Ultra-clean 918 takes Porsche into new territory

I like to think I’m on top of motoring news and gossip, but I have to confess I was nothing short of gobsmacked by something I read this week. I was compiling a ‘news review of the year’ feature for a magazine and had to write some stuff about the cars which debuted at March’s Geneva Motor Show. Not surprisingly, one of the undoubted stars of the event, the Porsche 918 Spyder, figured prominently. What had passed me by at the time was that this plug-in hybrid concept can lap the legendary Nurburgring in Germany faster than its spiritual predecessor, the Carrera GT, and yet it only produces 70g/km of CO₂. I’ve struggled to find a comparable figure for the Carrera GT – I’m not sure Porsche ever made it public – but given its 5.7-litre V10 took the two-seater to 60mph in 3.5 seconds, my guess is it was closer to 370g/km. It’s a graphic illustration of just how much automotive powertrain technology has come on in the last few years. The great news is that Porsche bosses announced during the summer that they will build the 918 Spyder. Under the bonnet will be a race-derived mid-mounted 493bhp 3.4-litre V8 plus twin hybrid motors that together offer offer another 215bhp. Can’t wait.

Drifting in a winter wonderland

Just back from a couple of days in the Austrian Alps where I’ve been testing the new BMW X3. You can read my write-up in next Wednesday’s Auto Express magazine. Suffice it to say, this MkII car is a world away from the awkwardly styled original and is now a truly impressive baby brother to the larger X5. That aside, we journos drove the new SUV up twisty roads to more than 2000 metres above sea level, where the ski lifts start. It was -10 deg C and there was fresh powered snow. Taking the cars off the road and on to a level area, we had some fun doing timed laps of a cone course (pictured, above). While it’s obviously a hoot to start sliding sideways in the snow without fear of hitting anything, there was a serious point. By turning the car’s various electronic driver aids on and off, it gives a graphic illustration of just how clever these things are nowadays. Systems off, and at the first corner you go into a massive oversteer as the back end slides round too far. Systems on, it doesn’t happen. Simple as that. No fuss, no drama. Also worth a mention are the winter tyres the X3s were riding on. Not snow tyres, but winter tyres, which are just likely regular ones but made from a softer rubber compound and have a slightly different tread pattern. Braking distances are dramatically improved at this time of year and I’ve just reshod my wife’s Ford Focus with some. Find out more at www.whywintertyres.co.uk

The future of Subaru? Hmmmm....

I’ve yet to drive the Cosworth-tuned Subaru Impreza, but I’m told by colleagues who’ve been behind the wheel that it’s pretty brutal and exceptionally quick. But if you’re looking for the next generation of cars from the Japanese performance brand, here’s a car that should get your juices flowing. It’s called the Impreza Design Concept and, according to the company, hints at “a possible future design direction”. The wraps came off at last week’s Los Angeles Motor Show, and I have to say I’m a bit disappointed with it. A design sketch was released a couple of days earlier and it looked a whole lot sexier when someone had drawn it rather than photographed it! Sure, it’s a four-door with coupé styling – isn’t everything these days? – but take the interesting front end away and it’s a bit of a jelly mould. The Impreza Design Concept is powered by a combination of the firm’s 2.0-litre naturally aspirated flat-six engine with a Lineartronic CVT automatic transmission. This combination represents Subaru's next-generation of powertrain, as Lineartronic is currently only available on 2.5-litre models in the UK.

Citroen's DS4: is it funky enough?

Spent the day yesterday with Citroen, driving the new C4. As a rival to the likes of the Astra and Golf, it’s a decent enough car with strong diesel engines. The measure of it will truly come in the new year when the next generation Focus goes on sale, which many in the industry are widely expecting to take things to a new level. Anyway, the fastest versions of the C4 are the 1.6-litre 155bhp petrol and 2.0-litre 150bhp diesel, which both hit 60mph from a standing start in about 8.5 seconds. The company says that will be it for performance from the C4, because of the eagerly anticipated arrival next summer of the DS4 (pictured). Echoing the relationship of the smaller C3 and DS3 siblings, the DS4 should be sportier and edgier than the standard C4. My fear is that it might not be; all we’ve got to go on at the moment is this picture, which reveals that externally the car doesn’t look dramatically different to the C4. It’s certainly a lot less bold than the DS3 with its contrasting colours and ‘floating’ design for the roof. I hope I’m wrong. I also hope the designers pay a bit more attention to the practicalities of driving and owning the car. The DS3 has no cupholder, a cardinal sin these days. The DS4 will come with a range of petrol and diesel engines when the car is launched, but top of the pile for hot-hatch fans is likely to be the 200bhp petrol unit, which should offer a 0-60mph time of around six seconds.

Going to Goodwood in 2011?

