Table of contents for July 2015 in Evo

Every new evo car that matters, reviewed and rated Test location: Vallelunga Circuit, italy GPS: 42.154283, 12.370324 THERE’S NO POLITE way to say this, so let’s be brutally honest: the previous generation Audi rs3 sportback was pretty dire. it sounded interesting, thanks to its 2.5-litre five-cylinder turbocharged engine, and it had strong performance, but there was no finesse and the chassis was painfully inert. it was as though all the joy had been wrung out of the Rs3 to leave something effective but awfully disappointing. The on-paper promise was sky-high, which made the uninspiring reality all the more crushing. surely this new car, which positively pulsates with potential, can’t get it so wrong all over again? Well, Audi is on a bit of a roll at the moment, so the…

Test location: Malaga, Spain GPS: 36.721261, -4.421265 THERE HAVE BEEN a few good reasons not to wait for the volkswagen Golf r estate. Temptations testing the resolve of the patient include the undeniably potent and practical Skoda Octavia vrS estate, the keenly priced and dynamically gifted Ford Focus ST estate and, perhaps the hottest ‘okay, this’ll do’ ticket of all, SeAT’s ST Leon Cupra 280, with nearly the same vW-sourced bang for considerably fewer bucks. On the other hand, why wouldn’t you wait? If the all-round, all-drive goodness of the 297bhp Golf r hatch is anything to go, the arrival of the estate should immediately trigger a mass waving of white flags by the outgunned circa-£30k fast estate ‘opposition’ – at least when it comes to the result of any…

Test location: spa, Belgium GPS: 50.502283, 5.932037 FIFTY YEARS AFTER the debut of the original 911 targa, Porsche has released the most dynamic version of its open-top model – the targa Gt3. Okay, i’m kidding. this isn’t a Gt3, but the targa 4 Gts is a seriously appealing car and the quickest targa ever. it costs £104,385 – £7325 more than the targa 4s. Let’s tackle the part-fabric roof first. to open, the rear glasshouse rises electronically and the small roof panel is repositioned below it. for a company that prides itself on purity and efficiency, the mechanism seems overcomplicated – and at 1555kg (1575kg for PDK-equipped cars), it adds the weight of an adult to that of the Carrera 4 Gts coupe. Manual stowage isn’t available, and neither is…

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR JETHRO BOVINGDON Introduction I ’M A LITTLE TENTATIVE AS emails fly around with arrangements for this group test. Don’t get me wrong, it sounds like A Good Day at the Office. It’s just that the first time we featured the new Mercedes-AMG GT (evo 204), I said its long nose was some way out in front of the beautifully honed Porsche Carrera 991 GTS’s: faster and more theatrical, but also finely balanced, more communicative and, startlingly, more focused, too. That was a few months ago in an unseasonably rainy California. Now it’s the proper Judgement Day on roads we know and love in Scotland. A Scotland resplendent in unbroken sunshine, as it turns out. I’m really hoping it wasn’t just new car euphoria and jetlag that turned my…

SPRING HAS FINALLY sprung and the Mégane is loving the sunshine. I don’t think I’ve driven a car that thrives on tyre temperature quite so markedly as this one. During the winter months it never managed to find any real bite from the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2s, but with the ambient temperature rising into the high teens I’ve been vividly reminded just how much turn-in bite, traction and all-out corner speed I’ve been missing. It’s not quite like the magical feeling of a fresh set of slicks coming up to temperature, but it’s as close as you’ll get on the road. Talking of tyres, I don’t think scrabbling through winter has done the fronts any good. There’s a bit of life left in them yet, but the tread depth…

‘INGRAM! WHEN YOU gonna buy a proper car?’ sneered Aston for the umpteenth time. evo’s staff snapper can press a shutter button with flair but he apparently has a way with words too. I was quite happy with my first-gen Honda Insight and the 70-plus miles I was getting to every gallon, but access to brisker vehicles and the prospect of skill-honing time at Bedford Autodrome did lend impetus to the words of evo’s resident quiff enthusiast. Whether you consider a 1993 Eunos Roadster S-Special a ‘proper’ car or not is a matter for debate, but there are several reasons why I’ve opted for the internet’s ‘answer to everything’. The first is that I’m already very familiar with them, having owned one and driven several more. This one drives as…

