Written on December 29th, 2011 at 7:58pm by Pepper Girl
To close out 2011, and make way for 2012, we looked back at our statistics to see just what topics interested you this year. We compiled our list from information about posts read via email and those read on our site.
Some of this year’s top 10 posts shouldn’t be a surprise, others seem to be perennial favorites. Some even took us by surprise with how many times they were read. We hope you all have a safe and Happy New Year’s celebration and we look forward to sending you more Porsche goodness in 2012.
We have more than 1000 posts on our site, so if you’re new to us in the last year or two, be sure to visit and look through our archives. You never know what you might find!
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Written on September 7th, 2011 at 4:16pm by Pepper Girl
There’s no-denying Porsche is one of the world’s true super brands. When New York’s Luxury Institute surveyed 1,642 affluent Americans to ask their preferred choice of luxury car makers, Porsche emerged as the clear winner. It received high marks for its attention to detail, strong focus and uniqueness in a competitive marketplace.
In 2010, Porsche received three brand image awards from the Kelley Blue Book consumer research company. Awards included Coolest Brand, Best Performance Brand and Best Exterior Design – Luxury Brand.
While many may well revere the brand, not many are actually in a position to own a Porsche; a fact reflected by the global sales figures for the 12 months to the end of July 2010, which were a niche 81,850 units. A majority of these were sold in North America, with the remaining 25,283 sold in Europe and China. Sales in China were up 47.5 percent on the year previously, suggesting the Asian country may become a key market in the near future.
Buyer Profiles
The typical buyer of the Porsche 911 in the U.S. is aged between 46 and 65, with an average age of 52. By comparison, the Boxster buyer is aged between 36 and 55, with an average age of 47. Buyers tend to be relatively affluent men. On average, just 15 percent of Porsche buyers are women. For the 911 this falls to eight percent, while for the Boxster it’s a little higher at 30 percent. Porsche owners are undeniably affluent, with an annual gross income of £232,840.
Enviable history
Porsche has a heritage spanning more than six decades. Its popularity as the car of choice for driving experience days is down to the brand’s long association with motorsports victories, the first of which was the 24 Hours of Le Mans class win in 1951. The brand now has more than 28,000 racing victories in its metaphorical glove compartment. To relive some of the seminal Porsche victories, try one of the many track days UK has to offer.
Exciting future
Porsche AG head honcho, Wolfgang Porsche, admitted last year that the brand’s image had suffered following a year of financial difficulties and its subsequent loss of independence to Volkswagen, the brand-eating behemoth that already owns Audi, Skoda and Seat.
Will the dilution of such a longstanding brand as Porsche be enough to deter future elitist aficionados from investing in the vehicles? And, if so, will Volkswagen’s involvement help make the cars more accessible to the common man?
[Photocredits: Flickr via CreativeCommons]
Written on June 6th, 2011 at 10:02am by Pepper Girl
Finding the right Father’s Day gift is always tough. If you have already exhausted all the standard options of a bottle of whiskey, a new tie or a wallet then you will need some inspiration. If your dad has a passion for Porsche, there are some options available to you that won’t cost the world.
There are a various smaller gifts you can buy that will satisfy his thirst for all things Porsche. Nearly everything he uses can be bought in Porsche form. There is a Porsche Panamera USB memory stick in the shape of the iconic vehicle, which has the capacity to hold 2GB of data. This nifty gadget also sports LED headlights. You can further customize his computer area with a wireless computer mouse in the image of a Porsche 911.
If you are still unsure, and no gifts immediately grab you, then you can take the safe option and give him vouchers to let him choose for himself. These vouchers can be purchased for denominations of $5, $10 and $20. These vouchers come printed with the official logo of Porsche and make for an attractive gift.
If a gift or a voucher of this kind does not quite make the grade, then you can give him a Porsche itself, albeit only for the day. With track days available at many famous race courses, your dad can emulate his motorsport heroes. There are numerous other activity days in operation all over the country, such as sphereing or windsurfing, but if your dad only has eyes for Porsche, and would scoff at any lesser vehicle or activity, then take him on a trip to Chertsey, York or Solihull where he can get behind the wheel. Sitting next to an experienced instructor, your dad can get tips and realize his racing dreams with 3 to 4 laps in a Porsche 997!
Everything will depend on your budget, of course, but this Father’s Day will definitely be one to remember with any of these Porsche-related gifts.
Written on February 28th, 2011 at 12:14pm by Pepper Girl
Your Porsche is your baby and requires daily attention which includes careful cleaning. Many owners insist on cleaning their own Porsches. This way the are fully responsible and no outsiders get a chance to mess anything up. It’s the same with your ‘real’ baby, you would always trust yourself to do a better job at feeding and bathing than a nanny or babysitter. Many owners see their Porsches in this light and to clean them you need to be extra careful because of Porsches’ unique design.
Water
Never use warm water when clean your Porsche. Cold water is always a better option as you preserve the paint for longer. Over time, warm water can damage the body paint of your Porsche. Because many Porsches are hand-painted, to achieve the best finish, it can be costly sending your car off to get another layer of paint. So even though warm water feels nicer on your hands, in the long-run cold water is a wiser choice.
