with.
The Carrera T resides at the opposite it has a shorter final-drive ratio from the
end of the 911 spectrum. The “T” also Carrera S and a stubbier gearlever, and a
stands for Touring… although that’s manual just suits what this car’s trying to
probably a bit misleading. Porsche is be so much better.
actually pitching this one as a lightweight A sports exhaust is standard, along with
Carrera T nav switched special – a more driver-focused version of PASM sport suspension lowered by 20mm
for double-deck Fruit the bog-standard Carrera. and thinner glass from the GT2 RS for the
Pastille holder
The Carrera’s 365bhp 3.0-litre turbo rear windows and rear screen. Sound
flat-six drives the rear wheels through deadening has been “largely reduced” and
either a seven-speed PDK or a seven-speed there are no rear seats and no radio and no
manual. You should go for the latter for satnav (although you can add those things
three reasons: you get a mechanical back in at no extra cost). You also get a
limited-slip diff (missing on the PDK), Sport Chrono pack and fabric door pulls.
Total weight saving? 5kg when the extra
standard kit is taken into account.
The 0–62mph time drops by a tenth to
4.5 secs (4.2 secs with the PDK), and top
speed is 182mph. This, you quickly realise,
is plenty on tight and twisty mountain
roads. Most of the time the T felt just as
fast as the GT3, thanks to its more flexible
turbocharged engine. Do not think the
basic 911 is somehow a compromise car for
those that can’t afford the Carrera S; it’s
actually a sweet spot on public roads.
Sports exhaust burping and cracking
away behind you, Sport mode engaged,
suspension in its softer setting and
paddling the manual gearbox: this is a
joyous experience. Next to the GT3 it feels
noticeably narrower and more dainty…
you’re not going as quickly, but the
steering is crystal clear, the brakes nicely
progressive and you feel just as involved
in the process. The downside? This car is
brilliant because the Carrera it’s based on
is already brilliant, not through any single
piece of engineering innovation. It’s a bit of
a marketing-department special.
Same can’t be said about the GT3. Yes,
the changes are minimal, but not only does
it look cooler than its bewinged brother,
it also assumes the role of a 911R for the
masses. Contrary to speculation, Porsche
GT boss Preuninger says the Touring
wasn’t devised to give 911R speculators
sweaty palms – the 911R was the guinea pig
that proved there was a thirst for this kind
of car; this is the more ‘affordable’ result.
Clinging on while this engine thrashes
Badge and 20in wheels the final 1,000rpm and really opens
– subtle clues the GT3 T
its pipes is something we should all
is the ultimate sleeper
experience once – like skydiving or the
Pamplona bull run – but it’s the speed
you can carry through the corners, the
crispness of the steering and how late you
can stand on the brakes (despite our test
car being on steels not ceramics, for the full
retro effect) that stand out.
And a word for the six-speed gearbox
(well done, GT department, for refusing to
move to seven gears), a precision tool that’s
not only satisfying to flick around, but
forces you to constantly assess where you
are in the rev range, plan ahead, take part
more than with the point-and-shoot PDK.
To name a winner here seems obtuse.
Yes, the GT3 exists on a higher plane, but if
you’re unlikely to see a racetrack, the softer
Carrera T is almost as involving… and you
could buy a hot hatch with the change.
Let’s just rejoice that as tech goes into
hyperdrive, makers haven’t forgotten
simple pleasures are often the best. Bravo,
Porsche, for leading the way. JACK RIX
CARRERA T SPECIFICATION
2981cc turbo flat-six, RWD,
365bhp, 332lb ft
29.7mpg, 215g/km CO2
0–62mph in 4.5secs, 182mph
1425kg
VERDICT: A brilliantly

8
polished road car that
punches above its weight,
but it’s a spec special, not
innovative in its own right.
10

GT3 TOURING SPECIFICATION

3996cc flat-six, RWD,
493bhp, 339lb ft
21.2mpg, 303g/km CO2

0–62mph in 3.9secs,

1413kg

VERDICT: Less wing

9
means more want. Every
bit as magical as the
standard GT3, but sleeper
styling adds to the appeal.
10

TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 069

 M A G A Z I N E

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w
Every net
car tha
matters,
rated or
slated
This is what function
before form looks like CONTENTS
Faster around a circuit than a P1 but brutal to behold – the new £750,000,
789bhp McLaren Senna is an aero-obsessed, road-legal track weapon

Porsche 718 GTS

p51

Jeep Compass
p52

The best
here is such a thing favourite settings once you own the
DS 7 Crossback as too many options, car, but I advise a couple of hours of
hree months ago we took a McLaren
720S to Scotland and introduced it to
what to investigate first. This is what happens
when you let engineers, not stylists, design a car.
p53
T and I have found it in testing before you can really get a

T the new F90, sixth- handle on everything.

12 other of our favourite performance
cars of 2017. It was driven hard on
track, slightly less hard on soaking B roads and
crowned our Speed Week champion. At no point
during these five days did anyone, not even Nomex
and speedy boot enthusiast Chris Harris, suggest
that it could do with more performance. In fact,
several staff members, once they’d changed their
trousers, proposed it could do with a little less.
Up until this point, we’ve known it only by
its P15 codename – the second instalment of
McLaren’s Ultimate Series, five years after the
P1 rearranged our understanding of the natural
4x4xM generation BMW M5.
Three different settings for the quality
of upchange on the new Steptronic auto
Or… not. Because for all its fetishistic
obsession with buttons and settings,
the new M5 is, underneath, a brilliant DAY ONE DAY TWO DAY THREE
BMW M5 ’box (gone is the DSG of the old F10 thing. It’s properly, excitingly, happily
world. Now it has a name – the McLaren Senna. model), three different damper settings, the best M5 since the resolutely simple
Bold move, right? Leaning on a relationship £89,640
different settings for steering weight, E39. And yet it is absolutely nothing
with the Senna family that spans decades, and
display configuration, paranoia of like it. Bear with me.
deploying the name of arguably the greatest Seat Leon Cupra R traction control and throttle aggression. It is, however, still an M5. So we get
racing driver the world has ever seen, isn’t a p58 WE SAY: THE M5 HAS TO
BE BETTER THAN EVER
And now a slew of new configurations sober-suited looks and very little to give Originally an ultraviolent reaction against

TG’S 72HR GUIDE TO BŌSŌZOKU

Yet here I am, standing next to what can only
be described as a 720S after a state-sponsored
doping programme. It’s swapped beautiful for
brutal and soft undulations for jagged voids. Your
eyes flit around it, not knowing where to land or
012 JANUARY 201 8 ›
decision to be taken lightly. However, when
you learn that Bruno Senna, Ayrton’s nephew,
has been involved in the development, and its
mission statement is to be the company’s most
focused and effective track car ever, it fits.
› JANUARY 201 8
for the xDrive all-wheel-drive system.
TO COPE WITH THE E63.
IT’S UP TO THE TASK
Including one that switches it off, and
renders the new M5 rear-drive only.
That makes roughly eleventy hundred
possible combinations, and it can
render you incapacitated for days trying
to work it all out. Yes, so there are a
pair of programmable ‘M’ buttons on
Kodiaq vs 5008
the steering wheel that shortcut your
p60
013
away the fact that there’s a nigh-on
600bhp 4.4-litre bi-turbo V8 lurking postwar conservatism, this subculture has
under the aluminium bonnet. In fact,
it looks a bit too sober on first appraisal, entered into richer and stranger waters...
though the bare CFRP (carbon-fibre-
reinforced plastic) roof and generous
front gaps – behind which acres of
radiator and cooling equipment peep –
give some hint as to the possibilities.
112 JANUARY 201 8 › › JANUARY 201 8 113
› JANUARY 201 8 045

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 s s i c s
e c l a
futur
fun ,
a i n
Ba r g

n est
Ho arris’
H
Secondhand
superheroes
TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 073
 HONEST HARRIS

0 74 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 › TO P G E A R . C O M
“The motor car
really is the
perfect sin”
Take heed of these words of wisdom from
TopGear’s resident secondhand car guru
here is nothing I would rather do than
make a decent cup of builders’ tea and
settle down to a good long session of
internet dreaming. Some people call it
T browsing the motoring classifieds, you
might call it window shopping, but I
should probably call it my obsession.
It’s a place to hide away from life, a
place where you can have, if you so
wish, limitless funds and all the time remind yourself that you
possess an unhealthy level of BMW E30 3-Series knowledge.
But the used car marketplace has changed beyond all recognition
over the past four years, because the twin effects of low interest
rates meet more perfectly at the gate of the car market than
anywhere else – cheap borrowing at one end, and cash unable to
yield decent returns at the other. Think of an industry that offers
easy credit, and one whose commodity is movable, international
and easily liquidated. The motor car really is the perfect sin.
Clever people began investing in cars a while ago, but it
now seems everyone is at it. And this has become something
of a problem, because there are simply not enough of the cars
people want to buy. I suppose that in itself is the true definition
of an appreciating asset – one less than the market wants or needs.
So now we live in the world of the £70,000 Lancia Delta Integrale
(£20k four years ago) and the £25,000 Peugeot 205 GTi. Yep, I
passed on a mint one of those three years ago for £8,000.
But I suppose that’s all part of the game, isn’t it? I’m sure I’m
as addicted to the process of hunting down a car – researching it,
finding just the example you wanted, and then doing the deal – as
much as I am driving the thing when it lands. I love the process: the
high of securing a great deal, the low of missing out. And, of course,
the ones that got away. Thanks to the miracle of Twitter, I don’t
think a day goes by without me being reminded that I sold one of 12
right-hand drive 993 GT2s in 2007 for what might now look like a silly
price. Something around a million pounds less than it’s worth now.
I can honestly say it doesn’t bother me. Yes, I’d love the money
now, but if you’d told the 20-year-old me that I’d ever sit in, let alone
drive, let alone bloody own a GT2 one day, I’d never have believed
you. As someone who’s suffered the same outcome with pretty much
every fancy-pants car ever made, I tell you there is one certainty
in this game: it’s better to have loved and lost. I cherish all of the
memories I have driving every car I’ve ever owned. Of which there
must have been over a hundred by now.
The popularity of cars as an investment destination has the
obvious effect of increasing values, but it also decreases choice
because so many cars have now disappeared off into another price
zone. But there are still some bargains out there, and there remain
some cars the market doesn’t treat rationally which are well worth
taking a punt on.
What should you do before buying? If we’re talking about
something to own and use occasionally in the hope that it will go
up in value, I use some pretty basic tests.
Is it rare?
Is it repeatable – could the same configuration be made now?
Do you like it?
Would you drive it?
If the car passes those basic tests, then I’d have a dip. I’m
also mindful that anything with a manual transmission and a
normally aspirated engine is probably better news than other
powertrain options.
And whatever you do, don’t over-stretch yourself. Now is not
the time to gamble the family jewellery on a 1989 Ford Escort
Turbo. Prices are in the stratosphere, and anyone with half a
brain knows that a correction is due. Buy within your comfort
zone and make sure you have enough margin to run the thing.
I often take the view that there are only two versions of any
car that I’d like to own – either the very best one available, or the
cheapest one. My reasoning is that the very best one will always
either appreciate or depreciate in the kindest manner, and the
cheapest will always provide the most fun. That’s why my stone-
chipped 60,000 mile 512TR is perfect. It’s worth a fraction of all the
4,000-mile garage queens, but it drives better because it gets used,
and I don’t worry about a trip to France wiping £££ from its value.
Whatever you do, make sure you drive it. Cars are made for driving.
TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 075
 SPORTS
CARS

BUYER’S Toyota GT86 // £12,000–£26,000

CHECKLIST Basic RWD thrills, now half-price Only very small children fit in the back

The car that proved that motoring journalists know wheels with a modest 197bhp. Obviously the only
1. Early cars look out for
can suffer from cars that have nothing. Lauded by the press as a total driving hero ’box to have is the 6spd manual (light, useful,
a lumpy idle been Fast and and heir to some sort of nebulous automotive balanced, if a bit notchy), although there was/is
– fixed by Furious’d superstardom, the GT86 sold in relatively modest a torque-converted auto gearbox available. Not
an ECU flash into kerbs
at a dealer. and over
numbers to the UK driving public, who clapped ideal, because it highlights the 2.0-litre’s lack
Check the many mini- loudly at the idea and then immediately eschewed of torque and generous upper ratios. But the low
history for roundabouts. the rear-wheel drive chassis, manual ’box and c of g, light and tactile controls and modest tyre
dealer fixes, See also:
naturally aspirated engine and went and bought widths make the GT86 a rare thing: a car that isn’t
as owners tend bad mods.
to be handy at a billion AWD, DSG and turbo VW Golf Rs. about the numbers. When you find that the GT86
working on the 3. Be aware But that’s not to say that the press were wrong is a connected, joyous, usable thing filled with
cars at home. that the rear about the hero bit. Both the GT86 and sister car character, you’ll be smitten. It’s the simplicity that
‘seats’ aren’t
2. Sold as really – only the Subaru BRZ (which is exactly the same, bar the appeals – it’s something of an antidote to cars that
factory tiny children badges) are something of a wonderful anomaly. go fast but feel nothing. It’s a gem – and one of a
I M AG E : J O H N W YC H E R L E Y

drift-mobiles, will fit. Why? Because this is a car that can appeal to both
the old-school traditionalists and bright young
things. The flat four has a notably subterranean-
slash-chaise-longue layout thanks to the
arrangement of boxing cylinders – the GT86
actually has a lower c of g than a contemporary
Porsche Boxster – and it drives only the rear
rapidly decreasing number of cars that give you
rear-drive feel for reasonable money.
One we found...
Nearly new (3,200 miles), good colour,
fully manufacturer-approved. And
about £10k off list.

076 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 › TO P G E A R . C O M
 SPORTS CARS

HARRIS S
AYS
“Stunnin
g engine
bit lively ,
wet. As in t h e
drive it in in, only
the dry”

BUYER’S Honda S2000 // £5,000–£17,000

CHECKLIST 6,000rpm and there’s 3k still to go You’ll be travelling backwards at this point

Who doesn’t like a 2.0-litre, 240bhp, 9,000rpm ghostly echoes of the driver screaming: “I’ve got
1. Crash So they feel
damage. These a bit vacant screamer of an engine that also had – at one time it!” Crump. Tinkle. But it’s a cracking car to drive,
cars have been without revs. – the most satisfying gearbox action in existence. even in 2018, and likely to end up with classic
around a while I would use the term “like a rifle-bolt” at this point, status simply because it is a challenge to hustle
now, and were 3. Years 2002
tricky in the wet, and 2004 saw
but the cliche police would shoot me with a pre- – even if a lot of that is down to the car’s lack of
so look for the modifications, chambered round. Manufactured for a decade torque and appetite for revs. Not much happens
usual signs. so the later between 1999 and 2009, the S2000 is a two-seat below 7,000rpm, which is when most cars are
cars are slightly
roadster that made Honda look cool: mental drawing the curtains and dimming the lights, but
2. The F20C easier to
motor doesn’t handle. Geeks engine, razored responses, slick looks and the kind the VTEC system isn’t swapping cam lobes until
develop peak call it the AP1 of handling that was joyous, right up to the point 6k, so you have to press on. Don’t forget, this was a
torque until upgrade, but that you exited stage hedge and smeared yourself car that didn’t get Vehicle Stability Assist until the
7,500rpm. you can usually
Peak power is tell by the 17in across a ploughed field. Snappy? Yes. The year before it went out of production, though… see
8,300 and the alloys replacing pendulum snap-back of a returning-to-straight above. There’s not much to match it these days –
red line is 9k. the 16s. S2000 is legendary, a bit like being in a waltzer at super-high revving VTEC Hondas are out of
the fair, and approximately 20 per cent too fast for fashion, which makes us like this one even more.
either a) the steering rack or b) the human mind to
comprehend. Many have been found much further One we found...
down the road from the actual bend where the Unmodified, low (47k) miles, £12k, hard
crash was initiated, a story told by swervy tyre top included. Possibly only chosen
marks from which you can still hear the panicked, because it’s in the rarer Indy Yellow.

TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 077

 SPORTS CARS
Porsche
Cayman R
// £32,000–£45,000
Steering, solid investment
It’s not a Cayman GT4
Ah, the 987 Cayman R. Fifty-one grand
when new in 2011/12, and still happily
holding mid-forties for good examples,
with plenty of reasons why. For a start,
it gained 10bhp and lost 54kg over a
standard, contemporary Cayman S
(totals of 325bhp and 273lb ft then, for
R), but you also got aluminium doors,
extra aero, lightweight wheels, different
exhaust manifold, sports seats and
limited-slip diff included in the R
package. Obviously you also got a
3.4-litre flat-six, and that means that
it’s also now desirable because it most
definitely isn’t a modern 4cyl 718 that
sounds like an Impreza. Which is a good
point to make. Objectively and on
emotionless papery charts, the 718 is a
better, more efficient, faster car in most
situations. So why would you spend
nearly as much as a new 718 S (£51,853
2018 new, base) for a seven- or eight-
year-old car? Frankly because the 987 R
just feels special. Special in a way that
only translates on a bumpy, twisty road.
Because there aren’t many cars that
have the steering and chassis
078 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 › TO P G E A R . C O M
Vauxhall VX220
// £9,000–£26,000
A Lotus Elise for people who aren’t
badge snobs and who like their thrills
pared back, light, RWD and impractical.
And it is all of those things. More angular,
ever so slightly softer than the related
BUYER’S
Lotus, the VX220 actually provides the
CHECKLIST
kind of lightweight driving thrill that
every petrolhead should experience at
1. PDK or thumps a least once. Later versions (Turbo, 2.2)
manual? Both track day
are good, but if without some were faster and even more engaging,
you’ve bought preventative because they had enough power
an R for the full
experience, it
maintenance. to challenge the chassis. Early cars
were n/a with around 145bhp, and the
has to be the 3. Aircon and
6spd manual. a radio were Turbo upped that to more like 200. Set
no-cost to be a future classic.
2. Track abuse. options, but
A well-used, add them back
well-looked in and they
after car is not mitigate the
a problem, but weight
beware advantage to
anyone who the tune of only
regularly 40kg over the S.
communication coupled with the usable,
shiny performance. It makes you feel
heroic in the first 10 minutes and never
stops. Yes, it’s got anti-roll bars and
stiffer suspension than the standard
Cayman of the day, but actually it
manages to just feel more expensive
Merc SLK55 AMG
than simply more track-focused – you // £16,000–£30,000
won’t break your spine into Jenga Being smaller and lighter than an SL
pieces. And on the right road, in the or E, natural aspiration was deemed
right conditions, you can scythe enough for the SLK55. But you’ve still
corners like you wouldn’t believe. And got a beefy V8 developing 416bhp and
you don’t even have to be a pro to enjoy 398lb ft, and a whole host of interesting
it, on road or track. If there were a dynamic traits. This feels like a hot rod,
measure of satisfaction that everyone so best treat it as such and adopt the
agreed to, this would score highly. “slow in, fast out” approach. It also had
Better than a similarly priced 911? Yep. an apparent hatred of back tyres so
severe that you might as well just set fire
What we found... to your local branch of Kwik Fit and be
Manual with a sports shift kit. done with it. Pity the 7spd auto ’box is
£46k. We wanted the Peridot dimmer than a broken bulb, but we
green (or is it yellow?), but like it as it’s a bit silly, and people
couldn’t find one minus PDK. don’t realise until they drag race it.

AST
ON
VA N M A R T
£28k TA G
E
IN
–£75
k
ENGINES
ook at the pictures on this page. Spot a
L pattern? All have engines since replaced
by smaller, turbocharged units. And yet
it’s these less powerful, more fuel-hungry things
that embed themselves into our hearts a little
deeper. It’s true, the V8 Vantage will probably
be remembered better for its flawless styling
than anything else, but with a new AMG-
powered Vantage just around the corner, let us
not forget the vibrato masterpiece at its core.
Sold with a 375bhp, 4.3-litre V8 between
2005 and 2008, and a 414bhp 4.7 V8 from 2009
(now starting at around £40k), it never felt as
fast as it sounded, but that meant you could
wring its neck on the road without peeling the
tyres off the rims, especially in the 4.3.
k
–£35
I M AG E : R OWA N H O R N C A S T L E
£30k
Although a 2006 model can be yours from
£28,000, John McGurk, Director of McGurk
performance cars, advises against it: “Good
early cars start from around £35,000, spend any
less and you’ll just have to spend the difference
making it right.” Check the clutch (£2,500 to
replace), leaking shocks and the timing chain on
the front of the engine – another £2.5k job that
involves stripping down the front of the car.
Fancy one? Don’t hang about, McGurk
reckons if the new Vantage is as special as it
appears, it could create a bow wave of hype that
nudges up prices further down the food chain.
Despite the brilliance of the new Audi SQ7,
diesel’s fall from grace means prices of the Q7
V12 TDI (currently hovering around the £30k
£5.5
k–£1
4k
ENGINES
HARRIS S
AYS
“One of
most be the
auti
cars eve ful
r
made”
mark) won’t be going anywhere for a while. But
who cares when you’ve got a 493bhp, 5.5-litre
V12 diesel, the only one of its kind, to play with?
And the collector’s items don’t end there.
Since Renault spoiled the Clio RenaultSport
with a 1.6 turbo, the high-revving RS 200 (now
a ridiculous bargain from £5,500) has been
looking ever more attractive – a properly
adjustable, Tasmanian devil of a hot hatch,
as at home on the track as an Asda car park.
A bit more to spend? How about a 997 911
(any will do, a GTS in an ideal world), the
last bastion of naturally aspirated Carrera?
Whatever you do, when the electric motor takes
over, make sure you’ve got something to relive
the good old days within your garage.
–£85
k
£37k
TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 079
 FAST EXECS

FAST EXECS HARRIS S

“Possibly S
best M c e
of all tim
AY
th
ar
e”

BMW E46 M3
// £7,000–£36,000 (excluding CSL)
BMW E39 M5 //£10,000–£40,000
5.0 V8, manual gearbox. Pure. Simple Valve timing a bit brittle
Buy it for the engine. The 3.2-litre 338bhp
nat-asp straight-six is one of the all-time This is a brilliantly down once warm, then advise you to find a good
greats – high-revving, punchy, ultra- simple car. Beefy it will need attention. independent specialist,
responsive and with a soundtrack to die for. 5.0-litre 394bhp V8, Like the RS4 (opposite) as parts and labour will
That way you get the almost equally brilliant six-speed manual the engine can also be much more cost-
chassis for free. The E46 was the M3’s gearbox, rudimentary suffer from a build-up of effective than in the
sweetest spot, perhaps one of the finest traction control, a sport oil residue that hardens main dealer network –
compact sports coupes of all time, and you button that did no more into a carbon deposit in and knowledge of older
can now have one for sub city car money. than sharpen throttle the cylinder heads. Here cars is likely to be
Best spend supermini money, though – response, some seats, it’s less likely to do better, too. Properly
£12k–£15k will buy you a decent one. a decent boot, subtly damage, and it’s worth maintained, this is a
enhanced bodywork knowing the Vanos big-hearted, laid-back,
and… that’s it. There’s system can be refurbed. yet crisp muscle saloon.
a purity and elegance Porous rear diff seals
to the E39 M5 that will be expensive to One we found...
guarantees its status sort, and rust can Four owners and
as a future great. rear its ugly head. As almost 100k miles,
However, the Vanos ever, it’s the sills and but £12,995 for an
valve-timing system was arches to look at first. M5 with a well-
always noisy at start-up. Assuming you get a car documented
If it doesn’t quieten you’re happy with, we’d history is tempting.

080 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 › TO P G E A R . C O M
 SAYS
HARRIS its
s
“Make sor
c c e s
su .
sterile
seem ate for
id
Cand di ever”
e s t A u
b

1. If you need to diagonal opposite tailgate seals – a and tear on the

BUYER’S replace one of the at the same time. couple of hundred heavily bolstered
CHECKLIST DRC suspension quid to replace. sports seats – the
units, it pays to 2. A wet bootfloor leather can crack.
replace its indicates perished 3. Check for wear Pricey to repair.

Audi RS4 // £13,000–£30,000 Merc E55 AMG Estate

// £6,000–£15,000
Woofly n/a engine a dying species Quick! Prices are rising
The one you want is the 2003-onwards E55
The B7, that’s the RS4 sophistication to the attention. If the engine wagon with the supercharged 5.4-litre V8.
to have. It featured whole car. doesn’t run smoothly, That’s 476bhp and 516lb ft right there. And
Dynamic Ride Control, It never was efficient, best walk away. that engine is renowned for being both
a mechanical system though. Expect 18mpg, These are highly tough and tunable. It’s not going to be easy
that diagonally and the 326g/km CO2 regarded cars, and values on fuel (expect 18mpg), and probably isn’t
cross-linked the figure means that your are increasing. Maybe destined to ever be worth huge amounts of
dampers, making the annual tax bill will be enough to outweigh the money, but it’s a rare machine – less than 250
RS4 both poised and £535. There are issues running costs. Pristine estates were sold in the UK over three years
supple. Here was a to watch out for as well. low-mileage cars can and values should rise from the £10k a
sports saloon (and The DRC system can command £30k, but half reasonable one is currently commanding.
estate) that rode well. leak, the switchable that is enough to get
It was a trend that Audi exhaust valves can you a decent runner.
soon abandoned. And seize, and although the
I M AG E : J O H N W YC H E R L E Y

then there was the engine is tough, cars One we found...

high-compression 12.5:1 that have had a life of £19,950 for a
naturally aspirated start/stop urban driving one-owner,
4.2-litre V8. These will probably have built 60,000 miles car
days it doesn’t feel up carbon deposits on in desirable silver
desperately fast or loud, the inlet valves, which with a black
but there’s a woofly will need professional leather interior.

TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 081

 NOSTALGIA
TVR Tuscan // £15,000–£50,000
Power, noise, lots of man points
Chances are this is what
you think of when you
think of a TVR. Bulbous
styling, a ‘vivid’ colour
palette and a reputation
for being happier to
pirouette in the rain
than Gene Kelly. The
Tuscan was the
backbone of Blackpool’s
infamous fibreglass
wonders in the early
Noughties, spawning the
Sagaris and T350C and
remaining the final
model standing when
the company shut up
shop in 2006.
082 FEBRUARY 201 8 › TO P G E A R . C O M
Every corner a potential fireball
Now Peter Wheeler’s 400bhp. In a canoe-
brainchild has been bodied machine
reborn in the form of a weighing just 1,100kg,
new Gordon Murray- it gave Porsche GT3
engineered Griffith, it levels of performance.
might’ve reignited your And thanks to the total
desire for a slice of the omission of traction
lairy old days. control, ABS, airbags or
All Tuscans were crumple zones, you were
powered by various also commander of
versions of TVR’s Speed Seventies Le Mans-car
Six straight-six engine, levels of danger. If a
displacing 3.6 litres in Tuscan has dodgy panel
the entry-level version fit or signs of rewelded
(still good for 350bhp) spaceframe sections
and 4.0 in most cars, underneath, don’t
with power outputs presume it’s poor build
between 360 and quality from the factory.
unadulterated
excitement. When
Disrespected Tuscans
have been in more
hedgerows than
Kate Humble.
Although these are
mechanically simple
beasts, being UK sports
cars, there are plenty of
characterful, endearing,
er, flaws to watch out
for. The chassis can be
prone to corrosion if
road salt is allowed to
attack it (the powder
coat flakes off with age
and exhaust heat), and
TVR’s brave ploy to
build its own motor has
HARRIS SAYS
“Pure
it works”
given it a slightly unfair
reputation as a
timebomb. Make sure
it’s allowed to warm
thoroughly before using
the revs. Thankfully,
with a loyal enthusiast
following, specialists
can iron out gremlins
and keep these modern
classics bellowing their
I M AG E : J O H N W YC H E R L E Y
uniquely brutal six-
cylinder thunder.
One we found...
£29k: new interior
and engine. What
could go wrong?
 NOSTALGIA

Ford Sierra Cosworth

4x4 // £16,000–£32,000
A sensible-shoes whaletail It’s not a whaletail

Unless you’re reading this aboard your yacht anchored off the coast of
Monaco (or Southend), you might have missed your opportunity with
the classic whaletail Sierra RS Cosworth. It’s been swept along in the
crazy value surge among cult Eighties classics, and unmodified minters
are now worth six figures. So, TG’s smart tip is to dispense with the
monster rear wing, add a couple of front driveshafts and some rear
doors. The Sierra Cosworth 4x4 is now the bargain fast Ford. It’s the
same competition homologated engine in a more practical, understated
shell, and you’ll pay as little as £16k for a tatty one, while double that
bags a smart example with some history, and largely as the factory
intended. Only post-1990 Sapphires have AWD – there are earlier
RWD models too – with face-lifted models getting an uprated 220bhp
2.0-litre turbo engine. They soon attracted a criminal underworld
following for being a doddle to nick and a, er, talented getaway car.
The ones left around today tend to have cleaner histories, but prices
are already rising, so score one while they’re still a steal. Ahem.

One we found...
£20k for a totally original one, black on black,
with 68,000 on the clock. Feeling brave?

Saab 900
Turbo // £4,000–£12,000
Feel the turbo power! All 175bhp of it...

The silhouette is like nothing else on the road before or since. The
windscreen is a convex curve to evoke a fighter jet canopy (and
BUYER’S improve the visibility). And its 175bhp, 2.0-litre engine hails from
CHECKLIST a time when turbocharging was tantamount to magic, and boost
management really was about as scientific as dunking a witch into a
river. What’s more, the idiosyncratic joys of Saab 900 Turbo ownership
1. Gearboxes 3. Wacky cabin
are a weak ergonomics come for as little as £4,000. Many have been fastidiously maintained by
spot – these are a TVR enthusiasts, so issues like a sagging headlining, worn gearboxes and the
are very meaty given, but later first signals of rust are likely to have been swatted if you shop around.
engines. Check Tuscan 2s have
all gears cupholders and
The two-door hatch is the most handsome, but convertibles have lots
engage door bins! of appeal if you don’t mind the chassis having less rigidity than an
smoothly. election promise. Smart examples of the soft-top will command well
4. Some cars
over £12,000 these days. Yep, we’re into ‘modern classic’ territory
3. Engine have had a
rebuilds by hinged bonnet again. Unlike so many Italian and British cars from the period, dense
TVR Power and conversion Swedish steel means rust isn’t a worry, so if you’re buying a car to
Racing Green – the standard keep outside or use year-round, the Saab is a great choice.
are sought one is sealed
after – they shut from the
cost around factory. Not One we found...
£5,000. ideal. OK, 186k is a LOT of miles, but yours for £4k with
FSH and “starts first time every time,” apparently.

TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 083


Renault
STYLE
OVER
SUBSTANCE
Clio V6
// £20,000–£45,000
Mini mid-engine supercar
With a fondness for ditches
It’s official: the lesser-spotted Clio V6 is
hurtling towards extinction. While there
were 400 phase 1 and phase 2 cars on UK
roads in 2005, there’s now a mere 212
registered. To be fair, it was a rare car in
the first place – more Ferrari F40s were
built than Clio V6s – but it’s the V6’s
fondness for inserting itself backwards
into hedges that has culled the numbers.
You have to question what Renault’s
board were smoking when it was signed
off: a rear-mid-engined hatch with a
227bhp V6 nicked from the Laguna
instead of back seats, cartoonishly wide
bodywork, 13m turning circle and a short
084 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 › TO P G E A R . C O M
wheelbase that made it rotate quicker
than a blender. And then it got really
absurd, because despite all that power it
weighed 300kg more than the Clio 172
Cup, so its 6.2 seconds 0–62mph time was
only half a sec quicker than the FWD Cup.
Things improved with the 251bhp
phase 2 car – more power, longer
wheelbase, better suspension geometry
– but you need to enter ownership with
your eyes open. Buying a good one is
pretty much pot luck: “Your only hope
is to hold out for something with
immaculate service history, and don’t
go for the cheapest one out there,” says
Scott Glander from SG Motorsport,
a man who fixes them for a living.
I M AG E : R OWA N H O R N C A S T L E
“A private sale is the way to go; dealers
just want maximum profit and don’t
want to pay for the work.”
A car that’s tricky to justify by any
conventional thinking, but then you look
at it… and feel that pang of want in the pit
of your stomach. Chances are, we’ll never
see anything remotely like it again: a
 STYLE OVER SUBSTANCE

BMW Z4M coupe

// £18,000–£28,000
HARRIS SAYS
“So much better You could simply have an E46 M3 with
the same 338bhp 3.2-litre straight-six
to look at
engine for less, but if you want to turn
than drive”
heads there’s something pleasingly
original about Bangle’s cab-back Z4M
design. Yes, the Z3M Coupe is even
madder, in a Batmobile kind of way,
but you’ll have to spend £35,000 and
beyond for a good one of those now,
whereas a reasonable-mileage Z4M
is £10,000 less. You can slash another
£3,000 from that if you fancy a Roadster
with its slower steering and softer
springs, but then you’ll lose that quasi
bread-van roofline, and look like a
hairdresser. So don’t.

