RUSH 002

WIN

Welcome back

It’s been a while, sorry about that. I’ve no doubt Covid has had an impact on everybody’s lives, and being a small team, that’s had a knock-on effect. I hope all our readers are safe & well in these crazy times, in the meantime I extend my best wishes to everyone’s family & friends.

The feedback we have received for our little project has been utterly over whelming - it gives us great pleasure to know we’ve managed to supply some much needed escapism to so many people and it spurs us on to do even better. To all of you that have viewed, shared or written in, an absolutely huge thank you, it truly makes the long nights worthwhile. We’ve taken on board your input and I’m pleased to announce the incorporation of several changes. Being digital, RUSH is a fluid concept – your thoughts are vital to a better readership experience so please keep them coming, the community is a big part of what we do.

One such change is Buying Power, a regular guide featuring some of the smartest ‘buy now & sell for more twelve months later’ guilt free motoring invest ments – first up is the Honda S2000. I’m also pleased to announce John Bee and Chris Tsoi have come on board as new writers. Their flair for the written word and strong opinions will give us some much needed strength in depth. Last but not least is a new superstar snapper. He goes by the name of Andew Ambrose from Justy Media. He debuts alongside John in a trip to the Peak District’s Cat & Fiddle pass in a Mazda MX-5 to ponder the future of driving for pleasure with Big Brother watching.

Because of Covid, we haven’t been able to deliver a special group test or justify an expansive road trip story for this edition. Instead we’ve decided to double down on the individual car reviews and promise to make it up to you down the line. One thing we’d love to do is involve more cars from the late 80’s & early 90’s, so if you are in possession of the keys to something interesting I once again urge you to get in touch. You can reach us at contact@rushmagazine.co.uk.

I’m also overjoyed to unveil Fast Club – an eclectic fleet of cars from our ex tended network that promises to hold no punches on the reality and running costs of some of our favourite drivers’ cars. We have big plans for the future and I hope you continue to keep us company for the journey.

Craig, founder

SUBARU IMPREZA P1

Road going rally car royalty doesn’t get much better than a classic Impreza turbo. Is the Prodrive fettled P1 the King of Kings?

RENAULT CLIO 182 TROPHY

Renault’s hot hatch maestro’s have given us some of the finest examples of the breed over the years, but the 182 Trophy might just top the lot

THE CULT OF GRAN TURISMO

If it wasn’t for a certain computer gam ing franchise Kotto Williams’ life might have turned out very different. And we suspect he’s not alone

MINI JOHN COOPER WORKS GP

The Mini GP broke new ground with its feisty 218bhp and absent rear seats. But the game has moved on. Can the pioneer still thrill in 2021?

COLUMN TORQUE

Craig takes a trip down memory lane, meanwhile Kotto bemoans the Subaru & Mitsubishi ‘merger’, and new boys Johnathon and Steve ponder an increasingly electronic and electrified future

COVER STORY – BMW M3 CSL

Getting to grips with Munich’s master piece – the last M Division production to truly give Porsche’s GT department sleepless nights

MK1 MAZDA MX-5

Newcomer John Bee ponders the future of driving for pleasure with Big Brother watching, by taking the delicate Japanese roadster along the camera riddled Cat & Fiddle Pass

THE ART OF SPEED

Lee Walton dissects the evolution of fast car design in the post WWII era, from rockets to wedges to cyberpunk

BUYING POWER: HONDA S2000

Prices for the scalpel sharp S2000 are currently spiking. In the first of a new series, find out why the special Honda

one of the smartest money sports

FAST CLUB

Introducing the RUSH fleet, an eclectic mix of performance cars, certifiable in sanity and hidden credit card receipts

SHORT SHIFT

The Lotus Emira - finally the car to realise the brands potential, or yet another false dawn?

Road Rant - Al ponders what sort of enthusiast build a fake Ferrari Lap of the Gods - Tony Pond sets the four wheeled Isle of Man lap record Bull Storm - the special Torino that took on the Nürburgring Virtual Reality - the 1995 Audi TT concept car

RUSH RADAR

We have a unique take on rating the cars we drive, as we feel a simple overall score no longer cuts the mustard. The aim of the radar is to give you a clear visual image of the key assets that matter to driving and owning a particular performance car - because after all a car can star in more ways than one. All marks are awarded on a scale of ten and are logged relative to the intended purpose of a vehicle and it’s direct competition

STEERING ACCURACY & FEEDBACK

ENGINE, GEARBOX, THROTTLE RESPONSE, NOISE & POWER DELIVERY

OVERALL PERFORMANCE & ACCELERATION

RUNNING COSTS, POTENTIAL PITFALS, VALUE FOR MONEY

CHASSIS & HANDLING BALANCE, TURN IN, SMILE FACTOR

DAMPING PRECISION & RIDE QUALITY

RUSH 002 has been created in Adobe InDesign and is hosted by ISSUU. All views within belong solely to the authors and do not wholly represent RUSH.

The magazine is non-profit and exists as a medium to display our passion and hobby for cars and writing. Any copy write infringement is wholly uninten tional and the team would be grateful to correct any errors.

All images and words submitted to RUSH remain the property of Zero Two Sixty publishing and the authors.

No content from the magazine may be reproduced or modified without express written permission from the editor. Articles are available for license. We would be overjoyed for you to share the magazine, we only ask to be credited.

Thank you

benign dictator

CRAIG TOONE writers

KOTTO WILLIAMS JOHN BEE principal photographers

ANDREW AMBROSE BEN MIDLANE

JAKE THOMAS design

CRAIG TOONE & ANDREW AMBROSE road test assistants

CHRIS TSOI, RICHARD POWELL

CONTRIBUTORS

Lee Walton, Warren Green, Tim Dunlop, Matt Hardwick, George Smith, Mike Rainbird, Jonathan Benjamin, Jethro Noble, Simon Howarth, Finlay Ringer, Michael Greenfield Raban

SPECIAL THANKS TO Alison Yeow

Justy Media Design

ADVERTISING

EDITORIAL

SONIC

SONIC BOOM

The P1 was created with a singular goal - to become the best Impreza road car ever. Chris Tsoi finds out if Subaru and Prodrive succeeded

Photography by Andrew @ Justy_Media

Remember the days when the colour of a car used to grab your attention? You’d only need a fleeting glimpse but it would be enough for the inner database to run a quick search, immedi ately downloading the answer. A Scarlet Rossa Corsa Ferrari. A British Racing Green Jaguar. A championship White Hon da Type-R, A Guards Red 911, a Purple TVR or Papaya Orange McLaren. Each shade has meaning, stirring a range of emotions, pulling at the heartstrings of anyone with octane in their veins.

Now the motoring landscape is a sea of silver and greys, or sil ver-grey. Even a modern Ferrari looks best in dark Tour de France Blue. Where has the imagination gone? Lost in a tidal wave of PCP resale fear? It’s a sad time indeed when the torchbearer for a creative palette is the Fiat 500 city car slash motoring handbag.

Sure, the odd Lamborghini slips through the net, but little else. Making my way across the West Pennine Moors towards to day’s photoshoot location, it only takes a split second flash of Sonic Blue before the database nearly crashes with the weight of expectation. It’s a famous Subaru metallic so charged with energy it positively leaps out against the backdrop of dark green and browns, like I’ve just donned some 3-D glasses in an IMAX cinema. Hairs stand up on my arms and I can feel myself getting giddy. Suddenly I’m transported to a time when ‘race on Sunday, sell on Monday’ still had creedence. One of Colin McRae, Richard Burns and Tommy Makkinen that led to a per fect storm of four wheel drifts and grey imports. One of street fights with Mitsubishi Evo’s and savaging anything this side of

a 911 Turbo from point A to point B. It was a no holds barred, bare knuckle dust up with no quarter given or asked for. Mit subishi spat out another Evolution, Subaru responded with a new wing and some intercooler spray. The fact that both were limited by the gentleman’s agreement between Japanese manu facturers restricting maximum power to 276bhp meant all the effort went into the chassis, and how we reaped the rewards.

The standard 214bhp Impreza Turbo had already established itself as a legend in its own lifetime in the UK, and special edi tions like the Terzo, Catalunya and later RB5 added 237bhp star dust with the performance pack. But over in the land of the ris ing sun was a treasure chest of high boost, big wing specials with tightened gears ratios and strengthened, two door bodyshells.

People always want what they can’t have, and the specialist im porters were only too happy to oblige. Subaru UK dangled a car rot in the form of the 22B, but only brought a meagre 16 to blighty, and the consensus suggested it was too stiff for our roads any way. Eyeing up a bigger slice of the pie, Subaru drafted in Prod rive - the Banbury based concern behind Subaru’s multiple WRC championships and the RB5 - and tasked them with producing the ultimate homegrown Impreza with a JDM matching output.

The resulting P1 might lack the finishing iconic touch of gold alloy wheels, but it still rocks every square inch of its WRC ped igree. Pulling into the designated car park meeting spot pleas antries are in order but my mind is distracted, absorbing the endless motorsport details. There’s a brutalist appeal to the P1

- bollocks to the form, all praise the function. Peter Ste vens of McLaren F1 fame may have been drafted in to style the P1, but ultimately he spent his time minutely refining the aerodynamics - the P1 requires three horse power less to hit 100mph. You wonder how he did it with such a comical rear wing, jutting out from the boot lid like the Blackpool tower against the distant Lancashire skyline. It doesn’t even look like it should belong on a car of this size, yet somehow the deeper chin spoiler and fat arches manage to balance it out, visually lowering the car, despite the rally car ride height. Up front the eyes are drawn to the giant signature air scoop, whose sole pur pose is to feed the top mount intercooler with refreshing air. Either side sit a pair of bonnet louvres, which allow the 2.0 turbocharged engine to dissipate its vast heat. The highlights keep coming, from the branded mud flaps to the obligatory aftermarket drainpipe exhaust.

The mind fog is interrupted by owner Paul passing me his keys. I swing open the tinn-y door and dive straight into the Recaro, which feels modelled for the typical 68kg Japanese driver usually quoted as a ballast in the official kerb weight. I get the nod to start it up. Damn I’m excited. No sign of a stop start button, instead we have an old school immobiliser fob and the most basic of keys which could have easily been used in the 70’s. No need to depress the clutch, no silly driving modes to activate, no driver aids to deactivate. Twist the key and the box er four springs to life with a cough and a splutter, final ly settling into that famous laconic burble as it warms. You’d swear you can almost hear each individual cylinder labour to rotate, compress and fire, but the reality is of course the result of an unequal length exhaust manifold.

Being kind, the interior is a time capsule of late ‘90’s Japanese functionality. It has aged with all the subtlety of Mickey Rourke and has just as much plastic in its fas cia. There’s a sheen to every surface that would cause an Audi engineer sleepless nights. To many that’s all part of the charm, but when ambitious speculators are pushing prices for a respectable P1 to the expensive side of £50,000 it becomes a harder pill to swallow. You also sit closer to the windscreen than expected, with a steering wheel lacking rake and carrying a fraction too much diameter.

Easing my way out of the car park, I’m fighting the urge of the clutch to bunny hop us down the road. There’s patches of standing water loitering and even some mist descending to give me the Full Network Q fantasy. I’m feeling my way in, but it’s still a shock to the system how nothing happens until I hit 3.5k rpms and the tur bo springs to life, launching us down the road with real punch. It’s strong all the way to the 8,000rpm red line and the exhaust takes on a deeper and smoother tone as the revs rise. In my younger years I’d have probably been frus trated with those levels of turbo lag, but now it’s an enjoy able counter to instant gratification turbochargers, chal lenging you to keep it spooled up and in the sweet spot.

The gearbox has a good weight to it - it’s a little me chanical and notchy in feel but the shifts are short and it slots into each gear with precision allowing you to make

quick changes and keep the revs up. The pedals are nice ly spaced for those that like to heel-and-toe as you’d ex pect, but the brakes feel pretty wooden. In fairness, this is likely down to the fact the cars’ not seen many miles this past year having only been to the MOT station and body shop for a paint touch up. Even so, the one aspect of performance cars that cannot escape father time is braking ability, and the Scooby is no different. The Im preza doesn’t do too bad of a job shedding speed even if this ones wearing the standard stoppers - you can still modulate the brakes but you’re reacting to it, rather than feeling it through the pedal. Prodrive also chose to ditch the DCCD centre differential controller of the JDM cars as it came at the cost of ABS brakes - a must in any British winter. Subaru did offer an optional Alcon brake upgrade, alongside 18” alloys of the same OZ Racing de sign. They even - shock, horror - offered to trim the Re caro in leather and fit electric adjustment in exchange for money. Even the boot was re-trimmed in a thicker carpet in a futile attempt to increase sophistication. It was minor details like this that resulted in a 30kg weight penalty over the STI, with the P1 clocking 1,295kg. Time to step it up a notch, the car feeling so alive and ultra-planted. That natural confidence and encourage ment that flows from any classic Impreza to its driver is still very much alive and kicking. The conditions are improving too so I have no concerns finding its limits. I change up from second to third with a thud and I let the turbo do its work, exploiting the longer gearing fit ted to the P1 courtesy of a revised 4.444 final drive. The steering has excellent natural weight to it and you can really feel what the front end is doing with every input. Controversially, Prodrive chose to stick with the slower steering rack from the regular Impreza Turbo, but with hindsight it’s proven to be a wise decision. Doubling back towards a particular uphill hairpin that’s prov ing to be a favourite of mine and the P1’s, braking with the aid of gravity means it’s easier to modulate my en try speed and I tip it in, the nose pointy and faithful to my inputs. The rear just seems to follow wherever the front wants to go, it feels lively yet planted and gives no signs it’s going to let go. Mid corner you can really feel the car pivoting; it’s an act only the best of cars can match. The way it rotates around the driver’s seat with the front and rear in harmony is something to behold. There’s no hint of under or oversteer and as soon as the nose is in you can start applying the throttle allowing the diffs to do their work and sling shot you out of the bend.

The 205 section tyres are barely warmed over super mini spec these days but the level of adhesion generated is still bang up to date. It’s a recurring theme with the P1it just maximises every single component at its disposal. The dampers and springs feel perfectly matched, with any dip or camber dusted off as if it’s nothing. This is where

“THEREARJUSTSEEMSTOFOLLOWWHEREVERTHEFRONTWANTSTOGO,ITFEELS LIVELY YET PLANTED AND GIVES NO SIGNS IT’S GOING TO LET GO. MID CORNER YOU CAN REALLYFEELTHECARPIVOTING;IT’SANACTONLYTHEBESTOFCARSCANMATCH”

the experts at Prodrive really earned their money. Believing the front suspension of the STI was set up too firm, whilst the rear was too soft for European roads the P1 received a custom set up.

The result is the P1 performs witchcraft by filtering out all the harshness you don’t need, yet still possesses a magical abil ity to deliver all the essential feedback you require to push on. For example - you’ll have no doubt gathered by the pictures that the car likes to get its knee down during hard cornering, but from behind the wheel this doesn’t translate into sloppy body control. Everything happens with a wonderful progression, sig nalling the outer limits of the P1’s ability, encouraging you to nibble up to it - or back off when you’ve bitten off more than you can chew. The high degree of roll is intentional - Prodrive found

the STI spec roll bars too aggressive for UK tarmac and thus decided once again to stick with the standard UK Turbo items. Then there is the view out. The car feels narrow but the vis ta is in glorious widescreen thanks to the slim A pillars. The aforementioned position of the steering wheel means you sit slightly over it than conventional cars and your hands are quite wide at a 3 and 9 position where your palms rest. It means your weight is over the wheel and your face is closer to the wind screen than you’re used to. Yet it works - placing the P1 becomes a doddle and suddenly you’re exploiting roads that have you thinking twice in bloated, modern metal. No wonder McRae and co were so fast down those narrow rally stages. Even the grey cloth of the roof lining that contrasts so sharply with the

blue accented seats serves to add to the airy aura. It’s also mild ly perplexing that the mighty rear wing doesn’t even obstruct the two fingered salute of the person you’ve just overtaken.

In period, the P1 cleaned up - EVO magazine welcomed it with a fifteen car mega test against everything and everything available secondhand for its £31,500 list price, crowning it the champion before pitting it against a five times more ex pensive Ferrari 550 in a David v Goliath clash. Today, viewed as a pure weekend toy, the reception towards the P1 can vary depending upon who you ask. Hardcore devotee’s of the Subaru Technica International will soap box about the raw er nature of a JDM spec car and the premium attached to the P1, whilst supporters of the homegrown model prefer

it’s more polished nature. It’s a battle within the wider war.

Ultimately, that gentleman’s agreement that resulted in such chassis magic also proved to be the Impreza’s downfall. The Eu ropean power wars, advancements in tyre technology and slick dual clutch gearboxes saw hot hatchbacks supersede the Subaru as the fastest four wheeler down a backroad. Throw in badges that got the Jones’ curtains twitching and soft touch plastics with 20,000 mile service intervals and it was checkmate against the Impreza. Add a change of WRC regulations that favoured Citro en shopping trolleys, and even Prodrive couldn’t keep the party alive. But what counts is the P1 still offers one of the richest, most colourful driving experiences ever manufactured, and we ap plaud Subaru and Prodrive for giving us this machine to cherish.

READY PLAYER ONE

The original Mini GP broke new ground for hardcore hot hatches. Can the pioneer still cut it, or has the game moved on?

By Craig Toone | Photography by Ben Midlane

hat whine. I’ve consumed too much and now I’m driv ing under the influence of the supercharger, hanging onto the throttle that little bit longer and braking later, pushing the boundaries of mischief in the greatest of hot hatch traditions. The hyperactive chassis tucks into an other apex, the diff gently tugs at the wheel and the tyres squeal in duress but all that matters to me is topping up my glass with another dose of vintage Eaton M45. Anoth er straight, another opportunity, the dinner plate speedo fades into my peripheral vision and the sole rev counter mounted behind the wheel is where I take aim. It might as well be a dart board with a giant bullseye at the red line. Super, smashing, great.

The Mini GP could be considered a bit of a landmark car. Not necessarily in terms of iconic status, but because it drew a new line in the sand - given the current pleth ora of stripped out, track focused hot hatchbacks hop ping and skipping their way around the Green Hell, it’s hard to believe it arguably all started here. Sure, there had been fasting French hatches beforehand in the form of a Peugeot Rallye or Clio Cup, crucially none had gone to such extreme lengths as sacrificing the back seats in the pursuit of speed, and none of the Mini’s size pos sessed anything close to 218bhp. It opened the door for other manufacturers to take the basic recipe and throw in some chillies - without the GP, there might not have been the Megane R26.R or Golf GTI Clubsport S, every man cars that can take the fight to low slung supercars around any racetrack.

Yet despite the JCW badge adorning the rump of this spicy little Mini, Mr. Cooper & Co had little to do with the GP. It would be romantic to think the car was the product of a dedicated, after hours skunkworks team, but the re ality is BMW had pulled the plug on its oddball C1 roofed scooter manufactured by Bertone, leaving a contractual obligation to fulfil. A halo Mini was thrust into the void.

When the GP was introduced in 2006, the regular JCW was an optional extra, dealer fit conversion, but the GP was purchased as a complete car because for the first time its development had been completed in-house by parent company BMW. A donor car was taken off the Cowley production line and sent to the Italian coach builders for the conversion. Still, despite the smoke and mirrors badging the engineering team didn’t mince its words, talking up the GP as ‘a baby M car, maybe even a CSL’ at launch. A bold claim, with a bold CSL style hike in price – the GP was yours for £22,000, or the equivalent of £32,000 accounting for inflation. Even so, it didn’t stop all 492 examples offered to the UK market from finding

homes. Today you can pick up a tidy, 40,000 mile GP for around £14,000, and prices are on the rise.

Given the lack of rear seats, did the GP follow the now commonplace practice of less is more, for more? The modest hike in power of 8bhp, courtesy of a larger and faster acting top mount intercooler suggests this is the case. Mind you, nobody ever complained about the way a standard 210bhp John Cooper Works ever got down a straight in 2006. The intercooler sat on top of existing JCW package, which used good old fashioned tuning to make its numbers – a new air intake, revised supercharg er with Teflon rotors and a smaller, faster spinning pul ley for more boost, larger 380cc injectors, a ported and polished cylinder head and finally a cat back, stainless steel exhaust.

If the increase in power was modest, the bodykit cer tainly wasn’t - there’s little chance of you mistaking the GP for a cooking Cooper. At the time the in your face at titude of the GP attracted its fair share of detractors, but in the age of the Banzai turbocharged Civic Type R, those opinions have mellowed - on the way over to the Peak District the GP is attracting its fair share of thumbs ups and knowing nods. Yet the attention seeking front split ter, side skirts and rear wing only added similar, margin al gains in downforce, whilst the red mirror caps look like an afterthought without matching lipstick around the snout intake and fog lamps. The signature 18” four spoke alloys would have looked better with an extra pair of braces to these eyes, but at least they save 2kg a corner over the regular Cooper S or JCW offerings. Delve a little deeper and there are further weight saving measures in important places. More unsprung mass has been shaved from the suspension courtesy of bespoke, aluminium rear control arms with conical washers – an impressive 7.5kg per side lighter than those found on the production line and a serious & expensive trick usually reserved for the M division. These are mated to new springs which cut 10mm from the ride height and firmer dampers, al though the standard anti-roll bars remained in situ.

Inside there’s a bit of an identity crisis going on. Yes the rear seats no longer exist and the rear window wip er, mechanism, speakers and air con have all been jetti soned, but the Recaro bucket seats are trimmed in leath er, at odds with the track aesthetic. There are no slots for harnesses either, and can I spy plush carpets down in the footwell? The dashboard has received a lift in this car courtesy of the JCW carbon panels, which really should have been standard fit, but where is the paddock worthy alcantara clad steering wheel? Only the dials have changed into nomex, their dark grey background and unique font are a welcome addition. Otherwise, the ‘baby CSL’ schtick looks more like marketing stardust at this point.

That said, the GP is an undeniably fun place to spend time. The driving position is excellent - the seat is mount ed on the floor and the scuttle is high meaning there’s a definite feeling of sitting within the car. Throw in the funky toggle switches, rotary air vents, goodyear blimp indicator stalks and frameless windows and you could al most convince yourself you’re sat in a coupe. It’s unapolo getically retro, but penned by the Jetsons. Its a quality reflected in the tightness of the cabin build, which lacks

any of the slack Franco-Italian hatches are so fond of.

Despite such solidarity, at 1180kg the GP remains a feath erweight car by present standards, resulting in a competitive 182bhp/tonne and a traction limited 0-60 sprint of 6.3 secondsenough to make a current Fiesta ST owner think twice at the traf fic lights. Its 184 lb-ft. of torque at 4,600rpm is certainly down on modern metal, and whilst the SOHC 1.6 litre Tritec motor was al ready Jurassic technology when adopted by the Cooper in 2001, it keeps pulling right until the 7,150rpm limiter, underscored by that distinctive supercharger whine and unburnt fuel igniting down the exhaust like popping candy on the overrun. The GP simply doesn’t care for driver modes, it’s already in a high state of alert. One charge through the gears is enough to know the GP is the complete antidote to the modern copy & paste hot hatch

formula, it positively drips with character and purpose, and your grin will be as wide as the powerband.

