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Everything you need to know about cars this week: 2 May '21
We reveal the winners of this year's TG.com Electric Awards, and get a go in the new Lotus Evija
Hyundai Ioniq 5 review: 300bhp dual-motor electric hatch tested
"The Ioniq 5 might look like a 1980s hot hatch mixed with a dash of concept car and a splash of DeLorean, but what we have here is Hyundai’s first completely bespoke EV. Target? Sideswipe Tesla, mug the VW ID family, and start the Ioniq EV family on the path to world domination. Muahaha."
Advertisement - Page continues belowThe want is strong for this M3-powered BMW 2800 CS
"It’s a perfect BMW sandwich. There’s a 2800 CS on the outside and an S54 straight six from the E46 M3 on the inside. One of the all-time great engines by any manufacturer, sitting in one of the best shapes ever bestowed on motoring. Needless to say, we’re fans."
Review: Volkswagen Touareg R
"A curious mix of speed and efficiency with a big dollop of comfort. It's just not especially fun"
Advertisement - Page continues belowAudi: 'progress not just horsepower or speed'
"She says that this year Audi will launch more EVs than pure-petrol cars. She claims Audi will offer the biggest choice of EVs of any premium manufacturer – remember, it already has the e-tron and e-tron Sportback crossovers too."
Why can’t all Volkswagen ID.4s look like this?
"Welcome to a Volkswagen ID.4 that’s been modified to compete in Baja-style desert racing. Oh hell yes."
This is an all-new 770kg, 500bhp Spanish sports car
"Looks great, doesn’t it? Gets even better when you hear the headline stats too. It’s properly lightweight – seriously, it tips the scales at just 770kg all-in. Oh, and the twin-motor rear-wheel drive setup means there’s 500bhp, 738lb ft of torque (or a nice, round 1000Nm) and a 0-62mph time of just 2.5 seconds."
The Rimac C_Two has run a ¼ mile in under nine seconds
"Nonetheless, the unfinished C_Two appears to clock a quarter-mile time of 8.94 seconds. Quicker, claims Mate, than a Bugatti Chiron (which takes around 9.4 seconds). He attributes the “quite bad” 0-60mph time of 2.3 seconds to the poor surface."
Advertisement - Page continues belowThe finished Hyundai Kona N is finally here
"What’s different here is that N’s new eight-speed dual-clutch paddleshift gearbox comes as standard; you can’t have a manual Kona N. That helps it achieve a 150mph top speed via a 5.5sec 0-62mph sprint. Just over half a second behind a Volkswagen T-Roc R, which lumbers around the extra weight of a four-wheel-drive system."
Top Gear Tested: Tesla Model 3 2021 review
In this new series – Top Gear Tested – we review the most frequently searched electric cars at our VERY serious testing facility where VERY serious car testers meet to test cars VERY seriously. First up, TopGear.com’s Ollie Kew talks you through the Tesla Model 3.
Advertisement - Page continues belowTop Gear's best (and worst) Mini moments 2001-2021
"Revealed to huge acclaim and massive demand, the car was actually a bit of a hotchpotch, as the concept had been designed without thought for trifling details, like what size the engine might be, or how people would fit inside."
The new Lotus sports car is called Emira
"Lotus is building a brand new, old-fashioned sports car. It will be fully unveiled on 6 July, and it will take the name ‘Emira’. (Pronounced ‘e-meer-a’, FYI.)"
Watch: the TopGear.com Electric Awards 2021
Hot on the heels of the Oscars, it’s the TopGear.com Electric Awards 2021. Join Top Gear magazine editor Jack Rix as he reveals the greatest electric cars in the world right now.
Review: Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo
"The most complete fast estate available today. And perhaps the best electric car, too"
Aston reveals custom DBR1-spec livery for the V12 Speedster
"The Aston Martin V12 Speedster is a roofless, two-door, V12-engined road rocket. Now, it is available in a new livery that pays homage to a roofless, two-door, straight-six-engined racing rocket."
This is a Tamiya Wild One that you can actually drive
"The Little Car Company – yep, the folk responsible for the brilliant 55mph, all-electric Bugatti Baby II – is collaborating with Tamiya to launch a fantastic-looking 8/10th scale Wild One MAX that real-life humans can actually drive. Eighties kids, it’s time to get excited."
There could be a Hyundai Ioniq 5 N on the way
"Fresh from it scooping our design gong at the Top Gear Electric Awards, N division has hinted to us that Hyundai’s retro EV might be the next model in line for a performance upgrade."
“Self-driving” cars could be allowed on Britain’s motorways this year
"The DfT’s plans would permit manufacturers to equip their cars with ‘level three’ assistance systems, where the driver can take their hands off the steering wheel and, for example, read a newspaper while the car steers and accelerates/decelerates as required."
The ID.4 GTX is the first fast(ish) electric Volkswagen road car
"Welcome to the first of many schporty electric road-going Volkswagens – the ID.4 ‘GTX’. Big news is the addition of a second e-motor for all-wheel drive (when required, not all the time) and a reasonable, but not earth-shattering, 295bhp."
Skoda: our cars aren't 'fashion-led', but must be ‘functional’
"We caught up with Skoda’s head of design, Oliver Stefani, after the recent reveal of the Kodiaq SUV’s facelift to talk about the COVID challenges, aggressive design and whether Skoda suffers from sharing cars with other Volkswagen Group brands. "
The Hyundai i30N isn’t *quite* the bargain it used to be
"We’ve seen this a lot in the hot hatch world. Heroes like the Focus RS, Mk7 Golf R and original BMW M135i all guilty: launching to great fanfare with a sub-£30k price tag, then eking up the cost in the background throughout the car’s life while no one’s looking."
Revealed: the winners of the 2021 Top Gear Electric Awards
"Here we go then. The greatest electric cars in the world right now, according to Top Gear. The best of batteries, the cream of capacitors, the peak of permanent magnet synchronous motors."
Lotus Evija review: prototype electric hypercar tested
"In finished form the 130 examples will cost £2.4m each… for that you get four motors, four-wheel drive, 1,972bhp, 0-62mph in well under three seconds, 0-124mph in six seconds, and perhaps most startling of all it’ll go from 124mph to 186mph in half the time it takes a Bugatti Chiron. For today’s exercise we’ve only got access to 1,600bhp, 1,250lb ft of torque and a top speed capped at 140mph. We’ll manage."
Review: Volkswagen Tiguan R
"Judge it as a taller, fatter Golf R and it's very good. But it's flawed family transport"
What’s the new Toyota Hypercar like to drive?
"To find out what this new breed of 670bhp endurance racer feels like to drive (and to selfishly build our excitement for the homologation special road cars), we chatted to Toyota driver Mike Conway to get his thoughts on the car and the future of endurance racing. Check it out below…"
Audi Q7 55 TFSI e Quattro review: plug-in hybrid SUV tested
"Though the Q7 steers and accelerates with Audi’s trademark slightly distant professionalism, I found it tricky to modulate the brake pedal smoothly around town. This may partly be blamed on the fact I possess the mechanical sympathy of a yak, but also partly on Audi’s ‘Efficiency Assist’ system, which varies the amount of regenerative effort you get from the brakes depending upon your mode and driving conditions."
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