Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2019 i BBC Top Gear Magazine

No matter how well you think you can park, Stan can do it better. Don’t feel too disheartened, though – he doesn’t need to open the doors once stationary, meaning he can stack cars as close as possible to each other. Stan isn’t some ghostly valet from a budget American horror film, but a small forklift-style robot with an oddly captivating pair of blue eyes that will literally pick your car up and drop it into an ultra-tight space without even needing to see your keys. Created by Stanley Robotics and set to be trialled at Gatwick Airport in August this year, the little droid will then use your flight numbers to ensure that your car is ready and waiting back at the drop-off/pick-up area on your return from holiday.…

Jaguar Land Rover is in a bit of a financial quagmire. Thanks to a J perfect storm of Brexit, a rapidly falling Chinese market, dropping diesel sales, plus investing in electrification, a scythe has been taken to its profits. This spiral has resulted in 4,500 redundancies in order to save £2.5 billion over 18 months. So, what’s the first car JLR is launching after this news? An SUV with a supercharged 5.0-litre V8. Sounds like TopGear maths to us. It’s called the Range Rover Velar SVAutobiography Dynamic Edition, a juiced-up 542bhp Velar developed by Land Rover Special Vehicle Operations. Autobiography is a familiar name in Range Rover world, traditionally the plushest iteration. Here, the ‘Dynamic’-ness has also been added thanks to JLR’s supercharged V8 engine up front. With 542bhp, it’s…

Listen up stat fans, more grey cars (over half a million) were sold in the UK last year than any other shade. In fact, it’s the first time ‘dish water’ has trumped all the colours of the rainbow. And they say the Brits need to cheer up. Us? Never. Other climbers include orange (up 37 per cent) a sign of Trump’s cross-Atlantic popularity… and beige (up 28 per cent). Really guys? Beige? Silver, a previous winner, fell out of the top five, while in Scotland white took the top spot, just ahead of tartan, presumably.…

DUCATI MIG-RR Human-powered bikes are no longer just a means of transport – they’re brilliantly engineered bits of kit. In fact, plenty aren’t just powered by pedalling these days. This Ducati MIG-RR was developed in collaboration with Thok E-Bikes, meaning your legs are helped by a 0.3bhp motor. That extra bit of shunt, combined with the huge suspension travel at both wheels, should mean the MIG-RR will take you just about anywhere off road. The Ducati name also means you get top-spec components like carbon-fibre handlebars… and a superbike worthy price tag. ebike.ducati.com; €6,250 COLNAGO MASTER X-LIGHT ADIDAS If road cycling is more your bag, this could be the most desirable object on the market. It’s essentially the classic Master X-Light steel frame from Italian brand Colnago, but with added…

Merc-AMG GT 63S 4dr vs Porsche Panamera Turbo S e-Hybrid £135,550/£138,723 WE SAY: IT’S A BIG-MONEY SHOOTOUT: PREMIUM GERMAN 4DR COUPES We’re in the little market town of Barnard Castle, on the edge of the Pennine Hills, and the Mercedes-AMG GT 4dr is attracting so much attention, it’s almost as though some minor royal has decided to pay a surprise visit. Nobody takes any notice of the Panamera. It’s a hulking presence, but its grey mass blends into the scenery so effectively it may as well be the world’s longest, most powerful and most expensive Volkswagen Passat. The Panamera is the reason the Mercedes exists, of course. Despite a wealth of options at the top of the Mercedes/AMG tree, customers were supposedly deserting the three-pointed star because they couldn’t upgrade…

Toyota RAV4 2.5 Hybrid AWD-i £33,430 WE SAY: TOYOTA’S VALUE-PACKED SUV IS BACK TO BOOST THE COMPANY’S BALANCE SHEET If, one page ago, I’d asked you to name the world’s fourth best-selling vehicle (and absolute best-selling SUV), would you have said the outgoing Toyota RAV4? Thought not. Yet it was. Amazing, given it comes in just one bodystyle. Even more amazing given it was ugly to look at and horrid to drive. The new one is massively better in almost every respect. It’s an all-hybrid range, at least in the UK. The FWD version has Toyota’s usual epicyclic power-split engine and motor and generator set-up for the front wheels, albeit with a new 2.5-litre engine and better electrics. The AWD one adds an e-motor for the rear wheels. The platform…

