Porsche Certified Warranty, 1.9% Financing, Navigation, Bose, Heated Seats, Xm on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Porsche LMP1 to use 4-cyl hybrid powertrain [w/poll]

With the Formula One season - and indeed his entire F1 career - now behind him, Mark Webber took advantage of his early release from Red Bull Racing to try out the new LMP1 which Porsche is developing, undertaking the final test session of 2013 before Porsche throws it head first into the FIA World Endurance Championship next April. The session - which followed previous tests at Magny-Cours, Monza, Paul Ricard and the Eurospeedway at Lausitz - was held at the Algarve circuit in Portimão, Portgual, in collaboration with Michelin, which is developing the tires for the car. But that's hardly the news here.
No, the news is the first confirmation we've seen on the type of powertrain Porsche has developed for its new Le Mans prototype: a gasoline-burning four-cylinder engine with direct injection and two energy recovery systems. This contrasts sharply with the V6 turbodiesel and single electric motor used by Audi in the R18 e-tron Quattro (or at least the outgoing version) or the naturally-aspirated V8 and single electric motor found in the Toyota TS030. Flexibility in the rules set down by the FIA and ACO give the manufacturers that kind of latitude, prompting F1 teams like Ferrari and Renault to consider developing their new engines for Le Mans prototypes as well.
At this point Porsche isn't saying how large its four-cylinder engine is or how much power it will produce. But it'll be interesting, to say the least, to see how it fares against the Audi and Toyota in next year's championship and at Le Mans when it'll be piloted by Webber, former Lola LMP1 driver Neel Jani and Audi's own 2011 Le Mans-winning pair of Romain Dumas and Timo Bernhard.

Porsche celebrates 50 years of 911 with some excellent pics

The Porsche 911 is one of the most iconic sports cars of all time, and to celebrate the car's first 50 years, Porsche has released a stunning set of photos showing how far the 911 has come from the original back in 1963 to its current 991 generation. Unlike the recent 60-year photo spread that Chevrolet put together for the Corvette, though, Porsche's gallery only shows the original 911 and the current car.
Each time the 911 is redesigned, the car's front fenders, roofline and the shape of the side windows are key focal points. Even some of the interior cues have remained the same over the years, including the positioning of the ignition key on the left of the steering column and the five-gauge instrument cluster layout.
Scroll down for Porsche's press release breaking down the seven generations of the 911, and be sure to check out our gallery with plenty of high-res pics for you to download as a desktop wallpaper. In fact, we're providing these at 1920-pixels-wide instead of our usual 1280 wide. Enjoy!

Porsche Cayman gets a new face

We've already seen photos of the facelifted Porsche Boxster out testing, but we're now seeing these same changes making their way onto the hardtop Cayman coupe. Cosmetically, the next round of Porsche's smallest sports cars isn't vastly different, with redesigned headlamps, LED running lights (like its big brother, the 911), and new taillamps that actually aren't visible on the prototype seen here.
The big news for the updated Boxster/Cayman range is the long-rumored four-cylinder engine. Recent reports suggest we could see four-pots with displacements of 1.6, 2.0, or 2.5 liters, and with output ratings as high as 360 horsepower. Of course, these new four-cylinder mills would be both turbocharged and direct-injected.
It's unclear whether or not the six-cylinder engine range will also be updated when this new Cayman comes to market. In any case, we expect to see it bow in the relatively near future. Stay tuned.