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Britain’s Best Driver’s Car 2014 - which is this year’s best-handling car?
This year our quest to determine the most entertaining and capable machine, on road and track, is one of the most closely fought ever
The line-up for Britain’s Best Driver’s Car usually assembles itself. There’s a big name, a must-have, which everything else falls easily around.
But not this year. Not since Lamborghini declined, wisely perhaps, to allow any publication to compare a Huracán alongside any other car. So we mulled over a long list of what we thought we should gather for what we informally know as Handling Day.
Usually, we’d then cut that list down to 10 plus last year’s winner. But we realised that the 12-car list was one of the most stonkingly strong line-ups in the competition’s 25-year history, so we left it entirely as it was.
Handling Day is actually three days of testing, photography and video on the road and on a circuit. This year we based ourselves at Castle Combe, Chippenham, within easy reach of decent roads in Wiltshire and surrounding counties. And by decent, we of course mean poorly surfaced and badly cambered as only the finest British roads can be.
The track itself? It has been developed from the perimeter road of a wartime airbase so is fast and mostly right-handed, with a few chicanes to provide a fine test of traction and braking stability.
But although it is quick (the fastest cars exceed 150mph along the start-finish straight), it’s so bumpy and cambered that it’s a surprisingly good test of a road car. Even a modestly powered hot hatchback feels in its element around here. You’ll find one listed below, alongside the 11 other competitors.
The cars:
Alfa Romeo 4C – deserves its chance to show what it can do here.
Ariel Atom 3.5R – most-focused version of the latest Atom.
BMW i8 – more GT than sports car but a must-have for BBDC.
BMW M4 – a 3-series-based M coupé is usually a front-runner.
Chevrolet Corvette Stingray – it’s already impressed us.
Ferrari 458 Speciale – a five-star road test car, but BBDC is full of surprises.
Jaguar F-type R coupé – hardcore V8 coupé with plenty of fans here.
McLaren 650S – a grower, we think, and a force to be reckoned with.
Porsche 911 GT3 – last year’s winner earns itself an automatic recall.
Porsche Cayman GTS – dubbed the best sports car in the world. Let’s see.
Renault Mégane RS 275 Trophy – hot hatchback heaven.
Vauxhall VXR8 GTS – provides the brawny, large-capacity kicks.
The judges:
Richard Bremner (senior contributing editor), Nic Cackett (road tester), Andrew Frankel (senior contributing writer), Lewis Kingston (deputy digital editor), Matt Prior (road test editor), Matt Saunders (deputy road test editor), Steve Sutcliffe (editor-at-large), Mark Tisshaw (deputy editor)
Britain’s Best Driver’s Car 2014 - the supercars
The supercar section traditionally throws up three strong contenders for outright BBDC honours. This year, Ferrari's 458 Speciale squares up against McLaren's 650S and Porsche's 911 GT3
These three are sure to be at the business end of this year’s contest: Ferrari’s achingly brilliant 458 Speciale versus McLaren’sunfeasibly potent 650S versus last year’s outright winner, the already proven Porsche 911 GT3 – in non-barbecue specification this time around.
Between them, these three represent the pinnacle of dynamic possibilities this side of a full-blown hypercar. In many ways, they are the most capable road cars that money can buy in the real world. Around a circuit like Castle Combe, they are also a whole lot more approachable than their hypercar cousins and are therefore not that much slower than them against the stopwatch.
Inevitably, though, the Ferrari ended up posting the fastest time, and by a fair margin. But then the 458 Speciale is one of those rare cars that always over-delivers, no matter what your expectations of it may be.
The noise that it makes is enough on its own to make your heart skip a beat. Quite how it manages to pass road car noise regulations is hard to fathom, considering how deliciously deafening it sounded every time it hammered past the pits. And every time it did so, anyone lucky enough to be standing around in the paddock would stop, stare and smile.
From behind its multi-function, suede-rimmed steering wheel, the 458feels, well, just very special indeed. Its cabin is quite sparse, deliberately so, with bare aluminium staring back at you from down in the footwells. But all of the main ingredients for major driving thrills are there and, as it turns out, are all in exactly the right position. So you sit nice and low in the car, with a big, yellow revcounter dominating the instrument cluster, arms outstretched slightly, right foot hovering over a big accelerator pedal.
