Porsche 914-4 2.0 Race Car on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Porsche reveals new 911 Turbo Cabriolets, starting from $160,700*

Porsche has come a long way from the days when its entire model line revolved essentially around the 911, but its prototypical rear-engined sports car is still what it's known for best, and still keeps the German automaker pretty busy. With a seemingly endless array of variations on the theme, the 911s just keep on coming until a new generation arrives and then it starts all over again. And what we have here is the new king of the hill (for now, anyway).
Set to debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show a little less than two months from now are the new Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolets. And no, that's not a typo: that's cabriolets, plural, because what you're looking at are two new models. First up is the 911 Turbo Cabriolet, whose 3.8-liter twin-turbo flat-six develops 520 horsepower, driving the droptop to 60 miles per hour in 3.3 seconds. That's Porsche's claim, and we have a feeling it's a bit conservative. But if that's still not enough, the 911 Turbo S Cabriolet adds an extra 40 hp for a total of 560 to drop the benchmark acceleration run down to 3.1 seconds.
That makes the new topless Turbos 30 horses stronger and 0.2 seconds quicker than the respective models they replace, but the weight penalty involved with replacing a fixed roof with a folding one (and the necessary structural reinforcement) does make the new 911 Turbo Cabs a smidgen more lethargic than their contemporary coupe counterparts, which run the gauntlet in 3.2 and 2.9 seconds in standard Turbo and upgraded Turbo S specs, respectively. They only lose a single tick on the top speed, though, which clocks in at a follicle-tickling 195 mph in either spec. Otherwise the specifications are as identical as you might expect.

Recharge Wrap-up: Porsche Mission E charging for Tesla, net zero energy Toyota dealership

Porsche has confirmed that its Mission E charging infrastructure will also work with Tesla vehicles. The ultra-fast, 800-volt charging system will recharge the Mission E to 80 percent in about 15 minutes, and will also service new EVs from Volkswagen and Audi. Porsche CEO Oliver Blume told Top Gear that development of the charging infrastructure "sounds easy but getting the details agreed is hard. We already have the clear technical concept. It can even work with Teslas, with an adapter." Dieter Zetsche, Head of Mercedes-Benz, also tells Top Gear that they are "in talks" with Porsche regarding charging infrastructure. Read more at Top Gear, or from Electrek. An Oregon Toyota dealership is set to be the world's first net zero energy automotive dealership. The newly constructed, LEED Platinum certified Toyota of Corvallis produces more energy than it consumes, for which it is expected to receive Net Zero Energy certification. The 34,800-square-foot building is equipped with enough solar panels to produce as much energy that the dealership will use, with excess being put back into the grid, which will help during hours of peak demand. Toyota Motor Sales regional manager Steve Haag calls Toyota of Corvallis, "a first-of-its-kind template for the auto dealership of the future." Read more from Toyota. Valeo has introduced a new 48-volt hybrid system. The 48V e4Sport, as it is called, uses a 48-volt battery, electric starter-generator, electric supercharger, and eRAD electric rear axle drive for all-wheel drive. It maximizes regenerative braking and stores that energy for increasing torque with the starter-generator, and increasing acceleration with the electric supercharger. The system also supports all-electric driving modes. Valeo says the system is applicable across all vehicle segments, and works with both gasoline and diesel engines. Read more at Green Car Congress. PSA Group has created its own mobility solutions brand, called Free2Move. Free2Move will handle programs like car sharing, connected services, corporate fleet services, and affordable leasing programs for Peugeot, Citroen, DS, and other PSA partners. "For the PSA Group, mobility means not only making and selling excellent cars, but also offering a full range of mobility solutions," says PSA Group VP of Mobility Services Gregoire Olivier.

Porsche celebrates 50 years of 911s with limited edition model

Despite being 50 years old now, the Porsche 911 sure is looking good for her age. And to commemorate this milestone anniversary, Porsche has created the 911 50 Years Edition you see here, which will make its debut at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show - 50 years after the original 911 debuted at this very same expo.
What's really neat about the 50 Years Edition is that it houses a rear-wheel-drive setup inside of the wider body used for all-wheel-drive Carrera 4 and 4S models. Found at the back is the 3.8-liter flat-six from the Carrera S, upgraded with the Powerkit package that increases horsepower from 400 to 430 and includes the Sport Chrono setup. According to Porsche, hitting 60 miles per hour takes just 4.2 seconds with the seven-speed manual transmission, or 3.8 seconds with the optional dual-clutch PDK.
Visual changes include two special paint colors - a darker graphite grey and a lighter geyser grey - unique 20-inch wheels that pay homage to the original Fuchs rollers of the 1963 car, and special badging at the rear and on the door sills. Inside, there are more throwbacks to the original 911, with green labeling on the instruments, white pointer needles and silver accents. What's more, the leather seats feature a fabric insert reminiscent of the Pepita design from the '60s. Looks great to us.