Table of contents for January 2026 in CAR

The January 2008 Performance Issue was noteworthy for several reasons, not least for having guest driver Sarel van der Merwe thrash a selection of high-performance machinery, including a Pagani Zonda owned by the late Lolly Jackson, around the expansive Upington Airstrip. Such was the spectacle of this cover feature, which included needing to push the subsequently stricken Pagani into position for the cover shot, that little was made of the fact that the team drove most of the cars featured in this Shootout to and from this location. While the prospect of pitting no less than 18 hot hatches against both the stopwatch and, ultimately, each other ensured we stayed closer to home for the 2009 edition, a year later, with the talented Tschops Sipuka waiting for us at Port…

With the Pajero having been discontinued in 2021, a flagship 4x4 has been missing from Mitsubishi’s lineup for some time. However, with the unveiling of the Elevance Concept, the Japanese marque might just have previewed what form such a model could take. Whether it will get the go-ahead for mass production remains to be seen, though. “We remain committed to the pure joy of driving and aim to inspire a mobility experience that awakens the sense of adventure.”—Takao Kato, President and Chief Executive Officer of Mitsubishi Motor The Elevance Concept employs a PHEV powertrain, which pairs a high-efficiency petrol engine, compatible with carbon-neutral fuels, with a quartet of in-wheel electric motors, fed by a large-capacity traction battery. The front electric motors enhance steering stability, while the duo of rear items…

While the stunning visuals and locations you see in this feature rightly hint at a road trip for which any petrolhead would willingly donate an appendage, behind the scenes, the caprices of getting good photography and content – especially for the breathtaking cover image that drew this issue off the store shelf and into your hands – loom large on the team’s radar. So, there’s no hanging about as we cut across the grain of the Cape Winelands district to our cover shoot rendezvous at Yzerfontein harbour. Shoulder-barging out of Barrydale and onto the farmland-lined sweep of the R62 that leads to Montagu is the Mustang Dark Horse. It’s pretty much the ideal conveyance for this stretch, managing to play the role of comfy and effortlessly long-legged GT on the…

The modern RS 4 and RS 6 Avants each present compelling arguments as to why they convey the spirit of such legendary Audi products as the Ur-Quattro and RS2 Avant from the late 80s and early 90s. Yet, the current RS 3 Sportback, with its evolved quattro all-wheel-drive system and characterful turbocharged 2.5-litre five-cylinder powertrain, has arguably the best claim to emulating the motorsport-inspired legacy of its ancestors. Shorter, yet wider, and with a longer wheelbase than the RS2 Avant, while the modern RS 3 Sportback (Audi’s halfway point between a hatchback and a station wagon) cuts an imposing stance when viewed in isolation, the dark grey unit that accompanied this Shootout assumed a low-key menacing role, lurking almost lost in the shadows. This was, of course, until its turbocharged…

What a treat to celebrate all things performance car-related with not one, but two iconic American muscle car nameplates. Traditional foes stateside, the Corvette Stingray’s journey to being available for the first time as a factory-sourced right-hand-drive offering is slightly different to that of the Ford Mustang, yet no less intriguing. First shown as a fibre-glassbodied C1 Corvette prototype at the 1953 General Motors Motorama in New York, by 1958, the car was available with a 4.3-litre V8 engine. While, like the Mustang, stories of the less successful Chevrolet Corvette generations, including an imported left-hand drive Z06 which famously broke down on our 2011 Performance Shootout – before being “manhandled” around Zwartkops Raceway by the late Sabine Schmitz – abound, in its now eighth-generation, the Stingray has adopted both a…

Foreshadowed by the horizon-blurring exploits of its four-door sibling during our 2024 Performance Shootout, our recent experience with the Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S E Performance Coupé, including strapping ourselves in for the fastest 0-100 km/h run this publication has ever recorded, and watching local driving ace Clint Weston manhandle this very car to a podium finish at the fast and treacherous Simola Hillclimb, have confirmed just how accomplished the new car is. A larger and arguably more elegant proposition than the car it replaced in 2024, Mercedes-Benz’s aim with the new model was, based on customer feedback, to increase overall levels of comfort and versatility, including the fitment of rear seating, to bring this AMG-badged product closer in terms of its offering to the vaunted Porsche 911 Turbo. I simply…

