Innehållsförteckning för August 2024 från BBC Top Gear Magazine

@jack_rix @rixjack jack.rix@bbctopgearmagazine.com Welcome to issue two of the totally redesigned TopGear magazine. If you bought the last one and you’re still here, we must be doing something right. If you’re an occasional reader who’s parachuted in and landed on this page, let me explain why you need to stick around. I’ll be frank, buying a physical copy of TG these days is a luxury, a treat to feed your passion and buy yourself some time away from the onslaught of free digital content. It’s also a recognition of the stunning photography, the tone of the writing and the pacing of the different sections as you flick your way through on a carefully choreographed journey (unless, like me, you inexplicably read magazines back to front). Yes, a printed magazine is…

AS YOU MAY HAVE GUESSED, THE Alpine A290 is the hot version of the new Renault 5. So it’s big on the retro touches: the ‘X’ motif spotlights, the creases in the bodywork that evoke the air intakes of the old mid-engined Renault 5 Turbo. Under that ‘wheel at each corner’ stance there’s a 52kWh battery mounted low in the usual ‘skateboard’ chassis fashion. It powers a front-mounted motor which offers 180bhp in the standard version or 220bhp in the GTS model, with up to 221lb ft. With 1,479kg to tug along, it’s a quick car, but far from an EV drag race champion. Alpine says you can expect 0–62mph in 6.4 seconds when deploying launch control, so it’s quick in a ‘we miss the Fiesta ST too’ kinda way.…

One of the main reasons people are still, in 2024, reticent about switching from good old fashioned fossil juice to EVs is range anxiety. But let’s be accurate here, it’s not really ‘range’ anxiety is it? It’s ‘having to pull over after three hours of driving and sit in a car park for the best part of an hour while your car charges’ anxiety. I will admit, it’s a bit less snappy. BMW’s solution to the problem with the i5 M60 that I borrowed this month is that I should spend this wasted time doing what I would immediately do if I was arriving at home 45 minutes earlier anyway: sit on my bum playing video games. The i5, and indeed all flavours of the G60 5-Series, are crammed with…

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SPEEDKORE Just over 100 miles east of Ringbrothers is SpeedKore Performance Group. It may be another Wisconsin based restomod firm, but SpeedKore’s background couldn’t be more different to Jim and Mike’s. It was started by another Jim (Kacmarcik) who was and still is chairman and CEO of manufacturing goliath Kapco Metal Stamping – a company founded in 1972 by his parents Tom and Josephine. Kapco’s giant presses work to an efficient, thumping beat, but at SpeedKore’s smaller facility over the road it’s all about carbon fibre. It all starts with giant rolls of pre-preg carbon (meaning it has already been impregnated with the correct resin), and it’s cut and cured on site in the giant autoclave to ensure the best possible finish that doesn’t require any paint. Much like the…

Tiny rally car in a huge desert. Back in 2017, that was what drew me in. I was spat out several days later, eyes wizened, mind broadened, shoes full of sand. This was the fearlessly amateur Tuareg Rally, seven days of belting around Morocco, a learning curve steeper than any dune. The Jimny, a 12-year-old £1,400 eBay purchase rally prepped by MaxTraction, was wonderfully approximate in its handling – a match, then, for its driver’s knowledge. Follow the camel poo. That pearl of wisdom from John Cockburn will stay with me always. Camels don’t want to walk in soft sand, so follow their poo. Stands to reason. The trouble was I took the rest of team manager John’s dune driving crash course far too literally. Misjudging a dune edge, I…

£37,430/£42,880/£435 WHY IT’S HERE: Is the revised ID.3 easier to live with? DRIVER: PAUL HORRELL THIS IS A GOODBYE REPORT, marking the departure of an ID.3. But it isn’t goodbye, because an ID.3 is still here. Just a different one. But today’s job is to tell you about the car that’s leaving. First, the stereo. It’s OK when listening to podcasts. Listening to music, it’s some way below the standard you’d hope for. Here’s a discovery that pleased me. The boot has a false floor, as is common these days. But I just realised that below that is another false floor, with a compartment big enough for the charge cable, tyre kit and first aid kit. Handy. Finally, a trip to Cornwall showed up again how peaceful this car is.…

£45,780 OTR/£46,925 as tested/£598 pcm WHY IT’S HERE: Family 4x4 top top, clever hybrid beneath: the ideal SUV combo? DRIVER: ANDY FRANKLIN IF YOU’VE GOT AN ELECTRIC CAR THE CHANCES ARE you’ve got adjustable regen braking which can allow you to ease to a stop just by lifting off the accelerator pedal. The X-Trail, despite being a petrol car, also gets an ‘E-pedal’ setting, as it’s the electric motor that drives the wheels. And I’m a bit addicted to it – I find myself naturally getting in, switching it on and enjoying the one-pedal mode. The regenerative braking is admittedly quite strong and can be a little jerky for passengers, but it’s far more effective and stronger than using the X-Trail’s brakes solely. There’s an argument that it’s safer too…

