New BMW 5 Series Wins What Car?
A new hi-tech BMW that can drive itself has been crowned 鈥楥ar of the Year鈥?in the motor industry鈥檚 version of the Oscars. The BMW 520d SE, which has self-driving features that allow it to drive autonomously for short distances, took the top spot in the What Car? 2017 awards at London鈥檚 Park Lane on Wednesday. We revealed the hi-tech details of the new seventh-generation BMW 5-series executive saloon last October ahead of its road test. Top award: The new high-tech BMW has been crowned What Car's? Drivers of the new BMW can take their hands off the wheel for up to 30 seconds, with the car steering itself at speeds of up to 130mph before urging the driver to take control again. BMW insist this is a safety aid to help the driver who may be distracted. Can you find cheaper car insurance? The award for the tech-laden BMW comes as the Government is backing trials for autonomous driving in Britain. And the model crowned Car of the Year in the What Car?
Instead it was the 520d SE, which will be one of the big-sellers and a common sight on the road. It was also named best luxury car, beating other price category winners from Mercedes-Benz and Rolls-Royce. In other category awards, the new Seat Ateca took the small SUV of the Year prize and the Skoda Kodiaq won large SUV of the Year. The Ford Fiesta ST-2 was the best hot hatch, while the Porsche 718 Cayman was top sports car and the Skoda Superb was best estate. Among its driver assistance tricks, the BMW will accelerate to a set speed and brake by itself if there鈥檚 a slower car in front. At speeds of between 44mph and 112mph, the car can even overtake other vehicles in front without the driver ever touching the steering wheel. To do this, all the driver has to do is hold the indicator down for an extended period. Gesture control allows the driver to control certain functions, such as turning the volume up or down, changing radio channels or getting rid of unwanted phone calls with the 'wave of a hand'. Cameras read and display the speed limit on the dashboard and head up display and can limit the speed of the car accordingly.
This clip can now be found on YouTube as an example of Top Gear doing what it does best: the Aston Martin V12 Vantage is the lucky beneficiary of all this attention. What is the model range like? The V12 Vantage range comprises just the single coupe, with a manual gearbox: Roadster and automatic models are unavailable. A recent addition is the Carbon Black model with, as the name suggests, deep black paint and carbon fibre detailing. The gloss black alloy wheels with diamond turned finish are particularly striking. How did the model range develop in its lifetime? The V12 Vantage is slowly starting to develop. There is still no automatic option; this goes against the car's driver-focused philosophy, says Aston; but the firm has now launched an open-top Roadster version. Debuting this summer, it's a car likely to be even more dramatic than the coupe. The firm is developing another new model from the platform of the mighty V12 Vantage: later this year, the remarkable 400,000 V12 Zagato goes on sale; form an orderly queue. Which model do you recommend?
The single V12 Vantage is a top-level buy but it does come with all the extras so you don't need to add more. The only pity is that Aston does not sell one with the Touchtronic automatic gearbox found on the DB9 and DBS. A manual does suit it well, but a self-shifting gearbox would suit some customers better. What colours and trims do you recommend? Aston Martin offers some very elegant silver and blue metallics with the V12 Vantage, and these suit the muscular car well. Brighter (yet still understated) metallic help show off those bonnet louvers too - a crucial differentiator for many. Again, both for this reason and because of fashion, you'll also see some V12 Vantage finished in white. What should I avoid? The highly bespoke colours Aston Martin finished some of the launch cars in were distinctive, but Aston buyers paying this sort of money do not want to be seen in bright orange cars. Few supercars can get away with these garish hues and Aston Martin is much too cultured a brand to carry off solid fluorescent orange. The V12's heady price ticket remains lofty for a Vantage, so I look forward to seeing these age a little to find used examples at more sensible price points. They are obviously rare but they are slowly coming to market. As it stands, the V12 Vantage is a remarkable, stunning car that drops jaws, takes buyers' breath away and retails for a very pretty penny on the used market.