Gallery: the cars of Top Gear’s Speed Week 2023

WHAT IS IT? 
One of 1,499 dirt hungry arrivedercis to the Huracán – and incredibly, the ‘baby’ Lambo’s sixth appearance on a Top Gear Speed Week.

WHY IS IT HERE? 
Because the rough road makeover should play to its strengths: more theatre, less seriousness.

ECO CREDENTIALS? 
Erm... well the 5.2-litre nat-asp V10 shuts down a whole cylinder bank when it’s cruising to boost fuel economy.

Price: £232,820
Engine: 5.2-litre V10, 602bhp, 413lb ft, AWD
Performance: 0–62mph in 3.4secs, 160mph
Weight: 1,600kg (est)
 

WHAT IS IT? 
A one-off testbed for future Formula E tech, built to break the indoor land speed record.

WHY IS IT HERE? 
Because it did it: 135mph with a roof over your helmet is no mean feat. And we’re curious: is this really the future of single seater motorsport?

ECO CREDENTIALS? 
Parts of the bodywork are fashioned from a more sustainable, part recycled thermoplastic.

Price: £1.3 million
Engine: Two e-motors, 536bhp, n/a lb ft, AWD
Performance: 0–62mph in <2.8secs, 200mph
Weight: 760kg
 

WHAT IS IT? 
Italy’s first stab at an electric hot hatch, and the car to carry the Abarth scorpion into the battery powered future.

WHY IS IT HERE? 
Abarth 500s were always more show than go – same story now it’s gone electric?

ECO CREDENTIALS? 
Weeny 37kWh (usable) battery and claims of 3.4 miles per kWh mean this little tyke has a right-sized battery for punting about town. But what about the ultimate track day(s)?

Price: £38,195
Engine: E-motor, 152bhp, 173lb ft, FWD
Performance: 0–62mph in 7.0secs, 96mph
Weight: 1,410kg
 

WHAT IS IT? 
The first ‘mass production’ McHybrid, and the bedrock of McLaren’s next decade. Until the inevitable SUV.

WHY IS IT HERE? 
It should’ve been at last year’s Speed Week, but dropped out at the eleventh hour.

ECO CREDENTIALS? 
Just 12 miles of real-world electric range. Tiny e-motor weighs just 15.4kg yet generates 94bhp and 166lb ft. We got 34mpg on the road earlier this year.

Price: £189,200
Engine: 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 + e-motor, 671bhp, 531lb ft, RWD
Performance: 0–62mph in 3.0secs, 205mph
Weight: 1,498kg
 

WHAT IS IT? 
Another car which really ought to have been in the class of ’21, but played truant. So, we’ve ignored the V6 and gone for the brand-new AMG-powered Lotus.

WHY IS IT HERE? 
Because it’s our final chance ever to drive a new petrol-powered Lotus.

ECO CREDENTIALS? 
It’s the downsized engine! No supercharged V6 here, it’s AMG’s 2.0-litre four pot. And thanks to an 8th gear, good for well over 40mpg when cruising.

Price: £81,495 (first edition)
Engine: 2.0-litre turbo 4cyl, 360bhp, 317lb ft, RWD
Performance: 0–62mph in 4.4secs, 171mph
Weight: 1,446kg
 

WHAT IS IT? 
The most extreme Atom since the V8. In house fiddling with the Civic Type R engine has liberated 400bhp. And this one’s got all the optional aero and carbon.

WHY IS IT HERE? 
To humble the supercars, to decimate indigenous insects and delight everyone who gets in and drives it.

ECO CREDENTIALS? 
Weighs less than a Just Stop Oil protest sign, saves you so much on wrinkle cream your plastic footprint will halve.

Price: £77,940
Engine: 2.0-litre turbo 4cyl, 400bhp, 369lb ft, RWD
Performance: 0–62mph in 2.7secs, 170mph
Weight: 700kg
 

WHAT IS IT? 
A Carrera 4 GTS that wishes it was a rally car. And yet more evidence the 911 is the most adaptable sports car in the world.

WHY IS IT HERE? 
We suspect not many of the 2,500 being built will ever actually get very dirty. Or face off against the Sterrato...

ECO CREDENTIALS? 
Destined to be decorated in a one-off paint to sample colour and never driven, thereby emitting less CO2 over its entire life than a Prius.

Price: £173,000
Engine: 3.0-litre twin-turbo flat-six, 473bhp, 420lb ft
Performance: 0–62mph in 3.4secs, 149mph
Weight: 1,605kg
 

WHAT IS IT? 
Our 2022 Sports Car of the Year: the GT86 recipe bettered with more power and torque, and less wooden tyres.

WHY IS IT HERE? 
It’s the ‘downforce and carbon’ palette cleanser: a no nonsense, mode free tonic. And the least intimidating car here for trying your hand at a heroic piece of sideways driving.

