BBC Top Gear UK - May 2024

T O P G E A R . C O M › M A Y 2 0 2 4 101

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Now go and watch the video on topgear.com “THIS IS A PEDIGREE RACECAR THATHAS BEEN BRILLIANTLY ADAPTED TO ROAD USE” 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 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 1,000bhp. And a hi-fi. But if it was my money, I’d have this all day long. It’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 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. T O P G E A R . C O M › M A Y 2 0 2 4 103 ABT XGT

104 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M SECRET BMWS

A new book gets unfiltered access to BMW Design’s cutting room floor. These are the projects that could have been... W O R D S S T E P H E N D O B I E T O P G E A R . C O M › M A Y 2 0 2 4 105

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 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 “A FULL-FAT DRIVING EXPERIENCE AS A GATEWAY TO BRING YOUNGER BUYERS INTO THE BMW WORLD. ” 106 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M

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 oflast 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 butthe i3 and Mini Clubman were the only BMW production cars to adoptthe idea 4. What could have been;the cute Z1 roadster had the potentialto spawn dune buggy offshoots thanks to BMW’s forward thinking Zukunft Technik department 5. And what very nearly was; an advancement ofthe i8 came very close to being BMW’s halo supercar and a modern day M1 2 3 4 5 T O P G E A R . C O M › M A Y 2 0 2 4 107 1 SECRET BMWS

“SAXTY’S RESEARCHREVEALS AT LEAST 10OFFICIAL ATTEMPTS TO REKINDLE THE M1” 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.” 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 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 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 108 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M

1. A sneaky peek inside the 2K2 prototype. Exposed screwheads and its lack of stereo were designed to save cost and weightto ensure affordable thrills The mighty F1-engined Pikes Peak entry the Z1 roadster could have become A small BMW coupe to rekindle the magic of the 2002 has never been far from designers’ sketches T O P G E A R . C O M › M A Y 2 0 2 4 109 2 1 SECRET BMWS

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T O P G E A R . C O M › M A Y 2 0 2 4 111 Nothing quite like putting your money where your mouth is – just ask Silent Classics owner Jack Kerridge and his Datsun 240Z 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 E R J O N N Y F L E E T W O O D HEADLINER CATCHING Zs

Looks like a Datsun 240Z, goes and sounds like anything but 112 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M 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”

Not much under the bonnet, but not ugly for a box of batteries Jack Kerridge dons his brave pants to stand next to the ‘scary’ Datsun 240Z T O P G E A R . C O M › M A Y 2 0 2 4 113 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

Perilous parking space bingo. MIght be best to move the Datsun, guys Half classic, half spaceship. Is that TopGear.com on the screen? Incorrectly positioned hammer hurts us / Little 500 is a winner for Silent Classics / Some questions are better left unasked / Lovely workmanship, messy workbench 114 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M

Ah, the good old days: when all cars came with a spare tyre T O P G E A R . C O M › M A Y 2 0 2 4 115 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 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. 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”

116 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M CONCEPTS THAT TIME FORGOT RENAULT ESPACE F1, 1995 WORDS: ROWAN HORNCASTLE ACUSTOM ROYALENFIELD 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 “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 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! 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 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 Report 12: shakedown

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 T O P G E A R . C O M › M A Y 2 0 2 4 117 of all: single or twin turbos for his GT-R rebuild “THERE’SNOESCAPING THEEFFICIENCYOF TURBOCHARGERSIN2024”

