38
‘We f ind a Bugatti Veyron tucked away in the back corner
of a mews courtyard, sitting on a wonk’
THIS WEEK
Issue 6629 | Volume 321 | No 7
NEWS
New small Fords Details of Fiesta, Focus successors 4 771bhp Panamera Porsche’s hot new super-saloon 8 Ineos changes tack Upmarket boutique off-roaders 10 Merc-AMG backs V8 ICE gets boost but EV on way 12 ZEV mandate Car makers drop below EV targets 14 Red Bull RB17 New hypercar is Newey “unleashed” 16
TESTED
Lexus LBX Morizo RR SUV with GR Yaris powertrain 22 Ford Kuga Important updates for big-selling SUV 24 Volkswagen Golf Now fixed? UK drive reveals all 26 Kia Sorento Facelifted seven-seater in hybrid form 27 Kia Picanto Atmo engine, manual gearbox, 985kg 28 Renault Captur E-Tech Hybrid Revised crossover 29 Skoda Octavia Is entry-level trim the sweet spot? 29 Lotus Eletre R ROAD TEST 44
FEATURES Abarth 500e vs Mini Cooper SE Old duel, new take 30 Used hot hatches Pocket rockets from just £2000 36 Street cars named desire How to see rare supercars 38 Kei car for Europe Bold formula for affordable EVs 42
OUR CARS MG 4 New Extended Range model sets out its stall 52 Dacia Sandero Stepway Can it be as good as a Clio? 54 Subaru Crosstrek Alarming under-bonnet rattle 55 Volkswagen Touareg A 2250-mile Continental tour 56
EVERY WEEK Jesse Crosse How flywheels can shrink EV batteries 13 Secret Source Hypercar shows exec’s true colours 15 Matt Prior “Unsafe” systems; Jaguar; Goodwood 17 Subscribe Save money and get exclusive benefits 18 Steve Cropley A car worth a 10hr round trip to see it 19 Damien Smith Brit impresses in his Indycar debut 21 Your Views What people are saying about the Capri 58 From the archive Why Fiat made a V8 sports car 65 Slideshow They should never have used a GT badge 74
DEALS
Second Chance All the threes: Mk3 A3 from £3k 60 James Ruppert On the hunt for a used Volvo estate 63 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. 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 Te l +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/16-33-795
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
MINI COOPER SE TAKES ON ABARTH 500E 30
IMAGE
HOW TO MAKE URBAN EV s FOR THE MASSES 42
LOTUS’S 906BHP ELETRE R: FULL ROAD TEST 44
C O V E R STORY
❝STUFF YOUR MULTIMILLION-POUND SUPERCAR MAKERS: IT’S THE ROMANIANS WHO I ADMIRE❞
WHY DACIA’S APPROACH TO CAR MAKING GETS SANDERO-DRIVING KRIS CULMER’S VOTE 54
IMAGE
COMMENT
FORD IS THINKING BIG BY THINKING SMALL
THE NEW CAPRI has garnered plenty of attention, largely thanks to its name – something Ford has absolutely leaned into with its ‘ legend is back ’ marketing. And if the reaction hasn’t been entirely positive, it’s netted far more mainstream coverage than most recent electric car launches.
As Steve Cropley notes (p19), had the old Capri remained on sale, it may well have evolved into something like the new one anyway. And the attention proves people care about Ford, a brand ingrained in UK motoring history.
A huge part of that heritage lies in small cars, a market Ford has abandoned (as have others) in recent years. But Ford’s ‘skunkworks’ project (p4) to develop an affordable EV platform offers genuine hope that the firm might return to that vital market in the future. It’s also encouraging to see Ford continue to forge its own development path, given the Explorer and Capri sit on Volkswagen platforms. We don’t know whether the cars that result from Ford’s new platform will be called Fiesta, Puma and Focus (or names from elsewhere in its archive) or carry new nameplates. But the prospect of a new era of affordable Ford models should be welcomed, whatever they’re called. James Attwood Acting mag editor james.attwood@haymarket.com
@atters_ j Rachel Burgess is away
FORD’S PLANS TO REPLACE FIESTA AND FOCUS 4
youtube.com/autocar facebook.com/autocarofficial
twitter.com/autocar
autocar_official
NEVER MISS
AN ISSUE Subscribe p18
24 JULY 2024 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 3
