TG TUNNEL RUN: STIG SENDS IT... IN THE WORLD’S NOISIEST CARS

MAY 2024

vs RIVALS
VOLVO EX30
YEARS ON
SENNA – 30
ODEL Y
RIVIAN’S M
DI R8
BYE BYE AU

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BMWS

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From Pikes Peak Z1
to modern day M1...
the cars Munich didn’t
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OL IDE
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F L AT O U T
£ 3.5M
1 , 5 7 8 B H P,

The Twelve in titanium:
a new case of precious mettle.

Grade 2 Titanium is a commercially pure form of a special, almost magical metal.
It is stronger than steel but lighter. It won’t rust, so it’s ideal for in-the-pool incursions.
With the right know-how, it can be shaped and faceted into something rare. Unique
even, like The Twelve’s dodecahedron bezel. Or its contour-hugging integrated
bracelet. Other cool characteristics are its warmth to the touch and luscious lustre.
More sepia than silver, in the right hands it can be brushed, sandblasted and polished
into something truly precious. Like time itself. Which is why we use it to protect
(and show off)a super-reliable, chronometer grade Swiss movement.
Do your research.

christopherward.com

GET YOUR FIX

There’s more than one way to
consume the world’s best car content

Ed i t o r- i n - c h i e f
@jack_rix
editor@bbctopgearmagazine.com

MAGAZINE
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H

ere at TopGear we pride ourselves on celebrating the full spectrum of what’s out there.
Big or small, fast or slow, new or old, petrol or electric, deeply talented or utterly
shambolic... there’s a seat for all in TG’s broad church. Which is fortunate, because
we’re living through a period of transition that’s creating fertile ground for some of
the most fascinating cars the world has ever seen.
Of course electric cars are still the new kids, but they’re already seeping into every
possible niche from Nürburgring destroyer (Porsche Taycan Turbo GT, p10) to sensible
small cars designed to hoover up the mundane trips with ease and a little pizzazz (Volvo
EX30 test, p34). There are even clever people stuffing batteries and motors into classics
like the Datsun 240Z with mixed results (p111)... and EV startups like Rivian (p86)
forging ahead without any of the baggage of legacy manufacturers, and more ideas
than they know what to do with.
Electric isn’t killing the combustion engine, either. Right now, it seems to be spurring
it on to even greater heights, with more manufacturers throwing caution to the wind
and building the sort of stuff that would have died on the design studio floor just a few
years ago. Yes, we’re looking at you Bugatti Bolide, you feral slice of carbon fibre with
a 16-cylinder power station strapped to your back (p54) or any of the machines we
inserted Stig into and fired him through Catesby tunnel with one simple purpose, to
make as much noise as possible (p68).
Even as time marches on and the rate of change accelerates, us car nuts are the lucky
ones – we get to enjoy cars from the past for as long
as we care to keep them running. In the Audi R8’s
case – a true TG hero we give a proper send off to
(p94) – I hope that’s forever. Failing that, we have
our memories to lean on, 30 years on from Senna’s
death we keep his legacy alive not by recounting
the tragedy, but by highlighting his imperious
talent with 30 things you might not know about
the great man. Trust us, we had to dig deep.
So let’s not look at the evolving world and moan
about change and inconvenience, let’s lift our heads
and take it all in. It’s a special time to be alive.
Enjoy the issue,

“AS THE RATE OF
CHANGE ACCELERATES,
US CAR NUTS ARE
THE LUCKY ONES”

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› M AY 2 0 2 4

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JACK RIX
E D I T OR-IN- CH IE F

Ollie Kew
Oliver Marriage
ASSOCIATE EDITOR Tom Ford
CONSULTANT EDITOR Paul Horrell
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Callum Alexander
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DEPUTY EDITOR

BRAND MANAGING EDITOR

HEAD OF CAR TESTING

SUB-EDITORS

ART TEAM
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CREATIVE DIRECTOR
ART EDITOR

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Mike Channell, Chris Harris, Richard Holt, Sam Philip

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
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CONTENTS
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054
094

068

086

TOPGEAR.COM

› M AY 2 0 2 4

009

# N E W C A R S

# E N T E R T A I N M E N T

# C A R C U L T U R E

E V E R Y O NE I S TA L K I N G A B O U T

PURPLE
REIGN
There’s a new Taycan Turbo GT in town and it’s the fastest accelerating
Porsche ever made. Little surprise it’s already smashing records

010

M AY 2 0 2 4 ›

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# C E L E B R I T Y

# G A D G E T S

# G A M I N G

TOPGEAR.COM

› M AY 2 0 2 4

011

HERE’S A LAP RECORD
WE BROKE EARLIER...
Now go and
watch the
video on
topgear.com

Once upon a time 1,000+bhp was
supercar territory only, these
days it’s family saloons too

T

hat curious new Porsche
Taycan with a wing
you’ve been seeing
zipping around the
Nürburgring in 7:07.55 has a
name – it’s the new Taycan
Turbo GT.
Basically, it’s a range-topper
above the Turbo S aiming to make
life awkward for the Tesla Model S
Plaid and Lucid Air Sapphire. It’s
now been revealed in full, and it’s
super fast. Even if you drive a Plaid.
It produces 1,108bhp, will go
from 0–62mph in 2.3 seconds and
it’s just been hurled around the
Laguna Seca raceway in 1:27.8.
That’s five seconds faster than the
previous electric lap record (held
by the Model S). It’s barely half a
second slower than a McLaren
Senna around the fearsome
Californian track.
The car itself is probably more
subtle than you might expect. It
looks... like a Taycan. There are
new air curtains at the front,
forged wheels and lighter ceramic
brakes, a token slab of carbon fibre
on the B-pillar and a new ducktail
spoiler at the back. Visually there’s
little sense you’re eyeing a car with
not far off twice the power of a
Carrera GT.
If that’s a little disappointing to
you – and you’d like your Turbo GT
to announce its digestive tractbothering speed with a little

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more gusto – then for the first time
on an EV, Porsche will sell you one
of its Weissach packages.
This upgrade deletes the back
seats, replacing them with a
carbon fibre bulkhead. It swaps
the ducktail for a fixed wing good
for 140kg of claimed downforce.
Lashings of carbon fibre are
liberally applied, and the result
is a 70kg weight saving.
At a claimed 2,290kg, the
Turbo GT Weissach is by no
means a light car. And Porsche

Weissach Pack adds rear
wing, but turns this into a
strict two-seater only

reckons it’ll be a rare niche option,
as the majority of customers will
want some back seats. But there’s
going to be at least a few folks who
want to shave an extra tenth off the
0–62mph run. And the Weissach
Pack does it.
That means 0–62mph out of the
way in 2.2 seconds. Hope that your
stomach is as robust as your wallet.
Prices will likely crest the £180k

mark without too much bother,
and the Weissach Pack with many
carbon trim pieces will be the first
£200k Taycan. Porsche says it will
be built in “limited numbers”,
perhaps betraying that this is
something of an unknown. The
big question is: will Porsche fans
really queue up to buy a hardcore
track focused EV like they do a
GT3 RS or 911 S/T? Ollie Kew

COFFEE BREAK

FA I L O F T H E C E N T U R Y # 1 4 5

What we’re watching/
listening/doing, while
we should be working

2024 Grand National, 13 April
Classic Getaway, Foxy Jacks,
Fiddlerontheroof, Asterion Forlonge
and SP Automotive Chaos. OK, that
last one is a vapourware car but
could well be a runner at this year’s
race. Follow updates on BBC Sport

T

INFINITI FX
VETTEL EDITION

he list of special edition road cars bearing the name of F1
world champions is short, but not short enough. Fiat’s Stilo
Schumacher was entirely unspecial. The Mercedes-Benz
A-Class A160 Häkkinen Edition boasted acceleration as ponderous as
its name. The Peugeot Prost Speedfight 2 was – and there’s no polite
way to put this – a scooter.
And then there was this lumpen honker. (Projected UK sales: 15.
Actual UK sales: 5.) In 2012, as Seb Vet marched his merry way to a
third consecutive drivers’ title, Infiniti chose to honour its German
race ace (OK, not its German race ace, but Red Bull used Renault
engines, Renault was married to Nissan, and Nissan owned Infiniti,
so there was a spurious family connection of sorts) with this
two-tonne beluga whale on wheels.
The Vettel Edition was lower and stiffer than the regular
FX50, power from the 5.0-litre V8 was up to 420bhp, and there
was abundant carbon fibre, all helping transform the FX from
lardy sow’s ear into a... very-slightly-less-lardy sow’s ear.
Herr Vettel himself allegedly had a hand in shaping that
(futile) rear wing, at least helping explain its £4,800 tag
on the options list: a mere snip atop the £100k starting
price. At least the Vettel Edition’s eye watering cost was
authentically F1. Nothing else about it was.

London marathon, 21 April
Get up early with a coffee and pastry
to watch a gazillion crazies run 26.2
miles through the capital. All of them
are amazing. All are running for a good
cause. Some will be dressed as rhinos

TopGear magazine fix
You can download the latest
edition and back issues direct to
your phone or tablet from the App
Store. Because when life gives you
lemons... settle in and read TG

Champions League knockouts

TopGear TV, BBC iPlayer
Don’t forget that ALL of TopGear telly
is ready and waiting on iPlayer

I M AG E : M A N U FAC T U R E R

This month sees the quarter- and semi-finals
of the OG super league. Can the English
contingent unintentionally continue to scupper
that elusive trophy for the England captain?

TOPGEAR.COM

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013

CAR NE W S

PURE
KLASSE
Last year saw the saloon
version of BMW’s Vision
Neue Klasse, now here
comes the SUV...

Y O U C A N ’ T B U Y TA S T E

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T

his is the BMW Vision Neue
Klasse X, a thinly disguised teaser
for the next-gen iX3, due to go on
sale in the back half of 2025. It
follows last year’s saloon concept, and
deepens BMW’s radical new overarching
philosophy. “The Neue Klasse is much
more than just a car or a specific concept,”
says BMW chairman Oliver Zipse. “It is
redefining the BMW brand – and, at the
same time, will be more BMW than ever.”
The vertical kidney grille will be
an X family signature, a more horizontal
treatment reserved for saloons and sports
cars. The front and rear LED lights have
3D-printed elements individually controlled
with variable light intensity.

The Vision X also showcases BMW’s
commitment to the growing ‘circular’
economy. There’s a new four-spoke wheel,
and a simplied central display. i-Drive has
gone. Sustainability means interrogating
what’s really essential, and has led to the
Panoramic Vision, which projects key
information the width of the windscreen.
Neue Klasse will use the sixth gen of
eDrive tech, with new batteries in 75, 90
and 105kWh capacities, and an 800V system
that’ll improve charging speeds by up to 30
per cent. And then there’s the “heart of joy”
which networks four control units to
integrate the powertrain and driving
dynamics, and is good for up to a megawatt
– 1,340bhp – of power. Jason Barlow

Procrastination ahoy! Six videos worth watching on the web this month

TOPGEAR.COM

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015

T

WAT C HE S

CAN’T
BUY
TASTE
The watch industry is littered with design
atrocities. Our advice? Keep it simple, stupid

016

M AY 2 0 2 4 ›

TOPGEAR.COM

here is no end of advice out there telling you what watches to buy. But it is
much simpler to flip it around and tell you what watches you should definitely
not buy. Finding nice watches is easy. But some people seem to have great
difficulty avoiding the horrible ones.
The biggest problem is not being honest about why you are buying a watch in
the first place. Do you want a time telling device that you find pleasing? Or a shiny
emblem to let people know how splendidly you are doing?
You don’t need to be a football fan to know that Cristiano Ronaldo has done pretty
well in his chosen profession. Yet for some reason every watch he wears seems like a
desperate attempt to win the golden boot for most diamonds per square centimetre.
It’s not just footballers. Floyd Mayweather is perhaps the best defensive boxer of
all time, but his taste in watches is hard to defend. He likes to take a handsome watch
from a great brand, then ask the company to go wild with the precious stones. If it
refuses, he goes to a customiser who turns it into a watch that suits the sort of man
who regularly photographs himself on a bed covered in cash.
Celeb megawatches like these regularly cost north of a million dollars. But those
without Money Mayweather’s funds are not immune to the pitfalls of taste. For every
precious metal watch festooned in diamonds, there are a dozen wannabes with fake
stones and gold painted steel. And that is somehow worse.
Maxing out on the bling is not the only way to go wrong. Almost as bad is trying
to be too clever. You see a watch that tells the time and looks great. But you add
a stopwatch, second time zone, a moon phase, a power reserve... on and on until it’s
more like a cryptic oracle that you stare at, trying to figure out what all the tiny
hands and dials are trying to tell you.
Keep it simple. The best designs – cars, watches or ballpoint pens – are all about
elegant simplicity. So this month we bring you four watches that go back to the basics.
Nice, clear design. And not a single horror among them. Richard Holt

BLOW
THE
BUDGE T

BLANCPAIN FIFTY FATHOMS
Blancpain was at the forefront of the diving craze back
in the Fifties and its pioneering Fifty Fathoms watch was
named for its then amazing ability to withstand a depth of
300 feet. This modern version has 300m of water resistance
and the case is titanium, keeping it nice and light, despite
measuring a hefty 47mm across. £24,700; blancpain.com

AROUND
£2,500

DAMASKO DC70
If you fancy a bit of under-the-radar luxury, Damasko
watches are an exemplar of understated style. This one
has an in-house automatic movement and a 60-minute
chronograph displayed by a central second and minute
counter – no subdials required. Plus, it’s water resistant
to 100m. €2,980; damasko-watches.com

UNDER
£100
TIMEX EASY READER

UNDER
£1,000

A byword for no-nonsense watches, Timex currently sponsors the UFC,
calling itself the watch that “takes a licking and keeps on ticking”. As well as
toughness, the US brand has a reputation for bringing a lot of style without

HAMILTON KHAKI FIELD

much budget. Much is made of its American heritage, and this example

Another brand with US origins, Hamilton is

is inspired by the work of pop artist Keith Haring, known for his chalk sketches

now owned by the Swatch Group, giving it the

on the New York subway in the Eighties. At 38mm, the stainless steel case is

infrastructure to make luxury watches at relatively

not massive, but big cartoonish hands and numerals make reading the

affordable prices. Boasting an automatic movement

time child’s play. The Easy Reader has a quartz movement and comes

with an 80-hour power reserve, it has a 41mm

with a leather strap, it’s also water resistant to 50m. £90; timex.co.uk

stainless steel case. £965; hamiltonwatch.com

TOPGEAR.COM

› M AY 2 0 2 4

017

THE KNOWLEDGE
Need-to-know nuggets
of automotive news

GAME OF THE MONTH

LIFT-OFF OVERSTEER
How do you turn the desert into
Spa-Francorchamps? Saudi Arabia’s
proposed Qiddiya circuit (in a city that
hasn’t been built yet) plans a huge
108m high ramp for the first corner on
top of a new music venue. Hmm

HIGHWAY CODE
Pininfarina’s new concept starts the
countdown to its 100th birthday... in 2030.
The Enigma is a hydrogen V6-powered
2+2 GT that’s supposed to show off what
the company can do. With photo editing
software, presumably

GE AR

ALL DRESSED UP
A Tolman customer brought the
restomod outfit his 1980 MkIII Escort XR3

SEGWAY GOKART PRO2

in boxes and gave it carte blanche – 18
months later it looks like this. No word
on what it cost, but the XR3 has been
added to Tolman’s official list

TAKE THE W
Sad news: Bugatti is ditching its W16
engine. Good news: it’s replacing it
with a V16. The new motor will be
paired with a hybrid setup on the
Chiron replacement. Think of
it as a slightly faster Toyota Prius

018

M AY 2 0 2 4 ›

TOPGEAR.COM

TOPGEAR TOP 9

WO R D S: O L L I E K E W I M AG E S: M A N U FAC T U R E R

SIDE-EXIT EXHAUSTS
01

02

03

04

05

06

07

08

09

TOPGEAR.COM

› M AY 2 0 2 4

019

CAR NE W S

5 THINGS YOU NEED
TO KNOW ABOUT THE..

DODGE
CHARGER

The US muscle car icon is back...
and this time it’s electric. Eh?

STLA Large platform. Both Charger Daytonas feature
AWD as standard, using a pair of 335bhp electric
drive modules. The front drive module is able to
disconnect itself to boost range and efficiency, while
the rear module includes a mechanical limited-slip
diff for better hoo-raas off the line.

THERE’S A FAT BATTERY PACK ONBOARD
Specifically, a 100.5kWh unit able to offer a peak
discharge rate of 738bhp. Dodge is quoting 317
miles of EPA range for the R/T and 260 for the Scat
Pack. On a 350kW ultra rapid charger charger,
both cars will be able to go from 20–80 per cent
in 27 minutes. Keep running those quarter mile
times and this will become an important metric.

IT’LL BE LOUD (SO WE’RE TOLD)
Dodge promises us this new e-Charger will be
able to speak with a full and sonorous voice. A
pair of passive radiators apparently create a
unique exhaust profile with “Hellcat levels of
sound intensity that shatters the preconception
of a typical quiet BEV and instead delivers a
sound worthy of the Brotherhood of Muscle”.

FOUR VERSIONS HAVE BEEN REVEALED

THE MUSCLE CAR SPIRIT IS ALL THERE

Two electric, two with a 3.0-litre twin-turbo straight-

Dodge has mined the spirit of its earlier muscle cars

six. In range topping electric Daytona Scat Pack trim,

when it comes to the exterior design, saying only it

the Charger packs a whopping 670bhp and 627lb ft

“avoids excess” and takes its cues “from the clean,

of torque. The second electric Charger, which wears
an R/T badge, tops out at 496bhp and 404lb

WO R D S: V I JAY PAT T N I

Clean, timeless lines, many
horsepower and the world’s
most controversial soundtrack?

020 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M

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TOPGEAR’S GUIDE TO THE FUTURE OF EVERYTHING
H
MYT ER
T
S
U
B

“EVs ARE
PART OF A
CONSPIRACY”

Governments in Europe and the Americas
and Japan, their eyes on the next election,
have an almost pitiful need for short-term
popularity. The initial transition to EVs is in
many ways unpopular and in revenue terms:
an easier short-term path than electric car
subsidies is to cut petrol tax.
Now the car companies. Why would
they secretly want a world of EVs? For
the moment, batteries are expensively
made in high-capital new factories. The
old engine plants were just fine thanks.

Profits, for a while, will be slimmer with
battery cars.
Or is it the mineral companies?
Yes they’re powerful and their mines are
environmentally malign. But they’re nowhere
near as big and powerful as the oil companies,
for whom the energy transition represents a
bigger threat to years of spectacular profits.
So the impulsion toward EVs isn’t some
complicated and sinister web of secret malign
plotting. It’s a short-term payment against
long-term climate change pain. Paul Horrell

LATER

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The Tesla Roadster is definitely coming
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second, says Elon. More fake news, or...

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Three years ago, Audi set itself the seemingly impossible
challenge of winning the world’s toughest desert race.
Here’s how the famous four rings made motorsport history

T

/i>vÌi«ÀiVÌÜ>ÃÌLiÌiwÀÃÌV>À

Granted, Team Audi Sport had a fair idea of

>Õv>VÌÕÀiÀ Ì ÕÃi > i iVÌÀwi` `ÀÛiÌÀ> 

what to expect. While this year’s course was 60

VL>ÌÜÌ>ivwViÌiiÀ}ÞVÛiÀÌiÀÌ

«iÀViÌiÜ]Ìi,-+i ÌÀ>`Ì> iÌi

compete for overall victory against conventionally

event twice before and collected 28 stage

powered competitors in the world’s toughest

podiums along the way. With that experience

rally. No mean feat, especially as it’s only had

under their belts, the Neuburg engineers

three years to bring this brain-meltingly complex

updated the paradigm shifting off-road racer for

“WHAT
A NICE,
GENTLE
WAY TO
BREAK
IN THE
NEW
YEAR”

motorsport programme together. From nothing.

its third attempt as they put outright victory

race to Al Duwadimi, rocks made way for a less

wÀ ÞÌiVÀÃÃ>Àð

technical, faster stage. Sainz and Cruz collected a

hree years ago, Audi had never

written a new chapter in motorsport history.

competed in Rally Raid, the hardcore

Thanks to WRC legend Carlos Sainz and his trusty

Ironman-loving sibling of stage rally,

navigator Lucas Cruz, the pair made history by

let alone the iconic but gruelling two-

V >} čÕ`½Ã wÀÃÌ > >À Ü >` ÌiÀ vÕÀÌ

week long Dakar Rally. But Audi,

triumph as team-mates. Over two torturous

conquered

weeks, the Spanish duo conquered 5,000 miles

multiple motorsport disciplines throughout its

through the heart of Saudi Arabia, taking on

history (including endurance racing and Le Mans,

deserts, climbing near-vertical sand dunes,

rallying, DTM, IMSA and Formula E) wasn’t afraid

traversing treacherous rock crawls and having to

of a challenge. In fact, it fancied making one of

deal with no fewer than 11 punctures. What a

the toughest races in the world tougher.

nice, gentle way to break in the new year.

having

pushed

boundaries

and

And leading up to the 2024 Dakar Rally,
Audi’s bosses made it clear that this was its third

The faultless alternative drive powertrain –

puncture but still set the eighth best run, and

>` w>  >ÌÌi«Ì >Ì ÕÌÀ}Ì > >À ÛVÌÀÞ° 

which combines championship-winning Formula

combined with their previous day’s efforts, they

pressure, then.

E motors, a high-voltage battery and a highly

Ûi`ÌÌiÛiÀ>  i>`vÀÌiwÀÃÌÌi°čÕ`

No pressure to win the most punishing event

ivwViÌ iiÀ}Þ VÛiÀÌiÀ q Ü>Ã V>ÀÀi` ÛiÀ

had cause for a double celebration, too.

on the motorsport calendar. No pressure to do it

from 2023, while the bodywork and suspension

Peterhansel, known as ‘Mr Dakar’ given he’s won

>ÌÌiw> ««ÀÌÕÌÞ° «ÀiÃÃÕÀivÃÌ>}

were tweaked and weight shed to give the

the thing 14 times, took the stage victory by some

its immaculate motorsport record, especially as

rockstar driver line-up – of Sainz, Mattias Ekström

29 seconds.

it’s a manufacturer synonymous with rough-stuff

and Stéphane Peterhansel – the ultimate ride. The

Of course, that’s a feat in itself. But for the

success. Oh, and no pressure to do so in a car

wheel rims, brake discs and uprights were beefed

vastly experienced French racer, it also marked

concept radically different to anything else that’s

up to prevent stones penetrating and wreaking

his 50th Dakar stage win while competing in the

ever scored victory in 45 years of this revered

havoc. And the two spare tyres, stowed in

car class (never mind the other 33 he’s chalked up

off-road enduro. Talk about a pioneering spirit.

massive cubbies behind the doors, were made

on motorbikes!). He now ties Finnish icon Ari

easier to access to speed up roadside repairs.

Vatanen for the four-wheel record. There was also

But against all odds, after late nights,
heartbreak, injury and tens of thousands of hard-

č ÌÕ} Ìi ,- + i ÌÀ >` V>}i`] ÌÃ

an emotional aside to his achievement. On the

fought racing miles, Audi has completed its

year’s running of the toughest rally raid started

2023 Dakar, Peterhansel and co-driver Édouard

ÃÃ>`Ìii iVÌÀwi`čÕ`,-+i ÌÀ>Ã

with a sense of déjà vu. Like in 2023, Ekström

Boulanger took a considerable beating. Seven

topped the times on the Prologue (a 17-mile

days in, they suffered a particularly brutal landing

amuse-bouche that allows the fastest crews to

after a dune. The car was withdrawn and

«V  ÌiÀ ÃÌ>ÀÌ} «ÃÌ vÀ Ìi wÀÃÌ «À«iÀ

Boulanger airlifted to hospital. He was side-lined

stage). The double DTM champion picked his way

from competition for four long months with a

through the AlUla sand 23 seconds quicker than

broken back. The duo were genuinely unsure

the rest. Then Sainz laid down a clear marker the

whether they would ever again be able to battle

next day. As the Dakar kicked off in anger, with

it out at the front. Now, they emphatically had

778 competitors tackling the opening 251 miles

their answer.

of competitive running through volcano passes,

Mind you, the celebrations couldn’t last too

he overtook a staggering 47 cars and dealt with

long as Audi then had to tackle one of the Dakar’s

ÌÀii«ÕVÌÕÀiÃÌwÃÃiV`°

infamous Marathon Stages – two days where

Underlining why the Dakar is quite so

support

vehicles

are

prohibited,

leaving

formidable, the terrain and challenges were

competitors to their own devices to sort any

wildly different 24 hours later. For the 292-mile

repairs. The biggest headache for Sainz and Cruz

“SAINZ
ALMOST
MADE IT
LOOK EASY”

came with navigation: co-drivers are only handed

9>âii` č ,> À i` Ã ÌÀÕV ] ÓäÓÎ iÛiÌ

Sainz clocked fourth to retain the overall lead by

the route 20 minutes before they take to the

winner Nasser Al-Attiyah was hobbled by

a healthy 25 minutes.

course, so there’s no time to learn lines. Five

technical issues and Audi’s own Peterhansel was

As Audi crept closer to the spoils, pragmatism

minutes were lost to a mishap and they also

blighted by mechanical gremlins after a hard

took priority. That was fully on show for Stage

tagged a crater while picking their way through

landing in the dunes. With his own victory charge

Nine. Soon after Sainz took to the route, he

the dust. The #204 RS Q e-tron narrowly escaped

over, he settled into a new role as the ultimate

spotted a friendly face. Early starter Peterhansel

a rollover but had to deploy its onboard hydraulic

wingman by shadowing his teammates while

had pulled over for a couple of minutes so he

jack to remedy another puncture. That knocked

carrying tools and spare tyres should disaster

could then be immediately on hand to provide

Sainz to second in the overall standings.

iÛiÀÃÌÀ i°/iÀÕ iÃ> ÜÃÕVÃi yiÃÃ>VÌÃqLÕÌ

any support if required. Still, even if help was that

Meanwhile, World Rallycross champ Ekström

spare a thought for the cannibalised car when it

close by, Sainz knew better than to chase stage

returned to the podium as the fastest Audi driver

and crew are left behind in the desert...

ÜðiÜ>Ã>««ÞÌÌÕÀÌiëii``ÜÕÃÌ>

of the day. The Swede just nine seconds short of

čÕ` i«Ì `vwÀÃÌ>`ÃiV`ViÌi

fraction to cut the risk of a needless shunt.

