The best ideas often come from lateral thinking. Wind tunnels make the air move at speed around the object being studied. The obvious, easier alternative is to make the object itself move – normally pretty easy for a powered vehicle with wheels – while keeping the air still. At a basic level, this is easily done, and much aerodynamic testing does take place in the real world. But the consistency required when chasing fractional gains has always been a challenge given the influence of prevailing wind, weather and variable temperatures. What’s needed is a carefully controlled environment – one sealed from the influence of the elements. The idea of using an existing tunnel isn’t a new one. In the US, Chip Ganassi Racing took over an abandoned one in Pennsylvania in 2003, and this has since been used extensively for motorsport development (including, reputedly, by Formula 1 teams). Here in the UK, aerodynamicist Rob Lewis had a very similar idea. Having worked for the BAR and Honda F1 teams, Lewis founded his own company, Totalsim, specialising in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling. As well as automotive clients, Totalsim has worked closely with athletes seeking to improve aerodynamic performance, especially cyclists; so much so that Lewis has won an OBE for services to Olympians.

In 2013, he decided to look into the possibility of repurposing an abandoned railway tunnel in Britain for testing. And by happy coincidence, the longest, straightest and tallest of these proved to be in Catesby, four miles south-west of Daventry, so pretty much next door to ‘motorsport valley’.

“There was lots of climbing through nettles when we first came to have a look,” remembers Totalsim’s Jon Paton, the aerodynamicist who shows us around the site. “Then we got to the small matter of finding out who it belonged to and negotiating to use it.”

Once inside, they found the tunnel was partially flooded by blocked drains and the vertical vents that once carried smoke away was full of dead birds and animal bones. A collection of recovered relics now sits in the covered workshop. Protecting the habitat of the bats living within the abandoned structure required it to be narrowed at each end, so they would still have space close to the portals. Eight years later and with around £20 million spent so far, the tunnel is close to its rebirth.

Before they do, you may well be wondering who Touring is and what its somewhat cumbersomely named Arese RH95 is, too. Only if you’re of a certain (depressingly advanced) age or a keen follower of the Italian coachbuilt car industry will you know of Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera, an Italian coachbuilder that has enjoyed two lives.

The first began in 1926, when Carrozzeria Touring was founded by Felice Bianchi Anderloni. It was not long before this Milanese coachbuilder was winning concours events with its designs, wealthy enthusiasts bringing Touring Alfa Romeos, Isotta Fraschinis, Lancias and BMWs to be clothed. During those four decades, Carrozzeria Touring fashioned some especially beauteous cars, besides developing the Superleggera advanced lightweight body manufacturing technique. Superleggera models, famously including Aston Martin’s DB4, DB5 and DB6, were constructed from elegant latticeworks of small-diameter tubes, over which thin aluminium skin panels were hung. The light, rigid structure lent itself to hand-formed panels and bespoke construction and many famous makers drew on this patented technology, including Maserati, Pegaso and Bristol, as well as Aston.

But the advent of monocoque bodyshells, which made bespoke designs much harder to engineer, threatened Touring’s survival. It didn’t go bankrupt, but it was wound up in 1966. What happened next you can discover in the separate story opposite, but the company was re-established in 2006 to produce bespoke, high-end, limited-run cars in the Touring visual tradition.

The Arese RH95 is just that, and the last in a series of 21st-century Touring triplets, following the 2016 Alfa Romeo Disco Volante and the 2020 Aero 3. “This is the first exploration of mid-engine, or mid/rear proportions, the other two being front engined,” explains Touring design chief Louis de Fabribeckers. “This car is about agile handling. The three cars share the ‘victory’ grille, the horizontal tail-lights and the smooth, elegant, almost feminine surfacing in combination with very strong details such as the vertical exhausts and the assertive headlights.”

