Evora is a city in Portugal that no one knows about, but this Evora by Lotus is something you should acquaint yourself with. This striking two-plus-two GT is a welcome addition to the Lotus lineup. Measuring 22 inches longer than an Elise and three inches shorter than a 911, it’s the first practical Lotus since the gorgeous Elan Plus 2 debuted in 1967. Powered by the same Toyota 3.5 liter V-6 used in Camry?!?

This 2.976 lbs futuristic looking car goes from 0 to 60mph in 4.9 seconds. Power is rated at 280 hp (thankfully 12 hp more than the mom-n-pop Camry). While the Evora is tagged as a two plus two, most probably because of the look, most buyers will go for the 2 seater with more space. The $70,000 Lotus Evora will be available in U.S. late next year (2009).

The Bentley GT has become as commonplace on the city streets as beautiful people in Miami. One way to make your Bentley more exclusive is vie the new Premier4509 package. Only 100 kits will be delivered from this Asian tuner, so you can rest assured that you won’t ever see another just like yours in the valet parking area. The entire kit will consist of front fenders, and rear quarter panels that are constructed of carbon fiber and fiber enforced plastic. The only drawback to this package is there are no performance upgrades or benefits from this Asian tuner. Which means you’ll be driving around in the flashiest, most aggressive looking ride on the road without the added horsepower to back up your claim. But my serious question is why?!?

If you thought a Cinque was something Italians do their dish-washing in, you’d be dead wrong. This is the latest creation from supercar maker Pagani, and the Cinque badge, which Italian for “five” and is actually pronounced “chink-way”, indicates the number of these wild racers for the road Horacio Pagani will build. But don’t bother rushing to the phone with your platinum American Express; all five have supposedly been sold at a price of $1.5 million. The Cinque is in effect a road-going version of the racetrack only Pagani Zonda R. Mercedes’s AMG division kinly detuned the Zonda R’s 7.3-liter V-12 they supply, from 750 to 678 hp. Now Cinque owners will have their toy do 0 to 60 mph in only 3.4 seconds along with a 217 mph top speed. The lucky five will get a true exotic made of titanium, magnesium, and carbon fiber, with a little seat leather thrown in.

List Price: $1.5 million
Engine: 7.3-liter V-12
Horsepower: 678 hp @ 6,200 rpm
Torque: 575 lb-ft @ 4,000 rpm
Transmission: 6 speed sequential auto
0-60: 3.4 seconds
Top speed: 217 mph
Weight: 2,668 lbs
Length: 177 inches
Tires: 255/35ZR-19 (front), 335/30R-2- (rear)

The good news is that Lamborghini is building 20 of its F-22 Raptor fighter-jet-inspired Reventon supercars, each priced at an eye-popping $1.5 million. The bad news is, alas, they’re all sold, no doubt with a prearranged slot at the 2015 Barrett-Jackson auction. Investment potential, who needs gold bars? To justify its stratospheric sticker, the Reventon comes with a completely redesigned carbon-fiber body with more angles that a Picasso print. And while you’d think that after forking out $1.5 million you’d want the car painted lime green so everyone would notice; Lamborghini thinks otherwise. That’s why all 20 Reventons will come in a dull, flat stealthy shade of battleship gray. Climb aboard and the fighter jet association continues with 3-D liquid-crystal displays showing need-to-know info, such as lateral and accelerative g-forces.

List price: $1.5 million
Engine: 6.5-liter V-12
Horsepower: 650 hp @8,000 rpm
Torque: 487 lb-ft @ 6,000 rpm
Transmission: 6-speed e-gear sequential auto
0-60: 3.4 seconds
Top Speed: 205 mph
Weight: 3,670 pounds
Length: 185 inches
Tires: 245/35ZR-18 (front), 335/30ZR-18 (rear)

There are two reasons to come to the Audi Sportscar Experience (ASE) at Infineon Raceway. The first is simply to experience the Audi R8, a gauntlet-on-the-pavement creation from an automaker that has racked up impressive endurance laurels at proving grounds like Le Mans, but-until recently-had failed to translate racing success into a true flagship vehicle. With R8 wait-list times stretching into the years, would-be owners are mainly left pawing the car’s slick, rectangular brochure. The second reason to sign up for either the one- or two-day driving tutorial is to gauge whether the uproar surrounding the R8’s launch-the $110,000 car just nudged out the staggeringly impressive Ferrar 599 to grab Robb Report’s 2008 Car of the Year honors-can be backed up by hot laps on one of the most challenging racetracks in North America.