À> Þ½Ã> vÜ>Þ«Ìq>Üi ViÀiÃÌ`>ÞLÞÌi

That had the potential to tee up a showdown

->âÌiÀi> ÞÃÌ>ÀÌi`ÌyiÝÃ`iV>`iv

Saudi capital of Riyadh. The team strategy helped

between rallying royalty: a hard-charging Loeb

ÌiÃÌ>}iÜ>ÃiwÃi`ÀÕiÀÕ«°
> >ÀiÝ«iÀiVi°iÜ>à ÞÓnÌv>ÃÌiÃÌ>ÌÌi

keep Sébastien Loeb, a WRC legend with nine

closed in as the event revisited AlUla. A return to

end of Stage Five and dropped another spot to

drivers’ trophies, a good half hour behind. A

the rally’s starting point also meant the return of

third in the overall order. No need for alarm bells,

decent base to work from, but nothing was won

the tyre-slashing rocks. Shock, they didn’t show

though. This was another deliberate move. What

yet. The second week was where Audi’s assault

any mercy this time either. Sainz picked up three

lay ahead was the new-for-2024 Chrono Stage.

came unstuck last year. It’s when Boulanger

punctures. Since the RS Q e-tron has space for a

č {n ÕÀ] Î{ä  i ÛÞ>}i Ì Ìi ÀiÜi`

suffered his injury before Sainz rolled his RS Q

brace of spares, Ekström was kind enough to

Empty Quarter... because the Dakar needed to

e-tron into retirement.

`>ÌiivÃ>ÃiL>`ÌwÝ>L ÜÕÌv

LiiÛi>À`iÀ°ÛiÌiiÝ«>Ãiv`iÃiÀÌÌ>Ì

ÃÌÀÞ ÌÀi>Ìii` Ì Ài«i>Ì ÌÃi v° ->` Þ]

ÃÜ°č Ì `]`>Þ£Î]ÜV```ii`«ÀÛi

lay ahead (a sandpit the size of France but home

Ekström and co-driver Emil Bergvist’s campaign

unlucky for some, ended with Sainz’s advantage

to only 50 people), Audi and Sainz didn’t want to

was undone by a left rear suspension issue very

dropping below 15 minutes.

be one of the early runners. So, they had

i>À Þ Ì -Ì>}i -iÛi q >`i Õ« v V>Þ

No one has ever accused the Dakar Rally of

intentionally dropped the pace so a few rivals

passes and dunes. True to his word, Peterhansel

being easy. But just to make it that bit tougher for

could slip ahead and lay some tracks in the sand.

spent 40 minutes trying to get his colleagues

Audi, the penultimate stage happened to be an

That move paid off too. The drivers would

back underway. That left it to Sainz to keep

old foe. The 260-mile dash to Yanbu was used in

Audi’s Dakar dream alive.

ÓäÓÎ>`ÃÀiV i`ÌLiÌi>À`iÃÌÃiVÌv

have to make do with military-style food rations
and sleeping in tents, but Sainz still had the

While overall glory was now out of reach for

the lot. Surprise, surprise, it’s dominated by

iiÀ}ÞÌyÞÕÌvÌi}>ÌiÃ>`Ì> iÌiÛiÀ> 

Ekström and Peterhansel, daily stage wins were

ÀV ðč`> ÌÕ}čÕ`ëiVwV> ÞÃÕ}ÌÕÌ

i>`°iÜ>Ãv>ÃÌiÃÌÌÌiwÀÃÌ}>Ìi>` i«ÌÌ>Ì

still up for grabs. Rather than get bogged down in

the area while testing for 2024, that shakedown

speed up for the rest of the run to lead Ekström

their misfortune, they bounced back by running

only reinforced it doesn’t really matter whether

for an overall Audi 1-2.

1-2 on day 11. Ekström notched his fourth ever

you’re going slow or fast over this type of surface,

Elsewhere, the Dakar was chewing up and

Dakar stage win and the seventh for the RS Q

punctures are pretty much inevitable. Sure

spitting out plenty of competitors. Early leader

e-tron programme. To complete a stellar day,

enough, Sainz picked one up towards the end of

The Audi RS Q e-tron combines an electric drivetrain with an energy converter system comprising a TFSI engine and generator

For exclusive video
action from Audi’s Dakar
2024 race head this way
https://bit.ly/3PsIWCh

the stage. But rather than see his lead come down

After bowing down to kiss his car on the

that last year. We had an amazing team that never

any further, the Spaniard could rest a little easier.

podium, an understandably emotional Sainz said:

gave up, even when we had setbacks. If you trust

i½` > Ài>`Þ Vi >VÀÃÃ iL ÃÌÀV i >Ì Ìi

“This victory means a lot to me. It’s my fourth

your team, they can even achieve the seemingly

side of the road. While attempting to traverse a

victory with the fourth different brand. The team

impossible. We overcame this challenge with long

ÌÀV ÞÀV VÀ>Ü ÜÌV i>À Þ`iwi`«>Ì]Ã

has developed a very special concept with which

and hard work.

car’s wishbone had given up the ghost. That left

Üi>ÀiÌiwÀÃÌÌi > >À,> Þ°" ÞčÕ`Ü>Ã

->âÜÌÌi£ÓÌ>`w> ÃÌ>}iÌÀÕ]>`>

brave enough to take this risk. I’m happy that

iÝVi«Ì> ° >À ÃÃÌ Þ>Ì«`ÀÛiÀ]LÕÌ>

lead of nigh on 1.5 hours to protect.

º"ÕÀ ÜiÀÃ

>À Ã >` ÕV>Ã >Ài LÌ

we’ve made history with it, and in one of the

legend with a big heart who cares about people,

The 2024 Dakar Rally concluded with a course

ÌÕ}iÃÌi`ÌÃvÌÃÀ> Þ>ÛiiÝ«iÀiVi`°»

immerses himself in every detail and is never

along the coast of the Red Sea. Sainz and Cruz did

The man himself might think it’s one of the

Ã>ÌÃwi`ÜÌÃi v°ÌÃ>ÕÀ>`>iÀÌ

what they needed to do. They brought it home

toughest he’s ever known but somehow, on

safely to not only claim a much-anticipated Audi

paper, he almost made it look easy. Almost. Sainz

Three years ago, Audi set itself a seemingly

victory but in doing so, broke entirely new

took the overall lead twice and was never

impossible task. But after two Prologue wins,

ground. The RS Q e-tron will always be

ÛiÀÌ> i>vÌiÀÌiwvÌÃÌ>}i°

seven stage victories and overall Dakar glory,

Ì>Ìi>ÃV«iÌi`vÀÕÀÌi>°»

ÀiiLiÀi` >Ã Ìi wÀÃÌ i iVÌÀwi` «ÀÌÌÞ«i

“We have written a piece of motorsport

ever to win the world’s toughest desert rally.

ÃÌÀÞ]» >``i` i>` v čÕ` ÌÀëÀÌ , v

i}>VÞ°č`̽ÃÌwÃi`LÀi> }iÜ}ÀÕ`

Vorsprung durch Technik.

Michl. “This sport is also about luck. We lacked

yet. New challenges await.

Audi has added a new strand to its rich motorsport

Dakar rally vehicle. Not available as a production model. Professional driver on a closed course. Do not attempt.

-JuT,TWLJTZX
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Please stop banning the personalised plates
we might all enjoy, requests TGTV’s Sam Philip

I L LU S T R AT I O N : PAU L RY D I N G

The DVLA was recently hit with a Freedom of Information
request ordering it to publish a full list of banned numberplates
for the March ‘24’ cycle: all plates deemed at risk of offending
right-minded citizens. The investigative journalists behind this
request? Plates4Less, a website selling personalised numberplates.
Now, personally I’d rather pop my most delicate extremities
in an air fryer than drive a car with a personalised plate. But
hey, it’s a free country, and if you’re the sort of person fine
with blowing a month’s salary on a combination of letters
and numbers that vaguely resemble your name provided you
a) squint heavily and b) cannot spell, then knock yourself out.
Unless, that is, your name happens to vaguely resemble
one of the 330 or so recently prohibited combos. Because the
DVLA did indeed publish its banned list in full (thus rather
undermining the ‘not causing offence’ principle), and it is
indeed... nowhere near as offensive as you’d hope, sorry.
Sure, some of the list could be construed as at least mildly
rude: GO24 HEL, SH24 GGD, BO24 LOC, etc. But plenty of the
‘offensive’ plates are, to put it mildly, a stretch. For example:
GB24 DWN. I’ve spent plenty of time looking at that one, and
unless a ‘bzadwn’ is some new slang for a proper wrong ’un, I
believe we’re meant to decode it as ‘Great Britain, 2024, down’.

“WE ARE UNITED IN
THIS UNIVERSAL TRUTH:
REVERSE BURPS ARE FUNNY”

Squinting my way through the list, I felt intensely sorry
for the poor DVLA lackey responsible for studying every
alphanumeric combo for potential offence. “But hang on.
If the car lands upside down in a ditch, and every other
character on its numberplate happens to spontaneously
combust, an innocent passerby might misread it as ‘bum’...”
Here’s the banned plate that really got me: AF24 ART.
Yes, we all know what it (nearly) says. But why ban it?
Would anyone’s day truly be made worse by catching sight
of a combination of letters and numbers loosely nodding to
a natural bodily function? “Margaret, how frightful! I’d
entirely forgotten the human tendency to emit intestinal
gas until I spotted that plate. This is even worse than that
time we spotted a sign to a public toilet...”
This nation doesn’t agree on much. But we are united in
this universal truth: reverse burps are funny, so long as you
don’t have the misfortune to be trapped in an elevator with
a particularly vicious example. If a few delicate souls out
there might be lightly offended by spotting AF24 ART (or
UF24 ART, or FF24 ART, or any of the other flatus-related
plates on the banned list), surely their pain would be hugely
outweighed by the joy experienced by our nation’s puerile
children, and puerile-children-at-heart?
Come on, the DVLA. Regular personalised numberplates
are bad enough. Don’t make it worse by banning the ones we
might actually enjoy.
Sam Philip is the TopGear telly script editor and a mag and web
regular for over 15 years. He also enjoys racing classic Ferraris,
restoring air-cooled 911s, and lying about his interests
Need more of the TopGear telly show in your life?
All episodes are now free to stream on BBC iPlayer

TOPGEAR.COM

› M AY 2 0 2 4

031

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NEW!

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AND GAMES – ALL BROUGHT TO YOU FROM THE
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The Chinese auto industry is moving at
pace. And it means business, says Paul

I L LU S T R AT I O N : PAU L RY D I N G

Imagine a Mercedes-AMG G63, but electrically powered
and given one of Mansory’s medium-strength goings over.
But you needn’t imagine, because it exists. I’m sitting in it. It’s
not just a concept either, but already on sale, taking on deserts,
swamps and blizzards. By contra-rotating its four motors it can
turn in its own length, as per a Bobcat skid-steer loader. It can
float, making slow hippo-like progress through calm waters by
spinning its bladed alloys. That said it doesn’t look too
seaworthy and they call it “emergency float mode”.
Its absurdly plush cabin is ready for six-lane highways too.
For the moment just in China mind you, for this is the Yanwang
U8. Yanwang, the upmarket brand of BYD, is now building more
pure electric cars than Tesla, plus a pile of hybrids too. The U8
appeared at the Geneva Motor Show, and while it was easy to
sneer at the OTT optics, the tech brooks no argument. And hey,
a G-Wagen is hardly low-key in the styling department.
BYD had another spin-off brand on its Geneva stand too,
the Denza D9, an ultra-luxe van. Meanwhile, 50 metres across
the hall, MG was launching its own upmarket brand, IM. It
had a series of crossovers and saloons of rather more generic
aspect than the bodacious Yanwang. I met an engineer on the

“YANWANG IS NOW BUILDING
MORE PURE ELECTRIC CARS THAN
TESLA, PLUS A PILE OF HYBRIDS”

IM project and asked what made them unique. He said the first
of the IM saloons, the L6, has the power and range of a Model 3
Performance but at the price of a normal Model 3 Dual Motor,
adding that while Tesla made you pay extra for assisted driving,
here it was included. Now those are hardly original aims, but
if they’ve been achieved the people will surely come.
British people among them. MG will sell the IM cars in
Britain. BYD UK says it’s “considering” the Yanwang. The
Chinese car industry’s global ambition takes another step
up, and it’s doing it without heritage.
Oh hang on. MG says it’s 100 years old, and back-projects
images of rickety old British roadsters on its event to launch the
MG3 supermini. (For consistency, why not the MG Metro?) But
MG is today part of the Shanghai Auto Industry Corp, wholly
owned by the Chinese state since SAIC bought Nanjing Auto,
which had itself bought the name – and the MG TF – from the
rump of Rover Group. It’s not a particularly pure bloodline.
Even so, those historical smoky MG roadsters impelled
the British design studio to draw a concept that became the
electric-only Cyberster. It’s got two seats, yes, but also powered
scissor doors, two motors and startling performance. Hardly
the generic budget EV crossover everyone expects from China.
Its possible these premium Chinese cars might fail in Europe,
just as Infiniti failed. But the speed shows the seriousness.
Toyota started making cars in 1934, and it took 55 years before
launching its premium division Lexus. Hyundai took 49 years to
launch Genesis. Yanwang and IM show how the movie of the
Chinese car industry is being played at an unheard-of frame rate.
TG ’s megabrain Paul is one of the world’s most experienced car
journalists. He single-handedly caused the microchip crisis after
eating several thousand in a bid to boost his processing power

TOPGEAR.COM

› M AY 2 0 2 4

033

The big test:
small electric SUVs
Things are looking bright with the arrival of the latest electric Volvo –
but the existing crop of electric crossovers has something to say too
WORDS OLLIE MARRIAGE

034 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M

PHOTOGRAPHY JONNY FLEETWOOD

JEEP
AVENGER

SMART
ONE

VOLVO
EX30

HYUNDAI KONA
ELECTRIC

£34,800/£42,125 as tested

£31,950/£38,950 as tested

£33,795/£38,545 as tested

£38,595/£45,345 as tested

TOPGEAR.COM

› M AY 2 0 2 4

035

Two degrees of separation
– both these cars enjoy
Geely’s input

“THIS IS THE CORE OF THE ELECTRIC
MARKET, THIS IS WHERE FUTURE
GROWTH IS LIKELY TO COME FROM”

01
036

M AY 2 0 2 4 ›

TOPGEAR.COM

L
02

03

04
1. First to last in speed order. EX30
recorded 0–62mph in 5.3secs
2. Volvo boot compact but
easy to load and access
3. See the fox in the
bottom corner? You’ll
soon be wishing you hadn’t
4. Fiddliest alloy wheels? That’ll
be the Hyundai. Vain attempt
to add pizzazz to the grey

et me introduce you to the Volvo
EX30. I think you might get on. Swift,
desirable, beautifully finished and it
costs less than £34k. Initially I just
couldn’t work out how Volvo had
done it for the money. Later, I’d work it out.
But here’s where we’re going to start: value.
Electric cars have received a kicking for not
being affordable enough, but now we’re starting
to see prices coming down. Not quite to MG4
levels, but far enough to make you sit up and
pay attention. As you can see they all start from
around £35,000. Put a six grand deposit down
and you can have a Smart One for £280 a month
over three years. That’s not bad at all. In fact it’s
not a bad car all round, as I’ll come on to.
This is the core of the electric market, this
is where future growth will likely come from.
Because crossover. Not necessarily these four
cars alone, as they’re splashing around in a deep
pool of talent that extends from lifted hatches
such as the Renault Megane E-Tech to new
incomers from China – think BYD Atto.
Interested in how those all fit together?
So were we, so in parallel to this test we
actually shot a 10 car film. Dig it out on
YouTube or at topgear.com.
These four overlap and compare with each
other in interesting ways. The Volvo and the
Smart are related, for instance: Volvo is owned
by Chinese firm Geely, which also owns 50
per cent of Smart in a joint partnership with
Mercedes. So the two cars use the same motor,
battery pack and basic underpinnings. But
they’re different sizes, the One (we refuse to
use the hashtag. It won’t date well and is as
irritating as VW’s insistence that the Up
required an exclamation mark) lining up more
directly with the Hyundai Kona. Meanwhile
the Sun Yellow Avenger reflects – quite literally
– well against the Moss Yellow EX30. Both of
them line up similarly in terms of size, interior
space, general demeanour and the emphasis
each places on design. And we’ve come full
circle around our group of four.

A word on range. The Hyundai is the most
expensive here and you don’t have to look far to
see why. It has a 65kWh battery pack when the
others are all 15kWh smaller. Relax, you can
have your Kona with a 48kWh pack and that’ll
bring the price down to within a hundred quid
of the yellow pair. As it stands the Kona has a
claimed WLTP range of 319 miles. With the
smaller pack that falls to 234 miles which
– you guessed it – is within a stone’s throw
of the others.
However, there’s still quite a bit of variation
here between the most efficient (the Jeep
Avenger with a claimed 249 mile range) and
the least (the Smart One is capable of a mere
193 miles). You don’t have to look far for the
difference. Say what you like about the compact
size of the Jeep but it doesn’t weigh much. At
1,520kg it’s quarter of a tonne lighter than the
Smart and not having to haul all that weight
around makes a big difference. Not that any of
them weigh what they claim. We put them all
on a set of professional corner weight scales.
Hat tip to the Volvo for only being 17kg heavier
than claimed. The Smart and the Jeep were
both over by 50kg, while the ‘promise I’m
1,698kg’ Hyundai was actually 1,791kg...
At least none was two tonnes, let alone the
three that Volvo has already warned us that the
EX90 is likely to weigh. However, no marque is
incentivised to lose weight when all our focus
around electric cars is on range rather than
efficiency. They can just fit bigger batteries and
no one cares. We need to care. Bigger batteries
shouldn’t be seen as a good thing. It’s not just
the weight of the batteries themselves, but that
everything else needs to be beefed up to cope as
well. Even in the cold the Avenger would happily
tickle along at over 3.5mpkWh, where the Smart
struggled to hit 3.0. Which also means it’s
correspondingly cheaper to run as well, and with
electricity prices remaining high, that matters.
The Volvo and Jeep are the most appealing.
The Smart is the kind of car that would be
driven by an ‘I’m wacky, me’ kids TV presenter.

TOPGEAR.COM

› M AY 2 0 2 4

037

It’s jolly and blobby at the same time and, just
like the real thing, fitted with a dodgy Toytown
toupee. Apart from its slit of a light bar (where
are the front lights? Oh, there they are right at
the front corners, the most vulnerable point of
any car. Cracked lenses from parking dings
ahoy). The Hyundai meanwhile is an awkward
thing. Look at the bulges down the flanks, the
odd lines and pointless creases. What were the
designers thinking? Faced with these four, no
one’s going to gravitate to the Kona.
The Avenger connects successfully with
Jeep’s history, playacting the role of a big car,
while being nothing of the sort. It’s only a
whisker over four metres long. Meanwhile the
Volvo switches retro riffs for cool sophistication.
It’s clean and desirable, looks expensive, has that
sort of classless classiness like the VW Golf used
to, able to draw in a wide audience.
They won’t be coming for its practicality.
Two of these cars will work well for young

lower roof lines and hunched rear quarters, both
the Jeep and Volvo have dark and cramped rear
quarters and boots designed for little more than
the weekly shop. The Smart and Hyundai would
both have a stab at a weekend away for four. The
One, despite the common underpinnings, has a
100mm longer wheelbase than the EX30, all of
which seems to have gone into rear legroom. It’s
the most generous car here, with a high roof and
airy, light cabin, but the boot is barely bigger
than the smaller two. Likely to be carrying
luggage rather than passengers? Have the Kona
and its 466-litre boot.
You sure as hell won’t have it for the interior
design. It’s greyer than Slough in here. There’s
no tone or texture, it’s like someone showed
the designers a picture of a Seventies Open
University lecturer and said “Design him a
cabin”. Insipid and bland, there’s no texture or
tone to this, the Nytol of car cabins. But it does
have buttons. Loads of them actually. They’re a

Now come and visit the Volvo, where a
ruthless purge of all buttons has occurred.
This at least partly accounts for the money
saving. But it’s not the first thing you notice.
The interior doorhandles are these gorgeous
slivers of metal, the air vents are open and
delicate, the trim and materials are to die for.
Polestar the upmarket Volvo? Wrong way round.
This sleek cleanliness, the neat storage, the way
the cupholders glide out of the central armrest
console, it’s all very calming.
Until you start moving in it. Want to adjust
the wing mirrors? Open the glovebox? Disable
the driver aids? Switch on the lights? You
guessed it: off you trot to the touchscreen.
Now, it is a good touchscreen, easily the best
here, with well designed menus and (mostly)
logical, readable layouts. But there are a lot of
choices and options packed away in there, and
as far as I could work out, none of them allows
you to turn off the infernal driver alert system.

“TWO OF THESE CARS WILL
WORK WELL FOR YOUNG FAMILIES,
NEITHER OF THEM IS YELLOW”

038

M AY 2 0 2 4 ›

TOPGEAR.COM

City-biased Jeep is good
around town, Kona the
better all-rounder

Nowhere to hide from Ollie’s
Weight Watchers meeting.
Rice cakes for the Kona

TOPGEAR.COM

› M AY 2 0 2 4

039

VOLVO
EX30

04
01

03

02
06

05

SMART
ONE

04

05
01

02

06
040 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M

03

JEEP
AVENGER

02
01

03

04

05

06

HYUNDAI
KONA

01
05

04
02

06

03
TOPGEAR.COM

› M AY 2 0 2 4

041

Specifications

1 2 3 4
VOLVO
EX30

SMART
ONE

HYUNDAI
KONA ELECTRIC

JEEP
AVENGER

POWERTRAIN

Single motor

Single motor

Single motor

Single motor

TOTAL POWER

268bhp

272bhp

215bhp

154bhp

VERDICT

ACCELERATION

TOTAL TORQUE

5.7secs

0–62

6.7secs

0–62

7.8secs

0–62

9.6secs

0–62

253lb ft

253lb ft

188lb ft

192lb ft

49.0kWh, 214 miles

49.0kWh, 193 miles

65.4kWh, 319 miles

50.8kWh, 249 miles

112

112

107

93

1,758/1,775kg

1,788/1,836kg

1,698/1,791kg

1,520/1,579kg

RWD, 1spd auto

RWD, 1spd auto

FWD, 1spd auto

FWD, 1spd auto

466 litres

321 litres

BATTERY,
RANGE

TOP SPEED

mph

mph

mph

mph

WEIGHT
CLAIMED/
MEASURED

TRANSMISSION

BOOT CAPACITY

318 litres

8
SCORE

10

323 litres

7

10

7

10

6

10

T H A N K S TO: I N T E R CO M P CO M PA N Y.CO M FO R T H E LOA N O F T H E S C A L E S

The information pops up tiny on the screen,
so you look across. Pay attention to the road,
it says. But I was until you started bonging.
Arrive at a roundabout, look right. It bongs.
Glance at the speedo. It bongs.
This is not calming. The Smart is the same,
so too – to a lesser extent – the Hyundai and
Jeep. This is not progress. These are not safety
systems, they add stress and worry and tiredness
because they never let up – 1mph over, a brush
of a white line, a car in front. They can startle,
interfere, they have no finesse, no knowledge of
extenuating factors. Software updates should
– should – improve matters. They need to.
The Jeep’s cabin feels cheap after the Volvo,
but both it and the Smart have a sense of fun
to them that the EX30 doesn’t. They have
bold colour panels, don’t take themselves
too seriously. I could do without the One’s
interfering animated fox, but apart from
that the Smart is a likeable thing. The upright
A-pillars improve visibility, there’s an extra
info screen ahead of the driver that the Volvo
doesn’t get, the seats are comfortable. It’s
cheery. You don’t want to like being in it,
but you do, and so will your family.
It’s also pretty swift. Sure it’s a bit of a
pudding to drive, but the tall, airy cabin has the

best forward visibility here and like all these cars
it’s light, easy and quiet. It’s perfectly pleasant
and utterly unexciting. I’m afraid you won’t
get much reward from any of these. The most
mechanical interaction you can have is with
the Hyundai’s regen paddles.
The Jeep is arguably the most dynamic,
which probably seems very strange if you’re
thinking this is an American car. It’s not.
Part of the Stellantis megacorp, it’s a copy
of the Peugeot e-2008/DS3 e-Tense, and the
handling does have a hint of French insouciance.
The Volvo, weighing 200kg more, but shoved
along by an extra 114bhp, is much swifter – the
fastest car here in fact. And the least excited by
its own prowess. No hint of joie de vivre here.
The chassis can just about keep pace without
heaving and bucking around, but don’t be
tempted to have the twin motor version of
this (or the Brabus-badged Smart). You’re
buying a family car, not a rocket sled, and
268bhp is already enough to punt it to 62mph
in 5.3secs according to our timing gear.
And besides, the EX30 has unnervingly light
steering – at least until you delve back into the
menus and firm it up. It’s rear drive, so there’s
no torque steer when you gun it away from
roundabouts, and for nipping around towns it’s

the best here. It zips off the line, fits through gaps
and takes it all in its stride. Nor does it fall flat
on a motorway haul – none here do, although be
warned the Jeep runs out of puff sooner than
the others – 154bhp is only just enough.
And that sums the Jeep up really. It’s a
desirable piece of design, looks the part and
copes with stuff, but it feels cheap inside and
the Volvo’s quality makes it look overpriced.
The Smart comes close to doing the same to the
Hyundai – it’s a happier, more tactile and upbeat
car. If you’re the kind of person who’s not fussed
about cars beyond practicality and reliability, and
you need room for family business, have the
Hyundai. It won’t let you down. Just remember
you can have a petrol Kona and save yourself
nearly £10k... electric is the more sophisticated
choice, but it’s not for everyone.
So Geely scores a one-two in this test. Both
Smart and Volvo use Chinese underclothes and
successfully dress them in European outfits.
The Smart, to damn it with faint praise, is
better than you think it’s going to be, but the
Volvo is our winner. It’s not spacious and its
driver interference systems are infuriating, but
the design, the quality and the execution are
unbeatable. And it’s attractively priced. Well
done Volvo, this one feels like a Polestar.

