COMMENT
TRUE DRIVER’S CARS STILL UNDERPIN ASTON & LOTUS
There are few more iconic British sports car manufacturers than Aston Martin and Lotus, both of which feature on this week’s pages with their respective exciting developments. Both have been through significant struggles over recent years and arguably still have many more to overcome – and both have announced new leaderships this year alone amid those tumultuous times.
There’s another key thing the two firms have in common too: SUVs. Of course. The now-established DBX and newer Eletre are fundamental to Aston’s and Lotus’s future success and profit. By introducing these (affluent) family-friendly models, they can more easily justify the exciting stuff.
In the case of Aston, it ’s back to its old-school glory, as we demonstrate with this week’s road test of the new Vantage (p32). It may be the company’s entry-level sports car, but we describe it as “a machine of stunning breadth and likeability”.
Lotus’s latest show, for now, is far more conceptual: a supercar called the Theory 1 (p4). It ’s a clear sign of intent for the company. Lotus may have the Eletre and Emeya, plus a smaller SUV coming, but its soul is still in cutting-edge sports cars.
Rejoice then: Aston and Lotus haven’t given up on why we all loved them in the first place.
Rachel Burgess, magazine editor rachel.burgess@haymarket.com
Meanwhile, online…
autocar.co.uk
4 LOTUS ESPRIT REBORN AS THREE-SEAT EV
T H I
S
W E E K
Issue 6637 | Volume 322 | No 2
NEWSNew 989bhp Lotus Theory 1 concept 4 Citroën SM reborn as DS style study 8 Board in conflict with unions at VW 10 Status update on charger roll-out 12 Volvo promises big EX90 updates 14 FIRST DRIVES Mika Meon 20 Audi S E-tron GT 24 Volkswagen ID 3 GTX 26 BMW M440i xDrive Convertible 28 McLaren GTS 30 Volkswagen Golf 2 .0 TDI 31 Renault Megane E-Tech Electric 31 ROAD TEST Aston Martin Vantage 32 FEATURESGoodbye to the Jaguar I-Pace 44 Key EV technology explained 50 Showing kids motorsport can pay 54 OUR CARS Land Rover Defender 56 Maserati MC20 58 Lexus LBX 59 EVERY WEEK Jesse Crosse 11 Mark Tisshaw 13 Steve Cropley 15 Matt Prior 16 Damien Smith 17 Your Views 18 Subscribe 2 Testing, testing 43 Lost in the archive 65 Road test results 67 Why I love… 74 USED CARS Volvo XC40 Recharge 60 My car & I 62 Caught in the classifieds 63
Adrian Newey on our podcast Aston Martin’s new signing joins Steve Cropley and Matt Prior to talk all things motoring.
Autocar (I SSN 1355-8293 USPS 25-185) i s published weekly by Haymarket Media Group, Bridge House, 69 London Road, Twickenham, TW1 3SP, United K ingdom; haymarket .com; te l +44 (0)20 8267 5000 The US annual subscription price is $190.00. Airfreight and mailing in the US by agent named World Container I nc, 150-15, 183rd Street, Jamaica, NY 11413, USA. Periodicals postage paid at Brooklyn , NY 11256. US postmaster: Send address changes to Autocar, Air Business Ltd, c/o World Container I nc, 150 -15 , 183rd Street , Jamaica, NY 11413 , USA. Subscription records are maintained at the above address. Air Business Ltd is acting as our mailing agent. Autocar magazine is also published in Estonia, Greece, India, Japan, Latvia, Korea and Thailand.
MG Cyberster meets BMW Z4 and MGB electromod How does the wild new electric sports car stack up against a petrol rival and an updated old relation?
Lego McLaren P1 Lego has created a full-sized, drivable imitation of Woking’s legendary hyperPHEV. See more on our Instagram page.
20 WHY THIS EV IS A SERIOUS SPORTS CAR
Autocar i s a member of the I ndependent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). We abide by the Editors ’ Code of Practice and are committed to upholding the highest standards of journalism. If you think we haven’t met those standards and want to make a complaint, contact autocar@haymarket.com. For more info rmation , contact I PSO on 0300 123 2220 or v i s i t www.ipso.co.uk
Haymarket i s cer t i fi ed by BSI to environmental standard ISO14001 and energy management standard ISO50001
PEFC/16-33-795
PEFC Certified
This product is from sustainably managed forests and controlled sources www.pefc.co.uk
Autocar i s a member of the organising committee of Car Of The Year caroftheyear.org
Issues with your mag? For subscriber issues, call 0344 848 8816. I f you can’t fi nd a news-stand copy of Autocar in your local area, email autocar@haymarket.com
44 CROPLEY GIVES JAG I-PACE LAST RITES
18 SEPTEMBER 2024 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 3
