Car review

The brilliant coupé is a hard act for a heavier, less rigid convertible to follow, even when it looks as attractive as this. And yet… Whenever a new mid-engined Ferrari coupé is launched, you can set your watch to the inevitable launch of the convertible version. But the front-engined V8 Ferrari Roma appeared in 2020, and then… nothing.In some ways, that made sense. The Roma was positioned as the keen driver’s alternative to the Ferrari Portofino. It was a coupé with a more focused suspension tune, but also styling that was more subtly elegant, less shouty and more of a personal pleasure.Anyway, you can forget most of that, because in comes the Ferrari Roma Spider, making the Portofino largely redundant. It’s a good thing that the latter is going off sale soon. You’d almost think Ferrari planned it like this.Mind you, the drop-top Roma is still a slightly different proposition from the Portofino. The headline change is that Ferrari has abandoned the bulky, heavy, folding metal hard-top and gone back to a canvas roof.Like Mercedes has with the latest Mercedes-AMG SL, Ferrari can do this because modern soft-tops are a far cry from the leaky tent you would have found on your Triumph Spitfire in the 1970s. The Roma’s is made from eight layers in total, has a glass rear window and folds up and down in a mere 13.5sec at vehicle speeds of up to 37mph. It’s available in six colours, including a special technical weave.

Japanese firm puts its new-age petrol engine into its fourth-generation family hatchback Driving the Mazda 3, like most of the brand’s cars, can feel like stepping back in time, but in a good, rose-tinted glasses kind of way.It’s like driving an older car, one that preserves much of the mechanical tactility and simple shapes and doesn’t hit you over the head with nannying safety systems. However, it’s one that has all the useful advances in safety and emissions and doesn’t make you resort to a paper map or a wallet of CDs.Mazda has never been afraid to go against the grain, both in the way its cars operate and the way they're powered. It’s also famously sceptical about EVs. It plans to launch a scaleable EV platform between 2025 and 2030 but maintains that it can achieve more for the planet in the short term by simply making more efficient internal combustion engines than by chucking them all in the bin and taking a massive leap with both feet into electric power.Central to that strategy is its Skyactiv-X technology. It’s unlike any other petrol engine currently in production; it combines both spark and compression-ignition technologies to boost efficiency; and it came to market in this fourth-generation Mazda 3 hatchback.Mazda 3 range at a glanceEver since the very short-lived 1.8 Skyactiv-D diesel option was dropped, there has been a choice of just two engines, both 2.0-litre petrol four-cylinders with 24V mild-hybrid assistance and a choice of a six-speed manual or torque-converter automatic gearbox.The e-Skyactiv-G is the more conventional unit, while the more powerful e-Skyactiv-X has Mazda's compression-ignition technology. Earlier versions, named simply Skyactiv-X (without the e) had very slightly less power.There's also the Mazda 3 Saloon, which is exclusively available with the e-Skyactiv-X engine and a manual gearbox.VersionPowere-Skyactiv-G120bhpe-Skyactiv-X183bhp (177bhp*)Saloon e-Skyactiv-X183bhp (177bhp*)*2019-2021

Honda’s second EV is an HR-V lookalike that takes it into a tough electric arena As the Japanese firm's first electric family SUV, it’s clear just how important the Honda e:Ny1 is to the brand. We’ve already seen the manufacturer’s first steps into the world of battery-electric cars with the Honda E, a niche offering that has been on sale since 2020.Honda’s high hopes for the e:Ny1 are vital for its zero-emission goals. As a result of the zero-emission mandate, the brand expects 22% of its registrations by the end of next year to consist of e:Ny1 sales, which is equivalent to around 7500 cars.The firm has selected quite a congested segment in which to launch its first family EV. By Honda’s own reckoning, the e:Ny1 will directly face off with the likes of the Toyota bZ4X, Renault Mégane E-Tech, Volkswagen ID 4 and even the extremely popular Tesla Model Y. As the first car in Europe based on the firm’s e:N Architecture F platform, it has quite the