Stuttgart. The rapid development of Porsche Consulting GmbH, Bietigheim-Bissingen, calls for an expansion of management capacities. For this reason, the board of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, Stuttgart, has appointed Dr. Wolfgang Lindheim (47) as Chief Financial Officer of the subsidiary. From August 1, 2008, Dr. Lindheim will take responsibility for the departments of Finance, Controlling, Human Resource and IT. At the same time, Eberhard Weiblen (44), who up till now was the sole Director of Porsche Consulting, will be appointed as Chairman of the Executive Board. In future, he will be responsible for the consultancy business, the strategic development and the marketing of the Porsche subsidiary.
“In Dr. Lindheim we are gaining a colleague who brings with him a wealth of valuable international experience. This increases our power and extends our managerial radius”, says Eberhard Weiblen. Porsche Consulting has a workforce of just under 200 employees and achieved a turnover of 45.8 million Euro in the business year 2006/07.
Dr. Lindheim was born in Austria in 1960. After studying industrial engineering and gaining a doctorate at the Technical University of Graz, he spent six years with McKinsey before coming to Porsche AG as Departmental Head of Strategy in 1994. In 1999 he joint the executive board of Porsche Cars North America Inc., Atlanta (USA), where he acted as Chief Financial Officer. This job will be taken over by Frank Hoffmann (44), currently Chief Financial Officer at Porsche Italia S.p.A..
Stuttgart. Showing the dynamic attitude typical of the brand, Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, Stuttgart, are continuing the generation change of the 911 model series. Just a few weeks after the new 911s with classic rear-wheel drive, the all-wheel-drive versions Carrera 4 and Carrera 4S are now entering the market in both Coupé and Cabriolet guise.
A whole range of new technologies surrounding the engine, the transmission and drivetrain ensures an even higher standard of driving pleasure on much lower fuel consumption. Particularly the precision and fast response of the new, electronically controlled all-wheel drive offers an even more intense driving experience, above all in interaction with the likewise new flat-six engines with Direct Fuel Injection and the PDK Porsche Doppelkupplungsgetriebe or double-clutch gearbox available as an option.
2009 Porsche Carrera Offers More Power and Fuel Economy
The features and characteristics of the new engines speak for themselves: Depending on the model, the new all-wheel-drive Carrera offers up to 8.5 per cent more power, up to 12.9 per cent more fuel economy, and 15.4 per cent lower CO2 emissions. Specifically, output of the 3.6-litre power unit is up by 20 to 345 bhp (254 kW). At the same time a Carrera 4 Coupé with PDK, to take just one example, consumes a mere 10.1 litres of fuel per 100 kilometres, equal to 28.0 mpg imp. The improvements on the 911 Carrera 4S with its 3.8-litre power unit are equally significant, with maximum output up by 30 to 385 bhp (283 kW) on overall fuel consumption down in the case of Carrera 4S Cabriolet with PDK to 10.7 litres/100 km, equal to 26.4 mpg imp.
In the new generation of the Carrera 4 and Carrera 4S electronically controlled PTM Porsche Traction Management replaces the former all-wheel drive with its viscous multiple-plate clutch. This superior system developed for the 911 Turbo and modified for the Carrera models combines the driving pleasure so typical of Porsche with an even higher standard of driving stability, traction and agile handling further enhanced by the mechanical rear axle differential fitted as standard.
Porsche’s Doppelkupplungsgetriebe Transmission Available as an Option
The new all-wheel-drive sports cars come with sporting manual transmission featuring six gears. As an alternative the new models are available with Porsche’s new Doppelkupplungsgetriebe replacing the former Tiptronic S automatic converter transmission and offering an even faster gearshift on less fuel. The Doppelkupplungsgetriebe or double-clutch gearbox comes with seven gears shifting electro-
hydraulically without the slightest interruption of traction and pulling force.
The new generation of the 911 model series stands out clearly through the discreet but striking modification of the front end and new lights technology. The new Carrera models come in all cases with bi-xenon headlights and new LED daytime driving lights.
