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people keep saying that the end of the sports car and supercar is near but 2022 says that isn't the
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case it's been one of the best years that I can ever remember for unbelievable sports cars and
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this is Evo car of the year where we get the very best cars together for one purpose we've got four
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or five days up here in beautiful Scotland unbelievable roads we've got hybrids we've got
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screamers we've got even a car that people can afford like me a Toyota GR86 and we're going to
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find out which of them is the most thrilling the most exciting the car you want basically Evo car
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of the year starts now. We cannot wait to get stuck in. You can expect insight, expertise
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enthusiasm, extreme driving, starting with our esteemed colleague, former TBR Tuscan racer
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and just generally on it mofo we call Steve Sutcliffe in a car that's all new to him
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the crazy Ferrari 296 GTB. So starting it, engine starts. Like I said, much to look forward to, including an 819 horsepower Ferrari in full flight, probably
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Plus the McLaren Artura and Maserati MC20, the M4 CSL and Porsche Cayman GT4 RS
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the glorious V10 powered Audi R8 rear wheel drive performance, Mercedes latest AMG developed SL55
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and thank the Lord, something very affordable in the shape of Toyota's GR86
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we're in the uk because the roads are gnarly and challenging and we'll get mixed weather too
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and we're excited because we have no idea which way this one is going to go so let the action commence
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ah i wasn't actually turned on First drive of Evo Car of the Year
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And already I'm starting to wonder if we should rename the event
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How the hell do you beat the GT4 RS? I think we always knew this car was going to be one of the absolute favorites
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Porsches do well at Evo Car of the Year. There are conspiracies about this, but basically it's because they prize all the same things we do
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Accuracy. adjustability, feedback and when you add on a big dollop of motorsport cool like this car has
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sort of becomes irresistible doesn't it but there is no doubt this is not a foregone conclusion
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we have some fantastic cars might be the most open car of the year
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I can remember Jethro's not kidding here It's the morning of day one and we have some very happy bunnies
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You just get in the car and drive it and enjoy it. Drive this all day, every day
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You'll never have a boring journey. Absolutely mega. The Ferrari's not bad either, once you get it going
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This is my own little voyage of discovery in it. I mean, these cars are really complex now
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Quality damping. I don't even know what setting I'm in. I'm in E-D manual
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Second gear. Oh, right, OK. So as soon as I've touched the paddle, the engine chimes up
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Why's that? So I'm in sport. No, I don't really want sport
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You never get any real juice in sport. I want race. So you've got race, and then you've got CT off
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apparently you only get the full 800 and whatever it is 16 horsepower when you're in CT off you
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only get about 780 790 in sport just for the time being I think I'll keep it in sport sorry no in
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race wow it does ride really nicely this car it's firm but there's there's a nice compliance to the
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damping, okay, some cat's eyes there. You can hear them and you can feel them, but it's not kind of
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thudding through the frame like you might half expect it to. Steve is steeped in autocar tradition
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so you have to give him a few minutes to talk about ride quality before the good stuff starts
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to flow. It's a disease with no known cure, affecting all current and former autocar stuff
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any second now. Okay, I've done two miles in the 296, and it totally blows me away in terms of its damping
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It totally blows me away in terms of its performance. It sounds really nice. I wish it was a bit louder
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But then that is making a nice noise. The brakes are just brilliant, absolutely brilliant
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It feels really compact as well. It doesn't feel like a big, unwieldy, heavy, scary car
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It just feels small. It feels bloody lovely, actually, I have to admit
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The 296 really is a shockingly good thing. And although I tease him about ride quality
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up on these roads that crisscross between England and Scotland, poise and composure over jagged surfaces is absolutely critical
