Which decade delivered the best performance cars? | evo podcast | Episode 28

I couldn't justify having another two-seater rear-engine toy car.

We've had one that worked.

He's really pushing his luck.

No, I'm on it today.

Hello, and welcome to episode 28 of the Evo podcast.

James Taylor with you for this one, and I'm joined by Dickey Meadon.

Hello.

John Barker.

Hello.

And Yusuf Ashraf.

Hi, guys.

And this episode, we're going to be talking about the Evo Eras series,

which we've reached the grand finale of our multi-decade,

kind of trawl through the history of performance cars.

But before we get into that, let's quickly catch up

on what we've been driving.

John, you've just got back from Mazda, actually.

Yes, went to drive the Mantai kit on the GT3 RS.

And it was an amazing event, because Porsche put on these events

for customers.

They take over the circuit for a week.

Is it all of Monza, for one minute?

Not all of Monza.

You can hire even an RSR.

Oh, wow.

It's quite expensive, but you can hire an RSR.

Is that on the Hertz list?

Yes.

Well, it hurts the bank.

RSR.

And basically, it's 40 minutes for road cars, then 40 minutes

for track cars.

And we were there to drive the Mantai kit.

And obviously, they're put on the standard model

so that you can do it back to back.

So I'd never been to Monza before.

And on my third lap, I was hitting the brakes at 200

meter board for the first chicane.

Oh, wow.

And that's the end of a very long straight.

That's for a very long corner.

That's like 150 miles an hour.

Wow, yeah.

Chasing the guy in the standard GT3 RS.

So six, seven, eight laps of that.

And then into the Mantai car and do the same thing.

And it's not like a track that I have normally.

The normal track days you go to.

Because everybody is on it.

It's like a qualifying session.

And there was a little video in the morning

that you could go to sit down and talk

through the brake points.

And then you should start with this brake board.

And then you just eat into it.

And the cars are amazing.

Because they just soak it up.

40 minutes on track.

Bring the car into the paddock.

Maybe half a lap, cool down.

Leave the car.

40 minutes later, go back to it.

Start it up.

Warm tires up.

And off you go again.

It's really impressive.

So yeah, it's very impressive.

Could I tell the difference between the Mantai

and the standard car?

Not really, which was interesting.

That's really interesting.

Because previous listeners to this

will remember me and Henry talking about how

at the first corner we're good with hill climb.

You could really feel the difference between it.

At least a hundred grand, isn't it?

It is a hundred grand on top.

You've turned a grand for the car or whatever you have to pay.

So yeah, it was not much left on the table.

And it's flat.

You have the standard cars.

Monzer is a bit of an odd place

to take a high downforce car.

A higher version of a high downforce car, isn't it?

Because it should just be DRS.

She came DRS.

It's not.

There isn't a big corner.

There's no big direction changes or that I think

is where that car would.

Because I remember when I did the RS launch

and they did that at Silverstone.

And we were chasing, funny enough,

we were chasing a Mantai GT3 in the RS.

And the GT3 would pull away on the straight.

But then you'd get it under braking.

But the RS is really odd, isn't it?

The delta between the speed you enter

after a fast corner and the speed you reach

at the end of the straight is so small

because you're pretty much pinned through those fast corners.

So you don't get much sensation of acceleration

because it's always operating.

So I would guess with that particular track

and those two cars, it's the least flattering place

for the high downforce car.

I mean, it's a great circuit.

As I say, it was like being in qualifying rather than a track

that's very high intensity.

But yeah, the standard car is amazing.

And it's flat through Kervigrande anyway.

So you're not going to gain anything there.

Parabolica, Biscari.

Parabolica, well, there was a little bit in Ascari,

which is slower than you imagined from the telly,

watching Formula One.

But that's the only real direct, proper direct,

highest speed direction change, isn't it, on the whole?

But even that is like second, third gear.

So it's not a big, big speed.

You're building up again.

It's all in the brakes.

So yeah, they don't claim any lap time improvement.

They just say you'll feel more confident here.

And if you do, then push there.

So yeah, it was interesting.

And the idea that the GT3 RS, the standard car,

is really rare car.

There were so many.

Yeah, there's hundreds of them on the track.

It was a whole back-lot car part of the back of the Stuttgart.

So yeah, but yeah, phenomenal cars still

with amazing brakes that just last and last and last.

I think Mantae run all those cars, don't they, for Porsche.

I think the customer experience stuff,

they've got like a big squad of RSs and GT3s.

But I think they prep them for those events.

It's a bit weird, isn't it?

Because Mantae's owned by Porsche,

but they've also got to market their own product

as being better than the base car.

So it's like an internal competition almost, isn't it?

Yeah, I just un-wrote.

If anybody can find some gains,

it would be Mantae who know what the standard guys did

to get the standard car where it is.

Was there anything left there?

What can you do?

So yeah, it was pretty amazing.

Yeah, and we might be revisiting that car

at some point in the near future with a stopwatch.

So watch this space.

Yeah, and I think if you pick the right circuit,

then that would be very interesting.

Yeah.

Yusuf, how about you?

What have you been behind the wheel of?

Not the GT3 RS, but the new Land Cruiser.

Basically the same thing?

Yeah, I mean, it's a car that's almost built for purpose

in the same way you could say.

Yeah, no, I've really enjoyed driving around in it.

I haven't driven one before.

And it reminds me a little bit of an Ineos Grenadier,

which isn't the best praise,

but just in the way it feels quite old-school

and built for purpose,

but it's not as inherently flawed as that car.

It doesn't feel super compromised,

but you can tell it's more of an off-roader

than an SUV to drive around and cruise around in.

But yeah, I always find it tricky

going into testing these kinds of cars

because we're not on off-road magazine.

We tend to not test them.

Not intentionally anyway.

Oh yeah, yeah.

If you've got James at the wheel for the field.

One time.

Yeah, but it's almost like, I don't know,

what car reviewing a catering and saying,

oh, it's too stiff for the road and too long.

Yeah, you have to consider is it fit for the road.

Then it's an 80 grand car, this Land Cruiser.

So it's not really off-road, bash-around kind of SUV.

They have a real following the Land Cruisers, don't they?

Yeah, they do.

But it's nice, I think they've judged it quite well

because it's not as crude as a Grenadier,

but not as sophisticated and road-focused as a Defender.

So yeah, I quite enjoy driving around in it, yeah.

It's cool.

And Dickie, you have been off-road intentionally.

Yeah, I have been off-road.

I got the chance to go and drive the Octa

on a proper high-speed kind of off-road track,

which is, again, it's a bit like taking a GT3 RS

to a track day, I think.

You kind of, when I read all the Octa launch reports

and they were saying how they developed it,

and it's the kind of, oh yeah, well, you definitely,

you know, you could take it and smash it

around a fast off-road course.

You're like, oh yeah, of course you can.

But bloody hell, it's nuts.

Like the jumps it was doing

and the impacts it was taking

and the speed you're going at,

it's like, wow, this is amazing.

And you get beyond the kind of mechanical sympathy.

Yeah, just music.

And just sort of relax,

but the effectiveness of the damping stuff

is really impressive.

Where was that at?

It was a place called Slindon, which is near Goodwood.

So there was some, the usual kind of really tight,

nagy-tea off-road course,

which they had a new Defender Trophy,

which is like, if you remember Camel Trophy

or G4 Challenge, they've kind of resurrected that,

but with a slightly more green credentials

than just hacking your way through the road for it.

In a load of Defenders.

So yeah, there's a sort of conservation angle to it,

but the cars are really great.

They're the same kind of things.

You've got all the kit on them and there.

So we did the slow route in that

and then we could drive around the,

were driven around and then I got to drive around

ourselves, but it's, you struggle to believe,

like I said, two and a half tonne car

and you're just launching it off jumps

and, but it felt absolutely brilliant.

And it was on the same tires,

so the tires I've been driving a long term around on.

So they've got two specks of off-road tire.

So this is the heavier, I think it's got a three ply

sidewalls and so it's good for that kind of treatment.

