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Internazzionale Motors Company, Turin (2026)

25/03/2013

Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo driven
08/10
No Price Defined
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As pretty as the Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo is to look at, its styling is not the only story here. It's the new plug-in hybrid electric drivetrain which the sleek new silhouette is hiding that's the main feature. It's entirely possible, if you believe the swirling rumours, that a production version of the car will be built in a few years, but for now you really shouldn't let that knowledge affect your buying decisions.

The e-hybrid drivetrain, as Porsche calls it, will debut much sooner. Effectively a thorough upgrade of the existing Porsche parallel hybrid drivetrain found in the current Panamera and Cayenne, e-hybrid swaps the existing nickel-hydride battery for a much more perky lithium-ion unit.

This is almost exactly the same size as the more ploddy ni-hy cell but offers much greater storage capacity. The li-ion battery offers more of everything you want from a hybrid - faster acceleration, greater range and a higher top speed without having to resort to waking up the 333bhp, 3.0-litre V6 supercharged petrol engine, a carry-over from the current system.

The other new element - besides the ability to plug the car into the mains - is the electric motor, which now produces around double the amount of power (95bhp) compared with today's electric engine. This brings the total drivetrain output to a maximum of 416bhp, allows a top all-electric speed (if you feather the right pedal) of over 81mph and increases the maximum all-electric range (not at 81mph, I might add) to about 18 miles. Petrol consumption is a claimed 81mpg.

If you just get in the car and start driving, it defaults to all-electric driving as much as possible. This can be overridden by slamming down the throttle, or, more elegantly, by pressing a wheel-mounted button. This allows you to charge up the battery as you zip down the motorway and then cruise into town on a wave of electric silence. Charging using an AC plug takes two and a half hours.

In the Sport Turismo, the system worked perfectly, cutting the engine on cue and bringing it back into the game as soon as asked. It also demonstrated in bursts of vivid acceleration down a sleepy section of Sunset Boulevard with a police es**rt, that it is still very much a Porsche. Its 0-62mph time is quoted at about six seconds, but it feels faster than that.

When fitted to a production Panamera, the sensation will undoubtedly be more muted, but still a significant advance over the current car. It's a pity that Porsche won't do the same for the styling, but with the Panamera Sport Turismo breaking cover, there's hope even that will change for the better soon.

The numbers
3000cc, V6, lithium-ion battery, RWD, 416bhp, 428lb ft, 81mpg, 82g/km CO2, 0-62mph in 6.0secs (est), n/a mph, n/a kg

The verdict
Impressive eco figures, and doesn't lose any Porsche DNA by being green

25/03/2013

Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo driven
08/10
No Price Defined
___________________________________________________________
As pretty as the Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo is to look at, its styling is not the only story here. It's the new plug-in hybrid electric drivetrain which the sleek new silhouette is hiding that's the main feature. It's entirely possible, if you believe the swirling rumours, that a production version of the car will be built in a few years, but for now you really shouldn't let that knowledge affect your buying decisions.

The e-hybrid drivetrain, as Porsche calls it, will debut much sooner. Effectively a thorough upgrade of the existing Porsche parallel hybrid drivetrain found in the current Panamera and Cayenne, e-hybrid swaps the existing nickel-hydride battery for a much more perky lithium-ion unit.

This is almost exactly the same size as the more ploddy ni-hy cell but offers much greater storage capacity. The li-ion battery offers more of everything you want from a hybrid - faster acceleration, greater range and a higher top speed without having to resort to waking up the 333bhp, 3.0-litre V6 supercharged petrol engine, a carry-over from the current system.

The other new element - besides the ability to plug the car into the mains - is the electric motor, which now produces around double the amount of power (95bhp) compared with today's electric engine. This brings the total drivetrain output to a maximum of 416bhp, allows a top all-electric speed (if you feather the right pedal) of over 81mph and increases the maximum all-electric range (not at 81mph, I might add) to about 18 miles. Petrol consumption is a claimed 81mpg.

