Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2021 i BBC Top Gear Magazine

@jack_rix editor@bbctopgearmagazine.com It’s not an easy time to be a car magazine editor. I know, I know, cue slow violin music, your heart bleeds etc etc, but hear me out. Yes, getting paid to arse around in other people’s cars means we unequivocally have the best job on the planet, but this planet is changing at such a blistering pace that it’s both exciting and terrifying in equal measure. The electric car revolution is only just truly taking off, but already talk has turned to our old friend hydrogen being the longer term solution to all our transport needs. The ‘solution’, aka the fuel of the future, will never be one single thing of course, it’ll be an ecosystem of several. Pure EVs for short-range urban travel perhaps, to limit…

We’ll get the big news done first: this new Corvette Z06 is being made in right-hand drive, which marks the first time we might be able to buy the most athletic Vette officially in the UK. It’s a car of notable feats and firsts, in fact. The 5.5-litre V8 shuns supercharging, going back to its traditional naturally aspirated setup with its 670bhp peak making it the most powerful nat-asp V8 in the world, according to Corvette. A flat-plane crank design lets it rev to 8,600rpm like it’s a proper piece of Italian exotica. An 8spd DCT paddleshifter is your only option, making this the first Z06 without a manual. It sits on a modified suspension set-up from the stock Corvette Stingray. Sold? The Z06 comes in coupe and convertible forms…

Looking for a way to part with a terrifying amount of money for what is essentially a bog standard wireless mobile phone charging pad? Porsche has got you covered. Hasn’t it always in situations such as these? What was once a piston in a current-gen 911 Turbo’s magical flat-six is now destined for life as a method of heating up your phone and occasionally giving it a little bit of juice. We almost feel sorry for the poor thing. Buy one to let everyone know that you don’t in fact own a Porsche. shop.porsche.com; £265…

1 IT’S AMG’S BABY NOW That’s right, the SL range now completely belongs to AMG. This new one sits on a completely bespoke platform too. It’ll still be luxurious, but a lightweight composite aluminium chassis means it weighs less than two tonnes (just) despite the addition of two rear seats. 2 IT’S GOT A PROPER ENGINE There won’t be a bonkers V12 this time around, but at launch there will be two iterations of AMG’s twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8. The SL 63 will be the most powerful, with 577bhp and 590lb ft of torque. AMG is promising an E Performance hybrid at some point too – if it’s the same powertrain as the GT 4dr, that could mean 831bhp. Yikes. 3 THERE’LL BE NO LAIRY DRIFTS Both of the V8 powertrains…

SKODA ENYAQ IV 80 SPORTLINE £42,915/£48,045 as tested AUDI Q4 E-TRON 40 LAUNCH EDITION £49,875/£51,165 as tested If I could just appeal to your better nature for one moment, don’t flip past and sink your teeth into all things Bugatti and Ferrari shaped just yet. I know this looks like two pleasant, middle-of-the-road cars in the middle of a pleasant B-road. But what I present to you here is nothing less than an epoch-shaping cataclysm in the future of car sales. Buying a premium car has, for some time, not been for the rarity. Thanks to cunning lease deals and the sheer proliferation of bodystyle niches, the likes of an Audi, BMW or Mercedes-Benz are wantonly attainable. The Ford Mondeo dies this year. The 3-Series is BMW’s bedrock, its core…

“IN THE STREET IT’S ACTUALLY LESS OFFENSIVE THAN THE PICTURES SUGGEST” £94,905 FOR Comfortable, fast, long range, good cabin. Sustainable AGAINST Well, about as sustainable as a vast SUV can be Just when you thought BMW couldn’t get any more controversial, here comes a really controversial BMW. It’s hyped as the flagship for technology, lightweight construction and sustainability through low CO2 resourcing and manufacturing. But did it have to be a hulking two-and-a-half tonne SUV? An independent audit by TUV shows its lifetime carbon footprint is 45 per cent less than an X5’s. Another hulking SUV isn’t the best point of comparison, guys. Anyway that’s not the end of the controversy. Did it really need a whole new operating system that demands hours of learning? And did it have to…

