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It’s another special from Porsche, and this one is called the Cayman S Black Edtion. Limited to 500 examples worldwide, the car – which goes on sale in September – features dress up bits and an increase of 10 hp in its 3.4 litre flat six block over that in the standard Cayman S, making for 330 hp here.

The extra power is produced at 7,400 rpm (an additional 200 rpm vs the standard car), while the maximum torque remains unchanged at 370 Nm at 4,750 rpm. The additional horses help improve 0-100 kph acceleration time by a tenth of a second to 5.1 seconds on the six-speed manual transmission and to 5.0 seconds with the optional PDK gearbox. With the Launch Control activated on the PDK Sport Chrono package option, this becomes 4.8 seconds.

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As for top speed, the Cayman S Black Edition is just a shade quicker (close to 2 kph faster) than the stock Cayman S – it’s 278 kph with the manual transmission and 277 kph with PDK.

Unique to the edition are lightweight Boxster Spyder 19-inch wheels finished in black, an inch bigger than the standard Cayman S wheels and also half an inch wider than the optional 19-inch wheels offered on the Cayman S. The car rides on 235/35 front and 265/35 rear rubbers.

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Inside, the colour scheme of the Cayman S Black Edition is consistent throughout – the dashboard trim is black, as are the gear lever/selector trim and the dials in the instrument cluster. The stainless steel door entry guards feature “Black Edition” lettering, while the glove compartment lid bears a badge highlighting the limited edition status.

Elsewhere, the front seats are trimmed in black partial leather with a Porsche crest on the headrests, as well as a Sport Design steering wheel. The variant also comes with Porsche Communication Management (PCM) incorporating satellite navigation, as well as MP3 and Bluetooth connectivity.

Porsche GB has released details of the Panamera Diesel ahead of its introduction in August. The oil burner in question is a VW Group 3.0-litre V6 turbodiesel tuned by Porsche, and the headline figure is a driving range of over 745 miles (1,192 km) on one 80-litre tank of diesel.

How far is that? Well, if you take the PLUS North South Highway from JB to Bukit Kayu Hitam, continuing on north past Hatyai on to Phuket, you’d have clocked 1,260 km when you reach Sarasin Bridge, the short bridge linking Phuket Island to mainland Thailand. All with tank of diesel!

The V6 (with variable geometry turbo, exhaust gas recirculation and stop/start) makes 250 hp and 550 Nm of torque, the latter available from 1,750 rpm to 2,750 rpm. This gives the big Porsche a 0-100 km/h time of 6.8 seconds and a top speed of 240 km/h. The car is only available with rear-wheel drive and an 8-speed Tiptronic S auto ‘box.

Combined fuel economy is rated at 14.4 km/l, rising to 15.9 km/l with optional lower rolling resistance tyres. Also on the options list is adaptive air suspension to make those 1,200 kliometres float by.

This variant can be recognised by the ‘diesel’ lettering on the front doors.

A new generation Porsche 911 is said to be ready for unveiling this year, and the final version of the 997 is this, the GT3 RS 4.0. It’s quite a send off, as this latest GT3 RS gets a bigger 4.0-litre engine, 50 extra horsepower from the flat-six, improved downforce and a production run of just 600 units, which makes it rather special.

As usual, the track inspired GT3 RS uses a naturally aspirated flat-six engine, but capacity is up to 4.0L from 3.8L. It wasn’t lacking in performance with 450 hp and 430 Nm, but figures have jumped to 500 hp at 8,250 rpm and 460 Nm at 5,750 rpm – amazing for an NA engine. This highest displacement 911 engine ever uses forged pistons, titanium connecting rods and the crankshaft of the 911 GT3 RSR race car.

To trim weight, carbon fibre sport bucket seats, front fenders and luggage compartment lid are standard, along with “weight-optimised carpets”. Without a fat driver, the RS tips the scales at 1,360 kg with a full tank of fuel.

Aero wise, air deflection vanes mounted on either side of the front bumper – called ‘flics’ or dive planes – make their first appearance on a production Porsche. They create increased downforce on the front axle, and together with the steeply inclined rear wing, provide “aerodynamics on par with its performance capabilities”. As a result, at the 311 km/h top speed, aero forces exert an additional 190 kg of downforce.

With all of the above, it can lap the Nürburgring-Nordschleife in 7 minutes and 27 seconds, beating the old car’s 7m33s. With the sole option of a six-speed manual gearbox, the RS 4.0 sprints from 0-100 km/h in 3.9 s, and with gearing designed for the circuit it reaches the 200 km/h mark in under 12 seconds. The outgoing car did 0-200 km/h in 13.3 sec.

What a send off! More pics after the jump.
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Well, the response to the 918 Spyder has been good enough for Porsche to put the car into serial production – the company has announced that dealers around the world will begin taking customer orders for the vehicle, which is set to begin production in September 2013. To keep things exclusive, only 918 examples of the plug-in hybrid sportscar will be built.

The company says that the production 918 Spyder will remain faithful to the concept car which made its debut in Geneva last year, though the two-seat production version, based on a carbon fibre-reinforced plastic monocoque, will feature a manual roof system with removable panels that can be stored in the front luggage compartment.

