993C4S: Porsche Cars, Products and LifeStyle » Porsche Cars

There’s Electricity in the Air at Porsche

Pepper Girl — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 00:38:17 +0000

Just days after announcing the development of three electric drive research models based on the Boxster platform, Porsche lit up the air-waves today when the Supervisory Board of Porsche AG gave a “green light” to the development of the Porsche 918 Spyder. The subject of continuous speculation since it’s unveiling at the 2010 Geneva Auto Show, the Porsche 918 Spyder is perhaps the most anticipated Porsche to come out of Weissach, ever.

“Production of the 918 Spyder in a limited series proves that we are taking the right approach with Porsche Intelligent Performance featuring the combination of supreme performance and efficient drivetrain concepts,” said Michael Macht, President and Chairman of the Board of Management of Porsche AG. “We will develop the 918 Spyder in Weissach and assemble it in Zuffenhausen. This is also a very important commitment to Germany as a manufacturing base.”

The internet is awash in rumors that pricing on the new Porsche Spyder will be somewhere in the $630,000 range. As of last night, Porsche wouldn’t confirm or deny pricing, but they did say that the numbers currently being thrown about didn’t come from an internal source, officially or otherwise. They did, however, go on to say that additional details will “be disclosed in the months to come.”

Given that today’s announcement provided the go-ahead for the “development” of a production car “based” on the plug-in hybrid Concept Study, I think it’s a little too soon to be talking pricing. According to Porsche, “The 918 Spyder Concept Study combines the performance of a super sports car with CO2 emissions of just 70 g/km and with fuel consumption of 3.0 L/100 km in the New European Driving Cycle.” Let’s see just how true to the original concept Weissach can stay and what they come up with for the production model first before we continue the speculation.

[Source: PCNA]

Will Porsche Create an All Electric Sports Car?

Pepper Girl — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 18:45:09 +0000

According to President and CEO Michael Macht, “We will definitely be offering an electric sports car in future. But such a concept only makes sense if it offers performance and a cruising range comparable to that of a sports car today.”

If Porsche’s 918 Spyder Concept is a glimpse of what’s to come, we say it’s time to go by an extension cord.

In today’s press release, Porsche announced they will begin “practical e-mobility tests” on three research cars, based on the Porsche Boxster model, but with all electric drives. The test is designed to provide insight into new electric drive components and battery systems for a possible electric sports car in the future. In other words, they want to play with it on the road and see what works and what doesn’t.

With the recent on track success of the new GT3 R Hybrid and having just had the chance to play with the new Cayenne Hybrid S at Barber Motorsport park, we feel that Porsche is well on their way to achieving an all electric sports car with “the performance and range” comparable to today’s Porsches. The full press release is below for your review.

Furthering the Porsche Intelligent Performance development philosophy of combining high performance with lower fuel consumption and emissions, Porsche AG will begin practical e-mobility tests as part of the Stuttgart Model Region for Electromobility in early 2011.

In the test process, three research cars with all-electric drive based on the Porsche Boxster will provide an initial insight into new electric drive components and battery systems for all-electric vehicle drive. This field test will also provide further findings on the infrastructure required for electromobility, user behaviour and the demands made of future products.

Michael Macht, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Porsche AG, sees this research as absolutely essential to the development of electric drive in Porsche vehicles. “We will definitely be offering an electric sports car in future. But such a concept only makes sense if it offers performance and a cruising range comparable to that of a sports car today.”

Porsche’s commitment to electric mobility is evident in the three vehicles introduced earlier this year, each with a hybrid-drive system tailored specifically to its intended use.

The spectacular 918 Spyder concept study is a high-performance mid-engined sports car with plug-in hybrid technology. It combines high-tech breakthroughs in engine technology and electromobility with a truly fascinating range of sporting qualities. Emissions of just 70 g/km CO2 and fuel consumption of just 3 L/100 km come with the performance of a super sports car developing well over 600 horsepower.

The hybrid system of the 911 GT3 R Hybrid has been developed especially for racing, with two 60 kW (82 hp) electric motors on the front axle providing a boost for the 480 hp six-cylinder power unit fitted at the rear. Replacing conventional batteries is an electrical flywheel power storage system which is recharged whenever the driver applies the brakes. The 911 GT3 R Hybrid has already proven its racing qualities in the 24 Hours of Nürburgring.

With the Cayenne S Hybrid, Porsche also offers its first production car able to run under electric power alone. With maximum output of 380 hp, the Cayenne S Hybrid consumes just 8.2 L/100 km in the NEDC cycle and pares CO2 emissions to 193 g/km. The hybrid technology from the Cayenne S Hybrid will also be featured in the Panamera S Hybrid, which will enter the market next year.