Lambo Espada
// £130,000–£240,000
If you want a comfortable four-seater
Lambo (and let’s face it, who doesn’t?),
then the new Urus or a lightly dented
LM002 aren’t your only options. The
Giugiaro-designed Espada combines
typically bella proportions with a 4.0-litre

BUYER’S V12 for the ultimate family day out.

CHECKLIST Starting with 325bhp in 1968, the engine

became progressively more powerful
as Lamborghini brought us S1 (1968–1970),
1. Spotted a car Some patience
S2 (1970–1972) and S3 (1972–1978) models
you like? Visit required.
the forum at – 1,200 of them were built in total. Today,
v6clio.net, and 3. Ignition coils scarcity is an issue, (as is rust, a huge
the members prone to failing. thirst and frightening servicing costs) but
will tell you if it’s Check they’ve
a good ’un. been replaced if you can find one and look after it, the
recently. price should only head in one direction.
2. Sourcing
original parts 4. Cracks can
is an issue appear on
– ever since
RenaultSport
rear-quarter
panel bonding,
Jaguar XKR
sold its entire normally on // £16,000–£40,000
stock to make blue cars. New
way for the bodywork isn’t If you want something beautiful for next
Alpine project. cheap. to nothing, head to the XK8. If you’re
more concerned about the driver, the
2006 all-aluminium XKR was a huge leap
mini-supercar with questionable weight forward. Early Rs came with a 420bhp
distribution and zero driver aids that 4.2-litre s’charged V8, good for 0–62mph
forces you to think and adapt your in 4.9secs. We’d dig deep for the post-
driving style to survive. As an exercise in 2009 facelift, though, starting from
dynamics, it’s flawed, but its inimitability around £24k, for its hooligan 510bhp
ensures it’ll always be in demand. 5.0-litre s’charged V8 that tipped the
power/grip balance alarmingly in favour
One we found... of your right foot. You could go the
Mechanically original, 38k whole hog and shell out £50k for the
miles, £29k but resprayed in 550bhp XKR-S, but there’s only so much
pearlescent white. Sacrilege grunt you can use on the road. Either
or rare gem? Over to you... way, get your tyre fitter on speed dial.
 YS
HARRIS SA
digy
“Insert Pro ive
r
CD and d ”
like a loo n

HOT
HATCHES
1. A lot of STs have and 215lb ft. Look and black. The Pack added
BUYER’S had the official for a yellow badge. ST200 was only illuminated door sill
CHECKLIST Mountune power pastel grey. guards, gunmetal
upgrade, boosting 2. STs came in 18in alloys and red
output to 212bhp white, red, blue 3. The ST Style brake calipers.

Ford Fiesta ST // £8,000–£18,000
Best hot hatch of the past five years
The Ford Fiesta ST was one of those
rare machines that soared to the top of
its class the moment it arrived on the
scene, and remained one of the best
cars in the world throughout its entire
time on sale. After previous Fiestas
spawned lacklustre ‘performance’
flagships, the ’13–’17 ST put Ford back
at the peak of the fast supermini pile.
And frankly, it didn’t rock up
looking all that promising. Ford threw
a body-coloured diffuser, a few ST
badges and an alloy gearknob at the
ST – you had to get inside one to
appreciate the superbly supportive,
heated Recaro buckets, and the
slickness of the controls. And the
power on tap seemed under-the-
Firm ride, grandpa
weather too: Ford claimed 179bhp,
while the Clio RenaultSport, Peugeot
208 GTI and VW Polo GTI all knocked
on the door of 200bhp.
Thing is, Ford’s burbly, torque-rich
1.6-litre turbo had a secret. For up to
20 seconds under full throttle, it could
overboost, sending 197bhp to the front
wheels, to be tackled by electronics
rather than a proper limited-slip diff.
Not to worry. The Fiesta ST puts its
power down cleanly, and exactly when
are you on the loud pedal for more than
20secs at a time? The ST was every bit
as quick as its continental quarry.
As a result, the ST outsold the
paddleshift Clio RS by 10 to one, so
you’ve got oodles to choose from.
HOT HATCHES
It also means the faults are
well-known. The illuminated sill
plates on ST2 and ST3 models often
fail, thanks to a weak wiring loom.
Cars built after September 2014 have
this warrantied for three years, rather
than just one. The Sony DAB unit is
known to drop digital signal too – the
only solution is to have a new radio
fitted. Ensure the clutch has a healthy
spring-back, or that’s a sign the slave
cylinder is on its way out.
One we found...
A 2013 ST2 with 46,000 miles.
It’s unmodified, and has
a full Ford main dealer
service history. Under £10k.
TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 087
 VW Golf GTI MkV // £4,000–£11,000
It’s the best GTI of the bunch Er, not a lot. Ubiquity, maybe?
Like the Fiesta ST the MkV GTI that’d been missing from GTIs
followed a run of flops wearing the for decades.
same badge. It also looked quite subtle, But for techier soft/medium/hard
and the power was nothing to write dampers and crisp touchscreens, today’s
home about, though you might have MkVII Golf GTI looks, feels and drives
considered a strongly worded note pretty much identically to the template-
to Wolfsburg asking why the latest setting MkV. VW knows it got this icon
hot Golf was outgunned by the likes absolutely spot-on. The 2.0-litre turbo
of the Megane RenaultSport 225 and motor here may only develop a Fiesta
original Ford Focus RS. ST-sized 197bhp, but it’s done so with a
And then we drove it, and it was
roast hat for breakfast, lunch and
dinner with a side of hat. Because,
back at last, was the true spirit of BUYER’S
the Golf GTI – pace, chuckability, CHECKLIST
urgency you could enjoy on a
mini-roundabout, all wrapped up 1. From 2006, sorted by
in the tastefully classless and solid 1500 Edition 30 replacing
special GTIs the PCV or
package of the sensible Golf. Plus, came to the UK. diverter valve.
retro touches like the grille lipstick, Spot them by
mottled gearlever (Volkswagen’s multispoke 18in 3. Apart from
alloys, a subtle the front
first DSG automatic was an option)
body kit and a wheelarches,
and iconic tartan seats (instead useful 30bhp rust isn’t a MkV
of pricier, saggier leather) gave power bump. GTI bugbear,
the MkV the attention to detail but dodgy
2. Known door locks are,
niggles so if they start
include leaky playing up, get
radiators and them looked
a lack of turbo at before
boost, usually they jam.
088 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 › TO P G E A R . C O M
HARRIS SA
Y S
“Still look
s fresh
lag-free linearity today. Th
that’s freakish for complete e
all
a product that rounder” -
predates the
invention of Facebook
and The X Factor.
Ahh, simpler times.
You could be tempted by the R32
MkV, which crammed four-wheel drive
and a 3.2-litre V6 into the Golf, but
missing turbo torque and gaining great
gobs of weight means it’s nowhere
near as satisfying as (and barely any
quicker than) the cheaper to buy and
run GTI. This thing was a roaring
success, so there are plenty around in
good nick to choose from and ready
to use every day – with modern
classic status already assured.
One we found...
A red, 5dr manual with 18in
alloys, 68,000 miles, and a
full service history. A very
tidy example for £7,000.

Skoda Fabia vRS
// £1,500–£7,500
Remember when politicians reckoned
diesel was the answer to global
warming and world peace, about,
ooh, five minutes ago? Skoda
harnessed the mid-Noughties’ desire
for dervs to bring us a real oddity: a
diesel hot hatchback. The first Fabia
vRS was powered by a 1.9-litre TDI with
only 128bhp, but its massive 230lb ft
gave it in-gear urgency that’d keep
a BMW M3 honest back in the day.
And, when you’d finished surging
along A-roads, the punchy Fabia
could return over 60mpg if you were
threadbare with the throttle, while tax
was half that of, say, a Mini Cooper S.
Renault 5 GT Turbo
// £10,000–£15,000
Nowadays, all hot hatchbacks are
turbocharged, so it takes some
imagination to picture just how
outrageous the hot Renault 5 must’ve
seemed in 1985, when it crammed a
1.4-litre engine with a Garrett turbo
into its wedgy shell. Power output
of 115bhp, a massive 121lb ft and
just 835kg to push along gave the
power-to-weight ratio of a modern
Lotus Elise, and although the
contemporary Peugeot 205 GTI
had a sweeter-handling reputation,
the Renault’s relative sledgehammer
performance made it a second
quicker 0–62mph.
HOT HATCHES
Ford Racing Puma // £9k–£20k
Gorgeous buxom stance and styling Supercar running costs
Brace yourself. Only the brave need Brakes need rebuilding every 3,000
read on. The rest of you just amuse miles, and the suspension is no longer
yourselves ogling the Racing Puma’s available so if that goes, you’ll need an
spot-on widebody stance and feline all-new set-up on all four corners. A rear
features. Pretty, isn’t it? And rare too, bumper is £600, and the front splitter
with only 500 ever built, exclusively for is £1,000. You can get two raggedy
British customers. It doesn’t have any standard Pumas for the same cash.
racing pedigree, but it’s gorgeous, rare And yet… the Racing Puma handles
and, effectively, a lower, more powerful like a properly grown-up hot hatch, and
version of one of the cars that cemented though its 153bhp isn’t rampant, it’s a
Ford’s reputation for spectacular- very sweetly balanced and enjoyable to
handling workaday cars in the late thrash coupe-hot-hatch oddity. Only
Nineties and early Noughties. So, you true enthusiasts need apply, though.
might be tempted by the FRP.
The Racing Puma’s inflated One we found...
bodywork, Alcon brakes, Eibach/Sachs You’d rather just buy a
springs and dampers and even the cam good’un than do all the work
belt for the 7,000rpm Yamaha engine all yourself, right? A 35k-mile
need regular attention, like a racecar. FRP minter is £19,500…
This means running one of these things
can get ruinously expensive.
All Pumas are susceptible to rust
around the wheelarches. The FRP
BUYER’S
suffers more because its wider panels
CHECKLIST
are welded to the original Puma
bodywork, hiding the vulnerable inner 1. The arches. Another £200,
panels and tell-tale bubbling. Get it Yes, it’s the please.
obvious one
fixed by a friendly welder and you can with Pumas, 3. The gearshift
spend £750 per side; get proper parts but boy are is world-class.
and you could spend £5,000 fixing both. you in trouble If your test drive
if rust attacks. feels notchy
or baulky,
2. The blue walk away.
Alcantara for
the steering 4. Around 80
wheel costs of the 500 cars
£250 per had an extra
metre. limited-slip
Want your differential.
steering wheel It’s very
retrimmed? desirable.
TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 089
 LUXURY HARRIS
S
“Basic AYS
a
VW Ph lly a
a
in a gy eton
m slip”

090 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 › TO P G E A R . C O M

Bentley
Continental GT
// £19,000–£70,000 (2003–2011)
W12 thrust, everyday usability, it’s a Bentley
Smell of overpriced cigars, complicated electrics
When it launched in 2003, the Continental GT didn’t have many
rivals. Oh, there were saloon-based two-doors like the Merc
CL600, and there were minority-interest 2+2 supercars from the
likes of Ferrari and Aston. But as a fabulously swish-looking,
opulent-feeling and seriously swift means to do the daily duties of
an actual normal car, the Conti GT absolutely hit a sweet spot.
And the market responded. So don’t snap up the first one
you alight upon, because there’s plenty of choice out there.
The W12 thrusts like something on LHR Runway 2, but it’s all
neatly contained by a robust six-speed auto ’box and four-wheel
drive. The adaptive air suspension covers most daily-driving bases
too. Soon a popular Mulliner spec came along with bigger wheels
and racier cabin cosmetics. The GTC cabrio arrived in 2007.
For 2008, the chassis was lightened and sharpened, adding a
small but useful dose of involvement. The GT Speed got more poke
and a significant extra firming of the chassis. The same occurred
to the GTC range in ’09. A more significant step came with the
Supersports. Those changes and more were built into the second-
gen models from 2011. The V8 engine choice came a year after.
That was gorgeously woofly and significantly less dipso than the
W12, yet almost as powerful. Its chassis felt better-balanced too.
No wonder they’ve since been the majority of UK sales.
Two things are almost too obvious to say, but they should
steer your decision-making. First, as it’s a VW Group machine,
its engineering is all-but-overdone to be tough over big mileages if
serviced diligently. But second, it has a vastly complex electronic
nervous system, and in the early cars those wires and ECUs are
now a decade-and-a-half old.
Specialist Simon Worthington of Phantom Motor Cars says
it’s best to go for a post-07 car. With
50k miles it’ll be £30k, warranted. The
bodies are durable, he says, though on
older ones it’s worth getting them on a BUYER’S
ramp and checking for rust in the main CHECKLIST
rear floor seam. Worse, if the drain
holes ahead of the bulkhead block,
1 Make sure any
water can eventually pool up and GT has been
drown the main fusebox causing total looked after
electrical mayhem. Check for evidence. regularly by
main dealers
The underbonnet is famously or known
overcrowded, which means a front-end- specialists with
off powertrain-out job (using a special the right tools.
jacking platform) to replace the starter
2 There are
motor or turbo. Eek. dozens of
ECUs, and they
One we found... draw power,
even when the
£30,000 for a 2004 W12 – yes, car’s parked.
it has an old, boring black Early ones
cabin, but also just 34,000 would drain
miles and is from a well-
known specialist.
LUXURY
Rolls-Royce
Phantom
// £85,000–£160,000
A sense of complete superiority
Looks have aged well, tech not so much
“You can drive a Phantom hard, but you just wouldn’t,”
says Christoff Cowens, of high-end used dealer Vintage
& Prestige Classic Cars. Meaning: a secondhand Phantom
is hardly likely to have suffered the abuse routinely meted
out to turbo hot hatches.
To ride in a Phantom is to be borne along in isolation
from the rude cares of the world outside. To own one is
the same. It’s a very reliable and trustworthy machine.
The aluminium body is pretty much corrosion-proof,
the engine an unstressed n/a BMW V12, the transmission
the stalwart ZF and the electrical architecture standard
BMW stuff. So an expert will often find you good-value
BMW-boxed mechanical and electrical parts.
A car that’s been maintained officially can qualify for
Provenance, R-R’s approved used scheme. Worth it, as it
includes two years’ warranty and servicing.
Owning a Phantom is perhaps the sign that you’ve
the battery
enough to arrived in life. But you still need to know where you’re
throw up a going. Cowens says the main “fault” isn’t a matter of
barrage of reliability but an intrinsic issue: “The early cars have a
fault codes,
needing a 2003 satnav and it’s just very poor.” The minor upgrade
proper dealer in 2009 did little to help. So he recommends the post-’12
system to series II cars, which got infotainment actually designed
reset.
in this century, along with adaptive LED headlamps in
3 There’s been the facelifted front end and an eight-speed autobox.
more than one
recall for faulty One we found...
ignition coils.
Check that’s A 2009 Standard wheelbase with 51,000
done, or it’s miles for £110k. Pre-facelift but still in the
a fire risk. Provenance scheme: two years’ warranty
and servicing included.
TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 091
 LUXURY
Ferrari FF // £130,000–£230,000
The only Ferrari for demolishing snowy wastelands
Depreciation is black-run steep. Let someone else take the hit
The usable V12 Ferrari, of course,
decried for bread-van styling and
4WD. Have those detractors never
seen one? Or more important,
driven one? Evidently not.
Obviously its mechanicals need
regular maintenance, but actually
only the four-wheel-drive system
is unique – the rest is proven on
other Ferrari models. Anyway, new
Ferraris registered after February
2011 came with both a four-year
warranty and (near-) all-inclusive
seven-year unlimited-miles
maintenance programme,
AYS
HARRIS S
te rc o n tinental,
“In d van.
V12 brea four-
Genuine r”
seate
092 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 › TO P G E A R . C O M
transferable to later owners. And
as this means they’ll have stayed
in the network, it’s also possible to
extend powertrain and suspension
warranty to an almost unbelievable
15 years from new.
So, in the end, the biggest cost
by far with an FF will be the vast
depreciation. You seldom see an FF
that’s done more than 30,000 miles,
which means they’ve fallen £3 for
every mile driven. But the more you
drive, the more that cost defrays.
Another reason to buy this most
drivable of Ferraris.
VW Phaeton W12
// £3,000–£6,000 (V6 TDI)
What a piece of engineering. This was
Dr Piëch’s unlikely valedictory, going
toe-to-toe with the S-Class. On an
engineering level it succeeded. On a
branding and styling level, not so much.
Noted for air suspension and 4WD,
the drive was stately but secure. With
the long wheelbase, rear passengers
were indulged by space, silence,
smoothness and amazing cupholders.
The hardest part of buying one is
actually finding one. Only a dozen or so
W12s remain in the UK. Most Phaetons
were V6 TDI, some the V10 TDI, but if you
want luxury, it’s the W12 or nothing.
BMW 850
// £14,000–£38,000
The early 850i was criticised as being
a bit mute. But so was a Honda NSX.
These days we are better at enjoying
its suave nature. The design has aged
little – except the pop-up headlamps,
a period detail we can all get behind.
The 850CSi has a 5.6-litre engine
with an S prefix, so it was a BMW
M development, as was the sharper
suspension. All CSis were manuals.
The CSi also had active four-wheel
steering, if you really want to tax
your friendly spannerist.
It’s an old and complicated car, and
parts, especially trim parts, are scarce.

HARRIS S
AYS
n’t look
“Would e with
lac
out of p badge
le
an App onnet”
on the b
FAMILY CARS
t’s easy to forget how futuristic the BMW i3
I still is. Carbon-fibre construction, pillarless
coach doors, either battery-powered only or
an electric car supplemented by a two-cylinder
petrol range-extender generator.
Yes, the haphazard robot guinea pig styling
has scared off some flat-Earthers, but if you
can get past the challenging looks and range
conundrum (that’s what the range-extender
option is for), the i3 is a landmark EV. Chiefly
because it oozes desirability. The space
efficiency of its cabin, its materials, plus its
effortless turn of pace and sorted chassis… it’s
got an answer for everything. No longer are
EVs whiney, city-confined fibre-glass oddities.
Used i3s are now half price, starting from
£15k. Though the cabin won’t have the great
slabs of wood reserved for the Loft design
I M AG E : R OWA N H O R N C A S T L E
model or the most intricate alloys, the core
brilliance of the i3 – and its 100-mile real-
world range – remains. Range-extender
versions will get you 160 miles in total, but
you’re always in the comforting catchment
area of a fuel station.
Now, time was that a boxy MPV was the
four-wheeled sign of a lack of petrol in your
veins. Now, generic crossovers occupy that
style vacuum. Meanwhile, a couple of
seven-seat vans with windows are teetering
into obscure classic status. Our picks for the
family that’s outgrown a standard hatch are
two of the more obscure members of the set.
In the avant-garde corner, the gigantic
Renault Espace. Our favourite is the
boxier-than-a-shipping-container-filled-with-
Rubik’s-cubes original, but they’re ultra-rare
£1k–
£7k
TO P G E A R . C O M
FAMILY
i3
BMW
k–£30k
£15
now. Anyhow, the huge third-gen Espace
is now safely into sub-£1k territory, a huge
amount of frumpy car for the money. But
given the new crossovery Espace isn’t built
in right-hand drive, the last of the Espaces
may be a future classic. Perhaps.
If you’d like your MPV as socially
unacceptable as possible, we must journey
back to a time when Vauxhall decided it should
VXR every model in its range. The Zafira
VXR attempted to transmit the wayward
Astra VXR’s 237bhp turbo nutter of an engine
through its front wheels, with predictable
results. Too uncomfortable to be an MPV, and
too tall to be a hot hatch, it’s not a car we’d
ever recommend. Except you can get ’em for
sub £4k now. And it might be impossible to
transport seven people faster for less.
£7k
£4k–
› FEBRUARY 201 8 093
JDM
 JDM*
Remember when Japanese performance cars
were the thing? Movie and video game fame
in the late Nineties and early Noughties
lifted the highly turbocharged produce
of the Far East into the stratosphere.
One of the greatest examples of the
breed is the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution,
especially in its ninth generation. The IX
got a whole new engine over the VIII, and
is the last of the truly thrilling Evos before
the curiously mainstream X came along.
The one to buy is this Evo IX MR
FQ-360 by HKS. Forget what a mouthful
its name is – this is an appreciating classic.
AYS “They’re the ultimate for value and are
HARRIS S
your becoming highly sought after; their prices
“Indulge mmi have doubled in the last five years,” says
inner To orth Chris Marshall of Evo experts Auto Torque.
.W
Mäkinen turn-in
Given the tunability of their engines,
though, any Evo IX can be made to a similar
it for the e” spec. Or more powerful, if you wish. The
alon car will average 20mpg in standard form,
so you’re hardly taking the knife to light
running costs if you want more bhp. While
we’re on the subject, a standard service is
£360 and you’ll need one every 4,500 miles
or six months. “We see some cars three
times a year,” says Chris.
Every 45,000 miles/five years you’ll need
a cambelt, which is another £360, while
an inevitable failure on every generation
of Evo is its active-yaw-control pump.
Mitsubishi’s official part costs £2,000, but
Auto Torque will fit a refurbished pump for
half that. So it won’t be a bargain to run.
But it can be a bargain to buy; Evo IXs start
at £13,000 and rise to £25,000 for a really
nice HKS special. It’s a hugely exciting,
capable and genuinely practical car for the
same money as a boring new crossover.
Of course, the biggest plotline of the
Japanese performance car’s heyday was the
I M AG E : G E T T Y, R E X
war between the Evo and its arch nemesis,
the Subaru Impreza. Their rivalry on the
rally stages made it onto the street, and
barely a month passed without a newer,
harder-cored version of either being
*It means Japanese
Domestic Market
launched. So if the Evo doesn’t quite float
your boat, there are a ton of different
Imprezas. And they’re even better value.
As little as £3,000 can buy you a classic
Impreza Turbo in decent nick. It’s hard to
know how you could (legally) have any
more fun for such money. Of course, there
are myriad special editions, right up to the
exceptional, rally-inspired 22B that’s
heading towards £100k. Seriously.
Perhaps the best value of the lot is the
RB5, though. Widely regarded as one of the
finest Imprezas to drive, it also comes with
special edition status (444 made) and an
explicit link to British icon Richard Burns.
You can find them for as little as £4k, while
meticulously kept, concours-spec stuff tops
£10,000. Which represents a bargain.
Again, we’re looking at mpg in the low
20s and frequent servicing, though every
6,000 miles or 12 months won’t quite be as
crippling as the Evo, and a minor service is
£150 (major services are £500). Watch out
for rust bubbling at the rear arches, and as
with any car in this genre, your greatest
challenge may simply be finding a smart,
unmodified example.
For the Toyota Supra, that could
feel like happening upon Lord Lucan.
Already an eminently tunable motor car,
the Fast and Furious franchise and the
exploits of 200mph-chasing Smokey
Nagata have only galvanised this car’s
appeal in the modifying community.
It still looks exotic from the outside,
but it’s a bit squishy and American inside.
Until the turbos spool up, it’s not the
sharpest to drive, either. But when they
do – dear God, you’d better be hanging on
tight. Fuel economy will be similar to the
Evo and Impreza, while a typical service
is £500. Standard cars can go 6,000 miles
between services; halve that for a seriously
modified Supra. But for living life a quarter-
mile at a time, there won’t be a lot else like
it. Especially not for the £20,000 or so
you’ll likely pay for a good one.
TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 095
096 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 › TO P G E A R . C O M
 SUPERCARS

HARRIS SAY
S
“Watch on
waft past s e
ilentl
and tell me y
it’s not coo
l”

BMW i8 // £58,000–£90,000
Fours years on and still in a class of one Tiny fuel tank, frequent stops

Early adopters tend to have a few
quid in the bank, a fiscal cushion
that smooths the transition to new
technology before the rest of us pile
in. Factor in the immutable truth
that few things date as surely as a
carmaker’s vision of the future, and
that’s the i8 conundrum in a carbon-
fibre nutshell. But how does £58k and
39k miles sound? Better, huh?
BMW’s billion-pound venture
into hybridised high-performance
has proven neither the folly some
predicted or the game-changer the
company hoped. Four years into its
life – Jeez, that went quickly – we’d
argue that Benoit Jacob’s exterior
design has lost precisely none of
its capacity to dazzle, even if the
dihedral doors and chunky sills
make dignified entry and egress
I M AG E : J O H N W YC H E R L E Y
including the windscreen – the pulsing Needless to say, you haven’t a snowball’s
blue glow of its instruments, and that of getting near that in the real world,
spooky near-silence on start-up which but an overall average of 40mpg is
is characteristic of all EVs. realistic, and 50 achievable if you meter
It’s a seductive experience, your right foot carefully on motorway
especially in urban areas, as is the runs and stick to EcoPro mode (the i8
promise of 134mpg and 49 CO2s. defaults to less holy Comfort mode).
Then there’s the way it goes. For all
its synthetic qualities, the powertrain
– 1.5-litre, 228bhp turbo’d triple with
BUYER’S integrated e-motor making an
CHECKLIST additional 129bhp, and 420 torques
overall – is as characterful as any
conventional atmospheric ICE we
1. The i8’s 7.1kWh 2. A 42-litre
battery has an fuel tank can think of, short of a Ferrari V12.
eight-year means many Its relative lack of mass (1,535kg)
warranty, or up forecourt and the internals’ lowered centre of
to 100k miles, visitations.
which eases gravity are also palpable. Yes, an R8
the worry 3. Despite the or 911 are more old-school fun, but
about cost of lightweight the i8 is… brainy with it.
replacement materials,
if not the i8 owners

impossible. Once you’re ensconced, inevitable report no One we found...

the i8 defies the odds to still feel concern about problems Heady days. Early i8s,
genuinely futuristic. Either BMW long-term EV with interior showing circa 20k miles,
obsolescence. squeaks or
got it bang-on, or everyone else BMW quotes rattles on are now typically £58,000–
is dragging their heels. It £8k for a higher- £65,000. The cheapest we
communicates its mission via new battery. mileage cars. found was £57,995 with
purposely thinner materials – 39,000 miles.

TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 097


Porsche
Carrera GT
// £550,000–£650,000
Back when hypercars were scary
Stalling in front of your fans
This is a very Harris kind of motor, not
least because you need supernatural
car control and titanium-plated cojones
to get the best out of it. We know of
one ex-owner – a highly accomplished
endurance racing driver – who suffered
oil surge as his CGT crested Eau Rouge
at Spa, lost it, and somehow managed
not to have an enormous shunt. He may
still be suffering PTSD, though. Then
there was the journalist who booted it
on a – dry – autobahn on-ramp, and
was less fortunate.
The CGT rose Phoenix-like
from various Porsche competition
programmes rooted in Weissach’s
Eighties F1 adventures, which
surely accounts for its addictively
unforgiving character. Its race-bred
n/a 68º V10 gained bigger pistons
and grew 200cc to 5.7 litres, and
was harnessed to a six-speed manual
whose carbon clutch was a mere 6.65
inches in diameter and had an action
so savage it made an alligator look
like a sloth with lock-jaw. (The trick
is to release the clutch fully before
applying any throttle.) The CGT
also did without stability control.
BUYER’S
CHECKLIST
098 FEBRUARY 201 8 › TO P G E A R . C O M
HARRIS SAYS
“Basically a Le
Mans racer with
plates. Should
be £1.5m. Sell
the kids”
Part of the early Noughties hypercar
wave that also brought us the Ferrari
Enzo, McMerc SLR and the Pagani
Zonda, the CGT’s 612bhp might look a
little sub-par 14 years on, in light of the
horsepower escalation war. But typically,
Porsche was on the money. It weighs just
1,250kg – the carbon monocoque is only
100kg – and its throttle sensitivity and
thunderous appetite for revs elevates it
above its peers, then and now. A Porsche,
with F1/LMP1 tech pumping through its
veins, powered by a nat-asp V10 hooked
up to a 6spd manual gearbox? This is
a no-brainer, surely. Added to which,
in a world gone mad when it comes to
Porsche values – the 911R is making
£350–400k, the 4.0-litre n/a GT3 RS
anywhere between £350 and £500k
– perhaps £600k for a Carrera GT
represents, gulp, value for money.
But the initial outlay is just the start…
One we found...
Porsche made 1270 CGTs, not
all of which have survived...
Most are POA but reckon
on £600k–650k. We found a
10k-mile car for £549,990.
I M AG E : J O H N W YC H E R L E Y
1. There’s only driver should get blooded racecar, 3. The gearknob is
a 3mm margin 40k miles out of it. with parts and made of birch – it’s
between a new servicing costs lighter and cooler
and worn out clutch 2. The CGT is to match. New (in both senses)
and a sympathetic effectively a full- engine: £193,592. than aluminium.
 SUPERCARS

Ferrari 456 GT
// £40,000–£90,000
Who can resist the siren call of a
Ferrari V12? The 456 GT is the cheapest
way into a V12 Fezza, and we found one
for £39,995. Does it come with a health
warning? TG’s tame marque expert
Roberto Grimaldi thinks not. “The V12 is
actually a very robust unit. Yes, there’s
more of everything to stay on top of,
but if it’s been maintained properly, it
shouldn’t bankrupt you. The problems
start when the short list of niggly issues
becomes a long list.” Leaking rear shock
absorbers, airbag ECUs, and faulty
cabin electrics all fall into that category.
And parts can be eye-watering.

Audi R8 V8 manual
// £37,000–£65,000
You forgot that the original R8 arrived
with a 4.2-litre V8 and a gated 6spd
manual ’box, didn’t you? It remains one
of the loveliest cars Audi has ever made:
as well as featuring all the trad build
quality virtues, the R8 managed to ride
and steer with the suppleness and
nuance of an enlarged Lotus Elise.
Watch for leaks on the magnetic
dampers, which cost around £600 per
corner to replace. The front brakes can
warp. R8s drink a lot of oil (a litre per 1k
miles). And that swoopy nose is prone to
stone chips, so make sure corrective
cosmetic work has been done properly.

Honda NSX
// £40,000–£90,000
Birthed in the era when Honda ruled
F1 and had Ayrton Senna on speed
dial, the NSX still shines technologically.
The chassis, suspension and seat
frames are all in aluminium, as is the
block in that evergreen 272bhp, 3.0-
litre V6, which punches hard to the
8,000rpm red line. Feted at the time
as the ‘friendly’ supercar, this meant
it started first time, and its gearbox oil
didn’t need an aeon to warm up. But
unless you’re possessed with the spirit
of Senna, beware the NSX’s propensity
for snap oversteer. Eats rear tyres, but
otherwise cost-effective.

TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 099

 WO R DS: O L L I E M A R R I AG E /
P H OTO G R A P H Y: M A R K R I CCI O N I

10 0 FEBRUARY 201 8 › TO P G E A R . C O M
 A Land Rover Discovery,
an Ariel Nomad, a snowy
mountain and... the key
to a barrier. Only in a
perfect world...

TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 101

 The key to a mountain.
I kid you not. I have it in my
hand. I’m standing outside
a nondescript building in
an ordinary town and
I have a bemused
expression on my face.
The actual key to a mountain? It looks more like a tool, with a triangular
indentation cut in one end. Two minutes ago a man opened his desk
drawer, handed it over with a shrugged “Voila, c’est tout”, and then I found
myself back on the pavement, clutching, well, something rather amazing.
The mountain is Mont Ventoux. You might be familiar with it, you
might know some French and be able to work out its name has something
to do with wind. You might like your cycling and know something of its
reputation as a savagely difficult Tour de France climb. Locally it’s known
as the Giant of Provence, a barren limestone peak that sits alone above the
plains of the Luberon, summit punching up through the vegetation, way
above the tree line. Winds hit 200mph here, snow and sudden storms
occur year round. They close it in winter, lock it away behind a barrier.
A barrier to which I now have a key.
Where did this start? With wanting to give the Ariel Nomad an
adventure. It’s done mud, grass, tarmac, gravel, but not snow. I like snow.
But what’s the point in taking it to a ski resort? Where’s the jeopardy in
that, the remoteness, the adventure?
Yes, I know. I towed the Nomad out here so I’m a wuss. It wasn’t the
plan. I wanted to drive out here solo. But I also wanted to bring my bike
and skis, and knowing how quickly conditions can change on Ventoux,
I’d need spares: spiked tyres, a shovel, spare battery, oil, tools, a jack,
straps to attach it all. Ariel went so far as to design, engineer and build a
roofrack so I could carry everything. It’s now on the Nomad’s options list.
And then I remembered I’d need to take a photographer to document
what I was up to and – ah – a film would be good too. So plans changed.
We have a Land Rover Discovery 5 on the TG Garage fleet. It’s not yet
had the chance to properly show what it can do, to prove that despite
its new-found luxe, it can still walk the walk when put under pressure,
can do things that would stop an Audi Q7 or Volvo XC90 in its tracks.
10 2 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 › TO P G E A R . C O M
Plus, it has a flashy electric towbar. A phone call to Brian James
Trailers followed. Hooking the A4 Transporter trailer up was a cinch
(thank you, rear-view camera), the Nomad’s aerial was tie-wrapped
down and its cabin loaded with all the overflow that wouldn’t fit in
the Disco. Concerned about light-fingered sorts at French service stations,
the trailer is covered with padlocks. At the Eurotunnel, I stopped and paced
the rig out – about 33 feet long and probably up over the four-tonne mark.
France passes. It does so very, very easily. The Disco hums along,
tows as smoothly as butter, is delightfully unaffected by standing water
or crosswinds. I’m getting a massage and subjecting my passengers,
Mark and James, to Desert Island Discs, while they’re stabbing at
laptops. I’m piloting a mobile office suite. I’m also barely aware of
how hard the Disco is working, until a glance at the notoriously
optimistic trip computer shows we’re averaging 21.5mpg. My maths is
more accurate than Land Rovers: 19.3mpg.
Six hundred and fifty miles later, I’ve collected the key from the
Vaucluse roads department in Carpentras and we’re off to have a look
at what we’ve let ourselves in for. We saw Ventoux from the motorway,
I pointed it out to the guys and it looked innocuous – there was barely a
grunt from the underwhelmed laptop-tappers. Not so much now. It’s
dark on Ventoux, the temperature is dropping steadily and the trees are
swaying ever more vigorously as we climb. It’s pitch black, slow-going and
what was I saying about crosswinds? The Disco appears to have knock-
knees it’s trembling so badly. But so are the rest of us. Still in mild
disbelief, I want to check the key works, but at Chalet Reynard, the famous
halfway point, where the trees start to thin and the scalp of the mountain
emerges, the howling, shrieking wind and minus double-digits dash
display means I settle for just pointing the headlights up the next pitch.
Yep, I don’t need to experience the full force of Ventoux just yet.
 1
2 3

Let’s call this the calm before the storm. 1) Early morning and the almost surprising
discovery that the key does indeed fit the gate. 2) If the snow had been deeper,
Ollie would have loved to find out how the Nomad behaved on spiked WRC tyres,
but they’d have ripped the tarmac to shreds. 3) The Nomad’s cabin. Not the last
word in weather protection, even wearing its new roofrack. 4) Disco has an 85-litre
fuel tank. That means a lot of time spent standing on cold, windy French autoroute
forecourts. 5) Ollie puts his head in the reversing camera’s target area. It fails to
turn green. Disappointing.

TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 103

 Videographer gets ready
for his last ever shot: the
moment Sauron’s eye opens

10 4 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 › TO P G E A R . C O M

“THE TYRES HAVE GRIP
AND TRACTION, BUT NOT
TOO MUCH. PERFECT”
Thoroughly chastened, we retreat to lower climes and a warm,
welcoming bed. Tomorrow’s mission is the summit, and it’s currently
looking a long way off. I want to stand on the Nomad’s roofrack,
next to the signpost that reads ‘sommet’, while the sky treats us to
a sunset spectacle and we survey our achievement. I also want to
plant a cheeky Union flag up there.
In the finest traditions of British explorers, it’s the first thing I
gaffer tape to the Nomad the next morning: the pièce de résistance –
if the French understand that sort of thing. We’re up beyond Chalet
Reynard, nosed up to the barrier and haven’t seen another car or sign
of life. We’ve made it this far at least. Beyond, just one set of tracks
pressed into the snow lead off into the dark. I’m dressed in about
five layers, from thermals at the bottom to my survival suit up
top. One of the middle layers is heated. Oh yes. I also have heated
insoles in my shoes and heated gloves. I’ve no idea how I’m going
to change the battery pack when it inevitably runs out.
Nomad up Ventoux
Ratchet straps are removed, shovel and skis join bike and spiked
tyres on the Nomad. I’m hoping not to have to do any tyre swaps
as that would be an enormous hassle, but if I can find an excuse to
unload bike or skis, I’ll take it. The Nomad’s 2.4-litre fires up first
time. Anticipation builds. Full of excitement, I bound across to
the barrier like Neil Armstrong, the key slots in exactly where I’d
been promised, the screw turns and, with a heave of protesting
metal, the barrier rises. Beyond, a playground.
Trailer abandoned in a convenient lay-by, the Discovery now becomes
the photography platform-cum-survival cell, and the Nomad, well, it has
a mountain to play on. I literally cannot conceive of anything better for
either it or me to be doing. Ever.
I nudge forward through the gateway to paradise. The tyres bite into
three inches of pristine snow. They have grip and traction, but not too
much. Perfect. The sun is just rising into a narrow gap between distant
mountains and a low, scudding cloud layer. The light is astonishing.
TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 105
 Nomad up Ventoux

WE HAD SOME HELP...

Driving the Nomad to the summit
of a mountain is a simple story.
Putting it together wasn’t. So in no
particular order, thank you Brian
James Trailers (brianjames.co.uk),
Keis heated clothing (keisapparel.
co.uk), Eurotunnel (eurotunnel.
com), Thule (thule.com) and Zhik
sailing equipment (zhik.com) for
all their help and assistance. And
above all, to the Département de
Vaucluse (vaucluse.fr) for letting
me have the key to Mont Ventoux.

10 6 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 › TO P G E A R . C O M
Photographers like light. We make it about a hundred yards before the
radio latched to my collar chirrups into life. Even I agree we need to
capture this for posterity.
Earlier, while chomping sleepily on breakfast, I’d had an attack of
the health and safeties. Conditions will be hostile, I’d reminded Mark
and James, we need to keep three seats clear in the Disco at all times,
keep the engine running permanently, the heated seats and steering
wheel on, the four-wheel-drive system in Snow mode. The Discovery
will be our sanctuary, our place of refuge should all go tits up and the
Nomad gets blown off the side of the mountain. Or more likely, driven,
given the numpty at the wheel.
But as we look east at the rising sun, bathe in the soft orange light,
that all seems a long way off. West? We can’t see west, it’s lost in cloud.
The cloud conceals horrors. It’s like a different world. The visibility
closes right down, the light disappears, we’re in the Upside Down,
suspended in a world of white, the marker posts our only positioning
beacons. And then the wind. It’s modest at first, a couple of gusts
that sweep straight through the Nomad’s frame, snapping the flag to
attention, making the Ariel lean on its springs and me duck my chin
into the high collar.
But Ventoux is only just getting started. The road begins to rise more
steeply, up towards 10 per cent, the snow has drifted so we’re now
lurching over ridges; wheelspin, which I’d relished at lower altitudes, is
now a harbinger of vital momentum running out. Behind, the towering
form of the Disco is doing a passable Pisa impression. But it looks steady,
the concerned parent to the Nomad’s impetuous child.
TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 107
1

2 3

1. Disco pauses just below the military tower at the summit. Apparently it’s
permanently manned. We knocked on the door. All we got were echoes. 2. Sun and
engine heat melted the snow – it dripped and refroze as icicles. 3. We took many
tools. One of them was not a six-foot-long ice-scraper. Light stand and sponge
did the job. 4. Drive a car with no doors and no roof through loose snow and what
precisely did you think would happen, Ollie? 5. Windblown snow has a hard crust,
but stays light and powdery underneath. At this point the Nomad was resting
on its belly – but there was still 8–10 inches of snow under the back wheels.

“WE TAKE IT IN SHIFTS

TO DIG SNOW OUT
FROM UNDER THE
NOMAD’S BELLY”

The wind rises to a roar, the tightened seatbelts vibrate on my chest,
in the best possible advert for gaffer tape the flag fails to take flight,
but leans over to angles I’ve never seen when driving on a motorway.
For several minutes, I nudge onwards, following the domino line of
posts, noticing the hoar frost that’s built up on them, realising I’ve
lost feeling in a couple of fingers. I drive one-handed, clenching and
unclenching the other, then a low wall appears ahead – I know where
I am now, the Col des Tempêtes, renowned as the fiercest place on the
whole mountain. And not far below the summit.
But I’ve made a mistake. I haven’t kept watch on the Nomad’s dash.
The heated windscreen light has gone out. Unnoticed by me, a misting
frost has started to take hold and on the last climb I have to resort to
driving with my head out the side. The windscreen offered protection,
but now I have none and the goggles are nearly ripped off my face – but
I’m nearly there. The final hairpin. Sheet ice. 25 per cent gradient. Not
going to make that. Take the lower road.
Five seconds later, only ten metres below the summit, I’m stuck
fast. The Nomad’s light front wheels rode up over a snow bank, the
rears did the same on the hardened crust for a metre or two, and then
fell through. Thank God I brought the shovel. I also have a winch of
course, but I’m cold and need to warm up.
The three of us take it in shifts to dig snow out from under the
Nomad’s belly. We dig, we rock the car, we make an inch of progress.
During this 20-minute interlude I become aware of a fourth figure
lending a hand. It’s a runner. A chap who’s just run up the mountain.
I repeat myself through disbelief. We’re having a chat and over his
shoulder I spot a cyclist, a bloke on a sodding mountain bike. I thought
we were the only daredevils on this mountain. My puffed chest has
been punctured. Nevertheless, extra assistance helps us wrest the
Nomad free, risk the ice and acquire the summit in short order.
Is the scale of achievement diminished? Not at all. The wind and
temperature might strip other things away, but they also bond our
Nomad up Ventoux
hardy band. We do something we almost never do on shoots – take a
team photo. I construct a homemade scraper and clean the sign off.
“Sommet du Ventoux, 1909 metres,” it says. Yep, that feels like an
achievement. With two Frenchmen huddled in an alcove of the giant
military radar tower that forms Ventoux’s pinnacle, I resist the urge to
hammer the flag in and claim Mount Windy as sovereign British territory.
But if you stand around admiring your achievement too long, the cold
digs in, the mountain catches up with you. Isn’t Mallory thought to
have summited Everest and then died on his way down? We retrace our
steps to lower climes, the lighter, lower Nomad the more sure-footed at
tracking down these steep slopes. And from a safe haven several miles
away, we gaze back at the summit and notice something. The cloud is
thinning. We catch glimpses of tower between racing wisps.
But down here, it’s Pikes Peak. With snow. And I have the most
playful car on the planet. And I find I’m not interested in skis or bike
when I have an hydraulic handbrake, long-travel Fox dampers and
235bhp through the rear wheels. And this snow-covered road… wide,
open curving uphill corners, hairpins, soft snow banks. Bring. It. On.
Ice hangs from the number plate, sheathes the suspension arms,
fills the undertray. The cabin is dusted with snow. But the Nomad
never misses a beat, its appetite, its relish for these conditions is like
nothing I’ve experienced before. Pure childish wonder and joy.
Meanwhile the Discovery genuinely impresses me. The confidence
it inspires, the ability it has whether towing or pushing through
snowdrifts was something I feared had died with the Disco 4.
It hasn’t. The veneer of luxe cloaks a tough tool.
Several hours of photographic ‘work’ follow, and when I’ve had
my fill of fun I drive more gently, respectfully back to the summit
and watch the sun drop slowly through a haze of clouds into a distant
horizon out beyond the southern coast of France. I stand on the Nomad’s
roofrack, hold the flag steady and pat the key in my pocket. Might forget
to drop that off on my way home.
TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 109
 WRC Impreza

(NOT) LOST IN

11 0 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 › TO P G E A R . C O M
TRANSLATION
WO R DS: ST EPH EN D O B I E / P H OTO G R A P H Y: M A R K R I CCI O N I

Friday evening gridlock in the middle of Tokyo is not

the place for a highly strung rally car, right? Wrong...

TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 111

 WRC Impreza

here’s no Sega Rally machine. I’m in Akihabara, Tokyo’s

famously geeky district that has street upon street of gaming

T merch shops and arcades. Some of them are seven storeys high
and wear big, neon Sega lights, but they seem to have omitted
the Sega game as far as we’re concerned.
Luckily, I’ve got a friend I can call. Junya Matsushita has
found mild Instagram fame for publishing pictures of his car. Objectively, it’s a
20-year-old Japanese saloon which was once the company car of a man called
Colin. Subjectively, it’s one of the most special rally cars of the modern era. It’s a
1998-vintage Subaru Impreza WRC car, and tonight it’s all mine. I don’t even have
to push a constant stream of Yen into a coin slot. 2
Now, I’ll admit it’s not a car Colin McRae took to any legendary victories. In
fact, he never rallied it: he tested this car (Prodrive chassis 31) but it entered just
one WRC event: New Zealand ’98, at the hands of Juha Kangas, where it retired.
The upside of its lack of success is that it didn’t have to be cleansed of podium
champagne before being shuffled off into a mollycoddled collection or a museum.
Instead, it’s lived a life. The decade that followed its low-key WRC career has seen
it compete in lots of European rallies, wearing numerous liveries, before being
bought by Junya in 2010 and shipped across to Japan from the Netherlands.
It arrived with a blown transmission from its final rally, and on top of sourcing
a new engine and gearbox, Junya has also had to go through a fair old rigmarole
getting it registered and legal to use in his homeland. “The cost so far will be
about the same as the used Ferrari F355,” he estimates.
Why all the effort? “I owned an Impreza 22B, and I loved it, but I disliked its
small wheelarches compared with a WRC car. But it was impossible to modify its
precious body. It was a dilemma common to many 22B owners in Japan. I gave up
on the 22B and started looking for a real WRC car.”
So when the special edition paying homage to a rally car isn’t dedicated
enough, buy the rally car. Apparently. But I don’t doubt his OTT mentality for
long. As we approach the Impreza I audibly gasp at how staggering it looks, all
squat on its heavily cambered wheels in the middle of Tokyo’s pedestrian gridlock.
I’d pay the cost of a Ferrari to have stance this good in my life, too.
Junya’s biggest modifications comprise painting it back in its rightful blue
(though without livery) and fitting the 320bhp 2.0-litre flat-four turbo and six-
speed manual gearbox from a Japanese market Impreza S204. Which actually
3
makes it more powerful than the original WRC car’s claimed figure…
The gearbox is a traditional three-pedal H-pattern transmission, so traffic
ought to be easy enough. There’s an inescapable motorsport vibe about
everything else, though. The doors open and shut with the hollow thinness of a 1 We’d been in the car
racecar. The rollcage dissects the aperture they leave, forcing me to recall the 30 seconds when this
Fosbury Flop from school PE in order to clamber in without injury. While it’s a happened. Thirty.
Nineties car – tiny pillars and loads of glass – there’s bugger-all visibility once 2 Think the roof scoop
looks cool now? Wait
you’re ratcheted into the bucket seat and realise how useless the wing mirrors are
until your ‘co-driver’
beyond their nerdy coolness and probable aero benefits.
opens its interior vents
After a brief discussion via Junya’s translation app to confirm if there are any
as you’re driving. Ace.
tricks to driving it (ignore the stage handbrake, basically, to my sadness), I engage 3 WRC Imprezas were
first gear via the slightly fragile clutch, pull around the run by British company
corner and make it all of 30ft before some very smartly Prodrive. This was #31’s
dressed policemen wave us to the side of the road with original plate in 1998.
their white-gloved hands. Junya has a long and seemingly 4 AP Racing brakes
stern discussion with them, and he’s even filling out forms. are in WRC tarmac
1
The thick end of Tokyo rush hour was never going to be the spec. Tiny pedal travel,
no feel, but they stop
most natural place to sample a WRC car, but this is turning
the Impreza dead
into a nightmare.
Yet what actually follows is a total dream. I can only
wish it’s a recurring one. Presuming Junya’s just paid an
inordinately large fine, I Google – then promptly practise
– the Japanese pronunciation of ‘sorry’. On my third
repetition of ‘Gomen’nasai’, he’s back in the car, thumbs
aloft. “Policeman says Subaru Impreza is very cool!” is his
most fluent English yet. Turns out we’d simply left its
original British plate decoratively stuck over its current

11 2 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 › TO P G E A R . C O M
4
 WRC Impreza
1
INSIDE A WORLD RALLY CAR
1 Winding the window down involves laborious cog
turning, but the door net is a perfect size for phones
(closer look below) 2 Left: boring handbrake. Right:
rally-spec hydraulic job. Sadly, you can only really
use the former in Tokyo traffic. Boo 3 Making a WRC
car legal to drive on Japanese roads means having
to cover up exposed interior bits 4 Stray horn fuses
where you’d expect an airbag, worn suede rim... yet
the greatest ’wheel ever 5 The same climate dials
as a WRX STI road car, but they only operate basic
heating. The roof scoop provides cooling 6 Carbon
roll cage WLTM very flexible driver for seating fun
11 4 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 › TO P G E A R . C O M
4
Japan-issue reg. We both erupt with laughter as I pull away, only partially aware
I’m about to have one of the greatest drives of my life.
Beyond the uncomfortable blind spots, I adore the Impreza’s motorsport feel.
The steering wheel is proper suede, not fancy marketing-department Alcantara,
and it’s wonderfully worn. My hands melt into it so comfortably I don’t want to
take them off the rim in traffic. The engine idles with an intensity no UK-spec
Impreza or WRX has ever demonstrated, aided by a lack of soundproofing that
also allows drain covers to echo through the wheelarches like the pinging of
gravel on a special stage (I imagine). I’m grinning from ear to ear and we’ve not
been out of second gear yet. The brakes squeal when they’re cold, the suede gets
clammy and there’s a faint whiff of fuel. Specialness and provenance resonate
through every bit of the car, right down to the vents in the ceiling that let in air
from the roof scoop. It feels like it’s fresh from a WRC service area.
Its engine and gearbox may come from a Subaru road car, but the suspension
and brakes are WRC tarmac specification. The former is supremely firm – the car
doesn’t yield over bridge expansion joints as we escape the city – while the brake
pedal has barely an inch or two of travel, yet operates the most urgent and
effective brakes I think I’ve ever used on the road. They’re exceptional.
But not as exceptional as the noise. We’re on the Expressway heading to
Yokohama, and tunnels are uncommonly frequent. This is a good thing. Unable
to utilise Junya’s translation app while I’m driving, I just shoot him an apologetic
but impish grin each time we approach a tunnel, then blip down a couple of gears
and nail it. This is the freest, meanest flat-four engine I’ve ever come across, its
ferocious, angry saw towards its red line reverberating through the tunnel,
through the car and through me, given how glued onto the wheel my hands are.
I’ve always heard good things about the Japanese 2.0-litre Imprezas (Europe’s
have typically been 2.5s), and now it suddenly makes sense. It’s a really muscular
engine, with torque absolutely everywhere. When a gearchange is this taut and
satisfying, though, you’ll gratuitously flick up and down the ’box just for fun.
The car has a hugely adjustable diff set-up, too, but I’ve not touched it. It’d be
pointless; we’ve barely encountered a corner. When you’re trying to get a grasp
of how a World Rally car operates, you’d expect that to be a huge disappointment.
Its limits live in a different stratosphere to the driving I’ve done tonight.
Yet as I park up at our final destination (the marvellous Daikoku PA car meet,
left), enjoying the buh-buhing of the engine’s idle one last time before climbing
out, I realise I’ve rarely been happier in a car. It’s so complete, so committed
to performance, that it feels extraordinary anywhere you take it. This ‘job’
has placed me in an Alfa Romeo 8C on the Stelvio and a Mercedes 300SL at
Goodwood, but the last few hours of my life have been more fulfilling. By far.
Thank God there wasn’t a Sega Rally machine after all.
 EV LONDON CAB

Taxi
for
Uber?
The Hackney Carriage is fighting
back... Rory turns cabbie for a day in the
electric future of London’s black cab
WO R DS: R O RY R EI D / P H OTO G R A P H Y: M A R K R I CCI O N I

TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 115

 EV LONDON CAB
“What’s it
like, any
good?”
A cabbie has pulled up alongside me on the run from Regent’s
Park to King’s Cross and is admiring the next-gen black cab I’m
testing. “It’s decent,” I say. “Sweet,” he says. “I can see myself
cutting up some serious buses in that!” Before I can respond, he’s
off, thrusting his TX4 across the path of an unsuspecting double-
decker as he heads towards St Pancras.
The TX eCity I’m in has been attracting attention like this
all day. Young and old look on with curiosity. They’re pointing,
taking pictures, or jabbing their friends in the ribs to look at
the long-overdue replacement for the London black cab. Most
11 6 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 › TO P G E A R . C O M
of them seem to like it, and while I’m not immediately convinced,
it’s growing on me.
It’s a slow-burner, because I have a love-hate relationship
with London taxis. I chose one to help me win a TopGear
high-miler challenge in Kazakhstan just over a year ago because
they’re bulletproof, handsome and I wanted to bring a bit of
British culture to Central Asia. But as cool as they are, they’ve
been of almost no use to me over the years.
Getting one to stop for me has often been an exercise in
futility, and when they do, getting a driver that would take me
home, south of the river, well – let’s just say many taxi drivers
would rather drive to Mordor than anywhere near Morden.
Uber, mini cabs and epic journeys on vomit-filled night buses
are more my thing, but here I am, sat in the latest evolution of
London’s Hackney Carriage, sort of enjoying it.
I plant my right foot half expecting a rattly old diesel, but
instead there’s a distant, futuristic whir. I’m expecting nasty,
agricultural vibrations that tremble through my entire body –
a defining feature of older black cabs – but there aren’t any.
I’m expecting it to crash over speed bumps like a drunken
hippo, but the suspension is well-damped, smooth. It feels
modern. New. Nice.
Its power source is certainly on the futuristic side. It uses a
plug-in hybrid powertrain: a petrol engine with a single electric
motor driving the rear wheels, a
combination that gives the potential for
lively acceleration. Potential and reality
are two different beasts, however, and it
soon becomes apparent that the eCity
is not built for speed.
There are no Tesla-style surges of
grunt here – quite the opposite, in fact.
It’s ponderous. Last-minute darts in or
out of side streets or onto roundabouts
become unwanted games of chicken “Yeah, you’ll never guess
who I had in the back of
with oncoming traffic. Torque increases my cab the other day...”
significantly above 15mph, with a surge
of acceleration kicking in, almost like an
old-school turbo. But at low speed, I have
to trust whoever’s bearing down on me
to hit the brakes instead of speeding up,
or wait for clearer gaps in traffic.
All of this is deliberate, of course. The
eCity’s maker, the London Electric Vehicle
Company, has neutered performance at low
speed because by default it can be a bit wild.
Its motor is so powerful and its tyres are so
skinny that deploying full force from zero
“Cyclists? Don’t talk to me
about cyclists. Those Boris
Bikes are the worst...”

Top tip: choose forward-

facing seats for the ultimate
in cabbie luxury

“I’m expecting
agricultural
vibrations
but there
aren’t any”
EV LONDON CAB

FOR FX4’S SAKE

Designed in Geely’s Barcelona design centre,
the exterior design takes its inspiration from
the classic FX4 including a recessed, chrome-
rimmed rectangular grille, circular headlights,
a kinked shoulder crease and rounded
roofline. One major change is a rear-hinged
rear door, letting you bark your destination
at the driver and step right in.
rpm would result in squealing tyres and
constant skids. Without onboard computers
limiting torque, cabbies would be drifting from
landmark to landmark in a cloud of tyre smoke,
Ken Block style. It would look great, of course,
but it might be a tad controversial.
The lack of outright performance also
makes for a more economical drive. Energy for
the electric motor is supplied by a lithium-ion
battery, which gives the TX eCity a battery-
only range of 80 miles. That’s pretty paltry by
modern EV standards, but once the battery
level reaches around 20 per cent, a 1.3-litre
petrol engine located under the bonnet fires
up to act as an electricity generator. This
pours yet more electrons into the battery pack
for a total range of 400 miles – enough for a
non-stop trip from London to Edinburgh.
The eCity was built with investment and
resources from Chinese carmaker Geely,
owners of Volvo. Geely has invested £330m in
LEVC, largely on a new factory in Coventry,
capable of producing 24,000 cars a year. Not
all those will be black cabs for London, though
– there’s a light commercial vehicle based on
the same platform coming next year.
Unsurprisingly then, the new taxi inherits
a very modern, Volvo-like feel. The cabin is
littered with bits borrowed from Volvo’s latest
offerings, including the steering wheel, seats
and infotainment display of an S90. These are
supplemented by taxi-specific bits to keep
drivers happy during long stints. There are
endless cubbies for sandwiches, maps and
other paperwork, cupholders, and a ‘passenger’
compartment next to the driver (with no seat)
large enough for a few big bags.
There’s a handy central touchscreen, too,
which lets you adjust how the car feels to
drive. I find the steering a bit heavy in its
default setting, but you can lighten things
up with just a few taps of the display. The
“The cabin
is littered
with bits
borrowed
from Volvo”
pedals are good – incredibly light, delivering
progressive acceleration and braking, reducing
the risk of your passenger’s kebab making a Black cabs.
colourful reappearance. The knowledge
Braking isn’t always necessary, in fact, as
the regenerative braking system does a good
job of scrubbing off speed. The gear-selector
switch lets you increase the aggressiveness
of the harvesting, and thus can be used to slow
the car more quickly. I soon learn to drive with
the accelerator and the gear-selector, using the
brake only to come to a complete stop.
Being electric, the eCity also delivers a
HACKNEYS
pretty serene passenger experience. The
Arrived in mid-1600s. Name from
decision to move away from diesel was clearly French hacquenée – a horse for
rooted in reducing emissions, but it’s provided hire. Option of paying by HayPal
the added benefit of making a quieter, more
peaceful ride for all occupants.
The TX eCity seats a total of six passengers
at the rear; three forward-facing and three
rear-facing in flip-down seats. The forward-
facing passengers seats are reasonably nice,
with the centre seat pushed forward slightly
BERSEYS
so the two outer passengers aren’t forced to
TX eCity isn’t that new – first
rub elbows with the middle one. The three motorised cabs in 1897 were EVs...
rear-facing seats are offset in a similar fashion, but also costly and unreliable
but they’re noticeably less plush – fine for short
journeys, but you wouldn’t want to be stuck
there testing that London to Edinburgh claim.
There are some creature comforts.
Passengers get a pair of USB ports in the rear,
so you can charge your phones, and there’s a
three-pin power socket if you want to recharge
AUSTIN FX4
something a bit more heavy duty, like a laptop. Austin’s second effort after the,
Or use a hairdryer. erm, FX3, launched in 1958. First
As you’d expect, the TX eCity includes look at the classic cab shape
a slide-out wheelchair ramp for easy access
(wheelchairs can be bolted down securely
inside) and the option of a panoramic
sunroof so you can easily take Instagram
snaps of Big Ben and kamikaze pigeons.
It’s a great taxi, then, but the biggest issue
looming over its success is cost. Taxi drivers
METROCAB
will have to shell out £55,000 to own one, when Born in ’87, boxier than a shoulder
the previous-gen model can be had for £45,945.
In TG maths, that’s a difference of about £35
padded blazer. Looks like a
flattened MkI Rangie. Just us?
per week over five years. However, based on the
average cabbie covering 120 miles a day, they’d
be saving £100 a week on fuel, maybe more if
they can get a 45min top-up via one of the 300
taxi-specific fast chargers planned for London
by the end of 2018.
I M AG E S : A L A M Y, R E X
But I won’t be deleting the Uber app yet
TX1
(they go south of the river), and there’s every
chance you may spot me upstairs in the back of
39 years on, an actual, curvier
replacement for FX4. Rattly diesel
a night bus, fast asleep having missed my stop and Uber-hating driver standard
several miles ago, but the eCity has won me
over. Long live the new London black cab.
TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 119
Mercedes X-Class

e r th e p o sh pickup
to take ov e mud...
Merc’s plans t s tu ck in th
a rke t seem to have go
m W YC H ER L E
Y
H O TO G R A P H Y: J O H N
M FO R D / P
W O R DS : TO
TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 121
Mercedes’ optional “Mud
Look” wheels – unlikely
to be popular in the UK

It looked
like a
small,
innocent
stream.
The kind of stream that potters through an Andean mudflat
never offending anyone, not really having much to say for
itself apart from the odd languorous gurgle or quiet splash.
Certainly no cause for alarm for a big, capable pickup, or its
experienced and confident driver. After all, we’d just driven
over part of the Andes in Chile and had managed to traverse
puckeringly barrierless mountain roads, successfully run
the gauntlet of the vagaries of South American driving and
even crossed a small waterfall which had inelegantly bitten
off part of the carriageway. Which means that when the
brand new Merc X-Class flumped into the area immediately
around the stream – an area with all the properties of clay-
based quicksand – with the finality of the truly, not-going-
anywhere, forget-about-it stuck, I was surprised.
And also pretty thoroughly bewildered. Though the
word I actually uttered was shorter, and more expletive.
No phone signal, obviously, situated as we were
‘somewhere’ in the mountains, which as it turned out is
a fairly useless co-ordinate from where to arrange rescue.
No recovery gear, and a two-wheel-drive photography
chase van positioned on the roadway some distance away.
Mercedes X-Class
In years to come, the locals
would speak in awed tones of
Shoeless Man Who Fondled Truck
Engaging diff-locks and low-range brought merrily
spinning wheels and movement, although in the wrong
direction, because the X-Class simply burrowed deeper
into the mire, until it sat on its sills with the front bumper
sort-of folded back into itself.
I got out, sank to my knees in mud, and repeated to
myself, “Always walk it first, always walk it first”, like a
mantra of the damned. One of those situations where
there’s no escape for the ego, simply because you couldn’t
say this was any fault of the vehicle; conditions like this
would require either a monster truck or a tank to
successfully conquer, and I had attempted them in a
road-biased luxury pickup on road tyres. Which, I was
alarmed to note, was slowly but quite obviously… er…
sinking. And this a vehicle I had promised, without caveat
and only a few hours earlier, to look after and not do
anything silly with. Ah. About that.
The thing about mudflats in general is that there are
surprisingly few features to work with when you’re stuck.
There are no grasses you can weave a traction mat from,
no logs to throw under the wheels. There are a few rocks
– which get slurped into the mud as soon as you position
them under the wheels – and one, lonely piece of two-by-
four with which to dig. But dig I did, mostly uselessly,
although it did give me something to do while the chase
car went off to see if they could flag down any sort of
help. At some point I lost my shoes. It didn’t seem very
important at the time.
It was a few hours until we managed to get some
assistance, by which time the nose of the X was definitely a
decent few degrees away from the horizontal. I was covered
in mud, shoeless and getting desperate. I think the lovely
Chileans were some sort of roadworkers, though they could
have easily been firemen, and a few short tugs with a
towrope later and we were free. The bumper popped itself
back out with only a slight crease, and for all intents and
purposes, we then just had a very muddy X-Class to show
TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 123
 Mercedes X-Class
for it. So I cleaned it in the nearest river, by the simple
expedient of driving it into said river and hand washing it.
Literally. Unfortunately, this had the effect of liberally
scratching the paintwork in horrible washy spirals, like
dysfunctional tribal tattoos. This, it has to be said, was
not one of my better days.
Up to this point, things had been going well. The
X-Class is a new direction for Mercedes-Benz, a take on
posh practical not seen since before the G-Wagen became
an inter-urban, hundred-thousand-pound fashion tank.
A pickup, done the Mercedes way. Except, not entirely,
because the X-Class is a co-production between several
companies, who all take the basics and then add their own
flavour, which means the X is actually a Nissan Navara, and
a Renault Alaskan. Hmm. This does not bode well. Still, it
looks inoffensive, even lightly handsome – and yes, it looks
better in the metal than it does in pictures, in my opinion.
The underpinnings are modern for a pickup – with proper
rear suspension instead of sturdy-but-crashy leaf springs,
and there’s a proven pair of diesel engines – 2.3-litre 4cyl
apiece, in 163bhp (X220d) or 187bhp (X250d) formats,
the latter getting a twin-stage turbo instead of the mono
in the former – to work with. There’s also selectable four-
wheel drive on most versions, and a few toys. In fact,
there are three model lines – Pure, Progressive and Power
“In Santiago, it certainly gets plenty
of attention, and you can see where
Mercedes is going with it”
124 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 › TO P G E A R . C O M
– with the X220d getting a six-speed manual in Pure or
Progressive, the rest equipped with a seven-speed auto.
A basic X comes in at £27,310, but you can spec them well
into the 40s once you start slapping on one of the seven
option packages and accessories. That’s a lot of money
for a pickup truck, especially as they generally don’t feel
very much like a proper SUV or passenger car. Ever. You
put up with workhorse attitude in a workhorse, less so
when you pay thoroughbred money. So this had better
live up to the premium hype.
Saying that, the interior feels more elegant than the
competition – though you can see where money has been
saved by not re-engineering the gear-selector positioning
– and as soon as you pull away, the X-Class is quiet and
remarkably smooth. Both things not usually associated
with something with a load bed and flap tailgate. This
is interesting: a pickup has to be sprung to cope with
everything from a bare bed to a full tonne payload, and
subsequently feels harsh when there’s nothing in the back.
The X-Class copes admirably with no ride-settling load, and
actually rides as well as some SUVs. This is good. No, it’s
not a magic carpet, and you’ll still get some chassis shudder
and bobble on wonky potholes and expansion joints, but
it’s the best pickup for ride quality I’ve driven in a while.
And it’s quiet. In fact, knocking around Santiago town, >>
The vents say “S-Class”,
the gearlever says
“economy class”

Tom Ford and the X-Class,

before the mudflats. Happy,
carefree, clean times
12 6 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 › TO P G E A R . C O M
 Mercedes X-Class

“If you want to overtake,

you’d best plan, submit an
application and wait”

TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 127

 MERCEDES-BENZ X250d
Price: £34,100
Engine: 2298cc,
4cyl twin-turbo,
187bhp, 295lb ft
Transmission: 7spd
auto, AWD
Performance: 0–62mph
in 11.8secs, 109mph
Economy: 35.8mpg,
207g/km CO2
Weight: 2234kg

