Weekly round-up: The Grand Tour lands, Alfa Stelvio uncovered and we drive the Mercedes E Class
Wayne Rooney could have his England captaincy stripped after too much celebrating left him looking red-faced. But then again, he might not. In fact, bad behaviour can often have its rewards, just look at Jeremy Clarkson.
That’s right, The Grand Tour has officially landed, and is already receiving rave reviews in the press. It promises to be a much more entertaining watch than Chris Evans’ attempt at replacing the three musketeers at the BBC. But what else has occurred in the automotive sphere this week?
It’s hard to get through a week without some form of SUV-related news; it is the fastest growing sector in the new car market after all. This week however, it’s more than just a bit of news, with not one but four all-new SUVs unveiled or announced over the last seven days!
Los Angeles Motor Show: a spectacular showing of SUVs
We’ll kick things off over in Los Angeles, where the covers finally came off the hotly anticipated Alfa Stelvio. It’s safe to say the company’s first SUV was worth waiting for, thanks to stunning looks, an advanced four-wheel-drive system and, if you want something capable of quashing a Macan S, the Quadrofoglio trim will do the job thanks to a Ferrari-derived V6.
Not as agile as the Alfa, but certainly one of the most fun SUVs behind the wheel is Mazda’s CX-5. The driving experience looks like it’ll be enhanced even further thanks to the overhauled version that’ll be in UK showrooms sometime next year. Ok, there’s no fire-breathing 503bhp V6 version, but Mazda’s SKYACTIV petrol and diesels will certainly be kinder on the wallet.
Perhaps the classiest SUV to be revealed in LA was the Jaguar I-Pace and, if you want to ditch petrol and diesel completely, this is the one for you. It’s designed to take on the likes of Tesla’s Model X, and beneath the fantastically sculpted body lies an electric motor that equates to 398bhp, and a battery pack that allows for a range of over 300 miles.
If you’re after an electric vehicle that’s a little more accessible, then maybe it’s time to consider Volkswagen’s e-Golf. It’s certainly more understated than the likes of the I-Pace and, with a facelifted Golf revealed last week, will look almost identical to its conventionally powered equivalents.
Electric vehicles are definitely coming, but what about self-driving cars? Some people think that’s where the future lies, while others think electric propulsion is where we should invest our efforts. However, a study this week found that it’s actually humans that will set back autonomous vehicles….
While driverless cars will be programmed to be law-obiding and considerate road-users, human counterparts will be much more aggressive, which could lead to self-driving vehicles being bullied in certain situations, impeding on any safety improvements – supposedly what autonomous vehicles will achieve.
Yet another Vauxhall for 2017
Back to our SUV extravaganza, the final announcement of the week came from Vauxhall, that has confirmed yet another crossover – the Grandland X – will join its expanding line-up next year. The Luton-based company has already refreshed its smaller Mokka X crossover, while the more Qashqai-sized Crossland X will fit between it and the large Grandland.
If you’re after something more compact than an SUV but has an equally capacious interior, how about the Megane Sport Tourer? Renault unveiled this new estate this week and, if it follows the trend of its hatchback stable mate, should become a popular choice of load lugger.
As ever, we’ve been out and about with some of the newest cars on the market. Neil Thomason’s been trying out Mercedes’ latest E-Class, while I spent some time with Kia’s new estate – the Optima Sportswagon.
With our SUV theme this week, we thought we’d round off with a special feature. We know high-riding, four-wheel-drive SUVs are better mud-pluggers than most cars, but not many could tackle the epic off-road jaunt across Scotland Alisdair Suttie just completed…