In the ongoing saga of who will buy out which car company, it looks like VW is going all in and plans to fully acquire corporate sibling and long time corporate rival Porsche. And by ” fully acquire” I mean that Volkswagen is planning to take full ownership of Porsche.

This is all according to Der Spiegel, the respected German news magazine, who said that VW is amending earlier plans to acquire only 50 percent of the German sports car maker and now want it all.

Der Spiegel says the sale will be done in two phases: Phase one is for VW to get 49.9 percent of Porsche, which was VeeWee’s initial plan from a few months back, and then phase two is for VW to buy the remaining shares outright. For Porsche’s end of the deal, they’ll get approximately 8 billion Euros to help counter their massive debts. In the end the Porsche family will end up being a 50 percent owner in a joint VW-Porsche company. By the time all of this is over, VW will make Porsche the tenth brand in the VW family.

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Pros

• A brawny V8 provides über amounts of torque
• Traction that’s better than super-glue
• Big brakes take away speed faster than your can Labrador woof down a bowl of mac-cheese
• A lot tougher than it looks
• Porsche Active Suspension Mechanism (PASM) and Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control (PDDC), combined, work harder than James Brown at the Apollo.

Cons

• The Bose audio system is so weak that the engine and exhaust note sounds better when singing at high revs
• Slurps more gas than Ludwig at Octoberfest

Verdict: The Cayenne is no Miles Crane when it comes to power, refinement, and the ability to get dirty with the other off-roaders in the neighborhood.

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Lots of good stuff at this year’s Geneva Motor Show, take the Porsche 911 GT3 for 2010. Nice, yeah? Logically, the GT3 features a naturally-aspirated six-cylinder cranking out 435-horsepower due to a bump in engine capacity to 3.8 liters (up from 3.6 liters for the last version). Porsche claims the new GT3 will do the 0-62 in 4.1 seconds and will max out at 194 mph. Porsche, looking out for its customers, as well as looking for ways to break the laws of physics, has seen fit to include the sport-oriented Porsche Stability Management system that can disable stability control and traction control separately for better performance and flexibility.

There’s a unique aero package with bi-Xenon headlamps and LED tail lamps as well as a trick, active suspension. The GT3 comes with improved anti-rollbars and larger brakes. Later in the model year, the GT3 will be available with Porsche Active Drivetrain Mount engine mounts. Porsche says the slick engine mounts can recognize high-performance driving and stiffen up the normally stretchy “engine suspension.”

The Porsche GT3 goes on sale this October with a starting price of $112,200. European buyers can get their hands on a GT3 in May. Lucky bastards.

Source: LeftLaneNews

So, the long rumored hybrid version of Porsche’s Cayenne SUV is becoming more and more of a reality.

The German automaker says the Cayenne Hybrid S will offer V8 power with four-cylinder efficiency, and according to the numbers, they’re probably right. The Cayenne Hybrid S will use 3.0L V6, provided by corporate sibling Audi. The Audi mill cranks out 333 horsepower and 324 lb-ft of torque, not bad in and of itself, but when you add in the electric motor part of the hybrid drive train, you get another 52 horsepower and 221 lb-ft of torque. That’s enough to get the Cayenne Hybrid S from 0-60 in 6.8 seconds.

In spite of all this high-performance, the Cayenne Hybrid S will put out 20 percent less CO2 emissions than its gasoline version, which is good enough to qualify it as an ULEV II. There’s no official fuel economy figures just yet for the Cayenne Hybrid S, but early reports suggest the SUV could hit 32 mpg on the highway, which is 10 mpg better than the V6-powered Cayenne.

Porsche also pointed out that the Cayenne Hybrid S will be capable of traveling up to 1.2 miles on electric power alone, and that using electric power alone, will make it all the way up to 86 mph.

Source: LeftLaneNews

Ah, the Porsche GT series … such fun. The kind of fun that keeps lawyers employed, tire dealers stocking up on new meats and cops waiting with their radar guns at the ready.

Let’s take a deeper look at Porsche’s new performer, shall we?

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One of the annoying, on going problems with owning a sports car can be ground clearance. You know, speed bumps and sloped driveways and potholes and what not.

Well worry no more, or at least you can stop worrying about ground clearance issue if you’re the proud owner of a Porsche 911 or an Audi R8.

Porsche tuner Cargraphic has come up with a solution for this problem in the form of the “Airlift Suspension System”. Available for the Porsche 996/997 and in the near future, the Audi R8, patented automatic level control system enables the car’s front suspension to rise by 55m.

Cargraphic’s “Airlift Suspension” will automatically lower the car back down to normal ride height once it has reached a speed of 50 km/h (31mph), which is a common feature on other aftermarket systems of this sort.

