Six Speed Trans. Low Miles. Accident Reported In 2001. All Repaired. on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Paul Walker's daughter files wrongful death suit against Porsche [UPDATE]

UPDATE: This post has been edited to include a statement from Porsche. While police blamed the crash that killed Fast and Furious star Paul Walker and racecar driver Roger Rodas on excessive speed, Walker's daughter, Meadow, thinks Porsche is at fault. The 16-year-old has now filed a wrongful death suit against the German manufacturer to back up that allegation. According to legal documents obtained by E! Online, the suit alleges that the Carrera GT that Walker and Rodas died in "lacked safety features ... that could have prevented the accident or, at a minimum, allowed Paul Walker to survive the crash," with Porsche Stability Management being called out in particular. Federal motor vehicle safety standards didn't require new cars sold in the US to be equipped with electronic stability control until 2012. The suit focuses not only on the Carrera GT's lack of electronic safety systems and "history of instability and control issues," but on an allegedly defective seatbelt. It claims that upon impact, the belt "snapped Walker's torso back with thousands of pounds of force, thereby breaking his ribs and pelvis," and prevented him from exiting the car before it caught fire, roughly a minute and 20 seconds after the initial impact, according to TMZ. Soot found in Walker's windpipe supports the theory that he was alive and breathing when the fire started, the suit continues. Like the suit Roger Rodas' widow filed against Porsche in 2014, Walker's filing also alleges that the Carrera GT wasn't traveling at 80 to 93 miles per hour, as a police investigation concluded. But where Mrs. Rodas claimed the Carrera GT was going 55 at the time of the crash, this suit claims the hypercar was moving at 63 to 71 mph. That's a more manageable figure to be sure, and if true would have a serious impact on the way the car behaved, but it's still well above the road's posted 45-mph speed limit. "The bottom line is that the Porsche Carrera GT is a dangerous car," Meadow Walker's lawyer told TMZ. "It doesn't belong on the street. And we shouldn't be without Paul Walker or his friend, Roger Rodas." Porsche, meanwhile, has stood by the reports from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and other authorities.

Weekly Recap: Ferrari, Ford and Porsche power up for Geneva

Monday was Groundhog Day. Tuesday, apparently, was Sports Car Day. The Ferrari 488 GTB, the Ford Focus RS and the Porsche Cayman GT4 all debuted within hours of each other ahead of their rollouts at the Geneva Motor Show. Three sporty machines, three vastly different approaches – and a lot of implications for enthusiasts. That's a day worth repeating. It also illustrates the opportunities automakers see in the performance market, which is expected to grow in the coming years. Ford estimates the segment has expanded 14 percent in Europe and surged 70 percent in North America since 2009. The Detroit Auto Show was evidence of this, and performance cars of every stripe debuted, including the Acura NSX, Ford GT, Alfa Romeo 4C Spider and several others. This isn't a fad. Performance cars aren't going away. The question is why? Stricter CAFE standards are looming in the United States, as are tighter emissions regulations in Europe. And no one expects gas prices to remain low in America. None of this matters for sports cars, and automakers are increasingly using them to elevate their images. That's why Dodge rolled out two 707-horsepower Hellcats last year. It's why Ford has decided to resurrect the GT for road and track. It's why in the depths of bankruptcy, General Motors continued work on the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, not to mention the Z06. "Great brands are made one car at a time," Ford of Europe president Jim Farley said at the reveal of the Focus RS. Still, companies make those cars for different reasons. View 5 Photos Mainstream brands like Ford and Dodge want to build cars that get people talking, excite their bases and drive more potential customers into the showroom. They probably don't buy a Focus RS or a Hellcat, but suddenly the regular Focus hatch looks a bit hotter, and that V6 Charger seems to be just a touch more muscular. The halo of performance is alive and well in the eyes of automakers and their customers. "It's one of the most effective catalysts for ingenuity and innovation," said Joe Bakaj, vice president of product development for Ford of Europe. That also leads to a trickle-down effect. Some of the technologies inevitably make their way to other products. It's hard to think the new all-wheel-drive system in the Focus RS that distributes torque front to rear and side to side won't be used in other vehicles. It's different for Ferrari and Porsche.

Black Edition Porsche Cayman is cooler than your Amex

I was working in a restaurant when I saw my first American Express Centurion card. Colloquially known as the Black Card, the Centurion is a substantial thing, if you've never handled one. It's, as the nickname describes, black, and made from titanium. It's cold to the touch and because it's so much heavier than a normal card, it feels like a piece of precision engineering. At the time, I couldn't get through my head just how German it felt, despite the "American" on its face. In many ways, this Porsche Cayman Black Edition is like the Black Card. It's the same color, for one. Gloss-black paint comes standard, although you're free to spend $710 for the metallic Jet Black variant. Like the exterior, the interior can only be had with black leather. Other upgrades for this "exclusive" Cayman include a Sport Design steering wheel, 20-inch Carrera Classic wheels, bi-xenon headlamps with the Porsche Dynamic Lighting System, navigation, heated seats, and an upgraded stereo. While its color and exclusivity might be a lot like the Centurion Card, we're wagering this isn't the Cayman most Black Card holders would buy, and that's because Porsche based it on the 275-horsepower model, rather than they hairy chested, 325-horsepower Cayman S, 340-hp GTS, or 385-hp GT4. That means 60 miles per hour arrives in a leisurely 5.4 seconds for the manual, 5.3 seconds for the PDK automatic, and 5.1 seconds for the PDK in Sport Plus mode. And if time really is money, those numbers aren't going to mesh with Black Card carriers. Prices for the Cayman Black Edition start at $60,195, or $6,600 more than the standard Cayman. While that seems steep, according to our contacts at Porsche, you'd be spending $12,825 to add the Black Edition's standard equipment to a normal Cayman. Sales are slated to begin in January. Porsche has released a single image of the new Cayman, available up top. You can also scroll down for a brief press release. Related Video: IN ELEGANT BLACK: PORSCHE CAYMAN BLACK EDITION Exclusive edition of 2016 Porsche Cayman in classic color combination ATLANTA, Oct. 1, 2015 -- Porsche is expanding the Black Edition line-up to include a new special edition of the Cayman. A strong complement inside the special edition series, which also includes the Boxster and the 911 Carrera, the Cayman Black Edition is distinguished with a timeless Black on Black design and an extensive level of standard equipment.