Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2018 i BBC Top Gear Magazine

I’m writing this from the centre of the 88th Geneva motor show, as the double-storey LED walls and pumping soundtracks compete to grab the attention of the world’s media bustling around me. Geneva has always been the show for the global automotive industry, but as I sit here bombarded by corporate messages and enduring the occasional clout on the head from a selfie-stick-wielding ‘influencer’, one thing is clear: the automotive industry is at a crossroads. Never in the 88-year history of the Geneva show has there been such a clear divergence in the automotive landscape, as manufacturers all push to claim the EV future, while simultaneously trying to cater for their current client base. The good news for those of us who love cars, is that this uncertain, challenging and…

As you can see, it’s very much a soft facelift to see the RS out until the brand-brand new 911 comes along later this year. Considering the old car was staring down the barrel of perfection, it’s not like much needed to be done anyway. Still, Porsche’s motorsport arm has squeezed the engine just that little bit more. Power from the sensational 4.0-litre, nat-asp flat-six engine is now up from 492bhp to 520bhp, and is only available with a seven-speed PDK. A tenth has been shaved off the 0–62mph time – now 3.2secs – though the top speed stays at 193mph. There’s a new bumper and a few aero tweaks to aid grip, which – considering the old one had 80 per cent of the downforce of a GT3 Cup…

The original Range Rover is Genesis when it comes to posh-roaders, and in the beginning it was only a two-door, a car that’s since become a bit of a classic. It’s moved on a lot in the five decades since, shifting upmarket in recent years to outfox the amount of rivals its success encouraged. Yet Bentley, Lamborghini and now Rolls-Royce are only too happy to give it a hard time further up the food chain. Be under no illusion they’re all rivals, something Land Rover acknowledges with this recreation of the two-door Range Rover, the SV Coupe, which launches with a £240,000 price tag. Before options. Nigh on every one of its 999 buyers will make theirs bespoke to their own tastes, adding as much as £100,000 again. This could…

WE SAY: IT’S A FULL LUXO-TECH BATTLE AS AUDI TAKES ON MERC What do we have here? A very evenly matched pair. Both 3.0-litre diesels with identical power and torque, in long-wheelbase trim (a £2,800 option on the Merc, £3,995 for Audi). Both are almost identically quick, heavy and lengthy, too. You might struggle to notice, but the A8 is new. Shame it still doesn’t have enough road presence – the Merc is the more stately machine. But Audi claims more cabin space and autonomous driving functions. What do they offer the driver? The Merc is the more steady, authoritative car to drive. It’s more stable at speed, the gearbox and engine work more harmoniously, and although both should be praised for their astonishing noise and vibration suppression, it’s the…

McLaren 570 GT Sport pack £161,900 SPECIFICATION 3799cc, twin-turbo V8, RWD, 562bhp, 443lb ft 26.6mpg, 249g/km CO2 0–62mph in 3.4secs, 204mph 1486kg VERDICT: A real joy to drive and generally just be in and around. But we question whether the £5k upgrade is necessary. 8/10 WE SAY: WOKING SPLITS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE 570S AND THE 570GT The 570GT has been around for a bit, but only now is McLaren reacting to demand for the “sharper, more precise dynamic behaviour of the 570S coupe to be available with the GT bodystyle” with the introduction of the Sport pack. Or so it says. This gives many things. The whole point of the 570GT is that it’s a toned-down, more practical version of the 570S – just as fast (same 3.8-litre twin-turbo…

Bentley Bentayga V8 £136,200 SPECIFICATION 3996cc V8 twin-turbo, 4WD, 542bhp, 568lb ft 24.8mpg, 260g/km CO2 0–62mph in 4.4secs, 180mph 2388kg VERDICT:All the comfort and most of the pace of the W12, but with a fruitier engine note. The Bentayga we’d have. 8/10 WE SAY: THE W12 IS THE DADDY, THE DIESEL IS SENSIBLE, BUT THE V8 IS THE ONE YOU WANT Fresh off the back of launching its first new veneer in five years (wood hunting is obviously a time-consuming business), Bentley has also dropped an all-new petrol bi-turbo V8 into the Bentayga. Facts for you: it’s an all-new 4.0-litre V8 that also appears in the Porsche Cayenne and Lamborghini Urus. In Bentley spec, it produces 542bhp and 568lb ft; it does 24.8mpg (thanks to cylinder deactivation tech) and 0–62mph…

