Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2018 i BBC Top Gear Magazine

GOPRO HERO7 The brand that has become synonymous with “small adventure cameras for adventurous people”, GoPro’s latest offering is the HERO7. There are three different levels of capability. White is the ‘entry level’, which gets 1080p recording, slo-mo capture, Bluetooth connectivity, voice control and waterproof protection, while the top-spec Black also gets 4K video, live streaming, GPS and new HyperSmooth Video stabilisation. Perfect for Instagramming your hardcore track-day laps or rural off-roading adventures… or just to use for dashcam footage around the M25. gopro.com; from £179.99 TITAN UNDERWATER DRONE The popularity of drones has helped conquer any mountain high enough; now the Titan is here to explore any river low enough. The 4K 30fps camera can record video and take stills at depths of 150m – and be piloted by…

Mercedes-AMG GT 4-door £135,000 (est) WE SAY: WHAT’S THE BEST WAY TO CRACK OPEN A NEW NICHE? IN MERCEDES-AMG’S OPINION, IT’S SIMPLE: APPLY BRUTE FORCE Mercedes’ model range is still expanding with a near-viral rapidity. And now, someone has spied another distant but vacant niche – presumably using something akin to the Hubble telescope – and the result is the AMG GT four-door coupe. Welcome to the family supercar. It’s only the third model developed entirely by AMG (following the SLS and GT), but the sharky nose, bonnet ‘powerdomes’ and, in the parlance of exterior designer Vitalis Enns, ‘fantastic ass’, give the GT four-door a sharper street presence than the Porsche Panamera or BMW M5. Just don’t be fooled by that disingenuous name: the GT four-door uses the MRA platform…

Lamborghini Aventador SVJ Coupe £356,000 WE SAY: THE THIRD LAMBO TO WEAR THE JOTA BADGE HAS MUCH TO LIVE UP TO. THANK GOODNESS THE JOB’S A GOOD ’UN “The Aventador SVJ is the most extreme version, featuring the most powerful V12 Lamborghini has ever created.” And there were we thinking the Aventador SV was on the outer margins of extreme. Let’s start with the name. SV, Super Veloce, we’re familiar with, but J-for-Jota? That has only ever graced two cars previously: the Miura P400 Jota and the Diablo SE30 Jota. It refers to section J of the FIA homologation rule book that Lamborghini pored over when trying to take the legendary Miura racing. So, in case you hadn’t guessed, SVJ means faster and even more track-focused. Faster first. The 6.5-litre…

Last month VW finally did the decent thing and announced that the Beetle will be euthanised and not replaced. What do we learn from this? Retro doesn’t just have to evoke something old – it only works if this something still resonates with today’s buyers. Sure, lots of people in Britain still love the Beetle – the original one. But they’re classic-spannerers who enjoy nothing more than camping at a Bug festival, their ears still ringing from a Northern Soul cover band. They don’t buy new cars, Beetles or otherwise. The Mini and the Fiat 500, on the other hand, do OK. They show that retro rehashes must also have something relevant to offer. The Mini is a great-to-drive, high-quality little hatch. The 500 is about the only style-led car…

Bet you Ford’s engineers are jaded at seeing these cars together. Not so much the new Focus MkIV against the latest Kia Ceed, but surely the VW Golf MkVII and the Vauxhall Astra. Behind the scenes, how much benchmarking do you suppose has gone on between them? Measurements, test drives, tear-downs… they know each other inside out. The newly apostrophe-free Ceed is no token sub. Since the first Focus nuked the hatchback formbook back in 1998, Korea’s rise from sub-Lada punchline to credible carmaking contenders has been one of the motoring headlines. Ol’ reliable, stern German semi-premium opposition returns in the form of the VW Golf. An SE Nav, since you ask. And last, and likely least, Vauxhall. By no means TG’s favourite hatch, but Brits insistently buy them in…

