Tesla Reviews

Peter Barnwell road tests and reviews the Tesla Model S 70D with specs, energy consumption and verdict.

Richard Berry road tests and reviews the Tesla Model S P90D with specs, energy consumption and verdict.

Richard Blackburn road tests and reviews the BMW i8 and Tesla Model S with specs, fuel consumption and verdict.

It is almost impossible to describe the acceleration in the Tesla Model S electric car. It would be brutal except there is almost no noise, the leather-lined cabin is pampering and calm, and the ride over bumps so gentle and smooth.But it accelerates so fast it challenges the senses. The closest example I can think of is the start of a high-speed roller coaster.Your head hits the headrest behind you, your eyes push back into their sockets and you hang on.The difference is that the Tesla isn't on rails, you can steer it wherever you want to go. Well, almost.The maximum range in ideal driving conditions is 500km, and it requires a unique charging adaptor (to handle 40 amps), so you can't top up at home or work without a $1000 installation. Floor it like we did and maximum range suddenly drops to 160km.Which means, for now, it's one of the most amazing cars money can buy providing you don't venture further than between 80km and 250km from home, because otherwise you'd have to tow it back.Anyone who dismisses electric cars as the weaklings of the automotive industry need to go for a ride in one of these. Without exaggeration, it would give a supercharged HSV GTS – Australia's fastest and most powerful sedan – a bloody nose before it overtook a Mercedes-Benz AMG E63. And you wouldn't even hear it coming.We couldn't replicate Tesla's claim of a 0 to 100km/h time of 3.8 seconds, but it'll repeatedly complete the feat in a sub 5.0-second time with the same effort as brushing your teeth.Then there is the surprise and delight factor: it has the largest display screen of any car on sale. Forget tablet, it's more like a desk-top screen that has been fitted vertically.There are only two buttons inside: the glovebox and hazard light switch. The doors open as you approach the car, and lock as you drive off, blending in with the profile of the doors, so no-one could car-jack you if they tried.Some of the technology is genius, such as the memory setting for raising the suspension for steep drive-ways. When you slow down for the same drive-way next time, the car remembers the GPS position and does it automatically.The car turns itself off after you walk away, which is an eerie feeling and took some getting used to.It's the one electric car that looks like it's actually worth the price being asked. The Tesla Model S easily competes with other cars in the $100,000 to $220,000 price bracket (the price depends on the size of the battery pack and the number of options).But it's worth noting a car with all this technology is able to limbo to this price because a large chunk of it has been subsidised by a US government trying to reduce its dependence on oil. So the Tesla Model S is not exactly competing on a level playing field just yet.

Malcolm Flynn road tests and reviews the electric Tesla Model S, with specs, energy consumption and verdict.

I know what you’re thinking: not another electric car story. But, please, hear us out. This one is a little different – it’s “normal” to drive.It’s brought to us by Tesla, the electric-car start-up co-founded by Elon Musk, the entrepreneur who set up PayPal, sold it for a tonne of cash, and now launches rockets into space under contract for the US government.His side project is to accelerate the adoption of electric cars by promising to address the big problems: driving range, recharging and price. We’ve heard the promises before but, shock, horror, this one delivers.To learn more about the technology, Tesla started five years ago with an electric roadster (based on a Lotus sportcar) that could out-sprint a Porsche to 100km/h.It then broadened its reach by contracting electric-vehicle technology to Toyota and Mercedes-Benz – the world’s biggest car maker and the inventor of the automobile. Not bad to have in the resume.Not it has built its own, ground-up model: a sleek five-door luxury hatch about as big as a BMW 5 Series sedan.The Model S went on sale in the US late last year and is due in Australian showrooms by the end of this year.VALUEThe Nissan Leaf is $50,000 and is the size of a Pulsar hatch. The Holden Volt is $60,000 and the size of a Cruze sedan. So Tesla offering a large luxury sedan