Table of contents for May 2020 in Evo

AS I WRITE, THE UK IS HALFWAY THROUGH its initial three-week lockdown due to the Covid-19 outbreak. Our friends across Europe are further into their battle against this pandemic, America is preparing for the worst, while Asia hopes to be heading towards a glimmer of light. Regardless of where you are, the priority is to stay safe. Stay at home. The UK was struck down by Covid-19 as we started to put this issue together. We’ve had to replace stories we had planned for months with ones we hadn’t intended on bringing you for months to come. But rest assured we haven’t compromised on quality to bring you this issue, and our drives of Porsche’s new 911 Turbo S, Ferrari’s SF90 Stradale, Lamborghini’s rear-drive Huracán and Morgan’s new Plus Four,…

OH, HOW WE CHUCKLED WHEN BMW launched the first 1-series in 2004. The quirky Bangle-era surfacing, the unusual rear-set proportions, the modest engines and the slightly flaky interior. Ho, ho, ho. The laughter subsided with the 130i, and when coupe variants and the blistered 1M Coupe followed, the 1 finally justified comparison with the BMW greats. Another generation followed, playing once more with styling and powertrains but still condensing everything we liked about BMWs into an appealingly compact package. BMW’s latest 1-series has given us fewer reasons to crack a smile. Less amusement, more apathy. Front-wheel-drive-based, with transverse four-cylinder engines and uninspiring dynamics, it might make you realise how much you took those previous 1-series – unusually styled, but traditional BMWs under the skin – for granted. It was also…

THE COVID-19 CRISIS IS ALREADY emerging as an unprecedented challenge for the car industry, with a fallout far greater than those of other major catastrophes, including the 2008 financial crisis and the economic slowdown following 2001’s terrorist attacks. Car companies including Bentley, Aston Martin, JLR, Nissan, Toyota and Vauxhall all suspended UK production as the country went into lockdown, while big events on the motoring calendar, from Formula 1 races to the Goodwood Festival of Speed, have been universally cancelled or postponed. While the impact will be felt for some time to come, it’s also demonstrating the industry’s more human side as dozens of firms support aid and healthcare organisations when they need it most. Seven British F1 teams have come together to work on reverse engineering, scaling production and…

REMEMBERING THE DANY BAHAR ERA AT Lotus can sometimes feel like recalling the details of an insane fever dream. The vapid ‘brand lifestyle’ magazines printed on paper so glossy it was like trying to read condensed milk. The ‘boutique’ shops selling expensively confected luxury goods while the road car range still hinged on the aged and basic Elise. The 2010 Paris motor show press day when a random grab bag of celebrities including Naomi Campbell and frizzy haired badger enthusiast Brian May pulled the covers off five brand new models while Sir Stirling Moss popped up to proclaim that if he was 50 years younger with one of these cars, ‘well you’d pick up all the girls, wouldn’t you?’ Seriously dude, feel my head, I think I’m running a bit…

SOMETIMES I WONDER IF I ONLY IMAGINED THAT in the early 2000s, Porsche GB sent evo a basic 911 for a few weeks. I like to think that it was because they never had any bookings on it, everyone wanting the faster, sportier models. It was completely standard, toting the smallest engine and the manual gearbox, the smallest wheels and tallest tyres, and the discreet, standard exhaust. It was white, so even the paint was bog-standard. And it was wonderful: tactile and characterful and easy to get along with, with a lovely gearshift and comfortable ride, but superb when pushed too, its dynamics engaging and adjustable. It was also fast, the delivery of its guttural flat-six ramping up to a thrilling climax. Given that this was the time of the…

AXS MARKED CONTRASTS GO, YOU’D DO WELL TO FIND one more striking than McLaren’s 600LT Spider and Aston Martin’s DBS Superleggera Volante. Though they share a similar price point and tilt at the same objective, they come at it from entirely opposite ends of the spectrum. In the red corner, the mid-engined, 1404kg 600LT Spider is the epitome of lightweight build, extensive aerodynamics and hardcore intent. McLaren’s high-revving 3.8-litre twinturbo V8 is lightly tweaked to belt out just shy of 600bhp and 457lb ft of torque, and is mated to the familiar sevenspeed twin-clutch gearbox. The folding hard-top adds around 50kg compared to the regular 600LT, but the Spider remains an ultra-focused machine first and foremost. Indeed, it seems the option of folding back the roof is simply provided as…

THE DEVILISHLY RAPID LEON estate has left us, and I think it’s fair to say it won many more friends than we expected it to. Originally the mount of subeditor Jonathan Baker, who was the first to fall under its spell, I shamelessly nabbed it off him with a deal that used a Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR in exchange. It says a lot about our bronzed SEAT that I was elated when he agreed, for the rather insipid Golf had nothing on the refreshing lunacy of the Cupra R. The Leon later went on to spend some time with editor Gallagher too, who also became a fan. In short, it may have been passed around a bit, but wherever it went it always made friends. The Leon Cupra R is…

