Official: VW Sport Coupe Concept GTE

The sleek and determined face of the Volkswagen Sport Concept GTE unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show 2015 gives big-volume seller VW a leap forward with a classy four-door sports coupe powered by lusty turbo petrol/hybrid all-wheel drive powertrain.
Klaus Bischoff, head of design of the Volkswagen Brand, said: “The Sport Coupé Concept GTE is another milestone of expressive design. With this concept car, Volkswagen is not only showing a new model’s design, but also initial glimpses of a new design era.”

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

With 295 hp 3.0 litre petrol V6 FSI linked to plug-in electric system with motors front and rear for 374 hp combined, the GTE fastback can sprint to 100 km/h in just five seconds yet boasts the long-distance properties of a grand tourer. And it is also good for zero-emission electric driving for up to 51 kilometres.
The setup is in contrast to the turbo diesel/electric powertrain of the new Audi Q7 E-tron.
The Volkswagen Sport Concept GTE, bigger than a Passat CC with the practicality of a hatchback but smaller than a Phaeton, has a top speed of 250 km/h and has an impressive EC average combined fuel consumption of 118 mpg for total range of 1,200 kilometres.
The front of the concept car is a completely new face for Volkswagen with LED dual headlights framed in a radiator grille crosspiece that flips up at the end like a jet’s wingtips – a feature repeated throughout the car’s design. With LEDs these winglets double as daytime running lights and indicators.

Inside the long cabin is a hi-tech tour de force. For the first time, Volkswagen is interfacing the car’s electronics directly with the driver, based on the driver’s biometric data to determine – via a smartwatch or armband for measuring the driver’s vital functions – whether to select a an exciting country drive or a gentle route.
Facing the driver the instruments are a prototype of a 12.3in newly conceptualised Active Info Display with 3D graphics and free-form surface with main digital display of two round instruments – a power meter on the left and a speedometer on the right – which seem to float in space. The display graphics change according to the driving mode (E-mode or GTE mode).

The central infotainment system has a 10.1in touchscreen while the rear has a 12.3in touchscreen as media control module to operate functions that include the media library, telephone and navigation, as well as a pair of 10.1in screens for the passengers.
The concept car starts in hybrid mode by default, then as a classical full hybrid with regenerative braking and automatically using the V6 engine to drive the front wheels and/or the rear electric motor for the rear ones.
Switching the GTE button brings the most dynamic side, making throttle, transmission and steering characteristics even sportier with the V6 engine and electric motors working together for full system output.

Official: 2016 Porsche 911 GT3 RS

The covers have just been taken off the eagerly anticipated 2016 Porsche 911 GT3 RS at the Geneva Motor Show 2015 which kicked off today. The 991-generation Porsche 911 GT3 RS features a host of mechanical, visual and aerodynamic modifications over the ‘standard’ 911 GT3 and promises to be the most capable 911 ever on the track.
As speculated, the 2016 Porsche 911 GT3 RS uses a brand new 4.0-litre six-cylinder engine which remains naturally aspirated. It has been tuned to deliver 493 hp (the same as the 997 GT3 RS 4.0) but now delivers 384 lb-ft of torque which is 15 lb-ft more than the GT3 RS 4.0. Additionally, these figures represent a 25 hp and 60 lb-ft increase over the current 911 GT3.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

As always, the new Porsche 911 GT3 RS features rear wheel drive and the aforementioned six-cylinder engine is coupled to a seven-speed dual-clutch PDK transmission. When combined with an advanced torque vectoring system and a variable locking differential, Porsche claims the new 911 GT3 RS will lap the famous Nurburgring Nordschleife in 7 minutes and 20 seconds. Alongside that ‘Green Hell’ time, the 2016 Porsche 911 GT3 RS will accelerate to 100 km/h in a mere 3.3 seconds and crack the 200 km/h mark in just 10.9 seconds. By comparison, the old 911 GT3 RS needed 3.9 seconds to hit 100 km/h.