You may have heard the British Motor Show is no more. This year’s event was cancelled ages ago, the 2012 one has already bitten the bullet and effectively that means it’s all over. There’s just not enough manufacturer support to make it worthwhile. All this is good news for Goodwood, which stages several annual events that are going from strength to strength. Dates for 2011 have just been confirmed; the Moving Motor Show is 30 June, the Festival of Speed is 1-3 July, and the Revival is 16-18 September. The biggest of these is the Festival and next year’s theme will be ‘Racing Revolutions; Quantum Leaps That Shaped Motor Sport’, a celebration of the quest for increased power, greater efficiency and more speed. It will undoubtedly be an excellent event – because it always is – and 2011 marks some significant anniversaries that fit with the theme. It will 75 years since Auto Union won the European Championship with a ground-breaking rear-engined car, 60 years since the naturally-aspirated Ferraris vanquished the supercharged Alfas, 30 years since the dawn of rallying’s four-wheel-drive age, 25 years since turbocharged engines ruled the roost in F1, and 20 years since a rotary-engined Mazda took the chequered flag at Le Mans. It’s also the centenary of the Indianapolis 500, and there will be a special collection of cars and drivers to mark that. Tickets are on sale now, and if you buy before the end of the year they’re cheaper because of the lower VAT rate. Visit www.goodwood.co.uk/festival-of-speed or call 01243 755055
to get yours.

UK's most reliable car brand is...

At this time of year, half the fun in heading out of the house for any kind of journey in the car is knowing/praying the engine will start. The weather out of my window as I write this is miserable; it’s cold, wet and extremely windy. The last place you would want to be this morning is stranded at the side of the road. Cars are pretty reliable these days, especially if you take the time to give them the tlc they need. But what’s the most reliable brand? The perception is that it’s probably something Japanese, and with Toyota’s recall troubles this year (which incidentally are still going on, it issued another one last week, this time on the iQ city car) the smart money would probably be on one of its rivals. Interesting then that a survey of company cars out this week ranks the number one brand for reliability as… Honda. It takes into account a massive 1.5 million vehicles owned or managed by the 50 largest contract hire operators, and as such is the largest study of its kind. The Civic and Accord both finished in the top 10 vehicles. If you’re looking to treat yourself to a used performance car this Christmas, you could do a lot worse than a Type R version of either, or even an S2000.

What would you choose?

For me, the European Car of the Year (ECOTY) award lost a little of its shine this time last year when jury members voted the VW Polo as the best new vehicle. The German supermini is a perfectly fine machine, but was it really a more worthy winner than the innovative Toyota iQ? Not in my eyes, but then I’m not on the judging panel. The shortlist of seven for the 2011 honour has been announced, and those in the running include the Alfa Romeo Giulietta, Citroen C3/DS3, Dacia Duster, Ford C-MAX/Grand C-MAX, Vauxhall Meriva and Volvo S60/V60. The most notable nominee is the Nissan Leaf, the first EV to ever reach this far in the competition. The hardest thing for jurors must be trying to narrow down the long list to the short one. In the initial batch of 41 cars – and therefore already eliminated – was some pretty serious metal. On paper least, you could make a good case for the Nissan Juke, Kia Sportage, MINI Countryman, Suzuki Swift, Mercedes CLS, Honda CR-Z and Jaguar XJ to be an alternative final seven. Yet all these cars have already missed the cut. I’ve saved special mention for the Peugeot RCZ, which is another one that won’t be the winner. It’s a cracking performance car, a real shot in the arm for the French brand, and would have made my shortlist. The winner will be announced on 29 November.

The race is on

Been writing an article about how long it will be before we see the first car to break through the magic 100mpg barrier. Ignore hybrids, plug-in hybrids and futuristic fuel cell vehicles – I’m talking a good old-fashioned internal combustion engine working on its own. The best on sale now is the Smart ForTwo diesel (above), which officially can top 85mpg. On the face of it, any car that can take fuel economy into three figures is likely to be powered by a low-capacity oil-burning unit. However, there are a range of issues about getting those clean enough to meet the next generation of emissions laws. Setting that aside, there are a few contenders to take us to 100mpg. The next generation ForTwo is an obvious one, along with VW’s new small city car, marketed below the Polo as a production version of the UP! concept. An outside bet might be a replacement for the Citroen C1/Peugeot 107/Toyota Aygo triplets. Insiders say nothing is due on that score for at least a couple of years, but Citroen did briefly offer a C1 diesel back in 2005 when the model first when on sale and squeezed close to 70mpg from it. One thing is clear; in the current climate, the PR value of being the first to get to 100mpg would repay all the engineering costs and then some.

A trio of new performance SUVs on the way

SUVs have had a bad press in recent years, mainly in stories written by mainstream news hacks who lack any automotive experience and who jumped on the proverbial bandwagon at the first opportunity. Performance SUVs – models like the Porsche Cayenne and Range Rover Sport – are simply the devil incarnate (sorry, bad pun). Critics argue why does the world need these big machines at all, let alone ones that can hit 60mph in just a few seconds? There are two things to say here. One, the good news is that the latest generations of these vehicles are more eco-friendly than ever. Secondly, smaller performance SUVs are on the way too. A story in this week’s Auto Express magazine previews a new Porsche – which it believes will be called the Cajun – alongside a baby brother to BMW’s X6, likely to be badged the X4. Already announced is Land Rover’s contender, the Evoque (above). Aside from being practical transport for those that can afford it, this is seriously sexy looking hardware. And you can bet your bottom dollar they will be fast.