Displaying items by tag: Porsche

Porsche's entry-level 911 doesn't have a big horsepower number, but it has the performance goods to justify its price.

12/1/20 UPDATE: This review has been updated with test results for a 911 Carrera equipped with the automatic.

This is very likely the least expensive new Porsche 911 you'll ever lay eyes on. At $106,290, it has a mere $7540 in options, which, if you don't believe is a picture of restraint, go spend a few minutes on Porsche's online configurator. This car had just four add-ons: a Sport Exhaust system ($2950); the Sport Chrono package, which includes launch control ($2720); Lane Change Assist, which most other automakers call blind-spot detection ($1060); and Sport Seats Plus ($810). Let's see if the extreme low end of the 911 lineup lives up to six-figure sports-car expectations.

A peak horsepower figure of only 379 from its twin-turbo 3.0-liter flat-six is not a great start toward credibility. A V-6 Camry also has a power figure that starts with a 3 yet costs a third as much, and there are many examples of more for less when it comes to maximizing underhood output.

HIGHS: Legit performance, curb weight has been kept in check, outstanding highway fuel economy.

But the 911 is deceptive. In the new-for-2020 992-generation 911, an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission—PDK in Porsche parlance—replaces the previous seven-speed unit. Its general brilliance in terms of both quickness and smoothness is familiar, although the car we drove did bobble a couple of shifts before it was fully up to temperature. Also familiar is Porsche's simple and extremely effective launch-control function, which revs the engine to 5000 rpm before dropping the hammer and perfectly slipping the clutch. The engine speed never drops below 4000 rpm as the car makes a smooth and very swift departure. And it is happy to repeat this launch-toward-the-horizon routine just as often as you'd like. Our test car made consistent, repeated passes of 3.2 seconds to 60 mph and 11.5 seconds through the quarter-mile, which are 0.1- and 0.3-second quicker, respectively, than the 2017 911 Carrera with the PDK that we previously tested. Those results also make the base car just 0.3-second slower than the 443-hp Carrera S in both measures.

Besides the phenomenal performance bargain that is the latest Chevrolet Corvette, any sports car that outruns the 911 costs substantially more. One reason for its more-with-less performance is that the 911 has kept its weight gain in better check than many of its peers. This car weighs just 57 pounds more than before, making it roughly 300 pounds lighter than today's Corvette. Despite adding inches and turbos, the 911 doesn't weigh even 100 pounds more than the 15-year-old 997-generation cars.

Excellent Fundamentals
In addition to straight-line acceleration, the fundamentals of a great sports car are all here. The 911's buildup in steering effort is just right, and it's constantly atwitter with road-surface information. This is electrically assisted steering done properly. Interestingly, the lid of the center console bin is surprisingly talkative, too. Resting an elbow there intercepts the communicatory tingles of what the car happens to be trampling over at the moment. The 911 also continues to prove the point that seats don't need a lot of adjustments. The headrest on our lightly optioned car is fixed, and there's manual fore-aft, and power adjustment for height and seatback angle and bottom height. That's it, and yet they fit both the short and the tall commendably well. The additional bolstering of the $810 Sport Seats Plus option is soft enough to not be restrictive nor fatiguing on longer drives. Brake feel is nigh on perfect, with telepathic responses and no lost motion. Aided by its rear-heavy weight distribution, the 911's stopping distances of 139 feet from 70 mph and 277 from 100 mph are up there with the best of the best.

LOWS: Base interior has some cheapness, even lightly optioned 911s cost six figures.
We appreciate that changing the 911's drive mode doesn't cause the steering effort or ride control to go overboard in either direction. The tweaks in its calibrations are subtle, and there isn't a bad mode. The only element that makes us roll our eyes is the three artificial-sounding pops that accompany a lift of the throttle in Sport mode, which disappear in Sport Plus. Both sporty modes raise the idle speed from 600 to 800 rpm for a little extra responsiveness. Those who listen for it can hear the turbo hiss from the blow-off valve, but this latest twin-turbo 3.0-liter retains the gritty flat-six undertones that we love, no doubt emboldened by the optional Sport Exhaust on our car. Every 911 has a little piece of the 9000-rpm GT3 rock.

As far as sports cars go, the 911's ride smoothness is reasonable. But on under-maintained roads, it can get clompy over bumps and pavement seams, especially with the narrower sidewall and higher-pressure rear tires. Remember that the 992 went to a staggered-diameter wheel arrangement with 19-inch fronts and 20-inch rears as standard and available 20/21s.