The Genesis’s 2.2-litre diesel makes 207bhp while the Q5, facelifted late last year, is a 40 TDI, a £45,235 S line with options taking it to £54,465. Its 2.0-litre makes 201bhp, but its response is augmented slightly at low revs with a 12V mild-hybrid starter-generator that chips in while the turbo is spooling. Both cars are four-wheel drive and have longitudinally mounted engines, but the Genesis is predominantly rear-wheel drive, via an eight-speed torque-converter automatic, with the front axle occasionally receiving torque when needed. The Audi’s lengthways engine orientation, meanwhile, is a red herring – plenty of cars on this platform are front-driven only. Via a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic, this is a ‘mostly front-drive but sometimes thinking about the rear’ kind of car.

If you want to get a feel for how important – or otherwise – Europe is in Genesis terms, take a look at the design. That big, chrome-laden smiling grille, the up-and-over chrome stripes and a waistband falling towards what one colleague unkindly compared to a Ssangyong Rodius rear. I don’t mind it, but subtle Euro-chic it isn’t.

Open the door and it’s the same. Genesis has gone to a great effort to make the GV70 feel plush: there are only tiny areas of black plastic, a dearth of brittle plastics and instead an array of plum and grey leather and satin metallics. In places – the steering wheel, for one – it’s weird, but it’s very clean, and I mean it as a compliment when I say there’s a touch of concept car about it.

Besides, maybe the fact that it feels less ‘Euro’ matters less than it once would have. But Mercedes is swaying away from trad materials and today’s proliferation of electronics and user interfaces are generally world-friendly: you’ll look at the same screen wherever on the planet you buy your gadgets. With the leather and a big soft-tone screen, this is more American golf club luxe; it doesn’t have the ambience of an appliance.

The Audi is more conservative, more conventionally European in feel. More black. More austere. More precise. Most customers won’t be accustomed to lots of other Volkswagen Group products, but if you are, this is yet another one out of the big VW playbook. There are soft-feel plastics on the door tops and dash, and tight and consistent finishes. But there’s a point in the cabin – generally where that big metallic strip lies – below which the plastics turn harder and more scratchy.

This situation inspired him to form the Hybrid and Electric Vehicle Repair Alliance (Hevra) in 2017. “Run by EV drivers for EV drivers,” proclaims its website. It sounds like just a marketing slogan, except Hevra really is a band of EV enthusiasts who pool their knowledge for the benefit of members and customers.

If Hevra doesn’t have the answer to an EV problem, it will dispatch one of its engineers to the troubled garage to help find it.

“I relish being called to a fresh problem,” says Gary Clayton, a Hevra support specialist and former IT professional. I’ve met him – one of 160 Hevra members – at Good Guys to learn more about how the organisation operates. “We harvest fault intelligence from member garages and, by combining it with our skills in diagnostics, help them get to the root of EV problems quickly,” he neatly summarises.

Fault codes and interpreting them correctly is a major issue. He recalls a Renault Zoe that wouldn’t start or charge, which he recovered from a main dealer. “The car was displaying a fault code that appeared to show the motor controller was at fault,” he says. “The main dealer workshop had quoted the customer £3500 to fix it. We discovered that the problem was simply a cracked main fuse.”

Another fault code that Hevra members encounter is “high voltage loss of isolation”. This suggests there’s a power leakage between the battery pack and the chassis, but even so, it stumps many technicians. “The only solution is to put on insulated gloves, grab an insulation resistance tester and hunt for the leakage,” says Clayton. “In fact, the air-conditioning compressor is often to blame.” Hevra’s members pride themselves not only on diagnosing faults quickly but also on fixing rather than replacing failed parts. To this end, and because individual parts for EVs are so hard to come by (for example, no manufacturer yet supplies individual battery cells, meaning the whole battery pack must be purchased at considerable cost), many keep one or two EVs to break for spares. In fact, Good Guys is one of the UK’s biggest sources of used parts for the Nissan Leaf.

Everything about Pure ETCR is a bit different and it’s fun – but don’t just take our word for it.

