Sports Car reviews

It’s time for another Audi R8 Special Edition. The new SE, called the R8 V10 Plus Competition Package, receives a bundle of parts from the Audi Sports bin, included in part to help the supercar shed weight and improve its aerodynamic performance. Production is limited to just ten units, all of which are earmarked specifically for the U.S. market. Each unit of the R8 V10 Plus Competition Package costs $237,350. The special edition R8 arrives in dealerships in November 2018.

Japanese coach builder Mitsuoka has launched a new project build called the Rock Star. The Corvette Stingray-bodied Rock Star is a Mazda MX-5 underneath a classic Americanized body. The nod towards one of the most iconic pieces of American car history is a fresh approach from a coach-building company best known for building what is arguably the world’s ugliest sports car. Compared to the positively ghastly Orochi sports car, the Rock Star is, well, a rock star that should have no problem establishing fans and groupies alike.

BMW is reportedly readying an even hotter version of its M2 to sit above the M2 Competition - they are the M2 CS and M2 CSL, and our spies believe that’s what they captured in these photos. Some older reports from before the Competition model was launched, called it the M2 GTS. The white prototype features several changes over the M2 Competition and, as a Whole, it looks like a more aggressive, track-focused machine.

It has been suggested that the M2 CS would be a North America-only limited model available from 2020 and that the CSL would be even more extreme and sold on other markets from 2021, but right now it’s too early to make these predictions. Both will clearly be lighter, more powerful and better around a track than the Competition which in turn is one step up from the base M2.

Yesteryear Porsches are mod-friendly and mod-favorites because of their classiness and simplicity. In this article, we’ll talk about the modification of a 964 Porsche. The Porsche 911 built from 1989 to 1994 are known as the 964 generation, and this model holds a special spot because they fall in a unique category; they are neither vintage nor modern. A German company called DP Motorsports has worked on a 964 Porsche 911 and slapped it with a price tag of over $200,000. Is it worth it?

The Porsche 911 Speedster Concept isn’t a concept anymore. It has evolved into a special edition model after the folks from Stuttgart introduced the 911 Speedster Concept II at the 2018 Paris Motor Show. The 911 Speedster Concept II will be produced as a special edition model that’s limited to only 1,948 units. Porsche hasn’t announced pricing details for the limited edition roadster, but expect an announcement from the German automaker in the next few months. Keep yourselves updated because production of the 911 Speedster Concept II starts in the first half of 2019.

Porsche has added the 911 Targa 4 GTS Exclusive Manufaktur Edition to its lineup. It’s got a huge name to go with a ridiculous price tag. This special edition comes as a surprise because the 2020 Porsche 911 is all set to debut next month in Los Angeles.

The original RUF CTR, commonly known as the “Yellowbird”, outran the Ferrari F40 and the Porsche 959 from 0 to 100 mph and kept going all the way to a top speed of 213 mph. It was the fastest car of the ‘80s and, arguably, the most extreme road-going interpretation of the Porsche 911 Carerra at the time.

As a follow-up to the vicious BTR, the RUF CTR was even more insane. It used parts from the Porsche 962 Group C prototype racer, had lightened body panels, a gearbox built just for it, tires similar to those on the spaceship that was the 959 and a bright yellow paintjob that made it stand out and earned its nickname: Yellowbird.

Before Alois Ruf and the team set about building the CTR, the world’s fastest car was the Lamborghini Countach. Surely, with all the wings it had grown by the time it received four valves per cylinder in 1985, it looked the part. Sadly for the Italians, the more understated Ruf CTR blew by the Countach, and the Testarossa, and the 288 GTO and just about any other supercar you can think of. And Ruf themselves thought that they could’ve eeked more with longer gears.

Keep reading to learn more about the ludicrous Ruf CTR

The BMW M3 has been around for a while now, first entering production in 1985 as a high-powered go-faster variant of the ever-popular BMW 3 Series. The latest F80 generation dropped in 2014, essentially setting the benchmark for all other fast four-doors to match, and now, there’s a new generation in the making. Dubbed internally as the G80, the next M3 is shaping up to be quite the ultimate driving machine, so we gathered up all the rumors we could find and put ‘em right here in the following speculative review.

