RRE: Driven: Bowler EXR-S

RRE: Driven: Bowler EXR-S

Wednesday 26th December 2012

Driven: Bowler EXR-S

Tantalisingly close to production-spec, PH samples Bowler's mad 550hp EXR-S road-going 4x4



It's zero degrees outside and the sub-surface of the loose gravel track I'm driving on is frozen solid, the crumbly top layer like ball bearings. "This car's got a lot of torque and it's on sand tyres so they won't dig in - you'll find it moves about a lot", says Ed Cobley, my co-pilot. He races Bowlers , so he knows what he's talking about.

Sean gets a quick warm-up in the 'light' Bowler
Sean gets a quick warm-up in the 'light' Bowler
I'm in Bowler's 'light' version to begin with - kicking out 300hp from its 5.0-litre normally aspirated V8 - to give me an idea of what it'll do off-road. The shove it generates is immense: there's no scrabbling for grip, just an angry bark from the straight-through pipe. The way it finds traction is astonishing.

Back it in
Braking isn't the same story, however. Even on standard Range Rover Sport four-piston calipers and discs it'll lock the wheels before I can say shhh... as we head for that large 100-year-old oak at an alarming rate. Sideways.

My heart rate increases the first time it happens, but once you realise you have to drive the car this way - set the attitude by backing it into the corner, then pick up the throttle and gun it out - it actually becomes perfectly natural. The driving style is infectious. On the way home I find myself thinking, "If I just use a bit of brake as I enter this roundabout..."

Looks mad, feels surprisingly sane
Looks mad, feels surprisingly sane
My few laps on the rally stage are over all too quickly, but I'm amazed at just how civilised the car is. The EXR rally car has 250mm of suspension travel and the compliance in the dampers is fantastic. Despite at least four feet of air over the jumps, there's no neck-cricking snap on landing. If this is what the off-roader is like, Bowler's EXR-S 550hp on-road monster should be immense.

On-road in an off-roader
Unfortunately, the ECU of the finished EXR-S decided to throw a tantrum, so it was back into the prototype vehicle Mr Harris drove earlier in the year for my drive. It's different now, though. Immediately you notice the EXR-S prototype's suspension tweaks to improve its on-road manners and a mildly more representative interior of what the road car will get. Importantly though, the powertrain is exactly what the road car will get.

Finished 'road car' project barely tamed
Finished 'road car' project barely tamed
That's a 550hp supercharged 5.0-litre V8 taken from the current Range Rover Sport mated to the road car's six-speed autobox and its three differentials. This, however, is nothing like the standard car.

Harnessed in the leather bucket seat you look out over a Range Rover Sport steering wheel and clocks, but the ferocity of the noise emitted from the near straight-through side exit pipe is enough to blow small children over.

Hold on tight
I'm on Millbrook's mile straight doing a few 0-100-0 runs - stall the torque converter on the brakes, peel off the left hand pedal and hang on. The noise is fantastic - mechanical and rabid - and despite no form of traction control the EXR-S's rear axle digs in, with just the right amount of weight transfer to aid the launch. The front scrabbles around for grip but bites once it's off the line.

Odd mix of regular Rangie and rally car
Odd mix of regular Rangie and rally car
My runs were back-to-back with a Range Sport and the Bowler simply embarrasses the standard car - 0-62mph takes 4.2 seconds in the EXR-S, compared to 5.9 in the Sport - but it's the 100-0 part that gets you.

I just kiss 100mph and hit the brake pedal with everything I've got - the EXR-S prototype has ABS, only it doesn't use any clever stability systems to keep the rear wheels following the fronts. As that weight transfer comes into play again, this time unloading the rear, it squirms around like a toddler in a high chair. I'm forced to dial in a quarter turn of lock to catch it, but it still pulls up only a quarter of a mile after we set off - the normal Range would be sailing straight on here. But then it does weigh 725kg less than the 2.6-tonne Landy.

Development mule has been updated
Development mule has been updated
The penny drops...
Then it hits me. The company has managed to condense that essence of ridiculous robustness from what it does on the rough stuff and package it into a road car with the perfect balance of rawness and refinement.