£34,800 OTR/£35,610 as tested/£280 pcm WHY IT’S HERE: Is there still a place for the MX-5 in 2024 Britain? DRIVER: ESTHER NEVE IT’S NO UNDERSTATEMENT TO SAY the MX-5 is the world’s most popular two-seat sports car. Before BG24 FCC arrived, I have to admit I took very little notice of how many baby Mazdas were sharing the road with me, but now I’m behind the wheel of one, I’m seeing them everywhere (well, not often in the supermarket car park… more on that another time). This, of course, is not scientific proof of popularity – but the indisputable, unassailable fact is that back in 2016, Mazda built its millionth MX-5… an amazing achievement for such a niche piece of kit. Mazda launched the car in 1989 at the Chicago…

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Just imagine the business lunches that led to this. In the mid 1970s, Aston Martin was – even by Aston Martin’s stellar financial hole digging standards – in a proper financial hole. To get the orders and cash rolling in, it needed a guaranteed hit. So company bosses looked at Aston’s reputation as a world leader in suave, elegant, sporty 2+2 coupes, and said “Yeah, but also what if we ignore all that and do a massive, pointy, 4dr über limo instead?” And thus the Lagonda Series II was born: a wedge of utter period weirdness sporting many furlongs of ‘folded paper’ aesthetics (that’s one big piece of paper) and a price tag firmly in top-end Rolls-Royce territory. In addition to stuffing the Lagonda with several petting zoos’ worth of…

MANY PEOPLE THINK THAT A LOCKED differential means a 50:50 torque split. Actually the opposite is often true. Here’s why. I’ll talk about a normal left to right differential, but the same applies to the fore-aft differential when you have 4WD. The job of a diff is simple: to allow for the different speeds of different driven wheels. Drive around in a circle and the outside wheel goes further than the inside. It does it in the same time, so its speed must be higher. Same in a segment of a circle, aka a corner. A differential’s job is to make this possible. Both driven wheels get the same torque at the road surface, but rotating at different speeds. That’s the normal state when grip is good. Now say one…

Irecently visited Kimera Automobili in Cuneo, northwest Italy. If you don’t know Kimera, then look up its spectacular EVO37 restomod inspired by the Lancia 037 Group B hero. In fact, the term ‘restomod’ doesn’t do the project justice. It sweeps up myth and legend and supercharges it (actually the EVO37 is supercharged and turbocharged) with a blend of engineering and artistry that is literally breathtaking. Anyway, a phrase uttered by Kimera’s driving force, former rally driver Luca Betti, really stuck with me. “I am from Piedmont,” he began. “And even if people think that Emilia-Romagna is the motor land of Italy, really Torino is the heart of our industry.” By now I could see the pride and he spoke about his father’s love of the Martini Racing dynasty in the…

IT WON’T START. Bloody hell, not today Aston. Please. Dip the clutch pedal again (remember those?). Waggle the gearlever (and those?). Rerun the checklist. Definitely in neutral, definitely got the telltale bulge in my trousers denoting the lozenge that Aston Martin calls a ‘key’ is present. Definitely pressing the unresponsive glass starter button hard enough to crack the surface. Come on. Pleeeeease start. It probably only took a grand total of three seconds to figure out the Aston Martin Valour refuses to be woken until the driver squeezes the clutch and depresses the brake pedal while prodding the starter, but it feels a heck of a lot longer until the deafening silence is broken by a long starter motor whine then a rousing V12 idle. Luckily the roads between Bala and…

“THESE TWO NOT ONLY RULE THE CLASS, BUT HAVE COME TO DEFINE IT” Testarossa vs Countach. I look back over the history of the supercar and that 1980s ding dong is the only time I think there’s been a battle to match this one – 750S vs 296 GTB. These two shouldn’t be in the same division should they? The Ferrari 296 should line up against McLaren’s Artura – they have largely identical genetic make-ups after all, right down to the angle of their cylinder banks. But their personalities are miles apart. You drive these two back to back and they just want to knock lumps out of each other. You’re now thinking of other titanic struggles at the top of the supercar class. Maybe 458 vs MP4-12C? Nah, that…

There aren’t many driving game experiences you’d class as ‘horror’. The closest most people get is trying to drive a night race at the Nürburgring Nordschleife in Gran Turismo. But that’s because most people haven’t played Sega’s seemingly innocuous arcade game Emergency Call Ambulance. Emergency Call Ambulance is, on the face of it, a perfectly innocent prospect. It casts you as a Chicago ambulance driver, delivering patients to the hospital as quickly as possible. It’s a lot like Crazy Taxi, only it would be totally inappropriate to be playing blaring punk music at a time like this. It’s not until you actually start the game that the true implications of this premise sink in. The opening cutscene shows a spectacular car crash and a 10-year-old boy being dragged out of…

