The evo podcast Oct 31, 2025

The best six-cylinder sports cars, Ferrari's EV and a 470bhp Skoda | evo podcast | Episode 31

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Car

Skoda Superb

The Skoda Superb is a big car that's great for families. It has a lot of space inside and is comfortable to drive.

Concept

Sleeper

A sleeper is a car that looks normal but is actually very fast. People are often surprised when they see how powerful it is.

Company

RE Performance

RE Performance is a company that makes cars faster and better by changing parts and tuning the engine.

Term

EHP

EHP means how powerful the engine is. The higher the number, the faster and stronger the car can be.

Part

AP Racing brakes

AP Racing brakes are special brakes designed for racing cars. They help the car stop quickly and handle heat better than regular brakes.

Part

coilover suspension

Coilover suspension is a system that helps a car's wheels move up and down smoothly. It can be adjusted to make the car higher or lower, which can help it handle better on the road.

Car

Polestar 3

The Polestar 3 is a new electric SUV made by Polestar, which is a brand that focuses on electric cars. It's designed to be both stylish and high-performing.

Term

Google-based system

A Google-based system in a car means you can connect your phone and use apps like maps and music directly on the car's screen. It makes it easier to use your phone while driving safely.

Term

inverter

An inverter is a part that changes the type of electricity from the battery so it can be used by the car's motor. It's important for making electric cars work properly.

Car

Ferrari Eletrica

The Ferrari Eletrica is a new electric car that Ferrari is planning to release. It's part of their move to make electric vehicles, which are different from traditional gas-powered cars.

Car

Maserati Levante

The Maserati Levante is a fancy SUV made by Maserati. It's known for being stylish and fast, with a lot of luxury features inside.

Brand

Ferrari

Ferrari is a famous car company from Italy that makes fast and luxurious sports cars.

Term

horsepower

Horsepower measures how powerful an engine is. The higher the horsepower, the faster and more powerful the car can be.

Car

Rematch Lavera

The Rematch Lavera is a very powerful electric car that has four motors, making it unique and fast. It's designed for high performance and speed.

Part

accelerometer

An accelerometer is a tool that senses how fast something is speeding up or slowing down. In cars, it helps understand how the vehicle is moving, which can improve safety and performance.

Concept

traction loss

Traction loss happens when a car's tires can't grip the road properly, which can make it hard to steer or stop. It's important for safety and handling, especially in slippery conditions.

Concept

electric vehicle (EV)

An electric vehicle, or EV, is a car that runs on electricity instead of gasoline. They are often quieter and produce less pollution than regular cars.

Car

Hyundai Ioniq 5N

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 N is a sportier version of the Ioniq 5, which is an electric car. It's built for better performance and driving fun.

Term

paddles behind the steering wheel

Paddles are levers located behind the steering wheel that let you change gears in a car with an automatic transmission. They make it easier to drive and control the car without moving your hands away from the wheel.

Term

engine braking

Engine braking is when you let off the gas pedal and the engine helps slow down the car instead of just using the brakes. It can help save your brakes and give you more control when driving.

Term

synthesized gearbox

A synthesized gearbox is a type of transmission that doesn't use regular gears. Instead, it uses technology to change gears smoothly and quickly, which can make the car feel faster and more responsive.

Car

Ferrari 296 Speciale

The Ferrari 296 Speciale is a special version of a Ferrari sports car that combines a traditional engine with electric power to enhance performance. It's designed for driving enthusiasts who want a powerful and advanced vehicle.

Car

Ferrari 458 Speciale

The Ferrari 458 Speciale is a special version of the Ferrari 458, designed to be faster and more exciting to drive. It has a powerful engine and is built to be lightweight, which helps it perform better on the road.

Car

GTB

GTB stands for Gran Turismo Berlinetta, which is a type of sports car made by Ferrari. It's built for speed and handling, making it great for driving on tracks and roads.

Term

aero details

Aero details are parts of a car designed to help it move through the air more efficiently. They can help the car go faster and stay stable at high speeds.

Part

splitter

A splitter is a flat piece at the front of a car that helps it stick to the road by pushing it down as air flows over it.

Concept

GT3 car

A GT3 car is a special kind of race car made to compete in specific racing events. They are built to be very fast and handle well on the track.

Part

active gurney flap

An active gurney flap is a part at the back of a car that can move up or down to help the car stay stable and go faster by changing how the air flows around it.

Term

hybrid element

A hybrid element means that the car uses both a regular engine and an electric motor. This helps the car perform better and can make it more efficient.

Car

BMW F80

The BMW M3 is a fast and sporty car that's based on the regular BMW 3 Series. It's popular because it combines the comfort of a regular car with the excitement of a race car.

Car

Porsche 911

The Porsche 911 is a famous sports car that looks unique and is really fun to drive. It's known for being fast and is often seen as a dream car for many people.

Concept

Formula One

Formula One is a top-level car racing series where specially designed cars compete on tracks. These cars are very different from regular cars you see on the road because they are built for speed and performance.

Concept

Le Mans

Le Mans is a famous car race that lasts for 24 hours. Cars compete to see which one can go the farthest in that time, making it a tough test for both the cars and drivers.

Car

Ferrari 488 Pista

The Ferrari 488 Pista is a special version of the 488 sports car that is built for high performance, with more power and better handling. It's a favorite among car enthusiasts for its speed and design.

Car

Porsche Cayman

The Porsche Cayman is a smaller sports car that is really fun to drive and has its engine in the middle, which helps it handle well. It's a great option for those who want a sporty car without going for the more expensive 911.

Car

BMW Z4M

The BMW Z4 is a sporty car that can be driven with the top down or as a coupe. It's known for being fun to drive and looks really good.

Car

Lotus Evora

The Lotus Evora is a lightweight sports car that's designed for great handling and speed. It's popular with people who love to drive and want a thrilling experience.

Car

BMW E46

The BMW 3 Series is a popular car that combines luxury and sportiness. It's known for being fun to drive while also having a comfortable interior.

Car

Mclaren F1

The McLaren F1 is a super-fast car from the 1990s that is famous for its unique design and amazing speed. It's considered one of the best cars ever made and is very rare.

Car

Toyota Camry

The Toyota Camry is a reliable and comfortable car that many people use for everyday driving. It's known for being good on gas and lasting a long time.

