Month: May 2019

What is it?

What’s in a name? Well, when it comes to the new Ford Ranger Raptor, quite a lot. It just sounds good, doesn’t it? Ford has jam-packed its new range-topping pick-up with top-notch off-road tech to ensure it’s as capable on the rough stuff as possible, and more than able to live up to that rather evocative nameplate, too.

It’s also accompanied by a punchy new diesel engine, and a list of standard equipment which far eclipses that found on any of the ‘standard’ variations of the Ranger. We’ve headed out to Morocco to see how it gets on.

What’s new?

The Raptor has been developed by Ford Performance, which is behind some of the firm’s best performance-orientated models – as you’d expect, given the name. It means that though the Raptor shares its platform with the regular Ranger, it’s been beefed-up by some margin. The chassis is reinforced, and uses high-strength steel, while the track has been widened and the ride height lifted – the Raptor sits 51mm higher up than the regular Ranger XLT.

Fox — the company behind some of the best off-road suspension systems on cars, motorbikes and downhill bicycles — has also had a part to play. Its dampers have been used on the Raptor, endowing it with huge amounts of shock absorption — ideal for intense off-road environments. The regular Ranger’s leaf springs have been chucked too, replaced by coils for a far better ride.

What’s under the bonnet?

The Raptor makes use of Ford’s latest 2.0-litre bi-turbo diesel engine. Performance-wise, it’ll crack 0-60mph in 10.3 seconds, before charging on to a 106mph top speed – figures which, we’ll admit, aren’t that impressive on paper. Economy figures are acceptable; Ford claims 31.7mpg combined, and CO2 emissions of 233g/km. It also uses a 10 — that’s right, 10 — speed automatic gearbox, meaning that theoretically, there should be a gear for near enough every situation. It can be controlled via titanium shift paddles, too.

Of course, the Raptor also features a range of off-road driving modes, including a Roll Mitigation Function, Trailer Sway control and Hill Descent Control.

What’s it like to drive?

It’s best to think of the Raptor as a performance car for all terrains. So, you’d expect it to eat up every type of surface thrown its way — and boy, does it achieve this. At low speeds, it initially feels a little jarring, but throw some pace its way and the Raptor simply floats over any track, and any obstacle. We tested it on some serious Moroccan routes, and it simply hammered through everything we could throw at it. Sure, other trucks may be able to conquer the same thing — but they wouldn’t be do it half as quickly, nor with such little drama as the Raptor.

We’d like a touch more power, perhaps, but the 210bhp doesn’t leave the Raptor feeling overly short-changed when it comes to punch. The 10-speed gearbox is our only sticking point; there are simply so many cogs to choose from that it can, at times, feel a little lost — and heavy boots of acceleration see it raking through several gears in quick succession just to make decent progress.

How does it look?

Big, bold and just a little imposing, the Ranger Raptor is a pick-up which is hard to miss. The front grille draws inspiration from the one fitted to the American-only F-150 Raptor, and the rest of the truck looks more Los Angeles than Luton in terms of design.

In the metal it’s a very impressive thing. While large decals would be a little brash on other cars, for the Raptor they make sense — this isn’t a car for the shy and retiring.

What’s it like inside?

Inside the Raptor you’ll find a pretty standard interior. The sports seats are bolstered but not overly so, and while there are some harsher plastics used throughout, everything feels as if it’s been built to stand up to whatever abuse you can throw at it. It’s not a hugely exciting cabin, but all the key components are well made. The driving position is good too, and there’s plenty of adjustability to be found.

Whereas other manufacturers are starting to adopt screens to replace the main instrument binnacle in front of the driver, the Raptor uses a pair of simple dials – with a smaller screen in between. They’re clear and easy to read, and they suit the character of the truck too.

What’s the spec like?

As we’ve already alluded to, the Raptor features an impressively comprehensive list of standard equipment. In addition to all of the off-road mechanical upgrades, it boasts 17-inch alloy wheels shod in chunky all-terrain tyres, while bi-xenon headlights and LED front fog lamps feature at the nose of the car.

Ford Ranger Raptor in Morocco today. So far handling everything we can throw at it pic.twitter.com/tnJUT8Gvrd

— Jack Evans (@jackrober) May 1, 2019

There’s also Ford’s latest Sync 3 infotainment system, and it’s one of the best ones from the firm yet thanks to clear, intuitive layouts and easy-to-read fonts. It may not be quite as sharp as rival operating systems, but it’s not bad at all. The elephant in the room is, of course, the price. At £48,784 it’s expensive, but thanks to this hefty list of standard tech, it appears far better value-for-money than rival pick-ups.