If you just get in the car and start driving, it defaults to all-electric driving as much as possible. This can be overridden by slamming down the throttle, or, more elegantly, by pressing a wheel-mounted button. This allows you to charge up the battery as you zip down the motorway and then cruise into town on a wave of electric silence. Charging using an AC plug takes two and a half hours.

In the Sport Turismo, the system worked perfectly, cutting the engine on cue and bringing it back into the game as soon as asked. It also demonstrated in bursts of vivid acceleration down a sleepy section of Sunset Boulevard with a police es**rt, that it is still very much a Porsche. Its 0-62mph time is quoted at about six seconds, but it feels faster than that.

When fitted to a production Panamera, the sensation will undoubtedly be more muted, but still a significant advance over the current car. It's a pity that Porsche won't do the same for the styling, but with the Panamera Sport Turismo breaking cover, there's hope even that will change for the better soon.

The numbers
3000cc, V6, lithium-ion battery, RWD, 416bhp, 428lb ft, 81mpg, 82g/km CO2, 0-62mph in 6.0secs (est), n/a mph, n/a kg

The verdict
Impressive eco figures, and doesn't lose any Porsche DNA by being green

22/03/2013

Land Rover Defender Kahn driven
07/10
£49,875
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I'm not quite sure what to make of these modded Defenders. Range Rover Sports I can understand - the car leans that way in the first place, so aftermarket tweaking is merely caricaturisation. But a dressed-up Defender? Surely that's like trying to cram a mangy gundog into a chichi shoulder bag? It might fit, but it won't be a happy union for any of those involved.

So why is it that I have a soft spot for this car? I think it's because no matter how much you do to a Defender, whether you give it a Towie-tan or a camo-and-winches makeover, its character remains unaffected. It's always noisy, always harsh, always utilitarian, always a semi-shambles to drive.

This Kahn (we've driven Overfinch and Twisted versions before) is no exception. The 2.2-litre diesel is rowdy, and the automatic gearbox is hilariously indecisive at high speeds, constantly flicking and jerking between ratios. In any other car, this would be unacceptable, but here it's a key part of its charm. In fact the gearbox might be the single best upgrade - it makes the Defender so much easier to live with.

The live axle chassis bucks around, the discomfort exaggerated here by a super-firm racing bucket seat (standard for all passengers too). The upside is that the Kahn has the best driving position of any Defender I've ever driven. I could do without the three-spoke chrome steering wheel, though. It's from a speedboat, and not bad to hold, but trying to remember when it's pointing straight is a trial.

However, the quality of the fit and finish is first-rate. It really is. We're not just talking about the quilted leather and Harris Tweed seats here, but every insert, panel or stitch. And there are a lot of them. Including rear-passenger knee protectors. Steering wheel aside, the Harris Tweed 'n' Defender mix works pretty well, adding luxury without seeming overly precious.

It wears its body mods well, too. There have been few mechanical upgrades bar the wheels, tyres and exhaust, but the extra side cladding over the arches gives the LR a tougher stance, and the wheels and grille sit comfortably on the slabby panels. It shouts oligarch security entourage or perhaps rural agri-rock star. We didn't mind being seen in it at all, but if it were ours, we might change the numberplate.

The numbers
2198cc, 4cyl, 4WD, 122bhp, 265lb ft, 25.5mpg, 266g/km CO2, 0-62mph in 13.0secs, 90mph, 1887kg

The verdict
Rugged, costly and tweedy. And actually quite convincing. Like a Mercedes G-Wagen, but more British.

03/12/2012

The 2013 Porsche Cayman lands in LA
It’s 30kg lighter, 15 per cent more frugal with 10 extra bhp … Excellent
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Porsche better be working on something pretty special for the next 911, because this faster, lighter more focused third-gen Cayman looks like it'll be nipping at the flagship's heels. Let's do some numbers...

