Sporty luxury makes a comeback in Geneva

After the frenetic launch of new luxury sports utility vehicles during the past few editions of the Geneva Motor Show, this year’s show witnessed a slew of new luxury and super sports cars being premiered.

SUVs haven’t faded away and buyer preference for these vehicles is still strong, but Geneva this year seemed to mark a further maturing of the market for luxury performance vehicles.

All the big German, Italian and British luxury brands had new cars in Geneva. And almost all of these new vehicles are attempting to outdo their predecessors in terms of performance and luxury. Electric mobility and autonomous driving were two other themes that persisted amongst car makers at Geneva this year .

It must be one tough job to be either a designer or a powertrain engineer in Ferrari because they are both expected to push the envelope with every new model. But just when you thought that they have already created their best, they go and do that again with the next one. Geneva is the show where Ferrari pulls the wraps off its next supercar every year and this year’s show was no exception. The new 812 Superfast is the successor to the F12 Berlinetta, and as the name seems to suggest, it is the fastest production car that Ferrari has ever produced. The 812 Superfast gets its name from Ferrari’s past, 1957 actually when Enzo, the company’s founder, used it for a prototype he had created. The new car’s design is very different from the predecessor, with a special fastback rear design giving it a unique character. The powertrain is a naturally-aspirated V12 engine that produces a whopping 790 prancing horses of power. The car is capable of reaching 100 kmph in a mere 2.9 seconds.

The new generation of Porsche’s radical two-seater, street-legal sports car gets lighter and more powerful, and was not the only luxury sports car in Geneva that was daringly different in terms of sheer performance. Featuring a four-litre flat six-cylinder engine, the high-revving, naturally aspirated unit generates 500 hp and is nearly identical to the 911 GT3 racing cup car. The sports car now gets a redesigned chassis, rear axle steering and new lightweight construction are also meant to deliver much better driving dynamics. The new GT3’s power to weight ratio is 2.86 kg/hp and the engine is paired with Porsche’s PDK double clutch transmission, which has been specifically tuned for use in the GT.

The car can accelerate from standstill to 100 kmph in 3.4 seconds and the top speed is 318 kmph. The new GT3 was the only sports car that was daring enough to be featured with a six-speed sports manual gearbox, which is offered to performance enthusiasts.

British super car brand McLaren’s sports cars are the disruptors in the business. The latest super car from this brand is the 720S, premiered at Geneva this year, and is even more extreme than the already mad predecessor — the 650S. The new car’s four-litre, twin-turbocharged V8 engine delivers power to the rear wheels and is capable of hitting 96 kmph in 2.8 seconds. The mid-engined two-seater is lighter and faster than the previous McLaren and will be marginally more expensive too, The McLaren 720S is capable of a top speed of 340 kmph.

The super performance brand of the German car maker is celebrating its 50th anniversary in style with the unveiling of its first four-door production concept. The AMG GT Concept could herald further extension of the family. It would also be the third model series after the SLS AMG and the AMG GT, which will be completely independently developed at the brand’s headquarters in Affalterbach, near Stuttgart.

The design of the new four-door concept clearly identifies it as being part of the AMG GT family. It is extremely low slung and compact and can almost be mistaken to be a two-door. For the powertrain, the AMG GT Concept combines a V8 petrol engine and a high-performance electric motor.

Intelligent networking of these two motive power sources and combining the abilities of a modular battery concept, the new GT four-door is said to be capable of a system output of 805 hp and a 0-100 kmph time of less than three seconds.