Inhoudsopgave van May 2026 - CAR UK

Stalk the red carpet Gaudy, massive and tech-heavy, the new electric VLE is a posh shuttle bus from Mercedes, designed to take on the Lexus LM and Volvo EM90. Yes, the replacement for the EQV is at heart another van with seats and a tacky fake grille, but it’s among the most technologically-advanced vans-with-seats of the 21st century. There’s range beyond 435 miles, rear-wheel steer and plenty of CLA tech inside (big screens, clever voice assistant), a thick veneer of fancy materials and enough ambient lighting to make this a roving strip club. Coming to an airport arrivals near you soon. Keep DS in the fight This Nº7 replaces the 7 SUV for DS and takes a lot of design inspiration inside and out from the Nº8. Beneath the bold…

We’re in a part of southern Portugal where there are sections of tarmac so pockmarked and battle-scarred they would give a highways engineer PTSD. In the all-new electric Mercedes-Benz GLC we hit these at the sort of speed that in most cars – especially heavy EVs – would be tooth-sucking torture. The damping would struggle to control the violence of the movement and the reverberations would echo through eternity. But not this time. We don’t exactly glide across them – nothing would – but the GLC provides superb cushioning, making the cabin feel gloriously isolated from the tyre-jeo-pardising war zone down below. This is the GLC at its best; a car that feels made to excel in such moments. And it needs to excel. The GLC has recently been Merc’s…

Ford’s quest to offer a Transit Custom for every conceivable niche continues with an all-wheel-drive electric model joining the range. A van designed to head off the tarmac and into the sort of areas that are not well stocked with public charging points? Ford clearly likes a challenge. You’ve got to give Ford the benefit of the doubt, given that it’s proved again and again over the decades that it knows better than most what van buyers want. The Transit Custom is, by some distance, the best-selling van in the UK and has been for a while. Van buyers have not so far rushed to go electric, but Ford sees that as an opportunity rather than a reason to be cautious, so it’s offering more versions of its electric van,…

10 BUGATTI VEYRON SUPER SPORT UNCHECKED AMBITION The Veyron might be a technological moon shot, but it all started with a sketch on the back of an envelope. Speeding between Tokyo and Osaka on a bullet train in 1997, Volkswagen chairman Ferdinand Piëch drew an 18-cylinder engine and handed it to his head of powertrain development, Karl-Heinz Neumann. Volkswagen didn’t even own Bugatti at that point, but by 1999 its newly acquired jewel had shown Jozef Kabaň’s EB 18/4 Veyron concept (faithfully translated to production in 2005). By 2000 Piëch was announcing targets of 1000PS and over 400km/h – 986bhp and 250mph, figures to finally dethrone the McLaren F1. Getting there proved one of automotive engineering’s great challenges. Piëch’s W18 layout (three narrow-angle V6s on a common crank) evolved into…

Modern Aston Martin aces the road tests, not so much the financial tests. The company has long been a cautionary tale for those wanting to invest in luxury automotive, and current owner Lawrence Stroll’s well-thumbed copy of the Ferrari playbook remains little help. In February, Stroll’s fourth star CEO in five years, Bentley turnaround ace Adrian Hallmark, faced investors after a year-and-a-half in the role with no better news than his predecessors: a big loss for the year at £259 million and mounting debt, now at a staggering £1.38 billion. So, what’s the new plan? Shrink the company and target the richest. ‘We’ve reset our expectations,’ Hallmark said. Aston Martin under Andy Palmer promised a big sales expansion to sales of 14,000 cars a year – double its previous record…

The fact that it’s 2026 and all these cars exist is cause for celebration in itself. If, like many, you were expecting this sort of thing – relatively affordable new cars that are fun to drive and use a traditional powertrain – to have disappeared by now, then here are three reasons to be glad that you were wrong. The fat lady has not sung. The show isn’t over. But, that said, beyond this trio we didn’t have a huge amount of alternatives to choose from. Personally, I’d be happy to have any of them on my driveway – or rather, out on the road, enjoying the sheer pleasure of driving. They can all brighten up a mundane commute and invite you to exit at an earlier motorway junction, just…

