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Everything you need to know about cars this week: 25 Oct '20
SSC breaks a speed record, plus we drive the Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport
Review: Mercedes-Benz GLE Coupe
"Superb at striding along motorways. Not comfy enough in town. But it’s all about the image, right?"
Advertisement - Page continues belowSpeed Week 2020: seven amazing facts about the 302bhp Mini GP
"The third-gen GP is the first roadgoing Mini with more than 300bhp. Its 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine, shared with the BMW M135i among others, makes 302bhp and 332lb ft."
Review: BMW M5 Competition
"The quickest M5 ever is also the comfiest M5 ever. Maybe the most complete super saloon of them all"
Advertisement - Page continues belowDS 7 Crossback E-Tense 4x4 review: a worthy X3/Q5 rival?
"It’s the same system as found in the Peugeot 3008 GT Hybrid4, which means a 1.6-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine mated to two electric motors (one front, one rear) and a 13.2kWh battery. All-electric range is 34 miles at speeds of up to 80mph, and there’s a useful 296bhp and 384lb ft of torque when all the propulsion systems combine."
SSC’s Tuatara is the fastest car in the world with 331mph top speed
"Top Gear can exclusively reveal that Shelby SuperCars (SSC) North America has set a new top speed record for a production car, hitting a v-max of 331mph and setting a two-way average of 316.11mph on a seven-mile stretch of closed road just outside of Las Vegas, Nevada."
The new Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid has 690bhp
"The Porsche 911 GT2 RS is mind-bendingly quick – largely thanks to its 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat six that produces a frankly terrifying 690bhp. Turns out, Porsche will sell you the same amount of power in an altogether different format. Welcome, Internet, to the new 690bhp Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid. Crikey."
Renault boss: Alpine could become a 'mini-Ferrari'
"Renault’s Alpine division has dodged a bullet. Early this year there was speculation it would be shut. Now Renault boss Luca de Meo tells us it will spawn new variants of the A110, perhaps including an EV. Plus there will be Alpine versions of other Renaults. The renaming of Renault’s Formula One team as Alpine shows how the plan is serious."
Advertisement - Page continues belowWe desperately want this South American Fiat in the UK
"Welcome everyone to the jacked-up, plastic-arched Fiat Mobi Trekking. Isn’t it cute? Yeah, we might still get the Panda 4x4 over here, but that costs around £15,000 these days. The Mobi Trekking starts at the equivalent of £6,500."
Travis Pastrana’s new Gymkhana livery is wild
"The livery is a collaboration between Pastrana and Hoonigan’s CCO Brian Scotto. Wanting to bring in parts of Travis’ personality and Hoonigan’s legendary zero fudges attitude, the Subaru is decked out in nods to Pastrana’s home state of Maryland as well as his love for plaid."
Advertisement - Page continues belowSpeed Week 2020: Porsche Taycan vs Audi RS6
"Welcome to the most intriguing clash of Speed Week 2020. The wheeled equivalent of a chart showdown between Iron Maiden and Billie Eilish – an icon of heavy metal versus something electronic the kids are into – logic suggests they’re two completely different entities for two completely different audiences."
Review: BMW 5 Series
"It's comfy, it drives well, it's got performance *and* eco options... There's really not much to criticise"
Review: Kia Sorento
"It's pricey for a Korean SUV, but it's roomy, well appointed and will be a doddle to live with"
10 of the most interesting Range Rovers ever built
"I’m at Goodwood. Bit different this year – no Festival of Speed or Revival because COVID. Instead something called Goodwood ‘Speed Week’ (no relation), held behind closed doors at the Motor Circuit over a weekend in October. And this is no ‘ordinary’ queue of Range Rovers, like one you might happen upon outside the local prep school at 4pm any given weekday. It’s a queue of very special Range Rovers, assembled to celebrate a half-century since arguably the original SUV was launched in 1970."
Gaming: the cars of Cyberpunk 2077
"If you’re a keen gamer, you’re probably already well aware that sprawling retro sci-fi roleplaying game Cyberpunk 2077 is landing on 19 November alongside the new PS5 and Xbox Series X. You may even be organised enough to have already faked your own death in order to clear a substantial enough space in your diary to enjoy it."
Woah: Hummer is back with a 1,000bhp all-electric ‘supertruck’
"It’s electric for starters, with GM’s clever new ‘Ultium’ batteries and three e-motors giving an estimated 1,000bhp, 11,500lb ft of torque and around 350 miles of range. 0-60mph takes “approximately three seconds”, while 350kW DC charging can supposedly replenish 100 miles of charge in just ten minutes."