job to do.Honda positions the e:Ny1 as an acceptable and comfortable stepping stone into BEV ownership for both existing customers and those who are new to the brand. It looks like it will become just that sooner rather than later, too, given that Rebecca Adamson, Honda UK’s head of automobile, has said there would be no direct successor to the Honda E urban hatchback.At 1584mm tall, 1790mm wide and 4387mm long, the e:Ny1 measures 60mm longer than the Honda HR-V. It’s the first Honda to feature the firm’s new electric vehicle identity, with a white Honda logo (in place of the traditional silver) and a typed-out ‘Honda’ at the rear.It’s certainly an eye-catching car – particularly in the optional Aqua Topaz blue paint chosen to spearhead the model’s launch and with slimmed-down headlights, stylish wheel designs and a rear light bar all matching nicely with the surrounding black and chrome exterior trim.Beneath the metal, power comes from a 68.8kWh battery offering 256 miles of range (WLTP) and able to charge at speeds of up to 78kW. That might not seem particularly rapid, but Honda says it has prioritised sustained higher rates over headline rapid charging figures, with “very little” drop when nearing capacity, which in turn helps to prevent battery deterioration and maintain range. Regardless, the e:Ny1 will get from 10% charge to 80% in around 45 minutes.The car is driven by a front-mounted electric motor producing 201bhp and 229lb ft. That Civic-matching power is felt during acceleration, which is enough for the e:Ny1 to accelerate from a standstill to 62mph in 7.6sec, matching rivals including the ID 4 and Kia Niro EV.There are three driving modes: Eco, Normal and Sport. Sport ups performance and slightly adjusts the steering, but most of our driving was done in a mixture of Eco and Normal, both of which seemed brisk enough.Around town, the e:Ny1 is genuinely pleasurable to drive, with satisfying power delivery and light steering. It is softly damped and soaks up the majority of bumps with ease, and it’s a welcoming place to be for both driver and passengers. It beats the Model Y for outright comfort and felt great around Oslo, making navigating the city’s winding streets and tramlines a simpletask. It even held up comfortably during an accidental detour up a Norwegian green lane, on which it handled a dirt surface with aplomb.Honda does suggest, however, that the e:Ny1 has been specifically engineered for a “fun and confidence-inspiring driving experience”. It fell slightly short of that description when tackling Norway’s twisting, fjord-circling asphalt.Its near two-tonne weight is felt in the sharpest corners, where there is a tendency to understeer, and it lacks the dynamics offered by rivals such as the Kia EV6.It’s clear Honda has placed an emphasis on comfort. The e:Ny1’s padded seats are plush and inviting, and there’s plenty of space in the back to accommodate taller passengers. The steering wheel helps the e:Ny1 feel like a quality product, with nicely positioned ergonomic buttons that are solid to press.The huge infotainment system does look intimidating at first, but after a few minutes of fiddling it is simple enough to navigate, although it suffers from a degree of low latency and is tedious to use on the move.Honda bills the e:Ny1’s specification level as a key draw for customers, offering desirable levels of technology even on its entry-level models. There’s a choice of two specification levels: the £44,995 Elegance and £47,195 Advance. We drove the latter, but it’s the former that Honda expects to be its biggest seller by a margin of 60% to 40%.Standard equipment includes that expansive 15.0in touchscreen with sat-nav and smartphone mirroring, keyless entry, heated front seats and parking sensors. Automatic wipers are also included on basic models, as is dual-zone climate control, wireless phone charging and a set of 18in alloy wheels. Advance trim cars, meanwhile, benefit in addition from a panoramic sunroof, Honda’s Parking Pilot assistance system, a premium audio set-up, a powered tailgate and a heated steering wheel.Thanks to the e:Ny1’s high-end specification and useable everyday practicality, it should be given genuine consideration as a family-friendly electric SUV. It is expensive, however, and the claimed 256 miles of range is well beaten by a slew of its rivals. 

