'SORRY, WHAT DID YOU SAY?' I ASK, BACKING OFF a little. 'I think we must have missed our turn,' Aston Parrott says again. I back off some more and look around. Hmmm, he's right; the jagged peaks aren't where I expected them to be. As we coast along, down the road the tail of the third sports bike disappears around a corner, like a fish wriggling off the hook.
Ten minutes earlier we'd been wandering around a French village eating ice creams, having failed to get something proper to eat, again. This time we were an hour early for dinner. Last time we were half an hour late for lunch. As we drove away from the village, three noisy sports bikes came up in the mirror and overtook at the first opportunity, one of them indicating thanks or maybe approving of the DB12 with a shake of the foot, before howling off and cranking into a series of sweeps. It was clear that they were local and knew the road, so I wondered if we could tag along.
Turns out we could. It's a big car the DB12, a fairly heavy one too, and yet each time I leaned on the grip a bit more, the car responded, nailing the precise line. The surface was smooth and warm and the Aston jinked sweetly through a sequence of fast flik-flaks like a car half its size. Confidence up, on every short straight the throttle hit the stop, the 671bhp, twin-turbo V8 whirred and a solid thump of power brought down the gap. After a couple of kilometres we were on the tail of the last bike and had a great view of him leaning hard into the turns. He was dropping back a little from the front two and I was just wondering if a trio-splitting overtake would be rude when a noise broke the spell: 'I think we must have missed our turn...'
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة August 2023 من Evo UK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة August 2023 من Evo UK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
BMW M135 xDrive
The M135 has lost an and gained chassis revisions and a restyle. Is it enough to make it a benchmark hot hatch?
Audi S5
S5 by name, S4 by nature, is Audi's new mid-size petrol-powered saloon a step in the right direction?
Lamborghini Urus SE
Lambo's super-SUV gets a major mid-life overhaul, going hybrid in the process. Has it become any easier to like?
HALL evo OF FAME
The evo Hall of Fame was established to recognise the great and the good of our corner of the universe. Prepare to welcome this year's inductees
CIRCUIT DAY
After three days of assessing their behaviour on the road, it's time to head to the Circuito de Navarra to find out how our nine contenders respond when their handling limits are explored
EVO CAR OF THE YEAR 2024
Nine brilliant cars, from flyweight roadsters to bombastic supercars to a be-stickered estate(!), do battle on some of Europe's finest and most spectacular roads. Which will emerge victorious? Place your bets now.
Porsche Panamera GTS
It lacks the raw power of its hybrid rivals, but does the new GTS’s more traditional approach give it its USP?
Alpine A290 GTS
The new electric Renault 5 has won plenty of plaudits. Is the hotter Alpine version a car to win petrolheads' hearts too?
BEST BUYS BMW M CARS
THE PERFORMANCE CAR LANDSCAPE WOULD HAVE looked very different over the last five decades without BMW. Its M division, founded in 1972, has produced some of the best driver’s cars ever to hit the road, and in the process has provided a stream of benchmark models for its rivals to chase. In recent years, stricter emissions regulations, downsizing and electrification have seen some of those rival cars falter, yet by and large BMW’s M machines have remained strong. In fact, some rank among the greatest the department has made think of the eCoty-winning M2 CS and M5 CS while others are the only options worth recommending in their respective segments. Price tags have risen with performance, however, putting those latest offerings out of reach for many, but the marque’s popularity means there are numerous earlier M models available on the second-hand market for far more attainable figures. Here are four of our favourites.
TYRE 2024 TEST
Want to fit the very best tyres to your performance car? The annual evo Tyre Test identifies the cream of the current crop