Car

Lotus Exige

The Lotus Exige is a very light and fast sports car that's built for racing and driving enthusiasts. It's known for being super fun to drive on tracks.

Car

Alpine A110

The Alpine A110 is a small, light sports car that looks like a classic car but has modern features. It's known for being very fun to drive and easy to handle.

Car

Porsche Boxster

The Porsche Boxster is a sporty convertible car that allows you to drive with the top down. It's fun to drive and is known for handling really well.

LIVE

You've got in it, and I thought you were trying to get out of it, and you're like,

Help! How do I...

I'm going to let you work out where the button is, where the door leads.

Hello, and welcome to episode 31 of the Evo podcast, and I'm here with James Taylor.

Hello.

Dickie Meaden.

Hi, you, sir.

And new to the podcast, we have Sam Jenkins, who's our senior staff writer.

Hello.

Welcome.

Welcome to the Matt House.

I was looking on the website, and your job description is the engine room of Evo's digital operation.

Yeah.

It sounds quite dramatic.

Did you write that yourself?

I did.

I was going to say, I wrote on the website as well, but...

I do a bit of everything, so...

Yeah, yeah.

That's how it goes.

A lot of social as well.

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Writing the website, and the magazine, social media, bit of photography, bit of filming the podcast.

Yeah.

And...

Editing the podcast sometimes.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So it is, yeah, it's a fitting title.

Exactly, I think so.

So to kick off, what have we been up to?

What have you been driving recently, James?

I've been driving a fairly new addition to the Evo Fast Fleet, actually.

We've had a Skoda Superb estate join the fleet, but not any Superb.

This is the car that Skoda nicknamed the Sleeper, because from the outside, apart from the suspension being a little bit lower than normal,

it looks like a standard green Superb.

But it's been tuned by RE Performance to, I think, 477 EHP,

and it's been doing a lot of activities for Skoda through the year.

But now it's all ours.

We've got it for a few months.

Aston Parrot, our photographer, has been doing it for a while.

Who's the fastest man alive, anyway?

Aston is the fastest moving object between two points in any given map at any time, I think.

So we've given him an even faster car to do it with.

Yeah, so we can't keep the perfect car.

Yeah, it's pretty much his perfect long-term, I think.

But we're all, all of us are going to drive it at different points, and I've done my turn recently.

It's really cool.

It's got six-pot AP racing brakes.

It's got coilover suspension, some stickier tyres than normal.

So we'll do a proper podcast on it in the future where we'll go into a bit more detail on it.

But yeah, it's a cool thing.

Does it drive like a tuner car, or does it feel quite resolved and polished?

No, it feels very, very kind of OEM.

It feels like, you know, there's a few things like idles a little bit quicker than normal and things like that.

But all the driving modes still work.

It's still really comfy.

It doesn't feel like a kind of backyard special.

It feels like a proper well-engineered car.

Cool.

I haven't driven it yet, so I'm looking forward to that.

Yeah, I know.

Sam, what have you been in recently?

I'm in a Polestar 3 at the moment, which is an interesting car.

I did the initial international launch of that car and...

Didn't that go a bit wrong, the launch?

Something, yeah, something went on with the cars.

Nothing happened to, actually, yes, something did happen to the car I was in.

The ESC was a bit funky on it.

It was an early car, so, you know, you can't really say too much about that.

But you've driven it now in the UK?

Driven it now in the UK, and it's been okay, except I can't connect my phone to the car at all.

Oh, fine, okay, right.

This is now a new issue.

I know.

Huge issue.

And is it a car where a lot, it kind of depends on your phone interface?

It does.

I mean, thankfully, it has the Google system.

It's an entirely Google-based system.

So, you do have maps and whatnot without connecting your phone.

But, yeah, literally couldn't even play music on my phone.

So, absolutely disaster.

I can't live without that.

My attention span is absolutely...

That's a literal radio, I mean.

So, yeah, interesting to drive that.

But you've also been to Italy for something a bit more exciting.

I have a bit more EVO.

Yeah.

And EV.

And an EV.

It was an EV.

Are EV correspondent?

Well, yeah, it seems that way.

So, yeah, the Ferrari electric...

You have to change that engine ring, that thing, if your EV covers that.

Yeah, exactly.

Yeah.

I don't know what equivalent it is.

The inverter.

Yeah, the inverter.

Whatever that means, I don't know.

Yeah.

You permanently agitated, or synchrous.

Sometimes.

Yeah.

So, yeah, this was the first stage of the three-stage launch for this car, for the Ferrari

Eletrica, which isn't its final name.

It's the first time they've really said anything about it.

It is officially...

In any detail.

We've seen the test mules.

And the test mules look a bit like a Piero Sangue, a sort of Maserati Levante kind of thing.

But we still don't know what the body style is.

Yeah.

Did he say they said it will have four doors?

They've confirmed that.

Yeah, so they did confirm it would have four doors.

It has two rows of seats.

They said it's going to be the most usable Ferrari they've done.

Supposedly more engaging than a Piero Sangue and a GT C4.

Mm-hmm.

So, we'll see.

They're pretty engaging cars to me.

Yeah, yeah.

I think they do...

All their cars are very tech heavy now, aren't they?

And I think they do deploy tech probably the best of anyone.

The way they just kind of make it all work.

So, it'll be...

It's genuinely interesting to see what they're planning.

But it makes my brain hurt.

I don't know how you...

The numbers are...

What did they reveal?

They kind of gave you some insight into the hardware, didn't they?

And the control systems.

Yeah.

Yeah, so usually on the first stage of a launch like this, you wouldn't get that many details.

Not that many hard details.

But they gave us a power figure.

So, it's going to have around 1,100 horsepower.

They said over 1,000 brake horsepower is a safe figure to say.

Two motors on each axle.

So, four motors in total.

So, not many cars have four motors.

Yeah.

The Rematch Lavera has four.

But not many cars of this kind do.

760 pound-foot of torque, I believe.

Right, okay.

But it doesn't have 2,000 horsepower.

Yeah.

Like a lot of the value or...

Yeah.

You've just got twice as many doors as there.

Yeah.

It's more usable than people might buy it.

Yeah.

Mostly.

It does suggest they're focusing on meaningful things rather than top trump.

That's what it sounds like.

Chasing the numbers.

They're keen to stress that it's not synthesizing anything.

I'm not entirely convinced.

That's the case.

