Lamborghini’s screaming V10 will soon be retired, and we’ve got the Huracan Tecnica — the last production Huracan on the cover. The Tecnica is the last in the line of an incredibly accomplished family of mid-engined supercars, whose origins can be traced all the way back to the very first Gallardo. The Tecnica sits between the Evo and the STO, with the STO’s mental, dialled-up-to-11 engine with a chassis that makes it far more useable on the road. It remains an accomplished track car as we find out at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Spain. Sharing space on the cover are two cars that push the boundaries of what we know of luxury cars — the Audi A8 L is here in its facelifted form, and the segment-creating Mercedes-Benz EQS.
Also in this issue, we have reviews of the Volkswagen Virtus with the 1-litre TSI engine, the 2022 Renault Kiger, the Bentley Bentayga S and Porsche 718 Spyder. We’ve got plenty of comparo action as well — the Honda City Hybrid takes on the Volkswagen Virtus GT, while we put the Mahindra Scorpio-N up against the Toyota Fortuner and Ford Endeavour. We’ve brought together ever Polo ever sold in the country for our Gone But Not Forgotten special, and handed over the keys to the Scorpio-N to friends of evo India to see what they think of it. We haven’t forgotten about our road-trips either, having taken the facelifted Hyundai Venue to Tamhini ghat and the KTM 390 Adventure to Spiti.
Plenty of action on two wheels this month — we’ve ridden the mad Ducati Hypermotard RVE, the TVS Ronin and the new Pulsar N160. Electric scooters like the new Ather 450X and Simple One continue to push the boundaries. We also bring you all the action from TVS’ one make championship running with the ARRC.
All this and more in the August 2022 issue of evo India! Click here to order now
Lamborghini Huracan Tecnica
Lamborghini’s final production Huracan is its best one yet — the Tecnica takes the high strung engine from the STO, but places it in a more road-friendly chassis. With styling cues from the Sian, plenty of complicated aero and rear-wheel drive, this is a car that is incredibly fun to drive on both road and track. A proper send-off to Lamborghini’s glorious V10 engine!
Mercedes-Benz EQS
We’ve driven Mercedes-Benz’s electric interpretation of the S-Class! The EQS is all set to be launched in India and we’ve gotten behind the wheel of not just the standard 580 version, but also the AMG 53 version. This is Mercedes’ first-ever electric AMG and will be the variant that debuts in India first. Interestingly, the EQS will also be assembled in India so we can expect relatively competitive prices from Merc’s electric flagship!
Mahindra Scorpio-N meets Toyota Fortuner & Ford Endeavour
We’ve brought together the new Mahindra Scorpio-N, the Toyota Fortuner and the Ford Endeavour, not for a comparison test, but to see how close the Scorpio gets to the SUV class benchmarks. Like the Scoprio-N, the Endy and the Fortuner and true-blue SUVs with body-on-frame chassis, proper 4x4 systems with transfer cases, and three rows of seats. The Endeavour can’t be bought new any more and the Fortuner’s prices are sky-high — can the Scorpio-N provide an experience that is similar or better for nearly half the price?
Volkswagen Polo: Gone But Not Forgotten
The Volkswagen Polo is a modern day icon — the little hatchback arrived at a time when India was obsessed with fuel economy and gave enthusiasts a chance to live their passion of driving a solidly engineered driver’s car. Over the years, it has had many iterations and we’ve brought them all together for one epic send-off. 3-cyl and 4-cyl variants, the GT TSI and GT TDI variants, the GTI and even the Cross Polo — this story has them all. We also got our friends over at Volkswagen Motorsport to send across the Polo race car with the 1.8 TSI engine and the Polo RX — a Frankenstein creation with its engine over the rear axle. This is a must-read for the Indian car enthusiast!
Honda City Hybrid v Volkswagen Virtus GT
Easily the two most exciting sedans under Rs 20 lakh, the Honda City Hybrid and the Volkswagen Virtus GT have plenty in common. They’re both the most expensive variants in their model line-up, they both have 1.5-litre engines (one assisted by e-motors, the other by a turbo), they both have impressive levels of performance and they are both priced similarly. How do they square off against each other? We’ve put them head-to-head to find out!
2022 Audi A8 L
Audi’s flagship is back for 2022! There’s revised styling, a new variant, but what caught our attention was the predictive suspension that has the ability to make speed breakers and big bumps simply disappear! In our review, we bring you everything you need to know about the new Audi A8 L and try to get to the bottom of how Audi leverages technology to provide some of the finest luxury on wheels!
Porsche 718 Spyder
Take Porsche’s mid-engined 718 platform, plonk in a nat-asp 4-litre flat-six engine in there, give it a manual transmission and drop the top — that’s the recipe for the Porsche 718 Spyder, and its one that is hard to better. It is, essentially, a Cayman GT4 without a roof after all. This car is all about driver involvement — it forgoes lap times for the sensations it delivers from behind the wheel and it is all the better for it!