Gah. I turned 48 last year, and the panic-inducing proximity to 50 has brought with it all the usual suspects, including extensive sessions researching Alpine A110s I can’t afford, less extensive sessions lifting weights, trying to get ripped, and taking up padel, obviously. So, am I now the right age for the more sensible Renault 4 E-Tech, rather than a Renault 5 E-Tech? Have things slipped to such an extent that rear legroom, boot space and ride comfort are now more important to me than style and agility? Only one way to find out – grab the key to a 4 (and some elasticated trousers) and hit the road. The first 10 minutes don’t look good for the 5. Slinging some bits in the 4’s boot, I’m struck by its…

Here’s something you rarely hear: I love going out for a drive in my EV. Driving just for the hell of it. So many electric cars fade into the background hum of daily life. Not the Alfa Romeo Junior Veloce. I’ve enjoyed every mile, and the novelty has never worn off. I really didn’t see that coming, given the curious niche the Junior Veloce occupies. It’s a tall, boldly-styled electric hot hatch that prioritises driver engagement above everything else. Providing versatile everyday transport for a couple or a growing family comes in a very distant second place. Approach the Veloce with those priorities correctly ordered and it can reward your faith in a compelling – and occasionally brilliant – way. Get those qualities in the wrong order, however, and its…

For decades now, the Mercedes brand has been upheld by icons such as the S-Class and 190E – but what’s the essence of the three-pointed star in 2026? It’s not the G-Wagen, a law unto itself that’s evolved to meet Benz’s new, blingier customers, nor is it one of AMG’s brutes in a suit. I’d argue it isn’t one of recently departed design chief Gorden Wagener’s aero-optimised EQ cars, either. Instead, the core of Mercedes is alive and well in this: the CLE 450 I’ll be running for the next few months. Finished in black and chrome, it’s a far cry from so many much busier-looking cars currently built in Stuttgart. Jump inside and it’s all grandiose tech. At night it glows like an aquarium, with atmospheric lighting and touchscreens…

The benchmark. That’s how Oliver Heilmer, BMW’s head of small-car design, describes the 3-series. Most of the world would agree. Every new 3-series matters. But this one matters more than most – more than any other, arguably. It is critically important to the continued success of the company, and to the happiness of car enthusiasts the world over. The car you see here, the new i3, is far more than just another evolutionary step in the 3-series’ long history. It’s a hard reset, and has to succeed. The 3-series is a car that, like the VW Golf, has defined its class for more than 50 years, and it’s a car that’s consistently justified BMW’s ‘ultimate driving machine’ tagline. Every time a new generation arrives, BMW pulls out all the stops…

‘Realistic and credible’ is how Renault CEO François Provost describes his vision for the next five years of the company. It’s a very lightly coded way of implying that elements of the previous Renault five-year plan, under old boss Luca de Meo, weren’t so grounded. De Meo’s Renaulution plan from 2020 undoubtedly yanked Renault from the financial mire by focusing on bigger, more profitable cars and shrinking production capacity by 1.2 million. But he also cooked up a bunch of schemes to expand Renault beyond its core business of making cars. For example, car-sharing and other moves into the mobility world were projected to account for 20 percent of revenues by 2030. Since taking over in July last year, Provost been quietly parking some of de Meo’s moonshots, like axing…

You may be acquainted with the BYD Ocean series – Dolphin, Seal, Sealion – that has sold so well recently. It’s easy to forget the first BYD to properly hit the mainstream three years ago wasn’t named after a sea creature – it was the Atto 3 SUV. It sits somewhere in the middle of BYD’s line-up by size, yet carries a name borrowed from a scientific prefix for one quintillionth – that’s a billionth of a billionth; vanishingly small, and an odd choice for a mid-size SUV. BYD in the UK involves 125 dealerships, selling a line-up of six EVs and four PHEVs, and that first arrival now has an updated version, dubbed Evo in a nod to high-performance tradition. It’s more than a facelift – under the modest…

I am frightened by speed. My imagination wanders all too easily to an exploding tyre, the truck that didn’t see me or the ravine around the corner. Yet I am fascinated by the machines that make the experience of speed possible. The arrogance of the supercar is magnificent – its absolute contempt for everyday functionality so as better to perform exquisite functionality in one small area: achieving speed. I recently drove a 804bhp roofless McLaren Elva through blameless Sussex back roads, chanting to myself Hunter S Thompson’s superbike mantra: ‘Faster, faster until the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death.’ Yes, but only just. As US racer Parnelli Jones said, if you feel under control, you’re not going fast enough. Lose control and you will crash, something which JG…

