Geneva 2017 - News Hub
Catch up on all our Geneva stories here
Press day is Tuesday March 7 and we'll be there reporting on all the exciting debuts. And there are a number right up our street, some of which we know about officially, some of which we don't but are widely tipped to be joining the fray. Put it this way, if you're in the business of building fast and exciting cars you'd be daft NOT to have something new on your stand at the show.
This preview gathers together stories we've already published on some of the cars we know for sure will be at the show; expect more to be added in the coming days as the announcements start coming thick and fast. For thoughts from both Matt and Dan live on the show floor, head over to the PH Liveblog here.
Last update: 8/3/17, 1315h
Alpina
The first all-wheel drive B5 is on the Alpina stand at Geneva. Will 608hp and 590lb ft from the 4.4-litre twin-turbocharged V8 have BMW M fans rushing over to Alpina? A recalibrated xDrive system and a rework of the traction control allow "an even more pronounced rear-wheel drive torque distribution"; if that doesn't sound good enough, then there's the 205mph top speed as well...
Pre-reveals aside, this new Alpine is a highly anticipated return for the sports car brand. It has been confirmed that it will have an aluminiumbody including a flat floor and rear diffuser to aid air flow and 'ensure remarkable aerodynamics' Details of the seats were then teased, with 'excellent lateral support and comfort' weighing in at 13.1kg. In the latest teaser Alpine has confirmed the return of the A110 name and a couple of undisguised pics. There are still no details on the engine or performance, beyond that early claim of sub-4.5 seconds 0-62mph.
Aston Martin
Aston's DB11 Volante is still a year away, but the Vanquish S Volante is as traditional as an Aston drop top will get. Expect a 600hp V12 with power higher up the rev range and suitable upgrades to the drivetrain and suspension. The cosmetic tweaks from the Vanquish S are carried over and could easily be one of the prettiest Aston Martins ever. Meanwhile the Red Bull and Adrian Newey developed hypercar gets a proper name - the vehicle formerly known as the AM-RB 001 is now officially called ... the Valkyrie. They'll have to build it now, right? And there is more still! The new AMR and AMR Line cars - revealed with a Vantage AMR and Rapide AMR Line - bring a taste of Aston Martin's motorsport success to the road product. Just in case you didn't make the list for a new GT3 and all.
400hp was supercar level power not so long ago; now you can get it in a hot hatch as Audi's RS3 returns packing a slightly harder punch. Claimed to be the most powerful hot hatch and taking the engine from the TT RS, Audi Sport boss Stephan Winkelmann (yes, him!) says it will be a "an attractive introduction to the RS world". And there's more from Audi Sport too - the new RS5 no less, now packing a 450hp V6 as opposed to ... a 450hp V8. The new one is a twin-turbo though and has torque the high-revving old model.noticeably lacked.
Bentley
An evolution of the EXP10 Speed 6 Coupe, the convertible EXP12 Speed 6e Concept promises London to Paris on a single charge; while that technology is a little way off, we can expect this exterior and interior to influence the next Continental GT.
Ford
The three-door hot hatch was bound to die a death in 2017, but Ford has come to the rescue with the new Fiesta ST available in both three- or five-door guises. The new ST is fitted with a 1.5-litre three-cylinder Ecoboost engine with three driving modes and cylinder deactivation! Inside, Ford has fitted the new SYNC3 infotainments system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility.
In typical style Ferrari managed to catch us pretty much unawares with its Geneva debut - the 812 Superfast. The F12 successor has 800hp and 529lb ft from a naturally-aspirated V12 and is capable of more than 212mph. It also gets the F12 TdF's four-wheel steer called Virtual Short Wheelbase 2.0 and an updated version of Side Slip Control.
Gemballa
Not ones for doing either shy or retiring, Gemballa will be showing its third 'Avalanche' model (the one based on a 911 Turbo) at Geneva. All 820hp of it. And Ferrari has the temerity to call its car Superfast... Expect plenty more from the tuners soon!
Glickenhaus
Building on the experience from the SCG003C race car, Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus is back at Geneva not only showing the SCG003S but also promising to annihilate the Nurburgring lap record with a target of 6min and 30sec. Helping achieve this goal will be lap data from the N24 car, an 800hp twin-turbo V8, 1,000kg of downforce and 2g cornering force - suffice to say this is a serious bit of kit.
A "radical reinterpretation" of the Q60, developed in collaboration with the Renault F1 team and said to have an F1-style energy recovery system to 'store' boosts for a push-to-pass burst to get around slow-moving traffic.
Kahn
'Reimagined and enhanced' is what Kahn's Vengeance Volante is said to be over the Aston Martin DB9 it is based on. Not much has been seen on this car, with the only image teased on Kahn's Instagram page is hidden in shadows. Don't expect it to be modest!
Lamborghini
Track focused Lamborghinis always shock and awe. The Aventador SV smashed a lap of the Nurburgring in 6min 59sec and now the new Huracan Performante has gone even faster with a stellar 6min 52.01sec lap, Lamborghini's tame nutcase Marco Mapelli at the wheel. That's faster than a hybrid-enhanced Porsche 918 Spyder and thanks to an active aero system called ... Aerodinamica Lamborghini Attiva. Your move Ferrari...