£35,000 est FOR Sharper styling, more expensive feeling than an ID.3 AGAINST Not enough speed or drama to be a hot hatch It’s been a long time coming, the Cupra Born. In fact, we first saw it as the Seat el Born concept way back in March 2019, so why the brand change? Well, if it had been Born a Seat – ahem – it would have had to be slightly cheaper than an ID.3. If you’ve sat in a lower-spec ID.3 and poked some of the cheap plastics, you’ll know that the VW has already been built on a budget. It’s all to do with battery costs and profit margins being much tighter for EVs. As a Cupra, the VW Group can price the Born slightly higher than an…

That whole ‘everything slows down when you’re about to die or have a massive shunt’ thing? It’s true – this entire lap has turned into one of Chris Harris’ signature, gratuitous slo-mo drift shots… and not in a good way. I’m in the process of having a 10-minute accident and there’s not a massive amount I can do about it, besides cling on and wait for the crunch. I’m dialling in every degree of steering lock and millimetre of throttle travel with the caution of a safe cracker, but we’re still all over the place. Forget understeer and oversteer, how about no steer? I’m not totally without blame here. Anyone with even a loose grasp of physics could have foreseen that a £2.7m, two-tonne, 1,578bhp leviathan on cold Michelin Cup…

ICELAND WEARS ITS GEOLOGY ON THE OUTSIDE. There’s no cloak of fields and trees, no undergarment of soil and earth, what buildings and infrastructure exist look fabulously fragile in this barren zone of landslides and lava, nothing more than temporary jewellery. The occasional cap of snow and ice is all there is to cover this island’s modesty. Iceland is nature’s ‘how stuff works’ lesson to humanity. And it’s got plenty to teach us. The geology is well understood but hand in hand with that comes energy. It’s hot under here. The mid-Atlantic ridge bisects this country, it’s expanding at a rate of 40mm per year, plus it sits on a thin crust moving over a mantle plume that is basically blowtorching the underside. Meanwhile any water that isn’t frozen in…

You might think that 2021 has been a bit of a bust, but 1991 wasn’t that much better. A year notable for Operation Desert Storm, the collapse of the Soviet Union and the death of Freddie Mercury. But still, there was a bright red glimmer of hope in the form of the Alfa Romeo Proteo concept, revealed in Geneva. The concept was based on Alfa’s venerable 164 saloon, with a chunk chopped out of the middle. Styling-wise it took the challenging wedge-tastic shapes of the SZ coupe and its roadster sibling and softened them, made them a smidge more acceptable to the human eye. The Proteo has an elegant rising beltline and squirrels the SZ’s square triple lights behind an extended bonnet. Keen-eyed Alfa fans will no doubt spot the…

FIAT 126 (1976) Price now £4,708 Harris says Commuting through London just got pricier thanks to ULEZ. But not if your car’s 40+ years old. An original 500 would be peak city car, but good ones are not cheap. Its wedgier replacement, on the other hand… FORD THUNDERBIRD (1977) Price now £9,900 Harris says It’d be irresponsible to tell you to use a V8-powered Seventies American tank to trundle through a low-emissions zone. So I won’t. It’s fair to say finding adequate parking will be quite tough, too. ALFA ROMEO GIULIA (1975) Price now £12,745 Harris says Alfa didn’t just pluck the ‘Giulia’ name out of the air for its latest sports saloon. Here’s its ancestor, looking absolutely delectable in 1300 Super trim having just been restored in ‘Rosso Prugna’…

GOODBYE £48,045 OTR/£48,660 as tested/£596pcm WHY IT’S HERE Just what is the Cupra Formentor… for? DRIVER Tom Ford IT’S NOT OFTEN THAT I GET HANDED A LONG-TERM TEST CAR THAT resolves into a proper conundrum. Generally, you come away after five or six months and 10k miles with a very strong idea what you think, and I tend to base the concept of success or failure on two things: one, does the car deliver on what the manufacturer says it’s supposed to, and two, whether or not I’d actually spend my own money on one. The Formentor seems to span a few genres, so it’s an interesting car that seemed like it might meet my needs. It’s also the first bespoke model from the brand, and so it was interesting…