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Volvo’s history is as storied as they come: full of safe, solid family cars, with some innovation, Scandi style and the ruggedness to endure a Swedish winter or straying elk. I should know: I grew up in the back of a string of Volvo estates, ranging from 145 to 940, with an 850 and 240 just like the red car in our photos along the way. So I approach this impeccable 1989 GLT with a lump in my throat. We’ve borrowed it from the UK distributor’s heritage fleet to measure our electric EX30 against a staple – possibly the key car – of the Volvo archive. Ask people of a certain age to draw a Volvo and it’ll be boxy, estate-shaped and, essentially, a cartoon 240 (the often bandied 245…

Let’s start with the name. Ridiculous, isn’t it? ‘So, what are you driving these days?’ people ask. ‘A Dacia,’ I say – correctly pronouncing it ‘datchya’, of course. Blank faces, always. So I have to sigh and roll my eyes and say: ‘It’s a Dayssier Bigster.’ Which sounds less like a car and more like something you’d shout at a stag do in Bratislava. Anyway, once we’ve got over the name, most folk admire it. Dacia has travelled a long way from being a fringe brand into the European mainstream, but I reckon the Bigster is its most attractive model yet. Blunt-nosed and chunky, it looks capable and futuristic. It’s also the biggest, which is what makes it so interesting. The other journey that Dacia’s been on over the last…

HOW DOES NEW GBU WORK? Our road testers rank the best cars currently available in 12 categories, and highlight the ones to buy TOP 5 HOT HATCHES GIANT TEST WINNER 1 TOYOTA GR YARIS THE GOOD: A modern-day rally homologation special that’s thrilling to drive THE BAD: Road noise like a death-metal gig; joke rear seats THE UGLY: Long waiting list, even with some versions now over £60k, although it starts at £46,045 THE ONE TO BUY: Now has optional auto but go for the manual 2 VW GOLF GTI EDITION 50 THE GOOD: Excellent performance, but not at the expense of daily practicality THE BAD: Cheesy visuals for the anniversary edition THE UGLY: It’s taken a while for a Mk8 GTI to get this good THE ONE TO BUY:…

What goes around comes around. Or maybe not quite round in the case of a Citroën MPV – the huge-selling Xsara Picasso was more egg-shaped. But either way, Citroën is talking about returning to territory it once occupied so profitably. Citroën didn’t pioneer the MPV, but once it got involved it had nearly as much success as Renault. That was due largely to compact MPVs such as the Xsara and C4 Picassos, which offered roominess, quirkiness and good value, in a footprint no bigger than a family hatch. But the MPV went out of favour, replaced by SUVs, despite the inferior packaging inherent in their fashion-led styling. Xavier Chardon, CEO of Citroën, thinks it could now be time to bring back the MPV. ‘Today 50 per cent of the market…

Polestar has had a tricky few years, accumulating significant debt because of a product strategy that focused more on its designs (superb) rather than the business case behind them (not so much). But with new(ish) boss Michael Lohscheller at the helm, there’s a revised plan in place. Lohscheller’s background in finance is in stark contrast to his predecessor as the EV brand’s CEO, Thomas Ingenlath, previously Volvo design chief (who’s since returned to the role post-Polestar). The message going forward is quite simple: fewer niche cars and more mainstream models that people are actually going to buy. This year the long-delayed Polestar 5 finally arrives, followed by a Polestar 4-based SUV/estate. Then comes a second generation of the Polestar 2. That car has been hugely important in Polestar’s success; 190,000…

‘I want our arrival to cause a massive ripple through the industry. That’s on a professional level; on a personal level, this is everything. Everything. I can’t let anyone down, and I certainly can’t let myself down. This will work.’ Jason Plato is holding court in the middle of the workshop that now houses his embryonic British Touring Car Championship team, Plato Racing. He couldn’t have imagined any of this when, three years ago, he found himself standing in a railway tunnel, wondering if he could continue to exist on this planet. Twice. It has been a gruelling, and thoroughly inspirational, climb back from the abyss. Plato Racing isn’t just an exciting new motorsport team – it’s the ongoing recovery plan for one of the biggest characters in UK motorsport.…

