OUT OF FLAT OUT IN THE FLYWEIGHT BUGATTI BOLIDE 1,578BHP, £3.5M... ZERO RESPECT FOR PHYSICS From Pikes Peak Z1 to modern day M1... the cars Munich didn’t want you to see £5.99 +17 SECRET BMWS E X C L U S I V E ! VOLVO EX30 vs RIVALS SENNA – 30 YEARS ON RIVIAN’S MODEL Y BYE BYE AUDI R8 TG TUNNEL RUN: STIG SENDS IT... IN THE WORLD’S NOISIEST CARS MAY 2024
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. The Twelve in titanium: a new case of precious mettle. christopherward.com
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, GET YOUR FIX MAGAZINE Order a copy at MagsDirect.co.uk There’s more than one way to consume the world’s best car content DOWNLOAD The TopGear app from your App Store WEBSITE topgear.com entertainment and advice YOUTUBE Subscribe to the TopGear to watch the best car videos on the planet SUBSCRIPTION OFFER buysubscriptions.com/TGSP3M PODCAST Visit topgear.com to download the TopGear podcast “ASTHERATEOF CHANGEACCELERATES, USCARNUTSARE THELUCKYONES” E d i t o r - i n - c h i e f @jack_rix [email protected] @topgear facebook.com/topgear @BBC_TopGear @topgear T O P G E A R . C O M › M A Y 2 0 2 4 005
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ISSUE 383 / MAY 2024 CONTENTS 094 054 068 086 T O P G E A R . C O M › M A Y 2 0 2 4 009
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 EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT PURPLE REIGN # 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 010 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M
# C E L E B R I T Y # G A D G E T S # G A M I N G T O P G E A R . C O M › M A Y 2 0 2 4 011
That 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 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 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 Weissach Pack adds rear wing, but turns this into a strict two-seater only Once upon a time 1,000+bhp was supercar territory only, these days it’s family saloons too HERE’S A LAP RECORD WE BROKE EARLIER. . . Now go and watch the video on topgear.com 012 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M
What we’re watching/ listening/doing, while we should be working COFFEE BREAK 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 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 TV, BBC iPlayer Don’t forget that ALL of TopGear telly is ready and waiting on iPlayer 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 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 The 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. FAIL OF THE CENTURY #145 INFINITIFX VETTELEDITION 013 IMAGE: MANUFACTURER T O P G E A R . C O M › M A Y 2 0 2 4
YOU CAN’ T BUY TASTE 014 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M This 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 CAR NE WS PURE KLASSE Last year saw the saloon version of BMW’s Vision Neue Klasse, now here comes the SUV...
T O P G E A R . C O M › M A Y 2 0 2 4 015 Procrastination ahoy! Six videos worth watching on the web this month
There 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 CAN’T BUY TASTE WATCHES The watch industry is littered with design atrocities. Our advice? Keep it simple, stupid 016 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M
UNDER £100 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 HAMILTON KHAKI FIELD Another brand with US origins, Hamilton is now owned by the Swatch Group, giving it the infrastructure to make luxury watches at relatively affordable prices. Boasting an automatic movement with an 80-hour power reserve, it has a 41mm stainless steel case. £965; hamiltonwatch.com TIMEX EASY READER 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 much budget. Much is made of its American heritage, and this example is inspired by the work of pop artist Keith Haring, known for his chalk sketches on the New York subway in the Eighties. At 38mm, the stainless steel case is not massive, but big cartoonish hands and numerals make reading the time child’s play. The Easy Reader has a quartz movement and comes with a leather strap, it’s also water resistant to 50m. £90; timex.co.uk BLOW THE BUDGE T T O P G E A R . C O M › M A Y 2 0 2 4 017 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 AROUND £2,500 UNDER £1,000
GAME OF THE MONTH 018 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M Need-to-know nuggets of automotive news THE KNOWLEDGE ALLDRESSEDUP A Tolman customer brought the restomod outfit his 1980 MkIII Escort XR3 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 LIFT-OFFOVERSTEER 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 HIGHWAYCODE 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 TAKETHEW 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 GEAR SEGWAY GOKART PRO2
WORDS: OLLIE KEW IMAGES: MANUFACTURER T O P G E A R . C O M › M A Y 2 0 2 4 019 TOPGEAR TOP 9 SIDE-EXITEXHAUSTS 01 07 04 08 05 02 03 06 09
5THINGSYOUNEED TOKNOWABOUTTHE... The US muscle car icon is back... and this time it’s electric. Eh? CAR NE WS DODGE CHARGER WORDS: VI JAY PATTNI FOUR VERSIONS HAVE BEEN REVEALED Two electric, two with a 3.0-litre twin-turbo straightsix. In range topping electric Daytona Scat Pack trim, the Charger packs a whopping 670bhp and 627lb ft of torque. The second electric Charger, which wears an R/T badge, tops out at 496bhp and 404lb 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”. THE MUSCLE CAR SPIRIT IS ALL THERE Dodge has mined the spirit of its earlier muscle cars when it comes to the exterior design, saying only it “avoids excess” and takes its cues “from the clean, 020 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M Clean, timeless lines, many horsepower and the world’s most controversial soundtrack?