‘Ragazzon’s design fits with millimetre precision, and the noise? A volcanic rumble’ video See and hear the new exhaust evo.co.uk/app ‘Head gasket,’ said tHe voice on the phone. ‘it’s gone, unfortunately.’ Head gasket. Blown. Bollocks. What was already an unexpectedly painful service to put right a couple of the Lancia’s minor, winter-induced ailments had at the very least now doubled in price. tyres, fresh engine oil, belts; one budgets for these. But a head gasket failure? god no. Mercifully, mercifully, it happened on a light throttle during a postservice shakedown at auto integrale near Reading. the engine was saved, owner keith hurriedly assured me, but the sorry scenario was an undesirable distraction from the reason why g78 was with auto integrale in the first place. Feeling nauseous, i asked how…

Knowledge Insights into the used carmarket in association with HISTORICS AT BROOKLANDS HAS ALWAYS OFFERED A DIVERSE cross-section of the automotive spectrum in its auctions, from pure classics to more modern performance cars, and its next sale, on June 6, is no exception. In terms of bang for your buck, there’s not a lot that can beat the 2001 Aston Martin DB7 Vantage (pictured top) that will be going under the hammer. Although the DB7 started out with a straight-six, the V12 version that arrived in 1999 really transformed Aston’s big coupe into something a whole lot more special. This Derwent Green example has covered 69,824 miles and has a service book full of Aston Martin stamps, plus one from specialist Desmond J Smail. Fitted with the ZF automatic gearbox,…

PILOTI COMPETIZIONE RACE BOOTS £ 180 piloti.uk.com If you started this year’s race and trackday season thinking your favourite pair of race boots would be fine for another year, only to discover a mouse living inside them (No? Just me then), these Piloti Competiziones are a very good solution. FIA and SFI-approved, the boots are finished in suede and perforated leather, and feature the company’s patented Roll Control heel technology. Finished in red and white or black, they feature a lace-up lower section with a Velcro strap around the ankle, are incredibly comfortable, and the sole is thin enough for ultimate control yet thick enough that walking round the paddock won’t feel like you’re walking on a bed of nails. Stuart Gallagher (@stuartg917) WHEELER DEALERS CAR RESTORATION MANUAL £22.99 haynes.co.uk…

Great drives: Namlos Pass, Austria Start point: 47.420023, 10.788338, L21, Bichlbach The roads: L21 Perfect for: BMW M3 GTS (on a dry day) THERE ARE LONGER PASSES AND THERE ARE MORE SCENIC passes, but few passes are as good to drive as the Namlos, or ‘Nameless’, pass. Situated just across the Austrian border due south from Munich, it is conveniently placed if you ever want to visit the home of BMW. Head towards the ski resort of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, passing through the shadow of the Zugspitze (Germany’s highest mountain at 2962m), then take the 179/E532 until you reach Bichlbach, where you pick up the L21 at the eastern end of the pass. The road takes a little while to get going and it isn’t a conventional up then down sort of…

Porsche 993 GT2 wheelarch extensions GEE-TEE-TOO. THE CHEERY PHONETIC OF PORSCHE’S mid-’90s homologation hot-rod is misleading in the extreme, because applying eugenics to a 993 Turbo by slamming it, injecting its hips with Botox and affixing competition aero yielded unmitigated visual brutality. Four hundred and thirty horses may not sound too unnerving either, but consider that the GT2’s talented but less potent donor car could already make a mockery of the Ferrari F355. Now ditch 205kg and the drive to the front wheels while increasing boost. Back seats, sound-proofing, interior door handles, airbags, electric windows, sunroof, central locking – all gone. Hello racing shells, magnesium wheel centres and a 959-crushing power-to-weight ratio of 339bhp per ton. Yours for £131,000. It was overkill only warfare could foster, which in this case…

