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2014 Porsche 911 Targa

I've watched the electro-hydraulic roof panel open and close about 73 times in the past hour, but its fascinatingly complicated operation still has me mesmerized. I've concluded that only a German automaker - Porsche, to be more specific - would go through the trouble of engineering a roof system that essentially lifts the entire greenhouse off a vehicle, rearranges its components like a sliding-tile puzzle, and then reassembles all of them seamlessly (sans roof panel) to accurately recreate one of its most famed bodystyles.
The 2014 Porsche 911 Targa is a near-perfect modern interpretation of the automaker's 1965 911 Targa, a semi-convertible bodystyle that represents nearly 13 percent of all 911 models sold since production started 50 years ago. While the early car's roof was purely manual in operation - that's the period-correct way of saying that the driver did all of the muscle work - today's Targa is a completely automated transformation that requires only that the driver hold down a cabin-mounted switch for a mere 19 seconds to let the captivating show run its course.
After studying the Targa's elaborate roof operation at its launch at the Detroit Auto Show earlier this year, I was sufficiently intrigued. To that end, I traveled one-third of the way around the planet to southern Italy, hoping that the Mediterranean climate would reveal a bit more about the reintroduction of the automaker's iconic sports car.

Hyundai, Porsche top J.D. Power APEAL study

Just as they did in the Initial Quality Study, Porsche and Hyundai have taken the premium and non-premium crown, respectively, for the 2014 J.D. Power APEAL study. This is the tenth consecutive year for that Porsche has been rated the best premium make in the APEAL study, which attempts to figure out how pleased owners are with their purchases. For 2014, it asked 86,000 owners of MY2014 cars to rate their vehicles in 77 different categories 90 days after their initial purchase. The resulting figures were plugged in deliver the APEAL score, which is rated on a 1,000-point scale.
The industry average sits at 794 points for 2014, although that's a one-percent decline over last year's rating. In this year's study, premium brands averaged 840 out of 1,000, while non-premium makes average 785. For their part, Porsche netted an impressive 882 points, while Hyundai earned an 804. Interestingly, only four non-premium brands (Hyundai, Ram, Volkswagen and Mini) finished above the industry average for 2014.
It's also interesting to see the clear delineation between premium and non-premium brands, with an eight-point gap between the non-premium champ, Hyundai, and the lowest-rated premium brand, Volvo.

Next Porsche Cayman and Boxster to be called 718?

Porsche has spent a few years sorting out its strategy away from the 911 and its crossovers, among the moving targets being the now-moribund Ferrari-fighting 960, the still-very-much-alive variant(s) coming with the next-generation Panamera, and what appears to be a puissant Cayman that could be called the GT4. Earlier this year there were rumors that a flat-four engine would join the Stuttgart maker's lineup, and that it could go into a roadster called the 718 that would undercut the current $51,400 price of the Boxster, and the Boxster would go upscale, leapfrogging the $52,600 price of the Cayman. Then Porsche turned out the lights on the 718 project, its R&D head telling Autocar, "We have a very good entry point to the range with the Boxster, and we see no reason to go below that." But Automobile reports that while the 718 roadster is dead, the 718 name will live: a la the 911, a new 718 range will encompass coupes and convertibles spanning a wide performance envelope. The suggestion is that the Boxster and Cayman names will be retired. According to Automobile, this will give Porsche a place to put its flat-four engine, into entry level models that – countering Porsche's earlier statement – "come in at a significantly lower price than" the present Boxster. Two displacements are expected, in three outputs: a 2.0-liter with 285 horsepower, a 2.5-liter with 360 hp and a turbocharged version with 400 hp. It's also been speculated that the engine could power an entry-level Macan. It's been reported before that Porsche wants to make use of the 718 name to promote its motorsport heritage, that model having carried Stirling Moss to victory among its many racing triumphs. If it happens, even though Automobile calls it part of "a slight perspective shift," we think it'll be a big shift for the two popular models, but it's not like we haven't had time to get ready. We're told the new moniker will be introduced in 2016 as a 2017 model. News Source: Automobile via World Car Fans Porsche Convertible Coupe porsche 718