Table of contents for April 2023 in Evo

ASTON MARTIN’S FIRST HYPERCAR and Ferrari’s first SUV. Two cars we wondered whether we’d ever get to drive. Not that we were losing any sleep over the lack of a DBX-rivalling Ferrari coming off the line at Maranello. The Valkyrie did generate conversations however. A lot of conversations. In seven years, we’ve seen the original model revealed behind closed doors at Gaydon, tripped over its splitter on motor show stands, heard its V12 run on a test bed, ‘driven’ it on a simulator and heard it lapping Silverstone miles before it screamed into view. Designers have come, gone and come back again. Likewise engineers, development drivers and two CEOs during the Valkyrie’s protracted and very public birth. There have been both wow moments and head-in-hands, let-the-ground-swallow-me-up moments for everyone involved.…

BBR’S PORTFOLIO OF MX-5 CONVERSIONS continues to grow with this, a supercharger kit for the 2-litre ‘ND’ (Mk4) car in its original, 158bhp form, as built from 2015 to 2019. BBR is working on an installation for the later, 181bhp ND models too, but for the 158bhp engine the kit is available in two stages of tune: Stage 1 being the core and Stage 2 improving the engine’s breathing to liberate even more horsepower and torque. The heart of the conversion is the fitment of a Rotrex C30-94 supercharger – and very neat it looks too under the bonnet, where you’d be hard pressed to notice this is a modified car and not as it left the production line. The kit includes an oil cooler, intercooler and K&N air filter,…

Timex x Todd Snyder MK-1 Sky King £150 toddsnyder.com Looking for a watch with a military/pilot/instrument vibe but aren’t a fan of the four-figure prices being asked by Porsche Design, IWC, et al? Then this latest collaboration between Timex and New Yorkbased fashion designer Todd Snyder could be the answer. As well as this black-on-black version it’s also available with a Blaze Orange dial paired with a bare stainless steel case. Autodromo Group C £465 autodromo.com It’s safe to say that nobody expected the successor to Autodromo’s popular Group B model to be the brand’s first digital watch, yet here it is. The move is said to represent the increasing use of computer power in sports car racing during the Group C era of 1982-93, while the overall design and…

238 THAT’S THE NUMBER OF FIVE-STAR CARS in The Knowledge, evo’s essential guide to the very best driver’s cars. So, which one should you buy? A previous eCoty winner would be nice, obviously; a former group test winner goes without saying. Crucially, it needs to excite, thrill and entertain as much today as it did when it was new. However, it also needs to be reasonably affordable. So, rather than simply list some of the 100(!) supercars that have been awarded five stars over the last 25 years, we’ve selected Best, Bargain and Brave options from each Knowledge category, all available for between £5000 and £50,000. The Best and Bargain nominees are all solid-gold five-star cars, the Brave options not always so, but still well worth a punt. Now, to…

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE WING – OR RATHER THE distinct lack of one. The Peugeot 9X8 made its debut in the World Endurance Championship in 2022, entering a small handful of rounds to complete its development programme ahead of a full assault on WEC and Le Mans glory this year. And while the car didn’t trouble any podiums, its striking appearance attracted more attention than its rivals might care to admit. And that has added importance as we enter what could well be a new golden era of endurance racing. One that kicks off – somewhat fittingly – as Le Mans marks its centenary year. There’ll be more than a dozen competitors in WEC’s new Hypercar class, with five major manufacturers behind the bulk of them, not least Ferrari and…

IF YOU NEED CONFIRMATION OF HOW impressive Jaguar’s F-Pace SVR is, you only need to speak to its original keeper, evo’s former deputy editor Adam Towler. ‘I really like this car,’ he said. ‘I shouldn’t. I should hate it because it’s everything I don’t like in a performance car – any car – but it’s so good at doing exactly what it’s designed to do it’s near impossible to fault.’ High praise indeed, because Adam really does despise anything and everything to do with SUVs. So what does the F-Pace have that others don’t? It starts, as all good cars do, with a chassis crafted at the hands of experts, in this case the recently retired Mike Cross, the man responsible for the way Jaguars and Land Rovers have driven…

