Innholdsfortegnelse for Jul-22 i BBC Top Gear Magazine

Question: what are the two most famous watch scenes in movies, and what do they have in common? One is a monologue masterclass from Christopher Walken in Pulp Fiction’s “uncomfortable hunk of metal” scene. In a flashback, Bruce Willis’s character remembers the day his late father’s war buddy presented him with his “birthright” – a gold watch bought by the boy’s great grandfather and passed through the generations, surviving several POW camps secreted uncomfortably in a number of different back passages. The other is the scene in Trading Places where Dan Aykroyd’s yuppie-turned-pauper tries to sell his expensive watch to a pawnshop owner. Despite assurances that it is “singularly unique” and tells time “simultaneously in Monte Carlo, Beverly Hills, London, Paris, Rome, and Gstaad”, a crushed Aykroyd is told: “in…

£76,450 FOR Tesla-smashing build quality, supreme comfort AGAINST Tech overload, compromised headroom With traditional fuel-burning cars, we’ve come to understand there’s a hierarchy. A C-Class won’t be quite as isolated and refined as an E-Class, which is a fine business express but not as opulent or as cosseting as an S-Class. Which is just fine, because that’s what you pay £80k for when you buy the flagship. EVs are blurring those lines. They’re all silent. They’re all swift and seamless. So the divisions between different classes become trickier to justify. And that’s how the new EQE causes the bigger, pricier EQS a headache. The ride comfort in the EQE is something very special indeed. It imperiously irons out bumps, creases and even puddles. It feels on first impression like the…

£22,990 FOR Joyful device for punting around town and country AGAINST Over six feet tall? You won’t fit The cheapest Caterham money can buy. Provided you build it yourself (£2,595 for Caterham to do it for you). And resist the pull of the actually-quite-compelling-and-temptingly-priced options list. Anyway, what’s important about the 170S is that it’s the antithesis of a ‘proper’ Caterham: y’know, one with a slippy diff, rorty zorst and carbon seats. If you’ve always found Caterhams a bit serious-minded and racy, the 170S is here to show you another way. It’s a game little fun haver, never intimidating or borderline psychotic. It’s a car for pottering about in. It’s also the ultimate urban sports car. This little thing scoots around town joyfully. It’s tiny, it’s happy, there’s no blaring…

£41,795 FOR Handy electric range, bold looks, much kit AGAINST Sport mode is borderline comical ‘Spacious, economical, well equipped SUV’ must be the easiest pitch in the world right now, and it shows. What does the plug-in hybrid bring to the table? Approx 40 miles of electric-only range and BIK of eight per cent; attractive for company buyers, but for everyone else? Hmm. It drives well and rides smoothly, but is slower to 62mph than the non plug-in hybrid. Save yourself £5k and stick with the latter: the boot’s bigger and you’ll still see circa 45mpg.…

A tape measure. I knew I’d forgotten something. Budduso is like any other Mediterranean hill town, impossibly ancient and solid, tall houses crowding over narrow cobbled streets, leaning over to keep an eye on the world below. I might be able to get the shuttered windows to open a crack today, given what I’m bringing here in an hour or two. As long as it fits. Because tough though it is, it’s going to come off second best in a scrap with Budduso. Hence the gap checking tape measure. Whoops. I settle for stopping the Fiat Tipo renter between stone and concrete walls and getting out to guess if something over two feet wider will fit. All too often the answer is no. Oh well, should make for a challenge.…

The text message that pinged into my pocket when I was walking out of George Bush Intercontinental Airport sounded simple. But rolling into MacGregor Park on the southside of Houston 30 minutes later, photographer Mark Riccioni and I quickly realised that finding Les spelt with a dollar sign might be a challenge. Partly because we had driven into what looked and felt like a riot, but mainly because the potent and blinding combination of tyre, marijuana and barbeque smoke filling the air hindered our vision. Spilling out of the park to frame the adjacent six-lane highway were hundreds of people; all cheering, jeering and live-streaming the health and safety nightmare we were witnessing. People sipped sizzurp (see slang guide on p84) and smoked joints the size of carrots while motorbikes…

“I SHOULD BE HAPPY AT SKYLINE VALUES. BUT HONESTLY, IT’S A BIT SAD” In the parallel universe known simply as Common Sense Land, I’d have sold the R34 to some utter maniac American for an absurd amount of cash. And the most terrifying thing is, it would’ve easily been one of the better GT-Rs out there for sale. That’s a bit of a lie, because the actual most terrifying thing is it currently has no paint left on it. There’s no bumpers, no engine, no electrics, nothing. It’s a bare metal shell sitting somewhere near Essex, but for once that doesn’t mean it’s been stolen. How’d it end up here? Rather than accept any responsibility, I’d sooner deflect it onto others instead. Like Harlow Jap Autos for selling me it…