118 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M WORDS: GREG POTTS PHOTOGRAPHY: JONNY FLEETWOOD WITH THANKS TO JOHN NEWEY FOR THE LOAN OF HIS MG XPOWER SV-R & WOLVERHAMPTON HALFPENNY GREEN AIRPORT (2004)MGXPOWERSV-RvsMG4XPOWER(2023) PROGRESS REPORT OH MY WORD, I’D FORGOTTEN ALL ABOUT THE XPOWER SV... How could you? This is Britain’s own muscle car. A TVR-rivalling flagship MG that was all set to fire the company into a new and prosperous era in a blaze of V8 noise and fury. It’s the car manufactured in Modena and finished in... Longbridge. It was built to take on the Porsche 911. It, erm, didn’t quite go to plan. AND WHAT’S THAT BRIGHT ORANGE THING NEXT TO IT? 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 resurrected the old name. You’ll know that MG is now owned by the state-owned Chinese megacorp SAIC, and by all accounts is doing rather well too, with well-priced family EVs its bread and butter. REMIND ME OF THE OLDTIMER’S STORY... How long have you got? Seriously, its birth was not an easy one. The car started life as the De Tomaso Biguá concept and was first shown at the 1996 Geneva motor show. It then transformed into the production ready De Tomaso Mangusta, before being renamed and sold in limited numbers as the Qvale Mangusta when Bruce Qvale fell out with Alejandro de Tomaso. Eventually, MG arrived and bought Qvale outright. It then tasked Peter Stevens with a complete redesign, and the man who drew the McLaren F1 came up with the carbon-bodied shape that you see on these pages. IS IT AS BRUTAL TO DRIVE AS IT IS TO LOOK AT? Well, you’d think it would be given that this particular car is an XPower SV-R – the top spec version that had its Ford Modular V8 bored out to 5.0 litres and was tuned by Roush to produce a conservative estimate of 385bhp. In reality, it’s actually very happy bumbling about at slow speeds with light steering, soft suspension and a lovely eight-cylinder burble. Yes the trim inside might creak a little, but it turns out this is a big friendly GT car. IS THE NEW ONE ANYWHERE NEAR AS QUICK? Oh it’s much, much quicker. Whereas MG quoted a 0–60mph time of 4.9secs for the SV-R, the modern XPower takes just 3.7secs. That’s thanks to a twin electric motor setup that sends 429bhp to all four wheels, although the whole thing lacks drama both in the drab interior and in the point-and-squirt driving experience. HOW MUCH WILL THEY BOTH COST ME? Well, this particular SV-R is a rather special one. Just 42 5.0-litre cars were ever built, and this is the only one finished in green paint with a tan interior. Current owner John bought it for over £25,000 and it’s unlikely that even a blank cheque would tempt him to sell. The MG4 XPower looks like remarkable value at just £36,495, but if we’re honest we’d rather have the slower, cheaper version and some money to put into our ‘future SV ownership’ pot. The 429bhp Chinese hot hatch meets its troubled, V8-engined namesake. Is there any relation?

T O P G E A R . C O M › M A Y 2 0 2 4 119 MAZDASPORTSCARS (THATAREN’TMX-5s) MAZDA RX-7 (2003) BargainCorner LESS THAN £30K MAZDA RX-8 (2007) LESS THAN £2K LESS THAN £25K AUTOZAM AZ-1 (1992) 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 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 NASCAR RACING PC/PLAYSTATION, 1994 #60 RETRO GAMING THE CLASSICS REMEMBERING

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T O P G E A R . C O M › M A Y 2 0 2 4 121 TOPGEAR’S LONG-TERM CARS. TESTED & VERIFIED

GO TO TOPGEAR.COM FOR EXTENDED TG GARAGE REPORTS, AND TO EXPLORE THE ARCHIVE 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. 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. Jaguar F-Type R HELLO £104,880 OTR/£109,360 as tested/£1,132 pcm WHY I T ’S HERE Was Jag’s final petrol sports car the wrong car at the wrong time? DRIVER Greg Potts 122 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M SPECIFICATION GOOD STUFF We’re daily driving a 5.0-litre V8 – excellent for the soul. BAD STUFF We’re daily driving a 5.0-litre V8 – ruinous for the bank balance. MILEAGE:750 OURMPG:22.3 27.0mpg, 239g/km CO2 5000cc supercharged V8, AWD, 567bhp, 516lb ft 1,855kg 0–62mph in 3.7secs, 186mph

T O P G E A R . C O M › M A Y 2 0 2 4 123 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. Alfa Romeo Tonale GOODBYE £48,495 OTR/£53,345 as tested/£534 pcm WHY I T ’S HERE Does Alfa’s late arrival deserve a place at the small SUV party? DRIVER Esther Neve SPECIFICATION GOOD STUFF Roomy, stylish and enjoyable to drive. Plenty of appreciation from other drivers as well. BAD STUFF The offset numberplate made using car parks with M numberplate recognition tricky. ILEAGE: 10,100 OURMPG:48.9 217mpg, 29g/km CO2 1332cc 4cyl turbo + e-motor, AWD, 276bhp, 199lb ft 1,910kg 0–62mph in 6.2secs, 128mph