THE BRILLIANCE OF THE FERRARI PR department’s dastardly planning only hits me days later. Like a good murder mystery, a series of disparate events coalesce into a perfect whole so seamlessly it seems improbable it could have ever been planned. The plot starts immediately upon landing. The hire car isn’t fitted with winter tyres. Hmmmm. The gorgeous launch venue is high up in the Dolomites. Could be a challenge. Incredibly, our research suggests that despite the location we’ll actually be based many miles from truly great roads. The sort we can’t help but seek out even if it means a much longer day. Ferrari knows that. They know everything. Pretend phone calls are made to ‘sort the hire car tyres’ to no avail. Apologies are offered that the local roads…

VALKYRIE. THE CAR WE FEARED WE’D never drive. Yet here it is, parked proudly in the sultry warmth of the Bahrain International Circuit, awaiting its audience with a select group of the world’s motoring media. Whether you’re remotely fond of Aston Martin or simply seduced by the insanity of attempting to build and homologate Adrian Newey’s vision for the ultimate road-legal hypercar, getting behind the wheel of a finished Valkyrie is a Big Day indeed. Such has been its turbulent genesis, troubled financing and tortured gestation, the Valkyrie’s plug could surely have been pulled countless times. Few cars have endured such a protracted and, at times, humiliating development, fewer still conducted under such public scrutiny. Still, if it was easy everyone would be doing it. Right? That literally nobody was…

ITY THE VOLKSWAGEN XL1. DESIGNED TO SLOW the worrisome pace of climate change and the extreme weather events brought with it, and here we are driving it right into the eye of a wintry storm. The idea was a noble one: setting an urban-centric eco-car free into the Welsh wilderness to truly explore the potential of its surprisingly promising mechanical makeup. The reality is it’s being buffeted around by 50mph gusts while its weeny tyres – just 115mm wide up front – slice through frequent standing water. Its single wiper is working overtime. Aston Parrott resembles a recently overboard trawlerman every time he emerges from this familiar stretch of Snowdonia scenery, yet he’s grinning even more than normal. It turns out VW’s endearing little weirdo is just as bewitching to…

WITH ITS RED PAINT ALMOST glowing in the supernaturally clear light, the 205 GTI 1.9 looks so perfect it feels like I’ve stepped into a Peugeot brochure shoot, circa 1988. Up close, the impression of perfection is maintained, the finish of the Rouge Vallelunga paint exceptionally smooth and glossy, the trim and detailing spot on. Press your nose against the glass and the interior looks brand new too. There are a couple of clues that this is not some ‘time warp’ car that’s been found shrink-wrapped in a hermetically sealed barn with only delivery miles on the clock (though its odometer does show barely 1000 miles). First, the factory paint was never this good, and second, the boot badges read ‘205 Tolman Edition’. Regular readers will be familiar with Tolman…

THUMBS UPS, HEAD NODS AND HEEL swivels. The Ghibli has star quality, no question. Maybe the number plate (M600 GHB) attracts attention, but I think that it’s more likely the rarity of seeing – and possibly hearing – the biggest, baddest Maserati saloon in the wild. The fact that it’s finished in under-the-radar black only adds to the spot, making the Ghibli Trofeo as cool as any I-Spy 50-pointer. It’s as refined as a big saloon ought to be, and it is huge. Open the boot and the floor seems to disappear off down a tunnel – I swear you could get a full-size ladder in there without dropping the rear seats. Yet the cockpit manages to feel cosy thanks to a low driving position. There’s a slightly brittle edge…

