Aston, Lotus, McLaren… Britain’s 10 best sports cars battle it out

We’ve made you wait; we’ve built the suspense – this year for longer than usual. And now, with 2024 drawing to a close, it’s time to deliver our biggest and best group test exercise.

This is Autocar’s annual Britain’s Best Driver’s Car shootout: our 10 favourite new driver’s cars of the past 12 months, all brought together, driven for three days straight on both road and track and then scored by a panel of judges purely and simply on how much driver appeal they provide.

BBDC – still sometimes referred to as ‘Handling Day’ by our longer-serving reporters – is the highlight of the road tester’s year.

On no other occasion can we justify devoting so much of our attention, for so long, to a field of such interesting and appealing new cars. Any car good enough to rise to the top of such a field must be at least a bit special.

This year, our host for BBDC was Motorsport Vision’s singularly atmospheric Cadwell Park circuit in the heart of the Lincolnshire wolds. It was a change of venue for us but a very welcome one indeed, Lincolnshire’s mix of rising and arcing country roads combining with Cadwell’s celebrated fast, steep, sweeping bends to memorable effect.

A BBDC field typically includes 11 new cars, because the previous year’s winner customarily gets the chance to fall into the fray and attempt that singularly rare event in nearly four decades of the running of this contest: a successfully defended title.

But BBDC has always admitted only current production cars blooded and tested over the preceding 12 months, and our 2023 champion, the Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato, is now sadly out of production. Its successor – the petrol-electric Temerario – we may yet be able to include in next year’s event.

Before that, attention turns to a 2024 field with two EVs in it; two mid-engined supercars; three hot hatchbacks; two lightweight sports cars; and two big-hitting V8 engines, two turbo V6s and plenty of noisy three- and four-pots in between.

Stand by to find out which of them is Britain’s Best Driver’s Car 2024. 

Road

Wales is looking a lot flatter than last year, and the abundance of bumpy roads suggests this will turn out to be a rather different contest from before.

Except, of course, this is not Wales but Lincolnshire, because for the first time in four years, we have decamped from Anglesey and instead chosen Cadwell Park for the track element of our Britain’s Best Driver’s Car contest.

That’s not because we’ve grown tired of North Wales (how could you?) but because Anglesey Circuit has decided it doesn’t want to deal with electric cars for now, or more specifically what might happen to them in the event of a violent interface with trackside objects.

Two of this year’s most intriguing driver’s cars just happen to be electric, so we needed a new home. We’ll get to the track component in a minute; first it’s time to see how this year’s crop fares on the bumps of a British B-road.

Why not start with the reason we’re here? The big blue lump is hard to miss among the more low-slung machinery, so I make a beeline for it to see if it has lost any of its shine.

After multiple gushing early drives and a five-star road test verdict, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N has a lot to lose. With its freakishly believable simulated gears and engine noise, along with fancy differentials to keep the entertainment going in the corners, this trompe-l’œil SUV-cum-hatchback has been hailed as the saviour of fun in the electric era.

You need to sit stationary for about 10 minutes to figure out all the drive modes, but once you get going the Ioniq immediately reveals itself to be incredibly absorbing.

The gears give it credibility for the sceptics, while the way it loves to pivot around its central axis – on or off the throttle – keeps you coming back for more. It’s heavy, and bumpy roads expose a slight lack of sophistication in the damping, but, goodness, what an achievement.

The Ioniq is here not as an electric novelty but because of its layered and entertaining personality.

And no, the range wasn’t an issue. It was running on fumes (or the electric equivalent) by the end of the day, but so were some of the petrol-powered contenders. A charge while we were sleeping sorted it out, and the Hyundai was ready to go the following morning.

From one clown car to another, and the first question is: ‘How do I get in without clouting my head on a piece of scaffolding? Through the side or over the top?’ By the end of the day, judges were ranking the various methods of getting into the Ariel Nomad.

Don’t dismiss it as a climbing frame on wheels, though. Atoms have taken BBDC gold more than once, and the Nomad’s windscreen and softer off-road-capable suspension make it a more approachable road car.

In the absence of last year’s winner, the Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato, might it successfully defend the honour of the all-terrain sports car?