The car will be powered by a high-revving 500+ hp V8 engine that will have a minimum 4.0 litre displacement, assisted by two electric motors with a total of at least 218 hp. The engine will be based on the Porsche RS Spyder racing unit, and power will be transferred to the rear wheels via Porsche’s compact, seven-speed PDK double-clutch gearbox.

Meanwhile, the two electric motors – one each on the front and rear axles – will offer an innovative, variable all-wheel drive system with independent control of the drive forces on both axles. Electrical energy will be stored in a liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery that can be recharged from a standard household outlet.

Electric-only driving range is expected to be more than 25 km on the NEDC cycle. Recharge time will depend on each country’s electrical power network; on a 110V/10A line, the charge time is around seven hours. A quick-charge option is being evaluated to further reduce charging times.

Performance figures include a 0-100 kph time of 3.1 seconds and a top speed of 320 kph. Porsche adds that under the right conditions, the 918 Spyder will be able to drive on electric power alone at speeds up to 150 kph for limited distances.

The 918 Spyder customer gets a further deal sweetener – he also gets the opportunity to acquire a special-edition 911 Turbo S Coupe or Cabriolet, which he can hope to get much earlier, in this case later this year. Also limited to no more than 918 units, the 911 Turbo S ‘Edition 918 Spyder’ will have exterior and interior design elements echoing the 918 Spyder’s styling.

It features similar exterior colours, carbon-fibre elements inside and out, enhanced leather equipment and numerous acid-green accents on items such as the brake calipers, illuminated sill plates, interior stitching and instrument cluster needles. A limited-edition badge on the glove compartment door will feature the same production number as the customer’s 918 Spyder. All this for no added cost over a standard 911 Turbo S model, be it in Coupe or Cabrio form.

Porsche has announced a 911 variant called the Black Edition, and this one is limited to just 1,911 examples globally, available in both Carrera Coupe and Cabriolet guise.

The 911 Black Edition is painted in plain black as standard, with Basalt Black metallic available as an option. For the cabriolet, the electric-folding hood is trimmed in black cloth. Other exterior highlights include 19-inch 911 Turbo II forged alloy wheels, and black-finished, four-piston aluminium monobloc fixed callipers.

There’s also black lettering on the stainless steel door entry guards to identify the version, and the interior continues with the theme – the leather is in black, as is the instrument cluster, though contrast is provided by aluminium-look paint, which adorns the decorative fascia strip, gear lever and air vents. A badge located on the glove compartment lid signifies the limited production variant.

Standard fitment includes a Bose surround sound system, specially coordinated with the interior, and in the Carrera coupe comprises 13 loudspeakers including an active subwoofer and central speaker as well as a seven channel digital amplifier; the cabriolet gets one less speaker, at 12.

The Black Edition is powered by a 3.6 litre flat-six pot, offering 345 hp at 6,500 rpm, and coupled to a six-speed gearbox, has a top speed of 289 kph in both body versions, with a 0-100 kph sprint time of 4.9 seconds for the coupe and 5.1 seconds for the cabriolet. With the PDK double-clutch seven-speed gearbox in attendance, this time drops to 4.7 seconds for the coupe and 4.9 seconds for the cabrio.

As is the case, add-on options abound – there’s the Sport Chrono Plus package, Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes (PCCB) and Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) to be had, amogn other things, to get the Black even well, blacker.

Gallery after the jump.
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Porsche seems to be doing well these days. The sports car brand is now looking to extend its manufacturing to the outside of Germany and the whole of Europe to be exact. Porsche’s CEO Matthias Mueller has revealed to Germany’s Focus magazine that the company may set up production in North America and China to help the company double up its annual global sales to 200,000 units. “We will consider this year whether to start production in Asia or North America,” were his exact words.

The company is also expected to use the former Karmann factory in Osnabrueck, Germany to manufacture the Boxster and Cayman models. This plant was taken over by Volkswagen on January 1st. Up to now, Porsches have been built in Germany, at the Zuffenhausen and Leipzig plants. The out-of-Germany production could also be done in existing Volkswagen factories. In fact, the upcoming Cajun SUV could be built in Volkswagen’s Chinese factory where the Audi Q5 is also being rolled out.

Porsche is also confident that producing its cars outside of Germany would not hurt the company’s image as the production of the Boxster was once outsourced to contract manufacturers in Finland. “We are OK as long as we can say our cars are engineered by Porsche,” he told to another magazine, WirtschaftsWoche.

It makes sense to start producing Porsches in North America as the United States is one of the brand’s most important market. China is of course another important market for the company. Porsche also plans to establish a new customer centre as well as a test track in Shanghai while the number of dealers are expected to rise in China, from 35 to 85, then probably to 100 outlets.

Porsche is set to lift the wraps off a coupe version of its 918 Spyder next week at the Detroit show. The 918 Spyder hybrid, which made its debut last year as a concept in Geneva, is set for a limited production run, but according to reports, Porsche may be aiming for a different tack with the coupe.

Though based on the same platform as the hybrid, the reports suggest that insiders say that the coupe will be a concept race car equipped with a 600 hp V8 block, and that it isn’t slated for serial production. The debutant’s suggested power output isn’t that far ahead of the 918 Spyder hybrid’s V8, which develops 493 hp (and with the 215 hp from the electric motors on both the front and rear axle, a total combined 708 hp), but it would certainly be lighter for the supposed task at hand – we’ll know for sure next week.