When not wailing, the engine settles below 1800 rpm at 75 mph, allowing for an outstanding 33 mpg on our highway fuel-economy loop, the best result from any 911 we've ever run. That's 2 to 3 mpg better than its 992 S and 4S siblings and also 3 mpg better than the best previous-gen 991 (a Carrera 4 automatic). Despite the improved real-world fuel economy, for some unknown reason the EPA values took a huge hit in the 992 generation, dropping from a 30-mpg highway estimate to 24 for a base car with the automatic transmission.

Entry-Level Innards
Base also means a uniformly grained black interior, which, although soft to the touch, is not as convincing in the six-figure space as are the leather-upgrade options that start at $2840. The only thing breaking up the monotony is the knurled gray trim extending from the door handle and on the ridge under the center screen running across the dash.

Surrounding the shifter is a large area of stark piano-black trim, which no amount of money can fix, as even the $204,850 Turbo S doesn't fill in any of its blankness. This is a carryover from the four-door Panamera, which populates this area with controls. There are window-switch blanks, too, as Porsche is deploying shared hardware across car lines with different door counts. A big, beautiful mechanical tachometer remains in the middle of the 911's now otherwise digital gauge cluster. But we miss the depth of the previous mechanical gauges that flanked it.

Also new on the 992 are power door handles that pop out to facilitate opening. Our early-build car, however, didn't have the $550 Comfort Access option that prompts them to present themselves automatically when you approach the car. Having to get the fob out of your pocket to actuate the handles and then squirreling it right back away because keyless ignition is standard is the kind of slight annoyance that we think people who plunk down $100K on a car will find obnoxious. Porsche apparently agreed, as it made Comfort Access standard mid-way through the 2020 model year.

Of course, the 911 retains its familiar small rear seats, an all-important point of justification to wannabe sports-car buyers with small children. That means in addition to outperforming and outdriving most of its peers, it also outseats them. Yes, even the base 911 resoundingly stacks up as a six-figure sports car. Although we would feel compelled to upgrade the interior a little if it were our money.

Source: caranddriver.com

Published in Porsche
Sunday, 29 November 2020 17:15

New Porsche Boxster GTS 4.0 PDK review

Can you have more fun for £70,000 than you do in the new Porsche Boxster GTS PDK? We think not.

Verdict

Even faster than its manual sibling, the Boxster GTS 4.0 PDK is one of Porsche’s most usable, fun cars. It feels perfectly sized for British roads and handles superbly, and the dual-clutch automatic gearbox doesn’t take away an emotional appeal that the regular four-cylinder Boxster simply cannot match. With near-supercar performance and a well-finished cabin, this car looks a bargain, even at just under £70,000.

We were totally bowled over by the Porsche 718 Boxster GTS 4.0 when we tried the flagship roadster with a manual-transmission earlier this year. Now it’s time to try the version which appeals less to purists but may well sell in greater numbers: the 718 Boxster GTS 4.0 PDK.

Slotting the seven-speed dual-clutch transmission into the range-topping variant of its entry-level convertible might look a brave move on Porsche’s part - not least because it’s going to want more money for it (the car costs £68,643, a premium of £2,303 over the manual). But it not only opens up extra potential sales; it also creates a little extra wriggle room on the engineering front.

That’s because the PDK transmission is able to deal with a little more shove than the manual - and Porsche has, conveniently, passed this gain on to the consumer. So while the basic power output remains the same as the GTS 4.0 manual, at 395bhp, you get 430Nm of torque instead of 400Nm. And as a result, the fast-shifting auto is even quicker - by a full half a second, in fact, from 0-62mph, at just 3.8 seconds. Let’s stop for a moment and just acknowledge that figure: a Boxster that’s sub-four seconds from 0-62mph.

At this point you may be expecting us to start chipping away at the PDK experience by stressing the fact that it’s not as involving as the Boxster manual. Of course it can’t quite match the experience of the six-speeder. But that doesn’t mean it ever feels inferior; find the right stretch of road and this remains one of the standout models in Porsche’s (very strong) line-up.

The powertrain is so smooth and linear, in fact, that at first you may miss the absence of the sort of kick in the kidneys that you get when a turbocharger spools up. But then you’ll look down and realise that, with the revs rising towards the heady peak power delivery point of around 5,000rpm, you are, in fact, gathering velocity at a shocking rate of knots.

The GTS spec gets a sports exhaust as standard and it works beautifully with the six-cylinder engine, delivering a booming note from around 4,000rpm and then a proper scream once it’s really on song 1,000rpm later. It’s intoxicating - and while you may miss the ability to heel and toe to your heart’s content, believe us when we say that over a deserted stretch of road, you won’t find yourself feeling anything less than fully occupied in the PDK.

