Aston Martin has sought to put some fresh air dynamically between the new Vantage and its DB11 grand tourer. We head to the roads of northern Finland to get an early taste of the result.
IVALO AIRPORT IS GREAT. TINY, A PURVEYOR of two sizes of huggable toy husky, and rocking a Christmas Eve aesthetic all year round, Finland’s northernmost landing strip has something almost no other airport has: charm. Make that two things: charm, and a winter-weather proving ground literally a snowball’s throw away. Called Test World, it was snapped up by the Millbrook Group in 2015 to be an almost permanently snowy adjunct to its Bedfordshire-based facility, mainly specialising in tyre testing where grip is lower than Ant Man’s instep at this crunchy, deeply sub-zero time of year.
After an evening of beer and bear burgers at a reluctantly post- Christmas, yet defiantly twinkly Saariselkä – the region’s winter sports resort – I seem to have time-lapsed back to the softly lit airport and Millbrook’s adjacent outpost to see the dawnbreak and suck in a few litres of lung-shock to disperse the fug. Delivering a comparable system jolt is the acid yellow and black disruptor camouflage clinging to (and successfully disrupting) the sharky shape of this year’s Aston Martin Vantage. It’s being prepped for the morning’s slither ‘n’ roll around Test World’s solid-white handling circuit on bespoke cold-weather Pirelli Sottozeros, and as it’s still in the large, echoey on-site garage facility, its Mercedes- AMG-sourced twin-turbo 4-litre V8 is burbling a deeply guttural and reverberant, but assiduously Aston-adjusted, burble.
This story is from the May 2018 edition of Evo.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the May 2018 edition of Evo.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
BMW M135 xDrive
The M135 has lost an and gained chassis revisions and a restyle. Is it enough to make it a benchmark hot hatch?
Audi S5
S5 by name, S4 by nature, is Audi's new mid-size petrol-powered saloon a step in the right direction?
Lamborghini Urus SE
Lambo's super-SUV gets a major mid-life overhaul, going hybrid in the process. Has it become any easier to like?
HALL evo OF FAME
The evo Hall of Fame was established to recognise the great and the good of our corner of the universe. Prepare to welcome this year's inductees
CIRCUIT DAY
After three days of assessing their behaviour on the road, it's time to head to the Circuito de Navarra to find out how our nine contenders respond when their handling limits are explored
EVO CAR OF THE YEAR 2024
Nine brilliant cars, from flyweight roadsters to bombastic supercars to a be-stickered estate(!), do battle on some of Europe's finest and most spectacular roads. Which will emerge victorious? Place your bets now.
Porsche Panamera GTS
It lacks the raw power of its hybrid rivals, but does the new GTS’s more traditional approach give it its USP?
Alpine A290 GTS
The new electric Renault 5 has won plenty of plaudits. Is the hotter Alpine version a car to win petrolheads' hearts too?
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
