Table of contents for September 2017 in Evo

I N T H I S I S S U E W E P U B L I S H T H E R E S U L T S O F our annual tyre test (page 102). An evo regular since 2002, our test of the most popular size of performance tyre is second only to eCoty in terms of the organisation required to pull it all together. Following a week at the test centre, evo’s John Barker and tyretesting veteran Kim Adams spent twice as long again analysing the data, and retested any tyres that had thrown up an anomaly in the results. With tyres independently sourced and the manufacturers having no input aside from being asked to recommend which tyre they feel is most suitable for the…

TH I S I S A BIG MOM E N T in the history of Alpine, the once iconic French brand that went dormant for a couple of decades but is now on the brink of making a spectacular return with an all-new A110. I’m sitting next to Terry Baillon, Renault Sport’s head of chassis development, as we spear serenely but also very quickly through the French countryside just south of Lyon. He’s driving, I’m watching, wondering, trying to work out just how good the new A110 will be to drive, because from the passenger seat it already feels pretty damn tidy to me. It’s an intriguing car for all sorts of weird and mostly wonderful reasons. It deliberately eschews huge horsepower, boasting just 249bhp and 236lb ft of torque…

T HE NO. 97 ASTON MARTIN VANTAGE GTE of Darren Turner, Jonathan Adam and Daniel Serra leaves its pit-box ahead of the Chevrolet Corvette C7.R of Jan Magnussen, Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor late in this year’s running of the Le Mans 24 Hours. Both cars were involved in a spectacular penultimate-lap battle that saw Adam sneak ahead of Taylor as they crossed the line to start their final lap. Taylor then suffered a puncture, handing second in the GTE Pro class to the no. 67 Ford GT driven by Harry Tincknell and teammates Pipo Derani and Andy Priaulx. The battle for overall victory wasn’t quite as close, particularly after Toyota followed up 2016’s misfortune with yet more problems. The no. 8 TS050 Hybrid LMP1 car required repairs early on,…

ELEMENTAL RP1 // LOTUS ELISE CUP 250 // AUDI RS5 // ALFA ROMEO GIULIA VELOCE // BENTLEY CONTINENTAL GT PROTOTYPE // PEUGEOT 308 GTI BY PEUGEOT SPORT IT IS NOT A CAR FOR THE faint of heart, the all-new Elemental Rp1. Designed and built by an amiable collection of mavericks from the UK, some ex- McLaren, some ex-Ford, it is unlike any other road car. And now, after a two-year gestation period, it is upon us – in full production form, complete with a beautifully finished carbonfibre tub at its core, a 2-litre Ford EcoBoost engine in its tail, and the sort of performance that even supercar drivers will have nightmares about. It costs £98,700, has 320bhp and weighs just 630kg with fluids. How quick is it? As yet, not…

YOU’LL HAVE TO EXCUSE the cliché, but when it comes to the new Peugeot 308 GTi by Peugeot Sport, the phrase ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ could have been penned purely for the feisty French hot hatch. Like The Fonz from Happy Days, standing in front of a mirror, comb held aloft and uttering a self-satisfied ‘Eyyyy!’, the GTi has considered a bit of preening but has taken stock and reckons it’s just about perfect as it is. You see, unlike most midlife facelifts, the Pug doesn’t get enhanced engines or suspension tweaks. Instead, it’s identical to its predecessor in these respects – though the less powerful ‘250’ model has been dropped. This means there’s the same fiery 266bhp 1.6-litre turbo engine from the pre-facelift 308 GTi 270,…

‘Honda claims the Type R is the only hot hatch to generate real downforce, not merely cancel lift’ IT’S A MONDAY MORNING ON THE German autobahn network, somewhere in the rural east. The new Honda Civic Type R is cruising at 150mph, 19mph short of its potential, perpetually frustrated in its attempts to reach maximum velocity by traffic on this two-lane stretch towards Leipzig. The Civic is rock-solid – a testament to the considerable attention that’s been paid to aerodynamic efficiency, to the extent that Honda claims the Type R is the only hot hatch to generate real downforce, not merely cancel lift. I can almost sense the vortices, gusts and eddies tumbling from the porcupine ridges of the vortex generators at the end of the roof and onto that…

ST A N D I N G O N T H E T O P O F A N Italian mountain road, alone, waiting for the 812 Superfast to reappear, knowing that when it does it will once again shatter the tranquillity of the countryside. I can hear it a long, long time before I can see it, its V12 engine screaming above the trees, the shifts of its dual-clutch gearbox punctuating those cries with a speed and precision that’s quite shocking to listen to. On downchanges it sounds like an automatic rifle being fired. On the way up there is seemingly zero delay between one ratio and the next; instead, the engine note just drops a bit and the scream continues. And still I haven’t caught sight of the…

WHAT IS IT? Paint-protection film is generally made from a tough, clear, flexible acrylic, urethane or polyurethane film. It is applied to a car’s surfaces. WHAT DOES IT DO? It is designed to protect your car’s paint from stone chips, environmental contaminants, bird lime, insects, scratches and minor abrasions. WHERE DID IT ORIGINATE FROM? It was originally developed for military use in the Vietnam War. It was applied to helicopter rotor blades, which were susceptible to damage. HOW IS IT FITTED? Most installers will use templates that have been designed to achieve a precise fit for your car. The bodywork will be carefully cleaned and prepared for the application of the film and each section will be applied by hand using water and a slip solution to slide the film…

Y OU’VE GOT £20,000 BURNING A HOLE in your pocket and you’ve always wanted a Porsche, but which one to choose? To help you decide, evo’s John Barker, Richard Meaden, Adam Towler and Stuart Gallagher offer their suggestions. JB: Back in the mid-’90s, Walter Röhrl described the 968 Club Sport as Porsche’s best handling car and – though it took time – that is now recognised in the market. Prices are way beyond £20k. So, if you like the idea of a front-engine, rear-drive Porsche but don’t fancy the hefty 928, what is there? May I suggest the 944 Turbo S? It’s a pretty special 944, very different to the standard model, including a new nose – for the greater cooling demands – and 911 brakes, and with 247bhp it…

ST O P P I N G . I T ’ S A S important as going. Maybe more so. (You can only brag about hitting 150mph if you didn’t subsequently hit an immovable object at a barely diminished speed.) Traditionally, the aftermarket has been able to offer improved slowing power because the engineers of mass-produced cars have to fit brakes that fall within a budget set by their company’s accountants. But improved safety legislation and higher customer expectations have raised the OEM game. The more switched-on marketing departments are even promoting their own trackdays for owners, so a very high standard of braking in extreme conditions has become more desirable and therefore fiscally acceptable. Another factor shaping the aftermarket is that, for many years now, the big players have…

‘THIS IS A CAR THAT HAS to cover a broad range of uses,’ explains Stephan Winkelmann, Audi Sport’s coolas- a-cucumber CEO and the man ultimately responsible for the success of the all-new, secondgeneration RS5. ‘Our owners drive these cars every day, and so want comfort as well as high performance. The RS5 is the gran turismo of RS models.’ You don’t need to do much reading between the lines to see that Audi is trying to distance its fast coupe from hardcore rivals such as the BMW M4 and Mercedes- AMG C63. And yet a quick glance at the car’s mechanical make-up tells a slightly different story; one that appears to have the pursuit of performance at its heart. For starters, the latest RS5 is much lighter than before, while…

IF LOTUS HAS TURNED a corner as a company, it’s probably down to the persistence of the idea that nothing turns a corner like a Lotus. And keeping the idea buoyant is naturally an ongoing obsession at the company’s slimmed-down, post Dany Bahar, Hethel HQ. With an all-new, US-compatible Elise being some three years distant, CEO Jean-Marc Gales’ most immediate concern is making sure the pot stays bubbling. To that end, hot on the heels of the stripped-back Elise Sprint 220 (evo 236) comes this newly facelifted version of the more track-biased Elise Cup 250, and it’s a timely reminder that Lotus’s stalwart, glove-fit sports car remains bang on message. If you thought all the pips had already been squeezed from this little miracle, think again. As on many previous…

A LMOST EXACTLY 25 YEARS AGO, I DROVE THE first Griffith press car to the Lake District and fell head over heels in love with it. I dreamed of owning one then and, in idle moments, I still do. Just a few minutes ago, while researching this article, I was looking at the classifieds and daydreaming, as you do. Really good examples are currently somewhere between twenty-five and thirty grand. Spookily, that’s close to precisely what they cost when the car was launched. In spring 1992, the 4-litre V8 version was £24,802 and the 4.3 £27,206. It was the 4.3, with a claimed 280bhp, that I drove that spring for Performance Car, and which colleague John Barker figured at Millbrook, returning what was for the time a truly astounding set…

Press and public first cast eyes over the wide body of the new Porsche flagship model at the Frankfurt auto show in autumn of 1973. ‘The Turbo’ as it would be know was released into production after a further year of intensive development in October of 1974. The Turbo’s dramatically flared wheel arches and large ‘Tea tray’ rear spoiler instantly inspired the imagination of car enthusiasts the world over. Thought of as the world’s first practical ‘super car’ the Turbos roots began primarily as a homologation special. A completely reworked 3.0Litre flat 6 boxer engine matched with a KKK turbocharger provided unrivalled performance and gave the car a fearsome reputation. Enter into a conversation with someone who owned one of these cars in the late 70’s and you will see…

MONTH TWO WITH DS’s take on a ‘luxury’ hot hatch has proved enlightening, as expected, with further time behind the wheel highlighting more of the car’s contradictory traits. To recap, my initial doubts about the DS 3 Performance concerned its confusing ethos of being a vivacious, pint-sized hot hatch and a luxury proposition (with a price tag to match) at the same time. That’s not really possible at this level, right? Well, perhaps it is. Let’s start with the aesthetics, which are an area in which DS has succeeded in melding a little opulence with pure hot-hatch thuggishness. This car has minimal overhangs and a low stance, and thanks to the yellow paintjob the rugged wheelarch extensions pop like black eyeliner paired with a pretty floral dress. All good things.…

I GUESS THIS IS KIND OF what I wished for. A couple of years back I was helping out backstage on eCoty and one of the contenders was the SEAT Leon Cupra Sub8. I loved its clean, understated looks and its colour combo of pale bluey-grey bodywork and washed out orange rims, which looked like faded Gulf colours. Even more, I loved how it went. Thanks to sticky Michelins and a solid 276bhp it was able to latch onto the diffusered backsides of even the fastest supercars and ride out the buffeting and occasional overrun flames for mile after twisting mile. Sub8 at the Nürburgring? Yep, I believe that. Back then, I said I’d happily swap my much-loved Mk5 Golf GTI for the Cupra, and now I have. Only it’s…

END OF TERM I SPENT A COUPLE OF days in a new, Mk7.5 Golf GTI recently. Just a basic one: 227bhp, passive dampers. With our Mk7 GTI Clubsport Edition 40 heading back to VW a week or so later, it was perfect timing, providing a reminder of what the regular Golf GTI now offers and where the Edition 40 goes beyond that. With its modest-by-modernstandards power output, it’s easy to overlook the standard GTI. I know I’ve been guilty of that. Yet it’s still an impressive thing. It can cover ground at a surprising pace, erasing any concerns about the quality of the road surface you’re passing over, effortlessly maintaining maximum momentum around bends, and always completing overtakes quicker than the numbers on the spec sheet might lead you to…

EVEN DURING OUR BRIEF ride in a prototype car (evo 237), Porsche kept its cards close to its chest regarding the headline figures for the new GT2 RS. Now, however, we know more about this monstrous 911. Taking the 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six from the 911 Turbo S, Porsche has found an extra 119bhp, bringing the grand total to 691bhp (with an unchanged 553lb ft of torque). This in a rear-wheel-drive 911. The increase has been achieved by installing a pair of larger turbochargers, increasing the boost pressure and fitting a water-injection system to provide the necessary cooling. Engine breathing has also been improved and there’s a new lightweight titanium exhaust system, saving seven kilos compared with the Turbo’s exhaust. Drive is sent through a revised version of Porsche’s seven-speed dual-clutch…

PURE-ELECTRIC VEHICLES seem set to one day dominate the automotive landscape, and many fear the thrill of driving maydiminish.However,thehorizon may not be as dim as first thought, as two marques at opposite ends of the evo spectrum have announced plans for electric offerings. SEAT intends to develop hybrid and pure-electric Cupra models, according to the company’s R&D boss, Matthias Rabe. The hybrids will use torque-rich motors to bolster acceleration and a full EV would get a dedicated platform. ‘Cupra and electrification is not a contradiction,’ says Rabe, who also claims SEAT’s first EV, due in 2019, will boast a 300-mile range. Aston Martin, meanwhile, has announced that it’s planning an electric car based on the Rapide AMR. Imaginatively named RapidE, the model will spearhead Aston’s zero-emission strategy, with Williams Advanced…

F I R S T LY, T H A N K YO U B M W F O R A D D R E S S I N G T H E shortcomings of the M4 with the new M4 CS (Driven, evo 237). After the unruly, uncomfortable standard M4, it’s good to see the M division come back from its ‘dropping of the ball’. Reading through evo’s review, it appeared that many wrongs have been righted with the introduction of the upgraded model, but the last paragraph revealed a new problem: the £89,130 price tag. And that’s the basic price. No salesman worth his salt would allow a customer to leave the dealership without blunting his pencil on the options list. Carbon-ceramic brakes aren’t standard, so that’ll be £6250.…

THE ALFA ROMEO GIULIA Veloce that is about to go on sale in the UK will have rear-wheel drive. The Alfa Romeo Giulia Veloce that the UK press has been invited to assess and which you’re reading about here uses Q4 all-wheel drive. Arese may be making pretty good cars these days, but its corporate capacity for tumultuous, arm-waving ineptitude remains reassuringly unmatched. Thankfully, Alfa’s most recent models really are good enough to forgive this fluster. The Stelvio SUV (Driven, evo 234) is a case in point, and the Giulia saloon has raised even more eyebrows, particularly in 2.9-litre V6 turbo-engined Quadrifoglio form. If Alfa’s £61,300 M3 rival has one major fault, it’s that it has made the rest of the Giulia range look a little unexciting. The £37,935 (in…

THE SILHOUETTE IS certainly familiar. So is the aristocratic throb of the big W12 at idle, but the driving experience is alien for something hailing from Crewe. Fourteen years after its inception, the original Continental GT has matured into a vastly improved machine compared with those blunt, wallowing coupes of 2003, but the truth is a VW Phaeton’s underpinnings can only be honed to a certain degree. Physics will always tell. So here at last is an all-new Conti GT, and it promises to be a very different beast. It’s based on the new VW Group MSB platform, better known to you and me as the new Porsche Panamera. However, not only has 200mm been snipped from the big Porsche’s wheelbase, but Bentley engineers were sitting at the table with…

GARETH’S CURRENT COLLECTION OF cars would make a good Buying Journey on its own. It comprises a 1955 Triumph TR2, a Lotus 340R, a Lotus Elan, a Porsche 911 GT3 RS, a Porsche Cayenne Turbo, a Lamborghini Murciélago and a Ferrari 360 Challenge Stradale. As well as cramming a selection of evo five-star machines into his car history, Gareth has stayed loyal to a few marques. His first car, a Dolomite 1500HL, was made to look like a Sprint by its previous owner, and it started a love affair with Triumph. There have been numerous Lotuses, too. Gareth has owned his Elan for 17 years, but he has also indulged in some more modern models from the Norfolk firm. He describes his S1 Elise as ‘probably the best car I’ve…

I’VE SPENT A LOT OF TIME behind the wheel of our RF recently. For the most part, this has been a good thing. It’s not unusual in this job to go weeks without getting anywhere near your long-term test car as other press vehicles come and go. Worse still is when you’re away on a succession of jobs and a colleague decides to ‘look after’ your car while you’re absent and discovers that ‘oh, it’ll be around for the trackday then will it?’ One downside to spending so much time ensconced within the RF is that, roof up or down, it’s not all that comfortable. It’s taken a while for me to put my finger on the problem, but I think it boils down to the design of the seats,…