futuremaxz

 

  This is the   Ford Puma   crossover hatchback in its latest extra-ritzy trim level and fitted with a new seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox. Both things add variety to a derivative range that remains a little bit short of it, at least until the  Ford Puma ST  arrives in a few weeks. Previously, Ford had offered this car with a 1.0-litre Ecoboost turbo three-pot petrol engine and in mild-hybridised 123bhp or 153bhp guises, both with a six-speed manual gearbox; or in 123bhp 1.0-litre manual guise and  without  the 48V hybrid assistance but only on lower-grade cars. As of now, though, you can have an unhybridised 123bhp 1.0-litre Puma with a seven-speed two-pedal gearbox if you prefer. And that’s the whole shooting match. Why can’t you combine a mild-hybrid engine with an automatic gearbox? It does seem odd. I suspect it’s for boring mechanical reasons to do with exactly how the car’s engine, gearboxes and its mild-h...

 Bentley   has introduced a petrol V8 option for its   new Flying Spur saloon , following the launch of the top-rung W12 variant earlier this year.  As with the identically powered version of its Continental GT stablemate, the Flying Spur V8 packs 541bhp and 568lb ft courtesy of the new twin-turbocharged motor. Despite its increased size, the Flying Spur V8 matches the Continental's 198mph top speed and takes just 0.1sec longer to hit 62mph from rest, at 4.1sec.  Shown for the first time at Goodwood Speedweek, the V8-powered car is said to offer a "more driver-centric experience" than the V12, with Bentley highlighting its "more characterful engine note" and increased range between fuel stops. It's also said to feel more agile and responsive, tipping the scales at 100kg less than the V12. The V8 model retains dynamic-enhancing systems, such as adaptive air suspension and torque vectoring, as standard and optional extras include electric anti-...

    Bentley   has introduced a petrol V8 option for its   new Flying Spur saloon , following the launch of the top-rung W12 variant earlier this year.  As with the identically powered version of its Continental GT stablemate, the Flying Spur V8 packs 541bhp and 568lb ft courtesy of the new twin-turbocharged motor. Despite its increased size, the Flying Spur V8 matches the Continental's 198mph top speed and takes just 0.1sec longer to hit 62mph from rest, at 4.1sec.  Shown for the first time at Goodwood Speedweek, the V8-powered car is said to offer a "more driver-centric experience" than the V12, with Bentley highlighting its "more characterful engine note" and increased range between fuel stops. It's also said to feel more agile and responsive, tipping the scales at 100kg less than the V12. The V8 model retains dynamic-enhancing systems, such as adaptive air suspension and torque vectoring, as standard and optional extras include e...

   Bentley   has introduced a petrol V8 option for its   new Flying Spur saloon , following the launch of the top-rung W12 variant earlier this year.  As with the identically powered version of its Continental GT stablemate, the Flying Spur V8 packs 541bhp and 568lb ft courtesy of the new twin-turbocharged motor. Despite its increased size, the Flying Spur V8 matches the Continental's 198mph top speed and takes just 0.1sec longer to hit 62mph from rest, at 4.1sec.  Shown for the first time at Goodwood Speedweek, the V8-powered car is said to offer a "more driver-centric experience" than the V12, with Bentley highlighting its "more characterful engine note" and increased range between fuel stops. It's also said to feel more agile and responsive, tipping the scales at 100kg less than the V12. The V8 model retains dynamic-enhancing systems, such as adaptive air suspension and torque vectoring, as standard and optional extras include electri...

 

 

 Renault   has revealed the Mégane eVision, a bold electric concept that it claims “reinvents the classical hatchback” and closely previews a final car due to go into production at the end of 2021. When it arrives it will not immediately replace the Megane, with the firm revealing a combustion-engined Megane (likely an updated version of today's model) will remain on sale for some time after the EV's launch.  Although it takes its name from Renault’s long-running Ford Focus rival, the concept is an all-new design built on the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance’s electric CMF-EV platform, which is also used for the Nissan Ariya large SUV. The Mégane eVision appears to share several styling features with the Ariya, but its design is heavily based on the recent Renault Morphoz concept.  New Renault boss Luca de Meo commented at the model's reveal today: "The car looks very futuristic but it is 95% what the production car will look like." De...

  A reimagined version of the   930-generation Porsche 911 Turbo   has been revealed ahead of a starring role in upcoming game Cyberpunk 2077. The iconic 1977 sports car was chosen by game developers CD Project to be the only production car to feature in the science-fiction adventure and was designed with input from Porsche.  The digital version has been modified to run on CHOOH2, a fictional synthetic fuel that has replaced fossil fuels. The car features sci-fi elements such as lidar and sonar sensors, digital mirrors and a screen-heavy digital dashboard, along with a barcode registration plate on the roof. “It was actually quite a challenge,” said senior vehicle artist Jakub Przybolewski. “Not many detailed sketches, diagrams and blueprints for the car have been preserved. In addition, each car was built largely by hand, so each vehicle was fundamentally different from each other.” The game is set 50 years in the future, which would mean th...

