New cars you can see at the 2024 Festival of Speed

Aston Martin DBX707

Aston Martin's 193mph SUV, the DBX707, will be on show in First Glance, giving showgoers their first chance to see the all-new interior, which features high-def infotainment screens featuring Pure Black technology displays. They replace the dated hand-me-down Mercedes screens found in the old DBX.

As you'd expect, cabin quality is top-notch. The revised interior features leather peppered with wood veneers and chrome, and you can choose from new trim pieces like Gloss Smoked Oak, Ziricote wood, piano black, and carbon fibre.

Performance remains largely unchanged with updated suspension settings about the size of it, which isn't an issue as the Aston is already good for 0-62mph in 3.1 seconds courtesy of its twin-turbocharged V8. Not bad in a car weighing in at 2,240kg.

Alpine A290

Alpine’s adventure into electrification begins with the 224PS (165kW) A290, a hopped-up, all-electric hot hatch based on the fabulous Renault 5 E-Tech. We went to the launch of this in Paris and Alpine was insistent everything about this car has been carefully judged. Many of its dynamic attributes have been honed with the A110 as a benchmark so, needless to say, we expect great things. 

It's very deliberately been built to best its main rival, the Mini Cooper S E, in all areas from performance, range, weight, practicality, price, driving fun and more, and some punchy talk from Alpine claims it’s delivered on all fronts.

Audi RS e-tron GT Performance

It’s a great fear of ours that the Audi e-Tron GT has been forgotten as the Porsche Taycan’s slightly unloved cousin. It doesn’t deserve to be, given it arguably looks better, is nicer inside (with better button-informed ergonomics) and drives just as well. Happily, Audi hasn't forgotten it, so alongside with the Taycan’s recent update the E-Tron GT has also been given a boost. Quite the boost in fact, to become by far Audi’s most powerful production car with a monstrous 925PS (680kW) in e-Tron GT Performance trim. 

You’ll see it in action on the Goodwood Hill as part of the First Glance batch and while its looks are familiar, it’s certainly been nipped and tucked to mark it out as the mad one, especially at the front. We’ve always said this was the electric car to win over EV skeptics and with the added performance and range, we’ll only double down on that claim.

BMW M4 CS

BMW has gone all in with its presence at the 2024 Festival of Speed, and will bring two very different cars to showcase in First Glance. First up is the new M4 CS which will be making its UK debut when it takes to the Goodwood Hill for the first time on Thursday, 11^th July.

The fastest, lightest, and most extreme version of the current BMW M4, the CS develops 550PS (405kW) and 650Nm (479lb ft) of torque from its straight-six engine, with all that power being sent through a four-wheel-drive system for superior grip and traction.

The results are bound to be impressive. A sprint from 0-62mph takes 3.4 seconds on the way to a 188mph top speed, numbers that are aided further by a stringent weight-saving exercise – the M4 CS is 20kg lighter than the M4 Competition. This car is going to look fantastic out on the Hill.

Bentley Continental GT Speed

The new Bentley Continental GT Speed will be making its public debut at the 2024 Festival of Speed and while the W12 is dearly departed, a highly potent and exciting hybrid powertrain takes its place. Bentley calls it the ‘Ultra Performance Hybrid’ powertrain and the figures alone suggest it should live up to that billing: 782PS (575kW), 1,000Nm (758lb ft), 0-60mph in 3.1 seconds and a top speed of 208mph. Which, by the way, Bentley verified in an undersea tunnel. 

Producing all that power is a rejigged 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 married to an electric motor. That motor, fed by a 25.9kWh battery, can deliver an impressive 50 miles of all-electric range. Yes the new hybrid powertrain means a bit of extra weight, but Bentley has overhauled the chassis, suspension and limited-slip diff to suit and the new-found 50:50 weight distribution won’t hinder the driving experience either. The result, it’s been suggested, is the most dynamic Conti GT yet.

BMW M5

The German brand is also bringing its very latest M car to the Festival of Speed, the newly revealed BMW M5, which will also be heading up the Hill as part of First Glance this year, offering us an opportunity to see this new high-performance saloon in action for the first time.

It’s bolder, more technologically advanced, and more powerful than ever, and a first for the M5, it’s a hybrid. But think of the electrification in use here as a means to more power rather than an attempt to soften the M5’s fuel economy.

