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Everything you need to know about cars this week: 7 Oct 2018
Everything worth knowing from the Paris show, and much besides.
Oshkosh JLTV: driving the US Army's new war-machine
"I only get two attempts at the water splash before the JLTV empties the gulley. This machine can wade through five feet of water – twice what its predecessor could manage. It goes 50 miles further on a tank, and 4,000 extra miles between services. Its maintenance costs and fuel savings are projected to save the US taxpayer $8.3bn over the JLTV’s entire life-cycle."
Advertisement - Page continues belowReview: Cupra Ateca
"There's not much else like it for the money, so long as you can get your head around the badge… and the price"
Forza Horizon 4 review: the best of Britain
"The decision to set the latest entry in the wildly successful Forza Horizon series in Britain was always a risky move. After tearing around exotic locations like the South of France and Australia’s Gold Coast, arriving on the rain-battered shores of the UK might have made the game’s Horizon festival feel like a wet weekend at Pontins Camber Sands. In hindsight, we needn’t have worried."
Advertisement - Page continues belowThis is the 237bhp Skoda Kodiaq vRS. At last
"Much as we’d like to totally ignore the Skoda Kodiaq vRS’s official reveal – purely in protest at what must be one of the most drawn-out teaser campaigns in history – we’re not going to, because Britain loves a hot Skoda. And besides, there’s every chance this thing could be pretty good. The regular Kodiaq is a two-time Top Gear award winner, don’t forget…"
The Skoda Vision RS is a 242bhp hybrid hot hatch
"The Vision RS relies on the VW Group’s 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbo engine, which puts out 148bhp. Not much, huh? Ah, but the future won’t depend on old-fashioned cylinders banging up and down. So, the Vision RS adds a 100bhp dollop of electric squirt, which drops the 0-62mph sprint down to 7.1 seconds. Skoda says total system power is 242bhp."
Elon Musk reaches deal with US regulators
"Elon Musk has agreed to step down as chairman of Tesla, after reaching a deal with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Musk and Tesla will also have to pay a $20million fine, though he is allowed to continue as CEO. The regulator filed a lawsuit against Musk last week, alleging a tweet in which he claimed he’d secured funding for a buyout of Tesla at $420 per share was “false and misleading”.
Yep, it's a £1.6m, bombproof Rolls-Royce Cullinan limo
"This stretch Cullinan is the work of German company Klassen, and for the reasonable sum of, erm, 1.8million euros (about £1.6m) your XXL Rolls will come with level nine ballistic protection. Quite what that entails we don’t know, but it’s presumably more than enough for the average school run or tootle past Harrods."
Advertisement - Page continues belowInfiniti’s Project Black S is a 563bhp Q60 with F1 tech
"This is an Infiniti Q60 that you can neither drive, nor buy. Not yet, anyway. It’s a technical exercise; a result of a conversation between Infiniti and its friends (partners) over at Renault Sport F1. The question? How can F1 tech be made relevant for road use. The answer? A 563bhp, dual-hybrid, bewinged two-seat coupe with a trim spec even The Dark Knight himself would be proud of."
The Hyundai i30N Option wants you to play Spot the Difference
"The N Option is unlikely to be an outright model in itself; its maker describes it as a Paris show car that “gives a first glimpse of how Hyundai’s high-performance offer could evolve”, essentially hinting that much of the goodies will become optional. You can already add lighter wheels, bigger brakes and some proper Recaros to an i30N as special options, and this car suggests more is on the way."
Advertisement - Page continues belowSebastien Ogier is returning to Citroen’s rally team
"From 2019, Sebastien Ogier –and co-driver Julien Ingrassia – will return to the team, seven years after departing Citroen for Volkswagen. Where they went on to chalk up four consecutive world championships, adding a fifth at M Sport last year."
The K-ZE is Renault's next affordable EV
"Say hello to Renault’s next electric car. The K-ZE is an ‘SUV-inspired’ EV with a claimed range of around 155miles on the old NEDC cycle. We know that doesn’t sound like much – Renault’s existing EV, the Zoe, can go farther than that – but don’t fret."
Mercedes has revamped the B-Class minivan
"Ready to take the fight to the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer, the new B-Class uses the same front-wheel-drive architecture as the A-Class hatch. The bodyshell has simply been jacked up and bloated out to provide more space inside – making it easier to get the kiddies and all the stuff that goes along with them in and out."
This is the bigger, lighter, techier new BMW 3 Series
"This is the new BMW 3 Series saloon and first of all, it’s stolen Peugeot’s headlights. Look! Bookending the merged kidney grilles are headlights with little notches of bodywork eating into them. Very Peugeot 3008."
The Renault EZ-ULTIMO is a limo without a chauffeur
"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to another game of car industry buzzword bingo! This week’s entrant? Why, it’s Renault’s new autonomous (check), electric (double-check), connected (triple-check), sharable (and… BINGO) ‘EZ-ULTIMO’ Concept."
Citroen: every car will be electrified from 2025
"Citroen boss Linda Jackson has confirmed that every car her company produces from 2025 onwards will be either fully electric or a plug in hybrid. And that’s from a standing start: the first plug in hybrid will be the C5 Aircross PHEV (pictured above), making its debut in Paris this week, but not on sale until 2020."
