BBC Top Gear Magazine February 2024

@jack_rix editor@bbctopgearmagazine.com Due to some spicy festive deadlines, I’m actually writing this two weeks before Christmas in a fog of late nights and turkey lunches. The ideal moment, then, to reflect on what’s been a year of change. Change for us in the TopGear family as we adjust to the TV show being rested for the foreseeable, but also in the auto industry as a whole. Has there ever been a more exciting time to cover cars? I can’t think of one, but then again my brain is clogged with cranberry sauce. The themes are broadly what we’ve been witnessing for a while, but in 2023 somebody, somewhere pinned it because shifts are happening at an unprecedented rate. We know the Chinese are coming to steal everyone else’s lunch, but…

MAGAZINE Order a copy at MagsDirect.co.uk SUBSCRIPTION OFFER buysubscriptions.com/TGSP3M DOWNLOAD The TopGear app from your App Store WEBSITE Visit topgear.com for your rolling hit of news, reviews, entertainment and advice YOUTUBE Subscribe to the TopGear YouTube channel to watch the best car videos on the planet PODCAST Visit topgear.com to download the TopGear podcast @topgear facebook.com/topgear @BBC_TopGear…

Now go and watch the video on topgear.com Although we’re big fans of the Dacia Duster here at TopGear, there’s a slight feeling of unease surrounding this all-new third generation. Why? Well, it looks a bit… too good, bluntly. A bit plush. A little too much equipment and swagger for what is supposed to be a cheap, no nonsense, working hero. But before we do the usual and jump headlong to conclusions, it’s probably worth a little delve into what we’re looking at. For a start, this is a properly new Duster. There’ll be three engines on offer, as well as front-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive options. Already, we raise our collective eyebrow. But bear with us. There’s the Hybrid 140, which comprises a 1.6-litre, 94bhp petrol engine with a 49bhp electric…

Race for Glory: Audi vs Lancia, streams from 5 January, Lionsgate+ The battle between Lancia and Audi in 1983 gets the Hollywood treatment. The film stars Riccardo Scamarcio as Lancia team principal Cesare Fiorio and Daniel Brühl as Audi team boss Roland Gumpert. The trailer promises “a true David vs Goliath story” but will this niche ode to Group B hit the A list? Australian Open 2024 Tired of the cold? Want to watch elite athletes in sun soaked and heat stroked temperatures down under from the comfort of your lounge at midnight? Tah-dah! Follow on BBC Sport TopGear magazine fix You can download the latest edition and back issues direct to your phone or tablet from the App Store. Because when life gives you lemons… settle in and read TG…

Don’t be a hostage to fortune. Just because you’re delighted your new spaniel puppy has mastered a) sitting on command, b) walking to heel, and c) not lavishly defecating into your high-tops, probably best not to rock up on national radio declaring she’ll be the first canine chess grandmaster, and also a shoo-in for the 2028 Nobel Prize in Physics. Underpromise, overdeliver, that’s what we’re saying. Advice sadly not heeded by Maserati at the launch of the Ghibli in 2013, where the ever optimistic Italians announced this would be the car to boost their UK sales by literally ONE THOUSAND PER CENT. Yep, tenfold. In 2012, Maser shifted a paltry 300 cars in the UK, but promised that by 2016, that figure would leap to 3,000, the coquettish Ghibli luring…

Bugatti has unveiled the finalised interior for its track only Bolide hypercar, due later this year. It says the all new, lightweight monocoque is “stronger and stiffer” than the Chiron’s and promotes a racier, reclined seating position so you can live out your Le Mans fantasies with your ankles somewhere north of your ear lobes. Interestingly, not one single part in the car you see here has been carried over from the Chiron, everything has been crafted exclusively for the Bolide, with the outer ‘X’ theme continued inside – note the Farfalle steering wheel (complete with buttons to engage the Bolide’s various driving settings, including launch control and traction control) which is removeable, allowing you to turn the Bolide’s interior into a lounge of sorts. And if you’re wondering why…