With 727PS (535kW) and 1,000Nm (737lb ft) of torque being sent from the combination of 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 and electric motor, we have no doubt this new M5 could complete the Hill climb at serious pace if the driver so wished.

BMW XM Label

BMW’s other entrant into First Glance is quite the contrast. It’s the most powerful M car ever made, and you certainly won’t miss it out on the Hill. This is the strikingly designed BMW XM Label, a 750PS (552kW) performance SUV powered by a 4.4-litre twin-turbocharged V8 coupled to an electric motor.

We’ll let you make your own mind up on the looks of this thing, but there is no denying the performance. It takes only 3.8 seconds to smash through the 0-62mph barrier, which must feel quite alarming from behind the wheel of a 2.5-tonne monster.

We’d warn you not to miss it, but we’re not sure that’ll be possible when the XM storms its way up the Hill at the Festival of Speed.

BYD Seal U DM-i

BYD is well on its way to becoming a household name in the UK, its early successes in Europe have already been highly publicised, and its latest introduction to the market is set to make its debut in First Glance. It’s the Seal U DM-i, a svelte SUV with a proposed 671-mile range.

It takes on several details you may recognise from the Seal saloon, including the rotating infotainment display, but while the saloon is a fully electric car, the Seal U DM-i is a plug-in hybrid with an 18.3kWh battery supplemented by a 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine.

If this is going to be your first time in close contact with a BYD, we suggest you take a good look, because this brand is about to make waves in the UK market.

Defender Octa

JLR is bringing plenty to Goodwood’s summer garden party in 2024, but the headline attraction from the British marque will be the new Defender Octa, a performance variant of the Defender that’s pushing several envelopes into the middle of next year.

We’ve known about its existence for several months now, and finally we can confirm that the Defender Octa will be making its global dynamic debut at the 2024 Festival of Speed.

Ahead of a full reveal, all we know so far is it’s going to be an outrageous piece of kit, powered by a twin-turbocharged V8 and featuring some very clever-sounding suspension tech. We’ll learn more about this car in the coming weeks, but for now suffice to say we’re excited to see it in action.

Mercedes-Benz G-Class EQ

One of the most long-lived legacy models of the internal combustion era is getting electrified. A leather-clad luxo truck it may be, but the Mercedes G-Class is a car that’s stayed very true to the build quality and capability principals it started out with in the 1970s. Now, it’s undergoing arguably its most profound transformation, from oil-burning to battery power. 

Yes, the Mercedes G580 EQ is finally here and it’ll be on the Hill in the First Glance batch. Will it stop to do the ‘tank turn’ thing? We hope so. That stunt is possible thanks to each of its wheels getting its own electric motor, which combine to produce a G63-rivalling total of 587PS (432kW) and a 0-62mph time of 4.7 seconds. We don’t think it’ll be gunning for its 294-mile range over the course of the weekend, mind…

Genesis Magma Program

Genesis’ presence at the 2024 Goodwood Festival of Speed will very much be associated with one word: Magma. On the Hill in action in the First Glance presented by heycar batch every day of the event will be a trio of bright orange cars from Genesis, each coming under the Magma program.

They are the GV60 Magma Concept, the G80 EV Magma Concept and the G70 Nürburgring Taxi. Together these represent the commitment of Genesis to pushing into the performance space and dedication to a quality driving experience. The GV60 especially also explores more how Magma can mean visually enhanced too, with puffy arches, new wheels, a revised facia and a sporty wing. It's a pucker-looking thing.

The marque will be watching eagerly for the reaction of our attendees, given the UK historically is a key market for any and all performance offshoots.

Honda Prelude

It’s coming to Goodwood and it’s beautiful… and that’s about all we know. It’s the new Honda Prelude, making its debut at the 2024 Festival of Speed in concept form, previewing a production model due to arrive next year. 

What we do know is it’ll be broadly Civic-based and thus front-wheel drive. It’ll also likely be a hybrid, and in production form it’ll likely do away with the carbon roof and wing mirrors of the concept. But you can tell in terms of design, this is very close to the finished article and might we say, it’s set to be one of the prettiest coupes since the Peugeot 406. A big claim, I know.

