We never really feel the need to justify posting anything to do with the Audi R8 here at ESM, and we just can’t escape the mesmerising attraction of the latest advert. Whilst previous R8 adverts have concentrated on the epic power and glorious sounds of the R8’s V10 engine, the latest video is apparently all about control. Perhaps Audi are…
SMMT Test Day 2016 – Part Two
We’re continuing our twelve car odyssey through this year’s SMMT Test Day. Part one can be found here if you need to refresh yourself. Things get a little weird and a little crazy in part two. If our first selection of cars at SMMT were varied, although generally performance themed, the second sextet proved to be incredibly diverse. From…
SMMT Test Day 2016 – Part One
Returning to the SMMT Test Day after the extravagant ‘twelve cars in one day‘ affair of last year, ESM promised to try to be more selective over driving choices this year. The result was certainly a varied motoring experience, to say the least. It’s the potentially the biggest day of the year for anyone who writes about cars,…
Opinion – Season 23 ‘New’ Top Gear and Extra Gear
So, after months of speculation and hype, the latest version of Top Gear finally arrived. The reaction across social media and wider has been almost universally poor. ESM’s editor explores why it missed the mark. I’ll admit that I’d grown tired of the previous incarnation of Top Gear. The format had become stale, Clarkson had disappeared even…
News – Individual Paint Colours for BMW i8
Here at ESM we quite like the BMW i8, but the colour choices have been a little bit uninspiring for a car that’s meant to shout ‘FUTURE’ in huge capital letters. BMW now seems to have remedied that situation with some new options.Yes, as of right now you can order your hybrid supercar in a variety of…
2016 Mercedes-Benz Media Driving Day
It takes a lot to persuade ESM’s editor to jump out of bed at 5am. But the combination of Silverstone and nineteen new Mercedes models seemed to do the trick. We’ve certainly been on something of a three-pointed star theme here at ESM the past few weeks, but things went into overdrive by attending this year’s Media…
2016 Mercedes-AMG A45 4MATIC | Review
According to William H. Land, the most important thing about power is making sure you don’t have to use it. But when there is so much of it on offer, can you really resist? We spent a week with the Mercedes-AMG A45 to test our resolve. Question. What’s bright red, has 376hp and does 0-62mph…
BTCC 2016 – Thruxton | Reviewed and Rated
Without doubt, the latest rounds of the British Touring Car Championship from Thruxton proved to be the most entertaining and intriguing of the season so far; crashes, punctures, arguments, withdrawals, shortened race distances, a red flag, it had it all. ESM’s BTCC Correspondent reviews the aftermath. Saturday’s qualifying session brought the second outright pole in…
Friday Video – Mercedes-AMG GT S through the Alps
If you follow us on social media, you’ll know we recently spent some time with a rather raucous Mercedes-AMG hatchback. Our comprehensive review of the A 45 is coming very soon but, for now, we just wanted to share this rather cool video of another AMG product. We’ll admit there’s also an element of excitement about the possibility of…
New – Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport S takes Nürburgring record
Did you honestly think everyone had forgotten about hot-hatch Nürburgring lap times, after Honda’s Civic Type-R effort last year? No, of course not. So what better way for VW to celebrate 40 years of the Golf GTI than by setting a new Nordschleife record of 7:49.21. We’ve already seen the regular GTI Clubsport, and it’s actually on sale…
Opinion – Seven fast estates we want to see built
The number of performance estates seems to have expanded massively in recent years but, here at ESM, that’s not enough for us. No, we’re greedy, and we want to see even more quick wagons on the market. To help we’ve come up with a septet that we think should happen. These aren’t just ‘pie in the sky’ ideas – we’ve…
BTCC 2016 – Donington Park Reviewed and Rated
The second meeting of the season saw the BTCC return to Donington Park. The three races produced some exciting racing, but at the end of the day, the championship had a familiar look to it. ESM’s BTCC Correspondent passes judgement. Race One (1st Jackson, 2nd Cook, 3rd Ingram) Ashley Sutton secured pole in only his…
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