THE RECKONING

The votes are in, so let the countdown to 2022’s evo Car of the Year begin

8th MERCEDES-AMG SL55 4MATIC+

We went on a hunch with the new SL55, based on AMG’s track record and the fact this is the first SL to be designed and developed wholly by Mercedes’ go-faster division. We were hoping for the dynamism and engagement that marked out the old AMG GT, with perhaps just a little more polish. But the SL isn’t that car.

“It can’t seem to decide if it’s an SL cruiser or the fired-up supercar replacement for the AMG GT,” said Gallagher, “and as a result it fails at being either. Its damping impresses, so too the four-wheel-drive system, but you feel distant from everything that’s going on and it lacks the punch and spark of a pure-bred AMG and the sophisticated confidence SLs have always delivered.”

David Vivian praised the way its chassis actively contained body roll and always seemed a step ahead of sudden compressions “which it rides with almost spooky equanimity”, while its all-drive grip and fairly neutral balance allowed the SL55 to comfortably keep up on most roads, albeit feeling oddly numb and remote.

Somewhere in the new SL there’s a good car – but it has to decide what it wants to be. “When I finally fathomed the dynamic modes, it came to life a bit more, but it still felt cumbersome and somewhat flat-footed,” said Meaden. “Too much emphasis on brute force, with dynamics honed to try and contain the performance and mass.” When the scores were in, all of the judges put it a resounding last and, as a result, it’s the first to fall.

7TH BMW M4 CSL

Great things were expected of the M4 CSL, particularly after the brilliance of the M2 CS and M5 CS on the two previous eCotys, and most of us could recall memorable drives when it all came together, but as Gallagher said, those moments were too fleeting to make it a contender.

Its engine is an absolute force of nature. Indeed, with so much torque that it would readily break traction in fourth gear over bumps, it never felt less than a handful. Which was fine if you were in the mood, but too often it was wild and wayward across roads the McLaren, Ferrari and GR86 took in their stride.

Sutcliffe wondered how BMW could have got it so wrong, given that it had presumably been produced by the same people who gave us last year’s quite amazingly well-judged M5 CS.

“Things improve if you stroke it along on its vast torque,” said Bovingdon, “and the way it resists understeer is really impressive. The brakes, too. But should a CSL be a car you have to manage in this way? A car you actively don’t drive hard in just to make it flow?”

Meaden agreed. “Like the 4RS, the CSL’s fitness for the specific purpose of attacking smooth roads and/or racetracks is beyond question, but on too many roads it’s too full-on to be anywhere near its sweet spot.” More fundamentally, whilst it actually felt surprisingly light, its physical size was a handicap. All agreed that an M2 would have been a much better fit for such an extreme treatment.

6th AUDI R8 V10 PERFORMANCE RWD

It’s a measure of how fast cars have become that a 562bhp V10engined supercar no longer feels especially rapid. And the Audi arguably lacked the raw sex appeal of the Ferrari, Maserati and McLaren. “It’s a bit of an accountant in a room full of rock stars,” was how Meaden put it. But the clumsily named V10 Performance RWD put in a strong and consistent showing, scoring solidly with all the judges.

“Small changes, incremental adjustments and subtle improvements have combined to give the R8 a personality boost and keep it relevant,” said Gallagher. “The least exotic of the exotics and yet an object lesson in how to pull supercar performance and real-world practicality into a hermetically tight and coherent whole,” was how Vivian summarised it.

Sutcliffe thought it was feeling its age. “To be brutal it feels like a car that’s right at the end of its life cycle, and although I’m not a 100 per cent fan of the hybrids, they do feel a lot sharper/faster/ more capable than the dear old R8.”

But Bovingdon said he adored the engine and the supremely smooth, precise gearbox, loved the understated feel to everything it did, and the sense of poise and polish. “It’s a quality item. With fixed-rate dampers it can feel a bit stiff and disjointed at lower speeds, but that very quickly resolves itself and, considering it’s got a big V10 swinging around behind you, the body control and the confidence the R8 inspires is fantastic.” It’s also something of a bargain.

5th PORSCHE 718 CAYMAN GT4 RS

Had there been a track element to this year’s eCoty, and had the road element been run on smooth German tarmac, the 4RS may well have finished higher. “On the right roads it’s a 99 per cent car,” said Meaden. “Thrilling, brilliantly responsive, laserguided and completely nuts. I loved its calm steering, and the pure, clean throttle response.”

However, on the wrong roads – that’s to say 75 per cent of the great driving roads you’re likely to encounter in the UK – it proved flawed at best, and sometimes truly miserable. The noise levels are a major issue if you wanted to drive a long distance – say from the UK to Spa or the Nürburgring – but the stiffness of the damping impacts the experience whenever you drive. Vivian, still scarred by his five-hour motorway drive, said: “I did find a road smooth and twisty enough on which to exercise its best game: the extraordinary 5000 to 9000rpm rush and fury, blink-fast gearshifts and a chassis of sublime acuity and tenacity. But for most of the time its narrow focus and intensity are too much, severely limiting the amount of enjoyment it can give. A track toy, nothing more.”