“BOTH SMART AND VOLVO USE CHINESE
UNDERCLOTHES AND SUCCESSFULLY
DRESS THEM IN EUROPEAN OUTFITS”

TOPGEAR.COM

› M AY 2 0 2 4

043

8

10

N

ROLLS-ROYCE
CULLINAN BL ACK BADGE

Crown
jewel
£342,600
P
6.75TT
V12

591
bhp

8spd
auto

5.2
secs

17.3
mpg

CO2

370
g/km

FOR Spooky refinement, build
quality, does things a bit
differently to other SUVs
AGAINST Uneasy looks, fuel
consumption, don’t have
it for the practicality

044 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M

o, it hasn’t got any prettier. More
than five years on from its launch
and Rolls-Royce’s SUV is still most
kindly described as an acquired taste. Other
opinions are available. It hasn’t changed by
the way, in case you’re finding it doesn’t snag
your eyeballs as much as it used to. What’s
happened in the intervening years is that car
design hasn’t stood still. Look at the BMW
XM, Merc EQS SUV etc and you’re forced to
conclude styling’s slammed open the door
marked “where taste goes to die” and taken a
bold step through. Maybe Rolls gave them all
the confidence to do it.
Right, enough taking aim at soft targets.
Design isn’t the only thing that hasn’t stood
still in the past half decade. EVs have arrived.
To all intents and purposes, you could
convince passengers the Cullinan is
electrically powered. Drive gently and you
can’t detect the pulse of a single cylinder,
and with no rev counter the power reserve
indicator could just as easily suggest electric
propulsion as petrol.
But nothing’s changed here either. It’s not
gone hybrid or gained the Spectre’s electric
underpinnings (at least not yet), so what we
have is a softly blown twin-turbo 6.75-litre
V12 developing 663lb ft at a mere 1,650rpm.
That’s the only figure that matters. Like
electric, it appears not to have to work for
its speed but instead glide up to whatever

cruising velocity you deem fit. It is swanlike.
All is chin-up dignity and poise.
It’s like wafting around in a cloud. You
feel distant from everything. There’s no
suspension or road noise, the ride is glossy
and calm, nothing intrudes. There’s nothing
quite like it. Except a Phantom. The ride
comfort is extraordinary, more downy than
a Bentley, a real step on from a Range Rover.
This soothes, dampens and quashes. The
world slips by.
The world also looks in. If anything upsets
the calm you feel in this car, it’s the attention
it draws. It exposes you. Is it worth it then?
A Range Rover is a more handsome machine,
more attractive inside too and, given a straight
choice, that’s the one I’d recommend. But
things aren’t that simple with the Cullinan.
It might be a similar size, shape and weight,
but it’s a different sort of car. Rather than
the Cullinan aping the Range Rover, it’s the
Range Rover – in its most upmarket guise –
that seeks to ape the Cullinan.
It’s all about luxury. The key battleground
now has nothing to do with off-road ability.
The Cullinan is merely SUV shaped. It exists
to repackage Rolls’ famous attributes in a
shape that appeals to a more youthful,
perhaps family oriented, audience. You can
have your Cullinan with split folding rear
seats. This would allow you to do an Ikea run
with it. You can also have your Cullinan with

“THIS IS REAL
LUXURY –
AND IT IS
EFFORTLESSLY
CONVINCING ”

Forget about what it’s like up front – if
you’re a real baller it’s the backseat
experience that matters most

a partition between human cargo and actual
cargo. This one did, and further limited its
practicality by including the Viewing Suite, a
pair of seats that whirr out of a cassette and
extend over The Clasp. That’s Rolls’ term for
the split tailgate.
Maximum carrying capacity isn’t an issue
when your security detail will be in the Range
Rover behind. What may cause offence is that
if their RR is a long wheelbase model, it
delivers more legroom than the Cullinan.
It’s surprising that as yet Rolls-Royce hasn’t
developed an extended wheelbase version of
its SUV. Still, it’s not like you’ll be wanting to
stretch your legs out. Instead all you’ll do is
take your shoes off and wriggle your toes in
the bottomless shagpile. Then sit back, press

the button to whisk the rear-hinged door
closed electrically, look up and lose yourself
in the twinkling starlight headliner – see
you’ve forgotten your cares and woes.
This is real luxury, and it is effortlessly
convincing – utterly unlike what passes for
luxury from the German brands. They’re all
about hyperscreens, endless electric motors,
a million shades of ambient light. The agony
of choice. Nor is this the luxury of stylish
minimalism – that’s the Range Rover’s tactic,
and it’s very convincing. This is old school.
It’s not particularly pretty inside either, but
the sheer tactility and quality – the first time
you adjust the heating, brush the leather,
hear the door click shut... these are moments
you’ll remember, because no other marque,
not even Bentley, does it as well as this.
You’ve got to be brave to enjoy it, immune
to the stares that bombard you because of
what the Cullinan is and what it stands for.
It’s a conspicuous consumer, returns 15mpg
and costs more than an average dwelling. It
may be uncouth to talk of such things, but
prices start at £298,800, while this Black
Badge version (a bit more power and darker,
“more urban” colour schemes) comes in at
£342,600. This exists on a plane where people
buy it because of its expense, not despite its
expense. Mad world, really. But this is an
entertainment experience as much as it is
a conveyance. Ollie Marriage
TOPGEAR.COM

› M AY 2 0 2 4

045

7

10
V O L K S WA G E N
T IGUAN 1.5 T SI

Golf
swing
£36,705
P
1.5T
4cyl

148
bhp

7spd
auto

9.1
secs

43.2
mpg

CO2

149
g/km

FOR Practical, mostly plush
interior, steers well
AGAINST Firm ride, dull looks,
pricey options

B

ig news: the Tiguan now outsells the
Golf. Over 7m have been shifted since
2007, making it fair to assume Tiguan
MkIII isn’t going to rock the boat.
The Tiguan arrives alongside an all-new
Passat atop a fresh platform, dubbed MQB Evo,
that aims to blend everything we’ve always
known and respected VW for with a host of
new tech. The range kicks off with a pair of
mild hybrid petrols – a 1.5-litre TSI in two
different tunes (128 and 148bhp) with a little

046 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M

motorised assistance to smooth out stop/start
driving and cut the engine during deceleration
– and a pair of plug-in hybrids, which mate that
1.5 TSI unit to an electric motor for 201 and
268bhp outputs and up to 62 miles of fully
electric range if you’ve topped up their
19.7kWh battery. It’s what most UK buyers
will go for and presents an evolution of the old
Tiguan eHybrid, just with twice the e-range
and the ability to accept 50kW DC charging.
Every powertrain is latched to a DSG
transmission, while any lingering concerns
about a 1.5 being too meek to haul a chunky
SUV are dealt with by a handful of 2.0-litre
petrol or diesel ICEs.
Auto-only status sees the gear selector
move to the right-hand steering column
stalk, the newly free centre console boasting
abundant smartphone charging options and
a fresh rotary controller that acts as both
volume knob and drive mode dial thanks to its
display screen. It’s all part of a much needed
ergonomic cleanup, though the humongous

central touchscreen still vacuums up most
controls, aircon included. ChatGPT-enabled
voice control intends to minimise distractions,
but feels a bit of a gimmick when AI is still in
its relative infancy.
Where most customers will choose a PHEV,
particularly those on company car schemes,
the simpler mild hybrid 1.5 might suit private
buyers nicely. Not least because its 270kg
lighter kerbweight has a less detrimental effect
on the ride, something which is rather punchy
on all Tiguans, particularly across the sort
of low speed urban roads these cars most
frequently travel. Such criticisms aren’t the
sole preserve of this SUV, but the Passat
extracts more comfort from the same platform.
There’s tonnes of room, plenty of quality
materials and its new styling yields a much
slipperier aero profile than its forebear,
benefitting both refinement and range, which
peaks at almost 600 miles in the eHybrid.
Should go some way to compensate for its
less chiselled looks. Stephen Dobie

BRAND
NEW!

!
W
O
N
E
L
ON SA
AVA IL ABLE AT

7

10

T

MINI COUNTRYMAN
JCW ALL4

Forward
facing
£42,425
2.0T
4cyl

296
bhp

8spd
auto

5.4
secs

P
P

CO2

35.3
mpg

180
g/km

FOR Fabulous interior,
distinctive character,
well engineered
AGAINST It’s grown so
much it’s hardly a Mini
or a hot hatch

048 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M

his is the third generation
Countryman, the model in the
(now not so) New Mini lineup that
tested the definition of ‘mini’ to the point of
destruction. Well, if you thought the previous
two iterations were packing a little excess
timber, get a load of this one.
It’s a resounding 130mm longer than the
outgoing model and 60mm taller, a growth
spurt that moves the Countryman out of
crossover territory and closer to a full-size
SUV. At 4.43m, it’s not far off the length of an
original Range Rover, a fact that would likely
have Sir Alec Issigonis rotating in his grave.
The big news is the arrival of the first
fully electric Countryman, in E and SE All4
versions. Both are powered by the same
65kWh battery pack, making 201 or 309bhp
and delivering a range of 287 or 269 miles.
Hedging its bets slightly against the
wholesale shift to electrification, three
combustion-engined Countrymans
(Countrymen?) are available. The C uses
a 1.5-litre, three-cylinder turbo that makes
168bhp, with the 215bhp four-pot turbo
2.0-litre S All4 next in line. Then there’s the
John Cooper Works, powered by the same
unit but with 296bhp. Mini claims 34–36mpg
WLTP, while CO2 emissions are 177–188g/km.
Despite the Countryman’s increase in
stature, we expect Mini – in all its forms – to
keep faith with the original’s inherently joyful

persona. The JCW, as we’re focusing on here,
wilfully invokes the memory of the man who
helped turn the earliest Mini into such a
remorseless giant slayer, to this day one of the
most amusing cars you’ll ever see racing at
Goodwood. Or anywhere else for that matter.
The Countryman JCW obviously has a
very different job to do, and the world is a
wildly different place now, so it’s best not
to get hung up on suspicions of mission
creep. That said, the Countryman has its
hands full in its efforts to manage traditional
Mini design cues on this plus-size template.
The front end is as unapologetically in-yerface as most other things in the wider BMW
Group product portfolio, while the rear
vertical light clusters are configurable and
back away slightly from the questionable
Union Jack motif.
But it’s inside where the new
Countryman stakes its claim for class
leadership. Mastering the complexities of
connectivity and digitalisation has wrongfooted some of the big names, but Mini’s
design team has nailed it. The Countryman is
wildly clever, imaginative, and crucially given
the technology it deploys, simple to use.
And we need to talk a little more about
the Experience Modes. There are eight on the
Countryman: Core, Green, Go-Kart, Personal,
Vivid, Timeless, Trail and Balance. Each one
has its own specially designed background on

BMW iX2
xDRIVE 30

Swing and
a miss
£57,445
64.8kWh
battery

311
bhp

1spd
auto

5.6
secs

112
mph

279
miles

FOR Pleasing interior,
connectivity, technology
AGAINST Ugly, ho-hum dynamics
aren’t very BMW

THE iX2 IS UNPRETTY. BWM SAYS THE UPRIGHT
grille and flowing coupe roofline are
signatures of its sport activity cars, but
the net result looks a bit off. It’s slippery
though, touting a drag coefficient of 0.25.
In xDrive 30 form, the iX2 has a dual motor
setup that’s good for 311bhp (with a
temporary boost function) and 364lb ft of
torque. BMW claims power consumption
of 3.5 miles per kWh, and it uses its fifth
generation tech, the battery positioned
under the floor.
Interestingly, the iX2 is better to drive
than its disappointingly inert combustion
sibling, despite weighing more. It gains
an additional shear panel in its front end,
while the battery’s housing is designed to
be a load-bearing component. There’s also
a brace between the front suspension’s
strut towers which increases overall
Even if it handled like a shopping
trolley with a wonky wheel, we’d
still be tempted by this interior

torsional rigidity and sharpens turn-in. It’s
unlikely you’ll drive it everywhere on its
(flush) doorhandles, but it’s tidy enough.
Inside, BMW’s excellent Curved Display
arrives in the X2, aided and abetted by

the central display, and a specific sound
signature. Choose Go-Kart, for example,
and you’ll be greeted with a hearty “woo hoo!”
Balance turns the car into a kind of mobile
spa. Personal mode allows you to set your own
background image via the Mini app. It risks
being utterly ridiculous but it’s so well done
that you would have to be an irredeemable
grump not to appreciate it.
Prices start at £29,335, with the John
Cooper Works priced from £40,425. Amid
all the talk of carbon zero factories and
sustainability, you’d be right to query the
merits of a Mini that’s so much bigger and
chunkier than before. Smaller and lighter
would be lovely, but then the human

race isn’t going that way either, and this is
what the market demands. Besides, smaller
Minis are also available, soon to be joined
by the wee Aceman crossover.
So the new Countryman is fit for purpose
and then some. It’s roomy, versatile, and in
JCW form, a spirited enough performer to
satisfy most drivers this side of an Alpine
A110 or GMA T.50. But it’s the interior
that’s the USP here, as will increasingly be
the case as the focus shifts firmly onto how
we interact with cars rather than what propels
them. This new Mini delivers oodles of
tactility, connectivity and entertainment.
It’s a joyous place to be before you’ve even
turned a wheel. Jason Barlow

the Quick Select rapid-tech functionality
that floats the most frequently used stuff
to the top. It’s endlessly configurable but
easy to use. Jason Barlow

6

10

MUST TRY
HARDER
BYD
AT T O 3

£37,695
60.5kWh
battery

201
bhp

1spd
FWD

7.3
secs

7
99
mph

10

260
miles

IN A WAY THIS IS A PLEA TO BYD TO, WELL,
try less hard. Let’s start with the outside,
where the Atto looks most like a 15-yearold Mitsubishi. It’s utterly forgettable and
unimaginative. But the designers let their
imaginations off the leash inside. I can only
think they had watched Back to the Future
first, because that’s the only way I can

MERCEDES-BENZ
EQV

Space
shuttle

account for the bizarre mash-up of Fifties
and Eighties that sees crassly oversized
jukebox-inspired air vents next to guitar

£64,414

string door pockets. They’re in the back
as well, and your kids are going to love
strumming along to whatever’s on the
radio – or rather twanging the surprisingly

90kWh
battery

201
bhp

1spd
CVT

n/a
secs

99
mph

227
miles

resonant elastic cords. You’ll want to praise
their musicality... until you reach the end of
the road – and, soon after, your tether.
I’m teasing BYD now in full awareness
of how rapidly things are bound to improve
for the Chinese brand – as they did for the

FOR Electric seven-seater,
decent range, bags of space
AGAINST Costs a mouth drying
£15k over the ICE V-Class

Koreans. They already have in fact. The
Seal you can read (briefly) about opposite
is a much more convincing car than this.
I suspect the Atto is just something it has
thrown at us to see what sticks. Just don’t
go rubbing your hands thinking you’re going
to get a bargain. The Atto is the best part of
£38k and residuals are crummy because
BYD has yet to establish a reputation and
instil consumer confidence. This isn’t the
best place to start. Ollie Marriage

4

10

050 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M

T

he facelifted 2024 Mercedes EQV
goes up against few rivals. Yes, there
are the e-Spacetourers and Vivaro Life
Electrics of this world, but they’ll never hold a
candle to the EQV. Posher, innit.
The EQV now has a shorter, more vertical
bonnet, a simpler grille flanked by chrome or
carbon-accented vents. Previously, the family
hauler used heat from the battery to make
winter warming more rapid. Now, Merc tells
us it’s using heat from the electric motor.
It negotiates double-parked narrow
streets more gracefully than logic
comprehends. It’s wieldy enough you soon
stop worrying there’s 4.5 metres of metal
behind you... 5.3m in ‘Extra Long’ guise.
With one pedal smoothness, it glides and
slows without missing a beat. But consider
the 2,860kg kerbweight.
The EQV is front-wheel drive and on this
occasion, empty of passengers. Add a few
adults in the back, plus even modest luggage

for each of them, and if the weight of all
that totals more than 641kg, there are
two things you need to worry about: 1)
acceleration, because this doesn’t have
much punch and 2) acquiring a lorry
licence. Perhaps that’s why there’s only
two very fancy massaging recliners in
this particularly capacious rear cabin. As
standard, most EQVs will be seven-seaters
– this two-person mega van will be a much
rarer sight... just like the celebs the driver
will be shuttling in style in the rear.
The larger 90kWh battery gives around
227 miles on a full charge, the smaller 60kWh
just shy of 150 miles. Choose strong regen and
the battery will hungrily suck down braking
energy, whereas auto mode means the car
alters the amount of energy to recoup based
on the terrain. The latter makes for a more
comfortable experience.
The Avantgarde interior design
furnishes the cabin with plenty of leather
and a high quality practical space. Two
12.5in displays seamlessly stitched together
and complemented by touchpad, physical
buttons and touchscreen accessibility get
MercedesMe app integration. There’s a highly
responsive driver assist suite and a new digital
camera-mirror, so the driver can see past
passenger heads.
At the moment, the EQV has the electric
luxo-van market largely to itself. This lays
down a marker for others. Cat Dow

The overrun
Small but perfectly formed reviews. The best of the rest from this month’s drives

7

VOLKSWAGEN
PASSAT 1.5 T SI

8

10

How many cars make it to a ninth
generation and sixth decade?
At least one. The MkIX Passat is

This is an engine we absolutely

L AND ROV ER
DEFENDER 130 V8

love. It sounds a little more
muted and makes slightly less

estate only and twinned almost

£38,480

identically with the latest Skoda

power in the 130, but its smooth,

£117,475

unrelenting delivery mates

Superb to maximise profitability.
FOR Comfier, quieter and
roomier than ever

Good news for the VW, though,

AGAINST Some lost design
sparkle in the process

roomier, while in-car tech is an

as it makes this car comfier and
improvement on recent missteps.

perfectly with the eight-speed
FOR Glorious grunt, genuine
seating for eight

ZF gearbox. Lovely Alcantara

AGAINST Drinks fuel at alarming
rate, doesn’t fit in the UK

the weight (over 2.7 tonnes)

steering wheel too. Given

CO2

punchier 2.0 petrols and diesels,
our choices limited to a range of

1.5T
4cyl

148
bhp

9.3
secs

51.8
mpg

124
g/km

otherwise solid 1.5 hybrids. SD

5

P
5.0 s/c
V8

493
bhp

5.7
secs

19.6
mpg

CO2

325
g/km

lesson in engineering. It’s very

BY D SE AL
RWD

3.88secs. Stopping will be no issue

FOR One of the very fastest hot

seen the beefy great orange

hatches available today

brakes inside the wheels. Just one

AGAINST And with some of the
hottest brakes. This is bad

thing: they’re fake. What you’re
looking at is oversized covers

like a clown’s bow tie. This RWD
model is no joke though: it loses a

£45,695

motor but gains 30 miles of range
over the 523bhp AWD car and its

FOR Overall refinement,
decent interior

supercar-troubling sprint. Settling
for more sedate progress lets

AGAINST Strict safety aids,
primitive ride, that damn screen

concealing undersized calipers.

124
mph

239
miles

there’s more to developing a hot
hatch than power alone. OM

the refinement shine more so the
RWD is the one to have. It’s no
less forgettable to drive, but

Which are not fit for purpose. MG,
3.9
secs

10

its novelty touchscreen that spins

either, you think, because you’ve

429
bhp

off-road tricks. GP

Ah the Seal, an EV best known for

mean 0–62mph in a punishing

61.8kWh
battery

manages all of the Defender’s

6

fast. Two motors and 429bhp

£36,495

remarkably flat and still

10

The MG4 XPower is a salutary

MG 4
XPOWER

it doesn’t actually feel that
fast, but the 130 V8 corners

Just a shame the UK is denied
P

10

when you finally lose patience
82.5kWh
battery

308
bhp

5.9
secs

111
mph

354
miles

with the tech you’ll have more
leccy to twirlify that screen. JH

TOPGEAR.COM

› M AY 2 0 2 4

051

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A

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B

U

R

N

BUGATTI BOLIDE

It might be a plaything for billionaires, but
Bugatti’s new track-only Bolide is a force of
nature. We’re first to experience it in full flight
WORDS JACK RIX PHOTOGRAPHY JOHN W YCHERLEY

TOPGEAR.COM

› M AY 2 0 2 4

055

BUGATTI BOLIDE

Fill the footwell,
toddler-style in my
own lap, remove
and soil my own
helmet or attempt to
fling open the door and
launch a projectile
over the sill?

These appear to be my puking options as Andy Wallace gives me
the thumbs up and delivers another gut pummelling launch. I nod
weakly and turn green. I consider my constitution sturdy, but the
Bolide is no respecter of reputations, it’s a feral attack on the eyes,
ears and organs, and when you’re in the passenger seat with zero
idea when the next punch of acceleration or brick wall of braking is
coming, it reduces grown men to gibbering, dribbling wrecks. Being
simultaneously flooded with happy hormones, but also wanting to

056 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M

TOPGEAR.COM

› M AY 2 0 2 4

057

“Due to aerodynamics and air
density, this is where most of your
vomit ended up. Clean it off please”

058 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M

BUGATTI BOLIDE

Now go and
watch the
video on
topgear.com

escape and lie in the foetal position under a bush for a few hours is
a new one for me. But then the Bugatti Bolide is a new one for us all.
Plenty of track only hypercars have come before – Aston Martin
Valkyrie AMR Pro, Ferrari FXXK, Lamborghini Essenza SCV12 to
mention a few of the best – each ferocious in its own way, dismissed
as useless toys by most, owned by a handful, driven properly by
few... but none is quite as deranged as the Bolide. None takes such
a juggernaut of an engine – a 1,578bhp 8.0-litre quad-turbo W16
so totally unsuited to racing with its inherent lag, thirst and heft –
and builds an entirely bespoke racecar around it. We’ll get to the
astonishing facts and stats that orbit the Bolide, burn brightly then
crash into your brain like the meteor it’s named after, but know this
– it probably shouldn’t exist. If common sense had prevailed this
engineering Everest would have died years ago, but it didn’t, which
is what makes it so deeply fascinating. It’s the world’s greatest pub
question made real.
We’re at the Nardò proving ground in the heel of Italy’s boot, the
first outside of Bugatti’s inner circle to get close to this unicorn... and
experience it in full flight. We’ve been wedged into a live development
session, but there’s an air of demob happiness about the engineering
team as it’s their last official day on the programme. The Bolide’s
hardware and software are frozen, proven robust and reliable, which
means it’s basically finished minus the polished carbon and purple

“IT WOOFS INTO LIFE WITH A BASS
AND HARD RESONANCE THAT ONLY
CUBIC CAPACITY CAN DELIVER”
leather. Customer deliveries will start in the summer and the first two
cars are already in production – one a pre-series car that Bugatti will
keep, the other destined for the garage of the new gaffer, Mate Rimac.
Normally passenger rides are a hard pass for us, but clearly there
are things to learn here – especially as our pilot is chief test driver
Andy Wallace, a man who’s helped nurture the Bolide from acorn to
oak, has a Le Mans win on the CV and more Bugatti seat time than
anyone else on the planet. It’s 6.30am and we’re both romper-suited
up and enjoying a rounded Italian breakfast of sweet, strong black
coffee while I gawp at the pair of heavily used and abused prototypes
in front of us. “This particular car, I think it’s done close to 12,000km,
and not going to Tesco and back... it’s been hammered. We have not
driven this car with any sympathy whatsoever,” Andy explains. The
car’s battle scars corroborate his story – a mess of raw carbon, gaffer
tape and wires that disappear as you get further away from it, but are
entirely fitting for its purpose: to be ruthlessly quick around a track,
not parked up as an ornament in a billionaire’s marble and glass tower.
The shape is sensational, hewn by aerodynamic purpose, but
beautifully proportioned and small in footprint. A rare case of design
and engineering both winning the argument. The shrunken horseshoe
grille blending into the front splitter, the roof scoop, the ‘X’ lights,
rear fin, wing, voids... it’s pure aggression, but with a refinement most
racecars don’t bother with. And then it spins and woofs into life with

TOPGEAR.COM

› M AY 2 0 2 4

059

BUGATTI BOLIDE

a bass and hard resonance that only cubic capacity can deliver...
now fully uncorked with the Chiron’s particulate filters and catalytic
converters torn out. It’s at this point I realise conversing casually with
Andy as he demonstrates the Bolide’s dynamic attributes is unlikely...
plus the intercom’s not working. Sign language it is.
Fluids warmed through, Andy and I are ushered over. I grab the
nearest helmet, which happens to be a homage to the gaffer taped
exterior, and we hunker down in our seats. I say seats – these are
pads stuck directly to the bespoke carbon monocoque, cocooning
and tilted back with your heels somewhere in line with your bum.
You can remove the wheel, but Andy doesn’t bother, skipping into
his custom seat like a whippet. We roll out towards the evocatively
named Dynamic Platform A – a mammoth square of tarmac, with
two long straights peeling off at right angles – receive a new pair
of slicks fresh out the tyre oven, and have at it.
Conversation is doable at idle, but drowned out once any
throttle gets involved – it’s noisy, but not pneumatic drill harsh
like a Valkyrie or AMG One. Andy asks what I fancy – a standing
launch or a rolling one that holds you on the pitlane limiter before
releasing the beans? “Both?” I say, naive to the pinball machine
I’m about to go through. The moment of launch itself isn’t the full
fireworks – there’s the briefest of pauses as the four turbos inhale
and the engine crests 4,000rpm (no sequential turbocharging here
like the Chiron, to save weight), then a mildly uncomfortable shove
in the back, some wheelspin from all four tyres and finally the full
hook up as you’re tossed down the runway... jaw clenched, knuckles
white, blood pooled in the rearmost few centimetres of your torso.

