The news has been rumbling around the web for a while, but as of today, May 22, 2012 Porsche and Forza Motorsport fans can download the Porsche Expansion Pack for Forza Motorsport 4 on the XBox 360. 1600 Microsoft points, or $20 bucks, will get you 30 new Porsches (of which 7 of them are new from Forza Motorsport 3) 20 “brand new Porsche-centric events (in Forza you’re life/career is measured in events) and 10 new achievements (things you can do to win points that can be used for future purchases) and way to play in a “Porsche-themed Rivals Mode”(imagine a Cup series on Xbox).
If you’ve never had a chance to drive a Porsche 550, 959, RS Spyder, Sports Classic 911, etc then Forza Motorsport 4 might just be as close as you’re going to get. Watch the trailer above to see the Porsches in action (if you can’t see the video above, simply visit our site to watch or use our lightbox to view the gallery of pictures below) or check out Forza’s site for complete details on all 30 of the Porsches featured. If you don’t yet have an Xbox 360 or your own copy of Forza, pick ‘em up on Amazon and be prepared to deal with a new addiction.
What father or soon to be graduate wouldn’t want to wake up and find a shiny new Porsche in the driveway? Unfortunately, for most of us, that’s just not going to happen. However, a Porsche related gift is great for your Porsche loving dad or grad. With graduations happening across the country and Father’s Day only a few short weeks away (it’s on June 17th this year if you need the reminder) here is a short list of different Porsche gift ideas for you to choose from. For even more ideas be sure to check out last year’s list of Porsche Gift Ideas. You might also find inspiration in our 8 Most Popular Porsche Gift Guide.
Porsche Related Gifts for Dads and Grads
The Complete Book of Porsche 911: Every Model since 1964 The Complete Book of Porsche 911 provides a model-by-model overview for each year of the 911’s production, from the original 901 prototype to the current models. In addition to production cars, the book includes all of the factory’s racing, prototype, and special-production cars illustrated with both current and archival photography. This book is the ultimate single-volume resource for the 911 aficionado.
Porsche Red 3′ x 5′ Premium Flag A 3 x 5 foot flag made from durable, yet lightweight polyester. 2 Brass grommets attached to a canvas side strip allow for easy flying in the lightest of breezes. This flag will look great on the garage wall or flying loud and proud on your flag pole.
Porsche Design Executive Genuine Swiss Army Knife This Wenger Porsche Design Executive Genuine Swiss Army knife boasts a distinctive design with smooth Ruthenium handles (a rare transition metal found in the Platinum group that is inert to most chemicals. In other words, it should last a long, long time). It offers 12 convenient functions with a pen blade, a micro screwdriver, springless scissors with a serrated, self-sharpening design, a screwdriver, a cap lifter, a wire crimper, and more.
We’re big fans of most any thing from site sponsor Porsche Design Driver’s Selection. However we really fell in love with the Martini Racing Collection. Not only do these product look great, resplendent in their famous livery, they make up some of the more affordable and functional gifts in the entire PDDS collection. As of today, we have the Martini Racing Belt, Aviator Sunglasses, Beach Chair, Swim Trunks and Beach Towel. In fact, over the summer I think John wears the belt almost daily.
Membership in the Porsche Club of America. I’m always amazed when I meet a fellow Porsche owner who has yet to join the PCA. The benefits are great and at $46 a year it’s very inexpensive. For those who don’t yet own a Porsche, but aspire too (think recent grads) the PCA Quest program is worth a look. If for nothing else, the low cost of membership (Quest or regular) gets you a subscription to Panorama Magazine, one of the best Porsche Magazines available today.
Last, but definitely not least, how about a subscription to one of the many great Porsche Magazines available? In the US you have Excellence: The Magazine About Porsche and 9Magazine. From Porsche themselves you can get Christophorus. And, if you feel like spending the money, you can get a subscription to one of the more popular UK Porsche magazines like 911 & Porsche World.
PorschePurist.com was recently invited to Michelin Tire’s inaugural “Influencer “ Tire School where I spent two days observing how Michelin tires are made, learning about their technology and testing their newest ultra-high performance tire, the Pilot Super Sport (Michelin is a sponsor of PorschePurist and they covered our cost of travel, lodging and meals for this event). As Motorsport Editor, I have reviewed some of their most popular tires for Porsche owners, including the Pilot Sport 2, Pilot Sport Cup and Pilot Super Sport.
In case you’re wondering, “Influencers” are people in the performance car-building and tuning industry, car-forum moderators, car club leaders like PCA’s Vu Nguyen and racers from all disciplines such as drag, drift, off-road and road. There are 60 Michelin influencers nation-wide and 14 of us were invited to the first Tire School for Influencers in order to learn more than we already knew about their product.
