We leave the country lanes
and join larger A-roads where the cat's eyes help light the
way, but the most welcome sight of all is the yellow glow
of an open Shell petrol station.
The Evo needs Super Plus
fuel more urgently than any of the others, but then it always
does. At the end of our 600 mile trip, all four cars will
turn in fairly disastrous fuel figures, which admittedly
include the Bruntingthorpe session. But if you drive these
cars hard, then I'm afraid this is what you get: 13.5mpg
for the M5, 12.5mpg for the Evo, 13.3mpg for the Skyline
and 13.6mpg for the GT3. So in maximum attack mode, the
M5 has a striking distance of 208 miles, the GT3 191, the
Skyline 190, while the Evo will have run itself dry after
just 137 miles.
We take the motorway north for a while, where at least
there is no need to worry about finding a fuel station.
The BMW leads, conveyed by the motoring freak show of the
Skyline,
GT3 and Evo VI, all bathed in yellow motorway light. The
irony is that the faster your car looks like it can go,
the slower it is wise to travel. Imagine if some young PC
hauled this this lot over; they'd do a full spread on him
in the Police Gazette.
Although
you have to watch the BMW's speedo like a hawk, for it creeps
effortlessly up beyond 100mph, the M5 is the easiest to
relax in. Its seats are superbly comfortable, it has the
most up-market interior, the best ride and there's even
a TV to watch if you get stuck in a jam. At the other end,
the 911 is the least comfortable. Although it looks and
feels expensive inside and is beautifully detailed, it's
noisy, has the harshest ride and after a while the bucket
seats start to give you a numb bum. The Mitsubishi isn't
bad, but has the cheapest-looking interior and isn't as
relaxing as the Skyline.
Although the Nissan's ride is firm, it isn't uncomfortable,
it feels up-market inside and leather comes as standard.
But even the driver of the
M5 is glad when our hotel finally hoves into view in the
wee small hours. The next morning we hit the moorland roads
above Buxton. The M5 goes first. With the BMW there are
two possible modes of attack. Leave the Dynamic Stability
Control traction control system switched on and it will
virtually do everything for you. Fling it at bends at ridiculous
speeds and round it goes, with a little help from the electronic
nanny. But turn the system off and you find a brilliantly-balanced
car.
We'd
already learnt just how good that balance is at Bruntingthorpe;
it is the easiest to hold in a sideways slide. The steering,
although not the meatiest, is incredibly communicative.
Although the gearchange does not have the shortest throw,
it is precise and direct. Compared with the others, the
brake pedal feels slightly soft, but the system itself is
immensely strong.
The M5 held its own at the track and it's only at the
ultra-challenging roads that it starts to fell in any way
weak. But this only becomes apparent because of its present
company. The Skyline
and the Evo were built purely to hack along roads like these.
The M5 also neede the ability to carry four businessmen
and their overnight luggage in complete comfort, engineered-in.
So if it feels a little less sharp, a little more unsettled
by road bumps and a little more flustered by weight transfer
under heavy braking, that is no disgrace at all.
Unleash the Evo VI over the same roads and it attacks,
darts and dives like a Jack
Russell after a rat. The Evo is the Cossie and the'holy
grale' of the '90s - with super rally-car performance at
a semi-sensible price. Over the tightest section of the
route with the shortest straights between corners, it is
devastating. With that close-ratio five-speed gearbox, it
squirts itself out of bends with instant bursts of acceleration.
But it isn't a perfect gearbox, for it has the lightest
shift here and is plagued by a vague notchiness. And the
brakes, although powerful, lack the instant bite of either
the Porsche's or the Nissan's.
With that huge rally spoiler,
rear visibility is pretty hopeless, but even so there's
enough space to glimpse the head lights of whatever car
is following. And if they are the angry slants of the Skyline,
the Evo VI driver will know instantly that the game is up.
There might not be much in
it, but when it's really pushed, the Mitsubishi must give
way. Compared with the Skyline it just doesn't have quite
such a sharp turn-in or such complete mastery of the bumps.
But it does come close.
On the road or track, the Evo is enormous fun and extremely
safe, for it really has to be deliberately unsettled before
it will go sideways. Not so the GT3; on the
track at least, the Porsche has more potential to bite than
the others - lift-off at the wrong time or apply full throttle
too early and, unless you're quick, it will spin.
The GT3 is a precision tool
that shouldn't be messed about with. In Club Sport trim
it truly is very close to a race car and it feels it on
the track. It just doesn't roll and is so stiffly set-up
that it can actually lift an inside front wheel. But drive
it smoothly, use the right lines and none of the others
here will stay with it round a race track.
The trouble is, the GT3 also
feels like race car when it leaves the track. Over the moorland
roads, it feels twitchy, nervous and
edgy. The steering, although full of feel, is very light;
over a bumpy road the wheel moves around constantly in your
hands as the big tyres follow every camber. Its hard suspension
is perfect on smooth roads but not fully dialled-in for
B-road hackery.
To be honest, part of the problem with the 911 is psychological.
On a twisty, bumpy road it generates respect and fear, whereas
the Skyline generates respect
and extreme confidence. Apart from a bit of initial turbo-lag,
it feels absolutely perfect from the start, as it begins
the route the others have just covered.
The Skyline's
newly-developed Getrag six-speed gearbox is slicker even
than the 911's six-speeder and proves the best one here.
Over the first, fast stretch of bumpy tarmac, the Skyline
feels the most glued to the road. It's the one that you
dare hold the throttle down on the longest, with the leats
fear of being bounced off the road. When the time comes
to brake, the pedal feels just as solid as the Porsche's.
Push the Skyline's pedal hard and, unlike the other three,
the anti-lock doesn't start chattering immediately. Instead,
the tyres momentarily lock solid before the ABS cuts in.
It's enough, in the dry at least, to give the Skyline a
shorter braking distance than even the mighty 911.
Off
the brakes and into the corner, the Skyline
turns in with full precision and feel. You soon learn that
even if the corner tightens downhill, and even if there's
a tractor coming the other way, the Skyline will get you
round without having to lift off. Nothing else here inspires
such confidence. It's awesome and feels ever more awesome
as the speeds increase. It totally stamps its authority
on the road; this is as close as it gets to experiencing
what it must be like to drive a top rally car on tarmac.
Yet safe and sure-footed though the Skyline is, that variable
four-wheel drive system still lets you have your share of
fun - on the track, it's easier to put sideways than the
Mitsubishi. Overall its vast ability is matched only by
its sheer accessibility.
If the day ever comes when authorities
ban all private cars from the road and you've got one night
left - one final blast from dusk to dawn - it would be hard
to choose between these four. But if the GT3 could still
be kept for track days, the Skyline
is the one. And afterwards, you could download the data
from the dashtop computer and show it to your grandchildren.
© BBC
Top Gear