As you move off, the 458 Speciale bounces a touch along the bumpy pit lane, but the moment that it makes contact with the circuit at anything approaching a decent speed, it settles and feels immediately at home, totally at one with its surroundings.
Its steering is extremely light and perhaps a mite overly responsive to begin with. Relatively small inputs exact a surprisingly instant response from the front tyres, and if you’re in any way clumsy with your inputs at the rim or with the throttle, the 458’s tail will let you know how keen it is to contribute to your progress. As a result, the Speciale can, just to begin with, seem a little bit neurotic in its responses.
However, learn to drive it in the way its makers intended, which takes no more than a couple of laps, and the Speciale really does burst into life beneath your hands and backside. And the thrills that it can deliver from that moment on, not to mention the speed that it can generate along the straights and through the corners, really is something to experience.
“Closer to a racing car than a road car,” was how Andrew Frankel summed up the Speciale, and Mark Tisshaw said that it has “a quite ridiculous turn of pace, with an amazing willingness to change direction”. Matt Prior also noted how the Ferrari “keeps you quite busy but is supremely accurate and steers on the throttle rather well”.
Everyone who climbed out of the 458 Speciale wanted to climb straight back in and do it all over again, in other words, and for a car to make you feel like that when it is this quick – its lap time of 1min 11.9sec is outrageous for a car with number plates – is a very rare thing indeed.
Having said that, the GT3 and 650S were far from blitzed by the Ferrari at Castle Combe, neither subjectively nor against the clock. The Porsche lapped in 1min 13.1sec, the McLaren in 1min 12.9sec.
And in its way, the Porsche was just as exciting to drive as the Ferrari, with massive composure under brakes, bundles of feel from its rear end, great traction (better traction than the 458, to be honest) and amazingly good feel through its electric power steering, plus a phenomenally good dual-clutch automatic gearbox.
The only element that the GT3 lacked beside the others was pure horsepower. It couldn’t quite live with the 458 or the 650S along the straight bits, basically, which is not something you find yourself saying very often about a ‘991’ GT3. But for many – for most, indeed – this didn’t matter one iota because the GT3 was (a) still extremely rapid in isolation and (b) if anything, even better at the touchy-feely stuff than the 458 in certain places, especially when riding the kerbs.
Matt Saunders described the GT3 as “the one you most want to make your own. You unwrap it like a jewel in a gift-wrapped box. This is a proper, grown-up sports car.” Prior noted simply that the GT3 is “still the one”.
And what of the McLaren? Despite being quite brilliant at dealing with Castle Combe’s notoriously bumpy surface, which endowed it with a composure in certain places that threw both the Ferrari and the GT3 (under brakes into Quarry, for example), the 650S wasn’t quite at the same level overall.
Not for pure speed – along the main pit straight and through the flat-out kink down to Quarry, the McLaren was actually the fastest of all – but instead for pure driver indulgence. People tended to climb out of the 650S with a knowing smile, full of admiration for the speeds that it could generate and the composure that it maintained over the bumps, but rarely were they giggling with delight. Not like they did after stints in the GT3 and 458.
The McLaren also understeered where the GT3 and 458 just gripped at the front and went. At the exit of Quarry and through Tower, for example, the 650S’s front end washed away surprisingly fast, and all you could then do was wait and be patient. Dialling up more throttle merely added understeer, or a wild hit of oversteer, and in these two corners alone the 650S lost a fair chunk of time (and reputation) on the day.
A couple of testers also noted that its brake pedal began to go long after sustained lapping, although, to be fair, most drivers emerged after a session in the McLaren feeling pretty exhilarated.
Frankel noted that “over the bumps, it is from another world. Hard to believe it is related to the car they brought to Rockingham three years ago”. Tisshaw also had high praise for the McLaren, saying that “whatever the thing that was missing from the 12C has been well and truly found in the 650S. Shows how far McLaren has come in such a short time.”
A very long way in a very short space of time, yes, but not quite as far as Ferrari and Porsche have come, albeit over a far longer period of time. Give it another year or two, though, and the sky will be the limit for McLaren. One day, it’ll win one of these things outright.
Lap times
Ferrari 458 Speciale – 1min 11.9sec
McLaren 650S – 1min 12.9sec
Porsche 911 GT3 – 1min 13.1sec
Britain’s Best Driver’s Car 2014 - sports coupes
Is this the year when new technology usurps the enthusiast’s preferred mechanical hardware in the fine-handling stakes? We find out by pitching BMW's i8 against the Porsche Cayman GTS and BMW M4
A trio of rear-drive cars here, two of them with your enthusiast’s preferred mechanical hardware, the third with something quite radical and no less promising for that.
