56
‘If unforeseen emergency should oblige one to run up a tree, one feels
that the choice of tree should be entirely volitional’
THIS WEEK
Issue 6478 | Volume 309 | No 10
NEWS
New Defenders Luxury flagship, eight-seater, pick-up 4 Kia Sportage Next-gen SUV gets Europe-only model 8 Morgan 3 Wheeler Reinvented with a three-pot Ford 10 Radical new UK EVs Start-up with ‘off-the-wall’ cars 12 BP reshapes business Top exec explains future aims 14
TESTED
Genesis GV70 Hyundai luxury arm guns for BMWX3 18 Porsche Macan GTS Revised, faster, more dynamic 22 Lambo Huracán STO Road-legal Super Trofeo racer 25 Mercedes-Benz G400d £116k 4x4 with a diesel six 26 Toyota Yaris Cross Hybrid r ival to the Juke hits UK 27 Audi Q4 E-tron 50 Quattro SUV gains extra motor 27 Aston Martin Vantage F1 Edition ROAD TEST 28
FEATURES Four-door GT duel Alpina takes on Mercedes-AMG 38 Future classics named Today’s car, tomorrow’s star 44 McMurtry Spéirling Mad EV at secret supercar meet 50 Jost Capito Fighting talk from Williams F1 team boss 57
OUR CARS Ford Focus ST Final verdict on l i fe with the hot hatch 62 BMW 128ti Who’s got my car now? Second opinions 65
EVERY WEEK Jesse Crosse All you need to know about gearboxes 13 Jim Holder Do as I say, not as I do: MPs and EVs 15 Steve Cropley Alpine A110 Pure, Morgan, Williams F1 17 Subscribe Save money and get exclusive benefits 36 Damien Smith Le Mans 24 Hours race dissected 54 Motorsport round-up DTM, Formula E , WEC, WRC 55 Your Views EVs are for the r i ch only; f i rst hot hatch 60 Matt Prior Not everything i s as simple as yes or no 82
DEALS
James Ruppert How to beat the used car price hike 66 As good as new Pay less for a sti l l -fresh Ford Puma 69 Spied in the classifieds £15k Rangie, £5k Fiat Coupé 70 Used buying guide Lamborghini Diablo, from £105k 72 New cars A-Z Key car stats , from Abarth to Zenos 74 Road test index Track down that road test here 81
Autocar, IS SN number 1355-8293 (USPS 25185), i s published weekly by Haymarket Media Group, Bridge
House, 69 London Road, Twickenham TW1 3SP, United Kingdom. The US annual subscription price i s $199.78. Air f re i ght and mailing in the USA by agent named WN Shipping USA, 156-15, 146th Avenue, 2nd
F l oor, Jamaica, NY 11434, USA. Periodicals postage paid at Jamaica NY 11431. US Postmaster: Send address changes to Autocar, WN Shipping USA, 156-15, 146th Avenue, 2nd F l oor, Jamaica, NY 11434, USA. Subscription records are maintained at Haymarket Media Group, Bridge House, 69 London Road,
Twickenham TW1 3SP, United Kingdom. Air Business Ltd i s acting as our mailing agent. Autocar i s published by Haymarket Automotive, Bridge House, 69 London Road, Twickenham, Middlesex,
TW1 3SP, UK, haymarketgroup.com Tel +44 (0)20 8267 5000 Autocar magazine i s also published in China, Greece, India , Indonesia, Japan, Korea,
Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand.
Autocar i s 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 i s cer t i f i ed by BSI to environmental standard
ISO14001 and energy management standard
ISO50001
PEFC Certified
This product is from sustainably managed forests and
controlled sources
www.pefc.co.uk
TROUBLE FINDING
AUTOCAR? I f you struggle to f ind a copy of Autocar in your l ocal
retailer or area, please
send an email to connor.chappell@flgroup.co.uk
who wil l investigate the
problem for you.
Autocar i s a member of the
organising committee of Car Of The Year caroftheyear.org
MERC AMG GT 63 S 4 DOOR vs ALPINA B8 38
INTERVIEW: THE MAN REVIVING WILLIAMS F1 57
FULL ROAD TEST: ASTON VANTAGE F1 EDITION 28
COVER STORY
❝NO OTHER CAR ON SALE ACHIEVES THE SAME BLEND OF HOT ROD ANTICS AND DYNAMIC PRECISION❞
RICHARD LANE EXPLAINS WHY THE BMW M2 COMPETITION IS HIS FUTURE CLASSIC 44
IMAGE
DEFENDER FAMILY TO GET LUXURY FLAGSHIP 4
COMMENT
DEFENDER IS POISED TO EMULATE RANGE ROVER
BUOYED BY THE Range Rover family’s unstoppable ability to drive profits, Land Rover has long desired its Discovery and Defender nameplates to enjoy similar success and become established brands in their own right.
In the case of the Discovery, desire is one thing, reality another. The ‘family’ has still not grown beyond two models since 2014 and it has suffered something of an identity crisis since the new Defender came along last year. Yet the Defender’s smash-hit earlysales performance is supporting Land Rover’s confidence that its most iconic nameplate could become another Range Rover with a line-up of cars. And not simply the same model with different wheelbase lengths, doors and seats, but also models with different bodystyles, as we reveal this week (p4).
It’s a smart decision. Jaguar Land Rover is perhaps the biggest small car company in the world, its relative independence allowing it greater freedom but not the economies of scale all its main rivals enjoy. It can’t just make models to fill a matrix, or to respond to a rival. Each new car has to be profitable, or the company’s wider fortunes can turn very quickly, as we’ve seen in recent years with Jaguar.
So when you’re onto a good thing, as Land Rover senses with Defender after years of experience with Range Rover, why not simply do more of it?
Mark Tisshaw Editor mark.tisshaw@haymarket.com
@mtisshaw
NEVER
NEVER MISS AN
ISSUE Subscribe
p36
1 SEPTEMBER 2021 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 3