The steering has that trademark Mini keenness and lightness - simply flick your wrists and you’re turned in, but there is pre cious little feedback from the chunky rim due to electro-hydrau lic assistance. Aside from that, there’s a real feeling of piloting a mechanical device to the GP that belies its retro-cute image. The gearbox in particular has a satisfying heft to its action that can’t be rushed, whilst the throttle and clutch pedals both offer levels of unexpected resistance. It’s quite the workout. Sadly, the achilles heel of the GP is the brakes, which despite being a four piston Brembo upgrade lack the aggression and pedal feel needed for B-road omnipotence. The GP does have a limited slip differential, however the linear delivery of the belt driven Eaton

‘charger means it acts more like a guiding hand than the pint in one hand and arm wrestling challenge to the other of some thing like a Focus RS. Its action works much better with the DSC deactivated - stability control coding was in its early days and this one unfortunately acts upon the whim of an overbearing conscience.

You can also detect the compromise of adopting early runflat technology for the OEM tyres in the suspension calibration. Why BMW chose to persist with granite reinforced sidewalls in such a focused machine when its M cars were free to equip as they pleased is a mystery, and something the company recti fied in the second generation GP. Whilst owner Imran has long since ditched the Dunlops, you can still feel the trade off in the damping, particularly in the choppy low speed ride quality. It’s

much less boisterous than a standard JCW however. In fact, the GP starts displaying a level of poise that’s most unexpected the harder you push, the benefits of the reduced unsprung mass and being lighter on its feet coming to the fore. The low seat ing position and lack of body roll adds to the feeling of agility, although despite the compact wheel at each extremity set-up, it’s in the solid state, high speed turns where the chassis truly excels. The sophisticated rear multi-link Z axle prioritises grip over slip - the GP remains glued to the surface no matter what - there isn’t the instant, up on its tiptoes adjustability of a Re naultsport Clio or EP3 Civic Type-R, but neither of them would see which way this Mini went.

It’s not perfect however. Whilst you wouldn’t exactly call it turbo lag, the supercharger exerts a certain amount of drag

Today’s hot hatches are certainly quicker when the chips are down, but are they as characterful as the original GP? We don’t think so

MINI JOHN COOPER WORKS GP

Engine 1,598cc supercharged I4, SOHC, 16v, max 7,250rpm

Output 215bhp @ 7,100rpm, 184lb.ft @ 4,600rpm Weight 1,090kg, bhp/tonne – 197, lb.ft/tonne - 169

Transmission - fwd, 6sp manual, Torsen LSD Performance - 0.60 - 6.3s, 1/4m 15.0 @ 98mph, max 149mph

loading onto the engine and throttle response in the low er rpm, whilst the heavy flywheel is reluctant to shed its hard earned momentum between gear changes. A lack of packaging space, a combination of iron block with an al uminium cylinder head, forced induction and a pre-cat in close proximity to the exhaust ports means the Chrys ler sourced engine tends to run hot. BMW compensated by over endowing the injector system and running a rich map – the additional fuel soothing the cylinder temps. But the side effect is the GP likes a drink and is in possession of a demon thirst that would convince Charlie Sheen to get back on the wagon. You’ll be hard pressed to average better than 26mpg driving with baby gloves. Driven hard you’ll be lucky to better fifteen to the gallon.

Get enough spin in the compressor though and you’ll happily indulge the Mini’s appetite. The GP does its best work in third, which stretches just shy of 100mph despite the six ratio’s. The ram air effect of the bonnet scoop seems to endow the engine with extra horsepower once into three point territory. It becomes difficult to imagine the car in the original brief – the Cooper S was set to get the 1.8L naturally aspirated Rover VVC. The Prospect of a VHPD John Cooper Works is food for thought, but the su percharger has already gotten under my skin and won me over. The Tritec does possess at least one similarity to the K-series however – its ability to get through head gaskets. That being said, you’re unlikely to find a more reliable first

gen BMW-Mini than a GP, last off the line status means all the niggles that plagued early cars have been eradicated. The bonus sixth ratio also puts a sock in the supercharger as I retrace my steps home, but any thoughts of distract ing Imran and hot footing it to the Nurburgring are sadly stymied - the thirsty consumption and miserable 40 litre tank means he’d catch me before I even boarded the ferry.

In the end, there’s a slight feeling of unfulfilled poten tial with the GP that’s hard to shake off. I can’t help but imagine the car with a tight ratio gearbox, sticky rubber, adjustable suspension, buttock clenching buckets and a half cage. Putting all the glamour of the unique look to one side, in pure handling terms I’m not convinced the GP offers something you can’t get from a regular JCW with a set of trick coilovers fitted for a third of the price. If a manufacturer is going to rip out the rear seats to shave tenths around Silverstone then they are committing the car down a certain path, a fate that’s sealed when the heavily debated rear strut brace is revealed to be purely cosmetic. Its non load bearing, not serving any purpose. It appears Mini themselves reached a similar conclusion too, because the GP2 that followed was far more focused, faster and much raw-er, if less characterful. So it fails the track brief, but thankfully we are left with a very sweet lit tle road car to come out to play on a sunny weekend, and I can’t help but plant the throttle one last time for another tasting of whine.

TROPHY

HUNTING

Renaultsport has given us some of the greatest hot hatches over the years, but the Clio 182 Trophy might just be their finest hour

By Craig Toone | Photography by Jake Thomas

he topic must come up at least once a month. It starts off innocently enough - a link is sent to a tempting example for sale and it takes all of sixty seconds before the flood gates open. Important, work related emails are shoved to the bottom of the queue as the merits of everything from abused Phase Ones to pristine, £20,000 182 Trophy’s are discussed. None are criticised, just prioritised.

Colours to the mast, we are huge fans of a Renaultsport Clio. I’ve had three. A black 172 I killed, a blue 182 that gave up the ghost, and my personal favourite - a 172 Cup that’s still alive & kicking. Alex had a 197 Cup that he still talks about in the manner of the long lost girlfriend that got away. Rich is still under the RS spell with his R26 Meg ane, but cut his teeth behind the wheel of another 182. We’re prepared to stick our neck out onto the chopping block and call it the greatest hot hatch of all time, such is our admiration and memories generated behind the wheel. Only newcomer John is the lone dissenter, banging the Type-R drum loud & proud. Given such affection, one can imagine that it took all of a nanosecond to pull rank when the offer came in to review a Trophy.

172bhp might not seem like a headline-grabbing figure anymore, but back in January 2000 shoehorning a 2.0 16v into a B segment supermini was considered a Ron Bur gundy level of big deal. At the turn of the century, the hot hatch market was in a state of flux - Peugeot had persisted with its excellent 306 Rallye and GTI-6, but crippling in surance premiums turned buyers towards more fashion able coupes. The nadir was best summed up by the 2.0 MkIV Golf GTI, which pumped out the same power as the 1975 original despite weighing about as much as a passing moon.

Many wondered if the computer Renault used to type the press release had caught a case of the millennium bug - the previous torch bearer for the demure hot hatch was the 106 Gti with all of 116bhp. With nearly fifty per cent more power, straight-line performance had just taken a giant Gallic leap forwards – the 172, with just 1030kg to carry, blitzed to 60mph in six-and-a-half seconds. A Ford Racing Puma, for all its cornering prowess, was left gasp ing for air. Only Honda’s 2001 introduction of the 197bhp Civic Type R, arguably from the class size above, could hold a candle to the rampant little Clio. By the time the lightweight 172 Cup came along in 2002, even the new Sub aru Impreza WRX Turbo came off second best in a sprint to 100mph, and the little French Bulldog only cost £12,995. It was impossible to go faster for less.

Reception for the Phase One was glowing, journalists praising its chassis and raw pace but singling out steering that just fell short of the lofty bar set by its predecessor, the Williams. The facelift Phase II introduced a more chis elled nose, but for many it’s the weakest link of the litter - the kerb weight spiralled as Renault upped the toy count, whilst expensive performance tweaks such as the alumin ium bonnet quietly disappeared. The lightweight, 15in OZ Racing alloy wheels also made way for a sober 16in design

of Renault origin that had more in common with the base 1.2L. In order to compensate for the added luxuries, Re naultsport was forced to shorten the final drive to bring the acceleration back up to par.

The 2002 Cup sought to recapture the lost edge by adopt ing Porsche’s Club Sport philosophy – ditching the mod cons, fitting thinner glass, stripping out the sound deaden ing and fancy seat material, and overhauling the suspen sion. In total, an impressive 89kg was cut from the kerb weight and consequently, the Cup scorched to 60mph in 6.2s in Autocar’s road test. Controversially, Dieppe also deleted the antilock braking system. Renaultsport’s justification for losing the assisted stoppers was serious track drivers would prefer a more natural-feeling middle pedal, a curious omis sion yet one that removes any doubts over the model’s in tentions. The track width was up 10mm courtesy of the new, utterly gorgeous 16in Speedline Turini alloy wheels whilst the geometry was tweaked and the spring rates stiffened. With its exclusive Mondial blue paint, additional front split ter and taller rear spoiler the Cup is a pent-up ball of energy, a rolling Sonic the Hedgehog of a car.

The 182 was Renault’s attempt at blending the aggression of the One and Cup with the relative refinement of the ‘full fat’. The extra 10bhp was liberated courtesy of a new 4-21 manifold, a freer-flowing catalytic converter and revised ECU calibration. Peak torque now arrived 250rpm sooner whilst the rear gained the now infamous protruding twin cannon exhaust. But it was the chassis that saw the big gest revisions. For the first time, buyers could specify the suspension setup from the Cup on a standard car and the Cup aero package was also available as an optional extra. A dedicated 182 Cup was introduced but it didn’t take its brief as seriously this time around - the WeightWatchers programme only cut 30kg from the weigh-in, thanks to the poverty spec trim and deletion of air con and Xenon’s. ABS remained this time around but so did the heavier regular alloy wheels, and the track width didn’t swell. A 182 with the Cup packages ticked thus became the sweet spot of the range, the best of both worlds.

Perhaps Renaultsport was keeping its powder dry for the Clio’s crowning glory, which came in 2005 with the introduc tion of the Trophy. A limited-edition model of just 500 for the UK market, with another 50 later produced for Switzerland, the Trophy upped the ante considerably. Taking the Cup as a starting point, Renaultsport fitted Recaro Trendline bucket seats and mounted them 10mm lower, whilst the racy Turini alloys reappeared, this time dipped in anthracite paint. The Clio V6 donated its rear spoiler whilst the side skirts carried trophy decals, and you could have your Trophy in any col our you liked so long as it was the exclusive Capsicum Red metallic.

The real gamechanger was the switch to Sachs remote reservoir dampers on the front axle. These expensive £1,400-a-side dampers featured a monotube set up with increased fluid capacity. This meant the damper rod could be thicker, optimising body control and compliance over a wider operating window, with little to no flex under heavy braking or hard cornering. Renaultsport then added hy draulic bump stops and cut 10mm from the ride height, us ing progressive springs.

Yet for all the dark arts of suspension tuning, on first impression the Clio remains - in the greatest of hot hatch traditions - a car dominated by its engine. It’s as if the over sized 2.0L F4R is wearing the car like a slim fit T-shirt. Flex

its biceps and there’s an utterly addictive step at 5,500rpm as the engine comes on cam. The race to the 7,200rpm redline takes on a rampant degree of urgency, the note from Milltek exhaust on this example cranking up a notch in response. Whilst known to produce a handful of horses shy of its 182 stable on a dyno, the engine feels good for every one of its 148lb-ft of torque, the midrange making light work of that low kerb weight.

Wind it up and the Clio feels rapid, far quicker than its 6.7sec 0-60mph time thanks to scant NVH standards seemingly derived from the dark ages - yet its a level of thrust that shouldn’t get you into too much trouble. But it’s not all about outright speed, the throttle response is telepathic, the car leaping forwards with the merest flex of the right foot, eager to get down to business.

Yes, a current 2.0 diesel rep-mobile would likely outgun the Clio through the gears and the Business Development Manager be

hind the wheel might chuckle into his Bluetooth headset, but all he’s done is plant the accelerator and let some microchips process the command. The Trophy is alive, the mushy object behind the wheel forced to coordinate the engagement of the lower gear with a blip of throttle for the smoothest possible engagement of the cog, earning the performance rather than merely summoning some locomotion.

Through the corners that throttle response allows you to me tre out the power accurately, probing the limit of adhesion with confidence. Of course it’s possible to overwhelm the front tyres in second gear, they are only 205 in section after all, but it is you who decides, not a sudden spike in boost pressure. If you do overstep the mark, a quick lift of the throttle will tuck the nose in smartly or reign in any wheelspin. Whilst the body control remains resolutely from the old school - there is a lot of roll, dive

and pitch here, importantly the quality of those dampers means the behaviour of the car is never anything but consistent - the Trophy maintains its composure right up to - and beyond - the limit. Such control provides a baseline to operate from and re turn to. Dive into a series of bends and feel the weight move fore and aft, left to right and back to the centre again. Feel the subtle messages coming up the steering rack and into your fingertips. There’s a beautiful correlation between the load and the clarity of that message, the harder push go the greater the reward. You might even begin to provoke the car, leaning hard on the tena cious front end grip through a single axis turn, or exploiting the playful yaw of the back axle through rapid direction changes.

What’s just as impressive is the little Clio is it doesn’t resort to rattling the fillings out of your teeth to offer such dynamics. Unlike some driver-focused, limited-run halo models, the ride

quality hasn’t become a sacrificial lamb. I’m not for a minute going to suggest it’s cosseting - nothing with such a short wheel base ever will be - but the Trophy is never jarring, there is a pol ish and fluidity in play, the progressive springs and longer travel providing a range of motion in-period rivals could only dream of.

The Trophy’s fancy suspension did come with a catch, how ever - the Sachs dampers deteriorate over time and require re building. The problem is Renault never specified a schedule, so knowing when to authorise the required £600 outlay can be a guessing game. Some fail at fewer than 20,000 miles, others can triple that depending upon how the car has been driven. Signs of failing units include weeping reservoirs and a “corkscrewing” motion sensed through the steering.

There are more serious flaws of course, even possible deal

breakers, that extend across the entire 172/182 range. The driv ing position is the obvious gripe – it’s fairly comical, feeling as if you’re perching on a bar stool. The steering wheel is also a fraction too large in diameter and protrudes towards your chest at an awkward angle, whilst the gear level needs a GoGo Gadget Arm to operate and the clutch has a biting point as high as the International Space Station. The good news is that the Trophy’s Recaro seats are super supportive and look great, and the view out is fantastic - the super slim A-pillars and teeny mirrors all add a sense of classic hot hatch theatre.

Delving further into life with the Clio, the car was built to a price, so don’t expect a high level of build quality and materials - this 40,000 mile example already possesses its fair share of rattles. But where it matters the mechanicals are robust – the F4R engine is a tough little unit and will run forever if properly serviced. Just ensure the cambelt change – due every five years at around £500 from any decent specialist – has been done with the official locking tools. It also makes sense to change the dephaser pulley and auxiliary belt too at the same time, pushing the bill towards £700. The Cup variants shave a couple of hours’ labour off the job due to their lack of air con, a part which needs removing to gain access to the belts. The fuel con sumption is palatable too – a motorway commute will see the trip computer record an average of 36mpg, strong numbers for the performance and a great advertisement for the benefits of lightness, especially in a car that only has five forward gears and no stop-start technology.

Power steering hoses and the gearbox dog bone mount are other known weak spots, and it’s a good idea to refresh the sus pension on regular higher-mileage cars, a relatively economic endeavour. The factory exhaust might as well be made of tin foil given its longevity – many owners have upgraded to an af

termarket stainless steel item by now, so don’t be put off by a car with one, even if you prize originality. Same goes for the steering wheel – the thumb grips deteriorate over time and the leather on the tip of the steering wheel rim is prone to mar bling.

Overall, if you are someone who can file the odd rattle and buzz under the clichéd label ‘character’, and are tolerant of the driving position, you’ll adore the 182. This is more than a car that comes alive at sane speeds - it is always alive - turning every roundabout and junction of a mundane commute into an opportunity to cock a wheel. Few cars get more out of British roads than an RS Clio. Prices for the 182 are already on the rise, with a good example of the breed already surpassing its 197 successor in the classifieds. The 500-run Trophy has put clean air between itself and the rest of the 182 range, and as a side effect, the slimline Cup models have followed suit. Track-day goers are cannibalising and stripping out the weakest exam ples, trimming numbers and driving values up further. Expect to pay upwards of £3,500 for a decent 182. Eighteen months ago you could pick one up for £1500. You only have to observe the price of a 205 GTI to predict the trajectory of the 182.

The early 2000s are already being talked about as the era of the peak performance car, and the Trophy is the finest hatch from that time. It’s the last of the old school, as fun to drive as a 205 but much faster - and far safer to put through a hedge. It’s a watershed moment - the perfect first performance car for the young enthusiast to learn car control in, yet has a bandwidth big enough to entertain the experienced hand and maintain the fun factor for years to come. Turns out my glasses aren’t rose tinted after all, and I’m questioning why I no longer have one. Greatest hot hatch of all time? Bring on the chopping block.

RENAULT CLIO 182 TROPHY

Engine 1,988cc n/a I4, DOHC, 16v, max 7,400rpm

Output 180bhp @ 6,500rpm, 148lb.ft @ 5,250rpm

Weight 1,090kg, bhp/tonne – 165, lb.ft/tonne - 148

Transmission - fwd, 5sp manual, open differential

Performance 0.60 – 6.7s, 1/4m – 15.4 @ 91mph, max 138mph

DRIVEN TO DISTRACTION

Craig thinks there is more than extortionate insurance premiums to blame for the lack of interest in cars amongst todays youth

So, after three generations Ford has announced the show will not go on with its flagship, the Focus RS. Personally I’m not wearing a metaphorical black arm band for the Focus, but for Ford’s lack of ambition. The manufacturer has blamed the de cision on ever more stringent emissions laws, claiming a new RS would put them over the EU emissions threshold, thus in curring huge fines. This feels like snake oil, a cop out. BMW hasn’t killed off the M division - we are only talking about a 2.3 litre turbocharged hot hatchback. Every M car sups significantly more fuel and spews bigger quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and the Mustang will live on, even in V8 format.

BMW doesn’t sell a majority of frugal 1.0 capacity superminis either to balance the pollution books. So what gives?

The real motivator, in my opinion, is a simple matter of fi nancing. It’s no secret the RS has been a loss leader all its life for Ford. The results have been mixed, but the is no doubt each generation pushed the engineering boundaries in the sector. The press reacted to the mk1 like it was a marmite sandwich, but there was no doubting its single mindedness. The parts list read like the who’s who of a muddy WRC paddock – Sachs damp ers, Quaife torque biassing differential, AP racing clutch, Garett turbocharger, Brembo brakes, OZ racing alloys, Sparco bucket seats. Custom body panels and wheel arch extensions that mim icked Colin McRae’s company car meant each of the 4,501 MK1’s sold had to be removed from the production line for hand fin ishing. All in, Ford’s engineers changed over seventy percent of the donor car. Rumour has it, the £19,995 list price was some £4,000 less than the genuine cost of production.

When the Mk2 came along, the purse strings had been tight ened – the parts bin was now in house - but Ford’s boffins still found ways to break new ground. Here was the first perfor mance hatch to transfer 300bhp to the road via the front wheels alone, clever suspension and geometry witchcraft making it possible. By the end of its life, the power of the run out RS500 had climbed to 350bhp. The difficult third album started with as much, but utilised a unique and thus hugely expensive twin clutch four wheel drive system. It over sped the rear axle add ing agility and rear wheel drive handling characteristics whilst all its rivals stuck by the predictable Haldex arrangement. Add the embarrassing and costly head gasket warranty issue into the mix and you can see why the Ford top brass have lost their bot

tle.

So what’s with the obituary? It’s simple. For all its detractors at the time citing Ford didn’t have the stomach to take on Subaru or Mitsubishi, the Mk1 RS has blossomed into arguably the most desirable iteration with the passage of time. Criticised at birth for teasing an even more coveted badge – Cosworth – complete with four wheel drive and 300bhp, the RS eventually morphed into the car many wanted it to be. But for all the Mk3’s ‘baby Nis san GTR’ rhetoric, it doesn’t quite command the cult following of its predecessors. Ford needs to remember that an RS doesn’t need to be the most technologically advanced tool in the box. It just needs to be loud, a little rough around the edges with enough power to allow the blue collar guy to stick it to the city boy in his Porsche. Tune-ability is as important to the fan club as road holding.

Ford needs to take a leaf out of their back catalogue. A sim pler model, cheaper to produce but no less thrilling. And one that can still satisfy any legislation. They have the perfect solu tion right under their noses - a Fiesta RS. It has to be three doors only, for no other reason other than its cooler. Crank the feisty three pot up to 250bhp. Add some vents to the bonnet. Lower the chassis, widen the track and stiffen up the dampers. Hell, they could even give it three spoke alloys if they like absinthe in their tea at the Ford Performance HQ.

You only need to look at the fever the 265bhp Yaris GRMN has created. Imagine the group test. The Yaris and 305bhp Mini GP forming the cornerstones. The VW group could join the party with its love of platform sharing – an Audi RS1 is a very appeal ing prospect, a Polo R perhaps less so but the return of a prop er Ibiza Cupra would have me positively Balearic. Renaultsport could find its mojo again and resurrect the Clio RS16 project. The current small hot hatch division lacks fire in its belly com pared to the class above that’s positively bursting at the seams with talented cars. A new subcategory could be just the spark needed to inspire a new generation of pocket rocket hero cars, the supercar ankle biters. It’s a mouth-watering prospect.

I’d probably be putting my name down for the still born RS16 should my attempts at playing fortune teller come true, but I predict plenty of Blue Oval fans elbowing each other out of the way into the showroom to place a deposit on a Fiesta Rallye Sport. They wouldn’t be able to build enough of them.

THE PETROSEXUAL

Reflecting on the P1 tested elsewhere in this issue, Kotto wonders where did it all go wrong for the once dominant Subaru & Mitsubishi

Indulge me if you will in a little game. Picture in your head, right now, a Subaru. I can probably bet good money the first thing that pops into your head is an Impreza 22b in trademark WRC Blue Mica. And now picture a Mitsubishi - I’m confident I’m currently living rent-free in your head because you’re see ing a Passion Red Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution rally car. Incred ible machines that were born onto the rallying world stage and became legendary homologation streetcars as a result of dom inating championships around the world. Both were piloted by royalty - Richard Burns, Tommi Makinen, Francoix Delec our, Colin Mcrae to name a few. Subaru versus Mitsubishi has spawned endless debate on which company, which car, which driver was the very best.

