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     It still had exotic aluminium, plastic and steel elements in its construction yet was simpler than its predecessor, being monocoque-Laguna-related rather than complicated spaceframey. The general specification has all the usuals, while Privilege trim adds alloys and climate control and uppermost Initiale brings leather upholstery.  There are plenty of decent petrol and diesel options. If you don’t do the miles, the 3.5-litre petrol V6 is going to be the bargain buy, along with the 2.0-litre four-pot. Realistically, it’s the 2.2-litre diesel four that delivers reasonable pep and MPG in the mid-to-high 30s, but the 1.9 dCi is a decent enough plodder and the 2.0 dCi is the easiest to find. There’s also an uncommon 3.0-litre diesel V6. The Espace was revamped a couple of times, in 2005 and 2006. You might notice the redesigned dashboard and front end. Of more use, though, was a sliding rail for the rear seats. As for problems, it’s usually electrics, meaning all the...

     A regular   Ford Mustang   is a relaxed, amiable, gently burbling companion, even in 5.0-litre V8 form. This CS800, from British importer and tuner Sutton Bespoke, takes such a regular Mustang and introduces the noise and aggression of a slasher movie to it. We’ve driven Sutton’s Mustangs before, but this one builds on the latest-generation Mustang that was recently facelifted. You can pick and choose from the bits you like and, cleverly, Sutton even offers a configurator to make life as easy as when choosing any other new car. Our test car had a lot of options fitted to it. The most important is a large Whipple supercharger that's mounted high in the engine’s vee and necessitates a taller bonnet; combined with throttle bodies and high flow injectors, the headline number is ‘up to 825hp’, which we’ll call a round 800bhp for these purposes to match the CS800 name. A few here and there won’t matter. There is a full active exhaust with Blue...

     A Jeep that starts up silently is not something many will be used to. The new Jeep  Jeep Renegade   does just that, thanks to a new e-Hybrid powertrain that, the firm says, marks the latest step in its move to an all-electrified model range. The model, along with the larger Jeep Compass e-Hybrid, joins Jeep’s line-up alongside the newly introduced plug-in 4xe hybrid variants. Unlike the 4xe, the e-Hybrid is front-wheel drive only. It also commands a £7000 premium over the entry-level, petrol Renegade and is slightly cheaper than the basic plug-in hybrid 4xe.  The all-new powertrain consists of a 128bhp 1.5-litre turbocharged engine, a 20bhp electric motor and a 48V battery that is positioned between the two front seats. Torque stands at 177lb ft. Jeep also claims emissions and fuel consumption improvements of up to 15%.  A second electric motor is attached to a new seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, which, Jeep says, al...

      Aston Martin is weighing up potential ties with  Lucid ,   Rimac   and   Mercedes-Benz   architecture for its first electric sports car, due in 2025. The firm has today announced a huge, £653 million investment plan aimed at paying back debts, ramping up production volumes and boosting profits - but the package will also be instrumental in the fruition of Aston's electrification strategy. The Gaydon firm's first plug-in hybrid – expected to be based on the Aston Martin DBX SUV – will be launched in 2024, before a pure-electric model arrives in 2025 on the way to a "fully electrified GT/sport and SUV portfolio" in 2030. Both an electric sports car and SUV have previously been mooted for a 2025 launch, with executive chairman Lawrence Stroll saying: “We’re literally defining now the products we want to launch with and expect to have an answer early next year.”  Details of the first electric car are unclear, b...

      In the '70s, street rods experienced a revival in popularity after being knocked out of the spotlight during the muscle car era. That revival came with a change. The prominent rod builders of the late 20th century were not building early roadsters and coupes in the traditional styles of earlier years but rather in a modern style characterized by high-tech chassis with independent front and rear suspensions, extensive use of hand built components (with an abundance of billet aluminum), reshaped bodies, and the elimination of emblems and trim. The result was a super-clean, streamlined style that almost instantly became known as "smooth." Of all the designers and builders associated with the "smooth" style, some of the most famous are  Boyd Coddington ,  Lil' John Buttera ,  Chip Foose , and Larry Erickson. Of all the owners, probably the most successful was Fred Warren, owner of the AeroCoupe, Smoothster, and Shockwave, among others. No other car o...