[Source: PCNA]

What’s one thing that makes getting lost fun?

Christian Maloof — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 21:06:43 +0000

Getting lost on the way to the track is no fun, with one exception: Porsche just handed you a 2011 Panamera V6 and an elaborate route to delay your trip between the airport and Barber Motorsports Park, where you’re scheduled to further explore Porsches on-track and closer to their limit then you could ever get on the road.

PorschePurist is back in Birmingham, Alabama, and I’m getting ready to spend time with the Panamera V6 and Cayenne (including the much anticipated Hybrid). Over the next two days, I will drive the full range of Cayenne models and the Panamera V6 – Porsche’s newest introduction to the growing Panamera model line. The venue of choice, Barber Motorsports Park, is not only visually impressive (Barber is a lover of four and two-wheeled vehicles, as well as.) The famed track is lined with all sorts of sculpture and the on-site Barber Museum boasts the largest collection of motorcycles under one roof (approx. 1200), one of the largest collections of Lotus and various other automotive assets from Bonneville salt flat racers to street and racing Porsches from years past. There’s even a 2002 Arrows F1 poised on the roof of the elevator! The icing on the cake? Barber is also the home track for the Porsche Sport Driving School (the pictures immediately below and further down use flash, if you’re having trouble viewing them in your email simply click on the title of this post to view on the site).

Adding to the already good mix of Barber and Porsche is a solid group of experienced Porsche drivers, who will serve as my “guides” as I get to know the new Panamera and next generation Cayenne. David Donohue, David Murry and Porsche icon Hurley Haywood, to name a few, are on site gingerly answering my questions and encouraging me to… (yes! back to full throttle.”)

During this visit, I’ll be looking to compare the Panamera to the Panamera S I drove in last year, test the subtle differences between the 2 wheel and 4 wheel drive versions and test the entirely new generation of Cayenne (especially the hybrid drive). The Gen 2 models have lost 400 lbs and are practically 90 percent new (all share the same engines except for the hybrid). I am really looking forward to the 2011 Cayenne. We will test the new clutch based all-wheel drive system on the race track and on the off-road course and have our first drive with the PTV (Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus).

Check in with us over the next week or two for the Panamera V6 and Cayenne reviews, coming soon!

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Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid races in the USA and China

993C4S — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 17:27:42 +0000

Following the impressive performance at the Nürburgring 24 hour race where the Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid demonstrated the potential of its groundbreaking technology over 22 hours and 15 minutes and led the overall classification for more than eight hours, the orange and white liveried 911 racer will now travel to the USA and Asia. Porsche has received an invitation to contest the season final of the American Le Mans Series, the race series featuring the world’s fastest sportcars, at the ‘Petit Le Mans’ at Road Atlanta on October 2. The race runs over a distance of 1,000 miles or a maximum of ten hours. The Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid will not be eligible for points, as hybrid technology is not yet included in the GT regulations.

For November 7, Porsche then plans to race the 911 GT3 R Hybrid at the season final of the new Le Mans International Cup, the six hour race in Zhuhai, China. Again here, the vehicle is not competing for points.

“After the 911 GT3 R Hybrid’s fantastic performance at the Nürburgring 24 Hours, we are now eager to gain more experience with the hybrid technology on a variety of race tracks,” says Hartmut Kristen, Head of Porsche Motorsport. “At the same time, we would like to show fans and customers in our most important markets how our ‘race lab’ performs under racing conditions,” adds Kristen.

The Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid, featuring two electric motors at the front axle each developing 60 kilowatts to supplement the 480 horsepower normally-aspirated rear-engine, expressly typifies the philosophy of “Porsche Intelligent Performance”: Under braking, the 911 GT3 R Hybrid converts kinetic energy into electrical energy and stores it in a flywheel. During acceleration, this energy is automatically delivered to the front wheels, supporting the combustion engine. This leads to a reduction in fuel consumption and increases the cruising range. Moreover, drivers can manually utilise the stored energy with a boost-paddle on the steering wheel for overtaking.

[Source: PCNA]

How to Swap a cell phone for a Porsche in 14 steps

Pepper Girl — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 13:38:50 +0000

Could you swap an old cell phone for a Porsche Boxster? According to an article in the San Grabriel Valley Tribune, that’s exactly what 17 year old Steven Ortiz did. How, you ask? Time, an eye for a deal and Craigslist.

Craigslist is many things to many people, and for a growing number it’s become a hot bed of barter. In other words a place to get rid of previous purchases no longer needed and acquire additional assets in a swap of sorts.

