13
‘One car company manager realised he had crossed the line
when his wife threw a can of beans at him’
Issue 6621 | Volume 320 | No 12
NEWS
Porsche 911 Line-up refresh brings first-ever hybrid 4 BMW Z8 reborn Flagship open-top GT with a big V8 6 Kia EV3 Compact SUV gets at least 370-mile range 8 Honda’s EV reboot Seven new 0 Series cars by 2030 10 Citroën’s next steps CEO outlines a change in focus 12 Insurance hike Young drivers hit hard by 77% rise 14
TESTED
Citroën ë-C3 Feel-good EV for £22k; plus petrol C3 20 Ford Mustang More tech, still old-school V8 manual 24 Bentley Continental GT Next-gen PHEV V8 coupé 26 Ford E-Transit Custom Best-selling van in EV guise 28 Skoda Octavia Estate Diesel wagons are still a thing 29 BMW i5 Touring High-profile electric estate rated 30 Renault Scenic Long Range version tested in UK 31 Lexus LBX ROAD TEST 46
FEATURES Half-price heroes How to save 50% on a great car 32 Skoda’s GT racer The 1071bhp EV anyone can drive 42
OUR CARS Ford Ranger Raptor Last report on big, mad pick-up 54 Polestar 2 Why this new arrival has a lot to live up to 56 Toyota Corolla Commercial Who needs a Bentley? 57 Subaru Crosstrek A 500-mile trip to test it off road 58 Abarth 500e Frustrating issue during city driving 59
EVERY WEEK Jesse Crosse High-tech fuel used by Porsche racers 11 Secret Source Why you shouldn’t bring work home 13 Matt Prior When ADAS gets it dramatically wrong 15 Steve Cropley New vehicle bought. Clue: it’s orange 17 Damien Smith Remembering Aintree’s race circuit 19 Subscribe Save money and get exclusive benefits 44 Your Views Hydrogen; happy cars; simpler is better 60 From the archive Famous people and their cars 66 Slideshow Straight-eight greats from 1919 to 1995 74
DEALS
Second Chance Bentley Bentayga: soon to be £50k 62 James Ruppert Best summer drop-tops from £1k 65 Road test index Track down that road test here 67 New cars A-Z Key car stats, from Abarth to Zenvo 68
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. Air freight 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 Te l +44 (0)20 8267 5000 Autocar magazine is also published in Estonia, Greece, India, Japan, Latvia, Korea and Thailand.
IMAGES
GETTY
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
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
NEW BENTLEY CONTINENTAL GT DRIVEN 26
HOW SKODA CREATED ITS DREAM RACE CAR 42
LEXUS LBX: FULL ROAD TEST VERDICT 46
❝MY SUV, UNASKED, HAULED ITSELF TO A STOP IN THE MIDDLE OF ITS LANE WITHOUT WARNING❞
MATT PRIOR’S CAR DOES AN EMERGENCY STOP FOR NO GOOD REASON IN A HIGH ST 15
COMMENT
SOME CLARITY AT LAST FOR MOTORISTS? IF ONLY
SO, 4 JULY it is then. Yes, there’s finally a date for the general election, and we can all look forward to five weeks or so of non-stop political wrangling. What joy. Frank ly, we would much rather talk about cars than politics, but we can’t ignore it: what’s going on in Westminster has a major impact on the automotive industry – and motorists.
Politics envelops every aspect of society, and given some of the big issues affecting the country today, I’m not naive enough to think automotive concerns will be the top priority of many voters when evaluating what the main political parties have to offer. But this is still a significant moment, and it will be worth tak ing the time to hear what politicians are promising. The drive to net zero, the ZEV mandate, EV incentives, petrol and electricit y prices, low traffic neighbourhoods, low-cost Chinese cars and, of course, potholes, potholes and more bloody potholes: all are issues that could have a massive impact on motorists and the car industry, and we would like to hear clear plans from the political parties about all of them. Hopefully, whoever wins, the coming election will bring long-term clarit y to the industry. And then we can all get back to talk ing about cars again. James Attwood Acting mag editor james.attwood@haymarket.com
@atters_ j Rachel Burgess is away
PORSCHE 911 TURNS 534BHP HYBRID 4
youtube.com/autocar facebook.com/autocarofficial
twitter.com/autocar
autocar_official
NEVER MISS
AN ISSUE Subscribe p44
29 MAY 2024 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 3