HONDA HAS WHEELED OUT a production-ready NSX at several motor shows since its debut in January, but specific details are still relatively sparse. However, the company has now revealed information on the car’s construction, and it is set to be as advanced as the original aluminium NSX was back in 1990. This time, Honda has employed a ‘multi-material body’ – shorthand for an aluminium-intensive space frame that incorporates high-strength steel and a carbonfibre floor. The upshot, says Honda, is that the NSX will have the most rigid structure in its segment. A new casting technique, ablation casting, combines traditional casting methods with rapid cooling to pair rigidity (for stiffness) with ductility (for impact absorption) for some of the aluminium sections. Meanwhile, the use of ultra-high-strength steel for the A-pillars means…

‘WHEN NISSAN SAID they wanted to go LMP1 racing, it was not to copy the incumbents – it was to innovate. innovation as a way to disrupt the status quo and to make a difference – and get an advantage quickly and cost-effectively. nissan is all about using innovation to give the customer something special without costing the earth. ‘I’ve got to tell you, innovation at this level is not very comfortable – we haven’t had a starting point that we knew would be great – but our goal is to do the best possible job. “You don’t want the drivers hanging on by their fingernails” ‘I think that racing is a very complex relationship between a machine and a human team, and something remarkable happens when you achieve your…

Zenith Chronomaster 1969 Tour Auto Edition From: zenith-watches.com Price: £8100 As part of an ongoing mission to increase its profile in the lucrative classic car world, Zenith has joined forces with leading motorsport organiser Peter Auto as the official timekeeper of six European events, ranging from the Spa Classic to the Monza Historic. The list also includes the annual Tour Auto Optic 2000, for which Zenith has produced this special edition of the popular Chronomaster 1969. It has red, white and blue dial detailing, a perforated calfskin strap in blue and the ‘Tour Auto’ logo on the case back. Just 500 will be made. IWC Ingenieur Automatic ‘AMG GT’ From: iwc.com Price: £17,750 IWC chose the 73rd Goodwood Members’ Meeting in March to unveil its latest AMG watch, which also…

Test location: navara, spain GPS: 42.816930, -1.643203 IT’S A RELIEF AND thrill to finally drive the Jaguar Xe on some great roads in northern spain and not have to wonder if this new model, which Jaguar has poured half a billion into and staked its future viability on, can possibly live up to the supercharged teaseathon. now it’s just the car, a twisted ribbon of tarmac that, in places, has Blighty-like blisters and caved-in cambers, and a sunny day. Which isn’t to deny the task ahead for Jaguar. the Xe is a car that has to sell in significant numbers against some estimable German hardware, including the refreshed 3-series, the new C-class and the soonto-be-revitalised a4, and in that endeavour, it has its work cut out. the inevitable group tests…

Test location: Harrold, Bedfordshire GPS: 52.20382, -0.602188 WORKING AT EVO CAN sometimes give you a bit of a blind-spot when it comes to certain models’ mid-range performance derivatives. For instance, ask me the ins and outs of a flagship renaultsport Mégane 275 trophy and I’d be able to tell you how many clicks to give the optional Öhlins dampers for a ring-optimised setup without referring to the instructions. But ask me about the GT 220 coupe and, until now, I’d have drawn blanks. If the GT 220 has slipped beneath your radar too then listen-up, because on the evidence of this drive it could be the hidden gem of the sporty Mégane range. For starters, the engine is the same 2-litre turbocharged motor found in the front of the RS…

SINCE I STOPPED RACING I HAVE ONLY once stood on the pit wall and thought, ‘Out of my way! Let me have go!’ Yet it wasn’t long after that I was looking at the Target Chip Ganassi Racing live data at Indy, saw the guys dealing with oversteer in turn one, and thought, ‘Nah, I’m done with that.’ I suspect many former professional sportsmen and women only realise just how much mental, physical and emotional energy was channelled into competing and winning in hindsight. At the time, when you’re focused on your goals, the level of commitment required and the risks that are taken are considered quite normal. When you are immersed in such a competitive environment you want more – from every test, every practice and qualifying session, every…

NOSE TO TAIL WE ROLL THROUGH Kelso’s cobbled town square. One bright red, a shocking blue, a yellow so vibrant it could melt ice cream, red accents on white, and the square jaw of a GT-R. Our convoy is not subtle. At this early morning hour we try to creep without disturbing the peace, but with a pair of warbling V8s and a couple of fizzing turbocharged six-pots, not to mention a stampede of fat tyres slapping against polished stone, we hardly go by unnoticed. At least the silent i8 offsets some of our racket. We must look as though we’ve become separated from the Gumball Rally, but we’re greeted with waves and smiles and cameraphones as we crawl out of the pretty square. The first drive of an important…