#39 SNES/MEGADRIVE, 1993 With modern games like Forza Horizon 5 containing hours of carefully curated, genre-spanning music, it’s easy to forget that racers in the Nineties usually had a bunch of unrecognisable bleeping and blooping to accompany your thrilling, wheel-to-wheel battles. Not so with 1993’s Rock n’ Roll Racing, where as soon as you fired up the game you were treated to a flatulent rendition of “Bad to the Bone” by George Thorogood and the Destroyers. That’s just one track on a playlist that also includes Deep Purple, Steppenwolf and Black Sabbath, ensuring that, at the very least, Rock n’ Roll Racing was never in danger of being reported to trading standards. Fortunately the racing was also present and correct, imagining a future where galactic conflict is settled in jacked…

REPORT 5 NISSAN QASHQAI I go through phases with dual height boot floors. There are times when I can totally see the point, and then others when I find them simply annoying. Of late, I am in the former camp – on the upper setting you can hide away bits and bobs with ease; on the lower setting you get a noticeable amount more space to fill when that’s necessary. While we’re in the boot, I’m also very much in favour of the two hooks on which you can secure your shopping and prevent unexpected omelette mixes occurring on the way home from the supermarket. EN REPORT 6 POLESTAR 2 Having recently upgraded TG’s dual motor P2 to 469bhp (350kW) and 502lb ft via over-the-air witchcraft, we also saw a…

CITY CARS These small cars are perfect for urban life, but the trade-off is a much lower range 1. HONDA e PRICE: £34,365–£37,465 RANGE: Up to 13 miles This TG favourite has retro styling and a brilliant interior, but it’s a smidge expensive and the range isn’t great. Somehow we can’t help but love it… 2. MINI ELECTRIC PRICE: £28,500–£35,050 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 500 PRICE: £22,995–£32,995 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. 4. V…

It kicks off at 8pm on 5 June on BBC One. Be there! Or watch it on iPlayer! Or both Take a solid stance, plant your feet firmly on the ground, and brace yourself – yes, the new series of TopGear is back on BBC1. Where those three middle-aged men get their inspiration from is a mystery, all we can say is they really should know better by now… ON YOUR MARKS, GET SET, FLO’ Over the last few years, Team TopGear has got stuck into a whole bunch of different motorsports, all over the planet. The Baja 1000 in Mexico, Formula Off Road in Iceland, GT racing in the millionaire’s playground of southern Norfolk. And it’s fair to say that, while there’s been plenty of enthusiasm and shouting, there’s…

Huge news for time travel fans – the DeLorean is back. What you see here is the work of Scouser Stephen Wynne and his modern day, Texas-based DeLorean Motor Company. Wynne founded the company in 1995 and acquired the DMC rights, tooling, engineering drawings and company records two years later. Repairs and rebuilds of the original cars were Wynne’s bread and butter for a while, but the company has made multiple previous attempts to bring the car back, with a run of replicas in 2016 and an EV conversion in 2011. This looks like the real deal though. Italdesign – the crayon house founded by Giorgetto Giugiaro, who penned the original – is responsible for the updated shape, with the giant gullwing doors and rear window louvres providing the all-important…

MotoGP 22 It’s rare that TG ventures into the confusing world of trying to prevent a 250 horsepower motorcycle from shooting out between your legs. With MotoGP 22 we thought it was worth the effort because of the game’s answer to a knotty problem: if you’re trying to flog MotoGP games, what do you do when the most popular motorcycle racer in history retires? MotoGP 22’s solution is just to include an additional season. One that Valentino Rossi competed in. Playable documentary ‘Nine’ allows you to relive pivotal moments from a four-way battle for the 2009 title. With 50 minutes of footage it’s remarkably involving, although with events replayed from multiple perspectives it can drag a little. This is especially true if you keep crashing. MotoGP 22 is a proper…

01 Toyota GR Corolla The hot Corolla isn’t coming to the UK, however we do have the fantastic GR Yaris, and the GR86 to look forward to. But what neither of those cars offer is an odd number of exhausts. The GR Corolla has two medium ones either side of the rear bumper and a big’un in the middle. 02 Honda Civic Type R The Civic Type R’s triple exhaust isn’t merely a styling exercise: the smaller central outlet is a resonator, while the outer two feature bigger mufflers further down the pipe. This reduces the boomy engine note so the car is a bit more refined when you’re behaving, and not when you gun it… 03 Lexus LFA An iconic exhaust trinity from a car with possibly the most…

“IT GIVES US ABUNDANT JOY THAT THE GROUND-UP SPORTSTER IS IN SUCH RUDE HEALTH” Don’t think we don’t know it: you always start by jumping to the final paragraphs for a verdict. So – spoiler alert! – I don’t feel bad about opening this test with the main thing we discovered. There are no losers here. I could have, like Boris’s referendum column, written this feature three times with three different winners, then randomly sent one version to be published. Reader, they’re all great. It gives us abundant joy that our favourite kind of car, the ground-up sportster, is in such rude health in the face of an onslaught of over-powered crossovers and four-wheel-drive turbosaloons. Lotus’s product planning seems to have all the foresight of a person who gets drunk…