And now the year is 2021, and the most interesting thing to happen to either company in years is these once fierce rivals have teamed up, alas sadly not to create a new forest stage war rior, but to sell cars - Subaru will take care of importing Mitsub ishi’s to the UK. Sadly this is a precursor to Mitsubishi pulling out of Europe all together, indeed the company has recently auctioned off its entire heritage fleet. It’s not hard to see why - looking at the Mitsubishi model lineup is just the most tragic thing, loaded with dreary hatchbacks and tax dodging pick-ups - not a single model appeals to the enthusiast. Subaru are stick ing around but are facing collapsing sales in a highly competi tive market and I can’t help but think their time is limited. They seem to sell the same car of varying heights but with different names; a Forester, an Outback, Levorg and Outback and as usu al the pointless hybrid variants. Like the Mitsubishis they’re all soulless, drab and devoid of any sort of charisma to get you out of your Swedish armchair and into a dealership. You’ll look at the lineup, close the tab and start looking at Swedish cars to match your furniture.

I strongly believe that any car manufacturer without at least one car that people want, not need but actively want and yearn to buy… Is doomed. They have nothing to market, nothing to use as a test-bed for innovative and fun features. Even sensible Saabs had a turbo-petrol and a night-panel feature; something to aim for. Back in t’day as Craig Toone would say, Mitsubishi had some incredible cars in their line up; Galant VR4, 3000GT, FTO, Eclipse Coupe, Legnum VR4 and of course the Lancer Evo

lution. All interesting, fast, varying shades of practical and great lookers. All of which are now highly sought-after and rapidly rising in value. And Subaru, every edition of their Impreza was gold. From a bog-standard non-turbo estate to a full fat RB320 UGM-109 nuclear capable intercontinental cruise missile. And then you had the bigger Legacy that also came with a turbo charged boxer engine in saloon and estate guise which were fantastic or the even bigger Forester STI if the Legacy wasn’t rugged enough for you. The lesser models were just as cool, SVX is simply a UFO, the Brat and even the Baja were great.

So why are both of these great companies failing? My im pression is they’re simply not excelling at anything and cashed in on the SUV trend without really offering anything with imag ination. They aren’t especially great value, better equipped or well-designed they’re just car companies building cars to sell en-masse. Manufacturers always fall in and out of fashion and Mitsubishi/Subaru are proof of this. In the 90s you’d buy a Sub aru because you wanted a robust, reliable car. A Mitsubishi for something technical and fast. But with all manufacturers now adhering to much higher standards there’s no such thing as an unreliable car and all cars have become exceptionally technical machines.

How would I fix this? Really analyze the market, Aston Mar tin’s DBX was late to the party but it’s excelling because it does the best thing of various other luxury SUVs but in a complete package – Aston researched and figured out what the market needed. Just adding another platform shared SUV onto the pile would be doomed to failure. Could Mitsubishi offer an L200 which is a good pick-up truck but for the price of a Suzuki truck or Subaru offer a full-electric, rugged Outback estate that un dercut the hateful mild-hybrid/EV compact crossovers? They should keep one eye on the past and one on the future and try to reintroduce what they were best known for in the golden years and capitalize on it. Make an EV that’s for once interesting, ca pable and fast without it looking like a deflated hearse (Prius/ Ioniq) or explore e-fuels/hydrogen by placing a car in the WRC.

It’s time to stop being a brick in a wall and start making cars people will want to buy, because clearly the endless amount of SUVs they’re making aren’t selling. Start selling what others are not.

THE OUTSIDE LINE

Matt is unimpressed by the raft of driver aids being forced upon us in new cars. Designed to help, the often befuddle and distract

Motorway driving can be exceedingly boring at times, especial ly with some of our drab, grey, typically British weather pro viding the backdrop. Swarms of dull coloured, shapeless boxes whiz past whilst you try to find something that holds your at tention to the task in hand. Luckily you have some features on your car that help with this sort of thing, radar guided cruise control, blind spot sensors, lane assists, etc. You activate the car’s computer brain and relax into the journey knowing that it has things covered. You can ease up slightly as the car steers itself, keeping to its lane, accelerating and slowing to the car in front, letting you know if anyone is hidden in your blind spot.

In theory, this frees up mental space from the tasks neces sary for driving, to enable you to focus on the potential hazards around you. It can, however, lull people into a false sense of security, as the car is driving itself, so why would you have to check your blind spots or accurately judge the speed of the car coming up to overtake in the outside lane? The dealer assured you of the systems’ merits and functionality as you stretched your budget to get the best.

I can see how some of these features would have an impor tant role in improving road safety but why then, does it seem to be that every other story about them is one of spectacular failure. Read on through the self-driving car scepticism and the reasons behind these high-profile failings start to become clear. They’re down to a fundamental lack of knowledge and understanding about how they are supposed to work with the driver and not in place of them. This unfortunately is backed up by the misguided and dangerous methods of advertising them to customers.

In reality, this technology is still way off being completely un-reliant on human input. With manufacturers selling it as an ‘Autopilot’ or ‘self-driving’ feature, it’s not hard to imagine why people are abusing the system to finish the next chapter of that book or quickly checking how many likes your new post got on Instagram. Personally, I want to be involved with the driving experience as much as possible, but I understand others might not feel the same way, hence why they rely so much on the aids to do the job for them. It seems that the sensors and radars can’t yet think like a human, but we are all too ready to place full trust in a product being sold to us as a digital chauffeur.

Let’s discuss the levels of road safety in the UK over the past 11 years then, as the increase in depth and variation of driv er aids has boomed. According to government statistics, road safety levels, in relation to traffic accidents, have been relative ly steady, despite more technological assistance. Surely driving aids should have decreased the number of collisions and casu alties on the road? Perhaps then, the seeming ineffectiveness of driver aids to decrease traffic accidents is down to this de creased level of driver engagement and the misunderstanding of how they work.

The newspapers are littered with all manner of crash re ports apparently occurring from the occupants abuse of the driving aids. From lack of attention causing minor bumps to full on impacts where the driver has been found in the passen ger seats. Tesla owners have made headlines after posting vide os online of them sleeping in the back whilst on the motorway or even climbing into the passenger seat once the systems are engaged. Based on these reports, it points to something more than just a lack of understanding and exposes driver stupidity. Whilst this is not a revelation so much, the way these aids are marketed is real cause for concern.

I’m near certain that the time will come when we will be living in scenes from science fiction movies with cars driving around being fed real time road information from a central da tabase. Passengers in the back heading for work, reading the paper and enjoying a brew. For the time being, these remain firmly in the pages of comic books and on the cinema screens. Driver aids will continue to develop along a gradual upward path to full self-driving capability in the far future but today they continue to be an addition to the driver, or an aid if you will.

Confusingly though, if these driver aids allow a reduced level of engagement by the driver, doesn’t that stand to reason that they cause more damage than they set out to fix? It’s all well and good having the car take over on monotonous stretch es of road where little is happening, but we all know how fast things can change when you have lots of cars travelling at 70 miles an hour, and in that instance, I think I’d rather have con stant control with my attention on what’s happening right in front of me, even if it’s enough to send you to sleep.

SOUL FUEL

Jonathan remains decidedly unimpressed by the charge towards electric vehicles. He won’t be trading in his 997 C2S anytime soon

“It’s here. Accept it”.

That is the messaging we’ve been given on the arrival of elec tric vehicles and the demise of internal combustion. Not only by policymakers and industry, but also established motoring jour nalists that adopt an “enjoy-it-while-you-can” mentality with a resigned shrug of the shoulders.

Perhaps it is my nature to swim against the tide, but I must confess that I do not share the fatalist view on the future of internal combustion. Rather, I believe these cars will live-on alongside electric vehicles, serving people who love driving and value cars for their experience, rather than expedience.

That electric cars have distinct advantages over their ICE counterparts is not contested. Leaving aside unresolved ques tions as to environmental impact (a discussion best left to oth ers, far cleverer than myself), I can fully understand the appeal of the packaging advantages offered by a “skateboard” design, smoothness and ease of operation, instant response, and the absence of fossilised remains being repeatedly ignited at great speed. For those who view cars merely as a tool to get from A to B, the package is a compelling one, particularly as the asso ciated infrastructure grows to more easily service their needs.

But. I am yet to be convinced that that electrification offers anything substantial to those who truly value experience over expedience.

The very character of the machines that grace the digital pages of this magazine are defined by their idiosyncrasies: the sound and delivery of the engine, our interactions with the trans mission, the handling characteristics determined by placement of the engine in tandem with the driven wheels. These traits, both good and bad, are the tinder to the passionate discussions and heated debates that we share as enthusiasts. It allows us to do something remarkable: build meaningful connections with lumps of metal, that transcends the annualised calls to upgrade that have come to define modern consumerism.

And let us be clear that to buy any sports car is, first and foremost, to buy into the experience. A decision made with the heart, over the head. A conscious sacrifice of practicality and convenience, at the altar of noise, interaction and lurking threat of financial ruin. It is the very essence of being a “petrolhead”, and a concept now lost upon the modern motoring industry as it serves us another lukewarm helping of silent, 2000 horsepow

er, £2 million+ metal that conflates “acceleration” with “expe rience”.

So where does this leave internal combustion going for ward? My belief is that the overlap between vehicles used for transport and vehicles used for pleasure, will minimise. The former, headed by electrification with all the associated drive train advantages that make it so appealing for those purposes; the latter continuing under the stewardship of internal combus tion, although in the minority. The lurking shadow of the UK’s 2030/2035 commitments regarding ICE power may challenge this view. However, I would ask you to consider the following:

First, there is, so far, very little that would indicate that the UK would be ready to make a whole-sale jump to electric ve hicles in that time frame. Indeed, many online “influencers” that have vlogged about their experiences in running electric cars have expressed frustration at the inconvenience, scarcity and reliability of infrastructure. I remain deeply sceptical about such issues being materially rectified, at scale, in the next 10 years.

Second, no government is beyond a good handbrake turn on policy. Many of you will be old enough to appreciate that it wasn’t too long ago that the UK government was extolling the virtues of diesel, and offering incentives to purchase them. That position is somewhat different now.

Lastly, I hold out hope for the advent of synthetic fuels. Brands that have built their reputation and customer-base by trading primarily on experience, must surely be concerned as to how to properly differentiate themselves in an all-electric world beyond badge-loyalty, given that most electric vehicles will be more than fast enough for the driver of average ability. It is perhaps no surprise then, that the likes of Porsche are invest ing into scoping the feasibility of synthetic fuels. After all, for a car like the 911, the sound and handling characteristics passeddown by its internal combustion engine, are a core part of both its appeal and continued sales success.

Having set out my stall, in the event that I am completely wrong and that we truly are marching towards an all electric future, I fully reserve the right to push my glasses up, shrug my shoulders and say “enjoy them while you can”. If you are the type of person reading this magazine, I am confident you al ready are.

TECHNICOLOUR

If it wasn’t for a certain gaming franchise, Kotto Williams’ Gran Turismo has a lot to answer

TECHNICOLOUR DREAMS

Williams’ life would have turned out very different. answer for, and we think he’s not alone

NOW LET ME BE CLEAR...

Video games do not promote violence even if they let you hack someone to pieces with a Chainsaw on Miami Beach, direct a nuclear missile on your own position, shoot endangered Tibetan tigers in the face whilst doing a graceful backflip or just jump up and down on turtles. One man however, Kazunori ‘Kaz’ Yamauchi has a lot to answer for when it comes to us.

There are many great things - great leaders, great mil itary leaders, great actors, greatest lover and great white sharks or a combination of those. This means that being the greatest as a prominent figure is very hard as you’re in a saturated market consisting of many great people or things. Thus, with gravitas and no jovial twinge to my voice I say that Gran Turismo is the greatest driving/rac ing simulator.

In 1997 it roared onto your PlayStation 1 with Kaz at the wheel to great critical acclaim, consumer joy and impossibly high sales. Prior to GameRanking’s website closure in 2019 it was resolutely and rightly positioned at the #1 racing game spot. Its significance is in my opinion one of the foundations of the recent generation’s mas sive obsession and fanbase of the humdrum motor-ve hicle. If you’re a ‘millennial’ chances are Gran Turismo has impacted on your life in some way, for many - like myself – it was a launchpad of a life-long hobby and a constant pursuit of living the lifestyle it suggested as best as possible. The photos and screen-captures will hope fully demonstrate how much it’s impacted on me at least.

It is a Japanese game, so naturally there’s a focus on the Japanese domestic market as-well as some locations the designers felt were important to recreate digital ly, namely the mountain Touge track – Trial Mountain, Clubman Stage Route 5 – Fictional Japanese city where street racing was once commonplace (Mid Night Racing Team anyone?) and various. test tracks inspired by Nardo

Sadly just 11 tracks were found on GT1 – a closed beta test volume compared to today’s expectations. My par ents say they can still hear the four ‘honks’ prior to a race starting… Probably from grinding the initial Clubman Cup relentlessly to unlock the mk4 Supra, and then do ing it all again to unlock the performance packs for it, then ruining your car by making it impossibly fast and tail happy and not even the wide corners of Trial Moun tain can save you. It featured 180 cars (granted many the same but different variations much like real-life) which was a big deal back then. Another modern, now tak en-for-granted feature were the vehicles themselves – 3d modelled on real life cars to an accurate scale and then given a ‘texture’ over that 3d model to ensure it looks as close to reality as technologically possible.

The sound too was synthesised to represent individu al cars, for the first time (if you tried very hard) you could hear the difference between a straight-6 and a V8. On the subject of noise, the Japanese market’s soundtrack consisted of some genuinely great jazz music created by Japanese composer Masahiro Andoh who inadvertently created the legacy ‘opening theme song’; Moon Over The Castle. The US and European markets had some mManic Street Preachers - perfect driving music.

Gran Turismo 2 built upon the incredible 3d graph ics, sound, features, physics and tracks. It had a near complete roster of Japanese cars but had now forayed into Europe and America, it even featured some oddities such as the Peugeot 406 Coupe, Citroen Saxo VTS and my particular favourite - the TVR Chimaera. This game introduced real tracks – Laguna Seca and Pikes Peak so you could re-live some of the glorious ainstream rock music from Feeder, Garbage and th scenes on TV. I’m not 100% sure but I think Gran Turis mo 2 was the first to feature Laguna Seca and allow you to tumble down the infamous corkscrew in a variety of exotic, race or cars a bit closer to home – your mum’s Renault Laguna.

Within the game’s lifespan I discovered Top Gear and Jeremy Clarkson’s VHS special and later on the Fast & Furious movie was released, and I believe it was at this point my blood-type had an octane rating, being able to go to the game and buy an Eclipse or an RX7 in the colour I wanted and change the wheels to ones like the movie was incredible. Kaz was keen to augment the series given the success of the debut title, he sought sponsorship from SEIKO, the Japanese watch company for a share in his adventure and their name appears as official timekeeping scoreboards like you’d expect from Formula 1 or Le Mans coverage in real life. He also intro duced off-road/rallying as a race style, the racing formu la changed too, allowing you to participate in individual races rather than a series in a tournament – a lifesaver if you’re ADHD. If you felt a bit frisky the GT2 title also held Dualshock vibration support for controllers.

Now, I couldn’t drive when Gran Turismo 3 and 4 were released but it was effectively a database in which I kept cars I yearned to have, ones I’d discovered in previ ous titles but like puberty I matured into a petrosexual.

Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec matured too, on the new Play Station 2 console it pushed the boundaries of graphical prowess and even included an in-depth rallying mode.

The game was the new bench mark for any racing game on graphics alone, once more 3d modelled cars created with agonizing detail, only 187 cars featured on the GT3 game due to the graphic processing demands but even

now the game to me seems graphically robust.

I wish I could tell you GT3 was a success story - and I can - it sold $120million worth of games in the US alone, quite possibly one of the very first ‘AAA’ games in the golden-age of electronic entertainment. GT4 however, is my absolute favourite title - over 700 cars from 80 dif ferent manufacturers painstakingly brought to life to be come the ultimate driving simulator. The progress since the original with GT4 is astonishing, the sheer volume of cars, over 50 tracks to race on, in-depth modification and tuning that affects a car’s dynamics and perfor mance, a photography mode to capture your favourite cars. Gran Turismo 4 is the absolute peak of racing simu lators, it let you start at the bottom, just a few quid to buy a relatively mundane car to thrash about amateur racing events to earn some money towards modifying it, giving you an easier time and earning more cash to put towards precious metal. For me that was usually a silver-green Sylvia S13.

The current generation of Gran Turismo - 5, 6 and Sport is still very much relevant, Forza Motorsport on the Xbox has come leaps and bounds but compared to Gran Turismo it’s not much more than an arcade racer. They can’t quite capture how a car feels and then translate it to digital format, which could be expected since Kaz’s team have been perfecting the art since the late 90s. Largely why if a potential car buy appears in my head, the first thing I do is go through every YouTube review and if it’s good it moves into the next stage of buying – Test driving it on Gran Turismo. I probably should’ve touched on this sooner but Gran Turismo’s physics are some of the best available, particularly when factoring the sheer volume of cars, they have compared to other simulators.

My MX-5 for example, driving that in game felt mas sively familiar to me, I knew how far I could push it in corners without losing traction and when the sweet spots for gear changes were. It made me a better driver on the road too, gaining confidence in the car and push ing it beyond what I took into the game initially. Same for the Supra which I spec’d perfectly to my real-life equivalent and it was spot on, massively fast in a straight line, slightly wallow-y in corners but would surprise even faster or better handling exotics featured in-game. I don’t know why but for some reason I get a big thrill out of having my real-life cars accessible in a video game, it adds an extra degree of realism to the series and I enjoy the tinkering aspect – adjusting gear ratios, suspension height, spring rates, power level. I had the rear wheel alignment toe of my Alfa GT set to zero to stop it wearing out tyres, I reflected it in game. Don’t ask me why I just had to!

“Its significance is in my opinion one of the foundations of the recent generation’s massive obsession and fanbase of the humdrum motor-vehicle”

There’s still many cars in-game that I hope to buy one day, Jaguar XK150 XKR, Maserati 3200GT, Alfa Romeo 147 GTA, Mitsubishi Galant VR4, Nissan Skyline R33 and the Toyota MR2 Turbo. But there’s many I love but due to rapidly increasing prices or simply because they cost too much, I can only enjoy them in game – Something shared with millions of other car fans who play video games to escape the wearisome aspect of life. However, there’s some relief when I see a car on Top Gear or in a Magazine, try it out in game and it’s terrible - knowing I didn’t pay £50,000 or £300,000 to discover a car that I liked was terrible is useful, certainly makes me feel bet ter that I can’t afford it knowing it drives like shit or can’t beat my Lotus Exige around Tsukuba – my absolute fa vourite track.

However, with the newest Sport game Autodromo De Interlagos and Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya they’re winning me over. Another joyous thing with the recent entries and the increased amount of real-world circuits. There’s nothing stopping you from going there yourself - my next jaunt to the continent will feature a trip to Cir cuit Barcelona-Catalunya or Le Mans. Another aspect I like is the photography, you can travel the world and photograph your car; under a cherry blossom in Kyoto, alongside the Brooklyn Bridge in New York, Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe in Valencia or the Red Bull Hanger. The next adventure for me is replicating some of the photo locations in the UK and Europe with my own vehicles as a bit of fun. How do I have any friends?

And there you have it… An outpouring of affection for what many non-car fans would find uneventful or monot onous. But to me or even you, it’s likely been a significant pillar in the construction of your life’s journey through cars and the culture that comes with it. I’m very much looking forward to Gran Turismo 7, Sport was brilliant as expected but lacked the role-playing game element I had in previous titles that allowed me to start from the ground up, discover new cars and explore different race types without leaving my living-room.

I say it’s had a big impact on my life but it pales in comparison to the latest generation whose passion for Gran Turismo has led to genuine racing careers via the GT Academy. Gran Turismo Sport is now an FIA recog nised e-sport which allows anyone to participate, cham pionship winning drivers are put forward to competi tions to take a shot at becoming a racing driver. The very best Gran Turismo drivers are now competition racing drivers. There’s a real transference of skill that takes place with this video game.

It could’ve been the Subaru Impreza on the PlaySta tion 1 demo-disk that took you to the Subaru dealership to buy a P1 and enjoyed many track days with it, or the S13 Silvia you enjoyed in Gran Turismo 3 is now on your driveway like me with my TVR Chimaera. But for those dedicated enough to try and absorb the Gran Turismo lifestyle fully, they might just win the 2015 Bathurst 12hour race like Wolfgang Reip and Florian Strauss didled by Katsumasa Chiyo - driving a Nissan GTR NISMO GT3 they’d first experienced in-game.

CRITICAL MASS

The M3 CSL came out of nowhere and blitzed the Porsche 911 GT3 around the Nürburgring. Say hello to the last M car to give the GT department sleepless nights.

By Craig Toone | Photography by Jakes Thomas

6,ooorpm.

All six pistons are covering 18 metres per second but the car is travelling significantly faster. At this point most engines are beg ging for the clutch to take the strain away before starting the assault all over again, but not the CSL, because it’s just getting into its stride.

This marks the moment the straight six comes on cam and stampedes towards 8,000 revolutions and 355 rampant horse power, that glorious carbon fibre echo chamber emitting its siren call. The pitch climaxes, the reverb intensifies, the hairs on the back of your neck begin to rise and the world around morphs into a blur. It’s a song so full of motorsport mojo every single one of those combustion cycles is seared onto your psyche, the good vibrations fizzing along the structure into your fingertips, filtered through a cocktail of alcantara, alu minium and composites. I’ve no idea about the acoustic properties of weaved carbon but from where I’m sitting the Sydney Op era House should be lined in the stuff.

Snap the upshift paddle to attentionkeep the foot in, don’t lift - and receive a Jean Claude Van Damme to the back of the neck. The oft-derided SMG gearbox drops me right back into the 6-8 land of milk and honey. Right now I’m not craving three pedals - at this speed it’s prudent to have both hands on the wheel…

CSL

Three innocent, unassuming letters individually, but once combined they take on an almost mythical status, especially in BMW folklore. It’s a Bavarian acronym re served for very special vehicles, ones designed to com pete at the absolute sharp end of the performance car envelope. It stands for Coupe, Sport, Lightweight, and it’s only been rolled out twice in the company’s 108 year history. Once adorned, the manufacturer of ‘the ultimate driving machine’ is projecting a level of confidence and bravado that dwarfs even its famous tagline. That’s be cause a CSL is all about winning, and to hell with the profit margins.

The key letter in the trio is the L, because nothing is the greater enemy to performance and dynamics than excess kilograms. When it comes to upping the ante, a manufacturer has two choices - increase the horse power, or decrease the mass. The former is the easiest route, the latter is far more difficult and costly but also purer, because shedding weight improves dynamics in all directions of travel, not just acceleration. It lessens the load on the tyres, the brakes, the suspension and the structure. Every vanquished kilo and luxury promotes a spiral of benefits that leads towards driving nirvana.

The original 1972 CSL was based upon the E9 chassis - specifically the 3.0csi - and was the result of the fledg ling M Division homologating the car for touring car racing. Power was upped to 203bhp whilst weight was stripped from the car by using thinner steel, deleting trim and removing sound proofing. You might know it by its more famous later name - Batmobile - due to the wild wings and aero kit added to the car in 1973. So ex treme were the additions, they were classified illegal for use on German roads so BMW stuffed them in the boot of the car, instructing owners to fit them post sale in or der to circumvent the regulations. Going to such lengths paid off for BMW however, as the CSL cleaned up on race tracks around the world, winning the European Touring Car Championship an incredible six times in seven years from 1973-79, whilst also collecting a class win at the Le Mans 24hrs.