It's amazing the bandwidth, isn't it?

They do that when they launched the SV,

Range Rover Sport, they took it to a track

and it went to Rockingham, went around the track,

then went, did an off-road course,

all on the same tire.

It can do it, it's just whether the customer

is ever going to do it, it's brave enough.

I think if you, yeah, you could buy an Octa

and it gets a lot of attention

just because it has some presence

because it's that bit wider

and when it's on the big stream tires,

it looks pretty cool.

But I think if they see more people doing it,

I definitely want to have a bit of a go

because it's kind of what it's been designed to do.

And it is a proper challenge, isn't it?

Proper off-roading is a real skill.

Yeah, absolutely.

You know, when to use the power and...

Yeah, no, it's great fun, really impressive.

What's it like being in mid-air?

Because I remember being taught to run a prototype

by some of the engineers and they said,

you know, the goal of design is to jump

further and longer and higher than any...

Yeah, I think it's all in that 6D stuff.

So the way, depending on the mode,

so there's all-terrain mode

and then you can switch into dynamic mode,

which is the best mode for road driving

and then you press and hold the same button

and it goes into Octa mode.

And that, from talking with Matt Becker,

that sounds like a combination of the two.

Very free and you don't get sort of tossed around

over bumps at lower speed,

but then it knows when it's at a certain speed

or off the ground or it just knows

what the wheel travels doing.

So it closes these, I think they're called,

comfort valves in the damping.

So it is then ready for braced

to support itself when it lands.

So it's really, really clever stuff.

Is it fun to drive on the road like that

when it's super soft and roady?

In dynamic, so I tried it in Octa on the road

and you get more torque to the rear in dynamic

and in Octa you get a little bit more,

but I think the way it sends it back

is slightly different.

So I think when it, if it feels you countersteering,

then it starts to send it forwards

to give you more traction to pull you out.

But in dynamic mode, it's stiff across the car.

So it's like it's got much thicker anti-roll bars.

So it stays really flat and you get so much,

given the tyre sort of proper knobbly tyre,

so you think it would be horrible,

but it's really precise.

You kind of feel the load build up

and it's because we've had such good weather.

I've never, hadn't driven it in the rain

until the other day.

It's a little bit different in the rain

because you feel it quite quickly overcomes

the grip of the front tyre.

So you can't just lob it in.

But it's really, it's a really interesting car

and it feels very totally different to a regular Defender,

particularly short wheelbase V8.

That's much more fidgety and sort of box around.

This feels like a, yeah, very different car.

That sounds amazing.

It sounds brilliant fun.

What about you?

You've been driving something

at the complete other end of the scale.

A little bit lower and lighter than a Defender.

Yeah, I've been driving a prototype Caterham.

So Caterham have been faced with a bit of a perfect storm

in that they need to introduce a new engine,

a new gearbox and a new diff

because all three of those things

they use come whole car apart from some tubes.

Yeah, yeah.

And they've just had to change all the tyres as well.

Yes, yeah, yeah.

So pretty challenging times.

Cycling through everything just about.

Yeah, so up until now,

Caterham have been using three engines,

a little Suzuki, tiny little 660cc turbo.

Three cylinder things.

And then the 2.0-litre Ford G-Rotec

and then the Academy race cars,

used the old Ford Sigma engine from Fiesta's and Pumas.

Ford stopped making that engine a long time ago.

So Caterham are at the point

they need to introduce something new.

So they've approached a company called

Horse Technologies, interesting name,

who are kind of a subsidiary of Renault,

Gili and Aramco.

And it's an engine with its...

The engine I've chosen is this little 1.3-litre turbo.

So it's a turbocharged Caterham,

which apart from the Suzuki one,

it's kind of new ground.

But that engine's actually been around for a few years,

spinning Clio's, Cacheco's,

Mercedes-A Class, things like that.

That sounds very promising.

It doesn't, although, you know,

the G-Rotec and the Sigma, I suppose,

are not the most charismatic engines.

So eventually it will...

They've not really said what they're going to do long term,

but it's a multi-year deal.

So we can assume it's going to go into road cars at some point.

But to start with, they're putting it in the Academy Race Car,

which is their entry-level race series

for road legal Caterhams.

So they've built a couple of prototypes

and I got behind the wheel of one at Brands Hatch,

which was a really, really good one.

So what sort of output is that?

So it's 130 HP.

Yeah, so a little bit more.

Actually, I think the Sigma was 125.

So pretty similar, but a lot more torque being turbocharged.

So you're kind of a gear up for every corner

of what you would be normally.

So it's a complete new start for the Academy.

It is, yeah.

So this season will be the last one with the existing engines

and then next year there'll be 34 brand new Academy cars

with this engine.

So they're doing as much testing as they possibly can.

Is it a five-speed box for six-speed?

It's now six-speed.

So the old one used the old five-speed

Mazda MX-5 gearbox.

Mazda hasn't built that gearbox for a long time.

So exactly the same quandary as the Sigma.

They're gonna run out of spares, basically.

So they've fitted the new six-speed gearbox from the MX-5.

It's not the only one they looked at.

They looked at a load of different gearboxes,

but decided this was the best one.

That's a nice gearbox, isn't it?

It's lovely, yeah.

Really, and funny enough,

I drove two Brands Hatch in Evo's long-term

MX-5 with that exact gearbox

and it is so snickety and sleek.

I think they take more power and torque as well,

so I guess if they have got plans to...

Can they tune that engine?

Or would that have to develop it heavily to...

There were a couple of guys from horse there

because the factory's in Spain.

They're all built in Spain

and they churn so many of them out every year.

They do millions, don't they?

I mean, it's bizarre, isn't it?

A company that makes millions of engines

and you've actually never heard of it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And they're on three continents

and they employ thousands of people.

So, yeah, the highest output they do at the moment is 160 bhp,

but it's very tunable.

You can easily turn the boost up, I'm sure.

That's exciting, isn't it?

If the future proves the seven,

as much as it can be without knowing

what legislation is going to be,

20 years ahead, but that's great for them

if they can build their plans around something.

Yeah, and it's a multi-year deal, so it should.

And it was really fun to drive.

It was not a lot of lag, really, really linear.

Lots of torque, but it doesn't kind of overwhelm the rear tyres.

Is it still on quite low-grip tyres,

like the car's always have been?

Yeah, it's on road legal tyres.

They're Toyo Proxy tyres

and they're designed to last for a season,

so it's a pretty hard compound.

Yeah, it is.

I mean, it's around a lot.

What they're all about, though, isn't it?

Even those cars.

It sounds good.

It's...

Let's know.

I think that's the worst thing I've ever done.

Yeah, I'll be honest, it's pretty forgettable,

and actually pretty quiet.

That's a lot of turbocharged engines are, so...

And you're always wearing a lid in a cage room.

Yeah, exactly.

I was wearing a helmet and then loads of wind noise.

It's going to be like driving on instruments, isn't it?

Yeah.

Well, I was driving on the shift lights

because the first couple laps I did,

I ran into the limiter a couple of times,

just because you got there much quicker than I expected.

That's great, though.

I think if you do get caddim in,

you're going to do lots of track days,

I don't remember when Jethro did the Academy years and years ago.

It was brilliant, wasn't it?

He'd just take it anywhere.

You know, it's going to get in anywhere.

It's never going to wear anything out,

so you just keep filling out with petrol

and drive it around and around, don't you?

It's the first time I've driven an Academy car,

and I think the biggest compliment I can pay the engine is

that the second session I did,

I forgot all about the engine

and just concentrated on the car,

which is as it should be.

So, yeah, I think it's...

Yeah, the features...

And catering has changed as a company quite a lot,

by the sounds of it, hasn't it?

They've got...

I think the last time I went there,

they were still in the old school place in Dartford.

It's a completely new building.

Yeah, yeah, that's right.

And it's pretty big, you know,

because, yeah, I was the same as you.

The last time I went there was a few years ago,

and it was the old, very, very cramped HQ

that they'd been in for decades.

