Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2016 i BBC Top Gear Magazine

So, the wait is nearly over. After months spent hiring, planning, sorting logistics, replanning, thinking, travelling, filming, some more travelling, some minor construction work, editing and re-editing, the all-new series of TopGear will hit your screens – and make the nation’s Sundays a whole lot better – later this month. In this issue, we give you exclusive behind-the-scenes access in our massive 15-page TV preview. These pages are testament to the tireless effort the team at the other end of the office has put into creating a show that does justice to TopGear’s history, and to you, its audience. During the creation of the series, the team has travelled to 10 countries across four continents, completed endless visa applications, driven 50 cars and generated enough health-and-safety paperwork to block the…

WE SAY: HOLD THE FRONT PAGE... ALFA’S GONE AND MADE A BELTER Alfa Romeo has made a brilliant car. After years of modestly capable (Giulietta) or actively underwhelming (4C) cars, Alfa has finally built a belter. It’s actually a relief to be able to write that, to find that this time there doesn’t need to be any ifs or buts or qualifications or caveats – the Giulia is great. Full stop. End of. I had a think, and the last Alfa that impressed me enough to think I’d actually like to own one was the 156 GTA, and that was, ahem, 15 years ago. And with that there was the caveat that it would have been even better if it were rear-wheel-drive rather than front. Well, here’s a fast saloon…

WE SAY: THE JAGUAR XF IS OUR REIGNING SALOON OF THE YEAR, BUT HERE COMES AN ALL-NEW MERC E-CLASS... Can a car be so richly appointed, titillating to sit in and easy to mooch around in that you’d forgive it being quite disappointing to drive? Mercedes must hope so. This is the all-new E-Class, powered by its all-new 2.0-litre, seventy-something miles-per-gallon diesel. And suddenly the XF, all-new just last year with its own clean-sheet 114g/km Ingenium diesel, starts to look quite last week. To brand the new E-Class a miniature S-Class inside is an insult – to the E. It’s better than that. It has similar Art-Deco styling and delightful materials to the flagship, but the COMAND interface centerpiece has evolved fresher, crisper graphics on its 12.3-inch central display. Confusing…

WE SAY: PERSONALITY SACRIFICED AT THE EFFICIENCY ALTAR We’ve seen Polestar’s hot V60 before, right? Yes, but when the racing outfit that’s now owned by Volvo last fiddled with the V60, it fitted a 345bhp, turbo straight-six. The results were excellent. And now it’s dead. Let me guess: downsized engine, better emissions? Spot on. Volvo’s committed to a 4cylonly future due to the relentless pressure of emissions regulation, so it’s RIP sonorous T6 motor and hello Drive-E 2.0-litre four-pot. It’s turbocharged and supercharged; twin-charging being easier to package than two red-hot turbos, and the supercharger declutches at middling revs to let the turbo take over. Power is up by 24bhp, but torque is down by 22lb ft. Crucially, it’s good for 34.9mpg and 186g/km CO2 officially, against its dad’s 27.7mpg…

“You know what that means, right?” a cheery competitor says as he points to three emboldened exclamation marks. I nervously shake my head. “Death.” Oh dear. I’m in Baja, Mexico, the estranged slither of land that’s orphaned by California above it, and by mainland Mexico that’s a hop across the sea to the east. I seem to have bitten off more than I can chew. The plan is to sit shotgun and navigate a torturous 1,400-mile off-road route from Ensenada (at the top of the Baja peninsula), down to holiday hotspot San José del Cabo (at the southernmost tip) as part of the NORRA Mexico 1000. Problem is, my rally navigating nous extends to exactly zilch, and flicking though the course book I find six more triple exclamation marks in…

