Phil Royle

We make no apologies for this Subaru special issue of ROAD Magazine this month, so if you're not a fan of the incredible Pleiades-star cluster brand, you can still read Neil Cole's column on the Monte Carlo rally and our report from the last month’s Autosport Show.

ROAD's December Christmas issue, "Motorsport Monsters", features TV presenter, Neil Cole, who’s writing a new monthly motorsport column for us. Neil’s first column comes from the epic Race of Champions (RoC) in Dusseldorf and it’s fabulous!

This month, ROAD magazine stretches from the icy tundra of Lapland – ice driving with four-times WRC Champion, Juha Kankkunen in supercars – to the humid Far East – VW Scirocco R-Cup racing in Shanghai – and then on to the dry deserts of Las Vegas – for the 2011 SEMA show.

This issue we finish the 2011 motorsport season in style: First up, we’ve got two times ex-WRC champion, Marcus Gronholm and north-east driver, David Binks, taking on British Rallycross Championships at Lydden Hill in Kent in the awesome ‘Best Buy’ Ford Fiesta Mk7. Gravel spitting stuff.

Most of us born in or after the 1970s started our motoring life in front-wheel-drive cars. For many, the thrills, spills and grins of a car pulled, not pushed, are too strong to resist, and folk often stick with the cheeky inside rear wheel cocking FWD cars over RWD and 4WD for life.

This month, Road is on Summer holiday, traveling from the far East to the Western coast of America.

We've got two Stateside reports from Road first lady Ashley Van Dyke – covering the awesome X Games in downtown LA, and going to one of the world's greatest car auctions at Orange County Fairgrounds, by Barrett Jackson.

Tim Schrick is one of the nicest guys in motorsport. He also happens to be one of the best drivers we’ve had the pleasure of riding shotgun with. He has a natural talent and can jump in any car and extract its limits instantly. He’s also a lot of fun to be around.

So, we were over the moon when Tim gave us a call and asked us to line up some “crazy British cars” to feature on his new TV show, Turbo Automagazin, on Sport 1 in Germany

Welcome to the July issue of Road Magazine – where we are celebrating three of the best press cars we’ve test driven in recent months.

Firstly, there’s the brand spanking new Lotus Evora V6 IPS – the first two-pedal automatic Lotus since 1986, opening the evocative and beautiful Evora to a truly global audience, particularly in America and Asia. Technology has moved on tremendously in the 25 years since the last Lotus auto, and the clever IPS’ twin clutch, “shift by wire” system is one of the best we’ve ever tested – making the most of the 280PS, 350Nm 3.5-litre V6 engine and amazing Evora chassis.