We can argue about exactly when and where it happened. I’d skate over the Autobianchi A112 Abarth (too small, not powerful enough) and the Mini Cooper (not actually a hatch) and locate it in Wolfsburg in the mid-Seventies with the Golf GTI or Paris with the R5 Gordini Turbo. Whatever, back in the mists of time, the idea of the hot hatch was had. And it was good. It was a mash-up of two fine things. First thing, the hatchback itself: a versatile car, big enough for most of us but small enough to be handy and affordable. Other thing: a too-big engine. A well-developed hot-hatch is agile and punchy and it abundantly over-delivers on thrills. Yet in the daily grind it shows an innocent face, quietly justifying itself to…

Let me talk you through the outfit. I bought the hat in Tortilla Flat, not because it sounds like the opening line of a country & western song, but because a baseball cap just wouldn’t cut it. In the footwell are cowboy boots. The other footwell, because they’re terrifically uncomfortable. I should also be wearing a tasselled jacket with a coyote on the back, but guess what? It’s raining in Arizona, so it’s technical waterproofs and a bodywarmer. Rain. The most they’ve had in five years. It doesn’t make any difference in the McLaren, whose glass roof glides silently, sleekly up in 11 seconds, even while you’re rattling over dirt track washboard. The Cobra, though? That doesn’t like washboard in the first place. Makes the whole chassis tremble like a…

Report 3 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV £39,500 OTR/£39,500 as tested According to the new WLTP cycle, which I still can’t stop calling the WLTM cycle, the Outlander PHEV will return 139 miles to the gallon. Which, of course, it won’t. Well, it might, but it might equally return anywhere between 30 and infinity miles to the gallon, depending on how you use it. Now, I know official mpg figures have never reflected the reality of car ownership. But at least, back in the nice simple days of regular internal combustion engines, they bore some vague correlation to how much a car might cost to run. Fifty mpg on paper? Reckon on 40 if you’re lucky. Twenty-five mpg on paper? You’ll be in the teens at best. But plug-in hybrids throw the…

When was the last time you saw one of these? Seeing a Mazda RX-7 in the UK is rare enough; spotting one that hasn’t been adorned with a bodykit and had its horsepower doubled is a tale few can tell. The RX-7 was produced from 1978 to 2002; the car we’re focusing on here is the MkIII, from 1991 onwards, and known better by the code ‘FD’. Like its predecessors, power came from a twin-turbo, twin-rotor Wankel powertrain of just 1.3 litres. But its unconventional power delivery ensures it punches harder than its size suggests; peak outputs are 237bhp and 218lb ft. Enough, when a car weighs just 1,310kg, for a 5.1-sec 0–62mph and 156mph top speed. Get to your favourite piece of road and it initially feels like a…

DIFFERENT BY DESIGN Chronographs have a legendary status in the horological world - from racing iconic cars, to scaling the highest peaks and most famously landing on the moon, it’s a watch built for adventure. The new Mechanical Chronograph collection has been developed with the Swiss Made ETA 2894-2 Elaboré movement at its heart, to produce a refined and shallow-profiled 39mm case. Our watches are inspired by the halcyon era of watchmaking, when interesting colours and contrasting textures were combined with the very best craftsmanship. Each of the dials is rich in three-dimensional detailing to accentuate the Farer design aesthetic, whilst the use of unique colour combinations create a bold and contemporary statement. FARER.COM…

“Speculation is rife, and the time appears to be appropriate – there will be no SUV from Bugatti”. That’s Stephan Winkelmann confirming in a recent press release what we’d all secretly been hoping. However, no SUV doesn’t mean no more Bugattis. Following the €5m Divo, there are rumours of another rebodied Chiron, soon, and plenty of special editions. This is the Chiron Sport ‘110 ans Bugatti’, limited to 20 cars, finished in matt Steel Blue and decorated in French flags to honour the company’s first model – the Type 10.…