‘I’D BE HAPPY JUST TO LOOK AT THIS WILD, RIDICULOUS AND WONDERFUL MACHINE’ LAST NIGHT WAS BRILLIANT. Over dinner, a group of us chatted to Bentley factory driver Andy Meyrick (pictured above) about the Continental GT3:itsdevelopment,itsrelativestrengths and weaknesses compared to other GT3 contenders, the talent of the Cumbrian M-Sport team who spearheaded the development of the car and their incredible work ethic forged in the harshest conditions. After keeping the likes of Colin McRae on the road amongst the dust and rocks of the Acropolis Rally, the deep snow of Sweden or the sludge of Rally GB, it seems nothing in the world of endurance racing can phase M-Sport. Meyrick says they are ‘extraordinary’ and their amazing ability to adapt to the speed and intensity of GT3 racing has been…

TO UNDERSTAND WHAT MAKES THE EK9 Civic Type R so special, you need two pieces of information: 182 (bhp) and 1.595 (litres of displacement). In isolation, those figures mean nothing, but divide the former by the latter and you get 114 – a figure that for years placed this humble Honda hatchback above all but the most exotic supercars. Specific output is one of the more esoteric measures of a car’s performance. Where basic acceleration times win beer-fuelled arguments in pubs and power- or torqueto-weight ratios provide a sense of what squeezing the throttle will do to your internal organs, specific output is an intimate character reference of the engine itself. When that engine is naturally aspirated, anything over 100bhp per litre is pretty special, and anything beyond 110 the…

IF FORUM POSTS and YouTube comments are anything to go by, when the Clio’s odometer hits 120,000 miles there won’t be much more than a part-melted steering wheel and sprinklings of French racing Blue dust left. The internet is rife with claims of reliability and build-quality issues but, for this 182 at least, they couldn’t be further from the truth. Aside from the excitable engine and playful chassis, in the four years i’ve owned it, this Clio’s best trait has been its reliability. Come rain, snow or shine, motorway trek, shopping trip or flat-out trackday, it hasn’t missed a beat. Only a flat battery has hampered my travels. as a thanks, i thought it right to treat my car to some new bits. The first was more of a necessity…

IT’S GREAT TO HAVE The 996 back in my life. I’ve been so busy that there have been no special trips or longlost love-in early morning drives, but just being able to get it out of the garage for a quick drive to the shops or to see nearby family is so satisfying. I’m pleased to report that the respray hasn’t changed what I really love about the car – the way it drives and how it makes me feel. The low mileage since its return is partly because I was a tyre short (after my puncture some months back) and so the car was running with one odd wheel and a knackered old tyre of unknown brand or provenance. It was horrendous, squeaking and squealing and generally feeling very…

FZX AND I WERE BRIEFLY reunited this month; long enough for those feelings I have for the car to come flooding back. Some of which are publishable. A 500-mile return trip to south Wales exclusively using motorways isn’t the WRX’s or my idea of fun. However, aside from the secondary ride that never settles and makes you wonder if you’re driving the first road car to have its springs and dampers hand-carved from granite, after a 5am start and 250 miles I didn’t feel the wreck I anticipated I would when I came to halt at Llandow Circuit for issue 209’s Caterham triple-test. The thought of making the return journey on a Friday afternoon didn’t feel me with dread, either. Perhaps I’ve finally been tuned into the WRX’s idiosyncrasies and…

I IT’S BEEN A FASCINATING month. I’ve been almost exclusively in VW Group high performance products of late – from my S1 through to a 911 Turbo S, Lamborghini Huracán and the Bentley GT3-R (I know, poor me!). Of course, the S1 is very much the baby in this company, but it’s definitely not the odd one out. It doesn’t have the Bentley’s sumptuousness but the four-wheeldrive system feels similar; there isn’t the mind-bending performance of the Huracán yet they share a feelgood factor that’s hard to beat at their respective price points; and the 911? That feels different. Porsche seems to operate independently of the Group machine, at least with the 911. Long may that continue. I particularly got to experience the on-limit feel and reactions of the S1…

