EVO Magazine Top 10

not at all surprising. but of course, that top 5 could easily change depending on the individual and his/her needs from the car. unlikely the GT3 RS could be used the same way..apples to apples...day in day out as the 458. but of course, the GT3 has a 'real' manual. best overall car of the bunch? 458

me, i'm quite partial to that V-10 in the Lexus and the quality/luxury in weaves in the mix. actually like the styling too. give anything to just test drive one. quite unusual car.

 

Lexus is going around offering test drives to interested (meaning capable of paying) parties. If you want I can put you in touch with the representative. They have problems selling the car.

I agree, though: it's a very good car despite the truly ancient transmission. The only small problem is the price.

Either way, pm me if you are interested.

 

Off the topic,but why doesn't Ford put out their good cars in the US ? May help sales!

 

The Brits in particular buy ALOT of hot hatches, it's a relatively cheap way of going very fast and they're practical after all they are based on an every day counter part. They are also suited to our roads because they are rather narrow and twisty. I do not think this would appeal to most Americans as most people tend to go for V8's which are rather more straight forward shall we say. You can buy a Mustang or something similar with a V8 for relatively cheap also in the US. I think if you put the two cars, Ford Focus RS and a Mustang with a V8 there would be no contest to which people would choose. Like wise here only it would be the other way around.

No doubt Focus RS is an Epic car though and boy do I want one .

I thought all LFA's were sold?

 

There was a track/test drive day in Chicago last summer, right before the Lexus LFA professional test driver was killed.

There were about 75 guys, and Lexus was giving test drives with their professional test driver. Not one guy said he would pay $400k for the LFA.

Unfortunately, the consensus was that at least in person it is a very slab-like shape that looks like it was created on a computer. Not any real passion in the design, at least that was the general opinion. I guess it didn't help that there was a beautiful Grigio-Silverstone Scud parked next too it

The comment I heard most frequently was that the LFA was maybe a $125K to $150 K car, which I think translates in to not a lot of sales for Lexus LFA

But hey, if you like it, you like it, too bad they didn't have you at the test drive

 

Not too surprised however I would have thought the fact the 458 is more usuable everyday then the RS would have counted in its favour, more emphasis should have been placed on this in my opinion.

Lets also realize that these tests are subjective at best and for me the 458 is a clear winner on every front.

 

2. 458 astonishing car, from the cockpit to the drivetrain and the handling. Less involving than the GT3 RS.

You could also read this to say, the GT3 RS is harder to drive fast. Meaning it requires much more driver effort to make the GT3 RS deliver the goods

Or put another way, you better be an experienced race car driver if you plan to take the GT3 RS to the edge

Or you could say it takes more work to make the tired old 911 design look like it is going fast

Very nice stickers though, definitely the best of the bunch

 

I had a 2010 GT3RS prior to my 458 and I will say from personal experience that it is at least as good a daily driver as the 458. It has a slightly higher cabin noise at low revs but nothing dramatically different. From my standpoint I was more comfortable going to the grocery store and home depot in the RS than I am in the 458 simply because an F-car is an automatic attention magnet.

From an objective standpoint of usability they are comparable. From an excitement perspective I feel the 458 wins and feels more special. The RS has the benefit of simplicity and some reviewers prefer that. I have not tracked the 458 yet so hard to comment on the handling aspects beyond just tactile feel.

In any case these two cars are without a doubt the cream of the crop and it is a matter of personal preference which one tops out on a ranking ..

 

I just drove a GT3 RS on Friday. In short...far and away the most amazing car I have ever driven. Simply incredible. Then again, I've not driven any F-car beyond a 355 so...

The whole Evo ranking really is the proverbial apples to oranges; i.e. some will like the Porsche, some will like the 458. All this being said, aside from the track, I just don't understand WHERE one can adequately drive either car?? They are both SO powerful and have SO much performance that I think I would be frustrated a great deal of the time; it woud be roughly akin to being truly starving and having someone place a 5-star meal in front of you only to tell you that you can only sample the appetizer. I mean, I'm frustated a good deal of the time just driving my 308/328! LOL!

 

+ you could almost have 2 GT3RS for the price of a 458, LoL

 

People are saying that EVO have had a massive falling out with Ferrari based on them using a non-press car GTO.
Based on that and the fact that Porsche pay them loads for advertising it wouldnt have mattered how good the 458 was - it was never going to win.

I know someone who was talking to Chris Harris just after those tests and he was raving about how good the 458 was - clearly that got changed just before the print run

 

Definitely. And it was the President who flew the planes into the twin towers, too.

 

it seems like they always say the 458 is more complete then throw the "drivers car" the 911's way and say that one thing makes it better compared to all the things they say the 458 does well. Sounds a bit contradictory...and repetitive.

 

Chris Harris did a nice two part section on both cars......I think PartI was the 458 and PartII was the GT3RS. My take-away from that was he did not favor one over the other, both had their own strenghts, and at the end of the day you'd be crazy not to want either one. (Both are on Youtube)

 

Chris Harris likes them both and said so in his earlier comparison video. But he also said the said he'd choose the Porsche if he could drive either for just one hour. With better steering and a manual box, the Porsche's win didn't surprise me. I still love my 458 all the same.

 

yes... he wrote he would chose the Porsche for one hour... and the 458 for a full year.
I agree with him: that's why I bought a 458!

 

Weird, I'd heard this as well from another source, too, and if you read the article itself closely, you'll notice Ferrari declined to provide EVO a "press GTO" for the ECoty test--instead, apparently threatening EVO by saying if they brought in a customer GTO to be part of the test, Ferrari would "pull" the "press 458" from EVO.

It obviously seems Ferrari didn't want both cars to be part of this test--but my guess is there's much more to this than anyone really knows....and EVO's use of a customer GTO in the previous GT2 RS/GTO Ring article appears to have turned out badly with bad blood running between the parties...

 

I think some of this stuff dates back to 2007 eCoty, when RS mk1 beat the scuderia. I heard that Ferrari was really pissed off and promised not to ever again give them cars for testing. I actually agree that the win back in 2007 was ridiculous as the previous version of RS was effectively a regular GT3 with a body kit. The new car is very different from the base GT3 so i can understand EVO plumping for the Porsche.

 

After watching the vid of Chris Harris testing the GTO in Italy, I'd say Ferrari was concerned that the polite but faint praise Harris bestowed on it might have been downgraded to disappointment at eCOTY. In any case, having 2 Ferraris at eCOTY would mean one of them must be a loser...

 

You need to watch the videos again--all four of them...I'd suggest you missed his perpective more than entirely.

If you need the address on youtube, I'm sure we can help out...

 

Agreed. Especially when the regular GT3 lost to the 599 the year before.

 

I'm sure the GTO is a great, great car. I'm just surmising why Ferrari wouldn't provide one for eCOTY. Perhaps it was nothing more than sour grapes over the GTO being beaten by the GT2RS in the 'Ring comparison. By deduction, Ferrari might have feared a likely fourth place for the GTO in eCOTY - not a good look for the flagship.

 

This is nothing new.

 

Have you driven one? The RS is not a hard car to drive.