The Mk2 Nomad is all-new, with much thicker chassis tubes for more stiffness and a 2.3-litre Ford Focus ST engine in place of the old naturally aspirated Honda unit.

Despite the decadence of a windscreen, ABS and traction control, the Nomad is still a very full-on experience: a power-to-weight ratio on par with that of a Porsche 911 Turbo makes it as quick as anything here, and there’s little hiding from the autumnal weather.

Meanwhile, the ultra-mechanical manual gearbox demands your full attention, and even with everything set to ‘safe’ mode, it’s entirely possible to find yourself exiting tight corners with half a turn of opposite lock.

Judges were divided about the merits of the new Ford engine, the quality of the gearshift and whether the Nomad’s slight aloofness on the road is actually a good thing, but Andrew Frankel summed it up well, saying: “The more anodyne modern alleged sporting cars become, the more of a tonic the Nomad provides.”

Time for a bit of zen after that. A big, silent electric saloon should do the trick, and the Lotus Emeya is here to provide. Heated seats? Ooh yes, please! But that’s not what we’re here for, is it?

We all tried very hard to find Lotus DNA in this wedge of Gouda cheese, and in the process we found an electric saloon that has plenty of poise and polish, one that displays a satisfying deftness to its steering that makes it quietly satisfying to flow along a twisty road.

Ultimately, however, it’s not engaging – not in the manner of a Porsche Taycan, never mind of some of the more hardcore machinery here. You can feel the Porsche was heavily benchmarked, but why get the imitation if you could have the real thing – or something truly original, like the Ioniq 5 N?

It’s almost cruel to the Emeya to put it up against what some might refer to as a ‘real’ Lotus. Then again, it’s debatable whether the Analogue Automotive Supersport is truly more real as a Lotus.

It started out as an S1 Elise Sport 160 from the year 2000 but has been completely taken apart and put back together with much higher-end components than any S1 ever got from the factory: the original certainly never had that purposeful wide-tracked stance or 210bhp.

Bespoke front wishbones, different gearbox internals with a Quaife limited-slip diff (Lotus purists look away now), rose-jointed suspension and a reworked Rover K-series engine with forged internals and individual throttle bodies all add up to a pretty serious machine.

So-called ‘restomods’ have a mixed record at BBDC: some have failed miserably, while others have done quite well, but none has ever troubled the podium.

In this company, the flyweight, 699kg Elise provides a reminder of why small, light and adequately powered cars are so much fun, particularly when said power comes from a firecracker of an engine that pipes its nasal intake honk right into your ears.

The precise and rather physical controls tell you to go hard or go home, which feels entirely appropriate for a driver’s car. This could have turned out to be a pure track car, and while the suspension does lose a bit of the delicacy that marked out a standard Elise, the quality of the damping still allows it to work on the road.

At this point in the day I fancy a go in what is surely the nailed-on winner: the Porsche 911 S/T. With that sensational engine and gearbox, and a much more B-road-friendly suspension tune than a GT3, we might as well end it here, right?

But before I even turn the key, the order comes from Porsche that the S/T is not to be driven due to a crucial safety recall. Frustrating, but it means this contest has just got more interesting.

The Porsche would have provided an ideal foil for our only other ‘mainstream’ supercar, the McLaren Artura.

Yes, we had an Artura at BBDC in 2022, but a bunch of model-year upgrades have ramped up the precision of both the suspension and the steering, and further fire has been added at the top end of the V6’s rev range.

I personally find it too fast and capable to extend responsibly on the road and quite vanilla when you don’t, but my colleagues are won over, and I won’t upset the democratic applecart of BBDC. The plaudits flow.

Says Matt Saunders: “I love the suppleness, the beautiful weight and pace of the steering, the balance of directional precision and mid-corner stability.”

James Disdale extols: “Arguably McLaren’s best road car yet.” And Richard Lane: “A superb helm meets pedigree body control.”

The McLaren might be too polished, but there’s another mid-engined British supercar here that goes the other way. The Noble M500 is in effect the M600’s chassis with a new body and a Ford Ranger Raptor-based twin-turbo V6.

