56
‘You do a bit of racing, sit and drink tea and eat cake
together, then race again’
THIS WEEK
Issue 6529 | Volume 313 | No 9
NEWS
Bentley Batur £1.65m W12 coupé previews future EV 6 McLaren Solus GT Wild V10 single-seater is sold out 10 Bugatti Mistral Roadster swansong for epic W16 14 Porsche 911 GT3 RS “Most track-focused” 911 ever 16 New VW boss speaks out CEO Schäfer reveals aims 18 Toyota’s UK future ICE ban puts its UK plants at risk 20 Mahindra EVs Five electric SUVs may be UK-bound 22
TESTED
Honda Civic New-gen hybrid rated on British roads 28 Lamborghini Urus Performante Faster and lighter 30 Vauxhall Astra 1.5 Turbo D Diesel enters spotlight 32 Volvo XC60 Recharge T6 PHEV gets useful boost 33 Skoda Fabia Monte Carlo Hatch dons sportswear 33 Genesis GV60 Sport Plus ROAD TEST 34
FEATURES Range Rover vs Bentley Bentayga Luxury V8 duel 44 Dacia Jogger Road trip to southern France and back 52 Volkswagen Tiny Buzz Football Euros star ‘driven’ 54 Austin Seven We go racing to mark its centenary 56
OUR CARS Audi Q4 E-tron Real-world verdict of 11-month test 64 Volkswagen ID 4 GTX Tales from a 395-mile trip 66 Honda HR-V How does it rate against a hybrid Juke? 67
EVERY WEEK Jesse Crosse How synthetic fuel can go mainstream 19 Jim Holder Is your car telling its maker what you do? 21 Matt Prior Exquisite 911s you’ll want but can’t buy 23 Steve Cropley Surprising collection of random cars 25 Damien Smith Driver’s view of new Formula E racer 26 Subscribe Save money and get exclusive benefits 42 Your Views PHEV tax reform; TVR; Mini Aceman 60 On this day 1959: Moss masterclass; military tests 63 Autocar Archive Access 125 years of issues for free 79 Slideshow Most expensive cars bought at auction 82
DEALS
As good as new Latest Seat Leon Estate from £19k 68 James Ruppert Should you ever buy a write-off? 69 Cult hero Mk6 Ford Fiesta ST: £6500 hot hatch fun 70 New cars A-Z Key car stats, from Abarth to Zenvo 72 Road test index Track down that road test here 81
Autocar (ISSN 1355-8293USPS25-185) is published weekly by Haymarket Media Group, Bridge House, 69 London Road, Twickenham TW1 3SP, United Kingdom. The US annual subscription price is $190.00. Airfreight and mailing in the USA by agent named World Container Inc, 150-15, 183rd Street, Jamaica, NY 11413, USA. Periodicals postage paid at Brooklyn, NY 11256. US postmaster: Send address changes
to Autocar, Air Business Ltd, c/o World Container Inc, 150-15, 183rd Street, Jamaica, NY 11413, USA.
Subscription records are maintained at Haymarket Media Group, Bridge House, 69 London Road,
Twickenham TW1 3SP, United Kingdom. Air Business Ltd is acting as our mailing agent. Autocar is published by Haymarket Media Group, Bridge House, 69 London Road, Twickenham,
TW1 3SP, United Kingdom, haymarket.com Tel +44 (0)20 8267 5000 Autocar magazine is also published in Estonia, Greece, India, Japan, Latvia, Korea and Thailand.
Autocar is a member of the Independent Press Standards
Organisation (IPSO). We abide by the Editors’ Code of
Practice and are committed
to upholding the highest standards of journalism. If you
think we haven’t met those standards and want to make
a complaint, contact autocar@haymarket.com. For more information, contact
IPSO on 0300 123 2220 or
visit www.ipso.co.uk
Haymarket is certified by BSI to environmental standard
ISO14001 and energy management standard
ISO50001
PEFC Certified
This product is from sustainably managed forests and
controlled sources
www.pefc.co.uk
ISSUES WITH YOUR MAG? For subscriber issues, call 0344 848 8816. If you can’t find a news-stand copy of Autocar
in your local area, email autocar@haymarket.com
Autocar is a member of the
organising committee of Car Of The Year caroftheyear.org
COMMENT
DO £3M CARS FIT WITH A DESIRE FOR INCLUSION?
BENTLEY’S SPECIAL BUILD 730BHP W12 BATUR 6
HONDA CIVIC HYBRID: THE HATCH FIGHTS BACK 28
VAN OF THE MATCH: FOOTBALL’S BABY VW 54
COVER STORY
❝YOUR CAR IS LIKELY BEING MONITORED FROM WHEN YOU UNLOCK IT UNTIL YOU RELOCK IT❞
UNLESS YOU’VE SAID NO, CAR FIRMS MAY BE MINING YOUR DATA. JIM HOLDER REPORTS 21
PITY THE POOR billionaires of the world as they face being tempted by some outlandish project cars. Take our news pages this week: Mr or Mrs Billionaire could easily drop nearly £9 million if they pay a visit to their local McLaren, Bugatti and Bentley dealers. Oh, and if the cars weren’t all sold out.
Leaving aside how manufacturers distinguish themselves in this small pool (what’s one £3m car compared with another?), there’s an interesting sociological angle to all this. At one point, does it become a bit distasteful? Don’t get me wrong. No one wins in a race to the bottom and I’m fascinated by how these machines perform. The technological progress that car makers achieve is staggering. The Bugatti Veyron felt like a once-in-a-lifetime high-water mark yet here we are, 20 years later, discussing a McLaren that could probably give Lewis Hamilton a run for his money on a single lap.
But it’s the optics of all this that I’m interested in. We can hardly blame the likes of McLaren, Ferrari and others for chasing as much coin as they can, yet it sits awkwardly against the cost of living crisis. Car firms are increasingly pushing their diversity and inclusion agendas but to me that’s at odds with the opulence of their business models. It’s a dilemma in a polarised world.
Piers Ward Associate editor piers.ward@haymarket.com
@piers_ward
NEW V8 RANGE ROVER vs BENTLEY BENTAYGA 44
youtube.com/autocar facebook.com/autocarof icial
twitter.com/autocar
autocar_of icial
NEVER MISS
AN ISSUE Subscribe p42
24 AUGUST 2022 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 5
