2021 Porsche 911 Carrera on 2040-cars

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Despite premium carmakers going downmarket, luxury auto sales stick at 10-11%

According to research conducted by global information company IHS Automotive, the leporine birthing of new models by luxury manufacturers over the past six years hasn't increased their market share in the US. Even as car sales reached 15.6 million units, IHS says what's happened instead is that luxury buyers are merely moving from one brand to another, moving from larger luxury vehicles into hot segments like compact luxury crossovers or leaving the market at the same rate as other buyers enter.
Whether broken out by makes or by segment, market share has rollercoastered inside a narrow band from 10.5 to 11.5 percent since "at least" 2008. Closer investigation reveals the shifting boundaries in the aspirational pond, with brands like Mercedes-Benz and Audi gaining territory as Lexus and Lincoln lost it, and Saab and Hummer were buried, dead, under it. One neat note is that Tesla has gone from a share of zip to .12 percent.
The subcompact and compact crossover segments show growth, with those little high-riders jumping from .3 percent to 1.16 percent of overall industry sales. Their rise, though, is concomitant with the decline of four other segments: compact and midsize cars and fullsize cars and SUVs. We think the next few years that will tell if the small-car expansion can overcome the large-car retraction, with a phalanx of smaller offerings like the CLA only recently hitting the market and others like the GLA, Macan and Q1 doing so in the near future.

Jack Olsen built a Porsche 911 to drive every day and conquer Willow Springs

Almost two years ago we wrote about the 12-Gauge Garage Jack Olsen built to house his multifarious Porsche 911 - its 1972 bodywork hides four decades of Porsche parts, like the transaxle from a 1977 911 and the engine from 1995 911, for example. It weighs 2,400 pounds and has 272 horsepower, and Olsen uses it daily driving and for track days, the latter excursions featuring homemade, bolt-on aero parts. German magazine Auto Bild stopped by Olsen's house to look in on the Porsche called "Black Beauty II," and we get a few more details about the mods he's made, like swapping out for fiberglass body panels and welding Fuchs wheel centers to wider Corvette barrels so he could run different tires. Most importantly, though, Olsen divulges his passion for lowering his lap time at Willow Springs. Randy Pobst set the lap record for a production car around the 2.5-mile Big Willow track in a Porsche 918 Spyder at 1:23.54 during a Motor Trend test (the outright record, according to Willow Springs, is held by Michael Andretti at 1:06.050 in a CART car). Further down the list, Steve Millen drove a 415-hp 911 GT3 RS around the same track in 1:33.14 - a car 600 pounds heavier than Olsen's. Over the past 14 years of tinkering with his car, Olsen says his data shows his lap time is now down to 1:26.88, achieved on the day of filming the Auto Bild video. That time would put him in between the 1:26 flat posted by Dominik Farnbacher in a 608-hp Dodge Viper SRT-10 ACR and the 1:28.93 put up by Pobst in a 400-hp, 991-series 911. You can hear Olsen tell it in his own words in the video.

Aston Martin Valkyrie could beat that new Nurburgring record, Red Bull F1 boss says

During last weekend's Austrian Formula 1 Grand Prix, Race Fans asked Red Bull F1 team principal Christian Horner about the Aston Martin Valkyrie. The question was whether the coming hypercar, a collaboration between Red Bull and title sponsor Aston Martin, could beat the stunning lap record around the Nurburgring just set by the Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo. Horner's answer: "I'm not sure a Formula 1 car could actually do it, but I think that the Valkyrie — certainly the track version of the Valkyrie — could be a contender." That's a qualified endorsement, but it still counts as support merely putting the Valkyrie AMR Pro in the conversation. Let's compare, shall we? The 919 Hybrid Evo is based on the 2017 World Endurance Championship-winning 919 Hybrid. Freed from motorsport regulations, Porsche Motorsport upgraded numerous performance bits. The 2.0-liter, turbocharged V-four-cylinder went from 500 hp to 720 hp. The two KERS units went from 400 hp to 440 hp. We don't have a figure for downforce, but items like active aero, a larger front diffuser, optimized turning vanes, and larger rear wing increased downforce by 53 percent over the WEC car, at the same time being 66 percent more aero efficient. It weighs 849 kg dry, or 1,868 pounds because Porsche threw out everything that didn't contribute to speed. The Valkyrie specs we know of so far state a weight of 1,000 kilograms, or 2,200 pounds. Powering that is a custom, naturally aspirated, 6.5-liter AMR Cosworth V12 with more than 900 horsepower, augmented by a kinetic energy recovery system contributing around 230 hp. According to Autocar's sources, the Valkyrie could generate up to 4,000 pounds of downforce at an aerodynamically-limited 225 miles per hour. That boggling number comes courtesy of Adrian Newey's prowess at making changes such as openings between the front wheel arches and the cockpit that work the front wing harder. The two-seater coupe's unrestricted top speed is 254 mph. Note, though, that the Valkyrie AMR Pro will be more powerful, lighter, and could have even more downforce. And since Aston Martin and Newey continue to work on the hypercar, specs could get even better before deliveries begin. Right now, Horner's suggestion doesn't seem all that outrageous. We'll also wait to see if the Mercedes-AMG Project One pokes its nose in the ring, too. Not long ago, AMG chief Tobias Moers said it's "reasonable to speculate" the F1-inspired hypercar could claim an absolute lap record around the 'Ring.