Nother CarGuy

McLaren Automotive is set to show its new Senna hypercar at the Geneva Motor Show for the first time next week. And when it does, it’ll wear a previously unseen “Carbon Theme.” One of five “themes” prepared by McLaren Special Operations for the new Ultimate Series model, the Carbon option is – as you might have guessed – characterized by its carbon-fiber appearance. The package comprises 67 parts that takes nearly 1,000 man-hours to produce. It also features yellow and green accents in reference to Ayrton Senna’s Brazilian heritage, taking another 250 hours to apply. This on top of the 300 hours it takes to hand-assemble each car. The treatment continues inside, where the black Alcantara trim features green stitching, along with the gas strut for the door, a yellow-hued steering wheel, and S logos on the headrests and rear-wing endplates. The Carbon Theme adds almost £300,000 to the £750,000 sticker price. “The McLaren Senna customers in the process of specifying...

Automakers from across Europe and around the world are descending on Geneva for the motor show next week. And that includes Bentley, which has something unexpected in store for us. The British manufacturer will showcase its new Continental GT at the show, along with the Bentayga V8. But it’s also promising “an exciting new model” of undisclosed parameters, to be unveiled by Adrian Hallmark. The new chairman and CEO recently took over from Wolfgang Dürheimer, and this will be his first public outing as head of the storied marque. Just what that new model will be, we couldn’t say for sure.  But we do have a guess or two. It could be the extremely exclusive, Mulsanne-based Grand Convertible that was recently announced for strictly limited production. Maybe the production version of the Speed 6 sports-car concept. It could also be a plug-in hybrid version of the Bentayga. Or maybe it’ll be something different entirely. More likely, though, we’ll be looking at a new member of t...

Hyundai has a whole raft of new models to present at the Geneva Motor Show this year. While some of them are already known to us, the Korean automaker has also announced its intention to reveal something entirely new. Though we don’t know exactly what to expect, Hyundai has confirmed that the new concept will debut a new design language for the brand. What form that concept will take, we couldn’t say at this stage – coupe, convertible, sedan, wagon, minivan, sport-ute, crossover, or something in between. But whatever it is, you can bet it has been designed to draw attention to itself, even amidst all the glitz and glamor of Europe’s premier auto show.  Regardless of its actual form, its styling, proportions, architecture, and technology are bound to eventually make a difference on future production models that are to follow. “The line-up at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show underlines Hyundai’s pioneering spirit in future mobility and showcases the fact that Hyundai is leading ...

Skoda has released new details and pictures of the Vision X concept. Set to be debut at the Geneva Motor Show next month, the concept is billed as an “urban crossover” that transfers the characteristic features of the Kodiaq and Karoq to “another vehicle segment.” While it may look like just another crossover, the Vision X has a lot going on underneath the skin. For starters, the model has a turbocharged 1.5-liter G-TEC four-cylinder engine which can run on petrol or compressed natural gas (CNG). That’s not too usual but Skoda engineers didn’t stop there as they equipped the model with a new hybrid system. Another interesting feature is the concept’s unique drive system, Skoda didn’t go into specifics but said the model switches from front to rear to all-wheel drive as needed. This combined with the high-tech powertrain promises to give the model “spontaneous power delivery, increased agility and low CO2 emissions of only 89 g/km.” Detailed performance specifications were...

Borrowing heavily from the larger A8 and sportier A7’s styling and bursting with high tech, Audi has introduced the eighth generation of its A6 sedan, following a leak earlier today. One of the star attractions at the Geneva Motor Show, the redesigned model follows in the footsteps of A7 and A8 as it adopts a stylish design with “taut surfaces, sharp edges and striking lines.” Starting up front, there’s a wide singleframe grille which is surrounded by large air intakes and angular headlights. Speaking of the latter, the A6 will be offered with three different headlights including range-topping HD Matrix LED lights that have distinctive daytime running lights. Moving further back, the model has been equipped with sportier bodywork and new character lines which give the sedan a more muscular appearance. Continuing to the rear, there’s an integrated trunk spoiler and optional LED taillights with nine vertical segments. Audi says the car has a drag coefficient as low as 0...

Want to get into a new Lexus? The CT used to be your point of entry… until Lexus realized people weren’t so interested in spending over $30k on a hybrid hatchback. So it made the NX crossover as its new entry-level model. Now it’s preparing to slot an even smaller, more accessible model in underneath it – and here it is. Set to debut at the Geneva Motor Show next week, the new Lexus UX is shown here for the first time in a solitary image and video clip. Billed as an “urban compact crossover,” the UX is set to take on domestic rivals like the Infiniti QX30 and possibly the Acura CDX in some markets – to say nothing of German targets like the Audi Q3, BMW X1, and Mercedes GLA. Those are some small crossovers, and for its entry into the segment, Lexus has evidently adapted its now-characteristic, sharply angular design language into that tiny footprint – from the signature “spindle” grille on rearwards. The automaker also declares that its “an all-new platform gives the UX except...

Famous car designer Giorgetto Giugiaro is bringing his latest creation to the 2018 Geneva Motor Show. Called Sybilla, it was developed under the GFG Style company, whose initials stand for Giorgetto Fabrizio Giugiaro, and it came to life with help from the Chinese at Envision Energy. The show car has a retro styling, as revealed in the images shared by AutoNews, with a front canopy that hinges forward. This feature is reminiscent of the Chevrolet Corvair Testudo, a study created by Giugiaro in the 1960s. Elsewhere, the Sybilla has a transparent windshield roof, and the rear passenger compartment is easily accessible thanks to the clever design of the doors. Measuring over 5 meters (16.4ft) in length, and being 1,480mm (58in) tall, the study can sit two passengers on the two rear individual seats, which can recline for more comfort, with plenty of legroom. No technical details have been released yet, but the new GFG Sybilla Concept uses an electric powertrain, which com...