Report 5 Merc-AMG GT R £143,245 OTR/£153,960 as tested Since its arrival in the TG Garage, everyone who has managed to prise the keys of the brutally brilliant AMG GT R from my hands has enjoyed a Mediterranean climate and bone-dry warm roads. In these near-perfect driving conditions, the GT R is devastatingly effective on the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2s (325/30 rear, 275/35 front). They key into the occasionally molten surface of any particular British B-road you care to point the GT R at and offer an insane grip level… the traction control light remaining firmly off. This, combined with the GT R’s wider track, aero trickery and rabid soundtrack, have delivered a level of capability and engagement hard to rival. But as the temperature finally heads south, summer…

Report 2 Suzuki Swift Sport £17,999 OTR/£17,999 as tested The sheer philanthropic quantity of equipment the Swift Sport chucks in your direction for £18k looks ace in the brochure, but I’m not convinced. Exhibit A: the radar-adaptive cruise control. It’s a primitive system, startled by cars moving into my lane ahead, braking then surging uncomfortably when the idea is to, well, cruise. I’d bin it, as I did with the lane departure assistant, which is over-keen to grab the steering wheel and makes motorway trekking – and slicing a B-road – tiresome. That’s been switched off since week one. The autonomous emergency braking would’ve been too, if it didn’t default back ‘on’ with the ignition. Everyone who’s borrowed the SSS has commented how over-zealous its shrieking alerts are. City commuting…

Report 3 DS 7 Crossback £38,990 OTR/£41,640 as tested When DS Automobiles was launched in 2014, the intention was to create a French or, more specifically, Parisienne automotive brand that could compete in the luxury sector. Trouble was, the likes of BMW, Audi, Mercedes and Jaguar were already positioned in that space and weren’t exactly holding the door open for new entrants. As a consequence, DS has had to work hard on the details that make the DS 7 Crossback feel special – not all of them are entirely original but most of them are unusual to find on a sub-£40k car. For instance, we get an analogue clock on the dash, but it’s not just any old clock – it’s provided by French company BRM Chronographs (1). To put…

Report 5 Ford Tourneo £40,480 OTR/£40,480 as tested This month, the Tourneo was the ultimate support vehicle for our Speed Week test. In fact, the cover was only achieved by John Wycherley standing on the roof to get the perfect shot (shhh, don’t tell Ford). Its journey started out with art editor Elliott Webb bringing it to Clermont-Ferrand with all the photographers’ and videographers’ kit and the mountains of food a team of 15 get through. Elliott’s first response to getting in the Tourneo, was, “There’s no satnav!” Typical millennial. I offered him a map but his nerves were calmed after I explained it had Apple CarPlay. That’s the magic of running a van – it’s so versatile. One moment it’s running the kids around; the next it’s a courier…

The MkI Golf GTI is credited with starting the hot hatchback genre, while the latest, MkVII version has taken the name into uncharted, 300bhp, sports car-slaying territory. But arguably the finest GTI of them all is the one you see here, the MkV. Launched in 2005, it returned the fast Golf to greatness after a duff period through the Nineties and early Noughties. If its combination of 197bhp (plenty back then) and £20k price tag made it appealing, then a brilliantly subtle makeover outside and some fine tartan seats inside made it practically irresistible. Now, just £5,000 can buy you a really good one. Hot hatches have moved on a lot in terms of firepower and absolute traction, but I’m not sure they’ve moved on with such great strides where…

This is the car we’ve been waiting 16 years for Toyota to pull its finger out T and build. A brand-new Supra, the fifth generation of a legend (sixth, if you want to throw the 2000GT in there as a spiritual starting point) and the car that could single-handedly revive the Max Power movement. Developed under a joint venture with the new BMW Z4, the worry here is that Toyota’s wild child might become a little too tamed, too Germanic. To allay our fears, we’re in Madrid to drive a final prototype before the car’s reveal at the Detroit show in January, and meet Gazoo Racing chief Tetsuya Tada, the man also responsible for delivering the GT86. Fair to say he’s a bit of a TopGear hero. Toyota has agreed…

