Here's one of those things about 24 hour endurance races: They race at night. When it's dark. Even at the Nurburgring. Where there aren't things like lights.
Racing at night limits your field of view not just ahead, but your peripheral vision is reduced to nearly nothing and with the exception of headlights, your rear-view is shot. It's disorienting and requires your full confidence in both your knowledge of the track and skill as a driver. And that's assuming you're driving something slower than a Porsche GT3 Cup.
Niclas Kentenich is a machine. We're all doomed.
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Categories: Motorsports,Porsche
Recently we've peeked at the undersides of several Porsche 911 variants, from our vintage 1985 Porsche 911 to the 2011 Porsche 911 GTS (the tail end of the 997 phase), to the all-new 2012 Porsche 911 Carrera S (the first appearance of the new 991 chassis.)
But all of those, of course, are rear engined Porsches. They keep their high octane junk in what would otherwise be the trunk.
The Porsche Cayman, however, is a proper mid-engine machine. Its pancake motor sits ahead of the rear axle with the transmission behind and between the rear tires, just like almost every clean-sheet formula and prototype race car built in the last 40 years or so
Our Guards Red example is a 2012 Porsche Cayman R, the healthiest version to date. Alert readers will recognize that the lack of a Rotary Lift in our shop means we've been sitting on these images until the 911s finished their parade across these pages.
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Categories: Coupes,Porsche,Sports Cars,Suspension Walkarounds
Late last year Porsche announced that they would be removing a small golf course in Carson, California and replace it with a 53-acre Porsche Experience Center. AKA: A track. Porsche has now announced that with the completion of the project, the North American customer sports programs will move from Santa Ana to the new facility when it opens in 2013.
"This not only makes sound business sense, but is symbolic as well, "says Detlev von Platen, PCNA President and CEO. "Aside from offering a modern, purpose built working environment, the motorsport specific operations will provide additional energy and dynamics to a facility that is all about performance both on the vehicle and human side. Thus our new Experience Center will perfectly symbolize the core of the Porsche brand, which has always been a successful blend of a passion for racing and for spirited yet responsible driving on open roads."
Of course. Spirited and responsible. Right. Anyways, more on the track...
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Categories: Miscellaneous,Porsche
Earlier in the month Porsche and Turn 10 teased us with this one, but now it's finally available. Trade in 1600 Microsoft Points ($19.99) and you'll get access to 30 new Porsche vehicles that you probably should have had when buying the game new.
"This is an excellent opportunity for Porsche to offer a virtual experience with our sports cars in a very fitting environment -- on race tracks around the world," said Vice President of Marketing for Porsche Cars NA. "In many ways, best-selling gaming titles like Forza Motorsport 4 generate enthusiasm for products that often translate into a lifelong connection to the brand."
While he's correct (See: Evo / Sti fanboism from GT3), he's ignoring the fact that only Porsche fans already excited to drive the 911 GT2 RS, Cayenne Turbo, Flying Lizard Motorsports 911 GT3-RSR, 911 Sport Classic, Panamera Turbo, 996 GT3, Carrera GT, '89 944 Turbo, '82 Turbo 3.3, 550A Spyder (and more) are going to spend $20 more on this game.
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Categories: Porsche,Video Games
When we first got spy shots of the Porsche 918 Coupe last week, we were thrown by the faux racecar livery applied just too well to the car. It wouldn't have been the first time a manufacturer has thrown racecar paint on a prototype to throw photographers, but this one was a little too....nice. And now we know why....
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Categories: Hybrids,Porsche,Sports Cars
Surprisingly enough, the Porsche Boxster is not the cheapest car in the Porsche stable. Despite the diminutive nature, lack of seats, small motor and relatively spartan interior without getting a ton of options, the Boxster is still more expensive than the base Cayenne. To those of us not running a famed German carmaker, this would seem like an open window to develop a new base model roadster/coupe that could undercut both the Cayenne and the Boxster but still turn a tidy profit. We know they're working on a sub-Panamera Pajun and a sub-Cayenne Macan, so why not a sub-Boxster Bojun?
Because it would risk alienating traditional customers...
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Categories: Auto Industry,Future Vehicles,Porsche
To go along with the Porsche 918 Spyder set for release sometime in 2013, Porsche is also readying a hardtop variant which we're calling the 2014 Porsche 918 Coupe.