Meaden said he’d still love to have one in his garage “more than any of the other cars here, but it’d have to be a second or probably third car, and I’d only use it when everything was in its favour.” As Gallagher observed: “We’ve had some extreme road cars on eCoty in recent years, but this is up with the very wildest.”

3rd= FERRARI 296 GTB

Now it gets serious. When the scores were totted up, there wasn’t even the road tester’s legendary fag paper between the Artura and 296 GTB. The judges were perfectly split too: three of us narrowly preferred the Ferrari to the McLaren; three scored the Macca ahead by a whisker.

The three who had the 296 in front were myself, Meaden and Bovingdon. “What a spectacular car,” enthused Jethro. “Beautiful to look at, outrageously fast, amazingly exploitable and so technically clever. Its V6 shows McLaren how to downsize but turn up the drama, and it matches the Artura in terms of sheer control but feels a bit more playful and indulgent.”

“The first genuinely beautiful Ferrari since the F355,” was Dickie’s verdict, and one that many of us echoed. “The hybrid system works very well,” he went on, “and doesn’t change the driving experience as much as I’d feared. Probably because we’ve already got used to the torquey characteristics of the turbocharged V8 in the 488 and F8. The 296 is stonkingly quick, but doesn’t rely solely on speed thanks to the character of the V6, which has a soundtrack that’s always sweet and changes with throttle opening.”

The Ferrari’s hybridisation was widely praised for its seamless integration, although on the final night we were left stranded after the battery ran flat with no apparent means of bringing the car back to life. To be fair, Ferrari had warned us of the possibility and detailed the various measures we should take to ensure it didn’t happen. But it’s not inconceivable that an owner could find themselves similarly stuck, and as Gallagher said, “that the company who introduced individual rear-wheel steering to its cars can’t engineer a simple fail-safe to prevent this happening is a huge oversight”. Fortunately for the 296, that happened after we’d scored all the cars.

Ferrari’s signature super-quick steering divided opinion, the brake feel didn’t match the very best of the group, and the tech interface was widely criticised for being overly complex, but otherwise the 296 was irresistibly seductive.

“I thought I wouldn’t like the Fezza all that much – too complex, rather gratuitous points of difference,” said Vivian, “but I ended up somewhat bewitched: the spooky way it changes direction; its amazing damping and looney-tunes levels of grip; the linearity of seemingly never-ending power…”

It’s a real return to form for Ferrari, after the SF90 left us cold last year. As Sutcliffe said: “The 296 is way more successful because its technical sophistication, and the integration of its hybrid technology in particular, feels much more natural, and far less intrusive.”

And Gallagher agreed: “Ferrari has taken so much from the SF90, learnt from that car and distilled it into a series production model that’s one of its very best.”

3RD= MCLAREN ARTURA

Neither hybrid put in a flawless performance. While the Ferrari, partly through our own inattention, became stranded on the final evening, the McLaren inexplicably lost its headlights on the run back to the farmhouse on the second night. The next morning they were fine again and there was no repeat, but it was a reminder of the Artura’s somewhat troubled birth. On the launch in Spain, Steve Sutcliffe experienced issues with the aircon, the satnav and the hybrid system. Here, in arguably more exacting conditions (mixed weather, decidedly mixed roads), the McLaren was much, much better.

“I reckon I could drive the Artura faster, with more confidence, than any of the other cars here, assuming a variety of weather and conditions were part of the mix,” said Sutters. “The way it rides is extraordinary, the steering is lovely across all surfaces, the brakes much more natural in feel beside the Ferrari’s, the cabin incredibly intuitive, the driving position nigh-on perfect, the all-round visibility excellent for a midengined car. And if you can get past the fact that the engine is no more than an effective power unit, the way it goes is also deeply, madly impressive.”

The biturbo V6’s rather monotone note – and the low-rev droning resonance – were the Artura’s only serious dynamic shortcomings. Its chassis was widely regarded as the best of the group. “By comparison the Ferrari’s ultra-responsive steering feels artificial and the Maserati’s body control less certain,” said Bovingdon. “And yet… I can’t quite fall in love with it. The steering has gained some weight and lost just a little bit of sparkle, the car feels agile but doesn’t have the incredible sense of delicacy of, say, the 720S. For me, the Artura turns the dial down a little bit too much in the name of usability and forgets that a supercar needs to thrill and excite all the time.”

Others saw it differently. “Dynamically I much prefer this car to the Ferrari,” said Meaden. “It gave me so much more confidence and suited my style. The steering has a bit of unwelcome weight and stodge, but I really like its measured response and feeling of connection. Where I often felt the need to make a small dab of the brakes before turning-in to fast curves in the Ferrari I had the confidence to just gently blend out of the throttle in the Artura.”

Gallagher went even further. “Even at walking speed it feels special, and with every increment of speed those sensations grow as the car shrinks around you to a point when you feel it’s simply you, a steering wheel and a seat.”