The newly designed rear light clusters also feature LED technology and for the first time Porsche offers Dynamic Bending Lights as an option. It almost goes without saying that all Carrera 4 models come as before with their muscular rear end 44 millimetres or 1.73” wider than on the two-wheel-drive versions. And a new reflector trim bar between the LED rear lights gives the typical rear end of the car even more dynamic character.
All all-wheel-drive Carrera models will be at the dealership as of 25 October 2008.
Your off to Germany for a holiday, you can’t take your Porsche with you, but you want to run some hot laps at the famous Nurburgring; what’s a guy to do? Don’t fret, simply contact Auteg Motorsport (located right at the ‘ring’) and they will be happy to rent you a Porsche 996 GT3 RS. Before you get too excited, it is not cheap and you may not qualify. Read on to learn more. Read more
Ok, so you need a new car and you want some extra room. However, given the price of gas today, you don’t want and/or need a full blown SUV like the Porsche Cayenne. Well, DP Motorsport has just the answer. The DP44 or DP Cargo is a beautifully customized station wagon (what the Brit’s would call an ‘estate’ or a ’shooting brake’) based on a Porsche 944 platform mated with a highly modified roof from a VW Passat and other custom created parts.
Many of you may know DP Motorsport (founded by Ekkehard Zimmermann) as the creator of the DP 35 or “K3” the Porsche 935 that went on to win Le Mans in 1979. Since then Zimmerman and DP Motorsport have continued in their quest to constantly improve on and evolve various Porsche models including the 944, 911, 993, 996, 997, etc.
Headquartered in Cologne Germany, DP Motorsport began producing the Cargo in the late 80’s. With fewer than 10 cars delivered so far, DP recently announced that between 5 to 10 kits remain available for prospective buyers.
Modifications don’t stop with the exterior styling. The interior includes color matched seating, side panels and headliner (in full leather) along with a flat rear floor for ease of loading cargo. If you have two months to wait, a donor 944 and about $30,000 then this could be the car for you.
Porsche Purists may Object to a Porsche Station Wagon
I don’t know about you, but I like the styling of this much better than the Cayenne. Porsche “purists” may not like the idea, but to me this would be a highly marketable model and could easily compete with offerings from BMW, Mercedes and Audi. What do you think?
I receive emails quite frequently from new Porsche owners (especially those of the 993 variant) looking for advice for the first time Porsche owner. As I’ve said before, I’m not a Porsche Expert, but I Play one on the Internet. As a result, I’m always happy to give my opinion! Specifically, he wanted to know what he could do to assimilate as much information on Porsche as possible as well as enhance his ownership experience. This is the response that I sent to my new subscriber and new member of our growing Porsche family.
Here was my response (edited for content and privacy):
Enhancing your Porsche Experience
Congratulations on your purchase and welcome to the family!
As for enhancing the experience, that’s a tough one. I’ve found that so much of what people want to get out of their Porsche is unique to the individual.
With that said, I can let you know some of the things that I’ve done and the reasons for them.
JOIN THE PCA - When I bought my first Porsche, I immediately joined the PCA. I did this for two reasons: 1. the subscription to Panorama magazine (this alone is worth the price of admission); 2. The social aspect. I found it was a great way to meet people with similar interests.
Take some DE (driver’s education classes) - One of the great things about owning a Porsche (any Porsche) is that you truly have a “super car” that can be used as a daily driver (if you so choose). DE classes are a great way to find out what your car is really made of and will also help you as a driver learn to handle your 993 in ways you may not have thought possible.
EXPLORE THE WEB - If you haven’t already, explore the various web forums (especially Rennlist and Pelican). There is so much great info out there that at times it is hard to absorb it all. I’ve listed the most popular in this post and would still love to know if I’m missing any.
UPGRADE, UPGRADE, UPGRADE - There are lots and lots of inexpensive to very expensive modifications that can be done to your Porsche in order to enhance both performance and looks (depending on budget, function and your own personal style). Fortunately for me, my car came with a lot of nice options. I now need to do some small things to personalize it as well as getting rid of the “SUV” ride height.