Seen here testing in Germany, the road-going 918 Coupe was previewed by the 918 RSR (racecar) which debuted at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show. This road car ditches the canards, massive wing, central wiper, pointless side-view cameras, side pipes and deep-dish racing wheels in favor of things real people use. Though we've got to say we liked the sidewall the racecar was sporting.
Power is set to come from the same 9,200 RPM, 562 horsepower V8 teamed with electric motors from the 918. Power goes to all the wheels and combined produces a dizzying 759 horsepower and 568 pound-feet of torque.
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Categories: Coupes,Porsche
Back in March of '11 we heard a rumor from Auto Bild that Porsche was working on a new small sedan to rival the E- and CLS-Class Mercedes-Benz sedans. The name was Pajun and, besides the name Pajun, we were 100% on board with this idea. The Panamera is quirky looking but otherwise a superlative vehicle and we already have one Porsche SUV on the roads, one more confirmed and a full size Porsche sedan, the "purity of Porsche" argument is invalid. Time to move along.
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Categories: Auto Industry,Future Vehicles,Porsche,Sedans
I'm not sure why videos like this need to have a premise; they don't. This video would be just as good if Porsche said, "Here's Patrick Long- the only American Porsche factory driver -- ripping around a damp Barber Motorsports Park in a Porsche GT3 RS 4.0."
Instead there's something about running errands and delivering coffee. The Porsche GT3 RS 4.0 being driven by Long makes up for the flimsy plot.
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Categories: Celebrities,Motorsports,Porsche,Sports Cars
The last time we saw the 2014 Porsche Macan it was wearing the skin of the Audi Q5 and testing alongside a fleet of Cayennes. Now, finally, the Macan has slipped into its own clothes and we're getting to see the shape of the new Porsche crossover.
As anyone who's seen a Porsche before could predict, the production Macan will look very much like a 0.90 scale Cayenne with touches of Panamera in the roof line and headlights. Don't put any stock in the head or tail lights; they're stickers. Beyond that we've got a very aggressive -- and clunky -- grille with a poorly integrated radar unit for adaptive cruise / braking and a wildly sloped hatch that trades the functional bubble of the Panamera's rear for something sharper. On the running gear side we see relatively small wheels for this class and a welcome amount of sidewall! Brakes look to be fixed calipers up front (four piston) and single piston sliders out back.
Still no word or clues on the new powertrain (dual exhaust means nothing these days) but a turbocharged four-cylinder and a small 6-cylinder are likely.
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Categories: Crossovers,Porsche,Spy Photos
Finally, the information we've all been waiting for: The EPA has finally announced the official fuel economy ratings for the 2013 Porsche Boxster!
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Categories: Convertibles,Porsche
The Porsche Experience Center is a key to Porsche's profits. Send a customer there and after a few laps with the ceramic brakes and they order them. Do a wet skidpad with an S vs a 4s and all of a sudden they've dropped the cash for AWD. Once they've made those big decisions, little stuff like painted center caps, headrest logos and more are easy. The average customer that goes to an experience center picks up five-figures in extras. And soon, the U.S. will have not one, but two Porsche experience centers -- L.A. and Atlanta -- to facilitate the spending habits of our Porsche buyers.
For those of us who are not in the market for a new car, Porsche has given the internets a taste of what to expect from this type of event. Things like the Ice Hill, the Low Friction Surface, the Off Road track and my favorite, the Kick Plate. While it wasn't in a Porsche, we've (Dan Edmunds has) been lucky enough to play on a wet kick plate before. That time was in a few different AMG cars at the Nurburgring. Doing it in a Porsche looks just as fun.
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Categories: Porsche,Videos
I was going to make a joke about this being for the fat old Porsche fanatic who's tired of being fat but won't drive anything else, but then Porsche beat me to the punch: "The combustion engine: sits on the saddle."
Kudos, Porsche. Kudos.
Porsche is offering a 29-inch RS that weighs 19.8 pounds thanks to carbon frame, forks, bars, levers, stem and seat post. It's got a 20-speed Shimano gearset and is painted Electric Blue. Porsche also offers a Bike S which has an aluminum frame, 11-speed Alfine hub gear and is painted in Carrera White.
Porsche Bikes are sold exclusively through Porsche dealers where you can also pick up your new Martini Racing inspired gear to wear while riding looking at your $4,449.98 (s) or $7,999.99 (RS) bicycle.