Updated 10/09/2018: The M3 was once again spied, both at the ’Ring and on the street, and this time it’s sporting even less camo! Check out the new round of pics below...

Recently revived British company Lister revealed an all-new car - the Lister LFP. It’s a heavily tuned Jaguar F-Pace, crafted to be “the fastest SUV in the world.”

This isn’t the first time that Lister prepared a tuned Jag. In fact, only a month or so ago, the company gave us a car dubbed the LFT-666, a 666-horsepower F-Type with numerous pieces differentiating it from the stock F-Type cars. Obviously, Lister crafted a comprehensive tuning program for the F-Pace as well. After all, one cannot craft the fastest SUV in the world without making a lot of improvements.

The year-long celebration of Porsche’s 70th birthday is just that! When we thought Porsche couldn’t possibly pop up with a new car to celebrate its birthday, after debuting the 919 ’Tribute’ and the 911 (993) ’Project Gold,’ the Germans decided to surprise everyone with a 935 for the modern age that was presented at Laguna Seca.

"This spectacular car is a birthday present from Porsche Motorsport to fans all over the world," said Dr. Frank-Steffen Walliser, Vice President Motorsport and GT Cars for Porsche AG, upon unveiling this sci-fi-meets-retro-cool creation. "Because the car isn’t homologated for any series, engineers and designers didn’t have to follow the usual rules and thus had freedom in the development." Naturally, no place else was better to show off this limited-edition car - only 77 will be made - than at Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca during the Rennsport Reunion VI weekend.

Indeed, what we see here doesn’t resemble anything from Porsche’s current fleet of race cars, or road cars for that matter, but it was strongly inspired by a car from Porsche’s past. The inspiration is the 40-year-old Porsche 935/78 known as ’Moby Dick’ for its extra-long rear tail section, which raced only four times in 1978 but its legacy lives to this day.

The original 935, unlike this new model based on the Porsche 911 (991) GT2 RS, was built out of necessity. Porsche needed a car to compete in the new-for-1976 Group 5 rulebook that was introduced in the World Championship for Makes to attract manufacturer interest as the prototype car counts were at an all-time low.

The rulebook allowed for groundbreaking modifications to be done to the bodywork, as long as the roofline, windows, and doors were those of the production 911. With this freedom in mind, Porsche ditched the twin-headlight setup for a slant-nose front end with obvious aerodynamic gains. The widebody that resulted, coupled with the flat-six 2.9-liter engine from the 930, ensured that Porsche was the leader of the pack in 1976 and beyond.

Constant development work saw Porsche roll a new model in 1977, known as the 935/77 and a new one again for 1978, the 935/78, as well as working to benefit customers by updating its original 1976 design and offering it to private racing outfits under the 935/77A, 935/78A, and 935/79 designations.

The cars were so successful that they just about defined what Group 5 was all about: ludicrous silhouette bodywork, immense firepower from the engines - up to 700-horsepower for the later versions - and amazing speeds. Under various guises, the 935 won the 12 Hours of Sebring multiple times, the 24 Hours of Daytona multiple times, the 24 Hours of Le Mans once in the overall classification, and the World Championship for Makes for four years in a row.

A few of the aforementioned privateer outfits, due to their close affiliation with the factory, were allowed to modify the 935 further, according to their own plans. That’s how the Kremer-developed cars were born, as well as those constructed by Joest Racing, Fabcar or AIR. In fact, the Porsche 935 that won at Le Mans in 1979 wasn’t a works entry, Porsche dropping the Group 5 program after it retired the 935/78 from competition, but a privateer one from Kremer Racing with their own 935 K3 which was probably more celebrated in its day than the factory-developed cars.

All these victories, and Porsche’s improvements of its turbocharging technology which led to their domination of Group C in the ’80s, grant the 935 a spot in Porsche’s gallery of legends. It is, then, easy to see why the engineers in Zuffenhausen built this rolling tribute that is the 935 Type 991 Generation 2. This also means that the hype is big and, although it’s not homologated for any racing series, the new 935 has to live up to its predecessors on the race track. That’s why Porsche chose to unveil the car at the Rennsport Reunion VI.

