Table of contents for 1802 in Auto Express

Jordan_Katsianis@autovia.co.uk ● 200-mile range and 100kW charging for electric supermini ● Petrol cars will join line-up later CITROEN is hoping for big things with the all-new e-C3, an electric supermini that will launch in the UK early next year with a 200-mile range and a sub-£23k starting price. It will be joined by petrol C3 models later, but the manufacturer is starting with a car that might just kick off a new era of affordable electric vehicles. The front-mounted electric motor, inverter and all its corresponding electronics take up the space underneath the bonnet. With 112bhp, the e-C3 will get from 0-62mph in around 11 seconds, while the 44kWh lithium ferrophosphate (LFP) battery pack sits below the rear seats. This type of battery chemistry isn’t quite as energy dense as…

Ellis_Hyde@autovia.co.uk THE Mazda MX-5 has used the same rear-drive, soft-top formula since it was introduced in 1989 – but a new concept car set to be revealed at the Tokyo Motor Show could provide us with our first glimpse at the iconic roadster’s future. The concept, teased in a single darkened image, below, is likely to build on the Mazda Vision Study shown in November last year. Admittedly, there’s not a lot to go on, with the teaser showing little more than a set of circular tail-lights, and illuminated bold lettering. However, that’s enough for us to suspect that the concept is a complete car, unlike last year’s Vision Study, which was digital only – shown as part of the brand’s strategy for the rest of the decade, which focused…

THE following provide help with motoring problems. Some services are free, others charge a fee or operate on premium-rate lines (p), while some offer advice for members only (m) Legal AA: 0345 850 1130 (m) RAC: 0330 159 1446 (m) Citizens Advice Consumer helpline: 03454 040506 Local Trading Standards Local Citizens Advice Bureau Used car inspections AA: 0800 056 8040 RAC: 0330 159 0720 Technical advice AA: 0370 142 0002 (m) Driving licences DVLA: 0300 790 6801 Car registration/history HPI: 0113 222 2010 AA: 0800 316 3564 DVLA: 0300 790 6802 RAC: 0808 164 1923 Traffic information AA: 0906 888 4322 RAC: 09003 444999 (p) Problems with dealers The Motor Ombudsman: 0345 241 3008 Consumer Ombudsman: www.consumerombudsman.org RMIF: 0845 305 4230 Scottish Motor Trade Assoc. 0131 331 5510 Problems with…

VOLKSWAGEN has updated its ID.4 and ID.5 EVs for 2024, while confirming that its up! city car won’t make it into next year. Due on sale in the next few weeks, both ID. models get power upgrades and simplified range structures. The ID.4’s line-up now starts with the rear-drive Pro, which has 282bhp and an official range of 337 miles, plus faster recharging than before, at up to 135kW. The car also gets tweaks to its suspension settings. The ID.5’s range is slimmed to just two variants: the rear-drive Pro and the 335bhp GTX. Again, range and charging speeds improve over the outgoing version. VW says the up! will cease production before the end of this year. That means buyers are already no longer able to spec their own models…

THE Range Rover’s array of aluminium bodywork removes some of the potential for rust-based financial pain, but the many panels that are steel, the steel frame and the chass is are very susceptible to the tin worm. The front and rear cross members and the inner wings are some of the most notorious trouble spots, but corrosion can strike at many different points. The V8s are robust, but the earlier, under-stressed 3.5-litre versions are the most reliable. Check for evidence of frequent oil changes and have a good listen for any top-end rattles. It’s also vital that the diesel engines’ cambelt is changed on schedule. Any examples costing under £5,000 are likely to be projects, while£10,000 should be considered the starting point for a tidy four-door. Two-doors are pricey, particularly…

Make the most of our BIGGEST subscription discounts of the year in our Early Bird Christmas Sale! Gift subscriptions start from just £25.99, and with savings of up to £108 on an annual subscription, they’re not to be missed. EARLY BIRD SALE – ENDS 31ST OCTOBER! SAVE UP TO 54% 3 months for £25.99 SAVE UP TO 25% 6 months for £26.99 SAVE UP TO 25% 6 months for £26.99 Visit subscribe.autoexpress.co.uk/earlybird to claim your special offer or call 0330 333 9491 using offer code P23XME Calls to 03 numbers will be charged at your standard local rate. This offer closes on 31st October 2023. The number of issues published in a 3, 6 or 12 month period will vary for each magazine. Discounts are based on the shop price…