12 8 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 › TO P G E A R . C O M

the X-Class does all the things that Mercedes says it
should – it’s comfortable, classy and feels like a Mercedes.
There’s a lot to be said for a bit of brand appreciation, and
I can see how a company might quite like its ‘work cars’
to be Mercs – even if they are the pallet-carrying kind.
It certainly gets plenty of attention – although we’re
in the top-spec version – and you can see where Mercedes
is going with it. In fact, it’s not until we start to wend
our way out of town that things start to get a little less
happy. Pottering about, it’s easy to ignore the engine,
which is actually pretty forgettable. But as we disappear
off into the mountains, its lack of grunt starts to become
apparent. Bluntly, the X-Class struggles with the four-
cylinder engine and auto ’box. Yes, the Andes are
famous for being a bit high, but even without the inherent
breathlessness of altitude, the 187bhp Power-specced car
(a not-inconsiderable £34,100) we have is woefully slow to
react. If you want to overtake, you’d best plan, submit an
application and wait. Seriously, kickdown accounts for a
two-elephant count before anything happens, and even
then you aren’t exactly subjected to forceful acceleration.
It is fine when geared-down in the lower ratios as we
traverse the many off-road and tricky sections, but A-road
and motorway miles are… relaxed.
To be fair, in answer to this chink in the X-Class
armour, we also manage a passenger ride in the
forthcoming (middle of 2018) diesel V6 with 255bhp and
a lump more torque – the X350d – and that also gets a
full Mercedes transmission. A car which answers all of
these question and more, and transforms the X-Class into
Mercedes X-Class
a full-house ‘proper’ Merc product. If you want the all-
round Mercedes experience, then there’s really only one
engine option – because the four-pots make the X-Class
feel compromised. It’s a decent enough pickup, quieter,
and more recognisably ‘premium’ from the inside – but
you need that V6 to make it feel like it costs. And I doubt
the top-of-the-range version is going to be pickup cheap.
This all leads up to the point at which we came in,
because, after establishing that the X-Class looked
good and felt nicely premium, I was in the mood to find
out whether that engine and transmission could actually
stand up to the more agricultural side of things. Hence why
I headed off into the mountains for the day, and eventually
onto the fateful mudflat of doom. Indeed, after a few more
hours of photography, we wrangled our favourite and
brilliant Mercedes PR man, lightly threatened him until
he gave up the location of a decent valeter, and went and
had the X-Class polished, before taking it back.
Which is how I appeared back at home base, birthed
from a freshly laundered X-Class, covered in mud and
shoeless, looking like I’d just been running a marathon.
Or indeed just been run over.
“What happened to you?!” exclaimed the worried-
looking PR lady. “Oh... er… nothing really, just… fell over.”
I replied, looking anywhere but at her, and limping towards
the hotel bar. “And lost your shoes?” she said, somewhat
incredulously. “It was a bad fall…” I said. And with that, my
deception was complete, because nobody ever found out
what actually happened on that mudflat in the Andes.
Until now.
TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 129
 Your ultimate guide
to buying a new car

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140
Land Rover
Discovery

132 Merc E350d AT 135 Ariel Nomad 136 Vauxhall Insignia 139 Mazda CX-5
Can this car be all things to all people? Time to see if a supercharger is worth the extra The company car is back with a vengeance Owen gives us a history lesson
TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 1 31
February I 2018
Terrain
man
Hello
Mercedes-Benz E350d All-Terrain
£58,880 OTR/£61,260 as tested
TOM FORD
e’ve seen this sort of thing
before: a lightly jacked-up
W estate car with a few bits
of cladding and all-wheel
drive, the kind of thing that isn’t
exactly equipped with savage-but-
unused off-road ability, but can cope
with a muddy field or two without
skidding around like a newborn deer
on a polished wood floor.
You may be familiar with Audi’s
Allroad models, Skoda’s Scouts, VW’s
Alltracks and the like, and this is Merc’s
version. An E-Class estate on Air Body
Control suspension that sits 29mm
higher than the normal E – bigger tyres
accounting for 14mm, the remainder due
13 2 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 › TO P G E A R . C O M
to the higher-riding suspension. And you
get extra clearance of another 20mm up
to 19mph by selecting the All-Terrain
driving programme from the standard
Dynamic Select controller.
Similarly, it’ll sit down a bit on
normal roads, and you can firm it up
if you feel the need to go a bit faster –
the Dynamic Select mode thingummy
has five driving programmes that change
transmission strategies for the nine-
speed 9G-Tronic gearbox, throttle, ESP
and steering feel.
In the UK, we get one engine/’box
option and this is it, Mercedes’ excellent
3.0-litre diesel with 258bhp and 457lb ft,
Merc citing lack of popularity to bring
over lower specification orders. You also
get pretty much one trim level, with a
couple of options, though for the just-
sub-£59k base price, you do get quite
a lot: intelligent LED lights, panoramic
sunroofs (plural), powered boot, privacy
glass, an electrically folding towbar,
20-inch alloys, electric heated leather,
climate control, reversing cameras and a
boring but satisfyingly long safety kit list.
In fact, the only options fitted to this
car are the Driving Assistance Plus pack
(blind spot and lane-keep assist, active
brakes and steering evade assist, Drive
Pilot and the like) for £1,695, and the
Citrine Brown metallic paint for £685.
In the first 3k miles, we’ve been proper
offroading – you just have to be careful of
approach/departure and breakover angles
– and trounced commutes with ease. Live
in the country but have to do normal stuff
too? A car like this makes all sorts of
sense. So far.
SPECIFICATION
2987cc V6 TD, AWD,
The most rational
258bhp, 457lb ft
reason not to own an 41.5mpg, 179g/km CO2
SUV or just a gimmick?
0–62mph in 6.2secs, 155mph
2010kg
TESTER’S NOTES Massively versatile,
lots of kit, handsome and surprisingly
frugal... so far.
MILEAGE: 3457 OUR MPG: 37.3
Smell the
glovebox
Report 3
Tesla P90D Ludicrous
£111,900/£78,400 (s/h)
CHARLIE TURNER
our months into
running the P90D, and
F the more time I spend
with it, the more I’m
struck by the thought that has gone
into challenging the conventional
thinking in the automotive space.
There’s some real joy and
humour in the detail of the Tesla.
While Ludicrous mode is the
headline act, there’s a load of other
equally impressive stuff that you
only become aware of when you
spend time in the car. The stereo,
in conjunction with Spotify, is
truly excellent – the sound quality
is exquisite, and the ability to
summon any music via voice
control with one touch on the
steering wheel is seamless. Plus,
the fact that its volume goes up
to 11 shows a sense of humour
more cars could do with.
SPECIFICATION
90kWh, 4WD,
532bhp, 687lb ft
270-mile range, 0g/km CO2
0–62mph in 2.8secs, 155mph
2250kg
TESTER’S NOTES Tesla’s Spinal Tap
stereo moment marks it out as a car
that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
MILEAGE: 30,090
Winter wonder
Report 5
Mini Cooper S Works
£22,155 OTR/
£29,430 as tested
PAUL HORRELL
inter suits this Mini. The tyres
have lost some grip as
W temperatures fall and
dressings of mud and salt
lubricate the roads. So it’s a more playful
car in corners, more like the Minis I’ve
always most enjoyed.
Jab it into a bend and it’ll understeer;
get on the power too soon and the same
happens (their front roll-stiffness means
BMW-era Minis have always been light on
traction). But turn in sympathetically, or
use a trailing throttle, and it becomes
biddable. For these conditions, the soft
damper setting is correct (they’re
switchable between two fixed states, not
between two adaptive programmes), and
the ESP is best in its intermediate setting.
Other winter goodness? It has heated
seats. TBH I didn’t actually notice at first.
They’re not needed. These mostly cloth
chairs are so much nicer than full leather
– cooler in summer, warmer in winter,
grippier in corners.
In cruddy weather the mirrors and
windscreen stay clean. You’d be surprised
how some cars let filthy water stream over
the side glass and mirrors, but BMW
develops out such bad habits.
This Cooper is also optioned with LED
headlights, always a major bonus for my
middle-aged night vision. There’s a micro-
The t/c is a button you facelift coming, which brings the option of
must press. But avoid
ones that cast a shadow around other traffic
Sport suspension...
so never need dipping. It also allows proper
traffic-aware satnav, not showing traffic on
a low-res map from linking the screen
clunkily to your Connected phone app.
SPECIFICATION
1998cc, 4cyl, FWD,
210bhp, 162lb ft
48.7mpg, 221g/km CO2
0–62mph in 6.8secs, 146mph
1235kg
TESTER’S NOTES Dry mud and salty
road grime is too visible on black
wheels – grey ones would be better.
MILEAGE: 5575 OUR MPG: 33.4
TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 1 33
February I 2018
Cabin
fever
Report 3
Audi SQ7
£72,895 OTR/£94,920 as tested
JACK RIX
t no point since taking
possession of the SQ7 have I
A cursed the interior for a lack
of technology or Fisher Price
materials. I can connect my phone via
Bluetooth, the satnav is intuitive and the
DAB radio works. It also looks and feels
better-built than my house, but that
hasn’t stopped Audi from ploughing
on and revealing its dazzling next-gen
interior in the all-new A8.
And dazzling really is the word with a
digital instrument cluster and two other
screens flushly integrated into the dash
shining away at all times. As a result,
there’s barely a button or dial to be found
– even the vent controls are super-slick,
SPECIFICATION
3956cc, V8 TD, 4WD,
429bhp, 664lb ft
37.2mpg, 199g/km CO2
0–62mph in 4.9secs, 155mph
2330kg
TESTER’S NOTES The SQ7’s interior
is close to perfection, even if it’s now
technically last-gen...
MILEAGE: 3954 OUR MPG: 27.5
13 4 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 › TO P G E A R . C O M
touch-sensitive screens with haptic
feedback. Overkill? I’ll let you decide.
Thing is, while it gives the appearance of
something from the future, I’m convinced
the SQ7’s cabin makes more sense. When
you’re not using the central screen you can
just fold it away, clearing your sight line and
minimising distraction. And that happens
quite a lot, given how easy it is to read the
satnav, change your radio station, make
calls and check you’re not accidentally
Wireless charging pad cruising at double the speed limit, with
too small for an 8 Plus the digital instrument cluster.
with the cover on. Fail.
There’s also a feeling of quality and
solidity that only physical buttons and
switches can bring. Of course, progress
must occur, but with these buttonless,
big-screened interiors manufacturers
seem to be falling for, there’s a whiff
of reinventing the wheel for no
particular reason.
SPECIFICATION
TESTER’S NOTES Ibiza eliminates
a massive cause of driving stress by
being a cinch to park. Good news.
MILEAGE: 3800 OUR MPG: 40.8
Park
life
Report 3
Seat Ibiza FR
£16,630/£18,995
SAM PHILIP
arkability. Not a much-
P discussed component
of the supermini
ownership experience,
but, in my book at least, a vital one.
And the Ibiza is a deliciously easy car
to park. I mean, obviously compared
with an articulated lorry or a Lambo
Aventador, but even compared with
its similarly sized rivals.
The modern design fad for
plunging rooflines, chunky pillars
and narrow glasshouses has made
all-round visibility a thing of the
past, but the Ibiza – though hardly
possessing the profile of a
particularly frumpy shoebox –
is surprisingly easy to place.
Even without parking sensors,
you know exactly where the corners
are, making it a cinch to squeeze into
slightly-smaller-than-the-car-itself
spaces, without resort to the classic
Parisian bump ’n’ shove parking
method. Either that, or the Ibiza
has such good sound deadening
you simply can’t hear the graunch
of bumper on bumper…
Of course, you could just spec
a rival supermini with parking
sensors, but where’s the fun in that?
999cc, 3cyl turbo, FWD,
113bhp, 148lb ft
60.1mpg, 108g/km CO2
0–62mph in 9.3secs, 121mph
1140kg
Is super
duper?
Report 6
Ariel Nomad
£36,538 OTR/
£55,313 as tested
OLLIE MARRIAGE
emember last month’s little
mishap? I was doing some
R rally rides for Mission
Motorsport, and the
driveshaft got yanked out of its housing.
Well, Ariel came to my rescue and loaned
me a supercharged car while my one was
being fixed.
This was interesting. To supercharge or
not to supercharge was a regular topic of
conversation in the office, because the one
moan I have about the naturally aspirated
Nomad is that it lacks guts at the bottom
end. The gearing is long (70mph is
2,400rpm), but the 2.4-litre doesn’t get into
its stride until torque peaks at 4,300rpm,
so you have to be quick with the six-speed
stick if you don’t want to have diesel Golfs
hurtling off into the distance.
Now, this is perfectly easy to manage
– the Nomad’s gearbox is perhaps the
loveliest manual shift anywhere. But I
still wondered if the supercharged version
(290bhp and 251lb ft of torque) would be
the motor of choice.
The answer, it turns out, isn’t that
straightforward. The first question to
answer is a more convoluted and complex
one: what do I want to do with my Nomad?
If, broadly speaking, you’re more biased
towards track days, humbling ‘proper’
sports cars and fast road driving, have the
supercharger. If you’d have your Nomad like
me – loose and languid, for off-road larks
and rolly road driving, have the nat-asp one.
The combination of soft suspension and
s’charged torque is something I’d imagine
would become a handful very quickly.
Bucking broncos spring to mind. Fun,
provided you’re not the one clinging on to
your Stetson. The yellow Nomad copes
Ollie plays red lorry because it’s stiff and snappy. This makes
yellow lorry with
it fast and nimble, but moves it back into
Nomads. More fun
Atom territory, when what I love most
SPECIFICATION
2354cc, 4cyl, RWD,
about the Nomad is the ocean-going body 235bhp, 221lb ft
roll, the more casual approach to cornering. n/a mpg, n/a g/km CO2
The supercharged one also has a 0–62mph in 3.4secs, 125mph
ferocious appetite for fuel – I was looking
725kg
for fuel stations after 160 miles, and
averaging 19–23mpg when the red car will TESTER’S NOTES Surprised myself
do an easy 240 miles at 26–30mpg. So that’s this month by deciding I’d rather have
the one for me – zippy off the line, but best my Nomad without a supercharger.
MILEAGE: 6060 OUR MPG: 28.7
work done by m’way speeds. While driving
the supercharged car I got a speeding ticket.
TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 1 35
February I 2018
Insign of
the times
Hello
Vauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer SRi VX-Line
£26,900 OTR/£34,575 as tested
ADAM WADDELL
here was a time when the
latest Vectra or Mondeo
T was big news because in
the days of company cars
that’s what everyone seemed to be
driving. The big Vauxhalls and Fords
were also the cars banging doors in
the BTCC on our TV screens every
Saturday, but things have changed.
These days it’s the Astra and Focus in
the BTCC and your next-door neighbour
is more likely to be hankering after an
SUV, or something German, rather than
an Insignia or Mondeo.
As a result, I have to admit that neither
of these cars have been particularly on
my radar, and consequently the new
Insignia has been something of a
revelation to me. First of all, it’s a
seriously good-looking car, particularly
in estate form with its swooping roofline
and various creases, including the one
running down the centre of the bonnet.
Pick the VX-Line with its body kit and the
20-inch five twin-spoke alloys (a £475
option), and you’ll struggle to find a
better-looking family estate. Vauxhall
13 6 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 › TO P G E A R . C O M
has got its act together with the
interior too – the layout is simple with
everything exactly where it should be,
and the quality is good as well. Perhaps
not up there with the Germans just yet,
but pretty good nonetheless. The brown
Nappa leather interior on our test car
shouldn’t work when everything else
(including the exterior colour) is black,
but for some reason it does. My only
real complaint is that the satnav graphics
are a little basic, but the same could be
said for the Mondeo.
The Insignia isn’t by any stretch
an out and out driver’s car – but you
wouldn’t expect that. Instead, it offers
tidy handling and an excellent ride
SPECIFICATION
1956c, 4cyl turbodiesel,
Vauxhall’s handsome
that will eat up those motorway miles FWD, 168bhp, 295lb ft
estate is a welcome effortlessly. It’s cheaper, bigger and 49.6mpg, 150g/km CO2
addition to the Garage more refined than its predecessor and, 0–62mph in 8.6secs, 137mph
with a five-star Euro NCAP rating, it ticks
1410kg
most boxes pretty well. Our test model
might be a £27k car loaded with almost TESTER’S NOTES Worth a second
£8k worth of extras, but nonetheless, look. Won’t set pulses racing but it’s
underneath all that is a car that is far pretty, capable and vastly improved.
MILEAGE: 1510 OUR MPG: 34.5
more practical, capable and enjoyable
than I had expected.
Scout
badge
Report 7
Skoda Kodiaq
£29,960/£33,895
ANDY FRANKLIN
ou’re right, this isn’t
our regular Kodiaq.
Y It’s the Scout, a version
which adds some
extra bits of rugged trim. But that’s
not the reason I’m testing it. After
last month complaining about the
lack of power from the 1.4-litre
petrol, I wanted to try the 2.0-litre
diesel. And what a difference –
this has to be the engine to go for.
So much extra torque is perfect for
shifting its weight. Smooth too, but
that’s probably helped by the DSG
’box that is quite frankly superb.
Also inside is an even simpler
infotainment (no knobs) and
updated graphics. Not massively
different but still better. And better
wheels, and a heated windscreen
(£335), a must on the options box.
Downside? This one comes in at
£38,170 (not including roof box).
SPECIFICATION
1395cc, 4cyl turbo, AWD,
148bhp, 184lb ft
40.9mpg, 156g/km CO2
0–62mph in 9.9secs, 121mph
1578kg
TESTER’S NOTES Cheating on my
long-termer with a 2.0 diesel was
enlightening. I loved it.
MILEAGE: 12,545 OUR MPG: 34.9
Boxers bout
Report 2
Porsche 718 Cayman
£42,897 OTR/
£52,435 as tested
STEPHEN DOBIE
he 718 Cayman’s big headline
is its engine. After a decade
T of howling flat-six Caymans,
this one launched with a
flat-four boxer turbo in the middle.
Emissions regs are to blame, of course.
But while it was greeted with more than
a smidge of outrage, I think some of the
dissenters were ignoring that one of the
performance car icons uses a boxer four.
I refer to the Subaru Impreza Turbo and
its myriad successors.
By chance, I’ve experienced two of
the most exciting versions this month,
providing some nice context for the
Cayman. One is an ex-WRC car once
tested by a man called Colin (p110),
running perhaps the greatest, most
pulsating flat-four engine in history. The
other is the WRX STI Final Edition which
produces the same 296bhp as our Porsche,
but delivers it in a more bombastically
turbocharged manner.
Both sound more cultured, more
dramatic and more memorable than the
718. From their buh-buh-buh-buh as they
idle in traffic to their ferociously hard
edge at the top of the rev range, they’re
intoxicating, if not exactly sexy cars to
listen to. They show up Porsche’s latest
flat-four as, well, a bit flat.
But I’m warming to the 718’s sound. In
every other Porsche, you get in and press
the Sport button – activating the sports
exhaust – by muscle memory. The trick is
to not do that here. Without the exhaust
activated, the Cayman’s 2.0-litre sounds
more natural and, unless you’re nailing it,
does a half-decent impression of those
sonorous old sixes. It certainly sounds
Porsche-like at lower speeds.
The same emissions regs that have
made Porsche downgrade the Cayman to
four cylinders have also forced Subaru to
stop selling the WRX STI in Europe, the
car above being its grand send off. The
irony? The 718’s day-to-day 29mpg is
718 sounds better with precisely 2mpg better than the WRX…
sports exhaust off. But
WRX (top) sounds best
SPECIFICATION
1988cc, flat-four turbo, RWD,
296bhp, 280lb ft
38.2mpg, 168g/km CO2
0–62mph in 5.1secs, 171mph
1410kg
TESTER’S NOTES Do. Not. Push.
Sport. Then the Cayman sounds
pretty good. Esp at low speeds.
MILEAGE: 4516 OUR MPG: 29.1
TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 1 37
Freshened up
Report 5
Mercedes S500 cabriolet
£111,215 OTR/£126,520 as tested
JASON BARLOW
iven the sheer crushing
ubiquity of its S-Class saloon
G sibling, Merc’s S coupe and
cabriolet are oddly enigmatic
cars. But TG’s Lifer is unquestionably one
of the best cars I’ve ever run, its 4.7-litre
twin-turbo V8 an imperiously, almost
contemptuously, fine thing. But it’s now
history. The 2018 car (that’s it in the pics)
gets the ‘jetwing’ grille, reworked sills, and
floating OLED rear lights. The engine is a
detuned version of AMG’s 4.0-litre V8,
although with 463bhp and 516 torques,
‘detuning’ here is clearly a relative concept.
Merc claims 34mpg and 188 CO2s,
versus the 32.5 and 204 of TG’s car. A noble
improvement, but the old unit has the edge
in terms of response and character. Drive
our car like your trousers are on fire and
you can decimate the fuel consumption, but
a more genteel approach yields a genuine
30mpg. You’d hope a car this expensive and
highly engineered would do the job it’s
supposed to, but even so this is a corker.
What else is new? As with the S-Class
saloon and E-Class, Merc’s commitment
to autonomous driving is extended to the
latest cars, via its distance control and
active steering software. The car’s speed is
also adjusted automatically ahead of bends
or junctions. The widescreen, all-digital
13 8 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 › TO P G E A R . C O M
cockpit is introduced, there’s a new steering
wheel design, new trim lines, and NFC
for your smartphone. Merc also offers
Energising Comfort Control to network
the climate control, seats, lighting and
even music to turn the car into an
automotive wellness spa. KM66 RRV has
none of this stuff, and with predictable old
gitness, I honestly think the new set-up
History
over-complicates things.
That said, the mid-life facelift reverses
my view that the non-AMG S coupes and
rotating
cabs are the pick. The latest S63 harmonises Report 6
chassis and powertrain to blistering effect, Mazda CX-5
not something AMG automatically £30,195 OTR/
accomplishes. Premiership footie folk and £31,555 as tested
London landlords have never had it better.
Automotive wellness OWEN NORRIS
spa at your disposal.
Even goes from A to B
SPECIFICATION
4663cc twin-turbo V8,
RWD, 447bhp, 516lb ft
32.5mpg, 204g/km CO2
4.6secs, 155mph
2115kg
TESTER’S NOTES Reworked S-Class
coupe and cabrio get AWD elsewhere
but not in right-hand drive markets.
MILEAGE: 11,990 OUR MPG: 24.2

ounger readers might only
think of Mazda as a seller
Y of quite worthy but dull cars
with, of course, the MX-5
being the exception, but old codgers
like me get very misty-eyed around
lightweight rotary coolness.
The first thing I think of when I think
of Mazda is rotary, and for good reason.
Epic Le Mans success and memorable
road cars have ingrained that sweet high-
revving shrill in my brain. When I sleep
I can sometimes still hear that ringing in
my head as I stood by the bus stop chicane
at the Daytona 24 Hours and the RX-8
racecars shifted down from the limiter
shooting 8ft flames out the back. Proper.
I know my big CX-5 has a heavy diesel
lump as opposed to a teeny Wankel engine
I M AG E : M A R K R I CC I O N I
but what it does have is very clever and
carefully set up handling and ride that
makes sense when you understand the
history. Perhaps that’s why this car
handles in a way that it probably shouldn’t
for such a big car. Lightweight sports cars
with tiny, revvy rotary engines that are
fun to drive are what the Mazda brand
made its name doing. Take the white 1969
Cosmo in the image above. It’s no bigger
than a Lotus Elan and weighs 940kg with
a twin-rotor 982cc engine. It handles like
a dream, they say. Unfortunately, thanks
to a sudden freakish snow storm, I wasn’t
able to drive it.
Skip forward to the 1984 MkI RX-7
behind, and the capacity has increased to
1146cc but the car still weighs just over a
tonne. This mint car has only done a few
hundred miles from new after being
discovered in a barn in Scotland.
Look at the cheeky face on the
Cosmo, though, and there’s a similarity
to the wide basking shark-esque mouth
The 2010 Shinari
concept that has
on our CX-5. That’s no accident, of
influenced current course. Mazda’s design language is very
Mazda design strong all across the range. They call it
the Kodo (soul of motion) philosophy
which dates back to the 2010
Shinari concept (see left). It has
a uniquely Japanese look to it,
TO P G E A R . C O M
February I 2018
they say. In non-marketing speak, it’s a
properly handsome crossover and there’s
not many you can say that about.
We may or may not get another era of
rotary engines from those clever chaps
from Hiroshima. They’re not committing
to it yet, but what we are certainly getting
is a new SkyActiv-X petrol engine that will
have compression ignition like a diesel
giving the best of both worlds. Any chance
you can fit one into my CX-5, chaps?
SPECIFICATION
2191cc, 4cyl diesel,
FWD, 153bhp, 280lb ft
50.4mpg, 147g/km CO2
0–62mph in 10.1secs, 124mph
1690kg
TESTER’S NOTES History lesson
sheds light on why the big CX-5
handles well and looks good.
MILEAGE: 7213 OUR MPG: 37.5
› FEBRUARY 201 8 1 39
February I 2018

Voyage of
Discovery
Report 4
Land Rover Discovery
£66,595 OTR/£77,970 as tested

OLLIE MARRIAGE

or the first time, the Discovery
has been working hard this
F month. That’s not to say it’s
lived the life of Riley over the
last few months: it’s carried people, driven
off-road and so on, but each time, a caveat.
The electric seats make it a hassle to get
anyone into row three, the 21-inch diamond
turned wheels are too pristine to clout
through clag, and the InControl TouchPro
system is a disaster. I threw the last one in
there because it needs mentioning. Again.
Also fuel economy is almost exactly 3.5mpg
worse than it says on the display (come on
Land Rover, you’re better than that).
But on this? It shone. This was a five-day
feature on the Col de Turini. Then
returning the Alpine, picking up the trailer
and heading to Mont Ventoux (see p100).
It wasn’t just that the Discovery towed
effortlessly, it was that its behaviour gave
me huge confidence in everything it did.
It’s now wearing smaller wheels with Pirelli
Scorpion winter tyres, plus the roof bars I
mentioned last month. Together they give
the car a different visual identity, and with
it a less precious feel.
I know if we’d used Jack’s SQ7 or an
XC90 to do the job, it would have coped.
But the Discovery shone. It proved that
at its heart it knows how to work hard. It
was rigged with cameras, towed 800 miles
SPECIFICATION
I M AG E S : O L L I E M A R R I AG E /M A R K R I CC I O N I

adventure to France. It began with a happy
coincidence: just as I was thinking about
giving the Nomad a proper adventure,
Alpine said we could drive the new A110
in Provence. About 50 miles from Mont
Ventoux. Cogs whirred, calls happened,
something clicked and what transpired was
me towing the Nomad to Provence, leaving
car on trailer to be pored over by Alpine’s
in a single bound, was a mobile editing
suite, emergency shelter when the mercury
dipped to 15 below (heated steering wheel
helped restore life to fingers numbed by
As far as mobile
offices go, the Disco Nomad or shutter pressing). It carried spare
does just fine... wheels, lighting rigs, axle stands. And for
five days it just… did what it should do.
Never buckled or complained. Stamped
its authority on every situation. In other
2993cc, V6 turbodiesel,
4WD, 258bhp, 442lb ft
39.2mpg, 189g/km CO2
0–62mph in 7.7secs, 130mph
2230kg
TESTER’S NOTES A tough job needs
a tough car. The Disco has earned its
stripes. I’ll forgive the mpg…

MILEAGE: 16,458 OUR MPG: 20.4

fascinated engineers and using the Disco words, it’s a genuine Discovery. It gives me
as the support car for last month’s Alpine so much pleasure to be able to write that.

14 0 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 › TO P G E A R . C O M

Sliding
scale
Report 6
Peugeot 3008
£27,595/£32,410
ESTHER NEVE
et grass. From personal
experience, I can tell
W you that wet grass is
the closest thing to ice
you can find. It offers zero grip and
maximum opportunity for sliding
into other vehicles.
Fortunately, armed with this
knowledge, I managed to deal with
a whole field of the stuff without
coming a cropper. How? Well, the
3008 has a selection of driving
modes, one of which is snow/ice.
Can you see what I was thinking?
Turns out the slippieriest setting
is also very helpful if you are skating
across a field of wet grass. This is my
handy tip for anyone with different
driving modes – wet grass = snow/ice.
In other news, I’m adoring the
windscreen washers built into the
wiper arms. No chance of spraying
the car behind instead of the screen.
SPECIFICATION
1199cc, 3cyl turbo, FWD,
131bhp, 170lb ft
54.3mpg, 120g/km CO2
0–62mph in 10.5secs, 117mph
1270kg
TESTER’S NOTES Lateral thinking =
good for avoiding messy crashes. Love
the Advanced Grip Control system.
MILEAGE: 12,050 OUR MPG: 37.9
Gripping tale
Report 9
Alfa Romeo Giulia QV
£61,000 OTR/
£73,505 as tested
ROWAN HORNCASTLE
ou may remember the Giulia
recently got posted back to
Y Alfa as it kept going limp.
Initially, its techies struggled
to identify the fault, but pinned it down
to an electrical glitch in the wiring loom.
This gremlin duped sensors into
thinking there was an issue with the turbos,
giving the car’s brain the impression it’d
grenade itself imminently. That’s why it’d
shut all the fun of Race mode down and
nestle itself into a safety net, instantly
transforming it from a fire-snorting
super-saloon to salesman’s repmobile.
To rectify it, a section of wiring was
snipped out and replaced. So far, so good
grandparent (below left)
– it hasn’t skipped a beat. But what about
that dicky speaker? Well, that still sounds
like a perforated tambourine. But sick of it
being in the shop (and really missing it)
I’m just living with it.
Now, you may have noticed it’s got
quite chilly recently. I did when entering a
cold, wet two-lane roundabout... halfway
round on a steady throttle, the rear Pirelli
P Zero Corsas just gave up.
These super-sticky tyres are great
on track (although they have a pretty
horrendous wear rating and cost
approximately £255 for the fronts and
£290 for the rears) but are pretty much
useless in a British winter.
So I’ve swapped them for winters
which has given the traction control a
break. Admittedly, the Alfa still has a
New winter tyres and a playful rear end, but now it can handle
chance meeting with a
adverse conditions. Like snow, which I
experienced the other day.
SPECIFICATION
2891cc, V6 twin-turbo, RWD,
503bhp, 369lb ft
34.4mpg, 189g/km CO2
0–62mph in 3.9secs, 191mph
1524kg
TESTER’S NOTES With the right
rubber, even when it’s sub-zero, the
Giulia is still sublime to drive.
MILEAGE: 9433 OUR MPG: 23.2
TO P G E A R . C O M › FEBRUARY 201 8 141
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FROM THE MOVIES PERFORMED LIVE
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#FASTLIVE
 Data Everything you need to know about buying new cars

NEW IN THIS MONTH

4C
Lotus by Alfa, with the odd Alfa foible to
boot. But when a car’s this pretty, light
and engaging, you just want one.
VANTAGE
The Vantage is back, and it’s an angrier
beast than ever before. Hey – if you want
waftability, get the DB11, yeah?
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
1.7T Coupe £52,820 4.5 160 240 258 41.5 157 5/10 4.0T V8 £120,900 3.7 195 503 505 26.8 251 TBC
1.7T Spider £59,820 4.5 160 240 258 41.5 157 6/10 Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4465x1942x1273, n/a-litre fuel
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 3989x1864x1183, 40-litre fuel tank, tank, 350-litre boot, 1 engine, 1 trim, 1 models in total.
110-litre boot, 1 engine, 1 trim, 2 models in total.

STELVIO VANQUISH
Overhauled DBS is another evolutionary
Alfa’s first SUV is predictably good, step from Aston and is likely to struggle
because it’s based on the talented Giulia. to broaden the customer base.
Even the diesel is a good steer.