Hyundai has unveiled the zero-emissions version of the Kona, making it the first electric sub-compact SUV to be offered in Europe. The new Hyundai Kona Electric will be available with two different powertrain configurations: the basic model will be powered by a 135PS electric motor that’s fed by a 39.2kWh battery pack, giving it an estimated driving range of up to 186 miles (300km) on the latest WLTP cycle. The long-range version ups the ante with a 204PS electric motor paired to a 64kWh battery pack. Hyundai expects the long-range Kona Electric to travel up to 292 miles (470km) between charges. Hyundai says that both versions of the new Kona Electric require around 54 minutes to charge their batteries to 80 percent using a 100kW DC fast charger. Short-range models are capable of a 0-62mph (100km/h) in 9.3 seconds while the more powerful long-range Kona EV drops that time down to 7.6 seconds. In both cases top speed is set at 103mph (167km/h). Hyundai has added...

It’s barely been two years since Kia rolled out the current Optima. But the Korean automaker is already giving it a bit of an update – shown here for European markets following its rollout back home. The refreshed Optima benefits from a new front bumper (and rear bumper on the sedan version), along with a chrome-trimmed tiger-nose grille, and new head, tail, and fog lamps. The cabin is also spruced up with a new steering wheel, satin-chrome trim, and upholstery options. There’s a new drive-mode selector, with ambient lighting either switching with the mode selected or manually selectable. GT Line and GT models feature new LED fog lamps as well, along with gloss-black exterior accents, fresh interior trim, and dual exhaust tips. A new shade of red is introduced with the updated model, and there are new wheel choices across the board. The manufacturer has taken the opportunity to updated the advanced driver assistance features, too. But the bigger change may be under the...

The Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra are peas in a big, working-grade pod if we’ve ever seen them. But General Motors is out to put a little daylight between them in their latest iterations. That could be why it opted to keep the new Sierra away from the Detroit Auto Show last month, where it unveiled the new Silverado. But that won’t matter much once GMC takes to the stage in three days. That’s when it’ll finally take the wraps off the all-new Sierra, previewed in this here teaser image. As dark as it is, the teaser clearly shows a very different headlight arrangement compared to the Silverado’s, but C-shaped LED accent lighting. The grille looks further separated from the rest of the fascia on the Sierra, and given the way the bodywork extend into the nose on the Chevy version, that’ll mean different front fenders, too. More than that, we couldn’t really say at this point. But we’d wager there’ll be more visual differentiation between the Chevy and GMC models once the new ...

Nissan has finally taken the wraps off the new Navara-based SUV, which is known as the Terra. Nissan’s latest SUV will go on sale in China this spring, with other Asian markets to follow shortly after. The Nissan X-Terra body-on-frame SUV comes as the successor of the previous-gen Pathfinder. It will be fully unveiled and detailed in April, most likely during the 2018 Beijing Auto Show which debuts on April 25. Nissan has released just a few images of the new Terra, revealing a familiar design that basically follows in the footsteps of its pickup truck sibling. Higher specs will benefit from an infotainment system just like the one used in the Navara, dual-zone climate control with rear air vents, multi-function steering wheel, leather, aluminum trim, and other features. There’s a good chance that the engine lineup will be carried over from the pickup as well, so the new Nissan XTerra might be powered by the familiar 2.3-liter turbodiesel engine. A previous report stat...

This year’s Geneva Motor Show will, as it always is, be mostly about European cars. But Toyota isn’t about to sit it out. The Japanese giant has confirmed a star-studded lineup for the Swiss expo. And that starts with the all-new Auris, previewed here for the first time. The C-segment hatchback (also currently available as a wagon) will debut in its third iteration at the Geneva show, bringing with it all the updates that Toyota can throw at it. The automaker promises “a more dynamic exterior design,” for one thing. For another, the new Auris will serve as the spearhead for Toyota’s new “dual hybrid strategy,” by which we understand that it’ll be offered with two gasoline-electric powertrain choices. Expect the new 2.0-liter full hybrid to join the milder hybrid option, which currently centers around a 1.8-liter internal-combustion engine. The big question on our minds is whether the new Auris will make it to US showrooms, where the Corolla sedan reigns as king. The current mo...

Sony is putting effort into its smartphones again. The company’s new XZ2 and XZ2 Compact shrink down the chunky bezels of their predecessors (to an extent) and feature the same taller, slimmer displays that helped Samsung, LG, and other companies roundly outclass Sony’s smartphone design last year. Both new Sony phones are powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 processor, the latest and greatest silicon that will be inside most of 2018’s Android flagships. They’re scheduled to ship this spring, with pricing to be announced later. This time around, Sony isn’t overdoing it with a gimmicky 4K screen. The XZ2’s 5.7-inch, FHD+ (2160 x 1080) display has a 2:1 aspect ratio. The top and bottom bezels have been significantly downsized. There’s still enough room for Sony to put its name at the bottom of the phone, so the company isn’t quite at par with Samsung, LG, or OnePlus. But this is certainly an improvement. The screen supports HDR and Sony says it automatically up-converts SDR content ...