Innehållsförteckning för May 2024 från BBC Top Gear Magazine

@jack_rix editor@bbctopgearmagazine.com Here at TopGear we pride ourselves on celebrating the full spectrum of what’s out there. Big or small, fast or slow, new or old, petrol or electric, deeply talented or utterly shambolic… there’s a seat for all in TG’s broad church. Which is fortunate, because we’re living through a period of transition that’s creating fertile ground for some of the most fascinating cars the world has ever seen. Of course electric cars are still the new kids, but they’re already seeping into every possible niche from Nürburgring destroyer (Porsche Taycan Turbo GT, p10) to sensible small cars designed to hoover up the mundane trips with ease and a little pizzazz (Volvo EX30 test, p34). There are even clever people stuffing batteries and motors into classics like the Datsun…

“THIS IS THE CORE OF THE ELECTRIC MARKET, THIS IS WHERE FUTURE GROWTH IS LIKELY TO COME FROM” Let me introduce you to the Volvo EX30. I think you might get on. Swift, desirable, beautifully finished and it costs less than £34k. Initially I just couldn’t work out how Volvo had done it for the money. Later, I’d work it out. But here’s where we’re going to start: value. Electric cars have received a kicking for not being affordable enough, but now we’re starting to see prices coming down. Not quite to MG4 levels, but far enough to make you sit up and pay attention. As you can see they all start from around £35,000. Put a six grand deposit down and you can have a Smart One for £280…

£42,425 FOR Fabulous interior, distinctive character, well engineered AGAINST It’s grown so much it’s hardly a Mini or a hot hatch This is the third generation Countryman, the model in the (now not so) New Mini lineup that tested the definition of ‘mini’ to the point of destruction. Well, if you thought the previous two iterations were packing a little excess timber, get a load of this one. It’s a resounding 130mm longer than the outgoing model and 60mm taller, a growth spurt that moves the Countryman out of crossover territory and closer to a full-size SUV. At 4.43m, it’s not far off the length of an original Range Rover, a fact that would likely have Sir Alec Issigonis rotating in his grave. The big news is the arrival of…

£64,414 FOR Electric seven-seater, decent range, bags of space AGAINST Costs a mouth drying £15k over the ICE V-Class The facelifted 2024 Mercedes EQV goes up against few rivals. Yes, there are the e-Spacetourers and Vivaro Life Electrics of this world, but they’ll never hold a candle to the EQV. Posher, innit. The EQV now has a shorter, more vertical bonnet, a simpler grille flanked by chrome or carbon-accented vents. Previously, the family hauler used heat from the battery to make winter warming more rapid. Now, Merc tells us it’s using heat from the electric motor. It negotiates double-parked narrow streets more gracefully than logic comprehends. It’s wieldy enough you soon stop worrying there’s 4.5 metres of metal behind you… 5.3m in ‘Extra Long’ guise. With one pedal smoothness, it…

Fill the footwell, toddler-style in my own lap, remove and soil my own helmet or attempt to fling open the door and launch a projectile over the sill? These appear to be my puking options as Andy Wallace gives me the thumbs up and delivers another gut pummelling launch. I nod weakly and turn green. I consider my constitution sturdy, but the Bolide is no respecter of reputations, it’s a feral attack on the eyes, ears and organs, and when you’re in the passenger seat with zero idea when the next punch of acceleration or brick wall of braking is coming, it reduces grown men to gibbering, dribbling wrecks. Being simultaneously flooded with happy hormones, but also wanting to escape and lie in the foetal position under a bush for a few…

BRM P15 This is the BRM P15, and under that buckled-down bonnet are SIXTEEN CYLINDERS of supercharged madness. It’s one of the most complicated engines ever made, and also one of the most terrifying. Revving to 12,000rpm, this post-war monster sounds like a flame-gargling Godzilla. Engine: 1.5-litre s/c V16 Power: 600bhp Price: POA Top speed: N/A Noise: Broke the meter ASTON MARTIN VALKYRIE AMR PRO Named after a mythical Norse maiden… made in Gaydon. Aston’s extreme, track-only version of the Valkyrie road car is as wild as track day toys get. With a 6.5-litre naturally aspirated V12 co-designed with Cosworth, it revs to over 11,000rpm and screams like an old school F1 car. Engine: 6.5-litre n/a V12 Power: 1,150bhp Price: £3.5 million Top speed: 250mph Noise: 101dB CATERHAM 620R Launched…