Tom Chilton is a WTCC veteran who’s racing this year for Hyundai in Pure ETCR and in Ciceley Motorsport’s BMW 3 Series saloon in the British Touring Car Championship. “With these short, exciting Battles, it’s not a case of waiting until the tyres and brakes start wearing out and then figuring out where your rivals are weaker and where you’re stronger; you haven’t got much time for that,” says the 36-year-old Brit when we catch up with him the day before the races.

“You’ve just got to exist on your instincts, and I like that. That’s how I race and how I’ve had to race, spending my time in some of the most competitive touring car championships in the world. I will get only three to five laps of practice before I go into my race tomorrow, yet I haven’t raced here at the Hungaroring for five or six years. I have to get my braking points perfect on my first lap out of the box.”

What’s his Veloster N ETCR like to race, then? “The cars are heavy, which you have to bear in mind when you’re racing and when you’re calculating your moves,” he answers.

“The Power Up boost feature is what makes it really exciting. There will be some people leading at the beginning who will get overtaken at the end. You get 40 seconds of the extra 200kW [268bhp], and if you just use it on the main straight here, that’s 10 seconds for three-lap races, but you might want to use it on other bits of the circuit. Where and when you use it counts: if you can force someone to use more and earlier than you, you can use yours to get them at the end. At Aragón, there’s a kink that’s easy flat, but not with Power Up. It’s then totally different, because you have so much more power and suddenly 900Nm [664lb ft] of torque. It’s incredible, and it makes the racing exciting.”

It’s also worth noting that if you’ve only held a full driving licence for less than two years, it will be revoked if you reach six or more penalty points.

On the upside, mitigating factors, such as it being a first offence, or being of ‘good character’, may help reduce the fine and penalty. The court may even take into account speeding for a genuine emergency.

Either way, under any circumstances, there is a £1000 fine cap for all speeding offences, apart from those committed on motorways, where it increases to £2500.

How many points do I need before I lose my licence?

Even less serious speeding offences can cause you to lose your licence. If you accrue 12 or more penalty points in a three year period – potentially four minimum-fine/points offences – you could end up with a six-month ban. And this could have further repercussions. If you’re disqualified for 56 days or more (see also the more serious single-offence bans, above) you’ll need to apply for a new licence, and this may even entail retaking your driving test.

How will speeding penalties affect my car insurance?

Insurers will generally regard drivers who’ve accrued penalty points for any offence – including speeding – as a higher risk and will likely impose a higher premium as a result. While penalty points for speeding are generally only valid for three years as far as totting up endorsements and a potential ban goes, they remain visible on your licence for four years. Most insurance companies will ask you to declare any motoring offences in the past five years, and if you withhold information, it could affect a future claim, so it’s important to be honest when searching for new quotes.

Top 10 speeding trivia

Would you be surprised if we told you that the world’s first speeding fine was issued in the UK? Well, it was. Driving his new Benz, Walter Arnold was nabbed at four times the national speed limit in Paddock Wood, Kent. That the limit was just 2mph and the year, 1896, explains a lot. To make matters worse for Arnold, he was reprimanded for not having a red flag waver walking in front of him, too.

The government will introduce digital driving licences as part of a bid to make the UK transport network “fairer, greener and more efficient,” secretary of state for transport Grant Shapps has said. 

The changes will include moving provisional cards online and removing paper test certificates. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) will also develop an app to display virtual licences by 2024. 

Reports suggest full licences will also eventually make the transition to digital form, but plastic licences will still be available alongside the app for the foreseeable future. 

It is claimed that licences were previously unable to go digital due to EU-related regulations.

MOTs will also be updated to suit modern standards, Shapps said, moving to digital booking platforms and discarding paper certificates. 

The UK government began digitising driving-related documents in June 2015, scrapping the paper counterpart of driving licences, which previously included penalties and the type of vehicle you were allowed to drive.

“These days, the one thing drivers are most likely to have with them is their phone, so using it to carry their driver’s licence could be quite handy,” said Steve Gooding, director of motoring research charity the RAC Foundation. “The risk is that the more personal data we store on our phones, the more tempting a target they become for thieves and hackers.”

