Archive for Porsche

Volkswagen works council chief Bernd Osterloh says what started as two German companies growing together has ended up as a hostile takeover of Volkswagen by Porsche. The Volkswagen works council and Porsche is currently in a legal battle over how many workers from Volkswagen should be represented on the supervisory board’s holding company. The current proposal is 3 seats from Volkswagen and 3 seats from Porsche on the board. Naturally, Volkswagen wants more seats, and they justify it with the fact that Volkswagen had over 30 times more workers then Porsche, so it should have greater representation.

Osterloh also thinks that the new holding company which will hold both Porsche and Volkswagen should be called Volkswagen and Porsche Automobilholding instead of just being called Porsche Automobilholding as it is now.

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If you drive a Porsche Cayenne produced between November 30 2006 and January 18 2008, please pay a visit to your service center. A total of 18,856 Porsche Cayenne SUVs manufactured during the period needs to have their fuel line rearranged as there is a possibility of slight movements of the engine when traveling causing the fuel line to come in contact with the engine compartment cladding. This causes a knocking sound and in some cases abrasion markings on the fuel line.

Out of 5 complaints of knocking sounds worldwide, there was one case of abrasion markings. As a preventive measure, Porsche has decided to modify the fuel line layout of the vehicles. The procedure is free of charge and will take an estimated 40 minutes. Customers that are affected will be advised.

Click to enlarge

Porsche has just unveiled the new Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, an extensively modified motorsports version of the Porsche 911, powered by a normally aspirated 3.8 liter boxer engine and a 6-speed sequential gearbox. It weighs approximately 1,225 kg complying with A.C.O. regulations, and 1,200 kg complying with FIA regulations.

The 6-cylinder boxer engine is an all-aluminium unit that makes its 465 horsepower at 8,000rpm, but the rev needle goes all the way up to a maximum engine speed of 9,400rpm, approaching superbike territory. Each cylinder has a bore of 102.7mm and a stroke of 76.4mm. Peak torque of 430Nm which exceeds the usual 100Nm per liter ratio is achieved at 7,250rpm. The engine uses dry sump lubrication, individual throttle butterflies, and requires RON 98 fuel.

The transmission is a 6-speed sequential with a jaw-style shift. The gearbox was developed with the know how gained from the RS Spyder sports prototype. The gearbox features a oil/water heat exchanger, a single mass flywheel, a hydraulic disengagement lever, a three-plate carbon-fibre clutch, and a 45:65 LSD. It is considerably lighter than its predecessor with reduced internal friction, and the flat angle of the drive shafts allow racing teams a wider range of suspension settings.

The GT3 RSR suspension consists of McPherson strut design at the front with Sachs four-way gas pressure dampers, double coil springs (main and ancillary spring), camber adjustable front axle arms, and an adjustable swordtype anti-roll bar on both sides. The rear suspension uses a multi-arm axle with rigidly mounted axle sub-frame, Sachs four-way gas pressure dampers, double coil springs (main and auxiliary spring), a reinforced and an infinitely adjustable rear axle tie-bar. The suspension is infinitely adjustable in the height, camber and track variables.

Brakes are single-piece six-pot aluminium fixed calipers at the front with 380mm discs and racing brake pads, while the rear uses 355mm discs with four-pot calipers. Wheels are three-piece BBS light-alloy wheels measuring 11J x 18-34 at the front and 13J x 18-12.5 at the rear.

The race-spec body of the GT3 RSR is made of hot-galvanised steel. The front bumper, underfloor and rear wing are aerodynamically optimised. It uses a fast filling function for the 90 liter safety fuel tank. On the inside there is a welded-in roll cage, a bucket-type racing seat on the driver’s side with a flame-resistant seat cover, a six-point HANS seatbelt, and an electric fire-extinguishing system.

More photos after the jump.

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The Porsche Cayenne Hybrid will be unveiled at the 2007 Los Angeles Motor Show which begins on the 16th of November 2007 - that’s this Friday. The new Cayenne Hybrid uses a Full-Parallel Hybrid system that enables the hybrid SUV to comsume less than 9 liters per 100km travelled, a feat for a huge SUV like the Cayenne.

More technical details will be revealed sometime this Friday, but for the moment enjoy more photos after the jump.

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Porsche will be displaying the Porsche Cayenne GTS at the 2007 Frankfurt International Motor Show, the latest addition to the Cayenne SUV model line-up. The Porsche Cayenne GTS is the first Cayenne to feature Porsche Active Suspension Management, and it is equipped with steel springs. This combination previously reserved exclusively for Porsche’s sports cars is a first for the Cayenne SUV.

