evo 089 - March 2006

[crayzayjay]

Here's the line-up for this month's issue:

http://img53.imageshack.us/img53/3159/evo0010em.jpg

Cover Story
Corvette Z06 Group test - Corvette Z06 vs. Lotus Exige Cup vs. Noble M400 vs. Porsche GT3RS

Features
New Jaguar XK - driven by John Barker
New 911 Turbo - drive in the new 911 Turbo as it completed winter testing
Mansell - inteviewed by Chris Harris
Focus ST vs Golf GTI - full evo road (& track) test
Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder - driven by Jethro Bovingdon

Driven
'06 Lamborghini Murcielago
Volvo C70
Aston Martin DB9 Sportmodificato
Audi TT 1.8T
Jaguar XKR 450 Typhoon
VW Golf GTI Morego 250
Peugeot 20Cup
Audi Q7
Seat Altea FR

Regulars
Planet EVO - official pics of Ferrari 599GT, retro fever at the Detroit Auto Show

Letters

Buying Guide
Renault Clio 172

Long-term tests

Birth of an icon
Vauxhall Lotus Carlton

[yg60m]

Just saw it on their website :D And CAR magazine line-up seems even greater !!
:arrow: http://www.car-magazine.co.uk/

[inso]

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/picture_library/dir_47/car_portal_pic_23703.jpg
at the evo site.

This month the 200mph Corvette Z06 takes on the Exige Cup, Noble M400 and Porsche 911 GT3 RS, plus John Barker tests the new lightweight Jaguar XK and we compare the Focus ST against the benchmark Golf GTI. On sale now!

014 Planet Evo
Official pictures of Ferrari's 599 GTB - the Enzo-engined, 611bhp coupe that's set to be the fastest front-drive supercar ever and will cost just £160K. (The words 'SLR' and 'redundant' spring to mind.) Meanwhile retro fever breaks out at the Detroit Auto Show with remakes of the Chevy Camaro, Dodge Challenger and Lamborghini Miura on display

Driven
40 '06 Lamborghini Murcielago, Volvo C70, Aston DB9 Sportmodificato, Audi TT 1.8T, Jaguar XKR 450 Typhoon, VW Golf GTI Morego, 250 Peugeot 20Cup, Audi Q7, SEAT Altea FR

055 Letters
You enjoyed eCoty 2005, even though we missed out a couple of obvious candidates. Richard Porter is praised, Gordon Murray chided, and one reader suggests that if we allow SUVs to be banned, performance cars will be next...

062 New Jaguar XK
Make no mistake: compared with the old XK8, the new XK is as different to drive as it is to look at. Available as coupe or convertible, it remains a fine, comfortably appointed, well-built GT, but chuck it down a fabulous road and it reveals the heart and ability of a sports car. John Barker reports

070 New 911 Turbo
We talked to the right people, pulled a few strings, called in a some favours and exhausted our fund of clichés in order to secure a drive in the new, even-more-potent 911 Turbo as it completed its winter testing. We also bid a fond Auf Wiedersehen to the last of the current-generation Turbos

078 Corvette Z06 Group Test
Measured by any standards the Z06 is an extraordinary sports car; exotically constructed like the C6-R Le Mans racer, powered by a 7-litre 505bhp V8 and available for just £60K. We pit America's finest against the best bunch of uncompromising sports cars we know: the light and lithe Lotus Exige 240 Cup, the exceptionally talented Noble M400 (our reigning Road and Track Car of the Year) and the compellingly focused Porsche 911 GT3 RS. Richard Meaden fires up the Corvette's humungous V8 and rolls into battle

094 Mansell
Ferrari called him 'Il Leone'. Now, after a long sabbatical, Nigel Mansell has finally roared back in a single-seater. Chris Harris talks to 'Our Nige' about leaving F1 all those years ago and his (winning) return in the intriguing and exciting GP Masters race series

100 Focus ST v Golf GTI
Is the Focus ST any good? To find out we put it through the full evo road test, visiting the Bedford Autodrome, Millbrook Proving Ground and some typically tricky British B-roads. And its every move is shadowed by our reigning champion fast hatch, the unflappable Golf GTI. Will the VW leave with a bloody nose? Henry Catchpole finds out

108 Gallardo Spyder
Realising that hardly anyone in downtown Miami would bother to look at a brand new Gallardo Spyder in baby blue, Jethro Bovingdon finds a deserted section of Miami's disused Grand Prix circuit and chucks the Lambo sideways until the tyres scream louder than its V10 at full revs. All in the interests of seeing if the drop-top is a match for the coupe, you understand...

118 Buying Guide: Clio 172
With a new hot Clio around the corner, we take a look at the Renaultsport 172, the model that led to the incredible Trophy. Five years on, it's still a great drive and, at as little as £5K, great value

126 Long-term Tests
Tony Bailey takes delivery of an Aston Martin V8 Vantage, lucky blighter. All is not as it ought to be, though... Mind, Harry's 550 has had a hiccup, too. We also bid a warm welcome to a BMW 130i M Sport and say farewell to our Lexus IS300 CrossSport

178 Birth of an Icon
Colin Goodwin recounts the early days of the car that the doom-mongers promised would leave a trail of carnage in its wake: Vauxhall's 170mph-plus twin-turbo Lotus Carlton

[gangajas]

Is it the Corvette as good as the European sportscars?

[crayzayjay]

Buy the mag and find out. Or wait for the scans ;)

[1zippo1]

Damn, car should be good too indeed. But I still prefer EVO.

Maybe I should buy both and scan car for jw, but my budget doesn't allow it. Anyway, we'll see.

thx for the heads-up!

[gangajas]

Buy the mag and find out. Or wait for the scans ;)

Ok :)

I´ll have to wait because it is impossible to find evo mag here in Pamplona. At least Car issue will arrive in a month

[inso]

i have them both coming, but i dont have a scanner, or a decent place to host them.

[Fleischmann]

Aston Martin DB9 Sportmodificato ?? What is that ?? Is that just an optional package offered by Am or is it tuning performed by some different company ??

[No.1]

Aston Martin DB9 Sportmodificato ?? What is that ?? Is that just an optional package offered by Am or is it tuning performed by some different company ??

Methinks it is part of Aston's custom in-house design - don't quote me though, as i don't ahve my copy of the mag to hand :wink:

[crayzayjay]

The Sportmodificato feature is about a DB9 that has "been subjected to an extensive and painstaking programme of personalisation that has resulted in almost every aspect of the interior and exterior being altered in some way. Works Service thrives on such commissions and was quick to involve Aston's specialist suppliers in the quest for this customer's 'perfect' specification."


Basically, a bespoke DB9.