WITH DAN STEALING MY Range Rover Sport to impress the snow maidens of Mayrhofen (see p135), I was left with his M4 for a couple of weeks. It proved to be a revealing experience. In many ways, I’m the absolute target customer for an M4. I love rear-wheel drive. I love cars with lineage, and I love clever engineering. however, I have two young kids, therefore on occasion I need four seats and a boot that can carry a buggy. It’s a given, then, that I should love the M4. Or so you’d think. After a couple of weeks I was still struggling to bond with it. The main issues? The M4 feels very ordinary most of the time, and it’s a bloody difficult car to ‘read’. Tackling the former…

Q I currently drive a 2005 BMW E90 325i, which is fantastic for me. However, a neighbour might be selling his 2002 E39 M5, which is completely original and has covered only 50,000 miles. The M5 has always been a dream car of mine and I’ve read that a very low mileage example could be a good investment. On the other hand, I know that the running costs would be much higher than for my 325i. I also know that it was not a car famed for reliability. Should I take the plunge if the chance arises, or should I hang on to my 325i? Kieran Brooks, Lanarkshire A Make no mistake, there will be a world of difference between running your 325i and an E39 M5. The E39 was…

Knowledge Your indispensable resource when buying used Checkpoints Engine and transmission So, the death rattle. By no means all but a significant number of engines are affected. These are noisy, ‘tappety’ engines at the best of times (blame direct injection), but the so-called death rattle when starting from cold is unmistakeable. It’s the sound of the timing chain thrashing around, and if you don’t fix it you risk valves hitting pistons. Paul Webster at specialist 1320 Mini says the cause is usually a low oil level. With insufficient oil pressure to activate the tensioner at start-up, the chain rattles and eventually stretches, while the plastic guide-rails get worn or broken, making the situation worse. Paul has found that death rattle can happen as early as 25,000 miles. Some people replace…

AT THE NEW YORK MOTOR show back in March, Subaru unveiled an ‘STI Performance Concept’ based on the BRZ. As you can see from the pictures here, it’s a mouth-watering proposal. Heading to the rear wheels is 345bhp and 332lb ft of torque from a turbocharged, 2-litre boxer engine. An aero package wrought in carbonfibre and honed in a wind tunnel adorns the bodywork, while 18-inch wheels hide Brembo brakes. Not only has the suspension been heavily retuned by the STI division (it now has Bilstein dampers), but there is also a flexible strut brace between the turrets of the front suspension (see right for more info). Inside the car are Recaro seats and a distinctly Ferrari-inspired steering wheel with revs lights built into the rim and a manettino-style switch.…

TURBOCHARGING IS A HOT topic in today’s automotive circles. With external pressure to reduce emissions, manufacturers are relying heavily on turbocharging smaller power units to meet emissions targets while maintaining high performance levels. However, the more we turn up the wick on turbochargers to get more performance, the more risk we run with heat build-up, and therefore premature detonation in the cylinder and inefficiency. When we compress air – as is done by a turbocharger – the temperature of that air increases. Intercoolers are commonplace in modern turbocharged cars, and it’s their job to take some heat out of the compressed intake air. As this air travels through the intercooler, it is cooled by cold air passing over the intercooler’s external fins. But when we start to have higher compressor…

BRIDGESTONE SAYS ITS ‘Air Free’ concept tyre could make production in less than two years, after undergoing testing on ultra-light vehicles. As the name suggests, the concept is a non-pneumatic tyre and consists of three main parts: an aluminium inner wheel, a rubber-based outer tread and thermoplastic resin spokes. The interlaced structure of the spokes helps the concept behave like a conventional tyre, supposedly offering the same level of manoeuvrability and stability. ‘One of the key benefits of the concept is that there’s no need to worry about punctures,’ says Bridgestone’s consumer sales and marketing director, Farrell Dolan. ‘There’s also no need to check tyre pressures.’ Though no specific weight figure has been touted for the concept, Fallen confirms that it is at least comparable to current products. ‘They’re light…