Yes, a Tesla Model S Plaid can deliver similar forces off the line,
but that’s administered in a silky, silent shock. The Bolide applies
pure violence to every sense and cell in your body, and at the point
when the Tesla would be running out of puff, at say 100mph, the
Bolide kicks again, doubling down on its accelerative efforts,
reminding you it’s barely breaking sweat. Neither is the driver. “It’s
still a Bugatti. It’s still easy to drive and it’s comfortable and it’s got
air conditioning, but it’s far, far away from a Chiron,” Andy explains.
“There’s no auto setting for the seven-speed dual clutch gearbox,
you’re in manual the whole time, but it will upshift for you at
maximum rpm. If you had to stare at the tacho or the shift lights to
see when to shift, that would actually take away from the driving
pleasure I think, because it’s all happening so fast.” In a nutshell,
your granny could launch the Bolide, whether she’d survive the g
force is another matter entirely.
No track to circulate then, but that doesn’t stop Andy continuing
his cruel assault on my internal gyrometer with some fast cornering
on the skidpan. Needless to say, no skids are achieved, just limpitlike grip and worryingly high lateral g. At no point do I feel we’re
remotely close to breaching the limits of adhesion, and the numbers
explain why. The Bolide – with its Michelin slicks, nearly 3,000kg
of downforce at its 236mph top speed, dry weight of 1,450kg (around
1,600kg with fluids) and claimed maximum lateral 2.5g (a Chiron
is capable of around 1.2g) – will still be clinging on at the point
your puny musculoskeletal system gives up.
And the most shocking bit is to come. Note to self: tighten your
harness before being teleported about in a carbon-fibre missile,

“THE BOLIDE APPLIES PURE VIOLENCE TO
EVERY SENSE AND CELL IN YOUR BODY”

Seats are pads stuck to the
monocoque, pedals and (removable)
wheel are adjustable and no
components are shared with Chiron.
The wheel looks like a very
complicated bow tie with all the
functions in front of you, triple-screen
instrument cluster is pure motorsport.
Those pipes that look like exhausts?
That’s the aircon that runs off a 48V
system so you can stay cool even when
working hard in 40°C ambient heat

Bugatti briefly considered
sustainability, decided to go
for the zero waist approach

“Keep your arms, legs and
lunch inside the vehicle
at all times, please”

This is how you make a long
stretch of tarmac disappear
in an instant – it’s like magic

TOPGEAR.COM

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061

INTERNAL
BOLIDE-ING

CARBON TUB
Entirely new carbon monocoque, built to LMH and LMDh FIA safety
requirements – not because it’ll go racing, but because they’re reassuringly
difficult to meet. In testing, a 7.5-tonne force is applied to the A-pillar and only
50mm deflection is allowed... it passed easily without cracking. Engine and
transmission have stiffer mounts than the Chiron and are actually embedded
deep into the monocoque – not just bolted to the back of it

TRAINING
Each owner will get pointers
from Andy on how to use their
Bolide properly, plus access to
two track days a year – the first
is at Paul Ricard in October.
Own your own track? Want to
drive it when you want without
full race support? That’s fine,
says Bugatti, you can push the
start button and go – just get
some heat into those tyres
and brakes before giving
the full send

LAUNCH
Come to a stop, squeeze
the brake with your left
foot and press the ‘LC’
button on the wheel. Mash
the throttle, wait about two
second for the boost to
build... and hold on for
dear life

062

M AY 2 0 2 4 ›

TOPGEAR.COM

BRAKES

SUSPENSION

Carbon-carbon Brembos are pure race
tech and designed to operate without
fade, lap after punishing lap, but not
when you’re trundling around at slow
speeds, so beware. Brembo’s biggest
ever eight-piston calipers grab the 390mm
discs at the front and there’s a five
stage ABS system built in

Pushrod style with
horizontal dampers – and
the 3D printed titanium
pushrods weigh only 100g,
but can take up to 3.5
tonnes of load due to an
internal structure that’s
beyond our understanding

BUGATTI BOLIDE

DOWNFORCE

GEARBOX

At top speed the
Bolide produces
almost three tonnes of
downforce – 1,000kg
at the front, 2,000kg at
the rear. “We could
have got more” says
Andy Wallace. “But
then it would have
been pitch sensitive.”
Here it’s totally
benign. No active
aero, other than
the faster you go
the lower you’re
squashed to
the ground

Uses the same seven-speed
dual-clutch as the Chiron,
except without the auto mode.
So the only way to change gear
is with the paddles fixed to the
back of the yoke steering
wheel... or by keeping your foot
in and letting it auto upshift
at the limiter – handy for
full-bore launches

ENGINE
An 8.0-litre, quad-turbo W16 producing
1,578bhp (same as the Chiron Super Sport)
and 1,180lb ft of torque (a Rimac Nevera
produces 1,741lb ft but weighs 550kg more).
Rev limit now “a few hundred rpm higher” than
the Chiron’s 7,100rpm, but the sequential turbo
system has been ditched to save weight, so
max torque arrives at 4,000rpm,
not 2,000rpm. You’ll cope

WEIGHT

1 PERFORMANCE

WHEELS

SOUND

Dry weight of
1,450kg, around
1,600kg with fluids.
The powertrain
weighs around
600kg, making it
38 per cent of the
total mass

Top speed is 236mph in
the low downforce setting, or
227mph in the high downforce
mode. No 0–62mph time is
quoted, but considering it
weighs 500kg less than a Chiron
Super Sport and that does it in
2.4secs... less than that

Wheels are BBS 18-inch
cast aluminium, so they fit
off the shelf Michelin Pilot
Sport slicks on the front.
The 340mm section rear
slicks are LMDh tyres and
need to be ordered
specially through Bugatti

No particulate filters or
catalytic converters so
this is the W16 in its
rawest, loudest form. At
this point, may I direct
you to the YouTube video
so you can hear it for
yourself...

TOPGEAR.COM

› M AY 2 0 2 4

BUGATTI BOLIDE

064 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M

“THE BOLIDE IS
A DIFFERENT
EXPRESSION OF
BUGATTI’S VALUES,
AND JUST HAPPENS
TO LOOK KNEE
TREMBLINGLY GOOD”

TOPGEAR.COM

› M AY 2 0 2 4

065

2,000

N

E

)

3,000

1,500

1,000

500

P

O

W

E

R

-

T

O

-

W

E

I

G

H

T

(

B

H

P

/

T

O

N

HOW BALLISTIC
IS THE BOLIDE?

CITROEN
2CV (425CC)

GOLF
GTI MKI

066 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M

ALPINE
A110S

CATERHAM
620R

RIMAC
NEVERA

BUGATTI
DUCATI
BOLIDE PANIGALE V4 R

2024
F1 CAR

TOP FUEL
DRAGSTER

because when Andy stands on the brakes I’m flung forward like a
ragdoll, neck and limbs trying to escape through the exhaust-size
air vents, body momentarily free from the forces of gravity. You
can enjoy this visual feast on repeat thanks to the onboard GoPros,
but the cause is clear – the Bolide’s carbon-carbon brakes have the
largest eight-piston front calipers Brembo has ever developed for
a track car. And the 390mm discs themselves (limited in size to
fit behind the 18-inch wheels) are a microcosm of the entire car –
designed to operate stupendously well within a very tight operating
window. In other words, they basically don’t work at low speeds,
but brake from vmax to 0mph and they’ll reach 1,000°C and haul
off the mph like there’s a parachute flapping about behind you.
They also run a five-stage ABS system, which is pretty unheard
of in a purpose-built racecar like this.
Christian Willman, the Bolide’s technical project leader, explains
the benefits. “When you have a high downforce car at high speed, you
can push the brakes very hard, but as the car slows, the downforce
reduces and you need to release the brake pedal step by step. At turn
in, you must be off the brakes. Here you can push the brake fully
until the point you turn in and even trail brake into the corner.” For
billionaires with more money than talent, this means faster lap times
and less chance of ending up in a £3.5m pile of carbon and Alcantara.
Truth is, for all my complaining about feeling queasy and getting
battered about, that’s just a symptom of the Bolide’s brilliance.
There’s a robustness to everything it does, a repeatability of
otherworldly feats, a democratisation of miracles that’s become

a Bugatti hallmark. Where would it be versus an F1 car around
a lap? “A few seconds behind,” Andy says, humouring my question.
“But it would be going a hell of a lot faster at the end of the straight.”
No mean feat when you consider the Bolide was originally conceived
as a 300+mph top speed car to steal the Chiron Super Sport’s
crown, before the focus shifted to downforce and ultimate track
performance. Could a road legal Bolide ever exist, I ask Christian,
fully expecting a clip around the ear. “I would never say no, but it’s
a lot of effort. The brakes would need to be completely different, the
body panels have to have a thicker radius, the exhaust would need
a silencer... it would be a completely different car.”
And for what? Want the ultimate, no holds barred road car?
The Chiron already exists and a V16 hybrid successor is waiting in
the wings. The Bolide is a different expression of Bugatti’s values,
something raw and unfiltered, arguably the world’s greatest hypercar
powertrain strapped to a true racing car chassis, that just happens to
look knee tremblingly good. Sure, they’re only building 40 of them,
they cost £3.5m each and you can only drive them on a track, but
that brings a purity too. The Bolide is built for driving, not posing.
For experiencing, not polishing. I ask Christian if customers will
take their cars home, or leave them at the factory. “Oh they have
them at home, I would imagine half of the customers have it as a
collector’s car and only bring it out a few times a year. We make so
much effort, if the car doesn’t run it would be a shame.” Just imagine
having all that money, one of these masterpieces in the garage and
not using it in anger. It’s enough to make you sick.

“ I’M FLUNG
FORWARD LIKE A
RAGDOLL... BODY
MOMENTARILY FREE
FROM THE FORCES
OF GRAVITY”

TOPGEAR.COM

› M AY 2 0 2 4

067

CATESBY TUNNEL

WORDS ROWAN HORNCASTLE

SOUND

Stig’s secret subterranean lair is the perfect place to make a lot of noise.
068 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M

OF THE

PHOTOGRAPHY MARK RICCIONI

And that’s exactly what we’ve done. Welcome to TopGear Tunnel Run
TOPGEAR.COM

› M AY 2 0 2 4

069

S TAT I O N

GR

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T C
EA

NT

RA

L

IL
RA

WA

Y

It’s an acronym: not in my back yard. Five letters that combine
to create a controversial label for a person who openly opposes
infrastructure developments in their area. But if it wasn’t for a bit
of Victorian Nimbyism, we wouldn’t have an epic new YouTube
series: TopGear Tunnel Run.
It’s a seven part celebration of the old school sounds of
combustion, presented by Becky Evans, and coming to a screen near
you soon. But if it wasn’t for some bloke called Henry Attenborough
being a Nimby, The Stig wouldn’t have been able to be let loose in
the world’s loudest, lairiest machines for you and your ears’ benefit.
Which means you wouldn’t know what a Group B Rally car,
screaming V12 track-only hypercar, twin-supercharged vintage
Formula One car, a NASCAR racer and many other mad, multicylindered machines sound like at flat chat through an incredibly
confined space. And – trust me – that’s worth a watch. And possibly
a new pair of headphones.
But it was all made possible because of one mind-blowing
location: a really, really long (we’re talking nearly two miles), really,
really dark and frightfully eerie railway tunnel buried deep in the
heart of Northamptonshire. And at this point, we need to rewind
back to old Henry Attenborough, and a time when people used to
ride penny farthings and put children up chimneys.
See, back in the 19th century, Henry was the owner of the
Catesby estate. And when these newfangled things called ‘trains’
came along, he objected to the “unsightly” chuffing steam machines
as they spoiled the view from his stately home. So, he decided to
bury them.
Taking the old adage of “out of sight, out of mind” to a
whole new level, in 1895, Henry demanded that 230,000m3
of hillside was bored out of his land, so 30 million blue-hued
bricks could be laid – by hand – in order to construct a perfectly
straight 2,700m long tunnel. Catesby tunnel.
For nearly 70 years, trains ran through Catesby tunnel,
connecting the industrial powerhouses of Manchester and

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Sheffield to the heart of London. But it was abandoned in 1966,
falling silent for over half a century, until recently, when it got a
multimillion-pound makeover.
What kind of makeover? Well, you’re probably familiar with
the concept of wind tunnels. They have become vital tools for the
development of both racecars and road cars – either to make cars
more slippery or sticky through air management. Traditionally, they
work by air being sucked or blown over a static car (or even a scale
model on an artificial rolling road) so people in oversized lab coats
can scratch their oversized foreheads and take measurements about
aero efficiency.
Unsurprisingly, wind tunnels are hugely expensive to both
build and operate. But there’s a simpler solution: flipping that
whole idea on its head. That’s what the CFD and aero guru
TotalSim (the force behind Catesby’s transformation and the
majority stakeholder) has done.
Inspired by Chip Ganassi Racing (the US race team that
competes in IndyCar and NASCAR) that converted Laurel Hill
tunnel in Pennsylvania for aerodynamic testing back in 2004,
the team at TotalSim thought it would do the same in the UK.
So it bought Catesby, cleared mountains of aged pigeon poo,
drained the flood water, strip lit one side (which is easier on
drivers’ peripheral vision at high speeds), lined the roof (to help
reduce drips from the damp brickwork and 70 years of soot), and
poured two miles of tarmac in one continuous flow, with no joins,
using the same people who just resurfaced Silverstone to make
the perfect road. One that’s completely flat, with no bump bigger
than half a millimetre.
Thanks to TotalSim, Catesby tunnel is now the ultimate
wind tunnel... because it’s not a wind tunnel. It’s just a sealed off
hole with a turntable at each end so cars can run constantly and
confidentially. There’s no wind, no rain, no weather... at all. Just a
constant 10°C, day or night. Perfect conditions for 24/7 testing as
things are a lot more consistent, accurate and reliable. It’s already

CATESBY TUNNEL

Looks like the secret venue
of an underground rave.
Sssh, don’t tell anyone

James Bond never showed
you this, but vast subterranean
lairs need maintenance too

No one keeps the BBC’s
health and safety department
busy like TopGear does...

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071

CATESBY TUNNEL

Stig refuses to use reverse,
so turntables at both ends
were a godsend

For context, 132dB is roughly
equal to a really loud car
in a long, small tunnel

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Becky Evans – your presenter for
TG Tunnel Run – dangerously low
Vitamin D levels, but still smiling

So much more to NASCAR
than just driving in circles,
they go in a straight line too

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CATESBY TUNNEL

To clear smelly
exhaust fumes, both
ends of the tunnel can
be opened and
massive fans run to
purge the harmful
gases

As tunnels go, Catesby
is a big one: 8.2 metres
wide, 7.8 metres high
and 2,740 metres long.
It’s England’s 14th
longest ‘classic’
railway tunnel

TUNNEL VISION
Become an instant Catesby expert...

forged a reputation as a world class, state of the art, subterranean
test centre, used by carmakers and racing teams from around the
world to develop everything from aero to acoustics.
However there are significant differences between Chip Ganassi’s
Laurel Hill tunnel and Catesby. First, at 2,740m Catesby is twice as
long. To give you a sense of scale, a car can travel at 100mph for 40
seconds through it. And while Lauren Hill is a private test facility,
anyone can book Catesby. This got us thinking... how fast can you go
down it? How much noise can you make? And has anyone seen the
corporate credit card?
“Anything is possible as long as there’s a suitable risk assessment
in place,” the email from the people at Catesby read. That’s when
our minds really started frothing as there’s no better feeling than
cracking a window, dropping a few gears and blasting through a

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tunnel. But being buried some nine metres below the surface and
with no speed cameras, Catesby is the ultimate extension of that
idea because you can make as much noise and go as fast as you like.
With this info, we hit the phones to gather a band of rockstar cars
that go all the way up to 11. Because as sensible, silent EVs take over,
the future of cars might be AC/DC... but it’s hardly rock and roll.
Whereas an Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR PRO, Lambo Huracán STO,
Audi Group B S1 E2, NASCAR Dodge, Merc S600 (that sounds like a
V12 F1 car), Caterham 620R and BRM V16 are noisy. Really noisy.
They’re also rather fast and quite a handful. Especially in the
dark. But getting a driver for the new YouTube series was the
simplest part of many complicated logistics. That’s because The
Stig isn’t affected by low light, isn’t fazed by speed and has no
eardrums to perforate.

T H A N K S TO: C AT E S BY P R OJ EC T S LT D

ILLUSTRAT ION RIC ARDO S AN T OS

How did Victorians and
steam trains breathe? Well,
ventilation is provided by five
shafts. Four of these are 3
metres in diameter but the
northernmost – 1,140 metres
from the entrance – is 4.5
metres wide to provide
greater air flow

Located in the
Northamptonshire
countryside, Catesby tunnel
is situated at the heart of
‘Motorsport Valley’, perfect
for F1 cars and OEMs to
come and test in secret

Catesby’s tarmac was laid in
two shifts. Pavers worked
from 7am to 7pm laying 1,340
tonnes of asphalt, with
a seamless changeover
allowing non-stop work

Catesby is a constant
10°C, day or night.
Perfect conditions for
24/7 testing as things
are a lot more
consistent, accurate
and reliable

To see in the dark, 2,700 metres
of cabling for lighting was laid.
An internal GPS antenna
system (signals can’t get
through the ground above)
and fans to allow the effect of
sidewinds to be studied are
also coming soon

Turntables are fitted
at each end of the
tunnel to avoid Austin
Powers-style 80-point
turns. Press a button
and cars can quickly
rotate and drive back
in the reverse
direction to speed up
testing and make
more noise

Best of all, we wanted to put you in the passenger seat, so we got
some fancy tech to create the most engaging video experience possible.
And that’s thanks to Mike, the anthropomorphous binaural mic.
Inside Mike’s ears are two receivers, which record sound just like
our human ears... in 3D. And he’s shaped like a head to mimic how
sound travels into and around our heads. So, when you play it back,
you hear what Mike hears. As if you’re actually there, listening with
your very own lugholes. It isn’t just surround sound, it’s sonic sorcery.
Now imagine what it sounds like when we put Mike in the
passenger seat, to bring that tunnel run magic straight into
your ears. Well, that’s what we’ve done. It’s the sound of the
underground. And it’s going to get loud. So clean your ears out,
subscribe to the TG YouTube channel and keep an eye out for
TopGear Tunnel Run, coming soon.

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START
YO U R
ENGIN ES...

ASTON MARTIN
VALKYRIE AMR PRO

Meet the star cars that took
on our Tunnel Run challenge

amed after a mythical Norse
maiden... made in Gaydon.
Aston’s extreme, track-only
version of the Valkyrie road car is
as wild as track day toys get. With
a 6.5-litre naturally aspirated V12
co-designed with Cosworth, it revs
to over 11,000rpm and screams like
an old school F1 car.

N

Catch the whole series soon
on YouTube.com/TopGear or
TopGear.com. If you’re not a
YouTube subscriber already, we’re
deeply disappointed... but all can be
rectified in a single click. Do it now,
and don’t miss an episode!

his is the BRM P15, and under
that buckled-down bonnet
are SIXTEEN CYLINDERS of
supercharged madness. It’s one of
the most complicated engines ever
made, and also one of the most
terrifying. Revving to 12,000rpm,
this post-war monster sounds like
a flame-gargling Godzilla.

Engine: 1.5-litre s/c V16
Power: 600bhp
Price: POA
Top speed: N/A
Noise: Broke the meter

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Power: 1,150bhp
Price: £3.5 million
Top speed: 250mph
Noise: 101dB

BRM
P15

T

Engine: 6.5-litre n/a V12

CATERHAM
620R

aunched in 2013, the 620R is
still the quickest Caterham you
can buy, and the most powerful
Caterham ever built. It does 0–62
in just 2.7 seconds... in first gear.
But the exhaust pokes out right
under the driver, sounds like a
supersonic hornet and sometimes
it spits fire.

L

Engine: 2.0-litre s/c 4cyl
Power: 310bhp
Price: £58,000
Top speed: 149mph
Noise: 100.7dB

CATESBY TUNNEL

DODGE
CHARGER NASCAR

MERCEDES
S600

ike any S-Class, the W140 was
famously quiet. It even had
double-glazed windows, so you
could hear a pin drop in the cabin.
But it also has the same V12 that
powered the original Pagani
Zonda. And thanks to a trick
exhaust, this one sounds like
an old Formula One car.

L

Engine: 6.0-litre n/a V12
Power: 439bhp
Price: £60,000
Top speed: 155mph

full-fat, no-nonsense NASCAR
racer that raced in the Cup
Series – that’s NASCAR’s top tier –
driven by former champ Kurt Busch.
With 900bhp from a 5.9-litre V8 in a
car weighing about the same as a
Ford Focus, it’s the real deal. Beware:
its angry, bassy V8 vacuums the air
from your lungs at full revs.

A

Noise: 95.2dB

his is the most hardcore
Huracán you can buy. Think of it
as a cross between Lambo’s Super
Trofeo racer and a regular, roadgoing Huracán. Lamborghini’s
big boss describes this car as a
celebration of the combustion
engine. And when Stig lets rip,
you’ll know exactly why.

Engine: 5.2-litre n/a V10
Power: 631bhp
Price: £297,000
Top speed: 193mph
Noise: 95.2dB

Power: 900bhp
Price: £100,000
Top speed: 200+mph
Noise: 132.4dB

LAMBORGHINI
HURACÁN STO

T

Engine: 5.9-litre V8

AUDI SPORT
QUAT TRO S1 E2

his isn’t just rallying royalty,
it’s the king of the Quattros.
Made in 1985, the E2 was the last
of Audi’s Group B rally cars, and
also the most ferocious. With fruity
fuelling, a bucket-sized turbo and
five cylinders, it also makes an
orchestra’s worth of glorious,
loud noises.

T

Engine: 2.1-litre 5cyl turbo
Power: 550bhp
Price: Priceless
Top speed: N/A
Noise: 126.6dB

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WORDS
JASON BARLOW & OLLIE KEW

AYRTON SENNA

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AYRTON SENNA

It’s been 30 years
since the fateful
weekend that took
the lives of F1 drivers
Ayrton Senna and Roland
Ratzenberger and shook
the world. Senna defined
his generation and
stands as one of the
all-time greats. Think
you’ve read everything
about him? Here are
30 things you might
not know about Brazil’s
driving legend...
PREVIOUS PAGE: Senna lined up on pole position for the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix ahead of Michael
Schumacher – Rubens Barrichello was hospitalised in a crash on the Friday, Austrian driver Ratzenberger
died during qualifying. F1 doctor Sid Watkins tried to persuade Senna not to race, but he wouldn’t have it

HE WAS QUITE A SICKLY CHILD,
diagnosed with poor motor
function and limb coordination
in his youth. Early in his F1 career
he had Bell’s palsy, suffering
temporary facial paralysis.

SENNA WAS NOT IMMUNE TO
the lure of Ferrari. “He wanted
to come to Ferrari and I
wanted him in the team,”
revealed ex-Ferrari president
Luca Montezemolo in 2014.

SENNA WAS A VAUNTED
Monaco master, but why
was he so quick in a
SENNA WAS HUGELY THOUGHTFUL

turbo F1 car around the
principality? The answer

SENNA TESTED FOR

AFTER WIPING OUT

comes in detailed

AYRTON SENNA

Williams, McLaren,

of the 1984 Dallas GP, a

study of his throttle use.

announced his talent

Brabham and Toleman

distraught Senna insisted

Through corner entry

to the world at the 1984

during 1983. On one

to Toleman technical

and apex, Senna would

Race of Champions,

run in the McLaren-

boss Pat Symonds that

blip the revs to keep the

a 12-lap novelty event

Ford MP4/1 he kept the

the wall at the offending

turbo in the boost sweet

featuring nine F1 world

throttle pinned even

corner had ‘moved’.

spot, while slipping

champions and various

as the engine lunched

Amused, Symonds went

the clutch to maintain

other greats at the newly

itself behind him. Team

to check it out, and found

control. By precisely

opened Nürburgring

principal Ron Dennis

concrete scrape marks

judging when the biting

Grand Prix circuit. Fangio

(below) was not very

on the ground. A car

point re-engaged he

declined to race citing

impressed but he let

ahead had tapped the

could keep his car on

his age, Jackie Stewart

him have another go.

concrete blocks forming

the boil and shave huge

had vowed never to race

Senna duly set the

the track boundary.

chunks of time from his

again and Nelson Piquet

fastest time of the day

Senna was driving to

laps. Team members

simply refused, so the

and signed for Toleman,

such tight tolerances

were astonished at his

24-year-old Brazilian

the lowliest of the four

that shifting this block a

delicacy, managing to

took his place. And won,

teams, but he figured it

few mm lap-to-lap was

maintain boost pressure

beating 19 pedigree

would give him time and

enough to cause him to

without wearing out

drivers in identical

space to learn.

clip the edge and retire.

the clutch, lunching

Mercedes 190E 2.3-16s.

and mindful of the media as his
career took off. But he gave great
quotes, including: “If you no longer
go for a gap that exists, you are
no longer a racing driver.”

HE HELPED SAVE ÉRIK COMAS’S
life after a practice crash at the
1992 Belgian GP. Senna stopped
and ran to his Ligier, cut the stillrevving engine and stabilised
Comas’s head until help arrived.

the engine, missing
a gearshift, or losing
control of the car
around the notoriously
unforgiving twisting
road track.

AYRTON’S ACTUAL SURNAME WAS
da Silva, but as that was Brazil’s
most common second name,
he instead chose to adopt
his maternal family name
of ‘Senna’ for his career.

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081

Senna qualified on pole
seven times in his second
F1 season in 1985, his debut
with the Lotus team. He
outqualified teammate Elio
de Angelis seven to one. In
fact, he scored more poles
that year than any other
driver, including future
nemesis Alain Prost.
082

AYRTON SENNA

AFTER SENNA’S FATAL CRASH AT
the 1994 San Marino GP, a furled
Austrian flag was found in the
cockpit of his stricken Williams.
The Brazilian had planned to fly it
in tribute at the end of the race.

ONE OF F1’S MOST INFAMOUS TITLE DECIDING

SENNA’S LATTER McLAREN TEAMMATE GERHARD

moments was the Prost/Senna first corner collision

Berger found his opposite number’s seriousness

at Suzuka in 1990, a year after the two had come

amusing, and played multiple pranks on him during

to grief when both at McLaren, leading to Senna’s

the early Nineties to try to get him to relax. One was

disqualification and Prost taking the drivers’ title.

changing Senna’s passport picture to a photo of

The following year Senna took pole, which was on

male genitals, causing him to be detained at border

the dirty side of the track, and after his protest to have

control on his way into Argentina. Senna returned

pole swapped to the other side of the grid was denied,

fire by stealing all of the Austrian F1 driver’s credit

A LOT OF THE SENNA MYTH

Prost predictably took the lead before Senna dived

cards and supergluing them together. Another

comes from his trance-like state
while driving. In Monaco ’88 he
was 2.0secs faster than Prost in
quali: “I realised I was no longer
driving the car consciously.”

up the inside, collected the Frenchman’s Ferrari and

Berger escapade involved him throwing Senna’s

took them both out of the race, guaranteeing Senna

brand new ‘indestructible’ carbon fibre briefcase

a second title. McLaren later analysed the car’s

out of the side of a helicopter. The cheeky trickster

telemetry and discovered that not only did Senna

also released 12 frogs into Senna’s hotel room at

fail to brake for the first corner, he didn’t even lift

the Australian Grand Prix. When furiously confronted

as he closed in on the Ferrari, proving the crash

by his angry teammate, he coolly asked Ayrton,

was entirely deliberate on Senna’s part.

“Did you find the snake?”

SENNA’S WIN IN THE MCLAREN
MP4/6 in the 1991 Australian GP was
the last to be scored in an F1 car
fitted with a conventional manual
gearbox. It was also the only V12engined car to win a world title.

AMONG THE MASS OF STATS
now skewed by the ballooning
race calendar and longer driver
careers, Senna has the most
consecutive top 10 qualifying
positions, managing it 137 times.

SENNA’S ICONIC HELMET
design wasn’t just a bright
scheme to make him stand out.
The colours came from Brazil’s
flag, the stripes symbolising
focus and determination.

IN 1986, SENNA AGREED TO

LOTS OF CAR BORES WILL LAZILY TELL YOU

test drive a variety of rally

that Ayrton Senna helped to develop the Honda

cars in the Welsh forests for a

NSX. Next time you hear that, you can scoff loudly

mag story set up by his friend,

and correct them. Yes, Honda supplied engines for

the late great automotive

Senna’s F1 car during NSX development, so there

journalist, Russell Bulgin.

was PR value in getting him into the car, but he

“Before the corner you have

was by no means an integral part of the car’s

to commit,” Senna noted, after

early gestation. There were two known occasions

a tricky immersion in a Sierra

when he tested pre-production prototypes (at the

Cosworth. “Now I understand

Nürburgring and Suzuka), commenting at first that

why you have to use opposite

the car felt “a little fragile” – which prompted

lock and use the traction a bit

Honda to stiffen the chassis. His feedback also

– to keep the car really biting

led to revisions of the suspension settings. So the

on the ground. If you try to just

NSX had Senna’s blessing (he ended up owning

go round, you don’t go round.

three) but it wasn’t exactly the out-of-hours side

You just go straight on...”

project some would have you believe.

