21
‘They leave a rubber duck on it to show approval’
Issue 6605 | Volume 319 | No 9
NEWS
Audi RS5 Avant RS4 successor is V6 plug-in hybrid 6 Audi RS6 GT Run-out special based on racer concept 8 Porsche Taycan Extensive upgrades due this spring 10 BMW 5 Series Touring Details of new EVs and PHEV 12 Fall in Euro NCAP tests Safety body explains why 14 Lotus’s electric sports car Why Type 135 is essential 16 Mini Cooper New £22,000 ICE three-door revealed 18
TESTED
Subaru Crosstrek First verdict on XV replacement 24 Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid Coupé Rakish PHEV 26 BMW X6 Facelifted version of SUV-coupé pioneer 28 Range Rover Sport P400 ‘Just’ 394bhp, still sweet 30 Audi Q8 See if you can spot what they’ve changed 31 Audi SQ8 Also updated, but with 500bhp V8 punch 31 Lexus LM 350h AWD Takumi ROAD TEST 46
FEATURES Renault E-Tech Hybrid From Lego model to reality 32 MW Motors Spartan New electric Czech 4x4 driven 36 Hire flyers We enter the world of posh rental cars 40 Beetle juiced Classic VW restored, used and sold 42
OUR CARS Jaguar F-Type Farewell verdict on potent V8 coupé 54 Citroën ë-C4 X Independent-minded EV starts test 56 Toyota Corolla Commercial Perfect real-world spec 57 McLaren Artura On parade at Bicester Scramble 59
EVERY WEEK Jesse Crosse The tricks they get up to to reduce Cd 15 Secret Source A glovebox secret few owners found 17 Matt Prior Are new cars getting better or worse? 19 Subscribe Save money and get exclusive benefits 20 Steve Cropley Jeep ducking; a resolution broken 21 Damien Smith Why is Hamilton going to Ferrari? 23 Your Views “COTY is fast losing its credibility” 60 From the archive When we drove an A110 rally car 66 Slideshow Flying cars, from 1917 to the present day 74
DEALS
Second Chance Maserati Gransport: £16k V8 chic 62 James Ruppert Wanted: seven-seat SUV for £11k 65 Road test index Track down that road test here 67 New cars A-Z Key car stats, from Abarth to Zenvo 68
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THIS WEEK
COMMENT
IT’S SURPRISING WHERE A LEGO KIT CAN TAKE YOU
PLUG-IN HYBRID PORSCHE CAYENNE COUPE 26
SPARTAN: NEW NO-NONSENSE ELECTRIC 4 x4 36
COULD A CLASSIC EVER BE A DAILY DRIVER? 42
C O V E R STORY
❝ THERE WAS A BANG, FOLLOWED BY A BONG, AND I KNEW AT ONCE WHENCE BOTH CAME❞
ANDREW FRANKEL GETS A NASTY SURPRISE, THEN A NICE ONE, IN A McLAREN ARTURA 59
AS A CHILD, I spent a lot of time playing with Lego. I still enjoy it now, in fact, even when my nephew employs me as his one-man production line to churn out a full grid of brickbased racing cars for him to test. I like to think I’m fairly handy at building Lego cars too. But using toy bricks to design a radical clutchless twin-motor hybrid gearbox that could eventually be scaled for real road cars? No thanks. Yet that’s what Renault’s Nicolas Fremau did. It was the first step in the 10-year development of a unit that now features in some of the French firm’s road cars, as he explains to Steve Cropley (p32). Trying to comprehend some of the technical details of the unit still makes my head hurt a bit, but it does show just how sk illed and innovative automotive engineers are.
It also highlights that automotive ingenuity doesn’t just happen in advanced, high-tech workshops. Now, I’m not saying that anyone could take the Lego set they received for Christmas and crank out a future car part – but the sk ills that people develop through devising and building fun things can be transferred elsewhere. There are real concerns about a STEM sk ills shortage in the future. Fremau’s creation is an example of why we need to nurture such sk ills.
IMAGE James Attwood Acting mag editor
james.attwood@haymarket.com
@atters_ j
Rachel Burgess is away
AUDI RS5 AVANT: MORE POTENT THAN AN RS4 6
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