Porsche rolls out a very special 911 as a birthday present to itself You can’t accuse the makers of the Porsche 911 S/T of under-promising on it. Andreas Preuninger, who runs Porsche’s GT division, tells us it is “one of the greatest 911s of all time, if not the greatest, the most entertaining”.And he says Walter Röhrl, Porsche’s brand ambassador (and two-time world rally champion) calls it “the best street-legal car I’ve ever driven”. Which, when even just the recent back catalogue has the Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0 and 911 R in it, is no minor boast.The S/T is a special-edition 911 limited to 1963 units (it’s the model line’s 60th anniversary), about 10% of which will come to the UK, each priced at £231,600. It’s based on the GT3 Touring, the marginally more laid-back, road-friendlier version of the GT3 that is Autocar’s reigning – and two-time – Britain’s Best Driver’s Car champion. But while the S/T is “a GT product”, according to Preuninger, it is unequivocally “not a track car”. The evidence? “The Nürburgring lap time I don’t care about,” he says. “I don’t know it. We haven’t tested it.”Instead, the S/T is meant to be different from all previous 911 GT cars. “We wanted to make the ultimate driver’s car,” says Preuninger, “and being the lightest 992 [-generation 911] was the main development goal.”There are, then, carbonfibre door skins, front wings, froot lid and roof. Wheels are magnesium and the interior features no rear seats. Weight has been shed elsewhere too, as a by-product of other goals. The 4.0-litre flat-six naturally aspirated engine comes from Porsche’s 911 GT3 RS, where it makes 518bhp. But because the team wanted it to have more of a ‘zing’ factor, there is a much lighter clutch for the six-speed manual gearbox, and a single- rather than dual-mass flywheel.The GT3’s hydraulically activated rear-steer system has been binned, too, saving more kilos and no longer sapping engine power. The rear anti-roll bar and its drop links are made from carbonfibre and the brakes are carbon-ceramic. All in, the S/T weighs 1380kg, so 38kg less than a manual GT3 Touring and only 10kg more than a 911 R, and responses ought to be improved again by 8% lower gear ratios and a 10mm shorter gear lever than that of a GT3. Spring and damper hardware and Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres are the same as on the GT3 Touring, but the adaptive damper’s software tuning is different. The steering has been made more linearly responsive and, perhaps counter-intuitively, slower overall: it’s tuned with the aim of replicating a hydraulic rack’s steady take-up of weight and feel, accepting the loss of the GT3’s quicker initial low-speed turn-in. The steering is certainly heavier and more deliberate than a GT3 Touring’s (one of which, helpfully, Porsche had to hand for a brief back-to-back blast). And given they share so much, the two cars feel notably different. There’s an initial easy slickness to the GT3’s steering that the S/T rows back on. Even at low speeds rolling away from our location, it feels more authentic, more like genuine tyre forces are feeding through to the rim – which is, of course, what the best steering racks do.What’s more striking still is the S/T’s ride quality. Given that this car runs 20 and 21in alloys with 30-profile tyres, the ride is astonishingly good. A GT3 knobbles along poor roads with some head- toss and firmness, from which this new S/T is seemingly immune. Given the suspension hardware is the same, it’s remarkable tuning.Don’t think, though, that this is a softer GT3. Body control and composure is better, too. There are two damper stiffness settings, but either is usable on the road. I like the more controlled setting, which gives very little compliance away, while reducing already small levels of dive and squat rate. Porsche’s engineers tell me the S/T’s lightweight magnesium wheels (a 2.65kg apiece saving in mass over the GT3’s alloys) make little difference to ride comfort but that their reduced rotational inertia helps engine response. Because of this, and combined with all the other changes, the S/T feels fabulously urgent.It’s extremely loud, inside and out, even at idle, although the exhaust note is not unsophisticated: there are no pops and bangs and there’s less induction noise than in, say, the Porsche Cayman GT4 RS. There’s a grumbly limited-slip diff and a smooth, noisy engine, driving through a six-speed manual ’box whose shift is precise but demands decisiveness and a decent throttle prod on downshifts, given the revs die so quickly that rev-matching takes concentration (an auto-blip mode is included). It’s immensely rewarding. Okay, Preuninger says this isn’t a track car, but I’ll bet it’s a hoot when you do get the chance to give it everything. Great steering, then, impeccable control, 1380kg agility with 911-type balance and a powertrain to die for: is this the best 911 ever?Well, it has been 12 years since I drove a GT3 RS 4.0, and I regret that therefore I’m not quite able to make that call. But, you know, on the right road, in the right circumstances, then yes, maybe (and are you going to tell Walter Röhrl otherwise?). If there is an issue – and it’s part of this gig to find them – it’s that a modern 911 feels wide, although the S/T, at 1852mm across the body, is no wider than a 911 R or GT3 RS 4.0 (although it is 2027mm across the mirrors). It looks and feels bigger, though; perhaps it has a higher window line, worse visibility, thicker pillars, a chunkier interior. But it feels less malleable than those older cars.Such is the S/T’s precision and linearity, though, that over time it becomes more approachable, and there will be markets where this doesn’t matter anyway. But on small mountain roads, where you’re wondering if you’d be having any less fun in a Lotus Elise or a Peugeot 106 Rallye, I thought it’d be nice to have less metal either side of me.What’s remarkable is that although the 911 is ever more powerful and ever more focused, unlike some supercars these fastest and angriest Porsches have stayed entirely relevant and hugely entertaining nonetheless. If you’re imagining your dream road and track drive, with your dream car to take on it, the 911 S/T has just entered the conversation at the very forefront of your mind.

