Porsche: 911 9tb on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Consumer Reports selling its road-tested roadsters [w/video]

Here's a chance to acquire a celebrity-owned vehicles, and this time at a discount instead of a premium. So the celebrity in this case is Consumer Reports, that magazine that could be equally adored and abhored by car enthusiasts. CR buys all of its test vehicles and usually finds willing second owners within its own ranks, but its opening its small used-car lot to the public. On the forecourt are four roadsters: an automatic 2012 Audi TT 2.0 TFSI Quattro S-Tronic with 6,600 miles for $36,500, a manual 2012 BMW Z4 sDrive28i with 8,400 miles for $45,000, a manual 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLK250 for $39,500 and a manual 2013 Porsche Boxster with 7,000 miles for $48,000.
Those numbers mean a savings of $9,000 to $10,000 before haggling - each car is listed with an "Asking price" so there could be some wiggle room if you show up with pockets full of dough and eyes full of serious intent. Since the money CR earns from the sales go back into the magazine's budget to buy more test cars, however, it probably won't take any oddball trades, so you can forget about getting any purchasing help from that track-day AMC Javelin project on blocks in the back yard.
The vehicles have been taken care of and spiffed up for sale; buyers will take delivery at the CR test track in East Haddam, Connecticut and get a tour of the facilities. While you're there they'll even take you on a lap around the track so you can feel how your car handles when driven by one of its testers. They will probably not help you with advice on which toaster and dehumidifier to buy - you'll still need to get a subscription for that. Have a look at the video below to see a day in the life of a CR test car.

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:

Porsche Classic launching branded motor oil for air-cooled boxer engines

It's hard not to love the look of a classic Porsche. Whether it's the upside-down bathtub styling of the 356 or the gradual evolution of the 911, there is a little beauty in all of them. However, the older they get, the more that needs repaired to keep them on the road. Porsche Classic is helping out, though, by introducing its own brand of motor oil for the demands of the company's vintage, air-cooled engines.
Developed at the Porsche Development Centre in Weissach, Germany, Porsche Classic Motoroil comes in two weights - 20W-50 for the 356, 914 and 911 models up to the 2.7-liter G-Model and 10W-60 for 3.0-liters-and-up engines through the 993-chassis 911. The company claims that the air-cooled engines have different heat demands than traditional, water-cooled units, and this oil is made to meet those requirements.
According to Porsche, modern, synthetic oils are sometimes too effective when it comes to old engines. They are fantastic at sopping up debris, but those deposits are often holding archaic seals together. Suddenly removing them can cause leaks. The new oil is specifically designed to work with the old-fashioned materials found in its classics. The company also knows that most owners aren't driving their vintage cars everyday. So this formulation is more alkaline that normal to neutralize acids that they build up and corrode components.