REPORT 2 £40,535/£42,305/£644 WHY IT’S HERE To expose “sports crossovers” as the silly idea they are. DRIVER Paul Horrell EXCITING NEWS: THE CAR IS NOW online and connected to my phone. It took two Seat experts and a laptop nearly an hour to accomplish, after I’d downloaded the Cupra app and set up an account, itself a tediously complex business. But I now have the theoretical ability to see on my phone the recent trip economy, current fuel level and whether the car’s doors are locked, and lock them if not. Wherever the car is. Many cars have this now. It’s not rocket science. In the Cupra, it sometimes works. I’d set up the data connection to test the inbuilt satnav. It’s rubbish. The traffic awareness is clunky, the graphics…

REPORT 5 £37,400/£39,565/£425 WHY IT’S HERE Is Hyundai’s crossover as ambitious underneath as its looks suggest? DRIVER Andy Franklin TECH – YOU EITHER LOVE IT OR hate it, don’t you? Personally, I quite like it but my wife really can’t stand it and she feels that there is just too much in the Tucson. She doesn’t want to be told when to lift off the throttle or to check the back seats when getting out. The constant binging noises freak her out that she is about to have a huge side-on collision while reversing. She believes all this technology is just creating a generation of sloppy drivers all too reliant on gadgets and not using their eyes. While for me, the blindspot light on the mirrors has been one bit…

HELLO £110,325 OTR/£110,325 as tested/£1,841pcm WHY IT’S HERE It’s the world’s default super limo but is it too clever for its own good? DRIVERS Jason Barlow HONESTLY, I WAS A LITTLE UNSURE ABOUT TAKING CUSTODY OF A long wheelbase S500 when the idea was first floated. A gigantic first world problem, I know. This is a big car. It’s very expensive. And most of all, what if I looked like a moonlighting posh private hire driver? The Onyx black metallic paint and 21in AMG light alloy wheels offset the latter or at least move it into Russian oligarch/Logan Roy-media baron mode. It’s also a car designed to promote the well-being of its occupants. Having just driven from the Stansted area to Norwich, and from there into central London, it’s pretty…

The nights are closing in, the scent of woodsmoke hangs heavy ’pon the breeze, we’ve just had the big argument about which way the clocks go in the big BST/GMT switchover: it’s time for a new series of TopGear to wend its way towards your telly box! Yes, Chris, Freddie and Paddy are back with a fresh tranche of automotive japery, going faster, further and, um, foolhardier than ever before in the name of ‘testing cars, apparently’. ICELAND IN AN OLD ROLLS AND VAUXHALL With the world finally, slowly emerging from collective house arrest, it seemed about time for a big international TopGear expedition. And there was only one place for it: Iceland. Partly because of Iceland’s extraordinary, rugged landscape. But also because it was basically the only place we…

Back in the days of the Spitfire and the Hawker Hurricane, British fighting planes were the envy of the skies. The Eurofighter Typhoon may be one of the best modern fighter jets, but it doesn’t have the mystique of the wartime planes. Plus, as the name indicates, it is a collaboration between European nations and Britain is only part owner. In a battle for aerial superiority, is there one thing we are best at? Yes, actually. Tucked away in Middlesex is Martin-Baker, by quite some measure the largest maker of ejector seats in the world. It started off making aeroplanes in the Thirties before one of the co-founders was killed during a test flight. Sir James Martin switched the business to focus on saving pilots when something went wrong. The…

You’ll know by now that the Audi e-tron GT is a very expensive car. It’s based on the same VW Group J1 platform as the Porsche Taycan, but Audi doesn’t offer cheaper rear-wheel-drive versions with smaller batteries – you can only have quattro or RS trims with a 93kWh battery, whereas lesser Taycans offer a 79kWh unit. That makes the e-tron GT a properly premium option. Prices for the RS start at just over £112,000 in the UK. And that’s even before you get your teeth into the extensive options list. That means people want it to do the expensive car things well, and luckily it really does stand up to the price point. The performance is there in spades – the RS gets 590bhp (and 637bhp on overboost) which…