Distinctive coupé-SUV offers more driver thrills than the Countryman on which it's based - and it's rarer too You might be surprised to learn that it wasn’t in fact people running away screaming from dealerships after seeing the Mini Paceman that brought about its premature end.Instead, it was something as boring as BMW Group bosses believing the SUV was positioned too similarly to the Mini Countryman on which it was based.In hindsight, it seems the Paceman wasn’t cannibalising too many sales: a leading website currently lists around 200 for sale yet 800 Countrymans of the same age. Well, it did have only three doors and four seats.Is the Paceman really an SUV, then, or is it actually a big hatchback or even, dare we suggest, a coupé? Really, it’s all three: Mini stated that it had the Volkswagen Golf and Volkswagen Scirocco in its crosshairs as well as the Range Rover Evoque. This ‘car for all reasons’ aspect was probably why sales limped along. It didn’t help, either, that the Paceman was around £1000 more expensive than the Countryman – a situation that has reversed on the used market.You might be wondering why we’re covering this car at all. Well, six years since it was dropped, its quirkiness and scarcity look like attributes to us. Add its sporty handling (blunted a bit by its height and bulk), lower prices, strong engine range and optional four-wheel drive and – who knows? – in years to come, the Paceman may be regarded as a modern classic.It sat on the same platform as the Countryman but with lowered sports suspension (check carefully, though, as standard suspension was an option). It had cool pumped-up rear haunches. And it had a lower roof yet, thanks to sculpted seats, just 10mm less head room in the rear. Its boot wasn’t much smaller, either, at a still-spacious 330 litres, or 1080 litres when the rear seats were folded away.The Paceman’s engine range was a familiar mix of 1.6-litre four-pot petrols (atmo in the Cooper model, turbocharged in the Cooper S and John Cooper Works) and 1.6-litre and 2.0-litre four-pot turbo diesels (in the Cooper D and Cooper SD).As diesel is now considered the spawn of the devil (in any case, Pacemans up to and including 2015 are Euro 5 and therefore fall foul of the London ULEZ), we would have to recommend one of the petrols.The Paceman is a heavy car, so our vote goes to the 181bhp Cooper S. Save the all-out JCW experience for the hatchback.We’ve dissed the diesels, but on second thoughts, with 141bhp and 225lb ft, the post-2015 Cooper SD offers a good balance of power and economy plus London ULEZ access.A six-speed manual gearbox and an optional automatic were offered with most engines, while all were optionally available with All4 four-wheel drive. This made for a very grippy car on all surfaces but added weight, complexity and the potential for higher repair costs.Trim levels were pretty much tied to engines. Choose Cooper S or SD and you get a Sport driving mode and sports seats in addition to the regular car’s DAB radio, rear parking sensors and LED foglights. So go on, be controversial…Mini Paceman (2013-2017) common problemsEngine and gearbox:Look for multiple oil leaks and listen for a rattly timing chain from cold. Failures have been blamed on routinely low oil levels and chain stretch. On petrols, the variable valve timing system thrives on regular oil changes. Any shunting from a start could point to loose or broken engine mounts. On low-mileage diesels, poor low-speed running may be due to a coked-up EGR valve.Transmission:Check for clutch slip and, in an All4 car, the biting point. A new centre clutch and dual-mass flywheel cost at least £3000 fitted. Also on an All4, be sure wear is even across all four tyres, since differences can stress the transfer box. In an automatic, scroll through the gears using the paddles, checking for quick and shunt-free shifts.Suspension and wheels:A fresh MOT should weed out any serious suspension wear and looseness. Wishbone bushes have a particularly hard time. Check for signs of alloy-wheel corrosion.Brakes:The Paceman is a heavy car, so unless they’ve been changed, expect the discs and pads to be heavily lipped and worn, especially in an automatic.Interior:The firm suspension can loosen trim and cause all sorts of hard-to-trace rattles, so drive the car on a particularly bumpy test route to be sure you can tolerate them. Check the front seats tip, slide and rise. Feel for damp carpets and water ingress caused by blocked windscreen scuttle channels and failing tailgate seals.Body:Make sure the faux-chrome body strips aren’t peeling and that those rear haunches are free from marks.Also worth knowing:The All4 four-wheel drive system that was an option on the Paceman is an interesting piece of kit. From a start, it distributes power evenly to the front and rear axles before, assuming that conditions allow, progressively feeding it exclusively to the front wheels using a multi-plate wet clutch.This means that by, say, 60mph, the power distribution is 60:40 front to rear but by 80mph the rear wheels are completely disengaged. The clutch is made of strong stuff, able to send up to 300lb ft of torque to the rear wheels – much more than any of the Paceman’s engines generate.The system doesn’t make the car a full off-roader (it’s too low for that), but it does make it much safer in all conditions.