Land Rover
Evoque not expensive enough, but not quite made it to Range Rover Sport territory? Land Rover has spotted this gap and is filling it with the Velar. Less green lane and more urban style, the 'avant-garde' Velar said to be based on the Jaguar F-Pace platform and is there to cash in on the German mid-SUV segment. Look for bigger engines than seen in the Evoque and, hopefully, an SVR will be on the way too. Perhaps of more interest on the JLR stand though is the Photon Red I-Pace and, even better, a 'Project Hero' Discovery, a one-off car produced by SVO with the Austrian Red Cross. It has a drone that can fly from the roof with plenty more gadgets on board to help the Red Cross locate victims.
A 12C/650S replacement has quite the pair of shoes to fill, now confirmed as the 720S. Teasers leading up to the reveal of the reveal have included the P1-inspired Monocage II carbon tub, Variable Drift Control, ProActive Chassis Control II and a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8. Given the increasing irrelevance of 0-62 times the importance of the 0-125mph time that's the only performance stat thus released is clear - 7.8 seconds is a tenth quicker than a 675LT but, more importantly, a whole half second faster than a Ferrari 488 GTB.
Mercedes
A 612hp all-wheel drive saloon or estate would have sounded like stuff of dreams 10 years ago but Mercedes-AMG has put its most powerful V8 in the E-Class. And given you the option of disconnecting the all-wheel drive system to put all that power through the rear axle. Suffice it to say we're fans, the more so with the debut of the estate version coming to Geneva. The show will also see the debut of the Edition 50 AMG GT Roadster. Elsewhere Mercedes is clearly gunning for 'most Geneva car ever' with the unveiling of the Maybach-badged G650 Landaulet, a monstrous combination of jacked-up, portal-axled G500 'Squared' and Maybach-grade opulence. A 630hp V12 and top speed of 144mph complete this vision of opulence... Not enough? Looks like there will be a four-door AMG GT coming too!
Always wanted a Huayra but desperately wanted that wind in your hair feeling? Well the Roadster is here as an 'unbridled work of art' but still capable of 1.8G of cornering force, a limited run of 100 and a price of 2.3million euros.
Pininfarina
The Italian coachbuilder is going to have a busy Geneva show with not one but two different offerings. The H600 is a luxury all-electric saloon designed for Hong Kong-based Hybrid Kinetic Group. On a completely different note, the Fittipaldi EF7 is a carbon monocoque race car weighing in at around 1,000kg with over 600hp from a naturally-aspirated V8.
Porsche
You can't accuse Porsche of not listening to its customers - purist outrage over the PDK only 991 GT3 and anger at those denied an R have been addressed with the new, second generation 991 GT3. 500hp from a 4.0-litre six that revs to 9,000rpm and a no-cost manual option are the headlines, the £111K asking price seeming relative good value given the performance. Meanwhile whoever says the Hybrid is the choice for the eco-warriors hasn't seen Porsche's offering - the Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid. Enough power to trouble supercars, capable of hitting 192mph flat out but enough eco credentials to eke out an official 97.4mpg and up to 31 miles in all-electric mode. Not enough Panamera for you? The production version of the Sport Turismo 'shooting brake' has been confirmed and will be at the show.
Renault
Drawning up on Renault's Formula E experience, the mad Zoe e-sport is fitted with standard Ohlins dampers, four-wheel drive and two motors pushing the power up to 455hp. It sprints to 62mph in 3.2 seconds and 130mph in less than 10 (!). Four driver modes can prioritise range or power and we are sincerely hoping it can become some kind of a reality.
Rinspeed
With Porsche offering plenty of power and eco credentials to powerfully-built executives, Rinspeed, on the other hand, has revealed the self-driving Oasis. An integrated garden plot behind the windshield, the Oasis offers a 'living room ambience' allowing you to relax as you are driven to your favourite restaurant. If you are up for driving, a fitness and alertness test has to be passed before the foldaway steering wheel emerges.
Rolls-Royce
Even if no new models are to be revealed by Rolls-Royce it couldn't turn up at Geneva without something suitably lavish for the moneyed crowd. That'll be the actual showgoers - not the likes of us, it should be pointed out. A one-off, extended-wheelbase Ghost "inspired by something that cannot be bought, but is innate... style" with paintwork consisting of 1,000 crushed diamonds is about as Geneva as it gets. If something a little more fashionable is to your taste, how about the fashion-inspired Dawn? Three colour combinations on a white base represent "simplified, classic style" whilst the revised Wraith Black Badge has more torque than before - 642lb ft with tweaks to the gearbox, air suspension and driveshafts.
It's 30 years since Ruf unleashed the CTR Yellowbird around the 'ring and its celebration has the potential to overshadow Porsche's own new GT3 and, indeed, the Lamborghini Huracan Performante. Yes, it's a new CTR Yellowbird, retro in looks but based on a carbon chassis and packing 710hp. Manual only it weighs just 1,200kg dry and will hit 225mph. If you're brave enough.
Toyota
With Toyota back in the WRC, Toyota has created this supercharged 1.8-litre Yaris GRMN alongside its motorsport team Gazoo Racing. Key information to take from it is a six-speed manual, more than 205hp, a Torsen limited slip differential and Sachs dampers, with sales to commence in 2018.
Vanda
Vanda isn't yet known in supercar circles, but help from Williams Advanced Engineering on the aero and composites are definitely a good start. The Dendrobium is promising to be something spectacular too. An all-new player in the market or a classic Geneva one-hit wonder never to be heard of again after the show? We'll see!
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