from $60,000 is something of a minor miracle.The line-up has two other models, with more power and more driving range as the price increases to $70,000 and $80,000 respectively. The RRPs are realistic because Tesla has had significant funding from the US government. But the company insists it will be viable within a few years.Australian pricing is yet to be confirmed but the top-line Model S will likely cost $80,000 to $100,000.The company plans to build up to 100,000 electric cars a year, after ramping up to 25,000 in its first full year. Tesla bought an old Toyota factory that was sold cheap in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis. It helps that Elon Musk is friends with Toyota boss Akio Toyoda.TECHNOLOGYTesla has ingeniously integrated the battery pack into the completely flat floorpan, the core structure of the car. The design is likened to a skateboard because it enables Tesla to add other body types to the same simple layout at a later stage (a seven-seat SUV-style vehicle is due next).The large electric motor fits neatly at the rear and is available with a choice of two power outputs. Three types of battery pack are available for three levels of driving range (260km, 370km, 500km).Tesla keeps the batteries cool by using smaller lithium-ion cells than other electric cars. But the coolest part of the car has nothing to do with being electric: it’s the massive 17-inch touchscreen that’s in the dash.It controls radio, air-conditioning and navigation – which has the option of using Google Earth or a stencil map. Google search will also navigate to the nearest point of interest.Other cool stuff: the door handles retract when the car is parked and when you’re on the move (to reduce wind resistance). The aero rating is an industry-leading 0.24cD, the third best in history and the slipperiest automobile on sale today.It’s other party trick: a “supercharger” that enables the Model S to be topped up in less than an hour. Normal recharging is up to 8 hours.ACCOMODATIONThe Tesla Model S looks small but it’s massive inside. The boot (894 litres) is bigger than that of many SUVs.The big screen TV takes some getting used to but you can dim the display with a few taps of the screen.On close inspection you can see some component sharing: the indicator and wiper stalks, steering wheel and power windows switches are borrowed from Mercedes-Benz.SAFETYIt’s fellow start-up Fisker, not Tesla, that’s in the news for having its electric cars catch fire. That said, Tesla did recall 439 roadsters in 2010 for a potential fire fault – with the standard 12V battery, not the lithium-ion pack that powers the car.Tesla says it has not had a report of a fire risk since and tests its vehicles to Toyota and Mercedes-Benz standards.The Model S passes US crash test requirements but is yet to be tested by Euro NCAP. The company forecasts a five-star safety rating based on internal testing. Eight airbags (two front, two knee, two side and two curtains) and stability control are standard.DRIVINGHere’s the big surprise. It goes like a V8 AMG Mercedes, accelerating hard instantly. And then, miraculously, it doesn’t run out of puff.Most electric cars have a bit of zip at first but then suffer an asthma attack. The Tesla Model S feels like it could go forever. Unfortunately, speed limits dictated that we wouldn’t find the limit of its potential.The other thing that had me scratching my head was how well the Model S handled bumps even though it rides on massive 21-inch wheels and low-profile tyres. It felt as smooth as a Rolls-Royce but handled with the finesse of a BMW.Key to its success is the fact that it has the centre of gravity of a sports-car. Because the battery pack is also the floor, it’s barely 12cm off the ground and makes light work of the low-slung aluminum body.On the California coast road I’m not cursing the traffic, I’m praying for a red light so I can feel the acceleration again. It’s epic. AMG and HSV drivers won’t know what hit them. When we eventually head for the hills, the handling feels agile, the steering direct.The brakes, supplied by Brembo, have an impressively normal feel – unlike other electric cars that tend to have an initial dead spot before biting too hard. If Tesla can make decent brakes on an electric car, why can’t other manufacturers?The Model S may seem an oddity to the mainstream but enthusiasts and those with a passing interest in cars should ignore this car at their peril.If this is the electric car of the future, count me in. 