To dismiss AMG’s new GT four-door coupe as a CLS 63 in all but name – which, let’s face it, you’re doing right now – is to do it a massive disservice. Given that AMG isn’t going to ‘63’ the new CLS, this thing will effectively occupy that space in Merc’s line-up when it goes on sale in September. A four-door coupe with many horsepowers, designed to give the best efforts of Audi, Porsche and BMW debilitating migraines. In the vein of the SLS and AMG GT, what we’re looking at here is a car “independently developed by Mercedes-AMG”, not a hotted-up version of an existing Mercedes. So while it may look like the CLS, study the two side-by-side and you’ll easily spot the differences. You’ll see the GT has…

0–60 MPH 1.85SECS 4 ELECTRIC MOTORS 1887BHP UP TO 403 MILES BETWEEN CHARGES TOP SPEED 258MPH LEVEL 4 AUTONOMY VIA 8 CAMERAS & 6 RADARS Pay attention, Bugatti, Koenigsegg and Tesla. This is the second hypercar from Rimac, and the numbers are startling. Rimac claims the C_Two’s four electric motors develop a combined 1,887bhp and 1,696lb ft. The front wheels use a single-speed gearbox each, while the use of twin two-speed gearboxes at the rear allows a claimed vmax of 258mph. On the way, we’re told the C_Two will have cracked 0–60mph in 1.85 seconds (albeit with an American drag strip-friendly one-foot rollout). If the driver remains conscious, the Rimac will cover off 0–100mph in 4.3 seconds. Quarter-mile? 9.1 seconds. Zero to 186mph happens in 11.8 seconds. That’s two seconds…

Hello Honda Civic Type R £32,995 OTR/£32,995 as tested OLLIE KEW SPECIFICATION 1996cc, 4cyl turbo, FWD, 316bhp, 295lb ft 36.7mpg, 176g/km CO2 0–62mph in 5.8secs, 169mph 1380kg TESTER’S NOTES The Garmin nav GT spec adds is rubbish. No heated seats either, but the cloth buckets are cosy. MILEAGE: 1011 OUR MPG: 28.5 Two years ago, I ran the lastgen Civic Type R as a long-termer. The first turbo one. The first truly wacky-looking version. And I copped some stick in the office for having criticisms of it. For chastising its pathetic visibility, miserable wet weather traction, its rattly buzzfest of an interior and the punishing ride. “Man up” or “You’re not driving it fast enough” were the choruses from my colleagues. And that, conveniently, proved my point. The old Civic Type…

Report 3 Mercedes E350d AT £58,880/£61,260 TOM FORD SPECIFICATION 2987cc, V6 turbodiesel, AWD, 258bhp, 457lb ft 41.5mpg, 179g/km CO2 0–62mph in 6.2secs, 155mph 2010kg TESTER’S NOTES Bespoke roof rack looks properly cool and fits with my adventuremobile plans. MILEAGE: 5540 OUR MPG: 31.5 It has begun. I knew from the start that I’d probably add a couple of small items to the Mercedes E-Class All-Terrain to make it a wee bit more useful, but as ever, the list has grown to only vaguely frightening proportions. Which means that while in the dealer to have the pyrotechnic bonnet-poppers replaced after last month’s close encounter with a deer, it was time to fit the roof rack. Now, I like a roof rack, especially on an adventure vehicle, because you can store all the…

Report 5 Audi SQ7 £72,895/£94,920 as tested JACK RIX SPECIFICATION 3956cc, V8 TD, 4WD, 429bhp, 664lb ft 37.2mpg, 199g/km CO2 0–62mph in 4.9secs, 155mph 2330kg TESTER’S NOTES Considering the performance, 28.4mpg isn’t bad… but it’s not 37.2mpg, is it? MILEAGE: 5320 OUR MPG: 28.4 Science or religion? Liam or Noel? Custard cream or bourbon? Some debates shall rage until the end of time, others TopGear can attempt to unpick. Like super-SUV vs fast estate, an honest conundrum for the modern petrolhead with people and things to carry. My heart will always err towards the wagon, but after running the Audi SQ7 for five months, increasingly, my head is tugging me the other way. There are loads more steroidal SUVs these days than there are high-performance estates, but the two here…