Verdict

Recommending the Raptor is a tricky thing. On the one hand, it’s one of the most accomplished pick-up trucks we’ve driven when it comes to outright, go-anywhere ability. The way it conquers dunes, gravel tracks and severe inclines with such little drama is nothing short of mind-boggling.

But on the other hand, how often do you find yourself transversing a towering sand dune in the UK? In a similar vein to other cars we’ve seen recently (Suzuki Jimny, we’re looking at you), this is a car which is a fundamentally niche product, but one which we’d gladly grab the keys to – simply for the way it makes you feel. Get behind the wheel of the Raptor, and we’d put money on you thinking the same.

Facts at a glance
Model: Ford Ranger Raptor
Price: £48,784
Engine: 2.0-litre bi-turbo diesel
Power (bhp): 210
Torque (Nm): 500
Max speed (mph): 106
0-60mph: 10.3
MPG: 31.7
Emissions (g/km): 233

Britain’s electric vehicle revolution is being hampered by a “bottleneck” in global battery production, as demand far outstrips supply of zero-emission vehicles.

An investigation by the Press Association found that some dealers were telling customers they could be waiting more than a year if they placed an order for an EV today, with some manufacturers confirming they couldn’t guarantee the number of vehicles coming to the UK in the future.

Kia and Hyundai appear to be the worst affected, with the former’s e-Niro and latter’s Kona and Ioniq Electric experiencing 12-month-plus wait times.

Jaguar, Tesla, Nissan, Smart, Audi and Volkswagen are all also experiencing delays with their electric vehicle offerings of between two and five months.

A Kia spokesperson blamed global demand and battery supply, calling the e-Niro “a victim of its own success” and adding that the South Korean firm’s 2019 UK allocation of about 800 cars sold out within two weeks of going on sale in January.

He said: “The simple fact is our battery suppliers cannot make battery packs quickly enough for the demand, and if we haven’t got battery packs, we cannot sell the cars.”

Both Kia and its sister company Hyundai said they were taking reservations for 2020 deliveries and would contact interested customers once pricing and delivery time frames were clearer.

Simon Moores, managing director of lithium-ion battery specialist Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, confirmed there was a bottleneck in the production of the high-quality batteries needed for electric vehicles.

He said: “Not all lithium-ion batteries can be used in all electric vehicles. There are quality and scale issues at play, and they don’t usually go hand in hand.

“Western EV makers need the highest-quality lithium-ion batteries for a multitude of reasons, including safety, range and longevity. The surge in EV demand in the past two years has meant that tier one battery producers – such as Panasonic and Tesla, LG Chem and Samsung SDI – are playing catch-up.

“Global capacity of tier one lithium-ion battery supply is still an issue, but we are seeing a shortage in the quality and quantity of key raw materials, especially graphite anode at present.”

Tom Callow, director of communication at EV charge point supplier BP Chargemaster, said supply delays should become less of an issue in 2020 as new EU emissions targets applying to manufacturers come in.

“We are undoubtedly seeing demand outstrip supply for electric vehicles in the UK at the moment,” he said.

Elsewhere in the market, Volkswagen confirmed wait times for the e-Golf were nearly four months. The e-Up, however, remains unavailable to order because of long wait times, but should return “later in the year”.

In 2018, the German manufacturer stopped taking orders for the Passat GTE and Golf GTE plug-in hybrids because “unprecedented demand” had put factories at full capacity. The electrified Golf remains on hold, while a new Passat GTE goes on sale soon.

A Renault dealer quoted wait times of up to five months for the Zoe, but a spokesperson for the manufacturer disputed it, saying it’d expect even an order with “a very particular specification” to be delivered within two months. Meanwhile, the Twizy remains unavailable for order while production moves to a new factory.

The typical wait time for an electric vehicle is about three months – quoted for cars such as the Nissan Leaf, Audi e-Tron Quattro, Jaguar I-Pace and BMW i3.

Nissan said: “We are seeing very strong demand for both the Leaf and e-NV200, and we continue to try and secure production allocations that match our customer demand.

“However, across Europe and globally there is also strong demand.

“For Leaf we have reasonable supply but depending on variant the lead time will vary.”

A BMW spokesman said “production and delivery times can vary” because the company offers “a range of built-to-order options in order to make their vehicle truly their own”. However, lead times for the i3 “are in line with expectations for a build-to-order BMW”.