The Porsche Cayenne GTS takes the 4.8 liter V8 from the Cayenne S and tunes it up to produce 20 more horsepower - the result is 405hp at 6,500rpm and a Cayenne S-matching 500Nm of torque at 3,500rpm. It also has a shorter axle drive ratio than the Cayenne S - 4.1:1 as opposed to 3.55:1. 0 to 100km/h takes 6.1 seconds - 0.5 seconds quicker than the Cayenne S with a 6-speed manual gearbox.

The front and rear design are taken from the top of the range engined Cayenne Turbo, and the Cayenne GTS is available with two new exclusive colours: GTS Red and Nordic Gold Metallic. The GTS slots in between the S and the Turbo.

More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of 2008 Porsche Cayenne GTS

Porsche will be launching a new special edition of it’s Cayman mid-engine coupe in November 2007 called the Porsche Cayman S “Porsche Design Edition 1″. The limited edition Cayman was conceived to be a nod to Porsche Design and the famous Chronograph 1s designed by Ferdinand Alexander Porsche 35 years ago.

The interior is done up with black leather and Alcantara upholstery while the center console, dashboard and door trims glisten in black. The sports steering wheel, gear lever and handbrake grip are also done up in non-slip black Alcantara. With this limited edition Cayman, it seems that black is once again the new black.

The Cayman Porsche Design Edition 1 is lower by 10mm than it’s siblings, and features standard Porsche Active Suspension Management that actively controls the hardness of the shocks. The 19 inch wheels (taken from the Type 997 Porsche 911 Turbo) with 235/35ZR19 tyres at the front and 265/35/ZR19 at the rear have 5mm spacers to give the Cayman a more intimidating stance.

All 777 lucky owners of this limited edition will also receive a briefcase containing a Flat Six Chronograph, a pocket knife, sunglasses, a pen, and a key wing all done in black - this includes the knife blade. The cars will be numbered on the lid of the glove box.

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First details of Porsche’s new 911 GT2 has been revealed. It’s 3.6 liter twin VGT turbocharged boxer engine will be putting out 530 horsepower at 6,500rpm and 685Nm of torque between 2,200rpm to 4,500rpm, compared to the 911 Turbo’s 480hp at at 6,000rpm and 620Nm of torque between 1,950rpm to 5,000rpm.

So that’s more torque, more power, yet two less wheels to drive them through as the GT2 has always been a rear wheel drive monster. You can expect some serious rubber burning with this one. 0 to 100km/h takes 3.6 seconds - 0.1 seconds faster than the 911 Turbo Tiptronic S.

Though not officially unveiled by Porsche yet, I’m already waiting to see what RUF can do to this car.

Related Posts:
2007 Porsche 911 Turbo (type 997)
997 Porsche 911 GT3 on the Nurburgring
2007 Porsche World Road Show Videos

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This is a professionally produced somewhat artistic promotional video for the new type 997 Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet. It’s a shame that for most part of the video the music covers up most of the 911 Turbo cabriolet’s sweet 3.6 liter turbocharged boxer engine noise. Imagine the frustration of viewing a clip that shows the RPM meter going up to the high ends of the rev range, but all you hear is techno music.

Anyway, enjoy the video after the jump. It even has a short section where it shows the variable vanes in the Variable Geometry Turbocharger working.

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There is a tussle in the boardroom of Volkswagen AG over the Porsche Cayenne and the Volkswagen Touareg. Porsche is using it’s majority stake shareholding to influence Volkswagen product planning and marketing, especially with it’s joint projects such as the Cayenne-Touareg, two SUVs developed in such close cooperation that alot of people have called the Cayenne merely a dressed up Touareg.

Volkswagen plans to launch an all-new model change Volkswagen Touareg in late 2010, but Porsche wants to launch the Cayenne earlier during the first half of the year. “We aren’t at all pleased with a significantly longer model life for the current Touareg compared to the Cayenne. After all, the vehicles are in competition with one another,” said a high-ranking Volkswagen executive.

“If we can’t come to an agreement at the level of the working teams, the CEOs will have to hammer this out,” said an official of Porsche.

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This is an interesting video for those who love track videos. Two brothers take on the Nurburgring - Michael Neeves rides a Yamaha R1 superbike while his brother Ben follows him in a Porsche 911 GT3. Video after jump.

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