Tabla de contenidos para January 2017 en Evo

McLAREN HAS CONFIRMED IT IS TO build a new ‘hyper-GT’, which will echo the legendary F1’s three-seat layout and central driving position. The car, codenamed BP23 (Bespoke Project 2, three seats) will be built by McLaren Special Operations, with production limited to 106 examples, of which all have been pre-sold. So what are you missing? It will feature a hybrid powertrain, although McLaren CEO Mike Flewitt hasn’t confirmed if this will be based on the P1’s V8 powertrain or a new V6 rumoured to be in the pipeline for next year’s 650S replacement. A ‘shrink-wrapped’ carbonfibre body will sit on top of a carbon chassis. Designed to be a hyper-GT rather than a hypercar, Flewitt says it’s intended for longer journeys and that the dihedral doors will be powered…

 T technolo he BMW 5-SeRIeS hAd some serious catching up to do in terms of technology. No surprise, then, that after being overshadowed by the new Audi A5 and Mercedes e-class models released in 2016, BMW’s latest 5-series (Radar, evo 229), which arrives in showrooms in February, borrows heavily from the interior gadgetry of the 7-series to level the playing field. Amongst the armoury is a new optional gesture-control system that enables you to interact with theinfotainment systemby making hand movements in front of the central display. In some ways this is total tech overkill, but being able to turn the stereo volume up using nothing other than your little finger is certainly a slick touch. The car’s head-up display has a higher resolution than that of the outgoing…

‘It makes almost every corner feel like you’re at the Goodwood Revival’ I struggle to know what to do with my elbows in a Caterham. If I tuck them in front of me, between the transmission tunnel and the side panel, certain gears are impossible to select. Alternatively, if I splay them wide over the side panel and the transmission tunnel, steering becomes tricky. Consequently I frequently change where I point my elbows. sometimes they’re in and other times they’re out, but it’s impossible to move position without banging an elbow on something. And that’s in an ordinary Caterham fitted with a tiny, 260mm steering wheel. worryingly, to complement a host of other retro embellishments, the new seven sprint has a larger, 330mm, wood-rimmed Moto-lita wheel. Just 60 sprints will…

‘It can still justify its place on the list of chairmanof-the-board contenders’ Two Thousand, Three hundred and forty-two. written out it doesn’t look like a big number. But 2342kg written numerically, and when seen on the technical specification for Bentley’s new Flying spur V8 s, is hard to ignore. as the cliché goes: Bentleys are the world’s fastest trucks… The s in this Flying spur’s name refers to the company’s more sporting package that focuses on performance, agility and luxury, and it follows the same strategy employed on the two-door Continental GT. Performance is dealt with by increasing the output of the 4-litre twin-turbocharged V8, which undergoes the gentlest of massages to produce 521bhp (a 21bhp increase over the regular V8 Flying spur) and 502lb ft of torque (an uplift…

Chalk and Cheese. apples and oranges. Night and day. Six things with more in common than the Nissan GT-R and Lotus Evora Sport 410. And yet, this odd couple make a compelling pair. For although their differences in approach are clear and numerous, key similarities are there if you care to look. At circa £80,000, both cost very similar money, and while the respective outputs of their forced-induction V6s are wildly different, physics applies its own parity via the power-to-weight ratios. Each has a supercar-challenging top speed of 190mph or more. Crucially, both cars offer an alternative take on established and more conventional rivals, with you – the driver – at the centre of their world. No question, these are individual machines. Cars with characters as distinct and disparate as…

NEXTBASE DASH CAM THE hot present for any motorist this Christmas is a dash cam, so we’ve picked one of the best from the market leader, Nextbase. Available from Halfords and Maplin, the Nextbase 312GW has received great reviews thanks to its full HD video recording and simple car mount. It’s a great gift with 15 per cent off right now, taking the price to less than £85. There’s a new Special Edition in an elegant White and Rose Gold too! The range starts at just £49.99. nextbase.co.uk BILT HAMBER CLAY BAR THERE’S a free clay bar this Christmas for every reader… Simply call us on 01277 658899 and treat your car to any of our products including the multi award-winning wheel cleaners, detergents, waxes and polishes, all to be…