As the motorsport editor for PorschePurist.com, track chairman and chief instructor for the Rally Sport Region of the PCA, and amateur championship winning Porsche racer I have spent my fair share of time around tires. I like Michelins enough to have them on all our vehicles (Porsche and otherwise), and apparently I am not alone; Michelin reportedly has the highest loyalty in the Original Equipment first time replace market.
What is the Michelin Tire School?
This was the first Michelin Tire School for Influencers (a shortened version of the 11 week school that many Michelin execs attend prior to their time in the office and in the field). The curriculum covered the building and construction of their tires, techniques unique to Michelin and their commitment to standing behind their product. In my opinion, the fact that Michelin let a group of vocal and passionate enthusiasts into the heart of their operations (the Training Center, Factory and on their test track) shows the level of confidence they have in their products.
Our visit started with a tour of US-1 in Greenville, SC (one of 29 worldwide production facilities). Our tour guide, “Tater,” was very knowledgeable about the belts, cords and tire compounds as well as every little detail about the factory and what it takes to run it. At the US-1 factory, Michelin produces between 24,000 to 26,000 tires a day. Despite the production volume, the racks, lifts and machines do not look cluttered or overburdened. Everything and everyone moves at a steady and focused pace. The machinery is almost all unique to Michelin.
While I would love to have posted pictures of what we saw on our tour, photographs were strictly forbidden in the plant as were cell phones and other personal items like jewelery and watches (quality control restrictions). As part of the Michelin quality process all visitors are required to suit up in special Michelin made work booth with Michelin rubber soles.
Michelin C3M Technology
One reason for all this security is perhaps Michelin’s biggest technical advantage, “C3M”. This secret manufacturing process gives tires “an innovative edge.” Today more than 20% of the Michelin Pilot line is made using the C3M process including all of the high performance tires a Porsche owners would consider. Rather than trying to explain what little is known about this super secretive technology we’ll give you a link to The Tire Rack who does a great job of explaining what they can. C3M allows Michelin to have a tremendous amount of structural consistency throughout the tire making it lighter and more stable; it also allows Michelin to weave different tread compounds onto one tire.
Sample Tread from the Michelin Tire School
The Michelin Pilot Super Sport Uses C3M
The Michelin Pilot Super Sport is another C3M tire with carbon black (an additive that increases tear resistance and abrasion strength on rubber derived from the Le Mans winning slick racing tires) on the outer tread. The tire has incredible wet traction and high speed stability. In the picture above, you can see how Michelin can control the rubber that, as part of the tire, affects turning and straight-line stability. The 2D and 3D sipes (found on some Michelin tire models) lock in under load to provide better handling in wet weather and snowy conditions.
Track Time at Michelin’s Tire School
Now it was time to put Michelin’s impressive technology to the test. I was looking forward to learning even more about the Pilot Super Sport and testing its strengths on the track. However, when we were told that there would be a portion of the test with timed laps, I perked up even more (I’ve been known to be a bit competitive…)
PCA Executive Director Vu Nguyen and PorschePurist.com's Christian Maloof
Porsche Club of America’s Executive Director, and fellow PCA member, Vu Nguyen and I jumped into our test rig, a 3 Series BMW (the local facilities were the same used by the BMW school) and prepared to turn a few quick and smooth laps. Once in the test car our conversation quickly turned to the subject of traction control and how it just seems to take some of the fun out of track driving.
Regardless of the platform (Porsche or BMW, traction control or not) the key to a fast lap is a drama-less smooth approach where you maintain the highest minimum speed into the corner. I was very pleased with the solid corner grip and high speed stability provided by the Michelin Pilot Super Sports through the very fast “esses” on this track.
Now, what’s a little testing without competition? Team PorschePurist.com had the fastest lap of the day, beating a fellow Porsche guy (and 2-time national autocross champion) and an engineer from the esteemed Skip Barber Race School.
Side to Side Comparisons
The only side to side comparison that we participated in was a blind test on identical BMW 330i’s. Some were equipped with Michelin Pilot All Season (PAS) while the rest were shod in the Pilot Super Sport (PSS). This opportunity marked the second time I was able to put the Pilot Super Sport to the test since attending the launch in Dubai nearly two years ago, but the first time I’ve done so in a blind test. Driving the PSS against the extremely highly rated All Season Pilot, without know what car you were in, was a very telling experience.