One unique feature of Cargraphic’s suspension system is that in the 911, it can work with the Porsche factory PASM (Porsche Active Suspension Management). There are 2 versions of the Cargraphic Airlift Suspension available, a complete kit that includes BILSTEIN B16 suspension or as an upgrade kit for OE coil over suspensions

OK you lucky owners of Porsche 996/997 or Audi R8s, get cracking.

Source: CarScoop

Happy New Year everyone!

Another year has passed by and it is time for reflection upon the past year, as well as looking forward to more good things happening in 2009. 2008 had the debut of the largely anticipated Nissan GT-R which ran rings around the competition from the European stalwarts such as the BMW M3 and Porsche 911. In 2008, gas prices reached an all-time high of over $4 per gallon and dropped below $2 a gallon in less than six months. I don’t even want to mention the controversy surrounding the subject of bailing out the big 3 American auto makers because that conjures up more pain that the taxpayers have to bear. Getting past the greedy oil brokers and money-grubbing banks, there were still some outstanding cars that came out in 2008. CarReview’s editors reviewed the cars for 2008 and picked their favorites. Below is our list of outstanding vehicles that don’t require any handouts from congress.

(The photos are linked to the page with the corresponding consumer reviews.)
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Much rumored, and much hoped for by lots of greenies as well as people with a green bent that also like to show off, Porsche has started up production of its Cayenne diesel. And this comes after two years denying it would ever build a diesel because they are “incompatible with Porsche’s image.” Ironic, no?

The new production line is happening at Porsche’s state of the art Leipzig factory. The oil burner is the same 240 hp 3.0L V6 TDI mill used by Audi in the Q7, and Volkswagen in their Touareg. Both are headed for the US market. The Cayenne? Well, Porsche ain’t saying just as of yet, but you’d have to think they would want to bring it here. Especially if the CAFE standards get raised, since the same power unit was used by Audi in their Audi Mileage Marathon, and they got an average of almost 29 mpg over nearly 3,000 miles from New York to Denver. Not bad for a big truck.

Anyway, at the moment, Porsche is only offering the Cayenne diesel in Europe where it will be priced from €47,250, which is around 70,000 dollars US, which is to say, not cheap.

Like Porsche Cayenne buyers every worried about such trivialities.

Source: AutoBlogGreen

The global economic and credit crisis is hitting more than just the Big Three. On Wednesday, Porsche announced in Stuttgart it might delay taking over control of Volkswagen due to the shrinking demand for Porsche brand cars. Because of the downturn, chief executive of Porsche Wendelin Wiedeking, said it might no longer take 50 percent ownership of Volkswagen this year, due to Porsche’s share price being down 60 percent. Wiedeking described the downturn as incomprehensible.

“Signs of a severe slump in demand in the global automobile industry are highly visible,” Wiedeking said. “Porsche cannot escape this overall downward trend.” As of last month, Porsche owned 42.6 percent of Volkswagen and had options equivalent to a further 31.5 percent.

Bernd Osterloh, head of Volkswagen’s works council, has described Porsche’s acquisition of Volkswagen shares as a ‘hostile takeover.’ He stated what start as the two companies growing together is slowly becoming a hostile takeover by Porsche. Porsche still has plans to take control of Volkswagen “as quickly as possible” and is committed to owning 75 percent by the end of 2009.

With the same fanfare as the Enquirer releasing photos of TomKat’s baby Suri, Porsche AG, Stuttgart has unveiled to the world their latest baby. Yes, the first official photos of the four-seater Panamera Gran Turismo:

And what proud parents the Porsche family must be. While retaining the classic Porsche-look, this is the company’s first Sedan in all its four-door, touring car glory; with the typical Porsche sports car DNA and style, along with sporting driving dynamics, a generous and variable interior, and supreme driving comfort. Here’s the skinny on some of the Panamera Gran Turismo hardware surprises:

• Placed up front the power is supplied by V-6 or V-8 engines flexing 300 to 500 horsepower of muscle!
• It’s turbocharged with direct fuel injection for optimum efficiency!
• Like all good sports cars the Panamera Gran Turisomo will deploy rear-wheel drive along with an option for all-wheel drive
• Gears are shifted by a six-speed manual transmission or the company’s new PDK double-clutch, seven-speed, super-duper gearbox
• Because it’s a touring car, with its coupe-like tailgate, the two rear seats fold down for extra cargo.
• The Panamera will be making its world debut in spring 2009 and the first models will be at dealers worldwide in late summer of next year

Photos and video of this four door GT-wonder after the jump
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File this under “Uh-oh!”.

In another worrying sign, and hot on the the heals of Suzuki, Nissan has just announced it is pulling out of the North American International Auto show in Detroit. not only that, they’re also pulling out of the Chicago show too. So that now gives us a list of Porsche, Suzuki, Mitsubishi, Ferrari, Land Rover and Rolls-Royce, and Nissan that aren’t interested in showing at Detroit.

