This dual-motor, all-wheel drive Renault 4 is a pint-sized fire engine
Modified
The 'Vision4Rescue' gets a raised body and a surveillance drone, but no big water tank or fire hose (duh) Skip 9 photos in the image carousel and continue reading
As emergency response vehicles go, this Renault 4 is a very cute one. It's called the 'Vision4Rescue', and Renault says it's a 'fully operational' demonstration of what a fire-fightin' mobile would look like.
Obviously there's no water tank or hose in here. No, this is meant to act as a command centre, coordinating proper fire trucks and other emergency services 'in real time'.
Advertisement - Page continues below
The body has been raised to improve ground clearance by 15mm, and the additional extensions give it a properly tough pupper look. There's protruding bumper stops too, made from shock-absorbing 3D printed materials.
It gets a second electric motor at the rear axle for permanent all-wheel drive as well, helping it tend to emergencies in the harshest locations. Renault hasn't mentioned anything about outputs, but do consider the standard R4 has a 150bhp e-motor and 52kWh battery, making for a WLTP range of 215 miles. You might like
And then we've got all the garnish: from the integrated roof bars with an extendable box (housing a surveillance drone), to the tiny steelies and even tinier blue LED siren. The look is completed by a metallic 'Combustion Red' paint, teeming with bright yellow and green decals, inspired by the world of rescue services.
Inside, the Vision4 gets a metal handlebar that doubles up as a walkie-talkie hook, while the seats are made partly from recycled firefighter suit foam, so they're fire-resistant.
Advertisement - Page continues below
Out back there's a split tailgate: the upper half gets a sliding desk with two computer screens, and the lower section houses equipment storage boxes.
We've already seen A110 police cars – all we need now is a Renault Trafic for the ambulance service and a Dacia Bigster for mountain rescue, and we'll be in very safe hands indeed...
Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Look out for your regular round-up of news, reviews and offers in your inbox.
Get all the latest news, reviews and exclusives, direct to your inbox.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Top Gear
3 hours ago
- Top Gear
BYD Dolphin Surf Review 2025
One of the cheapest electric superminis. And for buyers coming out of a three year old Skoda Fabia, the equipment list will feel like science fiction. It's kitted out with a full suite of connectivity and driver assist. You can unlock and drive it from your smartwatch, and send a link to a friend so they can do it too. External power means you could run a small cook stove in the wild. All of which is right there with the £18,650 base model. Advertisement - Page continues below It comes from BYD, a brand with mushrooming sales and a colossal footprint. Shortly after launch, manufacture of the Dolphin Surf moves to a vast brand-new plant in Hungary. You could accuse BYD of bait and switch with that entry price. It's for a relatively small battery car with just 137 miles of range. Fine as a commuter car, but you'd soon tire of motorway work: call it half an hour of charging for every hour at 70mph. So you're nudged into the middle Boost trim, which ups the electric range to 200 miles. But it costs another £3,300. That said, we suspect BYD knows this is the one you want, so at launch there's a deposit contribution bringing the Boost as close as £10 a month more on PCP than the small-battery Active. Rivals begin with the Dacia Spring and Leapmotor T03 at the bottom end. Although they're cheaper, they're smaller. Heartland rivals are the Stellantis pair, the Fiat Grande Panda and Citroën ë-C3. At the top of the Dolphin Surf range you draw level with the base Renault 5. Which is a problem for BYD. Advertisement - Page continues below How big is it? It's not quite a supermini because it's narrow, so fits only two abreast in the back. Same as the Hyundai Inster. And it's tall, so on its little wheels it looks a bit gawky. It's 4.0 metres in length, a squeak longer than a Toyota Yaris. EV-native underfloor design and the tall roof help with interior space. There's plenty of legroom in the back, and a deep boot. But a 'city car' is the bus. Surely this needs to be more than an urban runabout? Fair point. And to look at the spec, you might think the bigger-battery version will tackle proper journeys. First, its space means no-one is going to get cramp or face a Ryanair-style baggage policy. The seats are comfy and the stereo is fine. But the screen system will drive you bananas. Not least because unless you use Spotify (no other music source) you can't have any kind of navigation indication displayed at the same time as the music track name. So we were endlessly swiping and jabbing between the two display modes. More fundamentally, the ride isn't great, with turbulent low-speed bounce giving way to a float on faster bumps. On a motorway you're assailed by tiring wind noise. The ADAS features aren't much help. And unless you've bought the relatively expensive Comfort spec, which has more power, you'll be mashing the accelerator to accelerate up a slip road. On the bright side, this meek performance is a key to its real-world efficiency. Numbers then? The Active spec has a 30kWh battery giving 137 miles WLTP. Its 89bhp motor manages 0-62mh in 11.1 seconds. Boost ups the battery size to 43.2kWh, and range is now 200 miles. Same motor as before. But performance