It sounds like the good people at General Motors have been having some fun with their newest toy; the 2012 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Jason Laird, executive director for product and technology communications at GM, tweeted that the meanest Camaro of them all managed to lap the Nurburgring in a scant 7:41.27.
If you’re keeping track, that time puts the ZL1 in some pretty heady company. Hardware like the Porsche 911 GT3, , and the have all done the deed slower, though perhaps not in the same conditions with the same driver. Regardless, it’s fast.
Currently there’s no word on who was behind the wheel during that mad dash around the track, but we have our fingers crossed for some suitably spectacular video sometime soon. Our hats go off to the suspension gurus at GM for an impressive effort. Just don’t tell James May…
When announced that , we knew that the triannual celebration of the marque wasn’t something to be missed. We made sure our calendars were clear for the third weekend in October. Now that Rennsport is less than a month away, we have even more details about what’s in store for the event.
The last timePorsche was the featured marque at the Monterey Historics, . We thought that was a lot, but it will be nothing compared to when Porschefiles from around the world descend on Laguna Seca for Rennsport. According to the organizers, no less than 350 Porsches will take part in the on-track racing, and an additional 50 historic models will be on display in the paddock, many shipped over directly from the Porsche museum in Stuttgart. In addition, the newly released 2012 Porsche 911 will be making its first North American appearance.
We’ll be in Monterey for Rennsport in just a few weeks to provide you with daily live coverage, but until then you can read more about the Porsches that will be on display .
The coverage coming out of the was filled with vehicles that run the gamut of the automotive spectrum, but one vehicle in particular caught the eyes of journalists and readers alike. The was the darling of the Frankfurt show, and the data backs it up.
According to browsing and social media data compiled by UK company Kantar Media Precis, the new 911 was the most (virtually) talked about machine in attendance. Websites, blogs and social media feeds were all abuzz, and it was the latest 911 that dominated all discussions.
We’re guilty of falling in love with the German sports car as well. We spoke about both the and the , and are gearing up for another 50 or so variants set to debut in the next decade and a half.
There’s no question that is on the move. The company that once revolved almost entirely around the has since expanded to include smaller sportscars, sedans and SUVs, and is showing little sign of slowing down. The Cajun is set to arrive shortly to slot in below the , while the 918 supercar will anchor the top end of the company’s product line-up. But that ain’t all.
Porsche is also said to be working on a Junior tentatively known as the Pajun, though we pray that’s just a temporary moniker until the final name is announced. Britain’s Car magazine claims the Pajun could breed sedan, coupe, convertible and even shooting brake derivatives, and share its underpinnings with upcoming models from and as well. Both those bits of information, however, have also been said about the next-generation Panamera under which the Pajun is meant to slot, so we’d take that bit with a grain of salt.
Powertrain options, meanwhile, are speculatively tipped to include V6 engines producing as much as 550 horsepower in direct-injection, turbo form, a twin-turbo V8 topping 600, a plug-in hybrid and an array of -sourced diesels, driving either the rear wheels or all four – all of which also seems conspicuously Panamera-like.
Back at the heart of what Porsche does best, the 961 project that was initially expected to pack a twin-turbo V8 in a 911-based chassis has, according to CAR, been dropped in favor of what’s now being dubbed as the 960. The supercar would still slot below the 918 but reportedly be based on a new mid-engine platform, separate from both the 911 and the next-generation and .
Considering the synergies which the Group seems keen to bank on and the number of cars the group already fields in this segment, that doesn’t seem likely, but the plan to switch to a twin-turbo 3.8-liter flat-six just might, though distinguishing it from the upcoming new 911 Turbo could prove a tough sell even for a mint like Zuffenhausen.
The new 991-generation of the is now upon us, with the and coupes unveiled at the . So what do you think? Because love it or hate it, it’ll be around for a while; 14 years, if the latest reports prove accurate.
According to Car, the new 911 will be around for two seven-year product lifecycles. And over the course of its life, you can bet that it’ll spawn as many derivatives as the model it replaces.
First down the pipeline will reportedly be the Cabriolet, expected to arrive in both regular (3.4-liter 350-horsepower flat-six) and S (3.8-liter/400hp) versions in 2012 with semi-rigid folding panels under a new type of fabric that will look like an ordinary convertible but offer more solidity once up and folding beneath a hard boot instead of a fabric tonneau cover.