£104,880 OTR/£109,360 as tested/£1,132 pcm WHY IT’S HERE: Was Jag’s final petrol sports car the wrong car at the wrong time? DRIVER: GREG POTTS I WOULDN’T SAY THAT I’M generally a believer in the supernatural, but I am now absolutely convinced that I’m being haunted by better specced Jaguar F-Types. Quick caveat. I know that I am extremely lucky to be running a new V8-engined coupe as a daily driver in 2024. They are a rare breed. And yet the one thing that has been bugging me is the finish of this particular F-Type. I touched on this in the very first report, but it’s my opinion that a sports car should be painted in a bright colour combo with silver wheels. Heck, you bought the thing to have fun,…

£77,195 OTR/£77,195 as tested/£895 pcm WHY IT’S HERE: Can Lexus build a genuinely sports full-size SUV? DRIVER: JASON BARLOW IT’S THE CHART NOBODY WANTS to be in. According to CAP HPI’s latest top 10 of the UK’s most stolen cars, the Ford Fiesta and Ford Focus occupy the top two spots. But there are lots of those around, making them easy prey for opportunistic tea leaves – 430 Fiestas were stolen last year per 100,000 cars. In at number seven? The highly desired Lexus RX, of which, gulp, 2,396 per 100,000 were nicked. Expensive SUVs of all sorts are prime targets for criminals, of course, and a friend has had two Porsche Macans stolen from a desirable London postcode. Nothing is safe these days. I wish I could do my bit…

A few months ago I decided to sell my Ferrari 360. And while this isn’t particularly unusual, the fact it’s a road legal Challenge racecar with a numberplate that reads lasagne obviously is. It hasn’t been short of actual interest – quite the opposite in fact. But the kind of people who’ve been in touch has made me question how the human race has sustained life for so long. It’s obviously a very privileged position to be able to own (and sell) such a car, but I would sooner identify as David Blaine and live in a Perspex box filled with wasps while smothered in honey than try and sell it ever again. Just how painful has it been? As of writing, there are 386 watchers on eBay – 21…

“Ironically, the bus that was supposed to be left for dead saved my life,” says Fred Hayes about his Gulf liveried Type 2. Of course, you’ll have already noticed this isn’t a standard Bulli. Fred – nicknamed Lucky and a VW fan since his first car (a 1968 Beetle) caught fire and he managed to laugh it off – tells us that before it arrived at his door it was rotting away in the Oregon mountains. “A bunch of hippies decided to save it,” says Fred. “A tree had fallen on the middle of it, so they cut the centre section out and just welded it back together. That’s how it became a shorty bus. It then ended up in someone’s yard as a piece of art for 10 years…

THE GOOD Good looking carRobin Radford It looks heaps better than before. Much more subtle. Job well done BMWPeterson LOOKS GREAT IN SILVER. NICE UPGRADEPaul Stephen Nutter For me it looks good, at least they didn’t go and do something hideous like the new X2…Lorenzo Andrés Aguilar Looks good to me!Charles Bushe THE BAD BMW dropped the new KiaNikola Šoć What is that and why and how and noimola MY M135i HAD SIX CYLINDERS AND RWD. IT WAS A GREAT LITTLE CAR. THIS ISN’TMatt Sutherland Bloody awfulhazy leftie HOT HATCH? I’M NOT SURE IF IT’S HOT AT ALLLala Chan THE UGLY I love BMW but this looks like s**tBerat Kab That’s atrociousSimon Williams Another hideous example of poor designGrahame Turner BMW HAS RUINED A GREAT LITTLE HOT HATCHLenny Fokya This…

What is it? The sub-genre of fast-ish VW Golf that burns diesel. Less outright power than a GTI, more torque, more mpg. Practical, stealth speed. Why are we interested? Because it’s a hot hatch that gets 60+mpg driven carefully, but provides 80 per cent of the thrills of a full fat petrol GTI. Are there… versions? From MkIV 1.9 PD150 and 180 – some badged ‘GTI’ – right up to GTD-badged MkVIII cars with 200bhp 2.0-litre motors. Not slow. Costs? They’re cheaper than a GTI (£39,850 new), and you can pick up a MkIV PD180 for a grand, with new 2024 cars £37,415 from stock only.…

