Category Archives: NEW CARS

NEW CARS

2026 Nissan Sentra: The Sensible Car That Finally Went to the Gym

Let’s be honest: the Nissan Sentra has always been that dependable mate who shows up on time, never spills a pint, and will gladly help you move house—but you’d never call him exciting. Solid, yes. Reliable, sure. Thrilling? Not unless your idea of thrills is a slightly reduced APR on the finance deal.

But now we’ve got the 2026 Nissan Sentra, and Nissan swears this one is different. “Daring, vitalizing, resonating,” the designers were told. Which sounds more like instructions for an Ibiza DJ set than a four-door sedan. Yet here it is: sharper creases, a new V-motion grille that looks like it’s been honed in a wind tunnel run by samurai, and headlights so slim they could be eyebrows on a fashion model. There’s even a light show when you unlock it—your car now greets you like a Vegas slot machine.

Looks that actually matter

The new Sentra has grown some proper confidence. The bodywork is tighter, the fenders more pronounced, and the stance lower. Aerodynamics aren’t just an afterthought either—flat underbody panels, carefully shaped mirrors, and a boot designed to cheat the air. Even the wheels, up to 18 inches, look like they’re moving when the car’s parked. It’s a small sedan that finally wants you to notice it.

And if beige-on-beige isn’t your style, Nissan’s gone mad with the paint chart: bronze, scarlet, metallic greys, and a handful of two-tone black-roof options. Suddenly, buying a Sentra doesn’t feel like buying a dishwasher.

Tech, toys, and TikTok appeal

Slide inside and things get surprisingly plush. A pair of 12.3-inch screens dominate the dash—brighter, sharper, and thankfully not entirely touchscreen-only. Climate control still has real buttons, which is a quiet victory for humanity. There’s wireless CarPlay and Android Auto, ambient lighting in 64 different shades, and even wireless charging. Nissan is clearly gunning for a younger crowd that thinks cupholders and USB-C ports are as important as horsepower.

Front legroom is best in class, the boot can swallow a family holiday, and the SV, SR, and SL trims bring more toys—Bose audio, sunroof, heated everything—than you’d expect in this segment. Even the humble trunk has been engineered for “optimal suitcase geometry.” Yes, Nissan really said that.

Safety and semi-autonomy

Every Sentra comes with Nissan’s Safety Shield 360, which is essentially a guardian angel made of radar and cameras. Blind Spot Intervention, Traffic Sign Recognition, Lane Departure Prevention, Automatic Emergency Braking—the works. Higher trims add ProPILOT Assist, Nissan’s semi-autonomous cruise system that’ll do most of the boring motorway stuff for you. In short: it’s as safe as a car in this class can be without simply wrapping itself in bubble wrap.

Powertrain: modest but less miserable

Under the bonnet, things are less revolutionary. You still get a 2.0-liter four-cylinder with 149 horsepower, tied to a continuously variable transmission (CVT). Normally, CVTs are the natural enemy of driving enthusiasts—more droning than a cheap electric toothbrush. But Nissan has tweaked this one for smoother acceleration and even added a Sport mode on most trims. That means snappier throttle response, simulated gear changes, and steering that won’t put you to sleep.

It’s not going to frighten a Civic Si or a Corolla GR, but the Sentra finally has just enough pep to keep your commute from feeling like slow torture. With added chassis rigidity, retuned suspension, and quieter cabin insulation, the Sentra’s grown up—but learned to enjoy itself, too.

The SR gets saucy

If you want your sensible sedan with a side of hot sauce, the SR trim is the one. Blacked-out grille, sportier bumpers, 18-inch alloys, spoiler, and a two-tone roof. Inside, you get sport cloth with contrast stitching and a splash of attitude that makes the Sentra feel less like a rental car, more like a choice.

The Sentra has always been the default pick for people who didn’t want to think too hard. Safe, affordable, dependable. But the 2026 model wants to be chosen—not just tolerated. With sharper looks, proper tech, safety kit galore, and just enough driving fun, it finally feels like the Sentra has gone from appliance to actual car.

It’s not a Civic Type R, and it doesn’t want to be. It’s the everyday sedan that finally decided life’s too short to be boring.

Source: Nissan

NEW CARS

Tiger Stripes and Tokyo Nights: McLaren’s Japan-Only 750S JC96

McLaren doesn’t do subtle tributes. Not when its history involves fire-breathing V12 monsters in endurance racing and a shock championship win in the All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship back in 1996. So, when the brand decided to pay homage to its F1 GTR that tore up the JGTC nearly three decades ago, it wasn’t going to be with a sticker pack and a commemorative plaque. Enter the 750S JC96 — a limited-run, Japan-only love letter to one of McLaren’s finest racing chapters.

Only 61 cars will exist, a neat nod to the number worn by the Team Goh F1 GTR when it clinched the driver’s crown. Each one is as much a slice of motorsport cosplay as it is a cutting-edge supercar. Available as either coupe or Spider, it’s the first time McLaren’s MSO High Downforce Kit (HDK) has been slapped on a 750S convertible. Yes, you can now have your wind-in-the-hair thrills with an extra 10 per cent downforce. Perfect for those brisk midnight blasts along the Shuto Expressway.

Visually, the JC96 wears its heritage proudly. Remember the ‘Tiger Stripe’ Rocket Pink and Tarmac Grey livery of the ’96 F1 GTR? McLaren does, and it’s brought it back in carefully curated doses. The front splitter, rear wing endplates, and mirror caps get detailed accents in a choice of Memphis Red, Ice White, Titanium Silver or Graphite Grey. Want to go full nostalgia overload? MSO will hand-paint the entire car in a full-stripe Tribute Livery — but only four customers will get the chance. And yes, that paint job takes longer to apply than you’d probably like to think about.