VW Polo GTI PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING 6.0 V12 S
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT
£199,950 3.5 201 600 465 21.6 302
MPG CO2 RATING
8/10
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING 2.2D 180 £33,990 7.6 130 178 332 58.9 124 7/10
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4692x1912x1294, 78-litre fuel tank,
2.0T GTI £21,140 6.7 147 197 236 47.9 134 7/10 2.0T 200 £34,690 7.2 134 197 243 40.4 161 7/10 368-litre boot, 2 engines, 2 trims, 4 models in total.
2.0T Speciale £43,960 5.7 134 276 295 40.4 161 7/10
2.2D Milano £43,990 6.6 130 210 347 58.9 127 7/10 RAPIDE S
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4687x1903x1671, 58-litre fuel Aston has ensured the latest Rapide is,
ABARTH tank, 525-litre boot, 4 engines, 3 trims, 11 models in total.
err, rapid-er by giving it the engine from
the latest Vanquish. Better than ever.
TopGear on Abarth:
Tuned Fiats brimming with back-street garage attitude.
Fond of a loud exhaust, but not so keen on subtlety… ARIEL 6.0 V12
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT
£149,500 4.4 203 560 465 21.9 300
MPG CO2 RATING
8/10
TopGear on Ariel:
500 Artfully shaped metalwork containing frenzied engines
and a man clinging on for dear life. Hectic, addictive.
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 5019x1929x1360, 90.5-litre fuel
tank, 317/886-litre boot, 1 engine, 1 trim, 1 model in total.
Short on talent, long on appeal, that’s
the rufty-tufty Abarth. Pogo stick ride
but ever so eager with it. ATOM
The single most insane car on sale. Even AUDI
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING the regular version will redefine your TopGear on Audi:
1.4T 500 £15,510 7.8 131 145 152 47.1 139 7/10 sense of what’s possible in a car. Aspirational premium brand is inventing so many niches, if
there’s not one for you today, there will be by tomorrow.
1.4T 695 Bipos’ £33,110 5.9 143 190 185 43.5 155 7/10 PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 3660x1630x1490, 35-litre fuel
tank, 185/610-litre boot, 2 engines, 3 trims, 8 models in total.
2.0 245 £32,255 3.2 141 245 154 31.4 190 9/10 A1
2.0 SC 350 R £64,800 2.5 155 330 243 N/A N/A 9/10 Essentially a posh Fabia, the A1 is prince to
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 3410x1890x1195, 42-litre fuel tank, Skoda’s pauper. Or maybe the emperor’s
124 SPIDER n/a-litre boot, 4 engines, 4 trims, 4 models in total. new clothes. Either way, it’s not £20k good.
Fiat’s turbo MX-5 gains a whopping... um,
30bhp. For £30k. Hugely characterful and
sweeter to drive than a Mazda, mind.
NOMAD PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
Part special forces all-terrain fast attack S1 £26,640 5.8 155 231 272 40.3 162 8/10
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING vehicle, part latter-day beach buggy. This 1.6 TDI Sport £18,425 9.4 124 116 184 76.3 97 6/10
is Tamiya made real, and it’s awesome.
1.4T 170 £29,620 6.8 144 170 184 44.1 148 7/10 1.4 TFSI Sport £17,790 8.8 127 125 148 57.6 115 7/10
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4045x1740x1233, 45-litre fuel tank, PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
1.4 TFSI S line £20,580 7.8 134 150 184 58.9 112 7/10
140-litre boot, 1 engine, 2 trims, 2 models in total. 2.4 £33,500 3.4 125 235 221 N/A N/A 10/10
1.0 TFSI SE £15,375 10.9 116 95 118 67.3 97 7/10
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 3215x1850x1425, 42-litre fuel tank,
1.6 TDI Sp’back
ALFA ROMEO n/a-litre boot, 1 engine, 1 trim, 1 model in total.
Euro NCAP
£17,070 9.5 124 116 184 76.3 97
LxWxH in mm: 3973x1740x1416, 45-litre fuel
6/10

TopGear on Alfa Romeo: tank, 270/920-litre boot, 4 engines, 4 trims, 14 models in total.
After decades of hit-and-miss, Alfa’s finally delivering
reliable (yep, really) hits. Even when it’s an SUV...
ASTON MARTIN
TopGear on Aston Martin: A3
New engines, new models and a healthy dose of old-school
GIULIA cool should make 2018 a golden year for Aston.
Quiet, sensible, well-built thing that has
a lovely interior and no real joie de vivre.
At long last, Alfa’s back in the small sports Then there’s the 395bhp RS3. Which does.
saloon game with an agile, comfy, RWD…
blinder. Wonders shall never cease. DB11 PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
Replaces a car that defined modern Astons.
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING No pressure then. Turbos rob character but 1.0 TFSI SE £20,365 9.7 128 115 147 62.8 104 8/10
2.9 BiTurbo QV £61,595 3.9 190 510 442 34.4 189 9/10 as an intercontinental GT it’s world class. 2.5T RS3 £44,300 4.1 155 395 354 34.0 189 8/10
2.2 JTDM Tec’ £33,235 7.1 143 180 280 67.3 109 8/10 PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING 2.0T S3 £33,505 5.2 155 310 280 39.8 162 7/10
2.0T Super £31,575 6.6 146 200 243 47.9 138 TBC 5.2TT V12 £157,900 3.9 200 600 516 25.0 265 8/10 2.5T RS3 saloon £45,250 4.1 155 395 354 34.0 189 8/10
2.0T Veloce £38,260 5.7 149 280 295 46.3 141 TBC 4.0TT V8 £144,900 4.0 187 503 498 28.5 230 8/10 2.0 TDI S line £28,955 7.3 145 181 280 61.4 118 7/10
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4639x1426x1873, 58-litre fuel Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4739x1940x1279, 78-litre fuel tank, Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4241(4313)x1777x1424, 50/55l
tank, 480-litre boot, 4 engines, 5 trims, 8 models in total. 270-litre boot, 1 engine, 1 trim, 1 model in total. fuel tank, 365/1,100-litre boot, 9 engines, 6 trims, 41 models total.
AUDI–BMW
A4 Q3 BENTAYGA
Meet the regional boss’s new A4. Just This is the car Audi says rivals the Range Bentley aims to clobber the Range Rover
like the regional boss’s old A4. It’s lighter Rover Evoque. Oh dear. A high-rise Golf with its fearsomely quick, luxurious and
and smarter. Unlike the regional boss. with an inferiority complex. expensive Bentayga SUV.
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
2.0T SE £30,590 7.3 149 190 236 50.4 127 7/10 1.4T Sport £27,610 9.2 127 148 184 51.4 127 6/10 6.0 TSI W12 £162,700 4.1 187 600 663 21.6 296 8/10
2.9T RS4 Avant £62,175 4.1 155 444 443 32.1 199 TBC 2.0T Sport £32,030 7.6 135 180 236 42.8 152 6/10 4.0 V8 Diesel £135,800 4.8 167 435 664 35.8 210 8/10
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4726x1842x1427, 58-litre fuel 2.0 TDI quat’ Sp’ £31,420 7.9 136 184 280 53.3 138 6/10 Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 5140x1998x1742, 85-litre fuel tank,
tank, 480-litre boot, 6 engines, 3 trims, 20 models in total. 431-litre boot, 2 engines, 2 trims, 4 models in total.
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4385x1831x1608, 64-litre fuel
tank, 420/1325-litre boot, 4 engines, 3 trims, 15 models in total.
A5
Don’t worry the picture’s small. You still
can’t tell it’s the new one in real life. About
as memorable as an algebra exam.
Q5
Doesn’t look all-new, but Audi assures
BMW
TopGear on BMW:
us it is. Sits on same platform as new A4 i cars good, 2-Series Active Tourer bad. We’ll leave you to
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
and A5 and is much better for it. put the rest of BMW’s range on the swing-o-meter.
3.0T S5 £47,875 4.7 155 354 369 38.2 170 7/10
2.9T RS5 £62,900 3.9 174 450 442 32.5 197 7/10
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING i3
2.0T S line £42,150 6.3 147 249 273 40.4 159 7/10 The future is here, it’s electric and we love
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4673x1846x1371, 58-litre fuel tank, it. The rest are now playing catch up. From
465-litre boot, 5 engines, 3 trims, 16 models in total.
2.0 TDI SE £38,035 7.9 135 187 295 56.5 132 7/10
a long way behind. 
3.0T SQ5 £51,200 5.4 155 354 369 34.0 189 7/10
A6 Euro NCAP n/a LxWxH in mm: 4663x1893x1659, 65/70-litre fuel
tank, 550/1550-litre boot, 2 engines, 3 trims, 6 models in total.
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
Audi’s photocopier styling department i3s EV 94Ah £32,475 6.9 99 184 199 n/a 0 9/10
has pulled another one out of the bag.
Still not up to 5-Series standards. Q7 i3 EV REx 94Ah
Euro NCAP
£36,230 7.9 93 170 184 470 13
LxWxH in mm: 3999x1775x1578, 9-litre fuel
9/10
The latest Audi Q7 is smaller on the out-
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING side, bigger where it matters. Marginally tank(REx), 260-litre boot, 2 engines, 4 trims, 8 models in total.
4.0T RS 6 Perf’ £88,345 3.7 189 605 554 29.4 223 8/10 less offensive than before, too.
2.0 TDI SE Exec £33,880 8.4 144 190 280 65.7 113 6/10
1-SERIES
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING Perhaps the pick of the premium hatches
3.0 BiTDI S Av’ £53,060 5.2 155 320 479 45.6 164 7/10 right now, the 1-Series thrashes the opposi-
3.0 TDI e-tron £66,510 6.2 143 258 517 156.9 48 6/10 tion for driving. M140i is bargainous gem.
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4910x1870x1460, 65-litre fuel
tank, 535/1680-litre boot, 8 engines, 6 trims, 23 models in total. 3.0 TDI 272 SE £52,910 6.3 145 272 442 49.5 153 8/10
3.0 TDI 218 SE £50,060 7.3 134 218 369 48.7 150 7/10 PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
A7 4.0 TDI SQ7 £72,895 4.9 155 435 664 39.2 190 8/10
1.5 116d ED+ £22,990 10.4 121 116 191 83.1 89 7/10
Following the new A8, the A7’s due for its Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 5053x1963x1730, 100-litre fuel
2.0 120d Sport £26,990 7.1 142 190 295 65.7 114 7/10
commensurate update. Maybe now’s the tank, 295/2075-litre boot, 1 engine, 2 trims, 2 models in total.
time for a runout RS7? 3.0T M140i £33,150 4.8 155 340 369 36.2 179 9/10
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4329x1765x1421, 50/52-litre fuel
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP
4.0T RS 7 Perf’ £94,185 3.7 189 605 554 29.4 223
LB FT MPG CO2 RATING BAC tank, 360/1200-litre boot, 11 engines, 6 trims, 54 models in total.

3.0 BiTDI S Line £58,905 5.2 155 320 479 46.3 162
7/10
7/10
TopGear on BAC:
A car so good to drive that you’ll need to take everyone you 2-SERIES
know out for a ride in it. Oh, wait… 2-Series follows BMW’s latest naming
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4970x1911x1420, 73-litre fuel strategy, but is very much its own car.
tank, 535/1390-litre boot, 6 engines, 5 trims, 13 models in total.
MONO And a rather good one at that.

A8 Some say it’s too extreme. All we know is

that Stig once voted it his car of the year. PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
Audi’s flagship doubles down on tech, but And that some people are fools. 2.0 220d Sport £29,070 7.1 143 190 295 65.7 112 7/10
not all of it is actually available (or entirely
legal) yet. Until then, get an S-Class. 3.0T M240i £36,415 4.8 155 340 369 36.2 179 8/10
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING 3.0T M2 £46,430 4.5 155 365 369 33.2 199 9/10
2.3T £150,000 2.8 170 280 206 N/A N/A 9/10
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING Euro NCAP n/a LxWxH in mm: 4432x1774x1418, 52-litre fuel
3.0T 55 TFSI £71,000 5.6 155 340 369 37.7 171 8/10 Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 3952x1800x1110, 35-litre fuel tank, tank, 390-litre boot, 6 engines, 4 trims, 11 models in total.
NA-litre boot, 1 engine, 1 trim, 1 model in total.
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 5135/5270x1949x1460, 90-litre
fuel tank, 520-litre boot, 5 engines, 6 trims, 17 models in total. 3-SERIES
TT BENTLEY Not only the benchmark small exec,
but one of the best saloons of all. Now
TopGear on Bentley: facelifted, so even more excellent.
It won’t chase away the old stereotypes, “Speak softly and carry a big stick,” as W.O. Bentley
but the latest TT is impressive. TT RS is literally never said.
supercar-fast, yet not supercar-exciting. PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING

PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING

CONTINENTAL GT 2.0T 330e SE
3.0T M3
£35,620 6.1 140 184 310 148.7 44 7/10
All new and somehow even better at all the £58,580 4.3 155 431 406 32.1 204 8/10
2.5T RS £52,100 3.7 155 400 354 34.4 187 7/10 things you want from a cross-continental 2.0 320d E’D’ £32,900 8.0 143 163 280 68.9 108 9/10
2.0 TDI ultra £31,685 7.1 150 184 280 62.8 116 8/10 grand tourer. It’s all in the name...
3.0 330d xDrive £40,990 5.3 155 258 413 53.3 139 9/10
2.0T S £40,840 4.9 155 310 280 38.7 168 7/10 Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4624x1811x1429, 57/60-litre fuel
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
2.0T S Line £34,235 6.0 155 230 273 46.3 141 7/10 tank, 480-litre boot, 10 engines, 7 trims, 66 models in total.
6.0T W12 £156,700 3.7 207 626 664 23.2 278 9/10
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4177x1832x1353, 50-litre fuel
tank, 305/712-litre boot, 5 engines, 4 trims, 19 models in total. Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4850x1966x1405, 90-litre fuel tank,
358-litre boot, 1 engine, 1 trim, 1 model in total.
4-SERIES
The name may have changed but the
R8 FLYING SPUR game’s still the same. Smooth, genteel,
refined and sport-ish.
No V8, no manual, only a faint restyle?
Has Audi dropped a difficult second Brilliant in many ways, but somehow fails
album clanger? Nope, not at all. to capture the essence of luxury as well PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
as the Conti coupe.
3.0T M4 £59,080 4.3 155 431 406 32.1 204 7/10
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
5.2 V10 PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING 3.0T M4 CS £89,130 3.8 190 460 443 34.0 197 8/10
£123,350 3.5 200 540 398 23.9 275 9/10
5.2 V10 Plus 4.0 V8 S £142,800 4.9 183 507 487 25.9 254 6/10 2.0 420d Sport £35,615 7.3 149 190 295 62.8 119 8/10
£138,350 3.2 205 610 413 22.8 289 9/10
5.2 V10 Spyder £132,020 3.6 197 540 398 24.1 277 6.0 W12 £154,900 4.3 200 625 590 19.0 343 6/10 Euro NCAP n/a LxWxH in mm: 4638x1825x1362, 57/60-litre fuel
9/10 tank, 445/480-litre boot, 8 engines, 7 trims, 87 models in total.
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4470x1240x1940, 83/73-litre fuel Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 5299x1976x1488, 90-litre fuel
tank, 475-litre boot, 2 engines, 2 trims, 3 models in total.
tank, 112/338-litre boots, 2 engines, 2 trims, 3 models in total.
5-SERIES
Q2 MULSANNE Evolution of the Five has resulted in one
The replacement for the Arnage, and of the most complete cars on sale. It’s
Finally, Audi bins the styling photocopier engaging, refined and very clever.
and creates a trendy crossover with every bit as opulent and grand. Recent
Evoque desirability for Qashqai money. facelift hasn’t done the styling any favours.
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING 4.4T M5 £89,640 3.4 155 592 553 26.9 241 9/10
1.4 TFSI Sport £24,910 8.5 131 150 184 52.3 124 6/10 6.75 V8 £229,360 5.1 184 512 752 16.8 393 7/10 2.0 520d SE £36,815 7.5 146 190 295 68.8 108 8/10
1.6 TDI SE £23,610 10.3 122 115 184 64.2 114 6/10 6.75 V8 Speed £252,000 4.8 190 537 812 19.3 342 7/10 3.0 530d SE £44,765 5.7 155 265 458 60.1 124 8/10
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4190x1790x1510, TBA-litre Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 5570x1930x1530, 96-litre fuel tank, Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4936x1868x1479, 70-litre fuel tank,
fuel tank, 405/1,050-litre boot, 4 engines, 3 trims, 12 models 443-litre boot, 1 engine, 3 trims, 3 models in total. 510-litre boot (410l 530e), 5 engines, 3 trims, 13 models in total.

FOR ALL THE FACTS AND STATS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT EVERY CAR ON SALE IN THE UK GO TO TOPGEAR.COM/REVIEWS
 BMW–FERRARI
6-SERIES CHEVROLET SANDERO
Unusually, BMW launched the 6 as a The UK’s cheapest new car – you can
Cabrio first. Also unusually, the coupe’s a TopGear on Chevrolet: lease one for less than a Sky TV package.
bit... rubbish. GC 4dr is much better. Chevrolet’s realised that we’re not interested in rebadged Nothing here besides simple transport.
Daewoos, offering tasty V8 muscle machines instead.
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP
4.4T M6 Coupe £95,580 4.2 155 560 501 28.5 232
LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
6/10
CORVETTE STINGRAY 1.2 75 Access £5,995 14.2 101 75 78 54.3 117 5/10
The Americans have finally got serious
3.0 640d GC SE £63,550 5.4 155 313 464 50.4 148 9/10 about taking on the Porsche 911. Others 0.9 TCe 90 Amb’ £7,995 11.1 109 90 99 57.6 109 6/10
have tried before, but rarely as well as this. 0.9 TCe 90 Lau’ £9,195 11.1 109 90 99 57.6 109 6/10
4.4T M6 GC £97,980 4.2 155 560 501 28.5 232 7/10
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4890x1890x1370, 70-litre fuel tank, 1.5D Step’ Sum’ £12,595 11.8 104 90 148 74.3 98 4/10
460-litre boot, 4 engines, 3 trims, 19 models in total.
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
6.2 V8 SC Z06 Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4060x1730x1520, 50-litre fuel
£92,680 3.4 186 650 650 20.0 322 8/10 tank, 320/1200-litre boot, 3 engines, 3 trims, 7 models in total.
7-SERIES Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4495x1780x1235, TBC-litre fuel
tank, TBC-litre boot, 2 engines, 2 trims, 3 models in total.
Never as attractive a proposition as the
Merc S-Class, the 7 is phenomenally DS
good without anyone really giving a toss.
CITROEN TopGear on DS:
Citroen’s sub-brand focuses on style, tech and luxury.
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING TopGear on Citroen: Think Lexus. Only French-er.
3.0T 740Li M Sp’ £78,070 Design-led brand that’s the most ‘French’ of the French car
5.6 155 331 332 40.4 164 7/10 firms. Undergoing a bit of a renaissance these days.
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 5098/5238x1901x1467, 78-litre fuel DS 3
tank, 515-litre boot, 4 engines, 2 trims, 14 models in total. C1 A former Car of the Year and a gigantic,
mincing Gallic leap forward for Citroen.
i8 The first time Citroen got jiggy with
Peugeot and Toyota, they created some- Not fast, but a kick up the arse for Mini.
A supercar for spacemen. There’s noth- thing quite cool. Now it’s round two.
ing else like it: this is a performance car PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
that makes a Prius look like a gas-guzzler.
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING 1.2 PT Chic £15,215 12.3 108 82 87 61.4 107 7/10
1.0 Touch 3d £8,995 14.3 98 69 69 68.9 95 6/10 1.6 PT Prestige £20,015 7.5 135 165 177 50.4 129 7/10
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 3460x1620x1430, 35-litre fuel 1.6 THP 210 £23,775 6.5 143 208 221 52.3 125 7/10
1.5T i8 £106,310 4.4 155 367 236 134.5 49 9/10 tank, 196/780-litre boot, 2 engines, 3 trims, 20 models in total.
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4689x1942x1298, 42-litre fuel Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 3948x1715x1483, 50-litre fuel
tank, TBA-litre boot, 1 engine, 1 trim, 1 model in total. C3 tank, 285/975-litre boot, 7 engines, 5 trims, 15 models in total.

X1 The Cactus-inspired new C3 is a top-

notch supermini from Citroen. Much
DS 5
Latest X1 uses FWD platform from better than we ever imagined. The most avantgarde DS. Not as inspir-
2-Series Active Tourer. Is less objection- ing as the 3, and the ride should still be
able than old one in every single way. PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
better, but family cars come no cooler.
1.2 68 Touch £11,395 N/A 107 68 78 60.1 108 8/10 PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
1.2T 110 Flair £16,685 9.3 117 109 151 61.4 103 8/10 2.0 BlueHDi £29,320 10.6 127 150 272 65.7 113 6/10
2.0 xDrive25d £34,780 6.6 146 231 332 55.4 133 8/10
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 3996x1749x1474, 45-litre 1.6 THP £31,320 9.5 126 165 177 47.9 136 6/10
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4439x1821x1598, 61-litre fuel fuel tank, 300/922-litre boot, 5 engines, 3 trims, 11 models in total.
tank, 505/1505-litre boot, 4 engines, 3 trims, 8 models in total. 2.0 HDi Prestige £34,390 9.9 137 180 295 62.8 117 6/10

X3 C3 AIRCROSS Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4530x1870x1540, 60-litre fuel tank,

465-litre boot (Hybrid 325l), 5 engines, 3 trims, 9 models in total.
Far superior to older ones. So much so The wilfully different C3 Aircross is
that you question the need for the X5. comfy and spacious, if not terrific to
X3 is more socially acceptable, too. drive. But tell us which crossover is.
FERRARI
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING TopGear on Ferrari:
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING Art and science blended into the most alluring and
1.2 Touch £13,995 15.9 103 68 78 55.4 116 7/10
3.0 xDrive35d £47,145 5.3 152 313 465 47.1 157 7/10 diverse supercar range in the company’s history.
1.2 Feel £15,985 11.3 115 109 151 56.5 115 7/10
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4648x1881x1675, 67-litre fuel
tank, 550/1600-litre boot, 3 engines, 3 trims, 7 models in total. Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4150x1760x1640, 45-litre fuel tank,
410/520/1289-litre boot, 5 engines, 3 trims, 11 models in total.
CALIFORNIA T
The Ferrari that everyone thought was a
X5 C4 CACTUS
Maserati now has a turbo V8. Purists will
hate it, but it’ll bring in buyers.
Very good on tarmac, assuming you
want to pummel it into submission. Just Breath of fresh air, as only Citroen can
like with those building contracts, yeah? do. Great looking and with just enough PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
gadgets to keep a modern family happy. 3.8T V8 £155,254 3.6 196 560 556 26.9 250 8/10
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4570x1910x1322, 78-litre fuel tank,
3.0 xDrive30d £53,775 6.8 142 258 413 47.9 156 7/10 PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING 240/340-litre boot, 1 engine, 1 trim, 1 model in total.
1.2 75 Touch £13,770 12.9 103 75 87 61.4 105 8/10
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4896x1938x1762, 85-litre fuel tank,
650/1870-litre boot, 3 engines, 3 trims, 5 models in total. 1.2T 110 Feel £17,575 9.3 117 110 151 65.7 100 8/10 488
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4157x1729x1480, 45-litre fuel So long, natural aspiration. Twin-turbo
BUGATTI tank, 358/1170-litre boot, 6 engines, 3 trims, 13 models in total. 488 is new-age fast, but not quite as fizzy
as the car it replaces. Mighty nonetheless.
TopGear on Bugatti:
Makers of the world’s fastest, most expensive cars. Numbers
GRAND C4 PICASSO PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
matter here, so pay attention. Funky shapeliness from Citroen, helping
make the world of MPVs more accept- 3.9T GTB £183,984 3.0 205 670 560 24.7 260 9/10
CHIRON able. Headlights a particular success. 3.9T Spider £204,411 3.0 203 670 560 24.7 260 9/10
A “car that does things no other car can,” PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4568x1952x1213, 78-litre fuel tank,
says a certain Mr Harris. A landmark piece 230-litre boot, 1 engine, 2 trims, 2 models in total.
of engineering, nothing less. 1.2 PT Feel £24,455 10.8 125 130 170 56.5 116 7/10
1.6 B’HDi Feel £25,650 11.3 117 120 221 70.6 106 8/10 812
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4590x1830x1630, 60-litre Ferrari’s latest V12 GT car gets even more
8.0T W16 £2.5m <2.5 261 1479 1180 12.6 516 10/10 fuel tank, 537/1851-litre boot, 4 engines, 4 trims, 9 models in total. power, tech and ability to cross continents
at speeds that’ll land you in a courtroom.
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4544x2038x1212, 100-litre fuel tank,
NA-litre boot, 1 engine, 1 trim, 1 model in total.
DACIA PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING

CATERHAM TopGear on Dacia:

Cheap cars from Eastern Europe, via France for a bit of
6.5 Superfast £253,000 2.9 211 789 508 19.0 340
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4657x1971x1276, 92-litre fuel tank,
10/10

TopGear on Caterham: je ne sais quoi, and then on to the budget-conscious. 350-litre boot, 1 engine, 1 trim, 1 model in total.
Small, light and nimble 50-year old cars remain all that.
But they didn’t have to negotiate X6s in 1965.
DUSTER GTC4
SEVEN Simple, high-riding crossover-style
five-seater is a TopGear favourite. Good
A much-needed sharpening for the FF,
now with a turbo V8. Excellent, if perhaps
As old as the hills, yet as energetic as value, surprisingly able, very tough. overshadowed by the fearsome 812.
a spring lamb. The small, light, flimsy
template still serves the 7 well.
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING 1.6 SCE Access £9,495 11.0 105 115 115 44.1 145 7/10 6.3 V12 Lusso £230,430 3.4 208 690 514 18.8 360 9/10
0.6 160 £16,995 6.9 100 80 79 57.6 114 9/10 1.5 dCi Amb’ £12,995 11.8 105 110 177 64.2 115 7/10 3.9T V8 £199,285 3.5 199 603 560 24.8 265 9/10
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 3530x1690x1140, 36-litre fuel tank, Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4320x1820x1700, 50-litre fuel tank, Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4922x1980x1383, 91-litre fuel tank,
75-litre boot, 5 engines, 5 trims, 5 models in total. 475/1636-litre boot, 3 engines, 4 trims, 18 models in total. 450/800-litre boot, 1 engine, 1 trim, 1 model in total.

FOR ALL THE FACTS AND STATS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT EVERY CAR ON SALE IN THE UK GO TO TOPGEAR.COM/REVIEWS
 CIVIC
FIAT–HYUNDAI
FIAT FOCUS
TopGear on Fiat: The Focus is good to drive, but is now New Civic loses clever folding seats and
so dated that even a Vauxhall Astra beats cheap suspension. Result? It’s better to
Good when they do the small stuff, bad when they go it overall on points. Not the RS, mind. drive, but less roomy. Priorities?
beyond it. Buy a Panda and be content.

PANDA 1.0T Zetec

PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
1.0T SE
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP
£18,475 10.8 126 127
LB FT MPG
148 58.9 110
CO2 RATING
8/10
It’s back, it’s slightly rounder and it’s £20,135 11.0 120 125 147 60.1 108 8/10
still entirely brilliant. Come ’ere cuddly 2.3T RS £32,265 4.7 165 345 325 36.7 175 9/10 1.5T Sport £22,955 8.2 n/a 180 162 48.7 132 8/10
Panda, we want to give you a hug. 2.0T Type R
2.0T ST £25,415 6.5 154 250 266 41.5 159 8/10 £30,995 5.8 169 316 295 36.7 170 9/10
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4358x1823x1484, 53-litre Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4518x1799x1434, 50-litre fuel
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
fuel tank, 363/1148-litre boot, 10 engines, 6 trims, 52 models in total. tank, 478/1267-litre boot, 2 engines, 7 trims, 7 models in total.
0.9T TwinAir £11,365 11.2 110 85 107 67.3 99 8/10
0.9T TwinAir 4x4 £16,255 12.0 104 90 107 57.6 114 8/10 MONDEO HR-V
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 3650x1640x1550, 35-litre fuel Been on sale in the US for years now. Honda Jazz with a bit more chunk and
tank, 225/870-litre boot, 4 engines, 5 trims, 15 models in total. Smooth, refined and not too American. the option of 4WD. Smaller than a
Well done Ford. Qashqai. Think Mazda CX-3.
500
Not quite the Sixties revival Fiat was PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
angling for, but the 500 has stayed cute 1.5T Zetec £23,195 9.2 138 160 177 48.7 134 7/10 1.5 S £19,090 10.7 119 130 114 50.4 130 7/10
as the Mini keeps bloating.
2.0 TDCi Est Tit’ £27,695 9.5 130 150 258 67.3 109 7/10 Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4294xTBAx1605, 50-litre fuel
tank, 453/1026-litre boot, 2 engines, 4 trims, 8 models in total.
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4780x1890x1500, 70-litre fuel
tank, 540/1460-litre boot, 7 engines, 4 trims, 34 models in total.
1.2 Pop Star £12,490 12.9 99 69 75 60.1 110 7/10
CR-V
0.9T TwinAir £13,740 11.0 107 85 107 74.3 90 7/10 C-MAX A car engineered for accountants. It’s a
0.9T TwinAir S £15,265 10.0 117 105 107 67.3 99 7/10 Now with added grille. C-Max gets Ford’s great all-rounder but deeply boring with
0.9T TwinAir S C new family face and myriad very welcome it. There are few more reliable SUVs.
£17,915 10.0 117 105 107 67.3 99 6/10 improvements elsewhere.
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 3571x1627x1488, 38-litre fuel PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
tank, 185-litre boot, 3 engines, 5 trims, 26 models in total. PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING 1.6 DTEC SE N’ £29,890 9.6 125 160 258 57.7 129 6/10
2.0 TDCi Titan’ £25,195 9.8 126 150 273 61.4 119 6/10
500L Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4380/4519x1860x1620, 53/60-litre
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4570x1820x1685, 58-litre fuel
tank, 589/1648-litre boot, 3 engines, 4 trims, 11 models in total.
Don’t be misled by the badge and the fuel tank, 432/1723-litre boot, 4 engines, 3 trims, 20 models in total.
headlights. The 500L is more Panda
than 500, and bigger than you expect.
S-MAX NSX
New NSX has had maybe longest gesta-
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING Second-gen of Ford’s low-roofed MPV tion of any car ever. Feels heavy and
1.4 95 Pop Star £16,195 12.8 106 95 keeps its dad’s fine dynamics, with a complex, but so does a 918 Spyder.
93 46.3 143 5/10 much smarter interior.
1.6 MJet Lounge £20,820 10.7 117 120 236 67.3 112 5/10 PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4147x1784x1667, 50-litre fuel PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING 3.5T hybrid
tank, 343/1310-litre boot, 3 engines, 4 trims, 11 models in total.
£144,765 <3.0 191 573 406 28.2 228 8/10
1.5 SCTi Zetec £26,445 9.9 124 160 177 43.5 149 8/10
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4470x1940x1215, 60-litre fuel
500X 2.0 TDCi Zetec
Euro NCAP
£27,995 10.8 123 150 258 56.5 129
LxWxH in mm: 4796x1916x1655, 70-litre fuel
8/10 tank, TBA-litre boot, 1 engine, 1 trim, 1 model in total.

The quest to cash in on the 500 continues.

Similar lights, but otherwise there’s nothing
500-ish here. Not a bad crossover, mind.
KUGA
tank, 285/2200-litre boot, 7 engines, 5 trims, 11 models in total.
HYUNDAI
TopGear on Hyundai:
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING The Kuga has grown up and bought Value-packed Korean has earned a proper reputation for
1.4 MAir P’Star £18,665 9.8 118 140 170 47.1 139 6/10 some sensible slacks. Sure, it’s highly capable cars. Excuse us while we tuck into our hats.
competent, but so are others.
1.6 MJet P’Star £20,235 10.5 116 120 236 68.9 109 6/10
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4248x1796x1600, 48-litre fuel PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
i10
tank, 350/1000-litre boot, 4 engines, 6 trims, 13 models in total. Lacks the charisma of the Panda and the
1.5T Zetec £22,895 9.7 121 150 177 44.8 145 6/10
sheer polish of the Up but actually, if you
TIPO 2.0 TDCi AWD Z’ £26,095 9.9 119 150 273 54.3 135 6/10 don’t care about cars, buy this one.
An old name brought back from the grave Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4524x1838x1689, 57-litre fuel
to add a mite of flair to a humdrum cheap tank, 406/1603-litre boot, 6 engines, 4 trims, 17 models in total. PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
hatchback. No vices, but no virtues, either. 1.0 SE £10,790 14.7 97 66 69 60.1 108 8/10
MUSTANG Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 3665x1660x1500, 40-litre fuel
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING At last, a muscle car to call our own. tank, 218/1012-litre boot, 2 engines, 3 trims, 7 models in total.
1.4T Easy Plus £15,795 9.6 124 120 159 47.1 139 5/10 Mustang now here in right-hand drive,
1.6D Easy Plus £17,795 N/A 124 120 236 76.3 98 5/10
still feels very American. Also large. i20
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4370x1790x1500, 48-litre fuel tank, It’s the latest i20! It’s not that exciting!
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING Otherwise a very worthy and competent
440-litre boot, 5 engines, 4 trims, 26 models in total.
2.3T £33,645 5.8 155 314 320 35.3 179 7/10 supermini, now with decent 1.0 engines.
124 SPIDER 5.0 V8 GT £38,095 4.8 155 418 387 20.9 299 7/10
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
Turbo torque and firmer chassis means Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4784x1916x1381, 61-litre fuel
Fiat’s MX-5 gets right up Mazda’s nose. If tank, 408-litre boot, 2 engines, 2 trims, 4 models in total. 1.0 T-GDI Active £15,815 10.9 109 100 126 58.9 110 8/10
only it didn’t look like a Dodge Viper kit car. 1.2 S Air £12,355 13.6 99 75 90 58.9 112 7/10
GT Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4035x1734x1474, 50-litre fuel
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING tank, 301/1042-litre boot, 7 engines, 6 trims, 34 models in total.
Ford’s Le Mans-racer turned road-car.
1.4T Classica £21,050 7.5 134 140 177 44.1 148 8/10 Subs traditional V8 for blown V6 and
1.4T Lusso £23,800 7.5 134 140 177 44.1 148 8/10
much aero. KONA
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4054x1740x1233, 45-litre fuel tank, Odd exterior styling is the only standout
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING feature of this otherwise dull and tedious
140-litre boot, 1 engine, 3 trims, 3 models in total.
3.5T V6 £420,000 3.0 216 647 550 N/A N/A 9/10 crossover. But hey, you asked for it.