The new trinity of hybrid hypercars has so far been blessed with evocative, exciting names. The Aston Martin Valkyrie. The McLaren Speedtail. Cor. We’ve been waiting tensely to see how Mercedes-AMG would complete the trio. What would the final name for its F1-engined special, codenamed Project One, turn out to be? It’s ‘One’. Yep. One. As in “Heard about that new hypercar? Yeah, the AMG One.” Still, maybe there’ll be an even lighter, track-only version called AMG Minus One. As opposed to the One for the road.…

Bad news. The company behind Project Bloodhound, Bloodhound Programme Ltd, is entering administration. Although the car is fully built, lack of funds means the project has to be put on ice until further investment is found. Bloodhound believes that taking the landspeed record beyond 800mph (it’s currently held by Thrust SSC at 763mph) will cost around £15 million, while £25 million would be needed to take the record beyond 1,000mph. The British project to break the 1,000mph barrier on an 11-mile long, mile-wide track in the South African desert began in 2007. With support from partners such as Rolex, Rolls-Royce (the one that builds aeroplane engines) the Ministry of Defence and donations from individual members of the public, last year the possible record-breaker hit 200mph in tests at Newquay Airport.…

Driving a Tesla Model S on ice is no fun, because you can’t turn the traction control all the way off. You can use something called “Slip Start Mode” to get yourself going with a bit of drama, but beyond a certain speed all the systems spring back to life, and return to their daily business of keeping you alive/ruining your fun. But good news: this is not true of the new Audi e-Tron, which lets you turn its systems quite spectacularly off for the biggest, dustiest drifts south of the Sahara. Audi’s first proper EV is a conspicuously inconspicuous SUV (the company didn’t want to scare away its existing customers with anything too futuristic) that’ll cost about £70k when it reaches the UK next year. As far as size…

When I was 9 to 13, I lived up in Scotland. We had a 1977 VW bus and an early Eighties Fiesta. My mom was a teacher at a military base. It was an 18-mile drive, but part of it was on private land, so she would let me drive that section starting from around 10. The bus was a perfect learning car as you can sit on the edge of the seat and the pedals go straight down into the floor, so even I could reach. When you put it in gear, it was a long stick, it would always go back to where it started from, so you could never cheat to see which gear you were in. I moved back to the States when I was 13.…

BMW M850i xDrive £99,525 WE SAY: IS THIS A MASSIVELY EXPENSIVE 4-SERIES OR A BARGAIN RIVAL TO A BENTLEY CONTINENTAL GT? Maybe I got out of bed the wrong side, but I’m driving along in this glamorous new £100,000 BMW, and I’m thinking Vauxhall Now the 8-Series. If the target buyers associate BMW with the rep’s 320d, they’ll pay a little more and get a Bentley Continental instead. People always feel inclined – and not just with cars – to prefer the cheapest thing from an expensive range over the dearest thing from a cheap range. In the 2-Series convertible, BMW was the beneficiary, but in the 8-Series it might just be the victim. Get in, thumb the ignition and the visible 8-Series displays, switches and software are exactly what…

BMW X5 40i M Sport £62,384 WE SAY: ALL-NEW UNDERNEATH AND PACKED WITH TODAY’S TECH, BUT STILL THE SAME… ER, DANCING HIPPO That’s one collagen-lipped facelift… A swollen mouth is the striking initial impression, but actually this isn’t just a nip ’n’ tuck. Almost everything is different versus the old X5. This one uses BMW’s modular platform that already supports, among others, the 7- and 5-Series and X3, and the brand-new 3-Series too. Does new equal very different? The X5 has always sold well as a big SUV that’s car-like to drive, but it now faces competition from Jaguar and Alfa, as well as Porsche. So the X5 has new chassis tech – variable-height air suspension, 4WS, adaptive anti-roll – to help agility, but also bring unprecedented (for BMW) gumption…

Stealth, whether it’s on a fighter jet, a battleship or even a car, is all about avoiding detection for sneaking under the radar. With the Audi Black Edition range it’s also about doing it in style. From darkened windows and anthracite alloys, to blackened grilles and inky inlays, every Black Edition features special-ops styling to make your Audi even more extraordinary. And like the very best stealth technology, there’s much more than meets the eye. Aside from a mysterious exterior, there’s lots of dramatic design inside the cabin too. Open the door of a Black Edition and you’ll see the tuxedo-smart style everywhere, from volcanic-black leather to a flat-bottomed steering wheel straight from the world of racing. The Black Edition trim is among the most advanced specification in the showroom,…