This car is about much more than its engine, too. The Boxster’s chassis has always been nicely judged and the adjustments to cope with the extra power have not played around with that, so you get a roadster that phases out the worst road imperfections, responds instantly to inputs through the satisfyingly weighty steering, and stays incredibly flat mid-corner, with exceptional control that belies its open-topped body.

If you do want to cover long distances in your GTS, then, you’ll find that it has that incredible duality that the best Porsche models usually possess - so it’ll cruise along in comfort, with only tyre roar (possibly the car’s biggest flaw) and a little bit of wind noise from around the roof seal at the A-pillar to complain about.

The cabin is beautifully finished and, by Porsche standards, well equipped as standard - although of course, there remains huge scope to add thousands of pounds to your price tag via the comprehensive options list (our German-spec, left-hand-drive test vehicle was taken to a cool €105,000). The fascia layout still feels reassuringly driver focused, although the infotainment system is now firmly eclipsed by what you can get in a 911 - and it’s worth noting that Porsche only supports Apple smartphone connectivity; Android Auto isn’t even an option.

Source: autoexpress.co.uk

Published in Porsche
Thursday, 26 November 2020 05:21

2022 Porsche 911 GT3 First Ride Review: Big Talent

Up close and personal with one of the year’s most anticipated driver’s cars.

There's the merest hint of a twitch, caught instantly with the tiniest flick of the wrists. Andy Preuninger keeps his foot down. The corner opens onto a short straight running between trees with hints of the red and gold and brown of autumn among the green. The tach needle swings past 8,000 rpm, a steely manic snarl behind us as Preuninger reaches for the shifter on the center console and plucks the next gear. "A Porsche 911 GT3 is like a human being," he says, watching like a hawk for damp patches on the tarmac. "It likes warmth. It likes operating in the same temperatures we do, 15 to 25 degrees centigrade. When the dampers and the tires are cold it communicates that it's not happy."

Andreas Preuninger's anthropomorphism is not misplaced: As head of the department that engineers and develops Porsche's high-performance GT models, the 2022 Porsche 911 GT3 is, like every GT3 since the 996.2 model, very much his baby. And from where I'm sitting, in the passenger seat of a lightly camouflaged prototype that Preuninger says is basically 99 percent the production car, it feels a preternaturally talented one.

There's been a lot of anxious speculation about this new 911 GT3. Would the bigger, wider 992 platform degrade the stunning poise and precision, the breathtakingly athletic agility that were the hallmarks of the 991.2 GT3? Would the engine have the same crackle and snarl and instantaneous throttle response? Could it be as pure and as exhilarating a sports car? Preuninger gets it: "The challenge is when you have a car that is as good as the 991.2 GT3, how do you make it better?"

First, keep what works. The 992-series GT3 retains the charismatic naturally aspirated 4.0-liter engine from the previous car. Preuninger won't go into precise details, but there have been tweaks to both the intake and exhaust, and the engine management system has been remapped. Power is up, but not by as much as you might expect: It's basically an iteration of the 2019 911 Speedster engine, which pumped out 502 hp and 346 lb-ft of torque. And yes, it revs to 9,000 rpm.

As before, the 2022 911 GT3 will be available with the choice of either a conventional six-speed manual or the PDK seven-speed twin-clutch automatic transmission fitted to our prototype. Both transmissions are carried over from the 991-series GT3, though the PDK gets slightly bigger bearings and a better oiling system, plus a different control module to enable it to work with the 992's new electronic architecture. The manual transmission's ratios are unchanged, but the final drive ratio has been lowered to account for the 992's 21-inch rear wheels.

Keep what works, then think about what can be improved. The 992 platform means the new GT3 has a wider track front and rear. The rear axle is basically upgraded 992-spec hardware, with the rear-wheel steering system as standard. Up front, however, is an all-new multi-link suspension, the first ever on a 911 road car. Derived from the 911 RSR racecar front axle, it's unique to the new GT3, though it's logical to expect the hardware will also appear under the forthcoming 992-series 911 GT2. It's the biggest single engineering change over the old GT3, says Preuninger, and it drove a lot of the chassis development work.

What's noticeable, as we hammer along some of the surprisingly rough and ready roads near Porsche's Weissach engineering center, is not just how crisp, how responsive, how alert this new GT3 feels, even from the passenger seat, but also how well it rides on its Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R tires. The 911 GT3 is not soft—you feel exactly what's happening underneath—but it's not harsh and jittery, even at modest velocities. Preuninger nods when I comment. "Some people confuse stiffness with sportiness," he says. "A wheel needs freedom to travel. Some performance cars are so stiff they feel dead at low speed." This GT3 feels very much alive.