Soap
It is not overly important what kind of soap you use to combine with the cold water. But the main thing you should look out for is if there are any more serious chemicals in the soap that could stain or ruin the paintwork. Bleach is certainly an ingredient to avoid as are any chemical sounding names that you don’t recognize. The more natural the better.
Sponge or Cloth
Use a clean sponge or sloth to wash your Porsche. It is common sense, but many people forget, and using a dirty cloth can leave marks on the body of your car. It is personal preference whether you use a sponge or a cloth and each have their benefits. Sponges can soak up more water, whereas cloths can be more precise and detailed. It is recommended to use both.
Drying
Do not let your Porsche dry naturally as it will without doubt leave marks. You should assign a good quality towel to solely use on your Porsche and always wash it after use. Simply pat down your car with your towel after you have washed it and it won’t leave any marks and will be ready for polishing.
Polish and Wax
Polishing and waxing is highly recommended as it preserves the paint work as well as giving it a crisp shine which is attractive on the eye. There are many different types of Porsche, as you are well aware, and often these require different polishes and waxes. Contact your local Porsche outlet and ask them for their recommendation. Generally the more you spend, the better quality your product will be.
You will now have a good-looking car that you can impress your friend with on the circuit driving track. With a clean and shiny Porsche, you are all set to have some of the best driving experience days of your life.
[This is a sponsored post by exelement.co.uk]
Written on February 14th, 2011 at 11:03am by Pepper Girl
The second we hear the name of something, we form a mental image of it. As a result, it’s vitally important for car designers to portray the right image with their vehicle names, but sometimes they get it very, very wrong…
When it comes to naming a new car design, a team will often start with around a thousand possible names, which will be whittled down to a shortlist of 100 or so. This shortlist then needs to be checked over to make sure the names aren’t offensive, easily (or embarrassingly) mis-pronounced, or give off the wrong image.
Having a foreign translator here can help; General Motors found out in 2005, upon releasing their Buick LaCrosse (pictured) in Canada, that ‘lacrosse’ is French-Canadian teenage slang for masturbation.
Some car manufacturers find a good formula and stick with it through all productions; Lamborghini famously names all its models after bulls, while brands like Mercedes and BMW prefer alpha-numeric names such as the C-class or the 5-series.
Other manufacturers use logical foreign words or concepts for their cars; the Toyota Prius is one such example. As the car was one of the first hybrids on the market, Toyota wanted a name which screamed innovation. They chose Prius, which is Latin for ‘to go before’.
But if you’re going to use a foreign word, make sure it’s a real one. The Lumina (Chevrolet) sounds Latin, French or similar, but in reality it means nothing although it’s close to the Latin word for light, which is ‘lumen’. Not that that has anything to do with the car.
Sometimes manufacturers add something to the name of their models to attract specific buyers. For example, the ‘i’ often found on models is associated with fuel injection systems, which most cars now have, so the extra letter is purely for show. And according to sample quotes done on Moneysupermarket, it doesn’t even affect your insurance.
By far the most popular car names are the ones which conjure up a vicious, aggressive or simply ‘cool’ image. Think of the Dodge Viper, the Chevrolet Corvette, or the Pontiac Firebird; all hotrods often seen at drag racing events. Would they be as popular on the track if they were called the Celebrity or the Executive? I think not…
Alongside the cool, the misguided or the functional descriptive names (Land Rover Explorer being a case in point), are the just plain weird. Not surprisingly, many of the weirdest or quirkiest come from Japanese designers; the Honda Life Dunk and the Daihatsu Naked are two such examples which unfortunately aren’t available in the UK at time of writing.
[This post is brought to you by Money SuperMarket]
Written on December 29th, 2010 at 7:08am by Pepper Girl
Over the past year we’ve added more than 150 posts to our archives. Some are well received, others less so. Google offers us fantastic analytics and insight into how each of you navigates our site. Using this information, we compiled the following list of the most popular posts of 2010 based on the number of times a page was viewed by you and the rest of our readers (we’re including both visits to the site and those who read via email).
This year, posts that included video were hands down the overall winner, although we did see a perennial favorite by way of a celebrity owned Porsche. Lastly, as you may have noticed, we’re slowly integrating the site with Facebook (more on this in an upcoming post). If you like this post or any of the others below, be sure to “like” it using the button at the top of this post (if you’re viewing on our site) or using the link below (if you’re viewing via email).
The 10 Most Viewed Porsche Posts of 2010
10. How to Buy a Lamborghini on a Used Porsche Budget
9. Tips to Avoid Speed Tickets in Your Porsche
8. How a Modified Porsche Was Used in an Attempt to Set the World Record for the Highest Speed Achieved on a Bicycle
7. White Knuckle Ride in a ’73 Porsche 911
6. 2011 Porsche 911 GT2 RS Getting Thrashed on the Track
5. The Best Porsche iPhone App to Date
4. Video Introduction to the Porsche 918 Spyder
3. How To Find the Porsche of Your Dreams
2. When Porsches Were Made by Hand
1. Jerry Seinfeld’s 1997 993 Turbo S for Sale
Happy New Year everyone! We really appreciate all your support and we’re looking forward to starting off 2011 with a “spectacular” show from Porsche at the Detroit Auto Show.
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Written on December 25th, 2010 at 12:01am by 993C4S
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[Picture Source: 356.org and Dede via Facebook]
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