So, does that mean you will just hear the electric motor whine as opposed to whine?

So, sound wise.

Yeah, the sound thing is very interesting.

So, they've said that instead of it synthesizing a noise based on throttle position or speed,

like a lot of these EVs do, they're fitting an accelerometer to the rear axle assembly,

which will pick up vibrations of that motor or both motors and will then turn that into

a sound for the driver based on...

So, it's how hard it's working rather than an engine changes on the load, doesn't it?

So, if you lose traction, you will hear that.

Exactly.

So, it'd be just like that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And then, bang, I haven't mentioned this.

I'm actually recording some of the sounds.

They didn't give us a sound clip, which was disappointing.

So, you can be called to hear what they're going for, but that's promising, I think,

because it's more authentic than pretty much any other EV we've heard.

It's interesting, though, because we recently drove an Ioniq 5N Hyundai.

And I think the simulated engine noise and gear shifts in that really do add a layer

to the experience, but I'm wondering if that kind of solution will get dated quite quickly

when we look back and think, we're just simulating what went before.

It is very...

If you're not actually in the moment of driving the car, it's a very kind of Atari 1990s console

game sound, is it?

Reving it at a standstill.

Yeah, Gran Turismo 3.

But I think the effect is interesting when we were driving that car, you're just using

it as cues, aren't you?

And the noise, the detail of the noise fades, and you're just using it as information.

So, if the Ferrari thing is directly generated from how hard the car...

What the car's doing.

Each corner of the car's working and all of that, then it could be really impressive,

actually.

Do we know what it'll look like in terms of body style?

Is it going to be another SUV or not SUV?

Well, yeah, not SUV.

They wouldn't tell us.

They did say it will have a really cab forward design, more so than the pure Sangui or any

of their other cars.

So, that will be interesting.

They actually had to change the front crash structure to counter for that.

Okay.

So, the front suspension tails are designed to be part of the grumble zone now, which

is quite interesting.

Right off then.

Yeah.

In a car park.

Oh, God.

So, yeah, we don't know what it's going to look like.

It has been designed in collaboration with Lovefront.

Oh, okay.

The Johnny Ives Company.

Yeah, Johnny Ives Company.

Interesting.

So, I'm not sure if that's any of the exterior design or just the interior or...

That'd be interesting.

Yeah.

It'll have a notch in the windscreen.

Maybe.

iPhone style.

Yeah.

And another thing they're doing with this car is they're including a...

I forget the term they use, but it will have paddles behind the steering wheel.

Interesting.

So, the right-hand paddle will give you more power as you go through the gears.

They didn't call them gears, but they will effectively be gears.

Okay.

And then when you click the left paddle, it will give you an engine braking effect.

Okay.

So, is it region or is it actually free enough power?

They didn't tell us a huge amount on that system, but to me, it sounds a lot like the system

in the Ionic 5M.

Interesting.

It will effectively be a synthesized gearbox, which we like in that car.

So, it'll be great to see how they integrate that.

Yeah.

With a car that fast, sometimes it's useful to kind of get your bearings to have those

kind of punctuation marks of gearshift spawn.

It brings a little bit of emotion as well, doesn't it?

Yeah.

It must be such a challenge when your product is built around, you know, 80 years, nearly

of tradition and passion and very highly emotional, highly strung cars, and then you've got this

thing that potentially could have no gears and just an endless sense of torque.

That's quite about turn, isn't it?

So, when will they go to the next stage of kind of talking about more details?

Have they given you a timeline to...

Ish.

Yeah.

So, by Q2 next year, we should have a name.

I think we'll see the interior.

But yeah, by the end of next year, we'll see the car in full.

We'll know everything about it.

Okay.

I'm not sure when we'll drive it.

But yeah, by the end of next year, we will have everything on the car.

Right.

So, Dickey, you've been in Italy as well, driving something a bit more...

Yeah, something more...

Yeah, close to home.

Something more traditionally Ferrari.

So yeah, 296 Speciale, which we've been waiting for for quite a while, haven't we?

I think when they announced it was the Speciale, it's kind of a bit of an intake of breath,

because that's such...

Yeah.

...of all those names.

I guess it could have been Challenged at Ali or Scuderia or Pista, and they've chosen

Speciale, which is one of our favorite all-time Ferraris.

It's a unanimous winner of EcoT for the year.

Yeah, arguably the greatest modern era Ferrari road car, to attach that name to this.

It was funny, actually.

They did the usual...

They've gone from big, lengthy press conferences to a sort of video presentation in this kind

of new suite that they've built at Firano, which is very cool.

Strangely, the people that are in the video presentation are also sat in the room, so

they're going through the kind of technical aspects of the car, and then they come and

you can talk to them afterwards, but it transpired that they didn't actually know it was a Speciale.

It had been kept from there until quite a way through the project.

What if that would have changed their approach, maybe?

I think it came at a point where it was critical to know that was the case, but it's quite funny

that they didn't start knowing it was going to be that.

On the reveal, I asked one of the marketing guys why they named it the Speciale, and they

said it's because customers kept phoning them up and saying, when's the 296 Speciale coming out?

It's the name people come back to.

Yeah, exactly.

It's so revered.

I think the other names in that kind of lineage of cars, of all those names of Speciale,

gives them the most freedom.

It doesn't necessarily suggest it's solely track focused, so I think they've just worked.

Obviously, it's much more effective on track, but that's not at the expense of how it drives on the road.

So was it road and track that you drove on?

Yeah, to sort of illustrate the point, often those first drives are just at Fiorano, but

they made the point of dividing the day between road and track driving, and the weather was

a bit of a problem because it absolutely chucked it down.

Yeah, there were four people from the UK.

There was going to be two people in the morning on track, and then they would rotate to the road

in the afternoon and vice versa, but the track was too wet in the morning, so we all drove on the road,

and then we came back and then did the track stuff mercifully on a dry track in the afternoon.

But it's a very cool thing, actually.

All the cars were in that sort of launch colour scheme, so metallic green with a white stripe and white wheels,

which is very bold.

Yeah, I think it hides some of the beauty of the car.

I think when you have a proper look at it, and they had a regular GTB next to it at the evening presentation,

and they're really quite different things when you see them parked next to one another.

There's loads of aero details, but nothing's really overt, so it hasn't got big XX-time wings,

but pretty much every bit of the car has changed.