It's up to 30 kg lighter, 40 per cent stiffer, 15 per cent more efficient and 10bhp more powerful than its predecessor, which was in itself, an excellent car.

And the engines. You can chose from two directly injected flat sixes - a 2.7-litre and 3.4-litre, both of which have been designed to rev more freely than before (peak power arrives at 7,400rpm - the old models run out of breath at 7,200rpm). More revs, in this case, means more power.

Even though the new 2.7 has 0.2-litres less displacement than the engine it replaces (the 2.9), at 275bhp it actually makes 10bhp more than its predecessor. The bigger 3.4's also up by 5bhp to 325bhp in the S model. The power curves for both are a notch above the outgoing engines too, so they make more power at the same RPM.

Now Porsche has stapled on a bunch of clever electrical stuff, they're up to 15 per cent more efficient too (the 2.7 does 34.4mpg and the 3.4 32.1mpg). The battery gets charged more intensively during braking and coasting phases, and the alternator charge current can be reduced when the battery is fully charged. There's also intelligently controlled engine and transmission cooling systems, so they both reach their operating temperatures more rapidly, helping combustion efficiency under part-load and minimising gearbox friction.

If you go for the double-clutch seven-speed PDK, you also get a coasting function, just as you'd find on the new 911. The ‘box decouples so the engine runs in neutral when you're putting any power through it, and Porsche reckons it can save up to one litre of fuel per 100 km, helped in part seven per cent reduction in rolling resistance. But if you've any sense, you'll go for the standard six-speed manual transmission.

Now, the body. It's entirely new, 47kg lighter and made up of steel and aluminium, only using the former when strictly necessary (around 44 per cent of the new Cayman shell is aluminium). But despite the weight saving, torsional rigidity's increased by 40 per cent, which seems staggering considering how well the outgoing car handled. Porsche promise that it "drives more precisely than ever before" but we hope it's not lost any of the old ‘uns lovely ride quality.

Underneath, there's a new chassis system and 60 mm more wheelbase, and Porsche has played with the PASM active damping and added a few more sensors to inform the computers. Four new vertical sensors at the front and rear wheels - and Normal and Sport buttons on the dash - help it work out how stiffly to set the suspension.

There are many more exciting acronyms available as optional extras to help the going get sporty - the Porsche Torque Vectoring (PTV) system basically improves the vehicle's steering response and steering precision by targeted brake interventions at the rear wheel located on the inside of a bend. The rear differential lock then helps with things when you're accelerating out of the bend.

New electro-mechanical power steering replaces the previous car's hydraulic setup. And even if electric power steering makes driving most sports cars feel like eating a sweet with the wrapper on, this one has the relatively pleasing side-effect of reducing fuel consumption by at least 0.1 l/100 km.

Need more sharpness? Option the Sport Chrono package. There's a Sport Plus button also activates the PDK ‘race course' shifting map, dynamic transmission mounts, which alter their stiffness and damping rates depending on driving conditions. With the mountings set to stiff, the drivetrain's moment of inertia is reduced when you go into a bend, which helps with steering precision.

Suppose you want to know about performance now, don't you? The 2.7 does 0 - 62 mph in 5.7 sec (5.6 with PDK and 5.4 sec with Sport Chrono package) and onto a top speed of 165 mph. The Cayman S will do 0 - 62 mph In 5.0 sec (4.9 with PDK 4.9 and 4.7 sec with Sport Chrono) and a top speed of 176 mph.

Drawing it up are a set of new, stiffer front brake callipers with a new brake pad design and a larger brake contact surface. Probably a good thing - the old car's stoppers did tend to err on the mushy side.

There's also been a few aero tweaks. A new front spoiler lip helps keep the nose pinned, and the resculpted wing, which will deploy automatically or manually and has a 40 per cent larger effective area, keep its backside in check.