The Tesla Model S is the first battery-powered vehicle that actually makes senseI'm in a carpark in downtown Los Angeles being shown around the Tesla Model S, the electric car from the outfit that made the Tesla Roadster. There are lots of unusual things about this luxury sedan but inside is one thing that has me captivated.VALUEIt's an enormous screen, easily the largest I've seen in a car, angled towards the driver and looking exactly like an oversize iPad. It controls all the functions; there are no buttons. To open the panoramic glass roof, for example, there's a slider graphic you move with your finger, alongside a crisp overhead image of the car. As the glass opens, so does the roof on the image of the car. There are no predetermined positions -- set it anywhere. It's slick.Little icons across the top of the screen direct you to other menus. The logic is child's play, there's internet and you can pinch to zoom. It feels Apple to the core, so I ask. Nope. All our own work, says Asia-Pacific director Kevin Yu, who's back home in California for a few days from his post in Tokyo. There's little missing in the car in terms of expected technical features at this level, with adaptive suspension, three grades of steering weight,TECHNOLOGYYu was one of the first customers when deliveries began in June and his car was No 23 off the line. The first 1200 cars delivered in North America are all Signature models, with a high level of specification and the most powerful, 85kWh battery, which gives a range of 480km. Yu's goes one better: its Performance spec is also very quick: zero to 60mph (96.6km/h) in 4.4 seconds and a top speed of 209km/h.The Signatures have already sold out and Tesla is starting to make standard cars that offer less powerful batteries, although even the 40kWh base car does the sprint in 6.5 seconds and has a 250km range. Tesla is a child of Elon Musk, who created Paypal, and its ethos is shot through with Silicon Valley can-do. Many employees are ex-Paypal, including Yu, and their confidence with the software and battery technology is palpable. “Batteries are a commodity,” Yu explains, “and they're going to get cheaper.”It's how you link them, control them, keep them at a constant temperature and exploit their potential that is Tesla's strength, he says. The recharge plug is hidden neatly behind one of the rear lamps and comes with adaptors for virtually any situation. At home, it can be plugged into a 240V socket overnight or charged more quickly via a special wall-mounted unit. The battery pack forms the floor of the car and helps give structural rigidity. The motor is mounted at the rear to drive the rear wheels.DESIGNThe Model S is a 5m long sedan that weighs 2.3 tonnes. There's cargo space front and rear, and two optional rear jump seats for children mean it can carry seven if required. The Model S, unlike the Roadster, which was a Lotus Elise stuffed full of phone batteries, is unlike anything else on the road. Almost nothing, beyond the window switches and steering column wands that I recognise from Mercedes, is familiar.Where Silicon Valley know-how was not enough, Tesla spread a global net to recruit talent from across the car industry. The design chief, Franz von Holzhausen, worked for Mazda and GM, and can be credited with making a large sedan almost sexy. The cabin has a modern, architectural feel. The seats, incidentally, are by Australian outfit Futuris. It's a convincing luxury statement with plenty of road presence.SAFETYIt comes with eight airbags and, I'm increasingly unsurprised to learn, electronic stability control that was done in-house. No job too big.DRIVINGIts range is such that Yu explains he typically does the 600km from LA to San Francisco with a three-stop strategy, topping up for just 15 minutes at one of Tesla's solar-powered “superchargers”, which cost owners nothing. That's no longer than a typical bathroom-and-drinks break. Because the batteries recharge like the ones in a phone, drawing down a lot of juice quickly when they're most depleted, he could skip one of the stops and spend 30 minutes at one of the stations for a half-fill. It all sounds, well, pretty much like what you'd do anyway on a trip of that distance.But on the stop-start freeway traffic one or two wrinkles do emerge. There's no hill-hold function, so on an incline it will roll back as your foot moves from brake to throttle. At least it doesn't have one yet; when Tesla has written the software, the car will simply download the upgrade from the internet. Another issue at crawling speeds is a stutter when you lift off the throttle. It's the motor reversing polarity, turning into a generator to harvest the deceleration energy. Yu assures me it's noticeable only at 15-20km/h, and when the traffic finally moves it's gone.There aren't many corners on the way to Hawthorne so I learn little about the car's dynamics, although it does have that weight-in-the-floor feel typical of electric cars and that gives a distinctive quality in bends. But I'd be encouraged to explore its potential on a country road. Acceleration is blistering. Eight-lane freeways can be hectic places when you're unsure if your blind spots are covered and rear visibility isn't a strong point, although not a deal-breaker. The Model S will leap between lanes if needed.VERDICTThe Model S outperforms any other electric car available on range, yet is bigger and more practical. 

