Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2025 i Evo

THE FIRST THREE-CAR GARAGE conversation began when the fourth car was built. I’m not sure exactly when this was, or if it came with a man with a flag, but once there was a quartet of different vehicles to choose from, the three-car garage conundrum was born. The three-car garage conversation was pushed higher up the jobs list this month for a few reasons. Firstly, because Richard Porter made a column out of it (well, a four-car garage in his case). Secondly, because some internal comms required us all to name our perfect three-car garage. I managed to get around making this impossible decision by pretending I had three garages capable of storing three cars each. And thirdly, because our first evo Eras feature triggered an endless streak of deep…

‘THE ASTON MARTIN VANTAGE IS THE product to kill 911s.’ That’s a bold statement for 8 o’clock on a Thursday morning, but bold is what Aston Martin wants to be; needs to be if it is to implement and deliver on CEO Adrian Hallmark’s new strategy. Adding the Roadster to the Vantage line-up certainly broadens the model’s appeal and adds to a range that Hallmark has plans to expand further, with trimline derivatives à la 911. Although not to the same extent: where Porsche thinks nothing of offering 20-plus 911 derivatives across three body styles, Aston is sticking with two bodies and three trim lines, for now. The VH Vantage has lived in the 911’s shadow since the first Gaydon-era small Aston arrived on the eve of Porsche’s updated 997-generation…

THE LAST THING YOU EXPECT WHEN you’ve just sealed a world title is to be looking for work. But that’s the position André Lotterer found himself in as the 2024 World Endurance Championship drew to a close in Bahrain, the German sealing the drivers’ trophy alongside Kévin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor. ‘It’s the dream of a lot of drivers to race a Porsche,’ says Lotterer today, ‘but you want to be successful too. When that finally happened, the team changed their approach. They told me in the middle of the year that they weren’t sure if we would continue, that it was the end of my contract and they wanted to reduce the driver pool. They offered for me to stay in GT and do ambassador stuff, but that didn’t…

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‘KINELL!’ I EXCLAIM, AS THE 3-LITRE V6 KICKS AGAIN, perfectly judged gearing keeping it in the VTEC zone, the smooth, rev-hungry V6 continuing to thump the NSX down the road with a force that seems far in excess of the quoted 270bhp. Yes, old cars are much lighter – the NSX weighs around 1400kg – but this engine is making light of even that. And the acceleration doesn’t seem to be waning as it goes up through the gears, hence the involuntary expletive. It’s been many years since I drove a standard NSX and I recall it was a great engine, but this is something else; it feels feistier than any NSX-R I’ve driven. This 1995 car has covered fewer than 18,000 miles and has just had a new clutch…

FOR AS LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER I’VE always been a hand-luggage-only sort of traveller. Sometimes it’s not possible, but I’ve managed some decently long stretches surviving with what I can carry onto a flight. I like to travel light. Or at least as light as possible. As such, a roof box hadn’t entered my life until this year and a last-minute decision to drive to Switzerland over half-term. To be honest I could have left the planks at home and just rented, but I love my skis (Elan Ripstick 96s in case you’re interested – light, nimble, an absolute joy. Albeit with an embarrassingly ’90s MTB sort of name). Plus, I knew the children would insist that they wouldn’t sleep without the largest teddy bear they could find and…

THERE WAS A STORY AT SCHOOL THAT someone had once snuck into the deputy headmaster’s office while he was at lunch and rearranged his furniture. Just enough to be unsettling. Didn’t pinch anything, just moved a table a few inches here, angled a lamp a few degrees higher there, switched some books around on the shelves. I imagine the expression the DH must have worn on re-entering his study after masticating a baked potato and some jam roly-poly was probably quite similar to the one on my face after getting into the Alan Mann 68 Edition for the first time. I’m fairly familiar with Escorts (yes, I still own my Mk2, and no, it’s sadly not in danger of seeing a rally stage any time soon) but while much of…