“Matching numbers”. It’s a term that makes the chino-wearing, lobster quaffers in the car-collecting game prime their wallets. Why? Well, when attached to the right car, it’s a big, fat synonym for “ker-ching!” The hallowed phrase denotes harmony between all parts of a car. If the chassis, gearbox, engine, etc., all carry the same DNA, in the eyes of monied collectors, it’s a stamp of authenticity and assured value. It’s also why they’ll be licking their lips at the rather tattylooking purple 911 printed on these pages. Admittedly, it may not look like much. But that doesn’t matter. It’s got 9113601576 tattooed all over its greasy bits and chassis, signifying it’s the final, rare-as-they-come right-hand-drive Porsche 2.7 RS. The 1973 homologation special was the first Porsche to have RS slapped…

01 AUDI S1 QUATTRO Group B regulations spawned some terrifying machines. They gave manufacturers permission to be as mad as they liked. When you add Photoshop, it triples the potential for crazy - by morphing an SI into a track animal. Then adding more fog lights. 02 PORSCHE 934 The 934 was a 1975 911 Turbo with more power and a few suspension tweaks. This is that with added Fl-ness. Sat on Pirelli rubber and a high-downforce chassis that'll struggle to get over a paperclip, it's the Porsche of the future for Magnus Walker. 03 TESLA MODEL S If the scaremongers are right and the world ends by the planet being sucked dry of oil, maybe a four-wheel-drive, all-electric saloon making 691bhp might be the best post-apocalyptic option. One with…

TOOLBOX BBQ There you are, fumbling around for a spanner when out pops a sausage. For this you can only blame yourself, for confusing your toolbox with this one, which is actually a barbecue. It's made from steel and covered in heat-resistant paint so it can handle the hot coals in the removable tray. The cooking surface measures 20x38cm, there's a warming rack, a storage tray and an adjustable vent to control the flow of air over the flames. And you definitely won't burn your hands on the hot handles when carrying it home. £70; suck.uk.com TESTED DIRT DEVIL 360 REACH STICK Does fine work around the house, but for car cleaning it's not as convenient as a cordless (even with an eight-metre cable). Also, the upholstery attachment struggled with…

Everyone goes on about how rotary-engined cars sound. Some suggest they’re as angry and piercing as a woodmill bandsaw, others that they’re shriller and more irritating than a mosquito in your inner ear. No one ever mentions the smell. At this stage, Oz Clarke would probably start harping on about pungent bouquets of this and syrupy aromas of that, but what we’re dealing with here is the afterburnings of petrol and oil, so wine phraseology isn’t really appropriate. You know Castrol R, though? It’s like that, but instead of the rich, earthy tones, we have darker, more subversive nasal textures, combined with the sweeter high notes of what appears to be ski wax, if that’s of any help to you. To be precise, we have Redline 50W race oil combined…

It’s possible to have a bit of a soft spot for even the most visually challenged of babies, and they don’t come much less aesthetically blessed than the second-generation Scorpio. Birthed in 1994 by horrified parent Ford, the sad-faced MkII wasn’t so much hit with the ugly stick as half beaten to death with it, revelling in contemporary accolades as “heroically ugly” and “the car that ends all arguments as to which is the ugliest on the road”. To be honest, age hasn’t done it any favours, with the most complimentary conclusion being that it hasn’t actively got any worse since it ended production in 1998. And yet there was a version that made us smile: the 2.9-litre Scorpio Cosworth. Yep, this blazing ode to offensive design had a hot…

WE SAY: DOG-LEG MANUAL ’BOX MORE FUN THAN AUTO ALTERNATIVE, BUT TOO QUIRKY FOR ITS OWN GOOD The new V12 Vantage S manual has seven gears to choose from, but really you only need one. With 6.0 litres of V12 and 457lb ft of torque under your right foot, it’s quite happy to pull away in second – a ratio that takes you to precisely 70mph if you keep it pinned. Problem is, you’ll probably want to change gear at some point – for reasons of fuel consumption, noise and the longevity of your engine – and that’s when things start to go south. That’s because this new 7spd manual gearbox – essentially a deconstructed version of the 7spd automated manual offered in the V12 S up to this point…

