10 highlights from the Beijing Motor Show

It was only a matter of time until Audi gave the new TT an extra cylinder to play with. And it’s not as though it simply went and fitted the big old thing from the RS3. This five-pot is really quite new.

It’s 26kgs lighter thanks, in part, to a new aluminium crank case. Oh, and it's more powerful. The headline figure is 395bhp, which is entirely adequate. Other changes include a bodykit, 10mm suspension drop and massive brakes. Read about it in detail here and here. 

This is the newly 718 Cayman. Like the Boxster, it signals the end of regular six-cylinder Caymans plus a round of styling tweaks. Ones which may divide opinion.

Engines are 2.0- or 2.5-litres in capacity, and performance is mighty. The quickest Cayman clocks in at 4.2secs to 62mph, with a 177mph top speed. All the info is behind these words. 

By far and away our favourite bit about the new Raptor Supercrew is ‘Baja’ mode. It’s for what Ford calls “high-speed desert running”. We’re surprised we’ve been able to get anywhere without it, to be honest. Only pity is it lacks the big V8. Click here for all the info. 

The Chinese like rear-seat space above all else. Hence this, the Jaguar XF L, a slightly elongated version of our favourite executive saloon. It’s only available in China – quite rightly, because the 5.5in stretch makes it look a bit odd – and will thus be built there, in the same factory as Chinese-market Evoques and Disco Sports. Read about the Chinese obsession with long-wheelbases here. 

Also built in China is this, the long-wheelbase version of the Merc E-Class. Looking more like an S-Class than it ever has, the China-only E is properly plush inside, with heated armrests and wireless charging facilities. Available with four or six-cylinders (big displacements are taxed heavily in China), you can read more about the big E and other LWB oddities at the link. 

Is this the smallest car with launch control? We think it might be. Besides, Brabus has added a sports exhaust, stiffer suspension (ouch) and retuned the ESP. It’s also promising “increased return torque” for the steering, whatever that is. Full details at the link. 

Smiley, isn’t it? The LeSEE is a product of Chinese tech’ firm LeEco, who furnished the media with very little information about its Tesla-fighter when it went on display this week. You can read more at the link. 

Bentley will make 50 First Edition Mulsannes. Not all will be brown, but all will be rather pricey. Probably. As well as the many First Edition badges scattered throughout the cabin, you can have a champagne cooler, and a "luxuriously weighted" vanity set embedded in one of the wooden picnic tables. You want one, right? Head this way. 

The T-Prime is not a Power Ranger, but the latest in a long, long line of Volkswagen SUV concepts. It previews the next generation Touareg, which is due on sale sometime next year. This one is a plug-in hybrid – hence the ‘GTE’ – and has a fancy but probably not production-ready button-free interior. All the details here. 

An all-electric scissor-doored two-seater, designed in Barcelona, and based on the same kind of chassis they use in Formula E racing cars. Technical specifics are scant for now, but we quite like the look of it. Learn more about it and the Arcfox 1 – an urban SUV-type concept thing – at the link.