Supercar Driver Magazine Issue 22

THE SUPERCAR OWNERS’ MAGAZINE

ISSN 2399-3383

9 772399 338002

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ISSUE 22 WINTER2016

DRIVER MEMBERSHIP Being a Supercar Driver is a way of life, we are way more than just a club, we are a community and we give you a reason to use your car, but more importantly meet new friends and enjoy new experiences.

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Welcome to issue 22 of Supercar Driver, a unique publication, written by the owners, for the owners.

Focusing on real life ownership experiences and the supercar lifestyle, featuring Members’ Rides, Dealer Drives, Driven reviews, Members’ Collections, garages and events.

Non members can now subscribe to receive the magazine in print via:

www.supercar-driver.com

THE TEAM

Our writers are Supercar owners and enjoy getting behind the wheel of a variety of cars - meet the team below...

Adam Thorby Director

“Co-founder & supercar obsessive”

adam@supercar-driver.com

Paul Owen

Tim Hanlon

“Porsche addict. Quite Tall”

“Automotive encyclopedia and serial car buyer”

Editor

paul@supercar-driver.com

Writer

tim@supercar-driver.com

Jonty Wydell

Matt Parker

“Driving oracle”

“Porsche nut. The only way is sideways”

Writer

jonty@supercar-driver.com

Writer

matt@supercar-driver.com

Steve Holmes

Dave Baker

“Does my bum look big in this?”

“One life, live it!”

Writer

steve@supercar-driver.com

Writer

daveb@supercar-driver.com

Paul Bailey

Oliver Web

“Serial supercar collector”

“BAC test driver and LMP1 driver”

The Collector

paulb@supercar-driver.com

Resident Racing Driver

oliwebbracing@me.com

Riad Ariane

Tim Crawford

“Likes fast food and takes the occasional photo”

“SCD-TV’s resident Viking”

Photographer

riad@supercar-driver.com

Videographer

tim@tc-media.co.uk

Neil Duckmanton

Luke Earnshaw

“Supercar designer... in his dreams”

“Automotive aesthetic admirer”

Designer

neil@upbeatdesign.co.uk

supercar-driver.com

Designer

luke@upbeatdesign.co.uk

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INSIDE ISSUE 22

ON THE COVER 56

Features & Articles Tyre Choices

12

McLaren First Drive

14

Car Care Tips

22

Duemila Ruote Auction

28

AkrapoviÄ? Factory Visit

30

Left Foot Braking

34

Pro-Sim Visit

40

Speedmaster

42

Bright Ideas

50

Testing Times

52

THE COLLECTION

56

Oli Webb: Donington

66

Our Sponsors

128

Final Thought

130

TheSupercarDriver

4

Supercar Driver

45

Driven Aston Martin DB11

8

Noble M600

16

Bentley Bentayga

20

McLaren 570GT

24

Caterham 310R

45

@ASupercarDriver

See more at supercar-driver.com

Supercar_Driver

SupercarDriver

36

68 92

100

Members’ Rides

On SCD-TV.com

Aston Martin V12VS’

68

Ferrari F50 insight

88

Ferrari 488 GTB vs 458 Speciale

74

Porsche Carrera GT vs 911R

92

Lamborghini Aventador

78

McLaren 570S vs Porsche GT3 RS

82

Events DK Engineering Visit

36

Spa-Francorchamps Track Day

96

If you would like to submit an article or photo for consideration in a future publication, please email the editor. By submitting an article to us, you are granting permission for its use in future Supercar Driver publications, promotional materials, or online.

Dealer Drives Porsche 911 RSR IROC

100

Range Rover Sport SVR

104

Ferrari F12 N-Largo

108

Bentley GT V8 S

112

Porsche 997 GT3

116

Ferrari F430 Spider

120

Copyright ® 2017 Supercar Driver Limited. All photographs, advertisements and editorial content has been used with permission of the owners and may not be copied, duplicated or reused without written permission. Magazine created and edited for and on behalf of Supercar Driver Limited. Content including words and photographs remains copyright of the original author/photographer and used with permission.

supercar-driver.com

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The superlative-charged chronograph. 50 mm case in BreitlightÂŽ. Exclusive Manufacture Breitling Caliber B12 with 24-hour military-style display. Officially chronometer-certified.

B R E IT L ING . C O M

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Aston Martin

DB11

Arguably the prettiest cars of this century have come from the stables of Aston Martin. The DB9, and its baby cousin, the Vantage, must be up there with the some of the best designed cars of all time. They look striking, yet elegant.

