Steve Sutcliffe and his mates from Autocar recently spent the day at Castle Combe with half a million quids worth of track toys. Fighting for their attention was the Ferrari 458 Speciale, the McLaren 650S and the Porsche 911 GT3.
Which one do you think will be the fastest? And which one would you take home?
[Thanks to Tim for the tip]
If you can stomach the planet’s insatiable desire for SUVs then you’ll be primed for this review from Autocar. It’s the BMW X4 up against the Porsche Macan. Two SUVs likely to polarise opinions on numerous levels, but two SUVs that are likely to be among the best in their class.
Specifically, Autocar has compared a BMW X4 xDrive30d M Sport against a Porsche Macan S Diesel. And at 1895kg and 1880kg respectively these little “small” SUVs have a lot of weight to throw around from their elevated positions.
So, they’ll be crap handlers right?
Take two Volkswagen Group products to the track, in this case the Golf R and the Leon Cupra 280, thrash them about and see if you can come to a conclusion as to which is best.
The circuit in question is the tight and twisty Cadwell Park and Autocar scribe Steve Sutcliffe is telling the story. The Golf has a bit more power but thanks to its 4motion all-wheel drive system has a bit more weight than the Leon. Both cars share a 6-speed DSG. Remember, the Leon Cupra 280, for a brief moment, held the FWD lap record at the Nürburgring.
What do you think will happen next?
[Thanks to Mark for the tip]
Steve Sutcliffe from Autocar is really showing off now. Already he has spent time behind the wheel of the McLaren P1 and now he’s back for a second helping. A helping which lasted three full days and took in public roads, Castle Combe, an empty air strip and the MIRA test facility.
It is very much worth watching this video, of course. The P1 is a remarkable machine. Alas, after three days with the car, we’re not sure we’ve really learnt anything new.
Flippin’ heck!
UK mag Autocar is one of the first to drive and post a video review of the Porsche 918 Spyder. It’s a track only review but you still get a sense of how seamlessly the electric motors and the 4.6 litre V8 interact.
The review is very positive and as the first of the hybrid hypercar triumverate we can’t wait to see how well the 918 will stack up when its been driven back-to-back against the LaFerrari and the McLaren P1.
The Caterham Seven 620R, it weighs a shade over 500kg and is powered by a 230kW (310hp) supercharged 2.0 litre Ford engine. It’s got a sequential gearbox and you have to control the power with your right foot and the rear wheels. It doesn’t get much more basic or enjoyable than this.
Steve Sutcliffe from Autocar has a crack at explaining the experience for those of us unikely to have the good fortune of trying a 620R for ourselves.
Autocar is the latest mag to get its hands on the all-new 991 911 GT3. And we’re going to spoil the outcome for you by saying that Steve Sutcliffe concludes his review with the words: “I think this is the best sportscar I’ve ever driven.”
As if telling you that is going to stop you from watching the clip for yourself!
Well, with 1200 horsepower, 1500 Newton metres of torque and costing around £2,000,000 what else would you expect him to say?
Him is Steve Sutcliffe from Autocar and the car is the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport. Yep, that’s the one that set a new landspeed record back in June. The magic number then was 431km/h and that stands as the fastest speed set by a production vehicle.
In case you haven’t already done the sums, the Aussie dollar conversion is around $3.2 million.
Check out Sutcliffe’s review after the break. Lucky sod!
Here is a real treat for you, Autocar have just posted a video of Steve Sutcliffe driving the Porsche GT3 R Hybrid. This is the same car that very nearly won the demanding Nürburgring 24 hour race at its first attempt.
In his written review Sutcliffe says driving the GT3 R Hybrid is, “Quite spooky, incredibly efficient but also just very, very exciting to use. When you press the magic button for the first time it actually feels a bit like a cheat, the rush of extra acceleration comes at you that fast. But when you get used to the way it works – the way it can alter not just your speed along a straight but also the handling balance mid corner even – the hybrid GT3 R is quite clearly a highly significant piece of kit; the beginning of a brand new era.”
Piers Ward from TopGear.com has also had a drive in the GT3 R Hybrid. Here’s a bit of what he had to say, “This thing is utterly brilliant. It’s not about chasing fuel figures or CO2, it’s about trying to maximise performance.
“By the end of three braking zones, the flywheel is fully re-charged. The weirdest part of the whole thing is the noise is makes as it’s getting charged up – like a hoover on speed, whirring away frantically.”
In closing his review Sutcliffe says, “hybrid power is not the future for companies like Porsche and cars like the 911, it is the present. Not so much the end of the road for high performance cars, but the beginning of a brand new chapter.
Take the jump to watch the Autocar clip.
The Audi TT RS and the R8 V10. Two very, very nice cars. Most readers would pick the R8, right? But what if you could only muster the cash for the slighty oddball five cylinder powered TT RS, would you really be missing out on that much?
In rough UK numbers the R8 V10 is £100K, the TT RS around £50K. So, there is, obviously, a huge discrepancy in price. In Aussie dollars the numbers look even more insane, the R8 V10 starts at $350K, that’s heading towards triple the asking price of the $135K TT RS. Does the mighty R8 have the performance to justify its massive gap in asking price compared to the TT RS? That’s a question Steve Sutcliffe from Autocar asked. You can watch his answer in video form after the jump.
[Thanks to Timbo for the tip]
A brief snippet here from UK magazine Autocar, who recently ran a tyre test with a difference. Usually, when magazines run tyre comparos they get a few examples from across the price range and try to establish the best tyre on the market. This time, though, Autocar used an established tyre from Continental and tested it against cheaper tyres made in China and Taiwan.
One in five sets of tyres sold in the UK now are sourced from these markets and the test would see how the less expensive tyres compared. The press release presented is a bit light on detail (might have to buy the mag for the full story I guess), but the conclusion is no real surprise.
The results given were for an 80km/h–zero wet weather braking test. A Volkswagen Golf was used, fitted with OEM fitment 205/55R16 sized tyres. As one might expect the Continental performed best, stopping in the shortest distance. Amazingly, however, the worst performing tyre in this test, from Linglong, was still travelling at 44km/h at the same point the Continentals had brought the test car to a halt. Ouch!
Of course, no test can be consclusive for each individual buyer, but when it is nigh on impossible for consumers to test tyres before buying, comparisons like this can prove quite valuable. Remember, tyres are the only things between you and the road. If you’re considering a cheap set of tyres next time, you might want to consider your other options.
In Iceland for the official Golf VI launch autocar.co.uk has filed a brief review of a 2.0 TDI Golf VI, with DSG transmission. Here’s a few snippets:
Read the autocar.co.uk article in full for more detail.