Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2017 i BBC Top Gear Magazine

A ll the best ideas seem blindingly obvious once you’ve heard them! And here’s a doozy! With the average Evoque selling for "#$k and the average Sport selling for "%&k' you don’t need a marketing degree to identify there’s a yawning hole in the Range Rover line(up ) one that’s currently mopped up by the Audi Q*' BMW X#' Porsche Macan and Jaguar F(Pace! Enter the new mid(sized Velar ) designed to bisect the Evoque and Sport in terms of size and cost' and sit at a reassuringly higher price point than the F(Pace ) the car it shares its aluminium underpinnings with! “We are making a transition from being what I would describe as specialist brand into a more universally appealing brand'” Gerry McGovern' Land Rover’s design boss' explains!…

Tesla has owned the ‘electric cars can be ultra%quick too’ space for long enough now to irritiate other carmakers$ so they’re piling into the fray with their own über%EVs) Start%ups come no more ambitious than Singapore’s Vanda Electrics$ which has teamed up with the Williams brains behind Williams F! to create the Dendrobium hypercar) We’re told to expect a #..mph1 vmax$ ./&#mph in #)+secs$ motorised doors and customer cars in #.#.) If you’d prefer your electric supercar to actually$ er$ exist$ may we present the fastest Porsche four%door ever2 the Panamera Turbo S e%hybrid) Yup$ from now on if you desire the fastest Panamera$ you need to buy the one with electro%boost$ using nous from the "!3 Spyder and heralding a future of hybrid Cayennes and yes$ "!!s) The Turbo…

P orschephiles! welcome a new niche into your fold" this is the Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo! a five#door Panamera estate" Go on! admit it! you want one" In essence! it’s identical in size to the Panam saloon! just with a bigger boot grafted on" In total! there’s $%& litres of storage space! which is still more than enough for the weekly shop! but only %& litres more than the standard car" However! when stuffed full to the gunwales with the rear seats folded down! this increases to (!)*& litres! perfect if you have to get things +preferably clean things, to the tip in a hurry" You may remember that the new Panamera Turbo has a rear wing that retracts like Iron Man’s flick knife" Well! the Sport Turismo also has…

We all love a good steak_ right? Some more than others! it has to be said! but they’re tasty! succulent! and! if cooked right! there aren’t many foods that are as delicious" If I’m in a restaurant! there is a #$"% per cent likelihood that it’s what I’ll order because I know it’ll hit the spot every time" I’ll then hate myself for the rest of the evening! because I know I’m missing out on other things" Hypercars are starting to resemble the steak of the automotive world & brilliant! but the big engine plus electrical assistance thing is just getting a bit… samey" I mean! the Prius was doing hybrid boost back in '$() BC" We’ve seen it all before and! like anything! if we’re exposed to it for…

Supercars have to succeed in one crucial area! No" not wrinkle#ironing acceleration or skidpad g#force" but bedroom#poster kudos! Since the Geneva motor show is the forum for unveiling the latest" most vertebrae#troubling slices of unobtanium" it’s only fitting the Salon d’Auto Geneve itself has a rich history of official posters! Since %&'(" pausing only for WWII" every show has had its official artwork" with art deco" surrealist and typographical design reflecting changing styles! But something’s gone catastrophically wrong! This year’s poster is the latest in a string of boringly generic corporate efforts that have as much artistic appeal as the inside of a Ferrari *%'’s glovebox! Here’s hoping '+%*’s poster will be as exciting as the exhibits……

Volvo V90 Cross Country D5 £43,585 WE SAY: FINE GREATEST HITS PACKAGE, BUT DON’T GO MAD WITH THE OPTIONS W e recently crowned the Volvo V"# our favourite estate! Perhaps that was hasty% as in truth% the award probably belongs to this% the V"# Cross Country If you need some context% it’s just like an Audi Allroad! It takes a regular V"# and adds ride height +an extra ,(mm- and lots of dark plastic trim to adorn $ and protect $ the exterior! Volvo calls it ‘charcoal’% but you may think it’s grey! With more ride height% it’s comfier than a regular V"#% and with light% effortless steering and lots of suspension travel% you seem to glide! Rough urban bumps and potholes still jar through the seats% but this is far…

