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Porsche Cayman GT4 speeds back into view

We're all familiar with the succession of numbers that follow the letters GT on a hard-core Porsche 911: the GT1 that was Stuttgart's Le Mans contender in the late 90s, the GT2 that packs turbochargers but without the Turbo's all-wheel drive and excess weight, and the naturally aspirated GT3 that's the enthusiast's choice. But a GT4? That's something new, and exactly what Porsche has in store.
Spied testing in Germany once again is the upcoming GT4 version of the Porsche Cayman, set to supersede the existing GTS and take the place of the previous Cayman R at the top of Porsche's junior sports car range. This latest batch of spy shots doesn't show us much more than the last crop, but gives us a much clearer view at what promises to be the most hardcore Cayman to date.
As you can see, the Cayman GT4 packs a much more aggressive aero kit and rolling stock than any version we've seen to date. It's got a lip spoiler, big air dam and GT3-style vent in front of the hood, deep air scoops along the flanks, a set of spindly alloys packing oversized brakes, a diffuser with twin central exhaust tips around back and a rear wing that's likely to be replaced with a sleeker unit before the GT4 reaches production.

More details on Lanzante's F1-engined Porsche 930 restomod

Not long after last year's Porsche Rennsport Reunion, we posted on Lanzante Engineering's restomod project with the original Porsche 911 Turbo. McLaren Formula One used TAG-branded Porsche engines for four years in the 1980s to win two constructor's and three driver's championships. McLaren sold 11 of those engines to Lanzante — nine of which have been raced, one with a win to its credit — and Lanzante is installing them into the original chassis of some 930s. PistonHeads stopped by the shop to find out more. By the end of its service in the MP4/3, the TAG-Porsche TTE P01 motor rang up 1,060 horsepower in qualifying and 960 hp in the race, revving to a 12,600-rpm redline. Porsche engine legend Hans Mezger had led the development, coaxing those numbers from just 1.5-liters of V6 aided by two large KKK turbos at a max of four bar. All that was fine for a time when F1 ran with unlimited testing and unlimited parts, but a modern owner doesn't want to pay five techs to live in his garage and keep his car running. Lanzante asked Cosworth to make the engine more drivable and reliable. Cosworth installed a new crankcase, adjusted the air-fuel mixture, and installed smaller turbos for quicker power delivery, decreasing max boost by 25 percent to three bar (43 psi). The redline has come down to 9,000 rpm, for final output figures of 503 hp and 310 pound-feet of torque. According to PistonHeads, power climbs a "steady incline to redline," and more than half the rev band delivers maximum torque. The 503-hp rating doesn't sound like much today, when a Mustang gets more than 700 hp. Yet the first 930 Turbos got 296 hp and 243 lb-ft from a 3.0-liter flat-six with one big KKK turbo. The most powerful 930 Flatnose worked up 330 hp and 347 lb-ft from a 3.3-liter flat-six. Lanzante's taken out a ton of weight, though. The TAG engine is already 220 pounds lighter than the 930's 3.3-liter; a new carbon fiber hood and engine cover, and aluminum door skins shed more pounds. The total package weighs roughly 2,430 pounds, which is more than 500 pounds lighter than the original Porsche Turbo. That includes the extra pieces needed to make an F1 engine power a passenger car. Lanzante had to swap in a 930 Flatnose front bumper, which replaces the fog lights for oil coolers. The team put radiators at the front of the car as part of a brand new water cooling system. The climate control is entirely electric, because F1 cars didn't come with HVAC.

2015 Porsche Panamera S First Drive

Porsche brought the Panamera in for its garage makeover and drove it out looking almost exactly the same. Turns out it was one of those fancy German refreshes where everything happens in places you can't immediately see, as we found recently on the 2015 Volkswagen Jetta TDI. The marquee revision across the lineup is under the hood, where every engine gets, at the very least, more power. Such is the case for the naturally aspirated V6 in the entry models, fitted with an increase of 10 horsepower for a total of 310. The same goes for the naturally-aspirated 4.8-liter V8, which lives only in the Panamera GTS now, and gets 10 more hp for a total of 430. That same V8, twin-turbocharged in the Turbo model, is graced with 20 more ponies for 520 hp. The mightiest marquee revision is saved for the S models, which surrender their use of the 4.8-liter V8 and get a 3.0-liter, all-aluminum, twin-turbocharged V6 in its place. It's a brand-new engine designed in-house and related to the 3.6-liter V6 in the base models, but with new features like a magnesium timing chain cover, variable camshaft timing for the intake and the exhaust valves, and a new fuel- injection system. Putting out 420 hp and 384 pound-feet of torque, it's got 20 more hp and 15 more lb-ft than the V8 it replaces. What's more, torque used to peak from 3,500 to 5,000 rpm, but the new torque curve maintains maximum twist from 1,750 to 5,000 rpm. It is less thirsty as well, posting an estimated fuel economy of 17/27 miles per gallon city/highway, besting the 16/24 city/highway of before. An improved stop-start mechanism contributes to this, as it cuts the engine earlier, and the coasting function benefits from a new disc clutch that can decouple the seven-speed PDK dual-clutch transmission from the driveline. As we wrote in our Panamera S E-Hybrid review, you'd need to be obsessed with the Panamera to notice the sheet metal changes around that engine. It's the perfect car to ask, oh so coyly, "Notice anything different about me?" while you stand there dumbfounded, silently thinking, "No." Here is your cheat sheet: the front and back ends are "tighter," meaning faintly more squared off, the front intakes are larger, the tailgate gets wider rear glass over the same-sized opening, the rear spoiler is wider, and the rear license plate bracket has been mounted lower. But even now that you know what the changes are, odds are still 200-to-1 against you actually noticing.