In the week the LaFerrari and McLaren P1 were officially revealed at the Geneva motor show, there could only be one subject for our 20-page special in this week's Autocar magazine - the world's fastest cars.
The special edition begins with a scoop story on Audi's proposed Le Mans racer for the road, a diesel hypercar that will smash all previous performance records for oil-burning machinery.
It is followed by an eight-page investigation into this year's bumper crop of hypercars: the aforementioned LaFerrari, McLaren P1 and the Porsche 918. Sutcliffe analyses the performance claims for each car, and talks to the men behind the companies - Luca di Montezemolo, Ron Dennis and Wolfgang Hatz - to find out what they think makes their cars stand out from the crowd.
Steve Cropley talks to the key men that made the McLaren F1, asking them to recall their experience of creating what become a performance icon, and recalls his time behind the wheel of the Ferrari 288GTO , the car that kickstarted the hypercar breed. In addition, Sutcliffe also investigates what the performance champions of the future will look like, questioning whether electric motors really can replace the V12.
As ever, Autocar isn't all about top-end machinery, however. Our news pages are filled with every new car of significance (and a few from the outer reaches of sensibility) from Geneva, ranging from the new Dacia Logan estate, Renault Captur and Peugeot 2008 crossovers through to the Alfa Romeo 4C, Porsche GT3 and Rolls-Royce Wraith.
The incredible Volkswagen XL1 leads our first drive review section, with Hilton Holloway getting behind the 313mpg production car for the first time. We also drive the Vauxhall Cascada, updated Mazda MX-5, Range Rover Evoque with nine-speed gearbox and Electric Land Rover Defender. Greg Kable also heads in to the sand dunes to take readers behind the wheel of the incredible G63 AMG 6x6. The new Ford Kuga is subjected to our exhaustive eight-page road test.
Our efforts to tempt you with bargain used cars begin with a buying guide to the BMW X3, which can now be had from £5250, while James Ruppert ponders the merits of the Audi Q7, available from £14,000. Meanwhile, we challenge you to decide whether you'd spend £6000 on a new Dacia Sandero or used Volkswagen Phaeton.
Autocar magazine is available through all good newsagents, and available to download from Zinio and the Apple iTunes store.
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