EVERYONE HAS THEIR OWN VERSION OF Le Mans. For some it's the romance of massive, oil-spitting Bentleys with skinny tyres thundering around the clock in the 1920s, whilst others are stuck in 1971. Steve McQueen's slate-grey 911S, those 917s and Ferrari 512s... the noise and the crashes. Or maybe you're a Group C diehard, or remember standing in awe near the Porsche Curves as the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP flew through almost silently but with such aggressive agility it literally took your breath away. Perhaps you just love the GT cars, which may lack the spaceship wonder of a prototype but are much more distinctive in look and sound.
It's not just the cars, either. It's where you camp or stay, the corners you like to visit, how you plan your race day (and night) as a spectator. Even the route and the group of people you choose to travel down through France alongside. Le Mans isn't one event. It's hundreds of thousands of lived experiences, each one different and each as valid as the next. The very essence of Le Mans is variety. And for this summer's 100th running of the 24-hour sportscar race, the Garage 56 entry - a special single-class invite for cars demonstrating innovative technology-has truly embraced that spirit.
It's big, you might argue it's not clever, but my goodness it's exciting to have a Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 stock car from the NASCAR Cup series taking up that Garage 56 entry. Yes, it's true. Alongside the hybrid hypercars, the incredibly nimble and closely contested LMP2 field and the sophisticated GTE cars from Ferrari, Porsche, Corvette and Aston Martin there will be a big, bawdy, badass stock car on the grid.
Denne historien er fra May 2023-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 May 2023-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?
