2006 Porsche Cayman S Hatchback 2-door 3.4l on 2040-cars

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Ferdinand Piech (1937-2019): The man who made VW global

Towering among his peers, a giant of the auto industry died Sunday night in Rosenheim/Upper Bavaria, Germany. Ferdinand Piech, a grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, who conceived the original Volkswagen in the 1930s, was the most polarizing automotive executive of our times. And one who brought automotive technology further than anyone else. Ferdinand Porsche had a son, Ferdinand (called "Ferry"), and a daughter, Louise, who married the Viennese lawyer Anton Piech. They gave birth to Ferdinand Piech, and his proximity to two Alfa Romeo sports cars — Porsche had done some work for the Italians — and the "Berlin-Rome-Berlin" race car, developed by Porsche himself, gave birth to Piech's interest in cars. After his teachers in Salzburg told his mother he was "too stupid" to attend school there, Piech, who was open about his dyslexia, was sent to a boarding school in Switzerland. He subsequently moved on to Porsche, where he fixed issues with the 904 race car and did major work on the 911. But his greatest project was the Le Mans-winning 917 race car, developed at breathtaking financial cost. It annihilated the competition, but the family had had enough: Amid growing tension among the four cousins working at Porsche and Piech's uncle Ferry, the family decided to pull every family member, except for Ferry, out of their management positions. Piech started his own consultancy business, where he designed the famous five-cylinder diesel for Mercedes-Benz, but quickly moved on to Audi, first as an engineer and then as CEO, where he set out to transform the dull brand into a technology leader. Piech killed the Wankel engine and hammered out a number of ambitious and sophisticated technologies. Among them: The five-cylinder gasoline engine; Quattro all-wheel drive and Audi's fantastic rally successes; and turbocharging, developed with Fritz Indra, whom Piech recruited from Alpina. The Audi 100/200/5000 became the world's fastest production sedan, thanks to their superior aerodynamics. Piech also launched zinc-coated bodies for longevity — and gave diesel technology a decisive boost with the advent of the fast and ultra-efficient TDI engines. Less known: Piech also decided to put larger gas tanks into cars. Customers loved it. Piech's first-generation Audi V8 was met with derision by competitors; it was too obviously based on the 200/5000.

2015 Porsche 911 GTS widens your rear-engined choices

"Porsche needs to offer more versions of the 911" is not a phrase you'll hear uttered often. Not with 15 versions already in the catalog. But with the opening of this year's LA Auto Show, Porsche has introduced four more to bring the total up to nineteen variants. And more are no doubt on the way. What you're looking at is the new Porsche 911 GTS, which has grown from one model in the previous generation to four. Buyers will be able to choose between rear- or all-wheel drive and between coupe and cabriolet body-styles, but either way they'll be looking at a 3.8-liter flat six with 430 horsepower. That slots it in between the base Carrera and the GT3, but unlike the hardcore latter, it can be had with choice of manual or dual-clutch transmission – bringing the available configurations of 911 GTS up to eight. Spec the DCT and you'll be reaching 60 in as little as 3.8 seconds, but the pleasure won't come cheap: prices range from $114,200 for the rear-drive coupe to $132,800 for the all-wheel-drive cabrio, plus another $995 for delivery. But for that much scratch you also get the Powerkit, Sport Chrono package, wider track, lower suspension, Xenon headlamps, Alcantara trim, 20-inch alloys and more all thrown in as standard.

Porsche 919 Hybrid sets new qualifying record at Le Mans [w/video]

Porsche is getting off to a great start at Le Mans this year, setting a new qualifying lap record. Both Neel Jani and Timo Bernhardt clocked qualifying times in the latest Porsche 919 Hybrid that eclipse the previous record. At 3:16.887 and 3:17.767, both Porsche factory works drivers beat the record 3:18.51 qualifying time achieved by Stephane Sarrazin in the Peugeot 908 back in 2008. We should note, however, that these times are for the current track configuration. The outright qualifying record for any configuration still belongs to – you guessed it, also Porsche. Pedro Rodriguez pole position in 1971 in the Porsche 917 at 3:13.90. His teammate Jackie Oliver lapped even faster during the practice session at 3:13.6, and went on to set the fastest race lap that same year, which still stands at 3:18.4. The long and short of it, though, is that Porsche has been and remains the force to be reckoned with when it comes to outright pace around the French circuit. All that remains to be seen is whether the team can translate that pace into victory over the defending Le Mans winners at Audi and the reigning World Endurance Champions at Toyota. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. 24 Hours of Le Mans : Porsche beats all records! As expected, this first day will be have been marked by the domination of the Porsche 919 Hybrid cars during the first qualifying practice and who totally smashed the record of the track. But let's be careful, Audi isn't far behind. In LM P2, an Oreca 05 from Team KCMG finished in front whereas the Aston Martins excelled in LM GTE Pro and LM GTE Am. During the free practice sessions that took place between 4 and 8pm, the competitors began carefully on a drying track after the afternoon rain. The red flag was presented only 5 minutes after the opening of the track because of an immobilized driver who had made a mistake (without any other consequence other than this neutralization) at braking point in the chicane ForzaMotorsport (first of the two chicanes on the Hunaudieres). The British driver Richard Bradley was the cause of this behind the steering wheel of the Oreca 05 n°47 of the Hong Kong team KCMG. The prototype LM P2 was brought back to the pits on the breakdown truck. A little later, the same Richard Bradley did the best time of the free session on this Oreca 05 n°47.