     This is the revised   Cupra Leon , now wearing bronze badges and with no   Seat   branding, following on from the bespoke   Cupra Formentor   model that really hits a mark. Not sure whether this does, though. This test car is a performance plug-in hybrid (PHEV) variant, with 242bhp and 295lb ft, featuring a 1.4-litre turbocharged petrol mated to an electric motor. With a 12.8kWh battery, it has a pure electric range of 31 miles, and you can set the minimum level it’ll discharge to, in case you want to save some juice for a zero-emissions zone. The drive units both sit under the bonnet and it’s front-wheel drive The Cupra Leon sits 25mm lower at the front and 20mm lower at the rear than the regular Seat Leon, for a lower centre of gravity. There are struts at the front and a multi-link set-up at the rear, and big 370mm brake discs behind 19in rims and 235/35 R19 Goodyear Eagle F1s. All quite sporty. I’m not sure yet whether it's down...

  Perhaps Chevrolet is a bit jealous of the Ford Expedition's Stealth Performance package, as the   2023 Tahoe full-size SUV   will now be adding a performance package of its own. Available for the RST trim level, the Performance Edition adds an upgraded exhaust, suspension tweaks, and different brakes. The exhaust adds 13 horsepower and 7 pound-feet to the RST's 6.2-liter V-8 engine, bringing totals to 433 horsepower and 467 pound-feet of torque. Springs, dampers, and an anti-roll bar borrowed from the police-spec Tahoe are also included, meaning the Performance Edition sits 0.4 inch lower than stock. Larger front brakes provide extra stopping power, and the calipers are painted red.

     Although based on the familiar form of the   Volvo XC40   crossover,   Volvo ’s first full EV shares its core mechanical layout with the   Polestar 2 . As launched in all-wheel-drive P8 form, it uses a pair of 201bhp electric motors, one driving each axle, for a combined system output of 402bhp. Power is drawn from a 78kWh battery pack that can give up to 260 miles of range under the WLTP protocol and is mounted under the floor. Using 150kW DC fast charging, it will be possible to replenish the battery from empty to 80% charge in 40 minutes. As with the Audi E-tron, the intention here has clearly been to offer buyers coming from the company’s internal-combustion models a familiar experience. Beyond some very subtle badging, the only obvious visual difference from other XC40s is the Recharge P8’s lack of a conventional radiator grille, which has been replaced by a body-coloured cover. The cabin is similarly familiar, with a redesigne...

The Dark Horse is an entirely new breed of Mustang, one that shares no bloodlines with historic models. While it's based on the new seventh-generation V-8–powered  Ford Mustang  GT, the Dark Horse is more badass out of the box, and it's bred for racing, with numerous standard performance features and exclusive track-focused options. Think of the 2024 Ford Mustang Dark Horse as the love child of the outgoing  Mach 1  and Shelby variants, neither of which is offered for the redesigned Stang's inaugural model year. Like the Mach 1 before it, the Dark Horse is the most track-capable Mustang that doesn't have Shelby badging. It also inherits parts from  the Shelby GT350  and  GT500 , most notably their lightweight carbon-fiber wheels. It's the first time Ford will offer the exotic rims on a non-Shelby Mustang, and they'll likely still cost a pretty penny when they become available later in the model year. Like the regular Mustang GT, the Dark Horse variant ...

  Chevrolet announced in early September that it plans to bring back its "Build Your Own Engine" program for the Corvette Z06 starting in the second quarter of 2023. The program, which allows buyers to come into the factory and help workers assemble the engine before it goes into their car, will only be available for Corvettes utilizing the LT6 powertrain, which, for now, only means the Z06. "This is a real challenge for us because this is such a new engine and it's much more complex than what we've ever done in the past," plant director Kai Spande said at a 28th-anniversary celebration for the Corvette Museum, recorded by Corvette Blogger. "We've done some things that I think will be very much appreciated by those that build their engine," Spande continued. Previous iterations of the Build Your Own Engine program meant buyers would join assembly-line workers to help assemble their motor. For 2023, though, the Bowling Green, Kentucky, plant has...

