2009 Pontiac Solstice Gxp on 2040-cars

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Porsche Boxster Spyder to get GT3's 4.0-liter flat six?

It's been a merry-go-round the past few months, the rumormill focused on what will power the next Porsche Boxster Spyder. First came hearsay of a flat-six going into the special edition of a model line known for its turbocharged four-cylinder engines. Then came tattling that the flat-six in question was the naturally aspirated, 4.0-liter from the 911 GT3. A couple of weeks ago we wrote " we'd be surprised if Porsche packed anything other than a turbocharged flat-four under the skin." But Autocar has a new report that, indeed, a downtuned version of the 500-horsepower 4.0-liter from the GT3's rump will move to the Boxster Spyder's midsection. The Autocar piece follows a Wheels magazine article from last November, and the prediction isn't outrageous. When Car and Driver reviewed the last Boxster Spyder, it wrote, "the hand-me-down six comes from the older 911 Carrera S, not to be confused with the new turbocharged 3.0-liter flat-six that powers the refreshed 911." If we can believe a recent report from Automobile about the 992-series 911 due later this year, the same thing is happening: The 991.2-series GT3 bequeaths its powerplant to the smaller sibling, and the 992-series GT3 moves to a 3.8-liter, twin-turbo flat-six with around 550 hp. Autocar quotes Andreas Preuninger, the Porsche engineer leading the development of all of these wunderkinds, saying of the Boxster earlier this year, "Natural aspiration is one of our main USPs. ... [We] think we can achieve throttle response and immediacy a little bit better with an atmospheric high-revving engine than any kind of turbo." We'll guess that means, by inference, that the GT3 is about to age out of naturally-aspirated university. The limited-edition Boxster Spyder might carry the torch with the 4.0-liter, with output somewhere around 430 hp. The Cayman GT4 could do the same. Or, who knows, an evolution of the 375-hp, 3.8-liter flat-six in the previous Boxster Spyder might burble out of left field. We expect to see the Boxster Spyder late this year. Until then, we'll wait to see what the merry-go-round says next time the Zuffenhausen horse comes around. Related Video: Featured Gallery Porsche 718 Boxster Spyder spy shots View 13 Photos News Source: Autocar via JalopnikImage Credit: CarPix Rumormill Pontiac Convertible Luxury Special and Limited Editions Performance porsche 911 gt3

Howard Stern latest in Seinfeld's passenger seat for CiCGC

We'll be honest: the actual cars in Jerry Seinfeld's hit internet series, Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee, typically take a back seat to the celebrities in the front row. Seinfeld usually throws in a few lines about his classic wheels in the first minute or so, and then moves on to the important business of sprightly conversation and pithy one-liners. It's great.
This time around, with legendary motormouth Howard Stern riding shotgun, the 1969 Pontiac GTO Judge that might have been a co-star, gets forgotten about almost completely. Instead, Stern spends a tremendous amount of screen time extolling the virtues of his therapy sessions, attempts to dive into Seinfeld's prowess as a lover and generally makes a nuisance of himself. Pretty much to plan, then.
Scroll below to hear Howard accuse Jerry of acting like Jesus, just before declaring himself the greatest radio personality in the history of the business.

Junkyard Gem: 2004 Pontiac Vibe GT

The New United Motor Manufacturing plant in Fremont, California, built Toyota-derived machinery — badged as Toyotas, Chevrolets, Geos, and Pontiacs— from 1984 through 2010, and some of the very last vehicles that left the assembly line were Pontiac Vibes. The Vibe, sibling to the Toyota Matrix, mostly served as a ho-hum transportation appliance and/or fleet car, but a factory-hot-rod GT version could be purchased. Today's Junkyard Gem is one of those rare GTs, complete with the nearly unheard-of six-speed manual transmission, found in a self-service yard in northeastern Colorado. The regular Vibe had 123 or 130 horsepower, depending on the number of driven wheels, but the Vibe GT got the same 1.8-liter 2ZZ engine that went into the Celica GT-S. 180 horsepower, which was enough to make the 2,800-pound Vibe GT keep up with the 3,108-pound/215-horse Chrysler PT Cruiser Turbo that year. Sadly, no race series pitting Vibe GTs against PT Cruiser Turbos and Chevy HHR SSs on road courses ever materializedÂ… but it's not too late. The Vibe GT has something you couldn't get in a PT Cruiser or Chevy HHR, though: a six-speed manual transmission as standard equipment. In fact, the six-speed was the only transmission offered in the early Vibe GTs (an automatic became an option later on). You'll find plenty of three-pedal econoboxes from this era, because they were significantly cheaper than their slushbox-equipped counterparts, but the Vibe GT had plenty of competition from sportier-looking cars with manual transmissions in 2004. Not many were sold. This car is covered with nasty dents from golf-ball-sized hail (all too common in High Plains Colorado), so it may have been an insurance total that nobody wanted at auction. Sold in Wyoming, will be crushed in an adjacent state. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Fuel for the soul. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. The kids, they were crazy about the Vibe (well, maybe not). This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Toyota had right-hand-drive Matrixes brought over to Japan from Canada, but a NUMMI-built version of the Vibe could be purchased there for a few years as well. This was the Voltz, and its advertising seems notably frantic even by the standards of Japanese car commercials.