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and there's at least one car struggling to cope. As this is Steve's specialist subject, let's join him for the M4 CSL
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It's just not cohesive, the M4 CSL. The suspension just never settles to a really comfortable point
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and kind of flows beautifully with the road. You know, we've done a lot of miles in this car now
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and that moment just never really happens. There's that epiphany, that moment of clarity where you think, yep, it's all worth it because
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this thing is just fabulous down this road. None of us has had that moment in this car
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The good bits, the really good bits are the brakes. They're phenomenal. Absolutely beautiful brakes on the M4 CSL
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The performance is mighty. It doesn't have that much more hope in the M4 competition, but from 4,500 to 5,000,000
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It goes like a train. It really does quantifiably faster than an M4 competition
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Gearbox works pretty well but it's not amazing. It's bettered by many of the gearboxes here
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I'd say including the GR86's manual. I think if you'd never driven an M4 competition or an M3 competition and you got in this car
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you think crikey it enormous because this thing is huge It got a sort of Mustang vibe to it visually It just not all good I like a Mustang fine but it just lacks a bit of decorum visually and that exactly the same dynamically
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There's another problem for the CSL2. It's front-engined, rear-drive, and people keep
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emerging from it with a very large grin. Oh, and it's £100,000 cheaper. The GR86 is
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unbelievably good more on which later you know for the same price as the csl you can also get a
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largely hand-finished mid-engine supercar with an aluminium and carbon chassis and god's own v10
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engine people often don't get r8s but then again people buy nissan cash guys and therefore aren't
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to be trusted again same price as the hotted up m4 so what does that money buy you well primarily
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it's accessed to this engine this engine and gearbox are so good i mean so good
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but there's something else too the r8 it's a really hard thing to describe but there's this
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poise about it this it's like just classy everything it does there's this layer of
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polish and that means it doesn't have the ability to give you maybe that like
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perfect 10 absolutely hair on fire drive but every single drive is like a nine it retains
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this sense of absolute polish whatever it's doing it doesn't have the steering feel of the best
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cars here, I think that's one area where you can definitely say it doesn't compete with
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the rest. But it knows what it is. Look, even now, you go for it, it's not boring. It's
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doing all the right stuff. But it keeps its own... Even when you're jumping it and getting
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stuck into it. There's this sense of control and polish and I don't know, just poise. Just
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such a lovely car, so trustworthy. And the engine is just joy. It doesn't have that bang
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snap that the hybrids have. You have to work for it a little bit, but that just makes it
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all the better when you do get there. So I think we can ascertain that Jethro thinks the Audi is
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polished but we'll forgive him getting stuck on that word because it really does describe the
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Audi's depth of ability and the way it always seems to be operating well within its own comfort zone
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At the end of day one this is the big talking point. The cars we thought would be flying are
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being a bit wrong-footed by the roads. But there's a bigger name that's furrowing brows too
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Maybe tomorrow, in different weather, on different roads, situation normal will make a return
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Today, the roads are much smoother, although still a real challenge. They really are the
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perfect stage for the big boys. Ferrari versus McLaren versus Maserati. I guess the latter
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hasn't really been a big player of late, but the MC20 is something very special. Understated yet
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angry, bursting with character and deeply compelling. From the chaos of Maserati's past
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they've managed to pick little pieces of magic and mould them into one unforgettable supercar
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This drives as well as if not better in some respects than the Ferrari
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It's certainly got more character to it. I mean just listen to it
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It's just wonderful. And it looks, well it just looks gorgeous I think