“A FULL-FAT DRIVING EXPERIENCE AS A GATEWAY TO BRING YOUNGER BUYERS INTO THE BMW WORLD.” It’s quite a billing, and a production version of the BMW 2K2 could have been quite the car. The idea is deliciously simple, however closely it nudges tweeness: rekindling the 2002, arguably BMW’s most revered classic, for the year 2002. A cheaper, lither car to provide an entry point into propellor-badged ownership but without skimping on thrills. “The car would weigh under 1,000kg and provide BMW performance for a fresh audience,” muses Steve Saxty, author of the new BMW Behind the Scenes book trilogy and one of only a tiny handful of people to see the 2K2 up close since its late Nineties tour of the BMW board. “There’d be no radio, the idea being…

MAZDA RX-8 (2007) Price now: £1,995 Harris says: Yes, there’s a high chance it’ll all end in tears, but you really can pick up a wacky doored, rotary engined Mazda for less than two grand. This one even has fewer than 100,000 miles on the clock. AUTOZAM AZ-1 (1992) Price now: £24,000 Harris says: Are you looking for something that’s mid-engined and has gullwing doors? You want an Autozam AZ-1. Built by Mazda under its Autozam kei car brand, it comes complete with a 657cc turbocharged Suzuki 3cyl. MAZDA RX-7 (2003) Price now: £29,995 Harris says: A darling of the tuning scene, you can pick up an unmodified example for less than a new 2.0-litre MX-5. This one currently has aftermarket wheels and upholstery, but the original bits are included in…

MAGAZINE Order a copy at MagsDirect.co.uk SUBSCRIPTION OFFER buysubscriptions.com/TGSP3M DOWNLOAD The TopGear app from your App Store WEBSITE Visit topgear.com for your rolling hit of news, reviews, entertainment and advice YOUTUBE Subscribe to the TopGear YouTube channel to watch the best car videos on the planet PODCAST Visit topgear.com to download the TopGear podcast @topgear facebook.com/topgear @BBC_TopGear @topgear @topgear…

The list of special edition road cars bearing the name of F1 world champions is short, but not short enough. Fiat’s Stilo Schumacher was entirely unspecial. The Mercedes-Benz A-Class A160 Häkkinen Edition boasted acceleration as ponderous as its name. The Peugeot Prost Speedfight 2 was – and there’s no polite way to put this – a scooter. And then there was this lumpen honker. (Projected UK sales: 15. Actual UK sales: 5.) In 2012, as Seb Vet marched his merry way to a third consecutive drivers’ title, Infiniti chose to honour its German race ace (OK, not its German race ace, but Red Bull used Renault engines, Renault was married to Nissan, and Nissan owned Infiniti, so there was a spurious family connection of sorts) with this two-tonne beluga whale…

There is no end of advice out there telling you what watches to buy. But it is much simpler to flip it around and tell you what watches you should definitely not buy. Finding nice watches is easy. But some people seem to have great difficulty avoiding the horrible ones. The biggest problem is not being honest about why you are buying a watch in the first place. Do you want a time telling device that you find pleasing? Or a shiny emblem to let people know how splendidly you are doing? You don’t need to be a football fan to know that Cristiano Ronaldo has done pretty well in his chosen profession. Yet for some reason every watch he wears seems like a desperate attempt to win the golden…

01 TVR Sagaris Mad-looking car. Mad-looking exhausts. TVR’s raucous and outrageous 4.0-litre straight-six motor was liable to burn the ankles of onlookers, and the fingers of drivers when the savage power overwhelmed the rear tyres. 02 Dodge Viper Because each bank of cylinders had its own manifold and exhaust, if you stand by the side of a Viper while it revs, you’re only being treated to the sound of five cylinders, hence why the 8.3-litre Dodge can make a noise curiously akin to an Audi Quattro. 03 Mercedes-McLaren SLR And there you were thinking side-exit pipes were just for show and style. McLaren routed the SLR’s out just aft of the front wheels – at great complication and expense – so the car’s flat floor and rear diffuser were not compromised aerodynamically. 04 Caterham…

“THIS IS REAL LUXURY – AND IT IS EFFORTLESSLY CONVINCING” £342,600 FOR Spooky refinement, build quality, does things a bit differently to other SUVs AGAINST Uneasy looks, fuel consumption, don’t have it for the practicality No, it hasn’t got any prettier. More than five years on from its launch and Rolls-Royce’s SUV is still most kindly described as an acquired taste. Other opinions are available. It hasn’t changed by the way, in case you’re finding it doesn’t snag your eyeballs as much as it used to. What’s happened in the intervening years is that car design hasn’t stood still. Look at the BMW XM, Merc EQS SUV etc and you’re forced to conclude styling’s slammed open the door marked “where taste goes to die” and taken a bold step through.…

VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT 1.5 TSI £38,480 FOR Comfier, quieter and roomier than ever AGAINST Some lost design sparkle in the process How many cars make it to a ninth generation and sixth decade? At least one. The MkIX Passat is estate only and twinned almost identically with the latest Skoda Superb to maximise profitability. Good news for the VW, though, as it makes this car comfier and roomier, while in-car tech is an improvement on recent missteps. Just a shame the UK is denied punchier 2.0 petrols and diesels, our choices limited to a range of otherwise solid 1.5 hybrids. SD MG4 XPOWER £36,495 FOR One of the very fastest hot hatches available today AGAINST And with some of the hottest brakes. This is bad The MG4 XPower is a salutary lesson…

TRAINING Each owner will get pointers from Andy on how to use their Bolide properly, plus access to two track days a year – the first is at Paul Ricard in October. Own your own track? Want to drive it when you want without full race support? That’s fine, says Bugatti, you can push the start button and go – just get some heat into those tyres and brakes before giving the full send CARBON TUB Entirely new carbon monocoque, built to LMH and LMDh FIA safety requirements – not because it’ll go racing, but because they’re reassuringly difficult to meet. In testing, a 7.5-tonne force is applied to the A-pillar and only 50mm deflection is allowed… it passed easily without cracking. Engine and transmission have stiffer mounts than the…

1 SENNA TESTED FOR Williams, McLaren, Brabham and Toleman during 1983. On one run in the McLaren-Ford MP4/1 he kept the throttle pinned even as the engine lunched itself behind him. Team principal Ron Dennis (below) was not very impressed but he let him have another go. Senna duly set the fastest time of the day and signed for Toleman, the lowliest of the four teams, but he figured it would give him time and space to learn. 2 AFTER WIPING OUT of the 1984 Dallas GP, a distraught Senna insisted to Toleman technical boss Pat Symonds that the wall at the offending corner had ‘moved’. Amused, Symonds went to check it out, and found concrete scrape marks on the ground. A car ahead had tapped the concrete blocks forming the track…

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

REMEMBERING RETRO GAMING THE CLASSICS PC/PLAYSTATION, 1994 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…

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

That curious new Porsche Taycan with a wing you’ve been seeing zipping around the Nürburgring in 7:07.55 has a name – it’s the new Taycan Turbo GT. Basically, it’s a range-topper above the Turbo S aiming to make life awkward for the Tesla Model S Plaid and Lucid Air Sapphire. It’s now been revealed in full, and it’s super fast. Even if you drive a Plaid. It produces 1,108bhp, will go from 0–62mph in 2.3 seconds and it’s just been hurled around the Laguna Seca raceway in 1:27.8. That’s five seconds faster than the previous electric lap record (held by the Model S). It’s barely half a second slower than a McLaren Senna around the fearsome Californian track. The car itself is probably more subtle than you might expect. It…

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

GAME OF THE MONTH Le Mans Ultimate Le Mans Ultimate is out now for PC! Except it isn’t. Well not really. This is an ‘early access’ version, which essentially means that the game isn’t finished yet but you can buy it anyway. Fortunately LMU is fundamentally an engaging racing game. Taking the rocket science sim underpinnings rFactor 2, LMU plugs in cars and tracks that would make a motorsport nerd’s glasses instantly steam up. The handling model is engaging enough that it’s a treat just to turn laps and run races, which is convenient, because that’s pretty much all you can do currently. There’s no career or even championship mode. The game is also riddled with more bugs than the insect house at London Zoo. Is it worth £25 in…

1 FOUR VERSIONS HAVE BEEN REVEALED an R/T badge, tops out at 496bhp and 404lb Two electric, two with a 3.0-litre twin-turbo straight-six. In range topping electric Daytona Scat Pack trim, the Charger packs a whopping 670bhp and 627lb ft of torque. The second electric Charger, which wears ft. Of the latter ICE cars, we know only that they’ll produce 420bhp and 550bhp. Healthy enough. 2 IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT THE POWER THOUGH The new e-Chargers are the first to use Stellantis’ STLA Large platform. Both Charger Daytonas feature AWD as standard, using a pair of 335bhp electric drive modules. The front drive module is able to disconnect itself to boost range and efficiency, while the rear module includes a mechanical limited-slip diff for better hoo-raas off the line. 3 THERE’S A FAT…

Imagine a Mercedes-AMG G63, but electrically powered and given one of Mansory’s medium-strength goings over. But you needn’t imagine, because it exists. I’m sitting in it. It’s not just a concept either, but already on sale, taking on deserts, swamps and blizzards. By contra-rotating its four motors it can turn in its own length, as per a Bobcat skid-steer loader. It can float, making slow hippo-like progress through calm waters by spinning its bladed alloys. That said it doesn’t look too seaworthy and they call it “emergency float mode”. Its absurdly plush cabin is ready for six-lane highways too. For the moment just in China mind you, for this is the Yanwang U8. Yanwang, the upmarket brand of BYD, is now building more pure electric cars than Tesla, plus a…