MORE. LOTS MORE. OF EVERYTHING. Power, torque, gearboxes, driving modes. This is the Mercedes-AMG GT63 S E Performance 4-Door Coupé. More badges, too. It’s at once a technological marvel, a thumping supersaloon, a mind-bendingly fast rocketship and a wildly expensive extravagance. It is – and I think we can say this officially – too big, too heavy, too fast, too expensive and too complex. The headlines are 831bhp, 1084lb ft, 2305kg and £178,704. Aside from the AMG One – remember that? – it’s the most powerful AMG product ever made. Do we care? Well, why not? We are well beyond the realms of sanity with these sorts of cars, so why not embrace the madness and submit to the ridiculousness of it all? Besides, it’s hard not to marvel at…

WHAT COULD BE MORE LIKE A ‘RALLY car for the road’ than a Lancia Delta HF Integrale? When Group B was scrapped in 1986, the Delta was rapidly developed for the new Group A regulations and hit the ground with all four wheels spinning. It went on to win an incredible six WRC manufacturers’ titles on the bounce, from ’87 to ’92, earning itself icon status. It was also feted as an exceptional road car back in the day, becoming a poster car for many enthusiasts. The spacious workshop of Maturo Competition Cars is filled with Delta Integrales, some Group A rally cars, some tidy road cars. It’s clear that the Delta is a passion of the firm, based in the small town of Veghel, a few miles north of…

IN REPLY TO DAVID ACTON’S LETTER (INBOX, EVO 307) bemoaning the rise of EVs, I have just bought a Kia EV6 GT to perform a daily 50-mile round-trip commute as well as family duties. Compared with its petrol predecessors (BMW 650i, Porsche 997.1), as a daily driver it is better in every way: quiet, comfortable, blindingly fast and, yes, engaging (thanks, Herr Biermann), as well as very low on emissions (low, not zero – don’t fall for that hype), especially when charged from solar panels. If you can charge at home and your commute is less than around 50 miles each way, an EV can be the perfect daily driver. You can then strap yourself into your Caterham or Elise (or in my case BAC Mono) at the weekend with…

FOR ALL THE WILD NEW ADDITIONS BMW HAS MADE to the M division range for its 50th year, I’ve suddenly got a feeling it could have saved itself some graft. Right here, right now, I’ve a suspicion that all we ever really needed wears bright orange paint and is pointed almost perilously uphill at a four-way stop in San Francisco’s undulating Nob Hill district. The Americans have clung on to stick-shift M-cars much longer than we have, a manual M5 surviving two additional generations in the States. So while UK dealers opted for the new M4 only in punchier-powered, auto-only Competition trim, our Stateside pals, just like our European friends in Germany, have been able to save a chunk of cash and go for a DIY base car since the…

IT SEEMS ALMOST INCONCEIVABLE THAT A small car company started in post-war Modena by a curmudgeonly man with his eye on road cars but his heart in racing has now become a $50 billion megabrand. Yet it’s all part of the endlessly fascinating fairy tale that is Ferrari. I’m not sure what Enzo would make of the fast car landscape in 2023. There was a time when he knew all his customers by name. Nowadays almost 9000 cars are built, sold and shipped from Maranello every year. One suspects he would regard many of today’s customers with characteristic disdain, but not before gladly relieving them of their money. It was always thus, apparently. He would doubtless be vexed by his beloved Scuderia’s current struggles to capitalise on a quick car.…

@evomagazine @evomagazine @officialevomagazine NEW ARRIVAL Lamborghini Huracán Evo Spyder One of the all-time great road-car engines in one of the most dramatic supercar shapes around. Sounds like the perfect recipe for a daily driver to us… SHOULD YOU BUY A CAR FOR ITS engine? Would you buy a car for its engine? Why wouldn’t you buy a car for its engine when the combination of pistons, crankshaft, valves, con-rods, cylinder heads and all the other necessary elements results in the mechanical alchemy that is 5.2 litres of naturally aspirated V10? We’ve dedicated plenty of column inches and YouTube minutes to the magic of Lamborghini’s Huracán motor (and Audi’s version of it, too). We’ve also rejoiced at the car’s aluminium-carbon chassis completeness, complimented every sharp edge and crazy detail that covers…