Tabla de contenidos para September 2024 en Evo

I FIRST MET PAUL RIPLEY IN 1998 as evo was finding its feet in the automotive world. It wasn’t for a story but because, quite rightly, then-editor John Barker wasn’t prepared to just throw the keys to the latest high-performance cars to someone who drove a Mk3 Fiesta RS1800i. So it was off to Leeds for me in a manual E39 540i for a day of having my driving ripped apart. It was exactly what I needed. To this day, I still seek out as much training and advice as I can – and even that’s probably still not enough. Too often, driver training is left to the passionate individuals, the professionals and those forced to attend a course because their work insists on it; or rather the employers’ insurance…

MINI IS UNDERGOING ITS BIGGEST transformation since the turn of the millennium. Its future will be electric, and heavy investment is being pumped into new-gen models that will see the entire Mini range revamped by the end of this year. There’s a buzz around the brand and it all sounds promising – until you read the spec sheet of the new Cooper SE hatchback. 215bhp, 243lb ft, 250 miles of range, 1605kg… sorry, what? A three-door supermini that weighs almost as much as an Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio? That must be a typo. It isn’t. Despite being built on a brand-new EV platform, the Cooper SE has piled on 240kg over its Mini Electric predecessor, giving it what must be one of the worst size-to-weight ratios of any new car.…

THIS IS ADRIAN NEWEY UNLEASHED. The result of not having to follow those pesky FIA rules and regulations. The learnings from the mistakes made with the Aston Martin Valkyrie… The RB17 is twenty years of Red Bull condensed into a single car, one that, according to the company’s simulations, would have beaten George Russell’s pole position time at the 2024 British Grand Prix (although presumably with a current F1 driver at the wheel and no one in the passenger seat). The track-only hypercar is also proof that Milton Keynes’ answer to Ferrari can build more than world championship-winning single-seaters. It is a project that started on Newey’s drawing board in December 2020, although it wasn’t until January 2024 that the concept stage was completed. ‘The Valkyrie was a very compressed…

IT’S EASY TO DISMISS THIS CAR AS AN IRRELEVANCE. Ultra-rare. Ultra-expensive. Based upon old-generation hardware. And sold out: 110 Aston Martin Valours are being made (to mark 110 years of Aston Martin in 2023), and all are spoken for. Each is being built in a specification unique to its owner and the price will vary accordingly, but assume somewhere in the region of £1.5m depending on spec, including taxes. Since it exists in the unobtainosphere, perhaps it doesn’t really matter what it feels like and drives like. But we’re about to find out nevertheless. Today we’re kidnapping this particular Valour from the Gaydon factory, and hanging on to the key for as long as possible. Meeting it for the first time, it’s quite a thing to behold. Some cars are…

YOU COULD NEVER ACCUSE EVO OF NOT BEING thorough. After the flurry of M2s, 3s, 4s and 5s that have been through the Fast Fleet garage over the last half a decade, the time has come to sample one of BMW M’s more controversial creations, the X6 M Competition. An M2 CS it is not. But is it a true M car? Unlikely, but we have six months to find out. evo’s exposure to the X6 M has been limited to, well, very little. We’ve spent time sprinting across Europe in its ‘sensible’ cousin, the X5 M Competition (189mph three-up and with a boot full of photography gear was impressive), but next to no time with its coupe relative beyond this exact example stopping by at the beginning of 2024…

WITH TWO VW GROUP ESTATES ON THE evo fleet, a comparison was only a matter of time. They share a platform, so how much do the Cupra Leon 310 and Skoda Octavia vRS actually differ from each other? The Skoda is the more affordable of the two, at £37,785 basic versus £45,465 for the Cupra (or £43,285 and £48,640 respectively as tested). That price difference may not be too obvious on the outside, but it is as soon as you open a door. The Leon’s cabin has a more premium feel, thanks in large part to its blue nappa leather (part of the top-level VZ3 Design Edition trim) that’s far nicer in both look and feel than the rather scratchy black fabric in the Octavia. The Cupra works harder to…

