Extended test: 2017 Toyota Auris Hybrid Touring Sports

The Driving team has been testing the three types of car with electric power: a Toyota Auris Touring (hybrid, below), a Volkswagen Golf GTE (plug-in hybrid) and a Renault Zoe (pure-electric). Which will prove the most practical solution during the winter months for three full-time workers with young families?

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Specifications

• Model 2017 Toyota Auris Hybrid Excel Touring Sports
• Motor 1,798cc four-cylinder petrol
• Power 91bhp @ 5,200rpm
• Torque 105lb ft @ 4,000rpm
• Electric motor power 80bhp (60kW)
• Electric motor torque 153Ib ft
• Maximum combined power 134bhp
• Top speed (NEDC lab test) 112mph
• 0-62mph 0-62mph 13.5sec
• Fuel consumption 70.6mpg
• CO2 emissions 92g/km
• Road tax£110 for first year; £130 a year for next five years
• Benefit in kind tax 17%; £909 or £1,818 (2017/2018; 20% or 40% tax payer)
• Price from £26,905
• Price with options£28,950
• Options fitted Leather seats (£950); Metallic paint – white pearl (£545); Panoramic roof (£550)

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Test details

• Test period November, 2017 to April, 2018
• Starting mileage 1,374 miles

Updates

• November 29, 2017: Introducing the Auris Hybrid

 

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November 29, 2017: Introducing the Auris Hybrid

You know that feeling when a friend says, with a certain degree of smugness, “Hate to say I told you so”? Well, that friend is Toyota. And while it may seem hard to believe, it has been warning of the perils of diesel for two decades.

In 1997, Toyota launched the Prius. It was the first petrol-electric hybrid car to be built and sold in meaningful numbers. Then, ‘meaningful’ meant 1,000 a month.

Its mission was to persuade more motorists to adopt ‘clean’ hybrid technology. The company claimed that its emissions of hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide were just 10% of the levels demanded by Japanese regulations. Its CO2 emissions were also said to be significantly reduced compared with conventional petrol cars.

The Japanese car maker waxed lyrical about its creation: “Engineers closed their eyes and imagined a car that would change everything. It would do less harm to the environment by significantly reducing noise and emissions, and would maximise fuel economy beyond that of most vehicles. Now Toyota has realised that vision and you can park the future in your driveway.”

Today, my driveway has a Toyota Auris parked on it. It uses the same sort of hybrid powertrain that the Prius introduced, 20 years ago.

The original idea behind a ‘green’ hybrid system still stands today; namely, that it should be no different to driving a conventional car with an automatic gearbox.

That means it asks nothing different of the driver. So there’s no need for anyone to get their hands dirty, and plug cables into power sockets at home or public charging points.

Instead, the car’s petrol engine and electric motor work in harmony, and onboard technologies, such as regenerative braking, help keep the electric motor’s battery charged at all times. All you have to do is fill it with petrol from time to time.

Because it isn’t a diesel, it is increasingly seen as a socially acceptable everyday family car. And the road tax and company car tax are competitive. All of which partly explains why 10 million of drivers have bought a hybrid Toyota.

The leap from 12,000 sales in that first year, to more than 10 million today, suggests Toyota’s engineers had the clearest glimpse of the future of any car company.

The Auris Hybrid Touring Sports is Toyota’s equivalent to diesel-powered versions of the Ford Focus estate, Kia cee’d Sportswagon and Volkswagen Golf estate. It’s built in Britain, at Toyota’s plant in Burnaston, Derby, and costs from £22,085 with hybrid power.

This one on extended test comes in top-of-the-range Excel trim, which lifts the price to £26,905. With optional leather seats, metallic paint (white pearl) and a panoramic glass roof (which doesn’t open) the cost ends up at £28,950. In its first year of road tax, this hybrid costs £110, then £130 a year for the following five.

The serious savings start if you’re a company car driver. This Auris Hybrid attracts benefit in kind tax of 17%, versus 25% for the broadly equivalent VW Golf estate 2.0 TDI GT 150 DSG. It means a 40% tax payer would have to hand over £1,818 for the Toyota, during the 2017/2018 tax year, whereas the VW would be £2,714.

At such an early stage of proceedings, there’s little point looking into the real-world fuel economy of the hybrid system. Toyota promises a combined economy figure of 70mpg, but it will take some practice to get it anywhere near that. We live in the Kentish countryside, and the twisting, rolling nature of local roads is going to test to the limit this car’s ability to make fuel go as far as possible.

First impressions are of a very quiet car that has steering and suspension tuned for comfort. Performance is best described as lethargic. The petrol tank is on the small side (just 45 litres; a Golf diesel estate holds 50 litres), but perhaps this is in order to create the vast, 675-litre boot – which shames plenty of estate cars from the class above. Rest assured, it will be put to good use; with three children and two dogs, this estate car will be worked hard.

Aside from the real-world fuel economy and associated running costs, the burning question for many drivers is whether Toyota’s hybrid system is as easy to live with and nice to drive as a diesel-powered family car.

I’ll be answering that, and more besides, in further updates on this page.