MOST of the dozen Australian owners of the world's fastest production electric car use them for daily chores. So says Tesla Motors Australia boss Jay McCormack. But with acceleration to 100km/h as quick as a V8 Supercar and a body and suspension based on the quick-handling Lotus Elise, it's no wonder some owners are taking them out for track days. And that is where I had my second test drive in the limited edition Roadster, at Queensland Raceway.VALUEMcCormack says they have sold 12 since January and expect to sell 30 by the time production winds up. They arrive at $160,000 but with various duties and taxes they cost $206,188, despite the fact that electric vehicles attract no stamp duty in Australia. Add in the on-road costs and it is one expensive daily runabout. But if you consider the acceleration, Lotus pedigree and intrinsic value of being an early adopter, it could start to make sense for some rich eccentrics.If you are one of the 15 per cent who opt for the Sport variant you can add an $30,000. For that you get an extra 50Nm of torque (400Nm), adjustable Bilstein rear suspension, forged alloy wheels, a "more capable" AC motor and a "slightly different software program" for the cooling process. A full charge will only cost $8 and if you drive in the "range" mode you get 394km of range. There is also a "standard" mode and a "performance" mode with range determined by your driving style.The resale value is very good, according to McCormack."I cant see many being re-sold, but some have sold for more than they cost new. I would expect most customers to hang on to them. If you look at the beginning of the modern electric car, this is history."TECHNOLOGYThis is actually the fourth iteration of Roadster. Like computer software program names, it started with the 1.0, then 1.5, 2.0 and now 2.5. Only the 2.5 has been sold here, although I last drove a privately owned 2.0 at QR in 2009.The 2.5 has the same AC motor and gearbox but slightly different software, 30Nm more torque and an extra 3kW hours of storage.At the heart of the Tesla is a battery of small lithium-ion liquid-cooled cells powering a four-pole AC induction motor which provides the sort of performance power and torque figures you would expect from a sportscar; certainly more than the petrol-powered Elise on which it is based.Tesla claims it will hit highway speeds in less than four seconds which is the same as a V8 Supercar.You can charge it at home, but it will take about 15 hours on 10 amps. At the track, we plugged into a 32 amp charger which takes about six hours to fully charge.Tesla claims 394km range in "range" mode, but after some furious morning laps by potential customers, at 266km it required lunchtime charging.DESIGNIt's based on the stylish Elise and adds tonnes of carbon fibre including the detachable roof and has a space-age interior. There is little room for any luggage and the interior is fairly Spartan.SAFETYIt comes with two airbags, four-wheel ventilated disc brakes, stability and traction control, but no crash test results. There are two Yokohama tyre options - Neova and extra-grippy A048 which we drove on the track.DRIVINGThe Roadster saves some of its battery life by not having power steering which makes it heavy to steer around pit lane, despite the light weight of the vehicle. Just after the pit lane 40km/h speed zone ends, I flatten the throttle and experience an uncanny linear acceleration feeling like a rocket. But it takes longer to go from 100km/h to our top speed down the main straight of about 170-180km/h.It's a mid-engined, rear-wheel drive car, but it doesn't handle like one. Turning into the first few corners, the steering goes light and the front end pushes with understeer. With the sport option Yokohama tyres fitted, there is plenty of lateral grip for good mid-corner speed, but it runs wide coming out of the corner because it is difficult to invoke oversteer. That is because acceleration is linear and not peaky, so it is difficult to break traction or suddenly shift the balance to the rear with power.The bumpy Queensland Raceway circuit provokes plenty of kickback through the steering wheel and with no power assistance the driver fights the wheel and has to hang on tight. Ride is also fairly stiff and it would probably be fairly uncomfortable on normal roads with that hard sports seat.The last time I drove the Roadster, I set a lap record for an electric car on the Queensland Raceway truncated "sportsman" circuit of 1:13. This time it was dry and, although we didn't have the lap timer running, it would have been much faster with the grippy Yokohama tyres.Last time we experienced brake fade and an overheating motor, but despite higher track temperatures, there were no such problems this time, although the brake pedal is soft and stopping power requires pre-empting the usual braking markers.VERDICTThis is a piece of history that you can drive on a daily basis and take to a track day for some fun with a relatively clear environmental conscience. Left-hand-drive Roadsters have ceased production and there are only about 100 right-hand drives to come before production ceases. With so few available, it might even make sense to an investor or collector to grab one and put it in storage.TESLA ROADSTER 2.5Body: 2-door roadsterMotor: 3-phase 4-pole AC induction motor, 185kW/350-400NmTransmission: single-speed gearbox, rear-wheel driveBattery: 53kWh lithium-ion cellsRange: 394km maximum in "range" modeDimensions: 3946mm (L), 11873mm (W), 1127mm (H), 2352 (WB) Kerb weight: 1235kg