Letter of the month Giulia forever I’ve experienced both mirth and a profound feeling of loss while reading your recent Our Cars stories about the Alfa Junior. I regard this, and the Tonale, as footnotes in the demise of Alfa Romeo. In the past I’ve owned and driven a variety of Alfas: the sublime but appallingly shoddy Alfa Sud, the bonkers but excellent 75 and the marvellous 164. I never considered myself a BMW owner but that’s what I became after sampling an Alfa 155. I bought an E36 325i instead – no regrets. I tried a 159 but it felt like a Vectra to drive. I passed on that. Thirty years later, a 430d sits in the garage. It’s pure BMW, made in Germany, no bits stolen from other…

The journey to Valhalla is, according to legend, a complicated path. Perishing in battle, bypassing ravenous wolves and staying in Odin’s good books are all non-negotiables. Today, though, I’ve found a far simpler route to the promised land. Reach down for a hidden button, swing open an elaborate dihedral door and sink into a generously appointed carbon tub that puts your backside bobsleigh-close to the tarmac below. Welcome to the Valhalla, Aston Martin’s second ever mid-engined car (and the first, the Valkyrie, was a crazy-money Red Bull collab) and a timely 60-year progress report on the supercar’s evolution. The wait for this car, essentially Aston’s rival to the likes of Lamborghini’s flagship Revuelto and Ferrari’s new 849 Testarossa, has been a long one. The original concept appeared at the last…

Climbing up towards the Holme Moss Summit in the Peak District, heel-and-toe in full operation in the little Mazda MX-5 while I snick down the tight manual gearbox as the sun glints off the sodden fields all around, it’s easy to forget that an automotive moment like this – one that feels so natural and fundamentally right – is getting harder to find. Up ahead, the Skoda Fabia 130 dances across the tarmac, all 1196kg of it skipping lightly through the bends. Behind, the Mini Cooper zings through its three-pot rev range in an effort to keep up, nose darting into each hairpin as that keen front axle grabs at every chip of asphalt in a never-ending hunt for the apex. If you’re to believe the naysayers, cheap and fun…

Cor, what a lucky lad I’ve been the last few months. Every plip of the key. Every prod of the start button. Every whoosh of the turbo or dump of the clutch. Every time I’ve got into this feisty white hot hatch over the last few months I’ve giggled like a schoolboy finding a key to a sweet shop. It was sent by the petrolhead gods, landing on my driveway with a halo over its roof. A hot hatch for the ages. That said, an all-rounder like a VW Golf GTI the GR Yaris is not. In some ways, it’s the automotive equivalent of Napoleon syndrome – seemingly angry all the time that it’s so small. I get it; using it as a daily driver, there were times when I…

There is a problem with the Land Rover Defender. Flush with its huge sales success, there is a danger it’s becoming a bit too common on our streets – the go-to for everyone from plumbers to lawyers to the country set. But there is a solution: the Defender Octa. Never have I looked at a normal Defender 110 and thought it looked meek. But the Octa has what it takes to make the regular car appear almost tepid. There’s an additional 60mm of width here, plus wheelarch extensions and 20-inch wheels with Goodyear Wrangler tyres. The rubber features tread blocks so vast you can fit your fingers between them. Now that I’m in the Octa, it’s so easy to spot me that every acquaintance within 30 miles knows where I…

Plenty of hot hatches produce more power than the S5’s 362bhp, and all weigh significantly less than its 2040kg. Assessed purely on its 178bhp-per-tonne figure, you might worry it will struggle to get out of its own way, and yet out on the open road the S5’s turbocharged 3.0-litre V6 feels abundantly powerful. Tickle the throttle and it surges forward. Pin it and there’s a richness to the delivery. Unless you’re all about straight-line acceleration, there is more than enough oomph here to cover ground very rapidly. The dual-clutch gearbox helps too – easy to forget that’s what we’re dealing with here, because an S (as distinct from an RS) could easily get away with a torque converter, and because the gearbox is (mostly) smooth in normal operation. But wring…