Want to ask a question? Contact me via Twitter: 

Tweet to @squarejames Follow @squarejames

The post Extended test: 2017 Toyota Auris Hybrid Touring Sports appeared first on Sunday Times Driving.

source https://www.driving.co.uk/car-reviews/extended-test-2017-toyota-auris-hybrid-touring-sports/

ICONS: 2018 Bugatti Chiron

ICONS: Nothing Like You’ve Ever Seen

2018 Bugatti Chiron

Pushing the automotive performance envelope to the very edge, today’s current crop of hypercars has been like nothing the world has ever seen. Combining state-of-the-art technology, relentless performance, brilliant engineering, and stunning design, these are the stars of every kid’s Instagram today, just as the Countach and the Testarossa were the bedroom wall posters for kids growing up in the 1980s.

2016 Ferrari F12tdf

RM Sotheby’s ICONS auction plays host to a truly impressive assortment of 21st-century hypercars from Italy, Germany, and France. Highlighted by what is perhaps the most anticipated new car of the 2017 model year, the Bugatti Chiron takes everything that the incredible Veyron did one step further, creating an automotive experience like none other. RM Sotheby’s example has less than 300 miles on its odometer (only test miles), has yet to be registered for the road, and is ready and waiting for its very first owner.

2014 Ferrari LaFerrari

Of similar ilk, both offerings from Maranello, the F12tdf and the LaFerrari, are also delivery-mileage examples. Presented in virtually as-new condition, both cars represent the pinnacle of Ferrari performance available today and together, make for perhaps the greatest two-car garage one could imagine. While the LaFerrari is presented in traditional Rosso Corsa over a Nero Alcantara interior, the F12tdf is finished in a seldom-seen shade of Ferrari red—Rosso Dino—allowing it to stand out from the crowd.

2014 Pagani Huayra

Inspired by Leonardo da Vinci, Horacio Pagani’s Huayra combines truly exceptional Italian build quality with German-bred performance, courtesy of AMG. One of 100 Huayra Coupes built, it is offered from single private ownership and has been driven just 4,943 miles from new. Another car known to be a favorite of Mr. Pagani, an exceptional Porsche 918 ‘Weissach’ Spyder is also on offer. A single-owner example with a paltry 270 miles on its odometer, it boasts a factory Matte Black wrap with Martini livery, a truly sinister color combination that will only solicit the most favorable of compliments wherever it goes.

2004 Porsche Carrera GT

An earlier performance road car joining the “never seen together” line-up of hypercars is the 2004 Porsche Carrera GT. Affectionately known in Porsche circles as the “Silver Unicorn,” the example headed to the ICONS sale remains on its factory MSO, and importantly is one of only a very few remaining Carrera GTs that has never been registered. In absolutely as-new condition this Carrera GT is considered by many as one of the best examples in the world of a landmark in automotive engineering – a true Le Mans race car for the streets.

2015 Porsche 918 ‘Weissach’ Spyder

Hybrid or conventional powertrain, naturally aspirated or turbocharged, front- or mid-engined, V-8, V-12, or even V-16, whatever your supercar tastes should fancy, the RM Sotheby’s ICONS sale taking place 6 November has a hypercar that everyone could truly fall in love with.

ICONS: Nothing Like You’ve Ever Seen

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“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” Nissans

Six Stunning “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” Nissans Unveiled

Are you excited about “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” releasing in theaters on December 15? Why do I even ask. Of course you are! And, apparently, so is Nissan. In a new release from Nissan, the automaker shows off six special vehicles that were inspired by the upcoming Star Wars film.

2018 Nissan GT-R Pricing Announced

“We’re back this year collaborating with Lucasfilm and the artists at Industrial Light & Magic to create these amazing concept vehicles across some of our best-selling models,” said Jeremy Tucker, vice president, Marketing Communications & Media, Nissan North America, Inc. “These show vehicles were created for our fans, and will be unveiled at the Los Angeles Auto Show and shared across the country in regional auto shows over the next several months.”

Check them all out below.

2018 Nissan Rogue – Poe Dameron’s X-wing with BB-8

The Special Forces TIE Fighter is fittingly recreated using Nissan’s best-selling sedan, Altima. The vehicle’s stand out feature is the cockpit window that brings the multi-paned look of the Special Forces TIE fighter to the Altima’s windshield.

Six Stunning “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” Nissans Unveiled

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2019 BMW i8 Roadster and Coupe

New 2019 BMW i8 Roadster and Coupe Revealed

For both the Coupe and Roadster, the new engine’s total output is increased up to 369 horsepower when compared to the previous i8’s powerplant. BMW is putting the 0-60 mph time of the Coupe and Roadster at 4.2/4.4 seconds, respectively. Top speed of both cars is electronically limited to 155 mph.

Expect to see the sales of the new 2019 BMW i8 Coupe and Roadster started in Spring 2018.

Buy or sell your exotic car at duPontREGISTRY.com and check back with Autofluence.com for more supercar news.

New 2019 BMW i8 Roadster and Coupe Revealed

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The Clarkson Review: 2017 Ferrari GTC4Lusso

I have never read the Bible. I’ve tried, but after a few moments I lose the will to live. It’s the same story with Shakespeare. You just know that no one is going to say, “Secure the perimeter”, and that even if they did, they’d need four hours to say it. And you’d need a teacher on hand to explain what they were on about.

