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Everything you need to know about cars this week: 7 June '20
BMW reveals new 4 Series, plus we drive the Mini GP
The SSC Tuatara will do 60-120mph in 2.5 seconds
"A recent test of the 1,750bhp SSC Tuatara – just your regular ‘buzz-up to 210mph’ checks to monitor shock potentiometer and downforce balances – revealed something quite extraordinary."
Advertisement - Page continues belowHow mad is this custom Ford Focus speedster?
"What if you want all the benefits of a Focus (value for money, reliability, availability of spare parts etc) combined with the unhinged, wind-in-your-hair feeling that the windscreen-less speedsters from Ferrari, McLaren and Aston provide? Step forth, a Ford Focus Speedster."
England’s car dealerships have reopened
"In this new reality dealers may take appointments to limit the number of people in their showrooms, which should have been kitted-out with lots of new signage, supplies of hand sanitiser and so-on, and keep cars in said showrooms locked. Meanwhile most test-drives will now be unaccompanied, and everything will be thoroughly cleaned on the reg."
Advertisement - Page continues below#TopGearChallenge Four: our favourite stories
"For the fourth challenge from Top Gear’s Department of Education, we asked to see 500 words on your greatest car story. That was it. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? But when you open up that blank word document or pick up a pen and paper, 500 words suddenly seems a whole lot further away, and whittling down your best car story to one seems almost impossible. Ah, the memories."
The Suzuki Swift Sport hybrid is, um, £21k
"The Swift Sport now costs - drumroll - £21,570. Several grand more than it used to, which in turn was several grand more than its predecessor. It’s no longer a budget option, then, though Suzuki’s made the wise move of concocting a £249 a month lease deal to sweeten the pill."
The Ford Mustang Mach 1 is back
"Going right the way back to the 1969 original, the Mach 1 has always been the Goldilocks of Mustangs. And now there’s going to be a new one, coming this Spring to plug the gap between the standard 5.0-litre V8 Mustang GT and the Shelby GT350 and GT500."
Boo, we want the Acura TLX Type S to be sold in the UK
"Acura – Honda’s luxury arm with most of its business in the United States – has unveiled the second generation of its TLX ‘sports sedan’, and boy are we gutted it won’t be sold over here."
Advertisement - Page continues belowYou can now make your Porsche 911 Targa even more retro
"The Porsche 911 Targa is already a fairly retro-looking thing. But not retro enough for some, it seems. Which explains why 992 people are being given a chance to make their brand new Targa look several decades older, while spending £27,000 more. Strange logic, you might argue."
Remembering Bruce McLaren, 50 years on
"Bruce passed away 50 years ago, on 2 June 1970, aged just 32. Anecdotes from teammates suggest his racing career was winding down at the time. In the cockpit, at least. His early years saw him obsessed with engineering and despite an innate knack for driving a car quickly and skilfully, his love of bolting machinery together and honing it to its nth degree never left."
Advertisement - Page continues belowNew BMW 4 Series: 10 things you need to know
"We’re going to start at the beginning. Literally. The front. And oh my what a lot of front it has. The new 4 Series’ flared nostrils have inflamed all conversation about the car – indeed about BMW design in general – ever since it was shown on a concept in September last year."
It's happening: Formula 1 officially returns on July 5th
"Good news, everyone. After much speculation, Formula 1 and the FIA have confirmed when and where the first eight races of the revised 2020 season will (hopefully) take place."
This actual Toyota F1 car is being auctioned for charity
"Forget your Senna GTRs, Ferrari FXXKs and Porsche 935s. The ultimate rich person’s plaything isn’t a ludicrously expensive, track-only hypercar, it’s a proper Formula 1 car. And this, monied folk of TG.com, is your chance to buy one."
Meet 2020’s weirdest hot hatch: the 118bhp Toyota GR Yaris RS
"This is not, we repeat, NOT, the Toyota GR Yaris. The fabulously muscular Yaris in the gallery above does not have four-wheel drive. It doesn’t have the world’s most powerful three-cylinder engine. It doesn’t have 260bhp."
Bentley has built its last 6¾-litre V8 engine
"Seven Bentley engineers took 15 hours to assemble the final 530bhp, 811lb ft V8 for the 30th and final Mulsanne 6.75 Edition on Monday, bringing an end to a production run of over 36,000 engines."
Review: Morgan Plus Four
"The point where 2020s technology meets 1920s craftsmanship. Not perfect, but a joyous thing nonetheless..."
Here's what the future looks like for Porsche
"Porsche has always been good at predicting the future. So in an uncertain world convulsed by coronavirus, let’s ask the Porsche CEO, Oliver Blume, about it. Not just about the numbers of cars he thinks he’ll sell, but the kinds of cars. How the motoring landscape will change."
Does the BMW 4 Series look better without M Sport bits?
"We’ll never see one like this on British shores – BMW’s deemed us tarty enough to only want the posh specs – but in other countries there’ll be ‘regular’ 4 Series coupes like the car above."
The VW Arteon Shooting Brake is joining the Anti-SUV fightback
"Oh happy day! Look, it’s a practical-yet-niche new Volkswagen that’s not – we repeat – NOT an SUV crossover with a nonsense name beginning with ‘T’. What we have here is our first look at the new VW Arteon Shooting Brake."
The latest Hyundai Santa Fe is newer than it looks
"Hyundai hasn’t just given the Santa Fe a new face. The new seven-seat SUV, which for the last few years has been a worthy enough alternative to the Land Rover Discovery Sport and Skoda Kodiaq, actually sits on a brand-new platform."
This Subaru has an appetite for adventure
"As you can see, the stance is quite a bit more radical than standard. That’s thanks to a 2-inch lift kit, 15” Method wheels and chunky off-road rubber. Just look at that sidewall! There’s also more guard rails than a bowling multiplex."
The right-hand drive Corvette will start at £81,700 in the UK
"When it eventually crosses the North Atlantic, the new C8 Stingray will cost £81,700 for the fully loaded Launch Edition coupe. Yes, that’s a hefty chunk of cash, but it’s also around £1,000 less than a bog-standard Porsche 911 Carrera – and when was the last time anyone bought one of those?"
The new Toyota Hilux is here and it has a new engine
"Though this new Toyota Hilux features tweaks to its suspension for better road manners and a new diesel with more power, it still knows what it is. Tough. Think of it as the automotive version of an old Nokia phone."
Here’s video of the Dyson EV that very nearly made it
"The car had a 600-mile projected range, thanks to a huge battery – 800kg and about 150kWh. Despite weighing 2.6 tonnes overall, the two motors would have got it to 62mph in less than five seconds."
Review: Mini JCW GP
"The fastest Mini ever… feels nothing like a Mini. More of a teeny 911 Turbo. Easy to drive stupidly quick, but lacks a crucial fizz and sense of cheekiness."
Seven things you need to know about the 1,750bhp SSC Tuatara
"It’ll produce 1,750bhp, features a drag coefficient of 0.279 which rises to 0.313 at 500kph, has a frontal area of 1.951 (M^2), weighs just 1,350kg, and produces 349kg of downforce at that 500kph figure."
Top Gear’s Top 9: weird Japanese hot hatchbacks
"This is basically an ‘engine car’: it uses a 1.6-litre four-cylinder tuned up to 197bhp without a turbo in sight, its 8,600rpm redline and 123bhp/litre figures rivalling a modern Ferrari’s."
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