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New Porsche 911 Cabriolet unveiled

New Porsche 911 Cabriolet unveiled

Porsche has released the first pictures of the new Porsche 911 Cabriolet (992 model). The new model’s power hood can be operated at speeds up to 30mph and completes its closed to open cycle in twelve seconds. It also comes with an electric windjammer. All good for hairdressers.

Except the 911 Cabriolet is not a so-called ‘hairdresser’s car’. I had a 911 Cabriolet and would have another in a heartbeat. I did track days and long tours in mine and treasure memories of spirited drives on warm summer nights. Commuting was cool in the Cabriolet, although really hot days kept the roof up. Soft tops can be counter intuitive.

The new Porsche 911 Cabriolet offers optional sports suspension for the very first time: a benefit of the improved torsional stiffness from a new mounting position for the engine in all 992s. C2S Cabs have been widened so they share the same body width as the C4S versions. Both models have the sexy rear light bar and all panels bar the bumpers are made of aluminium.

The new Porsche 992 Cabriolet is a good looking car, available to order now priced at £103k for the C2S and £108k for the C4S. But which to buy? Fantasy buyers lean toward 2wd 911s, but the 911 Cabriolet has never been a lightweight, so the performance difference from 2wd to 4wd is negligible: a 2mph slower top speed from C2 to C4.

The modest premium has been a small price to pay for C4 surefootedness with the curvy wider body up to now. I would certainly be a C4S buyer at a £5k premium if a new cabriolet was within my grasp. Stuttgart’s decision to widen the C2S Cabriolet and give both models the C4S bodywork should shift the sales balance and strengthen residuals for the new Porsche 911 Carrera 2S Cabriolet.

It is not easy to find out the UK sales split from Coupe to Cabriolet models. Registration data is also unhelpful. Howmanyleft shows a falling number of Carrera 4 Cabriolets (160 in 2001 to 121 in 2018) to a lower rate of attrition for 2wd models (74 in 2001 then up and down to 68 today), which seems to support the common belief that more C4 models (Coupe or Cab) are exported or broken for spares versus C2 models.

The used market views two-wheel drive 911s as the more desirable, but the only obvious data falls well short of my best guess of total 911 Cabriolets on the road, so many later cars are likely registered as Porsche 911s rather than 911 Cabriolets. This makes it difficult to know where the line is.

With the 911 C2S Cabriolet (£102,755) priced roughly £10k more than the C2S PDK Coupe (£93,110), the Cabriolet looks set to remain a supporting derivative in the UK, but it’s still my favourite everyday 911.


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Natural Fibre Bodywork for the Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport

Natural Fibre Bodywork for the Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport

Porsche has unveiled its new Cayman GT4 Clubsport, which features a small amount of natural fibre bodywork. The move is in tune with Stuttgart’s aims to increase the use of sustainable, renewable materials following a 2015 Sustainability Report which showed Porsche had increased its use of fossil fuels and electrical power through the year.

Porsche says that 718 Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport is the first ever production race car to feature body parts made of natural-fibre composite material. Both doors and the rear wing are made of an organic fibre mix, sourced primarily from agricultural by-products such as flax or hemp fibres and feature similar properties to carbon fibre in terms of weight and stiffness. 

Bcomp powerRib & AmpliTex natural fibre composites

Three panels on a car doesn’t seem like much, but it’s a start. The technology obviously exists to do more, as demonstrated by Swiss firm BComp, whose partnership with the Electric GT sustainable racing project was announced back in 2017.

Bcomp’s proprietary material is a high-performance, cost-efficient product that can replace or reinforce carbon fibre and other engineering materials. It is said to cut up to 40% weight with no change in performance. The natural fibre composite bodywork developed by Bcomp can also be embedded with LED lighting to act as an information screen while the cars go around the circuit.

Bcomp’s powerRib and ampliTex reinforcement fabrics have been used throughout the sports and leisure markets, in products such as skis, snowboards, surfboards, canoes and guitars. Bcomp has also collaborated with the European Space Agency ESA on the development of lightweight space applications.

Porsche Cayman GT4 Trackday model not available in the UK

The Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport comes in two versions ex-works: the Trackday model and the Competition variant for national and international motor racing. The Trackday edition is not available in the UK.

Costing £130,000 (plus 20% UK VAT), the 718 Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport Competition model weighs 1,320 kilograms and is powered by a 3.8-litre flat six producing 425 bhp. This is 40 bhp more than the previous model, but it didn’t stop Porsche selling 421 examples of that one over the last three years.

The transmission is a six-speed PDK with mechanical rear diff lock. Suspension is from the GT3 Cup and the bias-adjustable brakes are steel discs all round measuring 380mm in diameter. Air jacks and a fire extinguisher system are fitted as standard. The car comes with a 115-litre fuel tank for endurance events and lengthy Nurburgring sessions.


The new Porsche 992: First Feedback

The new Porsche 992: First Feedback

The February 2019 issue of 911 and Porsche World magazine has just arrived, with a front page featuring a muted mention of the brand new Porsche 992. This seems in tune with a rather reserved reception to date for the latest 911.

