Category Archives: NEW CARS

NEW CARS

The Nichols N1A ICON 88: A Senna Fever Dream on Wheels

The world doesn’t need another supercar. Honestly, the roads are already clogged with gaudy, winged lumps of horsepower chasing Nürburgring lap times like it’s a religion. But then, Steve Nichols walks into Monterey Car Week, casually drops the cover off something called the Nichols N1A ICON 88, and suddenly—every Aventador, Chiron, and LaFerrari looks like an overpriced cappuccino frother.

This is not just a car. This is a rolling shrine to Ayrton Senna and 1980s Formula 1 dominance. And it’s been built by the bloke who gave the world the McLaren MP4/4—the most ruthlessly efficient Formula 1 car in history, the machine that Senna and Prost used to bludgeon the entire grid in 1988.

Nichols’ pitch is gloriously simple: forget driver aids, forget touchscreen nonsense, forget 2.3 tonnes of batteries and regenerative braking. Instead, here’s a road-legal racing barchetta weighing just 900kg—that’s Lotus Elise territory—with a 7.0-litre naturally aspirated V8 howling behind your head. No turbos, no hybrids, no excuses. Just 650 horsepower, a six-speed manual, and the sort of mechanical purity modern supercars would sooner bury under an infotainment update.

And because Nichols isn’t interested in building a death trap, the N1A isn’t some crude kit car on wheels. The body is carbon fibre reinforced with graphene (yes, the wonder material your science teacher wouldn’t shut up about). Aerodynamics? Refined at the legendary MIRA wind tunnel. Suspension? Double wishbones straight from a race paddock. Brakes? Multi-piston motorsport calipers. Tyres? Michelin Cup 2s, as if anyone driving this needs encouragement to go faster.

The numbers make Ferrari engineers choke on their espressos: 900kg and 650bhp. That’s almost McLaren F1 levels of power-to-weight, only angrier and far less polite.

Inside, there’s no quilted leather Instagram nonsense. Instead, you’re practically lying down like Senna in the MP4/4. One seat. One gearstick. A set of analogue gauges that look like they’ve been lifted out of Mission Control. It’s less “luxury GT” and more “surgical tool for your adrenal glands.” Even ABS and power steering are optional. Optional!

Oh, and the first 15 cars? Each one is dedicated to one of the 15 victories McLaren racked up in 1988. If you don’t get goosebumps at that, you’re probably dead inside.

The N1A is the debut act for Nichols Cars, and it’s a bold, possibly unhinged way to introduce yourself to the world. But in an industry obsessed with touchscreens, AI driving modes, and exhausts that play fake soundtracks through speakers, Nichols has dared to build something that Senna himself might have daily-driven—if he’d ever needed a number plate.

The ICON 88 isn’t just another supercar. It’s a time machine to when racing was pure, cars were violent, and drivers were gods. And in today’s sanitized motoring world, that feels like a revolution.

Source: Nichols Cars

NEW CARS

New Audi E5 Sportback Only for China

Well, this is it. Audi has finally built a car it really wants you to know about — and it’s not for you. Unless, of course, you happen to live in China, where the all-new Audi E5 Sportback has just thundered off the production line in Anting like a freshly charged iPhone on wheels.

Yes, August 18 was the birthday of Audi’s first series-production model developed specifically for China, in partnership with local heavyweight SAIC. The message is clear: Germany makes the suits, China adds the smart tech, and together they’re gunning for the future of electric fastbacks.

What is it?

On paper, the E5 Sportback is a bit of a monster. A fully electric, four-door fastback, it churns out up to 579 kW (that’s nearly 800 horsepower in old money), will slap you to 100 km/h in 3.4 seconds, and still promises a maximum range of 770 kilometres. So yes, it’s both a drag-strip hooligan and a long-distance Zen master. Choose from four different powertrains: rear-wheel drive for the purists, quattro for the snowbound or the terminally enthusiastic.

The Platform Play

Underneath it all sits Audi’s shiny new Advanced Digitized Platform (ADP). Think of it as the silicon spine of the car: over-the-air updates, next-gen connectivity, and enough digital wizardry to make even Tesla owners raise an eyebrow. It’s not just a car; it’s a rolling app store with quattro muscles.

Built the Chinese Way

Production is happening in a dedicated new facility at the SAIC Volkswagen site in Shanghai. About 700 people (and a terrifying army of robots) are building these things, overseen by machine learning systems that check quality in real time. It’s basically Skynet with a torque wrench.

And this isn’t a one-off. The E5 Sportback is the opening act of a trilogy, with two more Audi models due in the next two years.

Audi’s Big Pitch

Fermín Soneira, the man in charge of this German-Chinese mashup, says every Audi “embodies the best of both worlds.” Translation: You get German design, quality and driving dynamics, fused with China’s bleeding-edge digital ecosystem. In short, it’s an Audi that speaks fluent Mandarin — and WeChat.

Should You Want One?

Well, unless you live in China, no. But you should still pay attention, because this isn’t just another electric Audi. This is Audi rethinking its future market, building a car around Chinese customers and their tech-obsessed lifestyles. It’s as much a cultural shift as an engineering one.

And with nearly 800 horsepower, 770 km of range, and the kind of acceleration that makes your eyeballs stick to the back of your skull, the E5 Sportback might just be the most exciting Audi you can’t buy.

Source: Audi

NEW CARS

2027 BMW X5 Caught Howling at the Nürburgring

The BMW X5 has always been the sensible SUV that somehow manages to wear its gym shorts under a three-piece suit. But now, the 2027 G65-generation X5 has been caught storming the Nürburgring, and if the spy footage is anything to go by, Munich isn’t planning to slow things down.

Camouflaged like a German trying to sunbathe incognito in Majorca, the test mule doesn’t reveal much in terms of styling—but it’s what’s hiding under the bonnet (and behind those quad tailpipes) that’s got us grinning like a M4 driver who’s just discovered an empty autobahn.

At the 0:39 mark, you hear it. That unmistakable B58 inline-six howl—raspier than a smoker’s cough after Oktoberfest—suggesting this could be a spicier performance trim. BMW’s already rumored to be cooking up multiple fast X5s, so this prototype could be a sneak peek at one of them. Or maybe the engineers simply fitted an exhaust so loud it could rattle the Weißwurst off a Bavarian breakfast table. Either way, it sounds delicious.

Fast forward to 2:33, and things really get interesting. The same prototype family barrels past the lens with quad pipes and a soundtrack that only a twin-turbo V8 can produce. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the mighty V8 lives on. And it sounds angry—like it’s been told the electric iX gets more marketing budget.

Visually, you’ll need to squint hard. The bumper design seems tweaked, the rear spoiler maybe a fraction different—but it could all be camouflage trickery. What we do know is that both these test mules are PHEVs, as proven by the charging flap on the flank. But if this is what hybridisation sounds like, sign us up.

Remember, the X5 isn’t just any BMW—it’s the best-seller, the family golden child. So the G65 has a big job ahead of it: replace the G05 and eventually stand shoulder to shoulder with the all-electric iX. Production kicks off in Q3 2026, which gives BMW just enough time to finish torturing these SUVs around the ’Ring before handing us the keys.

Until then, watch the footage, turn the volume up, and enjoy the sound of Bavaria reminding the world that hybrids don’t have to be boring.

Source: BMW; Photos: CarSpyMedia