I’VE BEEN DODGING THIS subject, but it keeps being raised. So let’s talk Porsches, auctions, market values and the grubby subject of cash. The £1,848,000 sale (including fees) of a 1995 993 GT2 at a recent RM Sotheby’s auction in London raised eyebrows clean off some people’s faces. How on Earth, they mused, did it achieve significantly more than double the estimate? Well, I’m guessing two very wealthy bidders wanted it very badly – and all but fought to the death over it. Naturally, this means it’s unlikely that the car was bought by a dealer eager to flip it for a quick profit, and so it’s probably gone to someone who will love, cherish and hopefully drive the hell out of it. And this makes me happy. The 993…

THE CATERHAM motorsport ladder is unique. The basic premise is that a total novice can buy a Seven for £24,995 and enter the Caterham Academy, then progress yearon-year through the Roadsport, Tracksport and Supersport categories before eventually reaching the top-level series, Superlight R300-S. The upgrades from one series to the next are designed to improve the car’s handling rather than straight-line performance, the idea being that the driver’s skill set will improve as the car becomes grippier and more agile. The final, R300-S series requires drivers to chop in the car that has served them since the Academy and buy a new machine, which introduces a sequential gearbox and a screaming 200bhp engine. Incidentally, the R300-S is reckoned to be the fastest non-aero racing car out there. Across five weekends…

WHO DOESN’T LOVE ‘A PROPER Skyline’? These three cars remain the doyens of that wonderful 15-year period when Japan gave us some of the greatest performance cars ever created. That era started in 1989, as did production of the R32 GT-R, and while the ingredients remained consistent through the R33 and R34 generations, the recipe was steadily evolved. At their hearts, each car has the classic RB26 straight-six, AWD and sophisticated chassis technology. These were refi ned for the bigger R33, then brutalised for the monstrous R34. As it always was, a Skyline GT-R is for many a blank canvas upon which to create a unique and massively powerful all-wheel-drive beast. Yet as time goes on, and the ownership profile shifts, there are plenty now who crave the spec…

= new entry this month. * = grey import. Entries in italics are for cars no longer on sale. Issue no. is for our most recent major test of the car (D = Driven, R = Road test or group test, F = Feature, FF = Fast Fleet). Call 0844 844 0039 to order a back issue. Price is on-the-road including VAT and delivery charges. Engine is the car’s main motor only – additional hybrid tech isn’t shown. Weight is the car’s kerb weight as quoted by the manufacturer. bhp/ton is the power-to-weight ratio based on manufacturer’s kerb weight. 0-60mph and 0-100mph figures in bold are independently recorded, all other performance figures are manufacturers’ claims. CO2 g/km is the official EC figure and EC mpg is the official ‘Combined’ figure…

Test location: Snake Pass, Derbyshire GPS: 53.42922, -1.87354 LeT’S STArT WiTh The Bentley. And it starts well. This is a deeply, deeply handsome car, evolved beautifully from Dirk van Braeckel’s original of 2003. You approach it, stroke the impossibly even paint, feel the weight of the door and notice the double glazing as you open it. The cabin is magnificent, too. Luxurious, of course, and unmistakably Bentley. The infotainment system, however, is poor in presentation and operation, and has aged badly. You hear a wooompf as the engine starts – distant and slightly aloof. Four words, it turns out, that characterise the Bentley as a whole. As you move off, you’re instantly aware that the twin-turbo W12 is a prodigious engine. Brutal even, but with an inherent refinement that…

‘You can really feel the rear axle arc round the apex as you drive for the exit’ After the euphoriA of the Golf Gti Clubsport S scoring a victory in issue 227’s hyperhatch group test and then going on to bloody a number of premium noses in last month’s eCoty, it may have escaped your mind that VW produces two Golf Gtis with ‘Clubsport’ in their names. this is the one you can still buy, and this is our first drive of it on the road. it’s available as a three- or fivedoor and with a choice of either a six-speed manual or double-clutch gearbox. there’s an electronically controlled mechanical limited-slip differential taken straight from the Gti performance pack model, too. using the familiar eA888 2-litre turbo engine from other…

