Rolls-Royce will turn its line-up to all electric by 2030. The Spectre coupe is the first step. The successor of Wraith and Phantom Coupe is a very large car, of course, measuring 5453 mm in length, 2080 mm in width, 1559 mm in height and 3210 mm in wheelbase, and it weighs as astonishing 2975 kg. The exterior design evolves from the existing theme of the brand, sharing a prominent and upright grille, slim headlights and a high but curvy  waistline. Being a coupe, its roofline is made significantly lower and faster, resulting in a fastback profile and an excellent Cd of 0.25. However, the car is not a hatchback. The pair of doors are rear-hinged, just like its predecessors.



As in the case of Ghost and Phantom, its chassis is aluminum spaceframe construction, but the EV's skateboard floorpan reinforces it further, achieving a rigidity that is 30 percent higher than any previous Rolls-Royce (the Ghost is already good for 40,000 Nm/degree). In addition to 700 kg of sound deadening materials, refinement should be taken to another level.

Even though riding on giant 23-inch wheels, ride comfort is guaranteed by air suspension which can read the road ahead and decouple anti-roll bars when one side is riding on bumps. Rolls-Royce call this "Planar suspension". Besides, the Spectre has 4-wheel steering to help managing its excessive size.



A huge car needs huge battery, so the underfloor battery has a capacity of 120 kWh, more than anything else. It supplies two motors with a combined output of 585 horsepower and 664 lbft of torque. 0-60 mph is claimed to be done in 4.4 seconds, but top speed is unspecified. Driving range is expected to be 320 miles or 520 km. It won't set new standards for EV performance, but should cope well with customer expectation.



Inside, the entire dashboard is taken straight from Ghost, except unique dials. The firm's "Starlight" option is applied to door panels instead of roof liner. And yes, each suicide door is still available with an umbrella.

Cadillac has been waiting for this day too long. The American luxury brand reached its peak from the 1930s to the late 1950s and was called "Standard of the World" because of its innovations. However, since then it declined to nowhere under the mis-management of GM. Few people remember it was once the great rival of Bugatti, Hispano Suiza and Rolls-Royce. Perhaps the Celestiq could turn around its image. This 5.5-meter long land yacht has what it takes to revive the flamboyance and ultra-luxury image of the brand. It has the ambition, too, setting its sights on not Mercedes or BMW but Rolls-Royce. To that end, it is hand-built to orders only, at a rate of just 2 cars per day. A few hundreds a year is easily rarer than Rolls-Royce even. Price? $300,000 before options, and you can have virtually any customizations if you can pay.

The Celestiq looks like no other Cadillac before or any other American luxury cars. In fact, adopting a fastback design it looks as if coming from the school of French luxury cars, such as Citroen CX and SM, while the C-pillar has some Jensen Interceptor in it. Its front grille is not for cooling, but a light show of LED patterns. Its 23-inch wheels make the waistline look lower than they are. The fast-angle windscreen is said to be faster than Corvette's even. Needless to say, it is huge and heavy, tipping the scale at more than 2.7 tons.



The body is made of either carbon-fiber (bonnet, front and rear fenders and roof rails), aluminum (doors) and glass (the huge panoramic roof). The chassis is aluminum spaceframe built on GM's Ultium skateboard EV platform, but in this case batteries are placed horizontally instead of verticially to reduce the thickness of floorpan hence enabling the lower roofline. 111 kWh of battery capacity gives an estimated range of over 300 miles, and supply the front and rear motors to produce an estimated 600 horsepower and 640 lbft of torque, pushing the car from 0-60 in 3.8 seconds. Quick charging rate is 200 kW.

The huge chassis has all the good stuffs you can name: 4WD, 4WS, 3-chamber air springs, Magnetic Ride dampers, active anti-roll bars and 5-link suspension at both axles. It is not designed to be an American M-car though, as Cadillac places comfort and luxury to first priority. To that end, Michelin specially developed quiet riding EV tires for it.



Inside, the design is very American, utilizes straight line and flat surfaces to emphasize the cabin's width and immense space. A 55-inch curved display stretches the full width of the dashboard, while center console has another touchscreen plus a rotary control to access almost all functions. There are not a lot bespoke switchgears though, and that's probably what makes Rolls-Royce and Bentley's interior feels superior. On the plus side, the full-length electrochromatic glass roof is adjustable for transparency and is incorporated with hundreds of LED lighting elements, even fancier than Rolls-Royce' starlight option. Because the car is made in low volume, many bespoke parts are made from 3D printing. This also allows customization to be achievable.

Final spec. of the car has to wait near its production start at December next year. After Lucid Air, we are interested to see another American luxury car to challenge the best of Europe.