Alex_Ingram@autovia.co.uk @AxleIngram Performance 0-62mph/top speed 10.8 seconds/117mph Running costs 49.6mpg (official) £63 fill-up The T-Cross is due to get a facelift next year, but until then, Volkswagen has chosen to freshen its smallest SUV with a new trim level. It’s called the Move and it starts from £23,765, making it the cheapest model in the line-up. The Move can be singled out by its 16-inch alloy wheels and subtle badging on the B-pillars and door sills. Inside, the upholstery is made from recycled plastic bottles and polyester, and a jazzy bit of silver plastic across the dash gives the cabin a lighter feel than the darker panels of the more expensive trim levels. The core experience doesn’t really change, so this T-Cross’s interior still doesn’t feel quite as premium as…

WINNER Nissan Leaf 1st IF you need a five-door hatchback that will slip into your life with minimal fuss, then the Nissan Leaf is hard to fault. It’s just as practical as a petrol or diesel family car, yet is smoother and quieter to drive, and potentially much cheaper to run. Of course, there are still limitations with its range and it’s not particularly exciting to drive, but those points won’t be a deal-breaker for everyone. Either way, the Leaf is becoming a more compelling used buy. INTERESTED? Scan the code for further information • Comfortable ride• Roomy cabin• Impressive efficiency• Easy to drive • Steady performance• Fewer CHAdeMO chargers• Dull handling• High boot lip RUNNER-UP BMW i3 2nd TEN years on from its launch, the i3 still feels cutting…

YOU’LL save a chunk of money by charging at home, especially if you have an electricity tariff with low overnight rates. To that end, it’d be well worth investing in a wallbox charger, so you’ll wake up to a car with a full battery before setting off for every journey. The initial cost of a wallbox is fairly steep – the box plus installation fees will set you back £800 or more – but it’ll make for a sound long-term investment, one which can be maximised even further if you own more than one EV, or even a plug-in hybrid. We tested some of the best home chargers on the market back in July, and we rated Simpson and Partners as the best. A base price of £599 gets you…

Got a query? products@autoexpress.co.uk WHILE many of us have experienced unseasonably warm weather of late, there’s no ignoring the fact that winter is around the corner. For some, that means thinking about preparing our car before the weather gets so bad that it becomes hard to find a dry day to get the cleaning kit out, or it’s so cold any enthusiasm for the task has vanished. We’ll look at paintwork in another issue, but it’s worth remembering that your car’s underside needs attention just as much as the shiny top. And before you think you don’t need to bother because it’s never seen, corrosion underneath is more likely to take a car off the road than if it is on a wing or bonnet edge. The first step is…

NEW PRODUCT Thinkware U3000 Price: £529 (including 64GB SD card) Resolution: 4K front + 1440P rear Rating: Contact: thinkwaredashcam.eu THERE’S not much to make you believe the Thinkware is worth hundreds more than the rivals here. It has no built-in screen, so you need to rely on the app to set up and control the features. The windscreen mounting is unsophisticated, too, with slide-on plastic tabs where both rivals here have magnetic attachments to make them easy to dismount. Our final gripe is the hefty cable for the rear camera, which makes it tricky to hide behind trim and panels. The feature which is meant to make all this worthwhile is radar control for the cameras when your car is parked. If you have the U3000 connected to a live 12V…

PRODUCTGROUP TEST 18|10|2023 Every week, we extensively test all the latest car kit from tyres to trim cleaners. Log on to www.autoexpress.co.uk to look through our huge online test archive IN most European cities the use of electric scooters is a key part of the infrastructure. They share cycle lanes with bikes, providing an easy, cheap and clean way of covering the last mile or two of a commute. In the UK they remain controversial and it’s still illegal to use privately owned e-scooters on public roads and pavements. But they continue to be popular, either with people willing to take the risk of being prosecuted or with users who need to get around private land such as camp sites, commercial properties and race-track paddocks. There is still hope that…

Alastair_Crooks@autovia.co.uk @AllieCrooks ● Both concepts are based on Hyundai-Kia’s E-GMP platform ● Two and four-wheel drive expected, with a range of 300+ miles KIA’S all-electric EV-badged line-up is about to gain another couple of members in the form of the EV3 and EV4. Both have been previewed as concepts at the firm’s EV Day showcase in Korea. We’ve caught the EV3 model undergoing testing before, but the new EV3 Concept (pictured here) is our best look yet at the new car’s design. It is close to production-ready, and we can expect the compact SUV to hit the road next year. The EV3 Concept borrows plenty of the angular design themes seen on the EV5 and EV9 SUVs, and like those models, we don’t expect the final exterior design of the…

