Friday Fix: Autocar's best of the week
We round up this week's hottest stories, pictures and videos for you to devour in your Friday lunch break
As the working week draws to a close, you no doubt want to catch up with everything that has happened in the world of motoring over the past few days.
So we’re bringing you our favourite videos, stories, photos and quotes of the week all in one place. Here are today’s picks:
*HOT NEWS*
In case you missed it, there's a new Volkswagen Golf on sale, and it's one of the most important new cars of 2020. After road testing the ever-brilliant standard car, we've finally got behind the wheel of the hotly anticipated GTI version to see if it continues the 44-year-old nameplate's reputation for accessible performance and class-leading comfort. Read the first drive report below.
*First drive: 2020 Volkswagen Golf GTI*
*VIDEO OF THE WEEK*
Think of the Gordon Murray Automotive T.50 as the spiritual successor to the McLaren F1. Designed by Gordon Murray - creator of the F1, designer of championship-winning F1 cars for Brabham and McLaren - the T.50 is a new analogue supercar. We chatted to the man himself to find out how he managed to make such a world-beating supercar that weighs less than an Alpine A110.
*PHOTO OF THE WEEK*
Just 12 examples of the sleek, 650bhp Bacalar will be made to start Bentley’s new era of coachbuilt ultra-luxury. We drive the show car around Goodwood circuit for an idea of what the lucky few owners are getting for their £1.8m outlay.
*Bentley Bacalar concept: first drive of £1.5m roadster*
*QUOTE OF THE WEEK*
"The ensuing slide develops naturally and cleanly and, incidentally, without any real understeer to speak of beforehand. How does it all feel? In a word: wow."
The BMW M140i was never one of our favourite hot hatchbacks, but Berkshire-based tuners Birds BMW have turned their hands to the fast but flawed 1 Series to create a stunningly engineered, usable performance machine. With 424bhp on tap, a Quaife limited-slip differential and a bespoke Bilstein suspension set-up, it's fit to challenge the hottest of its modern rivals.
*Birds BMW 1 Series M140i 2020 UK review*
*FROM THE ARCHIVE*
After eight years on sale, the Subaru BRZ has finally been retired to make way for its 252bhp successor. To celebrate the model's winning blend of dynamism and exploitability, we look back at one of its most challenging Autocar twin tests: is your £30,000 best spent here, or on a snarling V8-powered, second-hand TVR...?
*Subaru BRZ vs TVR T350: £30,000 performance coupes face off*
*POPULAR OPINION*
Advanced driver assistance software could one day save your life, but it's not without its dissenters. Lane-keep assist problems are a particularly widely-held gripe, and Matt Prior thinks that steps need to be taken to ensure its implemented and used correctly, by manufacturers and drivers.
*Matt Prior: Why lane-keeping assist systems need a rethink*