And the new one, all-purpose built and designed,

so there's no overhead lines or anything.

It's all very slick.

Yeah.

And there's a kind of viewing balcony.

You can walk out,

they've got a few cars on display,

and it does have a real wow factor as you kind of step out

and kind of survey the whole thing.

It sounds brilliant.

So, yeah, I really hope it works well for them,

and they can keep being strong for years to come,

because there's something so special about 7s

and it felt as special with this engine

as it did with the old one, I think.

That's good news, isn't it?

Yeah, no, really exciting.

Well, speaking of cars that have been around for decades...

...and doing this.

And doing that.

Oh, thanks.

Kids.

No respect.

I'm not sure where to go from this.

So, with a job-saving train of thought,

I'll be deleted from the next show.

Yeah, where did Youssef go?

We've come to the end of our Evo era series,

which has run across five issues.

The final issue is on sale now,

and I think the time this podcast goes out

we've been on the shelves for a few days.

Is that 2020s, isn't it?

That's right, yeah.

First half of this decade.

Yeah, so we started in the 1980s,

then we're done 80s, 90s, naughties,

2010s, finished right up to date in 2025.

And in the process,

we've tried to pick out the key themes

from each decade and maybe pinpoint

what we think may have been

the greatest decade for drivers' cars

in terms of all factors, you know,

but the kind of wider context of everything.

And it's been a really epic thing

to be a part of, hasn't it?

Yeah, I think it's...

I think it's the best thing

I've ever been a part of, actually.

It's really...

I don't know, it kind of appreciate

the scale of what we've done now.

It's like 50 years' worth of cars

in a little over five months,

because with the cadence of it,

we've had to try and get one of these tests done

every month or thereabouts.

Yeah.

It's been so much fun.

Quite stressful to find the cars

and get them all along.

It's just been brilliant.

And it's been great

from a nostalgia point of view

if you've driven the cars before.

And I know a few of us have driven the older stuff.

There's like an icon car

in the past.

But it's been great to see you

driving cars you've never been in before.

I think it's been...

Cars I've never driven before.

Yeah, it's just been

a really lovely thing to do, I think.

Yeah.

And we should give credit to Peter Tomlin

who devised this series.

It was his thought.

Initially, he planned something a little bit smaller than this.

I think we kind of took his idea

and ran right over there.

He did say it was going to be

maybe seven pages.

Just a little look back each issue.

It grew into a bit of a monster.

E.Coty was sort of an E.Coty 1987.

Yeah.

Could easily have been, actually.

Yeah, it did have that vibe about it, didn't it?

Yeah.

Let's start at the very beginning.

So we

chose six cars for every decade

apart from the noughties, which has seven...

That was the plan, wasn't it?

It was like half a dozen cars

to create a cross-section of the decade

in a snapshot of not necessarily

the ultimate model.

It was sort of a positive of what people

were more likely to have owned

during those periods,

which gives it a slightly

fresh spin, I think.

Yeah, because the key car

that ran through the whole series

was the 911.

Yes.

But we didn't want it to be a GT3

or an RS or anything like that.

We wanted it to be the base model,

the one they sold lots of.

We wanted it to be sort of

for listeners who are groaning

at the 911 being

favorite again, we did think very carefully

about which car to use as the control car

for every decade. So we thought about

the Golf GTI, we thought about the BMW M3,

we thought about maybe

having an entry-level Ferrari,

so it would have been, I suppose, a 328

for the 80s and then

go through to the 296, which actually

funnily enough we did end up with a 296

at the end and we did have a 355

for the 90s, but in the end

9-11, because that car

stayed such a constant, but it's had

so much tech

to visit it like turbocharging and

electrifying.

Yeah, cool to water call.

Well, it hasn't changed.

It's been through

some pretty transformational

sort of evolutionary steps,

isn't it?

So what else do we have 80s?

We were very fortunate actually

because we did three cars, I think

a manufacturer heritage fleet,

so we had an absolute peach

of an M1-MR2

to the E30

E30 was so good.

Was that a Chicago

Rivaglia edition?

And the Quattro that we've

driven before, actually.

And you've driven Simpsons?

Yes, with the RS3 and the RS2,

so we visited that car.

That's a story for another podcast.

It is, yeah.

We brought his

Testerosa.

And the 205 GTI.

We couldn't have an 80s test without a

205 GTI.

No, they were all such

so small, weren't they?

Small, thin pillars.

Yeah, no airbags.

It's door casings.

FM radio.

But also small and light,

but also very different

in character

performance and dynamics.

Totally different powertrains, weren't they, really?

Yeah.

I was around

for most of those the first time around

and

the one that really stood out

for me was the MR2.

It was so modern, wasn't it?

I was shocked at how modern it felt

compared to its contemporaries

in that group.

And it had very slim tyres.

Not a very torquey engine.

It was a legendary 86,

which is impossible

to oversteer with an engine.

So that engine works really well

in a mid-engine car.

More like delicacy and flow, isn't it?

And we did come up against that subject.

Was it

developed by Lotus?

Yeah.

Because there's so much at least feel in it.

It feels very Lotus, doesn't it?

And I think we decided there wasn't.

Although in other podcasts,

so that one's gonna run and run.

It's a bit of a mystery, isn't it?

Whatever.

It feels like one.

We were all stood in the car park

at the muster point

and you watched everybody come back

in the MR2.

Do you know where's that?

All the cars, everyone came back

with a big smile.

When everyone got in them

you just get in

there's no sort of furrow brow

or phone to pair

because you just don't bov

and then drive off.

Well there were mobilisers

with some of them which I wasn't familiar with.

Yeah, a few car lines

going off.

I was like, why isn't it turning on?

That was the way for that.

That's the time I was sort of

blanky possessed, isn't it?

But yeah, I think

they were all there

because there's special cars in one way

and you drove it the more you understood it

and the more you got from it

and it was just

not a fast car

at all.

But it was a brilliant thing to drive.

I've driven them a couple of times

for features and it always takes you

a couple of miles.

You wonder what all the fuss is about

to start with, don't you?

Because it's flat, there's no torque

and it doesn't actually

give you that much back.

But then you get to the first proper corner

and tip it in.

Oh, hello.

Yeah, it does all come together, doesn't it?

It's so neutral, isn't it?

Like it doesn't understeer or oversteer

unless you want it to.

Yeah, it just carries speed, doesn't it?

And the way it handles the bumps, it felt like

modern suspension.

I think I was following you.

You were in the E30, I was in the Quattro

and then we stopped to turn around

and I didn't really get on with the Quattro

because it didn't feel great.

But then you were beaming in the E30

like this is the best thing ever

and I was like, I don't really feel the same about this.

If you look at our selection of cars

the Quattro was

the standout different car, wasn't it?

For a four-wheel drive car

it was a turbocharged car.

It was a bit of an experiment, wasn't it?

It felt like a development prototype

compared to some of the others

and you'd get in it and think

why am I sat like this

like someone's taken a hammer

and given it

a good beating to get the transmission

in and it's quite a compromised

car.

No one would ever launch

a car like that

in that kind of

slightly raw state, would they now?

But that's a third and ampere car, isn't it?

Yeah.

That was the one that he pushed the engineers.

I probably looked at the regulations for World Rally

and thought I can persuade them

of a four-wheel drive turbocharged car.

Then we can clean up.

But you could tell it was applied

to a car that was never designed

to have that in it.

It was funny watching people

when the bonnet was open going

the engine is like

right at the front, just behind the rings.

It's like a rest-o-modded

or hot-rodded car almost.

Yeah, like a body on a different one.

Reverse 911 almost.

One of the engines.

That was a flat six.

In the front.

In the front, I saw.

You could drive one of those.

Yeah, that would be fun.

Yeah, they were all

completely different characters

and all fun

and they were all so

so little power, so little grip

but all

a whole thing

that worked together.

But then the Ferrari had lots of power

quite a lot of grip but it was really hard

work to drive I found.

