BBC Top Gear Magazine August 2025

@jack_rix @rixjack jack.rix@bbctopgearmagazine.com Have we reached peak power output for a road car? Is the arms race finally over? Has Rimac just put an emphatic full stop on stratospheric horsepower figures with its violently fast Nevera R? OK, so the 2,300bhp Koenigsegg Gemera will land later this year, but beyond that a truce? Personally, I hope so, because it’s been a long time since more bhp translated directly to more driving fun. In 1926, the Bugatti Type 41 moved the game on with a heady 296bhp. Fast forward 66 years and the McLaren F1 mustered 618bhp – a 109 per cent increase – but it’s only taken half as long again for the Nevera R to hit 2,078bhp, a 236 per cent hike over the F1. You could put this…

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If craftsmanship takes time, welcome to the place where time stands still. In many ways, Eagle is a time capsule. It celebrates trades and skills that we assume are dying out. And highlights precisely why they deserve to survive. Here you will find masters of every art of car building, from panel beaters and metal workers to painters and mechanics. In many ways, Ali Leeves has the most responsible job of the lot. Up in the upholstery room, hers is the last job to be done. She works on cars that have already been lavished with thousands of hours of work, where one tool slip could gouge the lustrous paint. And when her work is done, it’s her leatherwork, fabrics and stitching that owners will be constantly exposed to as…

EXCELLENT NEWS FROM THE WORLD OF hot little cars: after a hiatus of five years Peugeot’s famous GTI badge has returned for the electric era, now attached to the e-208 and fettled by the folks who make the 9X8 hypercar. The e-208 GTI gets a string of visual touches to do its great grandpa – the 205 GTI – proud. These include a new front lip, more pronounced rear wing, and an aggressive diffuser with an integrated LED fog light inspired, clearly, by the armada of MkVII Golf R boy racers. Other bits include blackened wheel arches and red brake calipers, plus a liberal stuffing of ‘this is the hot one’ badges. That metallic red paint is also standard. The GTI is 30mm lower to the ground, with a 56mm…

SAM BURNETT TG’S SUB-EDITOR THINKS IT’S ABOUT TIME TO RECALIBRATE OUR EXPECTATIONS This e-208 GTI is a bit of fun, isn't it? I'm not a schmaltzy sort of person, I don't realty understand the obsession with navet gazing nostalgia - if you want a Peugeot 205 GTI, get a 205 GTI. They're still cheaper than this e-208 will be. But you won't like it, it doesn't have CarPlay or heated seats. I like that this new car has nods to the past but looks forward. It should be fun to drive - certainly more so than almost all other EVs - and it’s fairly understated too. Looks like it'll be a perfect everyday companion for the modern driver. Especially one who can't remember the 1980s. “It'll be fun to drive…

THE GOOD Actually don’t mind it Martin Konkel In two years all these people complaining will be singing its praises just like they do the G8X Angel Garay I LIKE IT, NOT SURE WHAT THE HATE IS FOR, BMW BUILDS SOME GREAT DRIVERS’ CARS Graham Paul Glick This is the only current BMW I like the look of. Boxy and nice angles and a grille that isn’t offensive Lisa Stewart LOVE THE TRUNK SPOILER. LOOKS RETRO Rod Mora THE BAD Bummer to find out the manual didn’t roll over to this new CS Art Jimenez Please sack your stylist BMW Phil Stillwell, IF THERE WERE CARS IN MINECRAFT… Roger Coleman 87k for a 2-Series… the world has truly gone mad Ellis Baker That price is ridiculous. Do they think this…