Another break for Skyline Week here on Speedhunters. In our second review of the 2011 Geneva Motor Show, we take a look at some of the pro Production cars launched at the show.
Let’s start off with one of the cars of the show, the all new Lamborghini Aventador.
We’ve already covered the Aventador, but here area a couple more shots of the car from Geneva.
Many manufacturers have caught onto to the trend of Matte and Satin finishes, with Lamborghini being no exception, showing one of three cars in Matte White. Lamborghini were one of the first companies to use Matte on a Production car, the Reventon. The Aventador takes many styling cues from that vehicle.
Staying with high-end exotica!
I will be honest and say I was not the biggest fan of the Huayra when it was launched a couple of weeks ago in Metallic Gold.
Paint it in Metallic Red and it does look much better. I’m still having trouble getting past its fish-face and the form on the side, but metallic red with Carbon A-C pillars and lower panels results in quite the transformation.
I’ll keep the Zonda F in my garage for now….. that would be a 1:43 version by the way.
If the normal, run of the mill Koenigsegg Agera wasn’t quite extreme enough, maybe you would be interested in this new ‘R’ Variant.
1115hp, 885lb feet of torque with E85 fuel! 0-62 in just 2.9 seconds. Insane!
The new XKR-S coupe is an aggressive machine with a new bodykit, hood vents and rear spoiler. Looks quite extreme for Jaguar. Performance as you would expect has been improved. The XKR-S has 550hp with a 0-60 time of 4.2 seconds.
Aside from the cool A3 concept we showed in Part 1, Audi showed their new RS3 Hatchback. This A3 chassis has been in production for years and is a bit long in the tooth, but looks good in RS trim. A little conservative perhaps.
Powered by an in-line 2.5 Litre turbocharged unit running a 17psi boost and produces 340hp via a seven speed S-Tronic gearbox. 0-60 is 4.6 seconds! Unlikely to make it to North America.
The Nurburgring package finally makes its debut on the LFA. If this supercar wasn’t extreme or expensive enough already, you can spend $375,000 for this uprated car with 10 more hp. Revised gearbox, suspension, rear wing and bodywork are some of the other features on this LFA.
Oh yeah, you also get a branded Jacket…
When I was a kid, the talk in the playground, other than ‘my dad is bigger than your dad’ was what car you’d seen or your family owned. ‘My Dad owns a Ferrari Estate’ would often be muttered by one annoying kid in my school! Well now he could be telling the truth.
The Ferrari FF is not really an Estate (or station wagon) but a ‘Shooting brake’ which sort of translate as… it doesn’t really have much more room! This car is a real divider in the design community. Many detest it, including purists, but some, including Car Design News think it’s a potential Car of the Show. I’m undecided, but its better than going for an off-roader or large sedan….perhaps.
This is simply awesome!
Morgan has a long heritage back in the UK of producing three wheelers. Quirky I know, but hey, its British, we are allowed to be a bit classic and quirky! This new three wheeler is powered by a 115hp V-Twin engine. The design has been brought up to date with a tubular chassis and twin roll bars.
I love the fighter pilot graphic treatment of the car. Perfect for this vehicle.
Didn’t like the Mansory in Part 1?
Have a look at the Brabus 700 Biturbo. As the implies, the 6.2 Litre V8 now pumps out 700 bhp by changing engine mapping, exhausts and intake and exhaust manifolds. 0-60 is now 3.7 seconds…..
We will round out the roadcars with the latest tuned Audi from ABT Sportsline. This is their R8 GTRS, which is based on the stock R8 5.2 FSI V10 . Abt have found another 90+ hp so the V-10 has over 620 horsepower. The car has also gone on a diet with more carbon parts and bodykit. The show car was finished off in a Chrome Red with contrasting Satin Black elements. It actually works quite well.
A number of racecars made their debut at the show. The Peugeot 908 Hybrid shows that Peugeot is serious about Hybrid Diesel technology in their racecars. The electric motors uses regenerative braking stored up for a power increase when required. This is just a test vehicle at present, but one day it may see the competition.
