Archive

All 311 articles posted since 2013, sorted into 17 categories and tagged with a combination of 366 unique keywords.

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All articles filed under review

Porsche's analogue renaissance

Jack Rix for Top Gear reviews the two newest members of the ever increasing Porsche 911 family - the 911 GT3 Touring and Carrera T - on the twisting roads of the Alpes-Maritimes.

Both models feature a rare thing in today’s crowded supercar market: manual gearboxes.

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Audi RS2 Twenty Years On

evo take a nostalgic drive around the Peak District in a pristine example of Audi’s RS2 Avant, a Porsche-engineered weapon from 1994.

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ICON Derelict 1967 VW Bus

ICON’s Jonathan Ward profiles a VW Bus they’ve brought bang up to date, while still keeping it looking completely in period.

The whole point of a derelict is to blend in and have a good time. To enjoy life. Not only are we working to further enable the user by reengineering the vehicle to have more modern functionality and enhanced utility, we also sort of trying to create a moment in time, a safe zone. If you have a modern luxury car there are so many preconceived notions today. Everything things: he’s a this or he’s a that or she’s all about the money. You just get beyond all that noise, all that nonsense. If anyone even notices this bus, they’re going to smile. They’re going to get positive vibrations, thumbs up, good feelings.

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Chris Harris drives a very yellow Bugatti EB110 SS

Another cracking video from Mr Harris, this time behind the wheel of one of our all time favourite supercars: the Bugatti EB110 SuperSport.

The Bugatti EB110 was one of the three great supercars of the 1990s. Romano Artioli’s dream took four years to create, but the result was a compact, all-wheel drive machine with huge performance. But six months later Bugatti announced a faster ‘110, the SuperSport…

A very very special car. One of the only 30 or so SuperSports from the already tiny total EB110 factory run of around about 130 cars.

As you’ll gather from the video, this particular example is being auctioned by RM Sotherby’s at their upcoming 7 September event in London.

Bidding range estimate £600,000- £770,000.

UPDATE: Sold for £560,000 (source)

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Chris Harris Does the Aston Martin Vantage GT12

11 minutes of road and (wet) track impressions of AM’s latest iteration of their V12 Vantage, this one a stripped out wide-bodied and bewinged 600 hp race car for the road.

I think Chris Harris likes it:

Normally aspirated V12. I don’t care what you do with turbochargers. You can make them very very impressive, you can make them very very fast, but the raw simplicity and—for want of a better word—emotion of this engine… And this is such a powerhouse this thing, that it will marmalise even 325-section rears. That has to be a good thing.

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evo Does the Ferrari 488 GTB

evo’s Jethro Bovingdon reacquaints himself with Ferrari’s benchmark 458 Speciale and F40 before heading to Italy to take a first taste of the new twin-turbo 488 GTB.

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Autocar Does the Ferrari 488 GTB

Another take on the Ferrari 488 GTB, this time with Autocar’s Matt Prior.

Similar drill: give it a good belting around Fiorano, then punch it sideways out of every decent hairpin bend in the hills above Modena.

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Chris Harris Does the Ferrari 488 GTB

Spend 18 minutes with Chris Harris as he wrings the neck of Ferrari’s new twin-turbo 670 hp 488 GTB on track at Fiorano and then on the road up in the hills around Modena.

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Chris Harris vs. Porsche 991 GT3 RS

4 litres, 500hp, and a lot of wing.

Yes, that rear wing. Have your seen the rear wing? Have your seen the rear wing on this car?!?!?

Chris Harris gets behind the wheel of the much anticipated next iteration of the venerable Porsche 911 GT3 RS.

I think he likes it.

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Chris Harris drives the new McLaren 675LT

An all too brief jaunt around Silverstone behind the wheel of the new McLaren 675LT, LT for ‘Longtail’.

Think of it as McLaren’s 458 Speciale to the 458 version of their 650S; only 500 made, all sold; more aero; wider track, lower suspension; upwards of 100kg weight savings (down to a dry-weight of just 1,230kg) thanks to plastic rear window, titanium exhaust, lightweight suspension components and more; faster steering ratio; trick Pirelli P Zero Trofeo tyres; plus that extra 25bhp from an engine that shares only 50% of the components from its 650S brethren.

What does he think?

Dare I say it, it just feels like a slightly baby P1.

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An all-terrain buggy for the road or a sports car you can take offroad

Henry Catchpole for evo magazine scoops a first drive of one of the most intriguing cars released this year, the Ariel Nomad.

You have to get used to the car rolling around and moving on the suspension.

As you go into a corner and turn in can feel a little odd because you’ve got all that lean on the front suspension to cope with, as well as trying to get the all-terrain tyres to turn in.