£36,705 FOR Practical, mostly plush interior, steers well AGAINST Firm ride, dull looks, pricey options Big news: the Tiguan now outsells the Golf. Over 7m have been shifted since 2007, making it fair to assume Tiguan MkIII isn’t going to rock the boat. The Tiguan arrives alongside an all-new Passat atop a fresh platform, dubbed MQB Evo, that aims to blend everything we’ve always known and respected VW for with a host of new tech. The range kicks off with a pair of mild hybrid petrols – a 1.5-litre TSI in two different tunes (128 and 148bhp) with a little motorised assistance to smooth out stop/start driving and cut the engine during deceleration – and a pair of plug-in hybrids, which mate that 1.5 TSI unit to an electric motor…

GREAT REASONS TO SUBSCRIBE › Get your first 3 issues for £3 then pay £19.99 every 6 issues, saving 44% on the usual shop price › The greatest motoring magazine on the planet delivered direct to your door › Unique and collectable covers – only seen by our subscribers › Get your copy before it hits the shops and never miss an issue! SUBSCRIBING IS EASY. SIMPLY GO ONLINE, CALL OR SCAN buysubscriptions.com/TGP524 03330 162 130** and quote TGP524 *This offer is subject to availability via direct debit only, and valid for UK delivery addresses only. This offer closes 8 May 2024. You will pay £3 for the first 3 issues and continue to pay £19.99 every 6 issues - saving 44% on the usual shop price. All savings are calculated as a…

‘NIMBY’ It’s an acronym: not in my back yard. Five letters that combine to create a controversial label for a person who openly opposes infrastructure developments in their area. But if it wasn’t for a bit of Victorian Nimbyism, we wouldn’t have an epic new YouTube series: TopGear Tunnel Run. It’s a seven part celebration of the old school sounds of combustion, presented by Becky Evans, and coming to a screen near you soon. But if it wasn’t for some bloke called Henry Attenborough being a Nimby, The Stig wouldn’t have been able to be let loose in the world’s loudest, lairiest machines for you and your ears’ benefit. Which means you wouldn’t know what a Group B Rally car, screaming V12 track-only hypercar, twin-supercharged vintage Formula One car, a…

Either the gentleman next to me needs to lay off the triple-shot soy mocha lattes – or whatever it is they consume by the pint in California – or he’s quite excited to be here. He’s physically vibrating… probably why he’s strapped his iPhone to a gimbal stabiliser and hasn’t stopped filming the back of someone’s head for the past 10 minutes. When Rivian’s CEO and founder RJ Scaringe, eventually strolls on to the stage in a khaki shirt, jeans and pink Velcro Nikes, the guy erupts into a three-minute standing ovation of “Yeah!”, “Let’s go RJ!” and XL fist pumps. To be fair, the entire crowd does. Call me old fashioned, but doesn’t the applause usually come at the end of the show? We’re gathered – the world’s media,…

Poor Renault hasn’t had a very good time of it in F1 over the past decade or so, but the French carmaker would surely remind us all that it used to be very successful indeed, powering teams to 14 constructors’ titles in the past 32 years. Exactly the sort of success that leads to hubristic celebrations like the Espace F1, a doom-laden marriage of MPV and cutting edge formula racer worthy of Frankenstein. The mid-mounted V10 F1 engine was yoinked straight out of Alain Prost’s FW15C from 1993, a double title winning car, and the engineers managed to extract 100bhp more power out of the engine than it had while racing in actual F1. It did require some minor modifications to the front engine, front drive layout – passengers would…

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,…

01 Saab 92 Saab’s first ever production car arrived in 1949 with its aerodynamic teardrop shape following on from the wonderful Ursaab prototype. The 92 managed a drag coefficient of just 0.35 and was powered by a 25bhp (ish) two-stroke engine. 02 Saab 99 Turbo The first Saab to be fitted with a turbocharger and a car that would define the company’s future engine choices. The little Garrett turbo fitted to the 99’s 2.0-litre Triumph slant-four engine boosted power to around 133bhp. 03 Saab 96 Sport The rally prepped Saab 96s of the early Sixties weren’t actually fantastic cars. They were heavy and underpowered compared to rivals, but they had a secret weapon in the form of Swedish driver Erik Carlsson. He won the Monte Carlo Rally twice and the RAC Rally three…