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WITH FORD REPLACING HONDA
in 1993, Senna thought that year’s
McLaren was unlikely to be a front
runner. He was expert at ratcheting
up the negotiating pressure, so there
may have been an ulterior motive

THE 1984 MONACO

FROM MONACO ’84

SENNA WON THE

IN A 1990 INTERVIEW

in December 1992 when he arrived

GP was halted after 31

to Donington ’93,

chaotic 1991 Brazilian

with Brazilian Playboy,

at Firebird Raceway with Marlboro

laps with a desperate

Senna was a famed

GP, his first home

Senna opened up on

sponsorship legend John Hogan to test

Senna hunting down

wet weather master.

victory, despite serious

his religious beliefs. He

Penske’s PC22 IndyCar. Also present

Alain Prost for the win.

But he wasn’t born

challenges. Hunted by

admitted talking to God

was double F1 champion and fellow

He would have won if it

with stellar skills for

Nigel Mansell, the Briton’s

while racing, and that the

Brazilian, Emerson Fittipaldi, racing for

had gone the distance

the wet conditions.

Ferrari gearbox gave up.

crash in the 1988 Monaco

Penske at the time. “You’d be foolish not

is the common take on

After spinning three

“Finally I had some relief,

GP wasn’t driver error.

to put Senna in your book right away

the eventful race, but

times in his first wet

but only for three or four

“There was such a big

if he was available,” Roger Penske

that might not have

kart race, the young

laps,” said Senna. “Then

fight going on inside

admitted. “We would have probably

been the case. Having

Brazillian used to sit

the gearbox went crazy.

of me that it numbed

tried to figure something out.” In the

clattered a high kerb

and wait for the

I decided to leave it in

me and made me

morning Fittipaldi set a time of 49.7secs.

hard early in the race,

heavens to open

sixth, and drive around

vulnerable. I was open

Senna drove 14 laps of the short (1.1-

he’d cracked a cast

and would then

the circuit completely

to God, but also to the

mile) course, before asking for the car

aluminium suspension

feverishly practice

differently.” He was

devil.” He also claimed

to be softened off. By all accounts he

upright, which Toleman

karting in torrential

so physically broken

Jesus appeared floating

enjoyed being able to slide it around,

engineers suspected

downpours to hone

he struggled to lift the

in front of him when he

and in a second stint of 10 laps on the

may not have lasted

his weakness into

trophy above his head

scored his first title at

same tyres he set a time of 49.09secs.

the full distance.

a strength.

on the podium.

the 1988 Japanese GP.

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AYRTON SENNA

FOUR-YEAR-OLD AYRTON’S FIRST
pedal kart was built for him by his
father Milton. It was numbered 007
with “licence to win” painted on the
body. Diamonds might be forever,
but Ayrton quickly outgrew this.

KEEP AN EYE OUT IF YOU FIND
yourself in Tilehurst, Reading.
Ayrton Senna Road is named in his
honour after he lived with friends
in the area at the start of his singleseater career in the early Eighties.

SENNA’S RACING
heroes were
Jackie Stewart,
Gilles Villeneuve,
Niki Lauda and
Emerson Fittipaldi.

AYRTON SENNA WAS MULTILINGUAL,
and in addition to his Portuguese
tongue he could speak English,
Italian and Spanish, which further
endeared him to his adoring fans,
fellow racers and the global media.

SENNA COMPETED IN THE 1984
Nürburgring 1000km in a Joest
Racing Porsche 956 with four-time
Le Mans winner Henri Pescarolo
and Stefan Johansson. A broken
clutch robbed them of a podium.

Netflix series
Senna is due in
2024. Delayed
two years by the
pandemic, the sixpart miniseries
will star Brazilian
actor Gabriel
Leone, charting
Senna’s arrival in
England in 1981
and rise through
the ranks from
Formula Ford to
the top of F1.
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086 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M

RIVIAN R2

WORDS JACK RIX
PHOTOGRAPHY GREG PAJO

GRAND
DESIGNS
CEO RJ Scaringe is ready to take
Rivian from plucky EV startup to global
powerhouse... we meet the man and the
new models his master plan relies on

TOPGEAR.COM

› M AY 2 0 2 4

087

Either the gentleman next to me needs to lay off the triple-shot
soy mocha lattes – or whatever it is they consume by the pint in
California – or he’s quite excited to be here. He’s physically vibrating...
probably why he’s strapped his iPhone to a gimbal stabiliser and hasn’t
stopped filming the back of someone’s head for the past 10 minutes.
When Rivian’s CEO and founder RJ Scaringe, eventually strolls on to
the stage in a khaki shirt, jeans and pink Velcro Nikes, the guy erupts
into a three-minute standing ovation of “Yeah!”, “Let’s go RJ!” and XL
fist pumps. To be fair, the entire crowd does. Call me old fashioned, but
doesn’t the applause usually come at the end of the show?
We’re gathered – the world’s media, enthusiastic Rivian owners
and employees, RJ’s kids – in an old theatre in Laguna Beach, recently
renovated to become Rivian’s flagship ‘space’. Think dealership with
fewer sweaty salesman, more responsibly sourced flat whites. We’re
here to see the new R2, the long anticipated next piece of the puzzle
that provides a cheaper, smaller entry point to the squeaky clean Rivian
brand, and expands sales beyond the US to Europe and other markets.
RJ will be praying it’ll send profits and share prices to the moon.

088 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M

RIVIAN R2

I sit though the hour-long presentation, watching RJ talking
effortlessly in that uniquely American way to a livestream camera rig
swooping around the stage. The R2 rolls out first, the crowd goes wild
– especially when it’s revealed it has not one, but two gloveboxes. I’m
confused, do you even need gloves in California? Squint and it looks
virtually identical to its bigger brother – the R1S – albeit hit with a
shrink ray, but it’s a handsome, bluff thing that makes a Tesla Model Y
look like a piece of Play-Doh left on the radiator.
Next it’s RJ’s ‘just one more thing’ Colombo moment as he stuns
the crowd by ushering out the R3 – an even smaller hatchback-style
SUV that I immediately declare will take Europe by storm. The man
next to me is now rocking back and forth and caught somewhere
between laughing and crying. When RJ pulls his final joker card, a
tri-motor, silly performance R3X and flashes up a video of it drifting
about on a gravel road, the gasps are audible and my neighbour has
been rendered speechless. Which is a relief.
Credit where it’s due, the presentation is riddled with emotive
video compilations of family days by the lake, grainy footage of

birthday parties and couples conquering mountains... messages that
tickle your emotions and spirit in ways other car companies don’t. “It
starts with harnessing the very thing every human being is born with:
an adventurous spirit. There’s a reason we’re hardwired with curiosity
and a capacity to invent better ways of doing things. The part of us
that seeks to explore the world is the secret to making sure it remains
a world worth exploring. Forever.” That’s an RJ quote on the company
website. Cheesy, but see what I mean? We’ll come to Rivian’s financial
future in a minute, but the look and feel of the products and the brand
are unquestionably strong, while the fever surrounding Rivian already
should have the old guard scratching their heads.
Let’s talk about cars, R2 first. Based on a brand new mid-sized
platform it’s fractionally shorter and narrower, but a little taller, than
the Tesla Model Y (although it looks way bigger with its horizontal
roof and chopped rear). Prices will start from around $45,000 (a Model
Y costs from $36,450 in the US) when deliveries kick off in the first half
of 2026. About that – RJ slipped into his speech that initially the R2
would be built at the existing plant in Normal, Illinois, rather than

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RIVIAN R2

Swashbuckling CEO by
day, Steve-O impersonator
in his spare time?

the new $5bn factory being built outside Atlanta, Georgia. It was
confirmed a few days after the event that the Georgia factory build
would be put on pause, but definitely not axed altogether – a move
that Rivian claims will save $2.25bn (£1.8bn) in “capital spending”
and allow the R2 to reach the market quicker. Last year Rivian delivered
a little over 50,000 R1T trucks and R1S SUVs (losing money on each
one) although the Illinois factory has the capacity to build 215,000 –
doesn’t take a maths genius to see where this latest idea came from.
Once the Georgia factory is built, it could crank out as many as 400,000
a year. Hello production hell.
There will be three R2 versions to choose from – single, dual and
tri-motor (two motors on the rear axle, one on the front) with no
confirmed power or torque outputs yet, but a claimed 0–60mph of
under 3.0 seconds for the ‘tri’. Gone is the R1S’s fancy McLaren-style
cross-linked dampers and air suspension, to screw the price down, but
the trade off for less off-road ability is better on-road manners, Scaringe
insists. Battery details are also tbc, other than they’ll debut a more
energy dense chemistry, the pack is a structural element of the car
(so the top of the battery pack is also the floorpan you rest your pink
Velcro Nikes on) and the range will be over 300 miles, on all versions.
A new “Perception Stack” featuring 11 cameras, five radars and more
computing power will give it “dramatically enhanced autonomous
capabilities”. Nice side-step of the dreaded ‘self-driving’ right there.
All windows – including the rear quarters that pop out, and the rear
screen that slides down into the boot – can be dropped electrically for a
“unique open-air driving experience”. Pretty sure Rivian borrowed that
one from the Fisker Ocean, but interesting nonetheless, while new haptic
control dials are the most revolutionary bit about the pared back, high
quality interior. You have a physical wheel for each thumb that can roll
up and down, be pushed from the front or back, or pressed side to side
and texturised with variable haptic feedback depending on what menu
you’re controlling. Scroll down a list, for example, and you’ll feel a notch
at each option, then the wheel will lock out at the end. Whether it’s
perfectly natural to use or permanently infuriating we shall see, but
a smart way of marrying analogue with digital.
The front trunk will fit “a carry on suitcase plus a backpack, or up
to six reusable grocery bags”. Sorry plastic bags, you’re not welcome in
Rivian’s sustainable future. The boot will fit “two checked suitcases, two
carry on suitcases, plus a stroller and several backpacks above the cargo
load floor”. It’s a big boot in other words, and both the front and the
rear seats fold totally flat for “a true car camping experience fit for two
people”. Two people who can’t be bothered to faff about with a tent.
Speaking of which, Rivian is all about the adventure and will offer the
option of a new, more compact travel kitchen, various bike racks and a
‘Rivian Treehouse’ for R2 and R3. “Our take on a rooftop tent brings the

“IT MAKES THE
TESLA MODEL Y
LOOK LIKE
A PIECE OF
PLAY-DOH”

090 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M

It’s a lifestyle SUV, but can it cope
with the ground up biscuits
and spilled yoghurt lifestyle?

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091

nostalgia of an epic childhood fort with a heated mattress, integrated
lighting system and movie screen, all with incredible views.” Depends
on where you park, surely, but sign me up. Despite being able to count
the number of times I’ve been camping in the past decade on one hand,
I like to think of myself as an outdoorsy type. Deep down we all do, and
Rivian preys mercilessly on that person we all want to be.
Moving on to the R3 (see panel right), for which the details get
a little vaguer. Not surprising, given it’ll arrive after R2 deliveries are
underway – think 2027 earliest. Based on the same platform as the
R2, the R3 is the baby of the family and will be priced accordingly –
around $35k to $40k – more for the triple-motor performance R3X
version that’ll smash 0–60mph in “well under 3.0 seconds”. The R3’s
trick, apart from looking stupendously good, is a split tailgate so you
can open the rear glass in isolation and close it at any angle to wedge
in long things like surfboards.
So, the new cars are pretty captivating, the ultra-eco minimalist
brand image is appealing and distinctive (if a little contradictory

when your business is flogging 800+bhp trucks) but the big question
mark now is whether Rivian can keep its investors happy and the
lights on long enough to fulfil its ambition of selling hundreds of
thousands, if not millions of EVs a year. A big part of that is getting
these models on sale in Europe, which will happen, although Scaringe
doesn’t yet know when. “Both models are designed at their core for
both the US and Europe. We haven’t said specifically when they’ll come
to Europe, we should and we need to, but we recognise how appealing
they are in the European market and especially R3 really fits.”
In 15 short years Rivian has come a hell of a long way from
ambitious startup to a potential global EV powerhouse, so we ask
Scaringe what advice he’d give himself from 15 years ago, now?
“Just go for it. I didn’t think it would have been as hard. I didn’t think
it would take as long. I didn’t think supply chains were as complex as
they are. I didn’t know managing organisations was as hard as this,
but I still would’ve just said, go for it – you’re going to figure out a
lot and you’re going to learn a tonne.”

“RIVIAN PREYS MERCILESSLY ON
THAT PERSON WE ALL WANT TO BE”

Now go and
watch the
video on
topgear.com

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MOOD
BOARD
It has “the soul of a rally car,”
says the CEO, we’re seeing
all sorts in the R3’s design

I

t was supposed to be all about the R2... instead it
was the R3 and R3X that stole the show. By mashing
together hatchback, SUV, retro and futuristic vibes R3
previews a production model that could be just the

ticket for exploding Rivian sales beyond the US.
Why? Because the R3’s compact proportions and hybrid

hatch/crossover styling are right in the slot for Euro tastes.
The fact there are echoes of MkI VW Golf, a pinch of Lancia
Delta, and some Lada Niva in the silhouette doesn’t hurt
either. “It’s like a crossover meets an SUV, meets a hatch,
meets a wagon, meets a bunch of things. We say it has
the soul of a rally car,” Scaringe explains.
In person it plays tricks on your eyes – diddy from a
distance, actually a fairly substantial slab of metal up close
with back seats for adults, a big boot and a handy split
tailgate. Think Hyundai ioniq 5 N size, another large-ish
crossover that’s shaped like something smaller.

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093

THE
LAST
OF

US

The Audi R8 is no more. TG was there to witness
the final build, and we couldn’t help but get involved...
WORDS GREG POTTS

094 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M

PHOTOGRAPHY OLGUN KORDAL

THE LAST AUDI R8

t’s 5am on an industrial estate just outside the city of Heilbronn
in southern Germany. Never let it be said that this job isn’t
glamourous. And yet, despite the smokestack location, the
day is set to be filled with fanfare.
It begins with a proper Stars in their Eyes moment, as the
painted bodyshell of a Vegas Yellow Audi R8 rises up from the
basement below and is then rapidly revealed by an overdramatic
garage door. Just missing the smoke machines.
Of course, I wouldn’t be out of bed at this time to watch any old R8
get pieced together, but this is the last ever car. Yep, after two generations
and 18 years of production, it’s the end of the road for Audi’s internal
combustion-engined supercar. Over 45,000 examples have been built since
its introduction in 2006, and while the name could possibly appear on a
future flagship EV, the R8 as we know it is soon to be dead.
The factory is Audi’s small Böllinger Höfe plant. Although we say small
there are still 41,000 square metres of production space and around 1,500
employees. The R8 has been built here since the place opened in 2014, but
in 2020 the e-tron GT muscled itself onto the same line and ensured that
the dominant sound in these halls is of tyre squeal on polished floors
rather than the echo of V10s.
Speaking of engines, I’d assumed that the Lambo-developed 5.2-litre V10
would come straight from Audi’s plant in Hungary ready to be plugged in to
the middle of the R8’s carbon and aluminium spaceframe, but stumbling
across the engine room it’s clear that isn’t the case. In fact, over 100 extra
bits need to be fitted to each engine before it’s ready to meet its chassis.
Sensing an opportunity to pencil TG (very lightly) into the history
books, I ask whether there’s any of the build I can ‘help’ with. I’m shown
the final power unit and a heat shield that needs to be secured before the
exhaust manifold can be attached. Two bolts go in perfectly, the last gets
stuck some way short of where it needs to be. Oops.
Hoping that someone will fix my shoddy craftsmanship, it’s back to
watching the brilliantly bright body making its way through the different
stations on the shop floor. I’d expected the process to be mostly automated
with robots gluing each piece together in a balletic construction dance,
but it turns out the R8 is still mostly built by hand and relies on a quite
incredible number of screws. There’s also more than one sighting of a
hammer. This is excellent news.
Instead, inanimate involvement is mainly limited to the transportation
of the car as it passes between each station. It starts off on an autonomous
robotic platform known as a Fahrerloses Transportsystem and then moves
onto the Gehänge – a rollercoaster-style overhead crane system that can

spin the car for ease of access. Most of the early stations actually involve
stripping off body panels that were previously attached, before a maze
of wiring is plugged in to the floor, roof and under the bonnet.
After three hours – and strangely just after the sun visors have gone
in – it’s time for the engine. Each employee on this section of the line took
around six months to learn the different stages, and the engine is so tightly
packaged they use every available gap to work through. Oh, and because
the e-tron is built on the same line, when an EV rather than an R8 passes
through their station, the engine fitters get an extra 12 minute cigarette
break. They’re understandably disappointed about the R8’s demise.
“We are all petrolheads. We are sad,” says section boss Marcus Blau.
“It’s different. It’s a super sports car and we are Audi Sport so of course
we are proud to build the R8. It’s not like an A1.”
It certainly isn’t. At the end of the R8’s life you could spec the standard
car in either rear-wheel drive or all-wheel drive forms. If you went for the
former you’d ‘only’ get 562bhp. Obviously, that wouldn’t do for the last of
the line, so it’s getting Audi’s quattro AWD system and 612bhp.
It was 2009 when a production-spec R8 was given a V10 for the first
time, and ever since then Audi’s sensible supercar has been dominated
by its engine. While it may not have had the steering feel and delicacy of
contemporary Porsche 911s or entry level McLarens, its naturally aspirated
heart revved to 8,700rpm and made a noise that echoed all the way to
Audi’s HQ in Ingolstadt, over 100 miles away.
After just over an hour on the engine line everything is plumbed
in and the final R8 moves closer to completion. At one point it looks as
though a bar fight could break out as four engineers hold driveshafts and
drills as they wait for the car to drop from the ceiling, but it’s all supremely
efficient despite the hand built nature. Each employee is trusted to get
on with every necessary job at their station, and after 12 minutes they
confirm that everything has been done and the line rolls on. The logistics
task to deliver exactly the right parts at exactly the right time has been
perfected too, despite two completely different cars being put together
at the same time on the same line.
Later on, I’m distracted by one of the logistic department’s excellent
transport scooters, and it’s only then I realise that I haven’t actually seen
any natural light all day. The bright white lights of the factory are clearly
getting to me. Heck, we’ve already been here for two of the day’s three
shifts. But the car is coming together with the centre console plugged in,
the electrically adjustable seats connected up, the doors attached and the
glass lifted in by hand. All of the plastic panels are whacked into place too
and fit straight off the bat with little clips holding them in place, and there

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095

Takes a braver man than
most to stand there, Greg.
One wrong button...

096 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M

THE LAST AUDI R8

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097

THE LAST AUDI R8

aren’t even that many robots checking the puny humans’ work. Audi
still uses little keyring swatches to check the panel gaps.
As the headlights come on for the very first time I ceremonially
hand over the four rings. It’s not that Audi doesn’t trust TG... in fact,
it is made quite clear that it doesn’t trust us with this particular job.
“If we get this wrong the whole thing goes in the bin,” says TT and
R8 spokesperson Liza Kellner. Probably for the best, you should see
the last shelf I put up.
With just two stations to go the plastic protective covers are
whipped off the wings and the scratch-saving tape is stripped off.
It’s so nearly the R8’s end. As I spot the bronzed 20-inch wheels I’m
questioning whether they’ll go with the yellow paint, the red calipers
and the exterior carbon pack. Not to worry – it looks fantastic and will
certainly stand out in the Audi Tradition collection.
As tyres meet terra firma for the very first time I jump in to witness
the final checks. Everything that’s electrically operated inside the cabin
is tested, before it’s time to push the big red button on the steering
wheel. The V10 barks into life (thank God) and there’s a round of
applause from the gathered engineers and suppliers. It feels like a real
moment in history and I’m proud to have been involved, but pushing
the starter button with a small audience watching on does slightly make
me feel like a Z-list celeb at a provincial Christmas lights switch on.
Still, this car will now go on for final visual checks before it’s
subjected to a leak test in a rain chamber and a shakedown on the
Autobahn outside. Every single one of the 45,000+ R8s built before
this one had the same treatment before being wrapped up and sent
off to customers, so it’s a bit of a shame that this one is destined for
a museum. Although given TG’s involvement in the build, that might
just be for the best.

AUDI R8
THIS
Y O U R L II S
FE

2003

Audi Le M

ans Conc
ept
previews
the R8

2006

Productio
n R8
premiere
at the
Paris show

2007

Goes on sa
le in UK
in July with
420bhp
V8 manua
l

2008

V10 engine

arrives
with 525b
hp

2008

R8 V12 TD

I shown

2009

R8 Spyder
roadster
arrives

2010

R8 GT laun
ched.
V10 only,
560bhp,
100kg light
er

2012

Facelift, Rtronic
sequentia
l replaced
by S Tron
ic twin
clutch ge
arbox

2015

Audi R8 e-

tron conc
ept
shown with
455bhp
and 280mile rang
e

“IF WE GET THIS WRONG
THE WHOLE THING
GOES IN THE BIN”

2015

Second ge
n
R8 unveile
d,
now V10 on
ly

2016

R8 Spyder

revealed

2017

Rear-driv
e R8
RWS intro
duced

2018

A facelift.

Sharper lin
es,
30bhp po
wer bump

2020

RWS beco
mes
RWD, no lo
nger
limited ed
ition

2023

R8 GT final
model.
Just 333 pr
oduced

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ABT XGT

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099

ABT XGT

NOW, WHO THE
HELL IS ABT
YOU MIGHT BE
THINKING.

For starters it’s a surname, not an acronym, an independent race
team and purveyor of tuning parts for VW and Audi. As Audi’s DTM
partner, it’s won multiple championships and enjoys semi-official
status. The XGT project is all its own work – although the timing of it doesn’t
look coincidental as we’ll come on to discuss. ABT takes one of those £400,000
LMS GT2 cars and does so much work converting it back to road use that the

Twice. And put it through drive-by noise tests and full WLTP emissions and
fuel economy checks (473g/km CO2 and 13.6mpg, if you’re wondering). Hard
to believe that rear wing, the dive planes, those swollen carbon flanks and the
As I walk up to it, I can’t see the compromise. Open the door, take in the slot
windows, the yoke steering wheel and built-in roll cage. Still no hint it’s road
legal. But, ah, aren’t those the road car’s aircon controls? And don’t the DTM
race seats usually have head supports that extend further forward?
They do, it turns out. Here they’ve been cut back to improve side visibility.
So in I hop and out I go on to the roads of Mallorca. The engine is the racecar’s
anyway, but the engine is never the issue in racecars – that honour goes to
the gearbox. A sequential straight cut paddleshift is light and fast, but it’s not
refined or docile, it won’t do traffic and it’ll drill into your ears. Switching it for
a seven-speed twin clutch was the biggest mechanical change ABT made, but the
result is a drivetrain that trickles happily around at low speed.
There are two other major changes that make the XGT a perfectly viable
road car: the engine is no longer rigid mounted to the back of the chassis tub,
and bushing replaces rose joints in the suspension. The former means much
less cavitation and vibration in the cabin, the latter means you can drive on

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ABT XGT

“THIS IS A PEDIGREE RACECAR
THAT HAS BEEN BRILLIANTLY
ADAPTED TO ROAD USE”

Now go and
watch the
video on
topgear.com

bumpy, tramlined roads without immediately crashing. And ABT needed this
to sit stable and true on autobahns.
All of which means that your senses are at odds. Because from the driver’s

more natural and engaging to drive, plus there’s an authenticity to the XGT
that’s unlike anything else.
Which you realise when you drive it on track. Like a proper racer it only

matter), while the sensors in your arse, ears, feet and fingertips are discovering
this is all pretty placid going. The ride, on four-way adjustable coilovers, is
smooth and sophisticated, packing plushness into minimal travel, the gearbox
bleeds the shifts perfectly, the engine is tractable and good natured. It’s a largely
viceless road car. But for one thing. One of the main reasons it’s 350kg lighter
than a road R8 is the lack of sound insulation. Two hours of exposure, that’s
what I reckon you’ll cope with. Use ear pods and you could daily this. Apart
from width restrictors. And loftier speed bumps.
But why bother? Because it is enthralling to drive. This is a pedigree racecar
that has been brilliantly adapted to road use. It’s genuine in a way that a road
car made track ready just isn’t. Though €598,000 including tax works out at

are optional). That nullifies the understeer, gives you confidence to exploit the
rear traction. Which is extraordinarily communicative. Push hard out of corners
and you feel the rear diff start to lock up and both wheels drive you forward.
Give it a bit too much now and the tyres start to smear themselves wide, but
it all happens so progressively and calmly that you barely need to back off the
throttle. The XGT gives you time. Everything happens calmly, progressively.
It’s the most exciting, capable and focused R8 I’ve ever driven.
The timing’s interesting though. Coincidence that this arrives just as the
R8 bows out? I doubt it. Fearing it would be comprehensively upstaged, Audi
probably wanted the R8 off the table before this arrived. What a thing. I like it
because it’s so mechanical, so true to itself, because it’s not a known quantity.
There’s something subversive about the XGT. It’s a shame it’s fallen to ABT to
show what might have been.

1,000bhp. And a hi-fi. But if it was my money, I’d have this all day long. It’s

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SECRET BMWS

104

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A new book gets unfiltered access to
BMW Design’s cutting room floor. These
are the projects that could have been...
WORDS STEPHEN DOBIE

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“A FULL-FAT DRIVING
EXPERIENCE AS A
GATEWAY TO BRING
YOUNGER BUYERS INTO
THE BMW WORLD.”

