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Porsche offering new tire option for Carrera GT

Let's face it: finding new tires for older cars can be challenging if tire manufacturers have stopped carrying the right sizes (this writer went through Hell to find a set of 205/60-13s). But what about tires for low-volume supercars, which use sizes that often won't fit on high-volume production vehicles? The Porsche Carrera GT isn't that old and tires are still available in the correct sizes, but the German automaker has shown its support of keeping them on the road by working with Michelin to give owners yet another tire option. Enter the Carrera GT-specific Pilot Super Sport.
It's common knowledge that tires are one of the most important pieces of the performance puzzle, and Porsche claims that the PSS tires, sized 265/35ZR-19 front and 335/30ZR-20 with Porsche's "N0" rating, will improve the Carrera GT's handling and stability all the way up to its claimed top speed of 205 miles per hour. That's important for a car with razor-sharp handling characteristics. They'll also net drivers a 10-percent increase in fuel economy on regular roads and up to 20 percent on racetracks, Porsche says.
The PSSs use cutting-edge tire technology to harness the Carrera GT's 610-horsepower. They have a dual-compound tread that's different from the inside of the tire to the outside, which, Porsche says, helps steering precision and increases maximum grip. Aramid fibers, which are lightweight but just as strong as steel, are used in the tire's belt to reduce unsprung weight.

Cars selling highest above MSRP and lowest below MSRP

Automakers have returned to offering incentives and promoting new vehicles after a few years of tight inventory and elevated prices. Despite that, prices are still higher than they should be, as a new iSeeCars study found that the average new car is priced above MSRP, though they’re slightly less painful than they were a year ago. iSeeCars found that the average new car price has been marked up to 7.2 percent above MSRP, down from 8.9 percent a year ago. Interestingly, the five most overpriced cars came from two premium brands, while four of the five priced the lowest below MSRP were EVs. New cars selling highest above MSRP Mini Hardtop: 25.5% above MSRP Porsche Taycan Sedan: 23.1% Porsche Cayenne: 21.9% Porsche Macan: 21.3% Porsche Taycan Wagon: 20.9% Cadillac CT5-V: 20% Porsche 718 Boxster: 19.9% Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid: 19.4% BMW X3 M: 19.4% Cadillac CT4-V: 19.3% Porsche, Mini, and Genesis were the three most overpriced brands overall, with Buick, Acura, and Infiniti landing as the lowest-priced brands. Electric vehicles dominated the list of the 10 most-discounted vehicles: New cars selling lowest below MSRP Hyundai Kona Electric: -4.6% VW ID.4: -3.6% Ford F-150 Hybrid: -3.3% Kia EV6: -2.5% Hyundai Ioniq 6: -2.4% Nissan Maxima: -2.2% Chrysler Pacifica PHEV: -2% Nissan Ariya: -1.9% Hyundai Ioniq 5: -1.9% VW Arteon: -1.8% Those numbers align with what we saw in the market last year, as EV sales grew, but far slower than many had hoped. iSeeCars executive analyst Karl Brauer said. (For a sense of that, you can look back at our coverage of most marked-up cars and most discounted cars from 2023.) “The market appears to have reached a saturation point for electric vehicles," Brauer said, "with both prices and sales struggling compared to a year ago. The high cost of full-size trucks and SUVs, along with the cost of fueling them in the face of inflation and reduced consumer spending power, has dampened demand for these notoriously pricey vehicles.”

Porsche 918 Spyder to birth stretched 2+2 version?

Porsche is known for its ability to spin off a litter of variants from a single model, and according to a report in Automobile the 918 Spyder (pictured here) might not be spared the house trick. Having taken too many brains and too much money for too much time, company chiefs are said to be examining ways to get more for their development euro out of the supercar, and Plan A is apparently otherwise known as Plan 984. That would be a four-seater, rear-wheel drive supercar that uses a stretched mold of the 918's carbon fiber tub, keeping the V8 in the same mid-mounted place and costing around 350,000 euro.
That would be less than half the MSRP of its inspiration, but the details don't sketch out a car that's just half as good. Automobile speculates it would get something like 700 horsepower in order to best the coming 911 GT2, and about 440 pound-feet of torque. The 984 is quite a ways short of being confirmed; even though a full-size study is said to exist, it's like the 918 would need to become a bigger sales hit for the 984 to happen.
The 984's fortunes don't change those of the 960, the supercoupe Porsche is building to challenge Ferrari. Its potential specs haven't changed since the last report in January, power coming from a 5.0-liter, twin-turbo, eight-cylinder boxer engine with something like 650 hp pushing a curb weight of roughly 3,100 pounds. The means a suspected 0-to-60 mile-per-hour time of 2.5 seconds.