Price: R3 181 000 0-100 km/h: 3.82 seconds Top speed: 302 km/h Power: 368 kW Torque: 660 N.m CAR Fuel index: 14.04 L/100 km CO2 : 267 g/km The performance potential of the best-looking Panamera genuinely caught me by surprise. A true modern-day sleeper carIan McLaren Driving the Panamera GTS back-to-back with the 911 T was enlightening. Porsche thankfully still has the enthusiast at heartKyle Kock Long before the idea of integrating massive performance into SUVs capable of transporting a full complement of passengers and their luggage across continents became popular, the so-called super-saloon segment, led by the likes of the original BMW M5 and AMG-fettled W124 E-Class, dominated fast lanes. Built for purpose, the appeal of these conservatively styled, yet hugely powerful vehicles was to offer customers eye-widening performance packaged…

Revealed a year before Toyota discontinued the FJ Cruiser in 2022, the Compact FJ Cruiser EV Concept previewed what we could expect from a modern FJ-badged Land Cruiser. However, while enthusiasts rejoiced at the prospect that a new FJ could be in the works, it would take some time for a production model to come to fruition. However, following a raft of reports suggesting what shape the highly-anticipated new model could take, the Japanese automaker finally revealed the latest FJ towards the end of 2025. Set to arrive in South Africa in the second quarter of 2026, the new Land Cruiser FJ is based on the same IMV platform underpinning the Hilux. Like its predecessor, the new FJ employs a naturally aspirated petrol engine. However, while the previous FJ was…

The Polygon Concept ditches traditional infotainment/instrumentation displays and instead uses a panel comprising micro-LEDs that project information on the windscreen. The windscreen-based setup is equivalent to a 31-inch screen. When stationary, this tech also connects to the exterior of the car. Reflecting the automaker’s commitment to a more circular economy, the entire cabin is upholstered in forged textile, sourced from deconstructed Peugeot vehicles. The lacquer used for the interior paint comprises components from recycled tyres, while the seatback shells are made from recycled plastic. This concept contains fewer parts than a traditional vehicle, Peugeot says; allowing for a more lightweight design, greater efficiency, and easier assembly/disassembly at the end of the car’s life cycle. The Polygon Concept features two ‘butterfly’ doors, while the seats comprise only three main components. Aiming…

A confessed passion project of the President and CEO of Toyota Motor Corporation, Akio Toyoda, the inclusion of the recently updated GR Yaris in this year’s celebration of performance is pertinent for several reasons, not least as it allows us to discuss the roots this car shares with the stars of the World Rally Championship. Including significant input from former Mitsubishi EVOassociated rally legend, Tommi Mäkinen, the notably complex GR Yaris project was signed off by Toyoda as a means of homologating Toyota’s most recent WRC racing programme. While the built-for-purpose three-door Yaris could only be realised by combining the front-end of the brand’s GA-B platform (Yaris) with the rear section of its GA-C architecture (Corolla), and finished using carbon fibre-reinforced plastics for panels, including the car’s roof, the significant…

The week before we departed for this celebration of performance, there was plenty of online debate as to whether BMW South Africa’s decision to use the recently updated M2 as the donor car to pay tribute to the legendary 333i was warranted, or – in keeping with the theme – should the brand have used a 3 Series. Even before being reacquainted with the now more powerful M2, we knew the decision was the correct one. While the 325iS is known to have been the more dynamically capable of BMW South Africa’s two bespoke E30 creations, more than offering a similar footprint to the 1980s 3 Series, there’s little doubt in our minds that the modern M2 package delivers the best driver engagement, reward and rear-wheel-drive thrills of the brand’s…

