Autocar October 5, 2022

YOU MIGHT BE forgiven for seeking respite from the harsh realities of this week’s world affairs – and I hope you’ll find some in these pages. This week’s bumper issue of new models revealed and driven – the tantalising Maserati Granturismo and the crazy Citroën Oli concept, plus impressions of the Hyundai Ioniq 6, BMW M4 CSL and Porsche 911 GT3 RS, for starters – shows that the industry continues to be flush with brilliant, innovative and exciting cars. Indeed, despite all its challenges, the motor industry remains one of the key drivers of the world’s advancing technology. Around a tenth of the developed world’s working population are attached in some way to the motor industry. And it will be demand for these cars from people like us, car buyers and…

The Maserati Granturismo has returned for a second generation, bringing both electric and V6 powertrain options in an effort to shake up the luxury GT segment and reestablish Maserati as a leading sports car manufacturer. The 2+2 electric Granturismo, called Folgore (for lightning), is equipped with more than 745bhp and 997lb ft of torque, can sprint from 0-62mph in just 2.7sec and will be priced at nearly £200,000. It is the Modena company’s long-awaited answer to the Porsche Taycan and will arrive as part of the marque’s rapidfire electrification push, which will phase out combustion power entirely from 2030. The Folgore is powered by a 93kWh (83kWh usable) T-shaped battery, hooked up to three in-house-built motors (one on the front axle and two at the rear), which allow for both rear-and fourwheel…

Becoming part of a huge intercontinental conglomerate was, by and large, fantastic news for the 14 brands that huddled together under the Stellantis umbrella upon its formation in 2020. Production synergies, component sharing, R&D collaboration, inter-car connectivity – all are now possible on a much wider scale for each, and no doubt transformative in terms of outlook and stability. But what of brand identity, all too often a victim of the rise of modular architecture? Most pertinently, how would Maserati, the most overtly premium and sporting member of the family, continue to be differentiated from much more volume-oriented stablemates like Vauxhall? Easily, as it turns out. It just required an all-out focus on exactly the qualities and attributes that established the Italian marque all those years ago (beauty, luxury, speed, handling poise) and…

Audi will end production of its two dedicated sports cars next year, in a significant step towards the wholesale transformation and, ultimately, electrification of the Audi Sport brand. The R8 and TT have been pivotal in establishing Audi Sport as a bona fide competitor for the likes of BMW M and Mercedes-AMG, serving as low-volume but highly recognisable halo models of a line-up that includes some of the best-selling performance cars on sale today. Their withdrawal is especially significant because of the rarity of their engines. The R8 is one of only two cars on sale today with a V10 and the five-cylinder turbo unit in the TT RS is the last of its kind in series production. As electric power beckons for the cars’ successors (see right), the R8 GT RWD and…

LAMBORGHINI IS ANOTHER to wave goodbye to one of its icons – and with it the Italian brand’s last pure-V12 car. The final Aventador, a blue LP 780-4 Ultimae Roadster bound for Switzerland, has rolled off the Sant’Agata line, ending an 11-year run. Producing 779bhp from its naturally aspirated 6.5-litre V12, the Ultimae was the most powerful road-going Aventador ever produced. Production was limited to 350 coupés and 250 roadsters. Lamborghini is now lining up a hybrid replacement, but the firm has promised that the bulk of its power will still come from a V12, now electrically assisted.…

Alpine has crowned the A110 line-up with a stripped-back, hardcore variant with weight and performance figures that would usually be the preserve of lightweight, open-wheel track-day cars. Called the A110 R – for ‘radical’ – it has been devised as a no-compromise, circuitoriented plaything heavily inspired by the French brand’s involvement in motorsport. Sitting above the entrylevel A110, mid-rung GT and stiffened S (and thus likely to be priced above £70,000), the R will complete the core A110 family when it goes on sale later this month. However, bosses have not disclosed whether further variants could arrive before the sports car goes electric in 2026. With hot laps at the top of its agenda, it weighs just 1082kg – down 34kg on the “already very light” A110 S and lighter, even, than…