The Hyundai i20N Rally2 wants to go get muddy
"Rally2 is the new name for the R5 class, with these cars aimed at customers and privately run rally teams. So you stump up £150,000 (or more), stick all your sponsor’s stickers on the outside, then go and have a jolly nice time. There’ll be a much harder-cored i20N WRC – to fight for world championship honours in the hands of hot-shoe professionals – in due course."
The Hyundai i20N is Korea’s new 201bhp hot hatch
"Welcome to one of 2020’s easiest-to-understand new cars. This isn’t a niche-busting crossover-urban-SUV hotchpotch with a hybrid propulsion system that even Tony Stark couldn’t explain. Nope, this is old-school. The new Hyundai i20N is a little hot hatch with big potential."
SuperCharge is a brand-new kind of electric motorsport
"Circuits will be around 1km long but feature-packed, with a jump, ‘low-friction zones’ and a water splash. Racers will also have to take a joker lap once every race, rallycross-style."
Nico Rosberg now has his own Extreme E team
"Remember just last month when we brought you news of Lewis Hamilton’s new Extreme E team ‘X44’? Well, hold on to your fireproof balaclavas, because Nico Rosberg has set up his own team too. "
Oh yes, the Alfa Romeo BAT cars are heading to auction
"The trio have been together in the same private collections since 1989, when a private collector took advantage of Nuccio Bertone’s visit to the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and made an offer to the three then owners at the same time. Now they’re up for sale again, courtesy of auction house RM Sotheby’s."
The wild Ford Focus RSRX from Gymkhana Nine is for sale
"Gymkhana Nine has clocked up a massive 45 MILLION views since it was released in 2016, and now you can buy the very car that starred in it."
Opinion: why the world needs supercars
"Separate the supercar from the jealousy they encourage, from the bad press, and you discover something: supercars are joyous."
We urgently need this Dacia Duster pick-up
"Well this is extremely good news. This is a tiny Dacia Duster pick-up, and suddenly we can’t think of anything we want more."
Is there a way to make the new BMW M3 less, um... divisive?
"We’re thinking the £1,100 Tanzanite Blue II metallic paint with silver wheels is probably your best bet. Avoid the M Carbon exterior pack too. Although in answer to our own question – is there a way to make it less divisive? Well, yes – you’d just have to only ever look at it from the rear."
Check out Fiat's new weirdly doored 500 3+1
"Meet the four-door Fiat 500. But we’d forgive you if you needed a double take to spot it. This is the 500 3+1, and it represents good news for anyone missing the Hyundai Veloster in Europe."
McLaren, Ferrari, Lambo and Porsche vs the clock
"These are four extremely fast cars. The slowest hits 60mph in 3.3secs and 100mph in 6.4. It’s a hard figure to get your head around if you haven’t experienced anything like that before, so here’s a possibly-not-helpful reference. If you jump out of an aeroplane and experience pure freefall, you’ll hit 60mph in somewhere between 2.7 and 3.1 secs."
Flat out in the quad-motor Lotus Evija electric hypercar
"It accelerates differently to any other car I’ve ever been in. Because rather than the acceleration tailing off as you go faster, in the Lotus Evija it just keeps ramping up. The more speed you add, the more you’re pinned back into the seat. At some stage, physics dictates, it must let up. But when? 160mph down Goodwood’s back straight and the force multiplier still appears fully engaged."
My Life in Cars: Tim Peake
"As a young second lieutenant I remember seeing a prototype BMW Z3 in the newspaper, from the filming of Goldeneye. I probably had more money than sense as a single young officer with nothing else to spend his wages on, so I rang up BMW Park Lane there and then and I put the deposit down."
Speed Week 2020: 10 supercars that aren’t as fast as Audi's RS6
"Audi conservatively claims the RS6 can do 0-62mph in 3.6 seconds. This, remember, is a five-seat family estate, with more storage space than most London flats, that weighs comfortably over two tonnes."
Review: BMW 4 Series Coupe
"An outstandingly sorted car, but something tells us you’ve already made your mind up about liking the 4 Series or not"
Top Gear’s Top 9: Volvo’s brilliant moments of madness
"Why so form-over-function? Well, Ford didn’t want the C30 pinching any sales from its dominant Focus, which shared the C30’s underpinnings. The handsome C30 was sadly killed off after just one generation, making its dubious role in the Twilight movies its chief claim to fame."
Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport review: £3.4m drivers’ Bugatti tested
"Clearly any Chiron would be more than acceptable, but for me the Pur Sport’s aggressive stance, more focused attitude, and the greater accessibility of its incredible power thanks to the revised box make it the Chiron of choice."
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