19
‘A more typical moniker might be Giallo Sunset Aura
or even Ultimate Horse Piddle’
Issue 6543 | Volume 314 | No 10
NEWS
Vauxhall Astra EVs Hatch and estate from next June 4 Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato Off-road supercar 8 VW Golf name safe It’ll live on in new electric ID era 10 Euro 7 regs What new emission rules will really mean 12 Mazda’s new MX-5 Coupé hints at future generation 14 Ora sets out UK plan Funky Cat maker’s British aims 16
TESTED
Honda Civic Type R Why new hot hatch is class best 24 Audi R8 V10 GT RWD A no-holding-back swansong 28 Jeep Avenger Europe-friendly small electric SUV 30 Mercedes-AMG SL 55 Hot roadster vs wet UK roads 33 Aston Martin DBX 707 ROAD TEST 34
FEATURES Capital chargers E-mobility ‘race’ through London 44 Future of car finance How it’s changing – and why 50 Boeing 747 vs Range Rover Icons of 1970 meet up 52 Derek Bell Exclusive interview with racing legend 56 Drivers of Change winners Stars of 2022 initiative 58
OUR CARS Volkswagen ID 4 GTX Final verdict after 12k miles 64 Mazda CX-60 How much booze can you pack in it? 66 Honda Civic Three hours at a dealer: time well spent 67
EVERY WEEK Jesse Crosse Why hydrogen is now back in the frame 13 Jim Holder Boom time for dealers, but for how long? 15 Matt Prior New Prius should be in Grand Theft Auto 17 Steve Cropley More insight into JLR after boss quit 19 Subscribe Save money and get exclusive benefits 20 Damien Smith Formula 1 grid’s end-of-season report 22 Your Views Premium cars; Citroën Oli; simple fun 60 On this day 1977: Subaru enters UK; MG ad furore 63 Slideshow Eastern European cars that time forgot 82
DEALS
As good as new Inside line on buying a used BMW M2 68 James Ruppert Properly useful city cars from £2k 69 Cult hero Honda Integra Type R – and how to get one 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 1355-8293 USPS 25-185) 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
THIS WEEK
ELECTRIC MEGA-TEST SHOOTOUT IN LONDON 44
THE JET SET: RANGE ROVER MEETS 747 52
ASTON MARTIN DBX 707: FULL ROAD TEST 34
C O V E R STORY
❝FIERY BRILLIANT SPANIARD MEETS HEADSTRONG CANADIAN BILLIONAIRE❞
DAMIEN SMITH EYES FORMULA 1, INCLUDING ALONSO JOINING STROLL’S ASTON IN 2023 22
COMMENT
DO WE REALLY WANT EURO 7 EMISSIONS REGS?
AH, EURO 7 regulations – the incoming rules intended to make internal combustion engines as clean as possible. They have hugely important ramifications for the industry and car buyers, as Julian Rendell reports (p12).
Stellantis boss Carlos Tavares recently made his thoughts clear to Autocar when he told us: “Euro 7 will draw resources we should be spending on electrification… Why use scarce resources for something for a short period of time? It’s counterproductive.”
Renault boss Luca de Meo echoed that: “It’s going to cost [Renault] more than a billion in development, it’s going to occupy 80% of the R&D capacity of powertrains for a year or more… and it doesn’t make sense, even from an ecological point of view.”
In short, the car industry argues that complying with Euro 7 will redirect vital resources from its development of new electric tech and towards the pursuit of complex, expensive, timeconsuming combustion fixes that deliver only minimal, short-term gains. We all want cleaner air and a sustainable planet for many more generations, but at what cost? The suggestion is that Euro 7 will slow electrification development – the chosen path for making the car industry cleaner and greener – and do nothing to halt the rising cost of buying a car.
Rachel Burgess Magazine editor rachel.burgess@haymarket.com
@theburgeword
NEW HONDA CIVIC TYPE R: FIRST DRIVE 24
youtube.com/autocar facebook.com/autocarofficial
twitter.com/autocar
autocar_official
NEVER MISS
AN ISSUE Subscribe p20
30 NOVEMBER 2022 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 3
