16
List
Everything you need to know about cars this week: 28 Jun '20
New cars from VW, Vauxhall and Eagle, plus everything you need to know about the Ferrari SF90
Here are seven probably pointless car innovations
"Granted, the idea behind gesture control is pretty clever. Spin your fingers in a circle to adjust the volume level, point to accept a phone call, swipe to reject, while keeping your eyes on the road. In reality, it’s pretty pointless. All of the functions offered are controllable on the steering wheel or the dashboard, and, stereo volume for example, is much easier to control precisely using these buttons, without gesticulating like a madman."
Advertisement - Page continues belowFive of the laggiest turbo cars we've ever tested
"Lag is that glorious hiatus between when you squeeze the throttle and when the car lunges forward like it’s just been electrocuted. Ooh, the… anti…ci…pation. It’s exhilarating. But, at times, also quite scary. So here are five tales of the laggiest cars we’ve ever tested."
Change Our Mind: minimalist car interiors are dumb
"The rot set in before the new Golf, but it’s the new VW Golf Mk8 that’s really irked me. Even Volkswagen – which is about as open to sweeping controversial design changes as FBI agents are to fancy dress Fridays – has decided the Golf is officially Too Clever For Buttons. And it’s got rid of the lot."
Advertisement - Page continues belowThe Ford Focus has gone mild-hybrid
"The mild-hybrid 1.0-litre has cylinder deactivation, as well as a bigger turbocharger and lower compression ratio than the standard engine. It comes with either 123 or 153bhp and a six-speed manual gearbox. The former starts at £23,355, and the latter £23,675. Both emit 116g/km of CO2 and claim 51.4mpg."
The new Jaguar I-Pace still has 292 miles of range
"The I-Pace can also make the most of 11kW home chargers, which you can only get if you have a three-phase electrical supply. With one of these boxes the I-Pace can now charge at a rate of 33 miles per hour, compared to 22 miles per hour from a more common 7kW wallbox. A 100kW public charger can add 78 miles in 15 minutes."
This Ford Crown Victoria has a twin-turbocharged TANK engine
"Ultimately, the Meteor Interceptor should be good for 2,500bhp and over 200mph. It should also produce around 3,800lb ft of torque at 3,400rpm, which is just about enough to spin the world backwards."
This week’s special edition Lotus: a 20th anniversary Exige
"So, this week’s rare new Lotus is a special edition Exige Sport 410. Dubbed the ‘20th Anniversary’, it does in fact mark 20 years since the Lotus Exige first arrived onto the scene, swinging away with all its lightweight might at the likes of the Porsche Cayman."
Advertisement - Page continues belowHere’s your first look at Lambo’s mad, 830bhp track-only ‘SCV12’
"‘Aerodynamic supercharging’ is the key, friends. It’s the key that unlocks over 830bhp from this, the upcoming Lamborghini SCV12; a track-only hypercar packed full of the most powerful V12 ever built by Lamborghini hands."
The 316bhp Arteon R is a big, fast, handsome VW
"While VW very seriously considered giving the Arteon R a VR6 (to the degree it had a couple of running prototypes), it eventually settled on the latest ‘Evo4’ version of the same 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol as Every Fast VW/Seat/Skoda Ever. Here it makes 316bhp and 310lb ft from 2,000rpm, which is plenty, and drives all four wheels through a seven-speed DSG gearbox."
Advertisement - Page continues belowYour iPhone is about to become a car key
"Yes, we know loads of other manufacturers have apps for unlocking/starting their cars, but this is different because it’s actually baked into the iPhone’s operating system and uses the native Wallet app. This gives much better security and integration."