THE LE MANS 24 HOUR SIS MORE than just a race, it’s a vibrant celebration of motorsport, a party to be enjoyed in the company of like-minded friends and fellow evo readers. Le Mans is special for the drivers, too, as Porsche’s Brendon Hartley reveals: ‘Le Mans, I love it. In the night it’s probably one of the most pleasurable things you get to do as a racing driver.’ It’s also special for Michelin, which this year goes for its 18th consecutive Le Mans victory. Pascal Couasnon, director of Michelin motorsport, says: ‘At Le Mans, the pressure is incredible. But we’re in direct contact with our partners... It’s brilliant.’ Aformidable, unpredictable and sometimes heartbreaking race, Le Mans’ 24-hour spectacular is challenging to all who compete in it. Yet for the…

BRITISH TOURING CAR Championship regular racers will have an even more exciting battle on their hands this season, when a tough crew of newcomers rolls up into the pit garages to challenge them – the Infiniti Support Our Paras Racing team, sponsored by TENA Men. As the name of the team strongly implies, among the ranks of the not-for-profit Infiniti Support Our Paras Racing squad are seven ex-Paratroopers, all of whom were severely injured during active deployment in war zones around the world, and all of whom have come through rough times and thought, ‘Stuff happens, but let’s just get on with life.’ The aim of the team’s participation in the Dunlop BTCC is to raise awareness and funds for the charity Support Our Paras, the official charity of the…

Test location: Lake Constance, germany GPS: 47.703639, 9.250317 ONE OF THE GREAT pleasures of this job is finding the thrill of Driving in unusual places. Who’d have thought a twingo rS could be an absolute hoot around Spa? Or that a Skoda Yeti can yield hot-hatch-type thrills along your average B-road? Both are recent examples, I might add. In a similar vein, it’s intriguing to investigate – or call out – manufacturers who claim to have divined the thrill from the unlikeliest of vehicles. and with that in mind, we bring you the Bentley Mulsanne Speed, or ‘the world’s fastest ultraluxury driving experience’, according to the men and women of Crewe. The Speed is Bentley’s flagship and, at 2610kg, that’s an appropriate term. Power is supplied by the firm’s 6.75-litre…

COULD YOU DO IT? COULD YOU REALLY tick the box that commits you to ordering your brand new 991 GT3 RS in ‘Ultra Violet’? Or Vimto Purple, as would be the more accurate description. I’m not sure I could. Moreover, of the friends and acquaintances I know who are facing that decision for real, none of them can either. Which is a shame, as you can be certain that when the 991 GT3 RS is old enough to be regarded as a classic, it’ll be the handful of Ultra Violet cars that draw the most admiration and command the highest values. Are those bold souls who do go for the outlandish option heroes or lunatics? Probably a bit of both. Even if they genuinely like the crazy colour they choose,…

Anglesey Coastal Direction: Clockwise Distance: 1.55 miles Location: Aberffraw, Anglesey, UK GPS: 53.18833, -4.49639 FROM ONE EPIC LOCATION TO ANOTHER, in the glorious setting of Anglesey, where our five fascinating sports coupes are set to do battle on one fabulous racetrack. There’s no set running order, so I grab the Aston’s key first. Everything about the N430 feels familiar. That’s partly because the Vantage has been around for a decade, but also because it follows a pure and simple recipe. You sit low – initially it feels a little too low thanks to that high dashboard – but you’re well located in the seat. It’s great to have a gearstick to stir around, though it’s always been set too far back in the Vantage to be completely comfortable. The N430…

BENTLEY CONTINENTAL GT3-R Engine V8, 3993cc, twin-turbo Power 572bhp @ 6000rpm Torque 518lb ft @ 1700rpm Weight 2120kg Power-to-weight 274bhp/ton 0-60mph 3.6sec (claimed) Top speed 170mph (claimed) Basic price £237,500 evo rating: PERHAPS I SHOULD HAVE DRIVEN the road car first. With the extraordinary control and agility of the Continental GT3 racer fresh in the memory, the GT3-R road car feels soft and very heavy around the tight confines of Anglesey Circuit. In fact, ‘GT3-R’ – an evocative name that sounds so unerringly focused – seems almost entirely inappropriate. This is no trackday special, despite the lairy graphics and the ceramic brakes and the omission of rear seats. A lap or two later, though, and more pertinently after a few miles on the roads nearby, I’m pretty smitten with the…

