Gavin Green The Voice of Experience

Triple Le Mans winner, boxer, powerboat racer, scratch golfer, racehorse breeder… Beat that, Lewis

DUDLEY BENJAFIELD AND Bertie Kensington-Moir. racing drivers with names like these deserve a closer look. Then there was Woolf Barnato – diamond millionaire, triple Le Mans winner, heavyweight boxer, powerboat racer, scratch golfer, racehorse breeder and wicketkeeper for Surrey in his spare time. Was there ever a more compelling band of sporting brothers than the Bentley Boys? They drove hard (winning Le Mans five times), drank hard (Veuve Clicquot was apparently a favourite), partied energetically (the Savoy was used for one memorable post-race binge in ’27) and – more than any individual vehicle or model, single race or marketing stunt – made Bentley the exceedingly British brand that it is today. My favourite was Glen Kidston. Okay, the name was disappointingly non-Woosterish. His factual exploits, though, make Jean- Claude Van Damme’s fictional adventures seem meek. The wealthiest of the bunch, Kidston could have spent his life quaffing Krug, pacing the links in his plus-fours and shooting grouse with expensive guns on expansive estates. Instead, he survived two World War One torpedo sinkings, served with distinction on submarines, was a pioneer aviator, raced cars and bikes, won Le Mans with Barnato and was the sole survivor of a major air crash in ’29 in which he nobly tried to rescue the injured while horribly burned (his clothes were still smoking when he flagged down a passing motorist). He was a renowned big game hunter and in ’31 broke the flying record from the UK to Cape Town (six-and-a-half days in his Lockheed Vega monoplane). He never made it home. Flying over the Drakensberg mountains in South Africa, his plane broke up in a dust storm. Among those who mourned was Barbara Cartland, his former lover. Lewis and Jenson: try to beat that! A Bentley Boy even tried to save Bentley Motors from the financial abyss in the ’20s. Barnato bankrolled Bentley and became chairman while poor old WO stayed on as his loyal underling. (All to no avail – Bentley went broke and fell into the destructive clutch of rival Rolls-Royce, which systematically neutered it for the next 50 years, the sad denouement of which was putting Bentley badges on roly-poly Rollers). Now Bentley – nourished on the unlikely bosom of the VW Group – is closer to its roots than probably any other British car maker. They make big, heavy, wildly fast, flamboyantly powerful, ostentatiously expensive, exquisitely furnished, handwrought, stately sporting cars that blend grandeur and haste. Just like they did in the ’20s. Nowadays, buyers include celebrity sportsmen, rappers, IT millionaires, models and movie stars. The Bentley Boys would empathise with this bunch of self-made strutters. Naturally, some modern Bentleys tend to be ornately adorned, garish accoutrements to flamboyant owners. You and I may sniff at the mint green, shiny gold and banana yellow hues, bling meets zing. In fact, it’s what many owners – swaggering sunflowers rather than shrinking violets – want. The Continental GT – newly facelifted and recently sampled – is a ludicrously overendowed car. It weighs 200kg more than a Range Rover. It has a 6.0-litre engine in top guise, when most favour of two or perhaps three litres. It offers 12 turbocharged cylinders, when we all know that six – and actually four – are quite enough. It has 720Nm of torque. It can do 320kph (but where?). You drive a Continental GT’s W12 engine typically on about 10 per cent throttle, surfing a tidal wave of untapped torque. If many mainstream cars endorse the Swedish doctrine of lagom – ‘just enough’ – then the Continental GT subscribes to Oscar Wilde’s philosophy that nothing succeeds like excess. It’s a very Bentley Boy sort of car. No fast car is so relaxing at speed, yet so spirited when the mood takes: limo meets Lambo. If it is a bit too disengaged and remote for you and me then you know that David and Victoria, Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton will love it. (Keener drivers should choose the cheaper V8S Coupe, one of my favourite Grand Tourers). Bentley even has a successful motorsport programme, further proof of its bond with yesteryear. Alas, today’s drivers – tagged ‘Bentley Boys’ by marketing – are a shadow of their idiosyncratic forebears. How can they rival Dudley, Bertie or Woolf when the lead driver’s name is Guy Smith?

