Written on March 10th, 2010 at 4:41pm by 993C4S
Some of you may remember an article we published last December where we announced that PorschePurist.com entered into an agreement with Flying Lizard Motorsports naming our site as the first U.S. based Flying Lizard Merchandise Affiliate Partner and gave all of our readers a 10% discount on Flying Lizard Gear to kick things off. The response was so great, we’re doing it again! Only this time it’s different. Way different.
From left to right: Darren Law, Seth Neiman and Jörg Bergmeister prepare for the start of a race
Not only is Flying Lizard offering a discount to PorschePurist readers on all their excellent gear (see the second half of this post for more details), they are offering our readers a chance at a private and intimate “behind the scenes tour” of the Flying Lizard Paddock. If you’re a Porsche race fan and plan on attending this year’s ALMS series premiere at the Mobil1 12 Hours of Sebring then don’t miss this chance of a lifetime!
Flying Lizard’s Team Manager, Eric Ingraham, will lead a small group of PorschePurist’s readers on a tour of the Flying Lizard Paddock for a chance to see what really happens as a world class race team prepares for one of the biggest races of the season. In order to keep the tour as intimate and detailed as possible, we want to limit the group to just ten (10). This way, not only can we tour the paddock areas, but we may also enter and explore the trailers*, view the cars, meet more of the team and possibly, just possibly some of the drivers (but no promises).
The tour will be on Thursday the 18th of March from 5:15 pm to 5:45 pm. If you are interested in taking part in this exclusive behind the scenes look, and plan on being at Sebring Thursday afternoon, then here’s what you need to do. Simply respond to this post in a comment below letting us know you want to attend – make sure you fill out the form completely to include a good email address (Read this post for help on commenting if you need it). We will then randomly pick the winners and contact each one of you individually by Monday the 15th.
At first we were going to select contest winners from first responders, but that gives an unfair advantage to those of you who receive our newsletter via RSS vs. email. For those of you who do get PorschePurist via email, make sure you click through to the site to leave a comment on the post (don’t simply reply to your newsletter email).
As the attendance is so very limited -and exclusive access to the paddock like this so rare – please, please, please only enter if you are 100% sure you can make it! If you have other questions just let us know.
Now about that discount for the Flying Lizard Merchandise
Last, but definitely not least, is a 10% discount on all Flying Lizard Merchandise. This discount is available to any and all PorschePurist.com reader between March 11, 2010 and March 18, 2010. Simply enter “PorschePuristSebring″ (it IS case sensitive) on the first page of your cart and the savings will be automatically applied!
Remember, the discount code “PorschePuristSebring” gets you 10% off all Flying Lizard Merchandise and is only good online. We recently received a bunch of Flying Lizard Gear and were impressed with the overall quality. Included in our bag of swag was a woman’s hoodie for me and a couple of co-branded items for John.
What’s co-branded? These items (such as the Casual Dress shirt and the Team Cap) are branded with both the Porsche Motorsports and the Flying Lizard logos. It’s a great way to show your loyalty to our favorite automotive marque and racing team at the same time. We’ll give you a full review on Flying Lizard Gear in our next post.
For now, enjoy the saving, good luck with the contest and I hope to see you at Sebring!
Related Porsche Posts
Interview with Flying Lizard Joerg Bergmeister
Interview with Flying Lizard Patrick Long
*The Fine Print: It’s possible some areas of the paddock may be unavailable during our tour if their is any proprietary race set-up taking place or anything else that must remain behind closed doors for competitive reasons. Regardless, it will be a very exciting tour.
[Photo Credit: Flying Lizard Paddock by Andrew Granieri]
Written on February 25th, 2010 at 12:10am by 993C4S
Love it or hate it (and quite a few purists lean toward the latter sentiment) the Cayenne is far and away Porsche’s best selling model (in year over year production figures). Most Cayenne fans (and I’m one of them) will point to it and suggest that without its development and success that Porsche, as we know it, would not exist. The funds pouring in from the sale of the über quick grocery hauler continue to provide much needed economical aid to the rest of the fleet and more importantly for R&D (let’s not forget it was a Cayenne based engine that won the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona this year).