Ford and Chevrolet stands had new Touring Cars on show. Chevrolet had their updated Cruze, now with the 1600cc Turbo engine to meet new FIA WTCC regulations. It’s a new car to North America, but it has been a huge success on the race track winning the 2010 World Touring Car Championship and various national tin top Championships, including Britain in 2010.
Ford also showed an example of their new ‘Global Touring Car Concept’. Developed by Arena International, this new shape Focus will compete in the 2011 British Touring Car Championship.
Hopefully you like it as I had a hand in the livery and assisted in the bodykit with the engineers. The idea, from Ford’s perspective is the basic package can be adjusted by teams, with Ford Technical Assistance for various championships around the world. This car has now departed the show and is testing in the UK.
Ford also showed their Fiesta RS WRC which marked its debut with a win on the Swedish Rally, courtsey of Mikko Hirvonen.
I like the clean livery of this Maserati.
Finally, Lotus had a ‘strange’ stand. In Paris, they showed five new concepts. Six months later and they are nowhere to be seen, just some current cars. Highlight of the stand for many was their stunning Evora Enduro GT concept racecar, complete with the new ‘Group Lotus’ livery from the new Lotus Renault GP team. Lotus Motorsport will be competing in a number of events including the Nurburgring 24Hours.
Jet Alliance Racing will also run an Evora in the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, which we will preview later this month.
This year’s Geneva Motor Show gives a promising outlook with an eclectic range of concepts from small Electric Vehicles all the way up to 1100hp Supercars made their debut.
Thanks to George and Stuart from Kilometer Magazine.com for some of the show floor images. Be sure to check out their website for hundreds of show images.
– Andy Blackmore
KilometerMagazine.com Geneva Motor Show Galleries
Images: Newspress, Kilometer Magazine
OFFICIAL SPEEDHUNTERS SUPPLIERS
Hopefully Lotus received enough backlash from customers and the car media to not go through with their history shaming proposed new lineup and instead are re-evaluating what they will do over the next 9 years.
The Koenigsegg is of course awesome, what is even more amazing is that I can spell the name o the brand so easily now.
I care little for Jaguars current exterior styling but their interiors and mechanical bits are fantastic now. I really wish they would partner with Bertone for exterior styling.'
The Morgan Trike is an awesome road tax evading machine.
Nice job on the Focus touring car it looks like a clean job, did you reduce the size of the radiator intake on the front fascia to reduce the amount of FOD intake and for aerodynamic purposes?
There is a hypercar bubble that is getting ready to pop soon in my opinion. Only a few will remain unscathed from it. And I do like seeing them, but that is what I feel will happen.
I wish we would see more good radical styling on regular cars. Alfa Romeo already does that on their regular cars, and the new Focus and Fiesta are pretty good to look at, but a lot of these Audis, Mercedes, and BMWs are so plain looking, hell the 7 series' tail lights look like they came off a Toyota.
another fantastic post Andy, we need more of these (and maybe less Skylines...)
Focus looks ace
I'll be in Geneva Tuesday and Wednesday and I cannot waut to see how all this amount of awesomeness will look in the flesh...
For what I see now, I'm very proud to be Italian: we have a very hard time in politics and economy, but seeing how our automotive industry reacts to this, I'm confident obout my future as a designer hopefully.
I'm still not too excited about the Ferrari FF, but I like the fact that they are reinventing theirselves, going their way no matter what the others do.
The Huayra, the 4C and most of all the infamous Aventador are truly incredible.
But all of the manufacturers are doing fantastic things, like the new A3, the i brand from BMW, the new Gumpert and Lotuses.
I hope you guys to do a post on EV cars: there are 40 world premieres at Geneva this year!
lamborghini aventabortion.
The Pagani Huayra looks good in red. Kind of makes me think of the Zonda S. I WILL be looking forward to the roadster.
Funny thing about the new Lamborghini... its the first Lamborghini that comes to mind where it looks great from the back side and the complete opposite from the front side.
The Koenigsegg is really quite the winner in the looks... and power. The Bugatti Veyron SS better watch its ass.
