CAR UK

Every month CAR interviews the stars of motorsport, demystifies the latest in-car technology and shares our writers’ passion for car culture and car design. Discover the world’s newest and most exciting cars: join us to drive everything from supercars and hot hatches to family cars.

Welcome

Insider • Merc’s new electric G-Class is like a Cybertruck minus the madness, plus the potential for extra off-road ability.

‘At three tonnes, it can’t be a fun thing to hurl around’ • DEBATE: THE ELECTRIC G’S TECH OVERKILL

NEXT NISSAN LEAF INBOUND • Nissan’s EV vanguard goes mainstream for a new generation.

CROSSOVER EPISODES • Jacked-up family cars are the flavour of the month.

WHY HALLMARK IS SMART FOR ASTON MARTIN • The new CEO’s great work at Bentley bodes well for Aston.

My career in three sketches • TOBIAS SÜHLMANN CHIEF DESIGN OFFICER, MCLAREN

‘WE TEST IT UNTIL IT BREAKS’ • Meet the engineer who destroys Toyota Land Cruisers to make them better.

LIDAR: KEY TO THE FUTURE OF DRIVING • Elon Musk hates it. Others say it’s essential. So just what is lidar, and how can it make driving safer even for cars that don’t have it?

THE URUS GOES HYBRID • How to make a plug-in hybrid SUV a real Lamborghini.

POLESTAR’S ABSENT REAR SCREEN • Packaging and style deleted the 4’s rear glass. Does a digital mirror make that okay?

Room with a view • The Mk1 Kodiaq excelled as a good-value family car. Have they blown it by making the Mk2 bigger and techier?

Heads and tails • Lively driving and that lovely wind-in-the-hair rush. Aston at its best

Target: mainstream • Nio’s smallest car aims squarely at the BMW/Polestar/Tesla norm

The ultimate glow-up • Duster Mk3 adds extra appeal to familiar practicality and good value

Back-seat diva • Questionable as family transport, but Merc’s electric SUV is great as a VIP limo

Tayc two • Taycan-based Audi is being rebooted with new tech and more power

Objection overruled • Worried that Porsche’s first all-electric SUV isn’t a proper Porsche? Stand easy

Grown-ups at work • BMW’s top-selling car takes the cautious route to its fourth generation

Right-sizing

Opinion

car

‘He thought he must be cursed: Belfast, Tiananmen Square when the tanks rolled in, Imola…’

‘You need to own a collection of Ferraris before you’re deemed worthy of buying a $2m Icona’

PLUG & PLAY • A new generation of electric performance cars has arrived. Did they remember to pack the fun? You bet they did – bags of the stuff

FEELS LIKE HEAVEN

THE SHIPPING FORECAST • Car making has long been a textbook example of international co-operation. But the system is under attack on many fronts – and the consequences could be expensive

Fine young cannibal • The startling Dark Rebel concept aims to help Cupra keep up its sales surge – even if it’s gobbling up customers from within the family

Defining a moment • Has Merc made the transition to EV work where it matters most?

Isn’t petrol expensive? • The shock of the old.

Here’s lookin’ at you • Some cars grow on you.

Reversing into the future • Actual end of an actual era, as we slide into the convertible version of Jag’s final combustion sports car.

A happy medium • Is the Sport the sweet spot between Range Rover and Defender?

Love/hate relationship • Virtual door mirrors sum up everything bad about the SQ8: complicated, confusing, counter-productive.

Gone in 19 seconds

Paradise lost

Tik-tok tinnitus

Inner sanctum

Magical thinking • Vauxhall talks a good game about the Astra GSe’s interior. But talk is cheap – unlike the...