FORD Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4779x2238x1109, 57.5-litre fuel

tank, N/A-litre boot, 1 engine, 1 trim, 1 model in total.
1.0T Premium
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP
£18,580 12.0 112 118
LB FT
127
MPG CO2
52.3 125
RATING
6/10
TopGear on Ford:
Proof that mass market motoring can have an edge.
Note: this does not apply to the disappointing EcoSport. HONDA Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4165x1800x1550, 50-litre fuel
tank, 361/1143-litre boot, 2 engines, 5 trims, 5 models in total.
TopGear on Honda:
FIESTA Reliable, practical model range that seems a lot brighter
now the NSX is here. i30
The latest version of what’s arguably the The i30 is further proof Hyundai is
best supermini on sale gets a new look
and a better interior. We’re sold. JAZZ catching up with Kia in the design stakes,
and everyone else everywhere else.
Latest Jazz is clever. Very clever.
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
Deserves to be bought by more under
Eighties than it almost certainly will be. PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
1.1 Style £12,715 14.9 99 69 80 64.2 101 7/10 1.6 CRDi BD SE £19,815 11.0 117 110 207 74.3 99 7/10
1.0T Zetec £14,795 10.5 113 99 125 65.7 97 8/10 PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING 1.4T Premium £22,355 8.9 130 138 178 42.8 124 7/10
1.0T Titanium £16,645 9.9 121 123 125 65.7 97 8/10 1.3 SE Navi £16,065 11.2 118 102 91 56.5 116 6/10 2.0T N Perf’ £27,995 6.1 155 271 260 41.3 163 8/10
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4040x1735x1476, 42-litre fuel Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 3995x1694x1550, 40-litre fuel Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4340x1795x1455, 50-litre fuel
tank, 292/1093-litre boot, 7 engines, 5 trims, 19 models in total. tank, 354/897-litre boot, 1 engine, 5 trims, 5 models in total. tank, 395/1301-litre boot, 3 engines, 5 trims, 10 models in total.

FOR ALL THE FACTS AND STATS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT EVERY CAR ON SALE IN THE UK GO TO TOPGEAR.COM/REVIEWS
IONIQ XF

HYUNDAI–LAMBORGHINI
Hyundai takes a swipe at Toyota’s Prius New XF is good. Probably-better-than-a-
KIA
– and floors it first time. It’s £4,000 5-Series good. Lovely inside too, just not TopGear on Kia:
cheaper too. Korea one, Japan nil. big enough for plutocrat bellies. Thoroughly warrantied range of whitegoods with barely
a duffer among ’em. We’re as surprised as you are.

1.6 hybrid SE
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
2.0T Sp’tbrake
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING PICANTO
£20,585 10.8 115 106 108 83.1 79 8/10 £42,435 6.6 152 248 269 41.5 155 7/10 A Kia cracker. Latest Picanto looks
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4470x1820x1450, 45-litre fuel 3.0D V6 S £50,100 5.8 155 300 332 51.4 144 8/10 good, drives well, costs little and is
tank, 443/1,505-litre boot, 2 p’trains, 3 trim, 5 models in total. warrantied to the max.
2.0D R-Sport £40,100 6.5 153 240 369 53.3 139 TBC
TUCSON 3.0S V6 S £51,100 5.3 155 380 332 34.0 198 TBC PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
Just what the world needed. Another Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4954x1880x1457, 55/66/74-litre 1.25 GT-Line S £13,950 11.6 107 83 90 61.4 106 7/10
compact SUV. Silly name, but if you’re into fuel tank, 540/963-litre boot, 4 engines, 4 trims, 8 models in total.
this kind of thing, quite good. Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 3595x1595x1485, 35-litre fuel

XJ tank, 255/1010-litre boot, 2 engines, 7 trims, 9 models in total.

2.0D 2WD SE
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP
£25,255 10.6 116 136
LB FT MPG
275 58.9 127
CO2 RATING
8/10
Zoinks. The XJ is rapid, refined and just
plain beautiful. The interior is so special
CEE’D
we invented an award for it. Still a white goods car, but now it’s white
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4475x1850x1645, 62-litre fuel goods by John Lewis. Build quality is a
tank, 513/1503-litre boot, 5 engines, 5 trims, 18 models in total. rival for VW now, as is much else.
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
SANTA FE 5.0 V8 XJR575 £92,655 4.4 174 550 502 25.5 264 8/10 PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
Can't afford a Disco? Then step this way, 3.0D V6 R-Sport £72,415 5.9 155 300 516 49.6 149 7/10 1.6T GT £24,010 7.3 143 201 195 38.2 170 7/10
as savvy Santa Fe shows there is another 5.0 A’bio’ LWB £101,370 4.9 155 510 461 25.4 264
way. Gymkhana mums might not agree. TBC 1.4 £15,365 n/a 114 98 99 47.1 138 6/10
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 5130/5260x1890x1490, 77/82-litre Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4310x1780x1470, 53-litre fuel
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING fuel tank, 520-litre boot, 3 engines, 5 trims, 13 models in total. tank, 380/1318-litre boot, 3 engines, 5 trims, 18 models in total.
2.2 CRDi Prem £32,545 9.8 118 197 311 46.3 161 7/10
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4660x1890x1760, 70-litre fuel F-PACE NIRO
tank, 534-litre boot, 1 engine, 3 trims, 5 models in total. Not as pointy as a Porsche Macan, but Kia’s crossover hybrid is extremely well
cleverly pitched and good to drive. A priced and doesn’t use a horrid CVT.
sure-fire hit for Jag. Uber driver, you’re spoiled here.
INFINITI
TopGear on Infiniti: PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
Posh Nissan offshoot desperately aiming to emulate Lexus. 2.0D Prestige £37,030 8.5 129 180 317 55.4 134 8/10 1.6 GDI 2 £23,135 11.1 101 141 196 74.3 88 7/10
In Europe, we’re still struggling to notice. Or care.
3.0D S £52,665 6.2 150 300 517 47.1 159 8/10 Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4355x1805x1535, 45-litre fuel
Q30 3.0S S 380 £53,365 5.5 155 375 332 31.7 209 7/10
tank, 427/1425-litre boot, 1 engine, 4 trims, 4 models in total.

An Infiniti people may actually buy, or so it

hopes. Different, for sure, but that doesn’t
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4731x1936x1652, 60-litre fuel
tank, 650-litre boot, 4 engines, 5 trims, 9 models in total.
STINGER
necessarily mean better… Forgive the name, look past the badge
and there’s a 365bhp, 4dr GT for £40k.
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
F-TYPE But will anyone overlook Audi and Merc?
Over-priced Cayman rival, or cut-price
1.5D SE 2WD £22,170 12.0 118 108 192 68.9 108 6/10 911 alternative? Who cares when it’s PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
this good?
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4425x1805x1495, 50-litre fuel 3.3T GT S £39,240 4.7 168 365 376 28.5 225 7/10
tank, 368-litre boot, 4 engines, 4 trims, 38 models in total.
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING 2.0T GT-Line £31,140 5.8 149 244 260 35.8 181 6/10
Q50 3.0S 400 Sport £70,665 4.9 171 400 339 32.8 203 8/10 Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4830x1870x1400, 60-litre fuel
tank, 406-litre boot, 3 engines, 3 trims, 5 models in total.
More sharply styled but otherwise anony- 5.0 V8 R AWD £90,860 4.1 186 550 501 25.0 269 8/10
mous saloon from Nissan’s lux wing. This
time aimed at the BMW 3-Series. 5.0 V8 SVR £110,880 3.5 200 575 517 25.0 269 8/10 SPORTAGE
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4470x1920x1300, 70-litre fuel Kias are normally somewhat pleasant-
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING tank, 196/315-litre boot, 4 engines, 4 trims, 16 models in total. looking. This one isn’t. Good though, so
don’t discount it.
2.2D SE £29,860 8.7 144 170 295 65.7 114 5/10
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4790x1820x1450, 74-litre fuel
tank, 400/500-litre boot, 2 engines, 4 trims, 8 models in total.
JEEP 1.6 GDi 1
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP
£18,945 11.1 113 130
LB FT MPG
119 42.2 156
CO2 RATING
7/10
TopGear on Jeep:
Q60 Oblong-obsessed 4x4 experts still trading off WWII heroics.
Don’t mention the Italian and German oily bits underneath.
2.0 CRDi GT-Line £26,495 10.1 114 134 275 54.3 139 7/10
Japan’s 4-Series has a clever new V6 and 2.0 CRDi KX-5 £32,525 9.2 125 182 295 44.8 166 7/10
the Q60 saloon’s unnerving non-mechani-
cal steering. As alternative as it gets. RENEGADE Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4480x1855x1635, 62-litre fuel
tank, 491/1480-litre boot, 5 engines, 6 trims, 13 models in total.
Meet the Fiat 500X’s Yankee cousin. The
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING styling’s a bit yee-hah, but it drives with
3.0T AWD S Sp’t £43,535 5.0 155 405 351 31.0 208
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4690x1850x1395, 80-litre fuel
7/10
Euro sophistication, with added fun.
KOENIGSEGG
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING TopGear on Koenigsegg:
tank, TBA-litre boot, 2 engines, 3 trims, 6 models in total. Swedish purveyors of deeply outrageous supercars.
1.6 Sport £18,250 11.9 111 112 112 47.1 141 6/10 Big and shouty, yes, but also quite clever.
JAGUAR 1.4 MAir Longi’
2.0 MJet Trail’
£21,665 10.9 112 142
£29,810 8.9 122 170
170 47.1 140
258 47.9 155
6/10
7/10 REGERA
TopGear on Jaguar: Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4236x1805x1667, 48-litre fuel True to form, latest ’Segg is maddest yet.
Gorgeous Callum design and a raffish demeanor get you so tank, 351/1356-litre boot, 5 engines, 5 trims, 15 models in total. Petrol-electric hybrid with a weird single
far. Over-powered engines take you the rest of the way. speed ’box. It’s a huge achievement.

XE COMPASS PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING

Forget the F-Type, this is actually the most New Compass in nowhere near as 5.0 V8 T PHEV
gawky or rubbish as the old one. So, £1.45m 2.8 250 1480 1475 TBA TBA 9/10
important Jaguar of the last decade. Needs
to banish all memory of the X-Type. Oops. Jeep’s pointing in the right direction, eh? Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4560x2050x1110, 82-litre fuel
tank, 150-litre boot, 1 engine, 1 trim, 1 model in total.
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
3.0 V6 S/C S
2.0D Prestige
£48,045 4.8 155 380 332 34.9 194
£31,765 7.8 140 180 317 67.3 109
8/10
9/10
1.6D 4x2
1.4T 4x4
£22,995 n/a
£32,595 9.3
n/a 120
127 170
236 20.2 315
184 40.9 160
TBC
6/10
LAMBORGHINI
TopGear on Lamborghini:
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4394x2032x1641, 60-litre fuel
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4672x1850x1416, 56/63-litre
tank, 1053/1693-litre boot, 4 engines, 4 trims, 10 models in total.
The supercar for those who don’t care about lap times.
fuel tank, 450-litre boot, 5 engines, 5 trims, 14 models in total. Or The Green Party. Or visibility. But like hexagons.

E-PACE GRAND CHEROKEE HURACAN

Jag’s crossover still offers Ian Callum Jeep may be under Fiat's control, but Lambo’s riposte to the 458 and 650S
styling, Ingenium engines and the ability no one appears to have told the Grand now doing battle with the 488 and
to say, “Let’s take the Jaaaag.” Lovely. Cherokee. Big, thirsty, pricey. 720S. Clash of the titans, then?

PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
2.0 P250 £37,410 7.0 143 245 269 36.7 174 7/10 6.4 V8 SRT £69,830 5.0 160 461 460 20.2 315 6/10 5.2 LP 580-2 £155,400 3.4 199 580 398 23.7 278 9/10
2.0 P300 HSE £50,710 6.4 151 296 295 35.3 181 7/10 3.0 CRD O’land £51,280 8.2 126 247 405 40.4 184 6/10 5.2 Performante £207,925 2.9 202 640 443 20.6 314 9/10
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4411x1900x1649, 69-litre fuel Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4820x1940x1760, 93-litre fuel Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4459x1924x1165, 80-litre fuel tank,
tank, 425/1234-litre boot, 5 engines, 5 trims, 48 models in total. tank, 782/1554-litre boot, 2 engines, 7 trims, 7 models in total. TBA-litre boot, 1 engine, 1 trim, 1 model in total.

FOR ALL THE FACTS AND STATS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT EVERY CAR ON SALE IN THE UK GO TO TOPGEAR.COM/REVIEWS
 AVENTADOR S
LAMBORGHINI–MAZDA
LEXUS 3-ELEVEN
Lambo’s face-lifted V12 screamer brings The extraordinary Lotus 3-Eleven is a
the hallowed SV, with new looks and TopGear on Lexus: remarkable driver’s car with thrilling
more power, plus rear-steer. Angular luxo-Toyotas that range from sleepy hybrids to speed and mesmerising on-road talent.
intoxicatingly awesome, naturally aspirated V8s.

6.5 LP 700-4
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP
£271,146 3.0 217 700 509
LB FT MPG CO2
17.7 370
RATING
8/10
IS 3.5S
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP
£83,900 3.4 174 410
LB FT
302
MPG
n/a
CO2
n/a
RATING
8/10
3-Series drive too well for you? Then buy
6.5 LP 750-4 SV £319,073 2.8 217+ 750 509 17.7 370 9/10 this – it’s worse. In other areas, the IS Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: tba, tba-litre fuel tank, 40-litre
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4780x2030x1140, 90-litre fuel tank,
gives the Germans a much tougher time. boot, 2 engines, 2 trims, 2 models in total.
n/a-litre boot, 2 engines, 2 trims, 4 models in total.
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING MASERATI
LAND ROVER 2.0T 200t
2.5 300h
£39,945 7.0 143 245 258 39.2 167
£31,825 8.4 125 223 221 65.7 101
7/10
7/10
TopGear on Maserati:
Ferrari’s moody cousin. Every model beaten in every way
TopGear on Land Rover: by German opposition, save for cachet, cool, and style.
A genuine UK success story with the whole range Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4670x1810x1430, 66-litre fuel
as at home on a field as the red carpet. tank, 450/480-litre boot, 2 engines, 6 trims, 10 models in total.
GHIBLI
DISCOVERY SPORT LC Maserati builds a BMW 5-Series. It’s
available with a diesel engine. Well, they
Freelander gets a new name, and much Last bastion (well, almost) of the N/A think it’s a good idea.
more besides. Not cheap, but it’s what V8 is a futuristic-looking Lexus GT.
yummy mummies will be driving this year. Who’d have thought?
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING 3.0 V6 TT S £66,520 5.0 177 410 405 27.2 242 7/10
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
2.0 TD4 150 SE £31,255 11.7 112 150 280 57.7 129 5.0 500 £76,595 4.7 155 471 398 24.6 263 8/10 3.0 V6 Diesel £51,165 6.3 155 275 442 47.9 158 6/10
7/10
2.0 TD4 180 SE £32,865 9.9 117 180 317 53.3 139 5.0 500 Sport £85,895 4.7 155 471 398 24.4 267 8/10 Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4970x1950x1460, 80-litre fuel
8/10
3.5 500h tank, 500-litre boot, 3 engine, 2 trims, 3 models in total.
2.0 Si4 HSE Dyn’ £49,395 6.8 135 290 295 33.6 190 7/10 £76,595 5.0 168 354 257 44.1 145 6/10
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4599x1895x1724, 54-litre fuel
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4770x1920x1345, 82-litre fuel
tank, 197-litre boot, 2 engines, 3 trims, 6 models in total.
QUATTROPORTE
tank, 195/1698-litre boot, 2 engines, 4 trims, 4 models in total.
Noooo – what have they done? The old
DISCOVERY RC one was soul personified, this looks a
bit... meh. Still, at least it drives better.
The new, posho Disco is as capable as Bit heavier than we hoped, but roaring
ever – even more adroit off-road, and V8 gives BMW’s M4 a few headaches. PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
lighter on its feet back on it. Good thing, too.
3.8 TT V8 GTS £118,525 4.7 191 530 523 26.4 250 7/10
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
3.0 V6 Diesel £71,530 6.4 155 275 443 45.6 163 6/10
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
3.0 Si6 HSE 5.0 RC F £61,310 4.5 168 477 391 26.2 252 7/10 Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 5050x1900x1440, 90-litre fuel
£60,810 6.9 130 340 332 26.0 254 7/10
tank, 450-litre boot, 3 engines, 3 trims, 3 models in total.
2.0 SD4 S £43,995 8.0 121 240 369 43.5 171 8/10 Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4705x1845x1390, 66-litre fuel tank,
3.0 TD6 HSE £58,795 7.7 130 258 443 39.2 189 8/10
366-litre boot, 3 engines, 5 trims, 7 models in total.
GRANTURISMO
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4970x2000x1888, 77-litre fuel
tank, TBA/2342-litre boot, 3 engines, 5 trims, 11 models in total.
RX Muscular, pretty coupe that’s more GT
than sports car. Nothing wrong there
Lexus takes NX and scales up. Much and the MC Strad has bite if you need it.
RANGE ROVER EVOQUE better than the old one, but suffers
from the same flaws.
A Range Rover for a younger, more PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
stylish, more urban audience. One for 4.7 Sport £95,545 4.8 185 460 383 19.7 331 8/10
fashionistas, not farmers. PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
4.7 MC £112,140 4.5 188 450 376 19.5 337 8/10
2.0T 200T S £41,940 9.2 124 238 258 36.2 181 6/10
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
4.7 Cabrio Sport £109,600 5.2 177 440 361 19.5 337 8/10
3.5 450h SE £48,645 7.7 124 263 247 54.3 120 6/10
2.0 Si4 Conv’ £48,800 7.8 130 240 251 32.9 201 8/10 Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4880x1920x1350, 86-litre fuel
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4890x1895x1690, 65-litre fuel tank, 260-litre boot, 3 engines, 3 trims, 5 models in total.
2.0 eD4 SE 2WD £30,760 10.6 113 150 317 65.7 113 8/10 tank, 453-litre boot, 2 engines, 5 trims, 7 models in total.
2.0 TD4 SE Tech £35,760 9.5 124 180 317 58.9 125 8/10 LEVANTE
2.0 Autobio’ £55,200 6.0 144 290 295 37.2 173 8/10 LOTUS Get over the slightly Chinese Cayenne-
copy styling and you’ll find a seriously
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4360x1960x1610, 60/70-litre TopGear on Lotus: well-sorted SUV.
fuel tank, 550/1445-litre boot, 3 engines, 3 trims, 12 models in total. Overlook shaky economics and turnip farmer jokes
and you’ll find sports cars close to driving nirvana.
RANGE ROVER SPORT PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
A prettier RRS would be a contradiction in ELISE 3.0 V6 Diesel £56,250 6.9 142 275 443 39.2 189 8/10
terms, but the latest one definitely comes Still a joy, the current Elise offers 3.0 V6 S £70,755 5.2 164 430 428 25.9 253 8/10
with less thuggishness. visceral driving thrills in a relatively
usable package. This is steering feel. Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 5003x1968x1679, 70-litre fuel
tank, 580-litre boot, 2 engines, 3 trims, 6 models in total.
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
5.0 SVR £97,780 4.5 162 550 502 22.1 298 9/10 PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
3.0 SDV6 HSE
3.0 Hybrid HSE
£63,545 6.8 130 306 517 40.4 185 9/10
1.6
1.8S 220
£31,500 6.5 127 134
£44,640 4.6 145 217
118 44.8 149
184 37.7 173
8/10
8/10
MAZDA
£75,515 6.4 130 345 517 45.6 164 9/10 TopGear on Mazda:
1.8S 250 £47,900 4.3 154 243 184 37.7 175 9/10 Remember when every single Ford was the best to drive
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4850x1983x1780, 80-litre fuel
tank, 784/1761-litre boot, 6 engines, 6 trims, 8 models in total. Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 3790x1850x1120, 44-litre fuel tank,
in its class? Well, Mazda’s nicked that mantle.
112-litre boot, 2 engines, 3 trims, 3 models in total.
RANGE ROVER VELAR 3
Smaller than a Sport, bigger than an EVORA The 6’s design language moves to the 3. So
Evoque, the Velar shares its platform More power = good, more price = bad. does the handling verve. After that we’re
and engines with the Jag F-Pace. 430 is astonishingly good to drive but less sure why you’d have one over a Golf.
hard to choose over the 911 GT3.
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
2.0 D180 £44,830 8.9 130 180 317 52.3 142 7/10 PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING 2.0 SE £17,995 8.9 121 120 155 55.4 119 6/10
2.0 D240 S £53,720 7.3 135 240 369 48.7 154 7/10 3.5S 400 £73,500 4.1 186 400 303 29.1 225 8/10 2.0 Sport Nav £22,695 8.2 130 165 154 48.7 135 6/10
3.0 D300 HSE £65,060 6.5 150 300 516 44.1 167 7/10 3.5S 430 £112,500 3.8 196 430 325 28.8 234 8/10 1.5D SE £19,495 11.0 116 105 199 74.3 99 7/10
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4803x1930x1655, 60-litre fuel tank, Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4340x1850x1220, 55-litre fuel tank, Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4465x1795x1450, 51-litre fuel
558/1731-litre boot, 5 engines, 6 trims, TBC models in total. 160-litre boot, 3 engines, 3 trims, 5 models in total. tank, 364-litre boot, 3 engines, 3 trims, 17 models in total.

RANGE ROVER EXIGE 6

This is not an SUV. That’s too common Lotus’s track car has grown up and got Handsome mid-size saloon with some
a badge. Instead, think go-anywhere heavier. But don’t worry, this makes it clever engine tech underneath. Drives
luxury car. Or GALC. Hmm, catchy. more usable. Deliriously good to drive. well, possibly a bit middle management.

PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
5.0S SVA’ Dyn’ £133,680 5.1 140 550 502 22.1 299 8/10 3.5S 350 £57,200 3.9 170 350 295 28.0 235 8/10 2.0 Sport Nav £24,795 9.1 134 165 154 47.8 135 6/10
3.0 TDV6 Vogue £76,795 7.4 130 258 442 40.9 182 9/10 3.5S 380 £67,900 3.7 178 375 304 28.0 236 9/10 2.2D Sport Nav £26,795 9.1 131 150 280 72.4 107 7/10
4.4 SDV8 Vge SE £91,300 6.5 135 339 546 33.6 219 9/10 3.5S 430 £99,800 3.2 180 430 325 TBC TBC 9/10
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 5000/5199x2070x1840, 85/105-litre Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4084x1802x1129, 40-litre fuel tank, Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4870x1840x1450, 62-litre fuel
fuel tnk, 909/2030-litre boot, 4 engines, 4 trims, 11 models in total. n/a-litre boot, 2 engines, 4 trims, 5 models in total. tank, 489-litre boot, 3 engines, 3 trims, 13 models in total.

FOR ALL THE FACTS AND STATS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT EVERY CAR ON SALE IN THE UK GO TO TOPGEAR.COM/REVIEWS
 MAZDA–MERCEDES-BENZ
MX-5 GLA E-CLASS
Ignore the stereotypes: the MX-5 is On paper little more than a pointless cu- Laden with tech and wonderfully calming.
back and, crucially, better than ever. RF riosity, but in reality a rather well judged New E gets Merc back in the big exec
gets folding hard-top. crossover. Better than the CLA at least. game. AMG E63 is tremendous.

PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
1.5 SE £18,795 8.3 127 131 111 47.1 139 9/10 2.0T GLA45 £46,920 4.4 155 381 351 38.2 172 7/10 4.0T E63 S £88,490 3.4 155 612 627 31.0 207 9/10
1.5 Sport Nav £23,095 8.3 127 131 111 47.1 139 9/10 2.0T GLA250 £33,255 6.6 143 211 250 43.5 153 6/10 3.0 E350d £47,355 5.9 155 258 457 54.3 144 9/10
2.0 Sport Nav £24,195 7.3 133 160 148 40.4 161 9/10 1.6T GLA200 £28,510 8.4 134 156 184 47.1 138 6/10 2.0 E200d estate £37,205 8.7 135 150 266 67.3 109 8/10
1.5 SE-L RF £22,295 8.3 127 131 111 47.1 142 8/10 2.1 GLA200d £30,075 9.5 127 136 221 64.2 115 6/10 2.0 E220d £36,700 7.3 149 194 295 72.4 102 8/10
2.0 S’Nav RF £25,995 7.3 133 160 148 40.9 161 8/10 2.1 GLA220d £34,705 7.7 135 177 258 56.5 130 6/10 3.0T E43 estate £59,320 4.7 155 396 384 32.8 197 8/10
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 3915x1735x1225, 45-litre fuel Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4417x1804x1494, 50/56-litre fuel Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4923x1852x1468, 66-litre fuel
tank, 130-litre boot, 2 engines, 5 trims, 9 models in total. tank, 481-litre boot, 4 engines, 8 trims, 23 models in total. tank, 540-litre boot, 4 engines, 2 trims, 8 models in total.

CX-3 B-CLASS GLE

Because the Nissan Juke doesn’t have This Volkswagen Golf SV rival remains The ML’s got a new nose and a new
enough rivals already. CX-3 is pretty oddly proportioned but has plenty of name to go with it. GL for SUV, E for
and drives well, though. tech inside. Not to mention space. ‘the one in the middle’. Simple.

PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
1.5D SE £19,995 10.1 110 105 199 70.6 105 7/10 1.5 B180d £23,950 11.6 118 109 184 70.6 104 6/10 2.0 GLE250d £51,290 8.6 132 204 369 47.9 155 7/10
1.5D SE-L Nav £21,395 10.1 110 105 199 70.6 105 7/10 2.1 B220d £30,345 7.6 139 177 258 67.3 108 6/10 3.0 GLE350d £58,420 7.1 140 258 458 42.8 179 7/10
1.5D S’Nav AWD £23,795 10.5 107 105 199 60.1 123 7/10 1.6T B200 £26,750 8.2 137 156 184 60.1 132 6/10 3.0T GLE500e £66,685 5.3 152 442 479 N/A 84 7/10
2.0 SE Nav £18,495 9.0 119 120 151 47.9 137 8/10 Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4360x1790x1560, 50-litre fuel 3.0T GLE43 £60,890 5.7 155 385 384 32.8 199 7/10
2.0 S’Nav AWD £22,795 8.7 124 150 150 44.1 150 7/10 tank, 488-litre boot, 5 engines, 6 trims, 57 models in total.
5.5T GLE63 S £96,995 4.2 155 585 561 23.7 279 7/10
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4275x1765x1535, 48-litre fuel
tank, 350/1260-litre boot, 3 engines, 3 trims, 12 models in total. C-CLASS Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4932x1935x1796, 93-litre fuel
tank, 690/2010-litre boot, 5 engines, 9 trims, 26 models in total.
Sleek and sophisticated C-Class takes
CX-5 the fight to the 3-Series. Better looking
and highly desirable, especially the C63. CLS
Better than the already very good car it One of the most competent cars in
replaces. As good to drive as anything PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING Merc’s range. It no longer defines cool
else in this class. And better looking. like the first one, but it's all top drawer.
3.0T C43 £45,830 4.7 155 372 384 34.9 183 8/10
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING 4.0T C63 S £68,930 4.0 155 517 517 34.5 192 9/10 PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
2.0 SE-L Nav £23,695 10.4 125 165 155 44.1 149 7/10 2.1 C220d £35,015 7.7 145 170 295 70.6 108 8/10 2.1 CLS220d £47,950 8.5 140 175 295 57.6 129 8/10
2.2 S’Nav 150 £28,695 9.4 127 150 280 56.5 132 8/10 2.0T C350e £39,480 5.9 155 293 258 N/A N/A 8/10 3.0 CLS350d £52,040 6.5 155 265 457 51.4 142 8/10
2.2 SE-L AWD £27,695 9.6 124 150 280 52.3 142 8/10 Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4685x1810x1447, 66-litre fuel 3.5T CLS400 £57,350 5.3 155 328 354 37.7 169 8/10
2.2 S’Nav 175 tank, 480-litre boot, 9 engines, 6 trims, 99 models in total.
£31,395 9.0 130 175 310 52.3 142 8/10 5.5T CLS63 est’ £89,130 4.2 155 593 590 28.0 235 9/10
Euro NCAP n/a LxWxH in mm: 4550x1840x1675, 56-litre fuel
tank, 506/1620-litre boot, 3 engines, 2 trims, 10 models in total.
GLC Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4920x1850x1470, 580-litre fuel tank,
520-litre boot, 4 engines, 3 trims, 11 models in total.
Take one Merc’ C-Class Estate, add a bit
of length, some height and a pinch of

McLAREN
off-road ability. Hey presto – the GLC. S-CLASS
Meet the car that has single-handedly
TopGear on McLaren: PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING saved the luxury car class from the SUV
Hyper-clinical British outfit spinning ever more baffling 3.0T GLC43 £49,005 4.9 155 367 384 34.0 189 7/10 incursion. Sublime in most ways.
model choices off its bi-turbo V8 and carbon tub.
2.1 GLC250d £37,580 7.6 138 204 369 56.5 129 8/10
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
SPORTS SERIES 2.1 GLC220d
4.0T GLC63 S
£36,425 8.3 130 170 295 56.5 129 7/10
4.0T S560 L £92,770 4.8 155 463 516 31.7 207 9/10
Meet McLaren’s bonny, bouncy baby. £75,670 3.8 155 503 516 26.4 244 7/10
3.0 S350d L £70,470 6.8 155 258 457 50.4 141 9/10
As if. 570S is as focused and fast as its 3.0 GLC350d £45,675 6.2 148 258 457 47.9 159 7/10
Super Series siblings. Just cheaper. 4.0T S63 L £125,690 4.3 155 603 664 28.0 237 9/10
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4759x1890x1644, 66-litre fuel
tank, 550/1600-litre boot, 3 engines, 9 trims, 19 models in total. Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 5110/5250x1900x1490, 70/80-litre
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING fuel tank, 510/530-litre boot, 7 engines, 5 trims, 21 models in total.
3.8T 540C
3.8T 570S
£126,000
£145,305
3.4
3.1
199
204
532
562
399
443
25.5
26.4
258
249
8/10
9/10
SLC S-CLASS COUPE
An all-new name but not an all-new car
3.8T 570GT £154,000 3.4 204 562 443 26.6 249 8/10 – and you can tell. The V8 AMG is gone Loads of tech, loads of power, loads of
too. Prices keener to compensate. class, quite a bit of cash. New coupe is
3.8T 570S Spid’ £164,750 3.2 204 562 443 26.6 249 8/10 good enough to justify it all.
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4530x1910x1202, 72-litre fuel
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
tank, 150-litre boot, 2 engines, 3 trims, 3 models in total. PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
3.0 SLC43 AMG £47,600 4.7 155 367 384 36.2 178 6/10
4.7T S560 £100,240 4.6 155 455 516 30.0 219 9/10
SUPER SERIES 2.1 SLC250d £33,700 6.6 152 204 369 70.6 114
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4143x1810x1300, 60-litre fuel
6/10
4.0T S63 £130,725 4.2 155 603 663 27.9 237 9/10
720S replaces the 650S. Much is new tank, 225/335-litre boot, 4 engines, 3 trims, 6 models in total. 6.0T S65 £188,595 4.1 155 621 738 23.7 279 8/10
(91 per cent, it claims). Looks and
performance are truly next level. Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 5027x1899x1411, 80-litre fuel
SL tank, 400-litre boot, 3 engines, 3 trims, 3 models in total.
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING Perhaps the best all-round, usable hard-
4.0T 720S £208,600 2.9 212 720 568 26.4 249 9/10 top convertible on sale today. Practical,
fast, excellent quality and dynamics.
GLS
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4543x1930x1196, n/a-litre fuel The bigger, seven-seat version of the
tank, 360-litre boot, 1 engines, 1 trims, 1 models in total. ML gets a new name and even more
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING luxury. Meant for Americans.
3.0T SL400 £75,855 4.9 155 367 369 36.7 175 7/10
MERCEDES-BENZ 5.5T SL63 AMG £116,625 4.1 155 585 664 28.0 234
6.0T SL65 AMG £175,890 4.0 155 630 737 23.7 279
7/10
7/10 3.0 GLS350d
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT
£71,430 7.8 138 258 458 37.2 199
MPG CO2 RATING
7/10
TopGear on Mercedes-Benz:
More letter combos than a bath of alphabet soup. Slurp Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4631x1877x1314, 75-litre fuel tank, 5.5T GLS63 £104,850 4.6 155 585 561 23.0 288 6/10
through that and the cars are very tasty. 364-litre boot, 4 engines, 3 trims, 5 models in total. Euro NCAP n/a LxWxH in mm: 5162x1982x1850, 100-litre fuel
tank, 360/2300-litre boot, 2 engines, 3 trims, 3 models in total.
A-CLASS AMG GT
Despite the bulbous drunkard’s nose, AMG gets serious about hammering
Porsche. Doesn’t quite have a 911’s
G-CLASS
this is a conventional hatch. Watch the Soon to be killed off for a new version
spec or you’ll muck it up. finesse, but it makes you feel good.
that’s wider and techier but still looks
the same. Take that, Land Rover.
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
2.0T A45 £41,875 4.2 155 381 351 40.9 162 8/10 4.0T S £112,060 3.8 193 517 480 30.1 219 7/10 PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
2.1 A220d £29,585 7.5 139 177 258 67.3 107 6/10 4.0T R £143,260 3.6 198 585 516 24.8 259 8/10 3.0 G350d £92,070 8.9 119 245 443 28.5 261 4/10
2.0T A250 £30,225 6.3 149 218 258 41.5 158 6/10 4.0T C £139,460 3.7 196 557 502 24.8 259 8/10 5.5T G63 £135,950 5.4 130 571 561 20.5 322 4/10
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4299x1780x1433, 50-litre fuel Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4546x1939x1287, 85-litre fuel Euro NCAP n/a LxWxH in mm: 4662x1760x1951, 96-litre fuel
tank, 341/1157-litre boot, 5 engines, 6 trims, 57 models in total. tank, 285-litre boot, 3 engines, 3 trims, 3 models in total. tank, 699/2126-litre boot, 2 engines, 2 trims, 2 models in total.

