LOOKING FORWARD TO 2013: Must-drive cars to come

Must-drive cars to come

Marton Pettendy – Managing Editor
With the Holden Volt now trickling into dealers, I wait with interest to see how GM’s pricey plug-in hybrid gains traction with Australian consumers. Given its range-extending capability makes this electrified vehicle more suited to Australia’s vast distances than any other, I wait with even more interest to drive an SUV version of the Volt, which would indeed be a game-changer Down Under.

Ken Gratton – News Editor
I'd love to get behind the wheel of the Jaguar F-Type. But actually I'd be content driving anything – over a seven-day period – with more presence for once than a compact SUV or a small hatch.

Matt Brogan – Road Test Editor
Some say Jaguar's F-Type looks like the lovechild of a Nissan 370Z and a Jaguar XF but I’m not sure that’s a bad thing – especially if it combines the best bits of both! Anyway, the car’s designer, Ian Callum, says it’s his best work yet, and I’m inclined to agree. It really is pretty. Plus all indications are that it’ll go as good as it looks.

Feann Torr – Staff Journalist
The Porsche 918 Spyder hybrid uber-car. The suggestion is it will dash from 0-100km/h in 3.2 seconds and have a top speed of more than 325km/h thanks to a 4.6-litre V8, but the kicker is the twin electric motors, which boost power, but also enable fuel consumption of 3.0L/100km. Just don’t ask how much... You’ll cry.

Holden’s VF Commodore is also high on the list of cars I most want to drive in 2013, and it could be just what the General ordered to revitalise sales in the large car segment. Here’s hoping for a turbocharged V6.

Bruce Newton – Contributor
Holden Commodore VF. It’s not all-new, but it does shape as the last big hurrah for the Aussie designed and built large car (unless the 2014 Falcon turns out to be a lot more than what we expect). Next stop, global small cars and SUVs.

Michael Taylor – Contributor
Hands down the BMW i8. BMW is talking it up, so they’d better deliver. And here’s what they’d better deliver: Porsche straight-line performance with better-than-Prius fuel economy. And some proper engine noise to make it a real sports car.

If they get that right, they might be the first mainstreamer to deliver sustainable high-performance with zero range anxiety, good looks and street cred. It might end up asking 458 Italia money for 911 zing, but the others will have to follow it.

Gautam Sharma -- Contributor
Billed as ‘the ultimate driver’s car’, the McLaren P1 is pitched as the modern-day successor to the hallowed 1990s F1. I haven’t been fortunate enough to drive the F1, so I hope to make up with the P1, which, like its predecessor, debuts a host of pioneering technology. From clever aero/cooling solutions to a state-of-the-art KERS system, the P1 is likely to be the most sophisticated hypercar on the market. Question is, will it put a huge smile on your dial? That’s what I’d like to find out.

Jeremy Bass – Contributor
On my (green) patch, AMG’s SLS Electric Drive would have to top the list. Beyond that, more time (proper road-test time) in Tesla’s Model S please.

Toyota’s diesel RAV4 rates high on the list, as does an Audi electric turbo-diesel model – a brilliant resort to the 'bleedin’ obvious' for a breakthrough in seeing off turbo-lag. More broadly, Benz’s new A Class (simply because it’s up with the most important releases of the year) and the Astra OPC --Opel’s 206kW rival for the hot Golfs, Renault’s Megane RS, the Ford Focus ST, et al.

Mike McCarthy – Contributor Emeritus
Jaguar F-type -- because it's the real deal; the long-awaited actual DNA-certified successor to the immortal E-Type. Though the dimensions, proportions and lines have changed significantly, the F-Type's power-bulged, ventilated bonnet and slim, elegantly wrapped taillights pay subtle tribute to the E. It's known a coupe debuts mid-2013, and after that who knows? Longer wheelbase 2+2 versions? There are precedents. Meanwhile, Jaguar's new F-type roadster can't come too soon for moi.