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Everything you need to know about cars this week: 24 Nov '19
A controversial week thanks to the Aston DBX, RSQ8, electric 'Stang and some Tesla
The Aston Martin DBX is finally here
"The DBX isn’t just another new Aston, it’s a potential lifeline for the company.
"It’s dicey times for the British company with ambitions to bring us multiple hypercars, mid-engine supercars and revive Lagonda as an all-electric Rolls Royce rival in the next few years, on top of replacing its existing range.
"To do all that it needs to shift more metal… enter the default tonic, an SUV."
Advertisement - Page continues belowThe Mustang now comes in electric SUV flavour
"Here’s Ford’s new all-electric car. You’ll have noticed it’s a five-door crossover like most of the world’s big EVs. But to make you want it, they’re calling it the Mustang Mach-E.
"OK, so a battery-driven family crossover isn’t what you’d associate with the word Mustang. But in many ways it’s not a total imposter. Several design elements hint at the pony car.
"And ‘it absolutely drives like a Mustang’. So says Dave Pericak, the engineer in charge of all Ford’s ‘icon’ cars."
The Maybach is now available as an actual SUV
"How can we convey what the Mercedes-Maybach GLS 600 stands for? Well, try this gem from the press release on for size. 'The new Mercedes-Maybach GLS has its own signature fragrance: the white osmanthus blossom, floral and light, is rounded off by a gentle leather note and spicy tea.'
"Yep, that’s the level we’re talking about here people."
Advertisement - Page continues belowYes, this really is the Tesla pick-up truck
"Meet the Cybertruck. No, we’ve never seen anything like it before either. Tesla’s answer to conventional pick-ups from Ford, GM and Dodge, it takes its inspiration from somewhere else entirely. Including, according to Elon Musk, the Lotus Esprit."
The new Corsa is a good Vauxhall
"All other Corsas have reeked of mediocrity, but this one drives with poise and precision, it’s very refined, it’s efficient, it’s comfortable and it looks smart. It’s less toylike. More desirable.
"It gives Vauxhall hope of what can be done with its new French overlords signing cheques and sharing tech."
The Ferrari Roma has quite the key
"An interesting key fob is not, we’ll freely admit, the number one reason to drop the best part of £200,000 on a new car, but at this rarefied end of the market every little helps.
"Judging by the temperature on social media, some like the monolithic simplicity of it, some think it looks like a knock-off Zippo lighter you’d buy at a dodgy market on your holidays."
Bloodhound has hit 628mph
"Bloodhound has finished its high speed testing programme in South Africa, hitting 628mph. Not a record, but then that was never the intention.
"And 628mph is fast. If you count in metric it’s beyond the magic 1,000kmh barrier, and puts Bloodhound in the thick of previous land speed record contenders. Although only set in one direction, it neatly bisects the Blue Flame’s 622mph two-way record-setting average from 1970, and Thrust 2’s 633mph record set 13 years later."
Advertisement - Page continues belowThe Mini GP looks just as nuts as we hoped
"Good news: the new Mini GP looks exactly as mad as we thought and indeed hoped it might.
"It’s those wheel-arches, really. Made from thermoplastic and carbon fibre-reinforced plastic recycled from the production of the BMW i3 and i8 (both of which use part-CFRP chassis), they mask a 40mm wider track. Then there’s the spoiler…"
Maserati's cooking up something quite special
"Spy shots and sports cars. Two things almost as old as the car industry itself, it seems. And Maserati has neatly combined the two in one of the more bizarre press releases of 2019.
"What we see here, apparently, is “the first ‘mule’ for the development of the new Maserati powertrain being driven out of the Viale Ciro Menotti gates”. This is Maser’s new engine in testing, and beyond that, we’re only told we’ll see the finished car in May 2020."
Advertisement - Page continues belowNot seen enough SUVs this week? Here's the Audi RSQ8
"What we have here is basically a Lamborghini Urus, smartened up for a day in court, wearing an Audi suit. It’s been detuned a tad and the interior sports fewer hexagons.
"But it’s still a megatank. A galloping, Nürburgring lap record setting monument to Germany rebelling against Extinction Rebellion."
Solace has arrived in the form of... a Lexus
"Well, that’s a tonic for the senses, isn’t it? This is the production version of a car we first saw at the start of the year. It is the Lexus LC500 Convertible, and it is quite lovely indeed.
"One might go as far as saying, it is really, really ridiculously good-looking."
The LA motor show was full of the good, the bad and the rad
"Here’s the big – and, if the comments are anything to go by, controversial – car from the show: the Ford Mustang Mach-E electric SUV.
"The opinion splitting five-door crossover is Ford’s new all-electric car and some people have got really rather angry that it's got a Mustang badge on it."
Karma's latest concept car certainly has doors
"This is the Karma SC2 concept – and we can say with almost absolute certainty that it’ll never make production. Ever.
"Like the wild, roofless SC1 Vision concept that we saw earlier this year, though, there is apparently a powertrain underneath, and this time Karma has given us some details to chew on.
Volkswagen might just have saved the estate car
"Hurrah, rejoice and make merry, for we finally have a fully-electric estate car in the world. Thank you, Volkswagen.
"In the scramble to unveil EV SUVs the world seemed to forget just how practical, aerodynamic and cool the humble estate could be. Alright, alright, the ID. Space Vizzion is still a concept for now, but VW says it previews a production car that will arrive in late 2021."
Ken Block drifted a 900bhp truck up a mountain
"A man has driven up a really long, high and winding road in China using a pick-up truck. Ordinarily, this is an experience already laced with danger and jeopardy.