The first car was great in the wet, very predictable and fairly confident. On the extremely wet oval skid pad, I experienced initial under-steer (as was to be expected), especially if I was carrying too much speed. The uphill hairpin section of the track was not as bad as the downhill, as the grade helped make the contact patch of the front tires larger (whereas the downhill required me to slow down a good deal to keep the line tight). This seemed about right, the way I expected the tire to perform (I’m assuming I’m on PSS’s at this point).
The second car made me throw all assumptions out the window. From the very first corner the car turned in dramatically better that the previous test vehicle. While the first car had mild over-steer under throttle, in car two I had to get silly in order to get sideways. Even when I did get it sideways, it was very controllable. Once I got back for a driver debrief and found out that car two wore Pilot Super Sports, I decided I wanted these tires on my daily driver (and for those of you who are wondering: yes, I pay full price too).
Tires are paramount in importance when comes to braking, handling and performance, not to mention overall safety. While I’ve had personal experiences with Michelin that have convinced me of their commitment to quality, attending their Tire School give me even more confidence in their products.
Confidently Recommending Michelin
Shortly after this event, I was sharing a cup of coffee with my Dad and he mentioned he needed new tires for his BMW X5. I had no reservations in recommending the Michelin Latitude Tour, which I had tested on X5s in the off-road course of the school. He mentioned the Michelins seemed to get noisy after only a few months. I asked if he had a 4-wheel alignment and had rotated and maintained proper tire pressures consistently (which was funny to ask, since Dad taught me about cars). I further suggested he call the Michelin Consumer Care number. He did and the next day reported that Michelin had given him $300 off a replacement set of tires. Not only are Michelins superior tires, but their post-purchase customer support is impressive.
When you think about books on Porsche it probably brings to mind grainy black and white pictures from the Porsche archives coupled with high gloss artistic shots and pages upon pages of facts and stories. Well, Dieter Landenberger (head of Porsche’s archives) does just that and more in his latest book, Porsche Sounds.
Published by earBooks and available on Amazon or David Bull PublishingPorsche Sounds combines over 200 exquisitely designed and produced pages of information, pictures and stories from the Porsche archives with three CDs.
Porsche Sounds CD1 Technology
Two of the CDs contain compilations of driving music featuring everything from Deep Purple’s “Rapture of the Deep” to Mozart’s “Flötenkonzert”. However it’s the other disk, CD1 Technology that will interest most Porsche fans. Featuring exhaust notes from 30 different Porsches, these high quality recordings will transport you track-side as these Porsches roar past you in your living room (the video above is just one of the tracks you’ll find in Porsche Sounds). Turn up the volume and enjoy!
Known to his colleagues as “F.A” and to his family as “Butzi” Ferdinand Alexander Porsche died on Wednesday, April 5, 2012 in Salzburg. He was 76 years old.
The word “iconic” is often overused. In this instance it fits to describe both the man and his designs. F.A Porsche’s design of the 911 is both uniquely recognizable and coveted the world over. His memory will lives on in my 911 and those of others all over the world. Rest in Peace.
Full details and the official Porsche press release are below.
April 5, 2012 – Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, Stuttgart, is mourning Professor Ferdinand Alexander Porsche. The Honorary President of the Supervisory Board died on April 5, 2012 in Salzburg, aged 76.
Matthias Müller, President and Chief Executive Officer of Porsche AG, paid tribute to Ferdinand Alexander Porsche’s services to the sports car manufacturer: “We mourn the death of our partner, Ferdinand Alexander Porsche. As the creator of the Porsche 911, he established a design culture in our company that has shaped our sports cars to this very day. His philosophy of good design is a legacy to us that we will honor for all time.”
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche was born in Stuttgart on 11 December 1935, the oldest son of Dorothea and Ferry Porsche. Even his childhood was shaped by cars, and he spent much of his time in the engineering offices and development workshops of his grandfather Ferdinand Porsche. In 1943 the family accompanied the Porsche company’s move to Austria, where he went to school in Zell am See. After returning to Stuttgart in 1950, he attended the private Waldorf school. After leaving school, he enrolled at the prestigious Ulm School of Design.
In 1958, F.A. Porsche, as he was known by his colleagues, joined the engineering office of what was then Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche KG. He soon proved his great talent for design by sculpting the first model of a successor to the 356 model line out of plastic. In 1962 he took over as head of the Porsche design studio, creating a worldwide furor one year later with the Porsche 901 (or 911). With the Porsche 911, F.A. Porsche created a sports car icon whose timeless and classical form survives to this very day in what is now the seventh 911 generation. However, in addition to passenger cars, F.A. Porsche also concerned himself with designing the sports cars of the 1960s. His best-known designs include the Type 804 Formula One racing car or the Porsche 904 Carrera GTS, now considered to be one of the most beautiful racing cars ever.
