Before Donut Media got morphy with the BMW 3 Series they went all blurry-eyed with the Porsche 911. If ever there was a car made for such an animation it is the iconic 911. Well done lads, well done!
[Source: Donut Media]
Category: Porsche
In the name of the P1, the 918 and the holy LaFerrari.
It’s the video we’d all been waiting for. After a bit over two weeks it’s racked up more than 1.2 million views. It’s Chris Harris in three of the most desirable cars ever made.
At almost one hour long the recipe couldn’t get any better. Throw in an empty and excellent Portimao racetrack and, well, yeah, the recipe does get better. And this video is great viewing, it really is.
But is it as good as you were hoping?
Paul Walker was killed in late 2013 while taking a ride in a 2005 Porsche Carrera GT. Walker’s friend Roger Rodas was driving at the time of the accident. Excessive speed is thought to have been the main cause of the accident, but Porsche is now being forced to defend itself following news that Walker’s daughter, Meadow Walker, is filing a wrongful death suit against the company.
The lawsuit claims, “the vehicle lacked safety features that are found on well-designed racing cars or even Porsche’s least expensive road cars—features that could have prevented the accident or, at a minimum, allowed Paul Walker to survive the crash.”
It’s also claimed that the seatbelt design of the Carrera GT was faulty and contributed to Walker’s death.
In response Porsche states, “We are very sad whenever anyone is hurt in a Porsche vehicle, but we believe the authorities’ reports in this case clearly establish that this tragic crash resulted from reckless driving and excessive speed.”
[Source: CNN, The Guardian & Variety]
You may remember a chap by the name of Arthur Schening who we featured earlier this year. He’s a graphic designer by day and automotive artist by night. Here’s one of his latest releases, the beautiful Porsche 917K in Gulf Racing livery.
Having purchased a couple of pieces already we can vouch for the quality of the prints supplied by Schening and we’re going to find it very hard to resist ordering a copy of this 917 artwork.
For those of you not so inflicted with the Porsche disease perhaps this Ferrari 512M or Alfa Romeo Giula TZ2 may tempt you.
[Source: Schening Creative]
The Queen of the Nürburgring, Sabine Schmitz, was sent out to lap the Nordschleife in a new Porsche 911 GT3 by the folks from RSR Nürburg. Her conclusion is not really much of a surprise, but the clip is worth a watch nonethless. And for the females viewing, make sure you catch Sabine’s pro-tip for tackling the Karussell.
Matthias Müller will move from his role as Porsche CEO into the Volkswagen Group CEO seat left vacant by the disgraced Martin Winterkorn.
On his appointment Müller said: “My most urgent task is to win back trust for the Volkswagen Group—by leaving no stone unturned and with maximum transparency, as well as drawing the right conclusions from the current situation.
“Under my leadership, Volkswagen will do everything it can to develop and implement the most stringent compliance and governance standards in our industry.”
Of course, you’d expect there to be glowing praise for Müller coming from inside Volkswagen and Bernd Osterloh, Chairman of the Group Works Council, has stepped up stating: “When it comes to leadership appointments the Volkswagen Group does not need hasty decisions. We know and value Matthias Müller for his determination and decisiveness. He does not work on his own, rather he is a team player. That is what Volkswagen needs now.”
Müller began his Volkswagen Group with Audi in the 1970s and and has also held positions with Seat, Lamborghini and Volkswagen during his rise to the top of the Volkswagen Group tree.
Meanwhile, Volkswagen says that five million of the 11 million vehicles affected worldwide by the noxgate scandal are Volkswagen products and those fitted with the affected EA189 2.0 TDI engines include the Golf VI, Passat VII and Tiguan.
Dr Herbert Diess, CEO of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand stressed: “We are working at full speed on a technical solution that we will present to partners, to our customers and to the public as swiftly as possible. Our aim is to inform our customers as quickly as possible, so that their vehicles comply fully with regulations. I assure you that Volkswagen will do everything humanly possible to win back the trust of our customers, the dealerships and the public.”
For its part Volkswagen Australia remains eerily silent on the issue, with no official press releases or comment on its website about the noxgate drama.
If an Italian family of coachbuilders with a history of working on Ferraris can’t be immune from the Porsche disease then who can be?
There’s nothing spectacular about this latest video from Petrolicious, but it captures the intangible feeling revheads from across the globe have for their cars. And who wouldn’t love to have a Porsche 356 Speedster in their family?!
Categories
2016 Porsche 911 Carrera revealed
Porsche has gone live with the first details for its facelifted 991.2 range, showcasing the now all bi-turbo 911 Carrera models.
Let’s get the key numbers of these new turbo engines out of the way. For starters both the entry-level Carrera and the up-spec Carrera S 3.0 litre flat-six engines.
Receiving a literal and metaphorical boost for both power and torque compared with the first-gen 991 models the Carrera now has 272kW/450Nm, while the Carrera S has 309kW/500Nm to play with. That represents a steady 15kW increase in peak power for both models.
To achieve the extra power for the Carrera S, Porsche says it has modified the turbos, uprated the exhaust and refined the engine software.
The new Carrera models are available for order in Australia now, with deliveries due in March 2016. For more details read the introductory press release available below.
2016 Porsche 911 Carrera
- Engine: 3.0 litre bi-turbo flat six
- Peak power/torque: 272kW/450Nm
- 0–100km/h: 4.2 seconds (with PDK and Sports Chrono pack)
- Top speed: 295km/h
2016 Porsche 911 Carrera S
- Engine: 3.0 litre bi-turbo flat six
- Peak power/torque: 309kW/500Nm
- 0–100km/h: 3.9 seconds
- Top speed: 308km/h
2016 Porsche 911 Carrera Australian list pricing*
- 911 Carrera Coupe – $217,800
- 911 Carrera S Coupe – $252,800
- 911 Carrera Cabriolet – $239,300
- 911 Carrera S Cabriolet – $274,300
More pics to follow.
UPDATE: 11 new pics, 2 videos and 1 press kit added below.
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Porsche 991.2 911 facelift leaked
The last visual details of the forthcoming 991.2 facelift for the Porsche 911 have been revealed in a video leaked to Porsche-based Rennteam forum.
In the grainy video stills we can see the BBQ-style rear air intake at the rear and, for the first time, the Macan-like rear light detail.
Official pics and information is due for release in the coming days, ahead of the Frankfurt Motor Show.
[Source: Rennteam | Thanks to Wayne for the tip]
Porsche takes us inside the 918 Spyder assembly hall with this 11 minute video. There’s no voiceover. No overwhelming stats on performance or the number of parts used. Just the workers going about their job. It’s strangely hypnotic.
And what a car!
Mark Webber must love the Nürburgring. Back in 2009 he cracked his maiden Formula 1 victory in the Eifel mountains and early this morning he, along with his Porsche teammates, won the 6 Hours of Nürburgring. It was Mark’s first WEC race win.
It was a huge day for Porsche too, who dominated with 1–2 victories in both the LMP1 and GTE Pro categories.
Full results available HERE.
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Porsche 918 Spyder in Gulf Racing livery
We don’t know much about this recent event at Porsche Centre Saskatchewan in Canada where a pair of Porsche 918 Spyders were unveiled in Gulf Racing colours, but we do know thse cars look damn hot!
The only question is, would you like your 918 in Gulf colours or Salzburg red?
[Source: VWvortex | Thanks to Paul for the tip]