The new guys at /DRIVE take the majestic Singer 911 for a spin.
-Nick
Tag Archives: Porsche
Porsche Macan Turbo Review: Like a Fancy WRX for Rich People!
The Porsche Macan is basically a luxury rally car for the financially well-endowed, and the Turbo is the Mac-daddy of the lineup. It’s remarkable just how good Porsche has been able to make this car considering it shares its underpinnings with the very vanilla VW Tiguan. It took a while for fun to find its way into the crossover segment, but after driving this Macan Turbo, I can vouch that it definitely has.
It was one of those things I had to experience to believe. I figured the Macan might just be nothing more than a faster Tiguan with a Porsche body and a nice interior; that would’ve been just fine for most Macan buyers, and a mediocre Macan would’ve still been a solid revenue car for Porsche. Thankfully, they went over and above to preserve the integrity of their speed-synonymous brand. The Macan Turbo is a real Porsche, a new type of Porsche to be sure, but a real Porsche within its mold.
Continue reading Porsche Macan Turbo Review: Like a Fancy WRX for Rich People!
Porsche 993 GT2 on US soil at Lime Rock
Happy Halloween everyone!
Yes, this is a real Porsche 993 GT2. It’s here in America, and its registered in Montana, the land of the supercars… or at least it would seem that way with all the Montana plates on all sorts of crazy cars. #Loophole
This 993 GT2 came here from Japan and now resides in New England, I believe. The owner said he had driven it to the show that day.
This is really the first 993 GT2 I’ve seen up close in person. I say “really” because I did catch a glimpse of the stunning blue 993 GT2 that recently sold at auction for $2.4M in the garage at the Porsche museum in Stuttgart. However, it was under a cover, and I wasn’t going to try and pull it off.
Obviously the 993 GT2 is one of those holy grail 911s fit for only the wettest of dreams. One of only 57 road-going 993 GT2’s made, it comes from a time when cars were lighter and much simpler, when 430 turbocharged horsepower in a rear engine / rear wheel drive package meant daddy might not be home for supper.
I’m happy to be able to check another one off my list! Now if I can finally manage to track down a Bugatti EB-110…
Highlights From First Class Fitment 2016, Gallery 2
Our second gallery of highlights from First Class Fitment 2016. Enjoy!
Continue reading Highlights From First Class Fitment 2016, Gallery 2
Highlights from First Class Fitment 2016, Gallery 1
First Class Fitment is always an entertaining show to shoot. Every car is different, special in its own way. It is a sea of automotive creativity, and this year was no exception.
Enjoy this first batch of photos!
Continue reading Highlights from First Class Fitment 2016, Gallery 1
1966 Porsche 906/Carrera 6 Racecar at Radnor Hunt
The Porsche 906 comes from the end of the era when racing cars really could be used on public roads. I mean, imagine a LeMans LMP car blitzing past you on the highway today. It’s a pretty incredible thought, and that’s exactly what the Porsche 906 was.
Just 50 Porsche 906s were produced, and they’re all worth millions of dollars at auction today. I haven’t seen one since my visit to the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart a few years ago, and this was really the first time I’ve looked closely at one.
Like so many Porsches over the years, the 906 won’t shock you with its raw numbers. It’s 2.0L flat six produces 220hp, or a little less than a modern Honda S2000. Not too crazy, right? Well, when you consider it also only weighs 1,280lbs, you’ll find the 906 has a better power-to-weight ratio than the current 991 GT3 RS, even with its mighty 4.0L engine.
Ah, the merits of lightness…
Enjoy the photos.
Continue reading 1966 Porsche 906/Carrera 6 Racecar at Radnor Hunt
RUF CTR3 at the Greenwich Concours
“Hey, sweet Cayman you got there, dude!”
That’s not what you say to the owner of one of these insane machines. This is no mere Cayman, my friends, this is a RUF CTR3. Sure it’s made of Porsche bits, like all other RUFs, but this is a car they made themselves. The front of the car comes from the Porsche 997 GT3 RS, but the whole rear structure is bespoke, and not from a Cayman as you might expect.
The CTR3 is the ultimate RUF Supercar. With around 700hp coming from its twin turbocharged, 911-derived 3.8L Flat-6, it was one of the fastest cars on the planet when it hit the streets in the late 2000’s. In a time when the 1,001hp Bugatti Veyron was still outlandish, the CTR3’s 3.1 sec 0-60 sprint and 233mph top speed was rivaled by very few. It’s still damn fast today, we just now live in a world where people in Teslas everywhere can run 0-60 in 2.7 sec, and it’s totally crazy.