If we were solely reliant on profile line drawings to identify each of the cars present in this celebration of performance – including the Golf GTI and Ford Mustang – the shape that even a novice enthusiast would likely recognise would be the curved shell of the Porsche 911. Sketched by Ferdinand Porsche in 1959, the replacement for this German brand’s first model, the 356, was showcased in 1964. The car famously featured an air-cooled 2.0-litre flat-six engine mounted behind the rear axle. Sixty-two years later, while Porsche has been wise to expand its offering to cover other body styles and powertrain positions, the iconic 911 remains true to this original concept. A homage to the original 911T, which was introduced in 1967 as an entry-level derivative with “Touring” in…

What would a celebration of performance be without one of the most vaunted nameplates in the business, Ferrari? While we’re grateful to Ferrari South Africa for sharing our vision for this issue of CAR, even more welcomed than the Rosso Imola 296 GTS loaned to us for this road trip was the inclusion in this unit of optional sports seats, which, unlike in the GTB featured in our 2025 Performance issue, allowed taller members of the team to find a comfortable driving position behind the wheel. Of course, the reason this seat choice is so critical in the 296 is due to the siting of this car’s 7.45 kWh battery pack between the passenger cell and the engine compartment. In Ferrari’s first mainstream plug-in hybrid, this battery powers an electric…

1 880 km 9.70 L/100 km ADAS settings that don’t vanish when you switch off the engine This car could handle a little more oomph In my introduction to our long-term Audi A5 I’d made mention of the ADAS safety system’s somewhat abrupt braking interventions at junctions with light traffic flow, or when manoeuvring into a tight parking space. The Audi isn’t the first car that’s tended to err on the side of caution in these scenarios (our long-term BMW iX1 also gave us a few skriks in similar circumstances and some of the Chinese cars we’ve sampled aren’t shy to serenade us with warning chimes and tugs at the steering wheel for the slightest perceived infractions), but having gone into the intuitive MMI system to deactivate most of the…

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Yes, we know it’s blurring the fine line between a concept car and an engineering testbed in some senses, but given the first-time inclusion of a Ferrari on a CAR Performance Shootout it would be remiss to have our back page feature anything other than one of Maranello’s creations. While Ferrari’s catalogue of concepts, or ‘Prototipo’ cars, contains some very shapely and interesting fare, it tends to fall into three broad categories: pre-production models from which the cars rolling into showrooms deviated minimally (think of the 1956 250 GT Coupé Prototipo), one-off design exercises destined for the collections of obscure oligarchs and well-heeled Emirati (the Mythos and F50 Bolide of the 80s and 90s come to mind here), or some decidedly difficult-to-look-at Pininfarina creations such as the 512 S Modulo…

Channelling the spirit of Jaguar’s iconic lightweight E-Types of the 1960s, of which only a dozen were built, the Lightweight GTR was designed to bring Eagle’s Lightweight GT closer to the uncompromising racing heritage of the original. For this one-of-a-kind model, the British brand has re-sculpted the bodywork, including lowering the roofline, to lend it a more purposeful stance. The Lightweight GTR’s sheet metal wraps around an all-aluminium 4.7-litre inline-six, which features a wide-angle head, triple Weber carburettors, and titanium con-rods. The latter raises the engine’s peak revs by 500 r/min, allowing the driver to exploit the best of the engine’s power band through each gear. The five-speed manual transmission’s casings are fashioned from lightwieght magnesium, while the exhaust system is crafted from Inconel, a nickel-chromium-based superalloy renowned for its…

The whale-watching stop just outside Gordon’s Bay has become something of a staple when it comes to CAR photo shoots, road tests and drive-outs, and it’s been the staging point for several Performance Shootouts over the years – and with good reason. This handy parking spot is not only pleasingly removed from the congestion that seems to be choking the Mother City more each year, but also the gateway to one of the most stunning stretches of coastal road in the country: Clarence Drive. This 20 km stretch of wonderfully grippy, pothole-free tarmac unravels along the foot of the Kogelberge in a series of wonderful foot-flat sweeps, sharp bends, and changes in elevation. Flanked by spectacular mountains on one side and the ocean on the other, it encapsulates pretty much…