    Among the crucial models in development as part of Volvo’s EV onslaught is the all-new, all-electric and all-important successor to the   Volvo XC60 . The SUV has been the Swedish brand’s best-selling car for the past four years running.  Due in 2024 to fill the gap between the XC40 Recharge electric SUV and the long-awaited electric replacement for the XC90 SUV coming later this year, the XC60 successor (which will have a name rather than a numerical designation) will play a core role in taking Volvo to its goal of all-out electrification by 2030.  EVs accounted for just 6.5% of Volvo’s global sales last year (its best on record), but the Swedish company aims to boost that figure to 50% by 2025 on the way to ditching combustion entirely by 2030. A swiftly expanding line-up of EVs, heavy investment in production facilities and new car construction processes will be key to achieving this goal, as Volvo looks to emerge as a front runner among the ‘le...

  The Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV, revealed here as an all-new luxury flagship for the German marque’s fast-growing line of EVs, will rival the Audi E-tron and BMW iX when it arrives at the end of this year. As with the Mercedes-Benz EQS and Mercedes-Benz EQE saloons, the US-built EQS is based on the dedicated electric vehicle architecture (EVA) platform, which supports both single-motor, rear-wheel-drive and dual-motor, four-wheel-drive layouts. Power for all launch models is provided by a 107.8kWh battery – the same lithium ion unit used by the EQS saloon – packaged within the floorpan to give the luxury SUV a largely flat floor and what  Mercedes-Benz  says is the lowest centre of gravity of any of its SUV models. At 5125mm in length, 1959mm in width and 1718mm in height, the EQS SUV is 82mm shorter, a scant 3mm wider and 105mm lower than the Mercedes-Benx GLS SUV. It also rides on a wheelbase that is 75mm longer th...

    DeLorean Motor Company will unveil the model on Tuesday 31 May. The revived car will take a completely different design approach from the 1980s sports coupé from which it takes its name. Called the DeLorean EVolved, the model will be a highly modern proposition, with what look to be only subtle nods to its famous namesake. It was originally confirmed for an unveiling on 18 August ahead of a Pebble Beach debut just three days later. Now, interested drivers can sign up for a chance to see the car 24 hours before the general public. The first detailed preview image was revealed earlier this year. It shows off a rear end clearly designed with a focus on aerodynamic efficiency: the rear deck is tapered and houses louvres for directing airflow, the rear arches extend dramatically from the side of the car and there looks to be an extendable rear wing housed above the futuristic rear light bar. Beyond that, the DeLorean Motor Company has not given any more clues as to the design o...

    Impressive acceleration was accompanied by an enjoyable soundtrack. Turbo lag hampered thrust below 3300rpm, but keeping the engine between 5000 and 7000rpm via the slick five-speed manual ’box was the solution. The brakes were powerful and free of fade. The GT-R’s blend of tactile handling and otherworldly stability startled us, especially over wet, challenging roads. Grip and body control were first class, stifling criticism of the occasionally crashy ride. The interior majored on driving position, instrumentation and rear leg room, and the boot was reasonable. Materials and aesthetic appeal were no better than Primera grade, though, and the fuel tank was small. Two years later, the R33 GT-R was replaced by the shorter but mechanically similar R34. Claimed output stayed at 277bhp to satisfy Japanese regulations, but over 300bhp was possible. The R34 was canned in 2002, but an all-new Nissan GT-R appeared in 2007 and continued slaying supercars in Europe until it was fina...

  A regular   Ford Mustang   is a relaxed, amiable, gently burbling companion, even in 5.0-litre V8 form. This CS800, from British importer and tuner Sutton Bespoke, takes such a regular Mustang and introduces the noise and aggression of a slasher movie to it. We’ve driven Sutton’s Mustangs before, but this one builds on the latest-generation Mustang that was recently facelifted. You can pick and choose from the bits you like and, cleverly, Sutton even offers a configurator to make life as easy as when choosing any other new car. Our test car had a lot of options fitted to it. The most important is a large Whipple supercharger that's mounted high in the engine’s vee and necessitates a taller bonnet; combined with throttle bodies and high flow injectors, the headline number is ‘up to 825hp’, which we’ll call a round 800bhp for these purposes to match the CS800 name. A few here and there won’t matter. There is a full active exhaust with Bluetooth control...

