Why they stood out.

The Peugeot RCZ definitely deserves a place in the cars that stood out at the Geneva car show.  Its sleek shape gained a lot of interest from the people who attended, while the interior of the vehicle was surprisingly well designed and made of good quality materials.  However the rear seats (if they could be called that) are virtually useless.  It is soon to be released for sale and will consist of a diesel engine and two turbocharged petrol engines, with a 200 bhp version being the most powerful.  Only a test drive will tell whether or not it will take a leap away from Peugeot's current "dull to drive" range.

Many Honda enthusiasts have cried blasphemy with the creation of the CR-Z, believing that Honda has sold out to the current social pressures of going green rather than putting performance first. There is, however, rumors that a high performance version made by Mugen is on the works. The CR-Z stands out because it is the first car on sale today to feature a hybrid powertrain that's connected to a manual transmission rather than the usual automatic, and is also the spiritual successor of the very popular CR-X of the 1980s.

The Toyota FT-86 concept, a car made to showcase a future project between Subaru and Toyota hence earning it the nickname "TOYOBARU" or "SUBAYOTA".  The FT-86 is special as it is meant to be the spiritual successor of the Toyota Corolla AE-86 coupé of the 1980s, a car that is immediately associated with drifting.  Apart from Subaru providing the engines for this car, it will be of the same formula as the AE-86, meaning rear-wheel drive and an LSD, making this the only RWD sports car made by Toyota since they stopped making the MR2 in 2007.

Citroen got the crowd curious with its Survolt concept car as well.  It's an all-electric car which is very compact in the flesh despite giving the impression that it's a lot bigger in photos. The outlandish design also meant that there would be a lot of flashing lights around the car.  Citroen claims a 200kw (268 hp) electric motor powered by batteries placed all around the car drive the rear wheels.  The car will be one of the first all-electric vehicles made uniquely for racing.

Koenigsegg's stand drew a large crowd as well thanks to the introdution of its latest model, the Agera.  The Agera has been designed to replace the CCX, and while the dimensions of the two cars are very similar, they are very different in terms of exterior and interior design, as well as mechanics.  The Agera now features a twin-turbo powerplant for example, which enables the 4.7l V8 engine to produce 910 hp. Top speed is claimed to be more than 245 mph.

The already sold out Lexus LF-A supercar made an appearance in Geneva as well. Despite the fact that the Lexus costs £343,000, more than twice as expensive as a Lamborghini LP560-4 but no more faster, its futuristic design, promising performance and V10 exhaust note made more than certain all 500 units would be sold. 

The Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG stood out because the good people working for Mercedes let the general public sit and take pictures in their supercar (well at least they were when I was there).  It's the little things like this that can make you appreciate a car even more.  It's a shame other sports car makers like Porsche, Ferrari, and Lamborghini stick to the "invitations only" policy.

Speaking of Lamborghini, as soon as you see their new 570 hp, LP570-4 Superleggera model you can understand why they stick to the "invitations only" policy.  There would have been a very high need of forcefully removing people from their car if they had left the car open to the crowd, it's that stunning.  It stands out simply because madness is standard.

The Morgan Aero Supersports takes 2nd place among the cars that stood out.  The Supersports was designed to fill in the void left by the unbelievably gorgeous Aeromax coupe, and although making a car to look better or as good as the Aeromax proves difficult even for Morgan, the Supersports definitely gets very close.

So first place goes to, rather predictably but deservingly, the Porsche 918 Spyder concept.  Porsche should also be given a prize for  recent best kept secret in the car world, absolutely no one was expecting the 918 spyder at the car show, but it turned out to be one of the best surprises there.  Porsche claims that the 918 is capable of giving the absolute best of both fuel economy and perfomance.  Powered by a 500hp 3.4l V8 engine derived from the RS spyder race car, and an electric motor producing 160kw (214hp) it has a combined power output of about 714hp.  Thanks to this Porsche claims a fuel economy figure of upto 78mpg and an astonishingly low CO2 figure of only 70 g/km, but  with performance that is still more than capable of ensuring Ferrari engineers are working overtime for their upcoming vehicles.  0-60 mph is done with in 3.2 secs, top speed is 200 mph, while a lap time at the Nurburgring is done within 7mins 30 secs.  Saying there was great interest in the car would be the understatement of the year, Porsche would just have to be insane not to put it into production.

Written by Alex Kisiri.