Car review

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.

Rejuvenated luxury coupé has impressed overseas. Now we drive it in the UK as it arrives on sale The new Maserati Granturismo has arrived in the UK in production form, albeit still in left-hand drive as we test it.A lot of responsibility rests on the shoulders of this luxury sports coupé. While the Maserati Grecale, pitched at the heart of the luxury SUV sector, might be the company's biggest money-spinner, it's the Granturismo that carries the full weight of the company's history, because over 75 years and 12 generations (albeit bearing many different names) the luxurious coupé has been a near-permanent fixture in Maserati’s century-long life.Like that other sporting icon, the Porsche 911, with which it directly competes, it has evolved greatly over the years but has aimed to retain its unique character – in this case, blending exotic looks and surprising usability with effortless performance and a dollop of driver delight.Perhaps no surprise, then, that the latest version was chosen as the basis for Maserati’s first steps into an electric future in the form of the 751bhp Maserati Granturismo Folgore, which we have so far driven in pre-production form, and rather liked. However, while this technological tour de force sets the tone for the years ahead, there’s still healthy demand for a petrol version of this Italian icon. That's also the first variant to arrive in showrooms and on customer driveways. There are two petrol variants, the Modena and the Trofeo, and both use versions of the 3.0-litre V6 'Nettuno' engine that you'll find in the fabulous MC20 supercar. The Modena has 483bhp, the Trofeo a beefier 542bhp.The V6 petrol versions look very like their battery sibling, and all in turn draw heavily on the visual template set by the previous Maserati Granturismo (2007-2019). With more than 40,000 examples of that car finding homes over its lengthy 12-year life (small beer by rivals’ standards but big for this boutique brand), it makes sense that the design team decided not to mess with the formula. It’s not an eyes-out-on-stalks head-turner, but there’s an undeniable elegance to the neatly proportioned new coupé.Under the skin, however, this is a totally bespoke and all-new offering, designed from the outset to house both high-voltage and high-octane propulsion. All versions feature a structure that’s about 65% aluminium, but the petrol models feature different sills that reinstate some of the stiffness lost to the EV, which uses its centrally mounted battery as a stressed chassis component.From this architecture hangs double-wishbone suspension at the front, a five-link axle at the rear and height-adjustable air springs. Those prove a useful addition when it comes to calibrating a set-up that’s required to cope with a chunky 465kg spread in kerb weight between EV and petrol. (It’s a hefty 2260kg for the Folgore compared with 1795kg for the Trofeo.)Under the long bonnet of our test car is that V6 from the Maserati MC20 supercar, complete with Formula 1-inspired combustion-chamber technology and fuel-saving cylinder deactivation. In addition to its 542bhp, in the Trofeo, it produces deep-chested 479lb ft of torque at a usefully low 3000rpm.This is linked to a ZF eight-speed automatic gearbox and a four-wheel drive system that can shuffle 100% of the available torque to the rear wheels, divide it equally between the axles or anything in between.There’s a trick torque-vectoring limited-slip differential at the rear, while the front diff is mounted just ahead of the engine, helping to keep the V6 low and between the axles, thus aiding the centre of gravity, the polar moment of inertia and the weight distribution, which is a commendable 52:48, front to rear. (The Modena has a simpler, mechanical limited-slip differential.)So the raw ingredients appear compelling, but what’s the Trofeo like to drive? The first certain thing is that the Nettuno lacks the aural authority of the old Granturismo’s operatic V8. There’s no lack of lag-free muscle and its outright urge is almost supercar-silly (Maserati claims 3.5sec for the 0-62mph sprint), but at low to medium revs, the directly injected engine has the sort of gruff but reasonably refined voice you would expect from a diesel V6, which is a little out of keeping with the car’s supposedly sophisticated shtick.Engaging Sport or Corsa driving mode (gratifyingly easy, thanks to the handy steering-wheel-mounted rotary selector) sharpens responses and uncorks the exhaust system for some enhanced snap, crackle and pop, but there’s still none of the spine-tingling theatrics that made the atmo V8 such a sonic treat. It’s not a deal-breaker as such, but the lack of mechanical musicality seems particularly disappointing, given Maserati’s back catalogue.On the plus side, the gearbox slices quickly and cleanly through its ratios whether you’re leaving it to its own devices or taking manual control by pulling the slender alloy paddles behind the steering wheel. The brakes are strong and progressive too, once you’ve got past the slightly sharp initial response. And as you would expect from four-wheel drive, traction is limpet-like off the line.It's harder to be certain about the ride and handling than it is the performance. The base drive mode is Comfort, which a spider graph on the touchscreen will tell you has the lowest suspension stiffness of all drive modes. Selecting GT stiffens that slightly. Sport suggests it offers a considerably firmer setting, with Corsa offering maximum stiffness.But that's not all, because another, separate damper-changing button gives multiple damper settings for each of the modes. We drove down the same stretch of lightly curved, poorly surfaced B-road in each of them, and came away not that much wiser about the changes each one gave. What we can say is that on firmer settings, things are tightened but not necessarily any less comfortable. And overall the Maserati has an easy-going character that means it’s likely to be less draining to drive quickly for long periods, which is what grand tourers are all about.It’s helped in this regard by good visibility, this breeding confidence in you by making the car easy to place on the road, which in turn creates a sense of compactness at odds with dimensions that record nearly five metres nose to tail and two metres across the hips.Ultimately, it isn’t as invigorating as the Porsche 911 Turbo, but it feels lighter on its feet than the Bentley Continental GT.When it comes to continent-crushing capability, it also makes a fair fist of leaving you relaxed and refreshed when you arrive at your long-haul destination. Noise levels are impressively low and there’s just enough luxurious waft to the ride on undulating but smoothly surfaced roads. High-grade materials are used throughout and the quality of the finish is pretty much on a par with its upper-crust rivals. Put proudly on the centre console is Maserati’s latest touchscreen infotainment system, which is visually slick but home to too many functions. We challenge you to turn on the headlights in a hurry.The driving position is nicely low slung, while neat packaging also means it’s possible to fit four average-size adults, provided those in the rear are willing to compromise on visibility, while the 310-litre boot is long, if low.The Trofeo rings the till at a hefty £166,830 in the UK, which is bang on the money for the Continental GT V8 and about £10,000 more than the 911 Turbo.It can’t match the aristocratic image and five-star comfort of the former, nor the sharper edged dynamics and adrenaline-pumping pace of the latter, but it’s not hard to see the appeal of the Granturismo, which is a vastly more polished performer than its predecessor, even if its engine lacks the old stager’s charisma and siren call.Crucially, it still packs enough magnetic Latin style, charm and personality to make it a tempting left-field choice in this rarefied corner of the market.

