46
‘I’m lucky I don’t have white ‘inger by now’
THIS WEEK
Issue 6470 | Volume 309 | No 2
NEWS
Lotus Emira £60k mid-engined two-seat sports car 4 Renault 4ever Classic 4 reborn as electric crossover 9 BMW 2 Series Coupé Full details of new two-door 10 Volvo Concept Recharge XC90 reinvented as an EV 13 Wells Vertige New light and affordable British coupé 14 Used car prices soar What’s behind it and will it last? 16
TESTED
Lamborghini Essenza SCV12 £1 .9m track special 22 Hyundai Ioniq 5 Startlingly fast, sensible family car 25 DBA Mini Remastered Sporty Oselli Edition special 26 Audi SQ8 TFSI Quattro Luxury SUV packs 500bhp 27 Citroën C3 Aircross Updated, but i s i t any better? 27 Audi Q4 E-tron 40 Sport ROAD TEST 28
FEATURES Alfa Romeo vs Ferrari Hot Giulia takes on 328 GTB 36 Bentley boy Matthias Rabe, new engineering chief 42 Hit the road JCB’s automated pothole f ixer tested 46 Mercedes SLR McLaren Now with added McLaren 48 Toto Wolff Interview with Mercedes F1 team boss 55
OUR CARS Vauxhall Mokka Style over substance? First report 60 BMW 128ti Hot hatch turns student’s removal van 61 Volvo XC60 EV out, petrol in , via subscription deal 63 Dacia Sandero Stepway 89bhp i s plenty. Yes, really 65 Ford Focus ST Race Me Now Orange is a bold choice 65
EVERY WEEK Jesse Crosse How paper waste may boost EV range 15 Jim Holder Challenges of Jaguar’s turnaround plan 17 Subscribe Save money and get exclusive benefits 18 Steve Cropley Up close with two al l -new British cars 19 Damien Smith Brit Robin Shute on Pikes Peak win 52 Motorsport round-up F1, BTCC, W Series, WRC… 53 Your Views Range Rover; tyre woes; museum tip 58 Matt Prior Why e-scooters make so much sense 82
DEALS
James Ruppert Tyres: the used buyer’s best fr iend 66 As good as new Current-shape Audi A6 Avant 69 Spied in the classifieds Five compact sports cars 70 Used buying guide 2015-17 Honda Civic Type R 72 New cars A-Z Key car stats , from Abarth to Zenos 74 Road test index Track down that road test here 81
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PROGRESS REPORT: ’80s FERRARI, NEW ALFA 36
TOTO WOLFF: THE MAN BEHIND THE MASK 55
AUDI Q4 E TRON: FULL EIGHT PAGE ROAD TEST 28
COVER STORY
❝IT’S AS IF IT’S BEING SPAGHETTIFIED IN A WACHOWSKIS FILM OR JUMPING UP TO WARP SPEED❞
MERC SLR McLAREN GETS A 2021 MSO FIX AND GIVES MATT SAUNDERS SCI FI VIBES 48
IN DEPTH LOOK AT THE CRUCIAL LOTUS EMIRA 4
COMMENT
LOTUS FINALLY TAPS ITS POTENTIAL WITH EMIRA
WHAT’S NOT TO like about the new Lotus Emira? It looks like a baby Ferrari, has been tuned by the best ride and handling engineers in the business, features an interior packed with the latest technology and offers true daily usability like no other recent predecessor – and all for significantly less than the price of the Evora that came before it. The Emira, our cover star this week (see p4), arrives with a real statement of intent about what the company will look like on Geely’s watch. Geely has clearly not only harnessed but also liberated the pre-existing design and engineering talent to create the kind of car they knew they were capable of. Crucially, it has also invested in manufacturing to ensure the Emira will be better made, with each build of a higher quality and with greater consistency than any previous Lotus thanks to a new facility equipped with the very latest equipment at Hethel.
Lotus has been a revolving door of survival and turnaround plans for most of its recent history, with just as many false dawns under different owners and management to go with them. Not any more. The Emira will be a Lotus that has been made and you can buy without making excuses, created by a company that has at last been given the resources it needs to succeed.
Mark Tisshaw Editor mark.tisshaw@haymarket.com
@mtisshaw
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7 JULY 2021 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 3