Report 2 Hyundai i30 Tourer £24,155/£25,740 SAM PHILIP SPECIFICATION 1353cc,4cyl turbo petrol, FWD, 138bhp, 179lb ft 51.4mpg, 125g/km CO2 0–62mph in 9.5secs, 126mph 1262kg TESTER’S NOTES Heated seats and steering wheel are the business in this weather. How about heated pedals too? MILEAGE: 5720 OUR MPG: 35.5 It’s studio season on TG telly, which means the i30 estate has spent much of the last month knocking around the hangar and production office of our glamorously bleak Dunsfold test track. And, I’ll be honest, the big Korean lad does look a little… workaday next to the more exotic metal to grace the studio. However. Sure, the Turbo S might be all good at smashing 10sec quarter-miles, but where is it when there’s a job lot of snacks and hi-vis jackets to…

THINGS WE’VE LEARNT THIS MONTH When is an Aston Martin not an Aston Martin? When it’s a Lagonda. And especially when it’s… this. The Vision Concept. The nameplate actually pre-dates Aston Martin: an Anglo-American former opera singer called Wilbur Gunn founded the company in 1909, named it after the river near his Ohio home town, and created a number of stoic-looking saloons and convertibles before the company was acquired post-war by David Brown. He’d also just bought Aston Martin, and they merged. Progress was patchy thereafter. Aston’s current vice president Simon Sproule, a former Nissan VP who had a spell as a lieutenant to rocketeer and sometime electric car sage Elon Musk, thus refers to Lagonda as “a 110-year old start-up”. Cute. TG has been granted exclusive access to the…

The Bugatti Chiron Sport features no additional power. It’s not faster at the top end. It’s not even quicker to 62mph. But it is 5secs faster around Nardò’s handling circuit over a ‘base’ Chiron, thanks to a new handling pack, and slightly trimmer kerbweight. And some carbon wipers. The engineers have tweaked the shock absorbers so that they are 10 per cent stiffer. The steering too, has been modified, though we’re promised the “outstanding direct feel” has not been compromised. The rear diff gets a tweak too, and the car now features torque vectoring to assist agility during what its drivers might call “spirited driving”. Or what we mortals might call “God this is fast”. A grand total of 18kg has been removed from the Chiron’s bulk, attributable to new…

“When regulations don’t change that much, you generally see a closing up,” Eddie Jordan tells us with a sense more of hope than certainty in his voice. The last four seasons have been dominated by Mercedes, mostly by Hamilton, but as Lewis has bolted away from the field, so has the spectacle and excitement. At least this year we’ll have the new halos to gawp at in the pitlane, something that has enraged our F1-mad creative director for the way it obscures drivers’ helmets. Ahem. Back on the track, and, while the technical changes are relatively light, the carousel of engine suppliers continues to turn. McLaren has managed to unshackle itself from Honda and install a much-improved Renault engine instead. Now it’s Toro Rosso’s job to find a way to…

I was born in Norwich, and grew up by the cliffs. I knew there was a big world out there, and I saw rock ’n’ roll as my way out. My cousin [Iron Maiden singer Bruce] had made the career choice semi-acceptable to the family. My other passion from the age of five was cars, and the two things ran in parallel. I vividly remember chugging along in our VW Beetle the moment my father first pointed out a Porsche 911 to me as it overtook us. It was a pivotal moment, and the fascination for that car just never went away. I studied car design in Coventry, and worked for Peter Stevens at Lotus, with Julian Thomson and Simon Cox – rock stars of contemporary car design. I had…

You won’t hove heard of Pinion. It’s a B’ tisn company - founded by digital designer ^iers Barry in 2013 - tnat "produces timepieces designed, built and tested in England to exacting standards, using high-quality Swiss watch movements". At around £2.000. these arc not cheap watches. So, to bring the price of entry down. Pinion has released a new three-hand automatic called the Atom - only with a Japanese Miyota movement rather than the Swiss eta used elsewhere, pinionwatches.com; £790 BREITLING NAVITIMER 8 AUTOMATIC What is this wizardry? A smallish (41mm), relatively low-key Breitling? Happy days. Baby of the new Navitimer 8 line is COSC-certified and has a 60-position bezel and screw-down crown. breitling.com; £TBC BAMFORD WATCH DEPT. MAYFAIR Mayfair was a ‘service watch’ Bamford would lend its customers while…

