48
‘Bertha Benz started the car out of Karl’s earshot and simply drove away’
Issue 6415 | Volume 304 | No 12
NEWS
VW ID 3 R Electric hot hatch, plus future ID line-up 4 Seat Ateca Keen-handling SUV sharpens up its act 6 BMW M5 Chassis and design revisions , sti l l 616bhp 8 Citroën C4 Sleeker Cactus replacement due 2021 10 Post-lockdown changes What motorists can expect 12
TESTED
VW ID 3 EV alternative to the Golf reveals i ts hand 16 Skoda Octavia Estate It’s new, but is it improved? 20 Bentley Continental GTC V8 Imperious drop-top 22 Audi RS5 Sportback Fast, luxurious, sleek four-door 23 Audi A8 L 60 TFSIe quattro Sport ROAD TEST 24 Road test rewind Five stars for Ferrari’s 488 GTB 30
FEATURES VW Golf vs Ford Focus How good i s the new Golf? 34 Lamborghini’s heritage Meet a man who’s saving it 42 Can’t tell by looking When looks and ability differ 46 Cropley’s heroes Most inspiring car people named 48 Dakar raider Bahrain hires Prodrive and Ian Callum 54
OUR CARS BMW 330e What have we missed about our plug-in? 62 Vauxhall Corsa Why i t has been so good in lockdown 63
EVERY WEEK Jesse Crosse Light fandango: new Murray supercar 11 Jim Holder Europe’s a tough nut to crack but doable 13 Steve Cropley Ideal DS and a killer fact about tyres 15 Subscribe Save money and get exclusive benefits 32 Damien Smith Will Ferrari join McLaren in Indycar? 52 Motorsport round-up F1 openers, WRC, r i sing star 53 Your Views Alpine A110, BMW logo, open-top frowns 60 Matt Prior Roads, pavements, cycle lanes: discuss 82
DEALS
James Ruppert What to do when a finance deal ends 64 As good as new Range Rover Evoque drops to £11k 67 Spied in the classifieds Take f ive: weird bodystyles 68 Used buying guide Chevrolet Corvette C3 top tips 70 New cars A-Z Key car stats , from Abarth to Zenos 72 Road test index Track down that road test here 81
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THIS WEEK
COMMENT
BRITISH TALENT IN BAHRAIN’S NEW DAKAR BID 54
WE CHECK OUT LAMBORGHINI’S ARCHIVE 42
ROAD TEST: PLUG IN HYBRID AUDI A8 24
❝ALL SERIES LAND ROVERS ARE TERRIBLE TO DRIVE UNLESS YOU’RE IN THE JUNGLE❞ COLIN GOODWIN ON CARS THAT LOOK GREAT BUT DRIVE ATROCIOUSLY AND VICE VERSA 46
LATEST VW GOLF TAKES ON FORD’S FOCUS 34
VW DESPERATE TO TURN THE PAGE WITH NEW ID 3
THE ID 3 WAS Volkswagen’s way of moving on from and responding to the Dieselgate scandal, showing that it could leave behind the ‘old’ technology it had so drastically and terminally tarnished the name of and take the lead in the new era of electrification. It would have come anyway, for sure, but the ID project’s size, speed and scale were undoubtedly a by-product of Dieselgate.
And it’s that size, speed and scale that have caused the ID 3 to be plagued by problems throughout its development. Much of that could be considered self-inflicted, because VW is known for thinking big: the ID 3 isn’t just an electric hatchback but a whole new architecture designed to underpin multiple models across multiple brands, both from inside its own group stable and further afield, such as Ford. Yet even now, as the ID 3 is finally confirmed for production in the coming weeks, the first cars will be built without two key pieces of software that will only be added months after launch, as we learn in our first drive (p16).
Such a move is almost unheard of in the industry but it also shows just how significant the ID 3 is to VW and the need to get it to market, and how much it has given itself to do. VW will be relieved, then, that our drive also reveals the ID 3 should have been worth the wait when it finally arrives in its finished form this September. Mark Tisshaw Editor mark.tisshaw@haymarket.com
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BABY JAGUAR
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