WE SAY: IF YOU REALLY MUST HAVE A CROSSOVER, YOU COULD DO MUCH WORSE I have literally no imagination You’ll want one of these things, then. Last year, the Sportage accounted for more than a quarter of Kia’s European sales. This new one promises more, with fresh engines, a more spacious, sophisticated interior and an, erm, ‘bold’ new look. And, so far, it’s doing pretty well. It’s the obvious choice, if you’re convinced a conventional hatchback simply will not do. Or maybe you live down a rutted track and like the idea of having a bit more air between your derrière and planet Earth. It’s a best seller, and for good reason. But tricky to spell. Any good to drive? Slightly less good than the Qashqai: nimble, grippy and involving…

This Performance edition nets another 45bhp over standard. That’s eight per cent extra power, bolstered by 11 per cent extra torque. So your bonkers fast estate just got even more drastic. Other than that, it’s as before – amazing traction and security, a surprising lack of understeer (though none of the other, either) and rather numb steering. It’s refined, comfortable and accommodating: perhaps the most useful all-weather quasi-supercar on our planet. SPECIFICATION…

How does Aston find the time? Between launching the all-new DB11, announcing the AM-RB 001 and fitting a manual ’box to the V12 Vantage S, it’s also managed to squeeze in another race-inspired, limited-run special. It’s called the GT8 and uses a similar formula to the monstrous bewinged 595bhp GT12, albeit in a lighter, less potent package. Only 100 examples of the GT12 were built at £250,000 a pop, whereas the GT8 will be positively common – 150 examples at £165,000 each. The good news is, unlike the GT12, you can have one with a choice of a six-speed manual or seven-speed automated manual. We implore you to go for the former. The engine is a 440bhp version of Aston’s sonorous 4.7-litre V8 (10bhp more than the V8 Vantage S),…

We all know how this one ends. Audi builds a lung-puncturingly quick, quattro RS version of the TT Coupe, but it falls woefully short in the dynamics department next to the otherworldly deftness and soaring fat-six of the Porsche Cayman. Job done. Comparison test written. Except it’s no longer quite that simple – the goalposts have moved, and the game is afoot. Porsche has hit the Cayman with its 718 stick, and that means bye-bye fat-six, hello fat-four with a turbo bolted on. We have driven this engine already embedded in the 718 Boxster, and while it kicks like an angry mule, it lacks the old engine’s fizzing crescendo at the top end and its hollow howl everywhere else. In short, given that the 718 Cayman and 718 Cayman S…

MERCEDES-AMG C63 ESTATE Engine: 3982cc, V8 bi-turbo 469bhp @ 5500rpm, 479lb ft @ 1750rpm Performance: 0–62mph in 4.2secs, 155mph Transmission: 7spd automatic, RWD Economy:33.6mpg, 196g/km CO2 Weight: 1785kg L x W: 4702mm x 1810mm MERCEDES C43 AMG ESTATE Engine: 4266cc, V8, 306bhp @ 5850rpm. 302lb ft @ 3250rpm Performance: 0–62mph in 5.9secs, 155mph Transmission: 5spd automatic, RWD Economy: 24.0mpg, n/a g/km CO2 Weight: 1610kg L x W: 4516mm x 1723mm This is not the world’s greatest example of a C43 AMG Estate. It has an interior that appears to have been lightly gnawed by rodents, there is an alarming amount of travel in the brake pedal before any meaningful retardation and the engine has almost certainly released a few of its horses back into the wild. But its kind owner…

What is it? No, you don’t need stronger specs. This beast, known as Double Trouble, really has got two V8 engines and four – yes, four – superchargers stacked on top of them. The poor chassis trying to deliver all this shock and awe to the gardenroller-wide rear tyres started life as a 1927 Ford Model T Roadster. That original car had 40bhp when it trundled off the world’s first automotive production line. Today? Well, it’s bit more: 1,200bhp, to be precise. Er, why exactly? Double Trouble’s builder and owner is Las Vegasbased Kiwi Gordon Tronson, who here takes up the story of how it happened: “Growing up in New Zealand, I had a lot to do with hot rods. I belonged to [famous Napier-based] Marineland Street Rod and Kustom…