Hennessey VelociRaptor 6x6 £260,000 WE SAY: JOHN AND THE CREW HAVE SUPERSIZED THE RAPTOR SPECIFICATION 3496cc, turbocharged V6, 6WD, 600bhp, 622lb ft n/a mpg, n/a g/km CO2 0–62mph in 4.9secs, n/a mph n/a kg VERDICT: It’s not as sophisticated or as well engineered as Merc’s 6x6 but it’ll make you the king of a Texan tailgate. 7/10 If you thought a normal Raptor was a bit OTT, you ain’t seen nothing yet. The Texans have added more wheels and more power. The 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6 has been turned up to 600bhp and 622lb ft, thanks to an upgraded turbo set-up, bigger intercooler and a remapped ECU that’ll see 0–60mph in under five seconds. Note the size of the vehicle. Note the number of wheels. Now marvel at the physics required.…

VW Polo vs Ford Fiesta £18,180 (£22,450 as tested) vs £17,714 (£19,315 as tested) WE SAY: CAN VW’S LATEST POLO GET ONE OVER ON OUR FAVOURITE SUPERMINI? Why do we buy anything other than a supermini? This Fiesta Titanium has cruise control and anti-crash braking. It’ll watch your blind spots, read road signs, warm your backside, heat the steering wheel, broadcast crystal-clear digital radio while navigating via satellite, defrost its windscreen and beep at you before you back into a wall. And it’s not even fully specced. But it’ll need every single trick and flourish to take down the new VW Polo. This Titanium with 123bhp is £17,714, and just over £19k with the toys. A Polo SE L manual is £18,180, but its stronger residuals mean our third party…

Mercedes-Benz CLS 350d £57,510 SPECIFICATION 2952cc, 6cyl TD, 4WD, 283bhp, 443lb ft 48.7mpg, 148g/km CO2 0–62mph in 5.7secs, 155mph 1935kg VERDICT: Superbly desirable all-rounder that, providing you can afford it, is worth the extra over an E-Class. 8/10 WE SAY: THE ORIGINAL FOURDOOR COUPE HAS BEEN REFRESHED. WE DRIVE IT Don’t let these pictures fool you. As I type, the rain (and snow) in Spain is falling mainly and irritatingly relentlessly on the new Mercedes CLS’s “arching beltline”, sheeting off its “shark’s nose” front end and collecting on its “muscular rear shoulder[s]”. This is useful and irritating in equal measure. Useful, because it gives us a chance to assess the rear-biased 4Matic AWD system fitted to all CLSes at launch, but irritating because we’d hoped to spend more time stood…

A sinner is defined as someone who ‘transgresses against divine law by committing an immoral act or acts’. The Ferrari 488 Pista could reasonably qualify for sinner status by its likely propensity to gargle through super unleaded and make an immorally loud racket while doing so. But there’s another possibility. One that’s more pressing for the enthusiast. The car it follows up – the Ferrari 458 Speciale – really is divine law to people like us, not least because of its heavenly naturally aspirated V8, one of the greatest engines to grace any supercar. The Pista adds what, to some ardent purists, is still the devil’s work – turbocharging. The result is some predictably outrageous performance claims: its 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8 turns out 711bhp, up 50bhp on its 488 GTB…

Water is wet, the sun is hot, Snowdonia in winter is freezing. But for some reason, it’s still a bit surprising exactly how aggressively frigid this bit of Wales can be at 5am when the cold leaps out and ambushes your breath, slipping down your throat with a burn like cheap whisky. It is exactly, precisely and entirely the wrong place to test a supercar in winter. So we brought two. Not only that, we brought a pair of very specific, rear-wheel-drive variants, when both manufacturers make exceptional four-wheel-drive versions of the same car. Go us. The brand-new Audi R8 RWS is the real newbie. A rear-drive-only version of the previously AWDonly R8, RWS standing for Rear Wheel Series rather than ‘rear-wheel steer’. Only 999 will be made, all with…

Report 2 Nissan GT-R £83,875/£85,650 ROWAN HORNCASTLE SPECIFICATION 3799cc, V6 twin-turbo, AWD, 562bhp, 469lb ft 23.9mpg, 275g/km CO2 0–62mph in 2.8secs, 196mph 1752kg TESTER’S NOTES With all the oily bits whirring away in earshot, there’s a huge sense of connection in the GT-R. MILEAGE: 8325 OUR MPG: 21.4 Ten years ago, when the R35 GT-R was first launched, it was tarred by some as “a digital supercar”. With bleeding-edge tech like a newfangled dual-clutch gearbox, mind-scrambling four-wheel-drive system and a display from Polyphony Digital, this, apparently, made the car anodyne, soulless and easy. Rubbish. All you need to do is fire the thing up and you’re engulfed in a cacophony of guttural whoomps, bangs and thuds. I’m of the belief that it’s one of the most analogue and mechanical supercars you…