So, now the awkward bit - pricing. The 2.7-litre starts at £39,694 and the 3.4-litre S at £48,783. Typically, Porsche aren't being too lavish with standard equipment - there's air-con, CD audio with seven-inch touch-screen control screen, automatic headlight activation, auto stop-start function, electronic parking brake, ‘Sport' button, 18-inch alloy wheels, top tinted windscreen and, erm, floor mats.

Realistically, then, a tenable car will be nudging £50,000. So, nearly as quick as a base-spec 911, and 20k cheaper.

08/08/2012

Infiniti FX50 S Premium driven
£58,280
06/10
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Most people who buy the Infiniti FX do so because of how it looks. So for the 2012 FX - the first time it has been refreshed since its 2008 launch - Infiniti has adhered to the adage of not repairing what was not worthy of repair.

To the untrained eye, it looks identical. But steady your aim, because there is change; the front has been subtly reshaped to mirror the Essence concept car (new bumper, new fog lights), you get two new paint finishes, a new 20in alloy wheel option, and the needles on the dials have been switched from red to white. Gasp!

Aside from this, everything remains the same. So opt for the 5.0-litre V8, and you're still looking at an indecently fast SUV with squat proportions and a focused drive - it shares a platform with the Nissan 370Z. It's rare too; just a few hundred have been sold. But while it might have a great level of standard kit over its Teutonic competitors, its premium aspirations still fall a little short in the cabin. And the boot is half the size of a Range Rover's.

So the FX remains a decent, left-field alternative to the usual luxury SUV fodder. But you might feel happier with, erm, the usual luxury SUV fodder.

The numbers
5026cc, 385bhp, 369lb ft, 21.6mpg, 307g/km CO2, 0-62mph in 5.8secs, 155mph, 2120kg

The verdict
Refreshed looks could be missed, but the FX remains an interesting, fine-handling alternative to the RRS

08/08/2012

Nissan reveals future black cab
New York’s 'taxi of tomorrow' spawns London Hackney cab, could go electric
-------------------------------------------------- In the south-east corner of a country called Great Britain lurks a small town called London. You may have heard of it. It's hosting a minor sporting event at present.

In the small town of London, all Londonists commute in traditional ‘black taxicabs' : in fact, these ‘taxicabs' carry over 300,000 passengers each day and clock up over 230 million miles each year (collectively, we mean). And now Nissan has unveiled its vision for London's black cab of the future: the NV200 London Taxi. If you think it looks familiar, you're not wrong: this is, essentially, the same van-based MPV announced last year as New York's next city taxi.

But this is more than an Olympics-induced publicity stunt. This is Nissan's bid to become the future London taxi of choice: big business, with over 20,000 black cabs pounding the capital's streets each day.

The NV200 London Taxi isn't quite a repainted version of NY's Big Yellow Taxi. Most obviously, it has a wider front track - 200mm wider, to be precise - tucked under those fatter front arches. That's not an aesthetic choice, but to house the NV200's new front suspension, reworked to give the London cab a turning circle of less than 25 feet.

In the States, the NV200 cab is powered by a four-cylinder petrol, but London's version would use a 1.5-litre diesel engine capable of over 50mpg, more than 50 per cent more efficient than today's most frugal black cabs.

And it's ready for electric. London mayor Boris ‘Zipwire' Johnson has announced his intention to move London to zero-emissions taxiing by 2020, but Nissan reckons it can get there far sooner. Next year, it'll start to trial all-electric NV200's in the capital, which could go on sale as soon as 2014.

Nissan says converting London to all-electric taxis would remove 38,000 tonnes of CO2 from the capital's smoggy atmosphere, as well as saving the average cabbie over £1000 in fuel bills each year. Worried that a fast-depleting, slow-charging battery wouldn't be suitable for the ceaseless grind of the sturdy black cab? Nissan says you're wrong. The average London taxi covers around 120 miles a day, which an NV200 could manage on two charges: one overnight, and a second 30-minute quick charge at lunchtime.