Fernando is faster than you. Proof of that immortal line comes not just in his two Formula One world titles, an undimmed talent for speed and lightning cockpit wit, but in this big, bronze supercar. Because this big, bronze supercar is called the Aston Martin Valiant, and it exists chiefly because Alonso wanted something spikier, harder, and racier than than the already fairly silly Valour. And apparently Aston’s V-themed thesaurus is still rich in new car names. But while they broke the mould when they made Alonso, Aston clearly didn’t when it built this Valiant. Looks just like the Valour. And the Victor before it. And neither of those cars are what you’d call “embarrassing, very embarrassing”. Which means the squared off, ‘You looking at me?’ aesthetic is transferred over…

Enyo. The most bonkers thing I’ve ever driven. The most bonkers thing I ever will drive and now my immediate answer to that oh so frequent question “What’s the best car you’ve ever driven?” Well, kinda. It’s not that this Frankenstein’s monster, this Chevrolet farm truck/IndyCar creation is the fastest thing I’ll ever drive, and it’s certainly not got the most delicate handling or neck stretching braking performance either, but for sheer visceral noise and drama I’m not sure anything will ever come close. Where are Doc Brown and that wired up DeLorean when you need them? I want to relive this day over and over. Enyo was built by the Wisconsin based tuners at Ringbrothers back in 2022 before being revealed to the world at the Specialty Equipment Market…

Sometimes you don’t even need a picture, just words. And if you’re going to troll your competition do it with humour. Today these type of adverts are done via social media channels, and when they work they can be brutal. And, as Porsche holds the record for the most Le Mans wins (19), perhaps it’s time for a followup… “IT’S MELLOW AT LOW REVS, WILL PULL AWAY IN FIFTH, BUT CHANGES INTO A SNARLING RACE MOTOR AT THE TOP END” THE COBRA IS A CAR BUILT ON MYTH AND legend. Rightly so, given so much about its creation and development was a bit… underhand. But the basics were as follows. It started life as a British sports car, the AC Ace, which arrived in 1953 but was saddled with prewar…

What’s odd about the picture on the previous page? No not Geronimo (but we’ll come to our inflatable unicorn friend in a bit), you’re looking for something that’s missing. Yep… where is Volvo? Scandinavia’s finest left the estate car family group chat last summer, having mercilessly purged anything that wasn’t an SUV from its UK line-up. Middle England mourned. But no sooner had we resolved to pitching BMW and Mercedes’s would-be heirs to the big posh wagon throne head to head, Volvo reversed its plan. You can now order a V90 again. Order is restored. No fully electric Swedish wagons yet, mind. Porsche’s got the Taycan Cross Turismo, but it’s more lifestyle than substance, and as far as electric goes, that’s it. Until you scroll down to the MG5 end…

£87,195 OTR/£94,245 as tested/£897 pcm WHY IT’S HERE: In a German-dominated world of über SUVs, why go for the upstart Italian? DRIVER: CHARLIE ROSE ONE MONTH IN WITH THE STELVIO Quadrifoglio, and I’m completely smitten. The first time I drove the Giulia Quadrifoglio some six years ago, it stuck with me. The powerplant is simply joyous, and it’s fantastic to be reacquainted with it, albeit in SUV guise. Yes, the Stelvio’s rivals boast impressive engines like the F-Pace SVR’s supercharged 5.0-litre V8 and the BMW X3 M Competition’s 3.0-litre twin-turbo straight-six, but there’s something about the allure of a Ferrari derived V6 that tickles the senses. It’s fizzy, hyperactive and sounds superb. However, there are some drawbacks to driving a 512bhp powerhouse. For instance, I’ve been averaging just 15mpg, which…

£68,810 OTR/£87,040 as tested/£820 pcm WHY IT’S HERE: To discover what role the EQ range actually fulfils for Mercedes DRIVER: OLLIE MARRIAGE THIS IS NOT GOING TO MAKE pretty reading for Mercedes. I called up a dealer pretending to be a disgruntled EQE customer wanting out of electric. I wanted to know what my car was worth as a trade-in against a new E-Class estate. When I made the call it was three months old and had covered 4,500 miles. The answer was £45,000. I’ve never seen anything like what’s going on in the premium EV market at the moment. It’s a bloodbath. The EQE has lost getting on for £500 per day. If you need some perspective on that, try this: every watt of electricity it has consumed covering…

“It’s like the car’s been cut down the middle and pulled out” WHAT IS IT? A McLar en racecar carbon tub clothed in P1 GTR panels with the full drift car treatment. Consider us well and truly intrigued WRITER: OLLIE KEW TO CELEBRATE 10 YEARS SINCE Kiwi Red Bull athlete and tyre slayer in chief ‘Mad Mike’ Whiddett brought drifting to Goodwood, he wanted to create the wildest ever ‘drift hypercar’. The idea was put to British McLaren specialist Lanzante last year, and the resulting collab promises to be one of 2024’s wildest builds. We caught up with boss Dean Lanzante to find out how it started. “The big thing was if we started with a P1 GTR, you have to lose the hybrid, the active aero, the active ride…