What's you favourite new car of the year for 2019?
Discussion
I traditionally start a thread around this time of year asking fellow PHers what in terms of newly launched vehicles is their car of the year. Last year (2018) was a great one with something for everyone. Up! GTi/Fiesta ST/RS Megane at the more affordable end of the spectrum, Alpine and M2 Comp somewhere in the middle, Jaguar i-Pace for EV fans, the new M5/488 Pista at the top end and no doubt another Porsche/McLaren special. Trying to come up with a standout car for 2019 though is proving more difficult. We seem to be at a bit of a crossroads between ICE/EV and many of the big players seemed to have played it quite cautiously in 2019. There's a few new EVs (Audi e-Tron, Tesla Model 3 etc) but nothing that really raises my heartbeat and if you want a small crossover/SUV, particularly a squashed version of an existing crossover/SUV then you're spoilt for choice!
The new Supra/Z4 was probably one of the most hyped launches of 2019. I defended the Supra at the time, as the BMW content wasn't an issue for me and it seemed pretty much on the money in terms of power and price but in retrospect, I would rather have a used LC500 V8 and perhaps for me, that's the more special car that I had hoped that the Supra might be. We've had a new 3-Series and 911 of course, which in previous years might have been a fairly big deal but neither of those really excite me now or offer anything tangibly better over their predecessors other than an inflated price and let's not mention the new 1-series! Other much anticipated launches (Taycan/Defender/RS6) seem to have been put off until 2020.
The new AMG GT 4 door looks like a very fast and comfortable way to cross a continent but I can't help feeling the styling is a little contrived. On the other hand, the new CLS is gorgeous and I can't help feeling that a 63 AMG version of that would have been the car that I would have preferred to have seen.
It has had a relatively lukewarm response on PH but the new car from 2019 (and I'm cheating slightly because it's a mildly tweaked version of a 2018 car) that I would most like to have parked on my drive is the Jaguar XE SV Project 8 Touring. The price is truly eye-watering but it's as special as a limited edition Porsche/Ferrari/Lambo and probably rarer too. I love the menacing looks, the thunderous supercharged V8 and the nod to practicality. The only thing that I wasn't keen on were the wing and the Jaguar graphics, which they have addressed with the Touring model. It's also fairly unique in this sector (junior super saloons) by having AWD, albeit probably not for long but we're not going to see another car of this size pairing AWD with a V8. It's a fitting if expensive swansong for the supercharged Jaguar V8 and big capacity ICE engines in general and sorry but a product designed and built by a division called "Special Vehicle Operations" is just cool!
No chance of me being one of the lucky few though, so on a more realistic level, I'd take the new Ford Focus ST. Purely based on list price, it seems a little pricey compared to the more powerful AWD hatches and stuff like the RS Megane but I've always been a fan of the Focus and I'm sure as ever, they've done a good job and addressed some of its predecessors shortcomings like the low-rent interior and small boot. It also has the fairly unique USP of being available as an estate but for looks, I'd take the hatch.
So, which of the newly launched vehicles from 2019 would you most like to have parked on your drive?
The new Supra/Z4 was probably one of the most hyped launches of 2019. I defended the Supra at the time, as the BMW content wasn't an issue for me and it seemed pretty much on the money in terms of power and price but in retrospect, I would rather have a used LC500 V8 and perhaps for me, that's the more special car that I had hoped that the Supra might be. We've had a new 3-Series and 911 of course, which in previous years might have been a fairly big deal but neither of those really excite me now or offer anything tangibly better over their predecessors other than an inflated price and let's not mention the new 1-series! Other much anticipated launches (Taycan/Defender/RS6) seem to have been put off until 2020.
The new AMG GT 4 door looks like a very fast and comfortable way to cross a continent but I can't help feeling the styling is a little contrived. On the other hand, the new CLS is gorgeous and I can't help feeling that a 63 AMG version of that would have been the car that I would have preferred to have seen.
It has had a relatively lukewarm response on PH but the new car from 2019 (and I'm cheating slightly because it's a mildly tweaked version of a 2018 car) that I would most like to have parked on my drive is the Jaguar XE SV Project 8 Touring. The price is truly eye-watering but it's as special as a limited edition Porsche/Ferrari/Lambo and probably rarer too. I love the menacing looks, the thunderous supercharged V8 and the nod to practicality. The only thing that I wasn't keen on were the wing and the Jaguar graphics, which they have addressed with the Touring model. It's also fairly unique in this sector (junior super saloons) by having AWD, albeit probably not for long but we're not going to see another car of this size pairing AWD with a V8. It's a fitting if expensive swansong for the supercharged Jaguar V8 and big capacity ICE engines in general and sorry but a product designed and built by a division called "Special Vehicle Operations" is just cool!
No chance of me being one of the lucky few though, so on a more realistic level, I'd take the new Ford Focus ST. Purely based on list price, it seems a little pricey compared to the more powerful AWD hatches and stuff like the RS Megane but I've always been a fan of the Focus and I'm sure as ever, they've done a good job and addressed some of its predecessors shortcomings like the low-rent interior and small boot. It also has the fairly unique USP of being available as an estate but for looks, I'd take the hatch.
So, which of the newly launched vehicles from 2019 would you most like to have parked on your drive?
Edited by white_goodman on Thursday 5th December 19:08
I really don't need one but I do want one!
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