Alpine: what’s it all about ?

Renault will relaunch Alpine later this year with a brand new coupe targeting Cayman and 4C, timed to coincide with the marque’s 60th anniversary. Here’s why you should care

The original: Alpine A106 1955-1960
The first car to wear the Alpine badge was like a French Porsche 356. This glassfibre coupe, based on the rearengined Renault 4CV, was designed for competition, despite just 44kW. Innovative features included rear suspension with four shocks and a five-speed ’box that was such a novelty it was 35% of the price of a standard 4CV

The icon: Alpine A110 Berlinette 1961-1978
The A110’s aggressive looks, backbone chassis with rear-engine layout and Renault R8 oily bits took Alpine to international acclaim. Especially in rallying, where it achieved a 1-2-3 finish in Monte Carlo twice, won the inaugural World Rally Championship, and essentially set the blueprint for the Lancia Stratos. Thousands were sold, but with the Suez Crisis it wasn’t enough to save Alpine financially, leading Renault to step in and buy the company in 1973

The innovator: Alpine M65 1965
Purpose-built for endurance racing’s new Index of Performance class, the M65’s supreme aero and 669kg kerb weight meant it achieved over 257kph from just 1 300cc and 97kW. Best result was victory in the Nürburgring 500km

The Le Mans winner: Alpine A442B 1978
Fruit of newly formed Renault Sport, a conglomeration of Alpine and Gordini, the A442B was built to win Le Mans, and did so in 1978. Powered by a 2.1-litre V6 turbo, it hit 359kph on the Mulsanne straight.

The previous one: Alpine GTA/A610 1991-1995
Follow up to the A310 and GTA, the A610 was widely praised for its 290kph rear-engined performance, but slow sales saw Renault shutter the brand in 1995

The future: Alpine Celebration 2015
We’ll finally see a new Alpine road car in 2015, though sales are unlikely before 2017. It won’t look like the mad Vision Gran Turismo Concept – designed for the PlayStation – but this Alpine Celebration seen running at Le Mans and Goodwood holds plenty of clues. Expect power to come from a turbo four, making it more of a rival to the Alfa 4C than the Porsche 911

Mazda CX-5 Dynamite comes in slightly bigger packages

We have redefi ned what SUV’s are all about. The Mazda CX-5 is an SUV with the agility and performance of a sports car. This is revealed in its 2.2 litre diesel engine that produces 129kW of power and 420Nm of torque, while the 2.5 litre petrol engine delivers 141kW of power and 256Nm of torque. It is also available in a 2.0 litre engine that produces an amazing 121kW of unbridled power and 210Nm of torque. Thanks to SKYACTIV technology these cars deliver immense performance using minimal fuel. And if that isn’t enough, the CX-5 offers features like MZD Connect as standard, while the Navigation System is available on the Akera and Individual models. With so much attention to detail, you would think we were making an explosive