And if you're the sort of Union Jack-waving zealot who's concerned a Japanese minivan would represent a vile desecration of a truly British institution, Nissan says you're wrong again. The UK's biggest producer of cars is no stranger to the world of London taxis: it supplied the 2.7-litre diesel engine to the iconic 1989 FX4 Fairway, a favourite of the capital's cabbies.

So where, TopGear.commers, does the NV200 cab rank on Britain's newly minted list of All Things Olympically Good? A glorious Mo Farah gold medal, or a first-round handball knock-out?

08/08/2012

BMW 6-Series GC takes on the rivals
All the interiors are great places to spend long hours. The Mercedes' seats support most snug in corners, and the same applies in the back, but that's because they're two-person buckets and the others have benches. The CLS driver's cushion is hard and flat. Some like it that way. I preferred the Audi and BMW seats on the motorway haul.

The style of the cabins matches the exteriors: the CLS rather ornate and touchingly individual, the Audi austere, the BMW just right. All are beautifully crafted. There's no longer much to choose between the navigation, snappiness and graphics of BMW iDrive, Audi MMI and Mercedes COMAND. They all bundle in, as standard, nav and phone Bluetooth. Those functions and the hi-fi are upgradable on all the cars, but they're perfectly decent as is. Mercedes, despite its reputation for po-faced functionalism in ergonomics, has made some mistakes. The silver switches and silver dials have bluish silver backlit markings so are unreadable unless it's very bright or very dark outside. And the matrix screen in the middle of the CLS speedo is pathetically small against the wonderfully big and well-used one between the Audi's speedo and tach.

If you need five seats, the CLS rules itself out. Want a hatch for bulky loads? Get the Audi. But the others provide folding seats too. For rear space, the Mercedes' two occupants do best. The Audi is good for legroom, but the heads of the tall will brush the ceiling. The BMW is shortest of rear foot space. The Mercedes came with almost no options and it's fine. The £53,500 for Sport trim looks like the bargain of the group. The Audi's list for S Line trim (which we're not entirely sure we like) is £55,040, and that includes more power than the Mercedes and two more driven wheels. The test £63,350 A7 added optional posher MMI, a head-up display, Bose sound, adaptive cruise, lane keeping and side blind-spot warning. The BMW is expensive. In M Sport trim it's £68,565 (even the SE, different only in cosmetics really, is still £10k more than the CLS). The test car had an optional HUD, fancy adaptive chassis, 20s and more, none of which it needed, but they put it £30k above the test Mercedes. The Audi A7 to buy isn't the A7 that's here. We'd forget the S Line and get the SE, for its softer springs and 18s, and that'd go some way to solving the harsh ride and the road noise. We love its engine and traction. The hatchback makes it useful, but the roads are full of five-door hatchbacks, so it seems less special than the CLS and 6-Series.

The Mercedes is the cheapest car here, but the one that moves most expensively. It's the quietest, the smoothest,the best-riding and the best in town or the suburbs or on motorways, which are the environments these cars will almost inevitably spend most of their time in. As it happens, I don't like its looks, but you might, and if you did, it's a finely engineered choice. Probably not the one we'd take home though. We'd have the BMW. Sure, it's not as civilised as the Mercedes, but if you steer clear of the hard damper settings, it doesn't do a bad job of impersonating the to-the-bone luxury of the Mercedes. And, on an interesting road, the BMW is the most captivating, because, compared with the Mercedes, you feel more of what its chassis is up to, and hear more of what its engine is up to. Looks matter, and it's our favourite, but driving matters more.

08/08/2012

BMW 6-Series GC takes on the rivals (2)
And the thing is, the new Audi engine doesn't sound like a diesel either. Honestly, as it careers between 3,500rpm and beyond the big five (that's major revs for a diesel) it reminds me of the noise of the classic Alfa V6 petrol. Actually, Audi cheated - there's a loudspeaker in the exhaust that adds to the effect, but, when you hear it, you probably won't care it's cheating. The BMW sounds more dieselly, but it's still a straight-six so we aren't complaining. These two - as you'd expect given they have the same power, very nearly the same torque and weight, and the same auto 'box - are, for performance, to all intents and purposes, matched. They're plenty quick.