A look around the undisguised interior of the new GT3 reveals it to be, apart from the obvious GT-spec hardware such sports seats and a half roll-cage, basically 992, with one notable—and welcome—difference. The small, soulless toggle switch used to select drive or reverse in PDK-equipped 992s has been replaced by a shifter that looks almost identical to the manual one. "You have to check that it has three pedals, to make sure," grins Preuninger, who prefers using a shifter on the center console to paddles on the steering wheel, even in PDK-equipped GT3s and GT2s.

Front and center in the new instrument panel is an analogue tach that reads to 10,000 rpm, flanked by screens either side that can show all the information you get in a regular 911. There's a special GT configuration that pares back that info to the minimum a race driver wants: Tire pressures and water temp on the left hand side and oil temperature, oil pressure and fuel level on right hand side. And curving around lower rim of tach are shift lights that appear in Sport manual mode comprising thin yellow graduations that build in height then flash blue at the upshift point.

The scanty exterior disguise doesn't hide much, but it doesn't reveal all the new GT3's secrets, either. A quick look around reveals the front fenders, doors, roof and rear quarter panels are shared with regular 911s. A new front bumper features a large central air intake and slim air-curtain vents on either side that direct air through the front wheel well. The front hood is carbon fiber, and features vents at the leading edge to bleed hot air from the radiators. In previous 911 GT3s hot air was vented through slots at the top of the bumper, but the 992's more complex frontal structure meant there was no room for that solution on the new car.

The GT3's rear view is dominated by a giant wing suspended beneath two stanchions that rise up from either side of the engine cover. The wing set the internet buzzing the moment the first prototypes were spotted, and a lot of the buzz from the hot take commentariat was less than favorable. The wing is not a fashion statement. It's pure racing technology. Because the underside of the wing is the most critical surface in terms of generating downforce, the top mount system makes it more aerodynamically efficient and effective. And while I can't give you any detail, what I can say you haven't seen the wing stanchions in their production form yet. Undisguised, they are works of art.

Under the wing is a new engine cover with a ducktail. When the rear wing is in the most aggressive of its three settings, its underside profile and the profile of the ducktail are a mirror image. The ducktail helps manage the laminar flow over the roof, to the point that the ram air scoops that featured on the 991 versions of the GT3 are not needed. Air goes into the engine intake via the vents at the base of the rear window. Preuninger says the old-style scoops would have interfered with the efficiency of the rear wing.

Before we head back to Weissach the man who's been instrumental in creating some of the greatest 911s ever built eloquently sums up what he believes to be the essence of a Porsche 911 GT3. "It has to be a joy to drive," he says. "It must be communicative, transparent, honest, at any speed. It has to scream 'drive me'."

Even from the passenger seat I hear that scream. I can't wait to drive the 2022 Porsche 911 GT3.

Source: motortrend.com

Published in Porsche
Friday, 20 November 2020 05:59

New Porsche 911 Carrera S manual 2020 review

We find out if the new Porsche 911 Carrera S with a seven-speed manual is the driving enthusiast's choice

Verdict

Objectively, the 911 Carrera S makes little or no sense whatsoever with a manual gearbox, even though the new seven-speed transmission is listed as a no cost option. The car is slower, burns slightly more fuel and is fractionally more polluting than its dual-clutch automatic equivalent. Yet subjectively, it is more engaging, more fun, and more 911 with three pedals, despite the shift itself still not being perfect. In the end it’s the buyer that makes the choice, but for us the manual is now the more appealing sports car.

A few years back Porsche announced that it was going to drop the manual transmission not just from the regular 911 line-up but, shock-horror, from the far more focused GT3 versions as well. And at a stroke the world of the die-hard 911 enthusiast was thrown into a flat spin. They couldn’t believe their beloved 911 was no longer going to be available with three pedals in the foot-well and a gearstick between the seats.

Porsche, however, gave several extremely plausible reasons why it had reached this supposedly heretical decision. Without going into too much detail it pointed out that the 911 was faster, more efficient, more economical and, for an increasing number of approving customers, more engaging with a “PDK” dual-clutch gearbox. And for a while, that was that. The fast, manual 911 was no more.

But the enthusiasts continued to holler and eventually Porsche – to its credit – listened to them, even though they were in the minority. First came the 911R with a manual gearbox, then the GT3, and now we have the latest 992 Carrera S 911 available with a seven-speed manual as a no-cost option, tested here in rear-drive form.