Company founder Drew Bowler keeps telling me, "It's all about performance, but people don't actually want a rally car on the road." I can tell. An autobox, light steering and acceleration to warp perceptions should make the £155,000 EXR-S a stonkingly capable - mental, even - but useable car.


BOWLER EXR-S
Engine:
4,999cc V8, supercharged
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Power (hp): 550 @ 6,000rpm
Torque (lb ft): 461 @ 2,500 - 5,500rpm
0-62mph: 4.2 sec
Top speed: 155mph (electronically limited)
Weight: 1,875kg
MPG: 15.0mpg (estimated)
CO2: TBC
Price: £155,000 (before options)









 

 

 

 

 

Author
Discussion

2loud

Original Poster:

53 posts

152 months

Wednesday 26th December 2012
quotequote all
Really, really want!

  • checks ticket*

2loud

Original Poster:

53 posts

152 months

Wednesday 26th December 2012
quotequote all
2loud said:
Really, really want!

  • checks ticket*
Damn!

Coolbanana

4,383 posts

199 months

Wednesday 26th December 2012
quotequote all
I'd have one! Must be glorious fun! smile

thunderbelmont

2,982 posts

223 months

Wednesday 26th December 2012
quotequote all
I hate Range Rovers. I LOVE Bowlers.

Want.

That is all. Thank you.

belleair302

6,835 posts

206 months

Wednesday 26th December 2012
quotequote all
Well that sorts out the 4x4 choice for next winter ie September 2013 onwards, unless I can find a WWII landing craft.

mattshiz

461 posts

140 months

Wednesday 26th December 2012
quotequote all
That is one ugly car!

Fort Jefferson

8,237 posts

221 months

Wednesday 26th December 2012
quotequote all
mattshiz said:
That is one ugly car!
So is the price.

chrisironside

653 posts

161 months

Wednesday 26th December 2012
quotequote all
Amazeballs.

r1ch

2,867 posts

195 months

Wednesday 26th December 2012
quotequote all
I think this is my choice of car for the zombie apocalypse.

405dogvan

5,326 posts

264 months

Wednesday 26th December 2012
quotequote all
Surely the big difference between the off-road and road versions of this would be more than 2 seats?

I mean if I wanted to go really, really fast in a 2 seater I have a lot of options which don't weigh 2 tonnes!?

I have fewer options off-road but then I won't be going anything like as fast and...

Hmmm - I like how it looks (and sounds I guess!!) but I'm struggling to see the point - there are 2 seats in the nutter version...

Hellbound

2,500 posts

175 months

Wednesday 26th December 2012
quotequote all
Looks capable.

I'd have one if I lived in a bog/swamp.

Fortunately, I don't.

RichyBoy

3,739 posts

216 months

Wednesday 26th December 2012
quotequote all
I'd love a bowler in black so its always dirty.

Burnham

3,668 posts

258 months

Wednesday 26th December 2012
quotequote all
What a great way to spend £150,000. Awesome looking bit of kit.

RichieB1973

54 posts

143 months

Wednesday 26th December 2012
quotequote all
  • reaches for imaginary cheque-book*

Roo

11,503 posts

206 months

Wednesday 26th December 2012
quotequote all
thunderbelmont said:
I hate Range Rovers. I LOVE Bowlers.

Want.

That is all. Thank you.
Yep.

TNH

559 posts

146 months

Wednesday 26th December 2012
quotequote all
Cool, surely this car deserves a manual box though?

GroundEffect

13,819 posts

155 months

Wednesday 26th December 2012
quotequote all
Please give it a cool name like 'Wildcat'. I don't like names that are just seemingly random letters.

j_s14a

863 posts

177 months

Thursday 27th December 2012
quotequote all
GroundEffect said:
Please give it a cool name like 'Wildcat'. I don't like names that are just seemingly random letters.
An American company called Grumman produced a ww2 fighter aircraft called 'Wildcat'. It's successor was called 'Hellcat', that would be a great name for this Bowler!

omgus

7,305 posts

174 months

Thursday 27th December 2012
quotequote all
I can think of no possible reason to own a Bowler roadcar. But I really want one. Brilliantly daft in the best way.

anonymous-user

53 months

Thursday 27th December 2012
quotequote all
Reminds me of this!