This is the Cupra Ateca, the first buyable offering from Seat’s newly independent special branch. Whatever it’s called, what we have here is a scorchio version of Seat’s big-selling crossover. You might have hoped that Cupra’s first solo effort would be a wingy Leon. But no. Even Cupra can’t resist a crossover. Still, like the fastest Leon, it has a 2.0-litre turbo with 296bhp and 295lb ft, which, along with a 7spd twin-clutch ’box and 4WD, means 0–62mph in 5.4secs and a top of 152mph. It also gets adaptive suspension, a louder exhaust and optional four-piston Brembo brakes. In other words, real hot hatch performance in a family-friendly, SUV-type package for about £35k. Maybe they’re onto something here: it’s hard to think of direct rivals, apart from the Audi SQ5…

The new Toyota Supra is coming – it’ll be unveiled at the Detroit show in January 2019. Meanwhile we have this track-look concept. Its body panels are production reality. Just take off the rear wing, flicks, splitter and sports-hall-sized diffuser, and you’re there. Step inside. It’s all stripped and focused. There’s a racing dashboard, OMP driver’s seat and safety harness, and a race-spec, quick-release steering wheel mounted on a racing column with a paddle-shift gearbox. Even the doors get carbon-fibre lining. Plus, should you overcook it, there’s a full roll cage and fire extinguisher. The Supra is a joint project with BMW, but, “they are not the same kind of car,” Supra project chief Tetsuya Tada tells TopGear. “We’ll continue the heritage of the Supra, a pure sports car. There…

With the important stuff sorted – company polo shirts embroidered, business cards printed, showroom coffee machine that does the foamy milk stuff installed – it’s time to decide how Wales’s first 300mph supercar shall be powered. And frankly there’s only one option. See, the parallels between Elon Musk and me are almost spooky. We both established disruptive technology companies: for him, PayPal; for me, MyStool, the app that allows users to share and rate their emissions. Elon and I both have a reputation for innovation. We both have magnificent hair. And with Elon clearly running out of steam on the whole electric car thing, I figured it’s time for me, Simon Coggle, to pick up the e-mantle and e-cclerate e-cars to 300mph. Though we’ve never met, and he still hasn’t…

Every new car that matters, rated or slated Cut Fino Ferrari Portofino £166,180 WE SAY: THE CALI IS NO MORE. WILL THE NEW ENTRY-LEVEL FERRARI DO BETTER? Humility isn’t a trait which Ferrari is particularly famous for, but company insiders privately concede that the California wasn’t its finest hour. With more than 11,000 sold in a decade, 70 per cent of which were to first-time Ferrari owners, this is strictly philosophical rather than economic faultfinding, but even so, the pointy precision that’s characteristic of contemporary Ferraris was definitely AWOL. The Portofino aims to redress the balance, literally and figuratively, adding a shot of adrenalised dynamism to the usability and versatility beloved of California clients – grintoso, Ferrari calls it, or grittiness – not to mention chiselling away at the old…

Citroen C4 Cactus £17,965 WE SAY: FUN AND QUIRKY GIVES WAY TO MAINSTREAM SPECIFICATION 1198cc turbocharged 3cyl, FWD, 108bhp, 151lb ft 65.7mpg, 100g/km CO2 0–62mph in 9.4secs, 117mph 1030kg VERDICT: New Cactus is posher and comfier, but diluting its character has taken away the best reason for owning one. 6/10 The Citroen C4 Cactus launched, four years ago, as an immediate class hero. As small crossovers became ubiquitous, here was one deliberately cheap ’n’ cheerful, with a utilitarian attitude best demonstrated by the rugged Airbumps that ran down each door, protecting them from urban warfare. For the facelift, those Airbumps have been minimised to a not especially useful strip at the bottom of the doors, becoming a visual metaphor for the whole car in the process. Citroen recently launched the…

