Sports Cars

Nissan is currently celebrating five decades of the GT-R with the debut of the 2020 GT-R 50th Edition at the 2019 New York Auto Show. While we’re happy to see Nissan paying tribute to one of the greatest Japanese sports cars of all time, you’d be forgiven for saying the automaker is dragging its feet when it comes to introducing a new generation for Godzilla. However, recent comments made by a few folks high in the Nissan corporate food chain seem to suggest that the company is indeed working to pin down exactly what the R36 will bring to the table, including electric power options, handling upgrades, and possibly even self-driving capability.

The 2020 Aston Martin DBS Superleggera Volante is the cabriolet version of the company’s latest range-topping grand tourer. Introduced to replace the already iconic but old Vanquish S Volante, the DBS Superleggera name returns after a six-year absence with a brand-new design, underpinnings from the 2018 Aston Martin DB11, and a turbocharged V-12 engine that generates in excess of 700 horsepower.

Designed to replace the aging Vanquish Volante, the 2020 DBS Superleggera Volante benefits from Aston Martin’s new design language that’s sleeker and more aggressive. The cabriolet is identical to the coupe below the waist, but it features a canvas top instead of the usual metal roof. A more luxurious interior, new technology, and a beefed-up drivetrain round out the grand tourer that challenges the 2020 Bentley Continental GTC.

The 2020 Porsche 911 Speedster is a limited-edition version of the 991-generation 911. Based on the 991.2 model discontinued in 2019, the 2020 911 Speedster is the last iteration of the eight-year-old sports car. It’s also the first Speedster since 2010, when Porsche sold a limited-edition model of 356 units based on the 997-generation 911.

Previewed by a couple of concept cars used to celebrate the company’s 70th anniversary of building sports cars, the 2020 911 Speedster is actually very similar to the show cars. But unlike its predecessors, it’s based on the track-ready 911 GT3 and generates in excess of 500 horsepower. As a result, it’s also the first Speedster developed by the Porsche Motorsport division. It also comes with a Heritage Design package that adds unique features inspired by vintage Porsche race cars, as well as a premium timepiece.

The McLaren Senna is the company’s latest track-ready supercar. A successor to theP1, the Senna dropped the hybrid drivetrain for pure V-8 power and adopted a more aerodynamic design. The Senna is essentially a race car for the road, but it also spawned a track-only GTR version. Come 2019, and Hennessey Performance launched a couple of upgrades for the supercar.

Yes, it’s hard to believe that the Senna can be further tweaked, but the folks over at Hennessey are known for their capability to push just about any car to the limit. If you think that the Senna’s 789-horsepower rating is impressive, you need to know that the British supercar can generate much more than that. Let’s find out more about that in the review below.

Aston Martin just unveiled the 2020 DBS Superleggera Volante! Framed as the convertible version of the brand’s hugely desirable DBS Superleggera coupe, the Volante pairs all the usual grand touring awesomeness with endless drop-top fun.

Mounted in that shapely frontend is the same engine as the hardtop DBS Superleggera, namely a turbocharged 5.2-liter V-12 producing 715 horsepower and 664 pound-feet of torque. Routing the power to the rear axle is an eight-speed automatic transmission from ZF.

Top speed clocks in at 211 mph, while the sprint to 62 mph takes 3.6 seconds. Keep your foot down, and the Volante will go from 0 to 100 mph in 6.7 seconds.

You’ll have eight body colors to choose from, as well as six headliner colors. Quad exhaust pipes are in the rear, while up front, the reworked aero blasts the brakes with cold air, while also reducing lift and enhancing stability. Interestingly, the new bodyworks produces up to 390 pounds of downforce at speed, just 6.6 pounds less than what you get with the coupe model.

The fabric roof takes 14 seconds to open and 16 seconds to close, but we’d recommend keeping it open to make it easier to hear that V-12 wail. Leather, carbon fiber, and metal accents make it nice inside the cabin.

Pricing for the 2020 Aston Martin DBS Superleggera Volante starts at $329,100. Look for deliveries to kick off in the third quarter of the year.

We all now that the Dirty VAG loves to share its technology and platforms among its various appendages – a Bentley is just an Audi, and an Audi is Just a Porsche. With that in mind, we already figured out that the J1 platform that underpins the Porsche Taycan will eventually funnel down to other automakers, with brands like Audi, Bentley, and even Lamborghini eventually placing their in-house designs on top of the same chassis and battery technology. Eventually, real-life cars will all feature the same guts underneath and bodies on top – kind of like remote control cars d today. And, that’s where we’re at now as Audi starts to plan a replacement for the aging Audi R8. In doing so, CAR Magazine reports that the company will take the Taycan’s J1 platform and place it under an all-new body, creating a car that will go by the name “E-Tron GTR.” We already know quite a bit about it, but how will it serve as a spiritual successor to the Audi R8? Well, it probably won’t.