Sadly, the 2003 M3 CSL never got to see the cheq uered flag unless in the hands of privateers, but the com petitive spirit remained. That spirit found its epicentre at the Nurburgring, with a key development target of a sub eight minute lap - unheard of at the time on a pro duction car, but one the 911 GT3 had breached with a 7.54 time. The standard E46 M3 - itself no slouch and a

performance car benchmark - ran an 8.22 against the stopwatch. M had to find 1.7 seconds for every mile of the Green Hell, and the renowned 3.2 straight six was al ready making 338bhp. The easy route of turbocharging was not an option. Gerhard Richter was still in charge and his rule and purity of vision was absolute - M cars had to be naturally aspirated. Harder, faster, stronger was the only solution.

BMW returned to Colin Chapman’s guiding philoso phy of ‘just add lightness’ with a Germanic twist of ruth less efficiency. Not only is the car lighter, its targeted mass saving in important places - up on high and at the extremes of the car, lowering the centre of gravity and moving the heft inwards. Take the carbon fibre roof, the first of its kind and one of the great engineering state ments killing two birds with one stone - more strength for less weight. Another but no less trivial benefit is it looks Bruce Lee cool and was a hugely expensive man ufacturing endeavour just to save 6kg. This utilisation of composites and elements flows across all of the CSL’s surfaces. Low down we have aircraft grade glass fibre thermoplastic bumpers bonded to dual carbon splitters at the front and a carbon diffuser at the rear. The boot lid with its beautifully integrated ducktail is moulded from the same material. The bonnet is formed from Alumini um and the rear glass is thinner.

Under the skin are further savings. All sound dead ening north of the waistline has been removed and the microfilter housing is a special lightweight design. The battery - as always placed in the boot of a BMW for bet ter weight distribution - is taken from the Mini Cooper S, trimming a useful 5kg. It sends charge down a wiring harness which is stripped of non-essential loom, saving 1.5kg. The boot floor is not made of cardboard as Jeremy Clarkson’s infamously creative review put it, although given the M3’s propensity to crack its rear subframe it might as well have been.

Inside, the CSL has an interior that oozes DTM swag ger. The extensive use of lightweight materials contin ues, with both the lower centre console and door cars fashioned from glossy carbon fibre. Gone are the heavy, comfortable, electrically operated leather arm chairs of the standard M3, replaced by deep dish bucket seats based upon the Recaro SPG trimmed in Amaretta with glass fibre shells. Unlike the standard car, they’re fixed back, meaning the only way to adjust the upright posi tion is via a set of spanners. The rear seating bench has

Right from the get-go the CSL means business with its hardcore buckets seats and copious use of carbon fibre. Yet it still has room for four

also been parred back and lightened, whilst the steering wheel has been stripped of all buttons and distractions - the sole remaining one activating the special M track mode for the traction control. It’s also trimmed in alcan tara complete with the traditional M tricolour stitching.

The sub-eight target also meant early on the decision was made to only supply the CSL with the SMG II trans mission, unlike the regular M3 where it was an optional extra over the six speed manual. Cutting edge technol ogy for the time, the advent of the dual clutch gearbox has aged SMG in many respects, although not as badly as the internet would have you believe, but more of that later - what wasn’t in doubt is the automated single clutch transmission was quicker than a professional driver with three pedals.

Underneath the aforementioned aluminium bon net was the CSL’s signature dish - its three Michelin Star carbon airbox. The M3’s S54 power plant had already won international engine of the year three times on the bounce, and with a specific output of 105.6bhp/litre, six individual throttle bodies and an 8,000rpm redline there was little headroom for improvement. BMW turned to Formula One technology. Fed directly by the asymmetric hole in the front bumper, the carbon airbox acted like a black hole for oxygen before the singularity of ignition. Such is the volume of the chamber, it bypassed the need for a mass airflow sensor, meaning for the first time in a road car an engine’s ECU had to calculate the amount of air rushing in and mix the fuel accordingly, just like in F1. A beefed up processor was therefore required - the DME memory is doubled whilst the processing speed is up by 25%. Combined with revised camshafts - 268° inlet compared to 260° of the standard M3 (same lift), and 264° exhaust compared to 260° (same lift), modified exhaust valves and a 200cel catalytic converter, the CSL makes 355bhp at 7,900rpm and 273lb/ft at 4,900rpm - increases of 17bhp and 4lb-ft. The S54 engine had reached its ze nith - specific output was now 111bhp/litre with height ened throttle response - but what really mattered was the dramatic shift in character brought about by the new airbox.

To cope with the demands of the Nordschleife, and to account for its lower mass, the CSL’s suspension re ceived some thorough attention. Revised springs cut the ride height by 10mm whilst the Sachs dampers were retuned with modified compression and rebound settings attached to new bump stops. A strut bar braces the sus pension turrets for sharper turn-in, both anti-roll bars were thickened for greater directional stability and for the first time, the front bar was hollow. Another compo nent lightened were the rear lower control arms, now crafted from aluminium like their front counterparts, and the new arms were also fitted with uniball joints rather than rubber bearings. Bolted to the suspension were new, wider yet lighter BBS alloy wheels - 235/35/ R19 at the front with 265/30/R19 at the rear - which wid ened the track and necessitated factory rolled rear arch es to fit. The rack and pinion steering set-up was also enhanced - a new rack with a sharper ratio of 14.5:1 (vs 15.4:1 standard) turned through a new king pin for im proving geometry.

“SPECIFIC OUTPUT WAS NOW 111BHP/LITRE WITH HEIGHTENED THROTTLE RESPONSE. BUT WHAT REALLY MATTERED WAS THE DRAMATIC SHIFT IN CHARACTER BROUGHT ABOUT BY THE NEW AIRBOX”

Airbox fashioned from carbon fibre apes the McLaren F1, and makes the CSL sound just as good

Less thorough was the attention the M division paid the CSL’s stoppers. The regular E46 M3’s brakes were a known track day laughing stock, so it raised eyebrows when the CSL retained the standard cars’ single piston swing calliper arrangement and rubber lines, even if the discs were 20mm larger in diameter at the front.

The final piece of the puzzle was wrapped around those achingly desirable and oft imitated alloys - the original specification Michelin Pilot Sport Cup tyres. A far cry from today’s Cup 2 Connect, the Ones made a Pirelli Trofeo look like something off a Toyota Prius.

Standard M3 tyres were available in the new fatter size, but owners who craved maximum attack famously had to sign a disclaimer due to their poor performance in chilly or slick conditions. Driving with Cup1 in torrential rain must have been akin to the Russian Roulette scene in Deer Hunter, but with an internal combustion engine. On the flip side, if these owners produced evidence of a racing licence, BMW would give them the option of de leting the 155mph speed limiter, freeing up the CSL to hit 174mph given enough autobahn or a tail wind down the Dottingher-hohe straight. It was a bold move at the time, but less impactful in a world where hot hatches offer a Cup tyre from the factory.

The cumulative effect of all the changes was extraor dinary. Kerb weight without air conditioning or audio? 1,385kg. With? 1,415. The CSL is lighter than a standard E46 M3 to the tune of 110kg, a margin that surely in creases once the inevitable optional extras are factored in - indeed German magazine Sport Auto independent ly verified the CSL at 1,420kg with a full tank of fuel, compared to the regular press M3 at 1,570kg. The grip generated by the high performance tyres saw the CSL re cord a peak lateral G of 1.4 during the magazine’s famed supertest, more than making up for the CSL’s slightly inferior straight-line acceleration against the GT3 -

0-124mph 14.8s v 16.7s - where the CSL recorded a 7.50s Nordschleife lap time in the hands of the same driver. Job done, for £17,000 less and a deficit of nearly 30bhp.

You wouldn’t know such drama is to come by twisting the CSL’s key. There is no Shakespearean flare of revs on start up, the S54 just settles into a muted, smooth idle. The car’s orange temperature warning lights placed around the circumference of the rev counter in 500 rpm Less thorough was the attention the M division paid the CSL’s stoppers. The regular E46 M3’s brakes were a known track day laughing stock, so it raised eyebrows when the CSL retained the standard cars’ single piston swing calliper arrangement and rubber lines, even if the discs were 20mm larger in diameter at the front.

The final piece of the puzzle was wrapped around those achingly desirable and oft imitated alloys - the original specification Michelin Pilot Sport Cup tyres. A far cry from today’s Cup 2 Connect, the Ones made a Pirelli Trofeo look like something off a Toyota Prius. Standard M3 tyres were available in the new fatter size, but owners who craved maximum attack famously had to sign a disclaimer due to their poor performance in chilly or slick conditions. Driving with Cup1 in torrential rain must have been akin to the Russian Roulette scene in Deer Hunter, but with an internal combustion engine. On the flip side, if these owners produced evidence of a racing licence, BMW would give them the option of de leting the 155mph speed limiter, freeing up the CSL to hit 174mph given enough autobahn or a tail wind down the Dottingher-hohe straight. It was a bold move at the time, but less impactful in a world where hot hatches offer a Cup tyre from the factory.

The cumulative effect of all the changes was extraor dinary. Kerb weight without air conditioning or audio? 1,385kg. With? 1,415. The CSL is lighter than a standard E46 M3 to the tune of 110kg, a margin that surely increas

es once the inevitable optional extras are factored in - indeed German magazine Sport Auto independently verified the CSL at 1,420kg with a full tank of fuel, compared to the regular press M3 at 1,570kg. The grip generated by the high performance tyres saw the CSL record a peak lateral G of 1.4 during the magazine’s famed supertest, more than making up for the CSL’s slightly inferior straight-line acceleration against the GT3 - 0-124mph 14.8s v 16.7s - where the CSL recorded a 7.50s Nordschleife lap time in the hands of the same driver. Job done, for £17,000 less and a deficit of nearly 30bhp.

You wouldn’t know such drama is to come by twisting the CSL’s key. There is no Shakespearean flare of revs on start up, the S54 just settles into a muted, smooth idle. The car’s orange temperature warning lights placed around the circumference of

the rev counter in 500 rpm increments have found their voice again whilst pleasantries were exchanged, plans hatched and idiosyncrasies of the car discussed. Walking around the CSL, it’s hard not to fall for the restrained styling - the aggressive stance, beautifully judged flared arches, evocative ducktail spoiler, bon net power dome and subtle carbon details contrasting with the metallic Silver Grey paintwork - one of only two colours the CSL was offered in, the other being Sapphire Black. Purists might argue a special M car like this deserves its own individual colour traditionally named after a race track, but there’s no denying whatever the hue the CSL is a handsome, timeless design that foregoes attention seeking wings.

Pottering out of town, the orange segments extinguish one by one as the engine works its way up to temperature - the goal

is to turn them into their secondary function as quickly as possi ble - shift warning lights. The grey backed dialled are clear and precise, there’s an oil temperature gauge replacing the usual mpg counter, an 8,000rpm redline and a 180mph speedometer. All the information a keen driver needs. It makes a folly of cur rent shapeshifting digital read-outs. Why ‘fix’ things that aren’t broken?

What does appear to be broken is the SMG gearbox. Well at least the folly of running it in automatic mode whilst I ac climatise leaving town. The CSL’s zealous throttle response and mis-guided anticipation of my intentions see us pogo-ing around like a learner driver. Best to knock the stubby little gear lever to the right and tell the autopilot to take the rest of the day off. Much better, but the changes still dont come as fast as I’d

like from paddle pull to meshing of cogs. Up the little volume control button we go. Another incremental improvement. I’ve been informed the oil in the gearbox takes even longer to thin than what’s in the sump.

There’s no holding back the smile though. The slightest pres sure on the throttle pedal sees the intake decibels soaring and the car surging forwards as bystanders’ heads swivel around in curiosity or disapproval. Even at suburban speed limits there’s little doubt the CSL possesses a mighty engine. Negotiating junctions the steering is heavy and the ride has little give - this isn’t the cars’ natural environment, but surely if you buy into the ethos of the CSL, you can tolerate the firmness when loping along?

Then it happens - down to the final amber light. Permission

for take off coincides directly with the appearance of a long straight running alongside Llyn Celyn. It would be rude not to. I thumb the Sport button and the CSL is just as eager, the car leaping forwards on its own accord. It might seem like overkill to have such a device on a ma chine as hardcore as this, but it really does ramp up the throttle response. It also handily wedges the intake flap in the open position. Just don’t try to parallel park whilst it’s depressed.

Full throttle is the trigger for a wall of noise to erupt, the bellow first mimicking the deep anger of an early Diablo before evolving into the fury of a McLaren F1. Lighting the blue touch paper in a CSL is one of the great motoring experiences and it’s not an overstatement to say so given the inherent links between the F1’s motor and the M power straight six. The aural assault doesn’t intimidate however, because the straight line perfor mance is of the goldilocks variety - just enough to thrill, not so much you can’t enjoy wringing the car out to its full potential without constantly fearing a court sum mons. There’s no doubt the S54 does it’s best work the faster it spins, but the low mass has also effectively mas saged the torque output - the CSL has a greater amount of twist per tonne than the 4.0L V8 E92 M3 that followed - 192 plays 178, meaning the newer car will have to be deep into fourth gear before any horsepower advantage is deployed. Sure, a modern turbocharged M power plant might be a lot more bombastic, but in terms of raw emo tional pyrotechnics the CSL is in a completely different dimension.

The intake even makes the car totally immersive when you just settle into a rhythm, carving along the A4212, flicking between ratios whilst surfing the midrange - you don’t have to be a Horst von Saurma to enjoy the CSL. But when you finally turn off onto that writh ing B-road that seems to have no destination or purpose other than to entertain and the red mist descends, boy does the CSL respond. There’s zero slack to the handling - it doesn’t dive under hard braking, roll into a turn, nor squat during acceleration. Both front and rear axles re spond to steering inputs with immediacy, whilst rapid direction changes carry little inertia. The car commu nicates the precise level of grip via the pressure build ing in my rib cage, hips and thigh as the racing bucket initiates its Bear hug - for a car nearly two decades old, the CSL generates a deeply impressive level of adhesion. Everything builds in a linear fashion, in fact the CSL flat out refuses to understeer no matter the radius or angle of a turn, and thanks to the dialogue between Amaretta and buttock, you’re aware of the exact moment the rear will transition into oversteer - it’s as if the side bolsters are hardwired into the stability control’s yaw sensors.

Early road tests found the huge grip generated by the Cup tyres resulted in sharp break-away characteristics when the laws of physics were exceeded, but the friend ly balance of the M3’s natural 50:50 weight distribution ensured the handling was always faithful once it let go. Today, on more road biassed rubber, that edge is more malleable. You get the feeling the CSL would be happi est with the rear tyres carving an ever so slightly wider line than the fronts, the DCS’s track mode parameters

satisfied, the M differential still finding drive, creating a sweet spot to operate in just before the need to apply anything more than a quarter turn of opposite lock. I’m no Keiichi Tsuchiya, and we’re on the public road, so such antics will be kept in check, but my courage runs out long before the CSL’s. This is a joyous chassis, and the only time you want to get out of it is to brim the tank with 99 ron and wipe all the bug stains from the windscreen.

The handling is complemented by accurate steering. The E46 M3 was never famed for its steering feel, how ever the CSL’s revisions and ten years exposure to electri cally assisted racks means I’m instantly dialled into the feedback being offered. The CSL hasn’t suddenly elevat ed itself onto a Lotus plane, but there’s more going on through the steering of this car manoeuvring around a car park than many current sports cars at peak load. The oft ridiculed brakes are also never anything but strong at road speeds, although circuit work could be a different matter altogether, whilst the low speed tense damping

morphs into ultimate control and stability once prompt ed into action.

Onto the elephant in the room - the gearbox. There wasn’t a fence when it came to SMG. The prosecution launched its shells by accusing the uncooperative trans mission of being the ruination of a potential all-time great. Manning the trenches was the defence, claiming those who write the car off haven’t spent enough time in one, that it takes a lot more exposure than a short test drive to learn its foibles. In-between sits a No Man’s Land laced with Marmite and internet forum nonsense.

Part of the problem lies with perception – SMG essen tially remains a manual gearbox underneath the surface, the operation of swapping cogs has just been delegated to some robotized hydraulics and an electronic proces sor. Smooth it is not, but some opinions may be influ enced by an experience with the standard M3 and SMG. However the CSL ran revised software and its launch control was also more aggressive – disengage the sta

The CSL has a beautifully judged chassis. Damping is also deeply impressive once up to speed

bility control, hold the stubby little gear-lever forwards, press the brake and floor the throttle, then release. The CSL will catapult forwards and providing you don’t waver in commitment, it will upshift for you bang on the last rev olution in each gear, whereas the standard M3 will clatter into the limiter. Given how quickly the straight six spins, it’s a useful aid. The gearbox clicks at maximum attack, getting the most out of that possessed engine, but more crucially you still have input with SMG, you have influence on the cars’ behaviour, it still engages you in the process of proper driving. Where it suffers is in pottering around, jerking and stuttering between ratios - the trick isn’t a welltimed lift as often purported, but to actually keep your foot in because the SMG processor has a limited capacity to learn your driving habits and adapts itself accordingly. Too much time mooching around will result in a car that likes to slip its clutch, so every now and again performing what’s known as an adaption reset is a wise manoeuvrer. The best technique when your hair isn’t on fire is to keep it simplelock the car into S4 mode, and never, ever lift.

One area SMG is immune to criticism is in the down shifts, which are utterly sublime. Each one is accompa nied by a well perfectly timed blip of the throttle. It’ll even heel and toe into first for you without complaint. SMG still has another party piece to play though. Summon up some confidence to pop a couple of brave pills, turn the stability assistance fully off and a secret Narnia mode is unlocked – S6. The shifts now come hard and fast as every ratio thumps home with the speed and brutality of a Mike Tyson haymaker. Unleash a CSL on track in S6 and suddenly it all makes sense and the criticisms evaporate.

But North Wales isn’t a race track, it’s a playground - one that might be better still with three pedals. Under standably, a growing number of CSL owners are taking advantage of Everything M3’s excellent manual conversion package. The Banbury concern sells a DIY kit from £3,500 upwards or can perform a drive-in, drive-out service for a little more. Head honcho Darrah Doyle also recommends fitting a new differential with a shorter final drive. It’s a move we approve of that shows scant regard for obsessive originality, however for those who have gone light headed the conversion is fully reversible.

What really grinds the gears of SMG apologists is feeling the gearbox has been unfairly singled out for criticism, es pecially when cars like the Ferrari 360 Challenge Stradale receive a free pass from the press despite its near identical transmission. Could it be down to Ferrari’s infamous PR protection racket? You never hear about anyone complain ing about the automated manual in the Lexus LFA either... you’ll be very surprised to learn that SMG’s shift speed has both the Italian and Japanese cars covered. Nevertheless, time and technology always move on, so would a later sev

en speed dual clutch with tighter ratios be the ultimate in carnation? I don’t think so, it would mean most of the hard won 110kg weight saving over the standard car would be wiped out by a 75kg penalty, and that matters in a car with Leichtbau in its title.

Further criticisms? The exhaust note, which despite the reprofile doesn’t even attempt to be the Hall to the intakes Oates. The emission is still tinged by the tinnitus of the regular E46 - to see a CSL approach at full chat and pass is to be elated and deflated in short order. Anything else is really nitpicking, but some of the modern convenience items we take for granted would be welcome - bluetooth connectivity, a USB port and a decent sound system. On the other hand, perhaps like the CSL’s scant regard for its secondary ride quality around town, maybe that’s enlight ening, forcing the occupant behind the wheel to immerse themselves in the business of driving. Still, even that per son would bemoan the pathetic Glowworm headlamps.

Looking back on today’s drive, it’s difficult to imagine the CSL received mixed press when it launched. Many took umbrage with the list price - at the time the track leaning sports car market was finding its feet and the CSL cost £20,000 more than a regular M3 - which was another 50%, or the equivalent of £95,000 accounting for inflation. For many that was too much to ask for a paltry return of 17bhp, but in a world where Alfa Romeo can charge an addition al £100,000 for a Giulia Quadrifoglio with thirty more BHP and forty fewer kilograms, it appears a bit of a steal. Less reasonable is the cost of replacement CSL parts - today a new bumper will set you back well over £3,000, if BMW will supply you one. A boot lid is £1,500. A genuine airbox? £5,000. A full interior? Try £17,000. An engine? If you have to ask…

Only 1,393 cars were produced over twelve months, with 422 examples coming to the United Kingdom - actu ally the CSL’s biggest market. According to howmanyleft, only 297 cars remain of that initial run, and just 152 of them are taxed. Disappointingly, BMW’s support for it’s heritage is lacking compared to the likes of Porsche - even at its lofty price the CSL was a loss making exercise thus the appetite isn’t there to maintain parts supply, and what was produced has been swallowed up by regular M3 own ers attempting to create a doppelganger. With each passing year more items are marked NLA - no longer available - on the parts department’s computer. It’s a factor in the rapidly rising valuation of the CSL, with the entry point to owner ship now heading north of £50,000. The very best cars have already breached six figures or are prefixed with a £POA, and you only have to look at the value of an E30 M3 Sport Evolution or original CSL to see there’s a much higher ceil ing. If you have been considering a CSL, act quickly.

And you should be, because the CSL is the GT3’s nem

“THE GEARBOX CLICKS AT MAXIMUM ATTACK, GETTING THE MOST OUT OF THAT POSSESSED ENGINE, BUT MORE CRUCIALLY YOU STILL HAVE INPUT WITH SMG, YOU HAVE INFLUENCE ON THE CARS’ BEHAVIOUR”

esis, it’s kryptonite, and the closest any car has gotten to upset ting the status quo - even if ultimately you would still take the 911. Even patron saint of the Porsche Motorsport religion An dreas Preuninger has gone on record praising the CSL. “There was no serious competition. Then the M3 CSL came along and rushed around the Ring in just 7.50 min. A drumbeat that kept us busy. I liked and enjoyed the CSL very much, it was a good competitor”. If only the M division still had someone at the helm with his strength and talent. Or that of Gerhard Richter’s, sad ly he retired in 2008 and the turbocharged SUV era began soon afterwards. As much as rumours persist, we are unlikely to see another bonefide CSL - the M Division has gone the more prof itable route cranking up the horsepower and list price with the GTS line now king of the hill. Focused drivers cars they may be,

a GTS lacks the aura and depth of engineering of the CSL. Lit tle else does. Impressively, the CSL did this without resorting to annexing the rear seats - it remained a properly usable car with accommodation for four and all the practical benefits of its three series shell.

If anything, there’s a Porsche Motorsport product the CSL bears a closer resemblance with - at least in terms of its rela tionship with the motoring press - the 964 RS. Both were un derappreciated at birth, both have flourished in later life as the market and shifting tastes came to meet them. Today, the CSL is about more than a list price or a lap time. It’s a wonderful meld ing of balance, precision, performance and soul with those six individual throttle bodies singing at 8,000rpm. It is impossible to resist their siren call.