The ‘DVLA Strategic Plan 2021 to 2024’, a document that summarises the targets and expectations of the organisation, highlights the changes.

“We will continue to accelerate the expansion and sophistication of our digital services, including working to secure the legislative changes that will be needed to move to providing digital driving licences,” it says. 

The report also states: “We will introduce a digital driving licence for provisional drivers and also start to build a customer account facility. This will ultimately give our customers personalised, easy and secure access to a range of services and allow them more choice in how they transact with us.

“Our services will be secure, scalable and resilient and we will continue to explore and expand the use of emerging technologies.”  

The changes come shortly after eight US states announced that they will accept digital licences and other IDs on an iPhone through the integrated Wallet app. 

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Fiat has revealed that the 500X Dolcevita – a soft-top version of its compact crossover – will come to the UK this year, priced from £23,975.

The Dolcevita is equipped with a roll-back fabric roof, similar to the smaller Fiat 500 Cabrio‘s, that can be opened in 15sec at vehicle speeds of up to 62mph. Ten exterior paint colours are available and the canvas roof can be selected in black, red or grey. 

Fiat says the model will provide drivers with “the option of combining open-air driving with everyday versatility and practicality.” Volkswagen is currently the only mainstream manufacturer to offer a soft-top crossover, T-Roc Cabriolet, although the entire roof on that car can be lowered, rather than just the central section. 

Three specification levels are available for the Dolcevita. The entry-level Connect trim includes a 7.0in infotainment display, a DAB radio, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Black seats are standard, as are a leather steering wheel, blacked-out windows, foglights and 17in alloy wheels. 

The mid-range Cross adds new seat upholstery with a camouflage design, vinyl inserts, 19in alloy wheels, automatic air conditioning and parking sensors. 

Top-of-the-range Sport models gain black exterior design features, including 19in alloy wheels, side skirts and rear spoiler. Changes have also been made to the interior, which gets black, fabric sport seats featuring red stitching and a ‘500’ logo and a matt titanium dashboard.

Two petrol powertrains are available from launch: a 120bhp 1.0-litre engine with a manual gearbox and 150bhp 1.0-litre with a dual-clutch automatic. Both engines are available for all three specification levels. 

Orders for the 500X Dolcevita are open now, with the first model deliveries expected later this year. 

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The Ioniq 6, Hyundai’s second bespoke electric car, has been spotted out on the road for the first time, but reports from Korea suggest the final design will change substantially. 

According to the Korean Economic Daily, the launch of the Ioniq 6 has been pushed back to mid-2022 to allow the body to be lengthened by 20mm, the bumpers and lights to be restyled and the battery to be upsized from 72.6kWh to 77.4kWh. 

The design changes should mean the electric saloon more closely resembles the striking Prophecy concept, which made its public debut at the recent Munich motor show. The prototype spotted here has much more conventional headlights and a more upright silhouette than the concept, although gaps in the camouflage show a similar pixel-style rear light bar design.

The EV’s belated launch has also been attributed to a delayed overhaul of the Asan factory where it will be produced. That site currently builds the combustion-engined Sonata saloon and needs refitting to build cars based on the E-GMP platform. 

Technically, the Ioniq 6 will be broadly identical to the Ioniq 5, with which it shares the new E-GMP architecture. That means 800V charging hardware will feature and the saloon is likely to be offered with a choice of single- and dual-motor powertrains.

However, a battery capacity of 77.4kWh would just edge the 5’s 73kWh pack, which, along with the 6’s more overt focus on aerodynamic efficiency, is likely to push the saloon’s maximum range beyond 300 miles.

It remains unconfirmed whether the Ioniq 5’s smaller 58kWh battery will be an option. 

The 77kWh battery pack is already available in sibling brand Kia’s new EV6 crossover, which suggests the Ioniq 6 could be more closely related to that car technically, in line with its performance billing. That means the rear-wheel-drive version is likely to use a 226bhp motor, while four-wheel-drive cars will produce either 321bhp or – in top-rung N trim – match the EV6 GT’s 577bhp.

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