The Ferrari FF doesn't look too pleasant but still follows with interest. The abnormal hatchback looks aren't the biggest deal about it, though. Ferrari claimes that its AWD and reaches a top speed of 220mph.. thats 12mph faster then the 599 GTO.
God, I love that Morgan! Its incredibly entertaining and has the ability to make you say "its cute! Yet dorky... its a dorky cute!". Peter Sellers would have a huge smile on his face with the new release of this vehicle (watch the hillarious 1968' film called "The Party" and you'd understand). I wonder what it would be like with a turbo and over 200hp... one way to fit a grin, I guess.
And finally... the Lotus Evora looks good in those colors. They should feature that paint detail on their street cars.. this way, any average joe can feel like Ayrton Senna as they drive to work.
Speaking of Ayrton Senna the new documentary about him is coming out in the summer and looks like it will be awesome from what I have seen from the previews on the last episode of this season's Top Gear.
I also have to say that that Jag XKR-S looks like a sad old Bugatti when it is painted in that color.
I wonder how that Peugeot Hybrid will be at Le mans this year, quite an intriguing race is being formed for this year, although I am sad that the GT1 Category is gone. I wish Panoz would do another LMP type car to give America a front line contender in the top category to compete with the French, Germans, and British.
I'm going to the Geneva Motor Show on next friday as I'm living close to the Palexpo, can't wait to see this new Koenigsegg ! Woah !
the 'new' pagani hyarurarrueeea thingy looks a little bit better in red, but its still more ugly than a soggy wort and the same goes for the ferrari FF.
i agree, hopefully lotus has forgotten those concepts.
Sam - as per the post, the 908 Hybrid will not be competiting this year, but I did hear it may test with other LMP cars at the Le Mans Test. Not sure it can though.
Worth noting, the Brabus 700 is actually twin turbo charged as well.
The Focus touring car livery looks great! What's going on with those triangular shapes in the front clip? Are those graphics or part of the bodywork???
The Morgan is amazing. Would be crazy to pilot.
The rest are just more of the over-hyped rockets for rich assholes who would be lynched when the economy actually fails.
same here andy, ZONDA FTW! & yea...CAN FORD PLZ MAKE THEIR AWD FIESTA A PRODUCTION CAR!!! DX
Porsche and Ferrari are making family cars... while Toyota and Nissan are making supercars.... oh how the tables turn...
Big-B = The triangular shapes in the front bumper are mimic the lower grille on the new Ford Focus, which is coming to market. This new grille is a development of the grille on the previous EU Focus ST and RS.
So we have to keep close to the original car form, partly regs, but also aesthetics from Ford's perspective. You will notice round air inlets in those sections of course, but I'm not going to tell you what they are for.
z= good point. I hadn't thought of that
im going to miss the lambo murcilago, it had such a good, long run but hopefully the aventador is a fitting replacement
The thing I don't get about the Huayra is the wheel design: one spoke looks straight and the others of varying degrees of curve. Looks kinda odd in the photos. I think my favourite car from this post and maybe the whole show is the Morgan three wheeler.
Guys you have to see the cars in person to judge...90% of the cars you call ugly it's only due to photo perspective.
And you have to be somehow into car design aswell, because that is what auto salons are all about, design and tecnology.
The Huayra is one of the best looking cars ever made in the past 10 years: not only but it follows precise aerodynamic rules, which means twice the work for designers.
The "fish mouth"...what??...that car has flaps...FLAPS ON A CAR!
The front end gets lower increasing the speed so the bumper has to be the most curve possible to avoid vortex creation, I think yu can understand this.
The Subaru concept which in photos looked like a 350Z? WRONG!
Actually it has a tail, and it's longer than the FT86.
Oh and The roof line it's nothng like nissan z as someone said.
The FT86, also hated by a lot of you in the previous post, it's astonishing.
It looks just furious, and of course the design takes inspiration from Toyota's best motorsport creation, the LFA.
I mean, what's wrong with all of you?Finding a bad looking car this year it's really difficult, but to say so you have to actually go there, not watching photos and bla bla bla-ing.
The 4C, that someone argued looked like a Lotus...bah...I really don't see how you can give opinions like these without touching with hand a design, seeing its proportions and get to a conclusion.