THE new e-C3’s raised stance won’t stop Citroen from introducing a successor to the current C3 Aircross baby SUV, the firm’s boss has confirmed. The new car sits around 10cm higher than the outgoing C3. But speaking to Auto Express, Citroen CEO Thierry Koskas said it remains “a B-segment hatchback” and that a next-gen C3 Aircross will join it in the line-up. “We’re not trying to cover off two segments of the market here,” Koskas said. “There is absolutely still room for a future C3 Aircross. It will come later and will be a proper SUV – bigger, higher, and with more space.” Given product lifecycles, this is likely to occur by the end of next year.…

mail@autoexpress.co.uk @AutoExpress HOT TOPIC Citroen Ami Buggy FROM: Peter Hurwood No doors? How daft! If it did 50mph, had great acceleration and was priced at £6-7k, I might consider one for the supermarket run and other local errands. But it’d be pretty much no use for anything else though. FROM: Martin Mu Well priced, with funky looks. I am contemplating the ‘normal’ model, but talk of Citroen working on a faster version has made me hold off for now. Tuners can increase speed of current models by tweaking the ECU, so that’s an option. Join the debate at www.autoexpress.co.uk ◼ “Is the Ami Buggy the first car to have zero doors but two garden gates?” Scott Marsden ◼ “Ideal for nipping around the Costa del Sol and other Med resorts,…

VAUXHALL has announced a new Design trim level for its Astra and Mokka Electric, slashing the entry price of both models. The Astra Electric Design gets 18-inch alloys, front and rear parking sensors, cruise control and a pair of 10-inch screens for the instruments and infotainment. It costs from £37,795, more than £2,000 less than the previous GS-spec entry model. The Mokka Electric Design cuts that car’s starting price by a similar amount, to £38,985. It rides on 17-inch alloy wheels and features a rear-view camera, twin seven-inch displays and LED headlights.…

Chris_rosamond@autovia.co.uk “When you look at the operating costs, especially if the majority of charging is done at home, then the argument for EVs becomes far more compelling.”Alex Smith Volkswagen UK MD IT’S no secret that despite the best efforts of car makers to promote them, electric cars are proving quite a hard sell to private buyers. While business and fleet sales are strong, thanks to big company-car tax benefits for drivers making the transition to electric vehicles, plus the desire to implement green agendas, latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) point to a declining level of interest among buyers who have to pay for their own new cars. The SMMT’s chief executive Mike Hawes told the recent Electrified conference in central London that whereas private…

Dean_Gibson@autovia.co.uk @DeanGbsn “It’s on the road where the Transit Custom impresses the most, with excellent comfort” A VAN? As the lead drive in Auto Express? No, we haven’t lost our minds, we’re just highlighting how important the new Ford Transit Custom is to the US firm, as well as its standing in the British market as a whole. In 2022 the Transit Custom outsold Ford’s best-selling car, the Puma, and even as this new model is coming on stream, the existing Custom remains the UK’s best-selling commercial vehicle so far this year. So the arrival of an updated model is a big deal. And when we say new, we mean all new. The underpinnings are designed from the ground up to accommodate diesel, plug-in hybrid and fully electric powertrains, while…

Richard_Ingram@autovia.co.uk @rsp_ingram WE’RE still some way off price parity when it comes to the initial costs of electric cars, as you’ll know if you’ve read our story on page 16. Yet if you can charge at home on an off-peak energy tariff, the potential daily savings can be substantial. So putting price to one side for a moment, let us look at the new Honda e:Ny1 alongside its EV rivals. At 4,387mm long, it’s larger than a Volkswagen ID.3, but shorter than an ID.4. The e:Ny1’s got a relatively big battery (62kWh usable) but its advertised range is no better than par for the course. Nor is its 78kW peak charging speed; a 10-80 per cent DC charge will take 45 minutes, according to Honda. You can see charge status…

Steve_Walker@autovia.co.uk Electric motor Power/range 422bhp/264 miles Performance 0-62mph/top speed 3.8 seconds/112mph WHAT is a Zeekr? This will be the question for lots of UK motorists on first acquaintance with a Zeekr X, but they’d do well to get acclimatised to that sense of confusion and unfamiliarity. On one hand, Zeekr is just one of a plethora of little-known Chinese brands that will be launching in the UK in the coming years. On the other, the Zeekr X is not your usual European-market small premium SUV. Far from it, in fact. Zeekr is a ‘global luxury electric mobility brand’ owned by Geely, the Chinese group behind more familiar names such as Lotus, Volvo, Polestar and Smart. The Zeekr X uses Geely’s SEA platform, which also forms the basis for the Smart…

