DRIVE IT ON THE PADDLES. WELL, YES, I DON'T MIND if 'D I do. This is more like it: a concept EV that lays down some groundbreaking claims for range, efficiency and sustainability, and yet the German engineer alongside is encouraging me to use the paddles to make progress? Happy days.
In fact, what my newfound driving buddy is actually asking me to do is switch between regen modes, adjusting the severity of the regen braking in and out, and back to coast, to vary my speed without ever touching the actual brake pedal. It's how you drive the EQXX the proper way. Brakes equal heat, which equals wasted energy, you see.
Why should you care about this rather unusual-looking MercedesBenz concept car? Well, it was created in just 18 months, by a crack team of Merc's best engineers, cherry-picked from all sorts of departments across the business, and makes some very bold claims. Like being able to travel for more than 620 miles on one charge, and weighing 1750kg. Okay, not exactly lightweight, but around 700kg lighter than one of Mercedes' current EVs with a similar range. That's quite some diet. It also features a powertrain designed in conjunction with the F1 engineers at Mercedes-AMG High Performance Powertrains (HPP) in Brixworth, possesses the power electronics from a Project One, and has enough interesting stats to boggle anyone's mind. It is, as every engineer here is keen to tell me, so much more than just another show car concept.
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Esta historia es de la edición September 2022 de Evo UK.
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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.
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It develops 819bhp. It has no turbochargers, no hybrid assistance. Ferrari describes it as the most complete GT it's ever made. And it’s so proud of its mighty V12 engine it’s named the whole car after it. This is the 12 Cilindri
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Japan has been responsible for many of our favourite driver's cars of recent decades, but their ancestors are often much less well known. We take a look at where the big manufacturers began their performance car journeys
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Three Japanese performance icons - Lexus LFA, Subaru Impreza 22B and Nissan GT-R. Over three days on some of our favourite roads we explore what makes each uniquely thrilling, but also the car culture that unites them
1V3.0
F1, P1... and now W1. The next chapter in McLaren's Ultimate Series is the British firm's challenger to the forthcoming new Ferrari hypercar and a £2million, 1257bhp, hybrid-powered, technical tour de force
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One man’s dream to build the perfect Porsche 911 has resulted inthis aaticMously restored and enhanced classic. We delve into the details and take it for a drive
Bentley Continental GT Speed
The new Continental GT is the most powerful Bentley ever, and the beginning of anew plug-in hybrid era for Crewe. But is it still a benchmark grand tourer?
