The plucky Praga Bohema hypercar just set a new lap record at a place you might not have thought about for a while: the old Top Gear TV show test track at the Dunsfold Aerodrome in the UK. For this assignment, Praga found the best possible man for the job: Ben Collins, the former and very famous so-called Stig driver for the Top Gear show.
After the record, Collins sat down with CarBuzz, and aside from explaining why the Praga Bohema punches so much above its weight, he also spoke to us about the state of your average performance car from Porsche or BMW, and how he thinks tire technology could be the secret to returning to lighter-weight vehicles with less driver nannies.
Are Modern Cars Too Big And Heavy?
Ben Collins tells CarBuzz that’s 100% exactly the problem at hand with modern automobiles on the road and track today:
“They’re overweight. There’s too much computerization, not enough feedback – cars stopped feeling analog, and they’re quick, they’re objectively good, but they lack that involvement from a driver,” Collins told us.
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A Few Modern Cars Toe The Line
But are there modern cars that aren’t overweight? Naturally, Collins turns to Porsche for his answer on this one, as the German automaker has been turning out excellent performance versions of the new 992 generation Porsche 911 for a few years now:
“The new GT3 RS, I think, walked a really fine line, because the grip is very high. I really enjoyed that car. So they’ve managed with that to sort of get, you know, kind of the best of both worlds, without making it [behave] like it’s on train tracks.”
The Porsche 911 GT3 RS sports a naturally-aspirated 4.0-liter flat-six engine good for 518 horsepower and 382 lb-ft of torque, scooting from 0 to 60 mph in 3.0 seconds with a top track speed of 184 mph. It’s also a sub-7-minute Nürburgring performer, so it’s definitely not only a “train tracks” car.
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What’s The Problem With Modern Vehicle Performance?
Collins argues that modern performance cars do too much to try to help you, which takes away from the driver’s input and thus takes away from the driving experience.
“[M]any of the others are falling into the trap of train tracks and over assistance, particularly in your sort of, you know, your more everyday type of car, and with the next generation of BMW, I don’t know where that will take [them]. They’re moving away from manual gearboxes, and it’s just at that point you’re on a slippery slope for total control by HAL 9000 so, yeah, it’s a shame, really. And just ever, ever larger, larger and heavier. That seems to be the mistake.”
– Ben Collins on the problem with modern vehicles
BMW’s next-generation so-called Neue Klasse models will likely be entirely electrified as hybrid and BEV versions of the German automaker’s current lineup, though rumors persist that the V8 SUV will soldier on, at least in the U.S., also with a hybrid setup. Prototypes of the new 3 Series, 5 Series, X3, and X5 have all already been spotted. BMW claims its new electric M3 will be the most powerful M car ever, with four electric motors, and likely a lot of weight to move around. So we’ll see if Collins’ prophecy proves true.
We Need To Go Back To Lighter Cars
Collins makes the case that modern cars are missing something that older, lighter models enjoyed, which is the lack of weight and thus a lack of need for additional driver assistance for stuff like braking:
“You get back in an older, older car that weighs less. And it’s interesting, because there’s a lot [of] talk about the safety systems. But when you put one of those older cars on a modern tire, they’re unbelievable. You don’t need ABS to stop, and you don’t need ABS to feel what the tire is doing; you can quite intuitively do it all yourself.”
We know modern tires make a huge difference, as was evidenced earlier this year when modern tire technology enabled a Porsche Carrera GT – a notoriously spiky supercar – to shave off 20 seconds around the Nürburgring.
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This is a stark demonstration of just how much tire tech can evolve in a decade, making your car quicker (and safer) than ever.
Collins backs up for a moment of self-awareness: “Okay, I drive for a living, but I just think reason a lot of people spun off in the 90s was because the tires just weren’t there. It’s the tire technology has just completely revolutionized. Yeah, so maybe that’s a bit of an, I don’t know, open secret, but no, we’re airbagged up to the hilt and the computer is taking over. But it’s a shame. Not for the Praga, though,” he quickly adds, “because she’s got the best of all worlds.”
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