What none of these car companies, or journalists have been able to explain is: Why? Why pull out of the biggest car show in the biggest car market in the world?

Some companies have simply scaled back and reprioritized things; a lot of them shuffled big debuts off to the Los Angeles show, but that’s only a half-answer at best.

Frankly, I don’t have a handle on it. It’s not like Detroit is going to disappear. Even in some ultra-free market/Stephen Colbert nightmare, the Earth isn’t going to open up and swallow Detroit whole. Say things get as bad as they could. By this time tomorrow, GM, Ford & Chrysler have completely shut down operations and fired everybody. Sure, huge economic catastrophe, but the city, and the workers and the factories will still be there. Something would be done with them, it’s not like Detroit (and Lansing and Flint et al) would just dry up and blow away like some mining boom down in Nevada, circa 1892.

So, Porsche, Suzuki, Mitsubishi, Ferrari, Land Rover and Rolls-Royce, and Nissan, what gives?

Source: AutoBlog

By Kurt Gensheimer

Here’s the straight poop on what’s happening at the Los Angeles Auto Show…

2010 Mazda MAZDA3

Since its release nearly five years ago, the MAZDA3 has become a global best-seller due to its incredible balance of sportiness, practicality, fuel efficiency and affordability. In fact, one in every three cars Mazda sells worldwide is a MAZDA3. With the 2010 MAZDA3, Mazda yet again expects to raise the standard of what “economy” cars can deliver with more refined ride quality, a more luxurious-yet-sporty interior, attractive exterior styling resembling the RX-8, improved luggage space and new safety features. In addition, the MAZDA3 will offer new features like dual zone climate control, 8-way power seats, push button start and Bluetooth phone and audio; items not normally optioned in an economy car. The 2010 MAZDA3 will carry over the first-gen 2.0L four-cylinder, but will offer a new 2.5L with the company’s innovative new Start Stop technology that should put out between 175-185 horsepower and deliver up to 33 mpg.

Click the link for video of the new 2010 MAZDA3 sedan

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Porsche has decided to bring a little more racing tech to the street, this time in the form of centerlock wheels.

You know, those are the kind of wheels you see on race cars, the type that are held on by one big nut right in the middle of the wheel, rather than four or five little ones.

They’re on the car for performance reasons. First off, they weigh less, which helps in over-all performance, and specifically it reduces unsprung weight, which greatly increases handling performance.

Also, and not that this wold come into play for every day driving, they also shave time off of pitstops at the track. It takes less time to deal with one big nut that it takes to deal with four or five. Next time you watch a stock car race, notice how long it takes them to get a fresh set of rubber on the car versus how long it takes for a Grand Prix car. That’s why GP cars use centerlock wheels: It saves time during a pit stop.

Anyway, the engineering angels from Stuttgart are now offering 19-inch RS Spyder wheels exclusively for the 911 Turbo. As you would expect with anything Porsche builds, they’re going to work, and, they’re not going to be cheap: The retail price of the 19-inch RS Spyder wheel in Germany including 19 per cent VAT is Euro 3,510.50.

Yeah, they said “wheel” as in singular, so getting a set of four will be the equivalent of buying a new Miata.

Like Graham Hill said, “Speed equals money sir, how fast wold you care to go?”

Source: The Garage Blog

Paris Motor Show news from Porsche. All of the major auto manufacturers are working hard to squeeze better fuel economy out of their line-up. Porsche may be a luxury brand, but their customers are also conscious of the steep gas prices and our dependency upon foreign oil. Now you can have your cake and use less fuel according to Porsche. I’ll have to dig further and find out how much of an improvement the new generation of engines, all with DFI, have moved up in fuel economy. The official press release (with photos) is below the jump, but doesn’t mention any numbers with regards to how much the reworked engines have improved.

READ MORE>>

Review and photos by Derek Mau

Settling for second place has never been Porsche’s mind set. Porsche has a long list of podium finishes on and off of the racing circuit. In 1948 Porsche scored a first place finish at Innsbruck Stadtrennen with the 356, the first sports car to bear the Porsche name, only one month after it was road certified. Fast forward to 1984 for another notable first - Porsche, with the 911 Carrera 4×4, marks its first victory in the Paris–Dakar Rally. At Porsche safety is just as important as winning races. Porsche becomes the first car maker in Germany to equip all production models with an airbag for driver and front passenger as standard equipment. Now it seems that Porsche has taken the gold again in the form of a limited edition GT Silver Metallic Boxster, the RS 60 Spyder.

I was given the opportunity to test drive the RS 60 Spyder at the home of Porsche’s Sport Driving School (PSDS), Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama. In my opinion, the race track is the best place to put the RS 60 through its paces without scaring the natives on public roads. As an added bonus, I had legendary racer and lead PSDS instructor, Hurley Haywood, show me the race line at Barber Motorsports Park.

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