SAME CLASS Kia Soul EV KIA is one of the world leaders for electric vehicles today, and back in 2014 its zero-emission offering took the form of the quirky Soul EV. On paper, its stats are quite similar to the Leaf’s; its electric motor drives the front wheels and makes 109bhp, while an official range of 131 miles, courtesy of a 27kWh (usable) battery pips, the Nissan by seven. The Soul is decent to drive, performing competently all round without being outstanding in one area. There’s a certain charm to its boxy shape, and it also means that there’s plenty of headroom in the front and rear seats. Prices start from just under £8,000 for high-mileage examples, though, so the Leaf will appeal more if your budget’s tight. • Roomy…

Andy_Pringle@autovia.co.uk With thanks to Spelthorne Archers (spelthornearchers.org.uk) Running costs 51.4mpg (on test) £81 fill-up/£510 or 12% tax Practicality Boot (seats up/down) 570/1,726 litres WHEN we heard that Mazda was setting its sights on SUVs from the likes of BMW and Mercedes with the CX-60, we knew it was a tall order. So, has the Japanese brand hit the target with what is its first premium SUV and its first plug-in hybrid? Our car arrived on the Auto Express fleet in October 2022, just after a group test where the CX-60 narrowly lost to the Lexus NX, but was still labelled “impressive” by our reviewers. And on a half-term trip to North Wales, the car immediately showed off a couple of areas where Mazda really has hit the bullseye. First, the…

IF you’re a professional driver or really worry about your car and insurance premiums, then you will be willing to invest a little more in a dash cam, especially if it also covers the back of your car. Thinkware has just launched a new two-channel (front and rear) camera that promises some clever features and class-leading 4K resolution from the forward-facing camera and 1440P from the back. The U3000 needs to be impressive though, because it costs £529. The Cobra SC 400D has been around for a year, but a £100 price cut means it’s worthy of another look, especially as it seems to have the spec to rival the Thinkware and our current favourite premium camera – the Nextbase 622GW. The Thinkware is clever and performs well but is…

mail@autoexpress.co.uk VAUXHALL’S seventh-generation Astra isn’t the force in the world that it once was, but our 2023 Driver Power New Car survey shows that owners still consider it reasonable value, and it avoids the tail end of the table for most categories. The Astra scores well for its safety features, from their number to operation, but its best individual performances are an 11th for low-cost servicing and 14th for front-seat comfort. Drab interior styling only earns 70th place however, and overall quality gets the same ranking. Boot space and interior storage don’t impress owners much, either, with both attracting lowly scores. A poor 70th for engine noise is offset by a healthy 14th position for acceleration. WE SAID “It can’t quite match the Golf or Focus as a complete package,…

WHAT you’re about to witness is a tale of the good, the bad and the undrivable. Best bit first: Volvo is looking to increase sales with some good, old-fashioned price cuts. “Save up to £11,500 in October” is the tempting message it’s been putting out there this autumn. Coincidentally, a couple of weeks ago I received a friendly ‘Hej’ (hello in Swedish, apparently) from my usual contacts at Volvo, who reminded me that I hadn’t driven any of its cars for a while and would I like to? “Yes please. I’ll grab one of those blessed with that amazing £11,500 discount,” was my immediate response. The following week came a message that a Volvo ‘Brand Ambassador’ would be handing me an XC90 Recharge Ultimate T8 AWD plug-in hybrid from the…

Alastair_Crooks@autovia.co.uk @AllieCrooks ● Range likely to be up to around 330 miles ● Prices from about £40k ● Hot GT version to follow ALONGSIDE news of the upcoming Kia EV3 and EV4, extra details for the upcoming EV5 have been announced. However, the big news is that Kia has confirmed it will bring the mid-sized electric SUV to the UK market – taking aim at the Tesla Model Y, Nissan Ariya and BMW iX3. The five-seat EV5 takes after the larger, seven-seat EV9, offering up a more practical alternative to the low-slung EV6. The EV5 will arrive here in 2025, after the smaller EV3 SUV and the EV4 saloon. Like the EV6 and EV9, the EV5 sits on Hyundai-Kia’s bespoke E-GMP EV platform and three variants have been announced: ‘Standard’,…

