Nine of the finest cars of 2023, from brilliant Honda Civic Type R to positively awe-inspiring Porsche 911 GT3 RS. But which will beevoCar of the Year? Nothing less than a whole week of testing on the UK’s most challenging roads will decide the outcome. Place your bets now!
by STUART GALLAGHER PHOTOGRAPHY by ASTON PARROTT & ANDY MORGAN
THE CONVERSATION STARTED BEFORE we’d even finished clearing away the empties as evo Car of the Year 2022 came to a close. What would the likely contenders for 2023 be? Would BMW make amends for the M4 CSL’s poor showing? What was the GT3 RS going to be like if the GT4 RS could barely keep its Cup 2s on the road? How many hybrids would leave us stranded on a moor when their power source drained to empty? Would there be any affordable cars? And would Mercedes-AMG ever speak to us again?
We always leave eCoty on a high, craving more, and immediately begin planning the following year’s test. And not only because it’s a great excuse to delay writing the collective 20,000-odd words.
The first contenders started to make a case for a space almost instantly when we drove Maserati’s new GranTurismo Trofeo and Porsche’s 911 Carrera T within a few weeks of 2022’s test going to the printers. A pair of Audi Sport specials popped up on the launch calendar soon after, followed by briefings from PRs as to what was coming when. The year was shaping up to be another vintage one.
Plans were made, budgets stretched, Eurotunnels and hotels booked, and eCoty was heading back on the road again to the south of France. And then the automotive industry’s nemesis struck.
‘We’re waiting for a software update and the car won’t be ready in time. Sorry,’ said one manufacturer. Another called to say the car wasn’t built, before another messaged to say their contender had been thrown at the scenery and returned to the press garage in a bin bag. All this ten days before we were due to leave for Gap.
South of France in late September or the Scottish Borders in early November? You’d be hard-pushed to tell the difference and 2022’s location would provide the perfect benchmark for 2023’s contenders. The small delay allowed two of our three drop-outs to be ready in time, and for us to extend an invitation to another manufacturer that couldn’t make our original date.
As our nine contenders reached the north of England on the eve of day one, the line-up needed no excuses. Two Porsches from the opposite ends of the 911 spectrum, looking to secure the first 911 victory for