But when you’re used to it, it’s just brilliant fun. The feeling as the car moves around and watching the weight balance… It’s a totally different sort of sports car.

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McLaren F1 — The details

Gold foil this, titanium that, Lotus Elan indicators, tail lights from a bus, and Gordon Murray’s favourite bracket. evo’s Henry Catchpole sweats the details of the McLaren F1.

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McLaren F1 vs McLaren P1

evo’s Henry Catchpole pitches the classic McLaren F1 against its modern P1 iteration along the mighty D2 in the Var region of southeastern France.

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BMW does it again - 10 million Americans won't even know

To my way of thinking, the 2002 is one of modern civilization’s all-time best ways to get somewhere sitting down. It grabs you. You sit in magnificently-adjustable seats with great, tall windows all around you. You are comfortable and you can see in every direction. You start it. Willing and un-lumpy is how it feels. No rough idle, no zappy noises to indicate that the task you propose might be anything more than child’s play for all those 114 Bavarian superhorses.

Car & Driver magazine reminds us of one of the greatest pieces of automotive prose ever written, a review of the BMW 2002 by David E. Davis, Jr. published in April 1968.

C&D also released a PDF reprint of the article.

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Frontline MGB Abingdon Edition

Take one brand new, then seam-welded MGB body shell and add a properly tuned MX-5 heart (stroked to 2.5l, billet and forged internals, serious 50mm ITBs) and six-speed (‘snik-snik’) MX-5 gearbox.

Best part is that they’ve kept enough original bits to keep it UK homologated and registrable as a 1964-model.

304hp, 248lb ft and a 7,600rpm redline against a mere 897kg. 0-62mph in around 3.8 seconds.

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McLaren F1 vs analogue rivals

evo magazine pits the iconic McLaren F1 against its contemporary and more modern ‘analogue’ supercar rivals.

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Autocar does LaFerrari

Steve Sutcliffe takes Ferrari’s new hypercar for a blat around Fiorano.

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evo does LaFerrari

Richard Meaden tests the LaFerrari in the hills above Maranello before getting serious around the Fiorano test track.

(Read evo’s review here.)

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McLaren P1 Test. Director’s Commentary

The full version of Chris Harris’s interview with McLaren Chief Test Driver, Chris Goodwin.

All 28 minutes of it, snippets of which you would have heard in Harris’s earlier review of said P1 XP7.

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The McLaren P1 Test. On Road and Track

Yes it’s another Chris Harris video. Yes, we’ve been posting lots of these. How could we possibly go past one of the first drives of the much anticipated McLaren P1 (XP7 in this case), especially with Harris behind the wheel, let loose on the roads of Abu Dhabi, and off the leash around the Yas Marina GP circuit.

Includes some fantastic insight into the development and capabilities of this new breed of supercar from McLaren Chief Test Driver, Chris Goodwin.

A whole new thing.

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The Porsche 911 By Singer Vehicle Design: An Exercise In Extravagance

Brian Makse for Autonet.ca:

“A 911 that comes through Singer’s shop isn’t just restored or modified, it becomes a creative exercise where the car is completely rethought - honed like a hand-crafted blade - into a Porsche that trancends the notion of an automobile, and into a work of art.”

A review of their RHD “Indonesia” car this time around.

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Mercedes-Benz E63 wagon vs. ICON Derelict

Can’t get enough of ICON’s work.

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evo vs. Porsche 911 GT3

evo’s comprehensive video review of Porsche’s new 991-generation 911 GT3.

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Mercedes A45 AMG vs BMW M135i on Road and Track

Much anticipated match-up between two new premium hot hatches, care of Chris Harris for /DRIVE.

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Porsche 959 - You cannot do it alone

eGarage feature a 959 originally built for the late Helmuth Bott, former director of Porsche’s research and development division. One of six prototypes built.

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1,000 miles in a Bugatti Veyron Gran Sport Vitesse

evo magazine’s Harry Metcalfe reports on driving a Bugatti Veyron Gran Sport Vitesse in support of the Mille Miglia.

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Chris Harris scoops an early drive of the Porsche 991 GT3

Chris Harris:

“It’s incredible the calibration work they’ve done, the chassis is a massive step on. We’ve got a wider front track… The car just turns so much better than the 997 version.”

1,400kg, electric power steering and PDK only, more than made whole by that 9,000rpm redline, recalibrated steering software and bespoke front-axle tweaks.

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Formula Ford EcoBoost. Street Legal Racer on Road and Nürburgring

Chris Harris:

“This car is completely road legal. It has indicators, fog lights, even an electric handbrake. And it also has a laminated letter from the Ford Motor Company explaining as much, wedged down inside the chassis - just in case you get stopped by the Polizei.”

That laminated letter sure must come in handy.

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