► CAR’s pics of the year
► Includes our exclusive twin tests…
► …new car deep dives and more
Another year goes by, another great 12 issues of CAR magazine. We’ve dug through the last 12 months of CAR’s issues to serve up what we think are the best photographs from 2017.
We’ve featured everything from our epic adventure drives to our detailed group tests and exclusive in-depth looks at the freshest new cars out there. Keep scrolling for our best pics from the last year…
January – ‘8 Reasons to Believe in the new Discovery’
When the new Discovery was revealed, it looked so very different to its predecessors. Could it still be the stalwart, off-road workhorse the previous generations were? This was our first taste behind the wheel, and boy was it good in the rough.
By Wilson Hennessey
February – ‘Exige Mentality’
Lotus’ new Exige Sport 380 promised huge driving thrills when Hethel’s sports car brand pulled the covers off it. But then, Lotus has made one or two sports car icons in its time, including the cheeky superlight Elan. Only Ben Barry could get one this sideways…
By Mark Riccioni
March – ‘Charm School’
Infiniti wants to become a proper premium player, eh? Well it’ll need a proper premium sports coupe, then. Back in March we pitted the new Q60 coupe against the Audi S5 and Mercedes-AMG C43 in the stunning countryside.
By Mark Riccioni
April – ‘Dinner in the Deep Freeze’
We travelled to Sweden for our first drive of the Volvo V90 Cross Country, but thought we’d take the long way around…
By Benedict Redgrove
April – ‘Alpine Star’
Our big drive in the new Alfa Romeo Stelvio included navigating through the Alps. If the new SUV was comfy, pretty, spacious and sporty out in these sweeping mountain passes it would be bang on for your school run.
By James Lipman
May – ‘Five goes mad in Morocco’
The beautiful yet barren landscape of Morocco has everything from sweeping deserts to huge mountain ridges. Meanwhile, 85% of 5-series buyers will go for the 520d then make literally thousands of boring motorway journeys in one. We thought we’d do something… not boring in one.
By Richard Pardon
June – ‘One giant leap’
As part of our McLaren Special in the June 2017 issue, we had our first drive in the new 720S spaceship. McLaren aimed high with its new Super Series car, and you know what? Aiming high paid off…
By Richard Pardon
July – ‘We three kings’
The next 70 years of Ferrari will be filled with engines that are turbocharged, hybrid assisted and then… no more. All the more reason to celebrate some of Maranello’s finest non-turbo’d creations. It helped that we had a whole track compound and a gorgeous sunset to ourselves, too.
By Greg Pajo
August – ‘911, is that you?’
Porsche revealed its most extreme 911 yet: the latest 911 GT2 RS – far from the cute, modest and pure sports car it still can be. We went for a wild ride in the 690bhp, £207k widowmaker.
By John Wycherley
August – ‘Type R goes to war’
Honda’s new Civic Type R had a huge weight on its shoulders, and an enormous amount of rivals to take on. We thrashed it around Lincolnshire and Blyton Park against the Seat Leon Cupra 300, BMW M140i and our Focus RS fave.
By Alex Tapley
September – ‘6 tests to make or break Range Rover’s Velar’
We went to stunning Norway for a big Scandi adventure in Range Rover’s new Velar. Our big tests included a lot of sweeping mountain turns, rocks that could break lesser vehicles and plenty of shopping. Could the new Velar survive?
By Richard Pardon
October – ‘Va Va Voom’
We celebrated 40 years of Renault’s F1 team, looking at the greatest drivers, greatest cars and the history behind it. Our gorgeous studio shoot was filled with the team’s primary colours.
By Wilson Hennessey
November – ‘Touching the Void’
Our 2017 Sports Car Giant Test had 11 brilliant cars, but we had to whittle them down to three. After a gruelling day’s testing at Rockingham with all 11 cars, our final three – the McLaren 720S, Mercedes-AMG GT R and Porsche 911 GT3 – battled it out in the windy mountains of Wales.
By Tom Salt
December – ‘The future according to Porsche’
The Porsche 911 GT2 RS might be the most extreme 911 yet, but Porsche’s technological prowess now spans beyond fast 911s. The Mission E is coming, so we thought we’d put the two together.
By Steffen Jahn