Widely updated Cayenne gets an impressive interior revamp and, even in bottom-rung form, doesn’t want for relative driver appeal. The 'new' Porsche Cayenne isn’t quite all-new: as the kids might put it, “because reasons”. Its maker is currently investing in both an all-electric Cayenne to sell alongside this one (due in 2026), and an even larger all-electric SUV to sell alongside that (the ‘K1’, due in 2027). It’s also about to deliver its all-electric new Macan, in which it’s been investing for even longer than either.In other words, it’s shovelling cash into a scenario that might leave a rapidly diminishing place for a traditional, combustion-engined SUV; but is also still to really test the market’s appetite for any of its new zero-emissions offerings (save the Taycan, of course). Right now, the company accountants could well be taking it in turns to breathe.Understandably, it’s sought out a little pragmatism where it can, by ekeing out the lifecycle of the current ‘E3’ Cayenne. The first-gen car lasted eight years; the second-gen Cayenne a little less; and this one will have served for more than a decade come the time that Stuttgart has it slated for retirement.So this is the Cayenne that Porsche refers to internally as ‘E3 II’. It’s a wide-ranging technical facelift. To be fair to Porsche, it contains at least as much material change as plenty of full generational model renewals: overhauled V6 and V8 engines, new suspension hardware, a pretty much all-new interior, and a couple of all-new model derivatives thrown in for good measure.Additional reporting by Piers Ward

