Savour the moment

Richard Meaden’s latest column ( evo 249) really struck a cord with me. My licences have also given me some fantastic experiences that I will never forget – except mine have been of the flying variety. My career as a helicopter pilot has taken me to many wonderful locations, and in the

process I’ve met numerous enthusiastic people who just love what they do.

Many people who like flying are also into cars. Flying, driving or just talking to someone who is passionate about what they do is so refreshing – the enthusiasm is infectious.

Helicopters are very special and unique machines, and as time and technology marches on it seems that cars are also becoming so more and more. We should celebrate them while we still can and enjoy every moment with them, be that a road trip or track event, or even polishing them on a Sunday morning. James Morrey

Rock and Rolls

Out of all of the numerous SUVS in the world, the Rolls-royce Cullinan [above] is the one that kind of makes the most sense.

It isn’t trying to be a sports car (Porsche Macan) or a supercar (Lamborghini Urus), it is just elevated luxury, the equivalent of the penthouse apartment, the most expensive, the one everyone looks up to.

We already have the Range Rover, but it is just too popular and almost as common as a Mini Cooper. The Bentley Bentayga is quite exclusive but it isn’t very imposing. Yet the Cullinan looks like a beast! It may not be beautiful, but it definitely has presence.

It will probably bring Rolls-Royce a lot of new customers. It won’t just be billionaire toffs using it for pheasant/peasant shoots, it will also appeal to the new, young money – pop stars and film stars. Justin Bieber has probably already ordered his – in camo, of course.

However, with a wider customer base, could it also become a victim of its own success? How long before it appears in its first hip-hop music video and at the end of numerous paparazzi camera lenses? Will it be more associated with the Windsors or the Kardashians? I hope it’s not the latter. K Li

Convertible cop-out

I find there is no more egregious an automotive copout than ‘ this car was not intended to be a convertible’. In your recent review of the i8 Roadster [above] ( evo 249), BMW said such of a car that has been screaming for an open top since its concept days.

How can they suggest that turning their mid-engined sports coupe into a convertible hadn’t crossed their minds? I could understand if we were talking about an SUV (please no more convertibles, Range Rover), but a supposed 911 competitor?

And how have Toyota/subaru gotten away with pretending they had no idea customers would want a droptop GT86/BRZ?

To be cynical, this trend seems to me to be either shortsightedness on the part of brands, or an attempt to justify compromised looks, questionable dynamics, lengthy gestation periods and undesirable weight gain relative to the convertible’s tin-top brethren.

Car brands – stop feigning ignorance and build some proper convertibles! Jeremy Siegel, Philadelphia, USA

Bring the noise!

It’s not often I feel compelled to write in response to another reader’s letter, but I have to take issue with Dave Brown and his comments on the 718 Cayman (‘Keep it down’, Inbox, evo 249).

He says that the 718’s disappointing four-cylinder soundtrack shouldn’t result in a deduction from the car’s evo star rating. He also suggests that the 5-litre TVR Griffith he owned deserved to be marked down for being too noisy!

I have also owned a 5.0 Griffith [above], and since then a sixcylinder Boxster and now an E46 M3. All have glorious-sounding, naturally aspirated engines that were/are integral to my enjoyment of those cars.

Limos can be serene but sports cars need the complete package of performance, handling and sound. The noise may not make them perform better, but it contributes to the fizz (to quote James May). It’s all part of it. Kerry Giddings, Bewdley

Long live analogue

I really enjoyed Richard Meaden’s ‘digital v analogue’ column ( evo 248). I drive an analogue car. Please note the word ‘drive’, implying some involvement in its movement.

It’s an Aston Martin V8 Vantage S with a six-speed manual ’box. In fact I’ve had three manual Astons in the past six years. The 2012MY version didn’t even have automatic lights or rain-sensitive wipers, therefore complex decisions were required, such as if it’s dark, switch on the lights, or if the screen is wet, switch on the wipers.

The feel of the hydraulically (not electrically) assisted power steering is all that’s needed to enjoy the 430bhp of pure displacement. Yes, there is an S (for sport) button, but that just makes the exhaust louder. The only button that’s really needed is the one that starts the engine. Malcolm Wilson, Sheffield

Heart of the Maser

Well, I am straight-shooting bottles of Rescue Remedy just to calm myself down after reading Richard Porter’s latest column ( evo 249). How can he possibly suggest that Maserati is a car maker that we could ‘do without’? This abject dismissal is heresy.

Yes, I do own a Maserati, a Grancabrio. (I also own a Ferrari 599, a TVR Tuscan Mk1 and a Tesla Model X.) And it is true that dynamically there are far better cars out there. But this car (and similar applies to other Maseratis) is not supposed to be purely about dynamics – it’s about the sound of the V8 and the imperious sensation of pounding down a road with the roof down in a big GT, surrounded by the style and pomp of the car.

I understand evo’s strong ethos on all- round driving dynamics over style or straightline speed. However, for most of us the modern Maseratis are fast enough to make you laugh out loud, loud enough to scare the birds out of the trees, and gorgeously emotive.

Perhaps I am out of step with evo thinking and blinded by the seductive aura of Italian cars, but I wouldn’t want it any other way. Howard da Silva