The splitter's different, and there's lots of little flicks, and the way it takes the air up through the nose

is much more like the GT3 car.

They've got broader seals and an intake just ahead of the rear wheels.

They've got that kind of funny boomerang-shaped wings that come up the side,

and then over the top, which the vertical element is more like the 296-challenge car,

but then they've kind of extended it over the back.

What else is different? There's an active, like a big, active gurney flap that comes up at the back

between those two to fill the space between the two end plates,

and that's now in, I think, three different positions.

Yeah, rather than just the two.

So it offers an intermediate position.

It's lighter, quite a lot lighter, 60 kilos or something.

It hasn't got loads more power.

It's about, I think, they always choose an awkward unit.

CV, isn't it?

Yeah, I think it's about 35 horsepower, between 35 and 40 horsepower.

But I mean, already 800 horsepower on the standard car doesn't need any more.

And I think they've got a little bit more power from the hybrid element because it improves the cooling.

I was curious because I'd driven the F80, and I think it's the first chance we've had to drive something.

Obviously, the development of those two cars is very close,

so it's maybe too early to read too much into the trickle down.

But I think there's definitely some F80, well, literally some F80 in the car

because it's got the same Conrods, same Pistons.

I think they've saved nine of that 60 kilos.

Nine kilos has just come out of the engine.

Right, yeah.

They've trimmed down the block, I think.

Yeah, the castings are all optimized, and they've used titanium fixings for everything.

So it's a proper job, in that sense.

They've used some of the engine management, and the combustion pressures are up.

So a lot of the things that I read on the F80 are carried across the tyres

to develop with Michelin, they're specific to the car,

using the same methods and materials that they put into the F80.

So there are lots of little bits that are appearing in that car.

They've doubled the amount of sound ducting.

Was that noticeable?

Yeah, it's a much more expressive thing.

Because that GTS we drove recently sounded like a P1, like a Terminal.

Is it more like that?

Yeah, much more like that, but with a slightly different tone.

So it's a bit more aggressive.

What else have they done?

Gear shift, upshifts and downshifts, they've kind of tweaked,

but the upshifts have got that kind of F80 real hard.

It didn't quite have the same gunshot kind of upshift noise,

but it's much sharper and more exciting just to drive.

It doesn't rely on you driving it really quick to notice the difference.

You notice the difference as soon as you get in it.

It's a bit lower, I think in the roll.

I put my nerd glasses on.

It's a 13% less roll.

It's a much flatter car.

The standard car is quite free to move and roll and it's quite fluid.

Does this feel like it's been moved to a much more extreme level

or has it still got that compliance?

It's still pretty compliant, but it's more direct and immediately much more connected.

The interior is really nice.

It's stripped back, but it's not that kind of empty.

It's still got some sort of plushness to it.

Other seats in the cars we had were bright red fabric.

They're like race seats, but they're quite supportive,

but they're easy to get in and out of and comfortable.

They look really nice and the door panels are all one piece carbon.

But they're stylish.

It's not just rudimentary race car.

They've got holes drilled in for the speakers as well, haven't they?

It's a special thing, but you know you're in something that's a step up

from the basic car, a bit more focused,

but the way it drives is not a head banger, which is nice.

We drove up into the hills, which is the usual place we go

because it's like 40 minutes from the factory,

so it's about as far as you can go if you need to get back for lunchtime.

Those roads are quite lumpy now and a bit crumbly and they were wet,

but it was still really good fun to drive and you feel what the car's doing.

The systems are so good now to drive it in wet or sport,

something that's getting off a 900 horsepower.

It's interesting to trust it and just put your foot down

and feel when it's just giving you some more power.

Wet is amazing because you could literally put your granny in it

and it's just very controlled but never shuts the whole car down

and sport just gave you a bit of freedom.

It's a bit of a handful if you go any further than that,

but it's a lovely thing.

It's such a shame we couldn't drive it on the road in the dry,

but the track driving, I think...

Was that in the wet?

No, that was dry.

They were ever so slightly damp when we started,

but it was fully dried by the time we had our second...

because you get so little time actually

because you were trying to do a video as well and stills

and I know the world's smallest violin playing,

but I think it's two runs of four laps or five laps or something,

which is not long to get your head around a car that's that quick.

It was one to one,

so there was one of the development guys in another car,

which is quite good fun.

They're genuinely not there to slow you down,

they just gauge the gap,

so that was quite good fun.

The second session we were getting a bit sort of demopappy

because it was all good by the end of the day,

but yeah, I think they said it was two seconds a lap quicker

around Fiorano than a regular GTB, which is quick,

but it just feels you can really hustle it,

but it's definitely not like a 911 RS,

but it's possibly GT3-ish,

maybe so it doesn't go quite to the extremes that the RS would,

but it's definitely a...

Does it just need more managing than an RS?

Because I guess it's got so much power and...

Yeah, you're like an RS, you never have to really worry about it.

Yeah, you're just attacking all the time.

The back end of the car, I'll do anything,

and yeah, you're much more mindful of the...

There's always more grunt than grip.

Yeah, it's a bit like an all-racing car kind of style.

Yeah, so you're properly driving it

if you're in one of the more brave modes.

Yeah, CTO4 or CTO4 is quite a challenge,

but it's a good one, like the car works with you

and it's rewarding rather than just get back and...

Yeah, have the keys back.

Yeah, they haven't crashed it kind of thing,

so yeah, I think it'll work.

I know UK roads are increasingly awful,

but yeah, I think it'll be a really, really nice thing to drive.

We drove two specs of cars,

so the road car was on the semi-active dampers

and the track car was on the passive dampers,

which they don't claim any difference in lap time.

It's a bit like the SF90XX.

When Rafa did his lap time, it was on the passive dampers

because it saves a little bit of weight

and he preferred the feel,

but they don't claim any advantage in lap time,

but it's interesting that they offer those two options.

You've still got the bumpy road mode.

Yeah, I've still got bumpy road, which is great.

I like the simplicity of the modes.

You just have those modes

and the bumpy road button, don't you?

I'm in Sport mode now, I'm going to fit around with this and that.

The DNA of the car is the same across all the modes, isn't it?

You're just unlocking a bit more and more.

I think they're just able to, I think they're so,

and why I think the electric car will be interesting

is they're so dialed into what they want in terms of feel.