DRIVE IT AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE - More than anything, I think this is the most important piece of advice I can give. While we all bought these cars for our own reasons, I have to assume that we share a common bond in our love for driving them (not to mention the way they look).
This list is by no means comprehensive and would love for you to share your thoughts on what else can be done to “enhance” the Porsche ownership experience. If you haven’t done so already, I encourage you to subscribe to my blog by reader or by entering your email in the form to the right.
When it comes to maintaining your Porsche, especially if you are a back-yard mechanic or a DIYer, sometimes the hardest part about the project can be preparing your car and getting it jacked up and onto stands quickly and safely. You know what I mean. If you’re not fortunate enough to own a lift, then you are relegated to jacking up a side, placing a jack-stand, moving to the other side, repeat, etc. etc. Most likely, this is only after several hit or miss attempts of getting the jack positioned just right and making sure you don’t damage the car or scratch your nicely finished garage floor. Lastly, you better hope you didn’t buy the cheap stands. Having your Porsche crash/crush down on top of you is the last thing you want to be thinking about when you are underneath trying to remove a stubborn bolt or hard to reach oil filter. There has to be a better way…
Race Ramps Discount Code
Race Ramps – Low Profile Car Ramps – Available via Amazon for under $200 UPDATE: Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. Apparently my site, and this page, were just a bit too popular. As Brute Industries (the maker of Race Ramps) continued to expand their distribution base, a number of their new sales outlets complained about having to honor the discount code found on this page. As a result, I received a call recently from the owner of Brute Industries explaining the situation and the need to discontinue the discount code. While I still think the product is worth the money, I do think the discount code was a big reason people were purchasing their products. I know people are still buying, but a discount is a nice incentive.
Anyway, with the code no longer working, I’ll work hard to find a new manufacturer we can work with and provide the same kind of savings.
Enter Brute Industries, Inc. the manufacturer and distributor of the patented Race Ramp products. I came across Brute Industries one day while I was trolling YouTube for Porsche related videos. After seeing the video below (you might want to mute the volume as the soundtrack is a little annoying), I reached out to Rich Heinz, the founder and inventor of Race Ramps and struck up a conversation. Rich was kind enough to send me some of Brute Industries product for my use and review. I warned Rich in advance that my review would be objective and that if I didn’t like his product I would say so. He seemed pretty confident that this wouldn’t be the case. In fact, he was so confident that I would like the product and want to recommend it that he is offering a discount to my readers. So, after reading my review, if you decide you want to purchase any of Brute Industries products be sure to use the following Coupon Code “993c4s8” when entering your order. This coupon code entitles you to a 10% discount off your entire order of any Brute Industry product (not just the Race Ramps) and you can use it and share it as many times as you like.
My Porsche 993, while at what some might call SUV ride height, is still quite close to the ground. To determine the proper size Race Ramp for my vehicle I used one of two simple methods prior to ordering. You can use this easy to follow guide and decide for yourself.
I opted for the standard 67” Race Ramps in the two piece configuration (more on this later). The 67” configuration is perfect for most cars with lower ground clearance. However, if you have lowered your Porsche, have a Turbo, or extremely low ground clearance you will want to consider the optional Race Ramp Extenders. These simple add-ons provide the extra clearance you need to drive your car up the Race Ramps and are very fairly priced. You can see the pictures below of just how close my exhaust was to the ramp from a clearance standpoint using the standard 67′ Race Ramps.
Race Ramps are Light and Strong
My Race Ramps arrived just a few days after talking with Rich. As I watched the UPS driver pull the carton from his truck I was a little apprehensive. Given the size of the box, my first thought was, “Wow, these things are going to be cumbersome and heavy to move around.” Boy was I wrong! The UPS driver simply put the box on his shoulder and walked up my driveway as if the box was the lightest thing. Turns out it was. The entire 67” set-up was less than 30 lbs (or 15 lbs per ramp). After taking them out of the box, the set-up was a snap. I simply placed them on the ground behind my rear wheels, centered them, made sure they were aligned, started the car and backed onto them.
