From sports cars to track cars, seven-seat SUVs to high-tech saloons, there’s plenty more to get excited about in 2016
Ferrari 458T
Awesome how? Our fave supercar gets turbo punch
CAN FERRARI improve on the 458 Italia? We’ll find our next spring, when our favourite supercar gets a mid-
life overhaul. Out goes the 562bhp 4499cc V8, in comes the twin-turbo 3855cc V8 from the California T,
but cranked up from 552bhp to 670bhp. Revised looks improve aero and cooling, and the infotainment is updated. But will turbos spoil the fun?
Ferrari 458T
Awesome how? Our fave supercar gets turbo punch
CAN FERRARI improve on the 458 Italia? We’ll find our next spring, when our favourite supercar gets a mid-
life overhaul. Out goes the 562bhp 4499cc V8, in comes the twin-turbo 3855cc V8 from the California T,
but cranked up from 552bhp to 670bhp. Revised looks improve aero and cooling, and the infotainment is updated. But will turbos spoil the fun?
HONDA NSX
Awesome how? Porsche 918 tech on a budget
HONDA’S NEW NSX has been so long coming you might mistake it for an obtuse Japanese joke. But it will finally appear at the Detroit auto show in January. Why should you still be excited after all this time? Because it combines a mid-mounted V6 and three electric motors (one in the gearbox and one for each front wheel) to deliver Porsche 918 levels of torque-vectoring hybrid complexity, at a BMW i8-rivalling price. And its forerunner was a legend.
Awesome how? Porsche 918 tech on a budget
HONDA’S NEW NSX has been so long coming you might mistake it for an obtuse Japanese joke. But it will finally appear at the Detroit auto show in January. Why should you still be excited after all this time? Because it combines a mid-mounted V6 and three electric motors (one in the gearbox and one for each front wheel) to deliver Porsche 918 levels of torque-vectoring hybrid complexity, at a BMW i8-rivalling price. And its forerunner was a legend.
Audi A4
Awesome how? E-quattro to rev up the repmobile
YOU CAN ALMOST sense the buzz in offices across the land as Audi gets closer to launching the next-gen A4.
Codenamed B9 and based
on Audi’s MLB ‘evo’ architecture, it’s lighter and stiffer with better component packaging – essential for the continuing march towards improved efficiency.
The new e-quattro plug-in hybrid
is the most intriguing model. This combines a 245bhp 2.0-litre TFSI turbo petrol driving the front wheels, with a 121bhp electric motor driving the rears – thus delivering four-wheel drive, big battery electric vehicle range and high performance.
The base engines are a 190bhp 2.0-litre petrol and a 180bhp 2.0-litre TDI, while the hot S4 gets 340bhp, the very hot RS4 450bhp.
Visual changes bring few surprises, save the slinkier lights that LED and Matrix laser technology make possible.
Production starts late in May, so you could have an A4 saloon parked on your drive soon afterwards, with the Avant estate following later in the year.
Awesome how? E-quattro to rev up the repmobile
YOU CAN ALMOST sense the buzz in offices across the land as Audi gets closer to launching the next-gen A4.
Codenamed B9 and based
on Audi’s MLB ‘evo’ architecture, it’s lighter and stiffer with better component packaging – essential for the continuing march towards improved efficiency.
The new e-quattro plug-in hybrid
is the most intriguing model. This combines a 245bhp 2.0-litre TFSI turbo petrol driving the front wheels, with a 121bhp electric motor driving the rears – thus delivering four-wheel drive, big battery electric vehicle range and high performance.
The base engines are a 190bhp 2.0-litre petrol and a 180bhp 2.0-litre TDI, while the hot S4 gets 340bhp, the very hot RS4 450bhp.
Visual changes bring few surprises, save the slinkier lights that LED and Matrix laser technology make possible.
Production starts late in May, so you could have an A4 saloon parked on your drive soon afterwards, with the Avant estate following later in the year.
