Motoring News
Yesterday, 01 November 2016Used Mercedes | Life with a 190E - part 3
Investigation into the 190E's cold-start issue continues to no avail, but in more positive news, a fresh set of tyres is fitted
The nights are drawing in, the days are getting shorter and naturally I'm becoming more and more worried about my 190E's cold starting issue. Leave it inside overnight in moderate temperatures and it doesn't kick up much fuss - aside from a lumpy cold idle - but leave it out in the cold and dark and it really puts up a fight in the morning. Either way, after a couple of minutes of warming, it's back to normality, but one of these days I'm going to be stranded.
I tried a couple of quick and cheap fixes first in the hope that it wouldn't lead to a more pricey solution. First, out came the old distributor cap and rotor arm, both of which were properly grimy and had considerable deposit build-up. Unfortunately, there was no change, so next, out came the 190's ageing plugs - themselves suitably dirty - but once again there was no improvement.
With a busy couple of weeks ahead and little time to do the work myself, I bit the bullet and handed the keys to a local mechanic to diagnose the issue. I was promised it would take around two days and cost £50 to find the issue, and then it'd cost whatever it'd cost to fix the issue. Fine by me.
However, my phone to rang just 40mins later and I was told the mechanic would now begin cleaning the intake at a cost of £180+VAT. If that didn't work, then he would begin the next thing, and then the next thing, until he had it fixed, no doubt billing me for some comical amount at the end. "Put down the tools," I said, politely.
So next up is a change of air filter and giving the intake a thorough c
read moreNext-generation Toyota Yaris hatch spotted on test
News
1 Nov, 2016
Blurry spy shots show new Toyota Yaris hatchback that's set to take the fight to the Micra, Fiesta and Polo
read moreRoyal College of Art vehicle design winners revealed
The RCA and Royal Automobile Club’s Continental Connection design competition winners have been revealed, with a two-wheeled car winning overall
A two-wheeled car has won the Royal College of Art (RCA) and Royal Automobile Club (RAC) Continental Connection design competition.
One winner from each of the RCA’s vehicle design course groups was chosen, while the overall winner was Yang Liu, who presented a two-wheeled, two-seat interpretation of the Benz Velo.
The 25 students from the RCA’s Vehicle Design Programme were asked to choose a ‘donor car’ from the Veteran Car Run and analyse, deconstruct and create a future interpretation of it. The students were given four weeks to come up with the concepts from inception to submission, and could only submit one design each.
Read about the first crowdfunded electric car here
Senior tutor of the programme, Matteo Conti, said that the concepts “must go beyond design and styling; the donor vehicle’s identity is essential, but the design must not rely too heavily on technology.”
Yang Liu’s design “went above and beyond the brief, he created a well-resolved future vehicle, which also provided a transport solution. It was a really complete and sound design proposal,” said Conti, who praised the innovation behind Liu’s deliberately simplistic concept.
Guy Nicholls, RAC events and communications manager added that the entrants would also be judged on “the journey from the original car to the final project. But we’re not just looking for a modern vers
read moreOne-off crash test demonstrates poor safety standards in developing countries
A one-off crash test between a 2016 Nissan Versa from the USA, and a 2015 Nissan Tsuru from Mexico has demonstrated the gulf in safety standards
A car-to-car crash test has demonstrated the huge gulf in automotive safety standards between different countries.
The test between entry-level compact saloons from Mexico and the US resulted in catastrophic damage to the Mexican car, while the American equivalent performed well.
The event in Virginia was organised by road safety organisation Global New Car Assessment Program (NCAP), along with Latin NCAP and the US Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, and involved a 2016 Nissan Versa from the USA, and a 2015 Nissan Tsuru from Mexico.
The day before the test, Nissan announced that it would stop producing the Tsuru from May next year. The Tsuru is based on a design from 1992 and was involved in more than 4000 deaths between 2007 and 2012. A previous Latin NCAP test awarded it no stars, and this latest test showed why.