OF ALL THE MANUFACTURERS THAT HAVE PULLED OUT OF the hot hatch game recently, Renault is the one we’ll probably miss the most. Its Renault Sport division churned out a stunning run of performance cars over the past three decades, more often than not setting the benchmark by which others were judged. Its hot Clios and Méganes brought accessible fun to the masses, while the brand’s series of daring specials have redefined what a hot hatch can be – all in the pursuit of maximum thrills. Though its traditional hot hatches have been put to rest in favour of performance EVs built under the Alpine brand, there’s still a vast selection of Renault Sport models waiting to be enjoyed on the used market – some world-beating, some truly mad and…

WE’VE DRIVEN THE NEW, UPDATED GR Yaris in prototype form on a Spanish racetrack (see evo 318) and-in-preproduction form on a Finnish frozen lake (see evo.co.uk). Now this is our first chance to drive the finished product. A couple of bits to get out of the way early-doors. The Gen 2 GR Yaris costs more than £44,000, compared with £30,000 for the original. Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised in a world where a Civic Type R costs £50k and an AMG A45 S is £63k, but it’s not the sweetest of pills to swallow. The bitterest one, however, is that only an ‘exceptionally limited’ number of cars will find their way to the UK in 2024. That low volume is likely also a contributory factor to the high list price.…

MERCEDES-AMG IS NOT PLANNING TO build a new E63. So, for the foreseeable future, this is the most potent E-class you can get: the new E53 Hybrid 4Matic+. Available as either a saloon or estate, it’s AMG’s first ‘long-range’ hybrid, a plug-in with a 59-mile all-electric potential. A 120kW electric motor is integrated into the transmission between the engine (a 443bhp 3-litre straight-six) and gearbox (a nine-speed auto). Total system output is 577bhp and 553lb ft, although Race Start mode – included in the optional AMG Dynamic Plus package – gives you a 604bhp total output, albeit only momentarily from a standing start. The 400V, 28.6kWh battery lives under the boot floor, meaning a slightly smaller boot than in other E-class variants, though still a reasonably roomy one. It’s not…

FITTING A MANUAL GEARBOX TO A LONG-established model makes little sense in the context of car makers’ efforts to improve efficiency and lower their corporate CO2 levels. Today’s automatic ’boxes deliver better economy and performance, essentially because they have a couple more ratios than a manual and can offer a more efficient use of power and torque. Shift speeds are faster than ever too, and if it’s a DCT (dual-clutch transmission) the connection feel between the throttle and the driven wheels is as good as that of a manual gearbox. Logically, then, a manual is regressive, a backward step, and yet, at the eleventh hour, after five years in production, BMW has decided to put a six-speed manual and three pedals in the six-cylinder Z4. Rather than saying ‘why?’, we…

‘THE 930 TURBO HAS REMAINED SOMEWHAT OFF LIMITS TO THE RESTOMOD SCENE. UNTIL NOW’ OF ALL THE 911’S MANY MODEL DERIVATIVES it’s hard to argue against the Turbo being the most evocative. Yes, the RS remains the ultimate blend of race pedigree and road legality, but half a century on since Porsche first shoehorned a forced-induction flat-six into the tail of its rear-engined sports car, and long after the resulting model evolved into an all-wheel-drive, all-weather weapon, the merest mention of the Turbo name still conjures up images of whale tales, wide arches and an indecent appetite for the horizon. Yes, Alois Ruf’s ‘Yellowbird’ took the early Turbo to wild extremes as far back as the ’80s, but for the continually evolving 21st-century Porsche 911 restomod scene, the 930 Turbo…