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A very simple design but it's very evocative when you see it parked up and when you're
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in it it's just a lovely place to be in. It's just, yeah
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Yeah, you just want to drive it all day. Criticisms, brake pedal has a lot of travel and then
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even when it does sort of harden up you still have to really put some pressure on it to slow
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it down but there's not much human change, it's a lovely thing. For me, I really like the Artura
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This and that car are so close, this is just mega, absolutely mega Maserati
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What took you so long? Right here, right now, in this contest, on these roads
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in these changeable weather conditions, I don't know about anyone else, but I'm finding this car absolutely brilliant
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Really pretty special. Well, I've put it into track mode on this little switch, toggle switch
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up here on the right of the steering wheel and then the left of the steering wheel you've got all the chassis settings comfort sport and track so i'm in sports and i'm in track sport chassis
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track for the drivetrain and gearbox and diff etc etc and it's just it's such an impressive car to
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drive over roads like this is the altura the suspension is so nicely tuned and refined it's
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It's got beautiful compliance over these roads. I mean, these are naughty roads with horrible road surfaces
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Drive the GT4 RS over this road and it is bouncing around all over the place
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The steering is kind of wanting to wrench itself out of your hands sometimes
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It's not a wrestling match, it's just a sort of... It's a bit of a nightmare, the GT4 RS
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Then you get in this and everything is just calm and smooth and fluid and composed
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It's absolutely extraordinary by comparison just how much better the Artura deals with
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roads like this. Does that mean it's dull or boring or kind of predictable
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Absolutely not, because all you need to do is just lose the right pedal a bit
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It stops on a sixpence this car, and there's so much feel through the brake pedal as well
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That's one thing that McLaren were really super keen not to do, was to have regenerative
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braking in the Arturo, and I am so glad they didn't. Because if it means you get this much feel through the brake pedal, yes please, give
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me that every time. And forget the horsepower. It's hard to forget sometimes, but even if this thing had 550 horsepower, if it steered
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like this, if it allowed you access to all its modes so easily, if it slid so beautifully
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as this incredibly short wheelbase car with a ton of power does, you'd love it
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They just get it They don take the terms too seriously They don make the car just some sort of trap monster
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They create these living, breathing cars that just want to entertain you
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They are fun. They are just fun. And that sounds so trite, but it isn't
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It's what everyone wants from a car. F*** me, what a thing
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Holy s***, what a thing. But there's just something effortless about the way it goes over the ground
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But it still conveys the excitement and the craziness that 800 odd horsepower would suggest
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It's just refined. Not in an S-class way. It's refined to within, you know, right to the nth degree
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but refined to deliver absolute precision, really clear feedback, and to allow you, this is what
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roads do, they allow you to get stuck into all of that ridiculous potential like it's the most
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natural thing in the world. That's the magic. 800 plus horsepower, bumpy roads, cold temperatures
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There's patches of damp. You just drive. You just drive. You don't even think
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You just drive with confidence and with a smile on your face
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The big subplot this year has been the mid-engine supercars, and the Artura is the lightest of them all
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It has the best steering. I think it's probably got the best damping. it gives you more confidence in any condition than the Maserati or the Ferrari. It should just
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be winning that test easily but somehow it's not. It's just got a few little issues and it comes down
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to the intangible things almost, character basically. This new wide-angle V6, fantastic job
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in terms of power, it revs but everywhere else it just feels like a power unit and the Ferrari
