It’s taking a while, like closing an ill-fitting lid on a plastic kitchen container. But another corner on the ‘affordable hot hatch’ tub is clicking shut, and, unlike sometimes previously, I don’t think a corner on the other side is about to pop back open again in defiance. Which is a slightly clumsy way of… Continue reading Why we need another era of affordable hot hatchbacks
Author: Autocar Magazine UK
Renault taps metaverse tech in race to build cars quicker
Toyota has long been held up as the production benchmark in the automotive industry, but Renault now reckons that its digital approach has overtaken the famous Toyota Production System (TPS) that all car makers have adopted in order to make cars quicker, cheaper and more reliably. “The industry is based on TPS,” said Thierry Charvet,… Continue reading Renault taps metaverse tech in race to build cars quicker
Next Lamborghini Urus to keep hybrid power as EV delayed
The Lamborghini Urus will continue as a plug-in hybrid for its next generation after the electric variant was pushed back to the middle of the next decade, CEO Stephan Winkelmann has told Autocar. Winkelmann blamed the decision on the unpredictability of ever-changing regulations – something that may also delay the arrival of the car maker’s… Continue reading Next Lamborghini Urus to keep hybrid power as EV delayed
Is there a better hot hatch than the Honda Civic Type R?
I was quite a lucky child growing up. We lived at the end of a cul-de-sac, on which were four other houses with driveways. I could see each one through my bedroom window, meaning I had five cars to choose from in the fantasy world where I owned all of them – and had a… Continue reading Is there a better hot hatch than the Honda Civic Type R?
Inside the new range-extender that could change the world
Range-extenders have been in the mix of possible alternatives to pure-petrol and pure-diesel powertrains for nearly three decades, and with new eRE and eRE+ powertrain products from ZF Friedrichshafen arriving in 2026, we could start seeing more of them. It’s a technology that appears to be enduring. Citroën produced versions of the Saxo, Xsara and Berlingo back in the 1990s and… Continue reading Inside the new range-extender that could change the world
How McLaren ended its 26-year F1 title drought
The McLaren Technology Centre still looks futuristic enough to double for a spaceport on Coruscant, so it’s staggering to reflect on the fact that it’s now 21 years old. Even more staggering given its age is that a constructors’ championship-winning McLaren had never been built there – until last year. When Lando Norris crossed the… Continue reading How McLaren ended its 26-year F1 title drought
Safety fast: driving Aston’s other F1 car
Only a few months in and already the 2025 Formula 1 season is proving to be a nail-biter, with the established driver order and team hierarchy under threat. So it’s fortunate that two cars present at every race are standing ready to intervene when things get messy. They are the official FIA safety and medical… Continue reading Safety fast: driving Aston’s other F1 car
Light bites, stiff drinks: celebrating 50 years of a Lotus legend
We think of the Porsche 911 as being the stalwart of the junior supercar world, but after 28 years and more than 10,000 sales, the Lotus Esprit in all its guises was probably the closest contender. And this year marks half a century since it broke cover at the 1975 Paris motor show, where its… Continue reading Light bites, stiff drinks: celebrating 50 years of a Lotus legend
Coulthard: ‘Drivers are better paid today – but I wouldn’t swap’
“The ‘active’ Williams had power steering, ABS [anti-lock braking], traction control, fully automatic up-changes, full launch control – then that was all banned for 1994,” he says. “So I got to experience the ‘magic carpet’ cars, the more raw F1 of 1994-1995, then went to McLaren.” More regulation changes designed to curb performance followed in 1998,… Continue reading Coulthard: ‘Drivers are better paid today – but I wouldn’t swap’
Official: Fiat 500 Hybrid to arrive in November with six-speed manual
Fiat will begin production of the new 500 Hybrid in November – and the first official pictures reveal it has received an overhauled interior and a six-speed manual gearbox. More than 100,000 examples of the new model are expected to roll off production lines each year at the company’s Mirafiori plant in Turin. Both hatchback and cabrio models will be… Continue reading Official: Fiat 500 Hybrid to arrive in November with six-speed manual