It’s a warm spring afternoon in Times Square, New York. Leaning through the window of my car is a heavily armed New York City police officer, barking as to why in the four-letter-word I’ve driven onto one of the world’s most famous intersections and opened the Falcon Wing doors of my new Tesla Model X. One reason is my photographer, positioned across the street, thought it would be a good idea to cause a stir. And it has. Pedestrians are swarming around the car, faces beaming, cameraphones flashing and the cop – quite rightly – is reading me the riot act. “Why do you look so nervous?!” he barks. “You got something to hide?” I manage only a series of “umms” before we’re joined by yet more heavily armed police.…

Price £20,495/£21,035 Model Sport Nav 2WD Driver Dan Read Why it’s here Has Mazda made the world’s best little crossover? 1998cc 4cyl, FWD, 118bhp, 150lb ft 47.9mpg, 137g/km CO2 0–62mph in 9.0secs, 119mph 1230kg HELLO It is, as I’ve discovered after three minutes, impossible to write an opening sentence about the CX-3 without mentioning the Juke. Told you. First impressions? Well, it’s a very talented illusionist, that’s for sure. In the picture above, you might think it’s the size of something like a Range Rover Evoque, but actually it’s much smaller than that. More like a Juke, actually. The name is also deceptive. The CX means crossover, so that’s alright. But the 3? You’d think it shows a relationship to the Mazda3, but actually it’s based on the smaller Mazda2,…

Price £23,595/£24,120 Model Dynamique S Nav dCi 110 Auto EDC Driver Paul Horrell Why it’s here Can it out-Qashqai a Qashqai? 1461cc, 4cyl turbodiesel, FWD, 108bhp, 184lb ft 72.4mpg, 103g/km CO2 0–62mph in 11.7secs, 112mph 1421kg HELLO It might share a platform with the Qashqai, but the Kadjar is different. Very few visible parts, in or or out, are shared. And the Renault is a little longer, so it’s got more boot. I think it looks better too. It arrived here with only a few dozen miles on the odo, still smelling not just of new car but of new Renault (a different aroma, proving again its separateness from the Nissan). It has a high spec but the low-power diesel engine, paired with a six-speed DCT transmission. At first, the…

Price/as tested £34,775/£43,815 Model 2.0d R-SPORT Driver Jack Rix Why it’s here Has Jag really cracked the ‘3-Series’ thing? 1999cc, 4cyl turbodiesel, RWD, 178bhp, 317lb ft 67.4mpg, 111g/km CO2 0–62mph in 7.4secs, 140mph 1565kg REPORT 8 The Jaguar XE is not a particularly practical car. It has four usable seats, the rear two with rather limited leg- and headroom, and a boot that’s big enough for your weekly shopping bags, a couple of big suitcases or several boxes of cheap French booze. If you want to transport large, awkwardly shaped objects (such as a bike), three suitcases, two stuffed blue Ikea bags, a well-stocked cool box, a rucksack, handbag, bedding (including two pillows apiece), wellies, coats, yoga mat, laptops and (rather ambitiously) a pair of wetsuits, you buy an estate…

WE SAY: THE DEFENDER IS DEAD. LONG LIVE THE WRANGLER... This, you will be aware, is not a new car. But it is a car with a new chance. With the muchloved Land Rover Defender now finally off sale, is it the time for the similarly hardy Jeep Wrangler to shine? It’s here in 75th Anniversary form, a special edition to mark its maker’s threequarter century. Everything in Jeep’s range is getting a similar edition, but the Wrangler interests us most. Both for its new sales prospects, and the fact it’s the car closest in spirit to the Willys that kicked things off in 1941. The 75th treatment brings with it an array of goodies: 18in alloy wheels, limited-slip differentials, leather seats, a new satnav and premium sound system, and…