What Ford did next

The company that first mobilised the world is rethinking mobility. Alongside hyper hatches and Le Mans-ready performance cars the Blue Oval is also talking up bicycles, car-sharing and full autonomy NO PERSON DID more to mobilise the masses in the early days of the automobile than Henry Ford. Now the company he founded is broadening its focus from cars to smart mobility – with the ultimate aim of delivering next-level connectivity, mobility, autonomous vehicles, customer experience and big data. Before your eyes gloss over and your mind begins to wander back to thrashing the new Focus RS around an empty race track, consider this… our cities already face serious traffic congestion, China is adding one megacity (population 10 million plus) every year and that humans are projected to number as many as 10 billion by 2050. Thinking about solutions for smart mobility now seems pretty essential. How we use our cars is about to change forever. No need for panic though, just as our phones aren’t just phones anymore, so cars too will become smart mobility devices. ‘We now are moving from experimentation to implementation,’ said Mark Fields, Ford president and CEO, at the recent Further with Ford trends conference in San Francisco. ‘Our goal is to make people’s lives better by helping them more easily navigate through their day, address societal issues and, over time, change the way the world moves – just as Henry Ford did more than 100 years ago.’ During the last six months Ford has been asking some key questions: Would you rent out your Ford Creditfinanced car to prescreened clients to offset monthly ownership costs?Are you happy to ride in an autonomous car that doesn’t have a steering wheel? How do you feel about on-demand pay-asyou- go car sharing with guaranteed parking? Would you swap your car for an eBike if it could sense trucks approaching from behind, offered eyes-free navigation, plus health and fitness info? Would you trust car parts grown in a printer? Whatever your answers, the automobile world is changing fast. Here are the pick of the innovative ideas and areas Ford r&d is involved in right now.

WEARABLE TECH
MyFord Mobile app allows customers to check the driving range and battery charge of their plug-in hybrid or electric vehicle from their wrists before they leave on a trip or just to locate their parked car. Remote Park via smartwatch also in the works for tight spots.

3D PRINTING
Ford has collaborated with Carbon3D to develop Continuous Liquid Interface Production – 3D printing tech that grows parts from UV curable resins at speeds as much as 25 to 100 times faster than conventional 3D printing processes

FULL AUTONOMY
Fusion Hybrid research vehicle uses four LiDAR sensors plus radar to scan the road 2.5million times per second. LiDAR bounces infrared light off everything within 60m to generate a realtime 3D map of the environment. Also tracks moving objects such as vehicles, pedestrians and bicyclists and can distinguish a paper bag from a small animal a football field away.

FLEXIBLE USE AND OWNERSHIP
GoDrive is an on-demand, public carsharing service that offers customers affordable pay-as-yougo access to a fleet of cars for one-way journeys with guaranteed parking. Other plans include renting out your Ford Creditfinanced car when it’s not in use.

Juicy gossip from the Top Car grapevine

PORSCHE’S 911 is also downsizing its engines, though not as radically as Cayman and Boxster. This autumn’s 991.2 introduces a 276kW 2.7-litre turbo in the base Carrera, while the Carrera S adopts a 313kW 3.0 turbo. Sources say the engines deliver massively enhanced torque curves and doubledigit fuel economy savings. But it doesn’t mean the end of the road for the naturally aspirated sixes: the GT3 RS’s 368kW 4.0-litre has evolution potential, sources say. Talking of hallowed German performance badges, how will VW develop the GTI badge? ‘For the time being, it only applies to Golf and Polo,’ says a Wolfsburg source. But with the future of the Golf cabriolet tentative, next newbie GTI will be a Beetle or Scirocco. The latter would be a proper TT rival, the bug approach is part of the plan to make America’s VW dynamically sharper in future. McLaren poked fun at Bentley, Aston and Lambo when it announced its 2014 pre-tax profit of $26 million. Automotive boss Mike Flewitt flashed up images of their SUVs (including Lambo’s Urus, above) with a massive cross through them. ‘We are a sports car company,’ he said. ‘We won’t push resource into other areas – there’s more than enough competition in this SUV segment for now…’ Lotus chief Jean-Marc Gales (below) has quietly started preparing fans for the next-gen Elise. He told us that customers wanted cars that were easier to get in and out of, had ‘competitive infotainment’ and mooted ‘maybe getting some servo-assistance on the small cars.’ The next Elise and Exige ‘will be faster, lighter but also easier to live with.’ Expect them late 2016. Although Lotus will post another reduced loss for 2015, headcount should be back above 2014 levels by the end of this year. The green shoots look to be appearing in Norfolk…

