Sport News

Xiaomi YU7 will gain performance variant - here's what we know with a first look thanks to renders.

Fans of the petrol-powered Porsche 718 Cayman and Boxster sports cars have something big to celebrate.

Ferrari has unveiled a new twin-turbo hybrid supercar that resurrects one of the most iconic nameplates in the Italian maker’s storied back catalogue.

Lexus has used one of the world’s most high-profile automotive events to unveil what it is positioning as a “progressively styled, future-focused yet truly authentic sportscar”, with the clear potential to form the basis of the upcoming LFR, a successor to the brand’s iconic V10-powered LFA supercar.‘The Quail, a Motorsports Gathering’ is an exclusive cornerstone of Monterey Car Week, as the name implies, a week-long celebration of the motor car consisting of everything from casual cars & coffee-style meet-ups to high-end auctions and VIP-only concours events.The event is held at the Quail Lodge & Golf Club in Carmel on the central California coast and the sinister, sweeping two-door machine, said to “signal the way forward for Lexus design” was its surprise centrepiece.The new Lexus concept’s long nose and fat haunches point to a front engine rear-drive layout which aligns with what’s known of the Lexus LFR, the likely LFA successor.Pre-production LFR prototypes have been snapped on the Spa-Francorchamps circuit within the last 12 months with reports out of Japan suggesting the hybrid V8-powered machine is a Lexus variation of 2022’s Toyota GR GT3 concept.In 2022 Toyota Racing Development President David Wilson confirmed a link between the GR GT3 and a future Lexus model and later that year images leaked from an apparent Lexus dealer conference in the US showed a Toyota GR GT3 silhouette with a Lexus badge and no rear wing.Japanese publication BestCar has referenced its usually reliable industry sources backing up the adoption of a front-mounted hybrid 4.0-litre, twin-turbo V8 engine driving the LFR’s rear wheels, the engine alone expected to produce 530kW with total output of around 660kW (885hp).This compares to the 420kW/480Nm produced by the LFA’s screaming 4.8-litre, naturally aspirated, Yamaha-developed V10 boasting a rev ceiling of 9000rpm.Just 500 LFAs were produced between 2010 and 2012 (plus 64 'Nurburgring Package' examples) but the LFR is expected to be a no-limit full-production model.Lexus is staying tight-lipped on any technical details relating to its latest concept, saying simply, “This inspiring concept car features a wide, low-profile two-door form that blends dynamic and emotional elements into a vision for a next-generation sports car.”Is this the 2026 Lexus LFR hiding in plain sight? Stay tuned…

Sorry, Swifties. While we appreciate the cultural phenomenon that is singer/songwriter, artist and philanthropist Taylor Swift, this is not a paean to a great pop star, but, rather, a reference to the year that marked Japan’s stellar ascension as the biggest threat to the established carmakers of that time. Their fear was existential as well as actual.

In the early 1960s when Ferruccio Lamborghini was warming up for a punch on with Enzo Ferrari over the price of a clutch replacement for his 250 GT the already successful businessman famously took the bull by the horns and decided to make his own sports car.

The Yangwang U9, you know, that wicked Chinese supercar that you’ve likely seen pop up (literally, it can hop) on TikTok or Instagram here and there — has just gotten a little bit more extreme.

Honda has finally outed the full production-ready version of its reborn Prelude sports car and the good news is, it’s locked in for Australia.

The mighty Ferrari is benchmarking its newest supercar against a Chinese upstart.A Xiaomi SU7 Ultra was seen leaving the Prancing Horse’s headquarters in Maranello.Ferrari bought the high-performance electric car for testing and development purposes as it prepares its first electric car next year, according to reports.The SU7 Ultra is the flagship vehicle from Chinese smartphone producer turned carmaker Xiaomi.It is the fastest electric car around the Nurburgring and delivers a bonkers amount of grunt.The SU7 Ultra uses three electric motors to make an insane 1138kW, which is about the same as 10 Toyota Corollas combined and more than the quad-turbocharged W16 engine from the Bugatti Chiron.  Those outputs are good enough to catapult it to 100km/h from a standstill in blistering 1.97 seconds on the way to a top speed of 350km/h.The SU7 Ultra weighs 1900kg, which makes it a relative lightweight by performance electric car standards and means it tips the scale at about 400kg less than the Taycan Turbo S.It’s a seriously impressive machine on paper, and one of the world’s most intense car makers has taken notice.The Italian supercar firm is in the final stages of developing its first electric car, which it will unveil on October 9 this year.If it is to be a proper Ferrari it’ll need to be better than the competition, and the most advanced electric cars are from China.Details of the electric car are scarce, but we do know that it will make an “authentic noise”, according to CEO Benedetto Vigna.A previous report by Reuters speculated its price tag could be as high as €500,000 (A$886,900), although this hasn’t been confirmed directly by Ferrari.Ferrari is slowly transitioning to low-emissions power, with models such as the plug-in hybrid GTS 296, GTB 296 and SF90 Stradale, making up 51 per cent of its sales in 2024.The company has no plans to ditch V12-power from its range until it is forced to by various governments.Meanwhile Xiaomi's SU7 sedan and new YU7 SUV have set the Chinese market on fire, with hundreds of thousands of orders well exceeding the electric upstart's capacity to fill demand.

Chinese cars have conquered a lot of segments, but the next wave of vehicles is going after the best in the business. GWM has teased its Ferrari-fighting plug-in hybrid supercar, which is the latest in a line of a new breed of performance cars such as the Yangwang U9 and Xiaomi SU7 Ultra.