2013 Porsche Panamera 4dr Hb Turbo on 2040-cars

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It's time for Corvette to attack Porsche

For most of its existence, Porsche was a smug little sports car company with a fairly limited lineup and small but steady sales. Any time the company strayed from its air-cooled, rear engine formula, the purists would turn their noses. The 944? The 948? "Not a proper Porsche," they'd sniff. And then came the greatest sin of them all: the Cayenne. To the purists, this was treason. Porsche making an SUV? Horrors! Of course, you all know how it turned out. Porsche grew to be a profit-generating juggernaut within the Volkswagen Group. And since one SUV wasn't enough they added another, the Macan. By the end of the decade Porsche will have quadrupled its global sales. You have to wonder what else it has up its sleeve. Couldn't this be a lesson for General Motors? It has a terrific sports car brand in Corvette. In fact, it's arguably the most iconic brand within GM's full-line portfolio. But for its entire existence that brand has been locked up within Chevrolet. Maybe it's time for GM to treat Corvette as a stand-alone company. Maybe it's time for GM to unlock that brand and treat Corvette as a stand-alone company. A Corvette SUV could be a killer first step. Since Porsche only makes two SUVs, maybe Corvette could make three. Small, medium, and large. And just as Porsche has the Panamera, an executive sedan from team Corvette could become an instant "gotta-have" for the yacht-buying jet set. Of course, the Corvette purists will cringe. And the biggest hue and cry will come from Chevrolet's US dealers. That's why the best place to launch the new Corvette brand would be far away from those franchisees: in China. Chinese consumers have no pre-conceived ideas that 'Vettes can only be sold in Chevy stores. And Chinese enthusiasts very much admire Corvette's historic pedigree. You've no doubt read about how Chinese authorities are cracking down on conspicuous consumption. That makes the timing even better. Corvette's selling point has always been that it is an amazing bargain for the performance you get. What a perfect way to undercut Porsche. In fact, pairing the Corvette brand with Cadillac in China could be just the shot in the arm that Cadillac's Chinese dealers need. Despite having very competitive cars, Cadillac lags far behind Audi, Mercedes, and BMW. What Cadillac dealers need is a lot more showroom traffic. And a jaw dropping lineup of Corvette-branded vehicles could bring in throngs of buyers.

RM Sotheby's Turbollection features exotics from the '80s and '90s

If you have even a passing interest in cars, there's little doubt you know a thing or two about Porsche, whether the topic centers around a classic name like 911 or the more mainstream Cayenne and Macan crossovers. Bugatti? Sure, most people know about the historic French builder of world-class, record-setting automobiles, though admittedly the EB110 we're about to show you probably wouldn't be the first to come to mind. Fewer are likely familiar with the likes of Vector Aeromotive, a tiny American company with history that dates back to the 1980s. And we'd wager that most have never even heard of the likes of Isdera and Cizeta. Brush up on your history, (super wealthy car collecting) folks. RM Sotheby's has an exciting array of cars coming up for auction during the Monterey Car Week festivities on California. Among all the expected Ferrari, Lamborghini and Shelby classics potential buyers can wade through, the so-called Turbollection collection features much rarer oddities.

Porsche 911 Carrera gets turbocharged engine for under $90k

There's a new Porsche 911 Carrera blowing into dealerships in March of 2016, and it will be the first such model from the German automaker to boast a turbocharged engine. Making 370 horsepower and 331 pound-feet of torque from 3.0 liters of displacement, the new flat-six engine in the base Carrera is 20-hp stronger than it was in 2015. Carrera S models bump the power level to 420 ponies and 368 lb-ft thanks to tweaked tuning parameters. The added grunt makes these the fastest 911 Carrera models ever, with Porsche touting a 7:30 lap – a full 10 seconds faster than before – of the famed Nurburgring track in Germany as proof. Those who only care about going fast in a straight line will be delighted by the 4.0-second 0-60 time of the base Carrera and even more impressed by the S model's 3.7-second run. Top speeds are 183 and 191 miles per hour, respectively. A seven-speed manual transmission is standard, and Porsche's Doppelkupplung (PDK) automated manual gearbox is optional. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. When equipped with the Sport Chrono Package, the 911 Carrera features a new mode switch on the steering wheel with settings for Normal, Sport, Sport Plus, and Individual. Porsche Active Suspension Management is standard on all models, and, in another first for a Carrera, rear-wheel steering is optional. Efficiency hasn't been forgotten for 2016, either. Porsche says its new 911 Carrera models will be as much as 12-percent more fuel economy with their new turbocharged engines. Tech buffs will surely appreciate the new Porsche Communication Management infotainment system, which features multi-touch gesture capability and handwriting recognition right on the seven-inch display. Apple CarPlay is also supported, and Google Earth and Streetview are new to PCM for 2016. The 2017 Porsche 911 Carrera is slated to hit the States with an MSRP of $89,400 (we assume that won't include destination, which in 2015 equals $995), which is about $5,000 more expensive than the 2015 model that's currently available. The 2016 Carrera S will carry a sticker price of $103,400, which is a $4,500 increase. Cabriolet models will run from $101,700 to $115,700. Porsche will show its latest 911 Carrera off at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show, but you can read all the details right now in the press release below.