I enjoyed it

but I got quite

it's like

it just was a little bit obstructive wasn't it

and I think that's

that's what supercars

were like.

You just get used to them working really

effortlessly now.

And that was not effortless.

No, you really had to drive it.

They didn't really change very much.

The engines just got bigger and more powerful

but you always

felt that they got cut slack

because it was a Ferrari.

Because it was a Ferrari because of

nothing had that level of performance

and it had to have that level of grip to go with it

but it didn't all come into focus until

a little while ago.

I don't think you ever got quite got

access to the cars either

my sense with the media and stuff

it was kind of who you knew

and like

that's my kind of probably

over romanticized view

of reading car magazines stuff

but you know it required waiting

for days and then

they might let you have a go in it.

So we're used to just folding press offices

and having a car for a week

and being able to you know figure it

or take it to a track or

do a big group test in it so you really

become a little bit blasé

don't you about having access to them

but I think they were properly special

rare occasions to drive stuff like that

exactly and you turn up at the factory

the story is like

they're all the same performance

which one would you like

you can have the red one

of course you can have the red one

that's all the proper engine

I mean

we wanted to have a supercar in every group

and normally we went for something more

entry level but for the 80s

it felt right to have a real 80s poster

I think we gave ourselves a bit of

latitude and we were with them

and just wanted to try and

give a reflection of some of the poster cars

as well as the

the significance of them

I really did love driving the Tester off

so for all of its chaps

amazing engine

absolutely stunning engine

I love the interior because it's so quirky

and again I think

there weren't really concessions

to practicality or functionality

quite so much they just look good

we've got to put the oil pressure gauge

and it's down by the handbrake

strange collections of buttons

but I love that

Harry knew them all didn't he

I love the fact that Harry uses it

he really does put a lot of miles on it

because we were shooting in

North Yorkshire and he then went on up to Scotland

he drove up to Scotland

and then came back down

that's the car he drove to Morocco

it was good to hang out with Harry

and drive that car

definitely

do we talk about the 911 now

and then we'll

a misty eye

misty eyed everyone or switched off

do you want to grab a cup of tea

and then annoy them after that

shall we pause here

why you couldn't prepare

the 911 fan club

can stay tuned here

then everyone else can switch off

probably come back

five minutes after we've come back

we'll be back in a moment

welcome back to the evo podcast

we've reached the end of the 80s

but before we jump into the next decade

it's 11th time

we'll keep it brief but

it was a very very special car

this particular 911

it was great wasn't it

I think the colour was cassis

was that like frozen berries

so it was quite a seductive

80s spec anyway

but it was really

really really good wasn't it

it just felt so

tight and build quality was

brilliant and the way it drove

I think it's a very very nice car

and it's been looked after properly

and I think it'd been centre gravity

or I think it was centre gravity

to have it's geo done

so it was absolutely

half a million miles

which is incredible

half a million miles

but it was very special

and it just felt

so 911

must have been weird to get into it

because everything you've read

about 911's

that's pretty much how it came across

apart from the way witness that everyone

trots out that they're not way

with things at all are they

they just move around a little bit more

they're more responsive to

relax your wrists a little bit on a bumpy road

but yeah super cool car

very good

well let's jump forward to the 90s

which was a decade

we were all really really looking forward to

annoyingly it's the one test I couldn't get to

is it clash or something

we've been so lucky with the weather

for all of them actually

I'm just looking at the covers

and I sort of remember the tests

by the evening where we're doing

the group statics almost

because you've kind of soaked it all in

a few days but the 90s was

I think the 90s was the one I was most excited about

doing

I think I'm fondest memories of the 80s

because it was the first test we'd done

and it went really well and the cars were quirky

and interesting

and Harry was there

so a bit more of an nostalgia trip

and yeah it was just a good fun

but the 90s I think probably because

I

know I would like to own

more of those

cars from that group than any of the others

so I was quite excited to

part of each test was sort of

dreaming about potentially

sort of scanning classified

it's been very useful in that

sense I would say

feeling the man-maps

with potential

I think again the variety of cars

I think you kind of and knowing how many cars

we had on the long list

before we whittled it down

and you look at that group

the perfect looking hot hatch

isn't it and then

defining impressive

there isn't there and then another kind of

TVR, peak TVR

and best looking Ferrari

one of the best looking

ferraris they've ever made

and I'm still mourning

the lease

because I know it's probably been stripped down

it's in bits at the moment

yeah this car was loaned to us by analog

automotive

so it's becoming a super sport

so it will be reborn into something very special

but it's already

something very special

it's that variety again

the muscular TVR

the lightweight Elix

everything else in between

quite big steps though wasn't it

I think the 90s

was my

favourite

of all

decades I think

the one thing about the way those

cars perform

is meaningfully

quicker and more capable than the

80s cars

but without

the absolute capability of the

sort of millennial cars

so you have a classic

without feeling vintage

something like that

that's what I loved

and the personalities of the cars

I love the TVR

and how good it looks

and just how it makes you feel

you're in that the most

I loved it

because it's so comfortable as well

it's so easy to use

when it came out

it was so fresh

a fresh take on a British sports car

and you look at it today

there's not anything you've changed now

it's so confident isn't it

and clever and

resolved

all the way that those spotlights

sit and the radius of those

and everything is

so nicely lined up

and the way they hid the door hinges

with

I don't know it's just clever

door harness by your knees inside as well

on the Travisian tunnel

no very very very

lovely thing

they nailed the interior as well

they had their own interior

wasn't part special

I'm possibly a little bit quicker

for its own good

I loved it

the Elise is kind of like the opposite

it could probably handle more

well it could handle more power

and it's really yeah

and they proved that

but you don't actually want for any more

when you're in it

I mean you own one don't you

so that's the biggest endorsement

you can give to a car

but the Clio was brilliant

just like full of boisterous little

bundle of energy wasn't it really

you just don't see them either

you see plenty of Williams

but I think that's the rarest

hardest to find car of the whole

50 years

I was so impressed you managed to source one

was a bit of help from Richard Tipper

yeah Richard Tipper and Darren the owner was

yeah shout out to the owners

he was great and super enthusiastic

all the owners actually

that's another nice thing about the test

it's quite a big ask A to borrow someone's car

and B

if they want to come with it

they're happy for us to take it away

and then you're a bit

either a responsibility of this

or you're expecting them to be with us for three days

but I think everyone had a great time

and they were all sort of hanging out

talking to one another and appreciating each other's cars

and letting each other have a go

and it was really fun

same with the Ferrari

that was

a little bit noisy

and the 911

was an absolutely perfect

90s spec

interior

bright green

so it's like

you spend enough time in it

bloody hell I love this

you need sunglasses though

super cool

and totally original really early car

I think the exterior should have been purple

well they did do

but it's a very similar

similar metallic

green to the interior

so that would be

green overload

I think the difference between the 90s

and the 90s

I think the car

capabilities

did it feel like a bigger step to you

from 90s to 90s

than it did from 80s to 90s

or did it feel like a big step each time

subtle shift almost

you sort of had adaptive dampers

in some of the cars

or sport buttons

to come in

very basic stuff

but I think

for me I think

the 90s felt like the start of

the 90s felt like the end of something

and the 90s felt like the start

of what we're living through

now

so I think we

have a slightly different take on it

I felt the 90s

it almost makes the 90s cars feel

older in a sense

than the 90s cars did

because they feel like they have a direct connection

to the 10s and 20s cars

but they feel quite old compared to

those

so they're not old enough to be a classic

but they're not new enough to

be quite as competitive against their modern

because with all of these

80s and 90s you don't go in expecting it to be

like a super polished

and super capable car

you always make allowances don't you

you make allowances mentally I think

before you jump in

whereas with the 2000s I wasn't on that test

but looking at some of the cars there

you expect greatness

when you jump in

it was definitely there

they delivered greatness

absolutely there

that was the remarkable thing

they were all so good

so good

it was a bit test-erotic

it was less wieldy than

the test-erotic

obviously

we know Simon George very well

he's had the car in the magazine since forever

this is the orange Messy Lago

for anyone now listening or watching

this is the famous 300,000 mile

Messy Lago

and Simon

he's been

on a proper journey with the car

when he got it he loved the attention

now

it's a different colour now

because he's getting bored of the attention

he'd rather be

under the radar a bit

and it was

the first Audi

engineered

or supported car

but it's still quite old school

in the way it was built

it's pretty crude isn't it

an epic thing

what an engine

and sound

and the way it pulls

I didn't

actually get on with the interior

but it's 4th or 5th

quite the same shape

it should be

but it was as hard work

as the test-erotic

to hustle along

lovely gearshift though

I don't know if just having all those

thousands and thousands of miles on it

made it so sweet

the stuff there

would run away from it

you wouldn't keep up with Cooper S would you

no way

two corners

I'd be quite humbling wouldn't it

the 90s was good

we obviously

Dicky and I were at performance car

for a chunk of that

and the 90s was good

but in the 2000s

there were so many good cars

when we started EVO

the way the market went was perfect

yeah we rode that wave didn't we

absolutely

had so much to go at

in every single

I can remember doing massive coupé tests

with like 12 cars

10 cars in them

and of course it was endless

so that probably had the longest

long list of cars I guess