“THE DETAIL ON THESE WHEELS IS CRAZY.” I think as I reach out to stroke the hundreds of fillets framing each hole. “Bet they’d be an arse to clean.” I drop to my knees to really get my nose in there, then flop onto my back, arms swatting at thin air as I gawp at the four cannon exhausts and admire the carbon weave on the diffuser. At this point I remember I’m not on an empty boardwalk under the Brooklyn Bridge exploring a new Lamborghini, as my eyes would have me believe, but in a small meeting room on the outskirts of Coventry surrounded by important people I’ve just met. Virtual reality is a wondrous thing, but it doesn’t half make you look like a tit. I’m here, on…

Having just nearly driven off the side of a woefully under-signposted 400ft cliff, I’m not sure whether my elevated heartbeat is down to the view, or the fact that I’ve just nearly absent-mindedly BASE-jumped a small SUV off a Transylvanian mountain without a parachute. It could be either, because if there were global rankings for views, then this one would be somewhere up there in the medal positions, being quietly investigated for cheating. This is not just a view. This is A View. Romania, as it turns out, gives serious vista. Thing is, I’m not sure exactly where we are. I know we’re somewhere north of Rânca on the Transalpina DN67C, but not life-bet positive whether that means the counties of Gorj or Vâlcea. We fired west out of Bucharest’s…

Goodbye Jaguar F-Pace £44,615 OTR/£61,590 as tested This isn’t the first time I’ve run a big 4WD, pulled along by a highly turbocharged 2.0-litre 4cyl diesel engine running through an 8spd auto. The first was an estate, not a crossover, though – a Volvo V90, and it did 37.5mpg versus the F-Pace’s 32.3mpg. Same driver, same roads, same driving. That’s the rational case against using tall ‘off-roaders’ on the road. The rational case in favour is that an SUV can carry more, provided you’re prepared to load it to the roof. How often do you? These long-term tests aren’t only about reliability; they’re also about how your view changes over time. Small things: settling into the initially uncomfortable seats, and coming to enjoy the subtle sound of the hi-fi where…

Report 4 Nissan Leaf & VW e-Golf £28,390* OTR/£30,575 & £28,230* OTR/£31,965 OM: Your car isn’t as good as mine, is it? TH: Not even slightly. A lower-quality item in pretty much every way. It does actually look like an EV, though, which will no doubt be a draw for some. OM: Part of me does wish the Golf made more of its e-credentials. I like the stealth approach, but I’m forever having to explain that, no, there really isn’t a fuel tank in there anywhere. You get to look all zany and modern. TH: Swap? OM: Not a chance. Anyway, have you got your head around public charging yet? I signed up to one that costs £7.85 a month. Which seems like having to pay to visit a petrol…

Goodbye Citroen C3 Aircross £18,845 OTR/£21,975 So, it is imminent. The day of departure. Sad face. Yes, it’d be fair to say when the C3 Aircross first arrived it had a mixed reaction from the team, but over its time with us, everyone has mellowed to the Citroen’s undeniable charm. A large part of this is down to the C3’s engine. We’re big fans of triples here at TopGear. The cheeky noise, the character and, in the C3 Aircross, the quick (and unexpectedly generous) power delivery. It turns a standard family car into a great one. This is the first reason we shall be sad to see the C3 drive away from us. And there are many other examples of why it’ll be a dark day when the little Citroen…

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The last of Renault’s EZ-branded concepts, after the EZ-GO taxi and EZ-PRO delivery van, is this, the EZ-ULTIMO. The reason it looks more like it belongs in Blade Runner than it does trundling about west London is because it’s built for 2049, not 2019. Inspired by horse-drawn carriages of old, the Ultimo is based on the same electric architecture as the other two EZs but it has a fancier body and cabin, more suitable for its role as a luxury vehicle. Renault thinks these things will appeal to plush hotels and airlines, who can furnish the interior as they see fit to give their VIP customers a proper “point to point premium experience”. Access is via a sliding door and there’s seating for three on a two-person sofa/bench across the…

