Category: Porsche

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“He would have all the qualities to drive with us”

2013 Australian Grand Prix

The Mark Webber to Porsche rumour has increased in intensity following the fallout from Sebastian Vettel’s controversial victory at the Malaysian Grand Prix. When we first reported on the rumour in the middle of last year we gave our unwavering support to Webber leading the charge for Porsche at Le Mans in 2014.

Only Mark will know if he has the fire in the belly to continue in Formula 1 beyond this season. Not to mention the patience to deal with the highly charged egos in the sport. The door has been left open by Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz, will Mark stay or will he go?

One thing is certain, these comments from Oliver Hilger, Porsche Motorsport Press manager, reported on the official Le Mans website, will only serve to further heighten the expectations that Mark will be leading the Porsche charge for LMP1 success at La Sarthe next year.

“He would have all the qualities to drive with us,” Hilger said.

“He has been in Formula 1 for more than a decade, he has already raced twice at Le Mans with Mercedes. He knows the road that leads to us in Stuttgart.”

We’ll be sure to keep an eye on this story as it will no doubt develop further over the coming months.

[Source: 24h-lemans.com | Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]

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Porsche

Porsche 918 Spyder previewed in Bahrain

Porsche 918 Spyder

Remember the Porsche 918 Spyder? With the advent and subsequent hype of the McLaren P1 and LaFerrari it’d be easy to forget Porsche wants in on this hybrid hypercar fad too.

So it’s just as well the lads from Stuttgart rocked up to Bahrain with four 918s—two test mules and two pre-production models—to offer exclusive test drives to rich oily types. We’re certain they will have enjoyed their time at the wheel of the 795hp hybrid beast and wish it was us having a laugh with Porsche instead.

The 918 Spyder is due to go on sale in mid-September, so expect a heap of goodies and press guff in time for the Frankfurt Motor Show.

[Source: Autocar]

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Porsche

50 years of Porsche 911 ownership

Porsche 356

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Porsche 911. We’ve been a little lax in sharing the goodies from Porsche with you, but promise to put that right over the course of the year. To start with here is a video featuring Dr Peter Bradley from the UK who has owned Porsches all his life it seems, including 50 years of 911 ownership. Lucky chap!

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Porsche

Porsche Boxster/Cayman – 2013 World Performance Car of the Year

981 Porsche Cayman

We think the 981 Porsche Boxster and Cayman are pretty ace, even though we’re yet to drive either. But it turns out we’re not the only ones who reckon the Coxster rocks, as both cars have been awarded the 2013 World Performance Car crown.

An initial field of 20 cars was shortlisted to three and the Porsches came out ahead of the Ferrari F12 Berlinetta and the Toybaru.

The World Car judges have put their names to this rather quaint statement: “The Job One for this new generation of Porsche’s littler two-doors was actually two-fold. The Boxster needed to be seen as less of a fancy secretary’s car and the Cayman needed to be set loose to be an even better Porsche sports car than the iconic 911. In both instances, mission over-accomplished. Both cars are now allowed out of their company cages and they drive as if they’re celebrating.”

Porsche has also used this news to remind us the 911 Carrera 4 has been awarded the Best All-Wheel Drive Car by readers of German mag Auto Bild.

You can read the official word from Stuttgart after the break.

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Motorsports Porsche

Porsche reminds us of past Le Mans triumphs

Porsche Le Mans web special

Ahead of its 2014 assault on outright victory at Le Mans Porsche has started to remind us of the 16 titles they’ve already notched up. They’re doing this through a dedicated microsite which you can visit by clicking on the image above.

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Motorsports Porsche

2013 Porsche 911 RSR revealed

2013 Porsche 911 RSR

The 2013 World Endurance Championship kicks off in two weeks time with the 6 Hours of Silverstone. It’s timely then that Porsche has revealed its brand new 911 RSR which will compete in the series.

Based on the 991 911, the extra 100mm in its wheelbase has given the new RSR has a lower centre of gravity and better weight distribution than its predecessor. Although, this new model re-uses the 460hp 4.0 litre flat six from the 2012 car, with Porsche saying its performance has since been “optimised in detail”.

To aid quick repairs many of the body panels feature a quick release system which, in theory, allows for shorter pit stop times if repairs are needed.

Porsche, through its association with Manthey Racing, will be racing a pair of 911 RSRs throughout the WEC season, including Le Mans. In the 24 hour classic the #91 car will be driven by Marc Lieb (Germany), Richard Lietz (Austria) and Romain Dumas (France). Its sister #92 car will be crewed by Joerg Bergmeister (Germany), Patrick Pilet (France) and Timo Bernhard (Germany).