FOR ALL THE FACTS AND STATS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT EVERY CAR ON SALE IN THE UK GO TO TOPGEAR.COM/REVIEWS
MG–PAGANI
MG MITSUBISHI LEAF
Nissan’s fish-faced leccy car will soon be
TopGear on MG: TopGear on Mitsubishi: replaced by a more mainstream-looking
Chinese-backed resurrection. Sells fewer cars annually Hard to care now Evo is dead, but electro-Outlander actually model that’s similar in every other way.
than Ford shifts in the time it takes to read this. Britain’s top-selling EV. Nope. Still not fussed.

MG3 OUTLANDER Visia 24kWh

PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING

No-nonsense seven-seat SUV. Fair to £26,180 11.9 89 109 206 N/A 0 7/10
After the startling success of the MG6, middling. Plug-in hybrid version offered Tekna 30kWh £32,290 11.5 89 109 206 N/A 0 7/10
MG unleashes a supermini on the world. too. Green, but only gets five seats.
World can hardly believe its luck. Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4450x1780x1570, no fuel tank,
330/680-litre boot, 1 electric motor, 3 trims, 3 models in total.
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
1.5 3Time £8,695 10.9 108 106 101 48.7 136 4/10
2.0 PHEV £36,055 11.0 106 200 2484 166 41 6/10 QASHQAI
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4018x1729x1507, 45-litre fuel
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4655x1800x1680, 60-litre fuel Nissan started the Qashqai craze, so the
tank, 436-550/1755-litre boot, 2 engines, 5 trims, 7 models in total. new one is predictably safe. It’s better
tank, 285-litre boot, 1 engine, 4 trims, 4 models in total. than ever for, you know, family stuff.

ZS ASX PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING

Another me-too crossover, with a tinny
MG’s rather spacious crossover is interior and zero street cred – which 1.2 DiG-T Visia £19,295 11.3 114 115 140 50.4 132 7/10
actually the best 21st Century MG hobbles it in a super-competitive sector.
yet. Other faint praise is available. 1.6 DiG-T N-Con’ £25,225 9.1 124 163 177 48.7 138 7/10
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
1.6 dCi N-Con’ £26,805 10.5 118 130 236 64.2 115 7/10
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING 1.6 DiG-T Tekna £27,450 9.1 124 163 177 48.7 138 7/10
1.6D 4 AWD £24,505 11.5 112 110 199 56.5 132 5/10
1.0T Exclusive £17,495 12.4 112 109 118 44.9 144 5/10
1.6 2 £16,255 11.5 114 113 114 48.7 135 4/10 Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4370x1800x1595, 65-litre
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4314x1809x1611, 55-litre fuel fuel tank, 430-litre boot, 4 engines, 4 trims, 20 models in total.
tank, 448/1375-litre boot, 2 engines, 3 trims, 5 models in total. 2.2D AWD Auto £26,205 10.8 118 145 265 48.7 152 4/10
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4355x1810x1640, 60-litre fuel X-TRAIL
GS tank, 442/1193-litre boot, 3 engines, 3 trims, 9 models in total.
The X-Trail used to be a rufty-tufty
Finally, MG Mk2 approaches relevance thing. Now it’s been emasculated. As a
result, we think it’s better. Fickle? Us?
with a smart-looking, tidy-driving
crossover that’s predictably cheap. MORGAN
TopGear on Morgan: PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING Idiosyncratic British sports cars designed to give you wood 1.6 dCi Visia £24,845 10.5 116 130 236 57.6 129 8/10
1.5T Explore and a healthy exposure to the elements. Poop poop.
£15,095 9.6 118 166 185 46.3 139 4/10 1.6 dCi N-Con’ £29,770 10.5 116 130 236 57.6 129 8/10
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4500x1855x1665, 55-litre fuel
tank, 235/1,366-litre boot, 1 engine, 3 trims, 3 models in total.
3WHEELER 2.0 dCi Tekna £35,960 9.4 126 177 280 48.7 153 8/10
Eccentric and impractical, but for putting 1.6 DiG-T Visia £23,385 9.7 124 163 177 45.6 145 8/10
a smile on your face, nothing this side of
MINI a Tiger Moth competes. Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4643x1820x1695, 60-litre fuel
tank, 135(550)/1982-litre boot, 1 engine, 4 trims, 14 models in total.

TopGear on Mini:
New hatch uglier but more sorted, with lovely turbo petrols. 2.0 Sport
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING 370Z
The larger cars are somehow less successful. £31,140 4.5 120 110 100 n/a n/a 8/10 Z still looks great, but where’s the fire-
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: n/a, 40-litre fuel tank, n/a-litre boot, breathing manliness of the old one, Nissan?
HATCH 1 engine, 2 trims, 2 models in total. GT86 has highlighted its shortcomings.
It’s bigger, and that isn’t necessarily a
good thing. Apart from that, the new CLASSIC PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
Mini is predictably excellent. The only car to look like a restoration 3.7 V6 £29,185 5.3 155 328 269 26.9 249 7/10
when actually new. The reasonably new 3.7 V6 Nismo £39,375 5.2 155 344 274 26.6 248 7/10
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING Plus 8 is a fearsomely fast thing.
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4250x1850x1320, 72-litre fuel
1.2T One £14,620 9.9 121 103 133 61.4 108 7/10 tank, 235-litre boot, 2 engines, 3 trims, 3 models in total.
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
1.5T Cooper £16,200 7.9 130 136 162 62.7 105 8/10
2.0T Cooper S £19,555 6.8 146 192 206 49.5 133 8/10
4.8 Plus 8 £85,461 4.5 155 367 370 23.0 282 7/10 GT-R
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4010x1500/1720x1220, 50-litre Cheap at twice the price, the GT-R is an
1.5 Cooper D £17,960 9.2 127 116 199 80.7 92 7/10 fuel tank, n/a-litre boot, 4 engines, 6 trims, 6 models in total. über-techy, violently capable, ruthlessly
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 3821x1727x1414, 40/44-litre rapid speed machine. Drive one.
fuel tank, 211-litre boot, 6 engines, 6 trims, 12 models in total. AERO 8
Some ash still lurks in the frame of this PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
CONVERTIBLE sports car. Creaks a bit, but otherwise
not as antiquated as you might think.
3.8T Pure £82,525 2.7 196 570 469 23.9 275 9/10
Take Mini, lop the roof off, et voilà. Mini 3.8T Nismo £151,525 2.7 196 600 480 23.9 275 9/10
Cab is exactly like you’d expect. Good
news for inner-city estate agents. PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4710x1895x1370, 74-litre fuel
4.8 V8 S’sports tank, 315-litre boot, 2 engines, 5 trims, 5 models in total.
£126,900 4.5 170 367 370 26.0 256 8/10
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
1.5T Cooper £19,265 8.8 129 136 162 57.6 114 7/10
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4120x1770x1200, 57-litre fuel
tank, 227-litre boot, 1 engine, 2 trims, 2 models in total. NOBLE
2.0T JCW £27,830 6.5 150 231 236 43.5 152 7/10 TopGear on Noble:
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 3821x1727x1415, 40-litre fuel
tank, 215-litre boot, 4 engines, 5 trims, 5 models in total.
NISSAN Yes, it’s from the home of pork pies. Yes, the engine’s from
a schoolrun bus. Doesn’t stop Noble being a supercar force.
TopGear on Nissan:
CLUBMAN Bizarre Addams family of geriatric hatches, cash-cow M600
crossovers and the mind-scrambling GT-R freak show. Powered by a twin turbo Volvo XC90
No rear-hinged doors this time round. V8, the old school M600 is epically fast
Current Clubman is based on BMW’s
2-Series and shares its mediocrity. MICRA and amazingly supple. Major want.
Not so cocky now, are you Fiesta? Micra
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING is pricier than before but genuinely PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
chuckable, and the hi-fi is world class. 4.4T V8 £248,184 3.0 225 650 604 n/a n/a 9/10
1.5T Cooper £20,730 9.1 127 136 162 55.4 118 6/10
1.5 Cooper D Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4360x1910x1120, 68-litre fuel tank,
£23,035 8.6 132 150 244 68.9 109 6/10 PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING n/a-litre boot, 1 engine, 2 trims, 2 models in total.
2.0T Cooper S £23,465 7.2 142 192 221 45.6 144 6/10 0.9T Acenta £15,115 12.1 109 90 111 64.2 99 7/10
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4253x1800x1441, 48-litre fuel
tank, 360/1250-litre boot, 3 engines, 3 trims, 3 models in total.
0.9T Tekna
1.5D Visia+
£17,435
£15,245
12.1 109
11.9 111
90
90
111 61.4 104
162 88.3 85
7/10
6/10
PAGANI
TopGear on Pagani:
COUNTRYMAN Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 3999x1743x1455, 41-litre fuel
tank, 360/1004-litre boot, 2 engines, 5 trims, 10 models in total.
The greatest exponents of artistic Italian pageantry
and Hulk-spec power the world has yet seen.
The Countryman is a big Mini with a
sense of humour failure, but it is a better
all-rounder than its predecessor. JUKE HUAYRA
Clever little SUV crossover that looks The name is what you exclaim when
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
like... well, looks like nothing else we can you nail the throttle in this twin turbo
think of. Very nice, if a little odd. V12’d, active aero’d hypercar.
1.5T Cooper £23,035 9.6 126 136 162 51.4 126 7/10
1.5 Cooper D £25,030 8.9 129 150 244 65.7 113 7/10 PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
1.5T Coo’ All4 £24,675 9.8 122 136 162 46.3 139 7/10 1.6T Nismo RS £23,395 7.0 137 218 207 39.2 165 6/10 6.0 V12 £990,000 3.2 230 730 811 23.5 300 8/10
20T Coo’ S All4 £27,115 7.3 138 192 207 40.4 159 7/10 1.5 dCi Visia £16,850 11.2 109 110 192 70.6 104 6/10 6.0 V12 BC £2.1m N/A N/A 789 811 N/A N/A 8/10
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4299x1882x1557, 51-litre fuel Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4135x1765x1565, 46-litre fuel Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4610x2040x1170, 85-litre fuel tank,
tank, 350/1170-litre boot, 3 engines, 4 trims, 10 models in total. tank, 350/1181-litre boot, 6 engines, 5 trims, 17 models in total. n/a-litre boot, 1 engine, 1 trim, 1 model in total.

FOR ALL THE FACTS AND STATS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT EVERY CAR ON SALE IN THE UK GO TO TOPGEAR.COM/REVIEWS
 PEUGEOT–RENAULT
PEUGEOT 718 CAYMAN RENAULT
TopGear on Peugeot: Still the world’s best sports coupe, but
now in spite of its dulled four-pot turbo, TopGear on Renault:
Chassis bods have refound their mojo with 208 GTi. rather than because of a sonorous six. Still a pervading sense of flimsiness about Renaults. We
Design needs to be more Onyx, less ordinary. hope the upcoming RS Megane is as lovely as the old one.

108 2.5T S
PRICE
£51,853
0–62 MPH BHP
4.6 177 345
LB FT MPG
310 34.9 184
CO2 RATING
8/10
TWINGO
Now more refined and comfortable. Rear-engined, rear drive... it’s a mini 911!
Can be had with a 1.2. Have the 1.0. 2.5T GTS £55,397 4.6 180 361 310 31.4 205 8/10 Er, no. It’s actually a cheeky little city car.
That’s the one Toyota made. Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4379x1801x1295, 64-litre fuel tank,
If it’s your cup of tea, go for the turbo.
150/425-litre boot, 2 engines, 2 trims, 4 models in total.
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
1.0 69 Access 3d £8,995 14.3 99 69 70 68.9 95 6/10 911 0.9 TCe 90 Dyn’ £12,510 10.8 103 90 100 65.7 99 7/10
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 3475x1615x1460, 35-litre fuel Porsche proving it’s the world’s best 1.0 SCe 70 Exp’ £9,995 14.5 94 70 67 56.5 112 6/10
tank, 196/780-litre boot, 2 engines, 4 trims, 12 models in total. sports car builder. Base cars are great, but
new GT3 is truly epic. Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 3595x1646x1554, 35-litre
fuel tank, 188/980-litre boot, 2 engines, 3 trims, 4 models in total.
208
Congratulations Peugeot, it’s only taken
3.0T Carrera S
PRICE
£87,335
0–62 MPH BHP LB FT
4.3 191 420 369 32.5
MPG CO2
199
RATING
8/10
TWIZY
you 25 years to reimagine the 205. 208 is God knows what’s got into us, but we
light, likeable and French. In a good way. 3.0T C4S £92,321 4.2 189 420 369 31.7 204 8/10 badly want a Twizy. Mainly to sneak up
4.0 GT3 Man’ on other cars in electrical silence.
£111,802 3.9 198 500 339 21.9 290 10/10
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
1.2 Active 5d 3.8 GT2 RS £207,506 2.8 211 691 553 23.9 269 9/10 PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
£14,465 13.8 103 68 80 60.1 108 6/10
1.6 GTi Prestige £21,655 6.5 143 208 3.8 Turbo S £147,540 2.9 205 580 552 31.0 212 8/10 13kW EV £6,940 n/a 50 17 42 n/a 0 7/10
221 52.3 125 7/10
1.6 HDi All’re 5d £17,975 13.3 106 75 Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4499x1808x1294, 64-litre fuel tank,
169 94.2 79 6/10 135-litre boot, 5 engines, 12 trims, 17 models in total.
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 2340x1240x1460, no fuel tank,
31-litre boot, 1 electric motor, 3 trims, 3 models in total.
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 3970x1740x1460, 50-litre fuel
tank, 285/1152-litre boot, 6 engines, 7 trims, 39 models in total. PANAMERA ZOE
308 New Panam no longer looks like a whale
carcass, but it’s still just as roomy in that
This could be the point where electric
cars start to prove themselves. The Zoe
Well, knock us down with a feather. Out 22nd Century cabin. Diesel seriously fast. looks great and costs little.
of nowhere, Peugeot gives us a hatch
good to drive and own. Gobs smacked. PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
2.9T 4S 68kW Express’ £18,745 13.5 84 92 162 n/a 0 6/10
£90,291 4.4 179 440 406 34.9 184 8/10
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
4.0T Turbo Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4090x1730x1560, no fuel tank,
1.6 GTI 270 £28,590 6.0 155 270 243 47.1 139 8/10 £115,100 3.8 190 550 568 30.4 212 8/10
328/1225-litre boot, 2 electric motors, 3 trims, 6 models in total.
1.6 B’HDi Active £20,340 9.7 122 120 4.0 4S Diesel £93,379 4.5 177 422 627 42.2 176 8/10
207 91.1 82 8/10
1.2 Access £17,945 11.1 117 110 151 70.6 95 7/10
4.0T ST Turbo £117,247 3.8 188 550 568 30.1 215 8/10 CLIO
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 5049x1937x1423, 90-litre fuel tank, A return to form for Renault. Clio 4 is
2.0 B’HDi GT £27,465 8.4 136 181 295 70.6 105 7/10 good-looking and drives well. Just avoid
495/1304-litre boot, 3 engines, 3 trims, 3 models in total.
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4253x1804x1457, 53-litre fuel the gutless lower-powered 1.2 petrol.
tank, 470/1309-litre boot, 11 engines, 6 trims, 27 models in total. MACAN PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
508 Porsche’s Range Rover Evoque is a tidy
looker that has image by the bucket- 0.9 TCe Play Eco £14,755 11.8 115 90 103 67.3 94 7/10
Peugeot’s replacement for the 407 is load. Thus, soon to be everywhere... 1.6T RS Trophy £22,995 6.6 146 220 192 47.9 135 7/10
actually quite nice, in an average sort of
way. Facelift helps. A bit. 1.2 TCe S’ Nav £19,145 12.2 113 120 151 53.3 118 7/10
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
3.0T S £48,287 5.4 157 340 339 32.5 204 8/10 Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4062x1732x1448, 40/45-litre fuel
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING tank, 320/1146-litre boot, 5 engines, 6 trims, 18 models in total.
3.6T Turbo £63,981 4.8 165 400 405 31.7 208 8/10
2.0 B’HDi Allure £28,365 9.8 130 150 273 67.3 109 5/10
Hybrid Estate £39,350 8.8 132 200 332 61.4 109 5/10
3.0 S Diesel £48,289 6.3 142 258 427 46.3 159 8/10 CAPTUR
3.0T GTS £58,158 5.2 159 360 369 32.1 207 8/10 Renault’s take on the Juke that’s,
2.0 B’HDi GT £32,915 8.5 145 180 295 67.3 109 5/10 perhaps unsurprisingly, more style than
3.6T Turbo PP £69,505 4.4 169 440 443 30.1 217 8/10 substance. Clio for us, please.
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4830x1853x1456, 72-litre fuel
tank, 473-litre boot, 5 engines, 4 trims, 17 models in total. Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4684x1923x1624, 65-litre fuel
tank, 500/1500-litre boot, 4 engines, 4 trims, 4 models in total. PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
2008 0.9 TCe Exp+
High-rise supermini that's increasingly CAYENNE 1.5 dCi Exp+
£15,615
£17,575
12.6 106
12.6 106
90
90
99 56.5 115
162 76.4 95
7/10
7/10
popular in the wake of the Juke. A little Sporting SUV that’s very capable and
mash-up which just about works. now better to look at. It no longer has a Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4120x1780x1560, 45-litre fuel
ride that ruins your spine, either. tank, 377/1235-litre boot, 3 engines, 4 trims, 10 models in total.
PRICE 0-62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
1.2T Active £16,300 13.5 105 82 87 57.6 114 5/10 PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING MEGANE
1.6 BlueHDi Allu’ £20,160 11.3 112 100 3.0S S Hybrid £65,784 5.9 150 422 435 83.1 79 7/10 New Megane takes cues from Talisman
187 76.3 97 6/10 and Espace, neither of which we get in
4.8T Turbo £96,193 4.5 173 527 554 25.2 261 6/10 the UK. Pert, but below par to drive.
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4160x1740x1560, 50-litre fuel
tank, 360/1172-litre boot, 6 engines, 4 trims, 14 models in total. 4.1 S Diesel £66,767 5.4 156 383 626 35.3 209 8/10
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
3008 Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4855x1939x1705, 100-litre fuel tank,
670/1780-litre boot, 7 engines, 7 trims, 7 models in total. 1.2 TCe Exp’+ £17,790 10.6 122 130 151 52.3 120 7/10
It’s 2017’s Euro CoTY – with an Audi- 1.5 dCi Dyn’ S £21,690 11.3 116 110 192 76.4 96 7/10
beating cabin, in design and execution.
Drives as well as it needs to. RADICAL Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4359x1814x1447, 47-litre fuel
tank, 384-litre boot, 4 engines, 7 trims, 15 models in total.
TopGear on Radical:
Super-fast, super-intense range of Nürburgring-humbling
1.2T Allure
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP
£24,295 10.8 117 130
LB FT
170
MPG CO2
47.1 120
RATING
7/10
race cars. Wait... what? They’re road-legal? Oh my. KADJAR
Much better than Renault’s last crack at
1.6 BlueHDi GT L’ £28,025 13.1 108 120 221 67.3 104 7/10 SR3 a big crossover, the Koleos. The Kadjar is
a Qashqai rival with genuine appeal.
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4447x1841x1624, 53-litre fuel Few are as extreme, and few cope as
tank, 591/1670-litre boot, 6 engines, 4 trims, 11 models in total. badly with British roads. A car for dry,
smooth, clear tarmac. Such as a track. PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING

PORSCHE 2.0 245 Std

PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
1.2 TCe Exp’ +
1.5 dCi Exp’ +
£19,785
£21,775
10.1
11.9
119
113
132
112
151 50.4 126
192 74.3 99
6/10
7/10
TopGear on Porsche: £69,850 3.4 160 245 265 n/a n/a 8/10
Irritatingly great to drive, even when it’s a 4x4. There’s a Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4449x1836x1607, 55-litre fuel
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4100x1790x1130, 50-litre fuel tank,
reason every sports car is dubbed ‘911-fighter’… n/a-litre boot, 1 engine, 1 trim, 1 model in total.
tank, 864/1620-litre boot, 3 engines, 4 trims, 14 models in total.

718 BOXSTER RXC SCENIC

Gasp – flat-six engine becomes boxer Now here’s a trick: Radical’s second Nobody buys MPVs anymore, which is
turbo four. More speed, economy but road car has much more power and a why the Scenic has gone all crossover.
less aural satisfaction. Er, sound good? roof, but is far tamer to drive. Gets 20s as standard. Really.

PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
2.5T S £53,714 4.6 177 345 310 34.9 184 8/10 3.7 V6 £94,500 2.8 175 350 320 n/a n/a 8/10 1.2 TCe Exp+ £21,605 12.3 115 115 140 48.7 129 6/10
2.5T GTS £61,727 4.6 180 361 310 31.4 205 8/10 3.5 V6 Turbo £107,500 2.6 185 454 500 n/a n/a 8/10 1.5 dCi Dyn’ £24,065 12.4 114 110 192 70.6 104 6/10
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4379x1801x1281, 54/64-litre fuel Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4300x1960x1127, 50-litre fuel tank, Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4406/4634x1866x1653, 60-litre
tank, 130/275-litre boot, 2 engines, 2 trims, 2 models in total. n/a-litre boot, 2 engines, 1 trim, 2 models in total. fuel tank, TBA-litre boot, 5 engines, 4 trims, 34 models in total.

FOR ALL THE FACTS AND STATS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT EVERY CAR ON SALE IN THE UK GO TO TOPGEAR.COM/REVIEWS
ROLLS-ROYCE–SUBARU
ROLLS-ROYCE ATECA KODIAQ
Seat’s first crossover is so good you’d Skodiaq is the paragon of family motor-
TopGear on Rolls-Royce: think it was an old hand. Handsome, well ing. Seats seven, good tech, feels solid – a
Wheeled pleasure yachts that’ve seen off the challenge built, and it’s not another Qashqai, is it? Disco Sport without the tempting badge.
of Maybach and offer more charm than Bentley.
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
GHOST 1.0 TSI S £18,340 11.0 113 115 148 54.3 121 7/10 1.4 TSI S
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP
£22,190 10.5 118 123
LB FT MPG
148 46.3 139
CO2 RATING
8/10
A car for the junior plutocrat, since his 2.0 TDI SE 4x4
boss will clearly be in a Phantom. Wave £25,490 9.0 125 150 251 64.2 114 8/10 2.0 TDI 4x4 SE-L £30,725 9.5 122 148 251 51.4 144 8/10
at him – he needs your pity. 2.0 TSI FR £29,760 7.9 132 190 295 40.4 159 TBC Euro NCAP n/a LxWxH in mm: 4697x1882x1655, 60-litre fuel
1.4 TSI FR £24,960 8.5 125 150 184 52.3 123 TBC tank, TBA-litre boot, 5 engines, 4 trims, 21 models in total.
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4363x1841x1615, 50/55-litre fuel
6.6 V12
6.6 V12 EWB
£223,368 4.7 155 571
£254,424 4.8 155 571
576 20.8 327
576 20.6 329
9/10
9/10
tank, 510-litre boot, 4 engines, 4 trims, 11 models in total. SMART
Euro NCAP n/a LxWxH in mm: 5399/5569x1948x1550, 82-litre fuel ALHAMBRA TopGear on Smart:
Best yet execution of a flawed idea. We’ll have the
tank, 490-litre boot, 1 engine, 1 trim, 2 models in total. One of the very best MPVs around. If cheaper, mechanically identical Twingo, thanks.
you don't want an S-Max, this is a worthy
PHANTOM alternative. Lots of seats, lots of space. FORTWO
Faster, quieter and more opulent than A doddle to park, a delight around
ever, the new Phantom is a luxury land- PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING town, but what on earth was Smart
yacht that drives as well as it soothes. 2.0 TDI SE £29,610 10.2 126 150 251 55.4 132 7/10 thinking when it signed off the design?
1.4 TSI SE £27,925 9.9 126 150 184 43.5 151 TBC
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
6.75T V12 Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4850x1900x1720, 70-litre fuel
£320,120 5.1 155 563 664 20.3 318 9/10 tank, 267/2297-litre boot, 4 engines, 4 trims, 8 models in total. 1.0 Passion £11,370 14.4 94 71 67 68.9 93 6/10
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 5830/6090x1999x1640, 100-litre fuel 0.9T Prime £12,660 10.4 96 90 83 67.3 97 6/10
tank, 460-litre boot, 1 engine, 1 trim, 4 models in total.

WRAITH
SKODA 0.9T BRAB Cab
Euro NCAP
£16,195 10.8 96 90 83 65.7 99
LxWxH in mm: 2695, 1663, 1555, 35-litre fuel
6/10

TopGear on Skoda: tank, 260/350-litre boot, 2 engines, 4 trims, 16 models in total.

If the Grand Tour still existed, this is Supposedly the cheap’n’cheerful arm of the VW Group
how the aristocracy would get to Vienna.
A majestic symbol of Britain.
behemoth. So why does it make a £30k barge, then?
FORFOUR
CITIGO Same front end as the previous car.
Concerning. Otherwise, it’s a decent
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING Of course you recognise it – the Citigo city car. But our eyes hurt.
6.6 V12 £240,768 4.4 155 624 590 20.2 327 9/10 is a lightly altered VW Up. Which makes
it a very fine city car indeed. PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 5269x1947x1507, 82-litre fuel tank,
470-litre boot, 1 engine, 1 trim, 1 model in total. 1.0 Passion £11,865 15.9 94 71 67 67.3 97 6/10
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING 0.9T Passion £12,460 11.2 103 90 100 65.7 99 7/10
DAWN 1.0 SE 3d
1.0 SE L 5d
£9,635 14.4 100 60 70 68.9 95 7/10
0.9T Brabus £17,080 10.5 112 109 125 61.4 104 6/10
This is how you do luxury in the modern £11,265 13.2 107 75 70 67.3 98 7/10
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 3495, 1665, 1555, 35-litre fuel
age. Not just a car, but a practically Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 3560x1640x1480, 35-litre fuel tank, 185/975-litre boot, 1 engine, 4 trims, 4 models in total.
unbeatable luxury experience. tank, 251/951-litre boot, 2 engines, 4 trims, 12 models in total.

6.6 V12
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP
£264,000 4.9 155 563
LB FT
575
MPG CO2
19.9 330
RATING
9/10
FABIA
Only 9 per cent of the old Fabia was
SSANGYONG
TopGear on SsangYong:
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 5285x1947x1502, 82-litre fuel tank,
carried into the latest one. So it’s 91 per Still mired where the rest of the Koreans languished
cent better, says TG maths. decades ago. Very cheap, for very good reason.
244/295-litre boot, 1 engine, 1 trim, 1 model in total.

PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING TIVOLI

SEAT 1.0 S £11,295 15.7 99 60 70 60.1 106 6/10 Neat-looking crossover is SsangYong’s
more practical take on the Nissan Juke.
TopGear on Seat: 1.0 S TSI 110 £14,575 9.5 122 110 148 64.2 103 7/10
Supposedly the sporty arm of the VW Group behemoth. Storming value but not bad to own either.
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 3992x1732x1467, 45-litre fuel
So why does it make a seven-seat MPV, then?
tank, 330/1150-litre boot, 7 engines, 5 trims, 34 models in total. PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
1.6 SE
MII OCTAVIA Euro NCAP
£13,300 12.0 106 128 118 44.1 149
LxWxH in mm: 4195/4440x1795x1590, 47l tank,
5/10

Don’t go expecting loads of Spanish flair Skoda, VW’s practicality-obsessed arm, 423-litre boot (720-litre XLV), 2 engines, 3 trims, 12 models in total.
here. VW doesn’t permit that. This is gives you all the car you’ll ever need.
just a very sensible Up-based city car. Facelift gives, erm... more headlights. KORANDO
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING Bigger than the Tivoli and also less
1.0 Design 3d PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING good. Still, not as offensive to look at as
£10,095 14.4 99 60 67 64.2 102 7/10
1.0 TSI SE £18,500 9.9 126 115 148 62.8 110 7/10 it could be: a lot of car of the money.
1.0 75 FR Li’ 3d £11,360 13.2 106 75 70 60.1 108 7/10
2.0 TSI vRS £25,185 6.7 155 230 258 43.5 149 7/10
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 3560x1640x1480, 35-litre fuel PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
tank, 238/951-litre boot, 2 engines, 5 trims, 12 models in total. 1.6 TDI SE £20,590 10.6 122 110 184 74.3 99 7/10
2.2D SE 4x4 £18,500 9.9 115 178 295 48.7 152 5/10
2.0 TDI L&K 4x4 £30,245 8.5 134 150 251 64.2 126 TBC
IBIZA Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4670x1814x1448, 50-litre fuel
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4410x1830x1710, 57-litre fuel tank,
486/1312-litre boot, 1 engine, 5 trims, 6 models in total.
The Ibiza is now just about as good as tank, 590/1580-litre boot, 9 engines, 8 trims, 45 models in total.
the Fiesta. Look at you, all spoiled for
choice and such. SUPERB SUBARU
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING Enormous Skoda catches Audi-itus. TopGear on Subaru:
1.5T FR Evo £17,680 7.9 134 148 184 57.6 112 8/10 Styled with ruler, but we don’t care Ex-WRC legend seems to be rebuilding its brand with
because it’s like an A8 for A3 money. chunky, rugged 4x4 estates and saloons. And the BRZ.
1.0 S £13,130 14.7 104 74 70 57.6 112 7/10
Euro NCAP n/a LxWxH in mm: 4059x1780x1444, 40-litre fuel PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING OUTBACK
tank, 355-litre boot, TBC engines, TBC trims, TBC models in total. 1.4 TSI S £20,050 9.9 129 125 147 52.3 125 8/10 More of the unfashionable same from
2.0 TDI SE £23,520 8.9 135 150 250 68.9 108 8/10 Subaru, but that’s what owners love.
New one is handily sized, very capable.
LEON 2.0 TDI SE L Est’ £30,030 8.1 146 190 295 67.3 110 9/10
Seat has really upped its game with the 2.0 4x4 Sp’ Est’ £35,740 5.8 155 280 258 39.2 164 9/10 PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
all-new Leon. Super-hot Cupra 300 now 2.0D SE Prem’ £32,995 10.2 123 150 258 50.4 145 6/10
has optional AWD. Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4861x1864x1470, 66-litre fuel
tank, 625/1760-litre boot, 7 engines, 5 trims, 50 models in total. Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4815x1840x1605, 60-litre fuel
tank, TBA-litre boot, 2 engines, 2 trims, 3 models in total.
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
1.4 EcoTSI FR £21,050 8.0 134 150 184 57.6 114 7/10 KAROQ
1.6 TDI SE Tech’ £20,065 N/A N/A 115 184 70.6 105 7/10 Bemoan the demise of the Yeti all you LEVORG
like; the Karoq is a better car in every Yet another big estate from Subaru.
2.0 TDI FR SC £23,870 7.5 142 184 280 62.8 118 7/10 respect – barring personality, of course. Hard to see where it fits in, particularly
2.0 TDI XC’ ST £25,440 7.8 142 184 280 61.4 121 7/10 with just a single petrol engine choice.
2.0T Cupra SC £30,155 N/A 155 300 280 40.9 158 8/10 PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
2.0T C’ra ST 4x4 1.0T SE £20,875 10.3 116 113 148 53.3 119 8/10
£34,485 4.9 155 300 280 39.2 164 8/10 1.6i GT £29,995 8.9 130 170 185 39.8 164 6/10
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4260x1780x1460, 50-litre fuel
1.5T SEL £24,515 8.1 126 148 184 52.3 123 8/10
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4690x1780x1490, 60-litre fuel
tank, 380-litre boot, 7 engines, 5 trims, 37 models in total. Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4382x1841x1603, 50/55-litre fuel tank, 522/1466-litre boot, 1 engine, 1 trim, 1 model in total.
tank, 521/1630/1810-litre boot, 4 engines, 3 trims, 10 models in total.

