Jeff Zwart is not quite the king of the mountain, because he’s never actually won the Pikes Peak Hill Climb overall, but he should be the prince at least, since he’s registered so many class wins, all in street-legal cars.
The wins also have been all in Porsches, since Zwart has been obsessed with them since he was a kid and used to ride his Stingray bicycle around Huntington Beach, California, with his pal Freeman Thomas (now the director of advanced design at Ford) just looking for the sports cars from Zuffenhausen. Though Zwart is now a well-known photographer and maker of commercial films (notably for Porsche), he still thinks his old Porsche 914 – the first car he ever bought with his own money (and not exactly from Zuffenhausen) – is cool.
So when we heard by chance through a friend that Zwart’s new street car happened to be at Circle Porsche in Long Beach, we drove over there to take a look.
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Categories: Celebrities,Motorsports,Porsche
Apparently it’s hell being a Formula 1 driver.
What with all that racing around the world, debriefing with engineers, dealing with stupid questions from journalists, glad-handing sponsors, helicoptering to parties where fancy women rub up against you for no reason at all, and kissing babies at supermarket openings, there’s no time for a man to drive his own damn car.
As evidence, we present this Porsche 911 that McLaren F1 driver and former F1 world champion Jenson Button has put up for sale. Want to buy it?
This isn’t just any Porsche 911, either. This is a 1973 Porsche 911 2.7 Carrera RS — the Ferrari 250 GTO of collectible Porsches, the 911 that every driver with the soul of an F1 driver wants to own. The Holy Grail.
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Categories: Celebrities,Classic Cars,Porsche
Just a few short years ago the choice between a manual transmission and an automatic transmission was one between a real driver's car and an appliance to get you from A to B.
That line started to blur with single-clutch auto-manuals, which were nearly as obedient as true manuals while still offering the ease of an automatic. Those transmissions have been refined and tweaked with faster shift times, smoother engagement and in some cases, a second clutch to pre-stage the next gear, reducing the shift time even more. Even Porsche now claims that the automatic is faster than the manual on the new 991 911 Carrera S. By a lot.
We've finally got our hands on the seven-speed PDK version of the new 911. How does it stack up against the seven-speed manual? And even if it is faster, are we ready to admit that an automatic -- even the advanced PDK -- can be in a driver's car?
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Categories: IL Track Tested,Porsche
The support the launch of the new 991 911, Porsche has launched a new "911 Identity" advertising campaign. This started with a video explaining how Porsche engineers 911-ness into each new generation (we're now on 7) of the world's most famous sports car with the engine in the wrong place. They've now followed that up with a new exhibit at the Porsche museum in Stuttgart.
The display features historic racing cars like the 911 Carrera RS 2.7 "Safari" and Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid. The display also features cutaways and steering wheels and rims from '63 to present and company documents (DOCUMENTS!) that have never been shown publicly.
For those of us who can't afford the eight euro fee on top of the flight to Germany, hi-res images of the display are available after the jump.
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Categories: Classic Cars,Porsche,Sports Cars
If you're a classic car nut, you've probably heard of Hagerty; the company is a leader in classic-car insurance and hosts the world's largest database of classic cars. Each year, the company publishes its Hagerty Hot List, a list that spotlights 10 new vehicles that its valuations experts see as having the best future collectability.
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Categories: Audi,Buick,Chevrolet,Dodge,Fiat,Ford,Jeep,Nissan,Porsche,Volkswagen
There are no two ways about it, Porsche knows turbocharging. They've been playing with that setup since the mid-70s and have a good handle on how to get great power and reliability out of a boosted motor. Consider the current lineup if you will: The 911 Turbo S makes 530 horsepower from a twin-turbo 3.8-liter flat six and they manage 620 horsepower from it in the GT2 RS. Not bad numbers for a car that gets 19 mpg combined (1 better than the Z06) and has a 50,000 mile warranty.
Now, having fully mastered the twin-turbo setup, Porsche is rumored to be following BMW down the tri-turbo path. Earlier this week, BMW officially announced that their line of M performance diesels would be powered by a tri-turbo motor making 376 horsepower and an incredible 545 pound-feet of torque and now Autocar is reporting that Porsche is working on a similar system. The new system is undergoing final testing (see our Spy Video of the 2013 911 Turbo) but they're already predicting power figures of over 525 and increased fuel economy.
While all of this sounds great, there are complexities with a tri-turbo system including that of packaging three turbos and all associated plumbing -- wastegate(s), inter-stage ducts, bypass valves actuators, linkages, oil lines etc into an already cramped space.