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sounds brilliant and pure and the Maserati sounds utterly unhinged the noises are crazy
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that's the whole car the Maserati is unhinged it's a lunatic the Ferrari is so it channels the
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old cars so well with the noises it creates and it's so ridiculously quick this car it feels like
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the first step on a rung it feels like it's part of a range which the Maserati and the Ferrari
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don't there will be I'm sure an Artura long tail and it will be brilliant because this car has all
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the ingredients but the moment just doesn't have the character just not quite there and I think
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that might be its downfall we'll see what the other judges think but at the moment the McLaren
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we all love and respect what it does but none of us quite have the want factor
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what a world eh weighing up the relative merits of three supercars
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that are worth a combined 800 grand such is the way with e-cote
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but look remember this thing is always about driving thrills pure and simple
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and one car is being unanimously adored this year it costs only a tenth of the supercars
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and has a mere 231 bhp but it knows how to use
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every single one of them and asks that you know how to use them too
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Big theme of this year has been all the driver modes in all the cars. They take so long to work out and find your perfect preferences for each car
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But the Toyota takes it to another level because it has this thing
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I think they call it a manual gearbox. So check this. Down here I've got another pedal, third pedal
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It's called a choke. uh clutch it's called a clutch this look at this i have to waggle this around
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first is up here down for second and then you just see that like h pattern
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it's crazy but the funny thing is it's um it takes a little while to get used to but then
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it feels really really natural apparently these gearboxes are lighter than the
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normal gearboxes we're used to and it's really odd but you feel more involved with the car too
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so yeah we should encourage more of these things weird third pedal but yeah I really really like
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what genius idea what are they going to think of next Hold on, hold on
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So we're in the GR86, which is far and away the underdog, if you like, of this year's
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car of the year. It's hard to believe, but I think there's probably about £100,000 between this and the next most
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expensive car, which is an indication of the kind of level that the car of the year this
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series is pitched at but it's such a big step on from the GT86 I'm blown away by how much
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better the car is in pretty much every respect. The engine has much more torque, much more
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appetite for revs, it's just a more exciting, more engaging engine to use. The gear shift
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Again, the previous car could be really quite awkward and a bit of a sticky shift and this
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car is a sweet, just a lovely gearbox to use. It doesn't require you drive it ridiculously quick and when you feel like you're driving
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it fast and you're putting some energy into your driving, you look down and you're still
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not going stupidly fast and it's such a relief almost that you can enjoy a car without it
21:05
being ballistic speeds that you're doing. Highlights of this car, I think it's just the general
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uplift in every major aspect of the car over its predecessor. The concept of the GT86 was
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always brilliant. It was exactly the car we thought we wanted, but it never quite hit
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the spot. This time, they've absolutely nailed it. It's dealing with all these roads quite brilliantly, to a point that because it's got that much
21:46
more performance from this bigger flat-four engine, quite a bit more performance where
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you want it, the original GT86 was always a bit lacking in the torque department and
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you kind of had to thrash it within an inch of its life to get it to go anywhere and it
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never really felt fast it felt so pleasantly brisk this thing actually
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feels quite quick now and the gearbox is much better and the gear ratios I'm absolutely certain are a
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little bit shorter and closer where it counts set in third fourth
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as a result it is now quite a quick car the GR86 and when you link that to the suspension ability to just deal with whatever these roads throw at it it beautifully damp this car it really is And its size and lack of weight and agility