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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 NOW LATER WHOKNOWS? GOOD KARMA Meet the Karma Gyesera, a four-door grand tourer with 590bhp and around 250 miles of range. Yours for £130k Ford has confirmed a hardcore F-150 Lightning for Pikes Peak. Can it top the SuperVan 4.2’s silver medal last year? EYES ON THE PRIZE ONE FOR THE ROAD The Tesla Roadster is definitely coming in 2025, and will do 0–60mph in under a second, says Elon. More fake news, or... “EVsARE PARTOFA CONSPIRACY” 022 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M EV UPDATE IMAGES: GETTY, MANUFACTURER M Y T H B U S T E R TO P G E A R ’ S G U I D E TO THE F U T U R E O F E V E RY THI N G
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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 hree years ago, Audi had never competed in Rally Raid, the hardcore Ironman-loving sibling of stage rally, let alone the iconic but gruelling twoweek long Dakar Rally. But Audi, having pushed boundaries and conquered multiple motorsport disciplines throughout its history (including endurance racing and Le Mans, rallying, DTM, IMSA and Formula E) wasn’t afraid of a challenge. In fact, it fancied making one of the toughest races in the world tougher. /i > v Ìi «ÀiVÌ Ü>Ã Ì Li Ìi wÀÃÌ V>À >Õv>VÌÕÀiÀ Ì ÕÃi > i iVÌÀwi` `ÀÛiÌÀ> VL>Ì ÜÌ > ivwViÌ iiÀ}Þ VÛiÀÌiÀ Ì compete for overall victory against conventionally powered competitors in the world’s toughest rally. No mean feat, especially as it’s only had three years to bring this brain-meltingly complex motorsport programme together. From nothing. And leading up to the 2024 Dakar Rally, Audi’s bosses made it clear that this was its third >` w> >ÌÌi«Ì >Ì ÕÌÀ}Ì > >À ÛVÌÀÞ° pressure, then. No pressure to win the most punishing event on the motorsport calendar. No pressure to do it >Ì Ìi w> ««ÀÌÕÌÞ° «ÀiÃÃÕÀi v ÃÌ>} its immaculate motorsport record, especially as it’s a manufacturer synonymous with rough-stuff success. Oh, and no pressure to do so in a car concept radically different to anything else that’s ever scored victory in 45 years of this revered off-road enduro. Talk about a pioneering spirit. But against all odds, after late nights, heartbreak, injury and tens of thousands of hardfought racing miles, Audi has completed its Ãà >` Ìi i iVÌÀwi` čÕ` ,- + i ÌÀ >à written a new chapter in motorsport history. Thanks to WRC legend Carlos Sainz and his trusty navigator Lucas Cruz, the pair made history by V >} čÕ`½Ã wÀÃÌ > >À Ü >` ÌiÀ vÕÀÌ triumph as team-mates. Over two torturous weeks, the Spanish duo conquered 5,000 miles through the heart of Saudi Arabia, taking on deserts, climbing near-vertical sand dunes, traversing treacherous rock crawls and having to deal with no fewer than 11 punctures. What a nice, gentle way to break in the new year. Granted, Team Audi Sport had a fair idea of what to expect. While this year’s course was 60 «iÀ ViÌ iÜ] Ìi ,- + i ÌÀ >` Ì> i Ìi event twice before and collected 28 stage podiums along the way. With that experience under their belts, the Neuburg engineers updated the paradigm shifting off-road racer for its third attempt as they put outright victory wÀ Þ Ìi VÀÃÃ>Àð The faultless alternative drive powertrain – which combines championship-winning Formula E motors, a high-voltage battery and a highly ivwViÌ iiÀ}Þ VÛiÀÌiÀ q Ü>à V>ÀÀi` ÛiÀ from 2023, while the bodywork and suspension were tweaked and weight shed to give the rockstar driver line-up – of Sainz, Mattias Ekström and Stéphane Peterhansel – the ultimate ride. The wheel rims, brake discs and uprights were beefed up to prevent stones penetrating and wreaking havoc. And the two spare tyres, stowed in massive cubbies behind the doors, were made easier to access to speed up roadside repairs. č ÌÕ} Ìi ,- + i ÌÀ >` V>}i`] Ìà year’s running of the toughest rally raid started with a