Towards the end of next year, we’re to expect the all-wheel-drive Carrera 4 and Carrera 4S, followed by the 520-horsepower twin-spool 911 Turbo in 2013 and Turbo Cabrio in 2014, with the enthusiast’s favorite 911 GT3 also arriving in 2013. The 911 Targa is tipped to go back in late 2013 or early 2014 from its sliding glass roof to a more conventional removable panel, with Speedster and hybrid versions also under consideration.
Porsche is also said to be developing a new generation of smaller-displacement turbo sixes to fit into the 911 in place of the ever-growing unit that has ballooned to as much as a four full liters in the . How Zuffenhausen will then differentiate the 911 Turbo when they’ve all got spools remains to be seen, but we’ll reportedly have until 2015 to find out.
You don’t port over an executive from one company to another without expecting him (or her) to apply the same sort of successful formulas that brought success for his former employer to the new one. And that’s certainly the case with automotive executives. Alan Mulally, for example, was tipped to do for what he had done at Boeing – namely, to put the American company at the forefront of the industry – and by many accounts, he has succeeded. The same could be said for Wolfgang Dürheimer.
As executive vice-president at , Dürheimer oversaw the expansion of the model into a huge range of variants that, on the outgoing version, topped over two dozen. It’s a formula that has helped Porsche become one of the most profitable automakers in the industry. And according to the latest from Autocar, that’s what he hopes to do with the family in his new position at , over which he has presided now for less than a year.
Between three body-styles and as many engine specifications, the Continental has already spawned a good eight variants, but if Dürheimer has his way – and he is chief executive, after all – that could expand significantly on the facelifted model to include lightweight models and various special editions.
Beyond the Continental range, however, the could grow a long-wheelbase model (much as the has) as well as coupe and convertible versions to replace the and models, respectively. These, in addition to ongoing rumors of a four-door coupe and an SUV to join the Flying B range from Crewe.
Perhaps the manual transmission isn’t as dead as a few Italian automakers would like you to believe. has declared that as long as there is demand it will with do-it-yourself gearboxes, and the German automaker has outfitted its . Now it seems General Motors is following suit, and the next-generation will reportedly offer up seven forward gears, as well.
that the 2014 Corvette is set to swap in an extra cog for increased fuel efficiency. As a bonus, this move will allow engineers to play with the lower gear ratios thus providing a bit more speed from the lower end.
Now that Porsche has made the leap to a seven-speed manual and Corvette is following suit, could a cackling, wild-eyed locked-in-the-basement transmission engineer be working on an eight-speed unit? We doubt it, but we’re already doing heavy shoulder workouts just in case.
There are many ways to measure a car’s performance, and no shortage of benchmarks against which to judge them. The 200 mile-per-hour mark, for example, holds its share of bragging rights. And back in the day, Road & Track would hold shootouts to determine which cars made the cut and which did not. But now the magazine is back with a new benchmark, one that’s a lot tougher to beat: the two-second sprint to sixty.
There are only a few cars – that is, showroom-stock production cars – in the world that can run from 0-60 in less than three seconds. Most of them are all-wheel drive, have dual-clutch transmissions, and are made by one division or another of the Group. R&T admitted the , and to the exclusive club. Video of the affair is posted .
We’d like to see the , and McLaren MP4-12C give it a shot. What would you like to see in the next heat? Treat the comments section as a suggestion box.
Purists take note: As long as customers ask for it, will offer the with a manual transmission. This sigh of relief comes from the mouth of the company’s CEO Matthias Muller, speaking with Motor Trend editor-in-chief Angus MacKenzie.
The news will undoubtedly come as welcome to those who feared that the smooth-shifting PDK dual-clutch transmission would obviate the availability of a traditional three-pedal stick-shift gearbox. Porsche did, after all, just develop a for the new 911, even though the PDK is both smoother and quicker than even the most seasoned heel-and-toer could ever be.
While they were at it, Muller and MacKenzie also confirmed that the new 911 GT3 will remain a manual-only affair, superseding and allaying fears that the beloved enthusiasts’ favorite would lose a pedal for the clutch in favor of a second automated one.
The difference between an artist and any other person is not about skill or ability to wield whatever instruments are required to render their work, it’s about how an artist perceives things around them. So while most of us may look at, say, the front hood of a and see a hood, an artist may see it as a canvas.