£54,990 FOR Clever interior space, seamless performance AGAINST Handling and detail oversights smack of immaturity Eighteen months after Tesla’s fourth four-door went on sale in the USA, the entry level Tesla crossover is beginning to trickle into Europe. But even now we’re stuck with a left-hand-drive Dutch-registered demonstrator, as fully fledged European Model Y deliveries don’t kick off until Tesla’s brand new Berlin ‘Gigafactory’ is up and running. So, 2022 then. Barring any supply chain disasters. The Model Y is longer and wider than the Model 3 it looks like a somewhat ungainly, Photoshop-made-real stretched version of, but the new slope-roofed hatchback crossover shares 75 per cent of its parts with the hugely popular notchback saloon. Including, at launch, a single option of a 75kWh battery with dual motor AWD,…

£33,900 FOR Striking looks, refined, well made, efficiency AGAINST Chassis lacks sparkle, interior still polarises opinion Peugeot is pushing upmarket and reasserting its commitment to la différence. The new 308’s dramatic aesthetic keeps the faith with the quasi-concept car look of its crossover siblings, and premieres a punchy new grille and logo. Inside, the i-Cockpit has been reworked, while the standard 10in touchscreen is easier to use and newly available with a row of i-Toggle shortcut buttons. GT and GT Premium Lines get a cool but faddish 3D floating display, and the whole lot can be endlessly configured to suit personal preference. Eight drivers can set their profile, there’s wireless screen mirroring, and two phones can be connected to the Bluetooth simultaneously. The steering wheel still looks like a small…

MOUNTUNE PUMA ST M260 £675 (Bluetooth engine upgrade only) FOR Rapid, and more fun than the standard car AGAINST You can fit pretty much all the upgrades to a Fiesta ST The Essex-based tuner describes this as “a Mountune for a different generation” but the most potent m260 upgrade still bumps power to 256bhp. It’s combined with a new induction kit and intercooler, while our test car was weirdly wearing prototype springs that drop the ride height by 25mm. More grunt lower down in the rev range is the most noticeable difference here, and Mountune’s new ‘no-lift shift’ function for the 6spd manual is addictive. GP ALPINE A110 LÉGENDE GT 2021 £61,655 FOR Proof positive you can’t buy an un-lovely Alpine AGAINST The £12k cheaper A110 Pure is lovely too…

'HER MAJESTY'. That’s what Ferrari described its mighty V12 as during the 812 Competizione’s typically lengthy technical briefing. And it deserves that regal status – like our Liz, Maranello’s monstrous engines are iconic, powerful and printed on coffee mugs that are sold in gift shops. Problem is, the arteries of the naturally aspirated V12 have been hardening for a while now. But could this be it finally going into cardiac arrest? No matter how many times – or bluntly – I asked, Ferrari’s Puma-clad engineers dodged the question like greased politicians. But whether we like it or not, we know there’s a sell-by date on these big, thirsty, exciting 12 cylinders. Last year, BoJo announced that the UK will ban the sale of new purely combustion-engined vehicles by 2030. And…

“EVERY SINGLE PANEL NEEDS REPAIRING OR REPAINTING – ALL 5.16 METRES OF IT” For many years I’ve jumped head first into the most terrible financial decisions imaginable, providing they’re car shaped and have some form of interesting story behind ’em. But for once I’ve bitten off more than I can chew. Last year, I went and bought a 1989 W126 Brabus Mercedes. It was originally German owned, had half a million kilometres on the clock and had once been a seized company asset. Obviously. But it had also been left in a leaky barn for 15 years without a cover, so while the underside remains oddly solid, the bodywork was toast. It’s an Eighties Mercedes though, so surely it wouldn’t take much to get it running? That’s what I thought,…