However, when it comes to literature that’s completely impossible to understand or digest, you cannot top a Ferrari press release. Let me give you an example from one I have here. “The sophisticated and refined cabin is designed wholly around its occupants.” Really? I thought it’d been designed partly around its occupants and partly for the tea lady’s dog.

Let’s move on to the vehicle dynamics. “The 4RM Evo system is more precise than ever. Management of front torque in particular has been improved across the board, but specifically in terms of SS4-based torque vectoring . . .”

That sort of guff may work well at a conference on industrial piping, but it’s a Ferrari we are talking about here. And there is no space in any of that world for dry engineering technobabble. Ferrari needs to understand this. I don’t need page after page of Shakespeare doing army-speak. Because the accompanying photograph is telling me so much more.

The photograph that came with this press release was of a car so beautiful, it haunted me long into the night — or, as Ferrari would put it: “Beauty itself doth of itself persuade / The eyes of men without an orator.”

It’s called the GTC4Lusso and it’s best described as a three-door sports estate. I’m a sucker for a car such as this. There’s never been a bad one. The Lancia HPE, the Volvo P1800 ES and the Reliant Scimitar (Princess Anne had one, you know). They were all tremendous, but this Ferrari trumped the lot. It was the best-looking car I’d seen.

I stuck the picture on my office wall and spent many long moments gazing at it. And I drove the production team mad by thinking up idiotic reasons why we should put it in the next series of The Grand Tour. The team would say we should do something on hatchbacks and I’d suggest the Ferrari. I suggested it for everything. And every time I was outvoted.

I can see why. This car is a replacement for the old FF, and that was rubbish. Or, as one Ferrari high-up said: “Yes, it wasn’t our finest hour.” I tested one once on a frozen lake in Sweden and could not believe how comprehensively it was beaten in every way by the much cheaper Bentley Continental GT.

“My God, this is a big car. If you want to see all of it at the same time, you need to put it in a field and walk away from it for 10 minutes”

I also couldn’t believe how needlessly complicated the four-wheel-drive system was. Because the rear wheels were powered by a shaft coming out of the back of the engine and those at the front were propelled by a shaft coming out of the front. Which meant it needed two gearboxes. After the BMW Z1’s doors, it was the most complex technical solution to a problem that simply didn’t exist. And it didn’t work.

My colleague James May knows the FF well and doesn’t believe it’s a four-wheel drive at all. He’s even been under the car and still can’t get his head round it all. He, actually, was the most determined of everyone that the FF’s replacement would not be in our show. Ever.

I tried to explain that you can have the GTC4Lusso with a V8 engine and two-wheel drive only. But it was no good. I lost the argument. And now I’m quite glad.

I borrowed the four-wheel-drive V12 version and could not wait for the day it arrived. I so wanted to see it in the flesh. To see if it was as beautiful as it had been in the picture. And I was a bit disappointed, if I’m honest, because it was parked in a small car park near my flat and I simply couldn’t get far enough away from it to take in all its lines.

But that was OK. I was off to the countryside, and there’d be lots of space there to see it in all its glory. This is true. But only just. My God, this is a big car. If you want to see all of it at the same time, you need to put it in a field and walk away from it for 10 minutes.

What’s weird is that it has broadly the same body as the terrible old FF, but just a few clever tweaks to the grille and the front wing vents and wheels have transformed it. The interior is equally sensational, perhaps because it was designed with the occupants in mind. Yes, it’s got all the usual Ferrari problems, namely the buttons for the lights, wipers and indicators are on the steering wheel, but — and I loved this — there’s a second dashboard in front of the passenger. They can choose whether they want to look at the rev counter or the sat nav or a million other things. It’s brilliant.

And the back seats? No idea. I didn’t fit. And I’ve never met anyone who would. But the boot is the most beautifully trimmed thing since Mr Bonsai woke up one day and thought: “I know . . . ”

Let’s pause for a moment now to laugh at the price. The basic version is £230,430 — of course it is — but my test car had a few extras. Apple CarPlay for £2,400, blue brake callipers for £1,178, a carbon-fibre sill cover for £4,992 and a glass roof for — drum roll —£11,520. Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha.

“The boot is the most beautifully trimmed thing since Mr Bonsai woke up one day and thought: ‘I know . . . ‘”

So what’s it like to drive? Not as exciting as you might imagine, actually. Of course, with a 6.3-litre V12 engine, it’s not sluggish, and it’s a Ferrari so it’s not sloppy either. But it’s not exceptional. It doesn’t cause the hairs on the back of your neck to tingle. Ever. It doesn’t even make a particularly tuneful noise.

That said, in town it’s docile and quiet, unlike all the people behind you, who are angry and honking because you’re having to back up again because your car’s too wide to fit through anything except perhaps a desert.

I understand, naturally, that if you are a fully paid-up member of the St Moritz Eurotrash set and you need a Ferrari because it’s part of the uniform, it’d be tempting to buy a GTC4Lusso. Because it has four-wheel drive. But I’ve never been to a ski resort where this would fit. Aspen maybe, but only just, even there.