After the head-on crash test, with a 50% overlap and combined closing speed of 80mph, readings from the cars’ crash test dummies showed that the Tsuru driver would likely have been killed. The driver of the five-star rated Versa – which unlike the Tsuru was fitted with standard airbags – would have suffered relatively minor injuries.
David Ward, secretary general of Global NCAP, said he hoped the test would put more pressure on manufa
read moreAriel Ace R motorbike adds extra pace
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1 Nov, 2016
More powerful Ariel Ace motorcycle to be fully revealed at Motorcycle Live 2016 at Birmingham NEC
read more2016 Bentley Flying Spur V8S review
The Bentley Flying Spur V8 has been given a sporty edge, but is it a step too far?
Choosing a Bentley Flying Spur used to be a simple affair with its well-heeled buyers having a straight decision between the power of the W12 and the poise of the V8, but now Bentley has made things a little more complicated.While there are no new powertrains, the line-up has been punctuated with models that display a sportier character to give owners a ‘real sense of Bentley’s racing heritage’.Here we are driving the V8S, but Bentley has also introduced a W12S and given both cars the same uprated suspension and sportier exterior details, in addition to increasing their power outputs.The V8S gains 21bhp and 14lb ft of torque over the standard V8 Flying Spur, taking its total output to 521bhp and 502lb ft of torque, while the W12S gets more modest 10bhp and 15lb ft increases, lifting it to 626bhp and 605lb ft in total.As for the rest of the mechanicals, Bentley has made the suspension tauter, but in an effort to maintain comfort, it hasn’t lowered the car in the way it has done with the S versions of the Continental GT. It has, however, modified the power-to-weight ratios in an effort to get the best out of the Torsen four-wheel drive system.The changes don’t stop under the skin, with the S versions of the Flying Spur getting similar exterior changes to those the Continental GT V8S received, most notably the black honeycomb grille, gloss black rear diffuser and dark tinted lighting, all in the pursuit of giving it a meaner look. But have these changes made the Flying Spur a more enticing proposition?
read moreCrash test shock prompts Nissan to withdraw model from sale
News
1 Nov, 2016
Car-to-car crash test sees Mexican Nissan Tsuru earn zero stars, prompting firm to drop it from line-up
read moreNew Mitsubishi ASX for 2016 - pictures
read moreLotus Evora Sport 410 review
Titans of 21st century sportscars will leave the WEC for... Formula E
read moreToyota C-HR on sale from £20,995
Toyota is taking on the Nissan Juke and Renault Captur with its new mid-size crossover, which will reach UK showrooms in January
Order books for the Toyota C-HR have opened, with the new mid-size crossover appearing in UK dealerships from January 2017. Priced from £20,995, the C-HR is being pitched as a rival to the Nissan Qashqai, Skoda Yeti and Renault Kadjar, although its interior and exterior dimensions bring it more closely in line with the Nissan Juke.
First unveiled in production form at the Geneva motor show in March 2016, the C-HR was revealed as a concept in 2014. The production model gets a coupé-like build due to the designers’ determination to create something that stands out in the Toyota range. The C-HR will sit below the current RAV4 in the model line-up.
Its exterior design features angular lines and large wheel arches. To the front, headlight clusters wrap around the car giving a feeling of width, adding the low body stance of a coupé while featuring the raised ground clearance of an SUV. The clusters also incorporate full LED lighting and sequential turn signals.
Rear door handles have been disguised by their integration into the C-pillar, which flows into the rear spoiler design, adding to its coupé feel.