124 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M SPECIFICATION GOOD STUFF Phone is no longer overheating when the M2 charges it. BAD STUFF Car theft has effectively been decriminalised – this is why we can’t have nice things. 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. 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. BMW M2 REPORT 3 £65,830 OTR/£70,295 as tested/£803 pcm WHY I T ’S HERE BMW says it’s easier to live with, but is that what we want from an M2? DRIVER Ollie Kew GO TO TOPGEAR.COM FOR EXTENDED TG GARAGE REPORTS, AND TO EXPLORE THE ARCHIVE MILEAGE:5,895 OURMPG:27.3 27.9mpg, 220g/km CO2 2993cc twin-turbo 6cyl, RWD, 453bhp, 405lb ft 1,725kg 0–62mph in 4.1secs, 180mph

Lexus exterior design has taken some time to cohere but we see shades of Ferrari in the RX. Cool LEXUS NUGGETS Push button electronic door release. I love it but it foxes everyone else who comes into contact with it Alcantara trim runs all the way along the top of the interior door trim. Soothing to caress during an M25 jam This little display on top of the wheel monitors your eye movements. The RX is a car that will instruct you to sit up T O P G E A R . C O M › M A Y 2 0 2 4 125 THE SHARPER EYED AMONG YOU WILL NOTICE THAT TG’S GREEN 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. RANGEROVERSPORT 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. REPORT 2 £88,100/£113,484/£1,982 WHY I T ’S HERE The Range Rover casts a big shadow. Can the closely related Sport step out of it? DRIVER Ben Pulman SPECIFICATION SPECIFICATION GOOD STUFF Unrivalled interior comfort and quality, serene atmosphere. BAD STUFF The 500h F Sport doesn’t love crowned B-roads. Lexus RX 500h REPORT 4 £77,195 OTR/£77,195 as tested/£895 pcm WHY I T ’S HERE Can Lexus build a genuinely sporty full-size SUV? DRIVER Jason Barlow MILEAGE: 1,955 OURMPG:31.2 36.1mpg, 205g/km CO2 2998cc 6cyl twin-turbo, AWD, 345bhp, 516lb ft, 8spd auto 2,360kg 0–62mph in 5.9secs, 145mph MILEAGE:7,750 OURMPG:31.9 35.3mpg, 182g/km CO2 2393cc 4cyl + two e-motors, AWD, 366bhp, 406lb ft 2,190kg 0–62mph in 6.2secs, 130mph

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 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 Mercedes-Benz EQE REPORT 2 £68,810 OTR/£87,040 as tested/£820 pcm WHY I T ’S HERE To discover what role the EQ range actually fulfils for Mercedes DRIVER Ollie Marriage GO TO TOPGEAR.COM FOR EXTENDED TG GARAGE REPORTS, AND TO EXPLORE THE ARCHIVE 126 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 4 127 SPECIFICATION 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. 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. MILEAGE:2,579 OURMPKWH:2.2 3.8 miles per kWh, 337 miles electric motor, RWD, 89kWh battery, 242bhp 2,535kg 0–62mph in 7.3secs, 130mph

128 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M WHAT ELSE WE’RE RUNNING 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 GOOD STUFF A really comfortable car over long journeys and it’s made of tough stuff. BAD STUFF The more complicated cars become the more expensive the spare parts. Nissan X-Trail REPORT 3 £45,780/£46,925 as tested/£598 pcm WHY I T ’S HERE Family 4x4 on top, clever hybrid beneath: the ideal SUV combo? DRIVER Andy Franklin REPORT 3 PORSCHECAYENNESCOUPE REPORT 7 AUDITTFINALEDITION REPORT 6 GENESISGV70 MILEAGE:8,671 OURMPG:43.2 45.6mpg, 141g/km CO2 1498cc 3cyl turbo + e-motor, FWD, 201bhp, 243lb ft 1,808kg 0–62mph in 8.0secs, 105mph