All told, the new 911 GT3 RS tips the scales at 1420 kg which is 10 kg less than the 911 GT3 despite all the additional components adopted by the GT3 RS. For example, a more prominent front splitter has now been installed alongside an absolutely towering rear wing designed to provide maximum downforce in all conditions whether on the street or on the track. Elsewhere, the 2016 Porsche 911 GT3 RS adopts a magnesium roof as well as a bonnet and boot created from carbon fibre reinforced plastic. The total 1420 kg kerb weight results in 347 hp per tonne.
Another interesting element of the new Porsche 911 GT3 RS are the new side air intakes reminiscent of Porsche 911 Turbo and Turbo S models.

Official: Rolls-Royce Phantom Serenity

Rolls-Royce puts the ultimate glitz on the word “pearlescent” at Geneva Motor Show 2015 for the priceless dazzling lustre of the one-off Rolls-Royce Phantom Serenity’s exterior – its bespoke Mother of Pearl finish its most expensive one-off paint ever developed.
It has been added in a three-stage pearl effect and hand-polished for 12 hours by the craftspeople at the Home of Rolls-Royce at Goodwood to deliver this shimmering presence. They promised the Rolls-Royce Serenity would salute the regal glory of silk. It sounds simple, the results are stunning, and the processes involved simply mind-blowing.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Outside, hinting at what is to come, a delicate two-colour coachline with three-colour blossom motif echoes the interior that awaits. The coachline that adorns Serenity’s exterior has been applied by the squirrel-hair brush of the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars coachline expert, Mark Court.
For the Rolls-Royce Phantom Serenity the marque’s Bespoke Design team took inspiration from the opulent interiors of Rolls-Royces that have conveyed Kings and Queens, Emperors and Empresses and world leaders. Then they added contemporary interpretations of furniture design combined with Japanese Royal robe motifs.
Cherica Haye and Michelle Lusby, both Textile Arts graduates from the Royal College of Art and Plymouth University respectively, joined Rolls-Royce’s Bespoke Design department to help realise the direction of the core motif for this magnificent one-off Phantom.

For a totally one-off bolt of silk for Serenity, the Bespoke team looked to Suzhou, China, renowned for its creation of imperial embroidery, to source the unspun silk thread and have it hand-dyed by the Chinese craftspeople who have been creating beautiful silks for centuries.
It was then taken to one of Britain’s oldest mills, in Essex, to be hand-woven into just 10 metres of the fabric to clothe the interior of Serenity – in a process that took two hours per metre of fabric. The numerous colours of silk thread were painstakingly blended into the highest quality warp with 140 threads per centimetre for the lustrous Smoke Green colour of the underlying silk fabric.
The plain Smoke Green silk was transferred to London where the blossom motif designed by Haye and Lusby – a uniquely modern take on centuries-old silk Chinoiserie – began to flourish across the fabric as British and Chinese craftspeople embroidered their vision of copper-coloured branches and white petals.
The final touch was the detailed petal-by-petal hand-painting of crimson blossoms directly on to the silk. The resulting panels and swatches that have formed the centrepiece of Serenity would take up to 600 hours of work per panel.
The rear occupants’ elevated and powerful seating position is accentuated with valances made from rare Smoked Cherrywood, the seats in the front of the car clothed in Arctic White leather. Smoked Cherrywood continues in the cabin, for the Serenity’s door cappings, dash fascia and rear centre console, but further embellished by the highly skilled application of bamboo cross-banding.

In addition, the blossom motif from the silk is recreated through the finest marquetry on the rear door cappings through the use of Mother of Pearl, which is laser-cut and hand-applied, petal by petal into the wood. This theme is continued in the driver’s compartment with Mother of Pearl applied to the face of Bespoke Serenity’s clock and the driver’s instrument dials.
This Mother of Pearl face is etched with concentric circles redolent of the raked gravel seen in Japanese gardens, and inlaid with hand-applied rubies which echo the colour of the hand-painted flowers in the silk lining. Continuing the theme of ultimate luxury, the luggage compartment of Serenity is lined in Arctic White leather with an Arctic White carpet. As a final touch, two parasols featuring the Serenity motif are held by Bespoke leather loops incorporated into the boot lid.