SINCE MY FAST FLEET ALFA ROMEO Stelvio Quadrifoglio went back last autumn I have been car-hopping. First into our Volvo V60 T5 R-Design long-termer, until it departed a couple of months ago (evo 271), then more recently into a 1-litre Ford Focus ST-Line EcoBoost estate. Whilst both cars proved reliable and accompanied me on many photoshoots all over the UK, they were also somewhat lacking in the excitement department. I’m hoping this is all about to change. The reason? The arrival of our Volkswagen Passat R-Line Edition. Limited to just 2000 units, it has lots of special details, including a bold Moonstone Grey exterior paint colour that I really like (although Messrs Towler and Meaden liken it to the hue of German battleships) and which contrasts nicely with the gloss…

THE FIRST TIME I GO FOR THE BRAKE pedal in the new Super Seven 1600, I’m reminded that driving a Caterham requires a very particular set of prerequisites. A taste for the outdoors is handy, as even with the roof up plenty of the elements will find their way inside the cabin, and with it down I’m being spattered with whatever that suspiciously brown substance is on the road below. A slender figure helps too, at least in the narrow-body cars, and good muscle memory is also useful, if only to operate the various unmarked switches peppered across the dashboard. But above all, you must have suitable footwear. Preferably a set of racing booties. You’ll look a bit of a prat in the local village café, but vitally, it will…

‘Whoever set up these latest 45s has woven real tactility into their elevated abilities’ WHERE DO YOU STAND ON THE WHOLE ‘four-door coupe’ thing? Not sure myself, but then I grew up in the 1990s when the roads were awash with proper coupes. They were different shapes and sizes, and there was fair variety under the bonnet too, but all stuck to broadly the same formula: four seats, two doors, and a luggage area separated from the cabin. I’m prepared to make an exception for the Mercedes-AMG CLA45 S 4Matic+ Plus Coupe, even though I can feel my blood pressure rising typing out its full, long-winded name. For a start, it’s based on the car that finished third in eCoty 2019, the A45 S. Secondly, while it has 100 per…

EVO’S TRACKDAY SEASON IS BACK FOR 2020, WITH a calendar of events that promises to be bigger and better than ever. We’ll be holding events at three different locations again this year, returning to Goodwood Circuit, Brands Hatch and Bedford Autodrome. There’s also a choice of full-day or evening sessions, all scheduled during the warmer months between May and September. Book your place now and join fellow enthusiasts and the evo team in 2020 at one (or more!) of our track events. Bedford Autodrome evo’s home circuit is once again on the calendar for 2020, with three evening dates plus a full daytime session. Our evening events will be held on the 2.8-mile South West Circuit, which will test your car’s high-speed stability before you enter smaller complexes and hairpins.…

I CAN SENSE THE HACKLES RISING. AN off-roader in evo. For some it will be like Conor McGregor stepping into a boxing ring. Or people claiming to enjoy both cars and bicycles. Some readers will feel the world is out of joint, the thrill of driving tilted on its axis. The new Defender does not belong here. But, respectfully, I disagree. It just depends how you use it. A Defender on the road? Not so interesting. A Defender used to access Kaokoland and the world’s oldest desert? That’s a different story… THE COLOUR OF THE SAND BENEATH THE 110’S TYRES changes from a rich, rusty red to a coffee crème caramel and then to a Caribbean white. Almost in harmony the speed climbs past the UK’s national limit, then pushes…

FINALLY IT HAS STOPPED RAINING AND the temperature has hauled itself up to double figures, which has resulted in two things. One, I’ve had my first proper drive in the Vantage that hasn’t involved managing throttle inputs against traction – although this hasn’t exactly been a chore – and two, nothing beats a dry road and the first longer days of spring to enjoy a car that you’ve hitherto only experienced during the dark grime of winter. Since taking delivery of KR69 HTE, one element that has been an ever-present is how physical a car the Vantage is for something conceived, developed and built in the 21st century, where a lack of effort required by the driver is championed by so many, highlighting just how toned down some performance cars…

DÉJÀ VU. TWO WINTERS AGO, WHILE driving home late at night in evo’s FK8 Civic Type R long-termer, I clobbered a nasty pothole at about 30mph. The violent impact resulted in a flat spot on one of the Honda’s alloys – and also much swearing. Fast forward to this month and almost exactly the same happened again with the A35. Late night, residential area, 25mph, meteor crater, bang! I feared the worst, and when I next had the opportunity to increase my speed, my fears were realised with an obvious vibration through the steering. Sure enough, it was another flat spot. With the Honda I put the damage down to its 20-inch wheels and the rubber-band tyre profiles they necessitated. But it turns out the A35’s 19s aren’t much better,…