T O P G E A R . C O M › M A Y 2 0 2 4 129 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. Volkswagen Amarok REPORT 5 £55,440 OTR/£57,231 as tested/£599 pcm WHY I T ’S HERE Does a posh double-cab pickup make the ultimate family SUV? DRIVER Sam Philip GO TO TOPGEAR.COM FOR EXTENDED TG GARAGE REPORTS, AND TO EXPLORE THE ARCHIVE SPECIFICATION GOOD STUFF 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 M while you’re stopped at the lights. ILEAGE:6,410 OURMPG:27.3 28.0mpg, 265g/km CO2 2967cc V6 turbo, 4WD, 237bhp, 367lb ft, 10spd auto 2,300kg 0–62mph in 9.0secs, 112mph

130 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M Peugeot 408 GOODBYE £34,825 OTR/£36,625 as tested/£458 pcm WHY I T ’S HERE Is a hatch-coupe-crossover a mashup too far? DRIVER Paul Horrell JEEP AVENGER 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? REPORT 5 £39,600/£42,125/£448 WHY I T ’S HERE Is a Jeep not designed to off-road still a Jeep? DRIVER Jack Rix WHATWERE THEY THINKING? 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... This month: the Range Rover Sport’s extra bloat SPECIFICATION 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 MILEAGE: 1,998 OURMPKWH:3.5 4.1 miles per kWh, 249 miles Electric motor, 54kWh battery, FWD, 154bhp 1,595kg 0–62mph in 9.6secs, 93mph

T O P G E A R . C O M › M A Y 2 0 2 4 131 (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. GO TO TOPGEAR.COM FOR EXTENDED TG GARAGE REPORTS, AND TO EXPLORE THE ARCHIVE SPECIFICATION GOOD STUFF Roomy and much more fun to steer than a crossover. I like the driving position and interface. BAD STUFF How much better would it have been if lower again? Drivetrain jerky in town and insipid at speed. MILEAGE:4,806 OURMPG:37.0 44.0mpg, 136g/km CO2 1199cc 3cyl turbo, FWD, 131bhp, 170lb ft, 8spd auto 1,392kg 0–62mph in 10.4secs, 130mph

MILEAGE: OURMPKWH: . , Toyota bZ4X GOODBYE £54,410 OTR/£54,410 as tested/£519 pcm WHY I T ’S HERE Is Toyota’s e-4x4 behind the curve, or better than we think? DRIVER Tom Ford 132 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M 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. 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. GO TO TOPGEAR.COM FOR EXTENDED TG GARAGE REPORTS, AND TO EXPLORE THE ARCHIVE SPECIFICATION GOOD STUFF It does everything just fine. But not exceptionally. BAD STUFF Sadly, the bZ4X is so middle of the road that it becomes lost in the EV ranks. MILEAGE: 10,890 OURMPKWH:2.7 3.4 miles per kWh, 255 miles Twin electric motors, 4WD, 71.4kWh battery, 215bhp 2,075kg 0–62mph in 6.9secs, 99mph

T O P G E A R . C O M › M A Y 2 0 2 4 133 BEGINNER’S GUIDE TOSAAB From greatest hits to lowest moments, everything you ever wanted to know... and a fair bit you didn’t W O R D S S A M B U R N E T T & G R E G P O T T S B E C A U S E K N O W L E D G E I S P O W E R

IMAGES: MANUFACTURER What’s Saab and when did it start making cars? 134 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M 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 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. GO TO TOPGEAR.COM FOR MORE MIND-BLOWING MANUFACTURER GUIDES

Saab’s greatest hits 01 04 07 02 05 08 03 06 09 EXHAUST T O P G E A R . C O M › M A Y 2 0 2 4 135

FACTOID 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? 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. 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 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? 136 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M What’s the cheapest car that Saab builds... and what’s the most expensive? COPYRIGHT SAAB AB

What’s the best concept that Saab ever made? 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. 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. EXHAUST T O P G E A R . C O M › M A Y 2 0 2 4 137 Where are Saabs built and how many are sold a year? NOTABLE PEOPLE Tony Scott Sir Ridley’s brother directed 1983 ad where the 900 raced a Saab jet, landed him Top Gun 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 Björn Envall Head of design from 1969 to 1992, came up with the company’s iconic looks Jan Åke Jonsson Saab’s last CEO, now he’s the chairman of a Swedish furniture company (not that one)

