Performance / Sports Cars

Thirty years – that’s how long it’s been since the launch of the first Mazda MX-5 back in 1989. And oh, how far the iconic little sports car has come in that time… Originally designed as a then-modern-day equivalent of classic British sports cars like the MG B and Lotus …

There has never been a better time to be a driving enthusiast. Machines with the desire to entertain are no longer only accessible to the lucky few with a seven-digit bank account balance. If you have fifty big ones lying around, cars like the Honda Civic Type R, Volkswagen Golf …

This will be the third time I’ve jumped into Mazda’s MX-5 for a week of thrashing to decipher its secrets, only now I’ve finally managed to nab the one I was most excited for. It’s the base spec 1.5L Roadster with none of the bells and whistles and more importantly, …

What is it? The 370Z Nismo is Nissan’s second Nismo model to launch worldwide following the debut of the GT-R Nismo. While the Nismo treatment is new, there’s no denying the Zed has been around for almost a decade. Introduced in 2009 as a successor to the 350Z, the 370Z is …

Usually, an incremental update in a car’s life means a slight redesign of the headlights, new wheels and subtle touch up of the interior trims. If lucky, we may see an updated list of features. Then the car would be let to soldier on for a couple more years until …

In a world of electrification, hybrid drive and downsizing, one car remains an icon for none of those. Carbon emissions and fuel efficiency are words it does not understand. And it chokes on good manners. The Ford Mustang is still unmistakably, unashamedly a Mustang. Amen to that. For 2018, Ford …

It’s a Commodore but it’s not a Commodore. Yup, forget what you know about the big four-door sedan that once graced the driveway of your parents’ or grandparents’ home. Forget about the meaty throb of eight firing cylinders that was once your alarm bell every morning as your dad started …

The hot hatch segment is simmering to a feverish pitch unlike any other. It is big business in Australia, too, where sales of performance cars are consistently one of the highest in the world. Walk into any car park and it’s easier to spot a hot hatch than a Holden …

When Subaru announced they would be releasing a BRZ clad in STI badges many car nuts let their imaginations run wild. Unfortunately for them their dreams of a potent and agile turbocharged rear-wheel drive coupe were quickly put to rest after a thorough inspection of the spec sheet for Subaru’s …

The recently updated Jaguar XE S – the sportiest version of the iconic British brand’s smallest sedan – is a car that really treads its own path in what is a typically German-dominated segment, with the Mercedes-AMG C43, Audi S4, and BMW 340i being the dominant forces within in this …

  Good things come in small packages. Compact, light and now packing turbocharge punch, the 2018 Suzuki Swift Sport offers similar thrills to the larger, more powerful hot hatches yet won’t kill your bank. Available as a single, uncomplicated, highly-specified model, the new Swift Sport is priced from an affordable …

The hot hatch market has never been so saturated. It stretches from the excellent Hyundai i30 N newcomer to the ballistic BMW M140i six-banger. If you have fifty big ones to blow on a go-fast toy, what a time to live. But at the pointy end of the segment sit two …

What is it? Less interestingly, the Model S is the flagship model of Tesla’s electric car line-up and the P100D tested here is the range-topping variant. More excitingly, the Model S P100D is the fastest accelerating saloon car in the world. It sprints from 0 to 100km/h in just 2.7 …

It’s a genuine high performance car. It’s priced a tickle below $60k. And it’s got a propeller badge. Don’t believe? Well, here it is – the BMW M140i. We are talking a turbocharged, six-cylinder, rear-wheel drive luxury hot hatch that is within a small budget stretch of potential Golf R, …