Category: Porsche

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Motorsports Porsche Video

Remembering the Porsche 911 GT1

2014 Geneva Motor Show

With 16 outright victories at Le Mans you’d reckon knowledge of Porsche’s success was pretty well established. But with its return to La Sarthe later this year Porsche took its most recent winning car, the 911 GT1-98, to the Geneva Motor Show to remind us of its race winning heritage all the same.

Finding archival footage of the 911 GT1 on the Tubes is not the easiest thing. Especially if you’re trying to find a decent clip of the car winning the 1998 24 Hours of Le Mans.

We’ve assembled the best we could get our hands on, including a clip from the 1998 Petit Le Mans, and now see the pedigree which attracted Mark Webber to sign with Porsche. He should feel right at home!

There’s also a clip from Evo‘s Henry Catchpole talking about his time behind the wheel of a 911 GT1 strassenversion.

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2014 Geneva Motor Show in pictures – part 2

2014 Geneva Motor Show

Here’s your second batch of photos from the 2014 Geneva Motor Show, that makes it 155 photos in all. We start part 2 with the very cool Maserati Alfieri concept and end with the very cool Volvo Concept Estate. Cool!

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Alfa Romeo Porsche Video

VIDEO: Alfa Romeo 4C v Porsche Cayman S

Alfa Romeo 4C v Porsche Cayman S

For his weekly visit to YouTube Chris Harris drops in with a sports coupé comparison that everyone will enjoy. It’s the swooping drama and promise of the Alfa Romeo 4C up against the model all sportscars in this class aim to beat, the Porsche Cayman S.

So confident was Harris of the Porsche’s status he starts by asking: “Is there any reason why you’d buy a 4C over a Cayman at the moment?”

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Motor Shows Porsche WEC

Geneva 2014: Porsche 919 Hybrid & 911 RSR

Porsche 919 Hybrid

Porsche has now released preliminary details for the 919 Hybrid, following the earlier leak. Not much else to add except to invite you to check out the images and information after the break.

Pics are also included for the 2014-spec 911 RSR which will fight for Porsche in the GTE Pro class during the FIA World Endurance Championship.

The full press kit from Porsche at the Geneva Motor Show is available below as well.

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Porsche WEC

Porsche 919 Hybrid images leaked

Porsche 919 Hybrid

Porsche will be officially unveiling its 919 Hybrid LMP1 challenger at Geneva in the next 24 hours, but as is the way these days images have already surfaced online.

We thought there might have been some Red Bull livery somewhere on there with the arrival of Mark Webber to the team. As yet that’s not the case.

Power for the 919 comes thanks to a 2.0 lite V4 petrol engine and a whole bunch of electric gubbins harvesting, storing and releasing power. It will make its race debut at the 6 Hours of Silverstone on 20 April.

Oh yeah, there’s also the new 911 RSR, which looks massive alongside the 919. We’ll bring you more when Porsche says we can.

[Source: Autocar]

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Porsche

Porsche boss earns 5-year contract extension

Matthias Muller

The Porsche board took time out from passing the BBQ chips around the table on Friday to stop and reflect on the tenure of Chairman Matthias Müller. Happy with his performance they’ve given him a five-year contract extension.

Uwe Hück, Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board and Chairman of the general and group works council of Porsche AG—now that is a fancy job title—spoke in glowing terms about Müller and the importance he has in maintaining Porsche’s culture since joining the Volkswagen portfolio.

“The Strategy 2018 is paying off,” Hück said. “The integration into the Volkswagen Group and the independence of Porsche are no contradiction, they stand for success. Porsche and the number of employees are growing—in Zuffenhausen, in Weissach and in Leipzig.

“However, in spite of this growth, we want to preserve the proven Porsche culture and we will continue to go down this road with Matthias Müller. He is an employer with a heart and quite simply, that’s good for Porsche.

“Now, can we start the BBQ chicken please. I just love that chargrilled tatse!”

Ooh, word has just come through from the Porsche press office suggesting that Hück may not have said that final sentence.

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Porsche WEC

Porsche Team confirms 2014 WEC driver line ups

Mark Webber, Timo Bernhard, Brendon Hartley

The Porsche Team has taken to twitter to announce the final driver line ups for its two 919 Hybrid LMP1 cars to compete in the 2014 WEC season. As expected Mark Webber will be in car #20 along with Timo Bernhard and Brendon Hartley.

The #14 919 Hybrid will be driven by Romain Dumas, Marc Lieb and Neel Jani.

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Porsche Video

VIDEO: Porsche 918 Spyder with Weissach package

Porsche 918 Weissach

Since the McLaren P1 has been tarting itself on the media circuit it’s easy to forget how good the Porsche 918 Spyder is. With the optional Weissach package the 918 is even better. In this clip Porsche gives us a quick rundown of the benefits included in the Weissach pack.

