sports cars.

toyota sports car

Toyota reportedly is developing a successor to the Supra—something we haven’t seen since the FT-HS concept debuted at the Detroit auto show in 2007.

“Toyota” and “fun” are not two words we expect to see in the same sentence these days. That wasn’t always the case, and we offer as evidence two more words: “MR2” and “Supra.” Rumors have it that the latter may be back in the automaker’s lexicon soon, like, next month at the Detroit auto show.

Autoblog reports that Toyota executives have hinted at—a practice very common among auto execs and PR types—a new Supra in the works. Our last glimpse of a potential successor was in 2007 when the company’s FT-HS concept drove onto the scene just as the world economy drove off a cliff. Toyota retreated into its conservative shell, but is now being lured out by the likes of Nissan’s GT-R and Honda’s—well, Acura’s, in this country—upcoming NSX. None other than Akio Toyoda has repeatedly stated that his company needs to shake things up, and a new Supra could do just that.

A powerplant producing more than 400 horsepower would be necessary to do battle with Toyota’s Japanese rivals, and, reflecting the brand’s efforts at Le Mans, augmenting that power with electricity seems more likely than not. It’s been 30 years since the Supra was on our 10Best list, and 15 years since the last Supra rolled off a U.S. dealer lot. If this report is to be believed, it would seem that drought is about to end.

Corvette c7 FIA GT3 racer sports car

The competition arm of Callaway Cars, perhaps most famous for creating outrageous Corvette spin-offs—its Aerowagon conversion kit is our current favorite—has announced that it once again will be producing the FIA GT3 race version of Chevrolet’s sports car. This time, of course, the racing model will be based on the C7 Corvette Stingray that we just tested.

Building GT3 cars requires authorization from the manufacturer in order to submit the homologation forms necessary to race in FIA-sanctioned events. It was announced earlier this week that Chevrolet had backed Callaway to produce its C7 racer.

While this is exciting news—after all, we’re talking about race-ready Corvettes—it’s hardly surprising, as Callaway also held the FIA homologation rights for the successful C6 GT3 car, too. If our first taste of the latest Vette is anything to go by, the decontented, lightweighted, aero’d up, and more powerful C7 GT3 will be truly special.

red bull sports car

The sixth iteration of the sought-after Gran Turismo video-game series hits shelves on Friday, and enthusiasts of Formula 1’s reigning champs have a very valid reason to rejoice. Three successors to the fictional Red Bull X2010, which first appeared on GT5 thanks to a tie-up with Red Bull chief technical officer Adrian Newey, will join the ranks of powerful production cars and JDM automobilia on a cadre of the world’s most-interesting racetracks.

The trio of next-generation Red Bull machines—the Red Bull X2014 Fan car (X2014/F), the X2014 Standard car (X2014/S), and the X2014 Junior car (X2014/J)—will have powerful shoes to fill, given the X2010’s theoretical nearly 1500-hp output from a 3.0-liter V-6. No details regarding the X2014s’ horsepower are yet available, but when the sky’s the limit, Wings are a Given, and Newey is once again involved in their design—we don’t anticipate much downsizing. Also unconfirmed: whether brand partner Infiniti’s director of performance had a say.

Avid gamers, as well as those who followed this year’s Los Angeles auto show, are aware that this is hardly the first concept to appear in this evolution of the Gran Turismo series. The Red Bull cars will join the Mercedes-Benz AMG Vision Gran Turismo show car that bowed in L.A. last month, and hints at the future styling of the SLS‘s successor, the GT AMG.

Ferrari F150 sports car

The long, slow march of Ferrari’s Enzo successor from drawings on the pages of designer’s sketchbooks to landing in real-life customers’ garages has been a sadist’s dream. Fans have been given peeks at the car’s engine bay, HY-KERS V-12 hybrid powertrain, carbon-fiber chassis tub, and spy photos of cobbled-together mules trundling around Europe—but not a single image of the super-est supercar has made its way online (well, save for these blurry, shadowy teaser photos). And now to pique your interest just a bit further, FerrariChat‘s forums are alight with chatter over new details that allegedly were revealed at a private preview event for the new sports car.

Although the new Ferrari remains nameless—internally, it’s been codenamed F150—the car’s other specifics have been finalized, if the info coming out of the private event is to be believed. According to one forum member whose pal attended the event, just 499 F150s will be produced; there will be just three available paint colors, and the car’s seats will be fixed. (This makes sense, given that the carbon-fiber chassis tub Ferrari showed off at last year’s Paris auto show featured two scalloped seat-like indents molded into it.) To fit drivers of different sizes, the pedals will be adjustable, and we assume the steering column would be, as well.

The supercar’s hybrid V-12 powertrain will pack one helluva punch, with the internal-combustion engine producing 800 horsepower and the KERS electric-boost system providing an additional 150 ponies. Combined with a claimed curb weight of just over 2800 pounds, it’s expected the F150 will be good for a three-second 0–62-mph run. The car will supposedly hit 124 mph in seven seconds on its way to a 230-mph top speed. That’s not enough to unseat Bugatti’s Veyron from the fastest production car throne, but we understand it will make the F150 the fastest roadgoing Ferrari to ever lap its Fiorano test track.

Given that private events are being held—presumably to stir interest among potential customers—we’re betting that the Enzo successor could be revealed fairly soon. The Geneva show is coming up, but Ferrari could also decide to debut the car in private, too

Pagani huayra sports car

Supercars often belong in a class of their own. They command admiration and respect from every car enthusiast. One of the cars that deserves this respect is the Pagani Huayra. The Pagani Huayra is powered by a Twin TurboCharged V12 6.0 liter engine from Mercedes AMG.

The result is a maximum output of 720 horsepower at a very low 5800 rpm. This also gives the Huayra the ability to go from zero to 60 mph in only three seconds and reach a top speed of about 230 mph. At the same time, this burst of power is assisted by a seven-speed X-trac sequential transmission.

This transmission helps the engine maintain carbon emissions that are pollution-friendly. It also makes the Huarya 5 compliant with Euro 5 standards. The starting price for this speed devil is $1,273,500

Bugaati veyron super sports car

The fastest road-legal car in the world made its debut in 2010 at the Pebble Beach Concours. This unique offering from Bugatti went into full production towards the end of that year. The Veyron Super Sport obtains its power from a W16 Narrow Angle eight liter engine that gives it the capability to accelerate from zero to 60 miles per hour in 2.4 seconds.

This engine is helped by four bi-turbochargers that have a total displacement of 487.8 cubic inches. Each of the car’s cylinders has four valves to give the fastest vehicle on earth a total of 64 valves. This unique engine combination is the same as fusing a couple of V8 engines to make it a W instead of a V.

This generates a total of 1200 horsepower. That is nearly 200 HP more than last year’s model. It also gives it a top speed of 267 mph. Unfortunately, this speed also comes with a hefty price tag of $2,400,000.

Even though these cars were certified to have a maximum speed of 268 mph, the vehicles that will be shipped to owners will only obtain a speed of 258 mph. This is a measure that is designed to keep the car’s tires from shredding.

Hennessey venom GT sports car

The Hennessy Venom GT is produced by Hennessey Engineering Performance. The second fastest car on Earth is actually manufactured from a modified chassis of the Lotis Exige and is powered by a 6.2 liter V8 twin turbocharged engine from General Motors. This engine is also found in the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1.

The company said that it has been tested recently and can obtain a maximum speed of 260 mph. At the same time, the car itself can go from zero to 60 mph in only 2.5 seconds and from zero to 200 mph in 12.8 seconds. It also has about 1200 horsepower and a price tag of $1 million.

Wednesday, April 30, 2014