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Porsche drops factory FIA GTE Pro racing program for 2016

Porsche has a wide-ranging motorsports program in store for next season, but it won't defend its title in the GTE Pro class of the FIA World Endurance Championship. This according to the road-map it laid out over the weekend at its Night of Champions year-end gala in Weissach. The German automaker enjoyed a massively successful racing season this year. With the 919 Hybrid, it took top honors for both drivers and manufacturers, winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans outright along with five additional races on the eight-round calendar to take both the drivers' and manufacturers' titles. With the 911 RSR, it also won the World Endurance Cup for GT Drivers and for Manufacturers, locking out the bragging rights in the GTE Pro category. Rather than return to defend its two GTE Pro titles, Porsche's GT racing department is essentially taking the year off. Reigning champion Richard Lietz and teammate Michael Christensen will have the opportunity to defend his title, but instead of a GTE Pro ride, they will drive for the Proton Dempsey team in the GTE Am category. They'll be joined at Le Mans by Wolf Henzler and at select points by Patrick Dempsey. That'll still put them in contention for the World Endurance Cup for GT Drivers, but without a works entry from the factory, Porsche will be out of the running for the GT manufacturers' title. The reason behind the rearrangement of its WEC GT program, according to Autosport, is to allow Porsche to focus on development of the next generation of sports racers. It's been the better part of three years since Porsche introduced the current 911 RSR, and though its performance in this year's championship clearly shows that it remains competitive, the thorough trouncing it received at Le Mans from the likes of the Corvette C7.R, Ferrari 458 Italia GT2, and Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE show that it's not invincible. The all-new model is expected to be based on the latest generation of turbocharged 911s, to replace the current RSR. Over on this side of the Atlantic, Porsche still intends to defend its title in the GT class of the IMSA SportsCar Championship, where the Porsche North America team will field two 911 RSRs. One will be driven by defending champion Patrick Pilet and reigning Le Mans winner Nick Tandy (joined in the longer races by former McLaren factory driver Kevin Estre).

Porsche recalls new 911 models over exhaust pipe issues

Porsche, though the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, announced a voluntary recall on about 2,200 911 Carrera and Carrera 4 models built during the 2012 and 2013 model years. On cars equipped with the standard exhaust system it was found that the tailpipes could separate from the mufflers and become dangerous road debris; models that added the optional sport exhaust system are not included in this recall.
Affected vehicles were built between March and November of last year, but there have been no reports of the problem on any customer-owned vehicles. Porsche first noticed a cracked tailpipe weld on a test vehicle back in May, and since then has found similar problems on other internally owned vehicles, all with more than 25,000 miles on the clock. To fix the problem, dealers will be replacing the mufflers. Scroll down to read the official notice.

Exclusive: The first Porsche 911 Targa restored by Singer

We love Singer. Frankly, if you're a Porsche guy, or just a car guy, and have seen any of the Porsche 911s that have been restored and "reimagined" by the Californian company, you probably do too. So you can imagine our excitement in getting an exclusive first full look at the latest Porsche 911 restored by Singer. The car you seen in the photographs above is a special thing beyond the obsessive Singer restoration treatment. It's the first Targa the company has ever restored. Plus, this car is one of the first with a modified 4.0-liter flat-six, making around 390 horsepower and 315 pound-feet of torque. With a body clad mostly in carbon fiber, the ultra-lightweight Targa is as modern under the skin as it is retro to the casual observer. The liquid-pewter beauty makes its debutant turn tomorrow at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. We sat down with Singer founder, Rob Dickinson, to pick his brain about the new Targa, where his love of Porsches started, and about the punk-rock car company he's building in SoCal. Autoblog: Tell us a little bit about the car. It's a 911 Targa, obviously, but tell us about what's special beyond that. Rob Dickinson: This is the first time one of our clients has requested that we restore his Targa rather than his coupe and so we did. We always had hopes that we could get our fingers on a Targa and it's the first of a few that are coming down the line now, such that you'll see the second one at Pebble Beach in August. It's basically a faithful rendition of the work that we do on the coupes. The Targa presents us with new challenges, but also an opportunity to add our jewelry to the car. Obviously, that iconic Targa hoop – that was rendered in stainless steel on the original 911s in '65 – we now render that in nickel, which is I guess part of our calling card, our signature. All the brightwork we do on the coupes is in nickel and we're following that principle with the Targas as well. Just for the sake of injecting a little bit of uniqueness into the Targa hoop, we render it with two cool, air-filtering louvers, rather than three, which the early 911 had. Which we thought was a cute little touch that is somewhat different from the early 911s and very different from the later 964, which didn't have any louvers in it at all. AB: That's Porsche nerdiness in the extreme. In a good way. RD: Thank you, yeah. It's one of those things that won't be noticed by many but will be noticed by a few, and that's an insider's thing.