Zenos E10
Awesome how? Could be the track sensation of the year
ZENOS CARS is yet another British start-up promising trackday thrills. But don’t let that put you off. The firm’s founders are ex-Caterham head honchos Ansar Ali and Mark Edwards – and they’re building a lightweight carbonfibre circuit slayer at a budget that’s more hot hatch than 911.
Weighing in at just 650kg, the E10 is based around an aluminium and recycled carbonfibre monocoque, and powered by a 200bhp Ford 2.0-litre engine. 0-62mph is estimated at 4.5sec, top speed 135mph. The 250bhp E10 S adds a turbo and slashes the 0-62mph sprint to 4.0sec.
Priced from £24,995 (£29,995 for the S), prototypes are already testing and full production begins in January.
Awesome how? Could be the track sensation of the year
ZENOS CARS is yet another British start-up promising trackday thrills. But don’t let that put you off. The firm’s founders are ex-Caterham head honchos Ansar Ali and Mark Edwards – and they’re building a lightweight carbonfibre circuit slayer at a budget that’s more hot hatch than 911.
Weighing in at just 650kg, the E10 is based around an aluminium and recycled carbonfibre monocoque, and powered by a 200bhp Ford 2.0-litre engine. 0-62mph is estimated at 4.5sec, top speed 135mph. The 250bhp E10 S adds a turbo and slashes the 0-62mph sprint to 4.0sec.
Priced from £24,995 (£29,995 for the S), prototypes are already testing and full production begins in January.
Volvo XC90
Awesome how? The family favourite SUV returns
YOU CAN order a new Volvo
XC90 now, but first deliveries aren’t scheduled until May 2015. So what makes the second-gen worth the wait?
Volvo has retained the family- friendly seven-seater layout that helped make the long-lived original
so popular, but the 2015 XC90 is
all new, and the first Volvo to use the firm’s brand spanking Scalable Product Architecture (SPA). Not to mention
a whole new range of engines and
as much safety tech as the Chinese- backed Scandinavians’ £6.8bn SPA development budget could stretch to. Which is plenty.
It’s four-cylinder engines only – which sounds brave, but what it lacks in cylinder count it makes up with forced induction. In fact, the top dog XC90 ‘T8 Twin Engine’ uses a 2.0-litre petrol with a turbocharger and a supercharger in combination with an electric motor to produce 395bhp. While emitting just 60g/km CO2. Eat that, BMW X5.
On the inside the new XC90 features a giant touchscreen in place of the confused mess of buttons most current Volvo owners will be familiar with, while an extra 143mm in overall length promises improved boot space, and added comfort for passengers up to 170cm tall in the final seating row.
Looks wise there are 22-inch wheels and daytime-running lights modelled after Thor’s hammer. Yours from £45,000.
We’re expecting to see the production
Spider at Geneva in March; sales should
begin soon after, with prices below £50k.
Later in 2015 the XE donates its
2.0-litre Ingenium turbodiesel engine;
this eD4 Disco Sport promises 119g/
km CO2 efficiency and sub-£30k
pricing. Oh, and all versions get a
pedestrian airbag.
Awesome how? The family favourite SUV returns
YOU CAN order a new Volvo
XC90 now, but first deliveries aren’t scheduled until May 2015. So what makes the second-gen worth the wait?
Volvo has retained the family- friendly seven-seater layout that helped make the long-lived original
so popular, but the 2015 XC90 is
all new, and the first Volvo to use the firm’s brand spanking Scalable Product Architecture (SPA). Not to mention
a whole new range of engines and
as much safety tech as the Chinese- backed Scandinavians’ £6.8bn SPA development budget could stretch to. Which is plenty.
It’s four-cylinder engines only – which sounds brave, but what it lacks in cylinder count it makes up with forced induction. In fact, the top dog XC90 ‘T8 Twin Engine’ uses a 2.0-litre petrol with a turbocharger and a supercharger in combination with an electric motor to produce 395bhp. While emitting just 60g/km CO2. Eat that, BMW X5.