Interestingly, part of the presentation,

they didn't say the thrill of driving,

because they've got these five benchmarks

of driving thrill,

so it's longitudinal and lateral feel,

braking, gear shift and sound,

and they're trying to measure,

rather than just the empirical kind of numbers,

they're trying to put other measures

of these different attributes in the car.

I think that's part and parcel of the electric project,

because they need to quantify what brings the feel

of the conventional cars that we love.

What is it about gear shift?

What is it about the way the lateral load builds

or how the brakes feel?

So they're not just adding more of everything?

No, they're trying to paint that into this car,

I think, because they can be so precise

with the motor on each wheel,

if you think of what they're able to do

with what they have currently,

like with F80 and the front axle stuff

and torque vectoring diffs and things,

I think if you can suddenly have so much more fine control.

I think they have amongst the best understanding

of what make their cars,

and then where they can amplify bits

of their behaviour and character.

No, it's a very cool car.

Because on paper, you look at the specs

and you think it's almost like a purist F80 in a way.

That's a big oversimplification,

but without the four-wheel drive,

a bit smaller, a bit lighter,

does it feel like there's a link to the F80?

Does it feel more manageable?

I think there is.

I think the lighter engine components

and the way they're managing the engine,

although the big things it doesn't have

are the things that just elevate the F80 to another level.

So it doesn't have e-turbo,

it doesn't have any hybrid drive to the front end,

and it obviously doesn't have the same level of aero.

So I've probably got half.

I think it's 430 kilos at 155 or something.

So it's significant, but it's not a downforce monster.

It doesn't kind of change the way the car behaves at all.

But yeah, I think there's little glimpses of...

If you haven't driven an F80, which I know most people haven't,

you would just notice that the car is a bit sharper

and quite a bit sharper and more responsive

and more characterful and more capable

and it's just its bandwidth has grown and elevated as well.

But I think if you have been in an F80,

you can feel where that's come from.

But yeah, it's a bit of a stretch to say it's an F80 junior.

But it's nice to sense all the things they learn

in the process of F80.

They're already being applied to their next models.

Does it feel like a speciale?

That's the thing for me.

I think you'd need a dry road

and the roads that we were on are very kind of mountainy and hairpinny.

So they're fun, but they're a bit one-dimensional.

And then the roads away from there to the factory are just...

They're too busy and you can't really attack them.

So I think you'd need to drive it on dry roads.

We would need to drive them on dry UK roads.

To properly dig into it.

I think the character of the car is so different.

You've got this amazing high-revving naturally aspirated light.

Much more simple car, haven't you, in the 458?

And then you've got this thing which is turbocharged, fewer cylinders, lots of hybrid.

It's a totally different recipe, really.

But I think perhaps relative to the difference between a regular 458 and the speciale,

maybe relative to the regular 296,

the difference would be similar.

But I think they're on a bit of a hiding to nothing, aren't they?

It's like apples and...

What is Andrea's point?

You always say it's like apples and oranges, isn't it?

Rather than apples and apples that you're trying to compare, I think, with those two cars.

But it certainly does as much as it can to honour that name.

They haven't just slapped it on.

And turned up the wicked.

They've overthought it, if anything, by the way they kept the name a bit secret from the team.

They haven't just slapped it on there and thought no one will notice whether they've tried hard or not.

They've really done top, sort of, splitter to diffuser.

Everything has been tweaked or changed.

So, no, it's a very cool thing.

Sam, you lived with a GTS, wasn't it, recently?

How did you get on with that?

It is in my top three cars.

Because you jumped out and you were like, you said this is amazing.

You need to try it.

Yeah, it's just a stunning thing.

The integration of the hybrid system is just...

It's like magic.

It really doesn't feel like it's electrified.

And the engine is just...

The sound of that car still can't get over the sound of that car.

It just felt like you were in a 499p or something.

But it was a convertible with Apple CarPlay.

And it was comfortable and usable every day if you wanted it to do that.

I think, yeah, especially still it has the comfort levels.

It has all the equipment and usability.

It's weird, isn't it?

Customers don't seem to have warmed to the car.

If you look at used values and I don't know whether it's just their wary of the tech

and whatever liability they might think there is in the hybrid system.

But especially, it's still got the seven year warranty

and all the kind of stuff you'd expect to be on a plane die, not a Ferrari.

I think there's a lot about having a V6 as well that might put people off

until you drive it because it is a really character-friendly...

I hope the F80 will...

I know people will always hate on a car if they want to

and it's probably the people that will never drive any of them anyway.

But it makes more sense to me now.

I think there was too big a jump between Formula One.

Yeah, it's got a V6, but there's nothing really relatable in Formula One to a street car.

I think the Le Mans car is a big step closer, isn't it?

To that and the fact that they've won three Le Mans has to count for something.

But I think now they've got the F80 there

and I think once a few of those get into circulation and people drive them home fully

that'll make everyone feel a bit more comfortable about it.

I genuinely don't think you're missing out on anything.

Certainly in this series of car, because V8 was a nice engine

but it's V8, V6...

I'd rather have this V6 than the turbo V8.

V6 is a much more character-friendly...

SF90 hasn't performed that well on the used market either.

Yeah, that's true actually.

It's funny because when I went to the reveal of the speciality

there were a lot of questions about the V6

and kind of asking the marketing guys,

do you think it's feasible to sell a 400 grand car with six cylinders?

And it got to the point where they were just like,

just drive it and then you'll know kind of thing.

And I think that does bear true when you drive a 296 or something like that.

James, you've driven a 488 Pista, I think?

Yes, I did the launch of the Pista.

And that's one of your favourite road cars?

Yeah, I think a lot of the favourite car thing

is often very dependent on the drives you've had in it

and I'm sure if I'd had the same drives

and the old Spatiali, the 458, maybe I'd put that higher.

But yeah, really lucky to drive the Pista

three or four different times in different countries, different scenarios

and some of the best drives I've ever had to run that car.

And similar to how you've described,

working through the modes and the Manitino on the new, clever hybrid car,

it's just as intuitive on the old IC car.

It's just a one and done thing though, isn't it?

Right, okay.

You tend to settle in sport generally

and then you might go to CT off if you're in the mood

and wet's brilliant if it's horrible conditions

but you're not forever thinking,

oh, mind the wheel, constantly flickering.

And the bumpy road thing is genius

because that's the only thing you ever really want to fiddle with.

Interestingly, that's the one thing that the EV will not have.