North york moors THE LITTLE ORANGE PORSCHE’S flat-four thumps coarsely at idle from just behind my kidneys. For once, I am oblivious to it. I am completely transfixed by an Audi TT seemingly heading for a massive accident. Up ahead, road test editor Dan Prosser is getting the new TT RS out of shape for Dean Smith’s camera on the far hairpin of Bedford Autodrome’s West Circuit. The TT dives aggressively into the corner then pitches nose up as Dan gets committed with the throttle, markedly gaining speed in the process. Suddenly the tail yaws to the side, by perhaps 25 degrees but no more, and then it stays locked onto that drift angle, still gaining speed, the front wheels almost straight, the rears spinning up, engine howling. However, there…

Engine V8, 4163cc Power 414bhp @ 7800rpm Torque 317lb ft @ 4500rpm Weight 1560kg Power-to-weight 270bhp/ton 0-62mph 4.6sec (claimed) Top speed 187mph (claimed) Price when new £76,725 Price now £40,000-80,000 On sale 2007-2015 evo rating: ONE THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED and forty-eight pounds. That’s the difference in price between the brand new TT RS and an eight-year-old Ice Silver R8 – the new car being the more expensive. It was a figure tempting enough to send the entire evo editorial team into a fit of finance calculations and ill-informed man-maths. One by one, of course, we all realised that the meagre salary of a journalist just doesn’t cut it in the mid-engined supercar world, but the point had been made. Not one of us gave a moment’s thought to TT RS…

Ricardo's Technical Centre at Shoreham-by-Sea is an Aladdin's cave. You walk through its corridors open-jawed at the treasures within. Treasures such as Sir Harry Ricardo’s first internal combustion unit (a 2-litre single-cylinder pump engine built between 1901 and 1903) and a Mark V tank motor (Britain’s first mass-produced engine – used in WWI). Then you see a viscous coupling (used in Group B rally cars and numerous road cars), a twin-clutch gearbox from the Veyron, the JCB Dieselmax engines, the latest Focus RS engine and then, the pièce de résistance, the huge hall where McLaren’s V8 twin-turbo engine is assembled. All are Ricardo designed, engineered or built. Some are all three. This is a company proud of its history, as a recently opened Centenary Innovation Centre that celebrates its achievements…

MY NORMAL PRE-DRIVE routine on a chilly autumn or winter morning goes as follows: unlock car, get in, start car, set climate control to something warmer than it was set to the previous night, and should the car have heated seats, set the driver’s one to ‘Incinerate’. However, when it’s the 308 I’ve just climbed into, that routine isn’t quite so straightforward. You see, you can’t just turn a knob or press a button to operate the climate control. Oh no, how ‘old fashioned’ and ridiculously simple would that be. Instead, the 308’s climate control is operated via the car’s touchscreen infotainment system, which sometimes – and this is no exaggeration – takes over 60 seconds to boot up. That seems like an absolute age when you just want to…

DROP THE DEAD DONKEY! (Younger readers, go and ask your parents.) I have found a fault with the RS6 and the impenetrable Teutonic armour of Audi Sport’s rocket-powered family car has finally been breached. Actually, that’s not quite true. What has happened is nothing to do with KU16 MRX, rather a third-party supplier has let it down: Pirelli. After 11,000 miles the standard-fit 21-inch P Zeros have ‘gone off’. Yes, it all sounds a bit F1, but rather than disintegrating, the RS6’s tyres feel like they have hardened to the point that they are nibbling away at the ride. Less of a nibble, more a good mouthful, in fact. At first I thought a balancing weight had worked loose, but there was no vibration you’d associate with such an…

 GERMAN TUNER TECHART has revealed its latest take on the 991-generation Porsche 911 Tu rbo and Tu rbo S – the 911 GTstreet R. Te chArt replaces the body panels with lightweight carbonfibre alternatives, designed with functional improvements over the originals. The front splitter, for instance, features an active aerodynamic element to improve airflow to the water and oil coolers, and the central element helps to reduce lift. The front wheelarches feature GT3 RS-style air outlets to increase downforce and improve brake cooling, and large carbonfibre air intakes force airflow to the engine’s intercoolers. At the rear, air-outlet ducts, a diffuser and a 15-degree-adjustable GT-style wing further enhance aerodynamics and cooling. Overall, 321kg of downforce at 186mph is claimed. Either 20-inch centre-lock forged wheels or a 21-inch option are available,…

