If you want something that will save you from yourself, if you want something watertight, if you want something that works, get the 997 Turbo. Even if it is the most approachable TVR, it is still a TVR, so safety nets like airbags, traction control and ABS are off the table. No, really – long-travel throttle meant power oversteer was something you had to ask for before it was delivered, and power steering made the Tamora – to borrow Andy Enright’s wonderful summation – “marginally less uncontrollable”. But if you fix the foibles on the Tamora’s bespoke Speed Six engine, you’ll find one of the most approachable and useable TVRs ever made. The Tamora is, in grand TVR tradition, as reliable as astrology and as well-constructed as an argument in favour of it. Really, the 911 Turbo is like DiCaprio – the most obvious choice, yes, but with unfailing, unimpeachable talent to back it up, too.īut who needs such boring concepts like dependability and daily-driving suitability when you can get a fibreglass car from Blackpool that’ll constantly keep you on your toes? In case you were wondering, it’s quicker around the Top Gear test track than the Noble M12, too. Oh, and a vicious turn of speed, ready to keep even the best in the business honest. It’s a doddle to drive like a regular car, because it’s the size of a regular car and has the visibility of.
Spacious sports cars series#
After all, even with the Turbo-spec wide track and flared wheel arches, it was still no wider than an E90 3 Series and no longer than a Prius. To be entirely frank, the 997 was the last time a 911 was the right size – every 911 afterwards, as wonderful as they might be, lost that irreplaceable and overlooked stroke of genius that made the 911 a genuine daily-drivable supercar: its diminutive dimensions. But we reckon it’s a step up from the car that replaced it, too. OK, so it’s a step up from the car it replaced. There’s more than 40kg less to lug around, too, thanks to aluminium panels in place of steel. There’s variable-geometry turbochargers for 60bhp more at the top end and about 100 per cent more always-on shove than the old 996. Now, to get the one you really want – the 997 Turbo – for less than 40 grand will involve some haggling, but the step up from the 996 era goes beyond fried-egg headlights and bargain-basement interiors. When you consider that his Stigness did that back in the early 2000s, on early 2000s tyres and with less than 400bhp, it’s still a properly quick time two decades later.Īnd we come crashing back to reality with the most renowned, most recommended and most obvious choice that 40 grand can get you – a 911 Turbo. It is what you might call a track-ready sports car, and what we would tend to call a bit of a berserker, capable of a 1m 25s around the Top Gear test track. That said, the M12 isn’t what you’d call a relaxing grand tourer. There’s an absurdly comfy ride and a rather leggy V6 turbo powerplant, as well as air conditioning and good headroom, even for those who get accused of ‘looming’ over people. The M12 is a bit of an interesting one, even without its left-field provenance and lightweight construction.
And so it goes with the Noble M12, a car that barely tops a metric tonne, boasts between 310 and 450bhp – depending on spec, price and strength of your self-preservation instinct – and comes from a company that’s as far away from supercar royalty as your average Top Gear writer is from actual royalty. Normal service is about to resume.īeing Top Gear, you’d rightly expect that if we came across something lightweight, powerful and off the beaten path, we’d be falling over ourselves to recommend it. More than once have we discarded a piece of beautiful Italian engineering – both four and two-wheeled – because it had its own ideas about when and how it should work.Īnd if you’re entirely unconcerned with such humdrum ideas as reliability – and quite concerned that Top Gear appears to be – don’t fret. It’ll also be more reliable than most everything else that’s coming up on this list – barring the inevitable 911, of course – and that’s not something to be sneezed at.
Spacious sports cars manual#
It’ll also have Audi’s perennial 4.2-litre V8 in a mid-engined layout, rear-biased all-wheel-drive and – if you play your cards right – a six-speed manual gearbox to play with. That said, it will be decidedly more waterproof than the Nomad, and surely much safer than our rollercoaster idea. Then again, anything short of setting off fireworks on a rollercoaster is going to seem dull by comparison.
If you’re going to give up a car that’s as super as the Nomad, you might as well do it for a supercar, no? Of course, it’s not going to be as interesting as the Nomad.
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