Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid

Here come the high-performance hybrids! Check out this Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid. One more reason why you can’t call hybrids pansies anymore.

The hybrid is still essentially a GT3 R racer with two electric motors slapped on to power the front axle. The electric motors dish out 60kW which nicely helps out the 473 bhp from the flat six.

911 hybrid is only a semi-hybrid though. It sports an electric flywheel power generator to dish out short bursts of juice to power the electric motors.

The generator sits beside the driver so forget about having a passenger. (At least that’d probably keep the car balanced with the driver inside.) The generator stores energy mechanically and is charged during braking. Yeah, it’s a bit complicated fit for a James May boffin explanation.

The car will be showcased at the 2010 Geneva show.

Source: CAR

Porsche 911 Turbo S

Check out this new Porsche 911 Turbo S – a car that Porsche promises to bee the fastest and most powerful 911 Turbo ever.

The car’s powered by a 3.8L flat six with two turbochargers slapped on. The unit churns out 523 bhp up by 30 from the old 493 bhp that it produces. The torque gets boosted as well for 515 lb-ft.

The power is sent to all four wheel thanks to a seven-speed PDK dual-clutch transmission. Flappy-paddle are standard for the first time as well. The car’s also equipped with traction control, torque vectoring, and a mechanical limited-slip diff.

Added systems include launch control and dynamic engine mounts. All that lets the car sprint from 0-62 mph in just 3.3 seconds and go all the way up to 196 mph. But we all know that, in a good day, 911s can go past 200 mph.

And the car’s relatively a fuel sipper too with 24.8 mpg (provided that you don’t max out the power on tap). The car’s available both as cabrio and coup.

Porsche Planning Entry-Level 356

So it appears Porsche is also planning another car aside from the seven models slotted in for production over the next four years. (Autocar, you sneaky chaps, you.)

Porsche apparently will also be rolling out an entry-level sports car known internally as the 356. Word has it that it will be sharing bits and pieces from the Audi R4 bin.

The car will be mid-engined but don’t think that entry-level means cheap. The car will be hovering around the £33,000 mark in today’s valuations and who knows how much inflation would kick it up by the time it gets launched 2-3 years from now.

I just hope that Volkswagen has weighed the business decisions regarding Porsche’s development plans.

If I were Volkswagen, I’d slash Porsche’s fleet to just one model – the 911 – and just have Porsche produce different varians of the car. Otherwise all the other models are just there to cannibalize other VW cars.

Porsche Outlines Production Plan

So it seems like Volkswagen has Porsche’s short-term laid out. Porsche just announced their production plans for their fleet for the next four years. And sad to say, we’ll continue to see the butt-ugly Panamera and the hideous Cayenne. Maybe Volkswagen is simply milking the development money that Porsche had spent on these models.

Panamera V6 and Diesel (2010) – The fast four-door saloon will get a V6 variant and a diesel one as well. This smaller engine will make th car cheaper than the current V8 car.

New Cayenne (2010) – Porsche will be tweaking the styling on the Cayenne. Think of it as Quasimodo with a bit of plastic surgery. Aside from that, the Cayenne will sport the direct-injection V8 of the Panamera.

Cayenne Hybrid (2010) and Panamera Hybrid (2010) – And here are two for the ecomentalist lot. Big impact on the Panamera though – the hybrid version might drop the .

New 911-(2012) – Definitely, Porsche will not be neglecting its flagship super car. Porsche promises that the new 911 will be an all-new model but as with Porsche’s history of forgetting the styling, we’re not holding out breath.

Roxster/CUV (2013) – Porsche’s plans of slotting in a smaller SUV below the Cayenne might get daylight with the “Rockster.” But given the oversaturation of the small SUV and CUV segments, we think Volkswagen should seriously consider this.

928 Cabrio and Coupe (2013) – The 928 will be slotted into the lineup as a possible GT car. Interesting.

Source: Autocar

Porsche Considering Going Electric

Sooner or later, gearheads like me should finally concede to the fact that the whole industry is going green and that even supercars that existed for the longest time bearing nothing smaller than a V6 under their hoods will just be history.

Porsche, who’s currently in the middle of being taken over by Volkswagen, is now jumping on to the whole green bandwagon. And Volkswagen even envisions Porsche to strengthen its sports car business. We wonder how that’d be done with green cars.

We guess it’s a sentiment shared by new CEO Michael Macht but his announcement was carefully worded so as not to deny the whole going-green thing but doesn’t necessarily commit the company to deliver by a given date.

“I am also convinced that one day Porsche will have an electric sports car in its line-up,” said Macht. “We are therefore taking the first step in this direction with a full hybrid – in the Cayenne, the Panamera and maybe in the not too distant future also in a racing car or a production 911. Why not?”

Porsche Panamera Platform to Live On

So Volkswagen’s set to kill off the Porsche Panamera but they still see a use for the Panamera platform a source tells Inside Line. At least VW has some reason left in them to use good existing technology.

When Porsche was still flying solo (and orchestrating a takeover of Volkswagen) they were quite all for the exclusivity of their tech but with Volkswagen absorbing the business, VW can pretty much do what they want with Porsche.

VW intends to have Porsche on developing sports cars thus announcing the end of the Cayenne SUV and Panamera. Currently, VW has the Lamborghini Estoque (a much better looking car) to fill the market segment for fast four-doors to compete with the likes of the Aston Martin Rapide and the Maserati Quattroporte.

Still, if the Panamera platform will be used, Bentley, Bugatti and Audi are the most likely recipients.