WS Awards 2013: Car of the Year

It’s getting nearer to 2014, and it’s now where we start to reflect and dwell on the past year. But it’s not all doom and gloom for 2013, it has been an amazing year for car nuts. The best part of 2013 has got to be the the debuts of all the hypercars at the Geneva Motor Show, it was a biblical scene.

However, this article is way more important than the most exciting debuts of 2013, it’s our very own Car of the Year award. It will be split up into 5 segments from Hypercars to Performance SUV & Saloons. Each nominee will receive an award for either 1st (gold), 2nd (silver) or 3rd place (bronze).

HYPERCAR OF THE YEAR

Hypercars. There’s many ways to describe them, barbarically fast, ridiculously expensive, incredibly lust-able, however you describe it though, just defies this segment of cars into one word: Mad. 2013 saw the most incredible Hypercar fight of all-time, this included the all-new McLaren P1, Ferrari LaFerrari, Porsche 918 Spyder, Koenigsegg Agera R and the Pagani Huayra. It was an incredible competition between all 5 automakers, but only 3 will come out on top for us.

1st: McLaren P1



The P1 is McLaren’s successor to the F1 from the 90′s. It was created to rival with the likes of the LaFerrari, Huayra, 918 and Agera R. The P1 boasts 903 horsepower, can hit 62 mph in less than three seconds, can hit 186 mph in less than 17 seconds, and will run into an electronic wall at 217 mph. It has also set a ‘sub-seven minute time at the Nurburgring. Why does it take first place? Well, the P1 is a massive step up from the F1, for a firm who didn’t make road cars for over 10 years to suddenly come out with a innovative super-sonic masterpiece like the P1, is truly incredible.

2nd: Porsche 918 Spyder



The Porsche 918 Spyder is a direct successor to the 2003 Porsche Carrera GT. Costing a whopping £720,420 (with Weissach pack), the 918 must pack a punch. It does. The 918 features a 4.6-litre V8 which produces 875bhp, hits 0-62mph in 2.8 seconds, a combined economy figure of 85.6mpg, a top speed of 211. On top of all that, it’s a hybrid, it has an electric motor which runs on lithium-ion batteries. The electric motor produces 154bhp alone. Solely on electricity, it can go 18 miles at a top speed of 93 mph. The 918 is a technological step forward in the automotive world, many automakers will learn from the 918. Porsche proved you can still go stupendously fast, whilst keeping your wallet happy. 

3rd: Ferrari LaFerrari



After the Enzo, Ferrari had to decide where to go next, and this is it, the Ferrari LaFerrari. Forget about its odd name for a second and just look at it, it’s nothing short of bloody awesome. It is definitely a bed-room pin-up poster. The LaFerrari packs the same 6.3-liter V12 as the front-engined Ferrari F12, but it’s been reworked for the LaFerrari’s mid-engined layout. This means the power has been upped to a mind boggling 789bhp produced at a crazy 9000rpm. And the V12 will keep revving to 9250rpm. Peak torque is 516lb ft at 6750rpm.

SUPERCAR OF THE YEAR

Think of supercars as toned-down versions of hypercars. They are mad, but quite subtle compared. Supercars are focused, road going batshit-fast-mobiles, that can make you look immensely cool on the road whilst obliterating everything at the lights.

Porsche 991 GT3



The 991 GT3 is a direct successor to the 997 GT3. The new GT3 features a naturally-aspirated 3.8-liter flat-six engine which develops 475 hp and has a rev limit of 9,000rpm. This power is sent to the road via a seven-speed PDK double-clutch transmission with unique steering wheel paddle-shift. The GT3 also features innovative active rear-wheel steering which increases cornering agility and enhances high speed stability. Combined, the 991 GT3 will accelerate from naught to 62 mph in 3.5 and will reach a top speed of 196 mph.

Honourable Mentions

Ferrari F12 Berlinetta
Lamborghini Aventador Roadster
McLaren 12C

 

SPORTSCAR OF THE YEAR

The definition of fun, adequate performance, just enough to allow you to throw it around a corner and come out the other side completely unscathed, the sportscar.

Jaguar F-Type V6 S



The F-Type. Nothing short of amazing. As a car we’ve driven and tested, it was one of our all-time favourites. The V6 was lacking the specialty and the potential to what the F-Type could offer, the V8 was just a mental patient hiding in a car’s engine bay, but the V6 S is the sweet spot of the bunch, not too harsh, not too less, just perfect. Incredible handing, incredible performance and a truly biblical sound. It wins our Sportscar of the year award.

Honourable Mentions

Porsche Boxster S
Porsche Cayman S
Toyota GT86

HOT-HATCHBACK OF THE YEAR

Little pocket rockets. Using 100% of the power all of the time, whether it’s in town, or on a country road, hot hatches dominate corners, yet they retain being practical for the weekly shop as well! The perfect segment of car? Well, that’s for you to decide.

Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG



Mercedes-Benz totally revolutionized the hot-hatch market when they revealed the A45 AMG. The A45 is faster than its rivals in a straight line and around a track. Some incredible engineering has gone into this car by cramming a record thrashing 355bhp into a little 2.0-liter 4-cylinder engine which gave its engine the title of the most powerful 4-cylinder engine ever made. It’s an absolute hoot to drive, it crackles on upshifts, it wants to oversteer even though it has a very good all-wheel-drive system and handles wonderfully. It wins our hot-hatchback of the year award.

Honourable Mentions

BMW M135i
Audi S3
Ford Fiesta ST

 

PERFORMANCE SALOON OF THE YEAR

You’ve settled down now with kids, a stable job, a loving wife, but no car. You need a family car, but you’re a race-car driver, and you want a family race-car.

Jaguar XFR-S


Before you chant “why not the M5, E63 or RS6?!” Well, specialty, exclusivity and brutality is what fun means these days. The XFR-S is not just unique, it’s rare, with only 20 entering the UK and 100 going to the US, it’s an epic unicorn. The XFR-S is Jaguar’s attempt to take on ‘Benz, BMW and Audi. It may not be faster in a straight line, nor it may not be faster around a track, but this car is just such an awesome creation by Jaguar, it turns heads, it makes a sweet noise and is still bloody quick.

Honourable Mentions

Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG S Model
BMW M5 F10
Audi RS6

 

PERFORMANCE SUV OF THE YEAR

Need more space, power, and practicality? Well look no further, performance SUV’s might just be for you!

Porsche Cayenne Turbo S



When it comes cars that are heavy and tall, taking it on a track seems totally hopeless. However, it seems Porsche has totally defied physics by making this car feel like a sports car on the road. No idea how they’ve done it, but those clever engineers at Porsche deserve a pat on the back for the Turbo S, it’s immensely quick in a straight line and can do four-wheel-doughnuts all day long, what more could you want? Oh, it can take the kids to school and do the weekly shop.

Honourable Mentions

Range Rover Sport 5.0
Mercedes-Benz ML63 AMG
BMW X5M

 
That wraps it up for this year, see you on the other side in 2014! Happy new year from us at Wild Speed.

Range Rover Hybrid Review – Cruiser or Bruiser?

Aahh, the Range Rover, a rugged and capable automobile that has the ability to take on the toughest of mountains… Or is it?

It seems Range Rover has a new priority in mind, which is not to climb the tallest mountain in the world (although it jolly-well can), but to take the luxury car segment by storm.

The new 2013 Range Rover is up competing with the likes of the Bentley Flying Spur, Mercedes-Benz S Class and even the Rolls-Royce Ghost. It seems then, Range Rover have played their cards right.

We had the opportunity to test the Range Rover in its all-new Hybrid variant.

When someone mentions the word ‘Hybrid’, you never associate it with ‘Performance’ unless it’s an inter-galactic super-sonic missile like the McLaren P1 or the Porsche 918.

However, although the Range Rover is a big ol’ beast, it still packs a lovely torquey punch from its 3.0L SDV6 Diesel engine.

Combined, the Range Rover Hybrid produces a peak output of around 340hp and a torque figure of 700Nm allowing it to accelerate from 0-60 in just 6.5 seconds. That’s pretty impressive considering it’s 2394kg kerb weight.

On the note of weight, the entire hybrid system including the batteries adds less than 120kg to the cars’ weight. That is all irrelevant until you hear it only weighs 22kg more than the Range Rover Sport Hybrid.

The bottom line is, this car wasn’t made to do 0-60mph in 0.1 seconds, but engineered for inter-continent commutes. We think it’s the ultimate cruising machine.

ECONOMY

Now we’re in the Range Rover Hybrid’s comfort zone.

The Range Rover Hybrid produces a combined figure of 44.1mpg and emits just 169g/km of CO2. Again, that’s all irrelevant till you start factoring the fact that the base engine (TDV6) produces a combined figure of 37.7mpg and emits 196g/km of CO2.

The car also comes with a button called ‘EV’ . This is where the magic begins as explained by our friends at speedmonkey.co.uk-

EV mode allows the RR Hybrid to be driven up to 30mph for about a mile on the electric 35kW battery, perfect for creeping up your driveway at 3am.

INTERIOR

The Range Rover has been labeled a luxury vehicle over the years, but this time, that understates this cars’ outright opulence.

There is lovely leather absolutely everywhere, on the dash, seats, center console, steering, door panels and even down below the seats. It’s not just any leather you find in Mercedes’ or BMW’s, this is sumptuously soft leather which oozes luxury.

The seats are supportive, the steering is lovely to hold and the center console is full of rich veneer.

You could spend hours in the Range Rover and never get tired or bored.

EXTERIOR

The exterior is typical Range Rover, mahusive where it matters yet retaining elegance and finesse in its design.

JLR has done a fantastic job on making the new Range Rover look modern and elegant as it had some big boots to fill with the old Rangie’.

VERDICT

It really does succeed on being a successful Range Rover, it’s great off road, yet great on road. It’s definitely one of our all time SUV favourites.