Tag: Porsche

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Lamborghini Porsche Targa Tasmania

Targa Tasmania 2010 update – Day 5

Jason White, Lamborghini Gallardo

Jason White driving a Lamborghini Gallardo Super Trofeo Strada has held on to claim the 2010 Targa Tasmania trophy. It is his second Targa victory and he finished 1 minute 5 seconds ahead of Ray Vandersee in a Skelta G Force. In third place was 2009 winner Tony Quinn driving a Nissan GTR.

The Classic competition was won by Rex Broadbent in his 1974 Porsche 911 Carrera RS.

A full list of category and class winners is available HERE. Tonight’s local Tasmanian news bulletin can be seen after the jump. Congratulations to all teams, crews and officials for their part in another successful Targa Tasmania. Next year’s event will be a massive one, it will be the 20th anniversary of Australia’s most prestigious tarmac rally.

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Ferrari Porsche

VIDEO: Ferrari 458 Italia v Porsche 911 GT3 RS

evo: 458 v GT3 RS

Chris Harris from evo has spent a fun day behind the wheel of the Ferrari 458 Italia and the Porsche 911 GT3 RS. Harris will be racing a GT3 RS at the Nürburgring 24 hour race later this month. Watch the two videos below to see if he wishes he was in the 458 instead.

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Porsche

Porsche Panamera suffers total recall

Porsche Panamera

Porsche have issued recall notices for all Panamera models sold worldwide. That’s over 11,000 vehicles in all. For the Australian market affected cars are listed as Panamera S, Panamera 4S and Panamera Turbo 2010 models.

The problem surrounds the locking elements on the front seat belts which can work loose or become detached from their mounts. Pretty easy to see what could happen next in such a situation. According to the official recall statement, “If the front seats are adjusted very far, resulting in unfavorable tolerances, it is possible that the function of the locking mechanism for the seat belt mount can no longer be guaranteed.”

A recall notice has been posted on the recalls.gov.au website which outlines the possible defect and the likely outcome. All Panamera owners in Australia will be contacted by mail with instructions of what steps are required for inspection and possible repair.

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BMW Ferrari Porsche

Ferrari 599XX v BMW Z4 GT3 v Porsche 956

Ferrari 599XXBMW Z4 GT3Porsche 956

So, Ferrari say their 599XX was the first “production-derived” sportscar to break the 7 minute barrier around the 20.832km Nürburgring Nordschleife. But, what does that term “production-derived” actually mean?

Who cares if the car is based off the 599 GTB Fiorano, the 599XX cannot be driven on public roads and it comes delivered with racing slicks. It’s a racing car, who is Ferrari kidding? Hang on a sec, don’t Ferrari say the 599XX cannot be entered in any sanctioned race events. So, what is it then?

Well, semantics aside, it’s pretty clear the 599XX holds a closer relationship to a racing car than it does a road car, despite it’s road-car origins. So, then, for no other reason than to watch three superb pieces of in-car Nürburgring footage lets compare the 599XX to two other racing cars. The first, new and production-derived, the BMW Z4 GT3, and the other, an all time motor racing legend from the early 1980s, the Porsche 956.

Sure the 956 never had any pretensions to road use—Vern Schuppan’s 962CR side-project aside—but we’re talking the peak of sportscar racing more than 25 years ago. Surely the Ferrari can hold off the great Derek Bell with its latest electronic and mechanical masterpiece.

After the jump are three clips to help us find out. Now, I must stress this is not a very scientific comparison, all three clips start from a different part of the track. In fact, the Derek Bell lap was filmed in 1983, the year before the current Nürburgring GP track was built. He starts his lap from the old pit area, which is now the T13 complex.

The lap with the BMW does include the GP track and, oddly, the footage starts at the Pflantzgarten jump and finishes just before. That means we need to take out around 2 minutes for the GP track, then add a few seconds for the T13 section and again at the end to reach the original starting point. As I said, it’s not terribly scientific or deadly accurate.

Just take this comparo for what it is, an appreciation of three cracking cars getting thrashed around one of the world’s most demanding pieces of tarmac.

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Motorsports Porsche

Injury forces Walter Röhrl out of Nürburgring 24 hour

Walter Rohrl

Last last year it was announced that German motorsport legend Walter Röhrl would be making his return to the Nürburgring 24 hour race after a 17 year absence. However, a back injury has forced the 63-year-old to withdraw from the event.

Simon Patrick will replace Röhrl in the Porsche 911 GT3 RS. He will share driving duties with Chris Harris (EVO magazine), Roland Asch and Horst von Saurma.

A preliminary entry list for the 2010 Nürburgring 24 hour race, including a highlighted list of Australian and New Zealand entrants, can be seen at AUSringers.com.

[Source: Sport1.de | Thanks to Obi for the tip]

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Porsche

Nico Hülkenberg makes Nürburgring debut in Porsche Hybrid

Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid & Nico Hulkenberg

Williams F1 driver Nico Hülkenberg has driven the Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid around the Nürburgring Nordschleife ahead of the third round in the VLN championship.