Yep, the three-door Range Rover isn’t making a comeback after all. Unveiled at last year’s Geneva show, the SV Coupe was to be a limited-edition model developed by the Special Operations division. But in a statement, Land Rover confirmed the SV Coupe “will not proceed into production” and that the company will focus “its resources and investment on the next gen of world-class products”, like the new Defender. A Land Rover spokesperson said the car’s cancellation is not down to a lack of demand – though he wouldn’t confirm how many of the 999 had been sold. Either way, none were completed and delivered. “Our Special Vehicle Operations division is continuing to develop exciting cars that push the boundaries of luxury, performance and capability – the all-new Jaguar F-Pace SVR…

When I was growing up, my mother pretty much stuck to Volkswagen Polos. After a good couple of years with his business, though, my father remortgaged the house to get himself a black BMW 318i – an absolute dope he was, remortgaging the house to get a car. My first car was a Rover 200 hatchback. It was great, cost £1,500 from Guernsey Motors. Believe it or not, it was red, but my dad bought it as a gift and probably chose the colour out of spite because he’s a Liverpool fan. I didn’t have that for long. I then got a Ford Mondeo which was a good little runner; it had 116,000 miles on the clock when I bought it. I think I took it up to 200,000+ by…

Volvo V60 Cross Country T5 £38,000 est. WE SAY: ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE JACKED-UP ESTATES. FOR PEOPLE WHO LIKE THE IDEA OF AN SUV, BUT DON’T WANT ONE The Volvo V60 Cross Country follows the standard formula – there’s 60mm more ground clearance, standard all-wheel drive running through an eight-speed auto gearbox, hill-descent control activated by an off-road mode in the computer and big black plastic wheel-arch extensions. It actually works off-road, too. As much is obvious from the image above. And happily, the suspension tweaks that let it do that haven’t really affected its on-road performance. Well, we say ‘performance’ – this isn’t an exciting car to drive. Just quietly competent, and satisfyingly fuss-free. We’re driving the T5 petrol (you can also have a D4 diesel). Quiet enough at…

Kia Proceed GT £28,135 WE SAY: REJOICE! A SWIFT FAMILY CAR THAT’S NOT A FAKE SUV, BUT NOT AS SPORTY AS BILLED EITHER A badge you’ve met before fitted to a totally different sort of car. Instead of taking the shape of a chopped 3dr hatch, the new Proceed is a ‘shooting brake’ – modern shorthand for a sleeker estate. Kia noticed sales of coupes dropping, so now you get five doors and a big boot, wrapped up in a mini Porsche Panamera suit. You can have a tepid 1.4-litre turbo petrol, which gets thrashy when it’s worked hard, a 1.6-litre diesel that’s unremarkable to use but pleasingly quiet, or the 1.6-litre Proceed GT with 201bhp and cosmetic raciness. Whereas the most popular Ceeds are the mid-range Ceed 2 and…

Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR £34,000 est WE SAY: WHO DOESN’T LOVE A RUN-OUT SPECIAL? GOLF MkVII GETS THE TREATMENT This is a motorsport-infused runout special for the MkVII Golf GTI. But while rivals like Mini and Renault have a track record of pretty potent goodbye editions – no back seats, sticky tyres – the TCR is tamer, despite VW having form in hardcore hatches via the magnificent GTI Clubsport S. It costs around £34,000, comes with five seats, three or five doors and its production isn’t limited. The power output is also sub-300bhp, a 286bhp 2.0-litre turbo driving the front wheels through a 7spd DSG paddleshifter only. No manual here. You get VW’s diff-mimicking electronics up front, stronger brakes with perforated discs and the option of 20mm-lower adaptive suspension and…

Lamborghini Huracán Evo £206,000 WE SAY: LAMBORGHINI BECOMES LESS DIVISIVE. A DIVISIVE MOVE? The Huracán Evo sets out to prove you can have your panettone and eat it. Rarely has a fast car been so easy to drive while keeping the driver front and centre of the action. The overhaul is in four key areas: vehicle dynamics, engine, design (and aerodynamics) and interior. The nat-asp V10 now makes 631bhp at 8,000rpm (451bhp per tonne), 442lb ft of torque at 6,500rpm, good for a 201mph top speed and 0–62mph in 2.9secs. Lamborghini claims seven times the aero efficiency of the outgoing car, thanks to a new front spoiler, diffuser and air curtain, new rear diffuser, repositioned exhaust (now with titanium intake valves), and ducktail spoiler. It’s almost a Performante, minus the…