It’s quite a billing, and a production version of
the BMW 2K2 could have been quite the car.
The idea is deliciously simple, however closely
it nudges tweeness: rekindling the 2002,
arguably BMW’s most revered classic, for the
year 2002. A cheaper, lither car to provide an
entry point into propellor-badged ownership
but without skimping on thrills.
“The car would weigh under 1,000kg
and provide BMW performance for a fresh
audience,” muses Steve Saxty, author of the
new BMW Behind the Scenes book trilogy and
one of only a tiny handful of people to see the
2K2 up close since its late Nineties tour of the
BMW board. “There’d be no radio, the idea
being that its owners would only stick a
different one in anyway. Save cost for the
customer so you can give them all the guts of
an E46 3-Series coupe in a simpler package.”
It sounds an utter riot, and so it proved
in testing. Yes, the silver car in the top left of
the opposite page is a fully running prototype,
not a smartly sliced piece of clay capable of
trundling no quicker than walking pace.
Designer Ralf Langmeier, a crucial player
in the 2K2 story and now a senior figure at
Rolls-Royce, remembers testing it at BMW’s
Aschheim test track. “We all sat there, with fire
extinguishers in our laps, and off we went,
benchmarking it against a high torque BMW
330 diesel. The 2K2 had a lowered differential

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ratio, so it really took off and it beat the
3-Series right up to 180kph [112mph].”
The car’s genesis involved several
different designers and numerous moments
in late Nineties BMW politics, but the
company’s ownership of Rover is crucially
entwined. BMW wanted a new compact car
that would beguile buyers more than the
awkward 3-Series Compact, but the board
ultimately only sanctioned one – deciding to
pump its money into the forthcoming Rover
R30. “The 2K2 would do a volume of around
30,000 cars a year,” reckons Steve, “which
in those days was just not worth your time.
The hatchback market would instantly mean
100,000. Were it not for Rover, they probably
would have made this.”
It doesn’t take a committed historian
to point out that BMW sold Rover before the
turn of the century and no R30 ever surfaced
in showrooms. Thus, Langmeier was part of
a team entrusted to breathe life back into
the 2K2 project – only this time as a more
lucrative hatchback. That hatchback being
the BMW 1-Series.
Where the 2K2 was going to be a
lightweight two door with a composite body
– an idea of Langmeier’s, who’d restored a 2002
cabriolet as a student and wanted to prove the
concept of quick paced, low volume composite
specials – the car it eventually morphed into

SECRET BMWS

2

1

3

4

5
1. The 2K2 tried to bring 3-Series
dynamics to a younger market; it
ultimately morphed into the 1-Series
hatch and coupe
2. Designer Calvin Luk works on a
foam model of last year’s Concept
Touring Coupe, the modern Z4
shooting brake we surely deserve
3. The late Nineties and early
Noughties saw BMW designers
play frequently with rear hinged
‘occasional’ back doors; the 2K2
toyed with them but the i3 and
Mini Clubman were the only BMW
production cars to adopt the idea
4. What could have been; the cute Z1
roadster had the potential to spawn
dune buggy offshoots thanks to
BMW’s forward thinking Zukunft
Technik department
5. And what very nearly was; an
advancement of the i8 came very
close to being BMW’s halo supercar
and a modern day M1
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“SAXTY’S RESEARCH REVEALS AT
LEAST 10 OFFICIAL ATTEMPTS
TO REKINDLE THE M1”

was a conventional sheet metal hatch. The
possibility of rear-hinged ‘occasional’ doors
floated around a lot during this era of BMW
concept design, skipped the finished car and
was limited to a brief cameo on the reborn
Mini Clubman and BMW i3.
Chris Bangle, BMW’s then design chief,
was adamant its new compact should still
launch as a coupe with more conventional
three- and five-door body styles to follow.
While marketing overruled him, the ghost of
the 2K2 in the side proportions of the eventual
1-Series Coupe (released in 2007) is evident.
Although its high performance 1M iteration
used six-cylinder power, eschewing the
2K2’s simpler, more efficient four-cylinder
status, the giant killing punch of the original
concept did at least live on. Just at a price that
evaded any notion of an ‘entry point’ and –
thanks to the 1M’s instant classic status –
still does. Shame.
BMW in the Eighties and Nineties seems
to have been a wonderfully inventive place, in
fact. If you thought the production Z1 roadster
was wild, with its iconic dropdown doors, then
a glimpse of its unseen siblings will boggle
your eyes. They were all born out of BMW’s
new Zukunft Technik – Future Technology –
department. Led by Ulrich Bez, former Porsche
and eventual Aston Martin man, this operated
as a separate company. “Their goal was not to
design road cars,” says Saxty, “but to act as a
freewheeling skunkworks able to create fresh
engineering concepts.”
A hypothetical Z family encompassed
a roadster, coupe, saloon and even EVs and
motorcycles, not to mention some incredibly
forward-thinking small crossover concepts
that look much more rugged (and charming)
than a modern day X2. But that’s not the Z1

108

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offshoot we’re most mournful for.
Technik chief engineer Harm Lagaay
was a motorsport enthusiast who quickly
clocked that BMW’s M12 engine – the
1.5-litre four-cylinder turbo used in Formula
One across the Eighties – would slot neatly
into the Z1. His proposal was to meld the
two together for an attack on the twisting
12.42 miles of the Pikes Peak hillclimb.
“BMW chose to retire from F1 in 1987,”
says Saxty, “even though the M12 had been
tweaked to make more than 1,000bhp in
qualifying trim. Pop that power unit in a
single-seat Z1 that weighed little more than
a contemporary F1 car and the opportunity
to grab headlines was clear.”
Sadly the true skunkworks spirit of Lagaay’s
idea never fully matured; a muscular concept
was made in detailed scale model form for
visual evaluation and wind tunnel testing,
but wider Technik enthusiasm for the project
faltered, right as Pikes Peak blipped on many
an enthusiast radar thanks to Ari Vatanen’s
achingly cool Climb Dance video.
But we all know the one car we truly
wish BMW had made: a bona fide supercar
to live up to the inaugural M division car,
the wedgy M1. The composite structure of
the pioneering i8 hybrid came tantalisingly
close to yielding one, too.
Saxty’s research reveals at least 10 official
attempts to rekindle the M1’s glamorous halo
effect, perhaps enough to fill their own book
someday. But it appears the most recent
occurrence got as close as any. Previewed by
the Vision M Next concept in 2019 and using
a plug-in hybrid powertrain to help signal M
division’s future philosophy – not least that of
the next M5 – the pieces were slotting together
nicely. Three designers worked alongside the

engineering team to morph concept to
oh-so-near reality in a quick snap 12 months
and the i16 was the result. While its side
windows signal shared DNA with the i8,
clever work on its proportions, a stunted tail
in particular, help it resemble a fresh model. A
much more potent one, too. Where the i8 used
a 1.5-litre three-cylinder engine and peaked at
369bhp, the i16 was expected to pair BMW’s
modularly related B48 2.0-litre four-cylinder
turbo with e-motors for an output closer to
600bhp and 0–62mph in around three seconds.
“BMW keeps wanting to bring back
the M1,” says Saxty. “But getting 20,000
fans excited on Instagram is easier
than finding 20,000 customers. That’s
why we get performance SUVs like the XM.
Porsche started it all with the Cayenne and
Lamborghini, Aston Martin, Maserati and
Ferrari progressively piled in. For BMW
to enter the supercar space just as the
established makers were diversifying
out of it was a big risk.”
Not to mention the i16’s development
nudging into 2020 and the unforeseen turmoil
of a global pandemic. “History was not to
be made,” lamented BMW’s current head of
design Domagoj Dukec in a recent post. “While
we pushed, the world changed in 2020. Work
on the project unfortunately had to be stopped.
“But that’s how life goes sometimes. As
designers, we are familiar with the twists
and turns of such projects. Nevertheless,
we’ll never stop dreaming and exploring new
possibilities, and there’s always a new project
waiting around the corner.”
These stories and many more are
told in Steve Saxty’s new BMW Behind
the Scenes three-book box set. Visit
stevesaxty.com/bmw for details

SECRET BMWS

A small BMW coupe to rekindle the
magic of the 2002 has never been
far from designers’ sketches

1

2

1. A sneaky peek inside the 2K2
prototype. Exposed screwheads and its
lack of stereo were designed to save cost
and weight to ensure affordable thrills
The mighty F1-engined Pikes Peak
entry the Z1 roadster could have become

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109

THE NEW COINAGE
OF KING CHARLES III

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HEADLINER

CATCHING Zs
Nothing quite like putting your money where your mouth is – just
ask Silent Classics owner Jack Kerridge and his Datsun 240Z
WORDS OLLIE MARRIAGE PHOTOGRAPHER JONNY FLEETWOOD

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111

It used to be old airfields, now it’s exfarmyards. Boy there’s some fascinating stuff
happening at the back end of these tucked
away yards. This one’s in deepest Dorset,
smartly reupholstered with fresh concrete,
paint and buildings. One side of Silent Classics
is Rotron, doing fascinating things with rotary engines for
drones and more, across the yard is Parajet, using them to
drive fans to help people fly.
Jack Kerridge used to work there before setting up
by himself. He’s tall and keen, with something of the wild
professor about him. The sort of guy you know would be
up for a mad project. His first was converting a Fiat 126 to
run on electric. That still sits outside, a little unloved these
days as he’s moved on to greater things. Why cars in the first
place? “It’s in the blood. My dad is a classic car restorer, so
I grew up around all that and it sort of spiralled from there.”

What it spiralled into was a familiar rabbit hole, Jack one
of many spotting the niche for converting classics to electric
power. Unlike some he was inspired by the engineering
rather than the business opportunity. The 126 taught
him huge amounts about repurposing existing electrical
components and getting them to work together. His bread
and butter is the Fiat 500, “It’s just so suited to electric
power, and all the bits fit so easily to the existing chassis.”
They’ve built around 15 so far and demand has been so
strong that he’s planning on separating that business out
into its own high-end brand. Not bad considering Silent
Classics itself was only set up a couple of years ago.
Jack’s team of five is young and multiskilled. “Just
about everything is done in house, and even when we use
contractors, we like them to come and work here.” It’s not
just electrical work. Huge lathes dominate one corner of the
workshop, welding guns crackle and spark. But the electric

“I’M INCLINED TO
CUT THIS SOME
SLACK WHERE I
STRUGGLE TO WITH
ELECTRIFIED 911S”

Looks like a Datsun 240Z,
goes and sounds like
anything but

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Not much under the
bonnet, but not ugly
for a box of batteries

side is interesting. The ‘take a crashed Tesla and rebody it’
approach isn’t for Kerridge. This is much more bespoke.
Each car is given handpicked components to best suit
its capabilities. Many of those components are salvaged. “It’s
becoming more difficult to source used batteries – although
we also use new batteries too,” Kerridge tells me. “We then
dismantle those packs and rebuild them in our own housings.”
This allows the team to create packs that fit exactly in the spaces
in the donor cars. But pairing them with random motors means
Silent Classics needs to do all the control electronics itself.
“We use open source software to help us do that, in fact we
contribute to it as well,” says Kerridge.
The workshop is a cramped mass of ongoing projects. A
classic Range Rover is up in the air, having bits fabricated for its
undersides, a Bond Bug sits cheek by jowl with a cream Jaguar SS
and delightful Fiat Topolino. Once fitted out with a 21kWh pack
and 60bhp motor, the latter is what every Mediterranean villa

Jack Kerridge dons his
brave pants to stand next
to the ‘scary’ Datsun 240Z

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113

Perilous parking space
bingo. MIght be best to
move the Datsun, guys

Incorrectly positioned hammer hurts us / Little 500 is a winner for Silent Classics / Some questions are better left unasked / Lovely workmanship, messy workbench

Half classic, half spaceship.
Is that TopGear.com
on the screen?

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should have for the morning bread run. Above, an after
hours motorbike project dangles from the ceiling.
Pride of place right now goes to a Datsun 240Z. This
was built not for a client, but Kerridge himself. It’s tiny,
gorgeous. It uses a 36kWh battery pack mated to a twin
e-motor from a Lexus GS450h, here developing 320bhp.
This is not an EV that weighs two tonnes plus. Kerridge has
used it to experiment: there are switchable drive modes, an
integrated tablet serves as the central screen, the dials have
been bespoke made... but you still need to turn a key to start
it and there’s a manual handbrake for larks.
It doesn’t need any help with that. A fizzing sound
accompanies my exit from the yard. Wheelspin. As much
of it as I want, whenever I want, it’ll turn out. Kerridge
reckons the weight distribution is close to 50:50 as the
motors and inverters are mounted on the rear axle to
counterbalance the battery lump under the bonnet, but

Which is what? It’s not refined enough for long trips
and besides the lack of rapid charging (it would have added
too much weight and complexity, so it’s 7kW max) you’re
anchored to about 120 miles range. But for snaffling about in
the countryside on a summer’s day, there’s a lot to be said for
this. I imagine being parked on a hill and opening the boot to
a picnic hamper, thinking how much cooler and less tryhard
a 240Z is than an E-type and actually quite enjoying the fact
the buttercups didn’t wilt as I drove past.

“THE SIMPLE
EXPERIENCE OF
BEING IN IT IS
BEGUILING”
that can’t counteract 320bhp working on maybe 1,300kg
through some eco-minded Falken tyres.
The battery pack is nicely presented, but it’s not a
straight six. And that’s the reason I’m often sceptical
of cars like this that once had charismatic engines, but
now have heartless electrons. There is a small sense of
connection however: the wooden gearlever. It has a lovely
action, magnets attracting to help pull you into gear and
adding resistance to the release as you flick back and forth
between forward and reverse.
Elsewhere it’s not perfectly finished, Kerridge admitting
it’s put on a backburner when customer projects arrive.
There’s a clunk from the propshaft every time you lift off and
re-engage drive and a 45mph wobble they need to get to the
bottom of. But the experience of being in it, being so small
and compact behind that long, slim bonnet and those short,
slim pillars and nestled into rich leather, is beguiling. Maybe
it’s because the 240Z never meant as much to me as other
sports cars that I’m inclined to cut this some slack where I
struggle to with electrified 911s.
More likely it’s because this has an edge. Kerridge admits
his 240Z scares him. It would me in the wet, but today we’ve
got fine weather for the infamous Zig Zag Hill. You quickly
learn to be patient and gentle with the throttle, but feeding
it in, seeing just how much traction you can find, is fun,
especially as those twin motors work through a tight diff. The
Wildwood brakes are lovely (no regen here at present, but
I’d take the feel every time), the steering is delicate, accurate
and the coilover suspension gives good control and enough
comfort for the kind of driving you’d want to use it for.

Ah, the good old days:
when all cars came
with a spare tyre

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115

A CUSTOM
ROYAL ENFIELD
Report 12: shakedown

Wahey! Our custom Royal
Enfield is no longer an
evolving sculpture on a
workbench, rather an actual
motorbike that makes
noise, moves, and – most
importantly – wheelies

CONCEPTS THAT TIME FORGOT

RENAULT ESPACE F1, 1995

But having not turned a
wheel, it was time for a
shakedown. So, we enlisted
the help of Charlie Nesbitt,
an RE development rider
who just happens to be
BSB’s Rookie of the Year

When he’s not racing, Charlie
does 3,000-mile endurance
tests around Bruntingthorpe.
This ‘chassis abuse’ includes
everything from wheelies to
hard braking, vmax runs
and coast downs

We also learned that the new
bar-end mirrors are a bit
tight for a big glove, so we’ll
add a spacer. But the pegs
and exhaust don’t scrape
and the Malle bags stayed
on at 110mph. Ace!

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WO R D S: R OWA N H O R N C A S T L E

“The bike handles really
well,” Charlie says having
instantly got his knee
down. “But the yoke needs
adjusting, and it can be
stiffer front and rear.” That’s
just a few twists and clicks

d
rebuil
R
T
G
or his
rbos f
u
t
n
i
r tw
ingle o
s
:
l
l
a
of

“THERE’S NO ESCAPING
THE EFFICIENCY OF
TURBOCHARGERS IN 2024”

W

hoever first said there’s no replacement for
displacement is likely having quite a tough
time these days. Because there’s no escaping
the efficiency of turbochargers in 2024.
These miracle snails allow smaller, downsized
engines to deliver a punch equal to (or greater)
than their larger predecessors. And, when utilised
cleverly with PHEV powertrains like Ferrari’s 296
GTB, the results are pretty mind blowing.
But turbocharging smaller engines for more
power is far from a new phase. Just about every
performance Japanese car from the Eighties and
Nineties went down this route and, in the case of
the Nissan Skyline, its RB26 engine utilised two
smaller turbos for better response and less lag.
Some cars – like Mazda’s FD3S RX-7 – even used
sequential turbos (one small, one big) to quite
literally give the best of both worlds.
Within the older Skyline tuning circles, the
debate for going down a twin-turbo route or big
single turbo has divided many for years. Twin
turbos are often looked upon as the go-to choice
for builds that favour throttle response and (less)
lag over outright power. But turbocharger tech is
so much more advanced now; getting a larger,
single turbo to be just as responsive – and make
even more power – seems the preferred choice.
When my R34 GT-R first arrived from Japan
it’d been converted to a single turbo setup
producing 650bhp. After a few years, I then

upgraded this turbo to a more modern Xona Rotor
unit which bumped the power all the way up to
830bhp, which even made more power earlier in
the rev range despite being a larger unit. So clearly,
for the final engine I’ll ever fit in this cursed car,
the obvious choice would be the big single.
That would make the most sense. But sense is not
something that often accompanies GT-R ownership.
And, having grown up in the Nineties watching old
Japanese tuning videos, the urge to fit two giant
turbos together is strong. Back in the day, this
method seemed best for chasing 1,000+ horsepower
builds because few single turbos could offer that
kind of flow without using engine-bending levels of
boost. But in 2024? Two big turbos give all the
drawbacks with none of the positives.

They’re beyond laggy – even with different
pistons, crank or an RB30 block, you’re unlikely
to get a Skyline engine beyond around 3.0 litres.
So don’t expect any ‘proper’ boost until at least
5,500rpm. Two turbos require twice the
pipework, twice the space and twice as many
parts to go wrong. They even sound noticeably
different; a six into one big single turbo screams
with all the rpm. But two turbos splitting the
manifold sound more like a traditional straight six.
And yet, despite all of this, I’ve gone and
bought a set of top-mount turbos for my GT-R.
Not just any kind either, but a broken set which
will need overhauling at great expense before they
can go anywhere near an engine. Each of the KKK
turbos (no, not that kind) should be good for
around 450–500bhp apiece when actually working.
Not that I even have an engine to turbocharge
currently, that’s still in Australia being finished.
And, if I’m being completely honest with you,
reader, I didn’t even buy these to fit to my R34
GT-R. I really bought ’em to use in an R32 GT-R
project instead. Something I haven’t actually
started – or even bought – yet. Because everyone
knows the best way to finish one long term project
car is by starting yet another. Mark Riccioni
Internationally renowned photographer Mark has
been working with TG for many, many years. When
not taking photos he’s buying inappropriate cars.
Here he shares his addiction with the world

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117

PROGRESS REPORT

(2004)

MG XPOWER SV-R vs MG4 XPOWER

(2023)

OH MY WORD, I’D FORGOTTEN ALL ABOUT THE XPOWER SV...

IS IT AS BRUTAL TO DRIVE AS IT IS TO LOOK AT?

How could you? This is Britain’s own muscle car. A TVR-rivalling

Well, you’d think it would be given that this particular car is

flagship MG that was all set to fire the company into a new

an XPower SV-R – the top spec version that had its Ford Modular

and prosperous era in a blaze of V8 noise and fury. It’s the car

V8 bored out to 5.0 litres and was tuned by Roush to produce a

manufactured in Modena and finished in... Longbridge. It was

conservative estimate of 385bhp. In reality, it’s actually very

built to take on the Porsche 911. It, erm, didn’t quite go to plan.

happy bumbling about at slow speeds with light steering, soft
suspension and a lovely eight-cylinder burble. Yes the trim inside

AND WHAT’S THAT BRIGHT ORANGE THING NEXT TO IT?

might creak a little, but it turns out this is a big friendly GT car.

Ah yes, that’s the MG4 XPower – the new-age flagship (at least until
the two-door Cyberster sports car arrives on UK shores) that has

IS THE NEW ONE ANYWHERE NEAR AS QUICK?

resurrected the old name. You’ll know that MG is now owned by the

Oh it’s much, much quicker. Whereas MG quoted a 0–60mph

state-owned Chinese megacorp SAIC, and by all accounts is doing

time of 4.9secs for the SV-R, the modern XPower takes just 3.7secs.

rather well too, with well-priced family EVs its bread and butter.

That’s thanks to a twin electric motor setup that sends 429bhp to

REMIND ME OF THE OLDTIMER’S STORY...

drab interior and in the point-and-squirt driving experience.

all four wheels, although the whole thing lacks drama both in the
How long have you got? Seriously, its birth was not an easy one.

118

The car started life as the De Tomaso Biguá concept and was first

HOW MUCH WILL THEY BOTH COST ME?

shown at the 1996 Geneva motor show. It then transformed into the

Well, this particular SV-R is a rather special one. Just 42 5.0-litre

production ready De Tomaso Mangusta, before being renamed

cars were ever built, and this is the only one finished in green paint

and sold in limited numbers as the Qvale Mangusta when Bruce

with a tan interior. Current owner John bought it for over £25,000

Qvale fell out with Alejandro de Tomaso. Eventually, MG arrived

and it’s unlikely that even a blank cheque would tempt him to sell.

and bought Qvale outright. It then tasked Peter Stevens with a

The MG4 XPower looks like remarkable value at just £36,495, but if

complete redesign, and the man who drew the McLaren F1 came

we’re honest we’d rather have the slower, cheaper version and

up with the carbon-bodied shape that you see on these pages.

some money to put into our ‘future SV ownership’ pot.

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WO R D S: G R EG P OT TS P H OTO G R A P H Y: J O N N Y F L E E T WO O D
W I T H T H A N KS TO J O H N N E W E Y FO R T H E LOA N O F H I S M G X P OW E R SV- R & WO LV E R H A M PTO N H A L F P E N N Y G R E E N A I R P O RT

The 429bhp Chinese hot hatch meets its troubled, V8-engined namesake. Is there any relation?

MAZDA SPORTS CARS
(THAT AREN’T MX-5s)

M A ZD A R X-8
(200 7 )

LESS
THAN
£2K

RE ME MB ER IN G

R E T R O G A M IN G
TH E CL AS SI CS

#60

NASCAR RACING
PC/PLAYSTATION, 1994
A U T O Z A M A Z-1
(1992)

LESS
THAN
£25K

The mid Nineties saw two very different takes on NASCAR games. On
the one hand, you had NASCAR Racing, which aimed to replicate the
complex dynamics of pack racing on oval circuits and provide a true
recreation of the various stops on the Cup calendar. On the other, you
had Daytona USA, which let you powerslide past a space shuttle.
We’re not going to get into arguments over which is the superior
experience here, but NASCAR Racing’s simulation approach certainly
proved to be hugely influential. With early texture-mapped 3D graphics
and handling that felt good even if you were pecking at the arrow keys
on a keyboard, NASCAR Racing was entertaining even if you were a Brit
and the prospect of watching 40 cars turn left for three hours was
about as tempting as watching the Paint Drying World Championships.
Whether it was the enormous superspeedways of Daytona and
Talladega, or the short ovals at Bristol and Martinsville, there was

M A ZD A R X-7
(2003)

LESS
THAN
£30K

something thrilling about attempting to scythe your way through the
pack and there’s no experience more terrifying in all of racing than
finding yourself in the middle as cars enter a turn three wide.
Developer Papyrus Designs also pioneered online racing with
a service codenamed ‘Hawaii’ that allowed players to connect via
dial-up modems and rack up the sort of long distance phone bills
that would have telecoms shareholders ordering a second yacht.
This work in online racing would prove beneficial not just for the sim
community, but also for Papyrus cofounder Dave Kaemmer who
went on to launch a modest platform called iRacing in 2008.
So beloved was the NASCAR Racing series among simracers that,
for a time, sealed copies of the final game, NASCAR Racing 2003
Season, were selling for hundreds of dollars apiece. As retirement
plans go, it’s a marginally more canny investment than Beanie
Babies. Marginally... Mike Channell

Bargain Corner
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O IT !
C
S DIG ION
I
D R IT
OU ED

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ON YOUR MOBILE OR TABLET
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Jaguar F-Type R
HELLO
£104,880 OTR/£109,360 as tested/£1,132 pcm

WH Y I T ’S HERE
Was Jag’s final petrol sports car the wrong car at the wrong time?

DRI VER
Greg Potts

IT MAY SAY HELLO UP ABOVE, BUT WHAT FOLLOWS WILL ACTUALLY

be an extended goodbye to a car that we’ve known and (mostly, but not
always) loved for quite some time. Yep, we’re about to spend six months in
a Jaguar F-Type before it’s killed off for good later this year. RIP, old friend.
It’s a slight shame that ‘our’ F-Type has arrived in such a dour spec,
though. The Carpathian Grey paint is a £475 option and isn’t a box
that I’d have ticked. Sadly, the brilliantly bright blue and yellow shades
that arrived with the facelift car have long since been removed from the
configurator, but you can still spec options like Firenze Red, British
Racing Green or a lovely lighter shade that Jag calls Giola Green. The
20-inch wheels are painted in gloss black too – a photographer’s worst
nightmare – and we’ve got an all-black (officially known as Ebony)
leather interior. There’s a fixed rear spoiler too and I’ve never been
a fan of a bewinged F-Type.
Still, I shouldn’t complain, not least because the bits underneath
the skin are extremely exciting. This is the full fat, £100k+ F-Type R
with Jaguar’s 5.0-litre supercharged V8 making 567bhp and 516lb ft
of torque – the same numbers as the pre-facelift SVR. That power is
sent to all four wheels and an electronic diff aims to ensure maximum
traction – not always a given in an F-Type.

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I should also mention that this is actually the last of the line R 75 Plus
trim too, so you get many other extras thrown in too. More about them later.
While it’s with us the F-Type has many questions to answer before it
passes on to the next life. Has it actually ever won a TopGear group test?
Can this final iteration hold a candle to the current Porsche 911? Will
we actually miss the last ever petrol Jag sports car when it’s gone?
We’ll find out over the next half year.

SPECIFICATION
5000cc supercharged V8,
AWD, 567bhp, 516lb ft
27.0mpg, 239g/km CO2

GOOD STUFF

We’re daily driving a 5.0-litre V8 –
excellent for the soul.

0–62mph in 3.7secs, 186mph
1,855kg

MILEAGE: 750 OUR MPG: 22.3

BAD STUFF

We’re daily driving a 5.0-litre V8 –
ruinous for the bank balance.

Alfa Romeo Tonale
GOODBYE
£48,495 OTR/£53,345 as tested/£534 pcm

WH Y I T ’S HERE
Does Alfa’s late arrival deserve a place at the small SUV party?

DRI VER
Esther Neve

THIS IS A SAD DAY. THE TONALE IS GOING TO MEET ITS MAKER. QUITE

literally. We have had the pleasure of the Alfa’s company for six months,
it’s been all over the UK, carried many people and many things, and been
enjoyable and also economical while it’s at it – yes, we will acknowledge
the pothole/puncture incident, but that could have happened to anyone
in any car... and probably did (I’ve been back to the location and it’s now
fixed, just in case any of you were wondering...) – but today is the day it
goes back to Alfa Romeo headquarters.
Those 155 days have flown by, and the question you see above was
always rumbling around in the back of my mind as each trip was clocked
up – “Does Alfa’s late arrival deserve a place at the small SUV party?” The
simple and straightforward answer from six months’ experience is “yes”.
No two ways about it. There are plenty of smaller, semi-luxe SUVs vying
for your cash in its sector, but for me, no offering from any other company
has the personality of the Alfa. Which is why, although it’s fair to say
that its more Germanic rivals are all equally economical, capable and
enjoyable to drive/travel in, the Tonale’s style and more stunning looks
– there’s no mistaking it’s an Alfa – make it truly stand out in its sector.
Though I never reached the heady heights of the claimed economy,
charging up as and when I could saw the figure gradually improve to the

high 40s/low 50s mpg in real world scenarios – not bad with a right-footheavy driver enjoying themselves behind the wheel.
Talking of charging up, one mini issue with the Alfa was what to do
with the charging leads if the boot and car were both full and you wanted
to top up on electricity... but that’s a problem all plug-ins face.
So, would I put my money where my mouth is and buy one? D’you
know what? I would. It’s been reliable, fun and sassy. Say no more.

SPECIFICATION
1332cc 4cyl turbo + e-motor,
AWD, 276bhp, 199lb ft
217mpg, 29g/km CO2

GOOD STUFF

Roomy, stylish and enjoyable
to drive. Plenty of appreciation
from other drivers as well.

