COVER STORY

46

New Astra VXR: the inside story on Vauxhall’s 276bhp Focus ST rival

35

First drive: Vauxhall VXR Maloo

54

Subaru XV gets the road test treatment

‘The 1M is far from perfect, and in a curious way this makes it a true M-car’

Steve Sutcliffe, p64

70 Buying guide: Porsche Cayenne

THIS WEEK

NEWS Fiat Bravo replacement Crossover planned 10 Future Fiat 500s Mini-rivalling range planned 13 Lexus LF-LC Concept could make production 14 Peugeot 208 GTI “It has to be a class leader” 16 Volkswagen SC New four-door coupé planned 18 Ferrari secures V12’s future Hybrids will help 22 Spotlight Spy photographer secrets revealed 24

TESTED Aston Martin V8 Vantage Updated coupé 28 Jaguar XF 2.2D 163 Lower-powered saloon 32 Vauxhall Maloo VXR Over-the-top pick-up 35 Audi TT 1.8 TFSI Tin-top TT gets 1.8 option 37 Mercedes-Benz B180 CDI Entry-level diesel 37 Subaru XV 2.0D SE ROAD TEST 54

FEATURES Porsche 918 Spyder We ride in prototype 38 Astra VXR Inside Vauxhall’s hot three-door 46 Zolfe Classic GTC4 British sports car driven 50

OUR CARS BMW 1-series M Coupé Goodbye to our 1M 64 Mini Coupé Shelf assessment reveals rattle 69

EVERY WEEK Steve Cropley Impressed by the new 208 21 Steve Sutcliffe Time to update Aston’s vision?23 Alan Henry Button on the ball in Australia 27 Mail The dangers of rising fuel prices 62 Colin Goodwin Why we need a new E-type 63 Richard Bremner Suzuki Mobile Terrace 106

DEALS

Used buying guide Porsche Cayenne 70 Used car bargains Affordable luxury 74 New car deals Cash off Kia’s Sorento 77 New cars A-Z All the latest models rated 78 Road test results Autocar’s data archive 95 Cars for sale Hundreds up for grabs 98

74

50 Driven: Zolfe Classic GTC4

32

Can Jaguar’s XF 2.2D 163 crack the fleet market?

Why Citroën’s C6 is a secondhand bargain

21 MARCH 2012 WWW.AUTOCAR.CO.UK 7