we simply couldn't

get it below

and it could easily have been

we did aim for eight at one point

yeah I think Dean would have

just cried

I mean I wrote the 2000s

and you go to it

and think well

it was a refresher to drive all the cars again

so I'm happy with that

but then you think oh I need to

just check back and see what

you've got a whole hundred issues to go through

some great issues

you keep getting stopped

by features that you didn't

you forgot your road

there's such a lot happened in that

era that decade

it was a big time wasn't it

I think you could have had

not necessarily

for the way it drove but you could have had

an early Conti GT

because that was the start of their sort of reinvented

affordable

Bentley wasn't it

we had that in there for obvious reasons

arguably that's the closest they ever got

to being on a par

with the 911 wasn't it

it was a sort of either or choice

because they were such good cars

that was a beautiful car

that was like a proper time walk

standing there at the end of the day

suns going down

photographers flapping

and you're just looking at the light on the cars

spectacularly good car

just brilliant design

what about the R8

close

that's your

the one that buys

I could have back in there

when they launched that car I could have had one

there was an offer from Audi

so

buy a car from us

have 12 months we'll buy back at the same price

but I couldn't justify

having another two seater

V-engined toy car

well you've had one that worked

ooh

he's like

if he's going to get the sack

he's going to get the sack in style

well in hindsight

if I'd known how few miles the Capri was going to do

yeah you would have gone for it

but it wouldn't have had garage space

was it sweet to revisit it

always is

just like the E30 M3

get back into it and think wow

this just is its own thing

it works beautifully

the gear shift, the manual gear shift

everything you need

V-10s are always overrated for me

it is

they nailed it

with that spec

first time

yeah it's hard to believe it's their first

their first effort with that car

and such a hand built thing

when I ran a very late V-10

plus

as a long term test car

and went to the factory

not to see that car being built when they're to collect it

but the way that aluminium

structure is built

it's basically hand

hand assembled

hand welded on a jig

so it's

I know they made a lot of them

but it must have taken them a long time

to see any money back on them

because it's hugely important

it was a statement car for them wasn't it

one of the people saw the company

they needed to celebrate

the Le Mans success

yeah it's great

what a great bunch of cars

yeah E46 M3

that looks stunning as well

it's aged so well that shape isn't it

I know the current ones

get a bit of a beating don't they

and I'm kind of getting used to the way they look

apart from the M5

but that's just so

such a pretty shape

just pumped up enough

the art is just sort of popped

yeah a little forced W exhaust

and that brilliant engine

I think that's what we're

what we're missing

we're getting ahead of ourselves a little bit aren't we

but the standout

engines

certainly in the 90s

90s and 90s

they're still such a central part

of the

distinguishing part of all the cars

the characters and then gradually everything's getting

slightly more homogenised

the other car in there

which is

fantastic you turned up in it

is the white

5,000 mile

yeah that's another time

Golf GTI

every decade had a bit of a surprise

in it didn't it

we already knew it was a very good car

but I think we'd all forgotten just how good

yes definitive GTI

isn't it in my head

is that DSG or manual

and I think if that car was released tomorrow

and we went and put it in a hot hatch test

keep

update the infotainment

but keep the switches

but just make it more contemporary

it's everything

I have

a few more than five

essentially the same car

the way the seats are

the driving position

the dynamics it's all

another like the R8

they nailed it

they had to as well because they were coming off

mark 4

bit of a stinker wasn't it

the best one in that was the 150 PDI

that we took to the Nürburgring

didn't we

and then got thrown off

the Nürburgring

so it was fab

there's a lot of effort goes into writing these things

just because you have to do all that research

Peter and I spoke to Peter the other night

and he said yeah I didn't make any money

writing the first one

oh gosh

but then he set the template

he did

it's funny we haven't

there's a 997

Carrera S in the

Nautis test

and we haven't

jumped on that have we

but I think weirdly the character of that car

whether you just

almost kind of take a 911 for granted

I think that was their point where they just

started to

put everyone with

the capability of that car

and the packaging of it

just the

way it goes down the road

but it was really interesting driving that

with the

advantage

and the R8

they seem more distinctive

characters than the 911

in a lot of ways

I found the same with the 996

to be honest on the 90s test

getting thinking oh it's

going to feel really old school

but it was lacking that bit of excitement

for me and I was driving it I was thinking

for the 90s this must have been really capable

and quite fun to drive

but in amongst all those other big

characters it was lacking something

for me maybe the engine and just

we were really torn

with 911 in making

our control car we sort of tied ourselves

in knots a little bit because

we've said this before haven't we

we could have had 964, 993

or 996 in the

90s but if we put

the if you bump

the 996 into the next one

then you've got to miss something generations

so I think probably

993 is more of the definitive

90s

911 and I think after

that which was like

literally last of the line air called

car and then you go right

back to the start of the development

process with that 3.4 engine

was never

that memorable but it was a completely

reinvented car

it must have felt really modern at the time

it was it was totally

totally different experience

and a totally different

Porsche as a company

actually because they built it

to have some

commonality with a Boxster

and then came in after that

so as the

early 911s felt like

very old school

handcrafted cars

very small so small

but the Mini

did a similar thing didn't it

the 911 just swept all before it

and the Mini did the same

when I was going through all the issues

the number of tests that it went into

and just came out on top

again some pretty four wheel drive stuff

it's just a breath of fresh air though

wasn't it that car I think the way

BMW took

I mean imagine that actually now

taking something as iconic as the original

Mini

and then reinventing it in the way they did

and sort of respecting the design of it

reflecting the design of it

but it's not a

sort of pastiche and then creating the

driving experience

I just remember them feeling really

pointy and like

Well you were an original Mini owner weren't you

so you can feel the sort of

they did manage to translate

how an original Mini

feels into that car

I think and it had some character with

certainly the Cooper S's with the

supercharged engine

that little sort of whiny

motor and the big

just the interior was

totally different as well

it was totally besposed wasn't it

everything else was just a hot hatch

was the hatch made hot

but the Mini was its own thing

it was all personalisation

that's how they made the margins

on them so I think you could

have fun

I think it's just a fun

they reminded people that

that sort of car should be

it really captured that moment

the other interesting thing was

there was a big debate

before the car was launched

and developed

Austin Rover

seemed to be a divorced

partner wanted to make it

a basic car utility car

and

BMW wanted to make it upmarket

which is pretty similar to the debate that

Jack Land Rover had with the Defender

did we make it a

hose it out car

do we have to say upmarket sort of premium

luxury decision is the one to take

isn't it in almost every case

I think

that's where your idea was to first

fill the gap wasn't it

which it did but I think looking back now

you realise that you don't really want

an old Defender

and you're going to spend 80 grand in use on the road

that's not what you want nowadays

is it

I think another car we could have had in the

noughties

we kind of gave ourselves a bit of latitude

we bumped the GTR

yes

and and and wasn't it the noughties list

we can't have put that in

but it was just weighing up

and I think it defined

it was the right decision to put it

in the tens I think

yeah so the 2010s

was the decade at which

certainly I was a little bit worried

everything might slightly start to run out of steam

because the first three tests have been so

special and all the cars have been so

memorable to drive but that really wasn't the

case was it we had a pretty amazing test

really strong group of cars

so as you say

GTR kind of skipped a few years

into the 2010s

I think they first showed it in 08

and then I think the first car started to get delivered

in 99

but then it started dominating all the tests

from that point onwards

and that's also when it's influenced

another European maker

started to be felt whether it had a few

stress football meetings I think

what's this crazy car from Japan

turning up in the backyard of the Germans

and just taking lap records and things

and it probably did influence their direction

dual clutch gearbox is

higher power outputs

higher weight

I think the demeanor of the 911 turbo

changed they just kind of sharpened it up a bit

and made it

not quite a GT department car

but I think GT department started to have

a bit more influence

and saying how they did that car

so no really influential thing

proper car of the moment as well

you hardly ever see them now

but it's a bit like TBRs

they're all at Lydia's

all of them

last week

each decade did kind of have a

Colt card and a GT-R in this one

and then you'd probably say that the Mini

for the Nautis and TBR

the whole piston heads brand started out

a TBR and

205 GT-R is still a hero now

so each decade

kind of had a bit of a Colt car

and that was one of them but the complete antithesis

of the Nissan was the Alpine A110

that we had in there

which was such a breath of fresh air

that's like discovering that the dinosaurs

are closer to the Wright brothers first flight

than Stegosaurus

do you know what I mean?

they're in the same decade really

there's real parallels though between

the release and how that felt

in the 90s test

and the Alpine and how that felt

in the 10s test

everything else around it

and you just get in and it's like

wow, it's a light car

that feels light but it's not

hardcore or tough to drive

but it's such a nice thing really brilliantly

and probably the first car since the

release really took hold of those values

there's a bit of a lotus in that car

there's a lot of lotus in that car

there is a lot

so yeah, should be a hat tip to

Hethel for it but it

executes it so well

actually next door to Hethel

I think so and there were a lot of ex-lotus engineers

working at that catering

and Dotto

does give credit

to Lotus for

intellectual copyright I think

it's funny, it feels more like a lotus to me

than an Amira

which is bizarre isn't it

when you think of it

it's got that character of fluidity

and being really simple

so what else do we have?