This week, Tesla opened its UK configurator for the Model 3 – the firm’s new entry-level EV. It claims deliveries should be less than two months from an order being placed, however, UK customers who placed deposits when the car was first revealed have been waiting three years for right-hand drive models to become available.

Tesla says deliveries of the Model S and Model X could take up to three months, and estimated delivery times are shown on the company’s website.

A Tesla spokesperson added that because the cars are built in the US, it factors in a transit time of “around six to eight weeks”.

What is it?

Another day, another new SUV from the VW Group — and this time we’re looking at its smallest yet. This the Volkswagen T-Cross, the firm’s assault on the compact SUV market.

Based on the firm’s MQB platform, it’s similar in size to its Polo hatchback — coming in at 55mm longer and 97mm taller respectively — and sits below the T-Roc in the range, which itself has become Europe’s class best-seller since its 2017 launch.

With tough competition from the likes of Nissan’s Juke and Mazda’s CX-3, plus the imminent rival of the Ford Puma, it’s going to have to be special to emulate that success.

What’s new?

This is an entirely new model from the brand, and one spawned from the T-Cross Breeze concept shown in 2016 — though that car was a convertible, unlike the eventual hardtop version.

Though fresh to the range, it does take a healthy amount of parts from the breadth of the VW Group catalogue — namely its choice of 1.0 TSI petrol engines, DSG gearbox options and wide array of safety and luxury gizmos on offer. Notably absent at launch is a diesel engine option — though one is available on the continent, and VW UK hasn’t ruled out bringing it over later down the line.

Driving the funky little VW T-Cross today. Good day for it, too. pic.twitter.com/Vb8HMV0VAh

— Ryan Hirons (@RyHirons) April 30, 2019

What’s under the bonnet?

Powering our test car is the 1.0-litre petrol engine in its most powerful form. Producing 113bhp and 200Nm of torque, which here is delivered to the front wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox. It covers the 0-60mph sprint in 10 seconds flat and can go on to a 120mph top speed. As for efficiency, Volkswagen claims this unit can return 48.2mpg on the WLTP combined cycle while emitting 112g/km in CO2.

This powertrain setup has to be the pick of the bunch. The engine is punchy and offers just the right amount of power for the car, while its slick gearshift and well-weighted clutch make it a breeze to operate. Its lower-output sibling just lacks the crisp edge of the more powerful option, and its DSG alternative feels comparatively sluggish.

What’s it like to drive?

The T-Cross is designed first and foremost for the city, and that’s where it excels. A combination of light steering, compact dimensions and excellent visibility results in a car that’s perfectly at home when navigating concrete jungles — and softly-set suspension allows it to absorb speed bumps and potholes without an issue.

Its strengths as a city car do prove to be its downfalls elsewhere, though. At speed on the UK’s bumpier back roads, its ride is akin to driving a slab of jelly — wobbling about all over the place and not inspiring too much confidence as a result. Road noise is also prominent when cruising along, though the supple suspension at least makes it comfortable on motorways.

How does it look?

It’d be easy to accuse Volkswagen of making a range of cars that are quite boring to look at, though with the T-Cross it’s managed to inject a bit of funk into the design — more so with its exterior.

Though about the size of a Polo and very mechanically similar to one, you wouldn’t guess a direct relation from the design alone — save for the keen-eyed who may spot a side strike directly taken from the hatch. Up front, a gaping grille brings it in line with the rest of VW’s SUV range, while toward the back a concept car-like look is created with a huge light bar transcending the boot.

With our money, we’d look toward to more creative end of the T-Cross’ palette of colours. The design is best exposed in eye-catching ‘Energetic Orange’ and ‘Makena Turquoise’, and admittedly looks a bit dull in more conventional shades.

What’s it like inside?

Things are very in line with the typical Volkswagen norms inside. A boxy cabin design features, with good quality materials deployed for the steering wheel, switchgear and other points of contact throughout the cabin. Search hard and it’s easy to find some scratchier plastics, though these are confined to areas drivers are likely to never interact with so can be forgiven.

As for space, five can be seated comfortably — particularly when the sliding rear row is taken advantage of, creating as much as 14cm of extra legroom, though it’s not lacking in the first place for a car of this size. The T-Cross also boasts 455 litres of boot space when the rear seats are moved forward, putting it comfortably ahead of the Mazda CX-3’s 350-litre and Nissan Juke’s 345-litre capacities.

What’s the spec like?