BMW M3 CSL

Engine 3,246cc naturally aspirated S6, DOHC, 24v, max 8,200rpm

Output 355bhp @ 7,900rpm, 273lb.ft @ 4,900rpm

Weight 1,385-1,415kg, bhp/tonne – 256, lb.ft/tonne – 197

Transmission - rear wheel drive, 6sp automated single clutch, M LSD

Performance - 0.60 – 4.7s, 1/4m – 13.1 @ 108mph, max 174mph

BACK TO THE FUTURE

GPS based speed limiters. GATSOs, camera vans and dash cams. With the thrill of driving under greater scrutiny than ever, John Bee takes a Mk1 Mazda Eunos to the average speed monitored Cat & Fiddle pass in search of kicks with Big Brother watching

Photography by Andrew @ Justy_Media

here’s around 7000 speed cameras watching over us here in the UK, that’s approximately 900 more than the entire United States. Just let that sink in for a second. A country with a mere 262,000 miles of road has more than a country with 4,100,000. In the coming years that number is only going to increase. Profits from tactically placed cameras are hard to ignore for cash strapped councils and quite often, it’s irrelevant whether or not they actually reduce accidents. Speed cameras are just another tug of the ever tightening noose around the neck of people who drive for enjoyment. We’re vilified by the health and safety conscious for speeding, public enemy number one for the environmentalists and an easy target for exploitation by governments looking for extra income.

Where does this leave the petrol head? In a world where you can buy a hatchback with over 400bhp, you start to think, what’s the point? How can I still enjoy the beauty of the Brit ish countryside and your favourite back roads if big brother is standing over you like a vulture? Should you dare depress the throttle for any longer than six seconds and at best, you’ll have points on your licence and a fine.

The answer lies in finding a car with solid fundamentals. A car that feels alive at double digit speeds, not triple figures. One that makes use of the elements, with tight gearing and a sweet, rev happy naturally aspirated engine. Get the basics right and waking up early to catch the sunrise along your fa vourite B road doesn’t have to be a thing of the past. It’s why we’ve come to the cat and fiddle pass in the Peak District, a once famous driving road now lined with the yellow pylons of

doom, armed with an early Mazda MX-5 in order to challenge the naysayers proclaiming the end is nigh. We look to strip away the excess and really lean on the basic fundamentals of the physical act of driving.

When I talk about fundamentals, I’ll give you this analo gy. In boxing, the sweet science, you’re first taught footwork. The ability to close in on an opponent and get yourself out of trouble when needed, is a skill that you have to master before you’ve even thrown a punch. Only when you’ve con quered keeping your balance do you move onto throwing your first and most important punch, the jab. The jab serves as a rangefinder, a stinging snapshot or a distraction. It’s your closest weapon to the fighter standing in front of you. Without learning these basic fundamentals, your style will be flawed. A natural ability of power, speed or reflexes can mask a lack of basic skills to a degree but you’ll be found out eventually. What use is power if you can’t land a shot? What use is speed if your opponent is timing you coming in? And what use are those reflexes if you’re off balance.

The same fundamental rules govern building a sports car. Mazda took the blueprint of the Lotus Elan and applied the Japanese philosophy of Jinba ittai, “reflecting the feeling that the sense of oneness between a rider and his beloved horse is the ultimate bond.” It consists of an engine at the front, driven wheels at the rear for balance, a raspy twin cam engine for power and all round fully independent suspension for han dling. Not only did they use the Elan recipe, they made it reli able. This made the MX-5 a formidable rival for any manufac

turer looking to move in and take a slice of its profits. Many came to the fight already at a disadvantage, either using an adapted platform from a mundane hatchback or scraps from the manufacturer parts bin.

Today, the MX-5 is part of the motoring landscape, but wind the clock back to 1989 and the roadster market was dead on its knees. In Japan, your only option was the Alfa Romeo Series 3 Spider, carrying typical reliability short comings and a platform that could trace its roots back three decades, complete with a live rear axle. It was a massacrethe Mazda breathed new life into the division and suddenly manufacturers were pulling their heads out of the sand. By 1995 challengers were lining up for their shot at the title, but all entered the ring with one hand tied behind their back. Fiat returned with the pretty Barchetta, but it was now front wheel drive, as was the next generation Alfa Spider. Just like that the Italians - long the custodian of the small roadstereffectively threw in the towel.

Even the Germans got in on the act with the trailing arm BMW Z3, force fed to us by an utterly underwhelmed James Bond. Mercedes introduced it’s SLK sporting a unique fold ing metal roof - both the cars’ USP and achilles heel as the weight hampered dynamics. MG had dusted off the cobwebs in 1993 with a revived B from the 1970’s, but took their ‘95 effort seriously with a mid engine, rear wheel drive layout, fizzy K-series engines and hydragas suspension. Sadly, the MG still couldn’t quite take the fight to the Mazda, but the one car that did from behind the wheel - the mkIII Toyota MR2 - finally arrived in 1999. It’s not hard to see why the MX-5 set production records for a two seater car.

Interestingly, there was almost a point where the MX-5 suffered a similar fate at the hands of the bean counters. The MX-5 as we know it was actually one of three initial design concepts - a front engine, front wheel drive version by one design studio in Japan, a second Japanese design that was mid engine, rear wheel drive and a front engine, rear wheel drive by Mazda’s Californian studio. It was in August 1984 when the three models were built in clay that “Duo 101” the Californian code name, won the competition. Final approval was granted at the start of 1986 and it moved into the produc tion phase with test mules being created.

Rumours have circulated that the initial design didn’t have independent rear suspension but after making some calculations, the car proved cheaper than expected to pro duce. Mazda decided to use that budget and go all out with double wishbones on all four wheels, showing the confi dence and commitment to the project that many other com panies would not have made. Can you imagine what British Leyland would have done? Pocketed that extra cash for the directors Christmas party most likely!

This particular Eunos Roadster belongs to Anthony Gib bons. His car is a fine example of the breed, a Japanese im port with a light and free revving 1.6 DOHC engine, mated to a short throw manual box, arguably the best combination in an NA. Some tasteful RS Watanabe F8 wheels give it a more purposeful look but it’s kept pretty much standard and all the better for it. The original MX-5 is a truly timeless and iconic design. The simple, no nonsense interior is a far cry from the screen covered dashboards of today and all the better for it. There’s no distraction from what you’ve here to do, drive.

Like with boxing, huge power is pointless if it can’t be put

to the tarmac. By increasing the power you’re raising the speed required for the driver to find a cars limit, great on track but on the beautiful but average speed camera laden road around the Cat and Fiddle Inn, not ideal. This is where all 115bhp of the Mazda’s revvy engine came into its own, I was able to wring its neck, taking in the noise and vibration of a car working with you to deliver a pure driving experience at speeds less likely to trouble the old bill. Why is it “pure?” Simply because that lack of torque means you need to keep a flowing pace, your mistakes aren’t masked by a shove of your right foot making up time on corner exit or where you went wrong on entry. You need to read the road ahead, get into a zone and plan your braking points carefully. Getting back on the power early and letting the supple suspension compress, you feel the outside rear tyre take the load

and glide you around the corner. It’s this inherent chassis bal ance coming from the fully independent suspension and near perfect weight distribution, means you’re never fighting the car, there’s no scrabbling for grip or snap oversteer. It teaches you to become a better driver, more attentive, more focused and more at one with the machine but in a calming way. If the car could talk to you it’s voice would be that of a soothing sounding wom an, making you feel at ease while you got on with the job at hand. The mechanical interaction extends to the gearbox, a beautiful short throw with a positive action. The only thing that ages the driving experience is the sub par braking power.

And when you back off from the spirited driving, the MX5 shows another side. A relaxing tourer, harking back to the old open top British and Italian sports cars it was modelled after.

With the no nonsense manual soft top down you’ve got the sights, sounds and smells of the surrounding area right in there with you. It becomes a car where everything slows down, where you can imagine drinking-in some spectacular mountain roads with your partner or best friend beside you, just enjoying the ex perience of being out in the open. This is the result of a car with solid fundamentals, you can take advantage of its balance and perfectly weighted controls or settle in for a relaxing ride. On the right road, in the right conditions, you really do doubt you need more. Those who find their thrills bouncing off the limiter and searching for the limits of adhesion on every corner may need convincing but you should at least try an MX-5, as the Americans say - Miata Is Always The Answer.

What made Mazda’s special little car the best selling sports

car in the world back in 1989, is probably more relevant today than it ever has been and indisputable proof you don’t need big power to have fun. Unfortunately, it looks like we’re heading towards an automotive dystopia, speed cameras on every road, black boxes fitted to govern speed and who knows what else, taxed per mile? A cap on annual usage? We came to the flowing roads around the Cat and Fiddle in the Peak District with the de liberate purpose of finding out if you can still have fun within the speed limit. My answer is an emphatic yes but it takes a look back to a car of the past to get that answer. Huge power, massive grip and cosseting refinement will leave you cold and frustrated. For some of us, newer is always better but when new cars don’t play by the same rules as they did back in 1993, sometimes you need to look back to the future.

MAZDA EUNOS/MX-5 MK1

Engine

Output

Weight

Transmission

Performance

THE ART OF SPEED

Lee Walton dissects the evolution of fast car design in the post WWII era

n the same way the animal kingdom sends us primae val warnings about threatening creatures, cars can often suggest emotions to us - have you ever heard someone say “look at that fast car” while looking at a static vehi cle? Some cars look faster or more aggressive than oth ers. How is this achieved? How did they know it was fast?

Nearly all cars have a small amount of speed designed into their look. This is due to them being moving objects - and the design is usually intended to be directional. Basic principles affect every car - packaging, compo nent hard points etc, and this affects the size and pro portions. Certain packages are associated with speed, a mid-engine layout, with the engine stationed behind the driver, is strongly intertwined with sports cars, super cars and the fastest form of motorsport - Formula One. Beyond this, a designer’s inspiration can be channelled from many different sources - nature, science fiction, architecture, pop culture, technology - thus historically influences have constantly evolved over time in regards to speed and style. A simple rule however always applies - to make something look fast, copy fast things!

In the 50’s and 60’s for example, American car design borrowed heavily from some of the fastest vehicles de signers could think of - Jet planes, and Rockets. This was

the age of the Space Race after all and Detroit caught the fever. Cars quickly sported huge fins, and were of ten very long- thin and barrel shaped. This was also the time the Bonneville Speed Trials were at their zenith, so all sorts of slippery shapes were mimicked with the rear wheels often enclosed within the body. The economy was booming and the optimism was reflected - as each manufacturers’ pockets swelled, so did the footprint of their vehicles, and the cubic capacity of their engines, giving birth to the muscle car. In Europe however, things were different. A recovering economy saw a drive to wards more compact and efficient cars such as the Mini Cooper and Fiat 500, but there were exceptions - the front of the Lamborghini Miura was famously inspired by an aircraft’s wing, quickly accompanied by a stereo typical dismissive shrug when the subject of lift at high speed arose.

Like the economy, design moves with the times and in cycles, and in the 70’s the excess was stripped back as the oil crisis hit hard and the cold war loomed. Sharp, minimalist straight lines with aggressive angles and ori gami surfacing became the trend, and the centre of the car design universe found its way back to Italy. The most obvious aspect of this is what we will call the “wedge”

and the “taper”. Wedge simply means that the front of the car is lower than the back when viewed from the side profile. All cars have it, but faster cars exaggerate it - during the ‘70s wedge even came to signal what could best be described as a movement, and it all started with one concept car - the 1970 Lancia Stratos Zero, penned by the godfather of the look, Marcello Gandini of Bertone.

So shocking was this design, the two other members of the great Italian triumvirate, Giorgetto Giugiaro of ItalDesign and Leonardo Fioravanti of Pininfarina quickly adapted. Nearly every supercar doubled down on the look - the Lotus Esprit, DeTomaso Mangusta, Maserati Ghibli, Lancia Stratos and per haps most famously, the Lamborghini Countach. It was the Ital ian philosophy of outsourcing design to the coachbuilders, or

‘Carrozzeria’ that permitted such thinking to flourish. Such de sign houses were elevated and revered within Italian vocations, and they mixed it up - ItalDesign’s reach went as far as shaving razors and handguns, meaning imaginations were constantly challenged and boundaries pushed. Mainstream manufacturers took notice and either sought out the Carrozzeria, copied the idea behind a standalone studio on foreign soil, or in some cases outright purchased one in the case of Ford with Ghia. Eventual ly, the Wedge style filtered down to mass production sports cars - the Triumph TR7 and Toyota MR2, not to mention the TVR Tas min were heavy adopters. This design language lasted well into the 80’s and was often facilitated by iconic pop-up headlights, which sadly became outlawed by legislation, signalling the end of the era.

Since the dawn of disco however, another influence had been applying pressure - Motorsport. Motorsport has become the defining image of fast driving in the modern age, form fol lows function and race cars are designed with one goal in mind - speed - so it follows that the connection is made by the con sumer. Put an aerodynamic device on a road car and it instant ly looks faster and more exciting. Can you imagine the Ferrari F40 without its trademark hooped rear wing? Would the Sierra Cosworth have made such an impact if it wasn’t for its outland ish whale tale? There is more to it than simply adding a wing however. Race car design is purely functional, and that function is speed. The resulting shapes and lines can often look very fast, even when stationary. Road cars often use the same dynamic lines and surfaces as race cars, either for pure styling purposes

or homologation requirements - an Audi Quattro’s box arches reflect the need to accommodate its wider track, every panel of an E30 M3 is different to the three series upon which it is based in the pursuit of speed, a Lancia Delta Intergrale’s gruff front end is the result of cooling requirements for its mammoth tur bocharger. Each car cleaned up within its respective field, and those trophies transferred into the psyche of the public...race on Sunday, sell on Monday.

Consumers are currently so conditioned to this connection they often modify their own vehicles (which are not actually fast, or intended to look fast) using race car inspired accesso ries. Car modification is a global car culture, which has become amazingly popular. Interestingly cars modified in completely different countries actually end up looking very similar. This is

due to them all being influenced by the same thing.

Car designers often directly acknowledge motorsport in their designs. The Aston Martin Valkyrie and McLar en Senna prove the dark arts of aerodynamics continue to dominate present day direction. Another example of an extreme high-performance machine that is intend ed to link a company’s road car division to its Formula One team is the Ferrari Enzo. It has a front-end design inspired by the nose of the Formula One race car - you can actually see similar influences in the F50 and LaFer rari. The Mercedes SLR also had the Grand Prix image thrust upon it, but the aesthetic didn’t quite gel on a front engine super GT.

And what of the future? Car designers are constantly living in it. The delay of an idea to production is at least 2 years, sometimes as much as 10 years, so by definition their job is to be well ahead of current reality. If you want to know how the future of fast cars will look, you need to pick up on a few trends but mostly check what young and fresh car design graduates are doing. Graduation projects are a great indicator, when students are allowed to get creative. Sometimes we get glimpses of what has been going on behind the scenes at car studios, such as the Porsche Unseen project, and Instagram posts of “throwback” sketches. Current unusual fast car shapes include 3 box supercars such as the Polestar 1, and the Genesis X coupe concept.

As ever, motorsport will lead the way. The gathering

momentum of battery powered racing and the uptake of hybrid technology in existing forms will place a growing emphasis on efficiency as well as pure speed. Such tech nology requires new platforms, a different set of cooling requirements and packaging headaches requiring new manufacturing solutions, meaning we could see revolu tionary new thinking come to the fore. The BMW i8 is one innovative example that has already come and gone. What I can guarantee is future speed aesthetics will come from much more modern influences, such as movies and games. Cyberpunk, already a huge hit game with the same title, has always been a future aesthetic, but the people that grew up dreaming of it are now in the position to make it happen. We could see a return to the space-age with the forthcoming missions to Mars and Elon Musk’s Space-X venture. More sci-fi inspiration and styling for concepts and road cars, less race-car in fluence.

Deconstructionism is also a trend that we will see in vehicles- as has been shown in architecture from Had id etc. Mobility services are going to be less about speed and more about convenience, but designers will figure out a way to create desirable shapes or designs even within this space of shared mobile pods or cubes. If the future does turn autonomous, don’t for one second fear the spirit of speed and design will die. Our attention will simply span a wider horizon - to the sky, or perhaps even the stars.

Top left - Cyberpunk influenced E.V.E Coun tach re-imagination by Khyzyl Saleem (also far right)

Right - Koenigsegg RAW by Esa Mustonen, alongside Jaebum Choi’s imagination of a 2050 generation Nissan GT-R (X)

BUYING POWER HONDA S2000

Top down thrills don’t come much more appealling than Honda’s agressive S2000. Backed up by legendary reliability and reasonable running costs, its one of the smartest places to put your money this summer

By Craig Toone | Photography courtesy of Honda UK

HISTORY

It’s not often a car manufacturer gifts itself an entirely clean sheet design, let alone one as a birthday present. Most milestones disappear in a flurry of special editions and marketing press releases, but for its 50th an niversary in 1999 that’s exactly what Honda did. The S2000 was first mooted in 1995 in concept form at the Tokyo motor show as the striking SSM - Sports Study Model. Styled by Pininfarina, the concept featured an in-line five cylinder VTEC engine mated to a five speed automatic transmission. Even by the time the car made it into production - minus a cylinder - the spec sheet remained the stuff

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION

Honda employs some of the most inspired engineers in the automotive industry and they were let fully off the leash for the S2000. They cranked up the company’s signature VTEC engine to 11, resulting in a world beating 124bhp/litre output and a strato spheric 9,000rpm redline, which wouldn’t be eclipsed until the arrival of the ferrari 458 Italia 11 years later. The engine resides behind the front axle meaning the S2000 is actually a front-mid engined car, lowering the rotational inertia.

Best of all however, was the prospect of fully independent, double wishbone suspension all round, mated to bespoke Bridgestone Potenza S-02 tyres on 16” alloys. One blight on the copybook was early adoption of electric power assistance for the steering, which became a factor in the S2000’s quickly garnered reputation for spiky

of dreams - over 240bhp from two naturally aspirated VTEC equipped litres, drive to the rear axle via a six speed manual transmis sion, a locking differential, compact dimen sions, perfect 50:50 weight distribution and a sub 1,300kg kerb weight. Given the last time Honda took on the supercar establishment they produced the paradigm shift that was the NSX, expectations were high for the marques first dedicated sports car since the S800 of the 1970’s. The S2000 was manufac tured between 1999 and 2009, in total Honda claims 110,673 cars were sold worldwide, with 19,793 coming to Europe.

Engine 1,997cc naturally aspirated inline four, DOHC

VTEC, 16v, max 9,000rpm

Output 227bhp @ 8,300rpm, 153lb.ft @ 7,500rpm

Weight 1,320kg, bhp/tonne – 172, lb. ft/tonne - 116

Transmission

front engine, rwd, 6sp manual, LSD

Performance

0.60 – 6.2s, 1/4m – 14.5, max 150mph

Value today from £8,000-£30,000

lift off oversteer. Over the life of the car Hon da would take three bites of the apple trying to rectify the trait, and the first attempt came in 2002 with stiffer springs, softer anti-roll bars and recalibrated dampers. At the same time a higher specification GT model was introduced and the plastic rear window morphed into glass.

By 2004 the car warranted a facelift and further improvements were drafted in. Cos metic changes were restricted to new bump ers, larger 17” alloys wrapped in a new com pound of Bridgestone, updated head & tail lights and oval tips for the exhausts. Under the skin however, was where the real work had taken place - the subframe now featured additional bracing whilst even firmer strings appeared, a softer rear anti-roll bar, further damping revisions and tweaked geometry that reduced toe-in under cornering loads.

Facelift cars are often mistakenly referred to as the AP2, but this designation only applies to the US market, which received a special 2.2 litre engine. Japan, the U.K & Australia all continued with the 2.0 displacement. Curiously, despite Honda never admitting to any engine changes, facelift cars consistently produce stronger numbers on dyno days.

Finally, in 2006 Honda introduced an optional drive by wire throttle with stability control, which was later made standard from 2008. A final run-out model of 100 was created in 2009 to celebrate the end of production. The obviously titled Edition 100 featured cosmetic changes which included never before available Grand Prix White paint, anthracite alloy wheels with black bolts, an aluminium gear lever with red stitching, black badges and a commemora tive plaque.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

Honda is also renowned for the reliability of its cars, it’s therefore no surprise to learn the S2000 is very robust. There are checkpoints however that any serious buyer should consider. Any VTEC unit is famously robust, however they do like to consume oil - up to a litre every 1,000 miles - so make sure you quiz the seller...a lax attitude here could lead to long term bearing damage. Thankfully the transmission is as bulletproof as they come.

Pay close attention to the suspension & geometry - annual checks are a wise invest ment. Lower front arms are susceptible to wear whilst the bushes are good for between 80,000 to 100,000 miles. If possible take the car to an inspection ramp as Honda used a light touch with the underseal to keep the kerb weight down, but on the other hand the bodywork is well protected and should be blemish free.Roof seals around the pillars are a known weak spot - a key indicator is damp carpets so make sure to poke around the footwells during your inspection.

One last thing to note - the S2000 tends to come with eyebrow raising premiums from insurers, so make sure to factor this into your man maths.

[ As always, the unburstable VTEC engine forms the cornerstone of the experience

is very sensitive

Despite the focus of the S2000 there are notable weak spots should you wish to attend track days on a consistent basis. The ABS calibration is very well judged however the rear discs are solid and therefore prone to overheating due to being only 282mm x 12mm thick. This then transfers more bias to the front, which at only 300mm x 25mm (al though at least vented), thermally overload, leading to cracking. Fitting ventilated rears, or a BBK are the best solutions. Another pre-emptive strike would be fitting a baffle to the sump to avoid oil starvation due to the high corners speeds the car can achieve.

A square set up is proven to hugely aid turn in. The tyres are staggered from factory - pre-facelift cars are 205/55R16 on 6.5J ET55 front and 225R16 on 7.5J ET65 rear, with the facelift cars running 215/45R17 on 7J ET55 front and 245/40R17 on 8.5J ET65 rear. How ever, the centre bores are different (the rear is smaller than the front) meaning you’d have

to machine the bore out on the wider wheels to fit. The geometry is fully adjustablefacelift settings can be applied to earlier cars

Engine wise the F20C responds well to having the VTEC crossover point lowered from 6,000rpm to 3,800 - although as a con sequence you’ll have to sacrifice the famous VTEC-yo ramp up. Another 20-30bhp in the mid-range however should make the trade off a worthy one. Any re-map will also only provide marginal single digit gains in BHP at the top end, but teaming it with a decat can unleash 8bhp at the wheels. The S2000 is also one of the few cars that genuinely responds to an induction kit, despite the factory airbox already being very efficient.

A popular modification to release the car’s voice is known as the “UK exhaust mod” which involves welding a link pipe to allow some flow to bypass the rear silencers. The benefit is a deeper tone at wide open throttle without any extra drone at motorway speeds.