Well, bumpy road.

Yeah, they've got rid of the bumpy road mode.

That's interesting.

Has it got active suspension?

Yeah, it's still the 14-volt system.

It's their third generation.

Is it just that advanced that it can kind of sense how you're driving

and adapt to that at all?

Yeah, I think that's the idea.

Interestingly.

It will not have a dedicated bumpy road mode.

I'm presumably four wheel or torque vectoring if it's a motor.

Oh yeah, and it's got rear or rear.

It's really clever with the way it...

Right, shall we have a break?

Yeah, well, we try and process all the technology.

He's here in spirit.

We'll open the EVO office biscuit tin in the break.

Let's see what we find.

Sounds good.

Right, we'll be back in a bit.

OK guys, welcome back.

And the topic for the second half

is a test that Dickey and I were part of

with some six-cylinder sports cars from a few decades ago.

That was fun.

What did we have, Dickey?

We had, so we had 981 Cayman GT4.

We had a Z4M coupe.

We had a TBR T350C and Evora Sport 410.

So, quite a mix.

It was a great bunch.

Yeah, all of them six-cylinder.

Yeah, all six-cylinders are quite quirky in their own way.

I'm still smiling, looking at the photos.

It's just one of those tests that kind of came together

and then we got them all, got them all there.

We're like, oh my god, these are such brilliant cars

because they all sounded great.

They all look great.

They all drove in completely different ways, characteristics

and they're all, it's really nice to do a test

where they're all vaguely affordable as well.

Yeah, yeah.

Because that's the thing.

I mean, most of the magazine these days,

it's hard to kind of reach down into the hot hatches

and the sports cars because there aren't many left.

But when you look up, you can get a GT4 for 55 grand.

Is that what they're down to?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I'm pretty low.

And Z4's about 20, I think.

Yeah, it's like a really nice one.

20, 25.

The TBR was sort of 30s, I think.

So, they're all for the price of a fairly average,

new hot hatch or something or approximately.

It'll be like an entry-level hatch now.

The ones that are left.

Yeah, no, they were very cool cars.

And again, a bit like the Euras test,

all four cars were brought along by their owners,

which was great because you sort of get to meet

the people who live with these cars.

So, they were quite curious about their own stuff.

I think the TBR owner just bought his car

like a couple of...

Yeah, thank you to Colin.

He'd literally bought it like the week before.

And came straight to an EVO group test.

Yeah, so I can't...

Great to start.

Initiation.

Yeah, he bought it from a guy called James Ago,

who's a TBR specialist up in Leicestershire.

Okay.

And he said,

I think this guy's going to buy this car.

So, I'll put you in touch.

But yeah, it was great.

They were so generous with the cars

and they enjoyed us enjoying those cars.

For me, I'd driven all of them previously,

sort of when they were new,

but quite a long time ago.

You, if I don't know that, if you'd driven any of them.

I hadn't driven any.

I've driven a 718 GT4,

but not the 9-8 one that we had.

Never driven the Z4.

This was my second TBR that I've driven.

Well, yeah, because you drove the Griffith.

The Griffith, yeah, on the year's test.

And I think when I drove that Griffith,

I was like, okay, the TBR reputation,

I kind of get it.

They're a bit sketchy if you don't respect them

and they're quite brutish cars.

But then you jump in this and you think,

okay, I really understand it now,

because it's quite scary when you drive it quickly.

It's almost like the engine dominates everything,

but then the chassis,

your sense is trying to keep up in a way

and you've got to drive to its limitations,

but it's still loads of character.

It's like a, in a good way,

it's like a resto-modded, classic car, I think.

So they're very like old Aston's and things

in the way they sound and gear shift and stuff.

But I was just there looking at the,

I think the T350 is one of the prettiest cars

they did and it was towards the end of,

towards the end of the kind of golden age of TBR.

But I looked at it and thought,

it's such a bold car, isn't it?

From what was a small, independent,

privately funded company,

they built their own engine, they styled it.

The interior is amazing.

There's no switch get borrowed from the people, is there?

There's no partspin stuff.

No, it works.

All the instruments were their own,

the switches were their own.

And I was sad thinking this is like such a,

such a special car.

And yes, it's a little bit shonky in certain areas

and you can see bits of glue

where the leather around the roll cage and stuff.

But, you know, they're 20,

more than 20 years old now, that car.

And it still drove, I think it drove as well as,

well, you're gonna think I'm wrong.

It drove as well as they ever did.

And I think those roads up on the North York moors

are particularly tricky.

They kind of trip up quite a lot of...

They paint cars in a bad light sometimes.

It played to all the TVR's weaknesses really

because there's lots of like sharp vertical inputs

and compressions and that's where it struggles.

And it's very fast light steering, isn't it?

So on faster corners, you're not really sure

where you are with it.

Just reading the story, it sounds like the steering

is very fast in the TVR as well, particularly fast.

Yeah, you have to be calm with it,

but it's always hardest to be calm with a car

where it's very quick steering.

And you never quite...

Initially, you're kind of thinking

the rear isn't gonna stay with the front,

but it just sort of...

Once you've loaded the car up, it just starts to work really well.

And I love the engine and gearbox were so nice.

Does it rev quite high?

Yeah, I can't remember what it revs to.

What does it rev to?

It's not like an absolute screamer.

It's really flexible and in-ear and it sounds amazing.

It's got like serrated tones.

Yeah, a big range of tone and volume,

depending on how hard it's revving

and how heavily you've loaded the car.

It's really, really mega little car.

I remember I jumped in it for the first time

and Tiki gets on the radio, he's like,

right use of...

It's got really fast steering, no AVS,

no traction control, good luck.

A driver's briefing.

You've got in it and you were trying to get out of it

and you're like, how do I...

I'm gonna let you work out where the door leads.

And you were like, where do you think a door handle wouldn't be?

And I was like, looking on the ceiling.

It's just a little button, isn't it?

But it's on the dash and it looks like it's for aircon or something.

Yeah, none of the in-fine TVR tradition, nothing's available.

Do you have buttons under the mirrors?

Yeah, well I think you've got the window down

because you were trying to let yourself out

by pressing the button on the outside.

So that was your initiation.

It was in that special flip paint as well.

Yeah, spectra flare.

It was very, very naughty.

Whenever you saw a TVR,

it was always this weird hologram on wheels, wasn't it?