Six into Boxster doesn t go Porsche s junior sports cars will switch to turbocharged fours from 2016

CORE BOXSTERS AND Caymans will adopt fourcylinder power in 2016, as Porsche radically reinvents the line-up. The Cayman’s price will be cut, as it becomes the entry-level car positioned below its drop-top sibling. Porsche has been working on fourcylinder opposite-piston engines for years, but the time has come for the new boxers to come out punching. The advanced directinjection design is believed to make do with only one fixed-vane turbocharger. It means the end of the 2.7-litre six in today’s base Boxster and Cayman. The new entry level coupe gets a 2.0-litre flat-four with around 186kW, while the Cayman S’s 2.5 turbo should top 224kW. With its elevated positioning, expect the Boxster to get more power. Given those early Cayman figures look down on poke compared with the outgoing cars, engineers will have been focused on taking weight out beyond that from losing two cylinders. R&d claim the four-pots surprisingly best the six on performance, driveability and engine noise, as well as naturally posting superior economy. The next GTS edition would also have four cylinders, but its 276kW would eclipse today’s output by around 22kW. That said, any future GT4 and the mooted GT4 RS would retain their six-cylinder spice. Marketing believe the price cut will boost awareness and sales – assuming customers aren’t wedded to the idea of a six

The next big things by BMW s powertrain guru

BY 2020 BMW will have a fully operational hydrogen powertrain ready for production, and soon Germany and Japan will have the infrastructure to make it viable… > ‘People often ask why BMW stopped developing hydrogen technology, but we never did; we have been working on it constantly for 30 years. Small-to-mediumsized battery-electric vehicles are ideal for urban use, and plug-in hybrids can be used across the range to cover all driving conditions. Hydrogen offers zero emissions and very high levels of energy storage, so it’s ideal for longer ranges of up to 700km and larger vehicles. Eventually, fuel-cells will be cheaper than battery-electric vehicles. > The need for hydrogen is not only driven by zero-emissions vehicles, it’s essential so we can store renewable energy. After Fukushima, Germany decided to phase out nuclear power, and has a renewable-energy target of 50 per cent 2030. This will result in fluctuating energy supply, but we can capture this energy and store it as liquid hydrogen. It will be an electricity buffer for Germany, and ideal as a vehicle fuel. > BMW has developed a cryogenic hydrogen storage system. 7.1kg of hydrogen stored cryogenically at 350 bar gives up to 700km of range in three-to-four minutes, compared with 4.5kg stored at 700 bar for a range of 450km. Cryogenic hydrogen is stored at -220degC, but the hose is insulated, so you don’t feel the cold. > Europe should look to Asia: Japan and South Korea in particular view hydrogen as the next big technology, it’s a good indicator that you can make a business case. In Germany we have 50 stations, aiming for 400 by 2023; Japan has 100 stations, with 800 planned for 2025. Asia will be a driving force for hydrogen storage. > We are collaborating with Toyota to accelerate development, share expertise and cut costs, and it’s important for international standardisation: there are too many connectors for battery-electric cars, and it’s confusing for the consumer. In the prototype hydrogen fuel-cell 5 Series GT, the fuel cell is from Toyota, the fuel-cell housing from BMW, fuel-cell auxiliaries from both companies, and the hydrogen tank, electric drive and high-voltage battery from BMW. At the moment it is about 100kg heavier than a normal 5GT, but we are at the very beginning, and we expect substantial savings. > There’s no decision on a production vehicle, but we want our components to be productionready by 2020. The total switchover from combustion engine to fuel cell is 20 years away, minimum.’

