THEY'VE THOUGHT OF EVERYTHING. Sweated the details. Of course they have. Despite the connotations of the name Maserati - which range from impossibly mysterious glamour to characterful oddball to plain old-fashioned shoddy irrelevance, depending on your point of view - it's very obvious that the MC20 supercar and the new spider version, named MC20 Cielo, have been developed with engineering rigour, fully informed of rivals' strengths and weaknesses and with clear performance and dynamic targets. That's just the way it is in 2022. Even at Maserati. And yet, it doesn't feel like it for a second.
That doesn't mean that it's woefully off the pace. Not at all. The MC20 Cielo ('Sky' in Italian) is brutally fast, its carbon-fiber chassis is commendably stiff, it grips and turns with a lightfooted ease that can easily stand comparison with McLaren or Ferrari. It just doesn't feel built to chase or imitate. Instead it treads its own path with great success and provides a wonderful new dynamic experience that's reminiscent of cars as diverse as an Alpine A110, Bugatti EB110 and even the Ferrari F40, yet remains unique. From the chaos of Maserati's spectacularly volatile history, little threads of DNA have been weaved together and a new identity has emerged. I'm sure this was intentional. Agonised over, even. But the MC20 and now the Cielo seem such an organic, effortless project. Oh, it looks pretty good, too.
Denne historien er fra December 2022-utgaven av Evo UK.
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Denne historien er fra December 2022-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?