 Bentley   has introduced a petrol V8 option for its   new Flying Spur saloon , following the launch of the top-rung W12 variant earlier this year.  As with the identically powered version of its Continental GT stablemate, the Flying Spur V8 packs 541bhp and 568lb ft courtesy of the new twin-turbocharged motor. Despite its increased size, the Flying Spur V8 matches the Continental's 198mph top speed and takes just 0.1sec longer to hit 62mph from rest, at 4.1sec.  Shown for the first time at Goodwood Speedweek, the V8-powered car is said to offer a "more driver-centric experience" than the V12, with Bentley highlighting its "more characterful engine note" and increased range between fuel stops. It's also said to feel more agile and responsive, tipping the scales at 100kg less than the V12. The V8 model retains dynamic-enhancing systems, such as adaptive air suspension and torque vectoring, as standard and optional extras include electric anti-...

 

  Seat knows not to mess with a good thing, which is why the lightest of light touches has been used to update its best-selling Seat  Seat Ateca . The first Seat crossover SUV has managed to sell more than 300,000 units across Europe since its introduction four years ago, and although competition within the crossover class has never been stronger, few rivals have managed to best it for handling or driver appeal. A slight shuffling of the Seat Ateca line-up for 2020 replaces the top-level Xcellence trim with a new, soft-roader Xperience model, which gets a few lightly ruggedised exterior additions. The black plastic lower trim and body-coloured wheel-arch surrounds are subtle and certainly don’t indicate any increased off-road potential. Largely because there isn’t any. Visible exhaust pipes have also gone, apparently because owners said that unless they were buying a sporty range-topper, they’d rather do without. So they’re absent on all...

 

 McLaren's   in-house personalisation division, MSO, has revealed the latest special edition of   the Elva speedster , which pays homage to the brand's long-standing partnership with Gulf Oil. Revealed at the closed-doors Goodwood Speedweek, the Elva Gulf Theme by MSO gives the open-cockpit supercar the iconic blue and orange livery that first made its debut on late-1960s and early-1970s Formula 1, Indy and Can-Am race cars. The theme is carried over to the interior, with contrasting white seats and colour-matched dashboard. "Projects like this showcase the increasingly extensive range of personalisation options we can offer customers," MSO managing director Ansar Ali said. "In this case, enhancing the authenticity of the livery by incorporating Gulf brand logos into the design.” This latest design arrives shortly before MSO will begin offering Gulf-liveried cars straight from the factory, following a renewed partnership with Gulf under ...

 

  One of three popular Mazda models receiving the 100th Anniversary edition treatment, inspired stylistically by Mazda’s first passenger car, the R360 Coupé. Alongside the 100th Anniversary Mazda MX-5 and Mazda CX-30, the Mazda 3 special edition becomes the halo of the hatchback’s line-up, building on the top-of-the-range trim and adding some snazzy design tweaks as a nod to that 1960 R360 Coupé. The model, of which only 100 are available in the UK, receives white pearlescent paint with burgundy interior carpet and leather seats, as well as a 100th Anniversary badge on the floor mats, key fob and embossed headrests. Outside, the same badge is in the centre of the wheels and on the side of the car. Beyond those features, this is the same 3 mechanically as you’ll find across the line-up. It uses the innovative spark-plug compression-ignition 2.0-litre Skyactiv X petrol unit with a 24V mild-hybrid, which makes up around half of the model’s sales, promising petrol-like p...

 

 

  The  Peugeot e-208  wins its category by showing how comparatively simply users of regular cars should be able to adapt to electric motoring in the future. Also for bringing with it the driving and beauty standards from the upper echelon of the fiercely fought supermini market. While other electric car makers are launching oversized, overpriced offerings into the premium market or excusing themselves from providing decent ranges in superminis by insisting “it’s a city car”, Peugeot has made a 4.0m hatchback that’s as well packaged as its piston-driven siblings and offers a decent official range of 217 miles. Peugeot isn’t quite the first to do this; that was Renault a few years ago with the Renault Zoe. But on dynamic, refinement and aesthetic grounds, the new e-208 is certainly the better effort. It should be, mind, given that it’s seven years younger. The e-208 is a great-looking car enhanced, if anything, over its brothers by having a slightl...

