2020

One of the best ways to showcase your technical expertise and convince buyers to buy your cars is to build a hypercar. Mercedes-AMG did it, Aston Martin too. Heck, Volkswagen AG has the best of them all - the Bugatti Veyron and the Chiron. I can only imagine that somewhere in BMW headquarters in Munchen, the board of directors and investors sat together and discussed the hypercar idea.

After all, back in 2017, when Mercedes-AMG showcased the F1 inspired Project One, BMW M boss Dirk Hacker said:

“We would like to do a standalone car, and we could do it – but today there is no requirement from the market to do it. As a company, we are more focused on future mobility than digitization than building a hypercar, to be honest, but if we came to the decision to do a super sports car, then we could do that.”

Apparently, the market still isn’t favorable for the development of the BMW hypercar, but that does not stop us from the brainstorming of what that proposed hypercar could be. I am giving you ten different things BMW hypercar needs to succeed.

The 2021 McLaren Elva is a brand-new supercar that the British firm added to its Ultimate Series lineup, alongside the Senna and the Speedtail. A two-seat open-cockpit design, it’s inspired by a series of race cars built by Bruce McLaren in the 1960s under the McLaren-Elva name. It’s McLaren’s first open-cockpit road car and its lightest road-going vehicle yet. A track-ready roadster with an aerodynamic design, the 2021 Elva features the most powerful iteration of McLaren’s twin-turbo, 4.0-liter V-8 engine. Rated at 804 horsepower, it slots above the Senna in terms of power and falls behind only the Speedtail hybrid. Let’s find out more about this beast in the review below.

As McLaren’s first dedicated grand tourer, the GT combines the best of all worlds, boasting supercar-like performance to go with an interior that’s brimming with all the fine things money can buy.

Novitec’s latest aftermarket program is dedicated to the McLaren GT, and, in keeping with the company’s reputation as a tuner par excellence, owners are treated to an exterior touch-up, a new set of wheels, and an engine upgrade that successfully dials up the GT’s power and performance capabilities. This is a McLaren GT that’s tuned to the nines.

The Aston Martin DBS Superleggera can be called a number of things, but one thing it will never be called is slow. This has never been more evident than in the latest video released by The Smoking Tire. However, we’ve learned something else, and that is that Aston Martin was forced to limit torque output until the car moves into fourth gear. Seems strange for a car that weighs a little over 4,000 pounds and pumps out 663 pound-feet of torque, right?

When Shiv Sikand and Dean Drako decided to build the GTE, that desire came, in fact, from necessity. The two business partners couldn’t find an EV they liked and simply set off to build one themselves. Six year later, the Drako GTE was born as a high-performance sedan than drives like an E46 M3 and packs 1,200 horsepower.

But power is nothing without control and in case you had any doubts that the GTE isn’t a finely-tuned precision tool, we’re here to shatter those.

Mercedes-Benz was, arguably, the first premium brand to come up with the coupe-sedan niche when it introduced the first-generation CLS Class some 15 years ago and now you can get what is effectively an enlarged AMG-GT that follows the ethos of the CLS but is a lot more sporty. That’s a tasty proposition but how much of the Mercedes-AMG GT53 can you really fall in love with, beyond all the figures?

There was a time when SUVs were mostly family haulers and vehicles prepped to tackle the great outdoors. But once they became extremely popular, automakers began developing high-performance versions.

Nowadays, there are loads of beefed-up crossovers available and the BMW X3 M Competition is one of the most powerful you can buy at 503 horsepower. But thanks to aftermarket tuners, the X3 M can produce notably more power. Enough to give sports cars like the Mercedes-AMG GT R a run for their money.

The Ducati Monster can trace its heritage back to the ’93 Monster 900, and the new “Stealth” variant serves as what you might call a highly-functional tribute piece for that venerated machine. It totes the usual suite of electronic gadgets with Ducati’s Quick Shift feature added to the stock package, and it boasts 100-plus horsepower in a design that is, paradoxically, both sexy and stocky at the same time.

Ducati added to its “Monster” family in 2017 with the accessible and relatively rider-friendly “797” version of its popular naked bike. This ride uses the same 803 cc mill that drives the full-size Scramblers, so while it isn’t a net-new engine, it is a proven one. Dual front brakes with ABS, Pirelli tires and fat Kayaba forks are but some of the features included in what looks to be the closest to an “entry level” ride that the Monster family has managed to date. I was eager to take a look at this new ride ever since it was revealed at the Milan show, and what I see so far does not disappoint. In 2018, the Monster 797+ replaced the base model with some extra goodies added in.

Koenigsegg is regarded as one of the most revolutionary automakers in the industry. Take the Koenigsegg Agera, for example. Introduced a decade ago, the Agera was, in many ways, a revolutionary supercar that helped Koenigsegg transition from being a niche automaker to a globally renowned automotive purveyor of hellacious speed and performance.

The latest episode of YouTube channel Mr.JWW shines a light on the supercar that made Koenigsegg a household name.

If you’re a Porsche 911 fan, you’re definitely familiar with Ruf Automobile, modified 911s and the iconic CTR Yellowbird. If you haven’t heard about Ruf and the Yellowbird, it’s time to grab a seat and check this out, because you need watch and hear one of the greatest 911s built outside Porsche’s factory.