That was, at least, evidently the case with a group of 19 Latin American artists who, curated by Argentinean painter Jorge Gómez, turned 24 hoods from the 911 GT2 into works of art. Their media included materials ranging from acrylic to vulcanized rubber, and the results are being displayed from now until January 8th at the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart. If your plans don’t include a trip to Deutschland, though, you can take a virtual trip through the high-res image gallery.
Professional racing drivers keep getting younger and younger. Every year, Formula One, for example, seems to crown a new record holder for the youngest race winner in grand prix history, and almost as often, a younger-than-ever world champion. But this story takes the cake.
Madison Snow, you see, is only 15 years old. Too young, in other words, to get a driver’s license. But when he does, he’ll already be an old hand behind the wheel. That’s because he just clinched the Gold Cup in the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge. Behind the wheel of a , no less – and that’s no easy car to control.
In fact he didn’t just win the title, he dominated it: The series isn’t even over yet, but after finishing second this week at Laguna Seca, he’s so far in the lead that he’s already got the championship in the bag and can “just have fun” at the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta next week. That would be enough to make any mother proud, but we have a feeling Madison’s mom Melanie Snow – a past series champ herself, class winner at Sebring and part of the first all-woman team in the American Le Mans Series – must be beaming.
The has been around for a few years now, and that means it’s about ready for the standard mid-cycle nip and tuck. Our spy photographers caught the German sports sedan wearing a dab of camouflage to cover up a few of the updated facial features, especially around the forward lighting areas.
The updated Panamera should wear a face in line with the new . That means you’re sure to see updated headlamps and new LED daytime running lamps, and the lower fascia will get a minor workout as well. Out back, this test car wears the standard Panamera rear end, however, we believe a camo-covered version should arrive in the coming weeks.
The is dead, long live the Porsche 911. The German automaker’s latest and greatest has taken to the Nürburgring where old marks have fallen hard. The 2012 Porsche 911 Carrera S was sent through the Green Hell, where it promptly beat the time achieved by the prior 997 version by a whopping 13 seconds.
With a time of 7:40, the 2012 911 matches the mark set by the previous . If you happen to own a previous generation 911 GT3, we’ll pause here for a moment while you go out to smash something with a hammer.
Back? Great. You shouldn’t fret too much, because this just means the next-generation GT3 should be a land rocket capable of blistering the surface of the ‘Ring. guys, your numbers are still safe… for now.
On Tuesday, August 23, a lone 2012 Infiniti M35h ripped down the UK’s rain-drenched Santa Pod Raceway and sped into the record books as the world’s quickest hybrid vehicle.
Driven by Tim Pollard, associate editor of the UK’s Car Magazine, and overseen by Guinness World Records, the 360-horsepower M35h dashed down the quarter-mile track in 13.9031 seconds (average of all runs). The quickest run of the day tripped the clock at 13.8960 seconds. In describing the M35h’s record-setting run, Pollard stated, “At Santa Pod you could feel the instant torque of the electric motor away from standstill – the car just leapt off the line.”
Lest you think it’s only quick for a hybrid, Infiniti points out that, in the hierarchy of quick vehicles, the M35h’s time puts it on a par with the following performance icons:
1982 Countach S: 13.9 secs
1998 : 13.8 secs
2007 : 13.6 secs
2007 : 13.6 secs
1966 Shelby Cobra: 13.5 secs
1964 250 GTO: 13.5 secs
The M35h scoots from 0 to 62 miles per hour in 5.5 seconds and tops out at 155 mph. On the consumption side, the of 27/32 mpg city/highway, with a combined rating of 29 mpg. Currently, the M35h is North America’s only 350-plus horsepower, 30-plus mpg highway vehicle. Feel free to read all the details in the press release .
The battle-tested and it’s time to bid farewell to the aging military vet.
In the Humvee’s place could step the L-ATV. The Wisconsin-built Light Combat Tactical All-Terrain Vehicle is built by Oshkosh Defense. Powered by a diesel-electric hybrid powertrain, the The L-ATV appears capable of traversing nearly any type of terrain.
The L-ATV is highly armored, can accept multiple armor configurations and has nearly unmatched off-road capabilities. Oshkosh’s proprietary TAK-4i independent suspension system offers an impressive 20 inches of suspension travel at each wheel, which Oshkosh says is 25 percent more than any vehicle currently in use by the U.S. military.