Backing onto them for the first time made me a little nervous, I have to admit. Because they are so light weight, it didn’t seem possible they could handle the weight of the car. As it turns out, each ramp can handle up to 1500 lbs for a maximum weight of 3000 lbs. While the ramps can handle tires up to 12 inches in width, that doesn’t leave a lot of room for error if you veer to one side or the other. If I were doing it again with my 993, for the first time, I would definitely recommend a spotter (I’m running 285/30 – 18 on the rear of my 993).
After slowly making my way up the ramp, the lip at the far end makes a nice safety catch to keep you from rolling back off of them, I was very pleased with the ground clearance, stability and more importantly the sturdiness provided by these simple to use Race Ramps. In fact, as you can see in one of the picture below, I had gone a little to one side and the Race Ramp handled it just like the car was centered perfectly. There wasn’t the slightest bit of droop or sagging on the side of the ramp. Once up on the ramps be sure to chock the wheels still on the ground for safety. You can do so with a small piece of wood or Race Ramp makes some very inexpensive and lightweight wheel chocks that work quite nicely with this set-up.
As I mentioned earlier, you can purchase either one piece or two piece ramp. The ramps that Rich sent to me were of the two piece variety. I would highly recommend these for a Porsche application. From the videos on this post and the picture below (sorry about the Corvette, I couldn’t get a good picture of my car from the side) you can see how the two piece gives you side access to your car for some of those hard to reach spots. The one piece design, while very functional, doesn’t allow this access.
I have only two suggestions for improvement on the ramps I was sent:
If possible, I would offer a slightly wider size for cars with very wide street tires and possibly even wider track tires.
If practical, it might be interesting to integrate a slight lip or rail on the side of the ramps to act as a guide when backing up (for those of us with rear-engine cars). This lip or rail would simply act as a safety mechanism to ensure that you are backing straight onto the ramp and not veering to one side or the other (very similar to how the rear safety lip functions).
Race Ramps are a Superior Designed Product
All in all I think the Race Ramps are a superior designed product and will now be using them instead of my jack and jack-stands. In addition, Rich has sent me a set of wheel cribs that can be used in place of jack-stands. I have not yet had a chance to try these out, but from the looks of them and my experience with the ramps I’m sure they will work just as well.
Don’t forget that Rich is offering a 10% discount for my readers. If you decide you want to order something from Brute Industries, be it the Race Ramps, Trailer Ramps, Wheel Cribs, etc. simply add in the coupon code of “993c4s8” when prompted and you will automatically receive a 10% discount.
I hope you found this review helpful and I’ll be posting another one in a few weeks on the wheel cribs.
This past Christmas my brother in-law gave me a great book by Randy Leffingwell titled: The Porsche 911 History of the Legendary Sports Car. As some of you may know, Randy is a fairly well known author and photographer with regard to the Porsche marque. His Porsche books include:
Randy’s books are fairly well reviewed on Amazon (I’ve provided links above to those that are available) so I won’t go through that on this page.
I made it a point to reach out to Randy after reviewing Porsche 911: History of the Legendary Sports Car and as a result he and I have been exchanging emails for the last few weeks. While talking with Randy, I though it might be interesting to interview him for my blog as he has some interesting insight into the Porsche brand. Randy was gracious enough to answer a few questions and I thought I would post them for everyone to see.
Randy is constantly touring the States and abroad for material for his books and is always on the lookout for unique and interesting Porsche vehicles to include in one of his next books.
Question:How did you first get interested in Porsche?
