Audi S1

How much?
For a supermini, rather a lot. The three-door is £24,905, the five-door Sportback an even saltier £25,635. But then, you do get 231bhp, four-wheel drive and 0-62 in 5.8sec (or 5.9 for the heavier five-door)

Better be good then…
It is. We drove the S1 in very wintry Scandinavia a few months back. It felt terrific, but it was running on studded tyres. We didn’t want to blurt to premature conclusions about the handling, though it was obvious it had potential.
Sure enough, it’s an eager little terrier. Though there’s a whopping 273lb ft of torque when the turbo spools up, and relatively short gearing, there’s never a shortage of traction. But better still, it tells you what it’s up to. The steering is precise and has real feel, and the chassis can be tweaked into a gentle dance as you lift the throttle into a bend or mash it out of it.
As good as a Fiesta ST?
Different kind of good. It’ll never wag its tail like the Ford, and the steering’s not as sharp. But when any front-drive hatch is frittering away its power in a wet second-gear bend, they won’t see which way the S1 went. And on a bumpy narrow road, the Audi’s Quattro drive also quells the torque steer. Not entirely, but to the point where it doesn’t matter.
And fast?
Worth-the-money fast. It’s actually a detuned version of the engine in the Audi S3. The S3 has 300bhp when you rev it right out, the S1 ‘just’ 231bhp. But their mid-range performance is pretty similar. So you can change up early in the S1 if that’s what suits you. It will rev to 6500, and it sounds fairly fruity doing it, but there’s seldom any need. You’ll like wriggling through the gearbox though. The shift is pretty snicky for a transverse-engined car, and the pedal positions and actions are beautifully judged.

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Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport S

Wait, another fast Golf GTI?
Yes, as the hot hatch arms race has intensified with seemingly never-ending one-upmanship to be the King of the Nürburgring, there have been more and more variants of the humble Golf GTI brought into the world.

So what’s this one then?
The Clubsport S, the most powerful production Golf ever. And the fastest ever front-wheel-drive production car to lap the Nürburgring. It’s a £35,000 stripped-out, semi-slicked, uber powerful and aero’d version of the standard Clubsport (now known as the ‘Edition 40’).

How fast is it?
Very. It managed a 7:49.21sec around the Green Hell – 1.5sec faster than Honda’s Civic Type R – to claim the front-wheel-drive production car lap record. To give you some perspective of how fast these humble hot hatches are getting, that’s quicker than the motorsport-derived Porsche 996 GT3 (a true benchmark of quick), but a whopping 36 seconds a lap quicker than a Performance Pack GTI. Which is monstrous. Like, a full six Vines worth of time.

How much is it?
Official pricing hasn’t been announced yet, but expect it to be in the region of £35,000. Which is a lot. But with only 150 right-hand drive cars set to come to the UK, it should hold its value well.
What we don’t know is how it’ll perform on our shoddy roads. But we can’t wait to find out.

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Mclaren 570S Spider

McLaren continues to produce high-quality, properly sorted and fun to drive cars that look like spaceships. Good stuff.

For: 

Friendly but comfortingly fast, doesn’t lose anything for having a disposable roof. Feels more special than a Porsche 911 Turbo or Audi R8 V10, less intimidating than a Huracan/488.

Against: 

Go mad with the options and it puts it in the firing line of bigger, badder competition.

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New Rolls-Royce Phantom revealed

Rolls-Royce Phantom features

Looking at these pictures, it might take a few minutes to realise that this is indeed a new-generation Phantom. But while very little has changed in its exterior design, this Phantom sits on an all-new platform designed to make it even more quiet and comfortable to drive – or be driven in – than the old car. Small design changes include a grille that now sits within the bodywork rather than in front of it and a sleeker look at the rear that is said to be inspired by yachts.
This new Phantom is marginally higher and wider than the old car, with slightly less space between its front and rear axles. Despite that, interior space is mostly unchanged, although there is slightly more head room on offer. Boot space has increased slightly, too. As before, a long-wheelbase version of the Phantom will also be offered, and this is likely to be especially popular in Far East markets, where Rolls-Royce exports a lot of cars.

Rolls-Royce Phantom engine

The only engine on offer in the new Phantom is a thirsty 6.8-litre V12 petrol – not that high running costs are likely to trouble any prospective owners. Power has increased to 563bhp, but more significant is that its full pulling power is available from just 1000rpm, which is likely to prove useful in getting the 2625kg Phantom up to motorway speeds. Indeed, the new car is capable of sprinting from 0-62mph in 5.3sec, and on to a limited top speed of 155mph. An eight-speed automatic gearbox is standard.
The new Phantom's engine returns a claimed 20.3mpg combined, with CO2 emissions of 318g/km.

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2017 Mercedes-Benz V-Class Marco Polo

Priced from £53,180 Release date Now
There can be few people on the planet not familiar with the campervan concept, thanks largely to the iconic, long-lived and much-loved range of Volkswagens built for the purpose over the decades. Even people who hate the idea of camping usually have a soft spot for the thought of living the California Dream in one.
Of course, that lazy-day, carefree attitude rarely goes hand-in-hand with the realities of owning and running one, and that is especially true when you consider the more-than-£50,000 entry-level price for this latest entry to the market, the Mercedes-Benz V-Class Marco Polo. Even on a lease with a £11,000 deposit, you’ll be spending more than £600 a month to own it, making the experience very much at the glamping end of the price scale.
And, much as with a posh bell tent, the beauty of the Marco Polo lies within rather than with its exterior looks, which are a light development of the long-wheelbase version of the V-Class van, upon which it is based. From the outside, then, it is nothing extraordinary. Climb inside, though, and the wooden floor and well-kitted kitchen get the excitement flowing. As keen historians will know, Marco Polo was a 13th-century explorer and author; chances are he dreamed of such luxuries as afforded by this namesake van.
Buyers get a choice of two 2.1-litre diesel engines with differing power outputs, both linked to a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox, and two trim levels, the higher priced of which is more focused on adding cosmetic addenda than any significant kit.

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