Weight figures first: 1725 kg for the faster 8-speed automatic gearbox, or 1700 kg for 6-speed manual. That's 150 kg more than the old car. Actually identical to the larger and more powerful M4 Competition. Well, it may undercut the M4 by 6 kilograms if you opt for carbon-fiber roof, which is standard on the larger car.

Why is it so heavy? You know, the current generation 2-Series Coupe (codenamed G42) is already a heavy car, tipping the scale at 1690 kg in the form of M240i xDrive. The M2 is rear-drive only - to please purists - but its performance hardware is virtually carried over from the M3 / M4. This starts from the S58 twin-turbo 3-liter straight-6 motor, which is mechancially the same as its senior siblings. Only a reduction of turbo boost pressure results in 460 horsepower and 406 pound-foot of torque, compared with 510 hp and 479 lbft on M3 and M4 Competition models. But that is already 50 ponies stronger than the old M2 Competition. Likewise, it employs the same ZF 8-speed automatic or 6-speed manual gearbox as the M3 and M4 Competition, the same M active differential, the same brake package (380mm discs with 6-piston calipers up front, 370mm discs and single-pot at the rear), the same wheels and tires (275/35ZR19 front, 285/35ZR20 rear). Even the suspensions are carried over from the M4, sharing the same wider front and rear tracks, stronger and lighter forged aluminum components. Ditto the adaptive dampers. All these are packed into the compact body shell and then reinforced by additional bracings and shear panels. A smaller car it might look, its ingredients are solid and sophisticated.



At 4580 mm long, 1887 mm wide, 1403 mm tall and 2747 mm in wheelbase, the new M2 is 121 mm longer, 33 mm wider, 7 mm lower and 54 mm longer in wheelbase than its predecessor, yet it is 214 mm shorter than the M4, accompanied with a reduction of 110 mm in wheelbase, so it might be easier to maneurver on back roads.

While its fascia is not as ugly as the M4, its angular and frameless version of double-kidney grilles look very toy-like, while the square intakes at both sides of the front bumper lack elegance. However, the heavily pronounced wheelarches create a wheel-at-corner stance, and the muscular look is found more attractive than either M3 or M4.



Performance is entirely predictable from its power-to-weight ratio. The automatic model sprints from 0-60 in 3.9 seconds while manual version adds a couple of tenths. Both are 0.1 second quicker than the old M2 Competition and 0.1 second slower than the M3 or M4 Competition. Top speed is regulated at 155 mph but M Driver package will raise the limiter to 177 mph, up from the previous 174 mph. This option also replaces the standard seat with M Carbon buckets and shaves 11 kg.



As shown in the picture, the M2 is the first 2-Series Coupe model to receive the new generation curved display instead of conventional instrument pod and infotainment screen. Its cabin looks pretty delicious.

Predictably, the new car gets more expensive again. It starts at £62,000, compared with £50,000 of the last generation M2 Competition. Still, that is comparable with its closest rivals, the £56,000 Audi RS3 and £64,000 Mercedes-AMG CLA45 S. An M3 Competition and M4 Competition start at £75,000 and £76,000 respectively. For thoroughbred sports cars, you need to pay £69,000 for Porsche Cayman GTS, £80,000 for Lotus Emira or £82,000 for a Corvette. The M2 is still a lot of car for the money.

Expected to cost at least £80,000, compared to £60,000 of the A110 GT with which it shares the same 300 hp engine, the new A110 R seems to be too expensive. However, being the most hardcore version of the A110, also probably the last one, it will be remembered as the fastest and most extreme A110 family member, the only one that truly focuses on track performance.

While the A110 R has its engine and gearbox untouched, it seeks extra performance from 3 areas: a stiffer chassis setup, better aero and weight reduction. Some 34 kg has been slashed from the already lightweight A110 S, thanks to using carbon-fiber bonnet, roof and a panel that replaces rear window. It employs also carbon-fiber wheels (which save 12.5 kg) and carbon-backed racing buckets from Sabelt. Like Porsche's RS models, the inner door handles have been replaced with fabric pulls.



The suspension is overhauled with coilover shocks, which are manually adjustable for compression and rebound. In standard setting, the ride height is 10mm lower than that of A110 S, and this can be lowered by another 10mm. Springs are more than 10 percent stiffer than the A110 S, while anti-roll bars are 10 percent stiffer up front and 25 percent stiffer at the rear. Michelin Cup 2 tires should provide massive grip even though they are no wider than before. The Brembo brakes of A110 S are kept, but the new wheel design enhances brake cooling.