It was the first time “The Hulk” had driven around the Ring in a tin top racecar and speaking after his drive he said, “This circuit is unique—you can’t compare it to any other track in the world. This is certainly not the last time I’ll drive here. Surprisingly, in the slow corners, the 911 is not far off a Formula 1 car. The mechanical grip is impressive.”

Hülkenberg’s opportunity came about due to Williams Hybrid Power supplying the electromechanical flywheel system used in the GT3 R Hybrid. The unit provides energy recovery, storage and distribution found in the car.

More pics, video and Porsche press release after the jump.

[Thanks to Obi for the tip]

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Porsche

Porsche GT2 update spied during Nürburgring testing

Porsche GT2 update during testing

A pre-release Porsche 911 GT2 update has recently been spotted during testing on the Nürburgring Nordschleife. According to reports the next GT2 will use the same 390kW 3.8 litre flat six from the Turbo S. However the GT2 should weigh in a bit lighter than the Turbo S, so expect an improvement on the 0-100 time of 3.3 seconds. A small improvement, I guess.

You can see from the pic above that the front spoiler is changed over previous GT2 (see image below), with a more aggressive look, with rearranged LEDs allowing the car to gobble up more air. The GT2’s rear wing appears to be left untouched. With any luck we might see this car revealed, along with official details and specs, at the Paris Motor Show in October.

[Source: Autoblog]

UPDATE: More GT2 gossip over at Motor Trend. Thanks to Matt for the tip.

UPDATE #2: According to Dale over at Bridge to Gantry the GT2 will lose around 100kg to tip the scales 1300kg and have 600bhp, or more. Nice!

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Motorsports Porsche

Hey this Hybrid thing might just work

Porsche 911 GT3R Hybrid

Earlier this year when news broke about the Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid there were a few sceptics around suggesting the car would be a triumph of marketing over substance. That may yet prove to be the case, but, for now, Porsche’s working Hybrid experiment is showing good early signs.

In a four hour endurance race at the Nürburgring on the weekend the GT3 R Hybrid finished third, behind the current Nürburgring 24 hour champions from Manthey Racing and an Audi R8 LMS. That’s some good company for a car like this to be keeping in its first season of racing.

The secret to the Hydbrid’s good showing was its ability to stay out on track longer. Most cars pitted three times during the race, the Hybrid just twice.

Works driver Joerg Bergmeister said, “The hybrid system clearly helped us to save fuel. Moreover, it’s a great feeling to have those extra 120 kW from the electric motors when you accelerate out of the corners.”

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Porsche

Porsche Boxster Spyder image gallery

Porsche Boxster Spyder

The Porsche Boxster Spyder is a car well worth waiting for. Start with a razor sharp Boxster S, give the 3.4 litre flat six a bit of a nudge to 235kW, knock 80kg off its weight, bringing it down to 1275kg, and you can see why the Spyder is worth the wait. The good news is, it won’t be too long before the car is in customer’s hands.

Helping build the anticipation is a new suite of images and press material from Porsche UK. It’s reasonably detailed, too, listing a number of the weight saving measures taken by Porsche engineers. For example, the fuel tanks has been reduced to 54 litres, down from 64 litres, which saves 7kg. Take a few more steps like this, and you soon have you 80kg.

The goodies can be found after the jump.

UPDATE 27 March: Over 40 new images added!

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Porsche

Porsche Carrera GT image gallery

Porsche Carrera GT

One of the best places on the net to source great photos of great cars is My Car Portal. Today they have a series of pics featuring the awesome Porsche Carrera GT. Not sure about you, but the Carrera GT is on my top 5 list. The sound from the 5.7 litre V10 engine is sublime, one of the best engines notes you will ever hear.

The images have been sourced  from Dejan Sokolovski, and you can see the full set by following the link below.

[Source: My Car Portal]

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Porsche

Renn Sport

Porsche RS gallery

Mention the model name Porsche 911 GT3 to any car person and chances are they’ll start to go weak at the knees. Add two more letters to that model, namely RS (for Renn Sport) and you’ll complete the task of turning an otherwise sane looking person into a drooling mess. The RS is the quintessential road and track weapon. Well, the quintessential German road and track weapon, at the very least.

So, then, what better way than to have all that explained to you by a Scottish bloke driving around the Porsche Experience UK test facility in England. You can see said video after the jump, and as an added bonus you will also see an extensive range of RS models, starting right back with the original 1970s version and finishing off with the latest 997.2 iteration. Ladies and gentlemen, start your downloads.

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Green Machines Porsche

VIDEO: Porsche hybrid drive promo

Porsche Hybrid promo

Following today’s earlier news about the 918 Spyder plug-in hybrid comes this 12 minute promo on Porsche’s hybrid technologies. Shown below, in two parts, the videos give a great introduction to the way Porsche is utilising a number of different theories to add hybrid systems to their cars via their Porsche Intelligent Performance initiative.

Also shown in the clip is the 911 GT3 R Hybrid and the Cayenne S Hybrid. Not sure about anyone else, but I am already counting down the days until the GT3 R Hybrid makes its race debut at the Nürburgring 24 hour race. Oh, there’s 74 sleeps to go, by the way.

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