DRIVING A FORD MUSTANG ALONG THE French Riviera isn't as romantic as it sounds. Not because there's anything especially wrong with the car or the roads, rather that neither was made with the other in mind. On the right there's a foot-high stone wall separating me from a long, painful tumble into the (admittedly stunning) scenery, and on the left the big 'Stang is bulging out of its lane as the local Berlingo vans and battered Peugeot hatchbacks whizz past within a whisker of the driver's door mirror. The windows are down, the shades are on and I should be enjoying myself, but I'm having to dial the speed right back. Nailing the point home, a Renault Modus driver lunges past through a gap I've left at the inside of a hairpin; he has one hand on the wheel while making a gesture with the other. He must have been tailing me for a while, but I was concentrating too hard to notice.
With versions like the track-prepped Dark Horse and the unhinged GTD road-racer, Ford clearly wants us to take the latest, S650generation Mustang seriously, but it's equally keen to stress that this - the new Mustang GT - is absolutely, positively not a track car. It does without the Dark Horse's beefed-up transmission, more focused damper tuning improved cooling package and uprated 447bhp V8, cutting the price from £67,995 to £55,725 to make this by far the most affordable Mustang, one that's best-suited for the road. We first drove the new Mustang in Dark Horse form in the US last year (evo 314), when deputy editor James Taylor concluded that it was 'as charismatic a road car as ever'. Here we'll find out if that remains true for the GT on the more ragged, technical roads that Europe has to offer.
Bu hikaye Evo UK dergisinin July 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
Bu hikaye Evo UK dergisinin July 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.
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?