In this case you lose 0.7 seconds going from 0-62mph versus the rear-drive Carrera S with a PDK gearbox, and 0.8 seconds during the sprint from 0-100mph (the manual takes 4.2 seconds to hit 0-62mph and 8.6 seconds to cover 0-100mph).

This is partly because you lose one ratio compared with the PDK, which means the ratios themselves are wider. But it’s also a consequence of simply not being able to shift as fast in the manual, up or down, and that’s where the science tends to throw a bit of a spanner in the works – because, subjectively, although the PDK is terribly impressive at what it does, it ain’t no substitute for stirring the lever and using the clutch manually.

Those with a good memory will recall that the previous generation 911 was also available with a manual gearbox for a short time, but the shift quality in that car wasn’t great, which somewhat defeated the object. This time, however, Porsche claims to have significantly improved the action of the shift with shorter, lighter, more precise throws, with seventh still on a dog-leg to the top right hand side of the gate.

And that’s very much how it feels when driving the new manual 911, albeit with one strange caveat which we’ll come to in a moment. What’s good about this 911 manual, no, what’s great about it is that it manages somehow to feel more like a traditional 911 on the move. For whatever reason, the car simply feels more compact and more agile when you’ve to dip the clutch and use your left hand to change gear.

The manual is fractionally lighter than the PDK, but only by 35kg, so it’s highly doubtful this in itself would make much difference to what you feel when behind the wheel.

Instead it’s all about the subjective impression the manual 911 has upon you, the driver. In the most basic terms you simply feel more connected with this car when it has three pedals. And, yes, the shift quality itself is indeed a fair bit crisper and better than in the old manual, although as in the fruitiest versions of the new 718 Cayman and Boxster, the revs will blip themselves on downshifts if you select either Sport or Sport Plus mode via the rotational button on the steering wheel. Which is nice, yes, but also feels a bit automated within this context.

The manual even sounds better and feels every inch as fast as the PDK Carrera S if you select, say, third gear and accelerate from low revs all the way up to the red line. So in reality, and despite the differences in the claimed acceleration numbers, it doesn’t feel like you are losing out on any pure performance versus the otherwise mechanically identical PDK model.

And the caveat? For its own reasons Porsche has again made it impossible to select seventh gear from anything other than fifth or sixth gear when shifting up, same as in the old 991. There’s a mechanical block in the gate which means you can’t physically get seventh from a gear lower than fifth. Which obviously means you can’t go from fourth to seventh. This may sound entirely irrelevant but it’s actually quite annoying in practice because a four-seven is just what you want when entering a motorway, for instance.

And what’s doubly odd is that you can, should you for some reason choose to, go from seventh to second or even first on the way back down.

Other than this, the manual 911 Carrera S is a very lovely car, one that feels more like a true-blue sports car than its equivalent with a dual-clutch auto. As such it broadens the 911’s appeal even further, catering for around 10 per cent of 911 enthusiasts who might otherwise have looked elsewhere. Including your author, who was once a PDK-only advocate.

Source: autoexpress.co.uk

Published in Porsche

After plugging into the electric-car market Porsche isn't anywhere close to being done with its EV offensive in the coming years. According information which we have the new 2022 Porsche Macan will be pure-electric, and thanks to a new report, we now have a clearer idea of when we'll see the Macan EV hit the road. The exception will be some small operation with Rimac.

2022 Porsche Macan Release date

Release date for new 2022 Macan should be at the end of next year. Considering situation with Coronavirus all over the world, this promotion can be postponed.

Competitors of new 2022 Macan

When we look what competitors do on this field, we see the similar action from Ford with the Mustang Mach-E. From the other side, big competitor in this segment is Tesla Cybertruck and new GMC Hummer.

2022 Porsche Macan Engine (Battery)

Porsche executives that point to as much as 700 horsepower (525 kilowatts) in a Turbo S variant. Obviously it won’t actually have a turbocharger – like the Taycan it will follow Porsche’s familiar naming structure for trim levels. That means there will be a standard Turbo and other submodels to spruce up the Macan EV lineup.

Porsche had confirmed the Macan will sit on this so-called Premium Platform Electric (PPE). We don't know much else about the upcoming electric Macan, except that it will feature 800-volt charging technology. Also, he will be produced at the same Leipzig factory that makes the current, fossil-fuel-powered versions of the small crossover.

The Macan has become the company’s best-selling vehicle in a relatively short amount of time. Nixing internal-combustion power completely is something Porsche buyers might not be ready for, but with the speed at which the auto industry is currently evolving, things could be very different come 2024.

 

Published in Porsche
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