2004 Porsche Cayenne S on 2040-cars

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Porsche 911 Carrera gets turbocharged engine for under $90k

There's a new Porsche 911 Carrera blowing into dealerships in March of 2016, and it will be the first such model from the German automaker to boast a turbocharged engine. Making 370 horsepower and 331 pound-feet of torque from 3.0 liters of displacement, the new flat-six engine in the base Carrera is 20-hp stronger than it was in 2015. Carrera S models bump the power level to 420 ponies and 368 lb-ft thanks to tweaked tuning parameters. The added grunt makes these the fastest 911 Carrera models ever, with Porsche touting a 7:30 lap – a full 10 seconds faster than before – of the famed Nurburgring track in Germany as proof. Those who only care about going fast in a straight line will be delighted by the 4.0-second 0-60 time of the base Carrera and even more impressed by the S model's 3.7-second run. Top speeds are 183 and 191 miles per hour, respectively. A seven-speed manual transmission is standard, and Porsche's Doppelkupplung (PDK) automated manual gearbox is optional. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. When equipped with the Sport Chrono Package, the 911 Carrera features a new mode switch on the steering wheel with settings for Normal, Sport, Sport Plus, and Individual. Porsche Active Suspension Management is standard on all models, and, in another first for a Carrera, rear-wheel steering is optional. Efficiency hasn't been forgotten for 2016, either. Porsche says its new 911 Carrera models will be as much as 12-percent more fuel economy with their new turbocharged engines. Tech buffs will surely appreciate the new Porsche Communication Management infotainment system, which features multi-touch gesture capability and handwriting recognition right on the seven-inch display. Apple CarPlay is also supported, and Google Earth and Streetview are new to PCM for 2016. The 2017 Porsche 911 Carrera is slated to hit the States with an MSRP of $89,400 (we assume that won't include destination, which in 2015 equals $995), which is about $5,000 more expensive than the 2015 model that's currently available. The 2016 Carrera S will carry a sticker price of $103,400, which is a $4,500 increase. Cabriolet models will run from $101,700 to $115,700. Porsche will show its latest 911 Carrera off at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show, but you can read all the details right now in the press release below.

Car companies may need to start curbing model proliferation

Looking at the current automotive landscape, especially from German makers, you quickly get the impression that less definitely isn't more. BMW alone offers its 3 Series platform in practically every segment possible, including the regular sedan and 4 Series Gran Coupe, which would seem to be direct competitors. Porsche might be the winner, though, with 20 different variants of the 911 listed for sale on its US website. However, some of this model madness might be reaching an end as companies begin cutting back spending or shifting money to other priorities.
According to Yahoo Finance, the offerings from the German automakers are up 25 percent over the past three years to over 200 models in Europe. The peak is expected to come around 2018 at 230 separate vehicles, according to consulting company PwC.
Amazingly, BMW, which is among the poster children for this model explosion, might be changing its tune. "I'm sure there will be points in the future where we look at certain cars and say, 'Maybe we need to think differently now,'" said head of sales Ian Robertson in an interview, according to Yahoo Finance. The statement certainly sounds shocking coming from a company rumored to have 23 front-wheel-drive vehicles all using a single platform on the way.

Porsche Cayenne shows a bit more face, plug-in spotted

Porsche was first rumored to be working on a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) version of the Cayenne over a year ago. However, we had never seen it, until now. The new model was caught almost completely undisguised while testing. In another stroke of luck, we got a glimpse of the upcoming facelift for Porsche's SUV (pictured above) as well.
According to the spy shooter, it was windy during the cars' cold weather testing. The cover blew off of the facelifted Cayenne, and there was enough time to snap these pictures before it could be hidden again. The changes are all quite minor but jive with what we saw the last time it was spied. The rear still wears some cladding but is expected to be hiding lights similar to the Macan.
The second gallery shows off the upcoming Cayenne PHEV. It looks nearly identical to the standard model, except for the extra panel on the driver's side of the car that hides the electric port. One image even shows the car plugged in. The new version is expected to use the same supercharged 3.0-liter V6 and 9.4-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack with a combined 416 horsepower and 435 pound-feet of torque from the Panamera S E-Hybrid. We enjoyed the system when we tested it last year. It's rumored to debut on the SUV sometime this year.