The cover star of our September 2025 issue, Volkswagen Group Africa went to great lengths to ensure that the updated eighth-generation Golf GTI is now available in South Africa, and then additional lengths to make sure we had one available for this celebration of performance. On the eve of this iconic nameplate’s 50th anniversary of going on sale (it was first shown at the 1975 Geneva Motor Show), the original hot hatch has come of age with each generation, now offering significantly greater levels of comfort, convenience, and overall refinement compared with the car that a small team of marketing and engineering experts in Wolfsburg first presented to the board as their idea for a “Sport Golf”. That said, in line with VW’s modern mandate to once more make its…

While there are several reasons, many of them highlighted on popular YouTube “fail” compilations, a Mustang has never been in contention to claim an outright win in one of our Performance Shootouts, but were we to tally points for popularity or the number of heads turned by one contender within each respective pack, Ford’s best-selling sportscar would easily have claimed more than a few podium positions over the years. Officially introduced to South Africa in right-hand-drive configuration in 2015, a Mustang, whether in standard or modified form, has become a regular fixture in our annual Performance Shootouts. While this famous American muscle car’s welcome absence of finesse usually sees it lose points from the outset to better-handling respective contenders, what can’t be denied is how much attention a modern Mustang…

It’s not as though there aren’t many impressive high-powered SUVs currently available on the market, but for a celebration of performance you’ll appreciate why, for example, we preferred an M2 to an X5 M, or even a 911 to an otherwise accomplished modern Cayenne GTS. That said, as Sport Utility Vehicles go, Lamborghini’s best-selling product, the Urus, certainly doesn’t conform. Sharing its VW Group underpinnings with the likes of the Bentley Bentayga, Porsche Cayenne and similarly high-powered, RS tuned Audi Q8 derivatives, the Urus distinguishes itself with a level of flair and exuberance that only this Italian brand could successfully bring to market. With its jet fighter-inspired exterior styling and suitably low and wide stance, there are few sights more menacing to have in your rear-view mirror than Sant’Agata Bolognese’s…

Ian McLaren With my signature on most of the corresponding loan agreements, I’ll readily admit that one of the highlights of Shootout is successfully returning each vehicle to its respective fleet manager. That said, the two performance cars that continue to resonate with me are the Golf GTI and the Porsche 911, the former because, as we both approach 50, I feel it has earned its place among the great nameplates, and the latter because, in one form or another, it has afforded me some of my best driving experiences of my career. I would definitely park a 992-generation 911 T in my updated fantasy garage. Gareth Dean Having missed out on a drive with a Ferrari 458 and California several years ago, I’d always felt there was something of…

10 486 km 10.8 L/100 km The benchmark modern leisure bakkie Trying to keep it clean It’s been a busy few weeks of travel and logistics, including for this mega Performance Issue, so a timely getaway to one of Stay Unique’s beautifully finished remote accommodations provided a welcome opportunity to unwind. This innovative, fast-growing travel brand has well-appointed, cosy cabins situated in carefully considered remote locations across the Western Cape, each designed to make you feel like you’re suitably “out of office”. With the directions to my cabin, outside of McGregor, sent via a pin drop, I quickly called up this route, via wireless Apple CarPlay, on the Ranger’s large, portrait-style infotainment display before setting course. Knowing we’d be negotiating a section of gravel to reach our destination, I used…

Notes • The PRICES shown are the latest available at the time of going to press. Our deadline occurred on 18 November 2025. Readers should check with a dealer before making a decision. • The HP payment calculations are based on a 10% deposit at current prime interest rate @10.5% and a 5-year (60-month) repayment period incl. 15.0% VAT, with no residual value/balloon payment at the end. • Under ENGINE we list the number of cylinders and the cubic capacity in cm3. Here, V = V-shaped engine layout; H = horizontally-opposed engine layout; The absence of an initial symbol implies an in-line engine layout. • FUEL SUPPLY abbreviations are P = petrol-engined; D = diesel-engined; T = turbocharged, a compressor driven by exhaust gases; S = supercharged, a compressor driven by…