Mazda doesn’t do hot versions of any of its cars anymore, even though the likes of the Mazda3 and Mazda6 MPS (or MazdaSpeed in some markets) were exceptional cars in their respective categories before they were phased out. But now, with the new Mazda3 hatch making its debut and being received quite well, it seems the Japanese automaker is again considering making a hot hatch version, and it on that could arrive before the year 2021.

The 2020 Chevrolet C8 Corvette is almost here! After more than five decades of teasers and concepts, the Bow Tie is finally offering its iconic American sports car with a mid-engine layout, so it’s understandable that the hype train is now running at full steam. Chevy recently dropped a gallon of high-test into the mix by announcing the C8 would make its big debut on July 18th, and diehard fans are piecing together every scrap of info out there to figure out what’s in store. Plenty of folks also wanna know what the final production C8 will look like, so we’ve gathered up a few of our favorite renderings right here for your approval, all courtesy of MidEngineCorvetteForum.com.

Teased in one way or another for the last two years, the Porsche 911 Speedster finally showcased its gorgeous body at the 2019 New York Auto Show. Revealed in red, the glorious 911 celebrates the 70th anniversary of the production of rear-engine sports cars, and it is the most extreme representation of philosophy once started with the fantastic 356. With such an important job to do and an incredible heritage to justify, the new Porsche 911 Speedster - the ninth Speedster overall - is the best the 991.2 generation can possibly offer.

For that matter, Porsche garnished it with the latest technology and epic throwback easter eggs that elevate the 911 Speedster unique qualities. This is the list of the most unusual Porsche 911 Speedster’s quirks and features.

Few automakers have experienced such sustained and exponential growth (especially in terms of image and how it is perceived) over the last decade as Hyundai has. The Korean manufacturer has managed to bring about this shift through its own hard work and dedication but also by hiring bright engineering minds with experience working for rival automakers. Now it’s done it again as it has co-opted Tyrone Johnson, the chief engineer that oversaw the Ford Focus RS project and spent 33 years at the Blue Oval.

The 2019 Porsche 911 Speedster is a really cool sports car that comes with a lot of extras over the regular 911, but you can customize it beyond that by ordering the Heritage Design Package. Crafted by Porsche Exclusive, the division responsible for bespoke features, it adds classic styling elements that link back to the roots of the German company.

If you want the ultimate front-engined Aston Martin experience and your bank accounts are adequately full, you have to go with the DBS Superleggera - the 715 horsepower monster that weighs under 4,000 pounds and can reach 211 mph. If you’re crazy about the brand’s history, then the DBS 59 is the car for you as it looks back at Aston’s first big splash in motorsport.

We’ve talked about the DBS Superleggera 59 before when Aston Martin first released a few pictures of the new limited-edition model commissioned by Aston Martin Cambridge for an occasion like no other in the brand’s history: the 60th anniversary of Roy Salvadori and Carroll Shelby’s sole overall win at Le Mans aboard the works-backed Aston Martin DBR1/300. We’re talking a lot here about a variety of manufacturers trying to find any sort of reason that could warrant the introduction of a special model, but this one right here is really special.

Why? Because it’s a way at looking back while keeping in mind that Aston Martin might mount an attack on Le Mans with its sights locked on the overall victory with a ’hypercar’ as per the new regulations that are set to be introduced in the World Endurance Championship in little over a year. These new rules, apparently, will allow Aston Martin Valkyrie-type cars to compete in what is currently the LMP1 category.

Mercedes-Benz came to introduce six new models at the 2019 New York Auto Show, but it also brought us news on the next-generation SL-Class. A brand-new two-door will arrive in 2022, and the German brand has big plans for it as it will, apparently, be built by AMG.

The Lotus Evora is already ten years old as of 2019, but it’s still going strong. Although Lotus is working on a successor, the current Evora is still being used as a base for special-edition sports cars. The latest model is called the GT410 and was unveiled in China, at the 2019 Shanghai Auto Show. This isn’t the first Evora to sport a "GT410" badge — a one-off was built for the Jim Clark Trust Foundation in 2018 — but it’s the first production run to feature the nameplate.