KTM X-BOW GT4

From wannabe track stars to a bona fide racing car. While this might look like the midget offspring of a Bugatti EB110 and a Gumpert Apollo, it is in fact the GT4 racing version of the KTM X-Bow. And despite that appearance, it is actually based around the same structure as the minimalist original. Now clad in carbonfibre bodywork and with modified chassis geometry, it’s been built to win in the ‘affordable’ entry category for international GT racing. Which is what it promptly did, first time out in May. The rulemakers are continuing to adjust its ‘balance of performance’ as a result, but suffice to say the VW Group 2.0-litre turbo engine in the back produces in excess of 223kW. Development partner Reiter Engineering (the firm that builds Lamborghini’s racing cars) is confident the new GT4 will prove highly reliable – after all, the basic package has been deathtuned on track days for the last six years.

NEED TO KNOW
Engine 2.0 TFSI turbo 4-cyl, 254kW (subject to balance of performance) › Transmission 6-speed Holinger sequential, rwd › Weight /made from 999kg/ carbonfibre › Ideal for Kicking ass in GT4 racing

Elemental RP 1

That Lotus downforce? It’s measured at 241kph. Sounds great – until you learn this Elemental RP1 is promising 200kg at 160kph. Which probably leaves you wondering a) where’s the big wing, and b) what the hell is an Elemental? Essentially, it’s what a bunch of former McLaren personnel did next, the 265kph RP1 being their response to the seemingly openedended question: ‘What’s the perfect trackday car?’ Featuring fully adjustable in-board suspension that’s easily accessed via removable body panels, and an F1-style ‘feet up’ driving position, the RP1 majors on cutting edge underfloor aero (hence no wing) yet is still designed to be exceptionally usable – even on the road. Based around a carbon and aluminium tub, it weighs 620kg and will initially be powered by a tweaked Ford Ecoboost 2.0-litre producing 209kW, with other options pending. 0-100kph in 3.1sec, 100-160ph in 4.3sec.

NEED TO KNOW
Engine 2.0 Ecoboost turbo 4-cyl, 209kW › Transmission 6-speed sequential, rwd › Weight /made from 620kg/carbonfibre and aluminium › Ideal for Dating the BAC Mono’s girlfriend

Lotus 3 Eleven

This is the most expensive Lotus series production car ever – and you don’t even get a roof. Think of it as the antidote to the excessive pipedreams of the Bahar era: a stripped-back road-racer that trades creature comforts for low weight and high performance. That isn’t the same as saying the 3-Eleven is basic. The bodywork, for example, is made from a new ‘resin infusion composite’ some 40% lighter than conventional glassfibre reinforced plastic. The interior gets a fullcolour digital instrument cluster with road and race settings. And out back, nestled within the latest Lotus extruded aluminium chassis, is a 335kW evolution of the supercharged V6 from the Evora, capable of 0-100 in under 3.0sec and 290kph flat-out in ‘Road’ configuration. Alternatively, there’s a ‘Race’ 3-Eleven, complete with sequential gearbox, full rollcage and an aero package so aggressive it generates 215kg of downforce. 

NEED TO KNOW › 
Engine 3.5 supercharged V6, 335kW › Transmission 6-speed (manual Road, sequential Race), rwd › Weight /made from 900kg/aluminium and RIC › Ideal for Lottery-winning Elise obsessives

Changing fortunes All-new Toyota Fortuner makes much-anticipated global debut – its first full-model change ever