It divided opinion like nothing else: I thought it felt like a development hack that had no business being compared with production cars, and Frankel as only slightly less scathing.

It puts up so many barriers to enjoyment: it has a poor driving position, you can’t see the top of the dials, the open-gate manual has yawningly long throws and next to no crossgate springing, the turbo lag is epic and the header rail is ideally placed to crack your skull in an accident. There’s a litany of smaller glitches, too.

It is a shame, because we all agreed that the chassis is actually well sorted, with real class to the damping and steering feel. Some could see past the unfinished package, others could not.

The sight of a pair of hot hatchbacks in the paddock might make you think there’s still hope for the affordable driver’s car, but in this case both the Toyota GR Yaris and the Volkswagen Golf R – both thoroughly refreshed for 2024 – command well over £40,000, not that price comes into this contest.

Regardless of value, there’s real joy in a usable, right-sized driver’s car that doesn’t draw undue attention to itself.

The thing is, the Golf R really needs that everyday context for it to truly shine, but we’re not allowing it here. As a pure driver’s car, it lacks sparkle.

It goes down the road quickly and dependably, and the way it sends power to its rear axle to push it out of bends is satisfying, but no one got out of it raving about how much fun they were having. Not on the road, at least.

The Yaris plays the rally stage refugee game much better, with the added wonderment that it really is a Yaris you’ve just got out of.

This updated version remains eminently chuckable and responds transparently to all your inputs, but it now has a lower driving position and more communicative steering. It sounds a bit more natural, too.

Anyone worried it might be a little short on pep needs only to be chased by the angry supermini down a B-road to realise it has all the performance you could possibly use on the road. Yes, the gearshift is slightly ponderous, but having a manual ’box at all is a bit of a treat, too.

On the subject of manual ’boxes, or the lack thereof: the usual first reaction when anyone got into the Ford Mustang – here in GT3-that’s-gone-to-McDonald’s Dark Horse spec – was an incredulous: ‘They’ve sent us an auto?!’ It’s not that we’re wedded to the idea that a driver’s car should absolutely have three pedals, but simply because in this application 

Ford’s 10-speed auto is hopeless. Mind you, even with a six-speed it was going to struggle to break into the top half. Its trump card of a naturally aspirated V8 engine saves it from ignominy and makes it quite an enjoyable thing to punt around in a classic muscle car kind of way, but it lacks the handling sophistication to pose a threat to the front-runners.

The rather remote, artificial steering and lack of fine wheel control stop you from really pushing the ’Stang.

For a masterclass in how to keep the muscle car feeling in something that also stacks up as a sports car, look no further than the Aston Martin Vantage.

Think what you will about Aston Martin buying in its engines from AMG, but Gaydon’s finest have managed to make a thundering engine sound even mightier.

Despite its turbocharging, it sounds every bit as good as the Ford and makes the straights just as much of an event as it does the corners.

I managed to run out of daylight on the first day so had to go for a pre-breakfast dawn raid in the Aston the following morning. Sneaking out of the hotel car park (well, trying to…) with the heated seats on, it’s pretty soothing, even if the ride quality is on the tough side.

Once the roads get twisty, few things beat a front-engined, rear-wheel-drive sports car with a locking differential, and the Aston Martin is the only car in this year’s pack to sport that classic layout.

There’s enough feedback from the steering to give confidence on a damp road, and there’s a surprising amount of traction. Equally, there’s more than enough power to come out of most corners with a few degrees of yaw.

The variable traction control is clever enough to allow plenty of fun while still keeping an eye out for when you haven’t had your morning coffee yet.

It’s a fabulous road car, the Vantage, but can it see off the more focused machines on the track? To Cadwell Park.

Track

It’s not uncommon, early on during days such as this, for testers to make a beeline for what you might consider to be the more ‘stable’ vehicles, especially when it’s still damp under some of the trees and some of us haven’t seen Cadwell Park in the flesh for several years, or even at all.

I missed out on the road driving by dint of talking to MSV’s Jonathan Palmer in London for our podcast that same day.

As a result, I was up at 5am the next day so I could arrive at a misty circuit by 8am. A mid-engined sports car with no ABS or stability control, you say? Ahem. 