You’ll need a pound sterling for every single one of the F20C’s 9,000 revolutions per minute if you want even a bottom of the market S2000. Such cars will have covered well over 100,000 miles, perhaps a testament to the reliability of the car. However, it’s not very often an S2000 comes to market - at the time of writing there are only sixteen for sale on Autotrader and three on Pistonheads. The top of the market is currently £15,000 for a facelift car with circa 40,000 miles, but we predict it won’t be long before the high mileage cars hit that point. Given Honda’s reputation, and prices only trending one way, the S2000 could provide you with some very happy, guilt free motoring. It’s a wise investment.

USEFUL LINKS

honda.co.uk

OWNERS POV - MIKE RAINBIRD

“A good many people seem surprised there’s an S2000 in my garage considering my past history of cars, with many deeming it noth ing more than a hairdresser’s car. To answer that question, I would firstly suggest you go on YouTube and search for ‘Best Motoring Amuse S2000’ where you’ll witness a relative ly mildly modified S2000 monster everything on the twisty mountain Touge course in the hands of the Drift King Keiichi Tsuchiya.

The reason the car is so good is that like most race cars (and over two decades before Porsche added it to their road going GT3) it has double A-arm suspension front & rear,

providing perfect geometry control as well as allowing increased negative camber. This means there is no bump steer throughout the suspension travel, making the car pre dictable at the limit. When you combine that with one of the greatest engines of all time and match it to a gearbox that receives even greater plaudits, it’s no surprise that I hold the car in such high regard.

Sure, by today’s standards it’s no longer fast, but a consequence of that lack of straight line performance is that it can be rung out through all the lower gears without fear of going to prison, which is hugely

entertaining. And then on a nice sunny day, the added element of being able to drop the roof and enjoy the additional sights, sounds and smells just adds to the experience and puts the icing on an already very high calorie cake.

Those that also know me will know mine obviously isn’t standard, featuring Ohlins suspension, Recaro Pole Positions, Spoon subframe collars, a J’s racing strut brace, RS29’s SRF and a square set up with 245/40 tyres all round. But these are the only mods required to tame the standard car and turn it into a Touge challenger.”

ABARTH 595 BIPOSTO RECORD EDITION

30 KILOS MIGHT NOT SEEM LIKE A LOT BUT IN old money it’s 66lbs, that’s nearly 5 stone. Why is that significant? Well, it’s the amount of weight Carlo Abarth at the age of 57 had to lose, in order to break the world acceleration record in his Fiat Abarth “1000 monoposto record. How did he do it? Well on a diet of mainly apples, and not con tent with that record, he broke another record the following day also for acceleration, this time in a Class E Single seater.

I still have 10 years to go before I am the same age as Carlo was when he broke the re cords, but I cannot see me a) eating a diet of just apples, and b) losing 5 stone as I like chocolate too much. However in honour of the great man I do have a quite special Abarth in my garage.

The 695 Biposto Record edition became my weekend toy during lockdown and was bought to replace a Lotus 7 style kit car called a GBS Zero that I had owned for 2 + 2 years. Why 2 + 2 ? well for the first 2 years it was in bits as I collected it as a kit and took my time putting it together with the following 2 years being spent enjoying it. Towards the end of my ownership I found myself using the car less and less as it was certainly the epitome of stripped out. No roof, no windscreen and no frills, however it was amazing fun.

I had actually seen the Abarth come up for sale in mid 2020, at that time I was still really enjoying the GBS so didn’t really pay too much attention to it but as the dealer didn’t sell it over the following months it would crop up from time to time on social media due to me following the dealer’s page. I had always thought it would be a great car to own ever since I parked next to one in the car park at Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2018 and promised myself one day I would have a closer look at one.

Lockdown saw me fall out of love with the GBS. I was not using it and when I did the British weather usually dampened my enthusiasm (sometimes literally) and believe me once you have built a car yourself from a kit, driving it is a whole different experience. Every little noise worries you and you are almost waiting for the next bit to come loose or fall off. It’s a bit like a clown car at the circus and on one journey the steering wheel did almost come off in my hand.

So the GBS went up for sale and actually sold

quite quickly and for a price I was happy with, and so the search began for the next car for the money to be put into. Saving the money was never an option as I knew I would eat into it, so it needed investing in a car.

Being a huge petrol head and having the cash in the bank is a dangerous mix, every browse on Autotrader brought up more options, every search on eBay more still. However I kept com ing back to the little Abarth that now had been for sale for 7 months. What was wrong with it? Why hadn’t it sold? Was it really a good buy ?

Some internet searching saw me track down the previous owner. This was quite easy, Abarth only produced 133 of these cars for the world (one for each of the world records Carlo Abarth held) and the dealer confirmed the car I was looking at was number 42. Around 30 cars came to the UK so finding out the background on them doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes. The previ ous owner confirmed it was a straight car and also shared that it had a few goodies the dealer had not disclosed (Blue Spark tuning box, and high-end alarm – always handy on an Abarth). The car had covered a little over 10,000 miles and had 4 previous owners. The original owner had been Abarth themselves with the car being used as a press / motor show car for much of its life with the subsequent owners only covering minimal mileage. All seemed to stack up

Covid restrictions meant viewing the car was not easy so a deposit was paid and an AA inspec tion was ordered. The report confirmed the car to be overall in good condition with a note that the bonnet had been painted at some point and that the car needed a new battery. I was happy with the deal (given the car had in its 7 months of not being sold dropped significantly in price) and with the dealer promising to rectify the battery issue a collection date was arranged.

Collection day came about and an anxious journey on the train over to North Wales and a walk from the station to the dealer was made all the more worthwhile when I arrived to be greet ed by the car in the showroom. It was stunning, the colour (Giallo Ginestra as used by Lancia on the Delta Integrale) looked superb under the flu orescent lights. It is unique to the Record edition with the other two Biposto variants being the original release in Matt Grey and the very limited

Rosso Officine in Red. The carbon fibre front splitter, rear diffuser and side skirts had a lovely gloss finish. The car’s stance on the Xtreme sus pension (also unique to the Biposto) and 18” OZ wheels was perfect and the Akrapovic exhaust I knew before I even started the car would be amazing. The commemorative badging on the rear wings and tailgate marking this Abarth out as something quite special and opening the doors saw the excitement continue.

Biposto translates from Italian to English as two-seater (a further nod to Carlo’s record achievements). The lack of rear seats is one of the first things you notice when you open the car door. That’s before you see the carbon fibre door cards, carbon fibre dashboard, aluminium floor mats, carbon backed Sabelt seats, and Titanium rear brace/cage.

Starting the car for the first time and the exhaust is loud, probably not helped by the fact the car was in the dealer’s showroom. The sound resonating of the brick walls and metal roof was infectious, this car needs to be driven. After some manoeuvring out of the showroom it was my first chance to see the car in the bright Welsh sunlight, it was impressive inside, but outside, wow! it really pops. The Biposto was originally released in matt grey but somehow the yellow of the record special edition works in my opinion so much better. If the grey is stealth, then this car screams look at me.

Having given the car a good luck over and checked the service history etc I was happy with the car. Once the money was successfully trans ferred, the paperwork was signed, and it was time to head home. How does it drive, well that’s for future updates? What I can share is as good as the Biposto is, it has one of the most pointless features of any car I have owned.

What is it? well it has a button marked ‘Sport’ apparently if you press it (which most Abarth owners only ever do once) it takes the car out of sport mode making the exhaust quieter, lowering the torque, altering the steering calibration, and making the engine response to the accelerator pedal slower. Personally, I would rather have had a banking plate than a button I have pressed once (well I had to) and will never be pressing again.

Tim Dunlop

SUBARU LEGACY GT-B SPEC

ME & THIS PARTICULAR LEGACY GO WAY – OVER 14 years. It was originally my father’s car, and if you’ve read Craig’s column you’ll know what that means to me. He casually cast it aside when he impulsively bought a Jeep Grand Cherokee V8, which promptly sent a con rod out of the side of the engine block. Instead of logically return ing to the B-Spec, he bought another Subaru on the fly, this time a 2006 Outback. Thus I inherited the Legacy by default, becoming the most smit ten student on planet Earth.

Much like Craig, I still vividly remember the day my dad purchased the car, and I’ve always harboured a soft spot for it. On the same day I was surprised with a copy of the game Need for Speed Prostreet. It quickly became my favourite game of all time, and the Subaru my all-time favourite car. And now I own it…Coincidence? I think not!

The car is currently in the ‘project’ stage of its lifecycle, safely cocooned in my garage. I never

had any intention to modify the car, but the frustrating unavailability of OEM parts has forced me down the restore & improve route. So far the Legacy sports an uprated in-tank fuel pump, an Exedy clutch plus a custom, manifold back stain less steel exhaust that’s retained the serviced of all three catalytic converters. Thus the output is a very mild, factory rated 260bhp and 230lb-ft. There are also minor cosmetic differences in the form of black paint for the grill and bonnet scoop, tinted rear windows and a rear wiper delete because the motor failed.

There is sadly another reason the car is off the road – on November the 7th 2019 the car was involved in a road traffic accident – not guilty –which consequently wrote the car off. But after some battling with the insurance company, they agreed to pay out for the car and change the category of repair so that it could be legally fixed and returned to the road. As for the future plans for the car, the overall goal is to turn it into a

GTB replica, which includes new front and rear bumpers, grill, spoiler, painted door mouldings as well as painted side skirts and adding mud flaps. I will also be seeking out period correct JDM mods for the car. If you have something interesting tucked away, you can reach me here – thatbluejusty@outlook.com.

My hit list includes as many Zerosports, Blitz, G-Reddy and Syms Racing items as possible to fit to the car. It will also be getting a full suspen sion and brake overhaul, refreshing all the bush es, fitting refurbished arms and Impreza WRX STI brakes all-round with stainless steel pistons and braided lines. I won’t go too crazy in the damp ing department – I still want to retain the base OEM comfort and driving feel that I love, the aim is just to up the precision a fraction. This will occur via select polyethylene bushes, camber bolts, camber plates and maybe adjustable rear arms. Stay tuned to see the progress!

Andrew Ambrose

IT ALL STARTED BACK IN 1999 AT THE PARIS motor show; a friend of mine showed me what can only be described as a caricature of a Renault Clio with a 3.0-litre V6 where the back seats should be! “They will never build that” I recall saying. Boy am I glad I was wrong.

In 2003 the facelifted 255 was released, addressing most of the issues associated with the Phase 1 car and boosting the power by 25hp. Having read all the reviews and long term tests I knew I had to have one someday. Fast forward to 2021 and I am now in my second stint of Clio V6 ownership.

The first thing that strikes you are the looks, this thing looks like it is travelling 100mph without even turning the key. From the huge air intakes and its bulging hips to its 18-inch alloys tucked inside its enormous arches, it’s pure theatre from every angle! I only have to open the garage door and look at it to put a huge grin on my face. I love people’s reactions to it, they stop

and stare, take photos everywhere it goes. Even the most mundane trip to the shops turn into an adventure, people staring in amazement as you put the shopping under the bonnet. It still amazes me how much attention the car gets, I often wonder how can a car based on such a humble little hatchback get as many admiring looks as a supercar?

I haven’t even got to the noise yet! Turn the key and you are met with the distinctive V6 burble, blip the throttle and you are treated to a deep growl. Once on the move the noise is fabulously addictive as the V6 sings right up to the 7,500rpm limiter. The fact that this is going on right behind your head makes it all the more special! There has been a lot written about the handling dynamics, with such a short wheel base, ridiculous turning circle and most of the weight in the rear it certainly feels unlike any other hatchback I have ever driven. In the dry it isn’t the handful it has been made out to be in

the past, however it certainly demands respect in damp conditions.

There’s not a lot to dislike really, but the interior is the only real downslide to the car. Get into the driver’s seat and you could be forgiven for thinking you have sat in a 1.5DCi as there are very few hints that you are sat in something out of the ordinary.

It’s only when you look behind you and see the bulkhead where the rear seats should be or the first time you catch a glimpse of the huge arches in your wing mirror you start to feel like you are sat in something pretty special. I genu inely feel like I am driving around in a piece of motoring history! In a world of EV’s & low capac ity turbocharged engines we are never going to see the likes of the Clio V6 again. Renault should be applauded for the fact that this car even exists. This one is most definitely a keeper.

MERCEDES SL65 AMG

WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN A DAILY DRIVER?

THIS HAS been something I have been ponder ing regularly over for the last few months. The cars I have used as dailies for the last fifteen years or so have all followed the same trend - with priority being: dynamic ability, driver feedback, and the ability to get my heart racing on the way to work! The list is long, but exam ples include two TVRs, a Lotus Elise, a number of Porsches and various BMW M cars.

Having said this, my thoughts on my prior ities for a daily driver started to change earlier this year when, ahead of the arrival of our new baby, we picked up our new family wheels: a 2021 Range Rover Westminster Black edition. This huge, wallowing behemoth has seduced me in a way that I never thought it could, and I have spent the time we have had in it so far thorough ly enjoying its comfort, ride quality and silence!

It is so relaxing and peaceful to drive, especially in traffic, that mundane journeys become quite enjoyable and long journeys just fly by as you snuggle into the sumptuous armchairs, set the climate control ‘just so’ and listen to the excel lent Meridien sound system.

This also got me thinking about my fleet as a whole. Pretty much every car I own is a very focused driving tool. I have a 430 Scuderia, a 996 GT2, a V12V manual, a 355 manual, a Caterham R500 and a 106 Rallye – every single one is capable of setting your pants on fire if you feel you need to blow away some cobwebs of an evening…So why was I using (at the time of these thoughts) a manual BMW M2 to do the boring stuff? Surely this choice of daily driver meant that I was not able to appreciate the full driver’s benefits of the special cars that I am lucky enough to own?

Unfortunately, the big Rangie is Mrs P_on_P’s sole car, meaning I only really get to use it when we are travelling together as a family. Therefore, about 6 weeks ago, a decision was made: I need ed my own wafting device to use for daily duties and business. The criteria was quite simple: it needed to be outrageously comfortable; have only 2 pedals; be ‘subtle’ enough to be able to

arrive at client meetings in; and, ideally, have 12 cylinders…but mainly it needed to be some thing a bit ‘different’ and feel special to climb into every morning.

Frustratingly, the ‘subtle’ criteria meant that Rollers and Bentleys were immediately scored off the list (however, they are most definitely still on the long term want list – I love Wraiths and Conti GTs). I didn’t really want a huge barge, so 760s and S Classes were also a no and, being pissed_on_petrol, means that diesels are banned from my personal fleet so a V12 TDi Q7 was also scored off.

Then, one evening, as I was scrolling through Instagram whilst sipping a nice glass of red, I came across a post about an R230 SL65 AMG... It was a lightbulb moment! And to add to that, I realised that I knew of one that a friend had in storage...I called him immediately! His reaction was initially very hesitant. He had never planned to sell this car, as he was convinced it was an excellent long-term investment car – one of only eighty-nine UK examples, less than 50,000 miles, and, in my opinion, in the only colour for a spe cial Mercedes: Iridium silver. It took over a week for me to twist his arm enough for him to agree to let the car go. We agreed a deal that involved him taking my lovely M2 in part-ex and, a week later, I was heading over to the Lake District in my M2 to do the exchange.

That was just over a week ago as I write this, so what are my initial impressions? Firstly, this car does the ‘wafting’ thing so well! It is even more comfortable than the Range Rover – the massaging, air-conditioned and heated seats are absolutely magnificent, and it is a lovely place to spend time. The engine is a masterpiece. It sounds fantastic and reminds me of a big capaci ty power boat manoeuvring around a marina in the Med – a deep, guttural, yet beautifully silenced, noise that sounds gloriously expensive. The 5-speed reinforced gearbox that Mercedes fitted to the 65 (apparently the other boxes they were using at the time couldn’t handle the 1000nm of torque this engine produces…) is lovely and lazy and that suits the engine well.

In comfort mode, its reluctance to kick down means you are always riding along at low revs, using the engine’s huge torque reserves to pro pel you forward. It’s a calming and tranquil way to travel, which is exactly what I wanted from it. This trait also means that I find I am driving a lot slower than normal – it’s so relaxing that I’m simply not in a hurry to get anywhere!

Of course, this vehicle has another, dark er, side to it…When you slip the gearbox into S mode and pin the throttle into the carpet, the mighty 6 litre, BiTurbo V12 wakes from its slumber with an angry howl and the rear tyres instantly slip as 612bhp and 737lbft of torque arrives in one huge lump of fury! Once the rudimentary traction control system finally gets the tyres to hook up, you are catapulted forward at a rate that is verging on uncomfortable in such a heavy vehicle. Acceleration is vivid and unrelenting – the car seemingly gaining speed at a consistent rate, even well into three figures. Back in 2004, a stock SL65 AMG had its limiter removed and was tested at Nardo, where it hit a GPS verified 215mph…I can believe it!

Having said this, in order to avoid bankrupt cy, moments like that need to be kept to a mini mum as the rate at which this thing drinks super unleaded, with any kind of ‘enthusiastic’ use of the right pedal, is eye-watering. My first tank of fuel (75 litres, £100+) took me 188 miles, which I have calculated at 11mpg. This thing makes my V12 Vantage seem economical!

Ignoring the fuel economy, and the fact that I have already had to spend over £1,000 on parts for it (new batteries as the car had hardly been used for 3 years, boot struts, spark plugs, Intercooler Pump…), I am absolutely loving the SL65 AMG. It is a beautiful piece of engineering, from a time before the world had gone eco-crazy and the health and safety brigade had started to ruin all the fun. And now, when I grab the keys for one of the true ‘driver’s cars’ in my stable, I appreciate their pure driving thrills all the more.

TOYOTA YARIS GR4

YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE LOOKING AT A BMW M2, but casually gate-crashing a friend’s test drive last November resulted in fate intervening. I’d always promised myself an M car and with the PCP drawing to a close on my Mini JCW and my 40th birthday on the horizon it seemed the perfect excuse to bag an original, manual M2.

But here came this little Toyota, carrying more speed on this treacherous little B-road caked in mud at one degrees Celsius than my modified JCW ever could in the dry. And it was snowing. Importantly, it did it with character, complete engagement and wasn’t just a one dimensional speed demon. The direct steering, oh so snickety gearbox, positive brakes and supreme traction was a complete riot. On top of that came the sheer strength of the body structure, which allowed the suspension to absorb absolutely everything the road chucked

at it. Even the ridiculous driving position didn’t bother me, although at 6ft 1``I can’t say the same about the widescreen rear view mirror.

I agonised over the next few days about what I personally wanted from a performance car and what it meant achieving a life goal. Both are great cars - the Yaris is more fun, the M2 is more satisfying - and both score enthusiast points in opposing areas. In the end I gave the GR the nod because it would be more fun, more of the time given its compact footprint and the UK’s inclem ent weather. With the M2 I’d always be waiting for the right road, in the Yaris I’d already be on it. I’ve always been drawn towards smaller, lighter cars that punch above their weight and the more I thought about the Yaris, the more the M2 faded from my thoughts. Seven days later I placed a £1,000 holding deposit with George at Vantage Toyota Preston and the long wait began.

What helped seal the deal was the strong residuals forecasted and a rather helpful £3,500 WeBuyAnyCar profit over the Mini’s settlement fee, thanks to the current silicone shortage. I’ve never been one to care for such things believing cars should be driven and enjoyed but here was a Toyota that felt like a win-win...if at any time I wanted out, I wouldn’t lose out. It soothed the conscience over trivial grown up responsibilities like mortgages and financing this magazine endeavour. I will admit to moments of wavering during the long wait, with Clio 200’s in fancy hues catching my eye, but a second test drive organised by George - this time in the dry where the car was equally impressive - kept the fire alive. The complete irony of the story is my bud dy who hoodwinked me into the test drive has since ended up with an M2 Competition!

Collection day finally nears with an immedi

ate trip North of the border to the Old Military Road booked in order to run the car in. Then Covid decides to have its way with a close family member and I have to isolate less than eight hours before handover. Ever helpful, George took it in his stride and safely parked the car out of customer reach within the showroom and hid it under cover. Eleven agonising days later I al most trip over myself walking through the show room doors in anticipation, delighted to find a brimmed tank and a handwritten note from all the sales team wishing me the best with the car. It wasn’t quite the Cairngorms, but heading out the Ribblehead Viaduct in the Yorkshire Dales was a decent substitute. I even crossed paths with red GR Yaris and exchanged thumbs up. Everywhere I’ve been so far the Yaris is getting a positive reaction - it’s refreshing to see. I intend to keep the car for as long as possi

ble, before values dip below the point the man maths calculator taps out. Right now it honestly feels like that ‘keeper’ I’ve always searched for. I’m not ashamed to admit I get off on the engineering that’s gone into the car and the ho mologation aspect. I adore the fact it harks back to the likes of the E30 M3, Lancia Delta Integrale, Escort Cosworth and Mitsubishi Lancer Evolu tion. Also, despite having modified every car I’ve ever owned for improved handling and pace, I won’t be touching the Yaris, because it’s so complete out of the box, and I’m frankly blown away by the fact Toyota offers a 5yr/100,000 mile warranty.

So far, the only things that have irritated me about the car have everything to do with stupid EU driver assistance equipment and almost nothing to do with the vehicle itself. One of the first things I did was deactivate the keyless entry

and start, the second was to fit a set of gloss carbon arch guards from Automotive Passion for £73. A minor flaw occurred during a snappy upshift when the gear knob decided to rotate a fraction. A swift Google later and the GR Forum suggested it’s a common occurrence, and a 360+ degree rotation clockwise will lock it back into place.

Otherwise, I’m one very happy bunny. I plan to get it run-in as quickly as possible with a few road trips, then I’m planning a cheeky track day to properly learn the car. I might even let John Bee lose with a few column inches - although I fear we may be too late to the party now and the car has had too much exposure. If you’d be in terested in his fully independent review, please let us know

Craig Toone

BENTLEY ARNAGE RED LABEL

ONE OF RUSH’S MISSION STATEMENTS IS “NO hyper cars or ‘unobtainium’” and until very re cently the car I will mainly be writing about was, for me, extremely unobtainable. So, let me tell you a little about my journey into ownership of a quintessentially British luxury automobile.

Some of us may be lucky enough to have the money spare to consider a second car, some thing sporty maybe, or elegant. Something that will turn heads or be quite quirky. Indeed, some of us may have a dream car that we would like to own, one day.

This is what it was for me. I have lots of dream cars, haven’t we all? However, one car stood out from the rest, the quintessentially British luxury and sporting car - a Bentley. But which one, and how much? How much would it cost to run? What would it be like to live with? So many questions and so much information out there meant that I spent several months just

reading up. I joined online groups to read about the exploits of others which proved incredibly useful and to some extent scary enough that wetting my pants was a real possibility as I committed to buy.

I had a budget to buy a vehicle of up to around £16,000. This meant that of the Bentley’s I liked, the affordable ones were the 1990s Mulsanne and Turbo Rs, Continental Rs up to the early 2000s Arnage model.