Jeep sets £61k start price for new Wrangler PRICES have been revealed for the updated Jeep Wrangler (above). With no two-door or diesel models available, the four-door 2.0 turbo petrol Sahara kicks off the range at £60,785 and gets 18-inch alloy wheels, a new 12.3-inch touchscreen, and electric leather seats. The rough-and-ready Rubicon costs £62,785 and comes with mud-terrain tyres, an off-road camera, and auxiliary switches for extra accessories. Electric pick-up under development at Isuzu ISUZU’S President and COO Shinsuke Minami has announced the maker is planning to launch a battery-powered pick-up for the European market. Speaking at the reveal of the updated D-Max, the boss said: “Isuzu is actively making efforts to realise a carbon-neutral society. Going forward, Isuzu plans to produce a BEV pick-up truck, first in Europe.”…

THE Labour party has launched its ‘Plan for the Automotive Sector’, which includes a focus on reducing consumer anxieties over the EV transition, and steps to support the car industry. Labour’s policy document follows hard on the heels of the Conservative Plan for Drivers, launched during the party’s 2023 conference, but makes no mention of ‘driver-pleasing’ policies pitched by the Tories, including their proposed clampdown on 20mph speed limits and measures to reduce the impact of bus lanes, or any commitment to improved road maintenance. Instead, Labour aims to build buyers’ confidence in EV purchases with ‘Electric Vehicle Confident’ labels detailing accurate costs and realistic vehicle ranges, while also making a commitment to boosting industry with a new long-term investment strategy.…

Steve_Fowler@autovia.co.uk @stevefowler ● Electric saloon due in 2025 ● Next Levante SUV going EV MASERATI’S march upmarket and toward full electrification will come to fruition in 2025 with the launch of its first dedicated electric model, an all-new interpretation of the legendary Quattroporte saloon. Speaking exclusively to Auto Express, Bernard Loire, Maserati Chief Commercial Officer, said, “You’ll see the first electriconly Maserati in 2025 with new Quattroporte. You will see that it’s not only a real Maserati but a real Quattroporte, too.” Maserati is on a push to be parent company Stellantis’s luxury brand. As Loire explained: “Maserati is not aiming to be a volume brand. It’s aiming to provide exceptional cars with a high level of quality, and also make profit for the company, which has not always been…

Alex_Ingram@autovia.co.uk @AxleIngram ● Hydrogen racer uses fuel-cell tech ● Toyota also joining for new class’s debut in ’26 “The prototype has just one electric motor that drives the rear wheels” PLANS to create a hydrogen category in Le Mans have been bolstered by the unveiling of the new MissionH24 prototype. A collaboration between the Le Mans 24 Hours organiser, the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO), and engineering consultant GreenGT, the MissionH24 is designed to tackle the famous endurance race from 2026. Pierre Fillion, President of the ACO announced earlier this year that “both fuel cell and hydrogen internal combustion-engined cars will be accepted in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the Hydrogen category”. MissionH24 says the design of its hydrogen racer should be finalised by March 2024. The new…

Dean_Gibson@autovia.co.uk @DeanGbsn THERE was a time when passenger-carrying versions of the Ford Transit were little more than vans with seats, but the Tourneo brand has tried to rectify that. The last-generation Tourneo Custom was a step in the right direction for Ford to make a rival to the Volkswagen Caravelle and Mercedes V-Class, but the all-new model is even better. The latest version is being launched at the same time as the new Transit Custom, which, as we’ve revealed on the previous pages, is a van that’s more car-like than ever to drive. That bodes well for this new passenger variant, which will be offered with up to nine seats, depending on spec. As with the Transit Custom, there will be PHEV and electric versions coming in 2024, but for…

Running costs EV range: 6 miles £107 fill-up Performance 0-62mph/top speed 2.5 seconds/217mph+ WE might as well get this potential bone of contention out of the way, here and now: yes, this is the most powerful Lamborghini of all time, and it’s a plug-in hybrid. Still with us? Good, because the Revuelto (named after a fighting bull that presumably got stuck into quite a few matadors back in the 1800s) is quite the statement of intent from the Italian brand. And to find out if it’s still a proper Lamborghini, despite its new technology – or perhaps even because of it – we’re taking it for a few laps around Autodromo Vallelunga near Rome. To recap, the Revuelto takes a new 6.5-litre V12 petrol engine, producing 814bhp, and combines it…