These days, when applied to videogames, the term ‘buggy’ usually means that the software is riddled with catastrophic glitches. Back in 1985 arcade racer Buggy Boy, it referred to the fact that you were planted behind the wheel of a bouncy off-road buggy, complete with fat black tyres and a rather flimsy looking roll cage. Something that would be less alarming if it weren’t possible to clip a rock and pitch the thing onto two wheels. While Buggy Boy did expect you to beat the clock to the finish line, what made this racer unique was that raw speed wasn’t your only consideration. You were also tasked with collecting hundreds of colourful flags that were liberally strewn around the course, like you were on clean up duty after the Last…

REPORT 6 £79,900 OTR/£107,080 as tested/£1,313pcm WHY IT’S HERE Is Audi’s Taycan a better all-rounder than Porsche’s? DRIVER Ollie Marriage I THINK I ENJOYED RUNNING THE E-TRON GT MORE THAN THE RS6 I HAD last year. It’s all to do with fitness for purpose. The RS6 did the comfort and space well, but never properly gripped me as a driver’s car. The e-tron GT is pitched differently, but nails the brief. What is that brief? I’m still not sure. What it doesn’t attempt is any pretence at sportiness. The RS e-tron GT does, and is weaker for it, but this is more laid back, more GT-ish. It embraces what is excellent about electric and makes a virtue of it. It rides softly and gently, it’s silent and smooth, it wafts…

REPORT 4 VW GOLF GTi If I select ‘manual’ mode, I want that to mean I’m in charge. I don’t want it to auto-upshift at the red line. Or ignore a paddle tug. Or kick down when the throttle’s squeezed and the torque was already on hand to do the job without dropping from fourth to first. The GTI’s standard fit DSG is pathetically calibrated for a lowest common denominator driver, and comes close to spoiling every drive. OK REPORT 3 BMW 128ti In the so-called Real World, the 128ti impresses with its tidy, drama-free handling and great pace. But in our recent Speed Week circus on track… it felt a little numb. It didn’t embarrass itself by any stretch, and resolutely refused to unstick itself. Just felt a little…

HELLO £84,870 OTR/£93,646 as tested/£1,010pcm WHY IT’S HERE Can ‘the only sports car you’ll ever need’ turn its hand to anything? DRIVER Ollie Marriage MISSION ONE: BIKES. WE’RE NOT TAKING IT EASY ON THIS PORSCHE 911 just because it’s a sports car. Because it’s not a sports car, it’s the sports car, the one that can do anything, that requires no compromise. So… biking with a bunch of mates in the Brecon Beacons. Everyone else turned up at the bunkhouse in estate cars or vans. My brother and I also own VW vans, but there was no way we were going to chicken out of this challenge. With two burly, decidedly unaero bikes mounted on the rack, I was convinced the 911 was going to gulp fuel. Kept to 70mph,…

While now based in Luton – and making (some) cars in Ellesmere Port in Cheshire – Vauxhall was founded in Vauxhall, London. Sometimes the truth is just staring at you right in the face. When the company was founded in 1857, it made marine engines for the rest of the 19th century before pumping out its first car in 1903. Which still puts it among the founding fathers of the automotive world. That first Vauxhall had five entire horsepower, two forward gears and a tiller in place of a steering wheel. “Still sounds more exciting than a diesel Astra!” we can hear you guffawing at the back. Vauxhall actually has a diverse history for a brand focused on selling mainstream cars in just one country. General Motors bought Vauxhall in…

If you’re gonna do something, do it with conviction. While the original Hummer H1 – the civilian version of the Gulf War-era military Humvee – was a vulgar, tasteless, abomination, at least it went all-in on its vulgarity. Park an H1 on your driveway – or, rather, on your driveway plus a very large chunk of your front lawn – and you genuinely looked like you might be off to annexe Panama for a weekend. But the Hummer H2 – which arrived a decade after the original H1 with a 6.0-litre V8 yet, somehow, a 0–60mph time of over 10 seconds – fell horribly between two stalls. A 4x4 for the vigilante who was originally bang-up for invading Panama, but, having looked into it in detail, had discovered there was…