     American racer   Ken Block   has shown off the Hoonipigasus, an outlandish 1400bhp  Porsche -based creation that he will race at the Pikes Peak hillclimb in June. It started out in life as a four-cylinder Porsche 912 (a 1960s budget version of the Porsche 911) but has been radically modified for the event by Block’s Hoonigan Racing outfit and Porsche specialist BBi Autosport, which has taken several class wins at the event over the years. Almost a decade in the making, the car has been completely redesigned, with a huge splitter and towering rear wing helping to keep it glued to the road. The rear wheels have been moved out and further back to help improve handling, while the lack of a rear bumper shows off the inner workings. The Hoonipigasus has been fitted with a mid-mounted twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre flat six producing around 1380bhp. Despite this new engine and a four-wheel-drive powertrain, the car weighs ...

    The seventh incarnation of the   BMW 7 Series , set to go on sale in November, has been comprehensively re-engineered as part of efforts to position it more upmarket than it has ever been. It is now significantly larger, more luxurious and more spacious than at any time in its 45-year history - and is   now available with a fully electric powertrain .  To give it the visual impact to go with its elevated positioning, BMW has provided its Mercedes S-Class rival with a bold new exterior design. The new look, driven largely by customer feedback in markets such as China and the US, instantly differentiates the new 7 Series from the sixth-generation model, launched in 2015. Up front, the large grille, consisting of two elements as on all recent BMW models, is even larger than before and comes with BMW’s ‘Iconic Lighting’ treatment, as first brought to the facelifted BMW 8 Series. The separation of the headlam...

    Honda has also given initial details of its rapid-fire global EV roll-out in the run-up to 2030, which most shockingly looks to include an all-electric successor to the Honda NSX supercar and a new grand tourer flagship. "Honda always has a passion to offer fun for its customers," the firm said, giving no details of the new sports cars but promising they will continue to offer a "sports mindset and distinctive characteristics". The Honda NSX is currently in its third generation as a 573bhp hybrid with a mid-mounted V6 and will bow out of production at the end of this year. This latest announcement is the first official indication that Honda plans to remain in the supercar segment as it transforms its business. Honda is the latest Japanese brand to commit to offering dedicated sports cars in the electric era. Toyota has previewed a lightweight two-seater in the vein of the MR2, Lexus is working on an EV follow-up to the LFA, Nissan recently showed the drop-top...

    You might imagine it would be tough for a panel of judges to agree to give an award to a new car that only one of them has actually driven. But when that car is the successor to the brilliantly entertaining Toyota GT86, when that one judge is entirely convinced of its claim and when there’s so little dissent in the virtual meeting room and so much nodding and anticipatory grinning going on, you know what? It’s not that hard. The Toyota GR86 is our Best Fun Car of 2022 on the strength of some road driving and plenty of fast lapping at the Parcmotor Castellolí circuit in Spain (which is blessed with plenty of enticing, sweeping, third-gear bends, as it happens). We will drive finished production cars on the European press launch later this month and get right-hand drivers in the UK later in the summer.

    Impressive acceleration was accompanied by an enjoyable soundtrack. Turbo lag hampered thrust below 3300rpm, but keeping the engine between 5000 and 7000rpm via the slick five-speed manual ’box was the solution. The brakes were powerful and free of fade. The GT-R’s blend of tactile handling and otherworldly stability startled us, especially over wet, challenging roads. Grip and body control were first class, stifling criticism of the occasionally crashy ride. The interior majored on driving position, instrumentation and rear leg room, and the boot was reasonable. Materials and aesthetic appeal were no better than Primera grade, though, and the fuel tank was small. Two years later, the R33 GT-R was replaced by the shorter but mechanically similar R34. Claimed output stayed at 277bhp to satisfy Japanese regulations, but over 300bhp was possible. The R34 was canned in 2002, but an all-new Nissan GT-R appeared in 2007 and continued slaying supercars in Europe until it was fina...