7.12 AM Tuesday, 19 March 2024
  • City Fajr Shuruq Duhr Asr Magrib Isha
  • Dubai 05:07 06:20 12:29 15:54 18:33 19:47
19 March 2024

Your pick: Lamborghini, Ferrari, McLaren…

Published
By Vicky Kapur

The ongoing Geneva Motor Show 2013 has thrown some really cool concept cars at us – not literally, thankfully, unlike what happened at the Daytona race track last month.

This year has been, in some sense, a vintage year for the Geneva Motor Show, with a number of big automakers launching some cool eye candies and some significant concept models, all aggressively jostling for our attention.

And all the big names – and some smaller ones – were there to leave their tyre treads on the floor. The Germans, the Brits, South Koreans, the Japanese, the Americans, the Italians and even the French were there alright, all eager to reveal to the world what they were hiding beneath the car covers.

And those that have ever been to any of the big motor shows will know that carmakers believe in hard-sell – and they don’t shy away from flaunting the soft stuff either.

But, for the sake of this article, we’ll focus on the hottest cars unveiled – and leave the leggy beauties for another piece, perhaps later.

And while there were plenty of models (car models) that turned our heads, we’ve distilled the list down to 10 that really had our attention. Without further ado, in no particular order, here is our list of the Top 5 Hottest New Cars (including concept cars) unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show 2013. Take your pick – or two.

Ferrari LaFerrari

The hottest one first – we just can’t stop talking (or thinking) about the LaFerrari supercar. It’s a hybrid, for crying out loud. Frankly, we never thought we’d, in our lifetime, see a hybrid Ferrari production car – but then, we’ve been wrong before.

Lo and behold, all ye Ferrari fans, even if you never wished for it, it is here – the tree-hugging Ferrari LaFerrari is the first hybrid production car from the Italian stallion’s stable. It’s also the most expensive Ferrari ever. And it may be green, but it’s still Ferrari red.

The specs at least are as red as they come - the LaFerrari is powered by a 6.3-liter V12 rated at 789 horsepower. Throw in a pair of its HY-KERS hybrid setup (electric motors for the uninitiated), mate it to a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission, and what you get is an additional 161hp – and that brings the total output up to a staggering 950hp and 660 lb-ft of torque.

The HY in HY-KERS, by the way, is for hybrid. The KERS is for a Formula One-style Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) that charges the car’s battery pack and, just to assuage the typical Ferrari fanatic, this hybrid never operates solely on electric power – so you will, definitely, burn gas.

And there will be just 499 LaFerrari cars built – so if you have about $1.58 million (Dh5.8 million) lying around in idle cash somewhere, now’s the time to fish it out. There’s a good chance that all 499 have already been snapped, but there’s no harm trying, now is there?

Like another one of our favourites – the Lamborghini Veneno – Ferrari boasts of doing 0 to 100kmph in less than 3 seconds. Top speed? A mind-numbing 370kmph – blink and you missed it. Vroom is the word. At half the emissions. Oh my.

Lamborghini Veneno

Another one that had us at hello! The ultra-limited-production 50th anniversary Lamborghini Veneno costs €3 million (plus tax) – that’s Dh14.316 million in hard cash. Even if you do have that kind of money, if you haven’t pre-booked one of the three (yes, only three) of the Venenos that Lamborghini is ever going to produce, then you’re too late already – all three have been spoken for.

We’ve covered the iconic car in a lot more detail here: Lamborghini Veneno unveiled: Costs Dh14.3m, does 0 to 100 in 2.8 seconds

Specs: With a maximum output of 552 kW/750 hp, the Veneno accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in just 2.8 seconds and the top speed for this street-legal racing car stands at 355 km/h. It features a 12-cylinder power unit with a displacement of 6.5 liters, an extremely fast-shifting 7-speed ISR transmission with 5 driving modes and permanent all-wheel drive, as well as a racing chassis with pushrod suspension and horizontal spring/damper units.

Rolls-Royce Wraith

Compared with the cost of the Lamborghini Veneno or even the Ferrari LaFerrari, the €245,000 (Dh1.17 million) price-tag of the Wraith might look like a distant, poor cousin, but the car has nothing poor in it. The looks are typical Rolls-Royce rich, as are the interiors.

But what we’re really, really sold on is the fact that the Wraith chooses its gears using GPS – the coupé’s eight-speed ZF automatic gearbox relies on the vehicle’s positioning to select gears in advance, checking the traffic situation down to the stretch of road, and shifting to now that’s cool, isn’t it?

Specs: The Wraith is the most powerful Rolls-Royce ever, with a 624bhp V12 engine. Does 0-100kmph in 4.4 seconds. You find that slow now, huh? It’s the fastest Rolls-Royce in the company’s 108-year history.

Besides, the fact that there will be more Wraiths in production than the three Lamborghini Venenos or the 499 Ferrari LaFerraris means that we – and you – have a better chance of owning one (someday).

McLaren P1

McLaren claims its P1 supercar is designed to be the best driver’s car in the world. We don’t disagree. And that’s saying a lot.

“The astonishing new McLaren P1, which debuts in production form at the Geneva Motor Show, has a clear goal – to be the best driver’s car in the world on road and track. To achieve this objective, McLaren is using all of its 50 years of racing experience and success, especially in the fields of aerodynamics and lightweight carbon fibre technology,” the company said in a media statement last week.

It’s amazing, to say the least. The P1’s top speed is electronically limited to 350 km/h (217 mph), with the 0-100 km/h standing start acceleration taking less than three seconds. But wait for this – the McLaren P1 will power from 0 to 200 km/h in less than seven seconds, and on to 300 km/h in less than 17 seconds – a full five seconds quicker than the McLaren F1.

The McLaren P1 uses IPAS petrol-electric powertrain comprising a substantially revised 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8 petrol engine, coupled to a single electric motor, collectively known as M838TQ. Combined power output is 916 PS (903 hp).

At just 90kg, the McLaren P1 has one of the lightest carbon fibre full-body structures used in any road car to date, and uses the most advanced carbon fibre technology. A combination of Formula 1 style pre-preg autoclave technology and precision resin transfer moulding (RTM) achieves a single piece. Every element of the composite raw material used on the McLaren P1 MonoCage, and the carbon body, is bespoke. They are tailor engineered specifically to suit the extreme performance and lightness requirements of the McLaren P1, and the uniqueness of the manufacturing technology. They cannot be found anywhere else but McLaren.

The price-tag: $1.15 million (Dh4.22 million). And yes, to maintain exclusivity, production will be “strictly limited to 375 units.” There we go again.

Spyker Venator

The Spyker B6 Venator Concept has been billed as “a unique alternative in the high luxury sports sector.” It is, as Spyker puts it, an “exclusive car at a more accessible price point of approximately $125,000 / $150,000 [Dh460,000 / Dh550,000].”

In the auto circles, it is being pegged at Spyker’s comeback car – and it does have the potential for that. “2013 marks the global resurgence of Spyker as a creator of meticulously built automobiles whose beauty is equaled by their unrivaled craftsmanship,” says the automaker.

“The brand’s revival is heralded by the introduction of the Spyker B6 Venator Concept, a unique alternative in the High Luxury Sports sector,” it adds.

The Spyker B6 Venator Concept is a compact, 2-door mid-engine sports car with lots of aviation-inspired elements. FYI, “Venator” is Latin for “Hunter” – a nod back to Spyker’s Hunter fighter plane of the early 20th century. The coupe was designed by Victor R. Muller, CEO of Spyker, the company that once owned Saab.