Sports Cars

Audi’s lineup is expanding with several new performance offerings that we’ll see for the first time on local soil at next week’s 2015 Los Angeles Auto Show. They form part of the recently announced Audi Sport performance division and include the new S4, RS 7 Performance, S8 Plus...

When you run into an old friend after 15 years, can you pick up like no time’s been lost? Reunions are something I normally don’t do. The open-all-night nostalgia factory that is Facebook has pretty much killed them, anyway. But I am all about your serendipity, your stunning...

I got into this business in late 2001. At the time, I couldn't wait to drive the Jaguar XK. It was a beautiful swoopy coupe that looked, for the lack of a better word, special. Then I got into it, and it didn't feel special. It felt like any other Jaguar sedan of the day--not too sporty, with an...

Toyota recently introduced a turbocharged 1.2-liter four-cylinder engine in versions of the Scion iM hatchback sold overseas. The engine, which features an undersquare design, also comes with direct fuel injection and variable valve timing to help maximize output while minimizing fuel consumption...

Mercedes-Benz’s entry-level sports car, the SLK-Class, is about to undergo a mid-cycle update and in the process be rebranded an SLC. According to a new report, when the SLC arrives, there won’t be a dedicated performance offering to replace the current SLK55 from Mercedes-AMG. Instead...

Mazda has unveiled a pair of concepts at the SEMA show currently underway in Las Vegas that are meant to demonstrate two different takes on lightweight, open-top performance. The concepts are based on the 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata and one of them harkens back to vintage roadsters of the past while the...

At the recent 2015 Tokyo Motor Show, Mazda rolled out a stunning sports car concept powered by a rotary engine said to be more fuel efficient than any previous rotary design. Unfortunately, no technical details were revealed for the engine, which has adopted Mazda’s SkyActiv moniker for...

The Honda CR-Z hybrid hatchback was originally introduced for the 2011 model year, and at the time it was hoped the car would change the perception that hybrids can’t be fun with its sporty looks and available manual transmission. That didn’t turn out to be case. ALSO SEE: 2016 Scion...

We're big fans of the Scion FR-S, even if the rest of America isn't. Scion's sporty coupe is a blast to drive and its skinny tires and handling balance are designed for drifting, despite a lack of power under the hood. Even as it prepares an updated version of the FR-S hatchback coupe, Scion is...

Detroit Electric, led by former Lotus executive Albert Lam, has started production of its SP:01 electric sports car, two and a half years after the company first announced plans for the car and presented a prototype. Production is taking place at a plant in Leamington Spa in the United Kingdom and...

Subaru’s STI division is notorious for churning out special models offered exclusively in Japan, and the latest WRX STI S207 on display this week at the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show doesn’t deviate from that pattern. So what exactly is the S207? It’s a stiffer, more powerful and much...

Since the rebirth of the electric car movement this century, several automakers have toyed with the idea of powering a car by positioning a motor at each wheel. Honda may be the closest to realizing the concept. We spent a day at Honda's R&D campus a couple of days before the 2015 Tokyo Motor...

Toyota is keen to inject some fun into its lineup and will attempt this with some new sports cars, one positioned above the GT 86 (Scion FR-S for Americans) and likely to revive the Supra name, and another positioned below it and previewed at the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show in the form of the S-FR...

Yamaha has been hinting at a move into car manufacturing in recent years, with the firm recently teaming up with McLaren F1 designer Gordon Murray to develop a city car concept called the Motiv. Now Yamaha is back with a new sports car concept unveiled today at the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show, and like...

Mazda today unveiled the RX-Vision concept car at the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show and it points to the return of the rotary engine. The low-slung sports car is a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, two-seat coupe that showcases the latest version of Mazda's Kodo design language. CHECK OUT: Mercedes-Benz...

Mazda has been hinting at a new rotary for pretty much the last decade yet it seems that we’re still no closer to seeing the unique, Wankel-designed engine fitted to one of the automaker’s cars. The last rotary-powered Mazda was the RX-8, which bowed out of production back in 2012...

Honda’s all-new, 10th-generation Civic is now on sale, but so far all we’ve got is the pedestrian Civic Sedan. There’s still a new Civic Coupe due out in the winter, and sometime next year we’ll see the return of a Civic Hatchback on these shores. Then it will be time for...

The Aston Martin Vantage GT12, Porsche 911 GT3 RS and McLaren 650S couldn’t be more different, yet they all have a common goal—and that’s to put down fast lap times. And according to Chris Harris, who recently pitted the three cars together, they also have similar asking prices...

Nissan’s GT-R NISMO is famous for having lapped the Nürburgring in only 7:08.679, making it the fastest production car at the German circuit that can be had for under a half a million bucks. What’s not so well known is the fact that upgrades made to the car to enable the incredible...

It’s been a while since we last heard from Lingenfelter, but the tuning firm, based in Brighton, Michigan, has been toiling away on some interesting new products. One of these is a new wide-body kit designed for the seventh-generation Corvette. CHECK OUT: Audi RS 6 And RS 7 Performance Models...