Honda Type R gearknob ‘DON’T REST YOUR HAND on the gearknob because you’ll knacker the forks.’ you hear this from time to time and it does sound irritatingly prudish. It’s sage advice, though. Firstly because you’ll never look as badass as Vanishing Point’s kowalski and secondly because it’s true. using the gearstick as a rest causes the selector fork within the transmission to rub against the synchro ring, and that makes it wear prematurely. The urge, you suspect, to do precisely this must be so very strong for owners of honda’s Dc2 Integra type r. theirs is no glob ofinondescript tat. rather a beautifully machined lozenge of titanium that the late russell bulgin once described as ‘smooth as flesh, cold as marble’. and you couldn’t wish for a finer control…

“We need convincing Alfa can build a competitive product full-stop “ T HE LOS ANGELES LOCATION chosen for the launch of Alfa Romeo’s first SUV is no coincidence. If an SUV will succeed anywhere, it’s in the United States, and the Stelvio is the car that will make or break Alfa’s name in one of the world’s biggest and most influential automotive markets. But it’s important for us too. Manufacturers such as Porsche and BMW have already demonstrated it’s possible to build an SUV that appeals to driving enthusiasts, but Alfa has much more work to do to convince us. In its last two launches, the 4C sports car and Giulia saloon, only the latter has hit the mark. Forget the heresy of Alfa Romeo building an SUV; we…

“There’s enough to suggest that when the whole package is cranked up for the next Type R, it has the potential to be a road and track hero “ Japanese car coMpanies tend to keep schtum when they’ve screwed up on product, but honda is taking a much more open approach with its admission that the existing civic hasn’t quite cut the mustard. in fact, the firm devoted a third of its entire research and development workforce to the project to develop a tenth generation of the bread-and-butter hatchback that could appeal to drivers as well as, well, honda’s relatively elderly faithful clientele. CHASSIS There are two main areas of significant change. First and foremost is the chassis, a groundup redesign that does away with the old civic’s torsion beam…

letters@evo.co.uk t @evomagazine f @evomagazine THE OPENING PARAGRAPHTOHENRY Catchpole’s review of the Porsche 718 Cayman (Driven, evo 229) relates why people, upon hearing the V8 in a muscle car growl to life, are able to justify the outlay despite other elements of the car perhaps not being as refined as they could be. I think he’s nailed the point of evoness for me in just a couple of sentences. I test drove a new V8 Mustang yesterday. I love the way the car looks, the way it turns heads, and I liked the way it went down the road, stopped and handled the bends. But I was actually hooked the second the engine started. The engine is the soul of any car, and for that reason I could never buy…

‘The SVR is rather busy across a typical country road. You had better be holding on’ The Jaguar F-Type SVr Convertible’s exhaust system is made of such exotic materials that it almost seems like a shame to blast noxious gases through it. The titanium and Inconel pipework saves 16kg compared with the F-type r’s exhaust, which is a very good thing. Jaguar says it emits a ‘distinctive rumble’, which is a lie. The serrated, tuneless blare – like a woodpecker digging directly into your skull – that fires from those four exhaust tips is no more a rumble than eric pickles’ post-vindaloo flatulence is a pitch-perfect aria. From inside the cabin the SVr’s soundtrack under full throttle has the offensive, irritating quality of a distant leaf blower or quad-bike engine,…

‘The noise, response and even the vibration have a texture to them that make every rev a joy to experience’ Within about, oh, ten yards of driving this Maloo you find yourself laughing at the absurdity of piloting a supercharged V8 aussie ute on british roads. the car, and the feelings it elicits, are nothing short of riotous. Then you drive more miles, you scratch the surface a little more, you carry out more (manual) gearchanges and you sift through the driver modes. hell, you might even take it on a trackday at the full Silverstone Grand Prix circuit like we did. then, then you will be shocked. Why? because underneath the exaggerated ridiculousness of the Vauxhall VXR8 Maloo LSa you’ll find a damned good drivers’ car. Seriously. But let’s…

TWENTY - FOUR HOURS , 300 MILES . That’s how long we can keep, and how far we are allowed to drive, this Ferrari F12tdf. what to do with it? Track use is off limits and the small print says that we must not cross the channel. There’s a brief thought of putting it on a trailer and taking it to the scottish Highlands, but that would be a right faff and would leave us with about ten minutes at the wheel. so we’ll simply go for a nice drive in the country and pop in to see some friends for tea. Carminded sort of friends. There’s some good history in slough, apart from being the location for Ricky gervais’s The Office. Ford Advanced Vehicles’ workshop was on the slough…