we had a 991.2

GS

so rear wheel drive

but with PDK

because I think we were conscious

our inclination

is

if we have a choice probably we

maybe prefer a manual but actually

the PDK

was a big step change wasn't it

and it's sort of integral

to how those cars

drive I think so that was

a really nice

spec car so thanks to Ben

it was such a hard car to find

I think I made contact with

most of the owners in the UK

it was coming down to a few days

before the shoot wasn't it

just before

not a car we could do the test without

no exactly

and we wanted it to be a point to you because that was when it

went turbocharged which was a big step

in the scene where the 2010s was

turbocharging

really impressive thing though wasn't it

it fell so together

and character was quite different

with the torque

but really

quick

one of my favourite parts of all the tests

really

on the supercar

slot we went for a McLaren

because McLaren were a brand new brand

I think towards the beginning of 2010

we went for a 650s

rather than a 12c

because of the 12c

I think 12c's they're slightly quirky aren't they

and they're not quite the fully formed

thing that we know

they're still defining it

650s though

blew me away

it was so

never lacked a bit of performance

it's so fast it's angry

and expressive

it's the opposite of what you hear

about McLaren's from that era

for me it was such a surprise

because to go quick in it it was not just

put your foot down and feel the turbo

it was a lot of this

a lot of jinking around

12c was a bit aloof

and it bit uptight and didn't want to let

itself have

fun almost it's like I'm being sent to

deliver this performance

and I'm going to do it without any sort of emotion

it was supposed to be a GT car on the way to the circuit

and then a circuit car

then plan wasn't it

but yeah I think they got the

the engine character was much more

kind of

front and centre and the

steering wheel was better

they refined the damping a little bit more

and it looked a bit more distinctive

you felt more in touch with what the car was doing

a bit less than that

steering of McLaren's is now

really does stand out isn't it

I think they're very

I know Harry's always a good

barometer of

this sort of stuff isn't he

I know he loves his

we were going to have his car and then McLaren

have got they've started to bring

some of their heritage cars on

this was almost in really good condition

yeah but I think it's a freshest one

hadn't it everything just given it a really good

going over and it was it drove

brilliantly but yeah I think they kind of revolutionised

the way that

class of super car

yeah and they influenced

what Ferrari would do what so many other

manufacturers would do it

it is real before and after

yeah I think you feel it in all of its rivals

now I think everyone kind of recognises

how good those

that McLaren is

how they become

and then 2010s was a real golden era for

hot hatches and we had two one of them was

your old shed

yeah my ST200

these are kids

just doing it because they can get away

with it now

later on

you'll be the old bastard

don't get that

if you're looking

yeah it was

bit weird actually being

part of the test as one of the Evo crew

but also being part

of the test as an owner

right okay there's the key

don't crash it

really appreciate what our owners do

for us

everyone should do it

all of us should

have that experience

so no it was fun

really attached to the car

but as a consequence you're always

invested in

what other people think of it

I tried to be

a little bit detached

but I was ear wicking

you are

that's not how it is

it's a hell of a car

I remember driving it

because 2010s was the decade when I started

writing about cars

for a living and

it not my socks off

first time I drove a back generation Fiesta ST

it's such a special car and it felt

every bit as good driving it today

as it did then

and like you mentioned earlier it's a

really emotional experience sometimes

retreading your past in a way

and all of the 2010s cars I drove

and the frame of mind I was in when I drove

and the people I was with and the things I was doing

and

used to if you were driving a lot of these cars

for the very first time

was there any surprises for you driving

the older stuff and the more contemporary stuff

well I think the ST was a surprise

for me because I never driven one

I remember having an epic drive in it

and coming back and I was like James are they really this good

am I like what's going on

they are really that good

but yeah for me I think

the big surprise was the 996

for me because I always saw that as

one of the last analog 911s

I thought I'd really enjoy it I didn't quite

like it as much as I've enjoyed

modern 911s which is

yeah I didn't really expect that

and then

2020s which you might get on to later

kind of

encapsulates everything that

we say that we're not

keen on in terms of the trends in the industry

but then all of those cars

apart from maybe the M5

were really exciting

and I think it took the game on again

in a lot of ways

and it's almost like the peaks are still as high as ever

but there's less to choose from

in a way and maybe you've exchanged

the

in achieving the peaks

they maybe lost a little bit of something else

but it sort of feels like a fair trade almost

doesn't it you haven't lost out completely

it's just

that is just progress isn't it

I miss that one

so what was

the key cars

let's get into the 20s

so we went for a Ferrari 296

for super cars

in this case it was a GTS

but it could have been a GTB

we wanted to have

partly we chose the Ferrari because

you can kind of draw an almost direct line

from that in their portfolio

back to the 355

in the 90s test but now it's more than

100 horsepower with combined power

from the most around the engine

yeah, yeah

that's true

the ones with the test roster as well

but yeah it's sort of the definitive

modern C6 hybrids

slightly downsized engine

with hybrid and

super quick gearbox and all the electronics

at Ferrari so good at

what else do we have

well we had an electric car didn't we

we did this was a first

for the Ioniq 5N

so we wanted to have an EV

in there

we were debating which one to go for

and we thought about the Alpine A290

for a bit but

we felt the Ioniq

I think you described it quite neatly

used to have thrown everything at it

in terms of technology

it's quite experimental isn't it

trying different things with the modes

simulated gear changes

simulated engine noise

and in fact

so we had one pure EV and three hybrids in this test

because we had

again sticking with the 911 control car

we went for the hybrid, GTS Carrera

the first hybrid 911

and we had the BMW M5

in fact the Touring

so first M5 estate since the V101

and that's now

a very big very heavy car

and then we had Civic Type R

didn't we so that's like a L'Arse Tourer

really first

if the hot hatch kind of is

feels like it's ended days for the hot hatch

but that's kind of peak hot hatch isn't it

and then the final slots

again a bit like the GTR as a car

that could have featured in multiple decades

in fact right back to the 80s

but we finally put the Mazda MX5

after being on the long list

for every test we missed

it finally came home to roost

in 2020

it was fantastic

it's hilarious the MX5

it's like the

if there's ever like a nuclear

Armageddon there will be a cockroach

and there will still be the MX5

it's like this permanent

permanent fixture isn't it

but it's such an anomaly now

because it's still so small

so light so simple

everything they've had to put on it

like the A-DAS stuff

somehow they fit it

just turn all that bullshit off

straight away

it's also got apple car plays

electric windows

and it weighs what 1100 kilos

10-12 is it really

so it's remarkable they can

still make a car

with everything on it that is so small

I think the

the sad thing

one of the sad things is

it's not quite the long list

it's the short list but

there isn't a great deal of

either or choices with these things anymore

it was the shortest list of all the

decades we compiled the list of potential cars

and the only genuinely affordable

one there is the MX5

I mean maybe

the Civic

you can get deals on the Civic

I suppose 50,000

seems like a lot of money to me

anything sub 50 is kind of

affordable isn't it and everything over that

is not

perhaps

really interesting group of cars

probably the most

diverse

group of the whole

thing in a lot of ways

but again brilliant driving

experiences all of them

I mean we were a little bit lukewarm about the M5

