TopGear magazine: July issue

The July issue of TopGear magazine hits the shops today, and it is full of several Very Excellent Things.
 
We’ve put together the year’s ultimate hot hatch mega test, featuring 11 of the greatest fast hatches on sale today, including the Focus RS500 and the Subaru Impreza Cosworth.
 
There’s an amazing 68-page book thrown in for free, too, of our 100 Sexiest Supercars Of All Times.
 
And, maybe most importantest of all, there’s...

An exclusive preview of the new series of TopGear telly, which kicks off on June 27 on BBC2. We’ve got all the insider information on what to expect from Series 15: monster power tests, epic road trips, the death of the Chevrolet Lacetti...

...and Jeremy in a Reliant Robin. You guessed that one wasn’t going to end well, right?

Kicking off this month’s Metal section is the entirely terrifying Porsche 911 GT2 RS: 612bhp of twin-turbo, rear-wheel drive insanity. Is this the scariest thing ever to emerge from Zuffenhausen? It just might be...

Continuing the theme of insanity is this beserk Merc Hexawheel concept. How does it work? Why is it pink? We have no idea, but we want one.
 

In a packed First Drives section, we’ve got behind the wheel of the fastest-accelerating Porsche ever, the 911 Turbo S...

...and the somewhat slower new Volvo S60. We also test out the new Saab 9-5, Megane CC, Porsche Panamera V6, Toyota Auris Hybrid, Aston Martin DBS Carbon Black, Peugeot RCZ...

...and the Mini Countryman. Is the four-seater Golf rival a proper Mini? Is it any good? TopGear gets an exclusive early drive to furnish you with the answers.

Welcome to the Lake District, and TopGear’s ultimate Hot Hatch Showdown. 2,608 of compact, B-road-destroying excellence, our own personal helicopter (oh yes)... and one Stig.

From the Lakes to our very own hillclimb circuit, where the white-suited automaton wreaks tyre-smoking havoc with the ultimate hot hatches on sale today...

...and then into the depths of the city for a spot of tunnel blasting. But only one of our 11 awesome hatches can be declared champion. Which one? You’ll have to get hold of a copy of the mag to find out.

Good news! James May has driven the Dacia Duster in Morocco! And he’s written all about his favourite Romanian budget brand. And goats.

There are, it has to be said, worse jobs than compiling a list of the 100 sexiest supercars of all time. Not for us any debate about historical significance, technical achievement, or even the fine print of the performance figures. No, this one’s dead easy: if it wobbles your knees at 40 paces and makes your special place fizz – thank you, James May, for that memorable observation – then it’s in.

Except that like nominating favourite football players or albums, it really isn’t that easy. In stripping away all the worthy stuff and focussing purely on the passion these 100 fantastic cars excite, so the arguments themselves get even more passionate.

We couldn’t really agree on what made the cut and what didn’t, so we don’t expect you to either, which is all part of the fun. You might not agree that some of the chosen are even ‘supercars’ at all, but as there were no rules at this end, it doesn’t matter. Just look at them, and enjoy. Then send us your angry emails.

In the end, we arrived at a top 100, and a fair few surprises it contains too. There are cars from the
1930s, cars that never made it any further than a motorshow stand, and cars with girls sitting on them (inevitably).

There will be cars you’ve forgotten you ever loved, and ones you’ve probably never seen before or heard of. Fast cars, and even faster ones. Heroes and zeroes, but zeroes with ridiculous
doors. We do love a ridiculous door.

Let the fizzing begin...

Jason Barlow, editor