And if you don’t live in a ski resort, why would you want a four-wheel-drive system that only really works at 4mph on snow? You wouldn’t. You’d have the two-wheel-drive V8 version. But that is the same size, so we are back to square one. There are few places on earth a car this big works. Dubai, Los Angeles and, er …

It’s probably best, then, not to think of it as a car at all. But as a garden ornament. The most beautiful piece of sculpture of all time. That’s what I’d do: save money on the extras and spend it instead on a plinth.

Head to head: Ferrari GTC4Lusso v Bentley Continental GT Supersport

	Ferrari GTC4Lusso	Bentley Continental Gt Supersport
Price	£230,430	£212,500
Power	680bhp	700bhp
Fuel	18.8mpg	18.0mpg
0-62mph	3.4sec	3.5sec

 

Write to us at driving@sunday-times.co.uk, or Driving, The Sunday Times, 1 London Bridge Street, London SE1 9GF

The post The Clarkson Review: 2017 Ferrari GTC4Lusso appeared first on Sunday Times Driving.

source https://www.driving.co.uk/car-reviews/clarkson/clarkson-review-2017-ferrari-gtc4lusso/

Hot hatch battle: Focus RS vs Civic Type R vs M140i vs RS 3 vs Golf R vs AMG A 45

HOW HOT do you like your hot hatchback? Fast and furious or brisk and civilised? And what should it look like? Would you prefer it to be as discreet in a supermarket car park as any other family hatchback? Or should it grab attention like Donald Trump’s hair blowing in the wind?

Like eyeing the menu in an Indian restaurant, looking for the ideal hot hatch to suit your tastes can go one of two ways. Drivers will either know what they want, and wouldn’t entertain the idea of a Honda rather than a Ford. Or they’ll be open to trying something new.

With so many new models, it’s never been more tempting to put preconceptions to one side and take the plunge with something different.

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To help drivers decide, Driving valiantly assembled six of the latest models, slipped on its collective driving gloves and hit road and track, assessing each car for practicality, fun factor and value for money.

So sit back and enjoy the ride, as the Audi RS3, BMW M140i, Ford Focus RS, Honda Civic Type-R, Mercedes-AMG A45 and Volkswagen Golf R slug it out.

The post Hot hatch battle: Focus RS vs Civic Type R vs M140i vs RS 3 vs Golf R vs AMG A 45 appeared first on Sunday Times Driving.

source https://www.driving.co.uk/car-reviews/group-tests/hot-hatch-battle-focusrs-civic-typer-m140i-rs3-golfr-amga45/

Stolen Lamborghini Found After Six Years

The Superleggera returned back to its original owner

VINwiki allows you to really dig into a car’s documentation. A perfect example of this provided in their latest YouTube Video where Ed Bolian, Founder of VInwiki, tells the story of how he used his company to find out two Lamborghini Gallardos were actually stolen. It all started when he spotted an Arancio Borealis Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera that seemed out of place in his town. After discovering that the VIN number on the dash was fake, he went into Sherlock-mode and did some digging. Thanks to the crowd-sourced information on VINwiki, he was able to find out more about the cars, inform the authorities and actually have the Superleggera returned back to its original owner. You have to hear the story to believe it. Click play below to hear it for yourself!

Stolen Lamborghini Found After Six Years

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Phone: (480) 233-1529
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Michael Schumacher’s 2001 Ferrari F2001

Michael Schumacher’s 2001 Ferrari F2001 Being Auctioned

The Car that Captures the Beauty of Speed⁠⁠⁠⁠

• One of the most significant Formula 1 cars driven by the greatest of all time
• Raced by the legendary Michael Schumacher
• The car that secured the 2001 Constructors’ and Drivers’ Championships
• Winner of the Monaco and Hungarian Grand Prix Races
• Unparalleled historical significance among modern racing cars

Chassis 211 played a hugely significant role in the remarkable, important 2001 season and is arguably one of the most historically important and valuable Formula 1 cars. This is the very car that was driven in anger in a trio of Grand Prixes, where Michael Schumacher courageously raced his way to the top of the field twice, most notably on the challenging streets of Monaco.

The car’s third and final competition would come at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Racing his way to the checkered flag, it was another historic victory for the remarkable partnership, earning Ferrari its 11th Constructors’ Championship and Schumacher his fourth Drivers’ title.

The opportunity to acquire a Ferrari Formula 1 car that has been driven by Michael Schumacher does not come often. A race-winning example is truly special, but a car that won two Grand Prix races and led the greatest Formula 1 driver and the most successful Formula 1 manufacturer to World Championship titles is nothing short of sensational.

Chassis number 211 is amongst the most significant racing cars in any collection worldwide and is without a doubt the most important modern Formula 1 car in history.

About Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening Auction – 16 November, New York

Auction Time: 6:30pm

Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening Auction in New York offers important fine art created from the late-20th century to present day. Held twice a year, the auction frequently features works by some of the most renowned names of Contemporary Art, and is presented during a week of sales that also includes our marquee sales of Impressionist & Modern Art, this auction consistently draws a vast audience of the world’s most influential collectors.

Buy or sell your exotic car at duPontREGISTRY.com and check back with Autofluence.com for more supercar news.