YOU CAN’T MISS THE MINI JCW. EVEN ON a day when there’s a BMW M5, Boxster GTS, Audi RS6 and other big-ticket performance cars in the evo car park, the dinky, Chili Red, racing-striped John Cooper Works holds your attention, staring back at you with its bug-eyed headlights and wide-mouthed expression. It looks chirpy and fun sitting still, and comes with a real sense of anticipation behind it. That’s because fast superminis on the whole are dying out, and this could be the swansong for hot petrol Minis, with the brand pivoting towards an all-electric line-up in the coming years. Unless there’s a new GP waiting in the wings, we could be looking at the final flourish for fast Minis as we’ve always known them, before focus completely shifts towards…

GROUP A. GROUP B. GROUP C… WAS A DECADE ever blessed with a more evocative regulatory roll-call? Whether you fell in love with showroom-based homologation heroes, fire-spitting all-wheel-drive monsters or high-downforce prototypes, the ’80s were a riot of spectacular cars and vibrant racing. Colourful liveries – often advertising tobacco or alcohol products – made the grids even more spectacular, as did the generous marketing budgets that paid for them. Such was the impact of those sponsors that many fans fortunate enough to enjoy watching them in period still refer to the Rothmans Porsches and Silk Cut Jags at Le Mans, or the Marlboro McLarens and Gitanes Ligiers in F1. Likewise, the Martini-liveried Lancia 037s and S4s that ruled Group B, immediately followed by the Delta Integrales that came to dominate…

‘YOU HAVE TO BRAKE A LITTLE EARLIER FOR THIS FIRST bend. Use a dab of the brakes to get the weight transfer over the nose before you turn in. Then flow it through before this quick direction change, hard on the brakes for the hairpin and keep it nice and clean on the exit to maximise your speed along the straight.’ The running commentary inside the Vantage as it howls around Aston Martin’s Silverstone test track is coming not from former factory driver Darren Turner, nor current hotshot Harry Tincknell. And Fernando and Lance are still on the other side of the world. No, it’s coming from Adrian Hallmark, sometime Radical racer, soon-to-be pilot, qualified engineer and the man Lawrence Stroll has appointed as his fourth CEO to finally get…

THE DUSTER HAS ALWAYS BEEN ONE OF OUR WEIRD crushes. No, it’s not an obvious evo car, but much like the Skoda Yeti, it occupies a space that sits adjacent to the faster, fiercer and fancier cars we devote most of our attention to. Affordability has long been central to Dacia’s appeal, but being cheap is no guarantee of being good. Where the Duster has always scored is its authenticity, which when combined with an unpretentious but brilliantly functional design makes for an everyday car with a genuinely appealing personality. This new-generation Duster – the third since the model’s introduction back in 2010 – moves the game on considerably, both for its more striking design and a hybrid powertrain. This is the 128bhp, 170lb ft Extreme TCe 130 4x4, which…

YOU MIGHT REMEMBER FROM LAST month’s report that the Boxster has had a temporary stay at Porsche Hospital, convalescing from being bumped into in traffic. Happily, the patient has made good progress and, neatly, a matter of hours before typing this, it’s arrived back home at evo Towers. In the meantime, another Porsche has been filling in as a temporary replacement: a Guards Red 911 Carrera. Since the Carrera is the base model, it’s something of a shock to check its price and see £103,700. There’s no longer a 911 that dips below the six-figure barrier. Our 718 GTS 4.0’s £77,300 price is mildly alarming for a Boxster too, but £26,400 is a pretty big jump to the bottom rung on the 911 ladder. What does that rung comprise? In…