(Autocar)
Categories: Future Vehicles,Porsche,Sports Cars
Near as I can tell, Porsche began offering center-lock wheels as a street option in 2007, beginning with the 911 Turbo. Today that option costs $3,835 on the standard Turbo, but the so-called RS Spyder wheels are standard on the Turbo S. Other 911 variants now offer them, too.
Porsche touts several benefits: they look clean, they're easy to clean, they represent less unsprung mass and, theoretically, at least, they're far less likely to get stolen. This last point boils down to two reasons: 1) the market for these unique wheels is very limited and; 2) with a special socket and 444 lb-ft of tightening torque in play it takes more than a cross wrench to get these babies off.
Beyond all that, center lock wheels come straight out of motorsports, where one central nut makes pit stops incredibly fast if you've got a swarm of crewmen, air jacks and a couple of $3,000 ported and polished air guns to go with them.
We don't possess such an air gun, but we do have a secret weapon of our own. And we needed it in order to photograph the 2011 Porsche 911 GTS suspension walkaround.
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Categories: Coupes,Porsche,Sports Cars,Suspension Walkarounds
...not, as you'd likely think, the Porsche Panamera Hybrid, but rather the 2012 Infiniti M35h. At least, that's what the people at Infiniti, backed up by "AMCI Certified Testing" have to say. But we knew this. They teamed with CAR magazine back in September to get Guinness-certified numbers. Let's take a closer look anyway shall we?
The 2012 Porsche Panamera Hybrid has a 3.0-liter supercharged V6 and a 75 amp, 288-volt NiMiH battery. The Porsche makes 380 horsepower @ 5500 rpm, 428 pound-feet of torque at only 1,000 rpm and has an 8-speed automatic transmission. To save weight and increase awesome, it is rear-wheel drive, the last time we tested one it weighed in at 4,492 pounds. Pricing starts at $95K.
In the other corner is the Infiniti M35h. It starts at $53,700, makes 360 horsepower thanks to a 3.5-liter V6 and a 346 volt lithium-ion battery and has a seven-speed automatic. Like the Porsche, it's rear-wheel drive. Last time we had it on the scales a 2012 M35h recorded a weight of 4,199 pounds.
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Categories: Hybrids,Infiniti,Porsche,Sedans
At first we were going to contrast the suspension of this 2011 Porsche 911 GTS to that of our 1985 Porsche 911. But then, just before the holidays hit, we got our hands on an all-new 2012 Porsche 911 Carrera S. Our GTS vs. Black Plague duel would have to wait.
This was fine by me because once the dust settled we would have a three-car 911 suspension comparison. The completion of this GTS walkaround leaves our 1985 Porsche 911 in the on-deck circle.
Notably, this 911 is fitted with Porsche's center-lock wheels. You'll catch glimpses of them throughout, but I'm saving a detailed description for a separate sidebar that will probably be posted by the time you finish reading this.
But, as usual, this suspension walkaround starts with the wheels off. Let's see what the last year of the 997 edition of the Porsche 911 looks like underneath.
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Categories: Coupes,Porsche,Sports Cars,Suspension Walkarounds
I'm not even going to attempt to summarize this new video by Porsche titled The New 911: Development of Porsche Identity. Porsche tries by saying "Our identity is the 911. This is especially true, even in the 21st century. Instantly recognisable and originally engineered for the racetrack, it continues to stir the emotions today, just as it did in 1963."
If any of this hits you the right way, or you just like the image above, take three minutes out of your day and watch this video that's packed with historic footage.
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Categories: Porsche,Sports Cars
We've met Porsche's Chief Driving Consultant Gordon Robertson before. His job is, essentially, to play with sports cars at Silverstone and either explain them to you via YouTube or to paying Porsche customers who attend the experience center in the U.K.
Here he is driving the new 911 like it's meant to be driven.
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Categories: Coupes,Porsche,Sports Cars,Videos
As expected, Porsche brought out its convertible version of the all-new 911: the Carrera Cabriolet. Besides the already impressive specs that carry over from the coupe model, the cabrio sports a fabric top that stows in a mere 13 seconds. Also notable is a power-deployable wind blocker. Nice. Sun-worshipers rejoice. The drop-top 911 will be here just in time for spring.
See Alistair's take after the jump.
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Categories: Detroit Auto Show,Porsche,Videos
Porsche sells a lot of 911 Cabriolets in the U.S. (it's the largest market in the world for drop-top 911s), so no surprise that Phase II of the 991-generation rollout happened on our soil, with the automaker revealing the 2012 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show.
These are late 2012 models, and they'll be out in the spring. Starting price for a standard Carrera convertible, with the 345-hp 3.4-liter flat six-cylinder, is $94,650 (including $950 for destination), while the Carrera S and its 394-horse 3.8-liter will go for $104,750.