PEUGEOT 205 GTi 1984–1994 PRICE NOW: £7,000–£25,000 Not the original hot hatch, but the car that reframed the template. The GTI maxed out Gérard Welter’s crisp 3dr design by the simple expedient of adding side mouldings and red go-faster inserts, while a 900kg kerbweight ensured that even 1984’s 105bhp 1.6-litre suffered little inertia. Then came the 115bhp version, and the 130bhp 1.9 in 1986, whose longer-stroke engine made the perma-thrilling 205 GTi experience less zingy and more torquey, and added disc brakes all-round and lower-profile rubber. The crummy cabin plastics gradually improved, and although early, unmolested 205s are now the most sought-after, post-1990 GTis had desirable black exterior and interior trim. While it has a reputation for being a bit flakey, the GTi is actually pretty robust, although using it…

Report 2 Ford Fiesta ST-3 £21,995 OTR/£24,890 as tested It’s fair to say that the Fiesta ST had plenty of airtime in TopGear last year, appearing as it did on four covers and across the same number of features. We did a lap of the UK in one, thrashed another around tracks in Belgium and France, and put one head-to-head against its opposition, but living with a car day-to-day rather than heading off on a daft challenge or driving around a circuit represents a very different challenge. A month into our time with the ST, it’s already abundantly clear that we got it right when we gave it our Car of the Year award. The ST represents the kind of thinking we believe should be celebrated: delivering efficiency, but never…

Report 3 Mazda MX-5 RF £27,795 OTR/£28,815 as tested I was at an automotive awards do the other week, at which my good friend the comedian Ed Byrne, was the ‘turn’. As we live near each other, and I was driving, he decided that it would be a good idea for me to chauffeur him home. As it happens, there was a Lamborghini Huracán parked next to me, which Ed naturally assumed was in my custody. When I pointed to the Mazda instead, he said something along the lines of, “You must be bloody joking”, only a bit more sweary. Coming from a man who owns a Jeep Renegade, this is a bit rich, but there’s no doubt that the MX-5 RF is, erm, an unfashionably small car. This has…

Hello Skoda Kodiaq VRS £42,870 OTR/£47,350 as tested Let’s get straight down to it, shall we? The Kodiaq vRS has caught some flak in the TopGear office for not being sporty, or fast enough. For promising much with its vRS badge, bodykit and big wheels, and delivering little in the way of actual driving thrills. It’s the kid at school with all the latest cricket kit, who couldn’t hit a long-hop for four if his life depended on it. All the gear, no idea. It’s also quite expensive – £5k more than a Sportline model with the 190bhp diesel. Good. Now we’ve got that out the way, I can tell you why I’m unreasonably excited about running a seven-seat diesel Skoda SUV. Probably to a degree I shouldn’t confess in…

Goodbye DS 7 Crossback £38,990 OTR/£41,640 as tested When you consider that four of the world’s top five luxury brands – Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Hermès and Cartier – are French*, it’s perhaps surprising that the Germans (and to a lesser extent the Brits, Japanese and Swedes) have had it their own way in the premium car category for so long. DS Automobiles is France’s attempt to redress the balance, and with the DS 7 Crossback, DS has had a pretty good stab at taking it to Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Jaguar and the like. Personally, I wish DS had taken more risks with the exterior styling, as one expects a certain degree of inspired madness from the DS brand. However, there are elements of brilliance in the interior and, over our…

Believe it or not, this is the fourth generation of Ford Focus ST. Rivals with that sort of lineage were inducted into the hot hatchback hall of fame long ago, and yet it’s safe to say the ST’s still a long way from icon status. There are several plausible reasons why; every generation has had a burlier RS brother muscling its way into the limelight, alongside which the ST can only ever feel somewhat tame. Especially when it’s been offered in both estate and diesel versions. The glamour fades when your performance car can also play the role of a minicab. The smaller Fiesta ST is a real star, though, and perhaps in the hope some of its magic might rub off on its bigger brother, Ford has seemingly used…

