So that was it; that was 2017. Another crazy rollercoaster year, packed with thrills, spills and more amazing cars than you can shake a gear stick at.

We can be a nostalgic bunch here at Motor-Vision, so before we speed towards 2018, we’re peering into our rear-view mirror and appreciating all the automotive goodness dished up in 2017.

January

We started the year by taking a look at the kind of tech that cars of the future will offer, in honour of National Technology Day.

Kia kicked off its 2017 with a bang by confirming that the Stinger GT would definitely go into full production. It would be the fastest and most powerful Kia ever, with a 360bhp 3.3-litre V6 achieving a 0-62mph dash of 5.1 seconds.

The South Korean brand would fulfil its promise by launching the Stinger GT to near-universal praise in the November. You can read more on the Stinger here.

January was also the month we learned that learner drivers would finally be allowed to go on motorways. It had been a much-discussed matter in years previous, but the decision is intended to make new drivers more familiar and therefore comfortable driving on motorways.

Expect to see L-plates on your nearest M-road very soon.

February

The second month of the year brought images of the second-generation Porsche Panamera plug-in hybrid. This four-door, four-seat hybrid saloon became the flagship model in the Panamera range when it went on sale in July, due its ability to race from zero to 62mph in 3.4 seconds.

Electric cars tend to raise tons of curious queries so in anticipation of many of the FAQs regarding the forthcoming Tesla Model 3, we published this ‘all you need to know’ article on the electric 3 Series rival.

March

2017 marked the 50th anniversary of Mercedes’ AMG performance division and to celebrate, they chucked together this 804bhp four-door GT Concept to parade at the Geneva Motor Show.

It ain’t no throwaway bonkers concept though; the car will form the basis for a new petrol-electric hybrid model, slated for a 2019 UK release.

In March, we also revealed which countries were the best in which to drive (and which were the worst). It turns out Libya, Thailand and Malawi are the most dangerous, while Sweden and the UK are the safest.

April

In April, we finally found out if the Bugatti Chiron was any good (spoiler: it is), while the UK government implemented new changes to the car tax system. Check out our revised and updated list of VED-free cars here.

We also found out which cars were the heroes and villains in terms of achieving their official mpg figure. See the complete rundown here.

Speaking of villains, the most stolen car of 2016 was revealed as the BMW X5. Here’s what else made the most-pinched list.

May

May saw the introduction of new speeding penalties with the minimum fine rising to £100.

The second annual London Motor Show established the event as a viable addition to the automotive exhibition calendar. Check out our rundown of every great car that was there.

Elsewhere, the BMW 5 Series went plug-in with the 530e iPerformance.

June

What winds you up about other motorists? Not indicating? Chatting on the phone? Tailgating? Well, this article revealed Britain’s most hated driving habits.

Meanwhile, police on the Isle of Man laid claim to having the best emergency vehicle ever: a BAC Mono. Simply outrageous.

July

With half the year out of the way, we celebrated World Chocolate Day the only way we know how.

Jaguar unveiled its E-Pace compact SUV, essentially an F-Pace that’s shrank in the wash and now looks a little bit like a Suzuki Swift. We gathered some of the best reactions from across the internet here.

We also found out just that the Ferrari 812 Superfast was supergood.

August

The Range Rover Velar was one of the most hotly anticipated new cars of 2017 and the raft of four and five-star reviews suggested that the fourth member of the Range Rover family is worth bothering with.

Tech was the focus yet again; this time, we laid into irritating car features we’d be happy to see the back of, before singing the praises of car kit we simply couldn’t do without.

September

Motoring’s big guns rolled into Frankfurt for the German city’s bi-annual motor show.

It provided the stage for the unveiling of the third-generation Porsche Cayenne and the sequel to the groundbreaking Nissan Leaf, as well as one of 2017’s wildest concepts: the steering wheel-less Audi Aicon.

We’d be here until 2019 listing everything that was on show in Frankfurt so perhaps it’s best just to check out our review of the show.

October

BMW finally put the car world out of its misery by unveiling the X2 in October. The compact SUV will be a fierce rival to Audi’s Q2 when it arrives in UK showrooms this March.

Other hot reveals in October included the convertible Aston Martin DB11 and the first ever plug-in hybrid from Jaguar Land Rover: the Range Rover Sport P400 PHEV.

November

Car reveals usually wind down towards the end of the year but 2017 still had some zingers up its sleeve, most notably with the long-awaited follow-up to the Aston Martin Vantage.

November also taught us that half of Britain’s speed cameras don’t work and that BMW and Mercedes are the hottest car brands on Instagram.

December

Another plot twist was the unveiling of the Lamborghini Urus – the world’s first super SUV – in December. Expect it to gobble you up for breakfast from this spring.

Ahead of turkey-induced comas, McLaren made sure heart rates remained high with the reveal of its most extreme model ever – the Senna – due Q3 2018.

And as is customary, we closed out the year with our rundown of the best and worst new cars of the year.

 

We can’t wait to see what 2018 has in store for us, but what was your motoring highlight of the past 12 months? Let us know down in the comments.