And absolutely everyone was agreed that if you could put the powertrain of the Ferrari in the McLaren’s chassis, you’d have the best hybrid going… and a likely winner.

IF YOU COULD PUT THE POWERTRAIN OF THE FERRARI IN THE McLAREN’S CHASSIS, YOU’D HAVE THE BEST HYBRID GOING

2nd TOYOTA GR86

The GR86 not only gatecrashed the supercar party, it upset the guests and did donuts on the lawn outside. As David Vivian said: “The powertrain marries newfound thrust with the sweetest of short-throw gearshifts. The beautifully balanced and damped chassis is both playful and planted. The steering is as good as any in the group. Firm, tireless brakes, too. But it’s the way they all work in well-oiled unison that’s so special and, indeed, unique in this year’s eCoty.”

None of us would disagree with a single word of that, which is why the GR86 scored consistently highly. In fact no fewer than three of the judges – Bovingdon, Meaden and Gallagher – placed it first on their personal scoresheets.

But, but… how can we possibly score a `30 lakh Toyota higher than a Ferrari 296 or a McLaren Artura? And that’s a perfectly valid question. The first thing to say is that each judge uses subtly different criteria because we all look for slightly different things. But fundamentally there are two parts to what we’re judging each car on here. The first is how completely it nails its brief. The second is simply how much we enjoy being behind the wheel. The thrill of driving. Any car that absolutely hits the sweet spot on both counts is going to find itself vying for top honours, even if it’s an affordable coupe with around a quarter of the horsepower of the Ferrari. And, come to think of it, discovering you can derive this much pleasure and satisfaction for a fraction of the cost is a pretty big thrill in itself.

Sutcliffe was very clear on why he rated it. “Simple to understand, easy to enjoy – easy to get very carried away in actually! – well conceived, well executed, refreshingly unhindered by switchable drive modes and beautifully damped. Just a great driver’s car really. And that doesn’t mean ‘a great driver’s car for the money’ it means a great driver’s car, full stop.”

Gallagher was singing from very much the same hymn-sheet. “Every drive was a thrill, an experience to savour and enjoy. At no point, no matter what road we took, did you feel you had drawn the short straw if you found yourself in the GR86.” Well, quite. “It’s a car that made me smile every time I was behind its wheel,” he continued, “but more tellingly the biggest smile it produced was when I followed Dickie home one evening – him in the GR, me in the 4RS. I didn’t begrudge him having more fun than me, because I had the best seat in the house watching this remarkable car perform its very special magic.”

Interestingly, the real hardcore members of the test team said

SIMPLE TO UNDERSTAND, EASY TO ENJOY, WELL CONCEIVED, WELL EXECUTED. JUST A GREAT DRIVER’S CAR

they would have the GR86 over its sibling, the GR Yaris. “The Yaris makes the visual statement you’d like this to make,” said Dickie, “but it’s a bit one-dimensional, and you have to drive it like your hair’s on fire, whereas the more you drive this, the more you realise it’s a really, really good car.”

Bovingdon agreed: “It’s everything the GT86 should have been but wasn’t. The engine is much torquier but also sounds much sweeter and revs with freedom, the gearbox is more precise and the steering is so well matched to the car’s inherent agility. With proper tyres the GR86 feels grippier, yes, but also so much more progressive and authentic. It’s not trying to be some low-speed, oversteer hero – which the GT86 never managed anyway – but a responsive, balanced and really efficient driver’s car.”

Several of us reckoned it the perfect beginner’s frontengined rear-drive car, for its playfulness combined with utter faithfulness. It was also described as the car everyone would like the MX-5 to be but isn’t quite. Gallagher even got all profound and described it as “the tonic in today’s world of excess, the reset point we all need, to get back to where we want to be heading”.

Viv, too, had been stirred by the little Toyota: “I find the GR86’s showing here incredibly uplifting because it proves that honest, simple, transparent and properly resolved lines of communication can be thoroughly exploited on any road, smooth or scarred. And that they trump any amount of power and barely approachable levels of grip when it comes to fun, intimate involvement and lasting satisfaction.”

The last genuinely affordable car any of us could remember making quite such an impact was the Clio 182 Trophy, now widely regarded as a performance icon. Different layouts, obviously, but similarly special. After spending all those years banging on about wanting an affordable, front-engined reardrive car, we’ve finally got it. And Toyota and Gazoo Racing really have nailed the brief.

The irony isn’t lost on us that the only affordable car in eCoty has officially sold out. The front crash structure doesn’t pass the next round of impact tests, which is why we won’t be seeing any more. Its flat-four will fall foul of the next round of emission regulations too.

But surely there’s time to rattle off a few thousand more before the deadline falls. I’m sure several hundred would be snapped up here in the UK in a heartbeat. Charge another grand or so to make the interior a bit classier; do some new colours; call it GR86 Evo. But don’t change anything fundamental. Because it’s absolutely brilliant just as it is.