TUNNEL VISION During development, the Chiron spent more than 300 hours in the wind tunnel, completed more than 500,000 test km and chewed through 200 sets of tyres. Over 30 test vehicles and 10 pre-series cars were built to ensure first customers receive nothing less than perfection WING MAN Adaptive spoiler has four positions: fully retracted, slightly extended (for top speed mode), completely extended (for handling and autobahn modes) and tilted forward to act as an air brake LIGHT FANTASTIC Those quad LED headlights, first shown on the bewinged Gran Turismo concept, double as intakes, funnelling air towards the front brakes. They are also the flattest full-LED projector headlamps ever fitted to a car with a height of only 90mm THE BACK DOOR The rear – shaped to reduce drag…

Report 5 £27,425/£30,700 I’m going to have a moan! For its myriad" varied good points" there is one thing about the Ateca that annoys me every single time I drive it! Initially" I thought it was just me" but Owen Norris has borrowed the Seat and complained of the exact same thing# the over$sensitive proximity sensors! Let me explain! I drive down the A%& every night ' nose$to$ tail traffic" often stationary! Yet without fail" several times on my journey" the proximity sensors tell me that someone is trying to crash into my side! Or my front! Or back! But no one is trying to crash into me! I am stationary! TBH" I’m just glad there isn’t one on the roof) it would be impossible in the rain! I asked…

T he outgoing Fiesta ST is notoriously uncomplicated$ Take driving modes$ A Smart ForTwo has two$ Even the Vauxhall Astra has a Sport button& and so does a Renault Scenic$ But not the old ST$ You can switch its ESP into an intermediary Sport mode or turn it off altogether& but that does nothing to the steering& throttle response or dampers$ This new one has three modes 2 Normal& Sport and Track 2 and each has its own effect on the ST’s steering& engine mapping and stability/ traction control$ There’s also something called Electronic Sound Enhancement& which& together with a valve in the exhaust& is supposed to make the ST sound more exciting$ The thing that makes the sound has got cleverer& too$ The new ST has the same *-/bhp…

C an it possibly be worth the wait? It’s five years since Renault formed a deal with Caterham# one which would yield an Alpine sports car) Since then we’ve had all manner of concepts# Caterham dropped out# and we’ve seen what feels like a thousand teaser images of a French foe for the Porsche Cayman) Now# it’s here First off# it looks great) At least to our eyes) It’s pertly proportioned and seems to strike a fine balance between modern performance and retro nods) Four round lights are nearly as big a clue to what this harks back to as the A++$ nameplate… Even if you’re not sold on the looks# you can’t disagree that it’s time the Cayman had a serious rival) The Lotus Exige is too hardcore to…

#1: Gordon Murray My design concept for the McLaren F! was formed around the basic principles behind vehicle dynamics" If #$ years in Formula One design teaches you nothing else% it highlights the supreme importance of the basics & rigidity% inertia and lightweight" At no stage during the design and prototyping phase of the F! programme did I announce or discuss targets" I merely said that we’re going to try to design the best driver’s car and the best'engineered car we could" The fact that the F! obliterated all existing supercar performance figures was down to the fact that the quest for light weight was rigorously followed" There is no time when a car is in motion where weight is not counting against performance% cornering% changing direction% accelerating and braking…

“As chief design officer, I have to understand every facet of a new vehicle” 6:00am Alarm sounds! I’m not really a morning person" but six o’clock is the beginning of my working day" unless I’m travelling and need to catch an early flight! 06:10am I’m in the gym first thing" to help me wake up # when travelling I always try to make sure there’s somewhere for me to exercise! 7:20am Breakfast! I’m not obsessive but try to eat healthily" so I’ll have a bowl of porridge or egg$white omelette before getting ready for work! 7:40am Getting ready! As designer and a senior figure within the business" the way I present myself is really important to me" so my dress conveys my aesthetic and business sensibilities! 8:15am On Mondays I…

BMW M760 Li £132,310 WE SAY_ THINK THAT THE S!" IS FAST? THEN YOU’LL LOVE THE NEW M#!$ L% T hank you Mercedes! for giving us this car" It’s fair to say that if the S#$ AMG wasn’t as successful as it has been! BMW wouldn’t be bothering to weaponise the (*Series" To be fair to BMW! the (*Series did need a proper flagship! it’s just that we didn’t really expect it to wear an M badge" Note! please! that it’s M(#) Li! not M(" The difference is important! just as it is between an M&+)i and an M& , this is a (*Series first! and M car second" But look what they’ve given it" Under the bonnet we have a #"#*litre twin*turbo V%&" A bigger motor than either the S#$…