As for aerodynamics, Alpine manages to improve both drag and downforce simultaneously. With the suspension set to the lowest position, drag is reduced by 5 percent. A new front splitter, wider diffuser, wider side skirts with vertical winglets and a new rear wing, all of which made of carbon-fiber, add 14 kg downforce at the front and 29 kg at the rear when the car is running at top speed.



Speaking of top speed, Alpine claims that it can reach 285 km/h (177 mph), up from the lesser model's 260 km/h (162 mph) limit. 0-60 mph acceleration is improved from 4.1 to 3.8 seconds. Maybe a little too optimistic to me, but this car is undoubtedly the fastest track weapon the A110 has ever been.

I like the fact that Maserati doesn't change for the sake of change. The outgoing GranTurismo (and GranCabrio) was the most beautiful GT built in our time. There is really no reason to alter its beautiful lines. A few tweaks to the details, e.g. headlights, front intakes and air splitter as well as larger wheels (20-inch front and 21-inch rear) are sufficient to retain its peerless status.

Although it is considerably wider at 1957mm, its length (4959mm), wheelbase (2929mm) and height (1353mm) are close to its predecessors.

However, under the familiar skin, everything is new. While the old car was built around a conventional steel monocoque construction, the new one is made of mixed materials, 65% of which is aluminium, while the rest consists of high-strength steel and magnesium, so to optimize strength and weight. This is why it is able to lose weight: with petrol engine, it tips the DIN scale at 1720 kg, a massive 160 kg lighter than the old car. Even the last MC Stradale was 50 kg heavier than it.

Besides, it is more aerodynamic efficient. Petrol models has a drag coefficient of 0.28, while electric version achieves a remarkable 0.26.



Suspension continues to be double-wishbone up front, but the rear axle turns to multi-link setup. Air springs are added to all corners, which allow the car to adjust its ride height according to speed, too. Adaptive dampers are standard. The larger wheels are wrapped with 265/30ZR20 tires up front and 295/30ZR21 rubbers at the rear, 20mm and 10mm respectively wider than before.

Both petrol models, namely Modena for entry-level and Trofeo for performance model, are powered by Maserati's Nettuno V6. Displacing 3000c.c., charged by twin-turbo and served with the unique "pre-chamber" combustion technology, the 90-degree V6 produces 490 hp and 442 lbft on Modena, or 560 hp and 479 lbft on Trofeo, both released at 6500 rpm and 3000 rpm respectively. It is not quite as high in state of tune as the version powering MC20 supercar, and loses dry-sump lubrication as well, understandably, but is already far more powerful than the outgoing car's 4.7-liter naturally aspirated V8 (460 hp and 383 lbft). Moreover, it is mated to ZF 8-speed automatic (instead of the old 6-speeder) and a standard 4WD system.

The short V6 allows the front differential to be positioned in line with the engine rather than below it, improving center of gravity and keeping the bonnet low. Power normally goes to the rear axle to keep rear-drive handling characteristics, and flows forward only when necessary. The Trofeo gets an active rear LSD while Modena uses a mechanical one.

Combining more power, less weight and 4-wheel traction, the new GranTurismo is a lot faster, of course. Modena model sprints to 60 mph in 3.8 seconds, 124 mph in 13.0s and tops 188 mph. Trofeo raises the bar further to 0-60 in 3.4s, 0-124 in 11.4s and tops 199 mph. The old car managed just 185 mph and 0-60 in 4.6s.



Yet that is not the fastest. The range-topper should be the electric-powered Folgore model. It uses 3 motors, 2 at the rear for torque-vectoring capability and 1 at the front for all-wheel-drive funtionality, each of them can deliver 400 horsepower. The limiting factor is battery, however, which can supply a maximum 760 hp continuously, accompanied with 996 lbft of torque. The battery has a capacity of 92.5 kWh (83 kWh net) and positioned in T-shape layout, i.e. within the backbone and behind the rear seat. It runs on 800V electrical architecture so to enable 270 kWh charging, sufficient to add 100 km range in just 5 minutes. Performance is lifted further, with 0-60 and 0-124 mph quoted at 2.65 seconds and 8.8 seconds, and top speed is 199 mph like Trofeo. The last 2 figures are quicker than Porsche Taycan Turbo S !

By placing the battery around the occupants instead of beneath them, the GranTurismo can keep its sexy shape and 1353 mm height, exactly the same as the old car. Folgore also achieves 50:50 weight distribution, better than its V6 sibling's 52:48. On the downside, it weighs 2185 kg DIN, 465 kg more than the V6 duo! Another disadvantage is luggage space, dropping from 310 to 270 liters due to the battery.

Strangely, Maserati has not revealed its interior pictures in the press release. I hope it would be better than the effort seen in MC20.