BMW’s M4 coupé is a traditional front-engined, rear-drive machine powered by a 425bhp twin-turbo 3.0-litre straight six, and the Porsche Cayman GTS is mid-engined and propelled by a naturally aspirated 335bhp 3.4-litre flat six.
The BMW i8, however, is twin-engined, the 228bhp 1.5-litre turbocharged triple sitting behind its cabin boosted by a 129bhp electric motor driving the front wheels to make the plug-in hybrid, carbonfibre-bodied i8 all-wheel drive.
The i8 is new to our Handling Day, but previous editions of the Cayman and M3 have been front-runners or outright winners. So although these three are far from the most potent cars here, two of them have very positive form.
Despite its driveline, this M4 is far from old-school in detail make-up. Its gearbox is the optional M DCT seven-speed dual-clutch automatic and its engine is turbocharged for the first time in the model’s history. It revs to 7600rpm and delivers a resonant rumble under load that certainly builds the excitement.
But not as much as the BMW’s behaviour near the limit, its body tilting towards oversteer that often trips up its on-track pace. That’s fun, but as one tester said: “It can be quite annoying because it compromises the car’s ability to get into a corner. You can find yourself busier than you were expecting before the apex and in a way you might not always appreciate.”
On the other hand, the suppleness of dampers that allow some close-to-the-limit roll also enable the M4 to soak up Castle Combe’s often unhelpful dips, crests and mid-bend bumps with less disturbance than some of the other cars here, although the Cayman and i8 are calmer.
Some testers complained that the M4’s gear ratios weren’t ideally suited to Combe circulating duties, but for the most part there was praise for a powertrain that delivers substantial thrust with a minimum of fuss and a potent soundtrack.
The BMW’s dynamic crudities are less intrusive than the mildly waywardJaguar F-type coupé’s, incidentally, but present enough that you feel slightly short-changed. The original E30 M3 (and BMW must be sick of reading about this car) was far less fast but provided better balance and a lot more high-precision control.
And that’s what you get from the Cayman, as well as the intriguing swivel-about-the-centre turn-in that you enjoy in the best mid-engined cars. Its reactions are measured enough to avoid twitchiness, allowing you to lean on it until it produces controllable oversteer that’s rewardingly straightforward to control. ‘Measured’ captures the character of much of this car, its confidently precise way with bends, its unflustered absorbency of bumps, its secure braking and evenly delivered acceleration making this an easy car to drive fast and a forgiving one, too.
However, this doesn’t mean that it’s not exciting, especially for one tester, who complained that it was too easy to tip the Porsche into oversteer. But most marvelled at the Cayman’s balance, not only in chassis terms but as a complete car. “What can’t this thing do?” asked one. “The only reason the Cayman S didn’t get my vote last year is because it lacked that final hard edge when you really wanted it. The GTS has that and also improves every component on top of it.”
Despite its 335bhp, ‘measured’ often describes the performance, too, the Cayman’s fuel-eking gearing making third practically a 100mph ratio, with three more to go. Absurd, and it takes the edge off its grunt.
On the road, this makes it a bit less of a thrill than you’d think until you learn to work the lower gears, doubtless to the detriment of economy. But that’s when the tactile rewards really flow and the Cayman emphatically underlines its credibility as a properly sorted piece of driver’s kit. It’s also very civilised. With the fire of lower gearing, it would be close to perfection.
Fire is what you think you’re going to get from the i8, with its satisfyingly dramatic, supercar looks. It may be the unlikely wearer of an eDrive badge, but the little three-pot sounds at least twice as big as it really is and, together with the electric motor, allows the i8 to get going pretty smartly.
This dramatic machine looks like a mid-engined car and duly behaves like one on track, with the impression of a chassis pivot point not far forward of your seat. It turns in well and, in contrast to the early reports from its launch, understeer is not an issue. It will oversteer readily enough on a trailing throttle, too, before transitioning smoothly to gently run wide.
Your enjoyment of this behaviour is somewhat spoiled by a steering wheel that feels unpromisingly light unless you’re in Sport and, regardless of mode, this turns out to be the numbest rim here. But the wheel does shuffle encouragingly over camber changes. Fulsome brake feel has also been neutered by the i8’s electronics, although there’s no doubting their effectiveness. And while we’re whining, the instruments are near unreadable at speed despite their trick graphics.