£35,000 (approx) FOR Pretty and practical cabin, sharp cornering for a crossover AGAINST Hard to drive smoothly in town. Ride a little disturbed The Tonale is far more pragmatic than most previous Alfas, a car not so much for dreamers as for actual buyers. Squillions of people purchase a compact-ish crossover. If just a tiny proportion went Alfa’s way it’d be transformative for the company. Our favourites in this field are the ones that lean towards relaxation: the Evoque and Volvo XC40. The ‘sporty’ ones are less successful. So the Alfa is aiming at an open-ish goal. As a concept car in 2019, the Tonale’s shape was widely liked. Commendably, its lush curves and Alfa motifs have survived unscathed. In the cabin, the Tonale’s design tickles you with some sentimental…

£97,345 FOR Firecracker engine in comfy surroundings, phenomenal looks AGAINST Ageing interior will drive you mad As Lexus plunges into an electric era, its nat-asp V8 flagship becomes even more beguiling. But it’s starting to feel very left behind inside: the new touchscreen in the latest NX is way better than the dated nonsense the LC carries, the LFA-spec instruments are getting old fast and prices have crept up from £91k at launch to £97k now. And yet… it’s still one of Lexus’ finest hours. Indulgent, soulful – a boulevardier with a VTEC-meets-NASCAR heart.…

£30,190 FOR Comfier than the hatch, impressive fuel economy AGAINST A complete fun sponge, unrefined CVT The Corolla Touring Sports has good passenger space, a big boot, solid interior and a comfy ride. We even beat the claimed 57.6mpg, and the ‘Smart Connect’ touchscreen is leagues better than the old ‘Touch 2’ system. But drive and handling are bland beyond belief, and there’s nothing like a noisy CVT to discourage you from being in a hurry. The lack of poke is annoying, so opt for the 2.0-litre instead. You’ll still be bored. But at least you won’t be fashionably late.…

Pitching back through the desert hills towards Las Vegas as the sun sets is one for the highlights reel – especially if you’re fond of a roadtrip. The desert is hot and wide and naturally calm. But the lights of Vegas are a jewel on the horizon. It’s a slow desert with a frantic neon heart pulsing away in the middle of it, a world of mild copyright infringement or tribute, depending on which side of the dusty line you stand. And driving through Vegas in an as-yet-unreleased new Z gives you a bad case of main character syndrome, where everyone else is just a bit part in the blockbuster of your life – especially if there’s a camera present. People shout and wave and jump in front of the…

“IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING THIS IS THE FASTEST TRACK CAR BMW HAS EVER BUILT” Photographic studios are resourceful places. If you look hard you can find enough clobber to make the basic layout of a car: four seats, hi-fi, steering wheel, stepladder as a centre console, vacuum as the motor, cable reel to represent the electrics, there’s a fan in there, a child seat, a broom, helmet, oil can and more besides. Admittedly it got more tenuous. The point is this: that pile you see in the top right photo on the page opposite weighs 100kg. Exactly. I know this because I took my bathroom scales along. And that’s how much weight BMW took out of the standard M4 to create the new CSL. It’s a lot, isn’t it? Although…

It’s so tough buying a car company… you have to feel for these mega corporations that go round hoovering the things up like they’re football cards. There’s all that pressure, especially if you get yourself a historical one. Take Volkswagen, for example. Went on an absolute bender in 1998, snapping up Bentley and Lamborghini as well as Bugatti. It was led at the time by megalomaniac chairman Ferdinand Piëch, a details-obsessed engineer and member of the Porsche family who had a vision for making Volkswagen the largest carmaker in the world. He wanted to cover all bases, and Bugatti was intended to be the star on the top of the Christmas tree. But what on earth would the maker of the people’s car want with a storied French purveyor of…

WHAT’S WITH ALL THE SCAFFOLDING? Very funny. This selection of metal beams represents the two bookends that sandwich the 27-year legacy of one of the most extreme, exciting, physical and fast ways to get from A to B: the Ariel Atom. I’VE NEVER SEEN THAT ORANGE BEAKY THING BEFORE Not many people have. That’s the Atom LSC – the prototype windscreen and doorless lightweight brainchild of Ariel’s boss Simon Saunders. You might recognise the other, that’s his latest work – the most thorough overhaul of the Ariel Atom in its history, the 320bhp, 595kg turbocharged Atom 4. NEARLY 30 YEARS LATER HE STILL HASN’T THOUGHT OF A ROOF? He never will. Ever since reading a chassis design book at 13 where Simon saw a rolling chassis with a V8 on…