A CONFESSION, DEAR READER. I KNEW very little about GBS before visiting the company for this story and getting into one of its cars. I vaguely knew the name, and its association with Lotus/Caterham Seven-style kit cars (also offered as fully factory-built cars) – but not much more than that. What have I discovered? That it has existed since 2007, since when it has built and sold more than 1000 examples of its Zero sports car. It has dealers in America, Germany, Sweden and Norway and has sold cars as far afield as Australia, New Zealand and Chile. It designs and manufactures the vast majority of the Zero’s components in-house, including its own adjustable monotube dampers. And the engineering side of the business is kept busy with consultancy work for…

STOP ALL THE CLOCKS, CUT OFF THE telephone, prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone. The man from Stellantis has been to collect the Abarth and life is considerably duller as a result. I knew the day of reckoning was approaching but didn’t dare put in a pre-emptive call to Abarth HQ. Somewhat embarrassingly I then missed a call from the logistics team (honest) and was in Derby – some 85 miles from Meaden Towers – when a nice man called to say he was on his way to my house. Sadly, he was only too happy to reschedule for the following morning, so the stay of execution was brief. Needless to say my drive home was somewhat maudlin. To make things worse the following morning was gloriously…

IT WAS DUE TO STAY FOR THREE MONTHS. Now, four months after that deadline passed, the Range Rover Sport P530 First Edition has finally bid evo farewell. In all that time it did not prove itself to be a car to replace an M5, RS6 or E63, nor a dynamic alternative to the more expensive Aston Martin DBX707 or the cheaper, more focused Porsche Cayenne. It was big, thirsty (19mpg over the course of our test) and as far from a car you would consider driving for the sake of it as you’d expect from something with a kerb weight nudging 2.5 tons. So why cover nearly 15,000 miles in a car we know is an impediment to the Thrill of Driving? Two reasons. First, there are a great number…

A COUPLE OF MONTHS AND 1600 MILES in, the Fast Fleet 208 has proven its worth through use as both a short-distance daily driver and long-distance motorway tool. There’s no doubt it’s better suited to some tasks than others, but impressions remain largely positive for our French supermini. The initials of Peugeot Sport Engineering can only be found on a single road car at present (the 508 PSE) and sadly the division won’t be laying its hands on the 208 anytime soon, if ever, so there’s no confusing our GT with its hot hatch relatives of old. However, that didn’t stop deputy editor James Taylor from venturing onto Bedford Autodrome’s South West Circuit during one of our recent evo trackdays to find out how it fares on the limit. The…

READ THROUGH THE SPEC SHEET OF THE TWINGO 133 AND you might wonder if it’s deserving of the Renault Sport moniker at all. Its 1.6-litre four-pot generates a modest 131bhp and 118lb ft of torque, it covers 0-62mph in a leisurely 8.7 seconds and there are no fancy dampers or extensive weight-saving measures. Instead, however, the 133 is an example of how expert engineering can turn a basic supermini into a highly entertaining, affordable driver’s car that is permeated with true Renault Sport DNA. The 133 was launched as the entry point to the Renault Sport line-up in 2008, designed to attract younger buyers who would subsequently trade up to a Clio 197 or Mégane RS. It cost just £11,550 (around £18k in today’s money) and packed a host of…

HOW APPROPRIATE FOR A CAR THAT includes a variant called ‘Folgore’ (‘Lightning’ in Italian) in its line-up that giant forks of the stuff are straddling the road ahead. It’s almost as if Maserati has a direct line to the big man upstairs. Then again, giant hailstones are clattering against the fabric roof as well, and then turn to a deluge of water so heavy that to top 15mph feels reckless. Possibly not the environment the Italian firm had in mind when they chose to launch the new GranCabrio Trofeo around the Italian Lakes. Still, if nothing else it’s a stern test of the canvas above my head and one that it passes with ease: there are no puddles forming inside, as you would expect of a £169,585 convertible, and it…