Michael Schumacher’s 2001 Ferrari F2001 Being Auctioned

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Hennessey VelociRaptor 6×6

Test Driving the Hennessey VelociRaptor 6×6

 

Hennessey Performance’s new VelociRaptor 6×6 supertruck is an American spectacle that deserves your attention. It has an extra axle, two extra wheels, a monster 600 twin-turbo engine upgrade, and a litany of other upgrades. John Hennessey, the man behind the famous Texas-based aftermarket tuner, recently took the first example of the 6×6 truck out for a test drive and record the whole experience. He notes that 50 examples of the truck will be made for North America and just under ten example are currently being built in their factory. Click play below to see the VelociRaptor 6×6 truck in action.

Order a Hennessey VelociRaptor 6×6

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Test Driving the Hennessey VelociRaptor 6×6

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Hennessey Venom F5 Hypercar

Hennessey Teases New Venom F5 Hypercar Color

Paint Protection Coating

The new Hennessey Venom F5 was unveiled in a brilliant yellow paint that was fitting for a new star in the hypercar world. Now, Hennessey has teased a number of other color options for the Venom F5 in a series of Instagram posts. This includes a “Glacier Blue,” “McLaren Orange,” “Crystal Blue,” “Red Rocker,” “Vader Black,” and a slate gray. Check each of them out below.

The Venom F5 has 1,600 bhp at the ready, which is enough power to propel the hypercar to speeds over 300 mph. This power comes from Hennessey’s own twin-turbo V8 engine that’s mated to a 7-speed single-clutch transmission that sends power to the rear wheels. Thanks to its light weight of 2,950 lbs and a low-drag coefficient, the Venom F5 will rocket from 0-186 mph in less than 10 seconds– that’s quicker than current Formula 1 race cars. Zero to 249 mph and back to a stop will be accomplished in under 30 seconds, faster than Koenigsegg’s current world record.

Hennessey Teases New Venom F5 Hypercar Colors

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2019 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1

2019 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1: Most Powerful ‘Vette Ever Produced

Chevrolet has created and unveiled the most powerful and fastest Corvette in the history of the automaker: the 2019 Corvette ZR1.

Powering the car is the LT5 6.2-liter supercharged V8 engine, but it now features a new intercooled supercharger system (52 percent more displacement than the Z06) and GM’s first dual-fuel-injection system. The result is the production of 755 horsepower and 715 lb-ft of torque. Mated to this engine can either be a seven-speed manual (thank you!) or an eight-speed automatic transmission.

The fastest, most powerful production Corvette ever – the 755-horsepower 2019 ZR1.

Corvette ZR1 Prototype Screams at the ‘Ring

With great power comes great speed. Chevrolet states that the top speed of the new ZR1 is an astonishing 210 mph. Because of the American supercar’s ability to hit such an insane speed, Chevrolet engineers have created two new aero packages to help with downforce. Although, the standard Low Wing package delivers the high top speed and also creates 70 percent more downforce than that of the Z06’s base aero package.

The fastest, most powerful production Corvette ever – the 755-horsepower 2019 ZR1.

2019 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1: Most Powerful ‘Vette Ever Produced

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The Grand Tour’s Richard Porter reviews the 2017 Mercedes-AMG GLE 63 S coupé

THERE WAS a time when the motor industry dealt only in broad, simple genres. Saloon, estate, hatchback — that sort of thing. But then car companies started finding ever more creative ways to smash one category into another to create new markets. I gather the adult film business does much the same.

Which is how we end up with this, the tattooed, mud-wrestling nun of cars. It’s called the Mercedes-AMG GLE 63 S 4Matic coupé, which is a complicated name for a complicated car combining the high-riding stance of an SUV with the slant-backed profile of a coupé and the engine of a sports car.

Unsurprisingly for such an unholy cockatrice, the GLE isn’t the most attractive vehicle in the world. The front mostly consists of gaping, mesh-filled holes with visible radiators behind to feed chilled air to the turbocharged engine; the side is slabby and wears an artless pair of rubber-studded running boards; and the back has the awkwardly arched appearance of a squatting dog.

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It’s bulky and brutal, the kind of car whose voice-control system you imagine responds only to commands in guttural Russian. It’s a far cry from the sort of delicate and sophisticated machine you expect to see disgorging acting royalty at the Baftas. “Oh, look, a Mercedes-AMG GLE 63 S 4Matic coupé. Dame Judi must be here.”

No, it’s a car whose neck is thicker than its head, and its very appearance seems to mirror the kind of person who would own one. It pays for everything from a big roll of cash. It wears jogging bottoms on all occasions. It carries a massive bunch of keys and two mobile phones. It lives in a large new-build house in Hertfordshire yet still keeps certain things in what it refers to as its “lock-up”. Its road rage incident was caught on CCTV. Police are seeking it for help with their inquiries …

“It is so painfully manly that its windscreen washer bottle probably contains Paco Rabanne”

There’s no way around it, this car looks like a wrong ’un. It might play well in certain parts of the world, but in Britain its lumpen bodywork, leering face and darkened alloys just seem crass. Expensively crass, too, since this model costs a snadge under £100,000. That’s a lot of money to look like someone who owns a large number of poorly maintained rental properties.

This price wouldn’t be so bad if the Merc had a point, but while it may be a marvel of porn-style genre-mashing, it’s not clear why. If you want a high-riding car that costs almost £100,000, surely you’d buy a Range Rover. If you want hundreds of horsepower to fly you towards the horizon, Mercedes will sell you its AMG GT sports car for the same money.

