Category: Porsche

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Audi Porsche Toyota WEC

2014 6 Hours of Bahrain in pictures

2014 6 Hours of Bahrain

Toyota capped off a weekend of mixed results with champagne for both cars at the WEC 6 Hours of Bahrain yesterday. The #7 TS040 driven by Mike Conway, Stephane Sarrazin and Alexander Wurz won the race. It’s the first win for the #7 car this year and Toyota’s fifth race win for the season.

However, the glory went to Anthony Davidson and Sebastien Buemi in the #8 car, who finished well down in P11 after suffering alternator problems. Despite this they’ve done enough to wrap up the WEC drivers’ championship. With just one round to go Toyota Racing remains favourites to secure the manufacturers’ title for the first time as well.

Porsche also enjoyed a first this season, by seeing its two cars finish on the podium. The #14 919 once again started from pole position and enjoyed a reasonably smooth run. The #20 car had a scrappy day but the lack of major dramas meant they could get a valuable third place.

Audi had a pretty horrible weekend with major work required before taking the track aftrer discovering damage to the monocoques of both cars. In that respect they did very well to get out and compete and remain relatively competitive.

Yet, for the first time in the short history of the new World Endurance Championship format Audi is in danger of losing its world championship status. The team is 40 points behind Toyota with only one race left on the calendar, the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo later this month.

2014 6 Hours of Bahrain – top 6

  1. Conway/Sarrazin/Wurz (#7 Toyota) – 195 laps in 6h 00m 18.056s
  2. Dumas/Jani/Lieb (#14 Porsche) + 50.460s
  3. Bernhard/Hartley/Webber (#20 Porsche) + 57.268s
  4. Fässler/Lotterer/Tréluyer (#2 Audi) – 1 lap
  5. Di Grassi/Duval/Kristensen (#1 Audi) – 2 laps
  6. Belicchi/Kraihamer/Leimer (#13 Rebellion-Toyota) – 7 laps
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Audi Porsche Toyota WEC

2014 6 Hours of Shanghai in pictures

2014 6 Hours of Shanghai

Strap yourself into the AUSmotive time machine and tavel to China with us to look back at the WEC 6 Hours of Shanghai.

Held across the first weekend in November Toyota’s late season form continued securing a one-two victory and edging closer to drivers’ and manufacturers’ championship success.

Anthony Davidson and Sebastien Buemi consolidated their lead in the drivers’ championship by winning the race in the #8 TSo40 and enjoyed a comfortable 72 second margin ahead of their teammates in the #7  sister car.

Porsche had to make do with P3 and might have hoped for more after the #14 919 started from pole and early on both cars headed the field until tyre dramas cost the #20 car any chance of a decent result. In the end Webber and his mates had to make do with sixth.

That means the Audis filled positions four and five. The R18 hasn’t enjoyed much success since winning Le Mans and you sense Audi will have to come up with a great car in 2015 to maintain its recent dominace.

2014 6 Hours of Shanghai – top 6

  1. Buemi/Davidson (#8 Toyota) – 188 laps in 6h 01m 15.319s
  2. Nakajima/Sarrazin/Wurz (#7 Toyota) + 1m 12.564s
  3. Dumas/Jani/Lieb (#14 Porsche) – 1 lap
  4. Fässler/Lotterer/Tréluyer (#2 Audi R18 e-tron quattro) – 1 lap
  5. Di Grassi/Duval/Kristensen (#1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro) – 1 lap
  6. Bernhard/Hartley/Webber (#20 Porsche) – 2 laps

Now, get ready for our time machine to bring you back to the present where we’ll have a 6 Hours of Bahrain up date for you real soon!

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Audi Porsche Toyota WEC

2014 6 Hours of Fuji in pictures

2014 6 Hours of Fuji

Toyota won its home round of the World Endurance Championship—the 6 Hours of Fuji—a couple of weeks back, leaving Anthony Davidson and Sebastien Buemi with broad grins on their faces. It was a one-two finish for Toyota and Porsche filled the final podium spot with Mark Webber’s crew tasting the champagne.

