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Lightspeed Classic 911 rocks out with its sprockets out

Singer does a pretty damn good job re-imagining the Porsche 911, but the faithful will aptly tell you that it's not the only name in the business. Munich-based Autoaktiv Motorsport also does a pretty compelling rendition of the classic German sports car. It's called the Lightspeed Classic, and this video clip casts it in light as good as we've ever seen. The brainchild of former Porsche engineer Ralf Skatulla, the Lightspeed Classic is based on the 964 but upgrades some key components while keeping the classic style. Power comes from a 3.8-liter flat-six from the 964 RS (albeit rebuilt with titanium components) that's been retuned to deliver 340 horsepower. It's got the gearbox from a 996 Turbo, the clutch from a 997 GT3 RS, and the brakes from a 996 GT3 Cup, along with Michelin Pilot Sport rubber coating a set of Fuchs-style BBS alloys. The result, as you can see, is lovely. Especially with Tim Schrick behind the wheel. The German racing driver is also a television personality, co-hosting D Motor – Germany's equivalent to Top Gear – alongside Sabine Schmitz and Carsten van Ryssen. Which is all well and fine, but what you really want to do is scope out the footage for yourself. If you dig Porsches (or even if you don't), it'll probably be the best 49 seconds you'll spend all day. Related Video:

Porsche 911 GT3 named Performance Car of the Year by Road & Track

The Porsche 911 GT3 is a very, very good performance car. Yes, we know this is like saying fire is hot and a shovel to the head hurts. What's different about this proclamation, then? Well, we bring up the 911 GT3's inherent goodness because our friends at Road & Track have named it their 2015 performance car of the year.
This is, our joking aside, a big accomplishment for the 911 GT3, due largely to the field of cars it beat out. There were many equally track-focused wonders in attendance, including the Ferrari 458 Speciale, Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 and Dodge Viper SRT TA, as well as more capable everyday vehicles, like the Jaguar F-Type R Coupe, BMW M3 and Ford Mustang GT.
But it was the 475-horsepower, rear-engined track star that R&T fell for, with editor-in-chief Larry Webster calling out the Porsche's ridiculous, howling, 9,000-rpm redline, while other editors cited its phenomenal handling character.

Automakers paying Chinese dealers for lower-than-expected sales

The Chinese dealers vs. foreign manufacturers story won't quit. It began with a story on the struggles faced by FAW-Toyota joint venture dealers, with supposedly 95 percent of the showrooms losing money, and 10 percent of them doing so poorly that they'd have to exit the business. The problem is mandated sales targets, most set when the country's economy was racing. Now that things have slowed, China's dealers are swimming in unsold cars and the costs to keep them. In the case of FAW-Toyota, dealers asked Toyota to hand over 2.2 billion yuan ($355 million) to help address the situation. That was followed by a report noting the issues that Honda, BMW, and Nissan dealers are having with the same issue, revealing that the Chinese Automobile Dealers Association (CADA) had taken the highly unusual step of writing to the Chinese government to complain. Now Reuters reports that CADA is not only pressing its case even harder, it's being open about it: it announced that BMW agreed to pay dealers 5.1 billion yuan ($820 million) to alleviate poor profits last year. Unnamed sources said Audi has thrown 2 billion yuan into the kitty for subsidies, and Daimler has contributed "about 1 billion yuan" to its dealers. The battle isn't just about 2014, but how business will be run in 2015 as well: Chinese Porsche dealers have requested the automaker lower its 2015 target of 64,000 cars, which would be a 40-percent increase on its 2014 sales of 46,931 vehicles. One analyst called it "shocking" that the CADA has taken its fight public, while CADA comments continue to imply that dealers have been railroaded to the cliff's edge without recourse. "Due to the difference in status," it's deputy secretary said, "individual dealers are not willing to, or don't dare to, talk frankly with the carmakers...." Both parties need one another, so they'll figure out a way to make it work – but that could mean acknowledging the Chinese market is behaving more like a mature one, not an emerging one. News Source: ReutersImage Credit: Lintao Zhang/Getty Images Earnings/Financials Audi BMW Porsche Toyota Car Dealers Luxury