But the sun came out at the perfect time with that car.

Because we were all like,

all these rainbows going across the paint.

I don't know what colour to call it.

Is it white, silver, purple?

Silver, yeah.

Must be a nightmare to match if you need any more paint.

But it was funny how you part the Z4 and the T350

and they are the same car, aren't they?

Very similar shapes.

The same sort of feel inside.

And the BMW is sort of, there's some slight odd switch positioning

and it's more kind of haphazard than the TVR somehow.

But it's got more of an OE look and feel.

Based on a three series platform, that car was like a hot-rodded.

Yeah, they struggled to fit the...

It's got a different six-speed box in it, isn't it?

It wasn't the six-speed box from the E46.

But it sort of suffers from all the same issues as the TVR almost, isn't it?

It's got that same kind of slightly choppy...

It's quite excitable.

I really enjoyed it actually.

The more I drove it, I got in and I was like, this feels quite nice.

This one had a, I think it was an aftermarket induction kit

and a tweaked exhaust as well.

I love them have those induction kits.

Yeah, it's kind of the go-to, isn't it, for that engine.

But it sounded great.

I quite like the gear shift and it felt quite connected.

But then like you were saying, as you drive it quicker,

it starts pogoing a bit and you're not really sure what the rear end is doing.

They were always a bit, you never felt the front end had any bite.

And I think you sort of feel you're pushing the front end a little bit.

Which is sort of loading the rear at the same time.

Because it's pushing, you want to lift, but you don't want to lift.

So you're trying to kind of keep it within this slightly wooly zone.

But the engine is just so good.

It sounds great.

It's a cliche, isn't it?

But there are bits of like McLaren F1 kind of character annoyance.

And they're for nothing really.

I still can't get over how.

What's the going rate for one of them now?

20, 25.

They're quite unloved.

The market doesn't seem to like them.

But they don't seem to suffer with the issues that E46M3s now do.

Yeah, like the corrosion and everything.

The boot floor stuff.

So no, I loved that car.

But I wasn't sure.

It's long enough ago.

I knew I'd love them.

They remind us of all the things we've lost.

So all of those amazing engines, like the sound they make,

and just the difference in character.

But I also knew that some of them were quite flawed,

and I didn't know whether those flaws would now be more magnified.

Yeah.

And therefore, sort of, you'd have to take your rose-tinted glasses off.

But actually, I think they're all still, they're mega-cast.

I mean, the Porsche was pretty clear.

Straight away that it's the most rounded, most capable.

We stopped in the middle and we were like,

there are no winners in this test.

And it went quite well.

Apart from the Porsche.

I think that's the one that ticks.

That's unsurprising to hear that.

Most boxes.

But that was interesting because Richard, the guy that owns it,

tracks it quite seriously.

So he'd been to centre-gravity and had lowered by just a couple of million

four-mil and six-mil, you know, really precise adjustments to the car.

But I'd only ever driven a car that's come from the press office.

So it's completely standard and standard settings.

And it was interesting how responsive that car has been to those changes.

So the steering had a little bit of...

It's a bit more lively, isn't it?

Yeah, it was just doing stuff in a straight line.

So initially, it seemed like it was a bit distracted,

but actually it's just a little bit more like a 911 or something.

Yeah, it adds something, I thought.

And I didn't...

The gearing didn't really bug me as much as it...

I think we've got a B&R bonnet.

It's about the...

Or, you know, second and third gear is too tall.

And they are really tall.

But the engine's quite torquey and it sounds really nice.

So it's not like you have to ring its neck to make it go quick.

I think it's a...

Again, it's a mega car.

Yeah.

You could see it from...

I mean, watching you doing the cornering shots in the Z4

and then in the GT4.

The Z4 was kind of he-man...

It was a bit like...

I'm not sure that this Cayman was just...

Yeah, it just came around so neat and precise and controlled.

Does everything...

Every input generates the desired output somehow.

So you can just...

That, that, that, place the car.

Yeah, and the Z4 was a bit kind of...

You have to bully it a bit and then it's fighting you a bit.

Yeah.

Which is fun.

But yeah, that's why the character of the car is so different.

And then the Evora, I hadn't driven for a long time.

And I think my memories of those cars was more rooted in the standard...

The original pre-date one.

Yeah, sort of naturally aspirated engine.

And it was a big step from what they built before.

But you get in them now and they look quite old-fashioned, don't they?

Especially the interior.

A bit home-spun.

It's like a sort of slightly blue Peter made out of cereal box kind of binoculars and stuff.

And they've covered it in Alcantara and carbon, but essentially it does feel...

Describes it.

Yeah, so that kind of highlighted to me the level that TVR were operating at in terms of their design

and their sort of boldness in terms of the cars they're creating.

Not easy to do.

But then Lotus reminded me the level that they're operating at dynamically.

That's a point of the TVR because it's such a precise...

Yeah.

And it's quite humble origins with the engine and gearbox.

Was it a Camry engine?

Yeah.

And the gear shift is slightly...

A bit clunky.

Snaggy.

It's a cable shift.

Yeah, but it does all come together.

And it sounds ridiculous.

It sounds like you're in some sort of full-on race car when it's in race mode.

It has a noisy exhaust button, doesn't it?

And when you put it in Sport, it goes either way round to quieten it down.

I think they're Sport and Race.

And yeah, you've got the option of quietening it down but having it in an aggressive mode.

But yeah, it's proper howling exhaust though.

The owner brought the car down from Perthshire, I think.

He drove it all the way.

So yeah, it's 300-mile drive.

And I think he did literally did five miles of motorway.

Fair play.

So it's like...

It's being used properly.

Andy owned that car.

Yeah, we found the right person.

Absolutely, yeah.

But everyone was fascinated with each other's cars.

So I'm sure all those guys are all still in touch.

Yeah.

Probably.

But yeah, I think we're told people don't want to buy these cars.

And maybe that's true, I don't know.

But you only have to gauge.

We were all stood there looking at all those cars thinking these are so stimulating.

Yeah.

Like exciting, cool, attainable.

Like they were attainable cars when they were new.

Yeah.

He said, well, why do people really not want to buy these cars anymore?

I don't know.

I don't know whether it's just a story that's put out by the manufacturers to excuse them

not developing them.

But yeah, it's nice to...

It's unusual for us to do these big tests and put it front and centre on the cover.