When you combine the two ideas, you end up with something that’s less than the sum of those parts. What’s particularly inexplicable is that the GLE takes a practical genre of car and then wilfully erases some of the usefulness, as the steeply canted screen pillars and slanted back create less space and more claustrophobia for your children.

Which gives it an aura of selfishness. You buy one of these and you are loudly saying that you wanted a car of this size, but you didn’t want your kids or your dog to be as comfortable as they could be. And despite the four-wheel-drive system, don’t even think about taking it off road, because although the GLE has a Slippery mode, the low-profile tyres and low-hanging front bumper will cause it to get stuck on anything as high as a raised kerb. So, really, you’re just hauling around extra driveshafts and diffs to add weight and snort down more petrol. Which is, in itself, quite selfish.

This whiff of self-centredness continues when you thumb the starter button and the 5.5-litre V8 ignites with a loud, lumpy, muscle-car roar that will very quickly become unamusing to your neighbours. You’d expect nothing less from a car so fat-fingered and painfully manly that its windscreen washer bottle probably contains Paco Rabanne. “Look at me,” it says. “I can get you a cut-price 98in telly, but when I deliver it to your house, it won’t have a box or instructions.”

“By any yardstick, this is a brisk car. For something the weight of a Victorian orphanage, it’s ridiculous”

Its redeeming feature is that underneath the lumpen skin the GLE boasts some impressive engineering. Take that engine. The start-up histrionics are annoying, but once they’re done, the 577bhp V8 settles down into a deep, rich burr that’s very easy on the ear. At a cruise, you barely hear it at all, but give it a little throttle and you get a bassy rumble that’s potent yet pleasing, like the growl of the MGM lion.

Or you can stick the roto-controller by your left elbow into Sport+ mode, wang up and down the seven-speed auto gearbox on the metal paddles behind the steering wheel and enjoy a series of whomps and bangs that fly in your wake from the four exhausts. You will quickly learn not to try this in a built-up area, first, because it may cause a pensioner to fall into a hedge, and second, because extracting the full whipcrack soundtrack inevitably results in travelling rather quickly. By any yardstick, this is a brisk car. For something the weight of a Victorian orphanage, it’s ridiculous.

You might assume, given its weight and general demeanour, that the brakes are woeful, the handling is lethal and a field of sprouts is now something you’re sliding through. In fact the GLE copes uncannily well with corners.

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The bulky Merc darts and dives down winding roads with an agility that seems improbable. It’s not a delicate instrument but neither is it a lead bludgeon. It covers vast swathes of countryside at a remarkable lick, swooping through corners, thundering up straights and leaving slow-moving agricultural vehicles in the fog of its Nascar roar. The brakes are good too, and it achieves remarkable cornering poise without an unpleasantly bumpy ride. You’ll know ruts and divots are down there, but you’ll also know that the suspension is telling them to sod off.

Of course, it remains an unlovely car to look at, its image is too dubious for respectable driveways and it’s not obvious why anyone would need a large coupé capable of putting a Porsche Boxster in a headlock. But that is exactly what makes the GLE so unexpectedly endearing. Its appeal is it’s completely silly. So there you have it: an unsavoury, expensive, pointless conflation the world didn’t ask for and does not need. I liked it very much.

Richard Porter is script editor of The Grand Tour, which begins a new series next month on Amazon Prime

Head to head: Mercedes-AMG GLE 63 S coupé vs BMW X6 xDrive50i M Sport

	GLE 63 S coupé	X6 xDrive50i M Sport
Price	£98,885	£70,820
Power	577bhp	444bhp
Torque	560 lb ft	479 lb ft
Weight	2,350kg	2,170kg
0-62mph	4.2sec	4.8sec
Top speed	155mph (limited)	155mph (limited)
Fuel economy	23.7mpg	29.1mpg

 

Laughs, insight and nonsense: The Grand Tour Guide to the World book review

Write to us at driving@sunday-times.co.uk, or Driving, The Sunday Times, 1 London Bridge Street, London SE1 9GF

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The Clarkson Review: Audi RS 3 saloon

I SAW a dead man recently, and it made me sad. He’d obviously got up as usual and had breakfast with his wife. They’d have talked casually about what they were doing that night, whether the kids would be home and maybe made some plans for the weekend. Then he’d gone out, climbed onto his motorcycle and set off for work. Except he never got there because at a busy junction, he and a Toyota Prius had a coming-together. And that was that.

Two days later I saw a stupid man cycling along the Earls Court Road in London. You could tell from his corduroy jacket and huge beard he was an ecomentalist, a point he was determined to prove by pedalling along with his three children in a flimsy, virtually invisible trailer behind his bike. I presume they were his children; it’d be worse if they weren’t.

Then an hour later I saw a stupid woman who’d gone one step further. She only had one child but it was in a basket contraption mounted on the front wheel of her bicycle. Yup. She was actually using her baby as a human crumple zone. Simply to make a political point. And that is insane.

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There was a time when this might have been fine. London’s roads felt safe, partly because the speeds were so low but mostly because everyone sort of knew what they were doing. That certainly isn’t the case any more.