W olfgang Dürheimer! president and CEO of Bentley and Bugatti fires down a Kitzbühel black run having just effected an irritatingly perfect racing start! which sees him exit from the start gate in a way best described as Maximum Attack# As he carves his way down ahead of me! my first thought is$ “Just don’t wipe him out#” We’ve joined him on a rare weekend of downtime at the infamous Hahnenkamm downhill in Kitzbühel! where he is combining his love of skiing %he’s a fully qualified ski instructor& with an event hosting some of his most exclusive customers at the resort’s Bentley Lodge# After starting his career as a mechanic in the BMW motorcycle racing team in '()*! Dürheimer moved to Porsche in '((( where he was responsible for the…

“Y ou look legit! You look like a mechanic!” Perhaps Hayden Paddon" Hyundai’s charismatic Kiwi rally driver" is just trying to be nice! Or perhaps he’s complimenting me in an effort to convince himself that having a spanner spannering on his car is OK! But when bits of me ache that I didn’t even know contained muscle" I feel far from legit partway through my week as a mechanic on Hyundai’s world rally team… Things start well enough. It’s Rally Sweden" the coldest round of the World Rally Championship! Temperatures in the $%&s aren’t uncommon" and at no point this week will the trusty smartphone weather app show positive figures! But while even Citroen appears to have brought a tent to work on its C's" Hyundai has a building for…

Report 4 £23,245/£28,655 S ome cars don’t look their best unless they’ve been buffed to within an inch of their life" polished to a dazzling sheen" diligently scrubbed of every mite of dust and dirt# Not so the Q$# The Q$" I have decided" is in fact improved by a winter’s road grime" mud and insect remnants caking its bodywork# Maybe the muck softens the impact of the Q$’s most over%the% top styling flourishes# Maybe it helps to dull the Q$’s too%posh% to%get%its%paws%dirty image# I don’t know# All I know is" my Q$ is a filthy specimen" and I like it# Some sceptical factions of the office have suggested I maintain this view simply because I’m too lazy to keep my car clean# This" clearly" is slanderous nonsense# Though if…

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H ow would you like your Audi coupe? Traditional? Meet the new two!door M" rival# the RS$% Its &%'secs sprint matches the new RS&# but Audi’s heartland performance coupe has buckled to downsizing# ditching naturally aspirated V( power for a bi!turbo )%'!litre V* related to the new Porsche Panamera "S’s heart% It develops """bhp# sends ""&lb ft to all four tyres and promises to be at least eleventy per cent less scary than the BMW M"% Say you’d fancy your ‘coupe’ in a four!door# SUV!shaped niche? Let Audi present the Q( sport concept% This Q( differs from Detroit’s version by more than just an orange paintjob% It adds an electric compressor to the bi!turbo V*# eradicating turbo lag and dropping its ,-*)mph time from $%" to "%.secs% It’ll also run…

“D oes an electric car have to look like a refrigerator! or should it still have the romance and the emotion of a car! and in our case! of a Bentley?” The words of Bentley’s design director Stefan Sielaff! as he shows us the EXP #$ Speed %e the week before its unveiling at the Geneva motor show& Yep! while everyone from Ford to Ferrari went speed mad in Switzerland! Bentley were the ones showing off a zero emissions car… You don’t need Sielaff to point out that this is no Nissan Leaf or Renault Twizy rival! though& It’s a very pretty two'seater convertible that reminds us of the Aston V( Vantage Roadster& It works much better in the flesh than in pictures! trust us& The Speed %e is a…

How times have changed_ Eight years ago I wandered around the Geneva motor show mentally making plans to pursue a new career in underwear modelling! The post"Lehman motoring landscape was catastrophic for anyone who loved fast cars and the speed with which most auto brands disowned any kind of performance message was frankly pathetic! Everyone I spoke to said the fun was over! No fast cars meant no stories and no videos! I was bereft! A man from Ford said I would never again attend the launch of a fast# chav"spec Focus! “Thank Henry# he was talking out of his arse#” I thought as I wandered through Ford’s stand a few weeks back $ a stand which was crammed full of very fast Fords# past and present If the warning…

Faces. Retro. Entertainment. Car Culture. Every month McLaren is not a dramatisation of Bruce McLaren’s life and times! Rather" it’s a documentary # think Senna" not Rush # with contributions from Emerson Fittipaldi" Mario Andretti" Dan Gurney and Sir Jackie Stewart among others" and support from McLaren as it exists today! It tells the story of his “determination to make it to the summit of global motor racing”" and how he became the youngest driver ever to win a Grand Prix $at %%" a record that stood for over &' years(" and one of only two men to win a Grand Prix in a car bearing his own name! McLaren will be released in June!…