The brakes’ scope for recharging the BMW’s battery pack in track conditions appears to be limited, though, the battery charge sinking to a solitary segment’s worth within a couple of hours of intermittent use. Which doesn’t mean that the electric motor turns dormant; the battery always retains enough charge to power the front wheels when necessary, BMW’s aim being to provide consistent handling regardless of circumstance.
However, what you won’t get is the overboost that a semi-charged or fully charged battery pack would provide. To restore that, you’ll need a session of less committed action to allow the battery power to regenerate. Or a mains recharge.
A less frenetic drive will allow you to enjoy the BMW’s near-languid suppleness over bumps, its motion over these surfaces integral to its sophisticated allure. So is the sound of that engine – the unaware will be amazed to hear that it’s shared with the Mini – whose racey downshifting blips are satisfyingly timed. This BMW is quick, too, but feels less so at higher speeds, its progress dulled by eco-oriented gearing.
All of which makes the i8 a more intriguing machine on the road, where its twin engines usually function at full strength and its sharp handling and supple ride gel in a manner that makes you dream of long-distance drives. The disappointment of the steering is less evident here, and you get the pleasure of uncovering what it’s up to via the information displays. “A complete enigma, better on road than on track but not entirely out of its depth here,” concluded one tester.
The i8 offers many rewards, but the best of them are not found on a race circuit. Its more traditional sister, the M4, is of far less complicated character, almost too much so on the track, where its lively rear end denies it some of the delicate driftability of M3s past. Still, there’s little wrong with its powertrain, although some yearned for the previous-generation M3’s normally aspirated V8.
You won’t be doing much yearning in the Cayman GTS unless it’s for shorter gearing; the Porsche is the most complete, and completely satisfying, driver’s car of our trio. “Beguiling controls, velvet-smooth powertrain and a forgiving ride make it great on the road or track” was one summation, and that just about nails it.
Lap times
BMW i8 – 1min 19.4sec
Porsche Cayman GTS – 1min 17.4sec
BMW M4 – 1min 16.8sec
Britain’s Best Driver’s Car 2014 - which is this year’s best-handling car?
This year our quest to determine the most entertaining and capable machine, on road and track, is one of the most closely fought ever
The line-up for Britain’s Best Driver’s Car usually assembles itself. There’s a big name, a must-have, which everything else falls easily around.
But not this year. Not since Lamborghini declined, wisely perhaps, to allow any publication to compare a Huracán alongside any other car. So we mulled over a long list of what we thought we should gather for what we informally know as Handling Day.
Usually, we’d then cut that list down to 10 plus last year’s winner. But we realised that the 12-car list was one of the most stonkingly strong line-ups in the competition’s 25-year history, so we left it entirely as it was.
Handling Day is actually three days of testing, photography and video on the road and on a circuit. This year we based ourselves at Castle Combe, Chippenham, within easy reach of decent roads in Wiltshire and surrounding counties. And by decent, we of course mean poorly surfaced and badly cambered as only the finest British roads can be.
The track itself? It has been developed from the perimeter road of a wartime airbase so is fast and mostly right-handed, with a few chicanes to provide a fine test of traction and braking stability.
But although it is quick (the fastest cars exceed 150mph along the start-finish straight), it’s so bumpy and cambered that it’s a surprisingly good test of a road car. Even a modestly powered hot hatchback feels in its element around here. You’ll find one listed below, alongside the 11 other competitors.
The cars:
Alfa Romeo 4C – deserves its chance to show what it can do here.
Ariel Atom 3.5R – most-focused version of the latest Atom.
BMW i8 – more GT than sports car but a must-have for BBDC.
BMW M4 – a 3-series-based M coupé is usually a front-runner.
Chevrolet Corvette Stingray – it’s already impressed us.
Ferrari 458 Speciale – a five-star road test car, but BBDC is full of surprises.
Jaguar F-type R coupé – hardcore V8 coupé with plenty of fans here.
McLaren 650S – a grower, we think, and a force to be reckoned with.
Porsche 911 GT3 – last year’s winner earns itself an automatic recall.
Porsche Cayman GTS – dubbed the best sports car in the world. Let’s see.
Renault Mégane RS 275 Trophy – hot hatchback heaven.
