That’s not a car, it’s a cheat code,” whispers our sound recordist Andrei. He’s the only one able to talk. The rest of us have been rendered silent. Somewhere in the distance a fast receding blue speck flits out of sight.
There is no revolution in car design any more, goes the common thinking. Everything is incremental. A nudge more power, a tweak more downforce, a modest uplift in speed and grip. A gradual evolution of specification. Balls to that. You want radical? Welcome to the age of the fan.
I’ve never seen or experienced anything like the McMurtry Spéirling. Never driven a faster car, either in a straight line or around corners. In one package McMurtry has created a machine so bizarre it accelerates like a dragster, turns like an F1 car. Better than an F1 car in slow corners. No other car has ever – or probably will ever – do what this one does to low speed corners. Which is turn them into high speed corners.
Which is what happened at Hammerhead. The slowest corner on the TG track, complete with awkward braking, a flick left then hard right, now appears to be some sort of Scalextric corner. Maybe I shouldn’t have gone to watch Max Chilton warming the shrunken Batmobile up, because the spectacle is a head scrambler. It’s so fast through the frame of my vision, moving at blurry superhero speeds, that all I can think when I’m left looking at the dirty brown rooster tail of its wake is “How am I ever going to do that?” The problem isn’t just mine. The silence that followed his passage was also “How do we film or photograph something that moves so fast?”.
Denne historien er fra September 2024-utgaven av BBC TopGear India.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Denne historien er fra September 2024-utgaven av BBC TopGear India.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Mi5 SILENT, POSH AND LETHAL!
With its reimagined design language, BMW has done what it does best-divided opinion with the kind of fervour usually reserved for debates about pineapple on pizza.
A VIRAL ESCAPE
The last time I visited Hampi in Karnataka was back in 2021, just as the world began to shake off the COVID-19 travel bans.
FROM UNDERDOG TO CHAMPION
Thierry Neuville's Journey to WRC Glory
Max Verstappen: FOUR-TIME CHAMP UNDER THE VEGAS LIGHTS
From dominance to resilience, Verstappen cements his legacy while Mercedes shines in Sin
VOLKSWAGEN VIRTUS GT PLUS SPORT: SEXY+SPORT
Volkswagen has a knack for keeping their loyal and enthusiastic customers grinning from ear to ear. The German manufacturer has almost become synonymous with build quality, safety and performance.
BE GE AND XEV 9E Sexy and Ballsy!
Starting a review can be quite a challenge, especially when it's hard to pinpoint the flaws!
CAPTURING THE ESSENCE
Chilly, cold mornings and Mumbai is a rare combination that we seldom see in this part of our beautiful country.
BATTLE OF TWO GOLIATHS
When Luxury Meets Performance, Who Takes the Crown?
THE E-MPV THAT DARES TO DREAM BIG
The MPV market, dominated for aeons by Toyota's Innova, has always felt like a rather predictable place. It's the type of vehicle you buy not out of passion but practicality-like a pair of orthopaedic shoes.
IMPRACTICAL YET IRRESISTIBLE
Exactly ten years ago, I took my first international trip. It was to Bahrain, a country of endless desert and skyscrapers, where my aunt and uncle lived. Among their friends and neighbours, one particular gentleman, upon learning I was a budding petrolhead, took an entire day off work to take me around the city’s showrooms to see some “normal” Middle East traffic.