Blessed Sunday Instagram Fam. Nothing but love and respect for this culture, and Bahrain!! Feeling royal! Just noticed @jensonbutton 92'3003;&%!"8+"8|7""" shame. After 3 years as teammates, I thought we respected one another but $0&"60="+&"%3&72|8"# Good morning TeamLH!! Woke up feeling so positive I wanted to send you the energy. Have an amazing day, positivity is the key to greatness! My bad, just found out Jenson never '3003;&%!1&"!#32|8! blame him! Need to be on Twitter more!…

A379, Devon It starts with a 2.5- mile dead-straight stretch of road (with the sea either side of it for 1.5 miles). Then a short winding ascent which has (6&"8!:,&;7!3:&6! the ocean and onto hidden beaches, and finishes off with a nice nip through 731&!$0"77,$!"&:32! roads which take you straight into the centre of Dartmouth +"6#396#!$36(&397! journey into a gorgeous town, especially in the summer. %|:&!238,$&%!&"2%! '3:&6!97&!8+&!#&"$+! shot a couple of times in their "%:&68,7&1&287#! %'!,8|7!(33%!&239(+! for them...…

BEST BIT Siri unlocks vast range of functions – &%(%"}'&00"1&";+"8"$|1" doing next Tuesday” WORST BIT ,440&|7";"00&%-("6%&2" approach means ,28&(6"8,32";,8+"$"67|" own systems is clunky CarPlay ! along with the similar Android Auto ! should let you swerve the slightly ridiculous price many carmakers ask for a built"in connected satnav# It also opens up the world of voice commands that actually work# Er$ most of the time CarPlay is built free into your iPhone# If your car supports it$ plug in by USB and it blanks your phone’s screen$ putting a simplified version onto the car’s screen# It always looks very iOS% the graphic style and fonts never match your car’s own# The Maps app shows roads colour"coded for jams# Or at least$ it does if you’ve got &G or 'G# If…

GOT 6_ SECONDS SPARE? READ THESE Honda Civic Type R Black Edition The Honda Civic Type R is no more. This FK2 generation, anyway. Cue the bow-out special, the Black Edition. Black paint and copious red detailing inside and out are the only changes. Which, when the car beneath is so good, is fine. Just 100 will be made. After a mere 20 months on sale, only 2,250 FK2s have sold in the UK. Future classic, trust us. More raucous than a Focus RS, and with perhaps the finest manual gearchange on 7"0&!",8|7""".3=397" thing to thrash. Engine: 1996cc 4cyl turbo, FWD, 306bhp, 295lb ft Performance: 38.7mpg, 170g/km CO2, 0–62mph in 5.7secs, 168mph Weight: 1382kg Price: £32,300 Vauxhall Adam Rocks S A Luton lunatic has $31#,2&%"&|+"00|7" posh city car with 8+&"+38":&67,32|7"…

W hen McLaren’s automotive adventure kicked off in "##$% the furiously process&driven logic of the company’s F' arm seemed to have seeped across the surgically spotless halls of the Technology Centre( These would be intellectual supercars( McLaren kingpin Ron Dennis even told a slightly dumbfounded TG that they could scientifically prove they’d created the best performance car in the world( Eight years on% and the quest has been recalibrated( Lessons have been learned% some humility leavens the mix% and anyone who’s driven the )*+ LT will know just how hard these guys can party( The facts and stats are more startling than ever , up to -# per cent of the company’s turnover is reinvested in R&D% vastly more than the industry average , and the line&up has successfully cohered…

Report 2 £45,540/£52,606 T he Caravelle stands !"#$%mm high& I know this off by heart now& Because height restrictor& As you can see" it fits perfectly in the underground car park at work" but slotting it into regular multistoreys isn’t for the faint(hearted& Theoretically" it should be fine with a two(metre limit" but that roof is very long and nudging up a ramp will increase that height in the mid(point&&& I’m getting used to wincing at height barriers ) how accurately do they measure the clearance" I wonder? I’m just glad of the otherwise pointless sunroof so I can look up through the glass and check there is some sort of wriggle room available& And not only is it getting on for !%%mm taller than the new Discovery" it’s also…