Engine upgrades joined other improvements in the 2018 model year as Suzuki pushed to keep its sport-standard-sector momentum going with the GSX-S1000. The family tree branched yet again with the new-in-2018, blackout GSX-S1000Z and Suzuki dropped the “F” in favor of the “FZ” for 2019, but the “F” returns for 2020. The family now has even more of what it takes to dominate the street with a Gixxer engine in a naked bike chassis.

No matter how many cars are built by automakers these days, there’s still no substitute for the kind of purity and authentic love you can have for a project car. This kind of car is the one that you spend hours upon hours, days upon days, and months upon months trying to build.

Project cars are based largely on existing models, but when these models aren’t built or tuned in the manner that you want them to be, you take it upon yourself to do it, rebuilding it to your taste and preference. Some project cars take years to build, and the cost of doing it can go as high as you’re willing to take it. But the results speak for themselves. Project cars are your creations, and they are the most fulfilling ones to drive. They are built according to how you want these cars to look and run. Here’s a list of cars that make great project cars for every gearhead.

BMW expanded its R nineT lineup ahead of the 2017 model year with the Urban G/S that brings old school adventure bike looks to the table along with the same modern performance as the rest of the line. Power comes from an 1,170 cc flat-twin engine that adds character and historical panache at the same time to make the “GS” something of a rolling tribute piece. Although the “GS” sports some special gear that sets it apart from the rest of the range, it’s still just a platform that can be shifted between the stock road-running setup and a more off-road friendly build for what is, essentially, two bikes in one. Rider safety is also available in varying levels, so I would argue that this ride is probably appropriate for riders that land near the bottom of the experience scale along with riders who are looking to cross between the black and the brown.

Ducati headed into MY2020 with a revamped, low-displacement Panigale that the factory rebranded from the Panigale 959 to the Panigale V2. It’s a mixture of old and new with new body fairings over a modified monocoque frame, upgraded suspension components, and six-axis ride-quality controls to deliver extra safety on the road. Power comes from the Superquadro V-twin plant with over 150 ponies on tap to serve as the icing on the cake.

Kawasaki beefed up its Ninja lineup ahead of MY2019 with the upgraded H2 SX SE+. Competition is fierce at the top of the liter-bike range, but Kawi has a not-so-secret weapon in its fight for street dominance in the form of a supercharger (compressor) that significantly boosts performance. The electronic suite received a buff as well with electronic suspension control bundled with new riding modes and the ability to network with your smartphone. Plus, it rocks a “self-repairing” finish that resists dings and scratches to help it keep its curb value.

After a revamp for the 2018 model year, Softail underpinnings are all radically different than the originals, but the overall classic look of the Heritage Classic remains largely unchanged for the requisite historical tie-in. Harley-Davidson put a new emphasis on the Softail lineup with plenty of performance-driven custom designs for the fiery-eyed pegdraggers out there, but for someone looking for an old-school cruiser and tour bike, the Heritage Classic is your Huckleberry.

Harley-Davidson expands the Sportster family with the new-in-2018 Iron 1200. Retro is in, so the ’70s-esque paint and custom touches drawn from that era give the Iron 1200 plenty of nostalgic value. Power comes from the venerable Evolution engine to the tune of 73 pound-feet of torque to give this ride modern performance that belies the dated veneer. A classic dish with custom spices, the new Iron 1200 raises the Iron stable’s displacement ceiling to draw new customers from a market that has been in decline for over a decade.

Two-seater vehicle aren’t exactly practical, but this layout is usually associated with sports cars, so you sacrifice practicality for fun and speed. Things become even more complicated with a single-seat layout, but this means a lighter construction and more freedom to improve aerodynamics.

The fastest race cars out there are usually single-seaters, so a road-legal vehicle with just one seat is a hot dream. Personally, I’m a big fan of the Morgan 3 Wheeler, but since this car has two seats it doesn’t have a place on this list. But here’s 10 single-seat vehicles that should be fun to own either for their performance specs or compact dimensions.

When Harley-Davidson makes changes to the Iron 883, they stay faithful to at least one important aspect – performance. While XL models have never been known as ’fast’ bikes, they certainly have a well-deserved reputation as ’quick’ bikes. Nothing in the Harley world comes out of the hole like a Sporty, or handles the corners like one, and the Iron 883 maintains that tradition with aplomb. Bikes like this show how the XL line has not only survived, but also thrived in the entry-level and sport-minded American markets.

The Forty-Eight from Harley-Davidson’s Sportster stable has that signature bulldog stance with beefy front forks and fat tires on a narrow frame. The 1,202 cc Evo engine comes blacked out with chrome blings, fed by a ’peanut tank’ that appeared on Sporty’s throughout its history. Low, low seat height and Dark Custom attitude give the Forty-Eight that low-slung, lean, mean look.

It was just a couple of weeks ago when Chip Foose took to YouTube in an attempt - successful, if you want our two cents - to restyle the new mid-engine Corvette in a way that pays tribute to its predecessor and now we see another pixel manipulator trying to improve the C8’s design. And we really like what we’re seeing.