TO SAY THAT McLAREN’S ARTURA HAD a troubled birth would be something of an understatement. Delayed media drives, when they did take place, ended in failed HVAC systems, split oil-lines and fires. This naturally resulted in delayed deliveries of customer cars, which in turn meant the P&L statement took a hit. Despite this, 2000 Artura coupes have been delivered since the end of 2022 – and now they are effectively obsolete. Sorry existing Artura owners, but McLaren’s ‘facelifted’ Artura, which now includes the open-top Spider variant, is such a comprehensive makeover delivering such strong results in terms of how it drives that if you stepped from the original to the new you’d be forgiven for thinking they were two different cars. It’s nearly on a par with when Porsche claimed…

IF YOU BUY AN MG CYBERSTER, prepare for every journey to take a little longer than usual. Not because the Cyberster is slow (it’s anything but), but because people will stop you to talk about it. Everywhere. All the time. Parked up in a layby during our test, bikers ride past at walking pace to drink in the new electric roadster, and drivers squeeze their cars in behind it for a good look around and a chat. ‘Is it a Lamborghini?’ asks one, presumably because the MG’s scissor doors are hanging in the air. Another wonders whether it costs £150,000, and his brain struggles to compute that you could almost buy three Cybersters for that amount. As a halo product to create a buzz around MG, it absolutely nails the…

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YOU WILL FIND NO FEWER THAN 813 CARS THAT WERE homologated for Group A use within the FIA’s Historic Database, and among them some real surprises. The Hyundai Pony is a bit of an eyebrow-raiser, and India’s Hindustan Ambassador even more so. And despite knowing it’s there, you’ll search in vain for an Impreza… until you realise it’s listed under Fuji, Subaru’s parent company. Then you scroll to Ford, and one car immediately stands out. Whale-tailed, with a ground-scraping splitter, prominent air intakes, a vented bonnet and mesh wheels, the Sierra Cosworth cuts an entirely different form to the prosaic, unadorned shapes used by most manufacturers to ensure their cars were approved for use in sanctioned motorsport. That is, of course, because the Sierra Cosworth was not simply approved for…

DISCUSS GT CARS IN THE EVO OFFICE and it’s guaranteed that within the first 60 seconds someone will say, ‘Of course, today the real grand tourers are SUVs.’ So why then, with our new BMW X6 M long-termer parked outside my house and a big drive through France on the cards, did I seek out the key to our Octavia vRS instead? Fuel economy? Partly. Over 650 miles each way at twin-turbo-V8 mpg is not a thought you’d want to dwell on for too long, but I might have attempted to ignore the resultant numbers had said powertrain been fitted to something more likely to earn stares of admiration rather than glares of condemnation. But a ginormous, rumbling, bright-red SUV is just conspicuous in all the wrong ways. Whereas our…

AND AS ONE TORONTO RED BMW LONG-termer arrives (see page 110), another must depart… Our G87 M2 joined the evo fleet in January 2024 with 6066 miles on the clock. Spec-wise it had the manual gearbox (a £1200 option), a Comfort Package (£730 for keyless access, a heated steering wheel and a wireless charging tray) and the M Race Track Package (£9095 for M Carbon bucket seats, a top speed increase to 180mph and – should you buy your car from a BMW dealer rather than borrow it from the press office – a voucher for an M driver training experience). This took the price up to £76,855 from £65,830 basic. Looks-wise, I had no complaints, even after Dickie Meaden rather astutely suggested the car’s nose resembled one created for…

FOLLOWING UP THE R26.R WAS NEVER GOING TO BE EASY. Renault Sport’s first ultra-light two-seat Mégane was an instant icon, a hot hatch hall of famer that arguably hasn’t been bettered to this day. But the 275 Trophy-R that replaced it in 2014 was a great car too. So great, in fact, that we think it’d be rightly recognised as one of the best hot hatches of its generation if the world wasn’t still completely besotted with the R26.R. The recipe was typical Renault Sport, with a singular focus on reducing weight and cherry-picking upgraded components from the very best suppliers for ultimate track performance. All unnecessary frippery came under the knife to trim kilos, including 18kg of sound deadening, the air conditioning and the radio. The rear seats were…