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The 2014 Rolex 24 at Daytona: What we learned, what we saw

Two days after the flag dropped on the 2014 Rolex 24 at Daytona, people are still trying to figure out what it might portend for the rest of the season. In 24 hours, two minutes and 24 seconds, 695 laps were completed by the car that crossed the line first. During that time, 67 cars began the race, 18 of them retired. There was that accident, and a red flag. There were supposedly slower classes beating supposedly faster classes. There were 16 caution periods, including that yellow flag. And then there was The Decision. And Then The Uproar. And then The Reversal.
There was also some pretty good racing, so let's have one last look at the weekend. Oh, and there was that 1964 Ferrari 250 GTO Series II...
If you want to skip the reading bits and go to the photos, there's a high-res gallery of 158 images above and a couple more below. Enjoy.

Revel in the glory of the Porsche 911 engine factory

A flat-six engine pumping away behind the driver defines the Porsche brand for many people, whether they are buying a Boxster, Cayman or 911. If you want to appreciate the sound and fury concentrated in the rear of these German sports cars even more, then take a tour of the company's 911 engine factory in Zuffenhausen, Germany, to see the work that goes into each one. We're long past the days of automotive assembly lines being deafening, dirty affairs, but it's still somewhat shocking to see just how sterile the plant in Zuffenhausen is. Each person wears a matching gray jumpsuit and gloves, and there's not a drop of grease of them. While the components are constantly coming down the line, there doesn't appear to be much of a rush. It's just a slow, steady movement that gives workers time to complete their appointed tasks. At least in this video, the employees don't even seem to talk to each other; the only sound is the hum of the plant or whir of tools. It's transfixing to watch these famous engine slowly come together largely from human hands. News Source: Cars via YouTube Plants/Manufacturing Porsche Technology Performance Videos engine

Call it a TurBoxster | 2017 Porsche 718 Boxster First Drive

With the sun setting over Circuit of the Americas, the magnificent new Ford GT Le Mans racecar roars, snarls, and pops as the driver lifts going into a series of chicanes flanked by broad red, white, and blue stripes. A bald eagle flies overhead. Maybe. It's quite the spectacle. But it's all rather put to shame when a four-cylinder Porsche blitzes past the GT at full throttle as if it was a rental Mustang that took a wrong turn out of the nearby Austin, Texas, airport. Sure, they were in different racing classes and the four-cylinder Porsche in question was a 919 Hybrid Le Mans Prototype with a 900-horsepower hybrid powertrain and all-wheel drive that weighs about 1,930 pounds. But the fact remains that a four-cylinder engine need not disqualify a car from being an incredible performance machine. And indeed, many of those pretty classic Porsches that festoon posters, calendars, and the well-groomed lawns of swanky car shows have a mere four cylinders pumping into each other in a horizontally opposed formation. Which brings us to the 2017 Porsche 718 Boxster that is the real reason we're in Austin. It's the latest version of the brand's 20-year-old mid-engine roadster, now featuring a numbered middle name borrowed from one of those pretty classic Porsches from the late 1950s and early '60s. Tucked just behind the cockpit, slung ever-so-low in the revised chassis is one of two turbocharged four-cylinder engines – a 2.0-liter in the base Boxster and a 2.5-liter in the S. In a move to improve fuel economy, these engines replace the old 2.7- and 3.4-liter naturally aspirated flat-six engines previously found in the Boxster and its Cayman coupe sibling, which receives the same updates and 718 name for 2017. Those flat-sixes were responsive, made beautiful mechanical noises, and were unmistakable, fundamental elements of the modern Porsche. To lose them would be like drawing a mustache on the Mona Lisa or something, at least according to the turbo four prognosticators. That the change in engine results in a change to the Boxster's character is perhaps obvious. It does. One could also, quite fairly, say that something has been lost. However, something else entirely has been gained, and just because the Boxster is different doesn't mean it has been made worse. For starters, both new engines feature sizable output increases.