But if it's slippery, the Audi scoots out of tight wet corners and roundabouts while the BMW is still flashing its traction light. Real-world, then, it's the fastest car here. But sometimes it feels quite the opposite. BMW's eight-speed 'box is telepathically good at matching its ratio to the engine's torque and the way you want to drive. The Audi's 'box sometimes leaves you becalmed in too high a gear, and hesitates before kicking down a couple of ratios, hitting engine boost and catapulting you away as absurdly rapidly as it was, a second ago, frustratingly languid. The Mercedes makes very similar torque to the other two, which means in the low to mid revs it matches their performance. But then it runs out of puff while they'll keep steaming to higher revs and higher power, so if you wring the engines right out, the Mercedes is left behind. Its 0-62 time of 6.2 seconds is far from lazy, but the others are in the low-to-mid fives. That said, except during banzai overtaking, the Mercedes hides its deficit well.

Sometimes though, you wonder if the Mercedes has an engine at all. Not because it can't haul itself along, but because it's so quiet. Amazingly quiet for a diesel. At open-road speeds, especially if there's some other commotion like a coarse road surface or swishing 'screen wipers, you barely hear the engine note change as it shifts up the gears. Which makes it slightly uninvolving for a back-road blat. But the rest of the time the Mercedes powertrain is a marvel. Gear shifts aren't just inaudible, they're indiscernible because everything happens so smoothly. And the engine is the quietest at urban speeds too. We ran the three cars in convoy, sharing the driving in all the different types of conditions of a drive across England, to and around the best roads in Wales. Fuel consumption was close enough not to matter, with the Audi at 29.4mpg, and the BMW and the Benz both, within the limits of experimental error, at 30.5. The unrepresentatively gentle official tests give them all numbers in the mid to late-40s, again an insignificant difference unless it matters that the BMW's sub-150g/km number slips you into a tax bracket.

The next bit, discussing handling and ride, comes with the proviso that we're talking about the cars as they ponied up on the day. Both the Audi and the Mercedes can be optioned with adaptive air suspensions. But they weren't. The Mercedes' 19-inch AMG wheels are included in the Sport model. The Audi has the lowered and slightly stiffer springs that come with the S Line kit. S Line normally means 19s, but this one has 20s. The test BMW is rocking quite an outfit: its M Sport spec brings 19s, but it's wearing 20s here, plus a £3,400 package of switchable adaptive dampers and active anti-roll bars. No active steering on this particular one though, and we're not missing it.
The BMW is the most amusing handler. You can lean on it through corners and feel each tyre work, and balance their loads with the accelerator. The steering's weight is a little gluey, but the feel comes through. The Mercedes isn't quite as tightly damped, and there's a bit less steering feel and a bit less accelerator-sensitivity, but it runs the BMW close.

The Audi meanwhile just grips and grips. It feels neutral and balanced, but a bit dead-eyed. Still, if it's wet, the immense traction really is useful. As a side note, the handling on our TG Garage A6 Avant quattro (same chassis basically) felt much more interesting and "delicate" according to its regular driver when it switched from 20s to 17s with winter tyres. That change also helped the ride. Help the A7 could very much do with. It clumps and thumps, and, worst of all in a big long-distance cruiser, kicks up a grinding squall of tyre noise on many A-road and motorway surfaces. The BMW does a usefully better job of rounding off most bumps, especially with the chassis in its Comfort setting (I drove like that, instead of Sport, on lumpy twisty roads too, as it makes the car feel more fluent). But, like the Audi, if to a lesser extent, there's a sharpness and noisiness underlying it. Also, the BMW can jostle side to side on a rural road. This doesn't affect your speed, but it's noticeable after the CLS. It's also more susceptible to motorway crosswinds than the CLS. Oh, wow, the CLS. Its standard equipment includes a road crew resurfacing everything just before you get there. They don't always do a perfect job, these guys in hi-vis and hard hats, but they've sure improved it since you went there 10 minutes ago in your BMW or Audi. And despite this softness - on big bumps and small - there's no lack of damping control. It's a superb natural non-adaptive set-up. The sort of thing we thought only Jaguar did.