Could this be a purist’s 911 for almost entry-level money? It’s sobering to think there is now only one derivative of arguably the most revered sports car in the world – the Porsche 911 – that can be bought in the UK for less than £100,000.This week’s test subject – the 911 Carrera T – isn’t quite that bottom-rung model, but it’s close. It represents Porsche returning to sprinkle some fresh intrigue on the more affordable end of the 911 range, between the launch of one quarter-million-pound special edition and the next.Here, T stands for Touring, but ‘911 Lightweight’ would perhaps be a better descriptor for this car, since simplicity, weight-saving and driver appeal are what it is all about.Slotting in between the standard Carrera and the well-established Carrera S, the T risked being a slightly wishy-washy, middle-of-the-road model without a clear raison d’être. But Porsche has given the car some special equipment features and quite an uncompromising character definition. There are, however, weight-saving measures employed with the last Carrera T that Porsche has chosen now to shun, and opportunities for the paring down of complexity and the enhancement of analogue feel that haven’t been taken.Over the next few pages you’ll find out if the Carrera T really does have an identity of its own. Moreover, thanks to some unseasonably wet weather, we’ll also be able to explore just how much difference Porsche’s recently developed Wet driving mode makes to the performance of a 911 when the going gets slippery. The Range at a GlanceEnginesPowerFromCarrera380bhp£99,070Carrera 4380bhp£105,070Carrera T380bhp£107,770Carrera S444bhp£112,070Carrera 4S444bhp£118,070Carrera GTS473bhp£124,070Carrera 4 GTS473bhp£130,070Turbo573bhp£161,520Turbo S641bhp£183,020GT3503bhp£149,060GT3 RS518bhp£195,260S/T518bhp£234,260Transmission: 6-spd manual, 7-spd manual*, 7-spd dual-clutch automaticMinus the rarefied likes of the Dakar and Sport Classic, the ‘992’ 911 range is supremely wide. There are also Cabriolet versions of all the Carreras and Turbos and Targa versions of the four-wheel-drive 4 models.A choice of manual or auto is offered with all but the Carrera, Carrera 4, the Turbos and the GT3 RS (which are PDK only) and the S/T (manual only).

SUV originator primes itself to make it big in the UK and across Europe with a battery-powered B-segment SUV Jeep's cars have never really caught on anywhere in Europe outside of Italy (where its success is largely a by-product of its relationship with Fiat) and, remarkably, only about one in 100 SUVs sold in Europe is a Jeep. After many false dawns, then, here’s the car Jeep’s new owner Stellantis hopes will change that: the Jeep Avenger.Now, having already taken the European Car of the Year gong, the Avenger arrives in the UK already with much clout. The big reason for this is it's the first Jeep designed and engineered for Europe in Europe, and it will also be built here. So European-centric is this Jeep, in fact, that it won’t even be sold in the US.At 4.08 metres in length, the Avenger – Jeep's smallest ever road car – is pitched at the heart of the booming supermini SUV segment, competing against the likes of the Ford Puma and Renault Captur, and is electric. Talk about on-trend.Indeed, Jeep Europe boss Antonella Bruno calls the Avenger “the right car at the right time”.Keenly priced it will be, too, starting at £35,700 here in the UK (although this does boost all the way to £39,000 before options), with a simplified range of trims and easy-to-add packs and colour options to make the buying process as simple as possible.The Avenger will begin life as a front-wheel-drive model with a 154bhp, 192lb ft electric motor. There is a 51kWh (usable) battery that is good for a 249-mile range, and can charge at up to 100kW, and a heat pump comes as standard to add 10% more to the range than would otherwise have been possible.There will also be petrol and hybrid versions too launching next year - this was originally just planned for Italy, Poland, and Spain given their lack of EV infrastruture, but such was the outcry, it will come here too. Next year will even see a more powerful four-wheel-drive 4xe model arrive, but further details on that have yet to be divulged.UK driving impressions by Will Rimell