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‘The most valuable Hot Wheels car? A Beach Bomb VW bus, at £109,000’
THIS WEEK
Issue 6481 | Volume 309 | No 13
NEWS
Porsche 718 EVs Plans for electric Boxster, Cayman 4 Pure-electric 911 Design boss knows how he’l l do i t 6 Ford Fiesta facelift Details of new-look supermini 8 Citroën’s next steps CEO on future plans, ‘New C3’ 10 Polestar’s Taycan rival Precept GT on sale by 2025 12 Chip shortage Industry experts analyse the i ssues 14
TESTED
Caterham Seven 170R Weighs 440kg, costs £24k 18 Porsche 911 GTS Ups the ante on paper. In practice? 22 Ford Focus ST Edition Gains adjustable suspension 25 Porsche Taycan 4S Cross Turismo Sensible, fast EV 26 Peugeot 308 SW New family estate in petrol guise 27 Ford Kuga 2.0 Ecoblue MHEV Mild-hybrid diesel 27 Alpina B8 Gran Coupé ROAD TEST 28
FEATURES Jaguar XE, Audi S3, BMW M235i Junior exec fray 36 Miles Nürnberger Why designer lef t Aston for Dacia 44 EV-only track day The UK’s f i rst and we were there 46 Britain’s next top model Hot Wheels seeks new star 50 How to win in BTCC ExcelR8 tell us how they did it 57
OUR CARS Skoda Octavia vRS Last report on fast diesel estate 62 Vauxhall Mokka I s this SUV as practical as i t looks? 65
EVERY WEEK Jesse Crosse How to remove CO2 from steel making 13 Jim Holder Will al l car makers survive the chip crisis? 15 Steve Cropley Fiat 500 replaced; Emira needs a diet 17 Damien Smith Lewis vs Max: we’ve seen this before 52 Motorsport round-up F 1 , WRC, Indycar, F2 , Nascar 53 Subscribe Save money and get exclusive benefits 54 Your Views Biofuel hope; EV backlash; E10 problem 60 Matt Prior A surprising but inspiring role model 82
DEALS
James Ruppert Where to find very cheap used cars 66 As good as new Current Ford Fiesta ST, from £15k 69 Spied in the classifieds Tempting mid-sized SUVs 70 Used buying guide Saab’s swansong 9-5, £2500 up 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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JAGUAR XE TAKES ON AUDI AND BMW RIVALS 36
TRACK DAY WHERE ONLY EVs WERE ALLOWED 46
ALPINA B8 GRAN COUPE: FULL ROAD TEST 28
COVER STORY
❝THE AVERAGE CAR HAS 1400 1500 CHIPS AND SOME OF THEM ARE UP TO 3000 NOW❞
SMMT BOSS MIKE HAWES UNPICKS THE PROBLEMS CAUSED BY CHIP SHORTAGES 14
IMAGE
HOW THE CAYMAN AND BOXSTER WILL GO EV 4
COMMENT
PUBLIC HAS HAD ENOUGH OF SMART MOTORWAYS
AN ALARMING Telegraph investigation last month revealed that staff at National Highways dubbed the computer systems controlling smart motorways ‘Die Now’ after they crashed three times in four days. The report was pretty sobering, and any remaining confidence a reader might have had in the ‘smart’ bit of smart motorways – ie the technology that instantly detects the need to close a lane when a vehicle becomes stranded in the absence of a hard shoulder – would have been eradicated. Not fit for purpose, then, the technology that’s meant to keep you safe and save lives.
A government review in the spring concluded that smart motorways were safer than conventional ones and their roll-out would continue, but not before new radar detection technology was installed for live monitoring of lanes to improve their safety and effectiveness (although nothing on the software controlling them).
Smart motorways have already lost in the court of public opinion: an RAC study last week found 62% of drivers want them scrapped entirely, and just 15% feel the improved safety measures are adequate to replace a hard shoulder. Yet still the government presses on with them, money no doubt talking because converting existing hard shoulders is cheaper than building new or wider roads.
Mark Tisshaw Editor mark.tisshaw@haymarket.com
@mtisshaw
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22 SEPTEMBER 2021 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 3