It appears, that the Cayenne might just be set up to save Porsche once again. Let’s explore. In Tuesday’s post “Is Your Porsche an Endangered Species?” we outlined the proposed changes to the current CAFE regulations that could possible endanger Porsche’s future in the US. What we didn’t do is discuss all the details, let’s look at a few of them now:
- The new regulations require 42 mpg for cars and 26 mpg for light trucks for a fleet average of 35.5 MPG.
- The MPG requirements pertain to an entire fleet vs. any one particular model under a brand umbrella.
- Therefore, a company can design one particular model to meet or exceed the minimum while having others that don’t weight against that average.
Hmmm. Maybe a Baby Boxster or entry level 914ish Porsche isn’t so far out of the realm of possibilities….
Even more interesting is this statement by Germany’s Focus Magazine, “The new law says that size determines the allowable mileage of a car. A car with a bigger footprint has wider parameters than a small car. This rule favors US manufacturers, who are heavy on pick-ups. Porsche is hit hard. A sports car manufacturer has to contend with an unfavorable relationship between size and consumption.”
Has anyone else heard rumors about the soon to be released Cayenne sporting a longer wheel base? Could the statement above be part of that decision making process? The Cayenne isn’t known for it’s lack of thirst, but with the introduction of the Cayenne Hybrid S, the possibility of a Cayenne diesel on US shores and the sheer number of Porsche’s “pepper” being sold, it just might help the average. Couple this with the concept of a “baby boxster” (or some other entry level Porsche) and savvy political maneuvering and I think we’ll still be buying our Porsches in 2016.
Source: [TTAC, Focus Magazine, NHTSA]
Written on February 22nd, 2010 at 7:22pm by 993C4S
According to an article in the German Edition of the Financial Times, it’s possible that Porsche as we know it (at least in the United States) may be extinct in just a few short years!
In May of 2009 President Obama proposed a 5% year over year increase to the current Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) MPG requirements. Starting in 2011 and ending in 2016, these changes would see the current requirements rise all the way to 42 MPG for cars and an average of 35.5 MPG for the fleet. Assuming these ammendments get written into law this May as planned, Porsche would be in a world of hurt.
What about VW you say? Wasn’t that part of the strategy behind the proposed takeover merger? Well, yes and no.
Remember way back when in the days of Wiedeking, when Porsche was going to take over VW and bankrupt all the nasty hedge funds that had shorted their stock? If so, you probably remember a lot of the talk around the reasons for Porsche’s play for VW. Most of that chatter centered around CAFE. The idea was that with all those fuel efficient VWs (and other makes) now part of the Porsche corporate umbrella, any possibly new CAFE rulings could be handled by averaging the fuel efficient VWs and other TDI toting technology with Porsche’s passion for petrol.
Unfortunately, as we all now know, Wiedeking’s master plan didn’t go so well and Porsche not only didn’t take over VW, but ended up getting taken over themselves in order to survive. The problem with this according to Bertel Schmidtt at the Truth About Cars is, “Porsche would have had to be under Volkswagen’s umbrella in the year 2009 [in order to count for the new CAFE regs]. They weren’t.”
Fortunately, for all of us, Porsche received a stay of execution through a special dispensation that sees them through 2016. However, if the proposed rules do go into effect, Porsche would basically need to increase their Corporate fuel efficiency 10% a year, every year. Something that is “technically impossible” according to Porsche-Lobbyist Stefan Schläfli (Schläfli helped to negotiate Porsche’s reprieve until 2016).
Worst Case Scenario
Under the current CAFE rules Porsche already pays a small fine of a few hundred dollars per car; something that is easily absorbed by Porsche or passed along to you/me the consumer in the MSRP. However, under the new laws, the federal government would be able to collect a maximum fine up to $37,500 per car. An amount not even the most well heeled Porsche owner would want to pay and certainly nothing VW would absorb.
Of special political note is the fact that the culmination of these new regs don’t go into effect until 2016, the year that President Obama would leave office assuming he was re-elected (which is looking highly unlikely at this point).
Alarmist? You bet. Possible? Probably not, at least not in our opinion, but it does make for an interesting headline. What say you? Is our beloved Porsche in danger here in the USA? Or, is it political suicide to deny those of us that want it our right to buy a Porsche (and many other German luxury brands for that matter).
