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Vauxhall confirms Britain DENIED ‘class-leading’ new 250-mile Ampera-e electric car

By
Richard Aucock
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Opel ampera-eVauxhall’s American parent General Motors has not bothered to engineer the impressive new Ampera-e electric car for right-hand drive, meaning the “class-leading” EV will NOT be sold in Britain.

However, this isn’t stopping the British brand demonstrating the new EV, which will make its European debut at the 2016 Paris Motor Show later this month, to UK buyers.

Boasting an official NEDC electric range of more than 250 miles – and a real-world range of more than 185 miles – the new Ampera-e will be launched in Europe as a left-hand drive Opel from 2017. Not investing to engineer it for right-hand drive means the current model will, alas, not be available to British customers.

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But Vauxhall is still “committed to having a future EV presence in its range,” said the firm’s chairman and MD Rory Harvey, so “we will be evaluating LHD cars from next spring and demonstrating them to clients”. Presumably also feeding back to North America the frustration that one of Britain’s largest car brands is denying them a potentially market-leading EV…

Opel ampera-e

GM’s decision not to engineer the advanced, roomy and pretty-looking Ampera-e for right-hand drive is particularly frustrating given how the Nissan Leaf, Britain’s best-selling EV, is built here in the UK. The Leaf was revised last year to boost its battery range but the ultra-advanced new Ampera-e beats even that – and the range of the latest range-extended Nissan Leaf.

“The fact that Ampera-e is not an eco-luxury or second car for customers broadens its appeal greatly,” said Harvey, “but it’s obviously vital that the car we sell in our market is right-hand drive, and that won’t be available in the current generation.”

You sense even Vauxhall is frustrated by its parent firm’s cost-cutting engineering decision: here’s hoping the firm’s evaluations in Europe’s second-largest new car market bears fruit for future generations…

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Jaguar moves XE production from Solihull to Castle Bromwich

By
Richard Aucock
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Jaguar XEJaguar is moving production of its XE junior executive saloon from Solihull to Castle Bromwich to help boost volumes of the Solihull-built F-Pace SUV.

The Solihull ‘factory within a factory’ – a new Jaguar production facility built within the Land Rover Solihull plant’ – will now be used only to build the in-demand F-Pace SUV for Jaguar.

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In moving the XE to Castle Bromwich, Jaguar will construct it alongside the larger XF executive saloon: the two cars use the same aluminium architecture so the process should be straightforward. To facilitate the move, Jaguar is investing an extra £100 million in Castle Bromwich.

It’s quite a turnaround for Castle Bromwich, which faced closure in 2008. Since then, Jaguar has invested heavily in it: £500 million has gone into it in the past two years alone.

Castle Bromwich currently builds the Jaguar XF plus the low-volume XJ and F-Type, and so is arguably underutilised. In contrast, the Solihull line builds the high-volume XE and ultra-successful F-Pace: it also, oddly, builds the Range Rover Sport on the same line, another in-demand machine.

Moving the XE to Castle Bromwich will fill capacity at the huge plant next to the M6 motorway, leaving Solihull to concentrate on the F-Pace – which has already become the fastest-selling Jaguar of all time.

So far this year, Jaguar sales are up 72%, to 85,726 – and in August, with the F-Pace fully on stream, they rocketed 104% to 10,868. The Jaguar XE was launched in the United States this summer.

Solihull will continue to operates 24/7, with three shifts running around the clock during weekdays.

Video: Jaguar XE at Castle Bromwich

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Volvo V90: is this the best looking estate?

By
Gavin Braithwaite-Smith
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Volvo V90 Inscription

This week, we’ve been out testing the all-new Volvo S90 and V90 on the roads of Surrey. You can read our UK first drive of the S90 saloon next week, although Tim has already driven the V90 estate. Check out his review here.

A bit of background: the S90 and V90 are the latest cars to utilise Volvo’s Scalable Product Architecture (SPA), and follow the XC90, which remains our favourite seven-seat premium SUV. In the UK, the V90 estate is likely to be the biggest seller, not least because the Volvo estate is ingrained in middle-class culture.

Having stopped to take photographs on the beautifully manicured lawns of Coworth Park, we came to the conclusion that the Volvo V90, preferably in lavish Inscription trim, is probably the best looking estate car you can buy new. A bold claim, we grant you, but we were prepared to spark some debate on Twitter.