IT WAS THE NOISE THAT HIT YOU first and from that point on you felt disorientated and distracted, unsettled despite the knowledge that beneath you was one of the purest driver’s cars you could buy. It was what lay over your shoulder that left you feeling uneasy. The driving position was as expected. Steering wheel in your chest, hips just above the catseyes, legs stretched out deep into the footwell, pedals kissing the soles of your shoes. Your shoulder, elbow and wrist perfectly angled to work that strange lever rising from the transmission tunnel. The ride was just so, too: compliant at low speed, locked down and focused as the pace picked up. And there was a precision to the steering that allowed featherweight control, and brakes that required no…

IMAGINE: YOU’RE DRIVING ALONG AND suddenly your speedometer breaks. The dial reads zero and the needle’s not moving. You have absolutely no idea of the exact speed you’re travelling at. One question: can you still drive safely? The answer’s rather obvious, isn’t it? There are probably not too many drivers who would stop immediately and put in a panic call to the AA. And if they did, they’d be more concerned with legality than safety. After all, no one wants a £100 fine and six points through the post. But if you can drive safely and you’re no more likely to crash or hit a pedestrian with no speedo, why do we place such a reliance on speed limits as road safety tools? And why do we now talk about…

V8s AND V12s HAVE DEFINED MUCH OF Aston Martin’s recent history, but that’s set to change from 2022 with a new V6 that will power the upcoming Valhalla supercar, plus a host of other models, both current and future. The engine carries the internal code TM01 – a nod to Tadek Marek, the Aston Martin engineer who, in the 1950s and 1960s, was responsible for developing both the DBR2’s aluminium in-line six and the firm’s V8 engine. Current powertrain chief engineer Joerg Ross said that Aston wanted to create something befitting of Marek’s name, with ‘more freedom to explore and innovate’ with this project than the team has had for a long time. Aston Martin hasn’t yet gone into depth on the technical specifications for the engine, but it has…

SEVEN HUNDRED AND FORTY-NINE bhp could be the power output of a new McLaren, and it’s about what you’d expect of a pair of all-wheel-drive superhatches, while 24 cylinders is neat shorthand for last month’s super-estate test, or perhaps the Superfast v Superleggera comparison of evo 264. Today though, those figures are divisible between not two or three cars, but among seven. Assembled is a group with an average weight of under 1050kg, the lightest among them significantly undercutting a new Lotus Elise Sport 220. All bar one of the seven has a manual gearbox, and three of those give you only five ratios to choose from. It’s been a while since evo examined the state of play down at the dinky end of the spectrum. One reason, truth be…

AS I WRITE, BRITAIN IS SUDDENLY in the midst of spring. Rich, vibrant colours not seen for the past six months are screaming from every hedgerow. Trees are no longer sticks of brown, but textural and lush, and the very air has a different temperature – an encouragingly warm touch against the skin. Pigeons coo high up in the foliage, and that round yellow ball, so missed in grey, wet February, makes its presence known as well, and no longer just visually. There’s heat to those rays, at last. But the best bit? The B-roads – no longer mud-strewn and slippery, or constantly cracking apart under the onslaught of frost. Now they snake invitingly across the land, creating an arena that I imagine motivated most of us from the very…

YOU CAN’T ESCAPE THE ALPINE. IT’S very much the car of the moment. The Porsche alternative made in Dieppe has been the subject of numerous comparison tests and drive stories and, unsurprisingly, starred in our 2018 Car of the Year gathering too, only just missing out on the win. But this isn’t about the new A110. This is what happened in the early ’90s when Alpine launched the A610 Turbo. It’s probably hard to believe that the A610 Turbo was as feted then as the A110 is now, because despite all the positive press very few were sold here. I haven’t seen one for over a decade and it’s been more than 25 years since I drove one. Yet I have a vivid recollection that dynamically it was really special,…

WHAT WILL THE NEXT E63 AMG BE powered by? Currently it obviously has the hardest-working performance engine in the industry – the phenomenal M177/M178 4-litre turbocharged V8 that is seen in everything from a C63 to an Aston Martin DB11. But the times they are a-changin’, and it’s not just Dylan going electric. A full BEV AMG E-class might not be the next step, but a variation of the mild-hybrid drivetrain currently found in the E53 could be. The phrase ‘mild-hybrid’ doesn’t sound very Affalterbach – it should at least be a spicy hybrid with a minimum of three chillies on the engine cover – but the M256 turbocharged straight-six with EQ Boost is hugely impressive. It was the principal reason why I wanted to run the E53 as a…