Based on the Toyota Prius, the new mode
read more2016 Audi Q2 1.4 TFSI Sport review
Audi's smallest Q model arrives in the UK and makes a compelling case for itself; if not the most compelling in its class
This is the Audi Q2, Ingolstadt’s newest badge, signaling yet another manufacturer's debut entry into the small SUV market. The name is appropriate: the car is noticeably smaller than the family-targeted Q3 and is somewhere between a Mini Countryman and Skoda Yeti in scale. The new version of the latter will share the Q2’s underpinnings (a variant of the MQB architecture) when it lands next year. Vindication of the Q2's market position hardly needs a sales spreadsheet; this will be the cheapest way into a Q-model Audi, and should therefore be popular. Ingolstadt hopes – as it did with the supermini-sized A1 – that the Q2 will attract a younger audience than typically buys its larger SUVs, and claims it has set up the car to match. It gets the usual array of downsized engines; here, in the UK for the first time, we drove it with the 148bhp 1.4-litre TFSI, twinned with the standard six-speed manual gearbox.
read moreUpdated: Volkswagen quits World Rally Championship at end of 2016
Volkswagen will end its WRC programme at the end of 2016, Autocar sources have confirmed; decision follows sister company Audi's withdrawal from the WEC
Volkswagen will end its World Rally Championship (WRC) programme at the end of this season, Autocar can exclusively reveal.
In a meeting held in Wolfsburg on Tuesday morning, the German car maker’s board vowed to retain the 200 employees at its Volkswagen Motorsport division, with plans for them to focus on the VW Golf TCR customer car and other motorsport programmes within the Volkswagen Group, possibly including Skoda's rally programme.
An official statement confirming the end to Volkswagen’s WRC involvement is set to be made on Wednesday, after affected staff have been told of the decision.
“The priority is to advise our employees of the plans first,” a senior source revealed. “We will then make the decision to pull out of the WRC public. Until then, there will be nothing official.”
Despite developing an all-new Polo WRC to 2017 WRC regulations, Volkswagen does not intend to provide it to customer teams.
"The costs involved in developing the 2017 car will be absorbed into the existing R&D budget. There are no plans to offer it through a customer programme. It will be mothballed," Autocar's source revealed.
Volkswagen‘s departure from the WRC comes after a hugely successful campaign that resulted in it winning four manufacturer and driver cha
read moreNo Brexit deal would have led to Nissan Sunderland plant closure
Nissan would have closed its Sunderland plant post-Brexit had a deal not been made with the UK Government
Nissan’s Sunderland plant would have been shut down if the manufacturer hadn’t struck a deal with the Government after the UK’s vote to leave the European Union (EU).
A report by Bloomberg alleges that an insider of the brand’s discussions with the Government revealed that Nissan told officials that the plant would eventually close, and the construction of the next-generation Qashqai and X-Trail would have been placed elsewhere.
The plant currently employs more than 7000 people and is the largest car producing facility in the UK. It was recently announced as the factory where the two new models would be produced, following negotiations with the Government. The results of these talks have since been declared as open to all car manufacturers
read moreRoss Brawn tipped to take over Formula 1
A report by German media suggests the former Ferrari and Mercedes boss has signed a deal with F1 owner, Liberty Media
Ross Brawn is set to take over the helm of Formula 1's sporting regulations, according to reports.
Auto Bild Motorsport claims that the former boss of Ferrari and Mercedes’ racing teams has signed a deal with F1’s owner, Liberty Media, to run the sporting side of Formula 1 in future.
The German report suggests that the FIA, motorsport’s governing body, has approved the appointment, but offers no timescale on when he will take up the role. Brawn and current FIA boss Jean Todt worked closely together during their time with the Ferrari team.
Last week Brawn said he was interested in a return to F1, but not with a team.
“I would never go back to a team. I did everything I can in a team, but I would be repeating myself,” he told the Daily Telegraph. “For sure, trying to help F1 become a better F1 would be appealing. It would be the one thing that could be interesting. If you ask me what F1 needs, it needs a plan; a three-year and a five-year plan. My view is we haven’t got the ideal structure for creating that plan and implementing it over time.”