This is the first and only RUF CTR3 I’ve ever seen in person. RUF planned a max production run of just 50 units, and I’m not sure they ever completed it, so it’s is extremely rare.
Enjoy the pics!
White Porsche 918 Spyder at the CF Charities Supercar Show
We’ve seen a bunch of Porsche 918 Spyders around, but none have been in this striking white until now. It shows off the curves of the car quite nicely and definitely adds to the car’s jaw-dropping appeal.
The 918 Spyder remains my favorite of the hybrid hypercar trio. Now, having seen it in this white, my lust for it will be that much more excruciating.
-Nick
Highlights from the 2016 Greenwich Concours Day 1
We had a fun, but rainy, weekend at the Greenwich Concours d’Elegance, especially on Sunday. Saturday was quite nice, though, and there was a spectacular array of cars on the field. This is our highlight gallery from Day 1.
Enjoy!
Continue reading Highlights from the 2016 Greenwich Concours Day 1
Porsche 991 GT3 RS Spotted at the Ritz Carlton, Amelia Island
Sadly, this is not the hands-on review article it could’ve been. Yes, Porsche was actually having test drives in this 4.0L monster 911. While most people got there too late to even get in line for a drive in the GT3 RS, Al and I actually got there too early, and I mean by a few seconds.
It was literally as I handed my pen back to the Porsche lady at the booth, after signing up to drive the 991.2 Carrera S, that this bright orange GT3 RS pulled up. Dammit!
That said, it would’ve been really difficult and unsafe to get a real taste of the GT3 RS on the public roads of Amelia Island, not to mention probably an arrestable offense. So in many ways I’m glad I tried the new turbo’d Carrera S instead. I really want to experience the new GT3 RS on the race track, or at least a more open road, where I can actually drive it properly.
That said, it did look like people were having an absolute blast in it. So while part of me is looking on the bright side, the other part of me is peanut butter and jealous as all hell!
-Nick
1955 Porsche 356 Speedster at the 2016 Amelia Island Concours
The Porsche 356 might be one of the most well-regarded early German sports cars ever. Since I was a little kid, I’ve wanted to have one in my driveway, simply because of their honest styling and fantastic sense of adventure. This little white Speedster is the last of the pre-A series cars, making it an early model combined with the most desirable body style. The Speedsters are extremely valuable–and this one, being an early one, is a prime example of how Porsche got popular in the States. Max Hoffman hit the market perfectly and the Speedster, which was a cheaper convertible 356 aimed at competition markets, was a massive home run at the time. Continue reading 1955 Porsche 356 Speedster at the 2016 Amelia Island Concours
Porsche 991.2 Carrera S Review: Do Turbos Make a Better 911?
Everyone sharpen your pitchforks and light your torches! Porsche has gone and changed the 911 again, and this time we’re gonna burn Stuttgart to the ground! They won’t get a way with it this time!
Wait, what? What’s that you say? Porsche has turbocharged all of the 911 Carrera models, and now they’re actually improved? You say Porsche has secretly answered our purist prayers and we don’t even know it? How can that be?!!!!
Well it’s true, folks, all of it. Porsche has made all of their 911s into 911 Turbos, although they’ll surely hate me for saying it that way. The way Porsche would want me to say it is, “911 Carrera and Targa models all now have a 3.0L Twin Turbocharged Flat-Six engine, but they are not “911 Turbos” because the 911 Turbo and 911 Turbo S each have a 3.8L Twin Turbocharged Flat-Six engine.” See what I mean?
There are a few ways to look at this new 991.2 generation Porsche 911. I’m going to go through the way I see the car now, after taking it for a spin recently.
I’m not going to waste our time talking much about the aspects of the 911 that haven’t changed much. Just know that it’s still a wonderful handling car, it still has the best electric power steering in the business, it’s still of top-notch build quality, and PDK is still among the best dual-clutch trannies around.
Alright, now let’s talk about that new turbocharged engine, and what it does for the 911 as a car…
Continue reading Porsche 991.2 Carrera S Review: Do Turbos Make a Better 911?
Mind Over Motor 