Starting with “an old cell phone” that most would throw away, Steven spent the next two years making 14 different trades that eventually led to the 2000 Porsche Boxster S you see above.

Not possible you say. Surely you remember the story of Kyle MacDonald who famously traded a red paperclip for a two-story farmhouse in 2006.

It seems Steven has a similar knack for the art of the deal. For the full story, check out Rebecca Kimitch’s story. over at sgvtribune.com

[Source: SGVTribue]

Mini Casts Porsche as Ivan Drago in Rocky IV Spoof

993C4S — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 01:21:10 +0000

While this short spoof may not revive Dolph Lundgren’s acting career, it does show that Mini is going to keep throwing jab after jab at Porsche. Is it getting old yet? (for those of you receiving this post via email, if the videos don’t appear, simply click on the title of the post to watch them on PorschePurist.com)

For those of you that don’t remember. Here’s the original training montage from Rocky IV.

Here’s what I want to know. If Porsche doesn’t respond (and I don’t think they will), does Mini win by TKO? Or, is Mini starting to look desperate?

[Source: Funny or Die; YouTube]

Can Mini win against Porsche?

Pepper Girl — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 03:13:59 +0000

Probably not on the track but they’re definitely sitting P1 in the grassroots marketing grid. You see, a little over a week ago, Mini USA CEO Jim McDowell (a former Porsche employee no less) publicly challenged Porsche to a race at Road Atlanta on the 21st of this month. The winner would get bragging rights, a cool T-Shirt (see the video below and you’ll get an idea for the flavor of this challenge) and some great press.

Porsche declined the challenge and did so with an open letter to Mini

Dear Jim,

Imagine our surprise to discover our former employee, now the head of Mini, has challenged us to a head-to-head race. As you surely know, Porsche has a long history of racing success, with more than 28,000 wins over the last 60 years. In our early days, we pitted ourselves against the giants, so we’ve been in your shoes.

But as you also know, Porsche doesn’t race for fame, stunts or publicity. We race to challenge ourselves; we race to push sports car technology; we race to translate every win on the track to our cars on the road. If you need a reminder of our intent, please take a look at this short video: http://tinyurl.com/37xdjqx

While your challenge seems like a fun and lighthearted campaign, we’ll stick to racing the way we have over the decades. We welcome you at Sebring, Le Mans, Daytona or any other sanctioned race where there is more at stake than T-shirts and valet parking spaces. We also invite you to any of the thousands of tracks around the world where Porsche owners compete each weekend.

Good luck with your race at Road Atlanta on June 21; we hope you enjoy the day.

Sincerely,

Detlev Von Platen President and CEO, Porsche Cars North America

Mini doesn’t give up

In a move destined for the automotive marketing hall of fame, Mini responded to Detlev’s letter by hiring a plane to fly laps around Porsche’s headquarter with a banner taunting the racing giant.

To prove they were “serious”, Mini issued a second challenge. This time upping the stakes even higher…

Right now it’s Two to Zero and Mini is winning

The fact is, there really are no losers in this type of campaign. It’s fun, it get’s the public involved and it’s good PR for both companies. Let’s hope that Porsche comes up with a creative response to keep things going.

The gauntlet has been thrown down. Will Porsche accept?

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[Source: Youtube, Jalopnik, PCNA]
[Photocredit: Snufflesquare]

Who Are Porsche’s Competitors?

Pepper Girl — Thu, 20 May 2010 21:53:28 +0000

More to the point, what competes with the Porsche 911? We think about this question a lot, probably more than we should. The problem is, at least in my mind, there isn’t an easy answer. Sure, some Porsche models such as the Boxster, Cayenne or Panamera can easily (but not necessarily correctly) be compared to models from other brands (BMW Z4, BMW X5, BMW 7 series, respectively) but even that’s not necessarily accurate. How do you account for the heritage, the brand value, build quality, etc.? You can’t really compare a Porsche Cayman to a Nissan Z now, can you?

Then, there’s the 911 in all it’s different variations. If you’re shopping for a base Carrera, what exactly do you shop it against? A BMW M3? A Maserati GranTurismo? A Corvette? What if you’re shopping for a Porsche 911 Turbo? Are you now looking at Ferrari, Lamborghini or Aston Martin to get the same type of performance numbers (at twice the price)?

If you listen to Nissan, they would have you think the GT-R competes. John doesn’t think so. Hell, in some cases I’ve seen Porsches pitted against jets and F1 cars just to see who would win.

So, what say you? Who are Porsche’s Competitors? Don’t forget, if you’re reading this post via email, you’ll need to click on the title of the post to come through to the site in order to comment.