FOR ALL THE FACTS AND STATS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT EVERY CAR ON SALE IN THE UK GO TO TOPGEAR.COM/REVIEWS
 SUBARU–VAUXHALL
WRX STI VITARA MIRAI
We have some bad news, folks – the This one caught us rather by surprise. Powered only by hydrogen and smug-
WRX is signing off and checking out. Vitara is a perfectly good alternative to a ness, the Mirai is proof hydrogen cars
So long, backroad rally fantasies. Qashqai or Juke. Well done, Suzuki. are ready for the mainstream. Nearly.

PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
2.5T Fin’ Edition £33,995 5.2 159 300 300 27.2 242 7/10 1.6 DDiS SZ-T £18,499 11.5 112 120 236 70.6 106 7/10 Mirai FCV £66,000 9.6 111 152 247 N/A 0 7/10
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4595x1795x1475, 77-litre fuel tank, Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4175x1775x1610, 47-litre fuel Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4890x1815x1535, 5kg hydrogen
460-litre boot, 1 engine, 1 trim, 1 model in total. tank, 375/710-litre boot, 3 engines, 4 trims, 8 models in total. tank, 361-litre boot, 1 powertrain, 1 trim, 1 model in total.

BRZ TESLA GT86

An entirely excellent small, sharp coupe A gobbier face, smaller steering wheel
that's not at all like an Impreza. In a TopGear on Tesla: and new media system, but everything
good way. Rather like a Toyota GT86... All-electric cars done properly. Model S is so good, you else is wonderfully old-school.
could almost use one as your one and only car. Almost.
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
2.0 SE Lux £26,495 7.6 140 200 151 36.2 181 9/10
MODEL S 2.0 £26,855 7.7 130 200 151 36.2 180 8/10
The most credible alternative to the
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4240x1780x1430, 55-litre fuel tank, German execs yet launched. Fast, well Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4240x1780x1430, 50-litre fuel tank,
245-litre boot, 1 engine, 2 trims, 2 models in total. designed and utterly silent. 245-litre boot, 1 engine, 2 trims, 2 models in total.

FORESTER PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING C-HR

75D £64,700 4.2 140 328 387 N/A 0 8/10 Wacky-looking crossover aims to taser
Lacks school run glam, but that’s not the Toyota’s ailing creativity. Hybrids to
point – this is rugged transport. Pity the P100D Ludi’ £122,200 2.5 155 611 713 N/A 0 9/10 account for most sales.
240bhp XT Turbo is so ignorable.
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4970x1964x1445, no fuel tank,
745/1645-litre boot, 4 power outputs, 4 trims, 4 models in total.
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
2.0D XC £28,495 9.9 118 147 258 46.3 156 7/10 MODEL X 1.2T Icon
1.8h Icon
£21,605 10.9 118 115 137 47.8 135 8/10
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4560x1780x1700, 64-litre fuel tank,
An SUV EV with Porsche pace. And £23,685 11.0 106 122 105 74.3 86 7/10
450/1610-litre boot, 3 engines, 4 trims, 6 models in total.
‘falcon’ doors. Pricey, but isn’t this what Euro NCAP n/a LxWxH in mm: 4360x1795x1555, 45-litre fuel
the future was supposed to look like? tank, 377-litre boot, 2 engines, 3 trims, 8 models in total
IMPREZA
Subaru at its most basic. The PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING LAND CRUISER
ingredients are there – AWD, boxer P100D £128,250 2.9 155 611 713 N/A 0 9/10 Happy in the hands of armed militia and
engine – as is the loyal fanbase. jolly farmers from Lincolnshire. One of
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 5036x1999x1684, no fuel tank, the most robust off-roaders ever.
TBA-litre boot, 3 power outputs, 3 trims, 3 models in total.
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
2.0 RC £18,995 12.4 115 112 111 44.1 147 5/10 PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4420x1740x1465, 55-litre fuel tank,
380/1270-litre boot, 1 engine, 2 trims, 2 models in total.
TOYOTA 2.8 D-4D Icon £50,130 12.7 109 174 332 39.2 194 5/10
TopGear on Toyota: Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4760x1885x1890, 87-litre fuel tank,
Maker of many boring things. And the GT86. Which is 403/1695-litre boot, 1 engine, 3 trims, 3 models in total.
XV so good, it almost makes up for the rest of ’em.
Miniature Outback or off-road Levorg?
Er, neither, really. It’s an Impreza on stilts.
Decent-looking thing, though.
AYGO VAUXHALL
Citroen C1 with added face fungus. Still TopGear on Vauxhall:
cheap, still good around town. Now Along with Ford, the bread and butter of British motoring.
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING more capable elsewhere. Even though one’s American and the other’s now French.
2.0 SE Premium £28,495 10.4 121 154 145 41.0 155 5/10
1.6 SE £24,495 13.9 109 116 110 44.1 145 TBC PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING ADAM
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4450x1570x1615, 60-litre fuel 1.0 x-play 5d £10,905 14.2 99 70 70 68.9 95 7/10 They called it the Adam. They should
tank, 380/1270-litre boot, 2 engines, 2 trims, 7 models in total. have called it the Cheryl. Cute, but
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 3455x1615x1460, 35-litre fuel short of panache. Blame its upbringing.
tank, 168-litre boot, 1 engine, 5 trims, 10 models in total.

SUZUKI YARIS
A key car for Toyota in Europe. The
1.4 100 Slam
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP
£15,750 11.5 115 100
LB FT MPG
96 53.3 125
CO2 RATING
7/10
TopGear on Suzuki:
Purveyor of rather cheap and quite unpretentious SUVs engine choice is reasonable, the Hybrid is 1.4T S £18,305 8.5 130 150 162 47.9 139 6/10
and city cars. Swift and Ignis are the happiest picks. OK, but it's not as clever as it used to be.
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 3740x1680x1590, 45-litre fuel
tank, 170/663-litre boot, 5 engines, 7 trims, 18 models in total.
SWIFT PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING

Like the old one, by not trying too hard,

1.5 Icon 5d £15,295 11.0 109 111 100 58.9 109 4/10 VIVA
this no-nonsense supermini succeeds in Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 3890x1700x1510, 42-litre fuel Vauxhall revives Viva name, but only in
being rather good. Pity about the nose. tank, 347/768-litre boot, 4 engines, 4 trims, 11 models in total. the UK. Viva is called Karl elsewhere. Is
quite cheap. Also quite cheerful.
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING AURIS
1.0 SZ-T £12,999 10.6 121 111 125 61.4 104 7/10 For people who want a Prius, but don’t PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
1.0 SZ-5 £14,499 10.6 121 111 125 61.4 104 7/10 want to be seen in a Prius. Possibly 1.0 SE £9,765 13.1 108 75 70 62.8 104 6/10
Britain’s worst driven car. Maybe.
1.2 SZ-3 £10,999 11.9 112 90 89 65.7 98 6/10 Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 3675x1595x1485, 32-litre fuel
tank, 206/1013-litre boot, 1 engine, 2 trims, 3 models in total.
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 3840x1735x1495, 37-litre fuel PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
tank, 265/579-litre boot, 2 engines, 3 trims, 5 models in total.
1.8 Hybrid £20,985 10.9 112 138 105 80.7 79 6/10 CORSA
IGNIS Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4330x1760x1475, 50-litre fuel
tank, 435/1199-litre boot, 5 engines, 5 trims, 30 models in total.
Lovely little 1.0-litre turbo, very refined
and vastly improved all round. But it’s
A car that proudly wears its cheapness still a Vauxhall. Need we say more?
on its sleeve. Do you like unsophisticated
unpretentiousness? You’ll love this. PRIUS
It looks totally bizarre but the weird PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING styling conceals a well-resolved hybrid. 1.4 Sting 3d £10,635 14.9 101 75 96 55.4 118 6/10
Note the economy: who needs diesel?
1.2 SZ3 £10,499 11.8 106 90 89 61.4 104 7/10 1.0T 90 SE 5d £16,235 11.9 112 90 122 65.7 104 6/10
1.2 SZ-T AGS £12,799 12.2 106 90 89 61.4 104 7/10 PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING 1.6T 205 VXR 3d £19,745 6.8 143 205 180 37.7 174 6/10
1.2 SZ5 SHVS £13,499 11.8 106 90 89 65.7 97 7/10 1.8h Active £24,115 10.6 112 99 105 94.2 70 7/10 Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4020x1736x1479, 45-litre fuel
1.2 SZ5 4x4 £14,499 11.5 103 90 89 60.1 106 7/10 tank, 285/1120-litre boot, 7 engines, 8 trims, 76 models in total.
1.8h Business + £26,890 10.6 112 99 105 86.0 76 7/10
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 3700x1660x1595, 35-litre fuel
tank, 267/501-litre boot, 1 engine, 3 trims, 4 models in total.
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4540x1760x1470, 45-litre fuel
tank, 445/1120-litre boot, 1 engine, 4 trims, 4 models in total.
ASTRA
Yes, yawn, it’s the new Astra. Trouble
S-CROSS RAV4 is, this one really takes the fight to the
Focus. Onboard connectivity is superb.
Out with the SX4, in with the S-Cross. Crossover SUV. Bit tedious, but so are
Same Qashqai-rivalling concept, same most of its competitors. Hybrid version PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
slight surprise at how decent it is. is like a big Prius.
1.0T Design £17,215 10.5 124 105 125 65.7 99 7/10
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING 1.4T 150 SRi £20,135 7.8 134 150 181 51.4 128 7/10
1.0 Boost’ SZ-T £19,749 11.0 112 111 125 56.4 113 6/10 2.0 D-4D Active £24,765 9.6 121 143 236 60.1 123 6/10 1.6 CDTi Design £19,380 9.0 127 136 236 76.3 99 7/10
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4300x1765x1575, 50-litre Euro NCAP n/a LxWxH in mm: 4605x1845x1675, 56/60-litre fuel Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4370x1871x1485, 48-litre fuel
fuel tank, 430-litre boot, 3 engines, 3 trims, 6 models in total. tank, 547-litre boot, 3 engines, 5 trims, 10 models in total. tank, 370/1210-litre boot, 8 engines, 5 trims, 41 models in total.

FOR ALL THE FACTS AND STATS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT EVERY CAR ON SALE IN THE UK GO TO TOPGEAR.COM/REVIEWS
VAUXHALL-VUHL
INSIGNIA GRAND SPORT PASSAT XC40
Say hello to your next company car. The driver likes to pretend he’s an exec, Volvo’s little crossover majors in what
Comfortable cruiser, quieter than when in truth he’s a rep that’s made his you want from one – all-weather safety,
before and entirely unmemorable. monthly bonus. Fine car, though. comfort and practicality. Job done.

PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
1.6 CDTi D’ Nav’ £19,940 1.6 TDI S £23,310 10.8 128 120 185 70.6 105 7/10 2.0 D4 AWD R-D £34,655 7.9 130 187 295 56.5 127 8/10
N/A N/A 136 236 65.7 114 TBC
2.0 CDTi E’ Nav’ £25,210 2.0 TDI S £24,435 8.7 137 150 251 70.6 106 7/10
N/A N/A 170 295 N/A 136 TBC Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4425x1910x1658, 54-litre fuel
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4830x1860x1530, 70-litre fuel
2.0 TDI SCR GT £29,130 7.9 147 190 295 68.9 107 7/10 tank, 586/1335-litre boot, 5 engines, 6 trims, 34 models in total.
tank, 530/1470-litre boot, 9 engines, 6 trims, 106 models in total. Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4767x1832x1456, 59/66-litre fuel
tank, 586/1152-litre boot, 4 engines, 5 trims, 26 models in total. S60
CROSSLAND X ARTEON At last, a BMW 3-Series rival that’s actu-
Vauxhall thinks MPVs are dead, clearly, ally a 3-Series size. Good engines, nice
because it’s replaced the Meriva with VW’s ‘not a replacement for the CC’ kind interior, but no 3-Series to drive.
yet another crossover. of is. Looks great, but still won’t set your
trousers on fire. But do you want that? PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING 1.5 T4 Business £22,545 7.2 143 190 221 48.7 131 6/10
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
1.2T Elite Nav £19,795 10.6 117 110 151 57.6 111 7/10 2.0 D4 Business £25,285
2.0 TSI R-Line £39,540 5.6 155 276 258 38.7 164 7/10 7.6 143 190 295 72.8 102 7/10
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4212x1825x1597, 45-litre fuel
Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 4800x1860x1420, 70-litre fuel tank, Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4630x1860x1490, 67-litre fuel
tank, 410/1255-litre boot, 5 engines, 5 trims, 25 models in total.
532-litre boot, 3 engines, 5 trims, 10 models in total. tank, 339-litre boot, 8 engines, 5 trims, 36 models in total.

GRANDLAND X T-ROC V60

Vauxhall’s SUV uses the Peugeot 3008 If you needed an object lesson on what
platform to lesser effect. Comfy, safe Estate version of the S60, only Volvo
and packed with tech, but so very dull. ‘phoning it in’ looks like, try the T-Roc. insists it’s not actually an estate, but a
It’s safe, in every sense of the word. ‘sportswagon’. It’s an estate, Volvo.
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
1.2T Tech Line £22,310 11.1 117 130 170 55.4 117 5/10 PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
1.0T SE £20,425 7.4 140 113 207 47.1 117 7/10
2.0 D4 Business £26,485 7.2 140 190 295 70.6 104 7/10
1.6 CDTi Elite £29,535 12.2 115 120 221 61.4 118 5/10 1.5T Design £22,900 5.7 155 148 258 35.3 120 7/10
2.0T Polestar £49,665 4.8 155 367 347 34.9 186 7/10
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4477x1811x1630, 54-litre fuel 2.0T SEL 4x4 £31,485 8.6 134 187 199 67.3 155 7/10
tank, 514/1652-litre boot, 2 engines, 4 trims, 16 models in total. Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4628x1865x1484, 67-litre fuel
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4234x1819x1573, 55-litre fuel tank, 430/1241-litre boot, 6 engines, 9 trims, 36 models in total.
ZAFIRA TOURER tank, 445-litre boot, 3 engines, 3 trims, 6 models in total.

New lights and bumpers, plus on-board TOURAN S90

wi-fi to distract passengers from the Think XC90, only a bit lower and without
wallowy handling and droning engines. New Touran sits on same MQB architec- the two extra seats. Much Swedish cool-
ture as latest Golf. As before, a dull but ness thrown in for free.
capable way to ferry many people.
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
2.0 CDTi Tech PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
£24,080 9.1 129 170 280 57.7 129 6/10
1.6 TDI SE 2.0 D4 Moment’ £33,865 8.2 143 190 295 64.2 116 8/10
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4600x1850x1760, 65-litre fuel £25,945 11.9 116 115 185 61.4 119 6/10
tank, 420/1420-litre boot, 2 engines, 6 trims, 16 models in total. Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4527x1814x1628, 58-litre fuel
2.0 T8 Inscrip’ £57,705 4.8 155 407 472 147 46 8/10
tank, 137/1857-litre boot, 5 engines, 4 trims, 11 models in total. Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4963x1895x1443, 55-litre fuel

VOLKSWAGEN SHARAN
tank, 500-litre boot, 2 engines, 2 trims, 4 models in total.

TopGear on Volkswagen: More VW MPV-ery, this time quite V90

Quietly brilliant, thoroughly deserving of every accolade good. It’s comfortable, practical, seats Big estates are back, and the V90 is our
chucked its way. Up and Golf particular highlights. seven easily and gets decent engines. favourite. Get it in soft hues with a bright
interior. Very zen.
UP PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
A VW city car you want to own. Neat 1.4 TSI 150 SE £29,540 10.7 122 150 177 43.5 150 7/10 PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
styling and packaging to shame Ikea’s fin- 2.0 TDI 150 SE £31,275 10.3 124 150 251 56.5 130 7/10 2.0 D4 Moment’ £35,865 8.5 140 190 295 62.8 119 8/10
est, we like the Up. Recently facelifted.
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4850x1900x1720, 70-litre fuel 2.0 T8 Inscrip’ £59,705 4.8 155 407 472 147 46 9/10
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING tank, 300/2297-litre boot, 4 engines, 4 trims, 11 models in total.
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4936x1895x1475, 55-litre fuel
1.0 Take 3d
1.0 TSI High 5d
£9,135
£12,610
14.4 100
9.9 114
60
90
70
118
64.2 101
60.1 108
8/10
8/10
TIGUAN tank, 723/1526-litre boot, 2 engines, 2 trims, 4 models in total.

Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 3540x1640x1490, 35-litre fuel

Smart-looking all-new Tiguan is bigger
than the old car and now a much more
XC60
tank, 251/951-litre boot, 3 engines, 4 trims, 24 models in total. able Discovery Sport alternative. New mini-XC90 will be Volvo’s bread
and butter in the UK. Good thing it’s
POLO PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
not messed it up, then.

A comprehensive little supermini that 2.0 TDI SE Nav £28,865 9.3 127 150 251 58.9 125 7/10 PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
feels like a smaller Golf – and there’s 2.0 TSI R-Line £35,330 7.7 129 180 236 39.8 165 7/10
nothing wrong with that. 2.0 T5 R-Design £40,400 6.8 137 254 258 38.7 167 8/10
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4486x1839x1632, 60-litre fuel Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4688x2117x1658, 60-litre fuel
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING tank, 615/1650-litre boot, 2 engines, 5 trims, 12 models in total. tank, 635/n/a-litre boot, 3 engines, 6 trims, 16 models in total.
1.0 TSI beats 5d £15,680 10.8 116 94 129 62.8 103 7/10
2.0T GTI £21,140 6.7 147 197 236 47.9 134 7/10
TOUAREG XC90
If a large SUV can be inoffensive, this is Everything we hoped it would be, and
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4053x1751x1446, 45-litre fuel it. Shares much with the Cayenne, ex-
tank, 351-litre boot, 2 engines, 3 trims, 6 models in total.
more besides. Superb safety systems,
cept the price and cock-wafting image. fantastic tech and practicality.
GOLF PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
The best done better than ever. You 3.0 TDI SE £45,295 8.7 128 204 332 42.8 173 6/10 2.0 D5 Momen’ £48,655 7.4 137 228 347 49.6 149
need no other hatchback. So don’t 9/10
waste your time looking. 3.0 TDI R-Line £50,095 7.3 140 262 373 42.8 174 7/10 2.0 T6 R-Design £55,555 6.1 143 324 295 35.3 186 9/10
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4801x1940x1709, 85-litre fuel
2.0 T8 Inscrip’ £65,265 5.6 140 407 295 104.6 49 9/10
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING tank, 493/1555-litre boot, 2 engines, 3 trims, 5 models in total.
1.5 TSI SE 5d Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4950x2008x1776, 50/71-litre fuel
£21,040 9.1 130 128 148 58.9 113 8/10 tank, 397/1951-litre boot, 3 engines, 3 trims, 9 models in total.
2.0 GTI 230 5d
2.0 R 310 5d
£28,975 6.4 155 230 258 44.1
£33,365 5.1 155 310 280 37.7
148
180
8/10
9/10
VOLVO VUHL
TopGear on Volvo:
2.0 GTD 5d £28,280 7.5 143 184 258 61.4 125 8/10 Far removed from Volvo of old, and far more than just TopGear on Vuhl:
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4258x1799x1492, 50-litre fuel boxes on wheels. Even though they are boxy. Thought up by a pair of Mexican brothers with a
tank, 380/1270-litre boot, 9 engines, 9 trims, 54 models in total. background in industrial design. 05 is a promising start.
V40
BEETLE Volvo finally pulls its finger out and gets 05
A sportier Beetle? Does that make this a serious about the premium hatchback. Looks like a little British track thing.
cockroach? Never mind, the retro VW now Now facelifted with an XC90 front end. Isn’t. Mexican money, Italian design,
has a smattering of driver appeal. Ford power. Good effort.
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING 2.0 D3 R-Des’ £25,935 7.9 130 150 236 74.3 99 TBA PRICE 0–62 MPH BHP LB FT MPG CO2 RATING
1.4 TSI Design £21,710 8.7 126 150 185 49.6 132 7/10 2.0 T5 R-Des’ £30,885 6.4 149 245 258 47.9 137 TBA 2.0T £59,995 3.7 152 285 310 n/a n/a 7/10
Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4640x1770x1480, 68-litre fuel Euro NCAP LxWxH in mm: 4370x1857x1470, 62-litre fuel Euro NCAP n/a, LxWxH in mm: 3718x1876x1120, 40-litre fuel
tank, 510-litre boot, 4 engines, 4 trims, 14 models in total. tank, 335/1032-litre boot, 7 engines, 7 trims, 87 models in total. tank, 70-litre boot, 1 engine, 1 trim, 1 model in total.

FOR ALL THE FACTS AND STATS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT EVERY CAR ON SALE IN THE UK GO TO TOPGEAR.COM/REVIEWS
 LEADING THE WAY IN
THREE WISHES
AUTOMOTIVE
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service.gtechniq.com
 RACING
f the little T35 had never won a thing,
I it would still stand as one of the most
beautiful motor cars ever built, even
if prewar vintage cars aren’t your
thing. But the fact is, it was almost comically
LEGENDS
successful in the Roaring Twenties, the decade
in which GP racers really were heroes.
Ettore Bugatti turned his natural talent to the
fast-evolving machine age, and its most thrilling
manifestation: the racing car. By 1921, he had
Bugatti Type 35 earned enough success with his Brescia
competition model to establish the company as a
full-blown constructor. The Type 35 duly arrived
WO R DS: JA SO N BA R LOW in 1924: lithe, purposeful and of course notable
for its distinctive horseshoe-arched radiator.
The T35 debuted in August 1924 at the Grand
Prix de L’ACF in Lyon, initially using a 2.0-litre
straight-eight engine, with three valves per
cylinder in a single overhead cam. The chassis was
suspended on leaf springs at the front, with a live
axle and quarter elliptics at the rear. The car also
featured a unique hollow axle, which the springs
were passed through, not simply bolted onto.
Despite running five cars, seventh was the best
the T35 could manage first time out, a bad start for
a car that could later legitimately claim to be the
most storied and successful racing car of all time.
156 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 › TO P G E A R . C O M
Indeed, before winning the Grand Prix World
Championship in 1926, the T35 racked up hundreds
of race victories. Interestingly, Bugatti himself
disliked forced induction (one wonders what he
would have made of the Chiron), but the addition
of a Roots supercharger in 1925 only increased its
competitiveness. Alongside its numerous GP wins,
the T35 also dominated the Targa Florio, winning
every year from 1925 through to 1929.
Louis Chiron was perhaps the best known of all
T35 pilots, winning the 1928 Italian and Spanish
GPs in the more powerful Type 37A, and the 1929
German and Spanish GPs in the Type 35C.
The Type 35 is also remembered as the car in
which Hellé Nice – known as the Bugatti Queen –
competed squarely with some of the greatest
drivers of all time. She became the third owner
of chassis 4863, taking delivery in March 1930.
Between 1931 and 1936, she raced in most of the
principal GPs. She was left in a coma following
a tragic crash at the 1936 São Paulo GP.
Her achievements are sullied by the fact
that Chiron accused her in 1949 of being a Nazi
I M AG E : A L A M Y
collaborator, a claim rebutted by historians.
Whatever the truth, the Bugatti Type 35 is the car
that united the talents of many in a crucially
important formative period of motorsport history.
 ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE PAGE
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 Tuning & Styling Products & services Lifestyle Car Sales Prestige Car Hire Registrations Insurance & Finance

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P27 ULY
P33 ACD P28 ASC CI6 CHW NI2I DJT P27 EMB All registrations are offered on a first come, first served basis. All are subject to VAT and the R29 RAN R28 ROW H9 SKC RI2I TAG PI2I ULY
P29 ACK R28 ASP P26 CJA TW08 DJW PII EMR £80 Dept. for Transport transfer fee. Prices may fluctuate. See website for full terms. P26 RAR R28 ROX P26 SLA P24 TAJ D27 URK
RII ACN AI4 ATB P29 CJD P26 DLB PIII EMW We have been trading for over 40 years. Write: P.O.Box 100, Devizes, Wiltshire, SN10 4TE N900 RAW L500 ROX P32I SLC P25 TAL P26 USA
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P26 AGB R2 BDR JI0 CPD P27 DRC KI00 FEE P28 HAD P3I JEC RIII JSF PI2I REB R28 SAP PII SPF V24 TES T333 WAG

£250
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SIMILAR REGISTRATIONS WANTED TII PBW R32I POT
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P26 RKR
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P26 ARA NI23 CAD P24 DDS P3I EJC R26 GJB V53 JAT L777 JOR R26 KMB N26 LOG DI9 MEH NI2I MRH H5 NSP S29 PEM P3I PRS P27 RMH M300 SEW T26 SUL SIII TSB RI5 YOU

CAPITAL CAR FINANCE Dealers in quirky cars and great plates at realistic prices
We only sell plates we own. Good old fashion service. ATES
Been in the business 25 years. SHORT PL TED
WAN
URGENTLY
FOEsRpeciaCllyAtwSoH
We can deal with most new or used car dealers
as long as they are UK based.
character
ones!

POA £5,995

You deal directly with your own supplying

dealer, all monies are paid directly to them. £1,995 £6,995

We specialise in discounted low rate PCP and

/HDVH3XUFKDVHFDUƜQDQFHVFKHPHV
£4,995 £12,995

 We are a family business trading 10 years

offering professional & friendly advice.
£4,995 £4,995 (pair CNH £15,995)

£4,995 £15,995

Personal Contract Purchase

on cars up to 3 years old £5,995
8 XEU ..................£1,995
Lease Purchase 9 YKD .................£1,995
ORZHVWƜQDQFHUDWHHYHU 9 GVY .................£1,995
9 KXE ..................£1,995
4 YRG .................£2,495
4 NJY ..................£2,995
9 XAM .................£2,995
807OX..................£3,995
8 OXK .................£3,995
8 OXV ..................£3,995
£29,995
VXI 676 .................. £395
VJI85..................... £995
615 NUO ................ £995
77 VBY.................£1,195
RFO 447 ..............£1,195

Telephone 01925 589020 8 KYU .................£2,495

3 RGY .................£2,495
4 LXX ..................£3,995
I4OX ...................£3,995
60XKY .................£1,395
WICHY .................£1,395
555 XSS ..............£2,495 I8VX ....................£3,995 80XYX .................£1,395
ZZZFDSLWDOFDUƜQDQFHFRXN 07961808069 • alspeed@live.co.uk

160 FEBRUARY 2018  TOPGEAR.COM

 MARKET PLACE - 0207 150 5216

01582 THE UK’S LARGEST PRIVATE NUMBER PLATES DEALER

Regtransfers.co.uk 967777 Established 1982 • Over a Million Satisfied Customers
8am-10pm 7days
PERSONAL NUMBER PLATES Over 48 Million Numbers Online • Free Celebrity Magazine
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INITIALS INITIALS INITIALS INITIALS INITIALS INITIALS

*NEW* 85 ABD
8 ACN
88 BWP
69 BWW
407 DP 77 EMP 29 FK
52 DPB EN 7 I FKW
3 GHP
5 GJD
Great number I LFN
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9 NPM
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ABR 24R B47 NES BUL I3R COM 8S DOT 5 FIII OOD HAL IIIA JAII USZ DI0 VER M3II SAH NO5I BOY PII6 HER RRO 5S S7 OKE UNC IIIE
NAMES WORDS NAMES WORDS NAMES WORDS NAMES WORDS

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SUE 4 BAY IIIS BUII ARD COM 83R DO5I BAG FLO 47S HAL IIIL JAN IIIA LOII THY M3I LOR NOR 27H PI66 OTT ROS I7N S706 KER UGII EST YOII SEF

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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)
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
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
730D » 305+ 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
MERCEDES-BENZ
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

TOPGEAR.COM  FEBRUARY 2018 169

 Charlie Turner
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

DEP U T Y EDI T OR Jack Rix B R A N D M A N A G I N G E D I T O R Esther Neve

Who: Stephen Dobie
Where: Crawley, UK
It’s always the way – you
go in for milk and bread,
and come out with...
MO T ORING EDI T OR Oliver Marriage
ASSOCIAT E EDI T OR Tom Ford
CONSULTA N T EDI T OR Paul Horrell
EDI T OR AT L A RGE Jason Barlow
What: chip vending machine
Where: Daikoku PA, Japan ROA D T ES T EDI T OR Ollie Kew
For when nothing but casual S TA F F W RI T ER Tom Harrison
frozen food will do. Out of shot: EDI T ORIA L ASSIS TA N T Becky Wells
Serious Frozen Food machine
H E A D O F C O M M E R C I A L C O N T E N T Chris Mooney
E D I T O R , T O P G E A R . C O M Vijay Pattni
D E P U T Y E D I T O R , T O P G E A R . C O M Stephen Dobie
D I G I TA L E D I T O R AT L A R G E Rowan Horncastle
S O C I A L M E D I A T E A M Simon Bond & Sarah Lawson
S U B - E D I T O R Tom Cobbe
D ATA S U B - E D I T O R Craig Jameson

Creative team

CRE AT I V E DIREC T OR Andy Franklin D I G I TA L A R T D I R E C T O R Owen Norris

A R T EDI T OR Elliott Webb S E N I O R D E S I G N E R Peter Barnes
R E P R O G R A P H I C S E X E C U T I V E Chris Rowles

Contributing editors
Pat Devereux, Chris Harris, Eddie Jordan
Sam Philip, Rory Reid

Who: Tom Ford Who: Craig Jamieson Contributing photographers

Where: Santiago, Chile Where: London, UK Webb Bland, Lee Brimble, Mark Fagelson, Rowan Horncastle,
Tom Ford in Tom Ford in It’s not just Netflix that has Alex Howe, Jamie Lipman, Mark Riccioni, John Wycherley
an X-Class pickup bed. Your Stranger Things, TopGear has
guess is as good as ours a stranger thing all of its own

A D V ER T ISING DIREC T OR Rob Walsh R E G I O N A L B U S I N E S S D E V E L O P M E N T M A N A G E R Jemma Rossiter

HE A D OF PA R T NERSHIP S Phil Holland C L A S S I F I E D S A L E S E X E C U T I V E Hugo Gilligan
G R O U P T R A D I N G H E A D Dan Hellens I N S E R T S E X E C U T I V E James Law-Smith
SENIOR X- MEDI A S A L ES E X ECU T I V E Liam Kennedy D I G I TA L S A L E S P L A N N E R Jessica Dabhade
PA R T NERSHIP S E X ECU T I V E Edd Cornforth

DIREC T OR OF IN T ERN AT ION A L L ICENSING A ND S Y NDIC AT ION Tim Hudson

IN T ERN AT ION A L PA R T NERS M A N A GER Anna Brown
S Y NDIC AT ION M A N AGER Richard Bentley

GROUP P RODUC T ION M A N A GER Jo Beattie A D S E R V I C E S C O O R D I N AT O R S Tony Dixon, James Webb

Who: the TG team
Where: Dunsfold, UK
Elliott and Tom try to avoid
the subject of why Andy has
put on 20 stone overnight
P RODUC T ION & REP RO DIREC T OR Koli Pickersgill
CIRCUL AT ION M A N AGER Gareth Viggers
Who: Charlie Turner
Where: Dunsfold, UK M A RK E T ING M A N A GER Tom Townsend-Smith
Our editor-in-chief rediscovering M A RK E T ING E X ECU T I V E Amy Donovan
his skateboarding youth. A visit
SUBS M A RK E T ING M A N A GER Natalie London
to A&E is inevitable...
P UBL ISHING DIREC T OR Simon Carrington
I N S E R T S E R V I C E S C O O R D I N AT O R Sabeena Atchia
P R O D U C T I O N & A D S E R V I C E S D I R E C T O R Sharon Thompson
F I N A N C E D I R E C T O R Stephen Lavin
S E N I O R M A N A G E M E N T A C C O U N TA N T Len Bright
M A N A G E M E N T A C C O U N TA N T Davina Swampillai
G R O U P P U B L I S H I N G D I R E C T O R Alfie Lewis
C E O , I M M E D I AT E M E D I A C O . LT D Tom Bureau

M A N A GING DIREC T OR , T OP GE A R Adam Waddell

TopGear Magazine, Third Floor B6, Broadcast Centre, Immediate Media

Company London Limited, 201 Wood Lane, London W12 7TQ

Printed by Wyndeham Group in the UK

BBC WORLDWIDE, UK PUBLISHING

DIREC T OR OF EDI T ORI A L GO V ERN A NCE Nicholas Brett DIREC T OR OF CONSUMER P RODUC T S A ND P UBL ISHING
P UBL ISHING DIREC T OR UK Chris Kerwin Andrew Moultrie
UK P UBL ISHING COORDIN AT OR Eva Abramik

Who: Tom Harrison
Where: London, UK
Trying out the rearmost seats
in the Tesla lifer. Categorically
not for fully grown adults
EDI T ORIA L A DV ISORY BOA RD MEMBERS Steve Goodman, Alex Renton, Katie Taylor, Tony Wheeler
Who: the TG team
UK.PUBLISHING@BBC.COM / WWW.BBCWORLDWIDE.COM/UK--ANZ/UKPUBLISHING.ASPX
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