Autocar magazine 29 January preview

This week's Autocar magazine's cover stars are two old school, brutish coupés - the amazing Jaguar XKR-S GT and Aston Martin V12 Vantage S.

Can the extreme Jaguar really fend off the challenge of the best-ever Aston? Steve Sutcliffe is the judge as he takes both cars across Britain and then out for a track showdown.

That all-British battle ushers in a series of other stories heralding from these shores, with subjects as diverse as Steve Cropley's ride around London tracking old haunts of the Bentley Boys aboard the Bentley Blue Train heritage car and an exclusive news story in which the boss of Lotus explains how the company plans to grow again following the Hethel firm's recent uncertainty.

The new Hyundai i10, for so long a champion among our favourite city cars, is the subject of our full eight-page road test. It's now bigger and more lavish, and we find out if that actually makes it better.

Our first drive reviews also include the new Audi A8 on British roads, the updated Vauxhall Meriva 1.6 CDTI, facelifted Peugeot 3008, new Ssangyong Rexton W and the Mercedes B-class Electric Drive, which will challenge the BMW i3 when it goes on sale next year.

Other news highlights include the revelation that Audi is preparing a Q8 electric super-SUV, the latest information on the planned four-cylinder engines for the Jaguar F-type, details on the urban Fiat 500X SUV, first pictures of the facelifted VW Polo and the inside story on Infiniti's plans to launch two new high-performance cars.

Additional feature highlights include the tale of a couple who drove their Mitsubishi i-Miev across the UK and an in-depth report from Lada's headquarters, which reveals the scale of the ambitions of the resurgent Russian manufacturer. The popular 'Our Cars' section stars the Toyota Auris, Skoda Octavia, Ford Fiesta ST and Renault Zoe.

The used car section reveals how to buy a used BMW M3 from just £2500, James Ruppert's tips for bargain Volkswagen Passats (available from just £300), and we pitch the Peugeot RCZ R against the Audi TT RS in the New car vs used car debate.

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