At the beginning of my first full lap of Llandow Circuit behind the wheel of the Artura in the summer, I had what can at best be called a ‘track limits violation’, cutting the corner onto the grass at the first chicane.
It felt awful and sounded loud from behind the wheel but looked far less dramatic on camera.
And, thankfully, there wasn’t a scratch on the car.
Hurting my pride but leaving my reputation intact, it served to show just how shockingly quick the Artura is and how effortlessly its performance is delivered. It can and will catch you off guard if you don’t stay on top of it.
The Artura, heavily upgraded and improved around a year ago, is as memorable and exciting as any supercar should be to drive on road and track in terms of its raw performance, but its breadth of abilities beyond that is what makes it so remarkable.
It is a car in which you can potter around town silently and innocuously in electric mode, with suspension compliance that could pass for a comfortable family hatchback’s.
Such benign traits can lull you into a false sense of security. My Llandow shock was one example, and on wet country roads a day earlier it had spun its wheels even in fourth gear.
I loved what that did to my heart rate, the white-knuckle side to its character only adding to its appeal and to the reward factor when you get it right.
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