Drivers representing both camps huddle over cappuccinos and pastries inside the recently completed ASE headquarters. Dubbed Audi Forum Sonoma, it is the first of its kind in the world. While the automaker offers a range of driving programs in 42 countries, they are all roving in nature.

Perched perfectly over Turn One, the Forum offers a commanding view not only of racecars hammering uphill into Turn Two, but also of the rolling countryside. An obviously Teutonic theme reigns here-a silver-and-black mix of bare metals (recalling a racing garage with rolled-up doors), buttery leather (the furniture is elegantly post-modern), as well as impossibly clean glass windows and table tops. If the place looks more like a dealership than a driving school, it’s deliberate. “This building is essentially a showcase for everything the brand represents,” says Paul Gerrard, a former racer and principal in Emotive-the company that acquired Jim Russel Racing School in late 2006 and today operates both the subtly renamed Jim Russel Racing Drivers School as well as ASE.

“Traditionally, most Audi customers did not think in terms of heading to the track with their cars,” says Gerrard, acknowledging that competitors, such as BMW and Porsche, have a more long-standing connection to racing glories and therefore an easier time luring customers to their respective driving schools. “But between Audi’s Le Mans dominance and the new R8, everything is changing for us.”

That’s not to say Gerrard, and Audi for that matter, believes its clientele have racing aspirations. “This is a true experience as opposed to a school,” he says. “At Jim Russell, it’s about passing on real track skills over time. At the Audi Sportscar Experience, we’re here to give you the information you need to take this amazing car and simply have fun.”

Fun seems to be the unified mission of the dozen folks on hand who’ve paid %1,895 for this one-day even (the two-day program costs $3,495, and amounts to more track time to practice apexing and trail braking skills). There’s a retired private equity fund manager who’s flying the Ferrari flag on his jacket and Puma racing shoes, but is considering parking an as-yet-unavailable Audi R10 next to his F430 Coupe. There’s an Oracle veteran who drives an Audi S4 and, because only 400 or so R8s will annually make it to U.S. shoes, will be waiting more than a year before his white-with-carbon-fiber-side-panel baby pulls into his Silicon Valley dealership. And a quartet of thirtysomething cell phone software engineers who are mainly here because they know that actually driving a great car is infinitely better than logging virtual track time on a PS3 or Wii.

After some quick, classroom basics (principles of grip, braking and turning, as well as a diagram of Infineon’s complex turns), Gerrard walks us around the R8. He touts its hand-assembled birth, plays up its 55/45 front/rear weight bias, and explains how its exceptionally low center of gravity is due to engine placement. But look in the eyes of the assembled group, and it’s clear all they want to do is hop in and put this 4.2-liter, 8-cylinder, 420-hp sports car through its paces.

What was merely hinted at during Robb Report’s Car of the Year flogging of the R8 around Napa’s sinuous roads-seemingly endless grip, delicate steering, and a flexible transmission-was reconfirmed during two pre-track drills. The first found drivers in a lead-follow pattern snaking through cones in order to become familiar with the car’s handling. The second was a simple slalom run meant to pre-wire the class for a series of S-turns that would be taken with the same deft wrist-flick, but as far greater speeds. Finally, it was time to lap Infineon.

The track itself-which hosts everything from IRL rockets to NASCAR brutes-is not just the number of turns but the elevation changes that make some of those bends endless, off-camber nightmares with apexes so late that the novice driver is sure they’ve got it all wrong until the car miraculously winds up perfectly set up for a blistering exit.

Split into two groups, we take turns following in our instructor’s tracks, while he parcels out the occasional tip via walkie-talkie. Gerrard’s repeated comment rings in my head: “It’s not ‘Look down the road,’ because you must be at least a turn or two ahead of the car.” Of course, it is also “Look down the road,” Gerrard confesses later. “Your car simply won’t go where your eyes don’t look.”

These Zen-like racing mantras strick with me so long as the speed is manageable and all we’re doing is looking for the right line. But slowly-and surely-the speedometer tracks upward. That’s when the brain goes into tilt mode, and the R8’s wide tires begin to howl in protest, as the car is forced to contend with less-than-ideal physics thanks to my late apexing and braking.