sense of déjà vu. Like in 2023, Ekström topped the times on the Prologue (a 17-mile amuse-bouche that allows the fastest crews to «V ÌiÀ ÃÌ>ÀÌ} «ÃÌ vÀ Ìi wÀÃÌ «À«iÀ stage). The double DTM champion picked his way through the AlUla sand 23 seconds quicker than the rest. Then Sainz laid down a clear marker the next day. As the Dakar kicked off in anger, with 778 competitors tackling the opening 251 miles of competitive running through volcano passes, he overtook a staggering 47 cars and dealt with ÌÀii «ÕVÌÕÀiÃ Ì wà ÃiV`° Underlining why the Dakar is quite so formidable, the terrain and challenges were wildly different 24 hours later. For the 292-mile race to Al Duwadimi, rocks made way for a less technical, faster stage. Sainz and Cruz collected a puncture but still set the eighth best run, and combined with their previous day’s efforts, they Ûi` Ì Ìi ÛiÀ> i>` vÀ Ìi wÀÃÌ Ìi° čÕ` had cause for a double celebration, too. Peterhansel, known as ‘Mr Dakar’ given he’s won the thing 14 times, took the stage victory by some 29 seconds. Of course, that’s a feat in itself. But for the vastly experienced French racer, it also marked his 50th Dakar stage win while competing in the car class (never mind the other 33 he’s chalked up on motorbikes!). He now ties Finnish icon Ari Vatanen for the four-wheel record. There was also an emotional aside to his achievement. On the 2023 Dakar, Peterhansel and co-driver Édouard Boulanger took a considerable beating. Seven days in, they suffered a particularly brutal landing after a dune. The car was withdrawn and Boulanger airlifted to hospital. He was side-lined from competition for four long months with a broken back. The duo were genuinely unsure whether they would ever again be able to battle it out at the front. Now, they emphatically had their answer. Mind you, the celebrations couldn’t last too long as Audi then had to tackle one of the Dakar’s infamous Marathon Stages – two days where support vehicles are prohibited, leaving competitors to their own devices to sort any repairs. The biggest headache for Sainz and Cruz “WHAT A NICE, GENTLE WAY TO BREAK IN THE NEW YEAR”
came with navigation: co-drivers are only handed the route 20 minutes before they take to the course, so there’s no time to learn lines. Five minutes were lost to a mishap and they also tagged a crater while picking their way through the dust. The #204 RS Q e-tron narrowly escaped a rollover but had to deploy its onboard hydraulic jack to remedy another puncture. That knocked Sainz to second in the overall standings. Meanwhile, World Rallycross champ Ekström returned to the podium as the fastest Audi driver of the day. The Swede just nine seconds short of Ìi ÃÌ>}i Ü >à i wÃi` ÀÕiÀ Õ«° ->â Ìi Ài> Þ ÃÌ>ÀÌi` Ì yiÝ Ã `iV>`i v > >À iÝ«iÀiVi° i Ü>Ã Þ ÓnÌ v>ÃÌiÃÌ >Ì Ìi end of Stage Five and dropped another spot to third in the overall order. No need for alarm bells, though. This was another deliberate move. What lay ahead was the new-for-2024 Chrono Stage. č {n ÕÀ] Î{ä i ÛÞ>}i Ì Ìi ÀiÜi` Empty Quarter... because the Dakar needed to Li iÛi >À`iÀ° Ûi Ìi iÝ«>Ãi v `iÃiÀÌ Ì>Ì lay ahead (a sandpit the size of France but home to only 50 people), Audi and Sainz didn’t want to be one of the early runners. So, they had intentionally dropped the pace so a few rivals could slip ahead and lay some tracks in the sand. That move paid off too. The drivers would have to make do with military-style food rations and sleeping in tents, but Sainz still had the iiÀ}Þ Ì yÞ ÕÌ v Ìi }>Ìià >` Ì> i Ìi ÛiÀ> i>`° i Ü>à v>ÃÌiÃÌ Ì Ìi wÀÃÌ }>Ìi >` i«Ì Ì>Ì speed up for the rest of the run to lead Ekström for an overall Audi 1-2. Elsewhere, the Dakar was chewing up and spitting out plenty of competitors. Early leader 9>âii` č ,> À i` à ÌÀÕV ] ÓäÓÎ iÛiÌ winner Nasser Al-Attiyah was hobbled by technical issues and Audi’s own Peterhansel was blighted by mechanical gremlins after