Autocar magazine 4 December preview

The incredible Porsche 918 Spyder takes centre billing in this week's Autocar magazine, with Steve Sutcliffe getting behind the wheel of the incredible supercar built to take on the McLaren P1 and LaFerrari.

In his six-page test feature, Sutcliffe highlights the driving experience and the technology that lies behind the 918 Spyder, as well as exploring the experiences of the different driving modes it offers.

The full eight-page road test is slightly more mundane, but no less fascinating, as the new Mazda 3 is put under the microscope. It shows class-leading potential in part, leading to a fascinating verdict. Other first drives include the new Honda Civic Tourer, latest Peugeot 308, eco-special Skoda Superb Greenline and revised MY2014 Nissan GT-R.

In celebration of our first drive on British roads of the mighty Mercedes SLS AMG Black Series - the fastest point-to-point Mercedes road car ever - we have created an entire features section based around the firm's performance arm.

As well as Andrew Frankel's 1000-mile drive in the SLS Black, we explore the history of the men (and location) that form the initials of AMG, take a look at every AMG model currently on sale in the UK and whet appetites with AMG used buying guides for every budget.

Other breaking news stories include the lowdown on the upcoming McLaren P13, Woking's answer to the Porsche 911, the latest on Jaguar's new four-door saloon, details on Land Rover's push in to the leisure market, news on Lotus's government grant, the lowdown on the next generation Audi TT and spy pictures and details of the new Lamborghini Gallardo replacement, rumoured to be called the Lamborghini Cabrera.

Updates on cars on our long-term test fleet include a sad farewell to our Caterham Seven, details of an engine problem that brought our Jaguar F-Type to a halt, a wheelnut problem that also brought our Renault Clio RS 200 to a halt, plus more glowing tales on our Dacia Sandero and BMW 728i.

Our used car section includes a must-read buying guide to the Honda Accord Type R, now exceptional value at £1500 and James Ruppert's guide to buying bargain used Lexus. We also pose the question as to whether it's better to spend £85,000 on a new Aston Martin Vantage V8 or used Porsche 911 GT2.

Autocar magazine is available through all good newsagents, and available for download from Zinio and the Apple iTunes store.

You can also buy one-off copies of Autocar magazine from Newsstand, delivered to your door the morning after. Alternatively, never miss an issue - subscribe to Autocar magazine today.