WE SAY: THE BABY AMG RELINQUISHES ITS V8, AND THE RESULTS AREN’T TOTALLY WORTHWHILE Eventually, even AMG couldn’t really rationalise wedging a naturally aspirated, 5.5-litre V8 engine into its littlest car. The SLK55 AMG is dead, and so is the last Benz whose badges bear some correlation to the cubes under the bonnet. The fastest facelifted SLK, now renamed SLC, is the (£10k cheaper) AMG SLC 43. Which has a 3.0-litre engine. Obviously. Two cylinders amputated, and two turbos added. You know the downsizing drill by now. Usually, power is up and consumption is down. Not here. The SL has sacrificed 54bhp and 14lb ft in the swap, for the sake of marginal 2.6mpg and 17g/km improvements. Perhaps the blunt old ’55 wasn’t so backward after all. Start driving it,…

From the Seventies it’s a hairy-chested coupe. From the Eighties it’s the hot hatch that spawned all hot hatches, from the Nineties it’s a fast Ford and from the Noughties it’s a German coupe named after a motorbike road race. These, if you haven’t guessed already, are the current favourites in our poll to find the ultimate Car That Got Away, and they’re pictured on these pages. Don’t like what you see? Good news! You have until 14th June to cast your vote, and be in with a chance of winning £10k courtesy of Hitachi Personal Finance. Over the last 30 years Hitachi Personal Finance has provided loans to over five million UK customers, and helped put dream cars on the driveways where they belong. Voted the UK’s Best Direct…

Remember “the end of history”? That coinage, and early Nineties book that sprung from it, was by Stanford political scientist Francis Fukuyama. We stood amid the fall of the Berlin Wall, the breakdown of the Soviet Union, the beginnings of capitalism in China and the release of Nelson Mandela. Communism was in retreat, ultra-nationalism too. It seemed like the great battles of ideas had finally been played out. Instead, we’d be living in a world of broadly democratic governments peacefully tweaking the levers of economic activity, in order to ramp up their populations’ wealth, education and ability to buy ever-more elaborate video cassette recorders. Life in motoring magazines during the era was eerily similar. The evolution of the car certainly hadn’t stopped, but it had arrived from all sides onto…

This is the “aeroscreen”. Modelled here by an apprehensive Daniel Ricciardo, the device is Red Bull’s alternative to the “halo” that Ferrari trialled during pre-season testing. Lewis Hamilton described the latter as “the worst-looking mod in Formula One history” back in March. His verdict on this latest suggestion? “It looks like a bloody riot shield.” Clearly he’s not a fan... The embattled champion’s views aside, the argument in favour of more head protection has grown to the point where it can no longer be ignored. The FIA says it will implement one of the solutions in 2017, and it will decide which one all of the teams will use no later than July. For Red Bull’s part, it will hope the aeroscreen matches the halo in testing while also being…

MERCEDES C250d COUPE AMG-LINE Price: £37,615 (£44,090 as tested) Engine: 2143cc, 4cyl turbodiesel, 201bhp, 369lb ft Transmission: 9spd auto, RWD Performance: 0–62mph in 6.7secs, 153mph Economy: 58.9mpg, 112g/km CO2 Weight: 1645kg FORD MUSTANG 2.3 ECOBOOST FASTBACK Price: £30,495 (£32,675 as tested) Engine: 2261cc, 4cyl turbo, 312bhp, 318lb ft Transmission: 6spd manual, RWD Performance: 0–62mph in 5.8secs, 145mph Economy: 35.3mpg, 179g/km CO2 Weight: 1655kg LEXUS RC 200t F-SPORT Price: £36,495 (£39,115 as tested) Engine: 1988cc, 4cyl turbo, 237bhp, 258lb ft Transmission: 8spd auto, RWD Performance: 0–62mph in 7.5secs, 143mph Economy: 38.7mpg, 168g/km CO2 Weight: 1675kg BMW 420d M SPORT xDRIVE Price: £34,715 (£42,620 as tested) Engine: 1995cc, 4cyl turbodiesel, 187bhp, 295lb ft Transmission: 8spd auto, AWD Performance: 0–62mph in 7.2secs, 142mph Economy: 64.2mpg, 117g/km CO2 Weight: 1560kg There’s something eerie about…

