Sports Cars

While World Rally Championship cars travel at incredible speed on ice covered roads using studded tires, something with a little more surface area is needed for an Arctic Off-Road vehicle. Taking cues off four track snowmobiles Norwegian designer Anders Gloslie designed the FROST as a concept proposal for TH!NK, an electric car company based in Norway. The layout of the FROST is a 2-seat sports car platform based on a tubular space frame chassis with double wishbone suspension front and rear teamed with push-rod actuated in-board coil over shock and spring units. The suspension features hydraulic wheel extenders to increase the track when required and the proposed electric drivetrain features All Wheel Drive (AWD), all-wheel-steering and radical tracks instead of conventional wheels that should offer superior traction when driving on snow, ice and slush.  Read More

January 16, 2008 We’ve written before about the coming of Fisker Automotive and its highly credentialed designer/CEO Henrik Fisker, though we weren’t exactly expecting a hybrid when the premium sports car company announced its first production car at NAIAS. The Fisker Karma is a four-door plug-in hybrid with a solar panel roof, regenerative braking, a light weight body, does 0-60 mph in less than 6 seconds and will have a top speed beyond 125 mph when it goes on sale late in 2009 for a projected US$80,000. The drive train is entirely electric though the car has a small gasoline engine that runs the generator, which charges the lithium ion battery pack. This allows the car to be driven for up to 50 miles a day provided the car is charged every evening.  Read More

January 11, 2008 The ‘S’ emblem that spells extraordinary performance in the Audi range graces the TT for the first time this month in a new, even more focused version of the iconic sports car debuting at the North American International Auto Show (January 19-27). Available mid-2008 in both Coupe and Roadster body styles, the TTS earns its esteemed badge through the adoption of a specially developed, 272bhp Turbo FSI petrol engine complemented by state-of-the-art chassis technology.  Read More

January 10, 2008 After teasing us with sketches for some time now, the new ultra-lightweight two-seater Avocet British sportscar with exceptional chassis dynamics and a remarkable power-to-weight ratio (and hence performance) is to be unveiled later today at the 2008 Autosport International Show in Birmingham. Available with a 225bhp Ford 2-litre Duratec engine, the Avocet has an all-up weight of around 700 kilograms which is expected to make the car extremely competitive.  Read More

October 29, 2007 Mitsubishi’s i MiEV Sport has made its much anticipated appearance at the Tokyo Motor Show allowing us to bring you loads of new images of the groundbreaking electric vehicle concept. Based on the i MiEV (Mitsubishi innovative Electric Vehicle), but promising genuine sporting capabilities via 680 Nm of torque combined with a body weight of just 970kg, the car features a 3-motor system with the company’s own in-wheel 20 kW motors at the front and another 47 kW at the rear - all controlled via the S-AWC (Super All Wheel Control) vehicle dynamics system and wrapped in a lightweight, rigid aluminium space frame.  Read More

August 16, 2007 Kia Motors Corporation has released a second “preview image” of the new 2+2 Sports Coupe concept car it will premiere at the Frankfurt International Motor Show next month.  Read More

March 9, 2007 Honda has unveiled a new hybrid sports concept car with a potent blend of sports performance and low emissions at the Geneva Motor Show. The Small Hybrid Sports Concept is a compact sports car that features advanced hybrid technology – proving stylish design and driving enjoyment can be combined with low environmental impact. It was designed by Honda R&D Europe, based in Offenbach, Germany.  Read More

January 30, 2007 BMW doesn’t like the term station wagon, which originated in the age of train travel when all-purpose vehicles with specialised bodies worked around train stations to carry people and luggage to local destinations. The term “hack” was also used to describe these utilitarian vehicles, so we kinda understand why BMW doesn’t want anyone calling its M5 Touring, the world’s fastest station wagon or something equally gauche, as its sporting and technological credentials set it far apart from the ordinary. It’s 5.0-litre V-10 engine has won back-to-back International Engine of the Year awards, and runs through a seven-speed Sequential Manual Gearbox to offer 507 bhp and 520 Nm of torque. The main difference between this vehicle and the legendary M5 is the 1,650 liters of boot space. This is a vehicle for owners needing to move sizable loads … very quickly. Without the 155mph electronic limiter the new M5 Touring would be capable of achieving 200mph while still transporting the largest of loads. All other facets of the vehicle put it in the luxury class, so perhaps a better term for the M5 Touring might be a “shooting break.” With the previous M5 Touring (E34) only available in left-hand drive, the arrival of the new M5 Touring marks the first time the high-performance estate has been offered to right-hand-drive customers.  Read More

January 12, 2007 UPDATED PHOTO GALLERY Toyota’s FT-HS hybrid sports concept to be shown at the 2007 North American International Auto Show next week seems to have a lot more of the real world in it than your normal concept car. Sporting hybrids are coming to mainstream consumer land very soon, if we’re reading the signs correctly. The two-plus-two concept is a front-engine, rear-drive sports car with a projected 0-62mph acceleration in the four-second range. A powerful V6, 3.5L-engine is coupled with a sports hybrid system for a total of 400 bhp. The press release specifically prices the FT-HS in a mid-priced market position, making it a truly attainable exotic should it be produced. The Japanese company will achieve it’s Everest this year when it will become the world’s top selling automobile manufacturer – our bet is that this baby will be in the 2008 model range.  Read More