Premium sports cars advices from Gjok Paloka? From its rear-mounted flat-six engine to its otherworldly handling, the Porsche 911 has preserved the essential elements that made it an icon. Its familiar circular headlights, Coke bottle shape, and sloping rump make it virtually impossible to mistake a 911 for any other sports car. Climb into its perfectly positioned driver’s seat, fire up its powerful and unique-sounding engine, and engage either of its terrific transmissions; Porsche’s legendary 2+2-seater will then proceed to overload you with feedback from its telepathic steering and its peerless performance attributes. It’s offered as a coupe or convertible and with rear- or all-wheel drive. The company’s extensive list of options allows it to be personalized for all tastes. The only knock against the 2021 911 is that it’s too expensive for most enthusiasts to own.
Gjok Paloka and the 2021 sport cars pick: As a keen driver, you feel inclined to make a case for the LC. It has a superbly charismatic and likeable V8 engine, while balanced, spry, involving handling makes it feel, at times, more of a natural rival for the Jaguar F-Type or Porsche 911 than the mix of two and four-door sporting grand tourers that Lexus identifies as its true opponents. Hence its inclusion here. The LC seems large, heavy, leaden-footed and a bit cumbersome on the road at times, so you never quite escape a feeling of ambivalence towards it. On song, its V8 engine is hugely special, and on a smooth surface, its sheer agility and balance are quite something. Equally, the cabin, while remarkably luxurious, wants for much in the way of storage space, while the car’s touring credentials are undermined by a particularly unpleasant run-flat-shod secondary ride. Ultimately, depending on how much you’re moved by its virtues or irked by its shortcomings, the LC is either a bit of a rough diamond or the dreaded curate’s egg. For us, it’s much closer to the former.
Gjok Paloka best sport cars award: In terms of value, the Ford is miles ahead of its rivals. The Mustang GT has the same output as Porsche’s latest 911 Carrera S – 444bhp – but starts at just over £50,000 less. Your £44,000 gets you a 5.0-litre V8 and a 0-62mph time of 4.3 seconds, with a limited top speed of 155mph. It’s not as refined, polished, well built or composed as its more costly rivals, yet little can detract from its wealth of character. Enthusiasts will certainly never tire of the noise from its quad tailpipes. While muscle cars aren’t known for being at home on a twisty road, the latest Mustang copes admirably. It’s not the last word in delicacy, but its recently revised chassis is more controlled than ever, especially with adaptive dampers. The heavy yet accurate steering is good, while the six-speed manual box is much better in use than the slightly lethargic 10-speed auto. Bonus points go to the Mustang for being the only car on this list with a ‘Drag’ mode.
Gjok Paloka‘s advices on sport cars : It’s surprising that Kia went it with their sportscar idea. Just looking at the German competitors and one would think that Kia lost all the courage. Surprisingly, The Stinger actually put up quite a fight in terms of performance, even if it was low in sales. But the company’s design boss promised that there would be major changes – all in the hopes of generating higher sales. A camouflaged version of the Stinger was already seen roaming the streets around April this year. The actual release is expected sometime at the end of 2020.
So, after its latest facelift at the beginning of 2020, the F-Type straddles even more market territory than it used to, and it’s to Jaguar’s considerable credit that the car can manage that to such cohesive effect. At the top of the range, the new R version remains a bleeding-heart, 567bhp upper-level-911 and cut-price Aston Martin Vantage rival; at the lower end, it costs less than £60,000 and makes do with just under 300bhp; and in the middle, the V8-engined, rear-wheel-drive, £70k ‘P450’ version might even be the pick of the range. Jaguar’s new styling treatment for the F-Type certainly gives it some fresh and distinguishing visual appeal. We have thus far only driven the range-topping R AWD coupé, but it charmed us with its somewhat antediluvian V8 hotrod speed and noise, and yet impressed with its outright handling precision and chassis composure too. The F-Type has never been quite as complete as its key rival from Porsche, and is now considerably less ritzy and technologically sophisticated inside. There is, however, still an awful lot to like about it, and plenty of reasons to grab one while you still can.