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You can feel this car's lack of size on the move and its lack of weight on the move
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I don't know quite how to describe it beyond that, but you can feel that it is light
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Add all that together and you end up with quite a cross-country weapon
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which the gt86 just never was i love it i absolutely love this car it's quite a lot
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better than i thought it was going to be i wasn't quite sure why we were even including it in the
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first place but i'm really glad we have because right now at this moment in time halfway through
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day two this is one of my top three cars he said it he really did and he is not the only one at this point there's not a judge who hasn't
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got the gr86 in the top half of their order the csl has dropped out of contention the sl
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you forgot about the sl didn't you as did we nice car but we took a punt and it isn't quite working
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out. So in theory, the SL55 should be an SL for people like us, for Evo readers, for enthusiastic
23:48
drivers. It's built by AMG, which is a good sign. It's powered by a 4-litre twin-turbo
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V8, which is an engine we love. And it's focused at... Oh, God, sorry about this. I
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f***ing hate this car. He doesn't really, video will do this to you but we all agree that SL55
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is confused, not quite a real SL, not quite an AMG GT. It feels heavy, overly complex and caught
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in no man's land. Lovely engine and the four-wheel drive system is very fluid though. What else? Well
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the R8 is loved especially by me but probably isn't quite sharp enough to challenge and the GT4 RS
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is magic one moment and tragic the next, depending on the road surface
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So the three supercars and the GR86 feel like they're starting to gap the rest
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Day three dawns and the order is shaking out, but we're still struggling to pick a clear winner
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So we decide to do something definitive that requires no subjective decisions whatsoever
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It involves driving each car onto a local weighbridge and seeing who's been naughty with their claimed weights and who's been telling the truth
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For consistency, all the cars are brimmed with fuel so that we can calculate their fuel loads later and create a uniquely level playing field
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Oh, here we go. 15.40. 15.40, okay
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Jethro, do you want to get out so that we see what the car weighs
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And see what you weigh, obviously, as well. Okay, I'm officially out of the car
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Okay. Wow, okay, so that's gone to 14.60. No huge surprise here
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Now, a car's claimed weight is a minefield. Where possible, we try to quote the DIN kerb weight
25:55
which includes all fluids necessary for operation and 90% fuel load. Our cars are brimmed, so you'd expect a few kilos heavier than the claim
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Plus, in the case of the Porsche, it had some options like a nose lift. So logic suggests a 45 kilo bump is just about OK
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The R8 showed a similar increase and the CSL, even without the super lightweight fixed buckets
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was only 25 kilos heavier than the claim. The Merc was actually lighter than advertised
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The only one that that... Oh hey, yes! 2020! That's gonna be pretty accurate
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Actually hang on, that means it weighs 1940. Yeah, spot on, 1940
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And what did they say? 1950. 1950. So hang on, is that Mercedes the only one that's being overly honest with their weight
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It is. 1280. 1280 without you, 1360 with you. Wow. So what do they claim for that one? 1260. What they claim is exactly what we've weighed well. Yeah, 1276, four kilos less. Yeah, it's got four kilos of fuel in it basically plus what they claim. It's pretty good
27:08
Thing is, supercar manufacturers are often a bit cagey about their weight values on often
27:14
quote dry weights of cars fitted with the lightest option packs. So, how would the McLaren, Ferrari and Maserati stack up beside each other
27:25
OK, here we go. Car 5 at top, Maserati Supercar is about to roll up
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Ooh! Whoa there! Wow! that's outrageous that's 1700 kilos without Jeffro
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1780 kilograms yes hold on let me get out maybe i'll put on 150 kilos
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in the last five minutes hey i'm out 1700? 1700 kilograms on the nose oooh
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is that 1660 then? 1660 wowie 1740. So 1660 without you, Jethro
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Electricity does appear to weigh quite a lot. It's 1560 without Jethro and 1640 with
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So yeah, 1560, whereas the claim is 1498. Cheers, chaps. Whilst we all reel from the weight of the MC20
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the Toyota barely troubles the scales and is pretty much bang on the claimed weight