"This is no ordinary. Replace all the component parts of that first sentence with ‘Ken Block’, ‘Tianmen Mountain Road’, and ‘modified 900bhp Ford F-150 Hoonitruck’, add in lots of ‘sideways’, and you’re staring down the thick end of ‘oh god what was he thinking’."
Mountune has tuned up the Golf GTI
"Eight pounds and twenty-two pence per horsepower. That’s how much it’ll cost you to fit Mountune’s new 87bhp Stage 1 ECU upgrade for the Mk7.5 VW Golf GTI.
"As well as 306bhp, the re-tune provides 92lb ft of extra torque – bringing the GTI’s total figure to a nice round 350lb ft from its 2.0-litre turbo four-pot. The extra grunt also drops the 0-60mph time from 6.4 to 5.4 seconds. Lovely."
The Aston DBX configurator is already live...
"We absolutely love a configurator here at TG. We’re almost ashamed to admit that we get a little bit excited by a fully-stocked colour palette that lets you play with thousands of different combinations. And Aston Martin has provided exactly that with the DBX.
"You’re not just limited to just standard Aston colours either – the Q Palette brings bonkers options such as Kermit Green, Golden Saffron and Flugplatz Blue for your 2.2-tonne SUV."
...as is the Ford Mustang Mach-E's
"The most eye-catching Mach-E paint is the ‘Grabber Blue Metallic’ which is available on the limited-run First Edition cars.
"Standard and extended range RWD or AWD models get ‘Rapid Red Metallic’ or varying shades of black/grey/white – one of which has a slight blue tinge. The base-spec Mach-E features a slightly cheaper looking grille surround too."
Meet the remote-controlled Lego Technic Top Gear Rally Car
"The Lego Technic TG Rally Car will be available next month; a 463-piece model (that TG helped design) that includes a large motor, an XL motor, and a Bluetooth controlled smart hub.
"Which means once you’ve built the Rally Car and downloaded the Lego Technic Control+ app onto your smartphone, you can pretend you’re on a rally stage thanks to full driving functionality, along with multi-touch and gyro controls."
Citroen has broken our hearts and left WRC
"With 102 victories, Citroen is the most successful carmaker in World Rallying. Sebastien Loeb’s record nine consecutive championships were all with Citroen, in a mix of Xsaras, C4s and DS3s.
"It’d be easy to speculate the brand’s exit is about more than a lack of driver options given its illustrious history, but for now we shall doff our branded podium cap and remember one of WRC’s feistiest competitors. Au revoir, Citroen."
In better news, Billy Monger will race in Extreme E
"Billy Monger’s incredible comeback will continue in 2021 as he takes part in the inaugural season of the all-electric off-road series Extreme E.
"The remarkable 20-year-old underwent a double leg amputation after a British Formula 4 crash in back 2017, but he has since been making his way up the single-seater championships in specially adapted cars.
"Extreme E, the off-road cousin of Formula E, will represent a huge change in scenery for the talented youngster, though."
JCB’s Fastrac Two is the fastest tractor in the world
"JCB has broken the record for the world’s fastest tractor. Its Fastrac Two hit a two way average of 135.91mph at Elvington Airfield in York.
"The run eclipses the previous record-breaking speed of 103.6mph, set back in June this year with JCB’s Fastrac One."
Hyundai has been testing a mid-engined sports car
"Welcome, Internet, to the latest instalment of Hyundai’s odd little RM series. Its occasional dabble into Velosters-with-the-engine-in-the-back has resurfaced with renewed vigour thanks to a motorsport livery, a racecar engine and a ginormous wing.
“The RM19 signals future brand aspirations for Hyundai’s high-performance N brand, solidly moving N into the prestigious arena of supercar-level performance,” says Hyundai product boss Thomas Schemera."
Pininfarina is preparing Battista customers with a Formula E drive
"Pininfarina willingly admits that most customers for the upcoming 1,900bhp Battista will have never driven an EV before.
"So, how best to introduce deposit holders and potential buyers to that feeling of all-electric performance? Well, a day of circuit driving, working up from a Tesla Model 3 all the way to a Formula E car sounds like a decent start right?"
Of course Toyota's given the RAV4 300bhp
"Nowadays, when life is generally sad and music is usually rubbish, you can park a 300bhp Toyota RAV4 on your driveway. Just consider that for a second. It’s more power than you can get from a Ford Focus ST… tucked away in a midsize SUV.
"If you’re anything like us, your first reaction to this news is a kind of “Whuuuuuhhh?” noise, as bemusement courses through your system like one too many whiskies."
Porsche 718 Boxster: the in-depth review
"Reviewing a Boxster used to be easy. Lavishly pour praise on every single thing it does, watch it sweep its rivals mercilessly aside, sit and await internet comments accusing your publication of Porsche bias.
"It’s been an unstoppable force since its 1996 introduction, a car with the ruthless, unstoppable quality of Fergie-era Manchester United. And similar levels of likability for those bored of its group test dominance.
"But this 718 Boxster is (to really draw out the football analogy) a car of two halves."
The 718's replacement will likely be electric, though
"Porsche is close to a decision on making a ground-up all-electric car that will eventually replace the 718.
"Porsche’s CEO Oliver Blume told Top Gear: 'In all our segments – saloons, SUVs and two-door sports cars – we are looking at having combustion, hybrid and electric.'"
Yikes! The 1,972bhp Lotus Evija will drift
"And lo, it begins. Lotus has begun testing the car that will mark an entirely new chapter in the long, winding history of the fabled British sports car maker.
"A car that, at first glance, is unlike any other Lotus that’s ever been. Though, that’s the point of these tests. Despite being one of the world’s most powerful production cars, the upcoming 1,972bhp Lotus Evija will still have to drive like… a Lotus.
"And thanks to this little teaser video, we can confirm that yes, it will drift. Very important."
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