ON STYLING ALONE it clearly eschews the previous SUV’s utilitarian presence in favour of a more overt exterior, but Toyota says it won’t lose any of its strength and genuine all-terrain capability. The need-to-knows of the second-gen sevenseater (beginning life as the Hilux Sport Rider of 1998, before going global in 2005 with the model Saffas know and love) are its totally redesigned body, more premium interior and a range of new engines. The design brief was simple. ‘Design a Fortuner that can compete in terms of style and aesthetics while staying true to its authentic SUV characteristics and genuine 4WD performance,’ says Calvyn Hamman, Senior VP of Sales & Marketing, Toyota SA. To that end the 2016 Fortuner ushers in a new design language Toyota chooses to call ‘Solid Fluidity’. That oxymoron might be a little more ‘moron’ than ‘oxy’ but what it’s angling at is the offering’s solid width, high body axis, bulging wheel arches and chunky trapezoidal front bumper, which don’t sacrifice sophisticated detailing, such as the slim headlights, slanted chrome grille and sleek, complex rear lamps. 18in wheels with 265/60 rubber fill the arches and the keen beltline kinks up towards the tall rear, with black C-pillars giving it a ‘floating roof’ look. Although Toyota hasn’t shown us the interior just yet, the firm says ample cabin space (with 15 hidden stowage compartments) will be complemented by convenience features (model dependent) that include an integrated multi-media touchscreen (à la Prado), smart entry and a second-row seats with one-touch operation for easy seat folding. As with the new Hilux, there are new engines offering improved low-down torque, fuel efficiency and reduced engine noise. These include 2.4-litre (112kW/400Nm) and 2.8-litre (132kW/450Nm) diesels, supplemented by a 123kW/245Nm 2.7-litre petrol variant. Propping up these efficient powerplants are newly developed six-speed automatic transmissions with optimised gear ratios. The new Fortuner arrives in SA in the second quarter of 2016. Full local range and specs will be disclosed closer to the launch

Rivals are cold boring – this is the new Alfa

Amid an operatic fanfare, the new era of Alfa Romeo dawns. First, the M3-rivalling Giulia, next, seven other new models

SO THIS IS the Giulia, the first of the new Alfa Romeo saloons. With rear-wheel drive no less, and in this flagship Cloverleaf form, a 375kW twin-turbo V6 that dusts BMW’s M3 to the tune of 58kW. It’s fair to say we were not expecting such a high performance thrust, when the Italians invited us to Arese to witness Alfa’s rebirth. It was the most Italian of world premieres: soaring rhetoric (‘It’s more than a car, it’s an Alfa Romeo!’ ‘Other premium brands are cold, technocratic, even boring: it’s time to go back to feeling the car and the road again!’), delirious passion, even blind opera singer Andrea Bocelli thundering Nessun Dorma as the car was revealed. There’s a lot at stake. A range of eight all-new Alfas is charged with selling 400 000 cars by 2018, more than six times last year’s 68 000 units. Fiat Chrysler boss Sergio Marchionne has pledged $7.8 billion in funding: they really are throwing everything at relaunching Alfa Romeo. To get the world’s attention, they launched 2016’s 4 640mm 3 Series rival with the halo model. And there’s a lot of Ferrari in this Alfa. Philippe Krief, the Giulia’s project leader, is ex-Ferrari and worked on the 458 and Speciale. He told me that the Cloverleaf’s electrically power-assisted steering would eclipse Maranello’s superfast responses just off the deadahead. ‘This kind of precision, this directness, it’s exactly the same feeling we wanted to put on this car. Our steering ratio is even lower than Ferrari’s, it’s below 12:1.’ Also ‘inspired by Ferrari technology and skills’ is the 2.9-litre six-cylinder. It copies the new turbocharged Ferraris’ torque delivery, restricting it at lower revs so you’re encouraged to wind the engine out to its 7 000rpm limit. The V6 is made entirely from aluminium to minimise weight over the front axle; engineers claim the Cloverleaf has a 50:50 weight distribution. Alfa is targeting classleading performance and economy, so the V6 has cylinder shutdown and precise direct injection to save fuel, with the flipside being a claimed 0-100kph sprint in a BMW-beating 3.9sec. Light weight is critical to meet both targets, and Alfa promises the Cloverleaf will have a kerb weight around 1 500kg. While steel largely forms the body in white, the suspension is mostly aluminium, as are the doors and wings, and the Cloverleaf’s roof and seat frames are carbonfibre. Carbon ceramic brakes are optional. The propshaft is also made of composite in every Giulia, even the four-cylinder and V6 diesel versions set for their world debuts at Frankfurt this September. The boxfresh chassis, which Alfa claims shares no critical parts with any other group architecture, has a couple of other technical highlights. Motors manipulate aerodynamic aids in corners to boost downforce, before resetting on the straights to reduce drag. And the rear axle is equipped with torque vectoring, firing up to 100% of grunt to either driven wheel to enhance traction and turn-in. Krief describes the system as similar to a giant hand on top of the car, giving extra dynamic control. The unveiling’s final words were uttered by CEO Marchionne, who personally undertook monthly reviews during the car’s unusually rapid 26-month development. ‘It is no mystery that Alfa is one of the projects I’ve been most involved with, both operationally and emotionally,’ he said. ‘Over the past 30 years, Alfa has been suffering with a sense of unfulfillment. But we can finally say that today is the first day of a new era for Alfa.’

