Daily News: Wednesday 6/14/17

Yesterday—going in to today—was chock-full of new releases, most of which were actually pretty interesting:

2018 McLaren 570S Spider Announced

McLaren continues to expand its model line with the inevitable introduction of the 2018 McLaren 570S Spider. Powered by the familiar 3.8L twin-turbocharged V8, producing 562hp and 443lb-ft of torque sending power through a “seamless-shift” 7-speed gearbox. This is the exact same as the 570S coupe, with accelerative figures to match: 3.1secs to 60, with a top speed of 204mph. While those are the figures with the roof up, the top speed does reduce to *only* 196mph.

The convertible mechanism adds 101lbs to the car, and necessitates the raising of the spoiler .5in to maintain the aerodynamics. The roof can be opened or close at speeds of up to 25mph, in the span of 15secs either way. The first 400 Spiders will be built as launch edition—at a premium—with the following models starting at $208,000, available for order today.

2018 Honda Type R Now on Sale

Honda’s new flagship Civic model, the Type-R, goes on sale today, finally including the US market with its release. Starting—and ending, there is only one trim—at $33,900, the Honda Civic Type-R features a 2.0L direct-injected, turbocharged inline-four making 306hp, 295lb-ft of torque still sending power to the front-wheels only through a 6-speed manual transmission. To cope with this power, the front wheels have a helical limited-slip differential nestled between them, while the front suspension is a special dual-axis strut setup.

To further control the power being sent to the front wheels, the Type-R has an adaptive damping system, as well as an automatically adjustable steering ratio. With large 13.8in and 12.0in brakes, the Type-R has the means to haul itself down from the speeds it is capable of. While the Type-R may look insane, all of the vents, scoops, and wings serve a functional purpose.

Look for the Type-R today onwards.

2018 Jaguar XF Sportbrake: The Brits Strut their Stuff

Wagons in the US market are a sure way to guarantee low-sales. Because of this, anytime a company releases a wagon, they immediately achieve Hero status in my mind. With the release of the 2018 Jaguar XF Sportbrake, Jaguar has elevated itself a notch in my mind. Available only with a supercharged 3.0L V6 producing 380hp sending power to all four wheels via an 8-speed automatic. More importantly to customers of wagons, the trunk features 20 cubic feet of storage, while folding the seats raises it to 69.7 cubic feet.

The 2018 XF Sportbrake is currently available for order.

2018 Volkswagen Tiguan: Bigger, Maybe Better

Pricing has been announced for Volkswagen’s new-for-2018 Tiguan. Based on the MQB platform, the new Tiguan is 10.6in longer than the outgoing model, enabling all FWD models to come standard with a third-row of seating, with it as an available option on all AWD models. Pricing starts at $25,345 before destination for a FWD Tiguan S, with prices rising to $37,550 for a fully-loaded SEL Premium model. All models are powered by 2.0T TSI engine producing 184hp and 221lb-ft of torque, through an eight-speed automatic.

Look for the Tiguan later this year.