Just excuse me while I stroll past the Noble M500 to the Volkswagen Golf R first. Over the years even the fastest VW hot hatches, and the latest R is one of them, have erred towards being daily capable drivers, so it’s no surprise to find it was quite popular on a greasy morning in the company of the other, more extreme, cars here.

But many of us, Disdale included, found the latest VW hatch to have surprising depth: “Proper fun on the track. Very chuckable, not Yaris agile or fun, obviously, but easier to live with and far better than I thought. Traction immense, understeer well controlled, nice balance and easily steered with the throttle.” 

He wasn’t alone in finding the Golf had more adjustability than you might credit. On any other day would you consider a Toyota GR Yaris a rival for the Golf R? I would.

It’s a smaller and lighter car, and it’s more flimsy-feeling inside, of course. But it’s still a usable daily car, and often for those who have access to other more serious options in their garage.

Frankel “drove it early when the track was damp and wondered what I’d rather be in”. His conclusion: “The answer in those conditions was pretty much nothing.” It wasn’t only poorer conditions it worked in, though: our day was dry and the track got there too, after a couple of hours.

Lane thought the Yaris lacks finesse, but added: “That’s kind of the point, isn’t it? You go full throttle everywhere you can.” Which even at Cadwell is an awful lot of places.

I might stay on a hatchy theme, if I may, and visit the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N next. I drove a prototype of this and came home raving about it, albeit with a sense of trepidation that other testers would then try it and decide it was too heavy, too contrived and too complicated.

I shouldn’t have worried. Road test editor Saunders admits he’s still “about 60% of the way” to understanding all the Ioniq can do. 

But that’s plenty. On track, on a day like this when six testers each have to try 10 cars, you’ll never manage to sample it in every single mode it has.

How few of us tried it as a basically front-wheel-drive car, I wonder? “I used N mode and had a lot of fun shifting torque around so the car found the best balance mid-corner,” said Saunders.

“And it’s really very good at that, particularly around here. It’s an interesting, versatile, really fast and genuinely entertaining driver’s car. Believe the hype.” 

Even Illya Verpraet, less blown away here than he had been before, still found it can be whatever you want it to be, adding: “It’s precise and measured or a bit of a hooligan.”

We all played with the synthetic gearchanges. Lane said: “They really add something on track.” And I agree, as did Palmer who stopped by and had a quick squirt. There’s something about noise and gears that give additional clues to what is going on at the wheels.

Yes, it’s heavy, but it stands upto track abuse well: nothing overheats and the tyres didn’t give out. We had to charge it in the middle of the day, but the car had a lot more drivers than it would on a track day.

The bigger of our two Lotuses, the Emeya, is heavier again. In a way it feels slightly unfair to have it on a circuit, but still, to be here at all is a credit to how we’ve enjoyed it previously.

“It expresses itself more on track than on road,” said Lane, adding: “It has loads of grip and traction, good body control, precise steering. Trail-brake it into bends and it’s poised and consistent.

I enjoyed hammering it.” Frankel also found it a somewhat pleasant surprise. He said: “Its ability to go where you point it is genuinely impressive.”

The notes contain lots of words like ‘impressive’ and ‘effective’, then, but no mention of ‘fun’. No shame in that, though, particularly when you consider what came next.

Analogue Automotive’s take on the Lotus Elise measured very highly on everyone’s scoresheet: the second best for Frankel, the best for Lane.

“Through fast curves it’s electrifying,” said the former. “Too much grip for the available power, but Elises have never been about doing big skids.” Lane thought: “The only way you’d get closer to the track is by getting out and licking it. It’s outrageously good. Raw but clinical.”

The baulky gearshift wasn’t to everyone’s liking, Frankel’s and mine included, although other testers liked the mechanical nature of it.

And I wondered, as did Disdale, “engine aside whether it has really improved on the 118bhp S1 original”, although he acknowledged this did rather break the rules of engagement, which was to test the cars that were here, not the ones that weren’t.

But Analogue’s take does show what a bang-up job was done on the Elise in the first instance. If you add together everyone’s track-only scores the Elise is a clear second, behind only a car we will come to shortly.

