Everything you need to know about cars this week: 17 Jan ‘21

"The new Fiat 500 and Honda e both snick through narrow gaps and bag tight parking spots. They evade the toxicity and congestion charges and often get free parking while they’re plugged in. Bystanders regard them with a smile, as they’re largely noiseless and unpolluting, and their design enhances the townscape. Most of all, within the confines of a city and a ring-road, they’re riotous fun."

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"This is Nio’s first saloon – a direct Tesla Model S rival that’s due to go on sale early next year for the equivalent of around £51,000. It’s called the ET7 and the big news is range – the top-of-the-line model has a ginormous 150kWh battery pack and, says the company, a range of over 621 miles (or a nice, round 1,000km)."

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"In the 1970s, a man named Jerry Hathaway, besotted with the glorious Citroen SM, began work on modifying one of the French beauties in the hope of making it really very fast."

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"The headlines are as follows. A 1.4-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine makes 148bhp and 184lb ft of torque. That’s connected to a six-speed DSG gearbox and a 109bhp electric motor, and when both come on song there’s a peak of 242bhp and 295lb ft of torque."

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"It’s over two years since Audi pulled the covers off its e-tron GT concept car. But – hurrah! – the wait for the production version is very nearly over. It is mere weeks away."

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"Formula 1 will return a week later than originally planned, after the Australian GP was postponed because of “the ongoing situation regarding Covid-19”. The traditional season-opening GP in Melbourne will now take place on 21 November, meaning the first race of this year’s F1 calendar will be the Bahrain GP on 28 March."

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"The Taycan’s first full year on sale saw 20,015 find buyers, which isn’t far off the 21,784 who bought a 718 – aka both the Boxster and Cayman combined."

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"It’s the Kona N, the latest entrant into the ‘small fast crossover’ market. A market which remains – surprisingly – quite sparsely populated. At the level this Kona operates at, almost everything’s made by the Volkswagen group, with just the BMW X2 M35i and Mercedes GLA35 combating the Audi SQ2, Cupra Formentor and VW T-Roc R from elsewhere."

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"Litchfield has revealed it intends to do unholy things to one of the hot hatch hall of fame’s newest entrants. It intends to begin upgrading and tuning the mighty Toyota GR Yaris."

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"The Porsche Boxster is 25 years old in 2021. As if this year hadn’t been taxing enough already, we’re now feeling positively ancient."

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"As you can see, it has the widebody package and carbon fibre aero of the racer, as well as mighty side-exit exhausts and a roll-hooped interior. Classic Youngtimers has also fitted OZ magnesium wheels and custom headlights, as well as a racing fuel filler and fully adjustable Intrax suspension."

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"The 5 gets hatch-like ‘Parametric Pixel’ looks but will actually be a mid-size crossover, and those aero-optimised wheels are pretty big 20-inchers. It’s the first Hyundai vehicle to feature a clamshell bonnet too, which should look striking to say the least."

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"Like the vast majority of PHEVs the A3 wants to use all its battery power before calling on the petrol engine. Which is fine for pottering around locally, but for longer trips you might want to save some e-power for later. Programme a route into the nav and the car should help you do this, or you can do it manually with the Battery Hold or Battery Charge functions."

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"First, you have to navigate buying your Taycan. At the moment there are three versions – the 4S, Turbo and Turbo S. Prices start at £83,580 for the 4S, the Turbo is another £32,280 and the Turbo S another £22,970 on top of that. Every Taycan is, therefore, a Very Expensive Car."

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"Chassis number 00900043 was the second 935 campaigned by John Paul Sr and his son John Paul Jr’s racing team – JLP Racing. Known as JLP-2, this 935 was actually purchased as parts and built from the ground up by JLP and Kremer. That meant it included upgraded bits, with a particular focus on chassis rigidity and braking – useful when the twin-turbocharged 3.2-litre flat six was putting out in excess of 740bhp."

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"One glance at this crisp little concept puts one number in your mind. Five. Yup, it’s a new Renault 5. No surprise that it’s being revived as an electric car. And there will be a hot-hatch Alpine version."

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"Renault’s big shiny plan means Dacia and Lada will be tied together to form a “dedicated business unit”, and together will account for seven of the 24 vehicles the group will launch by the end of 2025. This includes a new Lada Niva we are, regrettably, unlikely to get in the UK, as well as the Bigster. All will be on the CMF-B platform."

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"Heavyweight news, delivered by two of the car world’s lightweight stars. Alpine and Lotus have today confirmed plans to play together in the sandbox of electricity."

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"In endurance racing, the secret to winning is to A) don’t crash and B) build a car that doesn’t need to visit the pits very often. Reliable, fuel-efficient racers rack up more laps and get trophies. So, Toyota’s been busy with a clever hybrid system for the GR010."

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