They have performance and comfort.

They are a tough act to follow - no wonder it has taken the best part of a decade to start the model replacements. But the first replacement is here – the update to the DB9.

Say hello to the Aston Martin DB11.

Written by: Paul Owen At around the same time that James Bond was showing off on the big screen in his new Aston DB10, a car built specifically for the film, AML had also announced that the on-screen car hints at the future of their design strategy and, true to their word, you can see many similarities of the movie car in the DB11.

It is a really striking looking car, not as subtle nor soft as its predecessors, but a car brought bang up to date with sharper, edgier styling. In pictures, it can look a little awkward and fussy from some angles, but in the metal, it is a fabulous looking thing. It looks next-generation and makes everything else on the road immediately look old hat.

This is a big car, the bonnet is particularly huge and, in a change to the norm, access to the engine bay is completed by pulling the bonnet forwards - and in doing so makes it look like something out of Transformers. Under that huge housing resides a 5.2 litre twin turbo V12! Oh, my. It sounds as British-built as you’d hope too, growling and snorting all of its 600bhp on request. That power translates to a 0-62mph time of 3.9 seconds and effortless acceleration no matter what speed you are doing. Much of this execution could be attributed to the gearbox – an 8-speed automatic which works hard to ensure it is always in the correct gear for your needs.

The interior is as you would expect from a GT and is a lovely place in which to spend lots of time with comfort and convenience in abundance. Surprisingly

supercar-driver.com

though, for such a futuristic car, the incar entertainment system is not a touch screen affair. Rather, Aston Martin have opted for a control wheel and touch pad on the centre console. At first glance this seems a backward step, but where it makes a case for itself is in one of elegant form. Rather than mashing a screen up in front with your finger digits, your arm can remain relaxed on that leather armrest, whilst your fingers gently sway left to right on the responsive touch pad.

A short press of the keypad activates the highlighted function on the screen. Very civilised. It takes a bit of getting used to - as did the Climate controls, all of which are subtly different from the norm - but after spending a few hours with the car, my brain became engaged into Astons way of thinking. I could, of course, have sped up this process by asking our dealer representative to show me how it all works, or even read the beautifully presented, hard back instruction manual contained in the centre cubby. But I'm a bloke, and we don't do such things.

Regardless, the convenience tech was secondary to that of actually driving this car - and that's what we wanted to do most.

When it comes to driving, the DB11 makes the world wonderfully simple. It has keyless start, so once comfortable (not hard, the seats are utterly fabulous), you put a foot on the brake pedal and press the start button. The starter motor fires excitedly into action in a way that only supercars do, and the big V12 growls into life. Oooh, it makes your spine tingle.

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To drive off, press "D" on the console and off you go. The gearbox will start in full-auto mode, but a pull of either the up or down paddle shift levers puts the car into manual. The DB11 will stay in manual at this point until you tell it otherwise, by simply holding the upshift paddle for a few seconds. Simple. There are several options for driving modes and damper adjustments on the steering wheel. Press the appropriate buttons to enter Sport mode and press again for Sport+, the latter changing the driving dynamics even further and also providing a notable change in audio – hello tunnels.

The reverberation of the Aston’s huge engine as we went through several tunnels sounded fabulous and I put the boot down on more than one occasion.

Sadly, a tunnel test can only last for a

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few seconds because all of that 600bhp means you arrive at the speed limit all too quickly. Still, the occupants of the car behind us clearly enjoyed it as they later passed us with big smiles on their faces, eyes transfixed on our car as they drove by.

Should you choose to be a little more adventurous with the throttle, all of that power needs a lot of control. The test drive was on a very damp day and if the DB11 was primed with too much right hoof it triggered the swift arrival of the cars computers, gently reminding us that we need a little help to keep us going in the direction we requested. But it isn’t intrusive and doesn’t spoil the fun - this is a GT car after all and whilst the DB11 could easily keep up with the best of them in terms of power, pace and performance,

the elegance of the set up allows you to enjoy the car equally even at a more sedate pace. That said, I can only imagine just how much fun this car would be in the dry.

The DB11 is brand new and our limited time with it left only positive vibes. It is the car of the moment and I’d love to see more of these at SCD events. If you are in the market for a new GT, I’d recommend a test drive and see what you think – but get your orders in soon, I expect there may be a queue.

Huge thanks to Aston Martin Leeds for allowing us time with their demonstrator.

If you would like to know more, please contact Mark Hill on 0113 389 0701 and mention Supercar Driver.

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