The Latest Porsche News on the Net

November 20, 2008

The last couple of weeks were filled with lots of announcements regarding Porsche and Porsche related tuners and products. Rather than posting everything individually I thought I’d give you a quick overview with links to everything that’s going on. This way you can read what’s of interest and maybe check out a new interesting Porsche related site at the same time. In no particular order, here’s what you may or may not have missed over the last couple of weeks in the world of Porsche!

Porsche News

Porsche Introduces 2009 Boxster and Cayman: Better, Faster, Stronger and they use less gas too!
Porsche International Competition for Young Filmakers: Porsche gives out award for the best international commercial films by students.
Porsche PDK can turn off all wheel drive in the Carrera 4: A neat trick to take your all wheel drive Porsche back to a rear wheel drive
Center Lock Wheels for the Porsche 911 Turbo: Porsche to bring back center lock wheels for the street
Porsche Named as Feature Marque for 2009 Monterey historic classics
Possible New Porsche Boxster Speedster Spied

Porsche Tuning News

edo Competition Porsche Cayenne GTS: edo competition to offer more power and an improved aerodynamics package for the newest Cayenne
9ff Decides that 253 MPH isn’t fast enough: What good is 973 horsepower when you can have 1120?
Road and Track Reviews the Ruf CTR3

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Porsche’s Mid-Engined Sports Cars Deliver Hi-Level Performance

November 19, 2008

Introduced today at the Los Angeles Auto Show both Boxster and Cayman models received more than mere cosmetic changes. As anticipated, both cars gained power over their predecessors. Additional improvements to fuel economy and performance can be attributed to the seven-speed Porsche Doppelkupplungsgetriebe or PDK (double clutch to you and me).

Porsche’s “basic” Boxster develops 255 bhp while its big brother the Cayman received 265 bhp (an increase of 10 and 20 horsepower, respectively, over their predecessors).

Porsche Improves Performance and Lowers Fuel Consumption

Don’t think Porsche and “base model” should appear in the same sentence? Never fear, Porsche knows how to market and the S trim versions of both units are proof of that. Benefiting from a 3.4 litre power plant producing 310 bhp in the Boxster S and 320 bhp in the Cayman S (up by 15 and 25 bhp respectively) Porsche attributes the increased performance to the new Direct Fuel Injection system that is standard on both S models. Extremely surprising to me are the close to 911 like numbers claimed by the the Cayman S with PDK (yes it’s now available on all four models as an option) and the Sports Chrono Package, zero to sixty in just 4.9 seconds. Hmmmm…….

While the acceleration numbers for the Cayman are hard to ignore, just as impressive are the claimed fuel economy numbers. According to Porsche, both the Boxster and the Cayman will consume 11% and 16% less fuel than last year’s similarly equipped model with Tiptronic transmissions.

A new suspension, bigger wheels (with a new design) and better braking from the latest generation of the Porsche Stability Management complete the mechanical upgrades to Porsche’s mid-engined marvels.

Cosmetic changes include new halogen headlights with integrated direction indicators, new LED rear lights and distinctively different air intake designs between the roadster and coupe. From the rear the cosmetic differences are noticed by new diffuser inserts on the Boxster and a wind deflector plate on the Cayman. For the first time both models are available with a Lights Package featuring bi-xenon headlights, dynamic curve lights and LED daytime driving lights.

Be sure to check out this lovely video Porsche supplied us with. Gotta love those revs.

[Source: Porsche]

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Car-Carrier Loaded With Vintage Porsches Hit by Train

November 10, 2008

There’s just no way to get around it, Porsches and trains don’t seem to mix well. Wednesday’s train wreck in Dillenberg Germany brought out a lot of emotion in the online Porsche community. Seeing the finished product of our beloved brand strewn all over the tracks is enough to turn your stomach. However, as most of the pictures in yesterday’s post were shot by an amateur from long distance, they didn’t properly convey the carnage with as much emotion as others may have. I couldn’t help but think back to a wreck from a little more than four years ago in Ventura, California. As luck (can you call it that?) would have it, Wayne (CEO and owner of Pelican Parts) just happened to be traveling on the same road when this incident took place. How many of you remember this one?

VENTURA, Calif. (AP) A car-carrier loaded with vintage Porsches was struck by a freight train Sunday after becoming stranded on railroad tracks, officials said.

The accident occurred about 3:45 p.m. near the Ventura County Fairgrounds, said Lt. David Wilson of the Ventura Police Department, who was at the scene. The car-carrier was “high-centered” on the railroad tracks and the driver was trying to maneuver it off the tracks when Wilson arrived. Wilson said he called to have train traffic stopped, but a northbound freight train came barreling down the track only moments later. “We were able to get the driver out of the cab, luckily,” Wilson said.

The driver suffered minor injuries while fleeing from the impact, Wilson said.

The vintage Porsches “are close to totaled, if not totaled,” Wilson said. “The train center-punched the trailer carrying the cars and split the trailer in half, and the cars went flying,” he said.

No crew members on the train were injured, but the front wheels of the locomotive derailed, said John Bromley, a spokesman for Union Pacific. Debris was being removed from under the locomotive late Sunday night and there was no estimate on when the tracks would be cleared, Bromley said.

I think the little kid with his hands on his head in the first picture sums up perfectly how I would feel. Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt (other than the cars that is.)

[Picture Source: Pelican Parts]

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