Porsche

What: 718 Cayman GT4 coupe 
Variants: 4.0
When: TBA
How much: At least S$400,000 without COE

What the 911 GT3 is to Porsche’s classic sports car, the GT4 is to the 718 Cayman model: The car for the hardcore, purist drivers. But in classic Porsche ‘GTX’ car fashion, it can be driven on any number of road surfaces and should live for B-roads (when is another question altogether), not to mention the track. The heart of the matter is the 420hp 4.0-litre flat-six that isn’t turbocharged and revs all the way to 8,000rpm, specially tuned suspension, uprated brakes, improved aero kit with a larger fixed wing, and plenty more. Oh and there’s a six-speed manual transmission of course, with the automatic dual-clutch box as an option. 

What: 718 Spyder convertible 
Variants: 4.0 
When: Soon
How much: From S$428,288 without COE

The Spyder name evokes plenty for Porsche, from its lightweight machines of the 1950s on, and more recently the Boxster Spyder models. In a word, it’s become Porsche’s name for open-top, high-performance and lightweight sports car. Strangely the latest Spyder drops the Boxster name entirely (the main lineup is still ‘718 Boxster’), but that aside, it’s pretty much a Cayman GT4 with a special lightweight manual-removable roof that can be stowed in the car. This means it doesn’t give up any performance over its hard-top sibling, since it has the same engine, a similar chassis, and the same 1,420kg kerb weight. 

What: Panamera luxury GT facelift 
Variants: A lot 
When: Now
How much: From S$380,388 with COE

UPDATE: The Panamera was officially announced in Singapore a few days ago, with the base Panamera and Panamera 4 Executive kicking things off.

Porsche’s big grand tourer / luxury five-door fastback gets a comprehensive rework with its facelift. The car’s looks are subtly improved, but the model line-up gets a shakeup too. It now consists of  base Panamera, 4, 4S, GTS, Turbo S for gasoline models.

The Panamera and Panamera 4 now both have the 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6 (with 325hp and 440hp), replacing the old 3.0 V6, while the GTS model now has more 20hp more, a total of 480hp. The gasoline range-topper is the Turbo S with 620hp, there’s no longer a Panamera Turbo. 

For electrified models, there is a 4 E-Hybrid, 4S E-Hybrid, and the continuation of the current range-topper, the Turbo S E-Hybrid. All electrified models have an uprated battery pack of 17.9kWh (up from 14.1kWh previous) for more e-range. The Turbo S E-Hybrid has a 4.0-litre biturbo V8 and more system power – 690hp – which will demolish 0-100km/h in well under three seconds. 

As if that’s not enough, keep in mind that there is also the Sport Turismo shooting brake body style, and the Executive long-wheelbase, so to count all the new models, take all the variants we just mentioned and multiply them by three. 

What: Taycan BEV sedan
Variants: Base variant
When: TBA
How much: From S$400,000

Right now the Porsche Taycan BEV lineup consists of some very quick, powerful, and expensive models – it begins with the Taycan 4S, a car we tested in 2020 and found to be electrifying but costs S$490k without a COE or options, and includes the Taycan Turbo and Turbo S (S$780k sans COE for 760hp). Spendy, considering it’s a car that’s a size down from the Panamera luxury GT/limo, which is why Porsche is introducing an entry-level Taycan in 2021.

This rear-wheel drive version is already on sale in China, and packs a 79.2kWh lithium ion battery and a 408hp electric motor, with a range of 414km. An optional battery pack is available, with 93.4kWh and the motor uprated to 476hp, with 489km of range. 0-100km/h is still a quick 4.8 seconds. With the new VES handouts for electric vehicles, this could bring the base Taycan’s price down to around S$400k without a COE.

Renault

What: Captur
Variants: 1.3-litre turbo
When : Q1 2021
How Much: TBA

UPDATE: Check out our test drive of the all-new Renault Captur here

The second-generation Renault Captur has been confirmed for Singapore and is set to arrive by March. Built on a trendy crossover style with a 1.3-litre turbo engine, it claims a large boot space of 536 litres and a fully digital cockpit which should please the iPad generation no end. 

What: Megane RS
Variants: 1.8-litre turbo
When : Q1 2021
How Much: TBA

One of the best hot hatches of the last decade, the Megane RS will be getting a midlife facelift and a slight power bump to 300 horsepower. The 1.8-litre turbo four-cylinder is shared with the Alpine A110, so there’s no shortage of purebred performance there. Add four-wheel drive and you have some seriously explosive performance. 

Page 3: Skoda’s bringing a small SUV to Singapore this year

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