The Festival of Speed is looming and it is safe to say that it is the place to be for a good fix of new car debuts in the UK. Not to mention some of the hilarious left field weapons that will be showing face (Sauber F1 Drift car, we’re looking at you) and massive Goodwood firsts (enter, the first hybrid V6 F1 car ever seen on the hill). Here however, without further ado, we present five of what we think are the most exciting road cars that are making their first UK and dynamic appearances at FoS.
JUN 21st 2016
The Top 5 FoS debuts
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Bugatti Chiron
Road car doesn’t necessarily mean conventional, does it. The road-going automotive sensation of the year that is the Bugatti Chiron is anything but. With 1500bhp and the potential to take itself comfortably beyond 270mph, the Chiron shan’t be taking many sales rep laps of the M25 any time soon. It will, however, be taking to the famous Goodwood Hillclimb to deploy the full ferocity of its 8.0-litre quad-turbo W16. We can’t wait to see it savage that five figure set of tyres.
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Aston Martin DB11
Bringing a touch of class and beauty to proceedings will be Aston Martin’s hugely anticipated DB11, making its undisguised and fully extended dynamic debut at FoS. Reengineered from the backbone up, DB11 is the first in the next generation of Aston Martins. The big story here, though, is its new 5.2-litre twin-turbo V12 engine. Don’t panic though, all indications thus far suggest that it still sounds like a proper Aston. The flint wall should echo continued Aston V12 glory.
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RS.16 Clio
Renaultsport is forty this year, and Renault is celebrating with a steroidal version of what is Renaultsport’s most long standing and arguably most iconic model – the Renaultsport Clio. The RS.16 Clio features wider hips, a thicker jaw, 275bhp of turbocharged muscle from its Megane 275 big brother and a manual shifter. Wearing a Liquid Yellow hue and a tribute livery to Renault’s RS.16 F1 Car, Clio RS.16 looks ready for a proper B-road punch up.
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Tesla Model X
A left field choice, but there’s nothing like the swift silent slog of a Tesla to lend perspective amidst the savagery of internal combustion at FoS. Ludicrous mode sees this near 2500kg crossover deploy its 762bhp and 967nm of torque to the effect of reaching 62mph in 3.2 seconds. Nothing like bending the laws of physics on a warm June weekend in Sussex.
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Volkswagen Golf GTi Clubsport S
Anniversaries aplenty this year and few are as significant as that of the hot hatch daddy – the Volkswagen Golf GTi. How to celebrate your most iconic creation in style? Engineer the Nürburgring battering 300bhp two-seater GTi Clubsport S, beat the front wheel drive lap record on aforementioned circuit and have it slog its way up the Goodwood Hillclimb at the Festival of Speed. See you there, Clubsport S.
What are you most looking forward to seeing make a debut at FoS? If you can’t make it in person, be sure to catch the action on the live stream.