Porsche 356 B on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Weekly Recap: Mazda's rotary revival ignites Tokyo Motor Show

Forty-eight years ago Mazda pioneered rotary engines in the Cosmo Sport. Mazda then honed the technology, won with it on the racetrack, and made it one of its signature features. If you're an enthusiast, rotary was a reason you like Mazda. It's a great part of the company's past. But until this week, that's exactly what we thought it was. History. That all changed with the reveal of the RX-Vision concept at the Tokyo Motor Show, which reignited the passions of the Mazda faithful. Suddenly, rotary was no longer a relic. The rotary concept shown in Japan was a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive sports car wrapped in the company's latest Kodo design language. It's powered by a Skyactiv-R unit (R for rotary), though specs were not disclosed. Mass production is "currently on hold," Mazda said, maintaining it never stopped development of rotary technology, even after the demise of the RX-8. Beyond that, we know nothing, other than the optimistic statement Mazda offered that: the "RX-Vision represents a vision of the future that Mazda hopes to one day make into reality." Put simply: we agree. OTHER NEWS & NOTES: Subaru previews next-gen Impreza While the Mazda concept was the headliner from Tokyo, Subaru's Impreza design study also stood out. The five-door concept is a signpost for the look of next-generation Impreza. It blends sportiness with functionality, and it's wrapped in a striking shade of 'high-luminance silver.' The fenders are flared to signal Subaru's all-wheel-drive capability, and the front has futuristic headlights that look like something from an Audi E-Tron concept. While most of this will be toned down in production, the concept suggests an elevated style for the Impreza, which is due as a 2017 model. Porsche adds potent GTS model to 2017 Macan line Porsche is giving the Macan crossover the GTS treatment, which will start at $68,195 when it goes on sale in March. GTS translates to more power, a sportier suspension, and interior and exterior design cues that sharpen the looks and reflexes of one of the most athletic SUVs on the market. Porsche recalibrated the 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 from the Macan S to make 360 hp and 369 lb-ft, (up from 340 hp and 339 lb-ft in the S). It teams with a seven-speed PDK gearbox and all-wheel drive. An air suspension is standard. The body features a slew of black accents, and the standard 20-inch RS Spyder wheels are done up in a shade of satin black. The cabin gets leather, Alcantara, and GTS logos.

Lanzante building 11 Porsche 930 restomods with actual F1-raced engines

In " Casino Royale," James Bond gets a lesson in tailored clothing when Vesper Lynd gives him a new dinner jacket. Bond tell her he already has a jacket, and Lynd replies, "There are dinner jackets and dinner jackets. This one is the latter." News from Lanzante makes us paraphrase that line in saying, "There are 911 restomods and 911 restomods." Lanzante's is definitely the latter. The English engineering firm is building 11 Eighties-era Porsche 930s with genuine TAG-branded Porsche engines that the McLaren Formula One team used to win 25 races. From 1984 to 1987, Porsche built a 1.5-liter turbocharged V6, branded as the TAG-Porsche TTE P01, for the McLaren MP4/2 and MP4/3; if the naming seems odd to cover four years, it's because McLaren raced the MP4/2B and MP4/2C in 1985 and 1986. The engine produced more than 1,000 horsepower in qualifying trim, and 750 hp in race spec. In its first three years on the grid, the engine powered McLaren to two Constructor's Championships, and three Driver's Championships for Niki Lauda and Alain Prost. During that time, McLaren built a prototype Porsche 930 with that TAG engine, but kept it so far out of sight that people spoke of it as a rumor. The English carmaker finally proved the rumor true a few years ago when it put the prototype on display in the lobby of its Woking headquarters. Enter Lanzante, which has a history with McLaren going back to at least 1995, when it prepped the Veno Clinic McLaren F1 GTR that won Le Mans that year. More recently, it built road-legal P1 GTRs called the P1 GT, and a one-off P1 Longtail. McLaren sold Lanzante the 11 engines for this run of monstrously overpowered Porsche coupes, and Lanzante showed off the first example at the recent Rennsport Reunion at Laguna Seca — news that somehow got lost in the general Porsche overdose and Moby Dick revival. Built just like the original McLaren-Porsche prototype, no one will think anything's astray with the new version's white bodywork and RUF wheels. The camouflage continues inside, where a pair of upholstered racing buckets might offer a small clue. The instrument panel gives things away, containing a tachometer branded "TAG Turbo" with a 9,000-rpm redline, and a water temperature gauge. Cosworth is restoring the engines for the program, and each of the 11 examples gets a plaque in the engine bay listing its engine's race history.

Porsche Boxster and Cayman 4-cyl rated from 240 hp to 370 hp

Car magazine has information on the revised 981.2-series Porsche Boxster and Cayman twins that will inaugurate the all-turbo era for those two ranges. Almost all-turbo, that is - we're told that variants like the Cayman GT4 will continue with the flat-six. The rest, though, will come with a 2.0-liter, horizontally opposed, four-cylinder aided by just one turbocharger, according to Car's sources. Entry-level models will start at 240 horsepower, the S models graduate to 300 hp, the GTS trims get 370 hp. If accurate, the new new outputs will make for a wider power range than at present, and the base and S cars will go down in horsepower. Right now the Boxster gets 265 hp, the Boxster S gets 315 hp, and the Cayman lineup has ten more horsepower than the Boxster across the range but Car doesn't mention that continuing. The only gains come with the GTS models: the Boxster S will go up by 40 hp, the Cayman by 30 hp. To keep turbo lag from being an issue, Porsche could install some sort of e-boost to work while the turbo spools up "as a short-to-mid-term option." It is also possible that the Cayman will be sold as the entry-level vehicle in some markets at a lower price than the Boxster. The swap is planned to help Cayman sales, which have lagged the Boxster since launch. A 2016 unveil is predicted, perhaps at the Detroit Auto Show or Geneva Motor Show. Related Video: