Table of contents for September 2018 in Evo

IT WOULD APPEAR THAT THE FIA AND the ACO have answered the majority of sports car and GT racing fans’ wishes with the announcement of new technical regulations for 2020. These new rules will see the return of GT1-style hypercars competing at the front of the grid in place of the largely irrelevant, albeit spectacularly fast, LMP1 hybrids. In a move that is hoped will attract manufacturers back to the top class and therefore avoid scenarios such as this year’s super-season where Toyota is effectively in a class of one, the new ‘hybrid hypercar’ category will be as much about aesthetics as it is aerodynamics; ‘aerodynamics cannot take precedence over aesthetics’ said the statement. Who can we expect to line up on the grid in 2020? Toyota has already shown…

BMW IS BRINGING BACK THE 8-SERIES AFTER an absence of nearly 20 years. The coupe you see here is just the beginning of the new line-up, which will later include convertibles and four-door Gran Coupes, with M8 variants available in all three body styles. For now the two - door hard-top version offers a new option for buyers looking for a sophisticated yet still dynamic ally adept GT coupe. Topping the range at launch will be the M850i xDrive, which at £100,045 looks to be a keen compromise between the Porsche 911 Carrera 4 GTS and the more laid-back Mercedes-Benz S560 Coupe, both of which are priced around £103k. We’d also throw the £144k Aston Mar tin DB11 V8 into the mix. Here’s what the new 8-series Coupe will bring…

THIRTY-FIVE YEARS. THAT’S HOW long Stefan Bellof’s Nürburgring Nordschleife lap record had stood for. Thirty-five years of debate asking if it could – would – ever be broken. Now Porsche has ended that debate. And then some. By 51.58 seconds. That’s how much quicker Timo Bernhard lapped the 12.9-mile circuit in the 919 Evo than Bellof managed in the Porsche 956 C. The now-defunct 919 LMP1 race car had already set a lap record at Spa earlier in the year, but the Nürburgring time was The One. Friday 29 June 2018 started with an 8am ‘warm-up’ and finished with a time of 5min 31.0sec. A new record. On a warm-up lap. Thirty minutes later the five-time N24 winner, two-time Le Mans winner and reigning World Endurance Champion left the pits…

LAMBORGHINI WILL CHARGE YOU an additional £30,608 if you want two removable carbonfibre roof panels on your Aventador S. Two small panels that, when you first come to remove them, will have you questioning if they are designed to be taken out at all. Get beyond the extraction phase and it’s then just the small matter of slotting them into their respective holders in the front luggage compartment – look for the little corresponding numbers on the panels and in the boot. After my first attempt at all this I was impressed with the sub-15-minute time I had achieved. However, this was just long enough for Britain’s summertime to pause and the rain to return, and it then took a further ten minutes to no longer be sitting in a…

CHALLENGE STRADALE. SOUNDS GOOD, doesn’t it? Sounds fast; evokes images of racers with number plates on the Targa Florio, tattered bodywork and factory-spec engines, oil-streaked Perspex windows and extra lamps plastered in dead insects. In the case of the 360 CS of 2003-04, it was effectively a road-going version of the 360 Challenge race car used by Ferrari’s one-make series for its V8-engined baby supercar. Less than 15 years ago it seemed daringly cutting edge, shunning the open-gate manual gearbox for Ferrari’s then market-leading semi-automatic ’box, offering 420bhp when that number in itself was a towering figure, particularly from an engine that remained defiantly naturally aspirated. As I approach the CS today, and open its feather weight door, it seems compact and almost cuddly alongside the militaristic 458 Speciale, let…

THE APOLLO INTENSA Emozione looks like no other car. The kind you’d expect to see at the Geneva motor show as ‘a statement of intent to what [insert manufacturer of choice here] has planned for the future’, then referred to when it’s followed by a bland econobox that has a wing mirror that sort of looks like the concept’s. But this is not a concept, nor is it a statement of intent, it’s a real car that real people have paid real money for. Apollo Automobili picks up where Gumpert (remember them and their Apollo supercar?) left off. From the ashes of Gumpert came 2016’s Apollo Arrow concept car, and now the new company’s first production car, the Intensa Emozione, or IE for short. The IE is all angles, drama…

‘GO EASY ON THE FRONT TYRES.’ That was my sole instruction from road test editor James Disdale when he handed me the key to his Audi RS3 long-termer at our track evening. The way he said it made it sound as if the compact green saloon car might want to understeer its way around catastrophically, front tyres billowing with smoke like a 1960s racing Mini. I was perplexed, because my main impression of the RS3 on the road has been one of huge amounts of grip almost all the time – a very typical Audi stance. Yet even despite this lack of adjustability, I’ve been quite smitten every time I’ve driven it: our RS3 sounds like a supercar, is the colour of a supercar and is near as dammit as…

YOU’RE PROBABLY AWARE THAT THE letter ‘N’ attached to our Fast Fleet i30 not only refers to Namyang, Hyundai’s main test facility in South Korea, but also to the Nürburgring, another development venue favoured by the team behind this new performance sub-brand. In fact, a preproduction i30 N competed in the Nürburgring 24 Hours race in 2016, so it seemed appropriate to take our long-termer to the Ring for the 2018 event, in which a pair of i30 N TCRs were entered. The journey started easily enough from my digs in west London, out to the M25 and down onto the horror that is the M20’s corrugated road surface. Once out of the Channel Tunnel, France’s smooth, dull roads were supremely undramatic, but after crossing the border into Belgium, the…

‘IS IT AN OPTICAL ILLUSION OR is the front-right wheel on the Civic slightly buckled?’ asked staff writer Will Beaumont as he entered the evo office. Uh-oh. We went outside to take a closer look. Sure enough, if you crouched down and followed the red pinstripe around the wheel’s edge, there was a subtle flat spot on the rim. I know exactly when it happened. Around four weeks earlier, at night on an unlit road, the Type R had clobbered a nasty pothole at about 30mph. It was one of those thumps that makes you wince, curse and check the instrument display for a puncture warning. But nothing appeared, the car felt fine, and I simply forgot about it. After Will’s eagle-eyed observation, however, I have tuned into the merest…

JAGUAR’S XJR575 IS, WITHOUT question, more of a luxury car than a performance one. It may have a 567bhp 5-litre supercharged V8 and dash from 0 to 62mph in just 4.4 seconds, but the deep carpets that your feet sink into, the soft leather seats, the space and the car’s hushed, relaxed demeanour say this is more about comfort and class than all-out aggression. Inside, the slightly creaky polished plastic, the tacky chrome trim and the outdated satnav try to discredit the otherwise upmarket feel, but they don’t significantly do so. Despite the mostly plush environment, it doesn’t take much to unearth the 575’s more athletic side; the engine just needs a little encouragement to be woken up and stirred into life. Granted, the Jag doesn’t have the punch of…

VOLVO’S RANGE REVAMP CONTINUES WITH an all-new S60 compact executive saloon to rival the soon-to-be-revealed new BMW 3-series and Alfa’s Giulia. Closely based on the handsome V60 estate, the new S60 will be the first Volvo built in the USA, and also bucks the class trend in being available with petrol engines only. If miserly fuel economy is your thing, there’s an alternative in the hybridised T6 and T8 versions, but, curiously, those looking for extra performance will likely be drawn in the same direction. That’s because the T6 and T8 ‘Twin Engine’ plugin hybrids are both more efficient and more powerful than their lesser T4 and T5 siblings thanks to their combination of a twincharged 2-litre four-cylinder driving the front wheels and an electric motor powering the rears. Those…

IT’S POSSIBLY SOMEWHAT SHOCKING to see an all-electric SUV gracing the pages of evo, but bear with us, because the Jaguar I-Pace really does deserve your attention. Why? Because this is arguably the first mainstream battery-powered car that delivers some genuine driver entertainment. Yes, all the normal ownership concerns about running a pure EV remain (range anxiety, poor charging infrastructure and the like), but if this type of car fits into your lifestyle and you’re looking to go electric, then an I-Pace should arguably be at the top of your list. The Jaguar’s raw statistics certainly make for interesting reading. For starters, its twin electric motors (one for each axle) develop a combined power output of 394bhp, which along with 513lb ft of torque (available from zero rpm) allows the…

IT HAD LOOKED LIKE NO ONE OUTSIDE THE factory would ever get to drive the only road-going TVR Cerbera Speed 12. But a few years after the prototype was parked up in a quiet corner of the Blackpool works, it was up for sale. The eventual buyer went through a vetting process that included a meeting with Wheeler. He said it felt like asking for Wheeler’s daughter’s hand in marriage. When the deal was done, the rebuild began. The neglected Speed 12 had been pillaged for parts for the race versions in the British GT Championship. Now the process was reversed, including fitting carbonfibre bodywork from one of the racers. The 7.7-litre V12 got ‘soft’ cams, dropping the claimed output by 80bhp… to ‘just’ 880bhp. The opportunity to feel what…

CHALLENGE STRADALE. SCUDERIA. Speciale. Pista. For once, the linguistic translation doesn’t fall in the Italians’ favour with the 488 ‘Track’, ‘Pista’ not dancing gracefully off the tongue in the same way, but the intent is obvious. It’s been five years since the 458 Speciale exploded into life with its banshee 9000rpm rev limit, and now, with little in the way of surprise, but no less feverish expectation, arrives the track-honed version of the twin-turbocharged 488 GTB. As with this line’s 360 Modena-based original, the 488 Pista is a ‘Challenge Stradale’; in effect a road-going Challenge car, without the rear wing, racing wheels and rubber and motorsport safety equipment of Ferrari’s one-make racer. Nestled in the old factory courtyard in Fiorano is a Rosso Corsa 488 Pista with evo’s name on…

AFTER SIX BRILLIANT YEARS OF ownership, the time had arrived to say goodbye to my Mk2 Volkswagen Golf GTI 16v. I can still remember the day my dad and I drove to view the car in Somerset. The plan was to purchase it and then for me to drive on to south Wales where I was studying at university. Luckily for us the GTI was as described and the deal was done. Driving over the Severn Bridge I went to move the knob that adjusts the side mirror and it fell off in my hand. I instantly started laughing and thought to myself: what have I just spent my student loan on? The GTI was replacing an Audi A3 Sport as my everyday car… The simple interior design was new…

I GUESS IT WAS A TEENY BIT provocative turning up to the drive of the still-prototype BMW M850i Coupe (Driven, evo 249) in the Stinger, what with Hyundai-Kia having lured a couple of significant Germans to work on the increasingly impressive Korean brands. They are Peter Schreyer, the former top Audi designer, and Albert Biermann, once chief engineer of BMW’s M Division. But, hey, it’s my long-termer, and when you’re going to assess dynamics it’s useful to arrive in a car that you rate, and for me the Stinger has great steering and brake feel. If I’d not been hurrying back I’d have taken the Kia onto some of the very best north Wales roads, but I had to make do with those to and from the hotel in Ruthin…

AS TEXT MESSAGES GO, THIS was a good one. ‘Are you free to drive my M5 to the Nürburgring 24 Hours race and test drive the new M3 CS while you’re there?’ My stubby fingers couldn’t type an answer fast enough. The majority of the drive there may be a dull one, but the M5 was a very pleasant companion, refined and supple in its Comfort setting, while its easily operated infotainment set-up and Bowers & Wilkins upgraded stereo kept me entertained. But thus far a well-specced 520d would have done the job equally effectively. Thankfully, the first speed limit sign I encountered upon entering Germany was of the derestricted variety, and I discovered why an M5 is twice the price of the 520d. Its ability to accelerate from 120kph…

WE LOVE A Q-CAR HERE AT EVO – the melding of stealth and speed is utterly compelling. Yet these under-the-radar machines are a bit of a rarity these days, as manufacturers and buyers alike seem increasingly unlikely to want to hide their car’s performance light under a bushel – if you’ve got it, flaunt it, and all that. In fact, it’s fair to say that until our Skoda Superb SportLine 4x4 slipped almost unnoticed into our car park we’d pretty much forgotten about the Q class. From the moment it arrived it was clear that this big Czech fulfilled the quick and covert Q-car brief, particularly in its blend-into-the-background £575 Quartz Grey metallic paint. Sure, our car’s SportLine trim added some attractive 19-inch alloys, a smattering of gloss black trim…

THE LAST THING YOU THINK WHEN driving a McLaren 720S is ‘this car needs more power’. So why on earth would anyone bother to tune one? Well, DMS has been developing packages for McLarens since the 12C, remapping the turbocharged V8 to increase power and improve driveability. So when the 710bhp 720S was released, DMS set about extracting more power from it too, because, for whatever reason, that’s what its customers will expect. Without the strict confines of OEM tolerances, DMS’s software changes alone increase the engine’s outputs by 100bhp and 74lb ft, but you don’t have to stop there. The standard catalytic converters can be replaced with higher-flow units, which, combined with the remap, allow the engine to produce a massive 819bhp and 657lb ft of torque – 109bhp…

READY FOR ANOTHER NEW ASTON MARTIN? Of course you are, so here’s the new DBS Superleggera, the replacement for the Vanquish S that sits between the Vantage and the DB11. (Although there’s also a new Vanquish on its way, too…) In Aston speak the DBS Superleggera is a super GT and mixes the grand-touring attributes of the DB11 with the supercar performance of the Vantage. With 7 15bhp, a 211mph top speed and an aluminium and carbonfibre construction it sounds more like a supercar to us. As with the car it replaces, and the DBS of 2008-2012, the new DBS faces some strong rivals in Bentley’s new Continental GT, Ferrari’s ferocious 812 Super fast and Mercedes-AMG’s imperious S63 (or S65 if you must have 12 cylinders). The sales numbers may…

ALFA ROMEO WANTS TO CAPITALISE ON the success of its Giulia and Stelvio with the introduction of seven new models by 2022, and two of these will be sports cars: a Giulia-based GTV and an all-new 8C. The 8C will have a carbonfibre monocoque (hopefully no relation to the 4C’s) and will be powered by a mid-mounted twin-turbo engine plus an electric motor on the front axle, together producing in the region of 700bhp. Good enough, claims Alfa, for a sub-three-second 0-62mph time. Joining the 8C will be a new two - door GTV coupe, based on the Giulia. With 600bhp, four-wheel drive and room for four, it should give AMG, Audi Sport and BMW M engineers a few sleepless nights. Alfa has also confirmed a new Giulietta hatch for…

A MULTI-PURPOSE VEHICLE WAS A very different mode of transport when I was still trying to dodge the Eleven-Plus. Five grown-up chairs – two with the grand title of captain’s chair, no less – a glasshouse to rival a conservatory and the squishy dynamics you would expect from a vehicle that resembled a box with a wheel at each corner. They were practical, though, with space for five without the rear three passengers having to spend the entire journey making knee contact or sitting on their luggage. Try that in an example of today’s lifestyle crossover. A modern MPV is a very different machine indeed. Few manufacturers have persevered with the concept. SEAT still builds an Alhambra, which I’m told is the preferred choice on the school run by those…

THE LAST VILLAGE IS WAY behind us and the road has opened out into one of those straights that stretches well beyond the vanishing point. I’ve clicked down to second gear and the Ferrari 812’s manettino control is switched to Race. With nothing ahead and the barely contained forces of the Ferrari’s 6.5-litre V12 eager to escape, my self-control lasts barely a fraction of a second. Well you would, wouldn’t you? That said, I’ve been building up to this moment during our first drive of the Superfast on UK roads – you don’t simply hop into a 789bhp supercar and bury the throttle before you’ve so much as got out of the car park. No, there’s a period of shadowboxing first; some tentative exploration of the car’s lower reaches that…

IF THERE WAS ONE WORD THAT SUMMED up our feelings after driving Suzuki’s new Swift Sport for the first time (evo 249), it was ‘underwhelmed’. Yes, it was quicker, grippier and more refined than before, but it appeared that, in attempting to broaden the car’s appeal, Suzuki’s engineers had dimmed much of its predecessor’s sparkle. That said, there was also a nagging suspicion that the Sport had been slightly overawed by the wide and fast roads at the car’s launch location – the epically quick and exquisitely surfaced routes of Andalusia in Spain are better suited to supercars than mildly spiced superminis. Perhaps the Suzuki would feel more at home on the UK’s tighter and twistier tarmac? Well, there’s only one way to find out… To make matters even more…

WHILE THE AUDI RS3 WAS A LITTLE out of its depth at the first evo track evening of 2018 (see right), the Caterham was in its element. In the month or so it’s been with us the Seven has already proved itself to be a riot on the road, but get it on a circuit and it truly shines. There really are few other cars that deliver such intense and seemingly never-ending driver involvement. However, before I could pop on a crash helmet and scream onto the Bedford Autodrome’s South West Circuit there were a few pre-flight checks that needed to be done. With modern motors you rarely lift the bonnet, instead shamefully relying on the ever-increasing array of dashboard warnings to tell you if there’s an issue – which…

YOU’RE RIGHT – IT’S NOT THAT LONG since we last ran a 308 GTi on our fleet. That car departed just over a year ago (see evo 236), having largely impressed us with its value for money, its capable and involving drive, and its practical shape and size. So with all that already established, why are we now running another one? Well, for starters this 308 isn’t quite the same as the last one we ran, as it benefits from a facelift outside and in – an update that includes a new infotainment system that we’re hoping will address our concerns about the slow-reacting old one. But the real reason we wanted to welcome a 308 GTi back onto our fleet is that the hot hatch landscape in which it…

THE LIFE OF A FAST FLEET CAR tends to reflect that of its custodian. In my case, and therefore the Mustang’s, this means a life of contrasts. Prolonged spells sitting outside my house wondering if I’m ever going to get my pile of overdue stories written are punctuated by high-speed dashes to the local shop for a bottle of Writer’s Block-Busta, or Merlot as it’s more commonly known. We’ll pound motorways for hours, then be separated for days as I jet off somewhere and the Mustang sits forlornly in a car park. We’ll do early starts and late finishes, supermarket runs, cross country commutes and trips to That London. We do it all. Somewhat against appearance and expectations, the big Ford is a very capable everyday car. The decent stereo…

FLYING UNDER THE RADAR IS A speciality of the Mercedes-AMG C43, a car that seamlessly blends stealth and speed. Slotting in below the bombastic C63, the C43 is a more measured machine that falls into the increasingly rare category of Q-car, its impressive blend of pace, agility and everyday usability only really obvious to those in the know. So it’s somewhat fitting that its mid-life refresh is just a little low-key. As before, you can choose from saloon, estate, coupe and cabriolet versions (priced from £47,720, £48,920, £50,010 and £53,829 respectively) and on all of them the changes are of the blink-and-you’ll-miss-them variety. True aficionados may notice the subtly different LED headlamps and tail lights, plus the reprofiled bumpers. Oh, and the quad-exit exhausts are now round, not rectangular. The…