First, though, to the second-worst-performing car here. Again, it’s worth noting that like being the second-most unfit person in the gym, by being there at all you’re still way ahead of most people. But the Ford Mustang Dark Horse did not reveal its under-bushel light.

“The fine dynamic detail still isn’t quite clear and compelling enough,” remarked Saunders. Disdale added: “Glassy-feeling steering and auto gearbox help mask what is an otherwise capable and expressive track companion.”

And that’s the nub. There is fun available here, with “charm” and “keen balance” (Disdale again) among its assets. Line these cars up and there would be plenty of times I’d drive the Mustang just for giggles, but it’s a traditional muscle car first and foremost.

Also failing to win everyone over was the Noble M500. To their credit, the good people of Noble took a chance on what’s still a prototype M500 to grace these pages.

The fuelling isn’t quite right and neither is the gearshift springing. “Its faults, primarily the turbo lag and lucky-dip transmission become more acute on track,” thought Frankel, who nonetheless scored it well on circuit because its strengths become apparent at the same time, namely: “Fine steering, great balance, nimble feel and excellent grip.”

Verpraet found it the hardest to warm to, but even he acknowledged its merits, saying: “The chassis feels all right, with decent balance and steering, but all the other elements mean I’m disinclined to engage with it.”

There is, it was widely felt, a great sports car under the M500, and it’s waiting to get out. Some of its foibles are easily fixable, others can’t be. But if you value interaction and dynamics, as I suspect many people do, this car deserves a shot.

The Nomad, meanwhile, was “absolutely in its element around here”, according to Frankel, who, like most of us, found it would do long, extravagant slides or short ones, as you preferred.

Ariel swapped to grippier tyres midway through the day, and while it was more capable, it became less entertaining. Either way, Disdale enjoyed it, saying: “It’s approachable, exploitable and laugh-out-loud fun.”

If the Ariel has a problem, some testers found the powertrain less engaging than the Mk1’s Honda engine, and the gearshift less satisfying.

But still, this is an off-road-capable buggy that was, overall, the joint-third-most-popular car on circuit. If there’s a theme, I wonder if it’s that there’s a craving and an appreciation for the light, the analogue and the truly engaging.

The Nomad shared its track score with the Aston Martin Vantage, a front-engined, rear-drive V8 sports car with an automatic gearbox, but which manages to be more rounded than the similarly specced Ford. Verpraet said: “It’s the only one here with classic front-engined, rear-drive GT throttle-adjustability.”

Saunders wouldn’t have minded some “clearer feedback” through the Aston’s steering, and I’m inclined to agree. It’s a road-going GT car, after all, and I suspect I’d have loved it even more if I’d spent time in it the day before.

Even Lane found that fast cornering takes a bit of acclimatising, adding: “But ultimately, boy, can you lean on this Aston. It feels as quick as the McLaren.”

As you’ll see from the lap times, though, not much was. The McLaren is so fast, it feels like driving a two-stroke gearbox kart around a stag-do-friendly indoor kart track.

It was also the favourite of our testers’ cars on circuit by a margin even over the Elise. “The usual McLaren highlights,” found Disdale.

“Delicious steering, nicely judged brakes and superb body control, but without that switch-like power delivery. A limited-slip diff helps boost confidence, too.”

The Artura built confidence like some earlier McLarens haven’t. “Brilliant on track,” thought Verpraet. Words like ‘ease’ and ‘confidence’ come readily to it. It steers wonderfully and rides bumps or kerbs with composure, and with electric torque-fill and a diff, it’s quick and responds precisely to inputs.

“In a different league for driver appeal from almost everything else here,” said Saunders. We’ll see. 

The Final three

Acknowledging that one of the cars in question has a German heart, while another is the product of a Bahrain-owned company, we have an all-British top three at this year’s Handling Day.

Despite the stream of Caterhams, Lotuses, McLarens, Nobles, Morgans, Ariels and the odd Vauxhall that have graced this contest over the past 36 years, this has never happened before. Makes you proud, eh?

It’s a punchy home showing, and this really is a heady trio: a wild-eyed bruiser of a V8 GT sandwiched between a pair of mid-engined machines whose DNA differs markedly.

