I have just finished reading this year’s Autocar Britain’s Best Driver’s Car (BBDC) event and, as is typical of the publication, it was a thoroughly enjoyable read. The efforts of the magazine’s seasoned road test team to bring the action to you via the medium of the written word were stellar, and the photography was excellent, too.
The test threw up a number of surprises, which I’ll get to. But first, some thoughts on some of the cars taking part. There were 10 newcomers for 2022 fighting it out with last year’s winner, the Porsche 911 GT3. Throughout the history of BBDC, it has become customary to invite the current holder of the title back to defend its crown.
Before I even began reading, it was clear that the BMW M240i xDrive would be one of the also-rans. Now, that is not to say the BMW is in any way a bad car; indeed, its appearance in the shootout was proof positive of its abilities. Just making the cut is in itself an achievement. But, as the writers declared, the M240i’s position as an all-round, everyday performance coupe, as well as its relatively mundane hardware, meant it struggled to compete with the most focused and thrilling cars on test. A fine car in isolation, and a fitting warm-up for the forthcoming M2, but sadly relegated to joint-last place.
I had rather higher hopes for the all-new and technically bewitching Maserati MC20, which also looks a million dollars. It acquitted itself well overall, but its seventh-place finish spoke of the model’s flaws relative to the competition. The Maserati’s on-limit behaviour was judged as being rather spiky, something not helped by steering that was too light and lacking in feedback. On the road, things were rather better, but even this didn’t stop the six-figure Italian from being beaten by Toyota’s GR86 which, at around £30k, was easily the cheapest car on test.
Remember the old GT86? Of course you do. It prioritised handling over speed, utilising skinny tyres to unlock the rear end in the finest Japanese drift-car tradition. The GR86, however, appears to have grown up. On the road, the judges found the Toyota delivered more speed, more grip and more focus at the expense of accessible adjustability, although you could, apparently, skid for days within the confines of a private track.
When the GT86 arrived ten years ago now (wow!) some quarters of the motoring press couldn’t get along with those aforementioned tyres, complaining of a sudden, frisky lurch into oversteer rather than progressive on- and over-the-limit behaviour. Now, in trying to ‘tie it down’ better, Toyota have, to a degree, apparently dulled it. Rather ironic, don’t you think?
But I want to talk about the winner, because that was rather a surprise. The Porsche 911 (992) GT3 took the title for the second consecutive year, fending off its in-house challenger, the Cayman GT4 RS. I was convinced the Cayman would be the outright winner, what with it getting stellar first drive reports earlier in the year. But it was not to be, and big brother GT3 seduced the test team once again. Ultimately, the GT4 RS’s hardcore focus was its undoing, the 911 feeling more compliant on the road, more exuberant in its handling and having better steering feel. Has the Cayman GT4 RS been overhyped? In the company of 10 stellar driver’s cars, it managed third place, behind the Ferrari 296 GTB. I wonder if it’ll do better at Evo Car of the Year 2022? Suddenly, I'm not so sure...
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