Geneva 2015 - Liveblog

Geneva show cherry popped, Matt reports back on the good, the bad and the others found in Switzerland

Welcome to the PH Geneva liveblog! Or as live as we can make it, given the vagaries of internet coverage at major international motor shows. Somebody will figure it out one day... We've gathered together all the main stories on our News Hub page but here we'll share some more personal observations from the show floor - keep an eye on Twitter too under the hashtag #PHGeneva2015 and via @PistonHeads, @Trent_Dan and @PHMattB.

Wednesday - 1430h
As first Geneva motor shows to attend, 2015 must surely have been one of the best. It was proper kid in a sweet shop stuff, seemingly every step putting another new sports or supercar in sight. Yesterday was an fascinating if frustratingly brief taste of the show.

Expect even more of this soon

As a guest of Honda at Geneva, that Civic has been hard to escape for the past few days. For what it's worth, and as a self-confessed VTEC fanboy, I'm very excited about driving the Type R. I still have reservations about the styling but as something to drive it could (and arguably should) be superb. It's incredible how snooty a few commenters have become about a £30K), 300+hp manual hot hatch with many years development behind it. Come on people!

The NSX is far more exciting in the metal too, lower and wider and just much more imposing than the pics would have you believe. 2015 is a huge year for Honda and, for me, it's off to a very good start with those two. Let's see how they drive.

Other highlights? Porsche. Sorry if that's predictable but cynicism is hard to maintain around the Cayman GT4 and the GT3 RS. You just know they will be spectacular. I'll have a GT4 in Agate Grey with black wheels and PCCB. Not that I've given it much thought...

That other Longtail on McLaren's stand

McLaren beats Ferrari for me at Geneva this year. Perhaps the comparison isn't entirely fair given the 675LT is a track-biased evolution and the 488 GTB is 'just' the new Ferrari supercar but I simply preferred the McLaren. Much more has been changed than the looks would have you believe and as a fan of the standard 650S the Longtail promises a lot. As for the old F1 Longtail, I don't really get it actually. A standard F1 will do just fine thanks.

A common theme across the stands was how much better many cars looked out of their unfortunately Photoshopped pre-show universe. The Aston GT3 looked particularly menacing, all distended wheelarches and jutting spoilers. You suspect every one of those customers is going to have an absolute riot. The Vulcan too was far more impressive in reality, and the Audi R8 much sharper than it probably looked on a screen last week.

Greater than the sum of its parts?

There's a whole lot more I could witter on about (the Glickenhaus, AMG GT3, Aventador SV) but how better to finish than with a good moan? BMW, hang your heads. Sure, Geneva isn't typically a big show for it but pride of place on the stand was a 220d xDrive Gran Tourer. I understand BMW has to pursue new markets but it's just so dull. I'd rather have a Citroen C4 Picasso. The beautiful M6 Gran Coupe nestling at the back of the stand rescued some credibility.

And I'm struggling to get excited about the Clio Trophy at the moment. The old version was a very special car, one I'm still aching to drive, and, for now, this car doesn't quite seem to warrant the badge. Still, it's not unlike Renaultsport to pull a blinder out of the bag, is it?

Matt