On the inside the new XC90 features a giant touchscreen in place of the confused mess of buttons most current Volvo owners will be familiar with, while an extra 143mm in overall length promises improved boot space, and added comfort for passengers up to 170cm tall in the final seating row.
Looks wise there are 22-inch wheels and daytime-running lights modelled after Thor’s hammer. Yours from £45,000.
Alfa Romeo 4C Spider
Awesome how? Sexy Italian takes its top off
CARBONFIBRE IS brilliant – so light yet so strong the 4C should withstand transformation from CoupĂ© to Spider with little in the way of structural sogginess.
From its excitable steering to the chuffing 237bhp turbo 1742cc engine, the 4C is certainly dramatic. Now imagine that with the extra impact of open-air motoring. It almost brings a tear to the eye. Though that could just be the turbulence.
Awesome how? Sexy Italian takes its top off
CARBONFIBRE IS brilliant – so light yet so strong the 4C should withstand transformation from CoupĂ© to Spider with little in the way of structural sogginess.
From its excitable steering to the chuffing 237bhp turbo 1742cc engine, the 4C is certainly dramatic. Now imagine that with the extra impact of open-air motoring. It almost brings a tear to the eye. Though that could just be the turbulence.
Jaguar XE
Awesome how? Sharp style, mega mpg to rattle 3-series
FORGET THE looks and aluminium construction – it’s the XE’s engines that matter. Core are two new Ingenium 2.0-litre turbodiesels producing 161 and 178bhp; the former is the most efficient Jaguar ever, claiming 75mpg and 99g/km CO2 with the six-speed manual gearbox.
197 and 237bhp 2.0-litre turbo petrols carry over from the XF and XJ, while the 335bhp 3.0-litre V6 from the F-typeheadstherange.Tempted? TheXE arrives April 2015, priced from £27k.
Land Rover Disco Sport
Awesome how? Compact exterior, seven-seat interior
HOWEVER YOU look at the Discovery Sport – junior sibling to
the unashamedly functional Disco or seven-seater Evoque in comfy trousers – it certainly adds depth to the Land Rover range. Seven seats in a premium compact SUV is quite the coup, even if the +2 last row is kids only.
The existing 187bhp 2.2-litre SD4 turbodiesel kicks things off at £32,495 in January, complete with stop-start tech, direct injection and six-speed manual or nine-speed auto ’boxes.
Being a Land Rover, the four-wheel- drive system with Terrain Response will be in a class of its own when mounting pavements outside Waitrose.
Awesome how? Sharp style, mega mpg to rattle 3-series
FORGET THE looks and aluminium construction – it’s the XE’s engines that matter. Core are two new Ingenium 2.0-litre turbodiesels producing 161 and 178bhp; the former is the most efficient Jaguar ever, claiming 75mpg and 99g/km CO2 with the six-speed manual gearbox.
197 and 237bhp 2.0-litre turbo petrols carry over from the XF and XJ, while the 335bhp 3.0-litre V6 from the F-typeheadstherange.Tempted? TheXE arrives April 2015, priced from £27k.
Land Rover Disco Sport
Awesome how? Compact exterior, seven-seat interior
HOWEVER YOU look at the Discovery Sport – junior sibling to
the unashamedly functional Disco or seven-seater Evoque in comfy trousers – it certainly adds depth to the Land Rover range. Seven seats in a premium compact SUV is quite the coup, even if the +2 last row is kids only.
The existing 187bhp 2.2-litre SD4 turbodiesel kicks things off at £32,495 in January, complete with stop-start tech, direct injection and six-speed manual or nine-speed auto ’boxes.
Being a Land Rover, the four-wheel- drive system with Terrain Response will be in a class of its own when mounting pavements outside Waitrose.
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