dips a little because of extra weight and perhaps its larger tyres (on 16s not 15s) gearing it up. It's 12.1s 0-62mph. Sorry, but it feels slower than that. For extra poke, get the Comfort, which has the Boost's battery but a usefully spicier 156bhp, cutting the 0-62mph to 9.1s. Range drops marginally to 193 miles WLTP. On a motorway the real drop will be more, unless you can resist using the extra power to hit the overtaking lane. That bigger battery charges at 85kW peak, for a half-hour 10-80 per cent top-up. Both batteries are BYD's robust and cost-efficient LFP chemistry, so you won't harm them by frequently discharging going close to flat and back to 100 per cent. Use the capacity you pay for. Our choice from the range BYD 65kW Boost 43kWh 5dr Auto £21,885 See prices and specs What's the verdict? ' Truth be told we found much of the Dolphin Surf's fancy tech – the display system and driver assists – annoying rather than helpful ' Can a million drivers be wrong? In China and South America, total sales of this car – known as the Seagull and Dolphin Mini – have already sold that number. But BYD took a while to intro it here, to revise the structure and safety systems in pursuit of all five EuroNCAP stars (the actual test isn't published as we write), and improve the sense of quality. Both those things are admirable. The cabin space and seat comfort are excellent. People are going to look at the rest of the equipment and wonder why the Citroen and Fiat rivals are so sparse. But truth be told we found much of the Dolphin Surf's fancy tech – the display system and driver assists – annoying rather than helpful. We'd likely soon default to phone mirroring and, y'know, driving. And when driving we'd notice the lack of polish and engagement. Small cars should be cheeky fun. This is off-target.
Daily Mail
4 hours ago
- Daily Mail
RAY MASSEY: Aston Martin helps usher in era of the 'iDashboard'
Nowadays, modern cars have so much software on board they are often dubbed 'computers on wheels.' Well, brace yourself: the British luxury performance carmaker Aston Martin is the official launch partner for the new Apple Car Play Ultra dashboard system – marking a new beginning for increasingly digitised vehicles. The new Ultra option is set to be rolled out across the entire motor industry, with more affordable family marques such as Kia, Hyundai and Genesis expected to be among those next in line for the update. Despite being an early adopter of the Apple Mac computer (I wrote a book on one in the early 1990s) and a long-time user of the iPhone and iPad, I must admit to being a bit of a slowcoach when it comes to using my smartphone to control key elements of my car. However, taking an Aston Martin DBX fitted with Ultra for a drive, I was among the first to 'road test' the new system – which marks a great step forward in two significant regards. First, while the standard Apple Car Play allows the driver to link their iPhone to the central dashboard screen, the new Ultra System extends that facility to the driver's instrument cluster behind the steering wheel. I could scroll between a variety of driver screen and instrument cluster options – from analogue-looking speedometer dials, to more linear versions and simple numbers. Also included is the ability to display maps and media in full screen, allowing drivers to design their own multi-screen set-up, and the freedom to modify the layout. The added twist is that each manufacturer can, with the help of Apple, create a bespoke design to suit the individual car brand, including a selection of scroll-through options for the look of speedometer and tachometer dials, from which the driver can choose. It all seemed to gel together very well. And I'd never have known that the Car Play Ultra digital driver screen in front of me wasn't the standard one on the car (which is very different). A lot of work has gone into that. Updates will also mean the system can be continually finessed. The system also allowed me to manage vehicle functions such as air conditioning, temperature control, satnav music and radio, phone and so on. One advantage with the Aston DBX, however, was that like its sports cars, it also retains many physical buttons. So if you are sceptical about touchscreen or Siri voice control, you can still resort to actual knobs, switches and dials. And I imagine this is just the start: as the Ultra system expands, I expect AI will play an increasing role, in both controlling, but perhaps also driving our cars. British luxury performance carmaker Aston Martin is the official launch partner for the new Apple Car Play Ultra dashboard system Apple Car Play (along with the rival Android Auto ) is now extremely popular either as standard or as a 'must have' option on modern cars, especially among younger drivers. So I did my Ultra drive from Aston Martin's smart boutique headquarters at Gaydon in leafy Warwickshire – a real-life James Bond-style Q-Branch for sporty luxury cars and gadgets. I could tailor the system's background colours and 'wallpaper' patterns to match my mood. Another key benefit over standard Car Play is that drivers no longer have to log out of an app to alter certain screen functions – it all works together seamlessly. Launch-partner Aston Martin said it had worked extremely closely in partnership with Apple to ensure CarPlay Ultra is consistent with their own brand's design philosophy, adding: 'Understanding the need for balance between touchscreen commands and the positive tactility of physical switches, buttons are retained for the key mechanical operations of gear selection, drive selection, heating and ventilation. There are also override switches for chassis, electronic stability programme (ESP), exhaust settings, lane assist and park distance control 'ensuring the most used controls are always conveniently to hand', says Aston Martin. Drivers can also add apps powered by iPhone that perfectly fit Aston Martin's 10.25-inch infotainment screen or instrument cluster to provide 'information at a glance', it said. Aston Martin CEO Adrian Hallmark said: 'Aston Martin is delighted to have collaborated with Apple, and to be first to launch CarPlay Ultra. 