Here’s the outside of the new Renault Clio. It’s, erm, well, it’s pretty similar to the old Clio, really. Nothing wrong with that, says Renault, because the last Clio was the best-selling car in all of Europe in this hotly fought sector. This new one is 14mm shorter and 30mm lower than before, but that its chassis unlocks more space inside. You can daub its body in 10 different colours (but not all on one car). All-LED headlights are standard. Not a single panel is shared with its predecessor, incredibly. Inside, there is a 9.3in curved multimedia tablet, and a Renault attached to it. Look at that tablet! It’s massive! We’re told it is inspired by the one on the Espace, that it “visually enlarges the dashboard”, and is subtly…

The McLaren 600LT has appeared on Hennessey’s radar, and it has been selected for detonation: prepare yourselves for a 1,000bhp+ version of McLaren’s new Sports Series star. Target? Eclipsing McLaren’s own Speedtail. Yep, that’s the 1,036bhp streamliner-GT. “I bought my 600LT for the same reason I bought a new Ford GT,” John tells us, “to give our team a solid benchmark for our Venom F5.” He wasn’t planning on modifying it at first, but after a first run, decided “It’s so good, the only thing that it’s asking for is more power.” The idea is to give the Speedtail a “run for its money” from zero to 150mph, after which point the Speedtail’s lower drag would give it the edge. There are three levels of upgrade planned. A modest 708bhp…

Craving more adventure and adrenaline from your television viewing? Head over to Insight TV, the global content creator and world’s leading 4K UHD TV channel, featuring unmissable sports, lifestyle and entertainment shows from across the globe. From 1 March, Insight TV’s Speed Seekers has the lot for motorsport fans, with shows covering Moto GP, freestyle motocross and much more. Featuring legends such as Valentino Rossi and Rubens Barrichello, the Speed Seekers season brings you four new shows that are perfect for petrolheads the world over. FROM ROOKIE TO RISING STAR Rising star Franco Morbidelli has injected new levels of excitement into Moto GP, and Morbidelli Rising charts the 18 months before the rookie’s debut, revealing his close relationship and intense training sessions with mentor Valentino Rossi. CELEBRITY PETROLHEADS STEP FORWARD…

With every new generation comes an evolutionary upgrade, a sort of genetic boost inside and out. And with that comes even more capacity for exploration. With the latest Tucson this starts on the outside, where classic SUV proportions blend with sci-fi shapes. Take the new bi-LED headlamps, which flow into the cascading grille and down to a new skid plate – a sign that the Tucson isn’t scared of taking on some unexpected rough roads. And thanks to the Tucson’s faultless 4x4 capabilities, nor should you be. The Tucson’s re-profiled silhouette isn’t just for show, either. It’s even more slipstreamed for better fuel efficiency, and you know what that means: an even bigger playground. A FRESH PERSPECTIVE Escape your comfort zone in total comfort. The centrepiece of the Tucson’s redesigned…

£TBC Engine 1969cc 4cyl + electric motor, AWD, 385bhp, 472lb ft Performance 0–62mph in 4.9secs, 155mph, 134.5mpg, 48g/km CO2 Weight c. 2000kg The plug-in hybrid V60 also happens to be the fast one. It borrows the T8 ‘twin-engine’ powertrain from the bigger 90-series cars, with which it shares a platform. The result is all-wheel drive, with the front wheels driven by a four-cylinder petrol engine and the rears by a small electric motor. R-Design trim’s suspension tweaks do little to transform the V60’s character. While firmer-riding than normal, this is still a relaxing, comfortable car first and foremost, and a fun one second. As for the powertrain, driven normally it’s very hard to tell whether it’s the ICE, e-motor or both that’s doing the heavy lifting. Until you clog it,…