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. What was Saab’s best moment? What was Saab’s worst moment? 138 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M

LOGO EVOLUTION 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. What was Saab’s biggest surprise? EXHAUST T O P G E A R . C O M › M A Y 2 0 2 4 139 This made up shield only ever appeared on the Ursaab, the prototype model for the 96, which launched in 1949 1946 The little beastie is a griffin, just like Vauxhall’s. Comes from the shield for Skåne County, or Scania in English 1984 Solo show once GM got onboard and Saab became its own thing – kept the beastie though 2000 Saab never missed an opportunity to wang on about its aeronautic links – plane used to be a Junkers 1949 This badge appeared on the crazy souped up 9-3 – ‘viggen’ comes from the Swedish word for thunderbolt 1999

What’s the most Saab car in the back catalogue? 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 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 EXHAUST 140 M A Y 2 0 2 4 › T O P G E A R . C O M W O R D S S A M B U R N E T T Rust assured The lower portion of the bodywork is rather prone to corrosion – more like a boat than a jet fighter then... Saab 900 / 1978–1994

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. Next month: Lego Miles and wave Enthusiastic owners reckon that the engines can manage over 400,000 miles without major work 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

FOR ALL THE FACTS, STATS AND IN-DEPTH REVIEWS FOR EVERY NEW CAR ON SALE GO TO TOPGEAR.COM/REVIEWS PRICE: £43,445–£57,945 RANGE: Up to 315 miles 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. 3. HYUNDAI IONIQ 5 PRICE: £31,345–£34,595 RANGE: Up to 232 miles 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. 1 . PEUGEOT e-208 PRICE: £28,195–£37,195 RANGE: Up to 199 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. 1 . F IAT 500 CITYCARS SUPERMINIS HATCHBACKS A good electric hatch needs decent range without compromising interior space You drive mostly around town, with occasional need for longer distances? Try these for size These small cars are perfect for urban life, but the trade-off is a much lower range PRICE: £32,550–£35,050 RANGE: Up to 145 miles The electric version of the homegrown favourite squeezes the BMW i3’s powertrain into a familiar package. All new version arrives this summer. 2. MINI ELECTRIC PRICE: £7,695–£8,695 RANGE: 47 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. 2. CI TROEN AMI PRICE: £36,995–£41,995 RANGE: Up to 292 miles 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. 1 . RENAULT MEGANE E-TECH PRICE: £29,995–£31,995 RANGE: Up to 239 miles 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. 3. RENAULT ZOE PRICE: £22,225–£25,795 RANGE: 80 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... 3. SMART EQ FORT WO PRICE: £34,080–£36,685 RANGE: Up to 222 miles 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. 4. VAUXHALL CORSA ELECTRIC PRICE: £tbc RANGE: 143 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. 4. DACIA SPRING PRICE: £26,995–£36,495 RANGE: Up to 323 miles 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. 2. MG4 PRICE: £36,475–£43,735 RANGE: Up to 343 miles 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. 4. CUPRA BORN

FOR ALL THE FACTS, STATS AND IN-DEPTH REVIEWS FOR EVERY NEW CAR ON SALE GO TO TOPGEAR.COM/REVIEWS R E A DY TO M A K E THE S W I TCH? W E S E PA R AT E W HAT ’ S HOT F R O M W HAT ’ S N OT COMPACTCROSSOVERS LARGECROSSOVERS FAMILYCARS Slightly larger electric cars that are designed to cope with everything you can throw at them Small, but perfectly formed. These cars are a perfect second motor or teeny family wagon These cars need to meet tough demands – plenty of space, a solid image and low costs PRICE: £38,970–£52,670 RANGE: Up to 336 miles 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... 1 . SKODA EN YAQ PRICE: £59,035–£63,835 RANGE: Up to 258 miles 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. 2. VOLKSWAGEN ID.BUZZ PRICE: £65,025–£77,025 RANGE: Up to 349 miles 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. 1 . KIA EV9 PRICE: £44,950–£57,950 RANGE: Up to 406 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. 2. POLESTAR 2 3. KIA NIRO PRICE: £37,295–£43,195 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. PRICE: £36,350–£41,600 RANGE: Up to 212 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. 4. PEUGEOT e-2008 PRICE: £73,165–£113,785 RANGE: Up to 343 miles 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... 4. AUDI Q8 E-TRON PRICE: £44,990–£59,990 RANGE: Up to 331 miles A Model 3 with more headroom and a seven-seat option. Latest Tesla gets usual blend of innovative disruption and occasionally iffy build quality. 2. TESLA MODEL Y PRICE: £64,165–£67,165 RANGE: Up to 285 miles Slightly stealthier than some of BMW’s more, er, aesthetically challenging EVs, this car is essentially an electric translation of the bestselling X3 SUV. 3. BMW iX3 PRICE: £35,700–£39,600 RANGE: Up to 244 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. 1 . JEEP AVENGER PRICE: £43,830–£67,540 RANGE: Up to 372 miles 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. 4. FORD MUSTANG MACH-E PRICE: £45,245–£57,145 RANGE: Up to 328 miles 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. 3. KIA EV6

