T'S BEEN FILTHY WEATHER EVER SINCE I FIRST DROPPED INTO the new Ferrari 12 Cilindri's low-set driving seat, but, as if by some divine coincidence, the mist rises and the sky begins to clear shortly after we cross the German border and pass a sign with those four tantalising diagonal strips that demarcate an unrestricted stretch of autobahn. Smoothly opening the throttle pedal to its stop in any highperformance car is quite a moment, but when that car has 12 cylinders and revs to 9500rpm...
In this case, though, it's more than an engine, and more than a car, isn't it? The two things together are more than the sum of their parts here because a Ferrari is one thing, but a V12 Ferrari... that's a thing in and of itself, both in automotive culture and to Ferrari as a marque - the first Ferrari in 1947 had 12 cylinders, and 'everything since is a derivation', as Enzo Ferrari once put it.
Perhaps that's why Ferrari has chosen to name its latest V12-powered car after the engine itself. The 12 Cilindri (which sounds a lot better pronounced in Italian, or the closest an English-speaker can get to it phonetically at least: doe-dee-chee chill-in-dree, or '12 cylinder' to you and me) is the successor to the 812 Superfast. When that car's 812 Competizione evolution was launched in 2021 (see issue 292), evo's Adam Towler wondered rhetorically whether it would be the last naturally aspirated V12 Ferrari of its kind.
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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.
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
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A liberal sprinkling of Honda Type R fairy dust on the late-'90s Accord produced an unlikely evo icon and a genuine performance bargain
TOY STORY
Where best to store some of Toyota’s most prized and valuable racing superstars? Under the wind tunnel at its Cologne HO, of course...
POWER PLAY
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
THE FIRST SAMURAIS
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
DEFINITELY. NO MAYBE
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
Thornley Kelham European RS
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?
