CAR MAKERS ARE BECOMING MORE AND more out of touch with the enthusiast. Cars are becoming too heavy, too big and overpowered. And worse, they are becoming overcomplicated and weighed down with equipment that is not relevant to a pure driving machine and which we never asked for.
Manufacturers are also losing touch with the ordinary consumer, putting complex infotainment and 'aid' systems into cars that at best are extremely difficult to understand and use and at their worst are very distracting or don't even function properly. I've got close on several occasions over the last few years to saying to a manufacturer at a new car launch, 'You've given us a day to drive this car. I have a choice: I can either spend that time sitting in the hotel car park learning all the systems or I can go out and drive it and assess its dynamics, powertrain and the other stuff that we traditionally do. But there isn't time to do both.'
Recently while writing a review I described a car's control systems as being as complicated as those on an Airbus airliner's flight deck. Reflecting on this, I had a thought: why not put an airline pilot into a car that's loaded with tech and features and ask them to compare it to flying their aircraft?
この記事は Evo UK の May 2024 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は Evo UK の May 2024 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
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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