'Building on our in-house state-of-the-art infotainment system, CarPlay Ultra will provide additional functionality and personalisation opportunities which place Aston Martin at the forefront of infotainment in the sector.' Launch-partner Aston Martin said it had worked extremely closely in partnership with Apple to ensure CarPlay Ultra is consistent with their own brand's design philosophy Apple's marketing vice president Bob Borchers said: 'We are thrilled to begin rolling out CarPlay Ultra with Aston Martin, with more manufacturers to come. 'The next generation of CarPlay gives drivers a smarter, safer way to use their iPhone in the car, deeply integrating with the vehicle while maintaining the very best of the car-maker.' He added: 'iPhone users love CarPlay and it has changed the way people interact with their vehicles. 'Together with car-makers we are reimagining the in-car experience and making it even more unified and consistent.' The new Ultra system will be available across the Aston Martin range as standard from August, and available as a retro-fit download on older vehicles with the necessary software. Fine on a luxury Aston Martin, you may say. But what about me? Well, imagine soon doing all of these same things on, say, a Kia Sportage, a Ford Puma, Nissan Qashqai or Peugeot SUV – if they too decide to take it up. Each version specifically designed to seamlessly suit the brand on which it is fitted. And that is exactly the plan as Apple Car Play Ultra is rolled out across the industry to more mainstream manufacturers of family vehicles. It's coming soon to a car near your – perhaps even to your own driveway.
Auto Blog
5 hours ago
- Auto Blog
The Hotter 2027 X5 Will Be Different In Every Single Way
X5 M60e Bridges The Performance Gap When you're a kid, you think you want the best of everything, and certainly the fastest possible car, but in reality, you want something that doesn't draw attention from cops, isn't too expensive to insure, and won't drain a college fund every time you fill it up – something like the BMW X5 M60i. It still has a 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8 like the maniacal X5 M, but here, it's supported by mild-hybrid technology to improve efficiency. For the G65 X5, which will likely arrive for the 2027 model year, BMW will take things further by fitting a plug and making it a 'real' hybrid. As a result, the name will become X5 M60e, but it comes with some compromises. More Power, More Tech, Fewer Cylinders Since the last time we spotted the next-gen X5, not much has changed, so we'll discuss the looks at the end of this article. What matters is what's happening under the skin, and today's 523-horsepower output won't cut the mustard. Unfortunately, justifying the V8 when trying to make a shift toward cleaner cars is tricky, and BMW Blog reports that the hottest 'regular' X5 will have to do without, switching to a plug-in hybrid six-cylinder like the current M760e limousine. At least it should have 'over 550 hp,' according to the publication. Even more evidence of Bavaria's ambition to see the X5 stand the tests of time and emissions legislation comes from a recent Autocar report, which cites 'high-ranking sources' as saying that the next X5 may get range-extender tech, and it could spread up to the X7 and down to the X3, too. This makes sense. Scout Motors will offer EREVs, and so may the next Kia Telluride, showing that the market is clamouring for more efficient engines as well as EVs that can be used even when a charger isn't nearby. Along with more power and more miles per gallon, the new X5 will still be expected to handle like a BMW, which is how our photographers caught these images at a Nürburgring industry testing day. While little has changed compared to our last sighting, the glass roof is clearer, and these appear to be production wheels. Their design is unlike anything we've seen in the BMW stable before, but big blue brake calipers with the obligatory M logos will ensure we instinctively know what brand made them. Overall, it's very similar to the Vision Neue Klasse X concept, and we think that'll make for a handsome face. We can also see some slight boxing around the arches, which will add presence, and a the rear, a quartet of exhaust pipes achieves the same, though the eventual G95 X5 M will surely turn things up to 11. The sculpted mirror housings on this development mule look production-ready, too, and the camo over the windows might even indicate that this has a full interior, though it appears the driver is using instruments that won't be part of the Panoramic Vision infotainment system. This prototype looks like a set of production headlights and taillights away from being ready, but there's still plenty to be done. The G65 BMW X5's debut is only expected at the end of next year or early in 2027, so there's a lot more yet to be revealed. About the Author Sebastian Cenizo View Profile