BEFORE IT ARRIVED ON THE EVO FLEET, MY gut feeling was that the Z4 M40i would be a nice way to get around: smooth six-cylinder engine, manual gearbox, well-equipped cabin, enjoyable with the roof down when the weather was favourable – that sort of thing. A car you’d enjoy using every day, but perhaps not one you’d be looking for excuses to drive in between those journeys you already had to make. I’m pleased to say I was wrong. The Z4 had been around just a handful of days before I found myself wanting to drive it simply to drive it, to experience more of what it was like. And that craving never went away. The weekend before the Z4 returned to BMW, I kept a day clear simply to…

RIGHT NOW THE CARRERA T IS THE ONLY mainstream 911 you can buy with a manual gearbox, and Porsche clearly wants everyone to know. Before you’ve even climbed inside you’ll notice the Alibaba-special H-pattern decals on the quarter windows, and once you’ve slid behind the small-diameter, thin-rimmed steering wheel you’ll spot a laminated walnut gearknob sitting proudly between the seats, above an ‘MT’ badge on the centre console. There’s another H-pattern sticker on the dash in case, for some reason, you needed further confirmation that this is in fact a three-pedal 911. None of this is as cringeworthy as the S/T’s ‘Icons of Cool’ exterior puddle lights, but it’s still a bit try-hard. Ignore the distractions, though, because beneath the tinsel the Carrera T is fundamentally a brilliant, involving sports…

HERE’S A NOVEL THOUGHT. DOES IT actually matter what the Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale is like to drive? Only 33 cars will be built, and despite being priced at around 1.7millioneuros (before taxes), the production the run is sold out. It doesn’t really exist in the ‘normal’ car universe; it’s a machine launched into the weird, extraordinary orbit of the ultra-wealthy. Perhaps some owners will drive their 33 Stradales far and wide, but it would be understandable (and unsurprising) understandable unsurprising) if the cars spend spend much of their time tucked away in secure, climate-controlled storage. And perhaps the fact that a brand-new Alfa Romeo supercar exists, in 2025, is special special enough. If it’s merely okay to drive, that would be, well, okay, wouldn’t it? Because, look at it. Under…

WHAT IS A GT? FOUR HOURS AFTER SETTING OFF, I think I’ve got a pretty good idea, and it’s Bentley Continental GT Speed-shaped. More than 220 miles have passed beneath its huge wheels, occasionally very quickly, yet getting out I feel as fresh as when I slipped in. The ability to cover vast distances effortlessly is the hallmark of a true GT and from the moment you swing open the door, the Bentley promises that. The light grey and red ‘Hotspur’ contrast trim might not be the colours I’d choose, but you’re greeted by a reassuring plushness, deep carpet underfoot and soft suede welcoming you into the seat. Gently pull the door to – a motor finishes the job – and then there’s a slightly surreal quietness, the bustle of…

IN THE 1985 JOHN HUGHES FILM Weird Science, two teenage misfits use a supercomputer to create their ideal woman. Different times, ask your dad, etc. Fast-forward 40 years, and if you asked that same machine to spit out a car for where I am in life right now, I wouldn’t be surprised if the result looked a lot like the Skoda Octavia vRS. Perhaps I should clarify that I’m saying this as a middle-aged man with two nearly grown-up kids and a modest household income. If money were no object, I’d be opting for a Porsche 911 S/T, thank you very much. But let me explain why the Skoda wins in the real world. Size matters. Not too big, not too small. I need a car that’s practical enough to…

AFTER WINTER’S SNOW FLURRIES AND sub-zero overnight temps, it’s been fun to finally experience the Defender in better conditions. That probably sounds perverse given Land Rover’s all-weather reputation, but the stubby 90 V8 is a car that feels up for being hustled. This could have something to do with my tendency to use it with the rear seats folded down. As I mentioned in my last report, the boot is such an awkward shape and size that, unless you’re doing a light food shop, whatever it is you need to stuff in there won’t fit. I’m not sure there’s much call for my improvised 2.5-ton two-seater V8 all-wheel-drive three-door hot hatch, but it works for me. The ride is a bit choppy – blame the short(ish) wheelbase for that –…