Answer: I’ve always been fascinated by mechanical things, interested to know how they work and how they came to work that way. I was born in 1948, the year both Porsche and Ferrari introduced their first production models. Each company had a distinctly different approach to making cars and to targeting their products. In 1964, when I turned 16 and got a driving license, a Porsche/Mercedes-Benz dealer near where I grew up had a 904GTS on the showroom floor with license plates on the front and rear and a price tag of $4,995. I bicycled home to my father – a Buick man – and told him he could buy an incredible automobile for a little more than the Riviera he was looking at, and have something exciting and something that, I thought even then, might be worth more after a few years than another used Buick. I also thought I could drive it. Ferraris and Aston-Martins at that time were $10,000, $11,000, and I new my father was comfortable enough to buy a Buick every year but nowhere near enough to spend double that on a two-seater. So I only could hope….
He bought the Riviera. But the sales guys at the dealership let me sit in and crawl all over the 904 and I got pretty deeply enthralled. Two years later, they had a 906 Carrera 6 on the floor – with license plates! – and they wanted $7,995. I again bicycled home to tell Dad that he had another chance to buy a great Porsche “investment.” He went out and bought a Riviera Gran Sport. I was racing bicycles by this time so I passed the dealership every day on my training route. The car sat there for six months. The price dropped to $5,995. The sales guys would let me sit in it. My thrall deepened.
I worked all that summer to earn money for college, went off to school and worked while I was there. In the Spring I came home for break and my dad wanted me to buy a Volkswagen because his best friend owned a dealership. Not what I wanted, and since it was my money, I already had spotted a Super 90 coupe in my college town. I was coming home to raid my savings account. I didn’t get the VW but I didn’t get the S90 either because it sold while I was home. I got an English sports car instead; not the same, engine in the wrong place, water-cooled…. But I had become fascinated by Porsches.
I read Sports Car Graphic every month, and Road & Track, and Car and Driver. Porsches got better and faster and Ferraris got more expensive. Well, so did Porsches but it was all relative. I lived in France in 1968 and saw LeMans in September – delayed from June due to the student riots and national strike – and watched and heard the 908s run against the GT40s. I was there in 1969 for the 917s against the Ferrari 512s. Those were as much battles of makers as they were contests of great sounds.
Question:Do you own a Porsche? If so, what year and model?
Question:Do you have a favorite Porsche year and model? If so, what is it?
Answer: Life interrupted the fantasy; I finished college, got jobs, needed vehicles that would carry kids, cameras, lights, stands, ladders, clothing, and research materials for a month or more on the road, kids, ski gear, camping equipment, saddles, on and on.
Whenever the choice came between buying work equipment and a work vehicle, paying for college, funding an eventual retirement, skis, saddles, the Porsche got put aside. Which, unfortunately is where that aspiration sits now: aside. If I ever do get one, I want a 993 and probably a cabriolet. I love the sound of the engine and living in Southern California, we have an 11 ½ month driving season for open cars here.
Question:Your bio talks about the fact that you have “30 books in print, primarily on Americana subjects”. You cover other subjects such as Lighthouses, Hotwheels and Wine Country, along with American Muscle cars like Corvette and Mustang. How does Porsche fit into this genre?
Answer: My own website is out of date and my wife Carolyn and I are working to update it by early February. At that point, I’ll list the 40 books I’ve done. Most of these deal with what booksellers define as “Americana,” subjects from West Coast Lighthouses to California Wine Country to American Barns to John Deere Tractors to Harley-Davidson motorcycles. But since writing and shooting Porsche Legends 16 years ago, I’ve developed very good relations with Porsche in Germany and in Atlanta. Their cars, and their engineers and designers fascinate me.
Of the 40 books I’ve done – or will have completed by later this spring of 2008, only a few have been my own idea – and Porsche Legends was one of those. I wanted to tell the story of how 35 pivotal cars directed the company and affected the company.
That “life interrupted the fantasy,” a few paragraphs above, can help explain why most of my books are not my own idea. I worked for newspapers, initially strictly as a photographer, and later as a writer/photographer, for 22 years. During that time, I got accustomed to taking assignments, doing the research, doing the story, and starting over again the next day. I came to consider myself a professional journalist, a writer-photographer for hire. So when Motorbooks or Voyageur Press approached me with ideas as varied as wine country, and International Harvester tractors, I dove in, researched deeply, spent months shooting and doing interviews, wrote it, and moved on to whatever came next.
