All the cars that matter from the Paris Motor Show

You wait ages and ages for a new Honda Civic Type R, and well, two arrive almost back-to-back. Yes, scarcely a year after we first drove the current banzai Civic, Honda unveiled a concept version of the next-gen car, due to go on sale worldwide in 2017. And once again, it wants a Nürburgring lap record.

Officially called the Type R Prototype, the car you’re gawping at is strictly a concept for now (though doesn’t it look production ready?) so there’s nothing in the way of technical data. But we do know it will stay front-wheel drive, both to stick with Type R tradition, and to allow Honda to get its FWD Nordschleife honours back from VW, who nicked them with the Golf GTI Clubsport S.

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The new Discovery is finally here and stakes a bold claim as the most useful car in the world. It’s 4970mm long, 2220mm wide, and 1846mm tall, which makes it 141mm longer than the outgoing car, but narrower and lower. It also has looks that have made a few of you angry. So, if you haven't already, check out the full story here and tell us what you think below. 

If there was any doubt about how seriously Hyundai is taking its new ‘N’ performance sub-brand, there isn’t now. This is the utterly mad RN30 concept, a 374bhp, track-ready concept that previews the i30N production car already confirmed for next year. 

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This is the LaFerrari Aperta, and it’s a very special thing. It’s mechanically identical to the coupe on which it’s based, with a combined 950bhp from a 120kW electric motor and 6.3-litre V12. 0-62mph takes less than three seconds, while 0-124mph is dealt with in 7.1 seconds. Modifications to the chassis mean it’s as rigid as the coupe, and various aero tweaks mean it has the same drag coefficient and thus, the same 217mph plus top speed. And no roof, obviously. 

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This is the craziest GT-R Nissan will sell you, the new 2017 Nismo. It’s built on the new, stiffer 2017 standard GT-R body shell. But on top it gets freshly fettled suspension and new aero parts on every side, including the underside. The engine is as per last year’s NISMO, a 600PS (592bhp) version of the epic V6, codenamed VR38DETT. As you can see, it also has quite the booty. 

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This is Renault's astonishing Trezor concept car. A 350bhp, fully-electric, autonomous concept and classic piece of wacky French eye candy.

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Say hello to the new Nissan Micra. A bigger and slightly more grown-up evolution of the nursing homes favourite runaround. Power comes from a 0.9-litre three-cylinder turbo making 89bhp, or a similarly powerful 1.5-litre four-cylinder diesel. A naturally aspirated 1.0-litre petrol will join the line-up soon after launch. The cabin features posher materials than before, a big 7in display with Apple Car Play and a fancy wraparound Bose stereo with speakers in the driver’s headrest to cocoon you into your choons.

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Toyota knew it was a bit tardy with its small crossover. So it figured it had to make a splash. The C-HR is that splash.

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The BMW X6 is a sportier, swoopier version of the X5. Ditto the X4 to the X3. And so we come to today’s new micro-niche, the new BMW Concept X2, which is, as you guessed, a sportier version of the X1.

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This is, bar the details, pretty much the electric VW you’ll be seeing on a road near you from 2020. VW people are talking of the I.D. concept, or rather the production car it’ll spawn, as a reboot for the whole company. And not just because, like the original Beetle, it has its motor in the rear. 

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This is the new 3008 DKR, Peugeot’s latest Dakar-bound monster buggy. Will it help revive Peugeot’s Dakar dominance of old? Well, Pug has an off-road dream team of drivers – Stéphane Peterhansel, Carlos Sainz, Sébastien Loeb and Cyril Despres – which helps. But we’ll just have to wait until January to find out for sure. Looks mean though, doesn’t it? 

This is the Mercedes Generation EQ, an all-electric, 400bhp, “close-to-production concept” that promises 310 miles of range. It marks the launch of Mercedes’ new EQ sub-brand.

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You’ve got to love a bit of war paint. Kinda looks like an angry Māori warrior.

Cxperience is a Citroen plugin hybrid concept. It uses a 200bhp petrol engine mated to an eight-speed automatic gearbox, plus an 80kW electric motor to deliver, maths fans, 250-300bhp in total. The zero-emission battery range, meanwhile, is claimed to be 37 miles, and it’ll recharge in 2.5 hours. 

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This new four-door RS3 gets R8-like acceleration and a 174mph top speed. Senior, then.

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Toyota’s return to the WRC next year will coincide with some new regs. More power, along with bigger, wider and wingier cars will try and inject more excitement back into the art of going fast on the rough stuff. This is the test car, and it certainly looks the part.

Ummmm... we have no words. Not one.

Hyundai hasn’t just brought its really quite mad RN30 Concept to this year’s Paris Motor Show. There’s this thing too – its 2017 WRC car. Based (probably quite loosely…) on a regular three-door i20, Hyundai has been testing its 2017 prototype since April, ahead of its competitive debut at the Rallye Monte Carlo next January. 

Next year, Ferrari will celebrate its 70th anniversary. But instead of simply getting a cake with 70 candles on it, it’s cracked out the paint tins and decided to spray 70 different special heritage liveries on all of its current range. This one, “The Green Jewel”, has the green livery of the 365 P2 used by the British David Piper Racing team. It also has odd coloured seats. And gold wheels. Which are both excellent. 

 Ladies and gents, may we proudly present to you the LIV-2. Or, if you rip off the concept fripperies, the next Ssangyong Rexton that'll debut at next year's Geneva show. 

This is the new Renault Zoe. But don’t waste your time looking for any facelifted bumpers because Renault’s busied itself creating a better battery for its electric city car. And the results are quite something.

Scored on the NEDC test cycle, the new Zoe will cover an enormous 250 miles on a single charge, giving it, in Renault’s words, the longest range of any mainstream electric vehicle. In the real world, that’s a not-at-all-shabby 186 miles, or 300km.

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What you’re looking at is the new GT-PHEV concept. It’s billed as Mitsubishi’s ‘next generation SUV’. Certainly looks a lot more striking than Mitsi’s current SUV, doesn’t it? 

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This is what Gazoo Racing entered into this year’s N24 endurance race. Check out the spoiler, it sprouts so far up and out of the rear boot that it could double as a chin-up bar. Or, if you have some rope and bit of wood, hang quite an effective swing underneath for the kids to play on. See, what a great family car the C-HR is now.

We’re all aware of the extra hot Alfa Romeo Giulia QV, the 503bhp BMW M3 rival. But this is the Giulia Veloce, the medium hot Giulia that’s set to be sandwiched between the QV and the boggo models.

It’s available with two engines, a turbocharged 2.0-litre petrol with 276 HP and 295 lb-ft of torque and a 2.2-litre diesel with 207 HP and 347 lb-ft of torque. It’s all sent through an eight-speed automatic gearbox and fed to all four wheels.

Audi sold immense numbers of the first Q5. Small wonder the new one is only cautiously different. But different it is, even so. The skin, believe it or not, is all-new. The platform is strongly evolved. The engines and chassis are primped too. Inside we find more space in the rear, and Audi’s super-swish switches and virtual cockpit displays for the driver. 

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This is the cute Suzuki Ignis. With a canoe on the roof. Why? Because 'lifestyle'. 

This is the Citroen C3 WRC concept car, and it previews a couple of things. Most pertinently, it’s what we can expect Citroen’s 2017 world rally challenger to look like. But it also – if you squint a bit – shows us what the new C3 hatchback could look like if it downed a few protein shakes to become a proper Ford Fiesta ST and Peugeot 208 GTI rival. We really hope it does.

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Meet the Audi RS3 LMS. Revealed alongside the new RS3 saloon, it is the road car’s bigger, meaner brother. Doesn’t it look fantastic? Designed for the TCR touring car series, it appears to have been taking styling tips from the latest wave of WRC rally cars. The arches look big (and steep) enough for toddlers to slide down.

Last year, Porsche facelifted the road-going ‘991’ generation 911. For Paris, the German firm brought its racing sibling in line so it wouldn’t look out of place in the 2017 family portrait.

But, in case you haven’t noticed, there’s a stonking great wing on the back. Which is like turning up to the family portrait with a nose ring and Mohican.

It spans nearly two metres wide and sits above the new naturally aspirated 4.0-litre flat-six engine of the GT3 RS. But power here is rated at 478bhp, or 15bhp less than the RS. Still, it’s 220kg lighter. And has a bigger wing. Which settles any family argument in a jiffy.