Volkswagen Virtus 1.0
While the GT variant is targeted straight at the enthusiast, the Volkswagen Virtus with its 1-litre TSI engine will be bringing in the numbers. It may have flashy styling cues and tweaks to the interior trims, but it still has a very competent chassis with best-in-class ride and handling. Is it still something that driving enthusiasts on a budget will enjoy? Find out in our first drive review!
2022 Renault Kiger
The Kiger gets an update for 2022! The changes are minimal — there are small tweaks to the styling up front with tweaked cladding and chrome elements, sportier interiors with red stitching and red dash inserts, and some more standard equipment on the top-end variants. Is the Kiger still a great compact SUV on the more affordable end of the spectrum? We find out!
Bentley Bentayga S
This Bentayga S makes the same amount of power as the regular V8 one, but there are plenty of chassis updates. It has stiffer dampers, a more liberal ESC, active anti roll bars are the major changes, and it also gets some minor visual tweaks. Is this the luxury SUV to get if you also enjoy driving?
Hyundai Great Driving Roads: Tamhini ghat
With the monsoons in full swing, we decided to head down to an old favourite — Tamhini ghat, an incredibly beautiful road in the western ghats close to Mumbai and Pune. The monsoons absolutely transform the Indian countryside and this part of the county has some of the best views. Tamhini ghat also has flawless tarmac, snaking up one side of the mountain and down towards the coast on the other side making it a proper driving experience. We drive there in the facelifted Hyundai Venue that comes with updated styling and new features, in its turbo-petrol-DCT guise!
Day with Scorpio
The Mahindra Scorpio-N is a hugely capable car, and that is something we have established in our first drive review last month. Now, we’re putting friends of evo India behind the wheel of the Scorpio-N to see if it can fit in to their daily lives — can they commute in it? Do the shopping in it? Visit coffee shops and run errands in it? Pack their families in to it? We’ve got everyone from doctors, lawyers, restauranteurs, tech-startup founders and corporate honchos to experience the Scoprio-N and tell us what they think!
evo India meet-up: Chennai
The second ever evo India meet-up took place in Chennai — we invited fans to join us at the MMRT where we gave them the chance to experience the Porsche Macan and 718 Spyder on track, from the passenger seat. These are truly special cars, at a track brimming with motorsport history — those who made it thoroughly enjoyed themselves!
Bajaj Pulsar N 160
After launching two new ground-up Pulsars in the N250 and F250, Bajaj has plonked a smaller displacement engine in this chassis to take on the 160cc class. It may not have headline-grabbing output figures, but the chassis has proved to be competent in the past. Can it upset the segment benchmark, which is currently the TVS Apache RTR 200 4V? Find out in our review!
TVS Ronin
TVS’ first stab at a lifestyle motorcycle, the Ronin takes inspiration from many places. It has retro-styling, with a hint of scramblers and a hint of roadsters in there. There’s a new 226cc engine along with a new chassis, making this a properly all-new motorcycle and not an attempt at badge swapping with one of the RTRs. How is it to ride and can it slot in under the Royal Enfields, Jawas, Yezdis and Hondas in that space?
Ducati Hypermotard RVE
The Hypermotard is easily the most mental of all entry-level Ducatis — a 937cc engine putting out over 110bhp and delivers it aggressively, in proper supermoto fashion. The RVE sits between the base 950 and the 950 SP, and can be distinguished by the brilliant graffiti-inspired livery. We get astride it to see if it is a motorcycle we can tame!
Simple One
A new challenger in the electric scooter space is here, and it seems like it has plenty of potential. The Simple One has impressive performance, a claimed range of over 200km, and a chassis that is tuned well. It is priced fairly aggressively as well, with ex-showroom prices just over Rs 1 lakh. Can this scooter challenge the likes of Ather, TVS, Ola, Bajaj and the rest of the players in the EV market?
2022 Ather 450X
The Ather 450X gets a much needed update — a bigger battery takes real world range above the 100km mark for the first time, it gets a slight bump in power and performance, and it gets new MRF tyres. Is the 450X still the class benchmark when it comes to electric scooters?
TVS Racing diaries
After the announcement of TVS joining hands with Petronas, TVS Racing has decided to take its one-make race series to the international stage. Running as a support race in the Asia Road Racing Championship, this series has TVS’ Apache RR310’s race-prepped to a higher spec than what we’ve seen in India, along with the best riders in Asia (including TVS’ factory riders) racing for top honours!
KTM Adventure 390 to Spiti
Riding to the mountains is on the bucket list of many, and last month, we joined KTM’s Pro-XP riding programme that took owners of the Adventure 390 deep in to the Himalayas. In addition to riding, the participants were trained with proper off-road techniques to arm them for the trails they were set to tackle. It certainly wasn’t easy — harsh climate, high altitude and difficult terrain means its not for the faint hearted. But the views and the experience make it all worth it!