After a mid-life revamp, the GTS version of the Porsche Macan finds itself as the flagship of the German carmaker’s sub-compact crossover line, as the Macan Turbo disappears from the current range. Not that it matters though, as the new GTS is just as powerful as the “old” Turbo.
The Urus has been a runaway success for Lamborghini (it currently accounts for more than 60 per cent of the brand’s sales), but the rapid all-terrainer has now been around for four-and-a-half years, so the time was ripe to rejuvenate it with a mid-life revamp.
Cue the new Lamborghini Urus S, which will slot in as the base model of the range in the first quarter of 2023, sitting below the recently unveiled Performante. The Urus S sports the same 666hp/850Nm 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 as the latter, although it doesn’t ditch air suspension in favour of steel springs,
Cadillac has been shaking up their performance line-up. It’s all about the badges at the back of the car. After The ATS was rebranded as the CT4, the Cadillac CT4-V was downgraded to an entry-level sports sedan, placing it among the BMW M Sport, Audi S-whatever and second-tier Mercedes-AMG “43” or “45” models. That’s because GM had plans to introduce the Blackwing version within the V-Series line-up. The CT4-V Blackwing takes the battle to the BMW M and top-tier Mercedes-AMG models, and it literally has a black wing to boot.
BMW has revamped its X7 SUV, and the key change among its raft of updates is a radical new four-eyed face that brings the jumbo-sized crossover in line with its ultra-luxo siblings (the recently revealed 7 Series/i7 and XM performance SUV). The 2023 BMW X7 is also the first from the German premium brand to be offered with optional XXL 23-inch rims.
Ferrari recently rolled out its blisteringly fast 296 GTB hybrid V6-powered supercar and – predictably enough – in its wheel-tracks comes the 296 GTS, which uses the same core ingredients as its sibling but adds alfresco (open-air) cruising capability to the mix.
Not many who have driven Lamborghini’s Urus would complain it’s lacking in grunt or dynamism. Even so, the Bolognese Raging Bull aims to reassert the sharp-edged SUV’s superiority over ultra-rapid rivals such as the Aston Martin DBX 707 and Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT via the new Urus Performante flagship.
The Bentayga was controversial when it first debuted back in the good old days of 2015, before pandemic waves, supply chain issues and inflation became the only topics of conversation. Now that uber-luxury SUVs have gone mainstream, Bentley is doing quite well in navigating the current world — with an even bigger uber-luxury SUV.
Lamborghini has rolled out yet another Huracan variant and this time it’s the Tecnica, which straddles the middle ground between the entry-level Huracan Evo RWD and hardcore STO.
You may have already heard of Polestar. The performance wing of Geely-owned Swedish carmaker Volvo has now become a standalone brand, building electric vehicles. The brand recently partnered up with Al Futtaim Automotive to bring Polestar vehicles to the UAE. Their first order of business has been the introduction of Polestar 2 to our shores, set to take on the Tesla 3.
We were quite eager to test drive the new Volkswagen Golf R. After all, it did leave quite an impression when we first drove the first generation Golf R back in 2011, after the demise of the R32. It almost felt as special as the Nissan GT-R with its all-wheel-drive handling capabilities, and being a practical everyday car at the same time. So how does the latest generation of the most powerful Golf ever feel?
