P OP! THE NOISE TAKES ME BY SURPRISE.
At first I worry that a tyre's blown or some piece of unseen debris has struck the Elise's aluminium underbelly. I slow down and turn the Lotus's tiny but beautifully formed steering wheel left and right to see if anything feels awry. All seems well, so gradually I up the pace once more, the modified K-series engine barking vocally on the way to its near-7500rpm red line and then, as I hit the brakes, there it is again: POP! Now I know what it is, and it's cause to grin rather than tip-toe back to the pitlane: the Analogue Automotive Elise SuperSport is spitting flames from its exhausts. Big ones.
This no-expense-spared restomod is one potent little car.
You might remember the SuperSport from evo 311, when John Barker and Yousuf Ashraf drove it back to back with Ashraf's more standard Elise 111S. This is my first time, and settling into its Tillett carbon-shell driver's seat, surrounded by neatly finished carbon trim and bespoke switchgear in place of the original Peugeot-sourced items, it feels a cohesive product rather than a tuning project. Which is Analogue's aim: to comprehensively restore and rebuild a Series 1 Elise as something tauter, faster, fiercer, without losing its essential character or the uniqueness of its driving experience.
The cost is the frightening part. Prices for a standard Analogue Elise (refurbished chassis, new suspension, brakes, rebuilt and upgraded powertrain and drivetrain with Quaife limited-slip diff, replacement fuel tank, radiators, retrim, repaint, and more) start at around £75k including donor car; this SuperSport (wider track suspension with new wishbones, bushes, hubs and Nitron dampers, plus the carbon interior package and forged pistons and throttle bodies taking the K-series to 210bhp) totals around £100k.
Denne historien er fra June 2024-utgaven av Evo UK.
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 June 2024-utgaven av Evo UK.
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
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
HONDA ACCORD TYPE R
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?