The 1990s cars seemed to be many and varied, in that prices were all over the place, between £6,000 through to £30K plus for barely used examples. With the advantage of fewer electronic gizmos to go wrong, there were one or two very tempting cars that I let slip away because I wouldn’t commit. I was also coming to the conclusion that a slightly newer Arnage would be a better bet for practicality and I just preferred the shape.

To give you an idea of how seriously I was taking this, my searching and researching took me from July 2019 through to March 2020 – let’s not talk about what happened then. Although the pandemic did make me take the plunge sooner than I might have.

Searching online one day, I came across an advertisement for a 2000 Bentley Arnage Red Label. I had been keeping my eye out for a Green Label (1998 to 2000) but this one jumped at me. Tempest Silver with a lovely, as it turned out, Barley coloured hide. This would make a good wedding car, and it occurred to be that there might be a way to help the car pay for herself – by doing some weddings. Well, that’s not worked out too well in 2020 and early 2021 has it?

D’oh!

My search for a Green Label Arnage was based on the fact that the Green Labels were the first Arnage models, although they were

only called Green Label after the Red Label was introduced. The Green Label name refers quite literally to the fact that the badges of these cars were green. They were also powered by the 4.4 litre V8 BMW engine which powered various BMW models across their range. I was reckoning on the reliability of the 4.4 litre unit as a poten tially cheaper to maintain piece of kit.

The Red Label Arnage by contrast was introduced shortly after VW bought Bentley from Vickers. Coupled with the change in ownership and BMW buying some rights to the Rolls-Royce name, there were questions on how the engine supply might pan out longer term. This led to VW bringing back the old Bentley V8, now being built by Cosworth under license. The change from green badges to red badges was the subtle way that Bentley indicated a change of power unit back to the old Bentley L series V8, first introduced in 1959 and which has only ceased

production completely, in 2020.

The Bentley V8 at 6.75 Litres dwarfed the 4.4 in terms of engine capacity and weight and the single Garrett T4 turbo took the Arnage from 354bhp to 400bhp and loads of torque to boot, in fact 615 lb. ft at 2,00 rpm making the Red Label the highest torque four door car in the world, at the time. However, it wasn’t just an engine swap, there were uprated brakes and other bits to cope with the extra engine weight including, I think, a change of gearbox from a GM to a ZF unit.

The ownership of Rolls-Royce by Vickers, then VW and the purchase of Rolls-Royce (parts of it) by BMW is a curious tale which you may like to read more about. It certainly was an interest ing time for these two cars back in the late 90s and early 2000s.

The Arnage I was interested in was adver tised for £16,000 by a very reputable specialist

in Kent. After several conversations it turned out to be a car that they had sold previously and the owner had passed away and now it was being sold by the owner’s widow via the specialist. How many times have you heard a garage say “Selling on behalf of someone, mate. No war ranty”. Fortunately, this dealer has a reputation to uphold and it was made clear that a warranty would be provided along with a new MOT and any faults rectified.

SOLD! And that was it. In April 2020 I bought a Bentley Arnage Red Label although it would be May before I took delivery with the pandemic lockdown and the dealer ensuring that various little issues were properly sorted.

Delivery day arrived, yes you heard right, I bought this car unseen breaking every rule in the book for buying a car. However, I figured that after all my hard work researching and under standing these cars, and with a warranty

to boot, it was worth the small risk. As it turned out, I got away with it but I would never recom mend someone to do what I did. If you do, make sure you’ve done your research and are not giving your money to a crook, ask people, check online, get feedback on the seller, if you can. Otherwise, you may as well send it to that Prince that emails you occasionally and hope that he really does have a squillion dollars to drop into your bank account.

An interesting aside on this vehicle is that the car is fitted with engine number L67500001. Some further research confirmed that this en gine was the first of the revised 6.75 litre engines that were to replace the 4.4 BMW units.

It appears that when VW decided that the L Series V8 would be used in the Arnage, the engi neers had a job to do. The Arnage was designed around the BMW engine and so some work was needed to fit the 6.75 litre unit satisfactorily. The engines needed modifying, fitting and testing due to the extra weight and more power.

I believe that possibly six such engines were designated. You see, all 6.75 litre engines have the number L410xxxxxx, 410 being close to the cubic inch measurement of the earlier engines. However, a small number, for the purposes of Arnage fitting only, were designated L675. Once the engine had been modified and accepted, the engine numbers reverted to L410 for production units, but the L675 number engines were put back into production with the same numbers. My Arnage is the 89th built of the L Series en gines, but with engine number 1. I am not sure if this is a good thing or not. Certainly, it’s not been that much of a problem so far and to be fair, buy ing a twenty-year old car, the teething problems

will have been ironed out by now to be replaced with wear and tear. One can only hope and pray.

I also hope that one day, when I come to sell her, someone will pay a premium for this engine. Perhaps not.

On receiving the car, I obviously set about checking everything and going out for a spin.

For a car that is two decades old she drove exceptionally well. Plush and comfortable in ride and driving position, the car feels huge at low speeds and the steering perhaps a little remote.

Once underway the remoteness gives way to a feeling of solid feedback, not like a sportscar but more what you would expect a luxury automo bile to feel like. Pressing the accelerator a little gives a lazy response, which is fine for this type

PORSCHE 911 CARRERA 2 (993)

MUCH LIKE KOTTO AND HIS TVR, MY DREAM CAR has always been an old 911 and I was deter mined to own one before my 40th birthday. Also like Kotto, when the pandemic hit I realised life is too short and I didn’t want to wait anymore, so I bit the bullet and never looked back.

I could see that prices were on the rise, but I didn’t want to compromise by going down the Boxster/entry level (e.g. 996) route as I knew that they would only be a temporary stop gap, so a 964 became the aim, but eventually the 993 won me over. I appreciate the classic looking front of the 964, but the other views - especially the teardrop rear end - really does it for me on the 993, and something about it being the last of the air-cooled era also makes it all the more special. Over time the 993 nose has even dislodged the 964 in my affections, especially once you start to recognise the heavy 959 influence.

There were some musts on my list; black

interior, 6 manual transmission, Carrera, and only certain colours interested me. This list of requirements narrowed the search down some what (it seems that silver was a very popular colour for the 993 but for me it just doesn’t show it off). I wasn’t after a low mileage one as I knew it would be a car I wanted to drive and not be concerned about piling the miles on. So far, the 993 has been absolutely everything I hoped for - the build quality is phenomenal and it feels so much fresher than 26 years old! It does have some gravel rash on the front, I am certain if I had the front end painted it would get damaged on my way back from the painters.

Usually at this time of year I’d be making my way over to Spa-Francorchamps for my annual pilgrimage, but with everything going on beggars can’t be choosers, so instead I’ve made the most of the show season. Right now I’m just grateful to be out and about in the car

of vehicle, it will be docile when you want it to be. However, pressing down harder and you feel the car come to life, a smooth lurch if that’s not too much of an oxymoron is followed by rapid acceleration. When new the Red Label was listed with a 0-60mph time of 5.9 seconds. I suspect that age will be responsible for worsening this rather good time. Even so, she is still more rapid than a speedy pizza delivery driver.

On the face of it, I appeared on the first drive to have bought a genuinely nice motor car. In subsequent articles, I’ll go further into owner ship, costs and the general highs and lows of owning a car that has some incredible features including eye watering spares prices.

Simon Howarth

again - I love walking up the garage at some ungodly hour in the morning, keys in hand, knowing there’s a road trip ahead of me and the chance to see some other exceptional cars. It really gets the pulse racing. The year kicked off with an invitation gathering at my detail ers - Artisan Automotive. A collection of racing Lamborghinis was in attendance, but what caught my eye most was a 50th anniversary 911 with the Houndstooth interior! People were very complimentary of the 993, I know I’m biased but it really is a beautiful car.

Next up was something different - a night cruise through London organised by the Car Cartel. The 993 slotted in between an Escort RS Cosworth and a Lancia Delta Integrale Evo 2, what a sight the trio made! June saw me attend the Bicester Heritage Scramble, where I saw my some good friends and exchanged car related gifts. It reminded me these events aren’t just

came for a whole weekend worth of Air Cooled goodness…we were totally there and we even stayed the night. I ensured we had my favourite room which looks out to the yard…it’s not often I get to look at a Speed Yellow 993 RS from a bedroom. My partner Charlotte is long suffering in this respect and I have to say I thoroughly appreciate how supportive she is in my “habit”. I did get her a new Porsche themed jumper for it, it isn’t all bad right? In-between all this, the

you never know with a 26 year old car hey? It was observed that the alternator belt was a tad worn….10 minutes later and it had gone in the workshop! I think I got lucky as I always carry a spare, and where better for it to go?!

It’s not hard to see I’m a bona-fide Porsche nut, and one of the things I enjoy collecting is Porsche memorabilia. Oilcooled21 might have been a damp day (serves me right for not taking the car for its MOT in the rain) but it couldn’t

I know I haven’t talked too much driving about the car itself - the exceptional road-hold ing and steering feedback, great touring ability, compact dimensions and oh-so-sweet flat six rumble. But after everything that’s happened, it’s important to remember that fellow enthu siasts are just as important to car culture as the open road and a wide open throttle. Stay safe & happy out there.

Dr. George Smith

TVR CHIMAERA 4.0

THE CORONAVIRUS, COVID-19, SARS-COV-2, t’Rona or whatever you want to call it has affect ed us all. It has permanently changed the way we live and those who lived through it will bear the scars of its effects for decades, a poignant reminder of just how quickly our liberty, person ality, social life and our health can be changed. I don’t believe for a second that anyone can say they’ve not had any difficulty with the virus, its impact on work, our friends and family and in time it’ll be a thing to look back on and recognise the strength it gave us when ‘the end’ was as close as it’s been since World War II or perhaps the Cold War.

The human mind is a curious thing because like a physical wound, it knows how to heal you emotionally. In time, the pain of loss or suffering will be gone, only a memory of how it hurt at that time will stay. We will grow numb to the negative and begin to thrive on the positive. Every moment of success no matter how small will be a joy to savour for a lifetime, seeing a

friend for the first time in two years, holding a new-born again, finally going on a honeymoon or simply enjoying your favourite drink at your local bar.

I honestly believe now, at the tail-end of this disaster we’ll be better for it. In the time of peace and complacency that we grew accustomed to we recognised how little of life we had expe rienced. The things we put off for months or years like a weekend break or a trip to a theme park have become burning desires, at this point now within the best possible reach we have we must enjoy life and do the things we prom ised ourselves. We owe it ourselves now to do everything we’ve dreamed before we can’t, and I don’t mean because another disaster could be looming but why wait?

Which is how I ended up buying my child hood dream car, a TVR Chimaera. Something you can trace back to 1999 where I first drove it as a ten-year-old on Gran Turismo 2. The desire to own one has been firmly in place since I

started driving in 2008, I can’t remember a time where I hadn’t browsed eBay or Autotrader just to look at them. I vividly remember a 450 for sale in about 2015 with low miles, new outriggers and chassis, retrimmed full leather interior and it was only £7,000. How I regretted paying £800 more for a twin-turbo Supra a few weeks prior. Yet time goes on and so does requirements or taste, the TVR Chimaera still sitting in the back of my head waiting for the right time. It finally came during 2020, first wave of the pandemic. I was after a XK150 model XKR in black with ivory leather but through a series of unfortunate events it never came to fruition, either dealer ships afraid of delivering a car, being unable to travel due to restrictions or the monumental number of fake/scam listings for XKRs. Even tually through sheer chance, a TVR Chimaera popped up on Facebook marketplace.

Long story short I bought it December 2020 without driving it or agreeing a price. It was what I’d wanted since 1999 and now it was

mine. You’ll be pleased to know that a used TVR is very reliable, the common faults such as hot-starting issues or worn camshaft have been remedied so you get to enjoy a TVR at its prime. However, on day 1 of ownership I saw the PAS pipes leaking and it cost £300 to repair…

And now the speedo has stopped working, which should be relatively inexpensive if it’s just the speed sensor on the driveshaft or diff. I’ve spent a few pennies on tidying it up, a full polish to restore the paint, the worn/cracked seats getting fixed and re-dyed and to preserve the interior further, full roof seal set. Happily, none of which has been expensive or needed doing, just something to make it perfect as the owner was on top of maintenance but spent more time driving it than polishing it.

You may see the mileage is quite high for an old sportscar at 80,000 but honestly the TVR is better for it. TVRs like many cars need to be driven to stay healthy, leaving them to marinate in a garage is a sure-fire way to let electrical

gremlins develop and for the chassis to corrode. There are little foibles like I mentioned with roof seals, speed sensors et al. The interior is sturdy and well-made but at twenty years old glue is beginning to fail and some bits are wearing as expected, luckily all easily fixed with a Pritt stick or creative stitching for the carpet. Servicing looks to be expensive but since the car is predominately mainstream parts there’s ways around it. Parts are extremely common and cheap if you avoid places fond of TVR tax. Garages/specialists are plentiful and if you live near a good one, you’ll have nothing to worry about no matter how old your TVR is.

I’m 6 months into ownership now and the honeymoon period hasn’t worn off, every turn of the key promises fun and excitement and every drive lets me learn more about the way the car drives which is like nothing else on the road – unless you can somehow marry the best bits of a Caterham 7, an Elise, a Mustang and an old 308 Ferrari. The noise is a tidal wave that

floods whatever space you occupy, pulling the magnificent gearbox from third to second is like reloading a rifle after a successful kill and busying the steering wheel feels as natural swimming naked in the Black Sea.

I’ve always been keen on the left-field choices because they’re just so much more in teresting, loaded with quirks and features. Only now have I learned what two anonymous black buttons under the dashboard do and there’s a handy jump-start port thing under the bonnet.

It’s always fun letting friends and family try to work out how to open doors. Even more fun seeing them begin to panic when they realise, they can’t get out…All in, it’s a great car and ownership hasn’t been as terrifying as the forums and Top Gear promised, I’m looking forward to taking it to France and Spain or even Scotland depending on the ol’ Covid restric tions. It’s fully reignited the love of driving fast I lost at the peak of lockdown.

Kotto Williams

IS THIS THE LOTUS TO FINALLY BREAK PORSCHE?

The new Emira has caused quite the stir. Could this finally be the making of the cherished sportscar manufacturer? We debate both sides of the coin

THE ARGUMENT FOR

By Craig Toone

Just like Alfa Romeo, Lotus appeared doomed to a cy cle of hope and unfulfilled promises. No matter how many false dawns the company racks up - tossed from owner to owner like a hot potato - many of us continue to extend the lauded sportscar manufacturer a serious amount of goodwill. Thankfully, just like Alfa Romeo and the Giulia Quadrifoglio, it finally looks like the day is upon us for Lotus to realise its potential with the new Emira.

The reaction to the Emira has been overwhelmingly positive and it’s not hard to see why - Lotus have always looked great, but fantasy 007 Esprit’s aside, few have ever had mainstream appeal. Amongst the general pub lic, there would always be admiration for an Elise or Evora but never desire. This is the Emira’s trump card. Quite simply, it’s a jaw-dropping design. If Lotus told me it was a rival to the £170,000 Ferrari F8 Tributo I’d still be waving my imaginary lottery win cheque book around. But the prancing horse Hethel has in its sights is not the one from Maranello, but Stuttgart. The Emira is here to go toe to toe with the Cayman - and it’ll cost from less than £60,000.

Mounted behind the driver are two engine options. The entry-level firepower is a four-cylinder turbo mat ed to a dual-clutch gearbox provided by new technical partner AMG. Both Alpine and Porsche have been crit icised for their choice of four-cylinder engines, but Lo tus has a strong connection to turbocharged fours going back to the Esprit, and the character has been specif ically tuned by Hethel engineers. They have custom ised the sound, driving modes, gearbox calibration and output - in Lotus spec it develops 360bhp. Expected to tackle the 4.0 Cayman GTS head-on is the 394bhp super charged V6 supplied by Toyota. Already one of the best sounding engines out there, the V6 is set to be offered with a traditional manual gearbox or torque converter, or paddle-shift automatic.

Delivering on driver appeal has never been an is sue for Lotus. It’s unthinkable the firm could produce a mediocre handling car. But just to be on the safe side, the Emira sits on an all-new platform and will roll off a new, state-of-the-art £100 million production line in Norwich, a stone’s throw from the company’s Hethel headquarters. Underneath Russell Carr’s alluring de sign is the brand’s proven bonded aluminium structure with double wishbone suspension all around. Best of all, the car retains hydraulic steering.

Buyers will also be able to choose between two dis tinct personalities for the car - Touring and the more focused Sport. The former features fluid road-biassed suspension tuning and Goodyear UHP tyres. The latter is available with the optional Lotus Drivers Pack and is tailored to provide superior handling and maximum feedback via tweaked geometry, firmer springs and re-valved dampers. Aimed at the track day enthusiast it comes equipped with Michelin Cup rubber. Both setups will remain passive and both sets of tyres have been fine-tuned in tandem with the manufacturers to Lotus’ specifications. Sitting at all four corners are 20” alloys

aping the Evija hypercar - a first for Lotus who have traditionally preferred a staggered setup.

Previously Lotus interiors have at best been described as pared back and driver-focused, or financially challenged if be ing unkind. The Emira aims to vanquish this reputation. Devel opment of the new cars’ interior began in November 2018 and took inspiration from both the Evija hypercar and the original Esprit. An elegant floating transmission tunnel partially displays the gear linkage on manual cars and also houses the shroud ed start-stop button and all-important integrated cup holders.

There’s a new multifunction steering wheel alongside dual LCD screens featuring digital graphics designed in-house. There will be two seat options - the standard is four-way adjustable whilst

the upgraded bucket is twelve-way - both are fully electric and unique design to the Emira.

One of the key targets for the Emira has been the widespread adoption of technology to broaden the car’s appeal and usabili ty. All the mod cons are present - Apple & Android car play, key less go, cruise control, rain-sensing wipers, electric folding door mirrors, rear parking sensors, auto-dimming rearview mirror, curtain airbags and a stolen vehicle tracker. Driver assistance aids include adaptive cruise control, anti-collision system, fa tigue alert, road sign information, vehicle speed limiter, lane de parture warning, rear cross-traffic alert and lane change assist. For the hi-fi lovers, Lotus has teamed up with KEF for the option al premium audio system and all variants will be equipped with

LED headlights as standard. It’s a serious assault on what was previously considered Lotus’ weakest link in comparison to Ger man competitors. This step change does come as a cost, howev er - not in terms of price (the Emira is set to debut in spring 2022 at under £60,000), but in pounds - the Emira weighs in at 3,097lb EU DIN ‘in its lightest form’. That’s 1,405kg in old money.

Lotus has made all these promises of a quantum leap in terms of quality and refinement, whilst retaining the famous dy namics on many occasions before, yet this time the claims aren’t ringing hollow. The key player here is current custodian Geely. The Chinese manufacturer has a proven track record of steering its European assets into the black, thanks to its hands-off, invest ment forwards approach. Just look at Volvo - the Swedish firm

continues to go from strength to strength. At Lotus, Geely have taken their time - unlike the bravado and bluster of the shortlived Danny Bahar era, or for all of Proton/DRB Hicom’s good intentions, neither had the ability or financial muscle to drag Lotus into the 21st century. Geely does, and the Evija hypercar and new factory can be classed as a statement of intent. Geely is also throwing its financial might behind the finance deals too - previously a major stumbling block for the brand compared to the more accessible offers from the likes of Porsche. And what of the name, Emira? It roughly translates from multiple ancient languages as a commander or leader. All the ingredients are there for the final internal combustion engine Lotus to be ex actly that.

“LOTUS HAS MADE ALL THESE PROMISES OF A QUANTUM LEAP IN TERMS OF QUALITY AND REFINEMENT, WHILST RETAINING THE FAMOUS DYNAMICS ON MANY OCCASIONS BEFORE, YET THIS TIME THE CLAIMS AREN’T RINGING HOLLOW. THE KEY PLAYER HERE IS CURRENT CUSTODIAN GEELY”

“THE EVORA IS OF THE MOST STABLE SPORTS CARS IN EXISTENCE AT HIGH SPEED, AND IT ALSO HAD ONE TRUMP CARD OVER THE EMIRA THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE OVERLOOKED - IT COULD BE BOUGHT AS A 2+2”

THE ARGUMENT AGAINST

By Warren Green

Reading the words of my esteemed colleague, and being a Lotus owner for the past three years, I of course have to agree on the virtues of the new Lotus Evora, sorry I mean Emira. However, I’d like to step back from the hype machine for a moment and look at the strategy and product as a whole.

“£60,000 Lotus takes the world by storm” was pret ty much every headline surrounding the launch a few weeks ago. That would be great if it was actually a £60k car, but if anybody remembers Tesla’s Model 3 hype, we were told that the era of the £30,000 Tesla was around the corner. They did sell a car for late-£30ks for a very short while, but it was really just a marketing exercise, and as we know, Tesla never pays for marketing, they just create some havoc occasionally and the media does the rest for them. I will keep mentioning Tesla in this article but the parallels can be seen here in quite a lot of scenarios; the only difference being that one company seems to have got things right, and I’m not sure at this moment, Lotus has.

This year, like thousands of others, I went to Good wood FoS and I saw the show-car/hard model on the stand. It was blatantly obvious as soon as I saw the car that, in that guise at least, with its beautiful alloys and Seneca blue hue of paint (Porsche owners will see the heavy resemblance to Shark Blue), there was no way it was the £60k car people were led to believe. You see, this was the “Launch Edition”, and I found out through someone that day the Launch Edition would be a £70k car with an extra £5k of options thrown in. I think this has recently been confirmed by Lotus Marketing. Of course, it’s nothing new for a company to display a car looking its best, but a lot of £2,000 deposits were going down after seeing that model, and transparency is very important.

In my eyes, the Emira is currently a £70k+ car until they eventually release the four-cylinder model in its most basic guise. In 2021, that still isn’t terrible for a car with looks that most supercars would be jealous of (see Mclaren Artura); except we aren’t rivalling supercars here. We’re rivalling Porsche Caymans which are one of the best sports cars on the market, if not the best, and they start at £45.5k currently. A £45k Cayman will have zero options and feature a 2.0-litre engine which isn’t the greatest sounding thing of all time, but there’s no doubting that currently there’s a £25k price gap, which will eventually come down to £15k or so when the Emira four-cylinder comes along. A rather large amount of money for most people, and for the full £70k, you could have a Cayman GTS with the 4.0-litre, flat-six engine.

The Porsche is also quite a way through its product cy cle and is bound to receive refreshes and updates in the coming year or two, so whatever competition the Emira already has, it’ll only get worse down the line.

The Evora, which let’s be honest, is exceptionally simi lar (just a 2mm wheelbase difference) was a spectacu lar car towards the end of its product cycle. It’s one of the most stable sports cars in existence at high speed, and it also had one trump card over the Emira that a lot of people have overlooked. It could be bought as a 2+2. Now I’m not saying it’s a replacement for a Volvo estate, but a friend has an Evora 2+2 and whilst his children are still below double figures in age, he and his family

are able to go out in the car together, and they’ve had some wonderful times. The Emira is a strict two-seater, and that will be a big disappointment for a lot of people, but also a massive miss for the marketing department. Instead of rivalling the Cayman alone, as a 2+2, you could have potentially poached 911 owners as well.