Brawn has been a senior figure in F1 for decades. He started his career in the 1970s with March Engineering and became a Formula 3 mechanic, then joined Williams in 1978, working in R&D and the aerodynamics department. Stints at Haas Lola and Arrows followed, then
read more2017 Ford Edge Vignale 2.0 TDCI 210 Powershift AWD review
Flagship addition to Ford’s Vignale range has more than a smattering of dynamic class, but still works best as an advert for a lesser model
The Ford Edge Vignale is the car that sits at the very top of Ford’s new semi-premium brand model tree. Building on the proposition of the normal Edge, it is a five-seater SUV that’s at once the size – and, now at least, potentially also the equal on leather-bound luxury and equipment level – of a generously kitted BMW X5 xDrive25d, but priced at many thousands of pounds less.Built in Ontario, Canada and imported to Europe in fairly small numbers, the Edge may be a more comfortable fit for the premium-brand treatment than other models that have already been swept up into Ford’s Vignale family but that are a much more common sight on UK roads. Luxury 4x4s remain in high-demand in Europe; and the feedback of Ford dealers, who report customers demanding Edges in high trim levels and with lots of fitted options, has encouraged the Blue Oval to dare to take on the likes of BMW, Audi, Volvo and Mercedes with a large 4x4 priced at more than £40,000.Just as things are with the rest of the Edge range, Vignale customers get an engine range limited to 2.0-litre, four-cylinder turbodiesels, the lesser of which offers 178bhp and a six-speed manual gearbox and the greater 207bhp and a six-speed Powershift automatic. Both versions get four-wheel drive as standard.Even so, the Edge is left looking underpowered compared with the more established full-sized 4x4s it seems made to undercut. On power, though, it is at least competitive with the medium-sized SUVs (Audi Q5, Land Rover Discovery Sport) that it’s directly priced ag
read moreWhen driver distraction is deadly
Titans of 21st century sportscars will leave the WEC for... Formula E
read more2016 Lotus Evora Sport 410 review
Lightest, fastest Evora yet proves itself as well suited to the road as it is to the track; this is Lotus at its very best
Consider the Evora Sport 410 Lotus’s equivalent of a Ferrari Speciale model or a Porsche 911 GT3; indeed, that’s not our summation but that of Hethel, keen to assert just how focused this new Evora is.To that end, the power gain – a modest 10bhp over the Evora 400 – is not the main talking point, the attention instead focusing on mass reduction and chassis set-up. So the Sport 410 weighs a significant 70kg less than the already lithe Evora 400 – now just 1280kg dry – with a titanium exhaust able to shed another 10kg for £5500. Lotus claims a ready-to-go weight (all fluids and with a 90% fuel load) of 1325kg. That’s not a great deal of mass for 410bhp to move around, the 309bhp per tonne power-to-weight ratio enough for a 4.0sec sprint to 60mph and 190mph flat out.The weight saving has come through a myriad of fascinating measures, from the small (the door card panels are now 2kg lighter each) to the more significant (the one-piece carbonfibre tailgate contributes 12kg).In addition to the reduced mass, this car also benefits from a 5mm drop in ride height, stiffer dampers, increased downforce and standard Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres. Lotus claims a significant three-second advantage over the standard Evora 400 around its Hethel test track.
read moreJeep, Dodge and Chrysler SEMA concepts unveiled
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1 Nov, 2016
FCA reveals six striking Mopar concepts for this year’s SEMA trade show in Las Vegas
read moreJeep, Dodge and Chrysler SEMA concepts unveiled - pictures
read more2017 Renault Zoe: UK prices and specs revealed
The updated Zoe gains new options, including a new range-topping trim level and an engine which offers a 250-mile NEDC range
The Renault Zoe is now available to buy with a 40kW battery, in addition to the 22kW battery offered previously.
Updates to the all-electric Renault supermini also include a new range-topping trim level. The new battery, which joins the existing 22kW battery in the Zoe range, provides an official claimed range of 250 miles, which is around the same as an entry-level Tesla Model S, although Renault reduces this claim to between 186 and 124 miles in real-world driving, depending on the temperature.