"FUEL, sir?" Not unless you have a plug, a 30m lead and eight hours to spare.  Force of habit has taken me into a petrol station to pause, stretch the legs and put the roof up. It's a blistering Sydney day and top-down this Tesla Roadster is too hot for comfort.But of course I could have pulled in anywhere, because this Roadster, one of just a handful in Australia, is an electric sportscar. It no more drinks petrol when it's parched than you or me. If its batteries needed replenishing, then there would be no point stopping here.Besides, the Roadster is charged to the brim. Awaiting my arrival, it was connected to a special box on the wall of Tesla's nascent Sydney HQ by a cable as thick as a baby's arm. Most owners are expected to invest in one of these fast chargers, which lower the time on life-support to 3 1/2 hours. They're not cheap at $4500, but then you're not buying a hatchback.Plugged into the mains with a three-pin, you'll need to leave it overnight to juice it up for its 360km range. The rewards for your patience are running costs well below anything with an engine. At $10 a fill, the Roadster does the equivalent of about 2 litres per 100km. No sportscar - or hybrid, for that matter - can come close.Nothing comes out of the tailpipe either, because there isn't one.  Previously, my exposure to electric vehicles has been limited to a few kilometres in city runabouts, a couple of laps in experimental prototypes, and fun fair dodgems.This is the first time I've been free to explore the limits of one without a minder looking over my shoulder.  And its limits are one of the first things on my mind. The car's theoretical 360km range constantly changes in line with my right foot. Hit the throttle hard for a minute or two and the range display drops precipitously. If I switch it into Sport mode, it drops even more.My intended route covers about 200km, so it should be doable. But getting it wrong would be an embarrassing, not to say time-wasting, disaster. I realise I'm already suffering from range concern and I fear it's a precursor to full-blown range anxiety.Carmakers vary in their assessment of this ailment. Depending on the degree of their commitment to the battery car, it's either a debilitating disease that can leave you totally reliant on public transport, or it's a completely irrational fear and you just need to get a grip.Reason prevails and I press on. Putting the roof up - a manual procedure on a par with pitching a swag - has made the heat more bearable and served as a reminder of how the Roadster started life.DESIGNIt's based on a Lotus Elise, the tiny British sportscar, but with the aluminium chassis widened a bit and all the panels, in carbon fibre, bespoke to the Tesla. The Californians then fit 6831 lithium-ion batteries, an electric motor, a single-speed gearbox and a box of electronic gubbins behind the cabin. Tesla says just 7 per cent of the final car is actually a Lotus Elise.From the driver's seat it feels like more, because the cabin is extremely similar. The main difference is a small centre console where the gearstick would normally be, which houses a touchscreen to access the Roadster's brain.The thick sills that make getting in and out of an Elise so difficult are the same, as are the dash and the steering wheel. There's the same dreadful Alpine audio and satnav system used by Lotus, and the same airconditioning system with two settings: loud and louder.TECHNOLOGYPerhaps it's 7 per cent by weight, because the batteries and other stuff behind me weigh 450kg. All told, two-thirds of the Roadster's 1450kg sit over the rear axle. And that's before you've squeezed luggage into the 170-litre boot, which sits right in the tail.Uneven weight distribution is obviously not ideal and initially I'm acutely aware of it. But it's not unique in the car world. Floor the throttle and the Tesla's nose bobs up, a bit like a Porsche 911's. Also like a 911, the rear tyres have no problem getting traction down and have a mountain of grip.DRIVINGOnce you get used to it, the car feels tied down and through corners it stays remarkably flat. The suspension has to be firm to get that result, but that's what you expect anyway in a sportscar.  Usually, the price would be an unbearable ride quality, but it isn't. There's less jolting than in an Elise.Which isn't to say it's a serene place to be. Wind and road noise thunder through an Elise, with its lack of insulation and roll-your-own roof, and it's no different here. There's less engine noise to smoother the racket - and pedestrians might be oblivious - but inside the motor is louder than expected.When we're all driving electric cars because V8s have been banned, the Tesla might be remembered as one of the songbirds of the flock.  While we can still enjoy the glorious tunes that petrol can make, though, it's never going to make the charts. It sounds like a tram that's entered Formula One.The question of how much sound plays in the magic of a sportscar comes to the fore with the Tesla. Because it doesn't lack handling and it certainly doesn't lack acceleration. The first time I experienced an electric car at maximum volts will stay with me for some time.The Sport version, driven here, goes like a cat that's stuck its claws in the mains. It will hit 100km/h in under 4 seconds. That's a supercar, whatever it's got in the tank. Even if it doesn't have tank. Uphill, when the instantaneous torque comes into its own, it's fantastic. Downhill you can exploit the dramatic engine braking.With only a single gear, revs and speed move in tandem and one dial serves to measure both. The Roadster maxes out at 14,000 revs, which is F1-like, and that equates to just over 200km/h. Which isn't enough for F1, but just about enough for Sydney.The range proves sufficient as well, although there's not a lot to spare when I get back. The car's electronics step in to curb lead-foot tendencies as the range dwindles, or to prevent the batteries overheating.VERDICTThe Roadster is an extremely unusual sportscar and the company thinks as many as 40 Australians a year will be curious enough to buy one.  It has many of the drawbacks of the donor Lotus but, for the moment at least, offers something unique in the way it delivers supercar performance. Something with eco-credentials.And I find consolation in the paradox of this. Nobody, after all, needs a sportscar. It would be greener not to buy one at all. Tesla sees itself as allied to the environmental movement. I prefer to think of it as working undercover for the other side.