Did you know Lotus owners, such as myself, are a lit tle obsessed with weight as well? No, I don’t mean we’re all on the Atkins diet, but if you can remove weight from the car in the right areas, then why wouldn’t you? At 1,405kg the Emira is rather heavy compared to some oth er previous Lotus, it’s actually the norm when it comes to modern cars which are just getting heavier due to crash regulations. I don’t see an issue with the weight myself, as long as it’s accurate.

However, what most people don’t know is that the 2.0 engine Emira with DCT Gearbox will weigh almost the same as the V6 with a Manual Gearbox. Secondly, where companies such as McLaren are adding hybrid systems and more BHP to overcome the extra weight of their cars, Lotus has given the Emira just over 400BHP from a supercharged engine. Now this engine is the same as what’s in my own car. It’s superb. Originally from a Toy ota Camry (don’t tell the Porsche customers that!) It’s an incredibly robust unit with linear power all the way through the rev range. In 2021, there’s no doubt it’s a bit behind the times in terms of output though, especially in a car weighing 1,405kg at the very minimum; start adding options and auto gearboxes which have more transmission power loss/extra weight and I do wonder what the YouTube reviewers will make of it when it’s not setting drag strips and racing lap times on fire. A BMW M3 will make mincemeat out of the Emira at the traffic lights.

Of course, these engines are apparently the last of the line for Lotus before they go down the EV route (al though one can still hope a Hybrid is developed before hand), and it’s a miracle that we’ve got an agreement with a Mercedes engine in the pipeline. However, it’ll be interesting to see if the engines are up to the job of providing longevity in terms of comparing to what com petitors will be offering in years to come. Once the initial hype has died down, will the success continue? I believe the AMG engine will be available with several power op tions, a spyder is a small possibility and a car with aero could be on the cards too.

In terms of the brand itself, Lotus has always been the working man’s, or woman’s sports car. Allowing more people to own a truly exciting sports car without having to sell a limb. Work hard all week and have a car that will get rid of all that stress the second you turn the key at the weekend. It’s fantastic they exist, but actually, it’s not cars that make money for Lotus, it’s more the engineer ing side of things.

Lotus has had a hand in so many cars out there that most people don’t even know about, but at the same time, the company doesn’t generally shout about it. Lo tus is the millionaire sitting in the corner of a pub, wear

ing tatty clothes but enjoying a good pint knowing that he doesn’t need to prove anything to anybody. No show iness, just grassroots engineering with some of the best brains in the business.

The Emira is a new direction for the company but I want to make the reader aware that I don’t dislike change, it’s just that it has to be done right to be a success. This is where I feel Lotus has got things wrong and I really hope it doesn’t come back to bite them. It’s fine to have some teething issues, but plenty of other companies have gone down different paths before, yet Lotus doesn’t seem to have researched this too well. Tech companies such as Apple and Tesla have really led the way in recent years with hype-driven launches; had Lotus done more research into this type of introduction of the new car, it would have worked a lot better in my opinion.

The launch consisted of a half-hour or so lead-up from Geely, transitioning into a tenuous racing driv er link with Jenson Button, a live show at Hethel with some of the worst presenters I’ve ever seen on any kind of media launch, and some footage with augmented en gine noises over the top. This was not what I would call a professional launch personally. I’m in a couple of Lotus WhatsApp groups and at the time of the launch, people were messaging the groups jesting at just how long it was taking to get past all the initial talking phase of the video.

Then we have the dealerships. When teaser photos were first released, I put a call in to a dealer to register some interest. I simply wanted to leave my name and have them call me back once more details were known, but they refused to do so. I called another dealer who said I could place a £1,000 deposit on the car, then I called another dealer who wanted a £2,000 deposit and so on. I hadn’t even seen the car at this point, so I declined.

I’ve seen this before, where no direction is given to dealers by a brand, and the dealers have to conjure up their own methods of how to deal with sales on a new hype product. Suzuki was no different with the Jimny; small company, small dealerships and no idea how to handle heavy interest in a product. This is where the manufacturer should have made dealers aware of a new product being released days before the teaser images, and a plan should have been put into place for how deal ers should handle sales and deposits etc at that point. After the above, it was pretty clear to me that there were going to be some issues with the launch.

Around this time, Lotus announced that they would be stopping all production of not one, but all three prod ucts they were currently producing so they could re-tool the factory. The Elise, Exige and Evora were all instantly canned overnight. This is quite unprecedented; can you imagine Porsche doing this to release one new car? It could be seen as ballsy but not from a dealer’s perspec tive. You see dealers made around a 10% markup on those three models, and when the Emira was announced, Lo tus were quickly stating that the first vehicles wouldn’t hit the market until mid-2022, and we all know that es timates like that can quickly end up moving backwards.

Top right - Emira interior promioses to be a quantum leap forwards in terms of tech and quality Bottom right - there is no argument the Emira is a jaw drop ping design

So imagine you’re a Lotus dealer, mostly making money from new cars, not being able to sell many used cars as you simply can’t acquire enough stock, partly due to the car market being absolutely crazy at the moment; what do you do? How do you survive? You’ve literally just had all your products removed from your catalogue with no prior warning. Lotus dealers are gener ally quite small so will they all survive months and months of the odd used car sale here and there?

Dealers did start to get on top of their deposit systems even tually, and a lot of deposits were taken over the phone so that buyers of the Emira could get their hands on the car as soon as possible. However, Lotus stepped in again. One month after the main announcement, they apparently sent an email to all the dealers telling them that any deposits they had taken through dealerships were null and void. All deposits now had to go

through the main website and dealers must call all their deposit holders (AKA customers) to refund their deposits and instruct them to visit the website and place their deposit there instead. Seriously? This is terrible from so many perspectives. Firstly, it confirms a proper plan wasn’t in-place initially, and secondly, it destroys relationships between the dealer and their custom er. Imagine you’ve bought several Lotus in the past from your dealer, and you were told you’d have an early slot on your Emira; “sorry but you’re now somewhere amongst several thousand de posits before you and there are only 500 cars per year coming to the UK’’. I’m sure Lotus and the dealers were overwhelmed with demand, but that shouldn’t matter. They created the hype, so they should have had the foresight to deal with it. They’ve had a couple of thousand deposits in the UK alone, but how many of those will actually remain after things like this?

Also, the dealers no longer make money from a direct sale of an Emira. The latest strategy from Lotus is to sell the car solely through the website. You can still pick your car up from your local dealer, but you can’t go in and specify the car. You might get invited to a launch etc, but you specify, place a deposit and eventually purchase the car on your 5-year-old laptop at home. I personally don’t like this at all. More companies are starting to do it this way, and it leaves me cold. I’d rather go and buy a used Aston Vantage or Evora and deal with a company face to face from beginning to end.

Whilst we’re talking about it, have you ever walked into a Lotus dealership? As a Lotus owner, I have. For the most part, these are dealerships that are very much in need of moderni sation. White tile floors, white walls, a flower pot as décor and a Windows 7 computer somewhere in the background running

the show. Go from here to a Porsche or Jaguar dealership. It’s like walking out of an IBIS and going straight into the Manda rin Oriental. A complete step-change in design, facilities and atmosphere. If Lotus is going to poach customers from these brands, how can they do so when their dealer network needs so much refurbishment, but the dealers, who are expected to pay for this themselves, don’t have the funds to do so, especially at a time when they have no actual cars to sell!

Also, go on Google maps now and find your nearest Lotus dealership. You might be lucky and it might be up the road. For me, it’s over an hour away and I live in one of the biggest cities in the UK! This isn’t the end of the world when it comes to buying the car you might think; if you really want an Emira then you’ll pick it up one day, and that’ll be that.

What about servicing though? Currently, there are circa 45

“THIS IS ALL PART OF A BIGGER PLAN, OF COURSE. I UNDERSTAND THAT. THE GREATER GOOD. WHAT I DON’T UNDERSTAND IS THE TERRIBLE FORWARD PLANNING OF THIS, AND THE TIMING TO DO EVERYTHING AT ONCE”

Porsche dealerships in the UK but only 16 Lotus dealers. Looking at Jaguar, in the North West alone, there are 13 dealers. Lotus is severely lacking here. However, that’s okay though, because Lotus have officially licensed service centres taking the total amount of servicing lo cations to around 25-30 in the UK, don’t they? Well, ac tually, whilst you were hearing of all the Emira hype, Lotus quietly removed the official status of said service centres, including PJS in Burton, who are one of my fa vourite garages to deal with. Main Dealers will of course be happy about this, but now you’re taking away a huge chunk of the livelihoods of a lot of family-run garages/ specialists, and you’re lessening the appeal of an Emira to someone that has to travel hours to have their car ser viced or repaired.

This is all part of a bigger plan, of course. I under stand that. The Greater Good. What I don’t understand is the terrible forward planning of this, and the timing to do everything at once. Did the new guys running the show just pick ideas out of a hat and implement them all at once? It seems very short-sighted. It reeks of the electric car industry’s short-sightedness. Tesla got it right. They invested millions into Infrastructure with supercharger stations dotted around the UK (it’s only land owners that are slowing the proceedings with all this currently) and then they started to sell cars. Lotus needed to do similar; sort out their dealerships, re-brand them all, refurbish them all, modernise everything in preparation for going upmarket and then release the new car. Then you have a winner on your hands.

Finally, we need to look at the Emira as a single prod uct line, and also the rivals of such a car. I don’t know about you, but I see the main rivals as a Porsche Cayman and a Jaguar F-Type. These are coupes with a similar sort of clientele and level of performance. However the brands behind them sell more than just one model, and therefore they survive off the profits of many other prod uct lines. Lotus will of course add to their product line with the SUV down the line, but right now, for the fore seeable future, if you’re walking into a Lotus dealership, you’re going in there to look at one car, and choose from just six colours. It’s like Bristol back in the day, and we all know how that went.

Lotus need to quickly release more products, come up with a solution for dealerships to make a profit in the transition period, and they need to keep the extra ser vice locations open so customers have more servicing centres within 30 minutes or so of large metropolises. I also know a friend who owns a Cayman is often invited to Porsche events and experiences; another thing Lotus needs to get their act together on and provide the full, rounded experience that premium customers expect.

So do I want the Emira to be a massive success? Yes! As much as it sounds like my stance here was to berate Lotus, I do wish them a lot of luck. I would love for one of my favourite car brands to thrive and rival the best of the best, and finally have the Lots of Trouble Usually Serious moniker disappear. However, my task here was to pro vide a counter-argument against my colleague’s stance on things, and I feel that my points are factual and valid.

LEGENDARY LAPS

Tony pond

Isle of Man TT Record

By Craig Toone

Behind the scenes Tony Pond was a private man, but thrust a microphone under a moustache that put Nigel Mansell to shame, it wouldn’t take long before a wry smile or witty quip emerged. Tony had come to fame the hard way - he was working class, with no family money or big-ticket sponsorship, yet still found his way to the top, and the British public adored him for it. Rally jackets had rarely been worn with such swagger.

Yet his driving style was anything but flamboyant. He was neat, serious, precise and devastatingly quick. A driver ahead of his time, Pond took great care of himself and spent many hours studying lines when most of his contemporaries were chain-smoking their way towards the bar in the nearest Kings Arms. It was a technique that saw him consistently getting cars such as his Tri umph TR7 and Rover SD1 to punch above their weight. When Group B came along Tony was behind the wheel of the iconic Metro 6R4. Despite being a fan favourite, the little hatchback lagged behind the competition yet in true underdog fashion Pond mounted a serious chal lenge at the 1985 RAC, falling just shy at the final stage to the rampant Lancia Delta S4s of Henri Toivonen and Alen Markku. After nine and a half hours of intense rac ing, Pond finished an agonising 2.27 seconds adrift. It was the best result the dinky Metro would ever record.

Pond was even a dab hand behind the wheel of a Touring Car. Today the particular skills required to operate at the top level of circuit or forest racing means any cross-over of talent is unheard of, yet Pond stuck his Rover 3500 on pole in his very first BTCC outing at Donnington. In the next race at Silverstone, he won. He was therefore the perfect man for the job of attacking the four-wheeled TT record.

His vehicle of choice made the challenge even greater. By no means a slow production car, the Rover Vitesse 827 wasn’t even at the sharp end of performance cars, let alone supercars - it was a favourite of the Boys in Blue patrolling the motorways, a comfortable executive saloon with a turn of pace. Its predecessor was the much-loved rear-wheel drive SD1, but the new 800 series was a product of Rover’s partnership with Honda, meaning it was based upon the front-wheeldrive Legacy platform. The 2.7l naturally aspirated KV6 was good for 177bhp and 0-60 in 8s, however, Pond’s car was rather quicker - despite fervent claims of the Rover

being completely unchanged, skulduggery was in play. Chief mechanic Dave Appleby later let slip the car was running on slicks and had been stripped to the bone, weighing as little as 1,160kg - 200kg less than a show room example.

Not that it helped for Tony’s first attempt in 1988, where rain stopped play. Tony returned in 1990 and promptly ditched his co-driver, requiring photographic memory of the course’s 100-plus turns, not to mention its many bumps, jumps and cambers, but he considered it a worthwhile gamble as it removed a significant bal last on a course with an elevation change of over 1000ft. Rolling the dice paid off as Pond powered around at an average speed of 102mph, clocking 22:09s against the stopwatch. He became the first driver to ever circle the island at a three-figure mean.

As ever, motorsport junkies Duke Video captured the lap, and watching Tony pilot the Rover at full commit ment through the narrow streets is enough to have even seasoned bikers tipping their visors in respect. Glimps es of the footage can be found on YouTube in Duke’s promotional material, but we strongly recommend you purchase the full DVD or download it for less than a cup of coffee. Backed up by commentary from the man himself, the onboard footage shows just how smooth and talented Pond is whilst the exterior shots highlight just how hard he is working the Vitesse to extract that remarkable time - at multiple points throughout the lap Pond is hitting an indicated 150mph as he threads the needle between all manner of hazards.

His record stood for 21 years until Subaru turned up to the 2011 TT with an army of mechanics and local specialist Mark Higgins, who drove the wheels off a modified Impreza WRX. He raised the average speed to 115mph and cut over two minutes from Pond’s timeten years later that record still stands.

Tony retired from rallying in 1986 when Group B was outlawed, taking up a position as an MG Rover devel opment driver, where he had a hand in the MGF. He passed away all too soon in 2002 at the age of 56, after a battle with Pancreatic Cancer. Like the professional Golfer who carries around the title of ‘best player to have never won a major’, Pond has to be in the discus sion about the best British Rally driver to have never won in the WRC.

Tony Pond driving his Talbot Sunbeam Lotus at the 1979 Manx International Rally Image credit - Alan Lewis

ROAD RANT THE REPLICA FERRARI

New contributor Al has seen an increasing number of Ferrari replicas on the road. Which ponders the question? What sort of car enthusiast actually buys one...

What is it that possesses an individual to part with a not inconsiderable sum of cash to buy a car that once came off a manufacturer’s production line proudly intact, then later in life found itself in some darkly-lit shed with all the good bits removed and replaced with ill-fitting panels that could have been hand-moulded and stuck on by a 5-year old on a sugar-high? The murky world of the replica Ferrari owner is a perplexing one for any real petrolhead to fully understand.

Most of us love a Ferrari, who doesn’t? Some would only ever own a prancing horse in the traditional red, others may opt for the more understated black or silver/ greys, but one thing is certain – 99% of us would only ever buy the real thing. Owning a Ferrari is about the whole experience – the noise, the drama, the handling, the achievement – it’s an event each time you go for a drive. Others relish seeing and hearing a Ferrari out on the open road; people admire the cars, so what happens when they spot a fake?

In all the year’s replica Ferraris have been around, I have yet to see one example of a 360 Modena that could fool anyone who is into cars. And that prompts the ques tion, who actually buys these cars, and why? They can’t be buying a replica expecting to fool true car enthusiasts, likewise, if they are buying to impress the general public it will be lost on most who have zero interest in cars other than as a mode of transport, and they can’t be buying one because it sounds / handles / performs like a Ferrari – be cause it doesn’t.

Then there’s the finish – someone somewhere at some point has looked at the final design drawings and gone ‘Yes, nailed it! Put that into production. Yet when complete, these replicas somehow look like they’ve spent time on a torture rack with random sections of bodywork unnatu rally stretched, panel gaps visible from space, arches too wide to accommodate suspiciously narrow wheels, and a ride height guaranteed to generate a double-take for all the wrong reasons. So who in their right mind would actually part with their hard-earned cash for such a vehicle?

The paranoia alone would kill me. Imagine every time you go out for a drive and someone glances over whilst sitting at some traffic lights, are they thinking ‘nice Ferrari’ or ‘what the hell is that meant to be?’ People taking photos

with their phones - are they believing it is a genuine super car or are they uploading it onto social media for a laugh? When you break down (which you will), what are the re covery guys and Toyota garage going to think? Replica own ers who also elect to fashion a Ferrari keyring with their MR2 key are an even rarer breed amongst themselves, can you imagine putting your keys down on a restaurant table with the Ferrari badge clearly on show, only to have your replica parked outside the front of the building? What if your waiter is a car guy and has already clocked it’s a fake and starts asking you about your Ferrari whilst taking the order? Will he bring you the rump steak instead of the fillet hoping you won’t notice either? Your partner is an accesso ry to the crime too – they know your dirty little secret and have to play along. The underlying guilt would eat away at me; I’d have to ask for a doggy bag and leave.

It’s also the excessive use of badges I’ll never under stand; almost everyone will know it’s a replica so why go through the suffering of attaching Ferrari badges on everything from the fake air vents to the glove box? A lack of badges at least points to a form of subtleness acknowl edging you know what you own isn’t the real deal, but where the owner insists on a full complement of Ferrari badges and matching embellishments they have to expect judgement from genuine car enthusiasts, even if they’ve chosen to identify as a real Ferrari now it’s 2021.

It’s one thing buying a replica Ferrari, trying to sell it must be absolutely horrendous. Firstly the resale market must be extremely small, but more worryingly imagine the type of people you’ll get enquiring to buy it. The photos only ever show certain angles – a bit like an Instagram model - and the adverts always say ‘best example on the market’, I’d very much hate to see the worst...

Some replicas however do manage a good job at evocat ing the original - cars such as the Pilgrim Sumo, DAX To jeiro, and Chesil Speedster all come to mind. They’ll never match the original, but most car enthusiasts appear more comfortable with what those companies have created, perhaps because they are based on cars of a by-gone era rather than trying to emulate a much more recent and rec ognisable design, or maybe it’s because the Ferrari brand has such a strong and loyal following, people simply refuse to accept a lame donkey dressed up as a prancing horse.

VIRTUAL REALIT Y

They say good design never dates; Not in a sense that it looks old but it will always look good. This rings true for things like the AK47 assault rifle, the Charles Eames lounge chair and Helen Mirren. With cars it’s quite difficult, be cause what makes a car look good can change in a space of weeks. In true RUSH fashion I’ll ignore the multi-million es tablished beauties like the Ferrari 250GTO - I’m going down to earth, because one of the car designs in my lifetime that sits at the summit of my small brain is the 1994 Audi TT Coupe concept.

You’re probably thinking that I’ve made a mistake, the Audi TT was conceived in the 2000s but nope. It was first penned in California by Freeman Thomas and J Mays. They won over the Audi executives by designing it around the new (for 1996) A3 and sharing bits from established models, allowing them to present it at the 1995 Frankfurt Motor show as a mere design study – a manifestation of their goal to create a modern, minimalist, gesamtkunstwerk that was within reach of the many rather than the few.

Like many stories of classics, it took a short space of time to create; just seven months. However, in that time nearly a century of German automotive design was accounted for. It looked to the 20s where Bauhaus de sign language was beginning to take over Art Deco, and then 30s, paying attention to the curves, particularly the rounded lines encasing the wheels and short overhangs – a modern interpretation of the racing cars of that genera tion and indeed the curvatons, swept-back rooflines found on Auto-unions finest. Racing ahead to the 1940s and 50s we have exaggerated, defined wheel arches married to bodywork that stretched across the cars corners. In more modern times we’ve grown a taste for what makes a car look fast and exciting; feline sharpness and the appearance of velocity.

Dr Demel, Audi’s chairman, described its presence as “An enthusiast’s car with great charisma”. Its design needed no introduction however, it caused such a stir that soon after the show it was going to enter production. Though five years away it was a futuristic car that was born to be in the millennium, finished in silver it could’ve been a beautifully machined aluminium figurine on display at the Guggen heim in Spain. Unusually too, the production version that followed is near identical to the concept – further testa ment to the intelligent design and genuine forward-think ing nature of its designers. The roofline, door mirrors and elements of the interior have changed but it’s largely the

AUDI TT CONCEPT

The Audi TT was the last concept car to truly cause an earthquake with its scalpel sharp design. Unusually, the production car remain faithful to the concept, creating an instant icon.

By Kotto Williams

same – more part sharing with its sibling cars rather than bespoke on-off concept items.

The inside, again largely untouched from concept to production, is a masterpiece of simplicity and technical design. It did away with the square 80s that some man ufacturers forced upon us or the ultra-curvaceous early 90 and effectively introduced what we have today. It’s a minimalist array of fine materials and age-defying shapes and contours - instead of drab grey or silver painted plastic we got aluminium or satin-finished metals breaking up the monotony of the usual German black dashboard. Even the Alcantara trimmed steering wheel of the concept, usually the sore-thumb of older cars looks like it could’ve been fit ted to something last year – the absence of twenty function buttons is the only real give away. Even now from first see ing this concept as a child I want to feel how the machined gearstick feels, a fantastic milled piece and surround you won’t see for another ten years until the Ford GT supercar adopted it.

The production version that came out in 1998 with the revised roof and some more details on the interior such as the TT emblem stamped into the metal bar that bifurcates the centre-console or the neatly finished dials on the cli mate control panel I think supersedes the concept design. Looking at the car now and they honestly nailed it, it looks fresh, a looked after one with gleaming paint and clear headlights could trick the lay-person into thinking it was a brand-new car. Some early adopters may look past this following some high-profile lawsuits following fatal acci dents at high speed. The streamlined rear tragically proved to be too slippery on the autobahn, forcing Audi back to the drawing board to improve stability - a small lip spoiler, sterner DSC and less playful suspension was the result.

To drive the TT might not have captured the heights of the urQuattro (little else on the road could) but the under lying hardware of the tuneable 1.8 turbocharged 5 cylin der and proven haldex all wheel drive still made spirited driving engaging. The most collectable might be the later TT Sport with added boost and subtracted seats, but the one for me is the soulful V6, nabbed straight out of the Golf R32, mated to a manual gearbox. It may not be as fun to drive as a Honda S2000 or Porsche Boxster, it’s certainly a beautiful, bombproof coastal-road cruiser that will spawn a hundred car-park conversations. The TT is a rare opportunity to buy a futuristic, appreciating concept car which only comes once every few decades.