Autocar

Autocar is the car nut’s weekly fix, delivering you a unique mix of the latest news, opinion, features, first drives of new cars and in-depth road tests – all complemented by the best photography in the business. No other magazine covers the subject you love with such enthusiasm, insight and quality every week of the year. Autocar stands for the highest quality in car journalism – and is rewarded with access to the best new cars and the biggest news stories before any of the opposition which we share with you, our readers, every week.

FORD IS GETTING BACK ON ITS NEW-ERA TRACK

Alpine A290 to take the fight to Mini Cooper • New 1479kg electric hot hatch will have up to 215bhp and be priced from £36,000

Bigger and bolder Panda for EV era • Fourth-gen hatchback matches rugged, retro design with petrol and electric power

EVs open door for Peugeot and Vauxhall hot hatchback revivals

Most potent Audi yet tops revised E-tron GT line-up • Sports saloon gains big tech upgrades, fresh looks and a mighty 912bhp flagship

Dacia’s sub-£30k flagship outed • New value-led Kodiaq rival has broken cover in the build-up to its launch next year

CarPlay expands to all screens

BMW ups ante for next-gen X3 • Bolder-looking new X3 gets 7 Series cabin tech, a revised chassis and 396bhp M50

M2 gets power hike, diesel 2 Series axed

REMOTE-CONTROL CARS ARE BEING SUPERSIZED

Big EU tariffs for Chinese EVs • EVs built in China face swingeing EU import taxes from next month under new plans

SECRET SOURCE • OUR INDUSTRY INSIDER

Used car buyers warned of lingering Covid symptoms • Cars with odd specs delivered during the pandemic are now hitting used forecourts

TESTER’S NOTES

MY WEEK IN CARS

RACING LINES

FORD EXPLORER • With VW Group underpinnings, battery-electric propulsion and an American look, this new crossover embodies Ford’s total reinvention

McLAREN ARTURA SPIDER • Convertible’s arrival coincides with major mechanical revisions for PHEV supercar

XPENG G6 • New mid-sized SUV will carry upmarket Chinese EV maker into UK showrooms

RENAULT CAPTUR • Modernised design and Google infotainment tech for French firm’s big seller

PORSCHE CAYENNE GTS • GTS is enhanced to suit its new status as Europe’s hottest non-hybrid Cayenne

AUDI RS4 AVANT 25 YEARS • Audi Sport marks hot estate’s anniversary with sterner chassis and yet more power

Tax and spend • High vehicle excise duty can mean a low price for a used car – temptingly low if you can sidestep the worst of the tax. Alex Wolstenholme knows the trick and the cars to pick

Here’s mud in your eye • Rallying is making a Great British comeback, as John Evans and sons find out in Duns

‘WE’RE A STUBBORN LOT’ • Ineos Automotive is that rare start-up: a success. CEO Lynn Calder tells Mark Tisshaw about the learning curve, luck and sheer bloody-mindedness that made it all happen

RETRO GRADE A* • Buttonless keys, ignition barrels, screeching fan belts and lumpy idles – all things retro enthusiasts adore. Jonathan Bryce heads to the Retro Rides festival at Goodwood and checks out their machines

McLaren 750S • Woking shuns electrification and aims for lightness and purity with 720S replacement

Data log

VERDICT • McLaren’s new mainstay is a bit of a wild child – at times, to its own cost

Escape with autoCar this summer • Get 13 issues for just £34.99 Get 13 issues for just £34.99

RENAULT CLIO • Has a coronation been arranged for our outgoing sporty hybrid supermini?

BMW M2 • Is this a flat-track bully that shrinks in the face of rush-hour traffic and heavy rainfall?

SUBARU CROSSTREK • Let’s find out if its...