Question:What has been your most memorable moment in researching, photographing and writing your Porsche related material?
Answer: Do I have a dream project? Not really; every book project starts out as something of a dream. Deadlines, weather, and other influences sometimes turn dreams into challenges or nightmares. But then the next project comes along, the tough book comes out, and experiences get logged into the mental notebook as things to watch out for in future projects.
Porsche’s press department has been a dream. I receive exceptional cooperation and in Germany, Michael Baumann, head of international press, and Dieter Landenberger, the new head of archives, opened doors for me that others sometimes find a bit difficult to get in. In Atlanta, Bernd Harling and Bob Carlson have been my heroes so often that I think I embarrass them with my expressions of gratitude. For each of these books, Porsche Legends, Porsche Buyers’ Guide, Porsche 911 Buyers Guide, Porsche 911 – Perfection by Design, and now Porsche 60 Years, I have done huge amounts of research.
There are three kinds of compliments that I’ve gotten over the years that mean the world to me: First, during an interview with someone who is quoted often, if they say, “:You know, in all my years, no one ever has asked me about that before. How did you find out about that?” then I know I’ve done my job well. Second, when an interview is scheduled for an hour, and it goes over another hour and the subject asks if you have plans for lunch,” or dinner, I feel that I’ve done my job well. Third, when an interview subject turns to Michael Baumann or Dieter Landenberger and asks if they can tell me a certain thing, and either of these Porsche representatives says, “Yes, we are cooperating fully with this book. You can tell him anything…,” so they turn and say, “I’m going to tell you something now that no-one outside this department knows…and you can publish it,” then I know I’ve done my job well.
Porsche Legends, and Porsche 911 -Excellence by Design have plenty of each of those instances. Porsche 60 Years, when it publishes in the fall of 2008, will as well.
Butzi Porsche once told me that he thinks that when auto designers add a sculpted line or a trim piece to a car body, they have failed with the form and must find some way to recover the contours. My best photo days are those in beautiful soft pre-sunrise or post-sunset light when Erwin Komenda’s 356 or Butzi’s 911 or Tony Lapine’s 928 or the 964s and 959s that Steve Murkett and Dick Soderberg did, or Tony Hatter’s 993 or Pinky Lai’s 996 or Grant Larson’s 997 reveal the character line drawn by the horizon on their organic shapes. When it shows up on the film or appears on the monitor, I know I’ve done my job well.
Thanks to Randy Leffingwell
I want to thank Randy as he was very generous with his time for this interview. He even threw out the carrot that I might get to have my 993 photographed for one of his upcoming books (because of its unique color combination). If you haven’t had the chance to read (or more importantly view) any of Randy’s books, I strongly encourage you to do so as the photographs are as good as the writing and make these a great resource and addition to your Porsche library.
Email
Stuttgart. The rapid development of Porsche Consulting GmbH, Bietigheim-Bissingen, calls for an expansion of management capacities. For this reason, the board of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, Stuttgart, has appointed Dr. Wolfgang Lindheim (47) as Chief Financial Officer of the subsidiary. From August 1, 2008, Dr. Lindheim will take responsibility for the departments of Finance, Controlling, Human Resource and IT. At the same time, Eberhard Weiblen (44), who up till now was the sole Director of Porsche Consulting, will be appointed as Chairman of the Executive Board. In future, he will be responsible for the consultancy business, the strategic development and the marketing of the Porsche subsidiary.
I receive emails quite frequently from new Porsche owners (especially those of the 993 variant) looking for advice for the first time Porsche owner. As I’ve said before, 
All in all I think the Race Ramps are a superior designed product and will now be using them instead of my jack and jack-stands. In addition, Rich has sent me a set of 
This past Christmas my brother in-law gave me a great book by Randy Leffingwell titled: The Porsche 911 History of the Legendary Sports Car. As some of you may know, Randy is a fairly well known author and photographer with regard to the Porsche marque. His Porsche books include:
(this is very similar to the one I received for Christmas)
