Car review

Alfa finally goes electric with an unusual but curiously enticing take on the hot hatchback The weight of expectation dangles ominously from the fearsome jaws of Alfa Romeo’s serpent mascot. Make no bones about it: of all the cars charged with revitalising the Italian firm’s fortunes over the past few decades, this fashion-first but family-friendly B-segment crossover must surely – surely – be the car that does it. But to succeed where so many have valiantly failed in an attempt to dramatically swell the company’s coffers, not only does the Alfa Romeo Junior Eletricca have to be a pretty decent EV – touting all the requisite range, efficiency and charging specs to put it on a par with its increasingly numerous rivals – but it must, first and foremost, be an Alfa Romeo.It’s logical, then, that our first acquaintance comes at the venerable Balocco proving ground between Milan and Turin, where we’ve previously clipped apexes and exposed tyre cords in the likes of the Giulia Quadrifoglio, 8C Competizione, 4C and SZ. We are at the test track mainly because the car is still not fully homologated but you could interpret it as a testament to the engineers’ confidence in the Junior’s propensity to entertain, and small wonder given that many of them were pulled straight onto the development programme from fine-tuning the rip-snorting, trackhoned Giulia GTA. Not that anyone at Alfa, perhaps understandably, has gone so far as to invite direct comparisons between the two.It’s also an obvious statement of intent. It might be Alfa’s first electric car but the Junior shares its fundamentals with a whole host of similarly conceived small EVs from Peugeot, Vauxhall, Citroën, Fiat and Jeep - and we didn’t glean our first impressions of any of them on a circuit. But there are some crucial and wide-reaching differences to consider here. As one executive we spoke to put it: “a platform is not just everything beneath the badge”. So while the Junior is dimensionally and proportionally a close match for the Avenger and 600, for example, it’s far more homegrown than you might expect - particularly in the case of the hot Veloce range-topper we’ve driven here. Reassuring given the heaps of praise that were markedly not heaped upon the Stellantis-platformed Tonale for its handling credentials.

The most tech-rich, driver-focused 911s of the period are now within most buyers' reach - should you take the plunge? The sixth-generation (or 997) Porsche 911 is every bit as outrageously competent and delicate to drive as you would imagine. Even the basic versions are just fabulous sports cars.And let’s not mess about: the basic version is the one to go for. When it was launched in 2004, the Carrera produced 321bhp, 272lb ft of torque and, when fitted with the six-speed manual gearbox, a 0-62mph time of 4.8sec – fast even by today’s standards.Of course, this being a 911, there was a variant for every taste and market. These included the 4, S, GTS, 4S, 4 GTS, GT3, GT3 RS, Turbo, Turbo S and GT2. A Sport Classic variant was introduced in 2012 on the facelifted ‘997.2’ car, which itself was introduced in 2009.There isn’t enough room here to dissect each and every one, but they can be summarised thus: if you want precision and poise, buy a 4, S or GTS. If track driving is your bag, buy a GT3 or GT2. If you enjoy crushing continents, buy a Turbo. And if you want the one that we recommend for its inherent balance and daintiness, buy the standard Carrera.No matter which 997 you go for, you will get a car that, for its time, came dripping with technology. This was the first Porsche to get the brand’s new PDK dual-clutch automatic – a welcome departure from the sluggish Tiptronic torque converter that preceded it.It was also the first Porsche to have direct injection, torque vectoring and variable-geometry turbochargers (on Turbo models, obviously) and the first to be offered in Sport Classic guise, which sold out in 48 hours.While it didn’t look that different from the 996 that it replaced, only the roof panel was carried over and a huge amount of work went into its aerodynamics. The swooping, bulging, 993-inspired bodywork reduced the drag coefficient from 0.30 to 0.28 for the Carrera, reducing lift and improving airflow.So the 997 was a trailblazer. But that wasn’t what defined it – the way it drove was. Take it on a winding road and your confidence in its ability will quickly turn to trust; your scepticism will turn to disbelief as its poise refutes the tail-heavy weight bias; and any driving talent you have will be nurtured by a grippy, flat-nosed determination to hurl you out of a corner. No wonder we awarded it five stars when we road tested it back in 2004.It’s fair to say, then, that this car came with a measure of drivability that bordered on the freakish – and that’s before you get to the engines. They ranged from the 3.6-litre flat six fitted to the standard Carrera to the sensational 4.0-litre unit in the GT3 RS. S versions and above got a 3.8-litre engine, with outputs ranging from 350bhp in the Carrera S to 522bhp in the Turbo S, itself a ruthlessly controlled tribute to forced induction.Those engines sent their power through a five-speed automatic, a six-speed manual or, in later examples, a seven-speed PDK.As a result of Porsche’s typical attention to drivability, the 997 is a hugely desirable car, prices for which are high and are likely to stay that way. But many are within reach, from Turbos with around 60,000 miles to Targas with less than half that. And as for Carreras? A good one of those will set you back around £23,000.