In the course of the conversion of Porsche KG into a joint-stock corporation in 1971/72, Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, along with all the other family members, stood down from the company’s front-line business operations. In 1972 he founded the “Porsche Design Studio” in Stuttgart, the head office of which was relocated to Zell am See in Austria in 1974.
In the decades that followed, he designed numerous classic accessories such as watches, spectacles and writing implements that achieved global recognition under the “Porsche Design” brand. In parallel, with his team, he designed a plethora of industrial products, household appliances and consumer durables for internationally renowned clients under the brand “Design by F.A. Porsche”. A strong and clear design concept typifies all product designs created in his design studio to date. The credo of his design work was: “Design must be functional and functionality has to be translated visually into aesthetics, without gags that have to be explained first.” F.A. Porsche: “A coherently designed product requires no adornment; it should be enhanced by its form alone.” The design’s appearance should be readily comprehensible and not detract from the product and its function. His conviction was: “Good design should be honest.”
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche received numerous honors and awards both for his work as a designer as well as for individual designs. For example, in 1968 the “Comité Internationale de Promotion et de Prestige” honored him for the outstanding aesthetic design of the Porsche 911 while the Industrial Forum Design Hannover (iF) voted him “Prizewinner of the Year” in 1992. In 1999, the President of Austria bestowed on him the title of Professor.
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche retained a close lifelong association with Porsche AG as a partner and member of the Supervisory Board. For example, even after stepping down from front-line business operations, he contributed to the design of Porsche’s sports cars over many decades and repeatedly steered the company in the right direction. This was especially the case for the difficult period Porsche experienced at the beginning of the 1990s. From 1990 to 1993, F.A. Porsche served as President of the company’s Supervisory Board, thus playing a major role in Porsche A.G’s economic turnaround. In 2005, he stood down from his Supervisory Board role in favor of his son Oliver and assumed the mantle of Honorary President of the Supervisory Board.
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche will be buried in the family grave at Schüttgut in Zell am See, attended by his immediate family. An official funeral service will be held in Stuttgart at a later date.
Written on April 5th, 2012 at 7:45am by Pepper Girl
Late last year we brought you the amazing Lego Porsche racing liveries by master builder Malte Dorowski. Well he’s added to the collection with this extremely detailed 911 GT3 RSR dressed in Flying Lizard Motorsport colors. The longer we look at the pictures, the more amazed we are with the details in this build. Check out a few of the pictures below and see the rest of them in Malte’s own gallery.
A little less than two weeks ago we ran a special offer for the Official 2012 Porsche Calendar with Collector Coin in conjunction with SuncoastParts.com. While we knew the discount would be well received, we really weren’t ready for the fast and overwhelming response we received. Apparently Suncoast sold out of their stock within a few hours of our email going out. Your response got us wondering. Was it the great price? Was it the calendar? We never really considered it might be the collector coin.
The first calendar coin from 1962
Exploring Porsche Calendar Coins
Porsche first produced their calendar in 1954, but the coins didn’t appear until 1962. Now, half a century later, there’s a coin for each of the last 50 years and some of them are in high demand by collectors. All but a few of the earlier coins (’62, ’63, ’67 and ’75) and one of the modern coins (2001) showcase a particular Porsche model on one side and the year or some other Porsche related engraving on the opposite side. It should come as no surprise that the earlier the coin the higher the demand.
Porsche Coin Pricing
In 2012, the official Porsche Calendar retails for $59.99 (they’re sold out online, but you might be able to find one at your local dealer). I haven’t yet seen just the coin for sale, but I’m sure you’ll see them soon on ebay.
Coins from 2000 through today look like they can be purchased from $5 to $15 depending on condition and seller’s expectations.
Coins from the mid ’80s to the late ’90s are currently selling in the $10 to $25 range and can sometimes be found at the low end of this if you buy a set of multiple years.
Coins from ’62 to the early ’80s vary greatly in pricing. We’ve seen asking prices as high as $550 for a ’62 all the way down to $30 for coins in the late ’70s and early ’80s.
We haven’t seen a ton of coverage on these coins in the past. However, threads on various Porsche forums indicate that interest might be increasing and we’re working on rounding out our collection. If you’re thinking of collecting or recently started, be sure to shop around. Ebay seems to have a good supply from various sellers and a search through some of the more popular Porsche forums will usually pay off. Lastly, you can usually find some, if not all, of these coins at the larger Porsche swap meets. Happy Collecting! We’ll be posting an album Porsche calendar coins from each year on our Facebook page in the coming days and weeks.
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