Vauxhall VXR8 GTS – provides the brawny, large-capacity kicks.
The judges:
Richard Bremner (senior contributing editor), Nic Cackett (road tester), Andrew Frankel (senior contributing writer), Lewis Kingston (deputy digital editor), Matt Prior (road test editor), Matt Saunders (deputy road test editor), Steve Sutcliffe (editor-at-large), Mark Tisshaw (deputy editor)
Britain’s Best Driver’s Car 2014 - the supercars
The supercar section traditionally throws up three strong contenders for outright BBDC honours. This year, Ferrari's 458 Speciale squares up against McLaren's 650S and Porsche's 911 GT3
These three are sure to be at the business end of this year’s contest: Ferrari’s achingly brilliant 458 Speciale versus McLaren’sunfeasibly potent 650S versus last year’s outright winner, the already proven Porsche 911 GT3 – in non-barbecue specification this time around.
Between them, these three represent the pinnacle of dynamic possibilities this side of a full-blown hypercar. In many ways, they are the most capable road cars that money can buy in the real world. Around a circuit like Castle Combe, they are also a whole lot more approachable than their hypercar cousins and are therefore not that much slower than them against the stopwatch.
Inevitably, though, the Ferrari ended up posting the fastest time, and by a fair margin. But then the 458 Speciale is one of those rare cars that always over-delivers, no matter what your expectations of it may be.
The noise that it makes is enough on its own to make your heart skip a beat. Quite how it manages to pass road car noise regulations is hard to fathom, considering how deliciously deafening it sounded every time it hammered past the pits. And every time it did so, anyone lucky enough to be standing around in the paddock would stop, stare and smile.
From behind its multi-function, suede-rimmed steering wheel, the 458feels, well, just very special indeed. Its cabin is quite sparse, deliberately so, with bare aluminium staring back at you from down in the footwells. But all of the main ingredients for major driving thrills are there and, as it turns out, are all in exactly the right position. So you sit nice and low in the car, with a big, yellow revcounter dominating the instrument cluster, arms outstretched slightly, right foot hovering over a big accelerator pedal.
As you move off, the 458 Speciale bounces a touch along the bumpy pit lane, but the moment that it makes contact with the circuit at anything approaching a decent speed, it settles and feels immediately at home, totally at one with its surroundings.
Its steering is extremely light and perhaps a mite overly responsive to begin with. Relatively small inputs exact a surprisingly instant response from the front tyres, and if you’re in any way clumsy with your inputs at the rim or with the throttle, the 458’s tail will let you know how keen it is to contribute to your progress. As a result, the Speciale can, just to begin with, seem a little bit neurotic in its responses.
However, learn to drive it in the way its makers intended, which takes no more than a couple of laps, and the Speciale really does burst into life beneath your hands and backside. And the thrills that it can deliver from that moment on, not to mention the speed that it can generate along the straights and through the corners, really is something to experience.
“Closer to a racing car than a road car,” was how Andrew Frankel summed up the Speciale, and Mark Tisshaw said that it has “a quite ridiculous turn of pace, with an amazing willingness to change direction”. Matt Prior also noted how the Ferrari “keeps you quite busy but is supremely accurate and steers on the throttle rather well”.
Everyone who climbed out of the 458 Speciale wanted to climb straight back in and do it all over again, in other words, and for a car to make you feel like that when it is this quick – its lap time of 1min 11.9sec is outrageous for a car with number plates – is a very rare thing indeed.
Having said that, the GT3 and 650S were far from blitzed by the Ferrari at Castle Combe, neither subjectively nor against the clock. The Porsche lapped in 1min 13.1sec, the McLaren in 1min 12.9sec.
And in its way, the Porsche was just as exciting to drive as the Ferrari, with massive composure under brakes, bundles of feel from its rear end, great traction (better traction than the 458, to be honest) and amazingly good feel through its electric power steering, plus a phenomenally good dual-clutch automatic gearbox.
The only element that the GT3 lacked beside the others was pure horsepower. It couldn’t quite live with the 458 or the 650S along the straight bits, basically, which is not something you find yourself saying very often about a ‘991’ GT3. But for many – for most, indeed – this didn’t matter one iota because the GT3 was (a) still extremely rapid in isolation and (b) if anything, even better at the touchy-feely stuff than the 458 in certain places, especially when riding the kerbs.