MY OBSESSION WITH the Mk2 Golf began around four years ago. I was sitting in the back of my dad’s Land Rover Defender while on the way to Beaulieu National Motor Museum when, from the corner of my eye, I saw a fast-approaching car. It was a 1990 ‘big bumper’ Mk2 Golf GTI with faded black paint and yellow water-stained fog lights, and it was riding dramatically lower than standard. For the next 15 minutes I was mesmerised, watching through the Defender’s back window as this ratty looking, boxy hot hatch tackled tight corners confidently before it finally took a different route. Later that day, after spending hours walking around the museum, I had a yearning. I longed for the pure mechanical simplicity of driving. No electric steering, no ABS…

The McLaren 12C Spider has not seen that much road time lately; a heavy travel schedule has served to very effectively keep the mileage down. i believe i have proven that the accumulation of frequent flyer and road miles move in direct opposite correlation to one another (The First Law of SSO). The 12C, however, doesn’t seem to get cranky when it sits for a couple of weeks; it runs cleanly at a moment’s notice. Other supercars i’ve owned, from a certain manufacturer near Modena, would take a good long drive before they came back into their own. One thing i’ve noticed while using the 12C as a daily driver this winter is just how dirty it gets. Black has turned out to be an excellent choice, as it hides…

MY BMW M4 LONGtermer is very good at many things, but ferrying four blokes and their kit to Austria for a snowboarding holiday is not one of them. The editor’s Range Rover Sport seemed to be very well suited to the task, though, so I half-inched the key while he wasn’t looking and set off for Folkestone. The first surprise was that we filled the boot rather more quickly than we had expected. Stuffed with four suitcases, a snowboard, a handful of smaller bags and a pair of boarding boots, there wasn’t room to spare for my mate Ben’s favourite dirndl. With a well-timed shove the automatic tailgate did close, though. But then there was legroom. The four of us measure six-foot apiece, give or take, which meant we had…

A AFTER SEEING HOW MY vRS stacked up against our SEAT Leon Cupra 280 last month, this month I compared the Skoda with another member of the VW Group’s vast empire. This time the rival shared not only the same chassis, but everything except the engine and gearbox. The two cars were so alike, in fact, that equipped with the same optional extras there were no visual clues as to which car was which. The rival was, of course, the petrol vRS’s arch enemy: the diesel vRS. Whilst a performance diesel isn’t a new thing, it’s still very much a questionable thing, which is why I was keen to try one. Right away, where my car’s 217bhp 2-litre engine feels modern, a tractor-like diesel rattle made the 181bhp 2-litre TDI…

nowledge Insights into the used car market in association with WIF YOU’RE A REGULAR READER, you might recall that we revisited the Peugeot 306 Rallye in our huge hot hatch celebration last year (evo 195). It appeared alongside the Renault Clio Williams, representing the best hot hatches of the 1990s. This was a fairly dry decade for the breed: spiralling insurance premiums sought to kill them off, while increasing weight and safety kit sapped the life out of small, fun cars. Thankfully, the French managed to stay true to the cause. When the 306 launched in 1993, Peugeot was still at the top of its game. Even the humble models were dynamically adept, offering a supple ride, direct steering and a playful chassis balance – all the things Peugeot was…

GOOGLE ‘SECOND-GENERATION MINI’ AND THE VERY first suggestion is ‘problems’. look further and you’ll discover something called the ‘death rattle’. It all sounds rather ominous, but what’s the truth? With a John cooper Works version of the third-generation Mini arriving soon, now’s the time to re-evaluate these fine-driving hatches as a used buy. The second-gen, ‘R56’ Mini appeared in november 2006. Though it looked similar to the first ‘new Mini’, in fact it was significantly larger and every panel was new. As was what lay beneath, including revamped rear suspension, run-flat tyres and electric power steering. There was also an all-new engine, shared with the Peugeot/citroën group though engineered by BMW and built in the UK. For the new cooper S, this ‘Prince’ engine had a twin-scroll turbocharger in place…