It’s called the BMW Concept M8 Gran Coupe, which is a bit of a mouthful, and also sounds a bit like something an imaginary two-door grandmother might drive. But despite the weird images it conjures in your head, what we have here is the performance version of BMW’s new 8-Series, the M8, in ‘Gran Coupe’ guise. Meaning that, like the standard 8, it’s not a coupe, but a swoopy four-door. Got that? We’re due the new 8-Series very soon, a choice of big two- and four-dour coupes set to indirectly replace the 6-Series, take on the likes of Merc’s S-Class coupe and move BMW’s range a little bit more upmarket. That means even the cheapest cars – which won’t actually be ‘cheap’, obviously – will get double wishbones at the…

“We gave it a cab-forward look because there’s very little in the front to speak of. We wanted to capture some of the drama of mid-engined sports cars. We also wanted to capture a little bit of that car we didn’t make – the C-X75.” To be honest, I didn’t think Ian Callum, Jaguar’s design director, would be citing his stillborn, mid-engined, turbine-powered hypercar concept as inspiration for this sensible 5dr family SUV. But then again, the I-Pace isn’t another cut/paste crossover, it’s Jaguar’s first pure electric car, a total reinvention for a brand often accused of resting on its heritage rather than forging a new path. This is it, by the way, the real thing. You can order one right now from £58,995 (or £76,900 for the fully optioned…

“Some cars look good grimy, but these four seem keen to get to a car wash” The cars are filthy. This is because it’s still wintry and we’re out in the countryside. Some cars look good grimy, but these four all seem keen to get to a car wash. I can’t put my finger on what it is that makes some cars wear their dirt with pride, while others look like they’re battling a rash, but we are talking about crossovers here – SUVs for an urban audience. But that’s doing them a disservice. So successful is the crossover that the latest breed is designed to be all things to all people. Hatchbacks with more space and style. These are the latest: the Jaguar E-Pace, Volvo XC40, DS 7 Crossback…

Goodbye Mazda CX-5 £30,195 OTR/£31,555 as tested OWEN NORRIS SPECIFICATION 2191cc, 4cyl diesel, FWD, 153bhp, 280lb ft 50.4mpg, 147g/km CO2 0–62mph in 10.1secs, 124mph 690kg TESTER’S NOTES A great family car with impressive road manners make this mid-sized SUV hard to ignore. MILEAGE: 8489 OUR MPG: 37.3 It’s time to bid farewell to the TG CX-5, and I think it’s safe to say the past nine months have been a pleasure. It’s not just me who’s impressed with the big Mazda. It’s now the biggest-selling Mazda worldwide and has just been named on the World Car of the Year shortlist. I’m really not surprised to see that it comes out on top in nearly every group test for many reasons. Firstly, it looks great, with its wide, sharp, basking-sharkesque nose…

Goodbye Mecedes-Benz S500 cabriolet £111,215 OTR/£126,520 as tested JASON BARLOW SPECIFICATION 4663cc, twin-turbo V8, RWD, 447bhp, 516lb ft 32.5mpg, 204g/km CO2 0–62mph in 4.6secs, 155mph 2115kg TESTER’S NOTES The end of the road for the S500. Time to book some grief counselling for JB. MILEAGE: 12,500 OUR MPG: 24.2 Fitness for purpose. It’s the key measure when it comes to TG long-termers, the leveller that joins the dots from, say, a Renault Scenic to a Merc S500 cabriolet. Does the car do what it was designed to do? Few of us will ever get to ponder the decision that posits a £111k convertible as a rational new car purchase, so the six months we’ve had with the big Merc has been an experiment in upwardly mobile luxury living. What can…

Report 6 Land Rover Discovery £66,595 OTR/£77,970 as tested OLLIE MARRIAGE SPECIFICATION 2993cc, V6 turbodiesel, 4WD, 258bhp, 442lb ft 39.2mpg, 189g/km CO2 0–62mph in 7.7secs, 130mph 2230kg TESTER’S NOTES Another month of capability combined with frustration. For the money, it needs to be better. MILEAGE: 19,124 OUR MPG: 23.6 Predictable, I know. The Disco has been pressed into use as a ski wagon. It won’t surprise you a jot to learn that, on the whole, it was masterful at this. Equipped with Pirelli Scorpion tyres, it handled sheet ice with confidence; in five-seat mode, the massive 698-litre boot gulped down kit. And that chunky bonnet ploughed a steadfast and secure path on the 700-mile drive down to the mountains. This is all good – this is what it ought to…