that was probably the one car that we didn't

quite as much

it kind of needed to be there

to illustrate

what modern cars are like

if they don't quite get everything

to gel

they are too heavy in there

it just

felt more, there's more compromises

in it than you would want

it's still good at certain things

in certain moments, in certain modes

but

the chance of staying in that

zone for a meaningful amount of time

it's a

hard car to fall in love with

I think and that is like a common theme

outside this group of

highlights isn't it

needed to experience what we were

complaining about

for the last five years

every decade in this series

wanted it to be a bit of a cross section

of the performance car market at that time

so we felt that this group of six cars

gave the best kind of snapshot

of where we're at and where we're going

maybe

but the highs were still very

I'd not driven the

5N

so I was really excited to drive

that actually

I really, really, really enjoyed it

you go through

such extremes of what

you think because you hear someone revving it up

revving it up

I forgot

it's like a computer game that I would have played

when I was a child

so you think what the hell is that all about

but it's

and I sort of mean this in a positive way

but it is, we've talked about simulators

and the cues that they give you

it's almost

when you're in the car and driving it

and there's some sound

and there's the gear shift mode

that you can use

I so quickly forgot

about the powertrain

because they've got it so

right

like you know

with the i20N and i30

and they were really honed

cars that were built by engineers

and people that love driving

to rely on in a car

and they've got all of that there

it was the sort of

when you're just tipping in and out of the throttle

in a corner and just

what the car does and how it responds

and all those little

fine things

that make the difference between a car

you just drive almost without thinking

and one that you're always trying to drive

around it or try engage with it

it's so clever

so clever and the

balance and

how it hides its weight

you do ultimately notice how heavy it is

but it contains itself

really well it's just a shame

how

I'm torn

like the demands of the test

are such that we're in the middle of nowhere

and we're driving quite hard

and we have lots of time pressures

to get the job done

so you're constantly

looking at the range

but it coped very well

but we had to be

military operations

where we stage and then charging it overnight

and then if we'd had any further

to go from where we stayed

to where we were shooting and back

it would have been a bit marginal

so

which is why we've never had an electric car

of the year

but I do, I suppose

what I took from it and probably

a bit late to this conclusion

if we do get the promised

much more energy, dense, lighter

batteries

then bloody hell

they're going to be really impressive cars

I think if they're done as well as that

they could even take it further

and make a fake manual

I know that's a bit

of a funny concept but

for me like the MX-5 is a great car

not because of its engine

it's more how you interact with it

a bit like a catering

so if you imagine an MX-5

that's electric

but still 1200 kilos

but makes the sound of a V10 or something

that's really convincing

and still has a gearbox that feels like it does

then the overall experience is going to be

even better I think than the current MX-5

potentially is

there's potential there I think

yeah massively so

I'd love to

I couldn't live with one because

my house is so old and crumbly

I've had to look at charges

and the

the electrics won't take it but I'd love to

spend more time with the 5N

because I think you get to really love it

and it's much bigger than

you'd expect that the way they

styled it is so clever because in isolation

it looks this big

it's the same size as the

MX-5

longer wheelbase than the MX-5

which is

still half a ton lighter

but

bizarre but

when you're hooning along on those roads in Wales

it feels like a hot hatch

but then you think this would be

a brilliant family car

it does

everything almost in a way that other

cars can't somehow because

it's

electric cars are so chilled aren't they

when you're just making

progress they're very relaxing

but when it's making it

really 8 bit computer game

noise and when you're

bombing along it's like a totally different

animal

well this is a shock

I wasn't predicting this end of the

podcast

electric cars are great

on that bombshell

we'll get some help for Dicky

I'm trying to be positive for once

rather than cynical doom glue

you're a record road

but the hybrids

are impressed on this test too

the Ferrari system is so well integrated

isn't it

you can trunder through a village

in electric mode

and then when the V6 does

it's every big test

I was really surprised

I had only driven the GTB

when we had one on the E-Coty a few years back

and I loved the car but I was a little bit

disappointed in the character of the car

because the powertrain seemed quite

or the V6 seemed quite subdued

it's a totally different thing

in the GTS

it sounds

there's more

you can connect F80

in this in the sound

it makes you can hear the

turbos and you can hear the induction noise

and you can hear the V6

which I think they had did they not have to change

quite a lot of the intake system

GTS

really

amazing thing like a proper Ferrari again

which I

loved so far

I mean I would keep saying that all so far

it's outrageously quick

outrageously quick

but because it sounds good

you're kind of immersed in it

a little bit more rather than

remote from it

and we haven't spoken about the 911 again

that's

told it was a hybrid you wouldn't know

it's that well integrated

and it's the total polar opposite

approach to the M5

they went full

on whole hog

it has to be a PHEV

there are nine modes for the regen

the 911 can't even

drive on electric power

no electric power

it's just like

another turbo

on top of the turbo

and it's

nearly

it's a little over

10% of the weight

of the M5 hybrid system

so it's

like 50-60kg

for the whole thing

it sounds pretty angry

it's almost like they've

compensated for people

it's got this very rumbly

it does a gruff kind of noise

but it's got big

because the base 911 is fantastic

it's really sweet

it's big

there's no lag

but it feels like a big boosty

mostly raw engine

you know like a

not like a 935

but that kind of

angry sound

it's a very cool car

and the way they've done it

it's like they've found a loophole

in the hybrid

no, no, we're not going to do that

we're going to do this

because we don't want a 2 ton 911

very Porsche

just what you want them to do

it starts instantly because it doesn't have a conventional start

it's not a key

you turn the switch

it's amazing packaging

they've stripped all the

ancillary belts and parts

because it doesn't need them

or they've integrated them

into the engine castings and stuff

so the engine is

shorter so they can package

bits of the

like the inverter and all the clever control

boxes and stuff sit above

the engine

and the hybrid

battery sits where

the conventional car battery

would sit so just below the scuttle

so it doesn't change the

weight distribution or the packaging

I think the boot's like bigger

the front is slightly bigger

weirdly

there won't ever be a manual

I don't think there can be with that

there's nothing to break the drive

from

but I don't think in that car

I'd like to experience a manual

but I don't think it would add anything

because it's quite intense as it is

PDK works so well

systems have to talk to each other

fluently don't they

and it handles brilliantly

but I had a great drive

the talk works really

you can kind of work the car

really well with the talk

because it's instant

and there's a lot of it

so

I've probably enjoyed that 9-11

and the first one the most

or the talk would be somewhere in between

there's a real bookends thing

but for very different reasons

and

well every

that was a prize and we've sort of picked a

favourite but could any of you choose a favourite

car from all of

from the whole thing

or should we do a 2 car garage

2 car garage

ah blimey

I'd stick with the R8

I think

maybe the Elise

the Elise or MR2 I think

the car that surprised me the most

was the Mach 5

the Golf GTI

I knew they were good but I hadn't

realised just how good

I driven Mach 7

and briefly Mach 6 I hadn't driven a Mach 5

it's just such a good

and then my favourite

obviously I choose an orange supercar

McLaren 650S

it's hard to resist that

