Richard Lane

Richard Lane, Autocar
Title: Deputy road test editor

Richard joined Autocar in 2017 and loves putting readers in the driver's seat, making the road-test desk his natural home.

Assignments range from getting to grips with low-volume sports cars on windy airfields to scrutinising the latest global models from major OEMs, and of course strapping telemetry gear to the world's fastest cars at MIRA to see how quick they really are compared to rivals – and the makers’ claims. He's also a regular feature-writer for the magazine, and can be often seen on Autocar's YouTube channel and heard on the Autocar podcast

Highlights at Autocar include a class win while driving a Bowler Defender in the British Cross Country Championship, riding shotgun with a flat-out Walter Röhrl, and setting the magazine's fastest road-test lap-time to date at the wheel of a Ferrari 296 GTB. 

Away from work, but remaining on the subject of cars, Richard owns an eight-valve Integrale, follows sportscar racing, and has a post-grad in transport engineering. 

Richard is an expert in:

  • In-depth performance testing and circuit benchmarking
  • Objective road test reviewing
  • Back-to-back comparison testing
  • On-road ride and handling assessment
  • The luxury, performance car and sports car segments

Richard Lane Q&A

What was your biggest news story?

Being on the road-test desk means being among the first people in the world outside the factory to drive a new model. For us, those first impressions from behind the wheel are the big, breaking stories.

Not to get too worthy about it, but given readers spend a hell of a lot of money on their cars and development costs for manufacturers are typically now measured in the billions of pounds, getting to the heart of the machine and delivering a reliable, entertaining verdict is critical – and an exciting challenge. Added fun often comes in the form of early-morning flights, after which you may only get a couple of hours in the hotseat, on unfamiliar roads. You can and should do your homework beforehand but once in the car, experience and instinct are your most useful tools.

For me, the biggest jobs are the ones where either the stakes are enormous from an industry perspective, or where the product is more niche but extremely important to a dedicated audience (Hyundai i20N, BMW M2, etc).          

What’s the best car you’ve ever driven?

Probably 2016’s Porsche 911 R. The handling is just unbelievably exploitable. Mechanical engagement is superb and, yes, it's faster that you'd ever need. But really it's this underlying duality in the dynamics – the R is extraordinarily precise and composed but it also has an easygoing side to it that the current and previous GT3 Touring models don’t. It’s a masterpiece.

What will the car industry look like in 20 years?

Hard opinions on the future of this industry need to be treated with caution. Planet Car is so complex and subject to external influences that nobody can know where we’ll be in 20 years.

There's a chance that fast, thrilling combustion-engined cars may unfairly become a lightning-rod for broader environmental concerns in society, even if, like most sensible people, those involved in the industry are hugely in favour of ever-improving urban air quality and reducing the energy consumption of vehicle manufacturing. It also feel as though there’s now a discrepancy between what governments are trying to achieve in terms of emissions and how they're going about it. We're now in a place where ultra-efficient, lightweight city cars are an endangered species, for example, while the cheapest family EVs remain far from affordable and aren't exactly energy-efficient to make. 

There are at least already signs that electric cars can be entertaining. Look the Porsche Taycan and Hyundai Ioniq 5 N. It's also encouraging that, especially in the UK, we have an extremely well-developed and dedicated scene that'll maintain and treasure the ICE cars worth keeping.

Opinion

'The RS E-tron GT left me gasping for breath in a way ICE cars don't'

The sustained acceleration of this Audi gives it a brutality that few others possess

'The RS E-tron GT left me gasping for breath in a way ICE cars don't'
Car review

Mazda CX-80

Mazda's new flagship – a seven-seat SUV – arrives to challenge the likes of the Skoda Kodiaq

Mazda CX-80
Car review

Aston Martin Vantage

Is there more to this wild Aston than headline-grabbing horsepower?

Aston Martin Vantage
Car review

Audi E-tron GT

Updated electric four-door is almost entirely new underneath, but is the recipe actually improved?

Audi E-tron GT
Car review

Kia Picanto

As rivals fall by the wayside, Kia’s popular city car gets a makeover

Kia Picanto
Car review

AC Schnitzer ACS2 Sport

Attention-grabbing German tuning firm turns up the wick on BMW’s M2

AC Schnitzer ACS2 Sport
Car review

BMW 4 Series

BMW's warmed-up four-seat convertible is among the last of a dying breed – but it's still excellent

BMW 4 Series
Long-Term Review

Maserati MC20 2024 long-term test

Lesser-spotted Italian supercar joins the fleet. Can it justify its hefty price tag?

Maserati MC20 2024 long-term test
News

The turbo ladder: 50 years of the Porsche 911 Turbo

Fifty years ago, Porsche bolted ‘ein Turbolader’ to the 911 and created a legend. Richard Lane drives three of the best

The turbo ladder: 50 years of the Porsche 911 Turbo
Opinion

Aston Martin and Ferrari are brewing an almighty V12 showdown

Simultaneous arrival of Aston's new Vanquish and Ferrari's 12Cilindri sets stage for the test of the year

Aston Martin and Ferrari are brewing an almighty V12 showdown
Ginetta tracking featurer
GTR is a small car with a 6.2-litre heart
News

Ginetta G56 GTR: Driving Britain's best-kept supercar secret

Road-legal race car chases 911 GT3 RS with a snarling V8 and a kerbweight of just 1150kg

Ginetta G56 GTR: Driving Britain's best-kept supercar secret

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