Hot Wheels Unleashed Sadly we’ve finally reached the age where it’s no longer socially acceptable to play with die-cast cars. It’s all about ‘conversations’ at ‘dinner parties’. Good job, then, that we have Hot Wheels Unleashed, which is designed as a celebration of die-cast cars. Rather than imagining Hot Wheels vehicles as life-sized rides, this instead offers hugely convincing replicas of the toys. In its own way, this cheery, family friendly racer is one of the most beautiful games we’ve seen. While the game is ostensibly designed for kids, Hot Wheels Unleashed knows its real audience is adults who refuse to grow up. That’s why you can also unlock KITT from Knight Rider, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles van and the DeLorean time machine. This ode to childhood fun would…

01 Morgan CX-T Based on the Plus Four roadster, the CX-T has been rally specced in partnership with Rally Raid UK, a specialist in preparing cars for the Dakar rally. Not, sadly, that you’ll ever be seeing it there, but the eight lucky owners can rest assured it’ll more than manage the local dirt track. 02 Aston Martin V8 Vantage R-GT In 2015, this V8 Vantage was converted into an R-GT class competitor by Finnish rally specialists Mäkelä Auto Tuning. To prove its rallying credentials, it was put through its paces at the 2015 Lapland Arctic Rally, a 900km race at temperatures below-25°C. No biggie. 03 Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato And you thought the Urus was Lamborghini’s only super luxurious, go-anywhere crossover, huh? Taking its name from the Italian for ‘dirt…

MYTH BUSTER “ RAPID CHARGING TAKES A FIXED TIME” Root around the road test, spec sheet or brochure for any electric vehicle and somewhere it’ll quote a ‘rapid’ charge time. This is for DC at high voltage – 400V or on some new ones 800V. Two factors set limits on charging speed. First, what the car can accept, which at peak is the figure you’ll find in the spec. It varies between 50kW for basic EVs to 270kW for a Taycan or Ioniq 5. So if you have a car rated at 50kW, don’t pay the extra for a 150kW or 350kW charger, because it won’t happen any faster. But that’s a best case. The battery has to be at optimum temperature. Too warm and the car tells the charger…

£50,900 FOR Damping, engine, confidence inspiring AGAINST Complicated initially, needs a noisy exhaust mode This is the third generation of Audi’s superfast megahatch (the second gen of the saloon), and at first glance, you’d think it had just sprouted some extra bodywork and Audi had called it done. The motor is the familiar 2.5-litre 5cyl, this time boasting the same just-under-400bhp and a whisper of an increase to 369lb ft of torque, accessed a bit lower in the rev range. Marginal gains there. Similarly, the broad strokes of the drivetrain consists of quattro all-wheel drive and a 7spd Steptronic auto, and similar performance figures to the last one – albeit with a 180mph top speed option with the optional Dynamic Pack. But look a bit closer and there are proper…

WOAH, IT’S THE S8 FROM THAT CAR CHASE… Yep. It’s apparently impossible to discuss the first generation of Audi S8 – the ‘D2’ S8, model code geeks – without also referencing the film it starred in. So we’ll try, likely in vain, to avoid that trap in order to let the car speak for itself. Albeit alongside its modernday namesake, the fourth-gen, ‘D5’ S8. The S8 badge first appeared in 1996, with 20 years separating these two examples. WITH QUITE A POWER GAP TOO, I IMAGINE Natürlich. Both hook up V8s to all four wheels, the D2 with a 364bhp nat-asp 4.2-litre, the D5 a 563bhp twin-turbo 4.0-litre familiar from any hi-po VW Group SUV you care to name. Both are electronically limited to 155mph, but the newer car’s 3.8secs…

HELLO £24,995 OTR/£25,545 as tested/£311pcm WHY IT’S HERE Is TG’s performance car of 2021 as great to live with as it is to drive? DRIVER Stephen Dobie IT’S FAIR TO SAY THE HYUNDAI I20N HAS IMPRESSED SO FAR. Last month a pale blue example swept aside SF90s and GT3s to claim our Performance Car of the Year title – a fairly major headline for any £25,000 hatchback, whether its development team has infamously been nabbed from BMW’s M Division or not. The i20N also beat the latest M3, incidentally… But ET21XVP landed in the TopGear Garage with an altogether tougher hurdle in its way. I’d argue it’s pretty easy for an overengined roller skate to outmanoeuvre a 986bhp hybrid supercar on a British B-road. A much sterner test of a…