Related Porsche Posts
Is it the Right Time to Buy the Porsche of Your Dreams?
[Source: Bloomberg, TTAC, The Financial Times, Autoblog]
Written on February 15th, 2010 at 3:46pm by 993C4S
Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, Stuttgart, is supporting the generation of renewable energy. The manufacturer of sporty premium vehicles is making a 40,000-square-meter area on the roof top of its central spare parts warehouse in Sachsenheim (Baden-Wuerttemberg) available to the firm Goldbeck Solar GmbH, Hirschberg an der Bergstrasse, in order to install and operate approximately 8,500 photovoltaic modules there. The system has a nominal output of two megawatts. The electricity will be fed into the grid of the energy provider E&W Eichwald GmbH, Bietigheim-Bissingen.
“Progressive environmental protection and conservation of resources isn’t only a Porsche priority in production. Our central spare parts warehouse provides the ideal conditions for ecological energy generation,” says Wolfgang Leimgruber, Member of the Executive Board for Production and Logistics of Porsche AG. The installation of the modules will begin before the end of February, and the photovoltaic system will be connected to the grid just a few weeks later. The system can generate nearly two million kilowatt hours per year, which is equivalent to the average energy consumption of approximately 500 four-person households. At the same time, approximately 1,780 tons of carbon diox-ide (CO2) will be saved every year. The photovoltaic system in Sachsenheim is thus one of the most modern and efficient in the Greater Stuttgart area.
Written on February 4th, 2010 at 10:09pm by 993C4S
Written on February 4th, 2010 at 1:13pm by 993C4S
Say what you want about the 4 door Grand Toursimo, but it looks like Porsche was right once again (they predicted brisk sales of the Panamera when first announced). Not only were Porsche’s overall sales up by 8% over last year, the sports car manufacturer (yes, I phrased it like that intentionally) delivered 534 Panameras vs 509 911s. Full details are in the press release below.
Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, Stuttgart, made some ground in January 2010 in the USA. With 1,786 vehicles sold, deliveries to customers in North America were 8 percent above last year’s figures. Particularly good news from the company’s perspective is the warm welcome that the new Panamera, which was launched on the US market in October 2009, has received from US customers. This January, 534 Gran Turismo models were delivered to customers in the USA.
Sales of the 911 model also made progress with 503 units sold. This corresponds to an increase of 13 percent compared to January 2009. However, 159 units from the Boxster family, to which the Cayman belongs, were sold to customers; this is 40 percent less than in the same reporting period last year. A total of 590 units of the sporty all-terrain vehicle Cayenne were also sold. Compared to the same month last year, this represents a life-cycle related decline by 38 percent.
Related Porsche Posts
Porsche Panamera
Porsche Panamera TV Commercial
Porsche Panamera on Speed Test Drive
[Source: PCNA]
Written on January 30th, 2010 at 12:08pm by 993C4S
On Friday, the annual general meeting of Porsche Automobil Holding SE, Stuttgart elected His Excellency Sheikh Jassim Bin Abdulaziz Bin Jassim Al-Thani (31) as a representative of Qatar Holding LLC, Doha, onto the supervisory board of the company. He replaces the former member of the supervisory board, Mr. Hans-Peter Porsche (69), who retired from office effective the end of the annual general meeting. Sheikh Jassim Bin Abdulaziz Bin Jassim Al-Thani has been appointed for the remaining four-year period of Hans-Peter Porsche’s appointment. Qatar Holding LLC through its fully owned subsidiary Qatar Holding Germany GmbH, Frankfurt, holds ten percent of the ordinary shares of Porsche SE.
Sheikh Jassim Bin Abdulaziz Bin Jassim Al-Thani is the chairman of the board of Qatar Foundation International, USA, and is also a member of the boards of Qatar National Bank, of InvestCorp and of Qatar Foundation Endowment Fund. Other shareholder representatives on the supervisory board of Porsche SE are the chairman, Dr. Wolfgang Porsche, and Dr. Ferdinand Oliver Porsche, Dr. Ferdinand K. Piëch, Dr. Hans Michel Piëch and Prof. Dr. Ulrich Lehner.
Related Porsche Posts
Porsche Consultancy Wins Yellow Angels Award
Porsche News and Updates
[Source: Porsche SE]
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