Matt Saunders described the GT3 as “the one you most want to make your own. You unwrap it like a jewel in a gift-wrapped box. This is a proper, grown-up sports car.” Prior noted simply that the GT3 is “still the one”.
And what of the McLaren? Despite being quite brilliant at dealing with Castle Combe’s notoriously bumpy surface, which endowed it with a composure in certain places that threw both the Ferrari and the GT3 (under brakes into Quarry, for example), the 650S wasn’t quite at the same level overall.
Not for pure speed – along the main pit straight and through the flat-out kink down to Quarry, the McLaren was actually the fastest of all – but instead for pure driver indulgence. People tended to climb out of the 650S with a knowing smile, full of admiration for the speeds that it could generate and the composure that it maintained over the bumps, but rarely were they giggling with delight. Not like they did after stints in the GT3 and 458.
The McLaren also understeered where the GT3 and 458 just gripped at the front and went. At the exit of Quarry and through Tower, for example, the 650S’s front end washed away surprisingly fast, and all you could then do was wait and be patient. Dialling up more throttle merely added understeer, or a wild hit of oversteer, and in these two corners alone the 650S lost a fair chunk of time (and reputation) on the day.
A couple of testers also noted that its brake pedal began to go long after sustained lapping, although, to be fair, most drivers emerged after a session in the McLaren feeling pretty exhilarated.
Frankel noted that “over the bumps, it is from another world. Hard to believe it is related to the car they brought to Rockingham three years ago”. Tisshaw also had high praise for the McLaren, saying that “whatever the thing that was missing from the 12C has been well and truly found in the 650S. Shows how far McLaren has come in such a short time.”
A very long way in a very short space of time, yes, but not quite as far as Ferrari and Porsche have come, albeit over a far longer period of time. Give it another year or two, though, and the sky will be the limit for McLaren. One day, it’ll win one of these things outright.
Lap times
Ferrari 458 Speciale – 1min 11.9sec
McLaren 650S – 1min 12.9sec
Porsche 911 GT3 – 1min 13.1sec
Britain’s Best Driver’s Car 2014 - sports coupes
Is this the year when new technology usurps the enthusiast’s preferred mechanical hardware in the fine-handling stakes? We find out by pitching BMW's i8 against the Porsche Cayman GTS and BMW M4
A trio of rear-drive cars here, two of them with your enthusiast’s preferred mechanical hardware, the third with something quite radical and no less promising for that.
BMW’s M4 coupé is a traditional front-engined, rear-drive machine powered by a 425bhp twin-turbo 3.0-litre straight six, and the Porsche Cayman GTS is mid-engined and propelled by a naturally aspirated 335bhp 3.4-litre flat six.
The BMW i8, however, is twin-engined, the 228bhp 1.5-litre turbocharged triple sitting behind its cabin boosted by a 129bhp electric motor driving the front wheels to make the plug-in hybrid, carbonfibre-bodied i8 all-wheel drive.
The i8 is new to our Handling Day, but previous editions of the Cayman and M3 have been front-runners or outright winners. So although these three are far from the most potent cars here, two of them have very positive form.
Despite its driveline, this M4 is far from old-school in detail make-up. Its gearbox is the optional M DCT seven-speed dual-clutch automatic and its engine is turbocharged for the first time in the model’s history. It revs to 7600rpm and delivers a resonant rumble under load that certainly builds the excitement.
But not as much as the BMW’s behaviour near the limit, its body tilting towards oversteer that often trips up its on-track pace. That’s fun, but as one tester said: “It can be quite annoying because it compromises the car’s ability to get into a corner. You can find yourself busier than you were expecting before the apex and in a way you might not always appreciate.”
On the other hand, the suppleness of dampers that allow some close-to-the-limit roll also enable the M4 to soak up Castle Combe’s often unhelpful dips, crests and mid-bend bumps with less disturbance than some of the other cars here, although the Cayman and i8 are calmer.
Some testers complained that the M4’s gear ratios weren’t ideally suited to Combe circulating duties, but for the most part there was praise for a powertrain that delivers substantial thrust with a minimum of fuss and a potent soundtrack.
The BMW’s dynamic crudities are less intrusive than the mildly waywardJaguar F-type coupé’s, incidentally, but present enough that you feel slightly short-changed. The original E30 M3 (and BMW must be sick of reading about this car) was far less fast but provided better balance and a lot more high-precision control.
