Car review

When is a Mazda 2 not a Mazda 2? When it's a Mazda 2 Hybrid… You don’t have to look that hard at the new Mazda 2 Hybrid to recognise that it’s not actually a Mazda 2. Sure, it’s a compact, practical, Japanese supermini, but the lines, styling and key details are quite different. Strip away the effort at some fancy dress and it’s very similar, in fact, to the Toyota Yaris.That’s not a coincidence, of course: the Mazda 2 Hybrid is essentially a rebadged Yaris, the product of a partnership between the two Japanese firms – one that, bizarrely, includes a rebadged Mazda 2 being sold as a Toyota Yaris in America. Anyway, there’s no shame in such a deal. It gives Mazda access to proven hybrid technology that, as a relatively small manufacturer, it would be prohibitive to develop in-house, and a model that will help to grow sales of its small cars, while it provides Toyota with a welcome source of income and some extra volume for its production. It just means it risks not being a particularly Mazda-y Mazda.The first Yaris-based 2 Hybrid arrived last year, but due to the lateness of the deal, the only real difference was the badge on the front of the bonnet and the back of the boot: it retained essentially all of Toyota’s styling features. For this updated version, Mazda’s European design chief, Jo Stenuit, has worked to make the model look “more Mazda than ever”, with extra bespoke styling details at the front and rear.What remains unchanged are all the technical bits, including Toyota’s proven 1.5-litre CVT-controlled hybrid powertrains. 

Has S-Class luxury been successfully packaged into a modern-day high-rise EV? When considering the Mercedes EQS SUV, you find yourself wondering about what is a continuing quandary for the ‘legacy’ car manufacturers: how do you maintain your identity when there are no engines to establish it, and when the traditional rules of vehicle design no longer apply in quite the same way as they have done for 100 years?It clearly has an impact on model hierarchies, as they get frantically rejigged and renamed.The Mercedes S-Class is a well-understood concept: a luxury limousine that’s equally suited to being chauffeur- or owner-driven. The electric Mercedes EQS, while impressive in a number of ways, is more of a technical showcase and less of a prestige saloon. Strictly speaking, it is a hatchback and not a saloon at all.As we will find out, the EQS SUV doesn’t follow tradition any more than its hatch-saloon counterpart and is something rather different from the ‘tall electric S-Class’ that its name would suggest. One look at its stubby bonnet and seven-seat layout confirms as much.That leaves the question of what this EQS SUV is instead, who it’s for, and if this Alabama-built behemoth is just an attempt at making an EV for America, or whether it has any relevance in Europe.The range at a glanceModelsPowerFrom450 4Matic355bhp£129,470580 4Matic536bhp£139,470Mercedes-Maybach EQS 680 SUV649bhptbcYou have the choice of two dual-motor set-ups, the single-motor 450 not being offered in the UK. Each version can be specified in AMG Line Premium Plus or Business Class trim. The latter costs £14,325 extra.A Maybach version arrives later in the year for those who want ultimate opulence when being chauffeured.

