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.
Bu hikaye Evo UK dergisinin June 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Bu hikaye Evo UK dergisinin June 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
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.
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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
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