Five things to look out for at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed
This year’s festival has a host of key attractions worth checking out. We’ve picked out five of the best
The Goodwood Festival of Speed is set to kick off tomorrow, promising motoring excitement and thrills by the bucketload. We’ve been through what’s on offer and picked out five well worth checking out.
Ford GT tackles the hill
Ford’s latest GT will be tackling the Goodwood Hill Climb for the very first time, along with an all-new Mustang GT.
The ultra-high performance GT uses a 3.5-litre turbocharged V6 engine producing 647bhp – making it the fastest production Ford ever. The Mustang GT4, meanwhile, uses a 5.2-litre V8 that has been specifically engineered for GT4 races.
It also features a carbon fibre front splitter, bonnet, rear diffuser and rear wing to ensure it stays as light as possible. Designed to take on competitive GT4 races, it’s likely to post an exciting and speedy run up the Goodwood hill.
Vauxhall VXR8 bids farewell
Goodwood is always full of new cars bursting on to the scene, but this year also has a perhaps unsung hero saying goodbye, but not without a bang.
The Vauxhall VXR8 GTS-R makes its debut at Goodwood this year and will be the final time the V8 muscle car is sold by the now-PSA owned company.
Holden Commodore production ends this year, which has formed the base for the VXR8 since 2007, meaning the end for Vauxhall’s version.
It’s certainly making a show of its exit though, with the 6.2-litre V8 now producing 595bhp, making it Vauxhall’s most powerful car ever.
25 years of Type R
To celebrate 25 years of the Type R badge, Honda are bringing the full line-up of Type-R cars from the last quarter-century to Goodwood.
They’re all running in unison up the famous hill climb, starting with the brand new FK8 Civic Type-R right through to the original EK9 Civic. Type-R versions of the Accord and Integra are also present, as well as the legendary NSX-R.
The company are also having a unique stand experience at the event, named the Honda Challenge Lab. A number of hands-on activities will be available for visitors, including in-car karaoke for those feeling brave enough.
Jaguar XE SV Project 8 debut
Jaguar’s is giving its latest Special Vehicle Operations project – the 592bhp, 200mph XE SV Project 8 – its dynamic debut at Goodwood this year. Powered by a 5.0-litre supercharged V8 engine, it’s the most powerful Jaguar ever.
It’s also ultra-exclusive, with just 300 examples set to be made with each costing £149,995. Extremely powerful and likely to be loud too, it’ll be one to watch as it tackles the famous Hill. Jaguar will also be giving visitors a look at its new prototype XJ saloon. Wearing special camouflage, it’ll be making its final tests at Goodwood.
Up close with the new electrified London Taxi
In an event featuring hundreds of high-end, powerful supercars, the new electrified London Taxi deserves recognition. Created ahead of new Transport for London legislation which requires all new taxis to have a ‘zero-emission’ range of at least 30 miles, it’s due to be built in a new facility in Coventry following a £300 million investment by Geely, London Taxi Company’s owners.
Using an electric motor and a range-extending petrol unit, it’s a clever piece of technology – and one well worth checking out at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed.
