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Everything you need to know about cars this week: 8 Nov '20
News of the new Golf R, plus Chris Harris talks to a man about electricity
Pore over the details of the incredible Ford Mach-E 1400
"Say hi, cautiously, to the Ford Mach-E 1400. Actually you can give it a pat. It might roll over and let you rub its tummy. I know it looks ferocious, and actually this really isn’t one of those where its bark is worse than its bite. Quite the opposite in fact. Still friendly, though."
Advertisement - Page continues belowFord Transit Custom PHEV review: a plug-in hybrid van
"Rather than the standard 2.0-litre diesel engine, the Custom PHEV features a 92.9kW electric motor that drives the front wheels at all times. Ford’s 1.0-litre EcoBoost petrol engine with a single-speed automatic gearbox is then deployed as a range extender and provides constant charge to the onboard battery."
Speed Week 2020: why sports saloons are better as EVs
"Spend a bit of time in a Taycan, having fun on your own terms without peacocking to others, and you’ll question how necessary the bombast of its more conventionally powered rivals really is. It’s fair to say 2020’s been utterly rubbish, but in our little corner of the world, it’s given us the most convincing EVs yet. Right at the top of the tree is the mesmerising Taycan. So brilliant, it should rewrite what we expect from a sports saloon."
Advertisement - Page continues belowSpeed Week 2020: nine reasons you need a baby Porsche 917
"Let’s not beat around the bush, the Porsche 917 is one of the coolest, quickest racing cars ever made. If you’re too lost in the TikTok sauce to remember it (or not beardy enough to know) the 917 won Le Mans in 1970, and again in ‘71 - the same year it was immortalised in Steve McQueen’s film about the race."
Audi A6 review: plug-in hybrid tested
"Combined output is 295bhp and 332lb ft, enough for 0-62mph in 6.2 seconds and a reassuringly Germanic 155mph top-end. Meanwhile 36g/km of CO2 for the S Line we tested means your BIK liability is just 10 per cent, versus 37 per cent for the equivalent purely petrol-powered car. Which is why PHEVs are so damn popular with company car drivers."
Gaming: Dirt 5 Review
"Arriving not just on PS4 and Xbox One, but also the new PS5 and Xbox Series X, Dirt 5 bins off stage rallying entirely in favour of full grids and full contact. What’s more, the entire thing appears to be taking place during some sort of apocalyptic weather event."
The Alfa Romeo BAT cars sold for £11.5m
"We don’t need to explain the Alfa Romeo BAT cars to you lot, do we? The trio of concepts that were commissioned by Alfa, designed by Franco Scaglione and built by Carrozzeria Bertone in the 1950s are some of the most iconic shapes from automotive history. "
Advertisement - Page continues belowSpeed Week 2020: nine things to know about the Morgan Plus Four
"Morgan has bought in BMW engines for years, but this is the first time its four-cylinder car has its heart imported from Munich. It’s also Morgan’s first 4cyl turbo, and the engine will be familiar to anyone who’s driven a modern BMW or Mini."
Review: Cupra Leon eHybrid
"Going hybrid might well be the future of the hot hatch – but it doesn’t quite work in the present"
Advertisement - Page continues belowProgress report: BMW M3 CSL vs BMW M2 CS
"The M3 CSL is light and deft in its feel and response, its thin, Alcantara-trimmed steering wheel a total delight to use and a silly stylised 12’o’clock marker (like you’ll find in the M2) mercifully absent. You’ve total faith in everything this car does, though with massive 19in wheels, it doesn’t ride with shocking suppleness after a stint in its modern equivalent. It’s still a taut, focused thing."
Review: BMW iX3
"BMW's second full-electric car is a little more 'normal', a pragmatic EV that can go a long way on a charge"
The new VW Golf R has 316bhp, will drift*
"Listen up, all of you who think the all-wheel drive VW Golf R is one of The Boring Hot Hatches. The new Mk8 Golf R would like a word. And that word is ‘drift’."