a hard landing in the dunes. With his own victory charge over, he settled into a new role as the ultimate wingman by shadowing his teammates while carrying tools and spare tyres should disaster iÛiÀ ÃÌÀ i° /i ÀÕ ià > Ü ÃÕV Ãi yiÃà >VÌà q LÕÌ spare a thought for the cannibalised car when it and crew are left behind in the desert... čÕ` i«Ì ` v wÀÃÌ >` ÃiV` Vi Ìi À> ޽à > vÜ>Þ «Ì q > Üi Vi ÀiÃÌ `>Þ LÞ Ìi Saudi capital of Riyadh. The team strategy helped keep Sébastien Loeb, a WRC legend with nine drivers’ trophies, a good half hour behind. A decent base to work from, but nothing was won yet. The second week was where Audi’s assault came unstuck last year. It’s when Boulanger suffered his injury before Sainz rolled his RS Q e-tron into retirement. ÃÌÀÞ ÌÀi>Ìii` Ì Ài«i>Ì ÌÃi v° ->` Þ] Ekström and co-driver Emil Bergvist’s campaign was undone by a left rear suspension issue very i>À Þ Ì -Ì>}i -iÛi q >`i Õ« v V>Þ passes and dunes. True to his word, Peterhansel spent 40 minutes trying to get his colleagues back underway. That left it to Sainz to keep Audi’s Dakar dream alive. While overall glory was now out of reach for Ekström and Peterhansel, daily stage wins were still up for grabs. Rather than get bogged down in their misfortune, they bounced back by running 1-2 on day 11. Ekström notched his fourth ever Dakar stage win and the seventh for the RS Q e-tron programme. To complete a stellar day, Sainz clocked fourth to retain the overall lead by a healthy 25 minutes. As Audi crept closer to the spoils, pragmatism took priority. That was fully on show for Stage Nine. Soon after Sainz took to the route, he spotted a friendly face. Early starter Peterhansel had pulled over for a couple of minutes so he could then be immediately on hand to provide any support if required. Still, even if help was that close by, Sainz knew better than to chase stage Üð i Ü>à >««Þ Ì ÌÕÀ Ìi ëii` `Ü ÕÃÌ > fraction to cut the risk of a needless shunt. That had the potential to tee up a showdown between rallying royalty: a hard-charging Loeb closed in as the event revisited AlUla. A return to the rally’s starting point also meant the return of the tyre-slashing rocks. Shock, they didn’t show any mercy this time either. Sainz picked up three punctures. Since the RS Q e-tron has space for a brace of spares, Ekström was kind enough to `>Ìi i v à >à ffliL >` Ì wÝ > L ÜÕÌ v à ܰ č Ì `] `>Þ £Î] ÜV `` `ii` «ÀÛi unlucky for some, ended with Sainz’s advantage dropping below 15 minutes. No one has ever accused the Dakar Rally of being easy. But just to make it that bit tougher for Audi, the penultimate stage happened to be an old foe. The 260-mile dash to Yanbu was used in ÓäÓÎ >` à ÀiV i` Ì Li Ìi >À`iÃÌ ÃiVÌ v the lot. Surprise, surprise, it’s dominated by ÀV ð č` > ÌÕ} čÕ` ëiVwV> Þ ÃÕ}Ì ÕÌ the area while testing for 2024, that shakedown only reinforced it doesn’t really matter whether you’re going slow or fast over this type of surface, punctures are pretty much inevitable. Sure 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 “SAINZ ALMOST MADE IT LOOK EASY”
the stage. But rather than see his lead come down any further, the Spaniard could rest a little easier. i½` > Ài>`Þ Vi >VÀÃà ffliL ÃÌÀV i >Ì Ìi side of the road. While attempting to traverse a ÌÀV Þ ÀV VÀ>Ü ÜÌ V i>À Þ `iwi` «>Ì] à car’s wishbone had given up the ghost. That left ->â ÜÌ Ìi £ÓÌ >` w> ÃÌ>}i Ì ÀÕ] >` > lead of nigh on 1.5 hours to protect. The 2024 Dakar Rally concluded with a course along the coast of the Red Sea. Sainz and Cruz did what they needed to do. They brought it home safely to not only claim a much-anticipated Audi victory but in doing so, broke entirely new ground. The RS Q e-tron will always be ÀiiLiÀi` >à Ìi wÀÃÌ i iVÌÀwi` «ÀÌÌÞ«i ever to win the world’s toughest desert rally. Vorsprung durch Technik. After bowing down to kiss his car on the podium, an understandably emotional Sainz