intense driving experience

it's really hard to resist that car

that would give me a bit more time to think about

I didn't tell you I was going to put you all on the spot

biggest surprise probably

I've learned from the best

you've been quietly observing

I think maybe the Fiesta actually was the biggest

surprise

and it's probably the one I'd have in my 2 car garage as well

with your Elise

with an Elise or the 650S

because the 650S in a way feels like

a supercar version of an Elise

because it's still got loads of feedback

but it's quite fluid it's just got that

angriness which you don't get in the Elise

maybe to switch things up

I'll go with the 650S

because I've got an Elise at home

so yeah I'm lucky enough

well I've got a Fiesta at home

Dick is going to ignore the Fiesta now

and go for something else

well I don't have to include that because I've already got it

I love the

3.2 Carrera

I love that car

and I know I'm lucky because I've got a 911 already

but if I were ever to sell that

I think I would

I would have

well unfortunately I don't think Steve will ever sell

he's willing to

because I said if you think you're selling it

it'll be the last one

I walked in the office thinking I'm going to sell it

and I walked in and opened the door

and I heard him say yeah it'll be the last one

I should have just turned around

and I said oh bollocks

so I definitely have that

and I have this

I flip-flopped between

since this test

prior to the test I thought I will have an S1

at least one day because I just

always think it's the most

significant

high performance car

that's ever been

launched in my

career time if you like

and then I drove the Griff 500 again

and to get a nice one

they're quite

actually quite

similar so I might

I don't know what I'd have

but I think it would be

either one of those

that hasn't answered the two

but it would be either of those

the most important question

and one which is answered

in the issue that some say now

and we won't give the game away here

but we do choose our favourite decade of all

we all actually voted

I think most of us voted differently

and there were other people involved in the voting

so it won't give the game away if we all reveal here

which one we chose

so Yusuf I think you went for the

2010s did you?

I went for the 2010s

and that's with the caveat that I wasn't

on the 2000s test

which sounds like it was pretty epic

and in my mind looking at those cars

that was probably going to be the one

to run the 2010s closest

yeah the 2010s for me it's funny

because the cars were a lot bigger

a lot more packed with tech

and things but that group

of cars is the one

that I can imagine owning all of them

and using them every day nearly

they're very usable cars but also super

exciting and they just feel like

they've got more bandwidth than the others

because I think there's a novelty factor

with the really old stuff

but then in terms of just driving on a great

road I think

I'm missing some of that precision

and capability from the really old stuff

and I think the 2010s

was still a sweet spot because the cars were all

still quite compact

and they still had the feedback that you're looking for

and they're still

really exciting and actually they had the performance

to give you a thrill more than the other decades

for me so I think that's

I'll put that top

John I think you were the

1960s

Cross flight

old drum brake

I think we need to revisit the 60s

I went

2000s

all of those cars I would love to own

the modern stuff is

quicker

but as the 80s cars show

you don't need to go that quick to have fun

and I love

I love the fact that all of those 2000s

cars

all had a certain poise

to them

mid-corner poise where the car was just there

for all of them

so yeah I thought it was a great generation

so I'll go with that one

it's a good spot in kind of

suspension tech body tech

had sort of evolved to the point but they still had thin pillars you could see past

and wheels and tyres weren't

massive and weight wasn't big

so

it was a very good

I really umbed an aard and flopped on

which one to go through

I never think

things at all are recognisable

the test I enjoyed the most

was the 80s one

I had the most fun

on

but

I think that was partly just

the novelty of what we were doing and it was the first one

and so on

in the end I'd say the same as you used to if I went for the

2010s because it felt like

a good balance between

being able to drive the cars long distances, drive them every day

drive them a bit harder than

the cars in the previous decades but they were still as

as thrilling I think as the

as the 90s cars

and then having obviously all wrong because

as the only person that went on all the tests

I chose

the 90s

it was really hard to choose between them honestly

I think the 10s was a surprise

you're not going to choose the

20s I don't think that was just the context

for the other groups

but yeah I love

the 90s I think the

I love the

Clio I just think they're all

I think in my head I was having such a good time

in the 90s I think

I was

just everything was an adventure and all the

every car was exciting and

you know probably a bit more like

a phase that you're at actually

so it shapes

your tastes

in what you like

but yeah 90s

for me I think I just

fell in love with all

of those cars

it's the one I missed

it's the test I really would have loved to have been on

and I don't

I know I don't need to go as

fast as I can

go in the later cars

possibly not the

the normalties is the tipping point I think

where they started to get

so quick and capable that you were

probably using less of their

bandwidth more of the time

but I think the 90s

most of those cars I got in them and I

felt like I was driving them as hard

as I wanted to on the road

yeah

but you're not looking at the speedo and going

bloody hell I better calm down a bit here

though yeah there's a lot to be said for that

so I know we all have a slightly

odd position because we know

we're gonna have access to

whatever's new and

fast and so you can scratch

that itch so I think that probably

is another factor for me

I don't need to go that far I love it

when I do but I'm quite happy to give the car

back after a day

so yeah 90s

for me all the way

well this feels like a good point to hand over

to all of you at home listening and watching

we'd like to hear from you to which

decade is your own personal

favourite that you feel is the high watermark for performance cars

and we will print some of them

in a future issue of the mag so

if you email us at

eds at evo.co.uk

that's eds at evo.co.uk

let us know what you think

we'd also like to

be interested to know what year they were born as well

yeah that definitely has a bearing doesn't it

it really does

when the Yusuf was only just born

in the last century

and it definitely I think it does have a bearing

because like you said the 90s was

a great time to be around

I had to have a theory

that

whatever year you're

21

becomes the

the era that you

kind of look back

definitely around about

21 but I think it's

definitely that era

and that's why

classic car values

follow that line

when they were

80s 90s stuff is

really on the rise now isn't it

those people who

grew up with those cars hankering after them can now afford them

yeah

but yeah two of the three cars

I think I've still got the 106 rally

that's 97

and the

964 is 92

so

92 I was 21

so

yeah it's funny it would be interesting

if that

is mirrored in people's

views if they do so how young

what age they are

yeah well GDPR notwithstanding

please let us know

and

we won't sell you days

you could also include

your mother's maiden name

and your past name

and your first car

and that's your porn name

we'd also like to hear from all of you

generally we've got an email

special email set up now podcast at

evo.co.uk if you send in

questions you want us to answer

we'll do our best to tackle them in a future issue

but until then

thank you Dickie

thanks everyone for watching

listening and we'll see you soon

see you next time cheers

Which decade delivered the best performance cars? | evo podcast | Episode 28

About this episode

Toyota Land Cruiser

Land Rover Range Rover

Ford Puma

Ford Fiesta

Mazda Mx5

Porsche 911

BMW M3

Volkswagen Golf Gti

BMW E30

Audi Quattro

Audi Rs3

Peugeot 205 GTI

Toyota MR2

Lotus Elise

Ford Capri

BMW M5

Porsche Boxster

Nissan Gtr

Alpine A110

Lotus Amira

Mclaren 650S

Chevrolet C6

Hyundai Ioniq 5N

Alpine A290

Porsche Gts Carrera

Hyundai i30

Buick Century

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