We’ve had five of eight rounds in the WEC now and Audi still looks the goods for the overall championship. With three races in November we’ll have to be much sharper in getting these updates to you!

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Ferrari McLaren Porsche Video

A decent day out indeed

Ferrari 458 Speciale v McLaren 650S v Porsche 911 GT3

Steve Sutcliffe and his mates from Autocar recently spent the day at Castle Combe with half a million quids worth of track toys. Fighting for their attention was the Ferrari 458 Speciale, the McLaren 650S and the Porsche 911 GT3.

Which one do you think will be the fastest? And which one would you take home?

[Thanks to Tim for the tip]

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Porsche Video

Andreas Preuninger earns his keep

991 Porsche 911 GT3

Now that those embarrassing engine dramas are behind the Porsche 911 GT3 the man responsible for what is otherwise one of the world’s most desirable driving cars has hit the hustings to win your vote.

In this five minute clip, showing the GT3 being thrashed around a racetrack, Andreas Preuninger, Head of GT Cars at Porsche, does an awesome sell job on the car. He tells us the 911 GT3 can bring world peace, cure cancer and win Carlton an AFL premiership. Or something like that.

Thankfully, it seems, the only smoke coming from the back of a GT3 these days is from the tyres.

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Porsche Video

Listen to the new Cayman four-pot turbo

Porsche Cayman 981.2 prototype

The 981.2 Porsche Boxster/Cayman will be released next year and it will be the first time the models have been sold with a turbocharged four-cylinder engine. At least it’ll be a boxer configuration, meaning it should sound better than the ubiquitous 2.0 litre inline four-pots found under the bonnet of most hot hatches these days.

If you don’t believe us then check out the latest video from Bridge to Gantry after the break, where you’ll see a Cayman protype in action at the Nürburgring.

[Source: Bridge to Gantry]

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Porsche

Porsche gets ready to blow 911 history to pieces

Porsche 911, 991.2 prototype

When Porsche made the move from air cooled to water cooled engines the purists would have you believe the sky was falling. The end was nigh. In truth, some of the best 911s ever made are water cooled and the sun is still coming up every day.

However, we could be facing renewed predictions of dark days by doom merchants if Car magazine’s prediction for the 991.2 is correct. Apparently the 991 will boast an all-turbo* engine range when the facelifted range is launched in quarter two of 2015.

Truth be told, we can probably count ourselves as merchants of doom as far as this story goes. While understanding the need to push for the greater efficiencies a turbo powerplant will bring, basking in the glory of a howling normally aspirated 911 is one of life’s greatest joys.

The entry level Carrera is expected to have its capacity reduced from 3.4 litres to 2.9 litres. The addition of a turbo, though, is expected to produce key numbers of 300kW/540Nm, up from 257kW/390Nm. The Carrera S will keep its 3.8 litre capacity and get boosted up to 395kW/705Nm, a very healthy increase from 294kW/440Nm.

Which makes you wonder what on earth the next 911 Turbo and GT2 will do to separate themselves from their new turbocharged underlings!

*The magic asterisk suggests the 991.2 GT3 will remain normally aspirated, but, y’know, they’ve already taken the manual ‘box away from us, so why not bung a hairdryer on too!

[Source: Car | Thanks to Richard for the tip]

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Porsche Video WEC

Timo Bernhard laps the Circuit of the Americas

Timo Bernhard, Porsche 919 Hybrid

If you take a quick look inside the cabin of the Porsche 919 Hybrid it’s soon apparent that visibility may not be as good as you might expect. Those A-pillars are damn thick.

This dash-mounted video from inside the cabin doesn’t give you the driver’s eye view, but you still get an idea of the compromised sightlines faced while wrestling your way around the Circuit of the Americas in Austin.

Timo Bernhard is at the wheel, enjoy the ride!