As assignments go, this one wasn’t bad. Go to Ibiza, they said. There will be sun, sea, sand, superclubs and other things beginning with S. Best of all, I would be given the fastest car in the world. This may come as a surprise to anyone who’s just ordered the new Bugatti, but hard luck, because everyone knows that the quickest way from A to B isn’t with a two-metre-wide hypercar, but with a twenty-quid-a-day holiday rental from the airport. Especially a shabby one with no roof. You know the sort. Dirt-cheap jeeps – and I mean that with a small ‘j’ – with engines that never blow up no matter how much you abuse them. Normally it’s a Suzuki Jimny, but if you’re lucky it might be an actual…

Price £29,995/£30,520 Model Type-R Driver Ollie Kew Why it’s here Is the Type-R a practical daily driver? 1998cc, 4cyl VTEC turbo petrol, FWD, 306bhp, 295lb ft 38.7mpg, 170g/km CO2 0–62mph in 5.7secs, 167mph 1378kg REPORT 8 The Type-R barely torque-steers. You have to point it down a road with a bigger crown than King Julien’s to make the steering wheel fight in your palms. Alchemy for a car putting 306bhp through its front wheels. In fact, in-gear pace is so savage I suspect this car might be healthier than Honda gives it credit for. But, as my physics teacher drummed into me, every action has an equal and opposite reaction, and the result of the Civic’s huge potency isn’t a lust for cambers, but an appetite for tyres. After 8,050…

Price £23,290/£30,320 Model SE Driver Esther Neve Why it’s here Is the Superb estate more than just a huge boot? 1998cc, 4cyl turbodiesel, FWD, 148bhp, 251lb ft 68.9mpg, 109g/km CO2 0–62mph in 8.9secs, 135mph 1430kg REPORT 6 Before I continue, I must make one thing absolutely clear: what I am about to complain about is by no means exclusively a Skoda problem – it is prevalent throughout the entire motoring industry. The Superb’s electronic nannying is driving me mad. While evidently brilliant for the odd occasion when you actually need it, the rest of the time it butts in when not necessary. Allow me to give you two of the most frustrating examples... Situation one: a residential London street, cars parked on both sides, still enough room for two cars…

Price £43,000/£51,499 Model HSE Luxury Driver Owen Norris Why it’s here Is the Discovery Sport the best of both worlds? 1999cc, 4cyl turbodiesel, AWD, 180bhp, 317lb ft 53.3mpg, 139g/km CO2 0–62mph in 8.9secs, 117mph 1884kg REPORT 4 The last time we wrote about our Discovery Sport, it was off back to Land Rover after having a brain fart in its nine-speed gearbox. Well, it’s now back in the TG car park and running well again after having a software update to its ECU – something that would happen at a normal service automatically, I’m told. Let’s hope this is the end of the whole sorry episode. The last thing anyone wants when they drive home on a Friday is to see that little orange light flicker on in the dials…

BMW M3 Driver Ollie Marriage Price £56,505/£64,560 2979cc, twin-turbo in-line 6cyl, RWD, 425bhp, 405lb ft 0–62mph in 4.1secs, 155mph 1565kg Mercedes C63 AMG Driver Charlie Turner Price £61,000/£62,910 3982cc, twin-turbo V8, RWD, 469bhp, 479lb ft 0–62mph in 4.2secs, 155mph 1785kg Maserati Ghibli Driver Jason Barlow Price £63,805/£75,685 2979cc, twin-turbo V6, RWD, 410bhp, 405lb ft 0–62mph in 5.0secs, 177mph 1810kg A country pub, one lunchtime... Jason Barlow: So I’m going to kick off by pointing out the Ghibli isn’t the same sort of car as your two. It’s nowhere near as sharp, but nor is it meant to be. Charlie Turner: But it’s also not… Ollie Marriage: …very good? CT: Well, yes, but Maserati is the most understated, supercool brand. OM: If there is one brand of car I’d be proud…