54
‘The straight-line punch is easy to assimilate.
It’s the brakes and grip that do your head in’
THIS WEEK
Issue 6513 | Volume 312 | No 6
NEWS
Mercedes C-Class EV Radical tech; plus ‘EQ A-Class’ 6 Porsche 911 Sport Classic Retro-look manual Turbo 10 Classic car price shift 1990s up, trad classics down 12 TVR Griffith EV Electric version promised for 2024 14 New cars crush CO2 99g/km average, despite SUVs 16 A material difference Why EV prices are on the up 18
TESTED
Kia Niro Turns on the style for its second generation26 Mazda CX-60 Firm’s first PHEV is a brisk RAV4 rival 30 Lexus RZ 450e Bespoke EV gets by-wire steering 32 BMW M135i xDrive Hot hatch; plus Cupra Born EV 35 Mercedes-Benz C300e AMG Line ROAD TEST 36
FEATURES Freelander at 25 Crucial Land Rover reappraised 44 High-miles club Safe way to buy a high-mileage car 50 Revolution SC500 625bhp per tonne at Donington 54 Secret hypercar firm Tecniq: you’ll know their work 56
OUR CARS Jaguar E-Pace New PHEV has something to prove 64 Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio becomes food van 65 Fiat 500 We compare our EV with an Abarth 595 66 Honda HR-V Will the bike fit in? Only one way to see 67
EVERY WEEK Jesse Crosse Self-charging tyre-wear monitor tech 13 Matt Prior You should have listened to me in 2017 15 Jim Holder Why shrewd Honda now reaps dividends 19 Autocar Archive Access 125 years of issues for free 20 Steve Cropley Truly great M3s; driving a truck again 21 Damien Smith Kalle Rovanperä’s heroic WRC win 22 Subscribe Save money and get exclusive benefits 58 Your Views Auto ’boxes; Highway Code; car prices 60 On this day 1994: so-so new 7 Series; Senna’s death 63 Slideshow The seven best motor museums in Britain 82
DEALS
James Ruppert Jaguar XJ, Mazda 2, 407 Coupé 68 Cult hero £40k buys a game-changing Honda NSX 70 As good as new Kia Stinger, a £20k GT sports saloon 72 Take it or leave it Merc S350d, DS3 Racing, Vel Satis73 New cars A-Z Key car stats, from Abarth to Zenos 74 Road test index Track down that road test here 81
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HOLDING OUT FOR A NIRO? FIRST DRIVE 26
FULL ROAD TEST: MERCEDES C300E PHEV 36
WHY THE FREELANDER IS A LANDMARK CAR 44
COVER STORY
❝THAT’S WHAT WILL TRULY INCENTIVISE EV UPTAKE AND MERCEDES BENZ KNOWS IT❞
FELIX PAGE ON WHY MERCEDES’ NEXT GEN EVs WILL GIVE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT 9
IMAGE
A CLASS, C CLASS EVs TAKE IT TO NEXT LEVEL 6
COMMENT
TVR NEEDS TO START DELIVERING, LITERALLY
IT’S BEEN CLOSE to five years since TVR revealed the production version of the new Griffi th, the first car since its unexpected but very welcome rebirth. Since then, a customer car has yet to drive out of the still unfinished factory in South Wales. TVR said late last year that its future had been secured by a joint venture with lithium mining company Ensorcia Metals. This deal, TVR promised, would help finally get the V8-powered Griffi th into production, a car for which TVR still holds a year’s production of deposits, and would in time be the basis for electric TVRs. That electric Griffi th has now been confirmed for as soon as 2024 (p14). On the same day as announcing the Griffi th EV and a surprise sponsorship of Formula E races, a “multimillionpound” investment from Ensorcia was announced, helping to service the company’s debt as well as funding the company’s model ambitions.
For now, talk of a medium- or longerterm future, plans and aspirations is largely meaningless: at the heart of this famous old car brand sits a car for which people are awaiting delivery. There won’t be a future, electric or otherwise, if TVR can’t start making and delivering the Griffi th. We still await that day. Mark Tisshaw Editor mark.tisshaw@haymarket.com
@mtisshaw
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