Porsche 911 Dakar
Of course there’s a new type of Porsche 911 on the way. When isn’t there? Soon we’re expecting to see a facelifted 992, with the 911 taking its first steps into the electric hybrid era. But in the meantime, there’s a jacked-up, rough-and-tumble version for living our your rally raid fantasies on the way to the supermarket.
Lamborghini Huracan Sterrato
And Porsche isn’t the only outfit exploring the realms of the off-roady-ready sports car. Lamborghini will kiss goodbye the Huracan by putting the Sterrato into production. Expect spotlights, big bolt-on wheelarches and owners to feel incredibly smug every time they see a regular supercar gingerly edging their precious carbon fibre splitter over a speed bump.
Range Rover Sport SV
Land Rover’s Special Vehicle Operations division will rationalise all future projects behind one ‘SV’ badge, so the hot Range Rover Sport will lose a third of its ‘SVR’ badge. We’re expecting the engine to downsize too, likely from the raucous 5.0-litre supercharged V8 to a BMW-shared twin-turbo 4.4-litre V8 powerplant. Plug-in hybrid boost is a possibility, which SVR owners will love given how they always creep around so discreetly in their 2.2-tonne hypertanks.
Alpine A110R
A lighter Alpine! Wouldn’t have thought it possible, would you? Us neither. But thanks to a diet of carbon fibre components including a new roof, rear screen and even carbon wheels, the little A110 has lost 34kg while gaining downforce and apparently shedding drag.
It’s also much stiffer, grippier, and the seats will hold you like King Kong grasps a damsel in distress. It could be close to sports car nirvana in 2023... or will it be too serious and too hardcore for its own good?
Mercedes-AMG C63
We’ll also be getting our hands on possibly the most controversial AMG of all time – including the C63 and AMG One hypercar. Yep, the C63 is back, and it looks handsome. But under the nostril-vented bonnet is no V8 – instead, it’s a 2.0-litre four-cylinder hybrid.
Basically, an A45 engine with a chilli-powder electric boost shoved up its backside. The numbers are huge: 670bhp, 752lb ft – and 2,145kg. We’ll be taking the Christmas holidays to read the four-thousand page instruction manual.
BMW M3 Touring
And this is one of the contenders the C63 is aimed squarely at – BMW’s conceptually rather simple M3. No electrification or plug-in-ability here – just a thumping great 3.0-litre 503bhp straight-six in the front. And – at last – and estate body at the back.
We’re already big fans of the M3 Competition with xDrive four-wheel drive (so long as we approach it with our eyes closed) so the M3 wagon promises to be a very complete bit of kit.
Hyundai Ioniq 5 N
No pressure Hyundai, but everything the N Division has touched so far has been bloody brilliant. The i30N and i20N hot hatches, the wild Kona N mini-SUV – it’s gone from zero to hero and stayed there. Now N must make an electric crossover entertaining, by applying itself vigorously to the cyberpunk Ioniq 5 hatchback.
The N team insist they’re not interested in building a drag-race monster and though the dual-motor I5N will be rapid, we’re promised handling giggles and maybe even an amusing noise generator to make e-motoring less clinical. So far, truly laugh-out-loud EVs have been few and far between – over to Hyundai to prove the N division futureproof.
All the Le Mans cars!
2023 is the year endurance racing fans have been waiting for. Missed the news? In short, lots of manufacturers are about to throw a huge pile of time and money at the sport, with the emergence of the LMh and LMDh classes at Le Mans and beyond. Joining Toyota and Glickenhaus in top-tier day-and-night racing we’ve got BMW, Porsche, Cadillac, Lamborghini, Peugeot… it ought to make Drive To Survive look like a vicar’s tea party.
BMW M2
We’ve already tested a prototype of the new M coupe, and discovered some of the key tech spec. Being based on the current M3/4 platform, the new M2 will be a heaver car than before, but the 3.0-litre straight-six is up to around 450bhp to counteract it.
The rear axle is also inherited from the M4, and while the eight-speed automatic gearbox is available, the M2 will be the final M car ever to be offered with a six-speed manual transmission. So it’s a sure-fire modern classic. Are the blocky looks growing on you?