Keep reading to find out more about the 935 Type 991 Gen. 2

The i30 N is the high-performance version of the Hyundai’s compact i30 hatchback. Now that it has a competitor for the popular Ford Focus ST and the Volkswagen Golf GTI, Hyundai is launching an N-prepped version of the i30 Fastback model, basically creating a new niche on the affordable performance car market.

Essentially identical to its hatchback sibling, the i30 N Fastback employs the same aerodynamic package on the outside and the same extra features on the inside. Even the engine is identical, so you will benefit from both tunes if you want a sedan instead of the hatchback. The good news here, besides the diversity factor, is that there’s a chance that the i30 N Fastback might come to the U.S. Until that happens, let’s find out more about its features and performance.

Continue reading to learn more about the Hyundai i30 N Fastback.

It’s been two years since Porsche updated the current Boxster, also giving it a "718" badge, and it seems that the German firm is finally working on a new iteration of the higher-performance Spyder model. First introduced in 2009 and relaunched in 2015, the Boxster Spyder is a modern tribute to the 718 Spyder of the 1960s, and the upcoming will be the first to actually wear the iconic "718" badge next to the "Spyder" lettering.

Introduced in 2016, the facelifted third-generation Porsche Boxster gained a couple of major changes compared to its predecessor. While the styling and interior didn’t change much compared to the previous roadster, the new Boxster changed its name to the 718 Boxster, a tribute to a sports car from the late 1950s, and switched to turbocharged engines for the first time ever. There isn’t a lot of information to run by as of this writing, but the spyder configuration is pretty obvious in the spy shots. First spotted in snowy weather in northern Europe, the upcoming sports car hit the Nurburgring track for some high-performance testing in April 2018. And we can see a few differences. The soft-top roof is different toward the back, while the engine hood features the famous flying buttresses. I also spotted a few changes front and rear. They’re not massive, but they do make the Spyder a bit more aggressive. Under the hood, it should get the most powerful engine ever fitted in a Boxster, but the nameplate’s switch to turbocharging makes things a bit complicated. We should find out more later this year, but until then let’s have a closer look at the spy shots in the speculative review below.

The new 718 Boxster Spyder could break cover in the Fall of 2018.

Updated 09/26/2018: The Porsche 718 Boxster was testing yet again with its top down. This time, however, there are no changes to be noticed so this thing is clearly ready for its debut. Expect to see it under the lights at the Paris Auto Show in October or the Los Angeles Auto Show in November!

Announced at Audi’s Annual Press Conference in Ingolstadt earlier this year, the Audi E-Tron GT is a new all-electric four-door coupé destined to hit the market in 2020. Offered as part of the Audi electric onslaught in which the Ingolstadt-based company will reveal 20 new electric models by 2025, the Audi E-Tron GT will sit at the top of the Audi Sport division, and will be responsible for constructing an all-new character trait for Audi’s line of Sport vehicles. With models such as the Audi A5 Sportback and Audi A7, the company obviously has some proper knowledge of the four-door coupé design. The E-Tron GT will act as a flagship for this intriguing car segment.

Given the E-Tron GT will take technology, design features, cabin specs, and possibly drivetrain hardware from other E-Tron vehicles, we already know a thing or two about the new car. Marketed to fight against the likes of the Tesla Model S and similar entries from other manufacturers, the Audi E-Tron GT could be even more impressive than the recently introduced E-Tron Quattro SUV.

In case you were unaware, the high-end collectible car market in the U.S. is finally starting to recognize all the great classics hailing from the Land of the Rising Sun. While European and American sports cars have always held a place of prominence, Japanese rides are now making some serious parallel headway, carving out a real niche at some of the biggest auctions of the year. One of the most easily recognized classic Japanese models has to be the original Nissan Z, known stateside as the Datsun 240 Z. Offering timeless good looks, excellent handling, plenty of power, and a great noise from the exhaust, the original Z brought modern Japanese technology to the masses, and is now highly sought after in the collector market. One of the rarer and more visually appealing examples of the early Z is the ZG, also known as the HS30-H Nissan Fairlady ZG, which brought even more style to bear with the addition of several unique body components, plus a sharper driving experience with new drivetrain components.

Continue reading to learn more about the 1972 Nissan Fairlady 240 ZG.