Navigation Moon Roof Bluetooth Bose Surround Sound 21' Wheels Black Alcantara on 2040-cars

Auto blog

2017 Porsche 718 Boxster: Old name, modern performance

Porsche set the bar pretty high when it attached the number 718 to the new Boxster. The original Porsche 718 Spyder from the late '50s and early '60s remains one of the most iconic in the company's history. Nameplates aside, the biggest change to the new 718 Boxster can be found under the rear deck. That's where Zuffenhausen has embraced the latest trend in downsizing and turbocharging. In place of the previous naturally-aspirated flat-sixes, the new 718 packs a 2.0-liter turbo boxer four good for 300 horsepower, or a 2.5-liter version with 350 hp. They're smaller than the engines they replace, but also more powerful – and offer a significant improvement in torque as well. The result is a 0-60 time as low as 4.0 seconds – in what's long been considered the "junior" Porsche sports car. Of course Porsche didn't just swap the engines out and call it a day. The styling has been updated inside and out, and there's new equipment as well. The finished product will go on sale in April – but that's in Europe where it's been unveiled today at the Geneva Motor Show. It'll hit US dealers in June, and we can look forward to a 718 Cayman version with a fixed roof to follow soon as well. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Autocar pits Porsche 911 Turbo S against Formula 4 racer

There is a long-running argument among performance car fans: power vs. weight. In one corner you get cars generally with small engines making modest numbers but able to corner like they are telepathic, and in the other there are big thumping mills that are rocketships in a straight line but lumber in the turns. Autocar takes an interesting look this continuum in a recent video pitting a 552-hp Porsche 911 Turbo S against a 185-hp Formula 4 racecar. It hopes to find whether the Porsche's huge power advantage is enough to defeat the better grip and aero offered by the nimble racer.
There's no doubt that the Porsche is an utterly fantastic road car. The 911 Turbo looks mean with all of those intakes to suck in cool air, and it backs up the posture with huge amounts of grip available thanks to its all-wheel drive-system. However, at 3,538 pounds, it's a bit of a porker compared to the 1,135-pound Formula 4 car. The open-wheel car boasts just a 2.0-liter naturally aspirated four-cylinder from Ford and a six-speed sequential-manual gearbox, but it has loads of downforce to make up for it.
It shouldn't be a surprise that the formula car wins in the corners. After all, that's what it's made for. So do you think the massive horsepower superiority of the Porsche is enough to even the playing field? Scroll down to watch the video and find out, and even if you're not curious of the winner the 911 does some mean powerslides.

There's a Porsche Cayman under here somewhere

What we have here is the work of Dubai tuner Royal Customs that is controversial even beyond its styling. The Middle East aftermarket house says it spent fourteen months developing a bodykit for the Porsche Cayman, and the results seem to be aimed at those who wish their coupe were a 918 Spyder - the nose, strake-filled and widened rear fender, carbon fiber wing and massive diffuser all cribbing some from Stuttgart's new hybrid supercar.
Even without a buyer, the Alpha One Concept is already controversial. When WorldCarFans posted on the Royal Customs car recently, German tuner Alpha-N Performance wrote in alleging that the Dubai package copies their design from two years ago, which was also called the Alpha One, a design with which it's clear the Dubai Alpha One shares numerous cues. We asked Royal Customs about its relationship to the Alpha One car, we were told, "Yes, there is a lot we can say about the remarkable similarities all of which will be explained by our press release by Mr. Emil from Autogespot. Please wait for the official release and you will have the full exciting story. It's an 'actual success story' and not a 'replication' story."
The response is referring to an "extensive report" on the car coming out of Autogespot. Royal Customs doesn't have the Alpha One Concept on its site yet, so we're still missing quite a few details on it, such as whether the Porsche engine has been given a similarly 918-ish workover. We do know that the company says each car takes 30 days to build and it will only build three of them, which is a number that should satisfy any haters and, even more so, its buyers. You can decide which side of the fence you're on by having a close look at it in the gallery above.