While drivers of the L-ATV probably have more pressing issues to consider than the vehicle’s carbon emissions, they no doubt don’t want to be stranded by a vehicle that runs out of fuel deep in enemy territory. That’s one reason why the L-ATV’s diesel hybrid powertrain make sense (). So, as the aging Humvee retires from active duty, do you think it will be the diesel hybrid L-ATV that takes over?
Details about the last Friday are being released, and it would appear the union didn’t do too bad for itself. Under the new agreement, General Motors has reportedly agreed to retain or create 6,400 union jobs as part of a $2.5 billion investment in future products and the plants that build them. Those product and plant investments include the following:
Reopening GM’s Spring Hill, TN plant to build two new mid-sized vehicles
A new compact vehicle to be built at a plant to be determined
A new transmission program at the company’s Warren, MI powertrain plant
A new engine program at the company’s Romulus, MI powertrain plant
A new casting operation at a plant in Saginaw, MI
An additional production shift at the company’s Wentzville, MO assembly plant
Automotive News reports that most of the above investments were originally slated for GM’s Mexico operations but will now remain in the U.S. and contribute to the retention or creation of those 6,400 jobs.
Of course, in order to keep and create jobs, others must retire, and so the new accord between GM and the UAW will offer a $10,000 buyout to eligible employees who retire over the next two years and a whopping $65,000 buyout for skilled trades workers who retire between November 1 and March 31, 2012. GM has also agreed to make adjustments to the controversial two-tier wage structure established by the last agreement, raising the minimum wage for entry-level workers from $14/hour to $15.78/hour, as well as improving their health insurance and offering tuition assistance.
Current workers would also appear to make out well, with a record signing bonus of $5,000 if the contract gets ratified, as well lump sum payments of $1,000 in 2012, 2013 and 2014 in lieu of cost-of-living adjustments. Workers will also get a minimum profit-sharing payment in early 2012 of $3,500 based on GM’s profits through June 2011, as well as an annual award of $250 if the company meets certain quality goals. All-in, current workers stand to pocket an extra $12K during the course of this new contract. How do you think this new deal rates? Take the poll and tell us why in Comments.
has officially shown off its latest , and . Droptop fans are still waiting on their own version of the 991, and our spy photographers have just managed to capture a few images of the upcoming convertible. The 2012 Porsche 911Cabriolet should arrive on the auto show circuit in the next few months before it heads to your local dealership.
You can expect to find the same 3.4- and 3.6-liter flat-six engines tucked in the back as seen in the hardtop Carrera and Carrera S. Each will be paired with the PDK double-clutch or the all-new seven-speed manual gearbox. Whichever engine and transmission you decide to go with, expect to pay around $90k-100k for the privilege.
Twenty-two. That’s how many variants are available right now. And by this time next year, they’ll all be obsolete. But this one – the 2011 Porsche 911 GTS – is the pick of the litter. It’s the definition of the daily-driver’s supercar and comes equipped with everything you need in a Type 997. It’s perfect. You want it. And you want it now.
Just please forget about the peering out from behind the curtain…
There aren’t a lot of all-wheel-drive convertibles on the market – but most of them come from German automakers. In fact nearly all of them come from the portfolio: the , and , the , , Spyder and Grand Sport. But is not about to let its arch rival keep that entire market – however small and specific it might be – all to itself. And to that end, it has just made the available with its xDrive all-wheel traction system, as evidenced by its appearance as an option on .
Of course, . While it was at it, BMW has also made the system available on the fixed-roof 6 Series coupe as well. xDrive is a new feature for the 650i, joining a larger segment that includes a wider variety of challengers including the , and BMW’s own , which offers xDrive as an option on sedan, wagon and coupe models, albeit not on convertibles.
We’re in the final hours of the six-hour ALMS race here at Laguna Seca, and while the real battle is playing out between and in LMP1 and and in the GT class, we’re here to catch the west coast debut of the Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid.
After its last October and its race earlier this year, the Hybrid and its crew packed up and headed west for this second to last race of the season. While the Hybrid isn’t a contender – it’s running in an exhibition class of one since the tech isn’t approved in the GT regulations – it continues to be a rolling and racing test-bed for high-performance hybrid technology. And it’s doing well.
So what’s next for the tech? LeMans, of course.
911 GT3 R Hybrid takes to Laguna, electric tech bound for 2014 LeMans