Next year, of course, Porsche will be hoping to end Audi’s recent dominance of endurance racing by chasing outright victory at Le Mans. We’ll have a little more on that later.

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Porsche

PDK-only for 2014 Porsche 911 GT3 RS

991 Porsche 911 GT3

UK publication Car magazine brings the scoop that the 991-based 911 GT3 RS will carry over the PDK transmission and electronic power steering from the just released 911 GT3 (pictured). Their source is very reliable, too, none other than Andreas Preuninger, Head of GT Cars at Porsche.

There can be no mistaking Preuninger’s comments, either. “There’s no chance of a manual,” he said. “We don’t want to offer too many options on our GT cars. And if you’ve got a manual and a PDK you’ve got to have different set-ups for the suspension, the aero, the tyres, everything. We are a small team and can only concentrate on one car.”

We expect many will bemoan that no new GT3-badged 911 will be available with a traditional H-pattern manual gearbox, but perhaps the promise of a wilder GT3 RS might go some of the way to soften the blow.

“We’ve opened up a wider field of usability with the new GT3, so maybe that gives us more reason to push the RS towards a more extreme side. The differentiations between the two models has always been increasing, and it’s going to be like that in the future,” Preuninger told Car.

Some of the ingredients to help sharpen the RS could be a further improved shift time on the 7-speed PDK-box, which can already shift in just 100ms in the new GT3, and an even larger rear wing may also feature. Of the car’s exterior, Preuninger said, “It’s pretty spectacular. It’s beautiful.”

The other carrot dangled by the Porsche man is a peak power figure of around 500hp for the new RS.

Preuninger confirmed the 991 GT3 RS would debut early next year, following the unveiling of the new 911 Turbo in the next few months and the 918 Spyder at Frankfurt in September.

[Source: Car]

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Motorsports Porsche

2013 Porsche 911 GT3 R revealed

2013 Porsche 911 GT3 R

We bring you some race-ready porn from Porsche this morning with details of the 2013-spec 911 GT3 R being released. First, we must note this is still based on the 997-model, so there will be a new 991-based GT3 R sometime in the future.

The 997 GT3 R was first released in 2010 and since then has done many wonderful things, notching up numerous race and championship victories. That success should continue with word from Porsche saying they have improved the aero package of the 911 GT3 R; the rear wing is now the same width as the widest part of the car. Cool!

The suspension has also been given a once over, the front and rear track is now 50mm wider and the wheelbase has been extended by a more modest 10mm.

Power from the 4.0 litre flat six remains at 368kW (500hp) and is still coupled to a 6-speed dogbox style transmission with flappy paddles.

If you already have an older spec 911 GT3 R and are feeling a bit jealous at what the new kids at the track will have to play with, fear not, for €45,500 Porsche will gladly bring your car into line with 2013 specifications.

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Porsche

“The car is more fun to drive, I promise you”

991 Porsche 911 GT3

“More 991 GT3 video goodness. Hoorah!”

The quote immediately above was the message the GT Porsche twitter account sent out this morning alerting us to a new video for its latest 911 GT3. We couldn’t have said it better ourselves and you can see the clip for yourself after the break.

The quote used in the heading was said by Andreas Preuninger, Head of GT Cars at Porsche. The context was making sure we all forget about the fact the new GT3 is only available with a PDK transmission. Let’s hope he is right.

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2013 Geneva Motor Show in video

McLaren P1

To complement our two part Geneva Motor Show picture gallery here is a selection of the best videos posted to YouTube. We start with Chris Harris’ weekly drive episode before doffing our caps in appreciation to Autocar, Evo, Auto Express and XCar.

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2013 Geneva Motor Show in pictures – part 2

2013 Geneva Motor Show

You can have your fancy pants limited-edition Lambo, or your stonking new LaFerrari, even the McLaren P1; we’re not really interested. The car of Geneva, for us, is the Porsche 911 GT3. That’s the one we’d like to take home and get intimate with. And so begins the second and final part of our Geneva Motor Show image gallery. There’s over 120 new  images to see and enjoy.

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Porsche

Andreas Preuninger on the 991 Porsche 911 GT3

991 Porsche 911 GT3

Andreas Preuninger, Head of GT Cars at Porsche, knows a thing or two about the new 911 GT3. He’s just been interviewed about the car by Jethro Bovingdon from Evo magazine. In his introduction Bovingdon says, “If you’re a Porsche geek you will love this.”

He was right.

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