0–62mph in 6.2secs, 128mph
1,910kg

MILEAGE: 10,100 OUR MPG: 48.9

BAD STUFF

The offset numberplate
made using car parks with
numberplate recognition tricky.

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BMW M2
REPORT 3
£65,830 OTR/£70,295 as tested/£803 pcm

WH Y I T ’S HERE
BMW says it’s easier to live with, but is that what we want from an M2?

DRI VER
Ollie Kew

REGULAR VISITORS TO THE TOPGEAR GARAGE WILL REMEMBER I

had a car pinched last year. TG’s Audi S3 was nicked from my driveway by
someone who broke into my house by smashing the back door open with a
crowbar. Thanks to its tracker, the car was traced by the police within hours.
A sobering reminder that brazen car theft is at epidemic levels in the
UK – climbing five per cent in 2023. Recent freedom of information
requests have revealed that 70 per cent of car thefts go unsolved.
So, given this is the ‘entry level’ full fat M car – the most accessible,
and targeted at the youngest audience – I investigated what effect this
has on insurance costs.
I’m, er, mid-30s. Three points, 10,000 commuting and social miles a
year. Park on a driveway in a not unrespectable town, etc, etc. Best price?
£860 – but only on a multi-car policy. On its own, I’d need a black box data
recorder to get the M2’s insurance under four figures.
Interestingly enough, downgrading my power trip to an M240i xDrive
made no difference whatsoever. Best price was £850 for a multi-car, or £950
on its own. When I checked out policy costs for the Toyota GR86 I ran last
year, it was exactly £600. Sure, it’s got exactly half the M2’s power and a
hundredth of its badge cachet to most people, but it’s still a rear-wheeldrive hoonmobile and considerably rarer. And yet eminently less nickable.

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Can I offer any crumbs of comfort? Well, the data would suggest only
the 3-Series appears in the UK’s top 10 most stolen cars of 2023, coming in
seventh place with 1,466 recorded thefts, or four every day. Good for BMW.
But I’ll admit, it’s playing on my mind. I’m wary of posting about the
M2 on my social media feeds, in case anyone recognises it’s local. I tuck it
tightly behind my other half’s car to make it impossible to extricate from the
driveway without an Austin Powers million-point turn. It’s a grim reality.

SPECIFICATION
2993cc twin-turbo 6cyl,
RWD, 453bhp, 405lb ft
27.9mpg, 220g/km CO2

GOOD STUFF

Phone is no longer overheating
when the M2 charges it.

0–62mph in 4.1secs, 180mph
1,725kg

MILEAGE: 5,895 OUR MPG: 27.3

BAD STUFF

Car theft has effectively been
decriminalised – this is why
we can’t have nice things.

RANGE ROVER SPORT
REPORT 2
£88,100/£113,484/£1,982

WH Y I T ’S HERE
The Range Rover casts a
big shadow. Can the closely
related Sport step out of it?

DRI VER
Ben Pulman

LEXUS
NUGGETS

THE POLITE BRITISH MAN INSIDE

me wants to declare that I have
severe reservations about the
longevity of the white leather that
trims the door tops, dashboard,
steering wheel and seats of TG’s
long-term Range Rover Sport.
Whereas my wife is much more of
a straight talker – “It’s going to get
bloody grubby.”
Either way, when this Sport
spends life ferrying children
around, it seems only a matter
of time before there’s a veneer of
brown filth across the pale interior.
Which would be shame.
I’ll be stunned if the colour can
prove anything other than utterly
impractical, but as is the impression
is rather gorgeous. It feels concept
car-esque with the big swathe of
white right across the dash, and
bolstered by brightwork trim that
glints like a make believe space
metal from the Marvel universe.
I’ll admit to being rather taken
with it, even though if it was my
own car I’d have probably chosen
boring-but-practical black.

Lexus RX 500h
REPORT 4
£77,195 OTR/£77,195 as tested/£895 pcm

WH Y I T ’S HERE
Alcantara trim runs all the way
along the top of the interior
door trim. Soothing to caress
during an M25 jam

Push button electronic door
release. I love it but it foxes
everyone else who comes
into contact with it

SPECIFICATION

36.1mpg, 205g/km CO2

DRI VER
Jason Barlow

THE SHARPER EYED AMONG YOU WILL NOTICE THAT TG ’S GREEN

Lexus exterior design
has taken some time to
cohere but we see shades
of Ferrari in the RX. Cool

2998cc 6cyl twin-turbo, AWD,
345bhp, 516lb ft, 8spd auto

Can Lexus build a genuinely sporty full-size SUV?

Lexus RX is now white. The 450h PHEV has mysteriously become a
500h, a car with a similarly intriguing mechanical configuration and a
mission to (re-)introduce some sporting smarts into the Lexus lineup.
The truth is that GY23 EOC was required to return to Lexus HQ,
but we figured three months in the plug-in hybrid followed by three in
the more powerful 500h would be an interesting comparo. Not least
because it ousts the CVT that’s been a staple of Toyota and Lexus
hybrids for years, in favour of a more conventional 6spd auto box. On
top of that, Lexus has added a new torque vectoring electric rear axle.
Our 500h is an F Sport, so while still peerlessly put together, it
trades some of that for a more aggressive attitude, inside and out. Two
things hit me when I first climbed into it: the red leather interior and
the fuel economy read out. From 40+mpg, we’d tumbled to 31mpg.
Is it worth that in terms of extra dynamism? The RX sits on Toyota’s
alphabetti-spaghetti TNGA-K platform, which does duty in lesser
vehicles such as the RAV4 and Highlander. But it’s longer and stronger
here, with more interior space than the previous model, a lower roof,
reduced centre of gravity and hip point. Lexus owners are older on
average and appreciate a less arduous ascent into the cabin.
The 500h also challenges the big engine = prestige orthodoxy. Here
we’re talking a 2.4-litre turbocharged 4cyl aided by two electric motors.
Lexus says the peak system output is 366bhp and 406lb ft, which isn’t
enough to worry Porsche or Rangie drivers but should be enough to get
the job done. Which, this being a Lexus, is to keep things moving briskly
and elegantly. Excess isn’t part of the picture, which is a USP in itself.

SPECIFICATION
This little display on top of
the wheel monitors your eye
movements. The RX is a car
that will instruct you to sit up

2393cc 4cyl + two e-motors,
AWD, 366bhp, 406lb ft
35.3mpg, 182g/km CO2

0–62mph in 5.9secs, 145mph

0–62mph in 6.2secs, 130mph

2,360kg

2,190kg

MILEAGE: 1,955 OUR MPG: 31.2

MILEAGE: 7,750 OUR MPG: 31.9

GOOD STUFF

Unrivalled interior comfort and
quality, serene atmosphere.

BAD STUFF

The 500h F Sport doesn’t love
crowned B-roads.

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Mercedes-Benz EQE
REPORT 2
£68,810 OTR/£87,040 as tested/£820 pcm

WH Y I T ’S HERE
To discover what role the EQ range actually fulfils for Mercedes

DRI VER
Ollie Marriage

I’VE WORKED IT OUT. THE EQE WOULD LIKE TO BE JEEVES. IT’S YOUR

personal butler, wants to do everything for you, make it as easy as
possible. Every time I get in it greets me with “Welcome Oliver Marriage”.
There’s a faint wobble in the voice, like it’s speaking underwater. I press
the button and tell it I’d rather be Ollie. It can’t deal with that. In fact
there’s an awful lot it struggles with. And herein lies the problem: this
particular Jeeves is a bit inept. The kind that would stumble with a tray
of drinks or use brown polish on black shoes. The horror.
Now, Mercedes is no worse than anyone else in this regard. Voice
recognition systems are uniformly haphazard, driving assistance aids
are all entirely myopic. But the EQE, above and beyond most other
electric cars, is designed to do as much as possible for you. That’s
its remit: make life easy for the commuting exec. Out come the door
handles when you walk up, on comes the light display as a million
headlight pixels broadcast waterfalls onto the road, up comes the
ambient lighting and whooshing noises. This peacocking display
feels like it’s been designed to convince you the car is semi-sentient.
So once I’m underway, I’ve been inclined to let it have a stab at things.
Some of that has been good – the intelligent brake regen is decent and it
picks its way round jams well. And, provided you drive to IAM standards,
you can have the assist systems on and they barely even interfere. I know
this because we used the EQE for driver training recently.
But that’s not the point is it? I don’t always drive with an ex-traffic
cop called Carlton in the passenger seat gently coaching me out of
my errors and issues. I drive like everyone else, in a rush and slightly

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distracted. Then I need the EQE to do more of the heavy lifting.
But the result is amateurish. None of these car systems is remotely
– remotely – as capable of knowledgeable road positioning as the
average takeaway delivery scooter. Even if the approach to braking
is largely the same. Binary inputs, folks.
It only takes one or two slips where you can easily see an
approaching issue and the car doesn’t to lose faith in the butlerish
systems. To be fair I’ve driven two cars recently, Kia’s EV9 and the
Volvo EX30, which are far more infuriating, with near constant bongs
to pay attention, but I wanted – and I’m sure Merc intends – the EQE
to be the soul of discretion and sophistication.
I’m not sure they could’ve done much better with the driver
assistance – they can only see what’s immediately around them.
However, two other things should have been sorted out, the ride and
the seats. This is meant to be a cossetting, long range electric cruiser.
But the seats are flat and firm. You don’t sink into them, they don’t
hold you in place. Ergonomically they seem to be pretty decent, but
you want them to give you a hug. The dearly departed Rangie was
brilliant at that, the Merc isn’t. The massage function is clunky too
(it just tilts the seats about a bit to mobilise you). Unfortunately,
upgraded seats are only available on the flagship Exclusive Luxury
model, you can’t option them elsewhere.
Geeks like me talk about primary and secondary ride. Let’s call them
cushioning and fidget. This Premium Plus rides on Airmatic adaptive
dampers (lesser ones don’t). Suspension insulation is good, so it’s very

quiet and the cushioning is OK. But because it wears an AMG badge
Merc couldn’t help itself and even in Comfort mode it’s a little bit
short in its movements when it ought to be more languid.
Air suspension tends to struggle more with nullifying the sudden
fidget of potholes and joints, but that trait is exacerbated here because
the Premium Plus wears broad 21-inch wheels with skinny 35-profile
Pirelli P Zeros. There’s a little too much commotion. It doesn’t give
itself enough of a chance to ride well. Braking on mucky country
lanes is a jittery ABS fest – those Pirellis are hopeless in the cold
when dealing with this much weight.
How much weight exactly? Well, some 70kg less than the claimed
weight on our weighing scales – 2,463kg. But that’s not what I want
to leave you with. Let’s talk fuel costs. Before Christmas I drove the
diesel Range Rover to Newcastle and back on a single tank. That cost
me £127.64 to refuel. Just did the exact same trip in the EQE, which
needed two charges away from home, plus an overnight when it got
back home. Those three top-ups cost £126.15, making the EQE precisely
as economically efficient as a 2.6-tonne luxury SUV. And I’m afraid to
say I enjoyed the journey more in the big diesel Rangie.

SPECIFICATION
,
electric
motor, RWD,
89kWh battery, 242bhp
3.8 miles per kWh, 337 miles
0–62mph in 7.3secs, 130mph
2,535kg

, OUR MPKWH: 2.2
MILEAGE: 2,579

GOOD STUFF

App is useful, theatrical approach
and start procedure, comes
across as a sleek and
sophisticated luxury cruiser.

BAD STUFF

Flatters to deceive. Gets a few
easily solvable things wrong –
seats and ride comfort mainly.

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WHAT ELSE WE’RE RUNNING
REPORT 3

PORSCHE CAYENNE S COUPE

Nissan X-Trail
REPORT 3
£45,780/£46,925 as tested/£598 pcm

WH Y I T ’S HERE
Family 4x4 on top, clever hybrid beneath: the ideal SUV combo?

DRI VER
Andy Franklin

REPORT 7

THE X-TRAIL IS IN THE WARS. AND THROUGH NO FAULT OF ITS OWN.

The other day, when I was driving around the M25 on the way back from
another of my children’s sporting events, I heard an almighty loud bang.
At first I thought it was one of the kids popping open a bag of crisps, but
it soon transpired it was something much more concerning.
The whole thing happened in slow motion. We took a few seconds
(though it felt like hours) to figure out what had happened, and then it
became pretty obvious – a huge stone had smacked into the windscreen.
It was large enough to make a decent size dent in the screen with cracks
soon appearing on both sides of it.
It didn’t take a genius to realise the Nissan was going to need a new
screen. It wasn’t the hole that was the problem, it was one of the cracks
that eventually spread across the whole window. A quick call to Autoglass
and I managed to book it in a few days later – as we all know, any crack
longer than 7cm immediately requires a replacement.
While I’d hoped Autoglass would be able to come to me (I’ve seen the
TV adverts too...) it turned out it needed to go in to one of its garages due
to all of the sensors and gadgetry disturbed by swapping out the front
glass. I won’t bore you with the details, but let’s just say that the whole
process took two and a half hours...
I asked the Autoglass technician if I hadn’t been claiming on the
insurance what the damage would have been, and he reckoned about
£1,000 all in. So, my top tip for you all is... when you’re asked by your
insurance company if you want to add windscreen cover, I’d say yes:
it might save you thousands. Next month I’ll get around to talking
about how the X-Trail drives... oh, after it’s had a service!

SPECIFICATION
1498cc 3cyl turbo + e-motor,
FWD, 201bhp, 243lb ft
45.6mpg, 141g/km CO2

GOOD STUFF

A really comfortable car over
long journeys and it’s made
of tough stuff.

0–62mph in 8.0secs, 105mph

BAD STUFF

1,808kg

MILEAGE: 8,671 OUR MPG: 43.2

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The more complicated cars
become the more expensive
the spare parts.

AUDI TT FINAL EDITION

REPORT 6

GENESIS GV70

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Volkswagen Amarok
REPORT 5
£55,440 OTR/£57,231 as tested/£599 pcm

WH Y I T ’S HERE
Does a posh double-cab pickup make the ultimate family SUV?

DRI VER
Sam Philip

IN FEBRUARY THIS YEAR, HMRC ANNOUNCED THAT COMPANY CAR

drivers who bought or leased a double cab pickup would see it
reclassified as a personal vehicle, therefore no longer qualifying
for the flat rate of benefit in kind (BIK) payments charged to all
commercial vehicles, regardless of size. Instead, double cabs would
be taxed on the emissions based system applied to passenger cars.
HMRC’s justification? That many double cab owners were using
their vehicles as family cars rather than mere business tools.
For double cabbists, this represented a brutal tax blow. The
emissions of pretty much all pickups – including our Amarok – would
see them fall into the highest BIK bracket, incurring thousands of
pounds more in company car tax every year.
But then, in a screeching U-turn worthy of Ken Block’s finest
Gymkhana exploits, a mere week later His Majesty’s Revenue and
Customs announced that it was scrapping the tax changes, and
that double cab pickups would “continue to be treated as goods
vehicles rather than cars”.
Quite what caused HMRC’s handbrake 180 is unclear. The National
Farmers’ Union made its (less than upbeat) feelings on the matter
quite clear, and if there’s one group of society you don’t want to upset,

it’s the guys with pitchforks, shotguns and threshing machinery. But
you can sympathise with HMRC. Because in my experiences of the past
few months, it’s clear the Amarok can be both a genuine commercial
workhorse... and also a totally feasible (albeit heavy duty) family SUV.
It’s the Jaffa cake of the automotive world, by which I mean “very
difficult to pigeonhole for tax purposes”, not “deliciously orangey”.
But it’s still, officially, a commercial vehicle. As you were, all.

SPECIFICATION

GOOD STUFF

2967cc V6 turbo, 4WD,
237bhp, 367lb ft, 10spd auto
28.0mpg, 265g/km CO2
0–62mph in 9.0secs, 112mph
2,300kg

MILEAGE: 6,410 OUR MPG: 27.3

The sheer joy of flinging
five mud-caked bikes into the
flatbed. Beats any roofrack
or boot hands down.

BAD STUFF

The terror that someone’s going
to nick your five muddy bikes
while you’re stopped at the lights.

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JEEP AVENGER
REPORT 5
£39,600/£42,125/£448

WH Y I T ’S HERE
Is a Jeep not designed to
off-road still a Jeep?

DRI VER
Jack Rix

WHILE OUR YELLOW AVENGER

EV was being flashed with new
software to try and jumpstart
the faulty heater, Jeep loaned me
a petrol powered Avenger for a
week. The results were surprising.
I thought I’d love the anxiety salve
of a tank of petrol behind me, the
(admittedly mild) challenge of
working the engine to uncork the
torque and using a manual gearbox
to give my left leg a much needed
workout. In fact, the exact
opposite was true.
Presented with a near identical
interior, view out and chassis
behaviour, but now an engine that
needing revving, a clutch that
required pressing and a lever that
demanded waggling, the whole
experience felt crude, my progress
more staccato and my enjoyment
of the Avenger diminished. It
didn’t take long before I was
wishing to be back in the EV with
its seamless creep in traffic, silent
peppy responses and general lack
of fuss. What’s happening to me?

SPECIFICATION
Electric motor, 54kWh
battery, FWD, 154bhp
4.1 miles per kWh, 249 miles
0–62mph in 9.6secs, 93mph
1,595kg

MILEAGE: 1,998 OUR MPKWH: 3.5

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WHAT WERE
THEY THINKING?
This month:
the Range Rover
Sport’s extra bloat
Ben Pulman
We’ve had a
TG away day
this month, where
Ollie Marriage
whipped out the
scales. Not for
some mass
weigh-in for the
editorial team,
but to get a
bead on the
long-term fleet.
Turns out the
Sport is rather
porky. It’s quoted
as 2,360kg in DIN
guise, which
means no driver
onboard, but with
fluids, including a
90 per cent tank of
fuel. Yet KT73 JWF
weighed 2,644kg...
Now that
was with a full
tank, plus two
car seats and
a pram, but I’ve
had the bathroom
scales out for
those since, and
know the tank is
80 litres too, so
the additions
are under 50kg.
Meaning there’s
a 200+kg
difference
as tested.
Shows what
options like fancy
seats, a powered
tow bar, bigger
wheels and a
full size spare
can do to one’s
waistline. But
doesn’t account
for why it’s so
bloomin’ heavy
in the first place...

Peugeot 408
GOODBYE
£34,825 OTR/£36,625 as tested/£458 pcm

WH Y I T ’S HERE
Is a hatch-coupe-crossover a mashup too far?

DRI VER
Paul Horrell

I’VE OFTEN SAID I THOUGHT THE 408 WAS A BIT OVER-DESIGNED.

The bodywork has more creases than the MCC, more features than an
Odeon multiplex. But broadly the shape is handsome. I’ve just driven
the 408 to Paris to see the studio where it was designed. It’s an unusual
building, with a flat roof onto which they can wheel prototypes and look
at them in daylight.
You might think this would be catnip for scoop photographers’ drones.
But it’s right next to a military airfield and clearly any snooper would
obviously be shot down forthwith. I can’t yet tell you what I saw there,
save to say Peugeot’s head of design Matthias Hossan is a real talent.
Another waypoint on that French trip was the AGM of Car of the
Year jurors, and to drive the seven shortlisted for the trophy. One was
the Peugeot 3008/e-3008, on the all-new Stellantis platform. So much
for progress: I’m afraid I preferred the driving dynamics of the 408
that I arrived in. It might be older but it’s lighter and more fleet footed.
So among this year’s contenders I put the Renault Scenic (which won)
and BMW 5-Series/i5 (second) higher up my ballot.
I filled up the 408 just before the Tunnel entrance, and did the
whole French trip of 427 miles on a tank, though it kept bonging ‘low
fuel’ as I crossed the Pas de Calais homebound. So that was a measured

GO TO

TOPGEAR.COM
FOR EXTENDED TG
GARAGE REPORTS,
AND TO EXPLORE
THE ARCHIVE

(not trip computed – they lie) 40.3mpg. The first time I’ve actually
broken the big four-oh with it.
Mostly it hovers around 35–38mpg. For a biggish petrol car driven
vigorously that’s not bad. The powertrain’s downside is its jerkiness
in sticky urban traffic. I’ve whinged about that at length in previous
reports so won’t again here.
Ironically, this version of the 408 goes obsolete in a few weeks.
The engine/box will be replaced by a revised 1.2-litre, mated to a 48V
mild hybrid bolted to a six-speed auto box. It won’t improve motorway
economy (hybrids never do in steady speed running) but it should save
fuel in town and make traffic running smoother too. I’ve tried it in
other new Stellantis cars and it mostly does.
So this 408 wasn’t great for the first or last 20 minutes of every
journey I do, because I live in a city centre. But the rest of the time I’ve
really been enjoying it. I love the way it goes down twisty, difficult roads.
I love the driving position, because a low steering wheel is what I always
adjust for. In a Peugeot I can see the dials over the wheel rim, whereas
in most cars I have to have the wheel higher than I want so I can see the
clocks under the rim. The seats are the shape of my bod. There’s loads
of room in the back and boot so I get no family complaints. And the

infotainment and controls, including the innovate configurable shortcut
‘i-Toggles’, make sense to me.
Plus the screen blacked out just once in the whole half year, and
quickly reset itself without my having to stop. This is a far more
consistent performance than most screens today. And nothing else
went wrong. Filling the washer bottle was the sole maintenance task.
Goodbye and well done.

SPECIFICATION

GOOD STUFF

1199cc 3cyl turbo, FWD,
131bhp, 170lb ft, 8spd auto

Roomy and much more fun to
steer than a crossover. I like the
driving position and interface.

44.0mpg, 136g/km CO2
0–62mph in 10.4secs, 130mph
1,392kg

MILEAGE: 4,806 OUR MPG: 37.0

BAD STUFF

How much better would it
have been if lower again?
Drivetrain jerky in town
and insipid at speed.

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GO TO

TOPGEAR.COM
FOR EXTENDED TG
GARAGE REPORTS,
AND TO EXPLORE
THE ARCHIVE

Toyota bZ4X
GOODBYE
£54,410 OTR/£54,410 as tested/£519 pcm

WH Y I T ’S HERE
Is Toyota’s e-4x4 behind the curve, or better than we think?

DRI VER
Tom Ford

SIX MONTHS AND THE TOYOTA BZ4X NOW HAS MORE THAN 10,000

miles on the clock. That’s roughly 3,704kWh of charging at an average of
2.7 miles per kWh. I’ve spent a lot of time in this car, on motorways and
A-roads, B-roads and ‘roads’ that only feature as vague gleams in the eye
of an OS map. I’ve charged mainly at home, the rest on a variety of public
chargers all over the country. And it charges like it drives – acceptably.
It’s the same for the drive. There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s stable and
predictable, has decent body control and linear but numb steering. It’s fine.
And, you’ve guessed it, the inside is also perfectly OK. Kit is fine but
not stunning, the interior roomy. It’s well put together. But there are niggles.
The car bongs when you’re reversing, squeals when you open/shut the rear
tailgate, chirps when you block the driver monitor for a millisecond. There’s
no rear wiper, some of the buttons don’t light up at night and there’s
precious little functionality or information when it comes to charging.
The bZ4X’s one quirk is that it’s quite good off-road. We swapped the
standard 20s for standard 18s, added a set of same-sized BF Goodrich Trail
Terrains and found it good. Then there was a set of rally graphics inspired
by Toyota’s Eighties rally cars, expertly applied by Lee Winstone at Mission
Motorsport’s livery department. A set of roof bars, roofrack and massive
light bar later and loads of people were suddenly interested.

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But at this price point, there are a lot of cars to choose from, most
with more performance or range. There are cars with more interesting
styling, cars with quirkier or more stylish interiors. Cars that try a bit
harder. And that’s the bZ4X’s problem. It feels like Toyota didn’t try hard
enough to impress. Add to that the lifeless range figures in the wild, and
it’s a car that makes you want to sigh. It’s not even bad enough to hate,
but you’d have to be a very beige thinker to fall in love.

SPECIFICATION

,

Twin
electric motors, 4WD,
.
71.4kWh battery, 215bhp
3.4 miles per kWh, 255 miles

GOOD STUFF

It does everything just fine. But
not exceptionally.

0–62mph in 6.9secs, 99mph

MILEAGE:

2,075kg

OUR MPKWH:

MILEAGE: 10,890 OUR MPKWH: 2.7

BAD STUFF

Sadly, the bZ4X is so middle of
the road that it becomes lost in
the EV ranks.

BECAUSE KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

BEGINNER’S
GUIDE TO SAAB
From greatest hits to lowest moments, everything
you ever wanted to know... and a fair bit you didn’t
WORDS SAM BURNETT & GREG POTTS

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I M AG E S: M A N U FAC T U R E R

FOR MORE
MIND-BLOWING
MANUFACTURER
GUIDES

What’s Saab and when
did it start making cars?
Saab Automobile was started in 1945 by Svenska
Aeroplan Aktiebolaget (Swedish Aeroplane
Corporation), or Saab. With plane demand
tailing off after World War Two, Saab diversified
into cars, its first model – the 92 – arriving in
December 1949. Initial cars were all green as
there was a job lot of camo paint left over.
Saab merged with truck maker Scania in
1969 and came under the authority of Sweden’s

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powerful, filthy rich Wallenberg dynasty. A
deal with Fiat saw a lot of rebadging activity in
the Seventies, but the firm’s iconic 900 model
arrived in 1978 – over a million of them
would end up getting built.
Saab was separated off in 1989, 50 per cent
each for General Motors and the Wallenbergs,
then GM bought the lot in 2000. This era meant
sharing bits with Vauxhalls, but GM never got

to grips with its Swedish offshoot and the
company went into administration in 2009.
Koenigsegg stepped in, but the deal fell through.
Saab was sold to Dutch sports car outfit Spyker
in 2010, then Chinese and Russian investors got
involved and GM refused to continue providing
its engineering. Saab died in 2014, and despite
the efforts of a Chinese consortium in the late
2010s, remains firmly expired.

EXHAUST

Saab’s greatest hits

01

02

03

04

05

06

07

08

09

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FACTOID

What’s the cheapest car
that Saab builds... and
what’s the most expensive?
Sadly you can’t buy yourself a new Saab anywhere
what with the company having gone out of
business a decade ago, but a quick look on car
buying website Auto Trader sees some very nice
9-3 convertibles for sale around the £500 mark.
You can’t expect anything too fancy, though, and
also don’t expect to find too many parts around
these days unless you’re prepared to root around
in scrapyards. A 150,000-mile model from 2002 in

black caught our eye in Manchester, although
the advert does say that the clutch is slipping.
The most expensive Saab we spotted was a
punchy £39,995 1980 Saab 99 Turbo with a mere
14,000 miles on the clock. Though you would have
to add a few driving it home from Saab specialist
Hagstrom in Norfolk. The outfit says that the
2.0-litre manual is the “best for sale in the UK”,
but then that’s probably what it tells all the girls.

Heated seats were
an expensive option
on Cadillacs in the
late Sixties, but Saab
was the first to offer
them as standard
from 1972 – and it
was because one of
the bosses had a bad
back. The system
was designed to turn
on automatically
if the outside
temperature was
below 14°C, which is
basically the whole
year in Sweden. (It
was also first to
introduce seatbelts
as standard, which
is probably more
important now we
think about it.)