Underneath the stripes, there’s real substance. The HDK draws from the aero tricks of the F1 LM and ’96-spec GTR: a larger dual-element splitter, raised rear spoiler with integrated endplates, and a new louvred underwing. The net result: stickier grip, sharper handling, and bragging rights at Suzuka track days. The new 15-spoke ‘Delta’ forged wheels, inspired by the F1 GTR Longtail, look properly motorsport, especially when paired with F1 Gold brake calipers daubed with red McLaren logos. Subtle? Not in the slightest. Effective? Absolutely.

Pop inside, and McLaren has gone to town on the details. It’s Alcantara as far as the eye can see, stitched and specced in three flavours, all peppered with little golden easter eggs — from the pedals to the drive select switches. Each car gets a dedication plaque, as if to remind you and your passengers that this is not just another 750S. JC96 branding is embroidered, engraved, and etched everywhere short of the windscreen, and the dark titanium paddles and wheel clasp look straight out of a pitlane garage.

And lest we forget, this is still a 750S underneath the commemorative paint. That means the glorious 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8, good for — you guessed it — 750 horsepower. It’s bolted to McLaren’s lightweight Monocage II chassis, with Proactive Chassis Control III suspension doing the voodoo that keeps the car flatter than a tatami mat through the twisties. On paper, it’s already the lightest, most agile car in its class. With the JC96 aero and wheels? It’s basically a track refugee that just happens to have number plates.

McLaren says the JC96 is “our love letter to McLaren in Japan.” But really, it’s more of a love letter to obsessive petrolheads everywhere — the ones who remember Goh’s pink-and-grey tiger stripes charging down Fuji’s front straight, and the ones who want their supercar with as much story as speed.

Will you see one in Europe? Nope. North America? Forget it. This is for Japan only. Sixty-one cars, four of them in the full-fat livery. Blink, and they’ll all be gone.

But just imagine, on a humid Tokyo night, neon bouncing off those Tiger Stripes as a JC96 Spider drops a couple of gears and howls through the Shibuya scramble. That’s heritage. That’s theatre. That’s McLaren doing what it does best.

Source: McLaren

NEW CARS

Sixty Years of Sky: Aston Martin Marks Volante’s Diamond Jubilee

Aston Martin’s Volante nameplate has carried the marque’s grand tourers into open skies for six decades. Now, Q by Aston Martin—the brand’s in-house bespoke arm—has dialed up the celebration with a pair of drop-tops that lean into history while rewriting the present. Enter the Vanquish Volante 60th Anniversary Edition, the fastest convertible Aston Martin has ever built, and the DB12 Volante 60th Anniversary Edition, the world’s first so-called “super tourer” without a roof. Each is limited to just 60 examples.

The Brutalist: Vanquish Volante

If you like your Aston Martins loud, unapologetic, and nuclear in thrust, the Vanquish Volante is your car. Under the clamshell hood lives a 5.2-liter twin-turbocharged V-12 producing a staggering 835 horsepower and 737 pound-feet of torque. That’s enough to sling the two-seater to 60 mph in 3.4 seconds and carry it all the way to a 214-mph top speed. Numbers aside, this makes it the most powerful and fastest production convertible Aston Martin has ever offered.

The Vanquish Volante is about presence as much as pace. The elongated proportions are punctuated by bronze accents—the vaned grille, side strakes, and 21-inch wheels all anodized to quietly announce that this isn’t just another Aston. Q’s detailing manages to look tasteful and aggressive in equal measure, something most aftermarket tuners only dream of.

The All-Rounder: DB12 Volante

While the Vanquish chases numbers, the DB12 Volante is built to do what Aston Martins have always done best: blend high-speed ability with everyday usability. Its 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8, hand-built in the UK, produces 671 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque. The 0–60 run takes 3.6 seconds, and top speed lands just shy of the Vanquish at 202 mph.

This is Aston Martin’s pitch for the world’s first “super tourer,” and the car lives up to the billing. The DB12’s 2+2 layout, ride refinement, and roof-down serenity make it a car you could drive to dinner in Monaco on Friday night and then across the Alps on Saturday morning. Its K-fold roof deploys in 14 seconds and stows in 16, operable up to 31 mph, so spontaneity remains part of the brief.

A Legacy Carried Forward

The Volante name first appeared in 1965 on what’s now known as the Short Chassis Volante—just 37 were built. That set the tone for decades of limited-production convertibles aimed squarely at drivers who wanted the same Aston mystique, only louder and windier.

These anniversary editions double down on that heritage with interior treatments that are as rare as the engineering. Think tri-tone leather schemes in Centenary Saddle Tan, Ivory, and woven hide, Dark Walnut open-pore veneers, and bronze detailing throughout. Even the embroidery is bespoke—an etched 60th Anniversary logo stitched into the seatbacks.

Q by Aston Martin: Bespoke, Not Optional

Q’s role here is more than just paint chips and seat piping. The service lets buyers create something unique—whether that’s anodized finishes, exotic veneers, or one-off touches only a handful of people will ever see. The anniversary cars are designed to showcase that capability, but they’re also a reminder that Aston will build nearly anything you ask for, short of an F1 car.

Strictly limited to 60 examples of each model, the Volante 60th Anniversary Editions are slated for first deliveries in late 2025. They’re equal parts rolling sculpture and performance weapon, a pair of cars that neatly capture Aston Martin’s split personality: one brutal, one balanced, both achingly beautiful.

As Jolyon Nash, Aston’s Chief Commercial Officer, puts it: “Volante is one of Aston Martin’s most evocative names, representing six decades of the ultimate open-top driving experience.” These two cars are the distillation of that promise, built for the tiny sliver of people who can afford to own history—and drive it at 200 mph with the top down.

Source: Aston Martin