ECO CREDENTIALS? 
Hmm... it’s painted white, which reflects heat from the sun meaning less aircon.

Price: £30,520
Engine: 2.4-litre flat-four, 231bhp, 184lb ft, RWD
Performance: 0–62mph in 6.3secs, 140mph
Weight: 1,276kg
 

WHAT IS IT? 
The most extreme evolution of the car that won Speed Week 2018, the sublime lightweight Alpine coupe.

WHY IS IT HERE? 
Because we’re huge fans of the standard A110’s deft, flitty handling, and curious to see how an extreme diet and stickier tyres has affected it.

ECO CREDENTIALS? 
The smallest engine of any contender this year, and Alpines are fuel sippers. Carries more carbon than it actually emits.

Price: £94,990
Engine: 1.8-litre turbo 4cyl, 296bhp, 291lb ft, RWD
Performance: 0–62mph in 3.9secs, 177mph
Weight: 1,082kg
 

WHAT IS IT? 
The last ever petrol only, manual equipped series production M car. And the sequel to one of our all-time favourites.

WHY IS IT HERE? 
To see if the real M2 stands up in the white heat of competition. Is it just too burly and heavy now?

ECO CREDENTIALS? 
Not many, especially as this one ditches the easy cruising 8spd auto gearbox and has the £450 optional 6spd manual. End of an era, though...

Price: £64,890
Engine: 3.0-litre twin-turbo 6cyl, 454bhp, 406lb ft, RWD
Performance: 0–62mph in 4.3secs, 155mph
Weight: 1,700kg
 

WHAT IS IT? 
A ruddy great girder off a Victorian railway bridge, with a Porsche 911 hanging from it. You can’t get much more ‘road-going racecar’ than this.

WHY IS IT HERE? 
To justify those eyewatering looks. If the RS’s monumental downforce claims can’t be felt at work here, it’s nothing more than a collector’s show pony.

ECO CREDENTIALS? 
The £30k Weissach pack box is ticked, saving 22kg.

Price: £192,600
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six, 518bhp, 343lb ft, RWD
Performance: 0–62mph in 3.2secs, 184mph
Weight: 1,450kg
 

WHAT IS IT? 
Our reigning TG Car of the Year, but here to defend its honour after arriving too late to adorn last year’s Speed Week.

WHY IS IT HERE? 
The last Type R was a triumph, and this takes everything that was good about it, de-Pokemons the styling and gives the interior a headache tablet.

ECO CREDENTIALS? 
On that front, it sucks. But Honda sells other sensible and green-thinking hybrids, giving it the right to build this.

Price: £49,995
Engine: 2.0-litre turbo 4cyl, 325bhp, 310lb ft, FWD
Performance: 0–62mph in 5.4secs, 171mph
Weight: 1,429kg
 

WHAT IS IT? 
Polestar’s idea of a next gen track day car. Basically, a range topper with beefier brakes and Öhlins suspension thrown at it.

WHY IS IT HERE? 
We fancied some local representation at our first ever Swedish Speed Week. Swede week?

ECO CREDENTIALS? 
According to Polestar, once it’s done 50,000 miles, a 2’s lifetime CO2 output is smaller than a Volvo XC40’s, which produces 10 fewer tonnes of CO2 during production.

Price: £73,900
Engine: Two e-motors, 469bhp, 502lb ft, AWD
Performance: 0–62mph in 4.4secs, 127mph
Weight: 2,113kg
 

WHAT IS IT? 
A BMW M3 estate, aka all the car the world ever needs, ever. Apart from everyone who wants a fast SUV.

WHY IS IT HERE? 
To prove it can do things that SUVs can’t. The only car here that’ll powerslide, fly over the Gotland leap, and take five tired staffers home, with cameras and crisps rattling about in the back.

ECO CREDENTIALS? 
Little to none. BMW will paint it a rather fetching shade of green, though.

Price: £86,570
Engine: 3.0-litre twin-turbo straight-six, 503bhp, 479lb ft, AWD
Performance: 0–62mph in 3.6secs, 174mph
Weight: 1,865kg
 

WHAT IS IT? 
Hyundai’s creditably thorough attempt to make an electric superhatch.

WHY IS IT HERE? 
Because it’ll drift, clutch kick, hit the redline, ‘change gear’, make a noise... and all of it is a figment of Hyundai’s imagination. Can it hold its own?

ECO CREDENTIALS? 
Fully electric, obviously. But having seen the rate at which it’ll vapourise tyres, we’re not convinced it’ll be Greenpeace’s Car of the Year. What about TG’s?

Price: £65,000 (est)
Engine: Two e-motors, 600bhp, 545lb ft, AWD
Performance: 0–62mph in 3.4secs, 162mph
Weight: 2,100kg (est)
 

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