But I think the ERA's stuff has given us a taste for it.

And I think it's...

Yeah.

I don't know.

You can read us, you tell us about it.

I think that's where everyone's heart sits, isn't it, with cars like this.

That aren't necessarily easy to drive.

And they're not, you know, 20,000 mile service intervals.

And you need, especially, to look after them.

But they're quite unlike anything you can...

Yeah.

And they have a character that's not around so much.

Does any of them surprise you having driven them when they were new and now 20 years later?

I think the TVR's kind of whole car...

I don't know, the way the exterior matches the interior and vice versa.

And the engine character, and they got so much right when you think how limited they're...

Brilliant people, but not many of them and limited resources to produce the cars.

But the ambition there and what they managed to deliver, I think, is really, really laudable.

I've been tempted by Z4M for a long time, because they just seem like they're sat at the wrong price.

Yeah.

To me, for that engine alone.

And the look of them, I think they look...

That car had CSL rims as well, which they should have had.

They all look totally different on those wheels.

The rear three-quarter of that is just...

Yeah, I think it's a hugely desirable car.

And I think there's a little bit of me that thinks, actually, I think you could make it better.

Address some of the shortcomings with some decent dampers, maybe,

or just some set-up work, I think would help.

The brakes are typically chocolatey, BMW brakes of the year, so they're a bit grumbly.

But again, you could do that, and I think if you bought one for 20 grand,

you could spend 10 grand on it.

Yeah, that'd be a stunning car, wouldn't it?

But yeah, the Lotus is quite niche. I think it always was quite niche,

and it's still... it's a very particular car.

And that era was when they were starting to get a bit more hardcore and a bit lighter,

and then they were getting more focused towards track and fast-road driving more than they were.

Yeah, I think the regular one was a little bit like launch-spec cars, a little bit straight-laced.

They were trying to do a proper car, weren't they, which it was,

but it still wasn't... it wasn't as complete as...

Didn't it win Car of the Year when it came out?

It did. Did it co-win, or did it win outright?

No, when the Exige co-won with the Gargoyle, but the Dependivora won outright.

Because Andy, the owner of this 410, he was saying that he had a standard car before.

He sort of misses that, doesn't he?

Yeah, he misses the suppleness and the...

Was it a facelift one?

No, I think it was an early car that he bought, pretty much, from when they were launched.

And then he got such a brilliant deal on the car he's got now,

that that kind of tempted him into swapping.

But he said there's a lot of the original car he misses.

It's almost like Alpine A110, isn't it?

The base car is so...

Yeah, it's so defined in how it drives, and it's not chasing lap time or ultimate grip, they're really fluid.

And then when you make that stiffer and more extreme, sometimes it takes away the essential appeal of it.

So maybe that's the case with the Evora.

Yeah, I think at the time, Lotus were trying to win group tests against Porsche GT models and stuff,

and I think they got driven in that particular way, I think.

And maybe it travelled a bit away from the more fluid side of things.

But it's still a pretty awesome thing, isn't it?

I remember driving that when it was new for another magazine and thing.

Yeah, really, really enjoying it.

It's pretty exotic.

Like in that group, it's obviously two mid-engine cars, two front-engine cars,

but it somehow looks a bit more exotic than the Porsche, maybe because it's less familiar and more unusual.

Sam, what have you driven out of this group or none at all?

I haven't driven any of these cars.

So if they were all there, which one would you go to first and why?

Probably the GT4, I would say.

I've spent time in these.

Is that because you'd be more comfortable in that than maybe the TBR?

Possibly. Well, I've spent quite a lot of time in our previous long-term Boxster 4-litre, and that was just an amazing car.

So yeah, same sort of powertrain in coupé form.

I think I'd quite enjoy it, but the Z4 I think is an awesome thing with that engine.

And I've been a passenger in a Z4 M and I know what the intake's like.

So I think that could be quite an addictive experience, but the TBR really is like a concept car.

Yeah, it is.

I mean, were they an expensive car?

New. It feels like a car that you can make much money on.

Oh, right, £50,000?

It feels about right.

Which I know, £50,000 20 years ago was more serious than that.

But compared to everything else.

And for how bespoke it is and how bespoke it feels.

I was quite surprised at the cabin because I thought you'd get in and it would all be a bit flaky and falling apart,

but it's all nicely trimmed like there's a roll cage behind you that's nicely trimmed in leather and everything, metal switch gear.

There was like a squeak, but it was only because the head restraint bit of the seat was rubbing on the roll cage.

But you think you could just cut a bit of that.

I tried to adjust my seat to stop it and I was folded forwards.

But everything else, it wasn't squeaky or rattly or which I was surprised at.

No, they were all cars that he tempted when he looked through classifiers and about having driven them all.

It's like, oh, they're all really, you know, go for it if you're tempted because I don't think you'd be certainly wouldn't be disappointed by any of them.

And there are kind of reminders that there's more.

I know we focus on absolute dynamics and trying to go to the end of the degree to compare cars,

but actually when you're in those on their own, you know the limitations,

but you're getting so much from other areas of the car that you do go into an ownership mode when we're doing these tests.

If you fall in love with it, you're forgiving its failings because you get so much from the engine or the induction noise or the driving environment

or the way it looks when you lock it and walk away from it.

I think they're a nice reminder of that.

Cars just don't look like those anymore, do they?

It is interesting because like you're saying, when I drive an owned car or something older, you go in with such a different mindset.

If it's like a new car launch or something, I'm thinking, right, jump in, try and get as much out of it as you can to feel what it does.

Pick holes in everything.

Yeah, and be really picky.

But I think when you get in these, you kind of settle down.

You tend to drive a bit slower and focus on the experience side of things.

I think that's why all of these shine.

I mean, the Porsche is really good when you're driving quickly as well, but particularly the TVR,

you're just enjoying the engine, the surroundings, the styling.

It all kind of comes together in quite a nice way.

It was a good...

I really enjoyed it.

It was awesome.

It was a great test and it reminded me of good times actually when there was always a, you know, every year or so you could reckon on there being a new TVR to put into a test.

They were always, they were never not exciting cars to be around.

So, yeah, to be reminded of that was fun.

And to see you get your first taste of what they're like.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, no, it's cool.

Cool.

I think that's probably a good point to end, guys.

Time to go and look at the classifieds.

Yes.

And ask you for pay rise.

Yeah.

Great.