Autocar September 25, 2019

ONE OF THE most common topics in the correspondence we get concerns how wide cars are getting, more examples of which you can read on this week’s letters page (page 64). Richard Bremner researched the topic for us (Autocar, 24 July). He revealed why cars are getting wider: more stringent safety requirements, people getting bigger and the need to house ever wider tyres to deal with ever greater performance, among other reasons. The science might be sound and reasonable, but so is the reality: cars are getting too wide for the roads they inhabit and their parking spaces. But are the tables about to turn? Mini has vowed its next-generation three-door hatchback will shrink thanks to some clever packaging, reversing a worrying trend for that brand in particular (page 10). And we’ve long been…

“Mini will continue to offer internal combustion engines alongside battery-electric versions” Mini is seeking to reduce the size of its core three-door hatchback model when it enters its fourth generation under BMW ownership. The fourth-gen BMW Mini range, due in 2022 or 2023, is also set to expand to include a new compact crossover model, as first revealed by Autocar in August. Speaking to Autocar at the recent Frankfurt motor show, Mini boss Bernd Körber said he’d like to see Mini “grow in some aspects” while he’d also “love to see the core Mini shrink again”. That latter point is currently the focus of the new car’s early development. There is an acknowledgement within the company that the core three-door hatchback has grown too large and its proportions lack the compact look of the…

Porsche’s SUV boss has confirmed more details of the next-generation, all-electric Macan, first revealed by Autocar in October 2018. The new model will feature an entirely different bodystyle from the existing Macan to reflect its status as a reinvented model for the brand. Speaking to Autocar at the recent Frankfurt motor show, Porsche’s director of SUVs, Julian Baumann, confirmed that the existing, internal-combustion-engined Macan will remain on sale alongside the new Macan during a transitional phase. The offering will broadly mirror that offered by the Taycan/Panamera duo. The electric Macan will arrive in 2021 and initially be a high-performance model in the mould of the Taycan, carrying the same Turbo badging to identify it as the top-of-the range version. The current Macan will be offered alongside it partly because “some customers are…

ONE OF THE most common topics in the correspondence we get concerns how wide cars are getting, more examples of which you can read on this week’s letters page (page 64). Richard Bremner researched the topic for us (Autocar, 24 July). He revealed why cars are getting wider: more stringent safety requirements, people getting bigger and the need to house ever wider tyres to deal with ever greater performance, among other reasons. The science might be sound and reasonable, but so is the reality: cars are getting too wide for the roads they inhabit and their parking spaces. But are the tables about to turn? Mini has vowed its next-generation three-door hatchback will shrink thanks to some clever packaging, reversing a worrying trend for that brand in particular (page 10).…

MAZDA HAS FILED a chassis design patent that suggests a successor to the RX-8 sports car is on the way. A ‘Vehicle Shock Absorption Structure’ patent drawing shows a spaceframe-style structure unlike any current Mazda’s. It also has double-wishbone front suspension, used primarily by sports cars, and a prominent crossmember that implies a front/mid-engine layout. Carbonfibre-reinforced plastic and aluminium also feature. It’s the latest in a long line of patent filings and reports that suggest Mazda is developing a “premium sports car” above the MX-5.…

“Mini will continue to offer internal combustion engines alongside battery-electric versions” Mini is seeking to reduce the size of its core three-door hatchback model when it enters its fourth generation under BMW ownership. The fourth-gen BMW Mini range, due in 2022 or 2023, is also set to expand to include a new compact crossover model, as first revealed by Autocar in August. Speaking to Autocar at the recent Frankfurt motor show, Mini boss Bernd Körber said he’d like to see Mini “grow in some aspects” while he’d also “love to see the core Mini shrink again”. That latter point is currently the focus of the new car’s early development. There is an acknowledgement within the company that the core three-door hatchback has grown too large and its proportions lack the…