As you’d expect, not everyone agreed with our snap conclusion. Take a look at some of the nominations:

From Simon Harris:

From Iain Dooley:

From Simon Harris (again):

From Richard:

From Hugo Brailsford:

The Jaguar XFR-S Sportbrake is a very good shout, but as it’s no longer available to buy new, it doesn’t meet the criteria of our original tweet. If we were to open the floor to wagons of old, the V90 would face some fierce competition. Did anybody mention the Lynx Eventer? Or the Alfa 159 Sportwagon?

Yep, that’s a debate for another day.

But as it’s Friday, we thought we’d throw this open to everyone? Is the Volvo V90 Inscription the best looking wagon on sale today? You decide.

Oh, and much as we’d like to accept Skoda PR Graeme Lambert’s nomination for the Skoda Superb, we feel he might be a tad biased. Sorry, Graeme, just saying…

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Caterham reveals retro Seven Sprint ahead of Goodwood Revival debut

By
Andrew Brady
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Caterham reveals retro Seven Sprint special edition ahead of Goodwood debut

Caterham is celebrating 60 years of its Seven sports car by launching a limited edition model at this weekend’s Goodwood Revival.

Just 60 examples of the car will be sold, based on the entry-level Suzuki-powered Caterham Seven 160.

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The brand says the Seven Sprint was “seemingly planned in the mid-1960s but never launched”, and is available in a choice of six paint colours that were original British manufacturer colours available in 1966/67.

Caterham Cars CEO, Graham Macdonald, said: “We have always prided ourselves on continually developing the Seven during the 44 years we have been custodian of the model.

“But we never wished to dismiss our heritage either and I know there are plenty of Seven purists and aficionados out there who will really appreciate the level of detail we’ve gone to with the Sprint to resurrect the spirit of those early cars.

“It’s a car that has been built today, with all the benefits that modern engineering brings with it, but the essence of the swinging ‘60s and is the perfect precursor to our 60th-anniversary celebration in 2017.”

Caterham reveals retro Seven Sprint special edition ahead of Goodwood debut

The Sprint’s chassis is powder-coated grey, making it period-accurate for a Series 2 Lotus 7. The suspension and rollover bar are also reminiscent of Colin Chapman’s original.

Other retro touches include the flared front wings, polished exhaust silencer and retro-styled individual rear lights. The wheels will be painted cream and finished with polished hubcaps.

Inside the basic cabin, the Seven Sprint features a wooden-rimmed sports steering wheel and a wood-effect dashboard. The interior panels and seat upholstery are hand-stitched in scarlet red.

Caterham reveals retro Seven Sprint special edition ahead of Goodwood debut

Meanwhile, the interior panels and Muirhead Scottish seat upholstery is hand-stitched in the period style and finished in striking scarlet red.

The three-cylinder 80hp Suzuki engine accelerates the lightweight sports car to 62mph in 6.9 seconds.

Only available as a factory-built car at a price of £27,995, orders for the Seven Sprint open today.

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James May caught speeding minutes after buying new motorbike

By
Motoring Research team
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James May caught speeding within minutes of buying new motorbike

Ex-Top Gear host James May has revealed that he was caught speeding on his new motorbike, just moments after picking it up from a London dealership.

May, who was given the nickname ‘Captain Slow’ by fellow presenters Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond, collected the Honda CBR600RR from a main dealer in West London last month.

The 599cc bike was clearly too much for the presenter to handle – as he was snapped by a speed camera exceeding the 30mph limit just down the road from the dealership.

Unashamed by the blunder, May tweeted a map of the location where he was caught – and mocked a customer testimonial for a speed awareness cause that described it as ‘excellent’.

The Honda CBR600RR will hit 62mph in less than 3.0 seconds and can hit more than 155mph.

It’s not clear how fast May was going when he was caught by the camera, but speed awareness courses are only usually offered if you’re caught driving over 10% plus 2mph of the limit, but below 10% plus 9mph. That means, in a 30mph limit, May must have been travelling below 42mph.

It’s believed he blamed the error on the road previously having a 40mph speed limit – but he reportedly was braking by the time the speed camera caught him.

May will be starring in his new series, The Grand Tour, alongside Richard Hammond and Jeremy Clarkson from autumn.

It’s not known whether his Captain Slow nickname will remain – there are rumours that it remains trademarked to the BBC.