Not wanting to give ammunition to those who like to claim that Autocar has an overtly British bias (how many 911s have won BBDC over the years?), but even the nearly-but-not-quite super-sub hails from these shores.

At the interim stage of voting, the Aston Martin sneaks into the final three at the expense of the Ariel Nomad, but at the count it is an extremely close call between the two.

What if Ariel had been able to stick with fizzing Honda power for its any-terrain supercar rather than moving to a very effective but more slog-erific and less charming Ford motor?

We might have had an Ariel in the final reckoning for the umpteenth time in recent years. But no, on this occasion it’s an Aston Martin.

And now the judges’ scores are reset, as Cadwell Park and its surrounding roads brace for an atmospherically aspirated K-series scream, a woolly-whooshy V6 turbocharged blare and the eardrum-pummelling crossplane shockwaves that are projected from the backside of the Vantage.

Trying to predict a winner now, from the Elise-based Analogue Supersport, the McLaren Artura and the Aston Martin, would be a fool’s errand. They are so unrelated to one another, delivering joy and satisfaction in their own near-equally compelling but specific ways, on road and racetrack.

However, there is meaningful intel to be gleaned from the fact that the Elise is never in the pits for more than a few minutes. It is constantly in demand, being driven at or close to 7250rpm, flowing around Cadwell as though it was designed specifically for this wonderful circuit.

“It’ll just blow your mind if you really chase it along,” says Saunders, sweaty-browed and with helmet in hand. “It could clearly handle more power, but even as it is, you know that carrying speed is all about lots of revs, lots of turn-in speed and plenty of bravery.”

He’s not wrong. The car just sticks so beautifully and remains quite tame on the limit, rotating on a trailing throttle and, with its Quaife differential, hooking up sensationally well on the gas.

A truly quick lap does indeed require some bravery but, equally, the hardcore Elise effortlessly lays the ground for that sort of dagger-between-your-teeth commitment. 

It is so faithful and so responsive that you naturally find yourself braking later and later until, maybe, you simply don’t brake at all. With its Toyo tyres on the boil, this 699kg roadster is utterly mesmerising.

It’s fair to say that the little Lotus – the only real Lotus in the vicinity, some of us might be inclined to say – is a car in which you can easily lose yourself.

And is that not what a driver’s car should be all about? It gives the driver that heavenly one-to-one sense of connection with the machine, and no matter how hard you go, it will follow along with you in lockstep.

If we had the time, I could string 40 laps together just for the sheer joy of it, and I’m certainly not alone with that sentiment.

The Elise is a device you can enjoy on the road, too, with the caveats of occasional tramlining and a slight sketchiness in the damp. But that really is it. The manner with which Analogue Automotive has made this car feel so able and uncompromising on track but laugh-out-loud rewarding on the road is special indeed.

As Frankel summarises: “Here is the exception to the general rule that the more powerful an Elise, the less rewarding it ultimately is.” A restomod has never won BBDC, but might that change this year? There’s much to suggest it could happen.

In comparison with the Elise, the Artura’s mechanical complexity is almost bewildering – and yet the experience is still remarkably pure: these cars are not so different, after all. How, though, can something like the 691bhp, hybridised, electronics-laden McLaren possibly compete with the tiny Lotus in terms of driving satisfaction?

Well, the truth is that it can’t, not really – and yet it somehow does. It takes the same ingredients of unimpeachable balance, supreme precision, honest communication and incredible forward visibility and packages them up in a car that dials down the rawness but cranks up the versatility, the unflappability and, good grief, the level of performance.

There is perhaps no other car you can drive all day, in any weather, on any occasion, that on the road splices through bends with such glorious ease and which transitions from this way to that with such intuitive, addictive accuracy. These two cars are kindred, in a way.

What everyone agrees is that McLaren’s recent fettling of its entry-level supercar has yielded results. The steering, just a little languid before, is now closer to that of the old 570S, rippling with feel and laser-like in its accuracy. There’s also more bite on turn-in.

The old Artura was hardly flabby in the way it changed course, but the new one is a notch more direct and enjoyable. The body is simultaneously flat but also pitches, squats and rolls just enough to open up an additional line of communication between driver and chassis.