IT TAKES A LOCAL TO SNAP ME OUT OF MY blissful ignorance. Partly because the thrashing of a Nissan Patrol’s 44-inch tyres is difficult to ignore when it’s occurring at eye level, but mostly for the look its occupants give as they pass. Incredulity would cover it, but pity is an appropriate surrogate. Either way, the drawnout passing manoeuvre and perplexed looks are enough to remind me that what I’m doing isn’t, by Icelandic standards, normal. Driving certain cars endows one with something approximating celebrity. The Nissan GT-R, even after all these years, still has the presence to make people stop, stare and whip out a cameraphone. Italian supercars do too, and while you can slide by crowds unnoticed in a Porsche 911, doing the same thing without attracting admiring…

AS I WRITE THIS THE Z/28 is arriving at Oakland, San Francisco, in a 20-foot container, which brings to an end its extended vacation in Europe – and also its spell in evo’s Fast Fleet. But it didn’t leave Europe before a close encounter with a wild boar… Shortly after testing the ‘Flying Car Mode’ on the bump of a railway bridge (the mode is designed to temporarily disable the traction control if one or more wheels get airborne, thus ensuring power isn’t being restricted when the wheels make contact with the tarmac again), I was heading uphill in second gear on a winding Swiss road when the boar’s path crossed mine. I think we were each as surprised as the other. I braked, it braked, and we stopped inches…

T ARRIVED IN SEPTEMBER 2015. In the 13 months that followed, our Golf R covered 32,000 miles, finished second in a hot hatch group test, starred in a drag-race video, supported on innumerable photoshoots (including our most recent evo Car of the Ye ar test), lapped countless circuits, undertook so many dawn raids to Heathrow that it could find its own way there, and was driven – hard, of course – on what feels like every single mile of picturesque moorland road the United Kingdom has to offer. It became part of the evo family. In fact, its particular set of skills and attributes made it so well suited to life on our Fast Fleet that losing it felt quite like a bereavement – although the arrival of another rapid…

SINCE MY LAST REPORT on the Mk2 (evo 225), I’ve been putting the recent round of upgrades through their paces on both road and track, and I’m very pleased to report that my GTI is turning out to be a delightful all-round package and a brilliant drivers’ car – even more so than it already was. On the road it now feels solid and strong, as if every nut and screw on the entire car has been tightened. The ST XTA suspension, PowerFlex bushes and new tie-rod ends have transformed the ride and steering feel. Getting the camber and toe adjusted to perfection and raising the car a little from its previous stance mean that it feels stable and flat while being untroubled by even the bumpiest B-roads. The…

THE AFFORD ABLE PORSCHE: an overambitious oxymoron, or the summit of ownership dreaming for many an evo reader? Either way, one thing is beyond doubt: this is a very different story to tell today compared with, say, just five years ago. That’s entirely because of the amazing growth in values experienced by the classic-Porsche market. Where once the used-Porsche buyer with up to £30,000 to spend would have enjoyed an almost limitless choice of variants, today a large chunk of that selection is simply off the menu – £30,000 no longer buys you an early, pre-’73 911 with chrome bumpers, or a rare Carrera 3.0. It won’t even get you a ubiquitous 3.2 Carrera, and you’ll struggle to buy that most hardy and for so long the entry-level used…

 SOME CARS ARE INSTANT HITS. Others take far longer to wheedle their way into your affections. Roll forward the BMW M Coupe. Arriving in 19 98, it should have been just what the enthusiast ordered. BMW M badge: excellent. Rampant 317bhp straight-six from the E36 M3: spot-on. Stiffer bodyshell than that of the Z3 M Roadster that lots of folk wanted to love, but couldn’t: splendid news. Thuggish stance to complement its hot-rod mechanicals: oh yes. And yet… A lot of people struggled with the M Coupe’s looks. Really struggled. And still do. The negativity is perhaps a little surprising given that other ‘sports estates’ such as the Reliant Scimitar GTE, Lancia Beta HPE and Lynx Eventer generally get a good press, but the haters really stick it into…