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Leicester City footballers are wrapping their BMW i8s to avoid confusion

By
Andrew Brady
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Leicester City footballers are getting their BMW i8s wrapped to avoid confusion

A fleet of identical BMW i8s given to Leicester City players is causing some confusion in the car park – leading to some getting their cars wrapped in a different colour to make them stand out.

The line-up of blue BMW i8s were given to the players by the team’s Thai owners as a reward for winning the Premier League.

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But now, seven of the footballers have asked a local company to fit wraps to their cars.

The work, said to cost £2,000 a car, is being carried out by AC13 Premier – a specialist company managed by ex-Forest and West Ham star Marlon Harewood.

Players having their car wrapped are believed to include Riyad Mahrez, Demarai Gray, Danny Simpson, Ben Chilwell, Andy King and Wes Morgan.

It can take several days for each wrap to be done properly – and can be reversed entirely if the player decides to sell their car.

The hybrid i8 has a list price of £104,540 – meaning the 19-strong line-up is worth close to £2 million.

The supercar combines an electric motor with a 1.5-litre petrol engine. It can hit 62mph in 4.4 seconds while top speed is limited to 155mph.

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Chris Evans’ CarFest South 2016

By
Richard Aucock
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0

In pictures: Chris Evans’ CarFest South 2016

Just months after he quit the latest series of Top Gear following a ratings flop, Chris Evans showed fans he can still put on a good show – with thousands headings to Laverstoke Park Farm in Hampshire for the annual CarFest show.

Established by the Radio 2 breakfast presenter in 2012 to raise money for Children in Need, two CarFests are held every year – CarFest North (in Cheshire) and CarFest South (in Hampshire).

So far, CarFest has raised £6.7 million for Children in Need. Weekend family camping tickets cost more than £300, with at least 25% of ticket prices (and any profits made) going to the charity.

Supercars

In pictures: Chris Evans’ CarFest South 2016

So what were the highlights at this year’s CarFest South? Visitors could see supercars such as the Jaguar XJ220 and Ferrari F40 up close in the paddock.

Hillclimb

In pictures: Chris Evans’ CarFest South 2016

It wasn’t all stationary cars, either – with a variety of classics, supercars and even F1 cars going up the hillclimb.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

In pictures: Chris Evans’ CarFest South 2016

Evans tried to sell his Chitty Chitty Bang Bang replica at auction last year – but failed. He pleased crowds with it at CarFest – while his children drove a miniature version.

Food Fair

In pictures: Chris Evans’ CarFest South 2016

For those not as interested in cars, or just wanting a break from the track action, CarFest’s Food Fair featured a variety of live demos including a roast challenge and a pie eating competition.

James Martin

In pictures: Chris Evans’ CarFest South 2016

Celebrity chef James Martin is a regular at the event – appearing this year in his Porsche 911 GT3 RS.

Jody Scheckter

In pictures: Chris Evans’ CarFest South 2016

Former F1 champ Jody Scheckter owns Laverstock Farm, where CarFest South is held. Here he is going up the hill in his 1958 Porsche tractor.

Aston Martin Vulcan

In pictures: Chris Evans’ CarFest South 2016

Spectators were treated to this rare Aston Martin Vulcan roaring up the hill. Just 24 have been sold worldwide.

Drifting displays

In pictures: Chris Evans’ CarFest South 2016

Drifting displays entertained young and old – and yes, that is a taxi you can see in the background.

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Official: Ford Mustang is Britain’s favourite performance car

By
Motoring Research team
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0

Ford MustangThe Ford Mustang is the most popular high-performance sports coupe on sale in Britain, with year-to-date sales 60% ahead of its nearest rival.

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Classed as sports cars boasting 250hp or more, the high performance car sales chart sees Ford beating the Jaguar F-Type, BMW 6 Series and Porsche 911.

Surprisingly, the perennially-popular Audi TT is down in sixth place, behind the Porsche Cayman. That’s probably because most TT sales have less than 250hp: not a problem for the Mustang, which produces 314hp even in ‘standard’ 2.3-litre Ecoboost guise.

The 5.0-litre V8 GT produces 418hp.

70% of all UK Mustang sales are of the V8 engine: understandable, given a list price from £34,995 (the Jaguar F-Type starts at £51,775). The Ecoboost is priced from £30,995, or the same price as a Ford Focus RS.

Since introducing the Mustang to Europe in autumn 2015, Ford has sold 19,500 Mustangs across the region: 4,000 of them are in Britain alone.

