Nine things you need to know about new cars this week

When do we get it? Now.

What we say: “My word, this car is good to drive. On the road it retains suppleness, despite using racecar-spec dampers from the Exige Cup car. You can feel them dealing with every pothole and bump hyper-quickly, without getting flustered and pinging £55k’s worth of tartan-infested Lotus into a tree.

“Traction is mighty, and the unassisted steering can’t tell you enough about how much grip you’ve got, what the road surface is like, and where the cambers are. It makes an Alfa Romeo 4C look very, very silly indeed. No Porsche offers this level of feedback either – it’s much closer to an Ariel or Caterham. Then again, the Exige is also closer to those for refinement and soothability than say, a Cayman GT4.”

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When do we get it? You can order one from April next year.

What we say: “The S65 Cab will achieve some startling acceleration figures. 0-62mph takes just 4.1 seconds, and it’ll top out at a limited 155mph. Tick the AMG Driver’s pack, and this top speed rises to 186mph. Which is still limited. Let it off the leash, and you’d probably end up going very, very quickly.”

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When do we get it? Now.

What we say: “The 1.0-litre EcoBoost turbo is on top form once again. Our test car used the 123bhp state of tune, but Ford will soon be plugging in a warmer 138bhp version of the same engine, as used in the tasty sub-ST Fiestas.

“It’s a great little engine, this, with bags of urgency and torque about it, a willingness to rev without vibrating the bonnet off its foundations, and a cheeky thrum too.”

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When do we get it? Soon, hopefully.

What we say: “Bentley is [thumb and forefinger just a few atoms apart] this close to signing off a two-seat super-coupe for production. “It ticks all our boxes,” says Bentley’s board member for sales and marketing, Kevin Rose.

“To decide whether to do a new model we always ask ourselves three questions. Is there a gap in the market? Is there a feeder group of customers coming from similar but cheaper cars? And can we make it a Bentley? With EXP 10, sure we can. It ticks all the boxes.”

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When do we get it? You’ll be able to order it in January.

What we say: “Thus, the new SLC 43 employs a 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 (not, as the name might suggest, a 4.3-litre) making 362bhp at 5500rpm, and a hefty 384lb ft of torque from just 2000rpm. It’s all sent to the rear wheels through Merc’s nine-speed auto ‘box.

“Making less power than the old SLK 55, the SLC 43 is just a fraction slower from 0-62mph, clocking the sprint in 4.7 seconds. Top speed is limited to 155mph.”

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When do we get it? Next year.

What we say: “Yup, 400 horses from a 3.0-litre, twin-turbocharged sixer, dubbed ‘VR30’. That’s knocking on the door of BMW’s own M3, courtesy of a brand new engine, only available in that ballsy level of tune.

“So, alongside 400bhp comes 350lb ft of torque, and while no 0-62mph figure is yet quoted, it should be suitably brisk. The car also comes with improved electronic steering – with the option of Infiniti’s digital steering system – as well as digital suspension featuring many modes.”

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When do we get it? Now, for the bargain sum of £54,500.

What we say: “Its 6.2-litre V8 engine is essentially shared with the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, tuned here to produce that prodigious power figure, while there’s a mighty 495lb ft of torque to go with it.

“The result is a 4.6sec sprint to 62mph, helped along by a launch control system should you select your Maloo with the standard manual gearbox.”

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When do we get it? We’ll see the finished car in March, at the Geneva Motor Show.

What we say: “Though we’ve still got three months left before its official unveil, you can already see much of the lovely silhouette thanks to this Bugatti Christmas card. It looks Veyron-ish. It looks sleek. It also looks very powerful.

“It will be. Bugatti hasn’t confirmed powertrain details yet, but you can bank on at least 1,400bhp, a minimum of 270mph and a 0-62mph time that’s suitably stratospheric.”

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When do we get it? Now.

What we say: “Mighty. Ridiculous. Entirely ballistic. Unutterably savage. Much quicker and noisier than standard. It devours fourth or fifth gear as easily as the standard one munches through third.

“There’s no additional lag, you just apply throttle and the engine note deepens, the rear end squats and then you’re much further up the road, probably arriving at the next corner wishing you’d specified the carbon ceramic brakes.”

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