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'Faster. Farther.' dives into the history of Porsche racing tech

No doubt, Porsche has produced some of the best endurance racecars around, such as the turbocharged, slant-nose 935 of the 1970s and the ground-effects-enhanced 956 and 962 of the 1980s. But the company's most famous racecar, its first overall winner at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, was the 917.
The 917 embodied many of Porsche's technological achievements up to that point, such as the company's first 12- and 16-cylinder engines (the flat-16 was never used in competition), fiberglass bodies that implemented early aerodynamic practices and the use of new, exotic materials, such as magnesium and titanium.
The racecar was commissioned by the head of Porsche Motorsports, Ferdinand Piëch, to win overall at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1970, after he realized a loophole in the rules that allowed cars to compete with engines up to five liters in the Sport category if they were also production models. Piëch saw opportunity: the top prototype class was restricted to three liters; the production minimum to compete in Sport was 25 cars. And so, with much effort, Porsche assembled 25 "production" 4.5-liter 917s and had them parked in a neat line for the race inspectors to verify their legitimacy. It didn't take long before people realized the new Porsches were much faster than the prototype racers, with a top speed approaching 250 miles per hour.

Porsche purists, look away: This 911 is powered by Hyundai

Bisimoto appears to be putting together a Hyundai V6-powered Porsche 911. While the experiment reminds us of a project from earlier this year, in which Ryan Tuerck dropped a Ferrari V8 into Toyota GT86, this one's a bit different. Bisimoto has a history of creating some truly insane automobiles, usually with Veyron-menacing power levels. In fact, the tuning company built multiple 1,000 horsepower machines, including a 1976 Porsche 911 and a 2013 Hyundai Genesis Coupe, not to mention a few other Hyundais with oodles of power. So it seems Bisimoto has decided to combine the company's experience with both marque's into one machine with this 1977 Porsche 911. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. The company revealed the intended engine for the car today, next to the disassembled tail end of the 911. No specific details about the engine were given, but a "hyundaiusa" tag, some helpful hints from Instagram commenters and some diligent Google image searching by Autoblog staff members seem to show that this is a Hyundai Lambda series V6. It also appears to be a version from a car with a transverse layout, which would make it easier to fit in the 911's traditional engine location. What we do know is that the build will be completed in time for the SEMA show, and we look forward to seeing the finished Franken-Porsche. The same probably can't be said for Porsche purists though. Related Video: News Source: Bisimoto EngineeringImage Credit: Bisimoto Engineering Auto News SEMA Show Hyundai Porsche tuning engine swap bisimoto

Porsche tops J.D. Power quality index as Korean brands soar

While complaints about infotainment systems remain a thorn in the side of automakers for J.D. Power's annual Initial Quality Study, there's a lot to celebrate this year. The average number of problems reported per 100 vehicles fell to 112 in 2015 – a three-percent improvement compared to 116 in 2014. The results of this year's survey are based on the responses of over 84,000 people about problems within the first 90 days of buying or leasing a 2015 model-year vehicle. For the third consecutive year, Porsche tops the rankings with an average of 80 problems per 100 vehicles. Although, that's slightly more than the 74 the German sportscar maker scored in 2014. "While the Japanese automakers continue to make improvements, we're seeing other brands, most notably Korean makes, really accelerating the rate of improvement," Renee Stephens, vice president of US automotive quality at J.D. Power, said in the study's release. In fact, Kia ranks as one of the biggest movers in this year's list. The Korean brand jumped to second place from seventh last year. The company had an average of 86 problems per 100 vehicles, a 20-point improvement. Third place went to Jaguar with an average of 93 problems reported, versus last year's second-place finish with 87 of them. Fourth place was Hyundai, and fifth-place Infiniti also earned a gold star for improvement with 97 issues per 100 vehicles – 31-points better than last year. Fiat still anchored the bottom of the list. However, its 161 problems this year is a lot better than the 206 in 2014. Ranked by nationality, Korean brands (Hyundai and Kia) are now leading the industry in initial quality with an average of 90 problems reported per 100 vehicles. According to J.D. Power, this is the first time Europe's figure beat Japan with 113 and 114 issues, respectively. The American brands also averaged 114. Whereas General Motors dominated last year, the segment awards are spread out in 2015. GM, Hyundai, Nissan, and Volkswagen Group are all tied with four models each earning prizes. For more information, you can also see all of the graphs, here. J.D.