To further set the scene for the earlier report on the Porsche Sport Driving School, here is a short YouTube clip from the chaps at Porsche Experience in the UK.
Category: Porsche
Porsche Sport Driving School
The chance to indulge in a day behind the wheel of a current model Porsche 911 GT3 on an unrestricted racetrack is surely one that most driving enthusiasts would jump at with great gusto. If this sounds like you, then such an opportunity can be yours thanks to the Porsche Sport Driving School. Okay, a fee of around $2000 might cut the number of willing participants back somewhat—but is this a small price to pay to sample motoring nirvana, or is Porsche just having a lend?
Lucklily for you a couple of AUSmotive readers recently took on the burden of answering this question for your benefit. Below is a report from one of the guys who went along…
2010 Porsche 911 GT3 R
Amateur racers of the world rejoice, your new weapon of choice is about to be ready. Sure, you’ll need around €280,000 (AU$450,000), but Porsche say their new 911 GT3 R is the one for you.
In simple terms this is a 911 GT3 Cup that has been further beefed up. Engine capacity has increased from 3.8 to 4.0 litres and the power has obligingly come up as well. So, you now have a very respectable 353kW (480bhp) to play with and only 1200kg of racecar to lug around.
The GT3 R replaces the GT3 Cup S and is good to go international FIA GT3 races. Porsche say they have improved handling and made the car easier to drive. What’s not to like about that. With a sequential six-speed box that automagically blips the throttle for you you’d have to be trying pretty damn hard not to enjoy driving this thing.
The GT3 Cup R will be released at the world famous Birmingham Motor Show in mid January next year, with customer deliveries to take place a couple of months later. Now, where to find me an amateur racer with a lazy half mill lying around.
There’s more from Porsche below.
Some car dealers will go to extraordinary lengths to attract publicity, but Porsche Centrum Gelderland in the Netherlands seems to have hit the sweet spot with this stunt. They have covered a 911 Carrera S in chocolate to attract attention to themselves. And, hats off to them, it has worked with this little blog on the other side of the world giving them a free plug.
The dealer went to these extraordinary lengths in honour of the “Sinterklaas” holiday, celebrated in the Netherlands on 5 December. Apparently 175kg of chocolate was used to cover the car. That really is a lot of chocolate!
Perhaps more astounding is the revelation that this car will be on display until Christmas. The dealer says the dealership won’t get over 27°C, and leading into a European winter, the chocolate sculpture is bound to be pretty safe.
Chocolate and supercars.—what a wonderful, if bizarre combination, I still couldn’t eat a whole one, though.
More sweetness after the jump.
[Source: AutoTelegraaf via autoblog]
VIDEO: Evo tests 911 GT3 RS and GT3 Cup
Chris Harris from Evo is fast becoming my new anti-hero. He’s doing many of the things we’d all love to be doing, and yet, I hate him at the same time! After the jump you can watch as he spends a few minutes showing off in a Porsche 911 GT3 RS, before really rubbing our noses in it as he takes control of a GT3 Cup car.
King for a day
If you’re not a captain of industry then the closest you may get to a Porsche is through one of their driving schools. Currently Porsche UK is running a competition for a chance to take part in their Porsche 911 Evolution III drive day.
The YouTube clip above shows what’s in store with a good mix of old and new skool love—starting with a 1986 G Series, flirting with a 1994 993, before finishing with a 2009 997.2 model.
Australian readers need not fret, they too can get in on this gig by checking out the Porsche Sport Driving School in Queensland.
Sounds great
Reckon you can tell one Porsche from another? Well, here’s your chance to prove yourself against your mates with this neat competition from Porsche UK.
Simply, you need to follow this link, then listen to the audio of the cars. Answer a few mutliple choice questions and, if you live in the UK, you could be in with a chance to be fanging the three cars pictured above around Silverstone.
Sounds good, doesn’t it!
VIDEO: Porsche Boxster Spyder
More Porsche Boxster Spyder goodies for you now. It’s like the earlier article, but with less words and more moving pictures. Official clip from Porsche above, with some extra clips below for good measure. Sounds half decent, too.
Sneak peek: 2010 Porsche Boxster Spyder
This is the Porsche Boxster Spyder, and it will be the lightest Porsche on the market in February 2010 when it arrives in showrooms around the world. It weighs in at 1275kg, fitted with PDK, which makes it 90kg lighter than a PDK equipped Boxster.
Adding more sweetness to the package is news that the Spyder will produce 320bhp from its 3.4 litre flat six. More astute Porsche connoisseurs will have already clocked that is 10bhp more than a Boxster S.
With the roof up, the fabric only cover is unlikely to do more than offer basic protection. Porsche have said the Spyder “has been developed first and foremost for driving in the open air”. Which also probably explains why they didn’t bother too much with how the roof looks.
If you are chasing that wind in your hair feeling, though, you can do this in very brisk fashion by sprinting to 100km/h in a mere 4.8 seconds. With retuned suspension you can bet that Stuttgart’s finest have made the most of lighter weight to ensure this car steers and handles with absolute precision.
The rear bulges over the engine cover are not the most convincing aesthetic solution ever seen on a motor car, but this is a small price to pay for what is sure to be a cracking drive. Speaking of prices,European customers will be paying a bit under €63,500(AU$105,000) to drive a Spyder away from their favourite Porsche dealer. The public will get their first look at the Boxster Spyder at the LA Motor Show in December.
More after the break.
When last we spoke about the Volkswagen-Porsche ownership ordeal it was thought that Volkswagen would only assume a 42% stake in the iconic German sports car maker by the end of 2009.
However, since that arrangement was signed off the two newly weds have been getting on so well that it has now been decided Volkswagen will up it’s stake to 49.9% by year’s end.
The full merger of the two companies is still planned to be finalised by 2011. There’s a full statement from Volkswagen AG after the jump.
Can’t see the forest for the trees
It’s been a few months now since the launch of the Porsche Panamera. And while the reviews might be promising, it seems this is one car that will continue to polarise opinions. Well, at least this ad for the Panamera is pretty cool.
Porsche, it seems, are confident the Panamera will hold a special place in the company’s family lineage, as this claim from the ad states, “Since then every Porsche has answered a dream of one kind or another.” See if you can spot a Cayenne!
There’s a couple of very tidy bits of footage after the jump, giving further glimpses at some of the most desirable Porsches ever made.
[via TopGear]
Here is a delightful old skool television commercial for the Porsche 944 Turbo. No chance of ever seeing an ad like this on our TV screens!
For more old skool loving, check out Jalopnik via the link below.
[Source: Jalopnik]