This lovely quiet ride, and the murmuring engine, are terrific assets away from the tear-arse environment of a road test in the Welsh hills. In town, what more could you want than the CLS's near-silent glide? And if you had to drive overnight tonight to - where d'you fancy or need to be? Bordeaux? Milan? Prague? Berlin? - well, the CLS is, beyond doubt, your car. If it were rubbish weather though, or Zermatt, then, by all means, the Audi. But do change its tyres first.

08/08/2012

BMW 6-Series GC takes on the rivals
Do any of the bosses of the top-end German car companies actually possess a passport? To judge by their cars, they spend all day, every day twitching their curtains to see what their neighbours are up to, rather than lifting their eyes to the global horizon. The limit-free autobahn sections would net you about a one-and-a-half hour time to get from Stuttgart to Munich. Munich to Ingolstadt is a lot less. And in this little southern German neighbourhood, BMW and Audi and Mercedes have a comically obsessive habit of keeping up with the Müllers. They match each other on specs, on technologies, on suppliers. If any one of the three builds a new niche car, the rest follow. Mercedes made the CLS, and inevitably BMW and Audi followed. And you know what? This apparent insularity is why they do so well globally. The heat of this local competition keeps each of them honest. None of them could afford to slacken off and build a bad car, because it would be so obvious in the light of their rivals' excellence, and the large, wealthy local German market would turn up its nose. (Conversely, for decades, all the Detroit Big Three got away with building shoddy cars because their neighbours built shoddy cars too, so the local market kept loyally buying the crap.) In southern Germany, excellence is expected and excellence goes down well among prosperous drivers across the world. Sure enough then, none of these is a dud. And we suspect that most people choosing between them will take their pick mostly on the simple basis of which one they like the look of. Prefer simple, minimalist lines? The A7's your car. Want a full-fat dose of visual complexity, billowing folded metal wearing blingy lighting clusters ? Head for a CLS. The box-fresh BMW 6-Series Gran Coupe prudently sweeps up the middle ground, as it's more flamboyant than the Audi and less baroque than the Benz. But it actually has more dramatic proportions than the others. That's because while the A7 and CLS are based on saloons, the A6 and E-Class, the Gran Coupe is a stretched coupe. So it looks the lowest and swoopiest car of our group.

But even though they might be style-driven, we can't just judge them on looks alone. We're here to drive, and it turns out that for all the benchmarking that goes on, the 6-Series Gran Coupe doesn't feel exactly the same as the Audi A7, and that, in turn, is different from the CLS. Some of the differences are subtle, some dramatic enough to have surprised us. The CLS350 CDI is a bit of a TG favourite, having beaten an A7 in a previous test and been super-popular in our long-term test garage. So why is an A7 back here? Because this one has the new BiTDI engine. And the new kid is the 640d Gran Coupe.

Forget the numbers on the bootlids. They don't correspond to engine sizes. The Audi is a 2.7, the others 3.0 litres, and all have six cylinders - V6 for Audi and Mercedes and straight-six for BMW. The Audi and BMW have the same eight-speed ZF auto 'box (replacing the seven-speed twin-clutch in lower-powered A7s), and Mercedes uses its own seven-speed auto. It's rear-drive for the Mercedes and BMW, quattro for the Audi. The Audi and BMW both use sequential twin turbos - a little one to get things moving at low revs, and a big one for more puff higher up. That gets them each to 313bhp, rudely healthy power for diesel engines.

Internazzionale Motors Company

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