Hello girls
Returned from Mira with the Evo team only a short while ago. Very tired, bit agitated and generally feeling glad to be home.

After being rushed to get to Leicester for 11am, my car wasn't needed till about 2pm, so a wasted rush about in the morning (left at 8.00am).

There were some very nice cars there, those that took part in the test included:

Holden GTS
The noise this car makes is simply stunning, I want one! Possibly the most fantasticaly vocal V8 I have ever heard.

Lotus Elise
New shape elise which drove, suprisingly enough, exactly like the VX220. Looked very nice though in dark blue. Very sexy.

Caterham Superlight R500
Goddamn. I have never been in a faster car in my life. This thing defies belief. By second gear, I had tears streaming down my face (literally! ), by 4th gear I had trouble keeping my helmet down, by 6th gear, my harness straps were flapping away. hit 140 MPH in this thing, best experience of the day (0-60 3.6 secs anyone? 0-100 in 8.5secs!)
Nothing could keep up with it. And the sound!

BMW X5
Suprising how such a tall vehicle with such a long wheelspan can have such agility and outright grip. Fantastic comfort with onboard TV and leather. Extremely regal. Great for driving whilst on holiday, but wouldnt want to spend all my life with one.

Maserati 3200GT
Mad car with sh1tloads of power that was just tearing out the tarmac. I thought it an ugly car though, with great interior.

Lupo GTi
Very cute

Renault Clio Sport
Renault Clio V6 (won't arrive till Friday :mad
Porsche 996 Turbo (won't arrive till Friday :mad
Ford Puma
and some others that I cant remember.

Basically, they were very hospitable, but not <I>friendly</I>. My car got put through its paces, comparitively (most time was spent doing the photo sessions, very tedious :rolleyes but at no time did they seem enthusiastic about their job, it all seemed so very...monotonous. Almost a myth smashed for me to be honest.

I suppose we shall see with the next issue if it will be worth it (got a free set of toyo's out of it, which is nice )

Cem
P.s. Scooped the following cars at MIRA:
New Scooby WRC car, looks wierd in the flesh, sounds pretty identical to the last car.
Croix Evo VI TME Group A Rally car (sounded awesome)
Another white Subaru WRC car
New Jaguar small saloon (ugly as hell!)
New Mini (veeeery cool)
New Aston Martin Vanquish (sounded fantastic)


[This message has been edited by Blow Dog (edited 19 January 2001).]

 

That's a shame. I guess for those guys it *was* routine. BUT you got to go in some fab cars and see stuff us non muppet meisters have'nt seen yet.

Cheer up. The chances of me being in evo are about zero.

 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Very tired, bit agitated and generally feeling glad to be home.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Sounds like me after negociating the Motorway every night



[This message has been edited by The_Gza (edited 19 January 2001).]

 

Cem

I can understand their lack of enthusiasm, after dealing with so many cars day in day out it probably would desensitise them.

Once upon a time I would have killed for a job like thiers. Now the dreaming of a job like that is better than doing a job like that if it eventually kills the enjoyment in cars.

My spark of excitment is still there when I see nice cars but it is getting less. All those bills,heavy traffic and cameras has a cumulative effect over time.....

F

 

It was a bit like the Autocar track day - all the staffers turned up and promised that they would passenger with us mortals, give us advice, etc.

I thought that it would be fun to share some time with fellow petrol heads.

Alas, no, Colin Goodwin did do some passenger rides in the new Scoob, but didn't go out of his way. None of them showed the least bit interest in our cars.

To top it off, Andrew 'Rotary Engine' Frankel just about ran two cars off the track and Steve Cropley writes an article about how great it is to spend the day with such esteemed company (what he meant was all the 'guests' that he invited - not us paying subscribers).

Never again.

 

Blowdog, sorry to hear that. Probably better to not know the truth and just go by what you read in the magazine I suppose.
Did you actually get to drive any of the other cars, or did you just get the occasional passenger ride?
Going for a Superlight R500 as your next car then?

 

Yep, Neil has said it all really. Shame it wasn't more like you expected. You did get to drive some nice cars though, so it can't be all bad...

Cheers

Chris

 

A suprising report!

Evo my favourite car magazine ever, and the staff were un-interested in the cars? Dosen't tie up with their style of writing and their "evoness" that they are so fond of quoting in every article.

Most dissapointed.

 

Blowdog

quote
Caterham Superlight R500
Goddamn. I have never been in a faster car in my life. This thing defies belief.
unquote

....you should drive the Tyrrell F1 car I drove at Mallory Park last year.....0-30 about 3 ish secs, around 165mph into the braking area at the end of the pit straight......

 

Hello Cem,

Shame about the 'myth being smashed'. I was with the Evo photographer Andy Morgan, a few months back. My car was being used in this months Impreza 2nd hand buyers guide. Andy was the most hospitable, enthusiastic and professional chap. Exactly as I had imagined. A great day was had and the insight into the way the mag was put together was great. He had some geat stories to tell about the other members of the team.
I wonder if you just caught them on an 'off' day. Oh well, at least you got to ride in some fantastic machinery. Oh to have a go in an R500!
Happy motoring all, Paul

[This message has been edited by PaulMc (edited 19 January 2001).]

 

Cem,

Mate, hope your weekend is better. After our chat, I can see why it was a bit of lame day.

All the best, Alex