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Categories: Miscellaneous,Porsche
Having a summer house in the south of France is the stuff dreams are made of and lottery ticket sales are based on. Having a test track with a 7.85-mile high-speed loop in southern Italy is the kind of pie-in-the-sky goal that leads people into a life of supervillainy or tycoonism.
Porsche has both these traits and now they have a test center in southern Italy with a 7.85-mile loop -- the Nardo Ring -- under their control. The center was built in '75 by Fiat as a place the company could test year-round (Arizona/California was a bit far) that could be used for high-speed validation and other testing. The Nardo facility also has a 3.85 mile handling course, multiple surfaces and a way to replicate various weather conditions.
Porsche says that due to the climate, they will be able to use the proving grounds in three shifts a day around the clock seven days per week.
No transaction price was given for the 1,730 acre facility.
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Categories: Porsche
Porsche remained relatively quiet at this year's New York Auto Show, saving the release of the 2013 Porsche Cayenne GTS for the Beijing Auto Show. This new second-generation GTS features a 414 horsepower naturally aspirated 4.8-liter V8 hooked up to an eight-speed Tiptronic S automatic transmission. Yes, unfortunately Porsche has decided to drop the manual from its sport three-row SUV. While we doubt that the take rate was high, we hate to see any vehicle have its manual transmission option removed entirely.
Porsche says this is good for a 0-62 mph time of 5.7 seconds and a top speed of 162 mph.
The Cayenne GTS will be on sale here by August with a starting price of $83,025.
On the suspension side of things, the GTS is fitted with Porsche Active Suspension Management, lowering the ride height by almost an inch.
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Categories: Porsche,SUVs
If you're not up on your Ferdinand Porsches, Butzi was the son of Ferdinand "Ferry" Porsche and grandson of the original Ferdinand Porsche. Butzi made his mark as the designer of the original 911. He later founded a separate company called Porsche Design that produced everything from watches to glasses to kitchen knives.
Categories: Auto Industry,Porsche
Porsche isn't holding a press conference at the 2012 New York Auto Show, but on Tuesday night the automaker rented out Manhattan's Altman Building and parked a bunch of cars in it, including this 917 LH. This also counted as the official debut for the 2013 Porsche Cayenne Diesel, which goes on sale in September.
We took some pictures and jotted some notes on the Cayenne Diesel, and they're later on in this blog entry, but we were a lot more interested in the 917 and the man who raced it -- Vic Elford. Soon, we were peppering him with questions.
Originally, this car was white and appeared in the Steve McQueen classic Le Mans. Then, Elford and Gerard Larrousse drove it in the 1971 24 Hours of Le Mans. It didn't finish, but Elford hit 245 mph on the Mulsanne Straight in practice.
Elford worked on the 917 LH with Porsche's Ferdinand Piech. "We didn't want to race in this car, we just wanted to go fast, " he said.
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Categories: Classic Cars,Future Vehicles,New York Auto Show,Porsche,SUVs
Porsche apparently couldn't wait for tomorrow's start of the 2012 New York Auto Show as it officially unveiled the 2013 Cayenne Diesel today.
The 2013 Cayenne Diesel is loaded with a 3.0-liter V6 turbodiesel cranking out 240 horsepower and a whopping 406 pound-feet of torque from only 1,750 rpm.
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Categories: Diesels,New York Auto Show,Porsche,SUVs
Take a look at the 10 cars with the highest proportion of male buyers and you'll find that many have certain things in common. We're talking phallic, fast and pricey -- these are the models that fuel the fantasies of car-obsessed 14-year old boys, and ease the mid-life crises of affluent 50-year-old men.
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Categories: Audi,BMW,Chevrolet,Ferrari,Ford,GMC,Mercedes-Benz,Porsche
Former racecar driver Walter Rohrl has a very comfortable relationship with Porsche these days. Rohrl set the official Porsche Nurburgring time for the 991 911, got to hustle the 904 from the Porsche Museum and now has taken his turn behind the wheel of the all new 981 Porsche Boxster.
Unfortunately, Rohrl's take on the Boxster is presented entirely in German. If you can speak, or at least understand a little, German, this video could be an enlightening exploration into Porsche's new drop top. If you can't understand German, don't worry, there's a lot of car noises you'll want to hear. If you do want more info on the new Boxster, check our first drive here.
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Categories: Celebrities,Porsche,Sports Cars,Videos