If you like petrol – and I love it – this feels like a betrayal. I’m in a screaming hot sports car that uses no petrol at all, and it might just be the fastest-accelerating car I’ve ever driven.The Tesla Roadster 2.5, a fully-electric two-seater built in California by way of Lotus in the UK, uses a monster stack of lithium-ion batteries to deliver the sort of straight-line performance usually associated with twelve Italian cylinders (or six turbocharged German ones).A bigger shock, so to speak, comes when you lift off the accelerator.  Remember what happened when you backed off the trigger on your little Scalectrix cars? They stopped.Well, so does the Tesla. That mass of cells coupled to a one-speed gearbox acts as a massive (and power-regenerating) decelerationunit.Which is almost a pity, since the example I’m driving is equipped with a cute combination of AP Racing and Brembo braking hardware. Tooling along in standard Sydney traffic, there’s barely need to use any of it.As well, there is also the faintest scent of hard-spinning alternating-current motor. It isn’t unpleasant, although it is more intrusive than anything you’ll experience in a comparatively-priced sportster.Other oddities include the very nature of that fearsome forward propulsion.  A lot happens in a typical high-performance car under maximum acceleration. Hundreds of intricate reciprocating, revolving and repeating parts work together to convert a sequence of controlled explosions into thrust. It’s beautiful and dramatic, if inefficient from a green perspective.The Tesla just has … power. There’s more drama in a carpet-cleaning infomercial. If you can pick out the AC motor’s high-pitched hum above the tyre noise (which is noticeable here, but usually overwhelmed by the engine in a conventional car) it sounds sort of like a turbo without an engine attached.In fact, the whole series of events leading up to any accelerative bursts is extraordinarily fussless. Turn the conventional key in the conventional column lock. Wait, out of habit, for the engine noise you won’t hear. Press the button marked D on the centre console. Apply foot to right pedal. Then sweep past almost any car on the road, at least up to the highway speed limit, which the Tesla hits in under four seconds.A handy g-meter located on the console notes the forces involved. We recorded a quick reading of 0.7 from acceleration alone. Putting aside any technical explanations, this basically gives driver and passenger an instant Botox effect. Ka-pow! No lines or wrinkles as your whole face is suddenly hauled backwards. (Braking causes the opposite, of course. An instant Ernest Borgnine effect.)Corners aren’t such an easy win. The Tesla is based on Lotus’s rail-handling Elise – although with development now shares only a claimed seven per cent of components – so the basics are all abundantly sound. But the combined mid-mounted cell pack and transmission weighs 450kg, meaning that this is one very light car (largely built from carbon fibre) with a substantially heavy and dense centre section.It’s fine around town, if you don’t mind the lack of power steering (I don’t, despite it requiring more effort than in the featherweight Elise). Just a guess at this point, but a track test might turn up some quirks. After all, 450kg is hard to hide, as Al Gore’s tailor can tell you.Which brings us to the types of buyers the Tesla might attract. At a base price of $206,188, this isn’t for the dirt and dreadlocks brigade. Nor, considering the Lotus-inherited entry and egress challenges – youthful flexibility is required – will it suit oldsters or the chunky. But if you’re a cashed-up 30-something with both the hots for Gaia and some surviving strands of testosterone, this might be the guilt-free performance car for you.One additional advantage: it’s a convertible, so the WRXs and V8s you leave behind can hear you laughing as you go. For petrol-drenched carbon addicts like me, that will be a very cruel sound indeed.