Of course, that's not how much you'll really pay, because you're likely to pick out at least 80 options, including the PDK automated manual transmission. Work a clutch pedal? Nah, it's a convertible, man. Get some sun. Turn off your brain.
Porsche is making some big straight-line performance claims -- 4.4 seconds to 60 mph for a PDK-equipped 911 Carrera Cab, 4.1 seconds for a PDK-equipped Carrera S Cab. We timed a 991-gen 911 Carrera S coupe (with the six-speed manual) at 4.6 seconds to 60 (4.4 with rollout).
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Categories: Convertibles,Detroit Auto Show,Future Vehicles,Porsche,Sports Cars
Frankly, we can't think of a better time and place for Porsche to have the debut of the new Porsche 911 Cabrio than Detroit in January. Except, perhaps, for Los Angeles where it's currently 85 degrees. Or New York where people actually buy drop-top Porsches.
According to Porsche's Bernhard Maier, "Detroit was deliberately chosen for the world premiere of the new 911 Cabrio because the USA is far and away our largest 911 Cabrio market." Fair enough.
If you missed out on seeing this one at the L.A. show, fear not, they go on sale just a few months after the coupe version and then you'll see them all the time.
Porsche also announced information about two new SUV offerings...
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Categories: Convertibles,Detroit Auto Show,Diesels,Porsche,SUVs
Porsche recently launched a new ad campaign, Porsche Every Day. The concept was simple enough: Show us how you use your Porsche on a daily basis. They followed up on this with a video contest explaining how (for a select few) a Porsche can be a daily driver. Porsches are comfortable, reasonably reliable, sometimes seat four, are easy to drive and reasonably fuel efficient. Plus they have a wide selection of factory winter tires for snowy climates.
Now, the obvious way to go about this is to simply show a Cayenne and then fade to black and roll credits. It's got a lot of seats, has high ground clearance, AWD and can handle the twistiest road. Similarly, you could do pretty much the same thing with a Panamera. Fewer seats, less clearance but still every day-able for enough people.
But that's not going to win you a year-long lease on a new Porsche. Nope, you've got to come with something more interesting than that. Michael Koerbel did. This is his movie.
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Categories: Porsche,Videos
Qatar Holding LLC is a subsidiary of the Qatar Investment Authority which is the state-owned investment arm of Qatar. It was set up to help diversify the wealth of Qatar so that it's not so reliant on energy. Together they control over $60 billion in assets including 17% of Volkswagen and 10% of Porsche AG.
Does that make the video after the jump make more sense?
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Categories: Porsche
"Chief Driving Consultant" for Porsche could be the coolest job I can think of. Gordon Robertson has the pleasure of carrying around business cards with this title. The job involves, amongst other things, driving around the Porsche Experience Center in the UK which happens to be at Silverstone.
Here's him driving the Cayman around and explaining why balance is important in a sports car. Tough gig. Poor guy.
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Categories: Motorsports,Porsche
When you're driving through inches and inches of snow, assistance can be useful, and all-wheel drive provides exactly that. This system sends power to all four wheels, providing traction that can mean the difference between an uneventful ride home and getting stuck in the sludge.
All-wheel drive can be useful on clear pavement at well, as it can serve to improve traction in corners. If you're thinking sedans, you'll be happy to know that there are choices on the market that are both snow-friendly and a blast to drive.
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Categories: Audi,BMW,Infiniti,Mitsubishi,Porsche,Subaru
Back in June we published a first ride of the 2012 Porsche 911. The car was a prototype undergoing final testing in South Africa and we were allowed to tag along on the adventure for a short while.
As it turns out, and as you'd expect, South Africa was but one of the stops Porsche made trying to find the most horrible climates in which to test the new 911. According to the description, "Our engineers took the car on the most demanding road trips imaginable while in the most punishing of climates. They pushed the test vehicles to operating extreme months before the cars global debut. Why? to guarantee that the seventh-generation 2012 Carrera 911 will perform to Porsche Standards on the German Autobahn, interstate highway in the U.S. and anywhere else a car's owner might be." We want to be on that groomed snow track, thanks.
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Categories: Coupes,Porsche,Sports Cars
Last week Porsche posted a video, 911 GT2 from Road to Racetrack: , that featured some guy talking over some seriously cool Porsches -- the 993 911 GT2 road car and the 993 911 GT2 racecar. It was a downer, every time he'd shut up and get on the sauce, the video would fill in the silence with music instead of motor.
Well, Porsche apparently got enough complaints about it that they figured it would be worthwhile to make a second video that's just car noises. This one is much better.
Both videos after the jump.
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Categories: Porsche,Sports Cars,Videos
