Porsche 944 Turbo 951 Rebuilt Engine And Much More!! Black On Black Must See!!!! on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Watch Jeff Zwart drive his Porsche GT3 Cup Turbo at Pikes Peak in 4K

There are always fantastic videos documenting the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb, but 2015 is giving us an embarrassment of riches. After seeing clips from some of the record-breaking runs this year, possibly the very best is here somewhat belatedly after the rally. Watching master Porsche pilot Jeff Zwart wind his fire-breathing 911 GT3 Cup Turbo up the mountain was definitely worth the wait. Already no stranger to success at Pikes Peak, this year Zwart won the Time Attack 1 Class with a run of 9:46.243. To make the feat more exciting, his Porsche was outfitted with cameras to perfectly capture his entire race up the course. The external shots truly convey a sense of speed and show how the mountain goes from tree-lined at the bottom to rocky with patches of snow at the top. The film's sublime production shouldn't be too big of a surprise, though, because Will Roegge was director, editor, and among the camera operators for the video. In 2014, he put together a great, short documentary about Zwart's preparation for the mountain and the run, as well. This year was yet another success. At a breezy 4.5 minutes, this clip is definitely a must-see, and the entire thing looks and sounds fantastic no matter how your experience it. However, if you have the capability, the video is also available in 4K. Switching over to the high resolution really makes it possible to pick out all of the gorgeous details. Related Video:

Why won't automakers slap on a turbo badge anymore?

Where have all the turbos gone? Not the actual pieces that go in the engine, mind you, those are everywhere these days as automakers downsize cylinder counts and boost efficiency and CO2 claims. But the turbo badges and fanfare are missing. Back when turbos were something to get excited about there was "turbo-driven," "turbonium," and "The Turbo Zone," among other silly lines. But now that basically every car is getting some sort of boost even on the lowliest trims, automakers are almost sliding in the turbos under the radar. Or if you look at some of the nomenclature, pretending they don't exist at all. The 911 Turbo badge shows where the car goes from being sane to lunatic. It's an important border. The latest automaker to hide that it has boosted the turbo presence is Porsche with the 2017 911 lineup. Even the standard Carrera models now get turbocharged flat-six engines, meaning the 911 Turbo models aren't quite as special as they once were. Porsche is in a sticky situation with this. The 911 Turbo, after all, signifies where the 911 family takes off from being a sports car and becomes the Ferrari fighter. The 911 Turbo badge shows where the car goes from being sane to lunatic. It's an important border, but now Porsche has crossed it and is trying to downplay the fact. There are a lot of exaggerations with displacement badges today, with claims the 2.0-liter turbo four in a Mercedes C Class equates to a naturally aspirated 3.0-liter six to make a C300. Volvo is pretty far up there, too, saying an XC90 T8 means V8 power, even though it's a 2.0-liter turbocharged and supercharged four with electric assist. I don't know why BMW can't just call the car a 330i Turbo, rather than inflating the numbers up to 340i. Saab tried all of this back in the '90s when it decided to turbocharge its entire lineup, from light pressure units all the way up to models actually called "Saab 9-3 HOT" (for high-output turbo). But then the brand deleted any external reference to the turbo under the hood and people wondered why they were buying a $42,000 four-cylinder convertible. And that didn't turn out well. Even though these turbo replacements often make more power than their naturally aspirated predecessors, they're very different engines. People knew something changed when they exchanged their leased 328i with a 3.0-liter six for a 328i with a 2.0-liter turbo four.

Porsche Cayman GT4 spot has us reaching for our driving gloves

We've got to hand it to Porsche for finally unleashing the potential of the Cayman, and not worrying about it infringing on 911 territory. The latest Cayman is, by all accounts, a superb sports car in its own right, gets even better as the Cayman S and that much more so in GTS spec. But the new Cayman GT4 takes things to a whole other level with a 3.8-liter flat six driving 385 horsepower to the rear wheels through a six-speed manual. Old school is what it is, and certifiably off the leash. We brought you the full skinny on the new GT4 late last night when it surfaced, but now Porsche has released a video clip highlighting what makes its new pocket rocket look so great. It's got Nurburgring graffiti, intimidated neighbors, barking fluffy dogs, gape-jawed children, and of course footage of the Cayman GT4 itself doing what it was designed to do. All we need now is to get our driving gloves on its Alcantara steering wheel and ball-shaped shifter.