said: “This victory means a lot to me. It’s my fourth victory with the fourth different brand. The team has developed a very special concept with which Üi >Ài Ìi wÀÃÌ Ìi > >À ,> Þ° " Þ čÕ` Ü>à brave enough to take this risk. I’m happy that we’ve made history with it, and in one of the ÌÕ}iÃÌ i`Ìà vÌà À> Þ >Ûi iÝ«iÀiVi`°» The man himself might think it’s one of the toughest he’s ever known but somehow, on paper, he almost made it look easy. Almost. Sainz took the overall lead twice and was never ÛiÀÌ> i >vÌiÀ Ìi wvÌ ÃÌ>}i° “We have written a piece of motorsport ÃÌÀÞ]» >``i` i>` v čÕ` fiÌÀëÀÌ , v Michl. “This sport is also about luck. We lacked that last year. We had an amazing team that never gave up, even when we had setbacks. If you trust your team, they can even achieve the seemingly impossible. We overcame this challenge with long and hard work. º"ÕÀ ÜiÀà >À à >` fflÕV>à >Ài LÌ iÝVi«Ì> ° >À Ã Ã Ì Þ > Ì« `ÀÛiÀ] LÕÌ > legend with a big heart who cares about people, immerses himself in every detail and is never Ã>ÌÃwi` ÜÌ Ãi v° Ì Ã > ÕÀ >` > iÀÌ Ì>Ì i >à V«iÌi` vÀ ÕÀ Ìi>°» Three years ago, Audi set itself a seemingly impossible task. But after two Prologue wins, seven stage victories and overall Dakar glory, Audi has added a new strand to its rich motorsport i}>VÞ° č` Ì½Ã Ì wÃi` LÀi> } iÜ }ÀÕ` yet. New challenges await. Dakar rally vehicle. Not available as a production model. Professional driver on a closed course. Do not attempt. For exclusive video action from Audi’s Dakar 2024 race head this way https://bit.ly/3PsIWCh
*Eligible audience: UK’s Armed Forces, Veterans, Emergency Services including Police, Fire and Rescue, Ambulance and HM Coast Guards, NHS, Prison Service, Education and Social Care sectors and more. Find out More -JuT ,TWLJTZX There’s nothing like that new car feeling with an amazing discount. SAVING YOU THOUSANDS* 01636 558 885 ´»Ô»ÊąμÔëƕÙ¬
ILLUSTRATION: PAUL RYDING 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 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’. 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. Need more of the TopGear telly show in your life? All episodes are now free to stream on BBC iPlayer T O P G E A R . C O M › M A Y 2 0 2 4 031 Please stop banning the personalised plates we might all enjoy, requests TGTV’s Sam Philip “WEAREUNITEDIN THISUNIVERSALTRUTH: REVERSEBURPSAREFUNNY”
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ILLUSTRATION: PAUL RYDING 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 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 T O P G E A R . C O M › M A Y 2 0 2 4 033 The Chinese auto industry is moving at pace. And it means business, says Paul “YANWANGISNOWBUILDING MOREPUREELECTRICCARSTHAN TESLA,PLUSAPILEOFHYBRIDS”
Things are looking bright with the arrival of the latest electric Volvo – but the existing crop of electric crossovers has something to say too W O R D S O L L I E M A R R I A G E P H O T O G R A P H Y J O N N Y F L E E T W O O D The big test: small electric SUVs 034 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M
T O P G E A R . C O M › M A Y 2 0 2 4 035 SMART ONE £31,950/£38,950 as tested HYUNDAI KONA ELECTRIC £38,595/£45,345 as tested JEEP AVENGER £34,800/£42,125 as tested VOLVO EX30 £33,795/£38,545 as tested
“THIS IS THE CORE OF THE ELECTRIC MARKET, THIS IS WHERE FUTURE GROWTH IS LIKELY TO COME FROM” 036 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M 01 Two degrees of separation – both these cars enjoy Geely’s input
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 T O P G E A R . C O M › M A Y 2 0 2 4 037 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. L 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. 04 02 03
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. 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 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 038 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M “TWO OF THESE CARS WILL WORK WELL FOR YOUNG FAMILIES, NEITHER OF THEM IS YELLOW”
T O P G E A R . C O M › M A Y 2 0 2 4 039 Nowhere to hide from Ollie’s Weight Watchers meeting. Rice cakes for the Kona City-biased Jeep is good around town, Kona the better all-rounder
040 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M 05 04 04 01 02 01 03 VOLVO EX30 SMART ONE 03 02 06 06 05
05 T O P G E A R . C O M › M A Y 2 0 2 4 041 04 01 01 03 02 03 04 05 02 JEEP AVENGER HYUNDAI KONA 06 06
268bhp 272bhp ACCELERATION BATTERY, RANGE RWD, 1spdauto RWD, 1spdauto TOP SPEED TOTAL POWER TRANSMISSION BOOT CAPACITY WEIGHT CLAIMED/ MEASURED POWERTRAIN VERDICT Specifications 112 mph 1 2 SCORE Singlemotor SMART ONE 7 10 Singlemotor VOLVO EX30 TOTAL TORQUE 253lbft 253lbft 188lbft 8 10 0–62 9.6secs 1,788/1,836kg 154bhp FWD, 1spdauto Singlemotor JEEP 4 AVENGER 6 10 0–62 6.7secs 321 litres 93 mph 192lbft 112 mph 107 mph 1,758/1,775kg 318litres 323litres 215bhp FWD, 1spdauto Singlemotor HYUNDAI KO 3 NA ELECTRIC 7 10 1,698/1,791kg 0–62 7.8secs 49.0kWh,214 miles 65.4kWh,319 miles 0–62 5.7secs 49.0kWh, 193 miles 50.8kWh,249 miles 1,520/1,579kg 466litres
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 T done Volvo, this one feels like a Polestar. HANKS TO: INTERCOMPCOMPANY.COM FOR THE LOAN OF THE SCALES T O P G E A R . C O M › M A Y 2 0 2 4 043 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 “BOTH SMART AND VOLVO USE CHINESE UNDERCLOTHES AND SUCCESSFULLY DRESS THEM IN EUROPEAN OUTFITS”
044 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M 17.3 mpg 6.75TT V12 8spd auto 370 g/km CO2 591 bhp 5.2 secs P 8 10 No, 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 ROLLS-ROYCE CULL INAN BLACK BADGE £342,600 Crown jewel 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
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 “THIS IS REAL LUXURY – AND IT IS EFFORTLESSLY CONVINCING ” T O P G E A R . C O M › M A Y 2 0 2 4 045
7 10 43.2 mpg 1.5T 4cyl 7spd auto 149 g/km CO2 148 bhp 9.1 secs P 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 £36,705 FOR Practical, mostly plush interior, steers well Golf swing VOLKSWAGEN TIGUAN 1.5 TSI AGAINST Firm ride, dull looks, pricey options Big 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
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P 048 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M 7 10 MINI COUNTRYMAN JCW ALL4 £42,425 This 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 Forward facing FOR Fabulous interior, distinctive character, well engineered AGAINST It’s grown so much it’s hardly a Mini or a hot hatch 35.3 mpg 2.0T 4cyl 8spd auto 180 g/km CO2 296 bhp 5.4 secs P
6 10 112 mph 64.8kWh battery 1spd auto 279 miles 311 bhp 5.6 secs 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 Even if it handled like a shopping trolley with a wonky wheel, we’d still be tempted by this interior £57,445 BMW iX2 xDRIVE 30 Swing and a miss 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 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 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
050 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M The 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 7 10 £37,695 BYD AT TO3 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 account for the bizarre mash-up of Fifties and Eighties that sees crassly oversized jukebox-inspired air vents next to guitar 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 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 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 MUST TRY HARDER £64,414 FOR Electric seven-seater, decent range, bags of space Space shuttle MERCEDES-BENZ EQV AGAINST Costs a mouth drying £15k over the ICE V-Class 99 mph 60.5kWh battery 1spd FWD 260 miles 201 bhp 7.3 secs 227 miles 90kWh battery 1spd CVT 201 bhp n/a secs 99 mph