And to top it all off, the electronic portion of the powertrain still gives the throttle pedal a sublime responsiveness.

Saunders, again: “I just love the suppleness over bumps, the beautiful weight and pace of the steering, the balance, the precision, the mid-corner stability. I reckon I’d get more out of this car as a daily than almost any other mid-engined model, because I’d just use it more often. Those who say it doesn’t excite enough underrate how beautifully judged its character is.”

There is soul here, too, thinks Disdale: “For once, it’s a Woking offering that doesn’t feel like it’s all about the clinically targeted KPIs.” All agree that even the Lambo paint job suits it well.

The Aston laughs hard in the face of the Artura’s supposed soulfulness. It is an immensely easy car to love, both superficially and in dynamic terms, and it is outrageously characterful.

It has been a while since an Aston competed at the sharp end of BBDC but the Vantage deserves to be here. As we’ve discovered, on track its body control is no match for the mid-engined cars, but they can’t do what the Aston does: gear up, turn in and ride out the other side with half a turn of completely effortless opposite lock.

Twenty years ago we’d have referred to the Vantage as being extremely ‘well sorted’. What we’d mean is that, despite its vast power, quick steering and monumental contact patch, it has a cohesiveness the old Vantage lacks.

It means you can thunder full throttle down the straights almost as quickly as the McLaren, then take genuine liberties in the bends, thanks in part to the car’s nailed-down front axle and a balance that makes the tail easier to catch and hold than it has any right to be. As Verpraet rightly says: “It’s the only truly natural oversteerer here.”

It would be easy to write off the Aston in the face of the brilliance and, let’s be honest, greater finesse of the mid-engine duo.

Yet such is the ability of the Vantage to entertain us so easily on greasy Lincolnshire roads that it finds itself in with more than a mere sniff of outright victory.

One moment it’s soothing you in its lavish seats, the next it’s making you feel the hero, as you steer nearly 700bhp of beefcake GT fully with your right foot. Could it really win?

I’m reminded of last year’s victor, the Lamborghini Sterrato. In normal conditions it had no business beating a 911 GT3 RS, but its softness, its spirit and its ability to goad the driver into having fun anywhere, at any time, was superb. Is the mad Aston about to repeat the trick? 

And the winner is…

And so, at the end of three fast days, after all the debates had been had, the fuel and electrons thoroughly depleted, the deliberation biscuits devoured and the judges’ scores recorded, our champion was crowned. Britain’s Best Driver’s Car for 2024 is the McLaren Artura.

It wasn’t quite a unanimous victory, but it wasn’t far off: five out of six judges gave this remarkable petrol-electric supercar their highest score of the field, and only from one did it record a mark lower than 20 (out of 25) for its performance on either the road or the track.

The adjectives used to describe it ranged from ‘sublime’ to ‘incredible’ and ‘a revelation’.

On track, few failed to salute how cleverly it uses electric torque to countermand that old enemy of McLaren power delivery: turbo lag.

On the road, no one overlooked its superbly communicative steering; its superbly and fluently controlled ride; how eerily easy it was to drive fast; or how usable and enjoyable it felt simply mooching along at a day-to-day pace.

One or two would have liked more drama from its steady-hand character, but nobody failed to place 100% trust in the Artura, even at the sort of circuit pace that allowed it to occupy a different league entirely from its competition for sheer performance capability.

For the Artura, then, it’s second time lucky at BBDC, after its very creditable fourth-place finish at Anglesey in 2022 – except, in this instance, luck didn’t come into it.

The McLaren’s eminence was, for almost everyone, simply not in question, and in the end some remarked that a 12-point margin of victory on the scorecard – as democratic as it undoubtedly was – might even have slightly undersold its superiority.

Congratulations to second-time BBDC winner McLaren, then; but also to a very impressive second-place finisher in the sensationally rapid Analogue Supersport, our highest-rated restomod yet.

The big-improving Aston Vantage rounds out our podium, while the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N becomes our first BBDC EV to finish in the top half of the order.

These may look like small steps for electric driver’s cars, but they’re crucial ones. And it’s worth remembering that when the Porsche Taycan first turned up to BBDC in 2020, it finished a place lower. 

The results