FOR ALL THE FACTS, STATS AND IN-DEPTH REVIEWS FOR EVERY NEW CAR ON SALE GO TO TOPGEAR.COM/REVIEWS 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. 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. BEST FOR OP T IMISTS 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. BEST FOR LOADING UP 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. BEST FOR COLD WEATHER “I’VEBOUGHTONE! WHATNOW?” 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 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. 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 speed by 10mph: it’ll hugely increase range, getting you there far more quickly if it avoids a recharging stop. SPECIALMENTIONS The EVs that have caught our eye, for all the right reasons. Who said they aren’t cool? BEST FOR HOT HATCH FANS PERFORMANCEEVs For when money’s no object and the sky’s the limit on car performance PRICE: £71,085 RANGE: 315 miles 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. 4. BMW i4 M50 PRICE: £1.7m RANGE: 340 miles 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. 1 . RIMAC NEVERA PRICE: £80,200–£149,300 RANGE: Up to 306 miles The Sport Turismo version of the Taycan takes nothing away in terms of the car’s impressive performance, adds sleek rear that looks great. 2. PORSCHE TAYCAN SPORT TURISMO PRICE: £65,000 RANGE: tbc 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. 3. HYUNDAI IONIQ 5 N

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FOR ALL THE FACTS AND STATS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT EVERY CAR ON SALE IN THE UK GO TO TOPGEAR.COM/REVIEWS BA F F L E D BY E L E C T R I C C A R JA R G O N ? YO U R G U I D E TO D E C O D I N G THE F U T U R E I S HE R E TG ’ S B I G EV Let’s start with a simple one. EV means electric vehicle, as opposed to one powered by petrol, diesel, used chip oil, Chanel No 5 or magic. BEV People in the car industry like to use this one. It stands for battery electric vehicle, as opposed to, say, an FCEV (fuel cell electric vehicle) that’s powered by hydrogen. We just call them EVs. ICE The internal combustion engine. Confusingly, ICE can also stand for in-car entertainment (ie the stereo, touchscreen and so on). PHEV Plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, or a hybrid with a bigger battery that you can plug in to charge, giving you a short, say 20-mile, electriconly range. Amazing taxdodging mpg figures in the official tests, not so amazing in real life... unless you plug in every night and use the car exclusively for short trips. MHEV The mild hybrid EV, or MHEV, the very bottom rung of the electrified vehicle ladder. A small electric motor assists the engine, but doesn’t have enough gumption to push the car on its own. MHEVs usually manage a fuel saving of about 10 per cent compared with a pure petrol car. REX Refers to range extenders, or small internal combustion engines used as generators to recharge EV batteries on the move. The engine can be run at its most efficient rpm, converting fuel to electricity, which is fed to the motors that supply the motive force. plug. Fast or level 2 refers to street chargers and the boxes you can install in your house or office, which go up to 7.4kW on normal 240V single phase AC, or 22kW on industrial three phase. Rapid or level 3 is the high power DC supply, the sort you’ll find at motorway services and dedicated charging areas, from 50kW up to 360kW. CHAdeMO CHAdeMO is not the result of a cat walking across a keyboard. It’s basically the fast charging standard Japan came up with. Competing standards include CCS and Tesla Superchargers, which all look reaaaaally similar. CCS The DC charger you’ll most likely use across the UK and Europe. Works in everything from a Tesla to a VW. Supercharging If it looks like a CCS charger and works like a CCS charger, it could very well be a Tesla Supercharger. But you can’t use it unless you’re in a Tesla. mpkWh Not content with the unholy union of litres of petrol and pints of milk, the UK’s uneasy blend of metric and ReesMogg leaves us measuring EV economy in miles per kilowatt hour. So, if you have 50 usable kWh, and run at 4.0mpkWh, you’ll do 200 miles before you’re stranded. WLTP Stands for Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure. A