1 IT’S INSPIRED BY A VERY SPECIAL 911 See that glorious ducktail spoiler and the Fuchs-style wheels on the new Porsche 911 Sport Classic? They’re both present because this retro 992 is inspired by the magical 1973 Carrera 2.7 RS. Porsche couldn’t have picked a better starting point. 2 IT’S NOT THE FIRST SPORT CLASSIC Readers over the age of 13 will remember that back in 2009 Porsche unveiled a Sport Classic based on the 997-gen 911. This new one follows a very similar theme – it’ll be a limited edition with just 1,250 examples available worldwide and in the UK it’ll cost £209,540. Yikes. 3 IT’S WIIIIIDE The body is the same as the one fitted to the 992 Turbo, meaning it’s 50mm wider than a standard Carrera or…

£42,695 FOR Great to drive, cheaper(er) to run and relatively cost-effective AGAINST Load will affect range, still a fairly stiff initial investment It doesn’t take a huge intellectual leap to see why electric power suits a delivery van: they’re quiet, don’t pollute when idling during parcel drops, smooth, easy to operate, torquey, cheaper to run and maintain than the average diesel and can slip into low-emission zones like particulate-avoiding ninjas. They also tend to end up back at a depot for convenient, cheap charging come night time. There have been full-size e-vans before the E-Transit, but they tended to have ranges in the double figures and list prices that start with a six. Which meant that despite cheaper overall running costs, you lost convenience and work time, and your ‘real…

£23,155 FOR Surprisingly spacious, composed enough ride AGAINST Cheap interior, sluggish and noisy three-cylinders Another day, another new coupe crossover. Except the Taigo isn’t technically an all-new car, more a rebadged ‘Nivus’, as it’s called in South America. It feels a very half-hearted effort, too: VW expects it to sell based on its looks but there are more eye-catching options out there, while the interior feels a little cheap and uninspired. The driving experience isn’t on the same level as something like the Ford Puma, either – we know where we’d spend our money.…

EXPECTED 2022 HONDA CIVIC TYPE R The new Civic Type R looks set to be revealed in July, and there’s likely to be efficiency helping mild-hybrid tech on the 2.0-litre motor that’s rumoured to have 350–400bhp. Enough to compete with the likes of the VW Golf R, Mercedes A45 and Audi RS3 – though the R will likely remain a front-wheel-drive monster with a limited-slip diff. Just think about that on a wet Welsh B-road. Still, the current Type R remains one of the most entertaining driver’s cars bar none, so expect it to be loud, brash and very, very good. There’s also a new Integra slated for launch in the US in 2023, but it’s now a five-door hatch with a “high output” 1.5-litre VTEC four and a manual…

“Did y’all see the pin-up girl has arrived?” The news is delivered by one of the show’s organisers – male, late 40s, looking far more excited than he should. “We’ve got to get her into your truck!” Quite a lot to unpack here. I can only assume he means photograph this upstanding member of the military in and around our car, rather than bundling her into the frunk, but nothing’s certain. And then there’s the phrase ‘pin-up girl’, surely that died sometime in the late Sixties? This is a story about whether a country is willing to call time on its love affair with oil and embrace a cleaner future. Is America ready to change? On this evidence… er, not really. Texas is truck country. One in five Ford F-Series…

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TOYOTA MR2 (1999) Price now £4,250 Harris says Put thoughts of a badly bodykitted Ferrari replica aside – you’re better than that. Standard second gen MR2s are great though. It’s mid-engined, RWD and has pop-up headlights. What more could you want? FERRARI MONDIAL 8 (1981) Price now £33,000 Harris says Ha, get us being all funny. The first iteration of the 2+2, V8-engined Mondial wasn’t exactly quick, and yes it was ludicrously expensive, but it’s still a Pininfarina-designed Ferrari that you can buy for new Ford Focus money. HONDA NSX (1991) Price now £48,000 Harris says OK, so they’re not exactly a bargain these days, but surely first-generation NSX values are only going to go up. And that means it’d be a sensible investment, right? Buy one with the manual…

GO TO TOPGEAR.COM FOR MORE MIND-BLOWING MANUFACTURER GUIDES Who’s Suzuki, and when did it start making cars? Suzuki is a car manufacturer, except when it isn’t. You see, Suzuki actually makes a lot of things: motorbikes, ATVs, outboard engines for boats… it’s the industry’s jack of all trades. It began life as far away from cars as you can imagine, founded by Michio Suzuki in 1909 as a manufacturer of weaving looms. The business grew steadily over the next few decades despite economic turmoil in the Twenties, and even though things were going well Michio had ambitions beyond the weaving industry. In the Thirties he began experimenting with automobiles, even going as far as building a prototype, but WW2 put those plans on hold. After the war, Suzuki’s decimated business was allowed…