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It's the lightest car here by 180 kilos and 420 kilos lighter than the Maserati
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We love it just a little bit more. Has that clarified anything
28:44
Probably not. But doesn't the Porsche make the bloated supercars seem even sillier
28:50
I mean, it should be walking this test, right? I love the GT4 RS
28:58
who would not love the GT4 RS? Who likes their cars? It's just spectacular but it's also really
29:10
quite extreme and I think quite a few of us, in fact no all of us, are either really quite shocked
29:20
or just very surprised at how unwell the Porsche has dealt with these roads or a lot of these roads
29:28
It's so stiff this car, it really is. I've just been airborne then at really not very fast at all. It is so stiff, the suspension is so uncompromising and this engine is fabulous when you're in the mood for it
29:48
I mean, never, never underestimate what that does to your heart and your brain
29:59
But it can become a bit of a pain in the neck when you don't want it to be that loud, because
30:05
you can't really turn it down. I mean, I'm only doing three and a half thousand revs now
30:09
and I'm really having to talk quite loud, as you can tell. But it's not the engine, and it's certainly not the gearbox that we're not falling in love with
30:19
because this gearbox is fabulous in this car, but it's just, it is the suspension. I wish
30:25
you could actually adjust the dampers a bit on the move. I know that's very, very
30:32
trick, very expensive and not really part of the GT4 RS's remit to be that technical but I wish you could
30:40
because then you could make it flow over these roads much better
30:44
than it does. The flip side of course, when you get to better roads
30:48
this thing just comes alive beneath your backside, beneath your fingertips. And at that point, you do have these delicious moments of clarity in the GT4 RS where
31:01
everything makes sense and you think, that's it. It doesn't get better than this on four wheels
31:07
But when it's bad, the GT4 RS is really quite bad. It's taken a while for the GT4 RS to drop from contention completely
31:19
but it's a conclusion that's inescapable. On the right road it really is something special
31:24
but RS models of old made every road the right road. On track it would shine but all of these
31:31
are road cars and all will be driven and enjoyed mostly in the wild. Where dodgy cambers and yumps
31:37
and unpredictable surfaces are the norm not the exception. At the end of day three we know for
31:42
sure that the Porsche can't win. It'll be Ferrari, Maserati, McLaren, or yes, the Toyota GR86
31:53
Whatever we jumped out on we jumped into that and everyone still loved it There is one imposter in this test You don want scores do you Yeah They tired aren they We going to have to drive more tomorrow
32:08
Same time tomorrow night. These are the final moments then
32:25
Nobody really wants it to end, but we have to pick a winner
32:33
It's a proper feel car, the MC20. Everything, all its kind of major controls, and the minor ones too
32:42
have a consistency of weighting and feel. The gearbox doesn't snap through like the Ferraris does
32:50
or the McLarens if you're in track mode, but it just shifts gear really nicely
32:56
The brakes have a lovely feel to them. I love the steering, weighting and accuracy
33:01
I like the weighting of the throttle. And I love the torque
33:05
And I really like the noise that this engine makes. There's a whole range of noises that it makes
33:12
some of which are quite gruff and uncouth, but I don't know
33:16
Maybe it's me. Maybe I'm just becoming irrationally in love with this car, but I love all the noises it makes, even though some of them aren't very nice noises
33:24
if you listen to them in isolation. But if you take them as a whole, it's just fabulous. It really is
33:32
It's just... It's just a proper, proper mad... Unhinged, unpredictable, unlikely winner of this test
33:48
I don't know. It's absolutely right up there for me. I adore this thing
34:08
I Jesus Wow. Oh my god. You go on a launch and they will spend hours, literally hours, explaining all the things
34:24
they've done to make this car whatever car it is the way it is so there are technical presentations
34:35
that you need many many mechanical engineering and electronic engineering degrees to understand
34:43
there's stuff about the hardware the software the tuning how it all fits together
34:48
But then you get in the car and all the complication that you've read about, all the complexity, all the unbelievable computing power is completely and utterly invisible
35:06
And the car that you've just heard about in such serious and earnest terms is a party
35:17
That's what Ferrari make. They make a party on four wheels. These things are so much fun
35:27
The McLaren continues to blow our minds. The chassis is so composed
35:33
The steering is heavier than before and belies the hybrid system's added weight, yes, but it's also full of feedback, and the new E-Diff makes the car predictable and just beautifully adjustable
35:45
If only the engine was a little bit more of a firecracker. there are no weak areas in the gr86's dynamic makeup the engine is sweet and sharp the gearbox
35:55
is accurate and mechanical and the star turn is damping that seems to have been tuned by mclaren
36:01
with the most delicious balance too it refuses to be dropped by any car here and it refuses to bow out of the fight for the winner spot So the sun is setting on Evo Car of the Year and we got our podium
36:14
positions but as we couldn't actually make our mind we've got four in our podium positions because
36:20
the 296 GTB and the Artura tied perfectly on points. Both fabulous supercars and a little bit
36:29
of encouragement that the hybrid future is pretty bright. You've just got to do it right
36:33
The hero of the test, undoubtedly the Toyota GR86. We love this car. I don't think we'll change a
36:40
thing. It's pretty much perfection. But this week is all about the Maserati MC20. It is an F40
36:50
in a world of mundane cars. It's a modern turbocharged car that sounds like a Group C
36:56
nutter it's just brilliant and most of all it's a maserati and in these sanitized times
37:04
turns out that is a very very appealing thing indeed this is it car of the year and we love it