WHILE EVs were previously the preserve of the wealthy early adopters, used prices eventually dropped to attainable levels. And if you want one on the cheap today, the Leaf is a great place to start. We’ve based our used values on 2015 examples of each. While you can get a tidy Leaf of that vintage for around five grand, you can spend even less: earlier examples kick off from as little as £3,500. Either way, it’s at a price that would make an ideal car for someone who has an average commute, or for buyers who use it as a second car for urban trips. Having come out later than the Leaf, and thanks to the fact that it carries a more premium badge and gets more advanced tech, the…

Steve_Walker@autovia.co.uk Practicality Boot (seats up/down) 508/1,583 litres Running costs 37.0mpg (on test) £76 fill-up Performance 0-62mph/top speed 10.4 seconds/130mph THERE’S been an accident. The Peugeot 408 was sitting in a public car park, minding its own business, when it had an altercation with a mystery white vehicle. The driver, possibly unaware or prioritising their own no-claims bonus, disappeared from the scene leaving only a chalky paint residue on the 408’s freshly restyled Elixir Red bodywork. The result: deep scrapes and dents down both the 408’s passenger side doors and a trip back to Peugeot HQ for a set of replacements. It’s the kind of thing that happens every day to car owners around the country but that doesn’t dampen the frustration and annoyance when it happens to you. There is,…

NEW PRODUCT Gtechniq HALOv2 Price: from £55 Contact: gtechniq.com YOUR car may have a stylish wrap or benefit from paint-protection film, but you still want to look after the finish – and that’s just what the latest HALO coating from specialist Gtechniq aims to do. HALOv2 – which has been more than a year in development – chemically bonds to the paint-protection film (PPF) or vinyl wrap to create a super-dense but flexible film that becomes the permanent surface. It uses the latest composite siloxane technology to leave a weatherproof finish, which Gtechniq says has boosted performance compared with the original version. It claims users will see improved durability, greater hydrophobic water beading and additional dirt repellency, with up to two years’ protection. HALOv2 is compatible with a large range of…

High-end specs unveiled by Bugatti BUGATTI has launched a new collection of eyewear. The Collection Two is made up of 16 styles with hypercar-inspired details, including the laser-cut grille pattern, Ettore Bugatti’s signature and the marque’s red emblem. The glasses use luxury materials including sterling silver, carbon fibre, mother of pearl and 18 carat gold, with prices starting from £1,000. Visit bugattieyewear.com for more info. ‘Exemplary’ score for Vredestein’s Quatrac VREDESTEIN is celebrating its Quatrac’s success in our German sister publication Auto Bild’s all-season tyre test. Another ‘exemplary’ rating means it is the only product to secure top-five finishes over the past five Auto Bild tests, which are among the largest undertaken in Europe. The tyre was termed “a specialist in the wet”, securing an impressive second place for wet…

Benetton Rebels of Formula 1 Damien Smith (Evro Publishing, evro.co.uk) Price: £60 Rating: BENETTON’S successes are memorable, particularly ’94 and ’95 where the team took home back-to-back championships. This is stuffed with great period photography, well written and engaging, and fans of Benetton in its heyday will love it. Ragged Edge Stuart Barker (John Blake, bonnierbooks.co.uk) Price: £22 Rating: ANY biker knows the Isle of Man TT as brutal, dangerous, yet beguiling motor racing. Stuart Barker looks at the TT from every angle, steering clear of excessively romanticising serious topics such as the mortality rate of the riders. Quotes from riders, team owners, court officials and the like add loads of depth. Top Speed 2: Racing Legends Available for: iOS, Android Price: Free Rating: AN otherwise half-decent drag racing game…

CO2/tax 331g/km £695 Running costs 19mpg (GranTurismo Spt) £133 fill-up Performance 0-62mph/top speed 4.8 seconds/187mph FEW brands have the cachet of Maserati, but despite being one of the most aspirational car companies, its cars have rarely been truly competitive. They’ve often looked appealing and had plenty of power, but in terms of technology and build quality, more mainstream luxury brands have generally left Maserati’s cars in the shade. When the GranTurismo was launched, it was largely impressive, but by the time production ended a dozen years later, this sleek GT had become outdated. However, while Maserati has a reputation for building cars that can be less than bullet-proof, the GranTurismo tends to be reliable if well maintained, so as with any premium car, make sure it has full service history.…