Read more: Upgraded Renault Zoe gets 250-mile range
The larger battery is available with Dynamique Nav trims and above; this includes the new Signature Nav trim, which has leather upholstery, heated front seats, a Bose sound system, a reversing camera and 16in alloys, as well as added lumbar adjustment for the driver’s seat. The revised model also gets three new exterior paint colours.
Badging for the new Zoe signifies whether the battery is leased or has been bought outright. Cars with with an owner-bought battery get an 'i' before the trim name; for instance, the entry-level le
read more2017 Ford Ecosport to inherit muscular look of Edge and Kuga
Ford’s facelifted compact SUV is tipped for a debut this year; it'll gain Sync 3 infotainment and possibly a four-wheel-drive option
The 2017 Ford Ecosport will inherit the more muscular lines of the Kuga and Edge models.
The facelifted model is due to be revealed late this year, with sales kicking off in the start of 2017.
Jeremy Schofield, manager of SUV communications at Ford, told Autocar that the updated compact SUV will gain a similar face to its larger siblings.
This agrees with a development car spotted by Autocar's spy photographer during the summer, which wore a restyled front bumper with a new black section in the middle and lightly tweaked rear bumper.
This car wore a spare wheel on the rear, suggesting it is a mule for the South American and Chinese markets. The European-spec car will do away with the spare wheel to give the rear a cleaner, less rugged appearance.
Across all markets, the 2017 Ecosport will inherit Ford’s Sync3 infotainment technology, as all of Ford's smaller models adopt the system from 2017 onwards.
It seems likely that the current car’s engine line-up - 1.0-litre three-cylinder petrol, 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol and 1.5-litre four-cylinder diesel – will be retained. But the option of four-wheel-drive may be added, wi
read moreHyundai Tucson long-term test review: sat-nav niggles
A move to the big city highlights an issue with the sat-nav
It's the little things now. The Hyundai and I bedded in months ago, since when Tucsons have become a regular sight (best colour: Ara Blue).
It’s also been easily long enough for me to tally up the idiosyncrasies. Number one has been the sat-nav, issues with which have become more noticeable since I’ve been using it to guide me from my (new) doorstep rather than having it pilot me to farflung places I won’t ever get to know.
With said doorstep now in south London, my typical journey has changed from 15mph on the M25 to 5mph through Lambeth. And where before the nav proved generally effective in getting me from A to B, heavier traffic can cause it problems – chiefly with the diversions it comes up with to bypass congestion.
Being a bit wet behind the ears, I’ve followed Hyundai’s arrows down some of these London rabbit holes, only to find myself on another similarly busy and, of course, now less direct route. To make matters worse, the nav can be quite optimistic with its ETAs, so I often end the final few miles in a cold sweat. It’s enough of an issue that I’ve chosen to use Google Maps on my phone instead of Hyundai’s system on recent journeys – especially those with an airport at the end of them.
Although the clunkiness of the built-in nav can be irritating, it’s worth noting that Hyundai is hardly alone in the formulation of wonky ‘time-saving’ routes. It’s mostly due to an overriding and in-built preference for main ro
read moreGinetta Sunday Service 20/11
We're returning to Yorkshire for a Sunday Service with our second Ginetta factory visit!
read moreMazda's SEMA MX-5 concepts revealed
So just how do you get an MX-5 under 900kg? More details here!
read moreTOTD: Unknown French sports car makers
How many do you know?
read moreVolkswagen to leave World Rally Championship
Winnners again at the weekend, now the news is that VW is following Audi out of top level motorsport
read moreLotus Evora Sport 410: Review
Is the fastest Evora yet worth more than £80,000?
read moreWales Rally GB Friday Service review
Team PH ventured to deepest, darkest Wales for our inaugural Rally GB Friday Service
read moreJaguar versus Porsche: PH blog
Having put a few miles in with 'his' F-Type Dan wants to settle this once and for all
read moreFord F-150 Raptor for Baja 1000
Well that's certainly one way to test the Baja drive mode...
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