The maker of the Seal and the Dolphin produces a car that can actually swim Don’t you hate it when you take a wrong turn on the way to the office and end up in a lake? Clothes are ruined, car’s ruined, and the people fishing get cross. Well, the Yangwang U8 is here to help, because it can float for 30 minutes and even motor itself out by spinning the wheels. Allegedly.A Yangwhatnow? Yangwang is the prestige brand of BYD, and although there are no official plans to sell it in the Europe yet, the firm’s executives are strongly considering it, and the fact that they’re showing the U8 to a bunch of UK journalists does say something.Yangwang isn’t pronounced the way you might expect it to be, by the way. The ‘ang’ bits sound more like the ‘aww’ you might say to a cute kitten. Still, if you ask representatives whether they’ll actually call it that if it comes to Europe, the reaction varies from “we’re thinking about it” to “probably not”. It means something along the lines of ‘to look up at the stars’, but I don’t think they’re particularly attached to the name, given the brand was only launched a year ago in China.The U8 is not a cute kitten, looking more like a cross between a Land Rover Defender and the Kia EV9’s evil twin. What it is instead is a collection of all the gimmicks your heart could possibly desire.Aside from being semi-amphibious (the U8 does it in emergencies only and needs to be checked over by a workshop after any swim), it can do tank turns, has active hydraulic suspension and its armrest cubby can be set to temperatures of between 60deg C and -5deg C.The actual mechanical specification is quite impressive. It’s a ladder-chassis off-roader with a 295bhp electric motor for each wheel and approach, departure and breakover angles that are close to an Ineos Grenadier’s. It’s not an EV, but a range-extender plug-in hybrid, because with a shape like that, a weight like that (around 3500kg) and four motors drawing power, it would need an enormous battery to have any kind of usable range. Instead, it has a 49kWh battery (similar to what you might find in a BYD Dolphin), with a 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine powering a generator. On the Chinese economy cycle, it has a 112-mile electric range and will do somewhere between 20 and 30mpg.Inside, it’s a cut above normal BYDs. This is the best the company has to offer. So rather than the usual imitation leather, this has real nappa leather and wood veneers. Despite a dashboard design that’s very reminiscent of Bentleys’, it’s not up to that level – there’s a bit too much plastic for that and the wood is a bit Allegro Vanden Plas – but this is definitely a high-quality cabin. The chairs are broad, adjustable and comfortable, and there are acres of room.And, of course, there are screens, many screens. None of them rotates, but the centre one is curved to conform to the dashboard’s shape. Given this was a Chinese-market car, it couldn’t access any of its streaming services, and the interface had been hastily translated to English. It’s clearly related to the interface in BYDs we’ve tried, but with a few upgrades. There’s now a permanent bar at the bottom with shortcuts and climate controls, and that makes all the difference to usability. It should make its way to existing BYDs over the air at some point.Another consequence of this being a Chinese-market car is that it’s not homologated for UK roads, so we had to make do with a few laps of the Goodwood Motor Circuit (hence there’s no star rating). To absolutely no one’s surprise, this 3.5-tonne off-roader feels quite out of its depth on a fast race track.The suspension is some mysterious active system that uses hydraulic actuators to vary the ride height and spring rate, not entirely unlike the Porsche Panamera Turbo from last week. It has normal coil springs and anti-roll bars, though, because air springs can allegedly burst when you jump the car. No one was able to explain in detail how it works, but it’s certainly not as spectacular as the Porsche system. The U8 never felt perilously close to falling over, but neither did I feel it do very much to disguise its weight. Equally, the smooth track surface felt weirdly knobbly.It’s pretty quick, if not quite 1180bhp quick, and it sometimes throttled back during testing. I’m not sure whether that was the traction control trying to keep things orderly or because the battery is not up to delivering all that power continuously. The engine is pretty quiet when it kicks in, though.In China, the U8 costs the equivalent of £120,000, and you probably would need to add a bit to that by the time it’s made legal here and converted to right-hand drive. That seems like a lot of money for a car that’ll need to sell on its gimmicks rather than its actual usefulness. It’s interesting to see the Chinese car industry flex its technological muscle like this. I don’t think the U8 would catch on here in its current form, but a lot might happen in a few years.

Old-school Skoda hits all the right notes: big, comfortable, quiet, well equipped and good value In a decidedly old-school format, Skoda’s latest Superb Estate follows the theme set by its predecessors. This large estate (and hatchback, to follow shortly) has plenty of equipment and is cavernous inside, and comes with a range of pure-combustion, or mild or plug-in hybrid, engines. Even a diesel. Crikey. It’s car that has typically been received well in the UK, which is among the biggest markets. And it’s a market that cars – Ford Mondeo, Vauxhall Insignia – have been leaving. “That gives us the opportunity to fill the gap for customers looking for a traditional offering,” says Tatiana Cizmar, from Skoda’s product marketing. She says they want “roominess, practicality, usability, a good range of equipment…” I mean, that does sound quite straightforwardly compelling.  Prices start at £36,165 for a 1.5 petrol and rise to £43,680 for a top-spec 4x4 diesel. Plug-in hybrid prices are to follow.