The motorcyclist had been hit by a minicab. And it was a minicab that bloody nearly wiped me out last week when I went to buy the newspapers. He was on completely the wrong side of the road.

Uber, as we know, has been told that it can’t operate in London any more because it doesn’t take its responsibilities seriously. I don’t doubt that the company will clean up its act before the case reaches appeal. But I wonder whether the driving will get any better, because at the moment it beggars belief.

The problem is this. There’s much globalisation these days. The Big Mac you buy in Los Angeles is the same as the Big Mac you buy in Moscow. Coca-Cola is the same. Sunglasses are the same. Phones are the same. Cars are the same too, but the way they are driven definitely is not.

If you’ve been to Rome you’ll know what I mean. The driving there is completely different from the driving you find in, say, Houston, or Bournemouth. Then you have Vietnam, where everyone gets into fifth gear as soon as the car is doing 3mph, which is in direct contrast to Syria, where no one drives anywhere unless the engine is turning at 6,500rpm. Eastern Europe is naked aggression, Paris is belligerence and India is dithering.

“In London, the only thing you know for sure is if the Prius is in the left lane, indicating left, it doesn’t mean it’s going to turn left”

And people who’ve learnt the skills needed to get by in their own country are now in London, in a Prius, and it doesn’t work at all. Any more than it would work if you put chefs from all over the world in a single kitchen and told them to make supper. You’ve got the chap from India hesitating nervously, not sure what lane he should be in, behind the chap from Poland who reckons that the traffic lights signal the start of the grand prix, and both are being deafened by Johnny Syrian, who’s sitting there with one foot hard down on the clutch and the other hard down on the throttle, which is actually a blessed relief because it means that no one can hear what Reg Crikey the black-cab driver is actually saying.

When the lights go green, everyone crashes into one another, except the southeast Asian man, because he’s going at 4mph, in fifth, the wrong way down a one-way street, wondering what the bump he just felt was. And then is alarmed to find it was a bearded cyclist that he’s just run over.

And the problem is you can’t lump all minicab drivers into one pot. They all do different things all the time. The only thing you know for sure is if the Prius is in the left lane, indicating left, it doesn’t mean it’s going to turn left.

The upshot is that the Prius is now the worst-driven car in Britain. Or, rather, it was until I borrowed an Audi RS 3 recently. You probably heard me, because every time I started it up, the exhaust system made machinegun noises at the sort of volume that scared birds five miles away. It was fun the first time but a bit wearing after six days. No matter. It has the same 2.5-litre five-cylinder turbo engine you get in the Audi TT RS, and that’s a car I love very much.

It produces nearly 400bhp and in a car the size of the RS 3 — think Hot Wheels — that means 0 to 62mph is dealt with in about no time at all. The potential top speed is 174mph unless you want it to be 155mph. I’m not sure why the former is an option, but it is.

Of course for many years there have been Audis that could travel quickly in a straight line, but in the recent past we’ve started to see Audis that can go round corners quickly as well. This is another. With sensors and algorithms on hand to decide which of the four wheels gets the power, the RS 3 is a car that just flies down a country lane. It’s a joy.

It also feels beautifully made and, provided you leave it in Comfort mode, it’s firm but not hideously bumpy. However, there are two reasons why I could not and would not buy this car. Well, three, if you include the £45,250 price tag. That is a lot for a car of this size, no matter how much grip’n’go it’s got.

But worse is the sat nav system. Even when you’re used to it — and I am — it’s a fiddle to use. You have to take two steps backwards all the time to move one step forwards. It needs to be simplified.

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And then there are the brakes, which screeched every time I went near the pedal. You may say this is a one-off and that the car cannot be dismissed because of a scratched pad or an errant pedal. True enough, but this is the third Audi RS on the trot that’s come to me with the same problem.

To try to drive round it, I found myself coasting in neutral up to red lights, but this is tricky in London because a Prius usually arrives on the scene from nowhere and you have to brake to miss it. So then I adopted a last-of-the-late-brakers attitude, cruising up to the stop sign and then jamming on the brakes at the last moment.

This rarely stopped the screeching, but at least when you do a sudden emergency stop, you don’t have to put up with the racket for long. It did, however, alarm quite a few other road users and I’d like to take this moment to apologise for being, for one week only, the worst driver in the country.

 

Head to head: Audi RS 3 saloon vs Mercedes-AMg 45 4Matic

	RS 3 saloon	CLA 45 4Matic
Price	£45,250	£44,695
Power	394bhp	376bhp
0-62mph	4.1sec	4.2sec
Fuel economy	34.0mpg	40.9mpg

 

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The Clarkson Review: 2017 Porsche Panamera Turbo (part 2)

THE ODDEST thing about getting old is that you start to lose interest in style. You look at a pair of zip-up slippers on a market stall and think: “Mmmm. They look warm and comfy and they’re only a fiver so I shall buy them.” And it never occurs to you that they are even more hideous than the tartan shopping trolley you bought the previous week.

Old people have a similar attitude to everything. They buy furniture because it’s easy to get in and out of and don’t seem to notice that it’s upholstered in the material used to paper the walls in the local takeaway.