Vietnam might not be internationally renowned for its automotive industry, but that is all about to change. New manufacturer VinFast is developing its own fleet of world-class vehicles to be completed at its state-of-the-art factory in northern Vietnam, one of the country’s largest ever industrial projects. Cars are due to roll out to the Vietnamese market in 2019, but beyond that, VinFast’s outlook is very much a global one, it has set about recruiting a dream team of industry specialists from all over the world and is working with world-leading European design, engineering and production technology partners. Spearheading the company’s launch, an SUV and a sedan – both developed by premier Italian design house Pininfarina – were given their public debut at this year’s Paris Motor Show. Consider what the…

ART, FORME AND TECHNIQUE COURSE THROUGH THE BUGATTI BRAND DNA. SEE IT RECREATED FROM EVERY ANGLE IN THIS MODEL’S FRENCH RACING BLUE EXTERIOR, CURVED SIGNATURE LINE, SINGLE BEAM TAIL-LIGHT, HORSESHOE GRILL WITH LOGO AND MORE. The Bugatti Chiron isn’t just a car, or even just a super sports car. As the successor to the record-breaking Veyron, its sophisticated design, innovative technology and iconic performance-orientated form make it a masterpiece that pushes boundaries further than ever before. Its quad-turbocharged 8.0L W16 engine generates an incredible 1,479bhp and 1,180lbft of torque, with peak power between 2,000 and 6,000 rpm. Four high-performing turbochargers work in a two-stage controlled configuration, while an incredible 60,000 litres of air are pumped through the engine every minute. While the Chiron’s top speed is limited to 261 mph…

Tesla Model S 75D £68,950 WE SAY: UNTIL THE MODEL 3 MAKES IT OVER THE ATLANTIC, THIS IS THE CHEAPEST TESLA We wish Tesla CEO Elon Musk would spend less time tweeting himself into expensive, potentially damaging lawsuits, and a bit more running the company he’s helped build into an EV heavyweight. Then we Brits might finally get our hands on the Model 3, the fabled ‘affordable’ Tesla, more than a year after its US launch. Till then, this is the cheapest Tesla you can buy in the UK. It’s a Model S with the 75kWh battery and dual motors, giving 304 miles of claimed range (NEDC) and 0–60mph in 4.2secs. All for the princely sum of £68,950. Which is still quite a lot of money, isn’t it? But the…

Ariel Atom 4 £39,975 WE SAY: NEW FROM THE GROUND UP, THE ATOM 4 IS THE SAME… AND YET VERY DIFFERENT Let me give you a full rundown of which parts Ariel has carried over from the old Atom, so you understand just how new the new one is – pedal box, fuel cap, steering wheel, first six inches of steering column. And we’re done. It’s the most thorough overhaul of the Atom in its 20-year history. Those who know the Atom only from what it did to Jeremy’s face won’t spot what we will: the new air intake, wider stance, thicker tubes, new dash, seats; they won’t understand why we’re nervous about it using a turbo engine and they won’t care about the small, invaluable tweaks that make it…

£18,995 Engine 1400cc, 4cyl, FWD, 148bhp, 162lb ft Performance 0–62mph in 8.9secs, 129mph, 47.1mpg, 139g/km CO2 Weight 1278kg RIP VXR (for now). Vauxhall admits VXR “was niche”, and should mean “hardcore, track-focused cars.” The idea behind the GSi family is for Vauxhall to sell angry-looking and sharper-handling cars with lower running costs, appealing to a wider audience. So the Corsa GSi hides an ageing 1.4-litre, four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine under its (fake) bonnet scoop, making 50bhp less than the Fiesta ST you can have for the same money. OK, the Corsa’s a bit cheaper to insure, but it’s thirstier, dirtier, and nowhere near as sorted to drive. As usual for a Corsa, there’s unpleasant friction in the steering, as if the steering column’s made of noodles and is twisting around itself…