What is Saab’s fastest car?
COPYRIGHT SAAB AB

The fastest Saab still in
production is the JAS 39
Gripen, with a top speed of
around 1,200mph, but you’d
be right to point out that
it’s not a car. The 1999 9-3
Viggen was a souped up
limited run version of Saab’s

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small hatchback, fitted with a
2.3-litre turbocharged petrol
producing a heady 230bhp.
The name came from Saab’s
37 Viggen jet fighter. The 9-3
did get some jet-inspired
upgrades, like the Nimonic
alloy used on the exhaust

valves, notable for its heat
resistance. The car also
benefitted from a larger
intercooler, upgraded brakes,
new performance ECU and
a massive turbo. The result
was a 155mph top speed and
0–60mph in 6.5secs – perky

performance figures, but still
with Saab’s reputation for
front-drive spikiness. Some
hailed the Viggen as the last
true great Saab, while others
criticised its horrendous
torque steer. Are those two
things incompatible?

EXHAUST

NOTABLE
PEOPLE

Björn Envall
Head of design from 1969
to 1992, came up with the
company’s iconic looks

Stig Blomqvist
No relation to TG’s one, built
his legend as a works Saab
rally driver in the Seventies

Per Gillbrand
Known by some as father of
the turbo, Saab engine boss
pioneered the tech

Where are Saabs
built and how many
are sold a year?

0
Saab’s dead, baby, Saab’s dead. But when it was still going, it
built its cars almost exclusively at its Trollhättan facility in
central Sweden. It was built on top of Trollhättan airfield by
Saab’s plane-producing parent company back in 1947, but
quickly switched to making the new 92 model in 1949.
Chinese syndicate NEVS had grand plans to build electric
Saabs at the Trollhättan facility, but that dream finally died
when its main backer Evergrande went bankrupt in 2023.
Saabs were also occasionally built in Finland by contract
manufacturer Valmet, in Austria by Magna Steyr and in Ohio
by General Motors if it happened to be a rebadged Chevrolet
Trailblazer like the 9-7X of the mid-Noughties.

What’s the best concept
that Saab ever made?

Tony Scott
Sir Ridley’s brother directed
1983 ad where the 900 raced a
Saab jet, landed him Top Gun

Jan Åke Jonsson
Saab’s last CEO, now he’s the
chairman of a Swedish furniture
company (not that one)

Saab has made some top concept cars over the
years – the Catharina sports car in 1964, the
98 prototype in 1974, or the Aero-X in 2006 that
gave us false hope (boo). The latter would be
the first choice for many, but ultimately there’s
no better Saab concept than the one that started
it all, the aero-tastic Ursaab of 1946.

The teeny little 800kg coupe had a two-stroke
engine and a slippery 0.3 drag coefficient. It was
built by a team of plane engineers who had never
worked on cars before – they scavenged rivals
from scrapyards and tested the car at night.
The Saab 92 was very different in production,
but the original Saab was the coolest.

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What was Saab’s
best moment?

What was Saab’s
worst moment?

Saab was long a company of automotive industry firsts, and not just with
the heated seats. In 1978 it became the first carmaker to mass produce
turbocharged engines and that changed the world.
One quirky Saab feature came along in 1993 and became synonymous
with the company’s cars – the night panel. Another bit of fighter jet
inspiration, at the touch of a button all the lights inside the car would turn
off apart from the speedo in the instrument panel, aiding night vision.
Or perhaps some of Saab’s flirtations with cinematic roles could be
considered the company’s best moments – Paul Giamatti’s 900 convertible
in 2004 wine-themed roadtrip movie Sideways, or Colin Firth shuttling his
Portuguese maid about in a... 900. For a long time the best way to make a
statement about your film character’s blandly non-comformist tendencies
was to stick them in a 900, possibly wearing a rollneck sweater.

Some might argue that getting snapped up by General Motors was
Saab’s worst moment, but the plucky Swedish outfit was never going
to last long without some serious support from a global carmaker.
Sadly that ultimately meant Vectra underpinnings, a rebadged Chevrolet
SUV and weirdly a reskinned Subaru Impreza estate that was hawked in
the US for a few years.
The company’s long slow decline was truly painful to watch, mirroring
the same downfall of the once great Rover in the UK not very long before
– an initial unsightly surprise collapse followed by prolonged squabbling
over the remains.
Sadly for Saab, and unlike Rover, by the time it reached this point there
was no meat left on the bones. Where Jaguar, Land Rover and Mini went
on to flourish, Saab met its undignified end.

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EXHAUST

LOGO
EVOLUTION

19 4 6
This made up shield only ever
appeared on the Ursaab, the
prototype model for the 96,
which launched in 1949

19 4 9
Saab never missed an
opportunity to wang on
about its aeronautic links –
plane used to be a Junkers

What was Saab’s
biggest surprise?
If you were a journalist turning up for the 9-5 estate launch in 2000, the
event would have no doubt been something of a surprise to you compared
with some of the usual fare – it took place at an airstrip in New Mexico in
the US at an elevation of 2,650 metres (two Ben Nevises) in order to show
off the benefits of the car’s turbocharged engine at altitude (turbos are less
affected by the lower air pressure the higher you go. Very handy if you live
up two Ben Nevises).
Another 9-5-shaped surprise was the arrival of the second generation
of the saloon in 2009 – for a company that was in the very visible process
of trying to rinse as much cash as it could out of an aging lineup, it was
actually a decent enough car. But was it sufficient to save the company?
Well let’s not go crazy here (and the results are long evident), but it was a
hopeful sign that the company could’ve flourished in an alternate universe.

1984
The little beastie is a griffin,
just like Vauxhall’s. Comes
from the shield for Skåne
County, or Scania in English

1999
This badge appeared on
the crazy souped up 9-3
– ‘viggen’ comes from the
Swedish word for thunderbolt

2000
Solo show once GM
got onboard and Saab
became its own thing –
kept the beastie though

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EXHAUST

What’s the most Saab
car in the back catalogue?
Saab 900 / 1978–1994

WORDS SAM BURNETT

Few cars establish your credentials as quickly as
the 900 – drive one and people immediately have
the measure of you. To be fair, the 900 did the
same thing for Saab itself, lifting the company
up a notch in terms of premium sophistication
and style. It was designed by Björn Envall,
the company’s doughty design chief who sat
in the chair for 24 years, literally shaping the
company’s icons. The 900 became the ultimate
Saab, the one that people immediately associate
with the Swedish carmaker.
The making of the 900 legend was cemented
in 1979, when the Turbo version arrived. It got
distinctive three-spoke alloys, discreet badging
and some styling tweaks to let other road users
know they were dealing with a baller. Turbos are

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stuck in everything now, so it’s hard to imagine
how left-field the tech was when Saab first tried
to foist it off on the unsuspecting public – but
it was a left-field carmaker and the tech was
a good fit – in fact the world is poorer for not
having a Saab-style carmaker in it during this
current era of technological changeover.
The turbo boosted power in the 2.0-litre
inline four from 99bhp to 143bhp, but would
reach as high as 173bhp by the time the 16-valve
version of the engine was released in 1984,
enabling a 134mph top speed.
Let’s list some of the other quirks of the car
– a longitudinal engine mounted backwards and
on a 45° incline with the gearbox underneath,
double wishbone front and beam axle rear

Rust assured
The lower portion of
the bodywork is rather
prone to corrosion –
more like a boat than
a jet fighter then...

suspension (that front setup was lauded for
how it made the 900 a surprisingly sharp steer,
despite all that power going through the front
wheels), a handbrake that operated the front
wheels until 1988 and Saab’s signature centrally
mounted ignition. On the other hand, the
hatchback offered a 610-litre boot capacity,
which made it an eminently sensible choice,
and the cockpit (it was inspired by jets after all)
was designed by Saab engineers to prioritise the
most essential instruments within the driver’s
line of sight as well as offering a wide curved
windscreen for great visibility, making it a
comfortable and efficient work environment.
There was a little family of 900s available –
a hatchback that came with three or five doors,

and a similarly equipped saloon version. Later
in the car’s life a convertible option was offered,
and coachbuilder Nilsson built two estates
for discerning clients. Saab actually built a
prototype 900 estate in the early Eighties, but
decided demand wasn’t enough to justify it.
You may not get a chance to own or even
drive a 900, but if nothing else we’d recommend
popping over to YouTube (not much left by this
point in the mag) and watching Tony Scott’s
1983 ad for the 900, where it races a Saab fighter
jet down a shimmering runway, accompanied
by the slogan “Nothing on Earth comes close”.
You can smell the fuel and feel the heat, it’s not
for nothing that Scott won the directing gig for
1986’s Top Gun off the back of it.

Safety cheque
TGTV’s Saab goodbye in
2012 quoted then-Volvo
design chief saying that
no one could understand
why a Saab 900 cost so
much until they crashed it

Miles and wave
Enthusiastic owners reckon that
the engines can manage over
400,000 miles without major work

Next month:

Lego

CITY CARS

These small cars are perfect for urban life,
but the trade-off is a much lower range

SUPERMINIS

You drive mostly around town, with occasional
need for longer distances? Try these for size

HATCHBACKS

A good electric hatch needs decent range
without compromising interior space

1 . F I AT 5 0 0

1. PEUGEO T e-208

PRICE: £28,195–£37,195 RANGE: Up to 199 miles

PRICE: £31,345–£34,595 RANGE: Up to 232 miles

PRICE: £36,995–£41,995 RANGE: Up to 292 miles

The latest version of the 500 offers sharper looks,
good value and decent range – and a parcel shelf
full of soft toys shouldn’t hurt the battery too much.

The e-208 is competent and stylish, but ultimately
you’ll fall into one of two camps: outraged about the
tiny steering wheel or you don’t understand the fuss.

Renault introduced a bit of va va voom (French for
increased car sales) to its lineup with this larger
electric Megane. A solid family car, this one.

2. CITROEN AMI

2. MINI ELECTRIC

2. MG4

PRICE: £7,695–£8,695 RANGE: 47 miles

PRICE: £32,550–£35,050 RANGE: Up to 145 miles

PRICE: £26,995–£36,495 RANGE: Up to 323 miles

Say hello to your little French friend. The pared back
Ami is the perfect car for the city streets, as long as
you don’t have ambitions to go further than that.

The electric version of the homegrown favourite
squeezes the BMW i3’s powertrain into a familiar
package. All new version arrives this summer.

Oh, MG – what’s this delightful looking electric hatch?
The company’s previous electric vehicles have been
sensible buys, now we know that it means business.

3. SMART EQ FORT WO

3 . R E N A U LT Z O E

3. HYUNDAI IONIQ 5

PRICE: £22,225–£25,795 RANGE: 80 miles

PRICE: £29,995–£31,995 RANGE: Up to 239 miles

PRICE: £43,445–£57,945 RANGE: Up to 315 miles

Yes, range is terrible, but as city cars go the Fortwo
remains a brilliant package and works well in the
city. It’s just not quite as cool as Citroen’s effort...

They grow up so fast, don’t they? The Zoe long ago
turned 10, but the odd refresh has given the car a
boost. Make sure you get one with rapid charging.

Hyundai’s futuristic hatch is much bigger than it looks
in pics, but comes with solid range, loads of space
and a host of life-enhancing touches inside.

4. DACIA SPRING

4 . VA U X H A L L C O R S A E L E C T R I C

4. CUPRA BORN

PRICE: £tbc RANGE: 143 miles

PRICE: £34,080–£36,685 RANGE: Up to 222 miles

PRICE: £36,475–£43,735 RANGE: Up to 343 miles

We love the Spring – even if it’s not on sale in the UK
until later in 2024. It would’ve been here sooner, but it
only does 140 miles and they’re driving it from France.

A Peugeot e-208 in a Vauxhall suit – now the EV’s
gone fully mainstream. The one to buy if you don’t
want anyone to notice you’ve taken the plunge.

The Born offers a sporty flavour of VW’s small EV
hatch setup (see also Enyaq). Check out how
we got on in our long-termer on topgear.com.

1 . R E N A U LT M E G A N E E -T E C H

F OR ALL T HE FAC T S, S TAT S AND IN-DEP T H RE V IE W S F OR E V ER Y NE W C AR ON S ALE GO T O T OP GE AR.COM/RE V IE W S

READY TO MAKE THE SWITCH?
W E S E P A R AT E W H AT ’ S H O T F R O M W H AT ’ S N O T

COMPACT CROSSOVERS

Small, but perfectly formed. These cars are a
perfect second motor or teeny family wagon

LARGE CROSSOVERS

Slightly larger electric cars that are designed
to cope with everything you can throw at them

FAMILY CARS

These cars need to meet tough demands –
plenty of space, a solid image and low costs

1 . J E E P AV E N G E R

1 . S K O D A E N YA Q

PRICE: £35,700–£39,600 RANGE: Up to 244 miles

PRICE: £38,970–£52,670 RANGE: Up to 336 miles

1. KIA E V9
PRICE: £65,025–£77,025 RANGE: Up to 349 miles

Jeeps are for off-roading, surely? Well this small SUV
is perfect for the urban jungle, which is why we
named it our overall Electric Car of the Year in 2023.

As usual, Skoda offers a down-to-earth and slightly
cheaper alternative to whatever Volkswagen is
pumping out. To great effect, as it turns out...

Kia’s not messing around anymore, is it – the EV9
looks great, is absolutely huge and it’ll fit seven
people and 100kWh of electricity with relative ease.

2 . P O L E S TA R 2

2. TESLA MODEL Y

2 . V O L K S WA G E N I D . B U Z Z

PRICE: £44,950–£57,950 RANGE: Up to 406 miles

PRICE: £44,990–£59,990 RANGE: Up to 331 miles

PRICE: £59,035–£63,835 RANGE: Up to 258 miles

Undercover Volvo offers Scandinavian attention to
detail paired with a level of build quality that would
shame a number of much more expensive cars.

A Model 3 with more headroom and a seven-seat
option. Latest Tesla gets usual blend of innovative
disruption and occasionally iffy build quality.

This retro-infused Kombi reinterpretation comes with
an imposing heritage, but it’s a solid family wagon
that shows off a different side to VW’s EV platform.

3. KIA NIRO

3. KIA EV6

3. BMW iX3

PRICE: £37,295–£43,195 RANGE: Up to 285 miles

PRICE: £45,245–£57,145 RANGE: Up to 328 miles

PRICE: £64,165–£67,165 RANGE: Up to 285 miles

The old Niro was already a decent buy, but the new
version improves everywhere and is alright to look
at too. Great family entry point into electric motoring.

The EV6 is based on the same Hyundai Group
platform as the Ioniq 5, but they’re very different
propositions. The EV6 is stylish and fun, we like it.

Slightly stealthier than some of BMW’s more, er,
aesthetically challenging EVs, this car is essentially
an electric translation of the bestselling X3 SUV.

4. PEUGEOT e-2008

4 . F O R D M U S TA N G M A C H - E

4 . A U D I Q 8 E -T R O N

PRICE: £36,350–£41,600 RANGE: Up to 212 miles

PRICE: £43,830–£67,540 RANGE: Up to 372 miles

PRICE: £73,165–£113,785 RANGE: Up to 343 miles

Wait, when did Peugeots become so desirable
again? The e-2008 is surprisingly fun to drive and
offers a chic interior with lots of nifty touches.

The Mach-E isn’t really a Mustang at all, or a men’s
razor, but it looks pretty good. It’s definitely a Ford
though, so relentless competence is guaranteed.

Audi’s flagship e-SUV wears its electricness lightly,
it’s a great option if you’re new to EVs. Just have a
look at those digital mirrors to see if you like them...

F OR ALL T HE FAC T S, S TAT S AND IN-DEP T H RE V IE W S F OR E V ER Y NE W C AR ON S ALE GO T O T OP GE AR.COM/RE V IE W S

PERFORMANCE EVs

For when money’s no object and the sky’s
the limit on car performance

SPECIAL MENTIONS

The EVs that have caught our eye, for all the
right reasons. Who said they aren’t cool?

1. RIMAC NE VERA

B E S T F O R H O T H AT C H F A N S

PRICE: £1.7m RANGE: 340 miles

Cupra has revealed the most powerful version so far
of its cute but aggressive (like a Maltese terrier) Born
EV. It has 321bhp for a 0–62mph run in 5.7 seconds
along with some choice tweaks. Hot hatch-tastic.

Brain-scrambling performance from the Croatian
entry, and £1.7m might be a lot, but it’s a bargain next
to the Pininfarina Battista that nicked its underpinnings.

“I’VE BOUGHT ONE!
WHAT NOW?”
You have a home charge
point. Don’t you? Well, get
one. There’s a grant (up
to 75 per cent) for renters
and flat owners, but to
get an overnight or all
day recharge check
zap-map.com for posts
near home or work that

2. P ORSCHE TAY C A N SP OR T T UR I SMO

BEST FOR OPTIMISTS

PRICE: £80,200–£149,300 RANGE: Up to 306 miles

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has given a shout out on his X
platform to the Roadster, which is definitely arriving
in 2025. He also reckons it’ll do 0–60mph in less than
a second and can beat your dad in an arm wrestle.

The Sport Turismo version of the Taycan takes
nothing away in terms of the car’s impressive
performance, adds sleek rear that looks great.

give between 5kW and
7kW. Always make sure
that you know in advance
the supplier for the post
you want to use, and
register on its app or get
its dedicated RFID card.
Rapid (DC) chargers,
at a slightly higher price,
are best used for long trips,
like you’d stop for fuel.

3. HYUNDAI IONIQ 5 N

BEST FOR LOADING UP

PRICE: £65,000 RANGE: tbc miles

Sure, estates aren’t the cultural force they once were,
but allow us to get briefly excited about the arrival of
the new VW ID.7 Tourer and its 1,627 litres of boot, as
well as its 86kWh of battery that’s good for 426 miles.

Our 2023 Car of the Year is like a good old fashioned
petrol hot hatch in a swanky EV body. Gives us hope
things will still be fun in this brave new electric future.

They take roughly as long
as filling with petrol and
having a full English.
In winter, keep plugged
in until you drive away, as
pre-warming the battery
and cabin increases range.
When possible, choose
heated/cooled seats over
cabin heating and aircon.
Try to drop your motorway

4. BMW i4 M50

B E S T F O R C O L D W E AT H E R

PRICE: £71,085 RANGE: 315 miles

Should we be worried about Lotus? It left the new
Emeya in the freezer. Wait, it wasn’t an accident – the
Norfolk carmaker wanted to test the doorhandles at
-35°C to make sure they’d work in a British summer.

In case you were worried that BMW’s M division was
going to drop the ball in our glorious new electric
future, along comes a brilliant i4 to calm our fears.

speed by 10mph: it’ll hugely
increase range, getting you
there far more quickly if it
avoids a recharging stop.

F OR ALL T HE FAC T S, S TAT S AND IN-DEP T H RE V IE W S F OR E V ER Y NE W C AR ON S ALE GO T O T OP GE AR.COM/RE V IE W S

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SCAN THE QR CODE TO LEARN MORE
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TG’S BIG

BAFFLED BY ELECTRIC CAR JARGON?
YOUR GUIDE TO DECODING THE FUTURE IS HERE
Volts, amps
and watts

plug. Fast or level 2 refers

accurate than the old NEDC

Supercapacitor

Let’s start with a simple one.

EV

to street chargers and the

standard, but still optimistic.

Supercapacitors can charge

EV means electric vehicle, as

We’re going to go full science

boxes you can install in your

opposed to one powered by

teacher on you and use an

house or office, which go up

petrol, diesel, used chip oil,

analogy. Imagine a river: the

to 7.4kW on normal 240V

Shorthand for ‘regenerative

for bursts of speed – and can

Chanel No 5 or magic.

volts are how fast the river

single phase AC, or 22kW on

braking’. Electric motors work

tolerate more charge and

flows, the amps are how

industrial three phase. Rapid

by using electricity and

discharge cycles, but they’re

much water is flowing, and

or level 3 is the high power

magnets to spin a shaft. So,

still not as energy dense as

People in the car industry like

the watts are how easily it’ll

DC supply, the sort you’ll find

if you were to spin it manually,

batteries, so you’re unlikely

to use this one. It stands for

carry you downstream.

at motorway services and

say, by coasting, you will then

to see them as direct battery

dedicated charging areas,

generate electricity, because

replacements. More likely

from 50kW up to 360kW.

generators are basically

to supplement a petrol

motors operating the

engine’s performance.

opposite way.

See the Lamborghini Sián.

BEV

battery electric vehicle, as
opposed to, say, an FCEV

kW

and discharge more quickly

Regen

than regular batteries – good

(fuel cell electric vehicle)

Logical, metric countries use

that’s powered by hydrogen.

kilowatt to measure power

We just call them EVs.

from petrol and diesel

CHAdeMO is not the result

engines. For the rest of us a

of a cat walking across a

kilowatt is 1,000 watts, and is

keyboard. It’s basically the

How far you’ll get in your car

The congestion charge

The internal combustion

the most common measure

fast charging standard

from the amount of energy

zone that covers central

engine. Confusingly, ICE

of power in an EV. A kilowatt

Japan came up with.

you put into it. So, it’s been

London. From 7am to 6pm

can also stand for in-car

is equal to about 1.34bhp.

Competing standards

fuel from a tank for most of

on weekdays, or 12pm-6pm

include CCS and Tesla

your life, now it’s a battery.

at weekends and on bank

ICE

entertainment (ie the stereo,
touchscreen and so on).

kWh
Stands for kilowatt hours and

PHE V

CHAdeMO

Range

Superchargers, which all
look reaaaaally similar.

can cut two ways – how much

CCS

CCZ

holidays it’ll cost you £15 to

Range anxiety

drive in this zone. But, with

The fear of being very far

a zero emission car you can

from home, on a dark and

fill out a form and pay a one-

Plug-in hybrid electric

power you’ve used (which

vehicle, or a hybrid with a

a utilities bill does), or how

The DC charger you’ll most

cold night, without enough

off £10 for an exemption that

bigger battery that you can

much capacity there is in a

likely use across the UK and

power to make it to a

lasts a year.

plug in to charge, giving you

battery. For instance, a Tesla

Europe. Works in everything

charging station. In the

a short, say 20-mile, electric-

Model S has 100kWh of

from a Tesla to a VW.

short term, the solution is

only range. Amazing tax-

capacity, of which you’ll

dodging mpg figures in the

be able to use about 90,

Supercharging

official tests, not so amazing

because fully depleting

If it looks like a CCS charger

in real life... unless you plug in

a battery is a great way

and works like a CCS charger,

efficient cars should ease

pollution. The ULEZ is in effect

every night and use the car

to ruin it forever.

it could very well be a Tesla

our furrowed brows.

every hour of every day, and

AC and DC
MHE V

The CCZ is there to ease

in the long term, better

traffic; London’s Ultra Low

energy density and more

Emissons Zone is to ease

Supercharger. But you can’t

exclusively for short trips.

use it unless you’re in a Tesla.

AC stands for alternating

mpkWh

ULEZ

more rapid charge stations,

will rain down with great

Li-ion

vengeance and furious

A contraction of lithium-ion,

application of a £12.50

which refers to the chemical

charge if you drive into

The mild hybrid EV, or MHEV,

current, and DC stands for

the very bottom rung of the

Batman comics... er, wait...

Not content with the unholy

make-up of a typical battery

the zone in a petrol car

electrified vehicle ladder. A

direct current. AC’s better for

union of litres of petrol and

pack. The 12V brick used to

that doesn’t meet Euro 4

small electric motor assists

long-distance transmission,

pints of milk, the UK’s uneasy

start your petrol powered car

standards or a diesel car

the engine, but doesn’t have

because it can easily be

blend of metric and Rees-

is a lead-acid battery, but

that doesn’t meet Euro 6

enough gumption to push the

transformed (to higher

Mogg leaves us measuring

lithium-ion is now the global

standards. The good news

car on its own. MHEVs usually

voltage, lower current,

EV economy in miles per

norm for powering new EVs.

is that full EVs are exempt.

manage a fuel saving of

so fewer heat losses).

kilowatt hour. So, if you have

about 10 per cent compared

Transforming DC power

50 usable kWh, and run at

with a pure petrol car.

is a faff but, because DC

4.0mpkWh, you’ll do 200 miles

Solid-state
battery

Fuel cell electric vehicles, like

charging stations can be as

before you’re stranded.

The next big step in battery

the Toyota Mirai. Separating

tech – holds more energy

hydrogen and oxygen takes

than an equivalent-sized

a lot of energy, but reuniting

RE X

big as they need to be, they

W LT P

FCEV

Refers to range extenders,

can employ high-voltage

or small internal combustion

power, giant transformers

Stands for Worldwide

li-ion battery, or the same

them in just the right way

engines used as generators

and rectifiers and get huge

Harmonised Light Vehicle

amount of energy but in

releases energy. You can

to recharge EV batteries on

power – up to 350kW.

Test Procedure. A way to test

a smaller and lighter pack.

burn hydrogen, but in a

new cars to see how much

They’re easier to cool, too,

hydrogen fuel cell you

fuel, or energy, they use, how

which means you can charge

generate electricity to drive

converting fuel to electricity,

Slow, fas t and
rapid charging

much greenhouse gas they

them quicker before they get

an electric motor. It’s also

which is fed to the motors

Slow or level 1 charging is

expel, and how far they get

too hot. At least five years

easier to move H2 over long

that supply the motive force.

when you use a regular wall

on one tank/charge. More

until any come to market.

distances than electricity.

the move. The engine can be
run at its most efficient rpm,

F OR ALL T HE FAC T S AND S TAT S Y OU NEED T O K NO W ABOU T E V ER Y C AR ON S ALE IN T HE UK GO T O T OP GE AR.COM/RE V IE W S

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WHAT: MG CONDOMS
WHERE: WOLVERHAMPTON, UK
Judging by the state of these, MG might have left
a more lasting legacy in the UK than most car
industry experts would have originally guessed

WHO: OLLIE MARRIAGE
WHERE: DUNSFOLD, UK
Ollie was the perfect man for this particular job
as the only person on the team old enough
to have any experience of blue flares

WHAT: EVOLUTION OF A TG SHOOT
WHERE: DUNSFOLD, UK
It’s like Evolution of Man, only they’ve all
stayed as the apes – you just need the one
finger to press a camera shutter after all

WHAT: RIVIAN REVEAL
WHERE: LAGUNA BEACH, USA
Ahhhh, three exciting new cars to look at,
hundreds of people to talk to and all editor Rix
wants to do is send a text message to his mum

WHO: ROWAN HORNCASTLE
WHERE: CATESBY, UK
Just a moment while the photographer
WhatsApps Rowan to get out of the way of
the camera. Great, no signal down here...

WHAT: AUDI HQ CAFE
WHERE: INGOLSTADT, GERMANY
Sure, it’s a painful way to shoehorn in the
brand, but it’s better than Ford’s GTea Room,
Kia’s Cafe Niro or the Mini Hatch for light bites

BEHIND THE SCENES

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