Here’s a Piece of Porsche PR Worth Watching

993C4S — Fri, 14 May 2010 03:00:01 +0000

Since April 19th we’ve received close to 20 different press releases (possibly more, but I think I may have deleted a few) from Porsche’s PR department. Generally, we publish most of them, but we don’t necessarily send them out in our newsletters (remember this post about stealth publishing). I figure if we published and sent out a newsletter every time Porsche releases a new piece of press you would hit the unsubscribe button faster then the 0 to 60 time of the new GT2 RS (3.4 seconds if you were wondering).

While we try to save the newsletter for more then just promotional items sometimes Porsche puts out something so juicy we just can’t resist. The new 911 GT2 RS is one such item. As “The Most Powerful Street Legal Porsche of All Time” (620 HP), a production limit of just 500 worldwide and a price tag just $5k shy of a cool quarter of a million we couldn’t resit. The excellent video intro, featured below, definitely didn’t hurt either. The original press release is published after the video for those of you that haven’t yet had a chance to view the details.

The time: seven minutes, 18 seconds on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife. The power: 620 hp. The weight: 3,020 lb (1,370 kilograms) in road trim with all fluids on board. The car: the new 2011 Porsche 911 GT2 RS.

90 More Horsepower, 154 lbs Less Filling

The latest 911 is the fastest and most powerful road-going sports car ever built in the history of Porsche. With horsepower (hp) up by 90 and weight down by 154 lbs (70 kilograms) in comparison with the previous 911 GT2, the new 911 GT2 RS has a power-to-weight ratio of just 4.9 lbs (2.21 kg) per horsepower, by far the best power/weight ratio in its class. These are the ideal ingredients for an ultra-high-performance sports car with supreme agility and truly blistering performance on the road. Perfectly illustrating Porsche Intelligent Performance, the 2011 GT2 RS achieves a reduction of approximately 5 percent for both fuel consumption and CO2 emission reduction when compared with the previous 911 GT2.

The 3.6 liter six-cylinder boxer engine features two variable turbine geometry turbochargers and provides power to the rear wheels exclusively through a six-speed manual gearbox. Equally impressive stopping power comes from Porsche Composite Ceramic Brakes (PCCB).

Unique Tires, One of a Kind Performance

New tires were specifically developed for the 911 GT2 RS and measure 245/35 ZR 19 at the front and 325/30 ZR 19 at the rear, delivering cornering performance to match the straight-line speed. Extreme cornering dynamics are ensured by the setup of the springs, Porsche Adaptive Suspension Management (PASM), unique anti-roll bars, specific engine mounts and recalibrated Porsche Stability Management (PSM), whose stability and traction control functions can be switched off individually.

The combined effect of these developments is evident on the racetrack. In fact, the ultimate 911 accelerates from 0-60 in 3.4 seconds, boasts a top-track speed of 205 mph and laps the famed Nürburgring-Nordschleife racetrack in just 7 minutes and 18 seconds.

Carbon Fiber, Limited Production

In its looks, the new 911 GT2 RS stands out clearly from the other 911 models through the lavish use of carbon-fiber-reinforced (CFR) components with a matt-black surface finish, even wider wheels (including flared wheel arches at the front), new light-alloy wheels with central locking and “GT2 RS“ model designations on the doors and rear lid. Matte-finish carbon also graces the redesigned front spoiler lip and the 3/8th of an inch (10 mm) taller rear spoiler lip – which both enhance aerodynamics and provide extra downforce.

The interior of the 911 GT2 RS also exudes sporting performance in virtually every detail. Lightweight two-piece bucket seats made of carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic are standard, as are lightweight door panels with fabric straps instead of traditional door handles. The basic interior color is black, which contrasts with red elements, such as the seat center sections, the roof lining and segments of the steering wheel rim. The gearshift and handbrake lever are also finished in red alcantara.

Limited to just 500 units worldwide, the 911 GT2 RS will be available in the U.S. October 2010 and will have a MSRP of $245.000. The GT2 RS is making its world debut at the Moscow Auto Show on August 25th 2010.

[Source: PCNA]

Want to Watch 7 Minutes of Porsche Fun?

Pepper Girl — Wed, 05 May 2010 02:17:13 +0000

I do, so I thought you might too. This might just be one big promotion for Porsche, but who cares (in fact, I’m sure it’s the point)! Outside of the comments about Porsche’s cooking ability and their eco-friendly initiatives (watch the video and you’ll understand) this is seven minutes of pure HD Porsche joy. Hey Porsche, when are we getting invited to visit Leipzig?

[Source: Porsche YouTube Channel]