They see no reason to buy water with a lemon zest when they can get pretty much the same thing for a lot less from a tap. And why spend all that money on a snazzy telephone when you can talk to anyone in the world from the Bakelite set on the hall table? This is all because old people are not very interested in sex.

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When a young person examines a new pair of shoes, they will not really care how much they cost or how many Vietnamese children were killed in the sweatshop where they were made, just so long as they look good. Because looking good is an essential first step on the road to procreation.

When you are choosing a book to read on a beach, you are, of course, tempted to buy the latest Jack Reacher tome. But you suspect that passers-by will clock you as a moron, so instead you choose something about ancient Rome. And when you are hanging pictures in your living room, you know that a poster of a Lamborghini Countach won’t do. So you go for something curious and weird instead.

Sex is behind every single thing we choose to buy: the cigarettes we smoke, the beer we drink and certainly the cars we drive. There’s a tiny bit of our brain that is constantly saying: “Yes, I know it does five thousand miles to the gallon and only costs 10p but it’ll make me look like a dork.”

All of which brings me neatly to the door of Porsche’s new Panamera. Yes, I know I’ve driven this before, and reviewed it on these pages, in fact. But that was a review written after a two-mile drive on inappropriate roads in Mallorca while I was suffering from pneumonia. This is an actual review, written after an actual drive and while I feel well.

As you sit there pressing buttons, you feel just like Star Trek’s Mr Sulu

You open the Panamera, you step inside and immediately you are consumed by a desperate need to buy one. You are less cocooned than you were in the previous model, but you still have a sense of being hemmed in place by the extremely light door and the enormous transmission tunnel. This sense of being cocooned is one of the things that made the old Porsche 928 so desirable.

And the transmission tunnel isn’t enormous just for show. It’s big because it houses all sorts of interesting buttons. All of which operate with the satisfying sense that they are fully German.

Then you have a widescreen television, which allows you to operate all the things that can’t be controlled with the buttons to your left. You feel, as you sit there pressing stuff, that you are Mr Sulu on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise. Except your hands are hotter. Much hotter.

This is because you’ve turned on the heated steering wheel. You don’t know how you’ve done this, but you know that if you don’t turn it off quickly, all the skin on your hands will melt. You have a cursory glance around the cockpit for something that might shut it down, but there seems to be nothing. And then you remember saying to your mum that you can’t find your shoes and her saying: “Have you looked properly?” So you have a more careful look. You go into all the menus on the control system and you put on your reading glasses and you crawl about in the footwell.

And finally you resort to Google, where you discover the button is … Actually, I’m not going to tell you where it is. It’s a good game to while away a couple of hours next time you’re bored and passing a Porsche showroom. Get the salespeople to make you a cup of tea while you ferret about. It’ll serve them right for hiding it away so thoroughly.

Yes, it’s better-looking than its predecessor, but that’s like saying it’s better-looking than a gaping wound

Eventually, the steering wheel had cooled down sufficiently for me to drive the car, and I won’t beat about the bush. It was sublime. There are three engines on offer: at one end is a diesel that will give you an astonishing range of 800 miles between fill-ups but will cost you £10,000 a minute to park because various councils have changed their minds and decided diesel is the work of the devil. At the other is a bloody great V8 turbo that you can park for sixpence because somehow that’s OK these days.

Strangely, it is not the very fabulous V8 that Porsche’s parent company, Volkswagen, uses in the Audi A8 and the Bentley Continental. It’s a completely different V8, with its turbocharging based between the cylinder banks. And it’s also fabulous. Really fabulous. It’s quiet and unruffled most of the time, but when you poke it a bit, it makes a deep, growly noise like a dog having a dream.

Naturally there is a great deal of power, all of which is fed to all four wheels by an ingenious arsenal of algorithms that makes sure no matter what you do, the car always feels planted and secure. It also feels sprightly, because much of it is now made from aluminium. That’s why the door is so light.

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All of which make the gigantic brakes look like overkill. These are the sort of discs you like to envisage being used to bring an Airbus A380 to a halt. You imagine when you lean on the pedal that you are actually altering space-time in a measurable way. And on my test car they were carbon ceramic, which meant they could go on affecting nature all day long without fading.

Make no mistake: this is a wonderful car to drive. And it doesn’t feel even remotely like a large five-door hatchback with a boot big enough for a trip to the garden centre, folding rear seats and (just) enough room in the back for two adults. It even rides properly, so everyone is always comfortable.

However, there is a problem. Yes, it’s better-looking than its predecessor, but that’s like saying it’s better-looking than a gaping wound. It’s still a long, long way from being even remotely handsome or appealing. And to make things worse, my test car was painted the sort of red that speedboats go in New Zealand after they’ve been in the ozone-free outdoors for a couple of years. And to make things worse still, that’s an optional extra for which Porsche charges almost £3,000.

No one is going to buy this car for its looks, which means it will just be bought by people for whom sex is no longer important. Which makes a change from the usual Porsche customer, I suppose.

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Head to head: Porsche Panamera Turbo vs Audi RS7 Sportback

	Porsche Panamera Turbo	Audi RS7 SPortback
Price	£115,100	£94,185
Power	542bhp	597bhp
0-62mph	3.8sec	3.7sec
Economy	30.4mpg	29.7mpg

 

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