June 17, 2009
Porsche has announced its 3.8-liter 911 Carrera S engine has won the 2009 “Best New Engine of the Year” award in the International Engine of the Year Awards.
The power combined with the efficiency and drivability of the direct fuel injected engine helped earn the award. The current engine, combined with the PDK transmission, produces 385 hp while maintaining a 23 mpg average fuel economy.
The new engine is 8.5% more powerful and 13% more fuel efficient than the previous 911 Carrera S engine. And CO2 emissions are down 15%.
So, if you want to drive the Best New Engine of 2009, head to your Porsche dealer and grab yourself a brand new Carrera S.
Full press release after the jump.
[source: Porsche]
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June 17, 2009
Car and Driver recently drove the Panamera S and Panamera Turbo and came away impressed.
First, they say the styling looks much better in person. Next, the cars are insanely quick. The Panamera S sprints from 0 to 60 in 4.8 seconds, 0 to 100 in 11.5 seconds, and hits a top speed of 175 mpg. The Turbo does 0 to 60 in 4 seconds flat, 0 to 100 in 9 seconds flat, and hits 188 mph.
They also like the interior, saying it has plenty of room and is nicely styled, with nice materials. They even like the fact that the base price for each model includes a lot of features, resulting in fewer of Porsche’s typically high-price options.
Is there anything they didn’t like? Well, they thought that even the optional sports exhaust was a bit too quiet.
Read the full review for yourself here.
[source: Car and Driver]
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June 17, 2009
Bloomberg is reporting that Qatar’s investment deal with Porsche could be done by the end of June. As we reported earlier, Porsche is seeking up to $3.45 billion in investment from Qatar.
According to the article, Qatar wants at least a 25% stake in Porsche.
Porsche has already gotten a $978 million loan from VW, and is in talks with other banks to get an additional $2.42 billion load, all to cut down its $12.5 billion debt.
[source: Bloomberg via Autoblog]
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June 17, 2009
Those earlier rumors about the Boxster getting a 4-cylinder engine are heating up. Auto Motor & Sport is reporting that Porsche is looking at shoving the Audi TTS engine into a cheaper Boxster.
The engine is a 2.0-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder that makes 272 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque. That’s actually 17 hp and 45 lb-ft more than the current Boxster flat-6 makes.
By using this engine, they say the price of the Boxster could drop by as much as $9,000. But my only question: could you still call it a Boxster without a boxer engine?
[source: Auto Motor & Sport via Autoblog]
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June 17, 2009
Motor Authority has a whole heap of spy photos of the next generation Cayman being tested, sporting a 987 body stretched over the next generation platform.
The pictures clearly show the next generation Cayman will have a wider track as evidenced by the wheel arch add-ons. But not much else can be gathered from the shots, as could be expected.
To see all the spy shots, click on over to Motor Authority’s gallery.
[source: Motor Authority]
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June 15, 2009
Porsche has released a 2 1/2 hour DVD showing the complete company history from the beginning up to today.
Called “The Porsche Way,” the film is based on the Archives Collection which houses over 5,000 hours of footage. Much of the footage on the DVD has never been seen before, and several racing drivers and former employees also make an appearance.
The DVD is now available in German and English at the Porsche Museum Shop. (No word yet on if you can purchase it online.)
[source: Porsche]
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June 15, 2009
Back in September we reported that Porsche and VW were thinking about teaming up again to work on an entry-level roadster in the spirit of the 914. The talk was that it would be built on the (then yet-to-be-revealed) VW Bluesport roadster platform. Eventually, those rumors were put to rest, and Porsche said they were not considering such a move.
Now, Porsche production manager Michael Macht told Automobilwoche that Porsche is again considering such a car. As previously discussed, the car would be based on the VW Bluesport platform and use VW/Audi engines. Most likely would be the 1.4L turbo/supercharged TSI 4-cylinder that delivers 170 hp, and maybe a 125 hp diesel 4-cylinder, though I doubt the diesel is very likely.
The car’s target weight is 2200 lbs, so 170 hp should allow it to directly compete with the Lotus Elise. Pricing is rumored to be in the $40,000 to $45,000 range.
Although, another rumor going around is that the Boxster and Cayman line will be further differentiated, with the Cayman retaining a flat-6 and the Boxster moving to a 4-cylinder to be positioned as the entry-level Porsche. No official comment on that rumor though.
[source: http://www.motorauthority.com/report-vw-porsche-teaming-up-for-914-revival.html]
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June 15, 2009
While I don’t mind the looks of the Cayenne, it has certainly been called “ugly” by more than a few. But a Russian tuner has managed to make even the most jaded Cayenne think the stock Cayenne is a work of art next to this thing.
Status Design has taken a Cayenne and somehow grafted on an old-school Cylon-looking frontend… and from there it just gets worse.
I’m not sure what they call their modified Cayenne, but as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. So if you dare, check out a couple more images after the jump in color schemes that are even worse than the one pictured above.
[source: Jalopnik]
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June 14, 2009
The RS Spyder fielded by the Essex team from Denmark won the LMP2 class at the Le Mans 24 Hour race. The RS Spyder won by 15 laps, and also won the “Michelin Green X Challenge” as the car with the best overall efficiency.
It was almost a 1-2 sweep for Porsche but the NAVI Team GOH RS Spyder, running in second place, crashed out with just one hour to go.
In GT2, Porsche wasn’t so lucky. Two hours into the race, the Porsche Works 911 GT3 RSR of Lieb, Lietz and Henzler died 100 meters from the pit entrance due to a fuel system problem. According to the rules, the car can’t be towed in this case, so the car was forced to retire. Also, the Flying Lizards 911 GT3 RSR, which qualified on the pole and driven by Bergmeister, Law and Neiman, crashed heavily into the barriers in the early hours of the morning. Finally, the IMSA Performance Matmut 911 GT3 RSR driven by Pilet, Long and Narac was running in third until transmission problems put them out of the race on Sunday morning.
Check out Porsche’s press release after the jump.
[source: Porsche]
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Posted in RS Spyder, Racing No Comments »
June 14, 2009
9ff has announced a new tuning kit for the 911 GT2 called the 9ff BT-2. And I have to say, at least in the Gulf livery shown in the pics, this is my favorite 911 tuner package yet.
Pumping out an amazing 850 hp, the 9ff BT-2 can get from 0 to 62 in 3 seconds flat, and hit a top speed of 240 mph. There’s nothing really more to say than that. So just look at the pictures after the jump of the 9ff BT-2 in all its Gulf livery glory.
[source: 9ff via Autoblog]
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