Pricing for the VW T-Cross begins at £16,995, making it one of the most expensive in its class, for an entry S model. It’s quite light on equipment, with the only noticeable additions being 16-inch alloy wheels and an eight-inch infotainment display with Bluetooth support plus DAB radio. There is, however, a generous helping of no-cost safety equipment such as automatic post-collision braking, automatic emergency braking and lane-keep assistance.

Tested here is the SEL trim, which brings with it LED headlights and daytime running lights, 17-inch alloy wheels, front and rear parking sensors, a leather-trimmed steering wheel, adaptive cruise control and support for both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Options ticked here include Reflex Silver metallic paint (£575), 18-inch alloy wheels (£540) and VW’s Active Info Display Technology (£375), bringing the cost of the car to £20,795. It’s a high price to pay, especially as it’s not even the range topper — that honour belongs to R-Line models, starting from £22,695.

Verdict

Volkswagen is on to another hit in its ever-more successful SUV range with the T-Cross. It blends style and practicality into a package that’s perfect for the city, which is where these cars are destined to spend a good chunk of their time on the road — and perhaps for the best when its poor refinement elsewhere is considered. A decent amount of safety equipment as standard is a positive too, although we’d like to have seen some of that generosity extend further into the luxury bonuses thrown in the package.

Facts at a glance

Model: VW T-Cross SEL
Price: £20,795
Engine: 1.0-litre turbocharged three-cylinder
Power (bhp): 113
Torque (Nm): 200
Max speed (mph): 120
0-60mph: 10 seconds
MPG: 48.2
Emissions (g/km): 112

There’s a reason hatchback cars are so popular, and that’s because they offer a little bit of everything. You’ll find a healthy dose of practicality in them, but without being big and intimidating to drive. On top of that, they usually come in any combination of fuel type, engine size and transmission you might desire.

But when it comes to ownership, something many buyers in the market might overlook is whether they should opt for a three-door or a five-door. While some cars are only available as one or the other, many give you the option of both — so it’s worth thinking about what your needs are and how they would be best served here.

But before we get into how to choose, a quick word on something you might be wondering – why the odd number of doors? It’s mostly just manufacturer-speak that has stuck in the mainstream. A five-door actually has four traditional doors, while a three-door just has the two at the front. The fifth and third doors in the name refer to the bootlid.

Now we’ve got that out of the way, here are the advantages and disadvantages of three- and five-door cars

Space – five-doors have more room in the back

Typically, you’ll find that the space in the rear of a five-door is very close to that of the three-door. However, because three-doors tend to have a sportier design, they can have sloping rooflines that eat into headroom, or smaller windows that let in less light and make rear passengers feel more claustrophobic.

You’ll also find that because accessing the rear seats is so much easier in a five-door, you’re more likely to actually use the space. So, while it might not technically be larger, it is in a more practical way.

Access – five doors makes it easier to get in and out

When it comes to access, five-door cars have three-doors beaten again. If you carry more than one passenger on a regular basis, a five-door becomes the obvious choice.

Furthermore, if you have young children and regularly need to put them in the back, reaching through between the seats of a three-door will quickly become tiresome and could put a lot of strain on your back.

Another advantage comes into play if you’re carrying something large that requires you to fold the rear seats flat. Shimmying it into a three-door could be a pain, but if you can open the rear doors then it’s much easier to shift into place.

One point in favour of three-doors though is that the doors tend to be larger, so getting in and out of the front seats can be easier. Though bear in mind this can make it tricky to open them in tight parking spaces. Swings and roundabouts…

Price – more doors means more cash

The three-door might look like it’s starting to fall behind in this fight, but when it comes to the impact it has on your wallet it starts to claw some points back.

If you don’t have any inclination towards either option, or you’re happy you don’t need the extra practicality, you can typically save a few hundred pounds by opting for a three-door over a five-door. It could be a simple way to shave a little off your monthly repayments.

Looks – three-doors are usually better-looking

Again, if the practicality of a five-door isn’t essential, you might be swayed by the fact that three-doors typically look better.

This is particularly true on smaller cars, where designers and engineers have a tough time cramming four doors into a small frame. However, if they only have to fit front doors, there’s more freedom to be creative, often leading to a sleeker window design or sportier, sloping rooflines.

Use – think about what the car needs to do

The final decision comes down to how you’ll use the car. If you tend to carry more than one passenger or you need to regularly get to the back seats for any other reason, a five-door will make your life much easier.

However, if it’s just you and maybe one other person in the car, and you’re confident you can put up with a bit less practicality, opting for a three-door could save you a bit of cash and give you a better-looking car as a result.