GTO Engineering's ‘Moderna’ will be a '60s inspired V12 sports car
"Let’s pretend you’ve already got a Porsche 911 Reimagined By Singer in your climate-controlled garage, parked next to an exquisite Eagle E-Type and a couple of continuation cars from the likes of Aston Martin and Jaguar. Lucky you. Life’s good. And yet, nagging away at you, there’s space in the corner for something a little bit more… Italian."
Bowler is building a new-old Defender with 567bhp
"This is not yet another resto-modded Land Rover Defender. It’s a brand new car from Bowler – builder of superb Land Rover-based off-road racers since the mid-Eighties. The company’s first new car since 2016."
The Sbarro Super Eight is a Ferrari 308-powered hot hatch
"Inspired by the mid-engined hatchbacks of Group B, it had essentially taken the chassis, the five-speed manual gearbox and the 3.0-litre V8 engine from a Ferrari 308 GTB, before clothing it in a wild hot hatch-style fibreglass body. It was to be called the Sbarro Super Eight."
Eight things you need to know about Bond’s DB5 stunt car
"Let’s get straight to the juicy bit. Although Aston refuses to do little more than raise a knowing eyebrow when you ask them directly, this car might look like a mega-money classic, but underneath it has the powertrain from an E46 BMW M3. This is what’s known as a ‘very good thing’, and not entirely inauthentic."
Opinion: do track-honed road cars make any sense?
"The power delivery is savage, its purchase on the tarmac other-worldly, but unless you’re capable of driving it at nine tenths it refuses to flow, constantly snapping and snorting and generally rolling its eyes in your direction."
Review: Audi S3
"Like drinking in a classy bar rather than a rowdy pub compared to other hot hatches. Make of that what you will"
Every Bentley will be plug-in hybrid or fully electric by 2026
"Next year Bentley says it will launch two new plug-in hybrids. One of which will no doubt be a plug-in version of the facelifted Bentayga. Every Bentley will be available as a plug-in hybrid by 2023, says the company, and by 2026 all Bentleys will be either plug-in hybrid or fully-electric."
11 secret Fords you never knew existed
"Over the years, Ford has unsurprisingly designed hundreds of cars you never even saw. In a new book called Secret Fords, former Ford product designer Steve Saxty delves into the unseen world of prototypes, one-offs and cancelled cars."
Here's why we love the Audi RS6
"Unlike many of the cars we had on Speed Week, the RS6 became part of the team. When we needed to tow an airstream we used the RS6. When we had to carry a load of camping gear, crisps and radios we used the RS6. When we had to scout to see if the circuit was safe enough when waterlogged we used the RS6. When we had to sleep in a car we used the RS6."
Is there enough juice? Harris talks EVs with the National Grid's Graeme Cooper
Tesla Model 3. Honda e. BMW i3. Peugeot e-208. The electric cars keep on coming, and it’s fair to say there are many, many questions about the practicalities of all-electric motoring. And in this half hour interview with Graeme Cooper from the National Grid, there are many, many answers.
Top Gear’s Top 9: cars only sold in one colour
"All 1,315 examples of the first 200mph Ferrari left the factory painted red. Yes, you’ve seen black ones, grey ones and blue ones since, as owners wrapped and resprayed their twin-turbo pride and joys, but they all started life the same thinly-sprayed shade of Rosso Corsa. "
Here are 17 cars that’ll do 300,000 miles
"Obviously, easing a car or pick-up past 300,000 miles takes care, diligence, attention to detail and the tacit agreement to never buy a car that’s been in the hands of the Stig at any point. Without meticulous servicing and sympathetic driving, you’re unlikely to roll past 100,000 miles without major parts – like the entire engine, for instance – needing replacement and kind of annulling the whole ‘did 300,000 miles’ when it gets there."
New issue out now: Top Gear’s £10k retro heroes
"Right then, it’s time to embrace the depreciation and grab that gorgeous retro hero car that you always promised yourself. It might just cost less than you’d think…"
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