 

 

 

 McLaren   will transition to an electrified era in earnest next year with the first truly all-new series-production car since the   2011 MP4-12C   – and it’s a plug-in hybrid.  The new model will be launched in the first quarter of next year and go on sale in mid-2021. It will serve as a replacement for the long-established Sports Series range, which includes the 540C, 570S and 600LT. That range will end with the imminent introduction of the GT4-racer-inspired McLaren 620R.  The Woking-based maker will move instead to what it calls the High Performance Hybrid (HPH) sub-category, positioned between the McLaren GT and current crop of Super Series models. The new car will effectively replace the 570S, but its price is expected to rise above that of today’s Sports Series cars.  As well as using ground-up new carbonfibre-rich underpinnings, the as yet unnamed model will be the first modern-day McLaren to ditch the venerab...

  The lightest, most aerodynamic and fuel-efficient version of the   all-new second-generation BMW 4 Series   – which, in all five of its two-door coupé-bodied launch derivatives, has now landed in the UK. Pretty soon, then, if you haven’t already, you’ll get a chance to make up your own mind about how it looks in the metal. And if your opinion reflects what seems to be the pretty widely shocked, confused and occasionally disgusted majority consensus, your next question might well be to wonder what the 4 Series’ wider package can possibly do to make up for the deficiencies of what we might call its ‘impactful’ styling. That’s a word chosen quite deliberately, by the way – because the only rationale this tester can think of to explain why this car looks the way it does is so that you might be able to inadvertently involve it in a light frontal collision and, from a distance at least, not immediately see the difference. There are four engines on offer in this car ...

  Porsche has increased the capacity of the drive battery in its   Cayenne and Cayenne Coupé plug-in hybrid models , boosting their electric-only range by up to 30%. Mirroring the upgraded system in the facelifted Panamera E-Hybrid, the duo’s battery capacity is up from 14.1kWh to 17.9kWh, increasing their EV range to a WLTP-measured 25-27 miles in standard form. Porsche says this means that all Cayenne E-Hybrid models now have enough electric-only range to entitle owners to an E numberplate and reduced company car tax in Germany. The new Cayenne E-Hybrid models keep the turbocharged 3.0-litre V6 engine and electric motor from the current car, generating 449bhp. The set-up for the rortier Turbo S E-Hybrid editions is also unchanged, making 661bhp from a twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8, backed up by an electric motor. As well as the battery gains, Porsche has sharpened the Cayenne’s driving modes, reducing the SUV’s charging target from 100% to 80% in mo...

  Italian coachbuilder   Ares   has revealed a limited-run open-top variant of its   recently launched S1 Project supercar . The S1 Spyder keeps the hand-crafted carbonfibre body of the S1, which is claimed to offer “maximum downforce and minimum aerodynamic resistance”, but loses its windscreen and roof. In their place, it gains a pair of wind deflectors, pushing air over the passengers and into the car’s air intakes. Ares claims this creates a “virtual canopy and a calm yet unfiltered driving experience”. As with the S1 coupé, just 24 examples of the S1 Spyder will go into production next year at Ares’ factory in Modena, Italy.  Ares co-founder Dany Bahar said: “We had always planned a Spyder version of the S1 Project, and since we revealed that car last month, the reaction has been fantastic, so we're very pleased to release details of the S1 Project Spyder. “We wanted to create a model that's a true tribute to the pleasure of sport drivin...

 

 

 Volvo   and spin-off sibling brand   Polestar   say they will reduce their fleet emissions beyond their European Union target for 2020 – and have agreed to pool their CO2 output with   Ford   as a result. Current European Commission regulations mean that each manufacturer has to hit a set average fleet CO2 target, with those targets becoming increasingly tough in future years. The EU rules allow for manufacturers to form 'pools', effectively combining their fleets. This allows firms that would miss their target to partner with companies that are exceeding their goals to avoid fines. Ford had said it would seek to join a pool after problems with the delivery of the Kuga plug-in hybrid meant it would miss its 2020 EU target. It has now reached an agreement with Volvo, although the financial terms have not been disclosed. Volvo has heavily invested in pushing development of electric and hybrid technology, with the goal to achieve 50% EV an...

  The   Mercedes-Benz   rollout of plug-in hybrid models continues apace. This, the GLE 350de, is a big SUV. Of the 10 SUVs Mercedes currently offers, it and the Mercedes GLE Coupé sit around seventh and eighth in the size rankings, below only Mercedes GLS and Mercedes G-Class. Although it’s a big SUV, it’s five-seat only (pure internal-combustion GLEs can have seven seats) on account of the fact that it has a 31.2kWh battery (with a usable capacity of 23.4kWh) beneath the boot floor. At the front, a 134bhp electric motor assists a 192bhp 2.0-litre four-cylinder diesel engine in providing four-wheel drive. Running on electric only, this relatively big battery gives more than a token range, at 61.5 miles officially. We saw around 60 on a cold grey day. It can charge at up to 22kW, which replenishes the battery in an hour. It’s the sort of versatility that will make cars like the GLE an attractive idea – especially with a CO2 figure of 29g/km – for ...