Performance / Sports Cars

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 …

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, …

Price and Equipment Lexus LC 500 A visual feast for the eye with not much else missing. A one-spec, and one price, fit all proposition. Both V8 and hybrid versions are priced identically at $190,000 with all the kit you could ask for. There are adaptive LED headlights, stunning 3D …

There is no better time to be a car enthusiast than now. Yes, emission control is at its strictest. And yes, speed limits are at its lowest. But performance cars are at their finest, quickest and most affordable. They will also not be around for much longer because cars in …

Type R – a badge that used to strike fear and ecstasy all at the same time. It first adorned the rump of a Japanese-market NSX a quarter of a century ago and went on to entertain us with the likes of the Integra and S2000 Type R’s, building a …

The BMW 1 Series is a strange proposition in the market place. At the premium space it competes against the Audi A3, Mercedes-Benz A-Class and Lexus CT. Closer to the mainstream end its pricing of circa $40-50k puts it right among hot hatches like the Volkswagen Golf GTI, Peugeot 308 …

If you now drive a BMW M4 or a Porsche Cayman or even a HSV GTS, there is high chance that you once drove a Subaru WRX STI before you got married and had two kids. If you now drive a WRX STI, it’s likely that you have raced one …

Rear-wheel drive, twin turbocharged V6 engine, spacious seating for five adults and an interior that rivals top premium brands, all for under sixty grand? Yes, it exists. And it’s the long-awaited Kia Stinger. It’s the Korean brand’s first ever sports sedan and what a commendable effort. If you’re like me, …