“THREE SEATS, STRATOSPHERIC TOP SPEED AND A PRICE TAG THAT’S SIMILARLY OUT OF THIS WORLD” Sleek, isn’t it? Long and low and lean and, well, sleek. A streamliner. This is it, the McLaren Speedtail, the car formerly known as BP23 and likely forever known as the spiritual successor to the F1. Three seats, stratospheric top speed and a price tag that’s similarly out of this world. Facts, though, have been in short supply. And when we’re starved of facts, we feed off myths. The rumour mill spooled up with tales of a 300mph target, of Chiron-beating power, and, to be fair, all we did was fan the flames. Let’s rein in hyperbole and exaggeration right now, because here’s what we do know. The McLaren Speedtail will, when deliveries start in…

PORSCHE 935 What is it? It’s the Porsche 935, and it takes only a small amount of historic motorsport knowledge to understand it riffs off the gobsmacking 935/78 racecar, better known as Moby Dick. Revealed at the Rennsport Reunion at Laguna Seca as a 70th birthday present from Porsche to itself, it’s unsurprisingly track-only, so you won’t be rocking up to your local cars and coffee meeting in it. But, being non-homologated, you might also be struggling to find a race series for it. Instead, Porsche says it’s “geared towards clubsport events and private training on racetracks”. Yet it’s not a brutal racecar beneath. In fact, it’s the current-gen 911 GT2 RS, with its 690bhp 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six engine driving the rear wheels via a seven-speed PDK paddleshift gearbox. Which…

In the corners, I fall asleep. My head lolls to the side, I snuggle up against the seat flank and my pillowy brain decides I’m perfectly fine to settle down for a nap. Deep within, maybe somewhere around the brain stem, where information is still being gathered and processed, a faraway voice is screaming into the heavy duvet surrounding my consciousness that all is not fine, all is a long way from fine, and I really, really need to wake up and pay attention. RIGHT NOW. This is the part that’s still responding to events outside. The most pertinent of which is that the VW ID R Pikes Peak is currently doing about 120mph. Because what I’m actually experiencing is g-LOC. Loss of consciousness due to g-force. Everything goes quiet,…

Report 6 BMW M5 £89,645 OTR/£101,900 as tested We recently did a drag race between the M5, Merc-AMG E63S and Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid. It didn’t feature the lifer because it was away being fixed. If you want a surprise, watch the film online before you read any further. Done that? Good. The M5 walloped ’em. Least powerful but lightest, it also possesses the most phenomenal launch control. So fast was it that we redid the figures when our car came back. And yep, the result wasn’t a fluke – it managed a two-way average of 2.99secs to 60mph. So that’s a full-size saloon that seats five, has a 505-litre boot, massage seats and kick-ass stereo getting to 60mph in under three seconds. That’s nuts. The fastest super-saloon ever, surely?…

Hello Volvo XC40 £34,570 OTR/£41,495 as tested When I was a youngster, my family transport was a Volvo. A tank of a Volvo, no less. And I loved it. When it suggested that I run the XC40 as a long-termer, I had a warm glow. I knew what to expect. I had previous with the Swedish brand. We grew up together. These days, it’d be fair to say that we have both grown up. Neither I nor the Volvo are recognisable from our younger selves. But still, the memory persists. Enough reminiscing – let’s take a look at the spec of the TG XC40. It’s a T4 AWD Inscription Pro with an on-the-road price of £34,570. With options, this one comes in at £41,495. Seven grand of options? Indeed. There’s…

Hello Kia Stinger £40,535 OTR/£41,180 as tested “Woah, that’s a great-looking car, mate…” and then he hits me with the (sorry) stinger: “For a Kia.” Actually, as a compliment, it wasn’t too back-handed. The guy really did like the car. I was parking and he walking in a London W1 street where Bentleys, Porsches and Maseratis are often jammed bumper-to-bumper. He’s not the only one. People have twisted heads and grinned as it drove by, tapped on the window as it waited at red lights. It’s had a load of “nice car” comments, mostly from people I’ve never met, and not just from my neighbours who always say “nice car” if I’m in a nice car. If this thing had social accounts, it’d be humming with likes and upvotes. I…