The new A4: in Audi’s own words

Key engineers talk you around the lighter, cleaner, smarter next-generation A4, arriving late 2015

Longer, wider, roomier 
‘The car is slightly longer [rear legroom is up 23mm] but it looks even longer, more elegant,’ continues designer Lamberty. ‘We have an important character line running down the side of the car. The glasshouse is low, quite chopped [though front passenger headroom is up 24mm], but this car is honest as a sedan – we didn’t try to do a coupe with this car. The increased track widths also give us strong shoulders and nice strong arches, to emphasise quattro.’

Lighter, with an improved ride and better steering goals,’
explains Dr Horst Glaser, head of chassis development [Audi claims the A4’s 120kg lighter than the old, depending on model]. ‘We have used more aluminium parts in combination with high-strength steel. The five-link front suspension is 6kg lighter. The electromechanical steering saves another 5kg. The steering itself is more precise and direct, with a better feeling around the brakes too, depending on the engine. Some models still use a sliding caliper but on others we have lighter, stiffer aluminium calipers, saving 5kg and giving better pedal feel and increased braking performance. Comfort is improved – we had some complaints from customers saying the [outgoing car’s] ride was not good on cambered, bumpy roads.’

Devilsome design details 
‘It’s a characterful car with a different feeling to today’s A4, and we‘re not doing modish design – we’re sticking to Audi design,’ says designer Frank Lamberty. ‘The car is sharper than the previous A4. The radii in the body are very precise, very Audi; we brought the tooling guys to the point of freaking out. The lines are logical too – each one links to another. The single-frame grille is wider and lower now, with a clean line across the top, and we have different finishes, black or chrome depending on the trim. This lifts the car within its segment. The headlights [xenons as standard, with LED and LED Matrix options] are the signature of the new A4 – for me they are like warpaint.’

Drag is down, efficiency up 
‘The saloon has a drag co-efficient of 0.23. The Avant is 0.26. Remember the aerodynamic A2? That was 0.25,’ explains aero guru Islam Moni. ‘At the rear of the Avant [right] you can see the low-drag design; the side blades and spoiler that push turbulent air off the back of the car. The underfloor is flat and on the Ultra we have active cooling – the grille is closed on startup, and the system balances drag reduction with thermal management of the engine.’ Audi claims 95g/km of CO2 for the 110kW 2.0 TDI. Other engines include a 140kW2.0 TDI, two 3.0 TDI sixes and three petrol engines; a clean, clever 110kW 1.4 and two 2.0 TFSIs.

Almost autonomous… 
‘The adaptive cruise control with traffic-jam assist will steer and brake the car in stop-start traffic at speeds of up to 11kph,’ says marketing man Markus Eigner. ‘Predictive efficiency assistant modifies your chosen speed based on information from the onboard camera and navigation to reduce fuel usage. As with the TT, optional virtual cockpit lets you configure the 12.3-inch LCD driver display as you wish. Choose MMI Navigation plus and the rotary controller has a touchpad on top, for pinch-and-swipe zooming. All this and we’ve saved 7kg from the wiring loom…’