COMMENT

DON’T OVERLOOK THE UNDERRATED

It ’s easy to focus on the (hopefully) safe bets of the car world: BMW 5 Series, Volkswagen Golf and the like, as well as those aspirational models that many of us can’t afford but can be lived vicariously through these pages. But there are more great cars than the big names many people first think of. We’re always keen to represent a broad church at Autocar so this week we take such a car – the hugely relevant Vauxhall Corsa – on a British road trip to equally underrated car museums (see p48). I ’m embarrassed to say I ’d not heard of them before, but based on Matt Prior’s musings and the accompanying photos, they’re now on my list to visit. What makes a car underrated? It might be a less aspirational brand that has pulled off an excellent car, one that’s a big seller like the Corsa, or perhaps a relatively niche model that hasn’t had the attention some believe it deserves. Views on underrated cars are typically diverse at Autocar HQ. In alphabetical order, here are some that team members cited: Genesis G80, Honda Jazz, Jaguar F-Pace SVR, Kia Stonic, Mazda 2, Peugeot 408, Renault Captur, Seat Ibiza and Toyota Yaris. Most of them are low key but absolutely worthy contenders to own, which just goes to show the exciting car choices away from the headliners. Sometimes it pays to think outside the box.

Rachel Burgess, magazine editor rachel.burgess@haymarket.com

Meanwhile, online…

autocar.co.uk

Esprit de War Join us as we remember when Lotus took on Europe’s giants in the GT2 class – and shocked the lot of them.

Our favourite motorway munchers from yesteryear Go back to a time of Ford Sierras, Vauxhall Cavaliers, Filofaxes and fried eggs from Little Chef.

Abarth 500e: full load test Our electric Abarth outshines its ICE forebear on p58, but now for the big question: can you get a washing machine in the boot?

6 SCOOP: MERC-AMG’S NEW FLAGSHIP EV

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Issue 6638 | Volume 322 | No 3

NEWSMercedes-AMG’s electric supercar 6 Toyota GR Corolla tipped for UK 10 EV-only pledges: who’s said what? 12 Maxus 4x4 EV pick-up here in 2025 14 Why ex-demo EVs are big bargains 16 FIRST DRIVES BMW X3 24 BMW 1 Series 27 MG ZS Hybrid+ 28 Audi RS6 Avant GT 30 Polestar 3 Dual Motor 32 Hyundai Ioniq 5 84kWh RWD 33 BYD Seal U DM-i 34 Peugeot 5008 Hybrid 136 35 ROAD TESTS Volkswagen Golf GTI 36 Mercedes-Benz G500 AMG Line 42 FEATURESUK hidden gems by Vauxhall Corsa 48 Radwood’s yuppie-era car show 54 LONG-TERMERSSkoda Kamiq 56 Cupra Born 57 Abarth 500e 58 Polestar 2 61 COLUMNSJesse Crosse 13 Mark Tisshaw 15 Steve Cropley 17 Matt Prior 18 Damien Smith 19 Testing, testing 47 Why I love… 74 EVERY WEEK Your Views 20 Lost in the archive 66 Road test results 67 USED CARS Land Rover Discovery 4 62 My car & I 64 Caught in the classifieds 65

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36 VW GOLF GTI UNPICKED IN ROAD TEST

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48 VAUXHALL CORSA ON A CAR’S FAN TRIP

25 SEPTEMBER 2024 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 5

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