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Porsche

Porsche fires up recall for MY14 911 GT3 models

Porsche 911 GT3

Porsche’s official reaction to reports of fires in new 911 GT3 models has moved up a gear with word they will be recalling all 785 model year 2014 GT3s for inspection.

The notice includes a recommendation that owners should not drive their car until it has been checked:

Inspection of all 911 GT3 vehicles of model year 2014

Porsche inspecting engines of current 911 GT3 models

Stuttgart. 2014/02/20 – The sports car producer Porsche is inspecting all engines of 911 GT3 vehicles of model year 2014. Porsche is informing the owners of the affected vehicles directly and recommending that they stop using their vehicles. The company is offering to pick up the vehicles and take them to a Porsche Centre immediately.

Safety is a number one priority at Porsche, and the company takes its responsibility seriously. After engine damage occurred in two vehicles in Europe and the vehicles then caught fire. Porsche decided to inspect all 785 delivered vehicles worldwide. There was no traffic accident and no personal injure. Internal studies to determine the cause of the engine damage have not been completed yet.

Porsche will report on any new findings immediately.

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Oh the humanity Porsche

Porsche brings halt to 911 GT3 fire sales

Porsche 911 GT3 fire sale

Porsche has reacted quickly to reports of its current 911 GT3 model catching on fire. As the screen grab above shows Porsche is officially owning up to two incidents of fire with the GT3, although unconfirmed reports on the interwebz claim as many as five GT3s have become carbecues.

After reporting on the Swiss GT3 fire we asked Porsche for an official response:

AUSmotive: Are you able to confirm or provide any comment regarding speculation that deliveries of all new 911 GT3s have been suspended while Porsche investigates the cause for a series of alleged fires with the cars?
Porsche: Porsche is investigating the case and, if necessary, will inform customers and the public as quickly as possible about the results of the investigation.

There’s also a report from a 991 GT3 owner  on the Aussie Exotics forum that local deliveries have been suspended while Porsche investigates the issue.

We didn’t win OzLotto last night but when we do land those winning numbers we’ll still be putting an order in for a 911 GT3!

[Source: CNBC | Thanks to Wayne & John for the tips]

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Porsche WEC

“Porsche Team” confirms WEC LMP1 entry

Porsche 919 hybrid

At the ACO’s 2014 season launch last week Porsche officially confirmed its eagerly awaited return to top flight endurance racing in the LMP1 category.

Known simply as “Porsche Team”, two 919 Hybrids will be entered which will carry the numbers 14 and 20. The drivers assigned as the official entrants are former Le Mans winners Romain Dumas (#14) and Timo Bernhard (#20).

Porsche is yet to rubber stamp the driver lineups for each car, but earlier reports suggest Marc Lieb and Neel Jani will join Romain Dumas, leaving Mark Webber and Brendon Hartley to partner with Timo Bernhard.

Quietly buried in the press release below is confirmation from Porsche the 919 will be powered by a “small capacity” supercharged V4 engine at the rear and an electric motor driving the front wheels. These will be complemented by two energy recovery systems.

Defending its 2013 Le Mans victory in the GTE Pro class Porsche Team Manthey will return with a pair of 911 RSRs which have been revised for the 2014 season. The changes obviously worked too judging by Porsche’s recent class win at the 24 Hours of Daytona.

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Oh the humanity Porsche

2014 Porsche 911 GT3 lights my fire

991 Porsche 911 GT3

We don’t like bringing you this story. Not one little bit. You see, to us, the Porsche 911 GT3 is one of our most yearned for cars. To see one go up in flames like this makes us rather sad.

The loss happened near St Gallen in Switzerland and the key paragraph of the official Police report (translated) reads:

A Porsche GT3 drove on the A1 highway towards St.Gallen. When the driver perceived strange noises from the engine area, he left the highway. On the Wilerstrasse the driver stopped the car. He saw leaking oil and smoke is in the rear engine. A short time later the Porsche caught fire. The fire was extinguished by the fire department. The cause of the fire will be investigated by the Forensic Science Service of the Canton of St. Gallen police.

Worse, other reports of similar 991 GT3 fires indicate this isn’t an isolated case, with as many as five other incidents occurring in recent weeks.

There’s also talk that deliveries of 2014 911 GT3s have been stopped by Porsche while they investigate the problem. As far as we’re aware Porsche is yet to confirm or comment on this matter, but we’ll let you know if we hear any more.

[Source: Axis of Oversteer | Thanks to John for the tip]

UPDATE 20 Feb: Porsche will recall all MY14 GT3s for inspection.

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