£25,535 Engine 1598cc, 4cyl turbo, FWD, 201bhp, 195lb ft Performance 0–62mph in 7.2secs, 143mph, 38.2mpg, 155g/km CO2 Weight c.1386kg The lighter Ceed GT is more lithe and alive in the corners – it’s keener to do the hot hatch tropes of wheel-cocking and lift-off oversteering. The Proceed’s more grown-up, happier to cover ground quickly than misbehave. More amateur, less, er, pro. You don’t get adaptive dampers, limited-slip active diffs or Individual modes to set up – this is a much simpler sort of hot hatch. Fiesta ST power, Focus size. Lots of standard equipment, seven-year warranty, and possibly the smartest looks in the class. If you like red detailing. It’s everywhere. The Ceed GT is cheaper than the Proceed GT as well as sweeter to drive. There’s only one (exceptionally…

IT’S A BRAND OF STRESS I’M QUITE UNFAMILIAR WITH. A kind that starts in your toes and bubbles up through your body until your skin’s itching on the inside, veins are emerging from strange places on your face and your bowels are playing the trumpet solo from ‘Penny Lane’. The latter may have more to do with partaking in a particularly fiery murgh masala last night but, either way, I’m surrounded by mayhem and quite fancy a good cry. Driving in India is a high-anxiety activity at the best of times. Driving a supercar in India, it turns out, is marginally less relaxing than root canal without anaesthesia. If you’re anything like me, your buttocks will clench and your blood pressure will rise at the mere sight of a width restrictor…

Report 5 Kia Stinger £40,535 OTR/£41,180 as tested Some of my TopGear colleagues disdain driver-assist systems because they’re too busy testing the car’s reactions to their own inputs. Neither do they generally bother with the in-car connectivity and apps, because most of them are annoying. Either over-complex or counterintuitive, they’re a total arseache to learn, or too slow and clunky to be useful. Not me, though. I ceaselessly fiddle with the gadgetry. Exposing all the maddening flaws somehow gives me perverse satisfaction. But the Stinger has largely defeated me. The driver assist systems are beautifully judged, because they work just as advertised, and they’re easy to use and to understand, and intuitive to switch on and off. Other cars’ lane centring systems often follow the wrong thing (borders of repaired…

Report 3 Audi A7 £56,955 OTR/£73,875 as tested Either I’m slowly going deaf, or the A7 has become noticeably quieter since I’ve done some hard miles in it. After receiving it with less than 75 miles on the clock, the suspension has settled, there appears to be less wind noise, and the engine has loosened up considerably – both in terms of cold-start chuntering and miles per gallon: we’re now talking about 40mpg in normal driving and 50mpg on a run. That’s pretty good for such a big car. And there’s more good news, the A7 is one of those cars that happily eats miles without any fuss, and does so with a good deal of grace. The infotainment is excellent, and now runs CarPlay for Spotify and Waze traffic…

Report 3 VW Up GTI £14,055 OTR/£16,330 as tested My colleague Stevie Dobie isn’t a fan of the mighty Up. Which is a shame, because I quite liked the man. He claims, among other things, that it “doesn’t have enough suspension”. And much as I want to laugh in his face before explaining just how wrong he is, after the Up’s first (and hopefully only) unscheduled trip back to the VW mothership, I admit he may have a point… Not 10 miles into my commute one morning, I was travelling at around 50mph on what is a fairly fast, major A-road when I struck a dislodged manhole cover, ruining two tyres and the rims to which they were fitted. Imagine driving up a six-inch kerb – only the kerb has…

Report 5 Volvo XC40 £34,570 OTR/£41,495 as tested Running the Volvo has been a steep learning curve for me. Not because it’s an SUV – our Sensible SUV of the Year, in fact. And not because it’s a Volvo. No. The reason I’ve been back to metaphorical school, is that there’s a mileage limit on the XC40. “Please don’t put more than 8,000 miles on it,” Volvo said. What have I learnt? No, not how to count, but how it feels to be tethered to a very limited mileage. How it feels, in short, to be on either a PCH or PCP finance deal. The standard PCH and PCP deals allow you to travel 10,000 miles per year. After that you pay anything from 7.56 to 14.9 pence per mile…