FIVE FOR STYLISH SPEEDING 2013

From supercars and hypercars to genteel speedsters, 2013 looks like a banner year for those who like going fast. More importantly, these five cars have as much style as they do pure horsepower

The Lamborghini Aventador LP700 is one of our firm favorites for 2013. It doesn't look road legal but looks can be deceptive...

All the motor shows of 2012 are done and we are almost finished with the cars we are reviewing this year. At a time like this, we start thinking about what we want to review and really, about cars we wish we could test right now. Well, 2012 has given us a wealth of wonderful cars to look forward to, including the 2013 Mercedes-Benz SL (an incredible 242 pounds lighter than its predecessor) and the 2013 Bugatti Veyron Sport, the once and future king of straight-line road car speed at 268mph, and made our task of looking for great cars for this list very difficult indeed.

We did something difficult first of all: we cut the Veyron Sport. Color us jaded but we will not get to drive this beast in Hong Kong or Singapore so there was decidedly less enthusiasm for it. We also felt the Veyron to be perhaps a little passé in the present climate; if nothing else, it looks like a time traveler from another era. Excluding the Veyron also gave us the opportunity to not make this list, in particular, about top speed. If you want speed on the road, the Bugatti Veyron Sport is the winner. Enough said.

Speed is great of course but speeding in style (and stylish comfort) is even better. This is where two British offerings, one apiece from Aston Martin and Bentley, come into the picture. Both the Vanquish and the GT Speed (no prizes for guessing which model is from which company) demonstrate that you do not have to be a raging bull to dominate the road.

Speaking of raging bulls, we had to include a Lamborghini here and the Aventador showed us that aggression does not have to be irresponsible, believe it or not. Moving from Bologna to Maranello, (and from bulls to horses) we take a peek at the fastest production Ferrari ever built and discover, to our surprise, that it has been made both ridiculously easy to drive and impossibly difficult to engineer.

Finally, perhaps the ultimate acknowledgement that pure speed is not worth pursuing any more comes fromWoking – the McLaren P1. McLaren intends this to be as close to perfection as possible but the company has publicly stated that it has no desire to “out Veyron the Veyron.”

For the purposes of this list, to mix things up a little, we have left the big German names out. Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi and Porsche will have to battle it out in another list. Without further ado then, check out our five most handsome speedster picks for 2013, presented in alphabetical order by brand.

Lamborghini Aventador LP700 - Stop/start technology and cylinder deactivation are decidedly responsible moves that dent the Aventador’s street credibility. Still based on the 2012 6.5 liter V12 powerplant, the car’s new systems will actually shut down one bank of cylinders at speeds under 135km/h.  It should still manage to top out at 217mph and its all-wheel drive will ensure maximum power from a standing start.