Porsche will put the 911 Speedster into production
"Such was the clamour for Porsche to go ahead and build the 911 Speedster Concept it presented at its 70th birthday celebrations back in June, it’s decided to do just that. At this week’s Paris Motor Show, the company announced it plans to build 1,948 (the original 356 was signed-off in 1948) Speedsters, and that production is scheduled to begin early next year."
Mazda is going to build a rotary engine again!
"We love a good engine here at Top Gear towers, especially good engines from Mazda. To be more specific, rotary engines from Mazda. Today, the company has confirmed it will – finally – return to the configuration it made famous via the likes of the RX-7 and 787B: it will build a rotary engine!"
The new Ferrari 488 Pista Spider is *fast*
"Welcome everyone, to the new Ferrari 488 Pista Spider, a convertible version of dynamically the best car Ferrari has ever made. After initially being unveiled at the Monterey car week festivities in California’s Pebble Beach, it’s now arrived in Europe, at the Paris Motor Show. And as you can see, it has a stripe."
Vietnamese carmaker VinFast debuts new saloon and SUV
"Germany. Italy. Vietnam. It’s the obvious car-manufacturing trilogy. Well, it could be in years to come, as VinFast – Vietnam’s first volume car manufacturer – debuted its first car models at the Paris Motor Show."
It’s the new Land Rover Defender!*
"This is not a special edition. It’s not a new-old one either. It’s not a modified one, nor is it a Bond special nor mad racing version. It is, in fact, the new new Land Rover Defender, revealed here by Land Rover in camouflage guise, lurking suspiciously near Land Rover’s base."
Mercedes: no AMG ‘Project Two’ hypercar planned
"Despite calling the new AMG hypercar ‘One’ (hinting it could be the start of a series as well as the current pinnacle) incoming Merc boss Ola Källenius put the kibosh on any talk of a family of hyper-Benzes. 'There are no plans [for an AMG Two] at the moment', the imposing Swede told TopGear.com. The One is the one."
Oof! It's the Audi R8 GT3 Evo racecar
"This is the new Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo, and you won’t see a hornier, angrier racecar today. It arrives at the Paris Motor Show just as its cousin – the Lamborghini Huracan – has received the same GT3 Evo treatment. Essentially, even racecars get mid-life facelifts."
The new Audi SQ2 is an S3 on stilts
"We knew an Audi SQ2 was coming. It was logical that Audi would crown its smallest crossover’s range with a go-fast, look-at-my-four-exhaust-pipes flagship. But we didn’t think it would be this fast. The new Audi SQ2 is, as it turns out, a bit of a closet rocketship."
The Kia e-Niro electric SUV has a 301 mile range
"Here’s another (probably) affordable electric crossover with a WLTP range above 300 miles. Well, 301, and a mile is as good as a miss isn’t it. The Kia e-Niro goes on sale here in March next year. It was unveiled at the Paris Motor Show, and a quick hop into the back seat revealed it is indeed usefully bigger than the Hyundai Kona EV with which it shares its battery and electric gubbins."
Welcome to Top Gear’s Speed Week 2018!
"This is the big one: 14 of the world’s finest performance cars, a total combined displacement of 48,312cc, 7,640bhp over 36 driven wheels and a whopping £4,052,991 total value. Welcome, one and all, to Top Gear’s Speed Week 2018."
Video: your complete guide to the 2018 Paris Motor Show
"From the new BMW 3 Series to the Ferrari Monza by way of Suzuki Jimny, Porsche 911 Speedster and more, here’s your complete guide to the 2018 Paris Motor Show."
Review: Ariel Atom 4
"The most thorough and complete overhaul of the Ariel Atom in its 20 year history. I know, I know, a passing glance won’t convince you much has changed. You might pick up the new intake hood, a hint that the stance is meaner, that something’s different about the nose. So to help you out, here’s a comprehensive list of every single part that has been carried over: the pedal box, the fuel cap, the steering wheel and top six inches of the steering column. That’s it."
Listen to the 1,100bhp Aston Martin Valkyrie SCREAM
"Aston Martin is building a street (and non-street) legal hypercar called Valkyrie. It is being powered by a 6.5-litre naturally-aspirated V12 designed and built by Cosworth. Now we can reveal that said 6.5-litre naturally-aspirated V12 built by Cosworth sounds utterly, tremendously excellent."
Take a stroll through 60 years of Cosworth history
"The brand created its first engine for Formula Junior back in 1959, working on the design to build the DFV engine in ‘67, which remains the most successful engine of all time in Formula 1, powering the likes of James Hunt and Jackie Stewart to wins. Cosworth worked with a total of 55 teams during its time in Formula 1."
The new McLaren 720S Track Pack saves 24kg
"Stop right there. Do not press go on your new McLaren 720S order. Take the pen away from the dotted line, until you’ve digested this. If your 710bhp twin-turbo British supercar is going to be earning its keep doing track days, you’ll want to know McLaren’s latest optional extra inside-out."
Video: the 14 cars of TG's Speed Week 2018
"Ladies and gentlemen, may we present to you our 14 contenders for this year’s Speed Week. From the Bugatti Chiron right down to the Ford Fiesta ST, here’s the full line-up…"