Sporty version of big electric MPV gets four-wheel drive and 335bhp - but is it more style than substance? When Volkswagen first introduced its sporty GTX moniker, you would never have guessed that it would have been slapped onto the side of the Volkswagen ID Buzz GTX.But that’s exactly what the brand has done with the .The MPV is the fourth model in the brand’s electric armoury to receive the GTX treatment, following the ID 4 and ID 5 SUVs and ID 7 saloon/estate. With the badge comes a significant power boost, an additional motor for four-wheel drive and a host of styling changes in a bid to make the VW ID Buzz stand out among the relatively small - but growing - crowd of electric MPVs. It arrives as part of a big 2024 update for the Buzz, which also included the addition of larger long-wheelbase (LWB) models to be sold alongside the standard short-wheelbase (SWB) Buzz. The Buzz GTX is available in both wheelbase sizes in Europe, but the UK will only get the standard version. It comes with either a 79kWh battery or a larger 86kWh one. Volkswagen hasn’t yet detailed official range figures, but charging speeds max out at 180kW for the smaller battery and 200kW for the larger one. Volkswagen claims a charge from 20-80% can be completed in 20 minutes for both models. In traditional GTX fashion, the sportier Buzz also gets a significant power increase from 201bhp to 335bhp, with 413lb ft of torque to boot. That’s more power than what is offered by the new Golf R. The SWB model completes the 0-62mph sprint in 6.1sec, while the LWB does so in 6.7sec. In short, it’s the most powerful Volkswagen bus we've ever seen. On the surface, the Buzz GTX has some serious stats behind it. But what’s it like to drive, and is all this sporting flair just for show? Read on to find out.Volkswagen ID Buzz GTX line-up at a glanceVERSIONPOWERID Buzz GTX SWB335bhpID Buzz GTX LWB335bhp

After more than two decades of teasing, Volkswagen has finally reinvented the van beloved by so many communities In 2022, Volkswagen’s effort to electrify its model range resulted in the launch of a new, different and vaguely recognisable kind of electric family car, and unlike the brand's other ID cars so far (which have spawned Audi, Cupra and Skoda siblings), this one is VW-only.Its electric cars are proving popular thanks to their diversity, but none are more unique than this: the Volkswagen ID Buzz.  The ID Buzz, says the brand, is “the new face of future-orientated, sustainable family mobility”, and has the lofty goal of tempting families with active lifestyles – and some with longer memories and more sentimental tendencies, perhaps – to convert to electric. In principle, and leaving aside how it’s powered, the Buzz is a full-size monocab MPV of a kind that found favour on our roads 20 years ago but has since fallen out of it.Call it a ‘minibus’ if you like, but it’s unlike key rivals because it adopts a relatively sophisticated passenger car platform rather than being adapted from a commercial vehicle.You might be more inclined to call it a ‘microbus’, of course, or a ‘hippy van’. The Buzz’s name is a play on that of VW’s famous Type 2 ‘Bus’ of 1949, which inspired a cult following that lasted decades and permeated popular culture widely.So can the new Buzz achieve something similar, so many years later, for a new generation?Volkswagen ID Buzz range at a glanceWith the arrival of the long-wheelbase ID Buzz and the more powerful, all-wheel drive ID Buzz GTX, the model’s range has expanded substantially compared to its launch. The range starts with the standard short-wheelbase ID Buzz, which has five seats and a cavernous boot. But the long-wheelbase model is where the ID Buzz finally reveals its full potential as a proper, people-carrying MPV. The additional space is more evident on the inside. It comes with seven seats as standard in a 2/3/2 configuration, while a 2/2/2 six-seat one or a 2/3 five-seat one can also be selected. With the seven-seat option, the third row of seats can be removed to create a 1340-litre cargo space – an increase of 219 litres over the SWB.There’s also the ID Buzz Cargo, a commercial vehicle version of the electric MPV with a more traditional van layout. It features a 2+1-seat cab and black bumpers, with a lower equipment specification. Volkswagen offers the ID Buzz with a choice of two specification levels, Life and Style, with prices starting from just under £60,000. Life models feature 10-colour ambient lighting, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, sat-nav, a reversing camera, a heated steering wheel and heated front seats.Style models get 30-colour ambient lighting, an electric tailgate, more powerful, automatic headlights,  a multi-flex boot board load-bay divider, and 20in alloy wheels. The Buzz comes with a choice of batteries and motors, which we’ve listed in the table below. The LWB ID Buzz introduced a new 79kWh battery and more powerful 282bhp motor, which arrived following the uprated Volkswagen ID 4. The ID Buzz GTX sits at the top of the range, with an eye-popping 335bhp, all-wheel drive, and a host of sporty design details. You can read our Volkswagen ID Buzz GTX review here.VersionPowerID Buzz SWB 77kWh Pro201bhpID Buzz LWB 79kWh Pro282bhpID Buzz LWB 86kWh Pro282bhpID Buzz GTX SWB335bhpID Buzz GTX LWB335bhpID Buzz Cargo Commercial 77kWh201bhp

Gaydon plays to it wealthiest traditionalists with a throwback, front-engined-V12-manual bruiser collector's special This point, I feel, needs making from the outset. There is only one car in the history of the, er, car to mate a turbo V12 engine to a manual gearbox. And you’re looking at it. Or one of them, for there will be just 110, making the Aston Martin Valour so rare that you’re more likely to see a rocking horse manuring an adjacent field than chance across one on the road.So don’t spend too long looking at that seven-figure price and wondering how on earth that can be justified when even the most recent DBS was faster and more powerful. It’s not the unique carbonfibre body or anything contained therein for which you’re really paying all that additional moolah, but the right to possess the one thing really rich people crave above all others: stuff other rich people don’t have.