Top 10 high performance cars: Jan – June 2016

1: Ford Mustang (2,317 sales)

2: Jaguar F-Type (1,446 sales)

3: BMW 6 Series (1,367 sales)

4: Porsche 911 (1,315 sales)

5: Porsche Cayman (787 sales)

6: Audi TT (778 sales)

7: Porsche Boxster (526 sales)

8: Mercedes-Benz SL (489 sales)

9: Porsche 718 Boxster/Cayman (482 sales)

10: BMW i8 (382 sales)

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Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato Volante uncovered

By
Richard Aucock
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0

Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato VolanteAston Martin has revealed a new open-top Volante version of the limited-to-99, now-sold-out Vanquish Zagato at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

The Vanquish Zagato Volante will also be limited to 99 units and deliveries will begin in 2017. It is likely to cost upwards of £500,000.

Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato Volante

Aston Martin says it’s “overwhelming customer interest” for the coupe that encouraged it to take the logical step of launching an open-top version: it’s a trick McLaren also used with the 675LT. Expect the Vanquish Zagato Volante to sell out similarly swiftly.

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The roof has been Zagato-ised: the soft-top is a bespoke hood derived from the regular Vanquish Volante, that drops beneath twin cowls on the rear deck.

Generally though, it’s the same car as the striking, stunning Vanquish Zagato, which designer Marek Reichman says has emphasised surfaces changes and intersections to make it look more muscular.

“We’ve endeavoured to create an elegant, flowing shape that really works to emphasis the car’s sculpted rear haunches”.

Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato Volante

Inside, there’s plenty of Zagato ‘Z’ logos; Z quilt patent stitch on the seats and the door sections is complemented by embossed ‘Z’ logos on the headrests and, rather snazzily, stitched into the centre console.

Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato Volante

Under the bonnet, sitting behind those distinctive LED running lights, is a pumped up version of the 6.0-litre Aston Martin V12 (the normally aspirated one, rather than the latest 5.2-litre twin-turbo in the new DB11); this produces 592hp for 0-62mph in a predicted 3.7 seconds.

Aston Martin has been working with Zagato for six decades and this is not the first Zagato convertible the Gaydon-based firm has made. The V8 Vantage Volante was launched in 1987 and the wonderful DB AR1, a Zagato version of the DB7, was launched in 2003 (and created for the North American market).

“The Vanquish Zagato Volante illustrates the ways in which Aston Martin design can evolve in collaboration with such a trusted and long-standing partner,” said Reichman, “strengthening the association between these great automotive marques in the process.”

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Ford gamers set new racing world endurance record

By
Motoring Research team
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0

Ford Gamescom 2016Five gamers have set a new Guinness World Record by racing a Ford GT in Forza Motorsport 6 for more than two days solid.

The new Guinness World Record holders for ‘longest video marathon on a racing game’ raced the virtual Ford GT for 48 hours 29 minutes and 21 seconds, getting through industrial-level supplies of sweets and energy drinks in the process.

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One of them, Cara Scott, was a Brit: also driving were Helene Cressot from France, Johannes Knapp from Germany, Italian Andrea Lorenzo Facchinetti and Spain’s Jesus Sicilia Sanchez, who all survived the two-day marathon by taking power naps (oh, and drinking 32 energy drinks, 146 bottles of water and 47 bottles of soft drinks).

The marathon challenge took place at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany, and saw the gamers each drove 603 laps of the simulated Le Mans 24 Hours circuit. Compare that to Ford GT racer Stefan Mucke, who waved off the race: he drove for ‘just’ 9 hours 5 minutes and 136 laps at the real Le Mans 24 Hours this year.

But the gamers haven’t had it easy, he said. “Just like driving at the real Le Mans, this achievement required extreme levels of concentration, attention to detail, and most importantly endurance – because they had to keep going for twice as long as we did.”

“Two days of racing is a superlative effort,” agreed Guinness World Records official adjudicator Lena Kuhlmann. “The endurance of the gamers is remarkable. They were engaged, concentrating and having fun even after the record was broken.”

Neatly, Ford also stationed a real GT in view, which Kuhlmann reckoned was an important touch: it helped “keep the gamers from getting completely immersed in the virtual world”.

We’re also sure the 3kg of sweets the gamers munched through helped keep them alert, although we don’t envy the comedown from the sugar rush…

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