Lamborghini Urus SE

Lamborghini’s incredibly successful Urus has received its biggest update yet in 2024, with a new face and a hybrid boost. It’s called the Urus SE and it packs a massive 800PS (588kW) thanks to a twin-turbo V8 married to an electric motor, with its 25.9kW battery allowing for 37 miles of all-electric range – that is when the SE isn’t doing 0-62mph in 3.4 seconds on the way to its 193mph top speed. You might not see it reach maximum velocity on the Hill this weekend but it’ll certainly be rapid. That new face is, dare we say it, a bit prettier than before, too.

Lotus Emeya R

Of course in 2025 there is a bright yellow, Lotus-badged riposte to the Taycan, e-Tron GT and Tesla Model S to consider. We of course refer to the Lotus Emeya, the all-electric super saloon that is the second EV in Lotus’s grand master plan to sell 150,000 cars a year by 2028. If the Eletre was a car too far for a Lotus badge to be attached to in your view, this low-slung sporty saloon is probably more like it, even if it’s still far from a featherweight. 

Inside it’s easily the plushest in the segment with an almost art-deco material appointment. It’s high-tech too with AR display technology. It should go without saying too that it’s fast and incredibly powerful – 905PS (666kW) in Emeya R form – but also to its credit, it also charges the fastest of any EV currently on sale.

Mini John Cooper Works E

Mini’s all-new all-electric hot hatch will debut at the 2024 Festival of Speed… sort of. The Mini John Cooper Works E will run up the Hill as part of First Glance in disguised prototype form. Mini continues to hide the massaged aesthetics of the first electric Mini JCW ahead of its full reveal later this year. This will be your first chance to see it up close.

Porsche Macan Turbo

Porsche is going bold next year by fully electrifying its golden goose, the Macan. The second-generation car has been hotly-anticipated for a few years now, but it’s finally here and you’ll be able to see it run up the Hill as part of First Glance. It’s a bit of a monster, too, packing a 911 Turbo-beating 639PS (470kW) and 1,130Nm (833lb-ft) which it sends to the tyres via all four wheels. A family crossover it might be, but it’ll dispatch the Hill with greater urgency than some not-so-senior race cars we’ll have in attendance.

Porsche Cayenne GTS

If the all-electric Porsche SUV doesn’t tickle your fancy, an old-school V8 bruiser will. The new Cayenne GTS keeps its burbling twin-turbo V8 without any electrification… for now. See the refreshed-for-2024 model run up the Hill in the First Glance batch.

Tesla Cybertruck

A few cars will be a long way from home as they head up the Hill at the Festival of Speed, none more so perhaps than the new Tesla Cybertruck. Elon Musk’s motorised monolith has been trickling out of the factory into the hands of eager Tesla fans in the US, but deposit-payers in Europe may not see theirs arrive. Why? Because, like most US market pick-up trucks, it is to pedestrian safety what Elon Musk is to high-ranking executive podcasting best practice. So see it while you can as it launches up the Hill in the First Glance batch.

Yangwang U8

This is a car we can’t help but be intrigued by. It’s a large-scale SUV powered by a quad-motor electric powertrain with a 2.0-litre inline-four-cylinder range extender. Needless to say, it packs quite the punch, producing 1,196PS (88kW) through its four motors, one on each wheel, powered by a 49kWh battery.

It looks big, and it is genuinely enormous, standing at 5.3 metres long and more than two metres wide, it weighs a whopping 3,460kg. All that weight does have an impact on electric range, which is limited to 112 miles, but the addition of the petrol engine boosts that to around 620 miles.

Aside from the eye-opening numbers, the U8 has a very impressive party trick. It can perform a tank turn (a full 360-degree pirouette on the spot) using its state-of-the-art e4 platform that allows the left and right wheels to rotate in opposite directions. You should definitely check this car out in First Glance, it’ll be in action on the Hill, too, throughout the weekend.

We'll update this list with new announcements as they happen in the build up to the 2024 Festival of Speed. Stay tuned to find out which exciting new cars you'll be able to see in First Glance.

The 2024 Goodwood Festival of Speed takes place from the 11th-14th July, and you can watch every moment of the action on our live stream right here on GRR!