Concepts that time forgot: the Lamborghini Estoque
"It’s probably Aston Martin’s fault, you know – the British sports car maker had revealed its own four-seater grand touring saloon at the 2006 Detroit motor show, the Rapide, and with half an eye on expanding its range, Lamborghini clearly wanted a slice of the pie if it was big enough. Or perhaps some wily Lambo exec happened upon plans for the Porsche Panamera on a shared company drive, or something. "
Dacia Duster Bi-Fuel review: petrol/LPG dual-fuel UK test
"The Romanian Renault subsidiary will now be the only mainstream manufacturer to offer an LPG option from the factory in the UK, and the powertrain will be available on the Sandero and the Logan as well as the Duster. Dacia cites an annual average fuel saving of £594 (LPG is around 40 per cent cheaper than petrol) and 11 per cent less CO2 emissions than an equivalent petrol engine as its reasoning for bringing it back to the UK."
Hurrah! The Aston Martin AMB 001 is now moving
"Aston Martin has made a bike. You might remember seeing the AMB 001 back in 2019 (such innocent days), when it was first unveiled. Well now, it’s actually moved, putting in some development miles around Pau-Arnos circuit in France."
Vauxhall really wants you to know the new Mokka is green
"If you can see past the lurid shade of green, you’ll notice a rather handsome crossover – if that’s not an oxymoron. The wheelbase is slightly longer than before but the overhangs are much smaller, making the whole car 12.5cm shorter. The roof line has more than a touch of Adam about it too (strange sentence, we know)."
The Eagle Lightweight GT is peak E-Type
"It’s been a while since we’ve heard from Eagle, builder of exemplary E-Types like the stunning Low Drag GT. Probably because all its cars are so beautifully engineered they take an absolute age to build. Its latest creation, which pays tribute to Jaguar’s legendary E-Type Lightweight racer, took a whopping 8,000 hours to piece together."
Six reasons why you must buy this Veilside R33 Skyline
"Holy moly, something rather special has hit the classifieds this week. It’s the 1995 Veilside Combat Evolution – based on the R33 Nissan Skyline GT-R – and you absolutely must buy it for the following reasons…"
11 things you need to know about Bentley's 6.75-litre V8
"The Mulsanne is ten years old. It replaced the Arnage, which came after the Turbo R, which dovetailed with the first Mulsanne, which supplanted the T-Series cars, which superseded the S-Series. That’s a lot of history – over sixty years of grand Bentley saloons in fact, and the same V8 engine has thrummed, roared, rumbled and sung under the bonnet of each and every one of them."
#TopGearChallenge Six: Magazine Design
"Welcome to #TopGearChallengeSix. We want you to create your very own Top Gear Magazine cover. You can create it using model cars, papier-mâché and impressive deployment of glue, or head to your favourite computer game and create it in pixels. If you’re really keen, you can head out to your favourite local quarry and spend hours waiting for the golden hour surviving on nothing more than tepid tea and curly sandwiches all in the hope of creating something truly artistic. But if you do decide to do that you probably won’t win. Sorry. We’re looking for originality."
What's it like to fly an F-35 Lightning?
"We speak to a pilot of one of the few objects faster than a McLaren Speedtail"
Review: Seat Leon
"Spain’s strongest attempt to out-Golf the Golf yet. A stylish, well-equipped and cheaper version of its German cousin"
This glorious Alfa Giulia touring car is ready for the Ring
"A bunch of Italians - who we’ve immediately fallen head over heels for - have transformed the latest Alfa sports saloon, the superb Giulia Quadrifoglio, into a touring car primed and ready to take on perhaps our favourite race: the Nürburgring 24 Hours."
Top Gear’s Top 9: everything’s better with spotlights edition
"Got a fast racecar? Great. Want to make it cooler? Just add lights. Lots of lights"
11 things you need to know about the new £376k Ferrari SF90
"Right now, I should be telling you what the Ferrari SF90 is like to drive. I can’t wait to find out where Ferrari has taken hybrid technology in the six years since the LaFerrari. Three electric motors rather than one, 25km electric range, a combined 986bhp, Ferrari’s fastest, most powerful road car ever. However, travel restrictions across Europe mean I haven’t been able to get to Maranello to drive it yet. But having spent a good proportion of an evening on a conference call to the engineers and designers, I do now know quite a lot about it…"
