2004 Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Porsche releases new images of LMP1 racecar

Porsche has released another batch of images of its LMP1 competitor preparing for its debut season in 2014. This isn't the first we've seen of the new car, as June saw four images of the new racer undergoing testing. Where those images looked merely like someone taking pics during the test, the 11 new images seen above have all the hallmarks of highly polished PR shots.
That aside, the camo-covered cars still provide another look at what the new LMP1 car will look like when it arrives next season. The taillights follow the example set by Audi, by vertically mounting ultra-thin LEDs on the tips of the rear wing, while the LED headlights sport the four-prong look that Porsche has been pushing of late. Besides those two items, its difficult to make out many details due to the amount of camo.
Porsche's LMP1 effort will be focused on the FIA World Endurance Championship, which will see the revered brand return to the top flights of the 24 Hours Of Le Mans with F1 ace Mark Webber behind the wheel. As we've mentioned before, the German brand has set up a dedicated microsite that will cover its newest racer's progress.

Luftgekuhlt is an incredible car show for air-cooled Porsches

Air-cooled Porsches: Three lousy words and four lousy syllables. String them together and you get an expensive, emotive cocktail. If you've always wanted to own one, you know that truth, as prices of vintage 356s, 911s, and even 914s have risen steadily and then recently, skyrocketed. That change in the economics of cars once considered workhorses has altered the zeitgeist around what Porsche means to different generations of fans. Back in the day, Porsche didn't strive to be as expensive or as untouchable as Ferrari's metal. As a result, you typically find Porsche owners able — and willing — to twist wrenches on their machines. For one thing, air-cooled cars from Zuffenhausen were relatively easy to maintain and drive in all four seasons. They weren't show ponies. But when cars become collectibles, the scene around them changes, and Porsche FIA World Endurance Championship racer Patrick Long and his longtime pal, designer Howie Idelson, were, as Long put it, sick of meets "at golf courses where you have to worry if your shoes match your pants." Long mixes fine in that world. He's the only American on Porsche's factory team and he's won in everything from ALMS to GT to Baja. That tends to put your loafers at plenty of tony cocktail parties. But Long and Idelson, both SoCal natives who met as kids racing karts, wanted to make something of the air-cooled Porsche car culture, not of the collecting culture. Hence the birth, less than three years ago, of Luftgeku hlt. "It's literally 'air-cooled' in German but has that nerdish, Instagram picture-trading offshoot of a kind of Porsche cult," Long says, noting he's less interested in defining the brand that now sells t-shirts and posters and more interested in keeping things loose. View 63 Photos "We had cars with original paint from guys who work their hands 'til they're bloody and we had 200 of the most collectible cars." As such, he was still floored by the recently convened Luftgekuhlt 3, the third party he and Idelson have put on and by far the largest. It was held in the shadow of the L.A. skyline at the headquarters of Modernica furniture. More than 400 air-cooled Porsches and their owners convened. The location was no afterthought. "We wanted people to come for the cars and then be blown away by the venue: It has to be interesting. It has to attract different kinds of people." To spur that, Long doesn't adhere to the strict fealty of precision that's a default at most collector rallies.

2017 Porsche 911 gains AWD traction for its turbos [w/video]

The new 2017 Porsche 911 Carrera 4 (in all its numerous iterations) joins its downsized, turbocharged, rear-drive brethren, but adds the benefit of an electro-hydraulically controlled all-wheel-drive system. These latest additions to the 911 family feature all updates applied to the new Carrera, both cosmetic and functional. The rear-end bodywork is also widened by 1.7 inches, with a light strip running across the tail. There are two engine choices, but either way you're getting a 3.0-liter twin-turbo flat-six. The base version produces 370 horsepower and 331 pound-feet of torque, while the S model cranks up to 420 hp and 368 lb-ft. Then you'll need to choose your transmission: seven-speed manual or dual-clutch. Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) suspension comes standard, but the Sport Chrono package (which adds a 918-inspired drive mode selector switch on the steering wheel) is an option. Four-wheel steering is available on 4S models as well. And of course you'll need to choose between body-styles. There are three in all: coupe, convertible, or Targa – each available in either engine tune. Those are largely the same choices you'd have to have made for the previous models, but now they're faster and more powerful, while delivering up to 12-percent higher efficiency. Zero-to-60 times are down 0.3 seconds over the preceding, naturally aspirated models: the Carrera 4 is quoted at 3.9 seconds, and the 4S at just 3.6. Convertible and Targa models add 0.2 seconds to those times, with top speeds ranging from 178 to 189 miles per hour. Pricing for the US starts at $97,295 (with delivery) for the new 911 Carrera 4, and stretches all the way up to $123,595 for the Targa 4S. Don't feel the need to rush your decision though, as the all-wheel-drive 911s won't start hitting dealers Stateside until April of next year. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. THE PORSCHE 911 CARRERA 4 AND 911 TARGA 4 MODELS WITH NEW TURBOCHARGED ENGINES AND ENHANCED ALL-WHEEL DRIVE SYSTEMS ATLANTA, Oct. 6, 2015 -- With the new 2017 911 Carrera 4 and 911 Targa 4 models, the traction advantage courtesy of an enhanced all-wheel drive system is paired with innovative turbocharged engines that are more powerful and consume less fuel than their predecessors.