Despite most of the drivers’ limitations (some, to be sure, are no slouches), a few things are clear. The car is no mere show pony, but a true derivative of Audi’s race-winning fare. Although I’ve got the air-conditioning blasting, the car never lacks for power as it rushes on command towards its 189 mph top end (I hit around 120 on the faster straights). As for balance and grip-thanks in large part to its Quattro system-the R8 almost makes its driver feel comfortable entering a turn at a less-than-ideal angle, knowing that all will be forgiven.

“This car is just awesome, more than I could have ever imagined,” says Jesper Andersen over a midday lunch of fresh-roasted flank steak. Andersen, 45, is the Oracle employee who wonders-with a knowing smile-how his boss, Larry Ellison, got his R8 first.

“It’s clear to me that I’ll never drive my R8 on regular roads like we’ve done here today, but it’s wonderful to know just what the car will do if allowed,” says Andersen.

A few tables over sit the cell phone software gang, friends who decided to “have fun burning up someone else’s brake rotors,” jokes Noah Hurwitz, 37, of San Francisco. Hurwitz says ASE has planted a seed in his head. “For a hundred grand, that’s essentially [Porsche] 911 territory. But that car is more what my dad or my doctor would drive. The R8 is different.”

Audi’s advertising-pushed engineering reputation appeals to this crew. “I see the brand as sort of a new age, technological sports car company, which is cool,” says Chris Lyon, 38. “That said, although it’s got all this capability, it also seems far more drivable than other supercars.”

The R8’s racing side is back on display for the remainder of the day, which is dedicated to repeated hot laps at increasingly fast average speeds. Though taking a downhill, sweeping hairpin turn in excess of top highway speeds seemed fool-hardy earlier in the day, it’s now a mere afterthought as the group comes comfortable with the track’s lines. While it’s true that one missed apex leads to a series of clumsy turns, those perfectly nailed blasts through the S’s with a balanced car more than make up for those awkward moments. We’re all still well below the R8’s capability-a reassuring thought as the car’s nose points toward a solid wall in order to set up for the slowest turn on the track, which will then lead into its fastest straightaway.

At the end of the day, ASE’s stable R8s-eight of them in use today ore more than anyone is likely to see in one group for a long time-line up in front of the Forum. Engines off, they come to rest like grey, black, and white cats, at once relaxed and ready to pounce. “This thing, I don’t know, it’s like the Batmobile,” says San Fransisco contractor David McMorran, 31. “I’m so glad that at this driving school, classroom time was at a minimum.”

After half a decade on the road, it was time for Aston’s DB9 to get a little nip/tuck makeover to keep it fresh. Mechanical changes include a compression increase for the 6.0 liter V-12, to give an extra 20 hp and 23 lb-ft of twist. Plus a revised version of the six-speed ZF auto that delivers 24 percent swifter shift times. Together, they’re good for a 0.3-second drop in the zero-to-60 sprint, to around 4.6 seconds. The “9″ also gets new Bilstein shocks for ’09 to give a smoother low-speed ride and better bump absorption. Inside, some of the dash features of the latest DBS are carried over the fancy keyless “emotional control unit” and the rotary switches. On the exterior, changes are limited to a new five-bar grille and door mirrors from the DBS. But it all only heightens our love affair with this British beefcake, which continues to rank as one of the world’s greatest Gts.

List price: $182,450 for the Coupe, $185,950 for the Volante
Transmission: 6-speed manual
Length 185 inches
Engine 6.0 liter V-12
Horsepower 470 hp @ 6,000 rpm
Torque 443 lb-ft @ 5,000 rpm
Top speed: 190 mph
0-60: 4.6 seconds
Weight: 3,880 lbs

You may surmise that the Germans are horsepower freaks from the automobiles they manufacture (just look at the SL65 Black series). And the don’t take themselves any less seriously when it comes to tuning. Just look at what happens when an Italian exotic is “refined” by the German tuner Hamann: the product is pure driving euphoria. Take the Hamann-tuned 599 GTB, which retains its nearly perfected engine and suspension setup but gains a bold new body kit, much larger 21-inch rims and tires, and 53 more ponies. From the chin spoiler back to the rear diffuser, the look is edgier and more sculpted that Michelangelo’s David. The rims are massive, glossy back, and come with tires big enough to go on a monster truck – 245/30ZR-21s up front and 345/25ZR-21s in the rear.