This sharply-styled V8 Italian sports car is a steal at current prices. But will you come to regret it? Before we begin this used review, we should point out that you can buy a Maserati Gransport coupé with only 30,000 miles on the clock from a reputable dealer for £20,000.Repeat: twenty thousand pounds for an authentically Italian, rear-wheel-drive, 2+2 sports car trimmed in fine leather and carbonfibre and powered by a near-400bhp 4.2-litre cross-plane Ferrari V8 for 0-62mph in 4.8sec.Writing about the Gransport Spyder back in 2006, Autocar said: “It is a mightily stirring and fast car. The steering is incredibly quick-witted and in Sport mode it corners flatly, grips strongly and accelerates through the upper rev range with incredible urgency."In fact, when the glorious Maranello-made engine is burbling deliciously in your ears, you’re drinking in the classy ambience of the tactile cabin and there’s nothing but smooth, empty mountain asphalt to tear along, few cars make a more persuasive case for themselves.”Having been given the go-faster Gransport treatment, Maserati’s sleekly styled sports car got a howling V8 knocking out 395bhp at 7000rpm. This made it slightly more than the then Porsche 911 Carrera S, albeit down on the 474bhp churned out by the 6.3-litre V8 Mercedes-Benz CLK 63 AMG.But never mind that: as was the case when the Coupé got the Gransport treatment, the Spyder was improved in other ways, too.It got Maserati’s Cambiocorsa paddleshift gearbox, which had been tweaked for faster shifts, as well as an extra helping of leather and carbonfibre lavished on the interior, deeper front and rear valances filled with dazzling chrome grilles, side sill extensions, chromed exhausts and 19in alloy wheels.Of course, it is customary at this stage of a buying guide to point out what a grave mistake you would be making by buying such a car. To the usual horrors, high running costs and questionable reliability among them, you can add almost zero availability of certain crucial spare parts. It’s £20,000 for a reason.Still, park those niggles for a moment and the Gransport is clearly a charismatic car worthy of further investigation. It was launched in 2004 as a sportier version of the already sporty Coupé (commonly known as the 4200 GT, being the successor to the 3200 GT).Its additional fizz derived from an extra 10bhp, the standard-fit faster-acting version of Ferrari’s Formula 1-style Cambiocorsa six-speed semiautomatic paddle-shift gearbox with a taller sixth gear, Skyhook active suspension that reduced the ride height and brought more composure and an exhaust that sounded growlier, especially in Sport mode.In addition, it enjoyed a full body makeover: restyled bumpers with chrome mesh grilles, new side skirts,  a rear lip spoiler and Trofeo 19in spoked alloy wheels. Underneath, there was new cladding designed to smooth airflow and reduce lift.Inside, sumptuous sports seats necessitated a slimmer centre console crafted from carbonfibre, which also covered the dashboard.A handful of special editions followed, most notably the MC Victory, launched in 2006 to mark the 2005 FIA GT Championship success of the Maserati MC12.It was no more powerful than the Gransport but had slightly quicker steering, a little more downforce and a lot more carbonfibre. It’s extremely rare, but you can grab several examples with 40,000 miles for a shade under £60,000.Despite the very positive review extracts quoted earlier, our testers weren’t that impressed with it at the time. Most of the other criticism we made of the Spyder, which measured 229mm shorter than the coupé and thus lacked rear seats, was aimed at poor practicality, refinement and insufficient dynamic polish. With the roof in place, there’s more wind noise at motorway speed than you would hear in, say, a Porsche 911 Cabriolet.You would get much more luggage into the 911 too, since there are no rear seats and only a modest boot in the Spyder – another factor that blights its effectiveness as a GT.And when you ride over a sharp expansion joint on the motorway, even in the softer of two suspension settings, you can see the fascia in front of you shudder and feel the steering wheel tremor in your fingertips in a way that just isn’t a problem in the then cloth-topped 911 or Jaguar XK.But the Spyder remains a mightily stirring and fast car even today. It will hit 62mph in less than 5.0sec and, unchecked by an electronic speed limiter, go on to 177mph.The steering is incredibly quick-witted – a little too quick, perhaps – and in Sport mode it corners flatly, grips strongly and accelerates through the upper rev range with incredible urgency.Fortunately, you're likely to be put in the position of choosing one over a coupé, since there are very few of them. Indeed, scarcity is part of the Gransport’s appeal. Buy a cherished example and you will join a very select club.