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Porsche WEC

Check out the Porsche 919 Hybrid steering wheel

Porsche 919 steering wheel

Who doesn’t love a close up look at the steering wheel of a thoroughbred racecar! Here’s the wheel from the Porsche 919 Hybrid, there’s 24 buttons and six paddles in all, along with a multi-function display in the middle.

Two of the most important and most frequently used buttons are on the hand grips: the red button on the left is the let magic happen overtake button and releases the energy stored from the battery; the blue button is the get out of my way flashing light button, one press will flash the lights three times to warn slower cars ahead that the Porker is coming through.

The six paddle arrangement on the back is interesting, too. The two larger paddles in the middle are for gear changing, right for upshifts, left for downshifts. The lower paddles operate the clutch, both sides performing the same function. The top two paddles relate to the energy recovery system, the left side releases the boost and is a duplicate function of the red button from the front, the right side to commence manual energy recovery.

It always amazes how fiddly a modern steering wheel is on topline racecars and that under the pressure of competition drivers wearing thick gloves are able to operate all those buttons with accuracy and composure.

More photos and details from Porsche can be read after the break.

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McLaren Porsche Video

McLaren P1 v Porsche 918 v Ducati 1199

McLaren P1 v Porsche 918 v Ducati 1199

Here’s a video shootout that’ll have you salivating. Autocar runs the fearsome McLaren P1 up against the amazing Porsche 918 Spyder. And for good measure they bring a Ducati 1199 along for a few laughs. Remember, it’s the superbike which gives its engine to the funky Volkswagen XL Sport.

Of course, there is a lot more to read from Autocar about the merits of these two hyperhybrids, including this bit:

Ultimately, the 918 handles, rides and steers like a big daddy version of every senior-level Porsche from the past 10 years, and that’s exactly how Porsche’s engineers wanted it to feel. Which is great, but…

The P1’s chassis, particularly its aerodynamic grip, really is something else again. At normal road speeds you rarely, if ever, notice what kind of sorcery is going on around you, because to get those wings to do their thing you need to be travelling at least somewhere close to three figures.

Naturally, Autocar wanted the LaFerrari to join in the fun too, but…

There was one simple reason for the absence of Ferrari’s rival hypercar here: Maranello was invited to provide a car for this test but declined. At the same time, Ferrari made it clear that were we to test a private example, we would not be invited back to Maranello any time soon.

[Source: Autocar]

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Ferrari Porsche Video

VIDEO: Porsche 911 GT3 v Ferrari 458 Speciale

Porsche 911 GT3 v Ferrari 458 Speciale

Ben Barry from Car magazine has the enviable task of comparing the Porsche 911 GT3 against the Ferrari 458 Speciale. Both cars have so much personality, so much power, so much appeal. Wouldn’t a day behind the wheel of these two cars, on empty open roads, be a great day out!

As a self-confessed 911 GT3 fan it’s hard to see me ever picking anything else in my automotive dreams. But, you know, a 458 Speciale ain’t so bad!

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Porsche

2015 Porsche 911 Carrera GTS revealed

Porsche 911 Carrera GTS

The latest model in the 991 911 rollout is upon us, the Carrera GTS. It’s the second time Porsche has released a Carrera GTS and this time it’s available in both rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive configurations.

If you missed the memo back in 2010, the GTS sits between the Carrera S and the GT3. All GTS models boast the wide body of the Carrera 4, and are complemented by 20″ matt black alloys.

Peak power from the 3.8 litre flat six is up to 316kW, which is 22kW more than you get in a Carrera S and 34kW less than a GT3. With a 7-speed PDK fitted to a GTS coupé you’ll knock off 100km/h in 4.0 seconds. You can also buy your GTS with a 7-speed manual gearbox if you wish.

Australian deliveries will start in Februray next year, although you can order now if you wish. List pricing starts at $268,700 for a manual Carrera 2 GTS and tops out at $312,690 for a Carrera 4 GTS Cabriolet with a PDK transmission (see full price list below for more detail).

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