way to test new cars to see how much fuel, or energy, they use, how much greenhouse gas they expel, and how far they get on one tank/charge. More accurate than the old NEDC standard, but still optimistic. Regen Shorthand for ‘regenerative braking’. Electric motors work by using electricity and magnets to spin a shaft. So, if you were to spin it manually, say, by coasting, you will then generate electricity, because generators are basically motors operating the opposite way. Range How far you’ll get in your car from the amount of energy you put into it. So, it’s been fuel from a tank for most of your life, now it’s a battery. Range anx iet y The fear of being very far from home, on a dark and cold night, without enough power to make it to a charging station. In the short term, the solution is more rapid charge stations, in the long term, better energy density and more efficient cars should ease our furrowed brows. Li - ion A contraction of lithium-ion, which refers to the chemical make-up of a typical battery pack. The 12V brick used to start your petrol powered car is a lead-acid battery, but lithium-ion is now the global norm for powering new EVs. Solid-s tate batter y The next big step in battery tech – holds more energy than an equivalent-sized li-ion battery, or the same amount of energy but in a smaller and lighter pack. They’re easier to cool, too, which means you can charge them quicker before they get too hot. At least five years until any come to market. Supercapacitor Supercapacitors can charge and discharge more quickly than regular batteries – good for bursts of speed – and can tolerate more charge and discharge cycles, but they’re still not as energy dense as batteries, so you’re unlikely to see them as direct battery replacements. More likely to supplement a petrol engine’s performance. See the Lamborghini Sián. CCZ The congestion charge zone that covers central London. From 7am to 6pm on weekdays, or 12pm-6pm at weekends and on bank holidays it’ll cost you £15 to drive in this zone. But, with a zero emission car you can fill out a form and pay a oneoff £10 for an exemption that lasts a year. ULEZ The CCZ is there to ease traffic; London’s Ultra Low Emissons Zone is to ease pollution. The ULEZ is in effect every hour of every day, and will rain down with great vengeance and furious application of a £12.50 charge if you drive into the zone in a petrol car that doesn’t meet Euro 4 standards or a diesel car that doesn’t meet Euro 6 standards. The good news is that full EVs are exempt. FCEV Fuel cell electric vehicles, like the Toyota Mirai. Separating hydrogen and oxygen takes a lot of energy, but reuniting them in just the right way releases energy. You can burn hydrogen, but in a hydrogen fuel cell you generate electricity to drive an electric motor. It’s also easier to move H2 over long distances than electricity. Volt s , amps and watt s We’re going to go full science teacher on you and use an analogy. Imagine a river: the volts are how fast the river flows, the amps are how much water is flowing, and the watts are how easily it’ll carry you downstream. kW Logical, metric countries use kilowatt to measure power from petrol and diesel engines. For the rest of us a kilowatt is 1,000 watts, and is the most common measure of power in an EV. A kilowatt is equal to about 1.34bhp. kWh Stands for kilowatt hours and can cut two ways – how much power you’ve used (which a utilities bill does), or how much capacity there is in a battery. For instance, a Tesla Model S has 100kWh of capacity, of which you’ll be able to use about 90, because fully depleting a battery is a great way to ruin it forever. AC and DC AC stands for alternating current, and DC stands for Batman comics... er, wait... direct current. AC’s better for long-distance transmission, because it can easily be transformed (to higher voltage, lower current, so fewer heat losses). Transforming DC power is a faff but, because DC charging stations can be as big as they need to be, they can employ high-voltage power, giant transformers and rectifiers and get huge power – up to 350kW. Slow, fas t and rapid charging Slow or level 1 charging is when you use a regular wall

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