2014 Porsche Panamera on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Modded budget Mazda Miata takes on new Porsche Boxster in more challenges

Earlier this month, our friends across the pond at Auto Express released the first in a two-video series that would see them try and build up a second-generation Mazda MX-5 Miata that could best a standard Porsche Boxster around the track. While that first video detailed the mods to the MX-5 - a supercharger, some suspension upgrades and a new set of super-sticky rubber being chief among them - and set baseline lap times for the stock car, today, we have the results of the 5,000-pound ($8,200) upgrade job.
Of course, we aren't going to spoil those for you. You'll need to watch the full video, which recaps the upgrades before digging into a comparison of both straight-line-speed differences between the 2.7-liter Porsche Boxster and blown Miata, as well as their behavior and lap times on the track.
Take a look and let us know what you think in Comments.

What's the deal with all these Porsches Seinfeld is selling?

In case you haven't been able to tell from watching Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee, Jerry Seinfeld is as fanatical about automobiles as he is about comedy. The man has one of the most enviable Porsche collections in the world. But now he's preparing to auction off a significant share of them, and Gooding & Company, the auction house handling the sale, has just released the full list. We got our first look at some of them a couple of weeks ago, including a 550 Spyder, a 356 Speedster, and a 911 IROC RSR – all of them valued in the millions. But that's only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Other Porsches from the Seinfeld collection set to cross the auction block include a 917/30 Can-Am Spyder, a 718 RSK, a Carrera GT prototype and a 962C racer. There are old and new 911s aplenty, a handful of 356s, even a 597 Jagdwagen and a couple of 1960s VWs thrown in for good measure. You can scope out the full list in the press release below and view some of them in the gallery above. And if you have the funds and the inclination, Amelia Island will be the place to be next month. Here's hoping it all works out better for the proud new owners than that time George thought he had bought Jon Voight's Chrysler LeBaron. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Gooding & Company Reveals the Complete List of Collector Cars To Be Offered from Jerry Seinfeld's Collection at the Amelia Island Auction Porsche Highlights from Jerry Seinfeld's Collection Include the 1973 Porsche 917/30 Can-Am Spyder and the 1959 Porsche 718 RSK SANTA MONICA, Calif. (February 5, 2016) – Gooding & Company, the auction house acclaimed for selling the world's most significant and valuable collector cars, is honored to announce the full selection of consignments from The Jerry Seinfeld Collection to be sold at the Amelia Island Auction on March 11, 2016. Enthusiasts and collectors will not want to miss this historic event as these superb examples cross the auction block. "Mr. Seinfeld is recognized throughout the world as having acquired one of the finest Porsche collections ever assembled," said David Gooding, President and Founder of Gooding & Company. "He has become known as the definitive Porsche connoisseur based on his passion and devotion to the marque. We at Gooding & Company share his reverence for Porsche and are proud to offer these truly incredible examples.

A car writer's year in new vehicles [w/video]

Christmas is only a week away. The New Year is just around the corner. As 2014 draws to a close, I'm not the only one taking stock of the year that's we're almost shut of. Depending on who you are or what you do, the end of the year can bring to mind tax bills, school semesters or scheduling dental appointments. For me, for the last eight or nine years, at least a small part of this transitory time is occupied with recalling the cars I've driven over the preceding 12 months. Since I started writing about and reviewing cars in 2006, I've done an uneven job of tracking every vehicle I've been in, each year. Last year I made a resolution to be better about it, and the result is a spreadsheet with model names, dates, notes and some basic facts and figures. Armed with this basic data and a yen for year-end stories, I figured it would be interesting to parse the figures and quantify my year in cars in a way I'd never done before. The results are, well, they're a little bizarre, honestly. And I think they'll affect how I approach this gig in 2015. {C} My tally for the year is 68 cars, as of this writing. Before the calendar flips to 2015 it'll be as high as 73. Let me give you a tiny bit of background about how automotive journalists typically get cars to test. There are basically two pools of vehicles I drive on a regular basis: media fleet vehicles and those available on "first drive" programs. The latter group is pretty self-explanatory. Journalists are gathered in one location (sometimes local, sometimes far-flung) with a new model(s), there's usually a day of driving, then we report back to you with our impressions. Media fleet vehicles are different. These are distributed to publications and individual journalists far and wide, and the test period goes from a few days to a week or more. Whereas first drives almost always result in a piece of review content, fleet loans only sometimes do. Other times they serve to give context about brands, segments, technology and the like, to editors and writers. So, adding up the loans I've had out of the press fleet and things I've driven at events, my tally for the year is 68 cars, as of this writing. Before the calendar flips to 2015, it'll be as high as 73. At one of the buff books like Car and Driver or Motor Trend, reviewers might rotate through five cars a week, or more. I know that number sounds high, but as best I can tell, it's pretty average for the full-time professionals in this business.