Six hottest cars to debut in 2016

1. FORD FOCUS RS

Ford’s Focus RS should, as the wildest hot-hatch to join the ranks in 2016, be firmly on the radar for the budget-conscious man or woman in a hurry. The new RS will have all-wheel-drive, which will help it deploy the 2.3-litre four-cylinder turbo engine’s sports-car-like power when it hits local tarmac in February.

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2. SUBARU LEVORG

The Subaru Levorg is bound for showrooms around the middle of 2016. Essentially an even more practical version of Subaru’s popular all-wheel-drive turbo compact sedan the WRX, , it should please anyone shopping for a swift small/medium wagon which, with discontinuation of the WRX hatchback and the Liberty wagon, should apply to plenty of buyers.

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3. PEUGEOT 308 GTI

Peugeot’s 308 hatch is an excellent small car, so the arrival of the hot 308 GTi in the first quarter of 2016 is exciting. Two manual-gearbox-only versions will be available – a $45K GTi 250 version and a more powerful GTi 280 for $50K. Both are powered by turbo four-cylinders that produce more power than popular alternative the VW Golf GTI, despite the fact they’re smaller engines.

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4. FIAT 124 SPIDER

We already know how good Mazda’s ND MX-5 and in the New Year Fiat will deliver something Mazda won’t – a turbo version, in the form of its 124 Spider. This restyled MX-5-derivative could be even more fun with the extra effortless acceleration a turbo engine can offer.

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5. PORSCHE BOXSTER AND CAYMAN

Porsche’s next-generation Boxster convertible and Cayman coupe will arrive in 2016 with smaller 2.0- and 2.5-litre flat four-cylinder engines instead of six-cylinders. Despite their smaller size, turbocharging will give these all new engines noticeably more power than those they replace, and make them more fuel efficient.

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6. HONDA NSX

The return of Honda’s NSX is huge news for fans of ultra-high performance Japanese cars. The original version was born in 1990 as a less expensive, more user-friendly Ferrari-fighter, but since then Italian supercars have grown friendlier, which prompted Honda to reinvent the NSX as a more serious Hybrid-powered supercar, with a 373kW twin-turbo 3.5-litre V6, triple electric motors and a nine-speed dual clutch transmission.

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OTHER ARRIVALS

We’ll see an even hotter version of the already wickedly fast Mercedes-AMG A45 in 2016, with the arrival of an updated A-Class range.

At the top end of the performance and price spectrum is Ferrari’s new 488 GTB supercar, which will replace the 458. Lamborghini’s ultimate Aventador LP750-4 Super Veloce is also expected.

A more powerful, less thirsty second-generation Audi R8 will drop the less powerful V8 version for a high-powered V10-only line up.

Still in German high-performance, we’ll receive the ultimate version of BMW’s M4, the GTS, and the M2, its most serious 2 Series version to date.

The twin-turbo V8 Mercedes-AMG C63 Coupe will give buyers an appealing alternative to BMW’s M4.

And turbo flat six-cylinder engines will replace larger non-turbo engines in Carrera versions of Porsche’s updated 911 sports car.