REPORT 2 £26,605/£27,200/£321 WHY IT’S HERE Is this the comfiest family car you can buy? DRIVER Sam Philip THE C4 IS THE EXACT OPPOSITE of a swan. You know how a swan’s serene exterior famously masks much furious activity under the surface? The C4, the inverse: furious activity on the surface, elegantly serene below. Which is to say, though I’m still struggling to fathom the C4’s busy exterior design, once you climb on board, away from all the exterior melodrama, things are pleasingly tranquil. I worried Citroen’s promise of Much Comfort would manifest as loose, floppy road manners, but on first impressions, things are… sophisticated. The ride is exemplary over all but the jaggediest of potholes, refinement is meritorious, the cabin design pleasingly uncluttered. That said, there are occasions where…

GOODBYE £85,580 OTR/£100,722 as tested/£1,073pcm WHY IT’S HERE Because it’s the cool one that could make us all fall in love with EVs DRIVER Jack Rix WHEN YOU’RE ‘TASKED’ WITH RUNNING A FORMER TOPGEAR CAR OF the Year winner for six months, you can be confident it’s not going to be a stinker. Surprise surprise, the 4S isn’t, but it hasn’t just been a victory lap either, there have been speed bumps along the way. Mostly in the shape of its sister car from Audi, the e-tron GT. Is the Audi better looking? The majority would say it is, but frankly who cares – the Taycan doesn’t have the same chiselled chops, but it’s a handsome beast nonetheless. More concerning is the handling showdown last month at the UK’s first…

REPORT 4 £74,000 OTR/£86,745 as tested/£1,260pcm WHY IT’S HERE Is BMW’s mighty M3 still the performance saloon benchmark? DRIVER Rowan Horncastle THE EUROPEAN ROADTRIP IS BACK! SO LONG AS YOU CAN PROVE YOU’VE been vaccinated, you can (at the time of writing) travel from the UK to France, then freely around Europe. So, having been devoid of a juicy roadtrip for two years (and thanks to two mates deciding to get married in France and Portugal) instead of getting on four separate low-cost airlines to their Big Days, I decided to join the dots with the 500bhp ‘Green Demon’ – what my non-car mates like to call the M3 – and do it in one hit. It was a 3,650-mile voyage with a random itinerary. One that took the M3…

Lotus Carlton The standard Vauxhall Carlton would not make this list. When Lotus got hold of it, though, the straight-six was enlarged to 3.6-litres, twin turbos were fitted and a conservative top speed of 176mph was announced. Vauxhall VX220 Another Vauxhall and Lotus love affair in the early Noughties led to this – the ultra-lightweight GM-engined sister to the Series 2 Elise. Oh, how we wish Vauxhall still made sports cars. Vauxhall Astra GTE MkII 16v The second-generation Vauxhall Astra was a revelation for Vauxhall, and when it fitted the GTE with its fantastic 150bhp 16v ‘redtop’ engine in 1988 it became a true hot hatch hero. Vauxhall Nova GTE/GSi Known to the rest of the world as the first-generation Opel Corsa, the Nova did a decent job of taking…

CITY CARS These small cars are perfect for urban life, but the trade-off is a much lower range 1. HONDA e PRICE: £28,215–£30,715 RANGE: Up to 136 miles TG’s reigning city car of the year has retro-tastic styling, but the range isn’t great. No worries – you don’t need to drive anywhere, just sit inside it. 2. MINI ELECTRIC PRICE: £26,000–£32,550 RANGE: Up to 145 miles The electric version of the home grown favourite squeezes the BMW i3’s powertrain into a familiar package. Range not massive, but the car’s still fun. 3. FIAT 500e PRICE: £20,495–£27,495 RANGE: Up to 199 miles The latest version of the 500 offers sharper looks, good value and decent range – and a parcel shelf full of soft toys shouldn’t hurt the battery too much.…