I used to assume that ‘it’s higher than the previous one’ was one of many lazier tropes on this enterprise.
New reviewers would get steered away from writing issues like ‘they’ve improved it’, as a result of if an organization had spent a billion quid creating a brand new automobile utilizing the newest know-how, it could be pretty catastrophic if it wasn’t higher than a car that they had designed a decade earlier.
So catastrophic that, with only a few notable exceptions apart (comparable to Nissan’s 2010 Micra), it tended to not occur.
Final week, although, our cowl featured a kind of ‘man bites canine’ strains in regards to the newest Mercedes-AMG C63: “It’s not so good as the previous one”. Gulp.
That is worrying for firms that want to exchange driver’s vehicles with ones that do the identical factor however with powertrains they’re being manoeuvred into.
The previous C63’s endearing V8 engine has been changed by one thing with half as many cylinders, much less charisma and extra weight. And whereas I haven’t pushed the brand new BMW M5 but, it is going to are available in at greater than 2400kg.
We’ve obtained used to those vehicles being a sure method, and I don’t assume it’s a assure that they are going to do the identical factor, solely higher, sooner or later.
This brings me to vehicles like the brand new Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, of this week’s highway check.
It doesn’t purpose to do issues higher than have been executed by earlier scorching Hyundais, just like the i20 N and i30 N, as a result of that’s now not doable. As a substitute, it simply units out to do one thing solely new, and it nails it.
I do surprise: in case you can’t essentially enhance one thing, perhaps it’s essential to reinvent it.