And that’s what you get from the Cayman, as well as the intriguing swivel-about-the-centre turn-in that you enjoy in the best mid-engined cars. Its reactions are measured enough to avoid twitchiness, allowing you to lean on it until it produces controllable oversteer that’s rewardingly straightforward to control. ‘Measured’ captures the character of much of this car, its confidently precise way with bends, its unflustered absorbency of bumps, its secure braking and evenly delivered acceleration making this an easy car to drive fast and a forgiving one, too.
However, this doesn’t mean that it’s not exciting, especially for one tester, who complained that it was too easy to tip the Porsche into oversteer. But most marvelled at the Cayman’s balance, not only in chassis terms but as a complete car. “What can’t this thing do?” asked one. “The only reason the Cayman S didn’t get my vote last year is because it lacked that final hard edge when you really wanted it. The GTS has that and also improves every component on top of it.”
Despite its 335bhp, ‘measured’ often describes the performance, too, the Cayman’s fuel-eking gearing making third practically a 100mph ratio, with three more to go. Absurd, and it takes the edge off its grunt.
On the road, this makes it a bit less of a thrill than you’d think until you learn to work the lower gears, doubtless to the detriment of economy. But that’s when the tactile rewards really flow and the Cayman emphatically underlines its credibility as a properly sorted piece of driver’s kit. It’s also very civilised. With the fire of lower gearing, it would be close to perfection.
Fire is what you think you’re going to get from the i8, with its satisfyingly dramatic, supercar looks. It may be the unlikely wearer of an eDrive badge, but the little three-pot sounds at least twice as big as it really is and, together with the electric motor, allows the i8 to get going pretty smartly.
This dramatic machine looks like a mid-engined car and duly behaves like one on track, with the impression of a chassis pivot point not far forward of your seat. It turns in well and, in contrast to the early reports from its launch, understeer is not an issue. It will oversteer readily enough on a trailing throttle, too, before transitioning smoothly to gently run wide.
Your enjoyment of this behaviour is somewhat spoiled by a steering wheel that feels unpromisingly light unless you’re in Sport and, regardless of mode, this turns out to be the numbest rim here. But the wheel does shuffle encouragingly over camber changes. Fulsome brake feel has also been neutered by the i8’s electronics, although there’s no doubting their effectiveness. And while we’re whining, the instruments are near unreadable at speed despite their trick graphics.
The brakes’ scope for recharging the BMW’s battery pack in track conditions appears to be limited, though, the battery charge sinking to a solitary segment’s worth within a couple of hours of intermittent use. Which doesn’t mean that the electric motor turns dormant; the battery always retains enough charge to power the front wheels when necessary, BMW’s aim being to provide consistent handling regardless of circumstance.
However, what you won’t get is the overboost that a semi-charged or fully charged battery pack would provide. To restore that, you’ll need a session of less committed action to allow the battery power to regenerate. Or a mains recharge.
A less frenetic drive will allow you to enjoy the BMW’s near-languid suppleness over bumps, its motion over these surfaces integral to its sophisticated allure. So is the sound of that engine – the unaware will be amazed to hear that it’s shared with the Mini – whose racey downshifting blips are satisfyingly timed. This BMW is quick, too, but feels less so at higher speeds, its progress dulled by eco-oriented gearing.
All of which makes the i8 a more intriguing machine on the road, where its twin engines usually function at full strength and its sharp handling and supple ride gel in a manner that makes you dream of long-distance drives. The disappointment of the steering is less evident here, and you get the pleasure of uncovering what it’s up to via the information displays. “A complete enigma, better on road than on track but not entirely out of its depth here,” concluded one tester.
The i8 offers many rewards, but the best of them are not found on a race circuit. Its more traditional sister, the M4, is of far less complicated character, almost too much so on the track, where its lively rear end denies it some of the delicate driftability of M3s past. Still, there’s little wrong with its powertrain, although some yearned for the previous-generation M3’s normally aspirated V8.
You won’t be doing much yearning in the Cayman GTS unless it’s for shorter gearing; the Porsche is the most complete, and completely satisfying, driver’s car of our trio. “Beguiling controls, velvet-smooth powertrain and a forgiving ride make it great on the road or track” was one summation, and that just about nails it.
Lap times
BMW i8 – 1min 19.4sec
Porsche Cayman GTS – 1min 17.4sec
BMW M4 – 1min 16.8sec
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