The new model still has some sports cred on paper. The improved 3-litre turbocharged engine will shove the 1.5-ton Carrera 2 Coupe with Panamera 8-speed PDK to 191 mph where allowed, reaching 60 mph from a standstill in just under four seconds. The car is bristling with technology, including an all new ‘Wet Mode’ and a carbon footprint tracker.

“With the new 992 generation, the 911 has surely completed its journey from compact sports car to capacious grand tourer,” says 911&PW. “The new interior doesn’t exactly communicate unadorned functionality, either. And consider all the newly added technology that has nothing to do with what Porsche refers to as a ‘puristic’ driving experience.”

The magazine goes on to recommend celebrating the 992 as “still incredibly faithful to the original 911’s ethos given the limitations of modern motoring.” This is similar to how Autocar’s James Attwood viewed the new car following a passenger ride around Hockenheim.

“That impression is of a car that is at once a step forward, while also remaining reassuringly familiar,” notes James in an Autocar piece describing the car as “a welcome evolution”. “There’s an added sheen of comfort with the development of the touchscreens and displays in the interior, and with the addition of new driver assistance systems. Yet those systems appear to have been developed to give those who want to exploit its considerable performance the freedom to do so.”

Chassis control systems and freedom do not always make the best bedfellows, so it will be interesting to note how road testers describe the dynamics when they eventually get to try it in person. With a wider track, longer wheelbase and 55 more kilos under its belt, it’s probably reasonable to expect further endorsement of this perceived shift from sports car to grand tourer ahead of the first production hybrid 911 in a few years.

Porsche 911 Carrera T: One Year On

Porsche 911 Carrera T: One Year On

In usual reflective mood during the seasonal downtime, I’ve been looking back over some of my GT Porsche magazine columns from the last twelve months and checking where my head was at through the year. My first magazine column for GT considered the launch of the 911 Carrera T and what effect it might have on the Porsche populus.

2018 Porsche 911 Carrera T spec

  • 370bhp/330lb ft turbcharged 3.0-litre engine as in base Carrera
  • Sports Exhaust and PASM as standard
  • 7-speed manual has Limited Slip Diff and shorter final drive
  • PDK has no LSD
  • Reduced sound deadening
  • Thin windows and pull straps in doors
  • Rear seat and PCM delete (No Cost Option to put back)
  • Weight in standard form circa 1425kg

Many of the old guard treat new 911 models with a degree of suspicion, as it often feels like models are being released just to give magazines something to write about. This is most especially true when Porsche disinters old model designations. The 911 T was a good example.

Just 20 kilos lighter than a standard Carrera with similar equipment, the T didn’t seem to bring much to the party, but it was still likely to get a few writers excited. Most old hands were reserved in their reviews of this subtle run-out upgrade to the standard Carrera.

“Unfortunately, Porsche has somewhat mis-sold the T as a sort of hardcore, purists’ missile rather than embracing its true purpose as a cracking all-rounder in the best tradition of low-level 911s,” said Richard Porter in The Sunday Times. “It gives you a few extra tasty treats such as the trick suspension and diff that make it nicer to drive, without any trinkets you don’t need. It’s not sparse, but there’s a pleasing simplicity to it, right down to the seats that are wrapped not with leather but in cloth, striped like a 1980s banker’s suit. It’s all you need, and nothing you don’t.”

“If you were hoping the Carrera T would be a mini-me GT3, look away now,” wrote Andrew Frankel in Autocar. “But that’s not to say there’s nothing interesting going on. Before Porsche’s T-squad laid a finger on its flanks, the 911 was by some distance already the most desirable and effective performer in its category. The T is a car with just a little more edge.”

Porsche 911 Carrera T investment prospects

The 911 Carrera T rang a bell with buyers: latest UK registration data suggests that 219 Carrera T models were put on the road in 2018, with a 2-to-1 bias towards the manual.

The seven-speed gearbox in the 991 was widely viewed as inferior to the sweet six-speed fitted to Caymans, but as early reviews suggested the car was a 991 GT3 for £30k less and given the spec difference from manual to PDK, most Carrera T buyers/investors were obviously going to pick the manual. The residual premium could take a decade to materialise a la 997 Carrera GTS, but it was the one to have.

Residual values for the 911T (which sold with a cost new some ten percent higher than a standard Carrera) have yet to find their groove, but 219 RHD cars registered year-to-date does not make them super-rare amongst the 2018 911 cohort. That said, in a year-to-date figure of over 11,000 registrations up to the end of November and against a whole-life registration total for RHD 991s, 200 is a fairly small number and should help this model car to build a bit of a following.

Porsche unveils updated Macan

Porsche unveils updated Macan

The new Porsche Macan has been unveiled in Shanghai. It looks rather the same as the previous model but the facelift comes with new colours, improved engines and more technology, all of  which should rejuvenate appeal amongst Macan’s target audience.

Available colours now include Mamba Green Metallic, Dolomite Silver Metallic and Crayon (primer grey which everyone seems to love) as well as the Miami Blue seen here, which has been chosen as the launch colour. New interior packages provide a wider range of opportunities for customer personalisation. If Mamba Green is anything like the classic Apple Green Metallic, that will be my favourite.

Porsche’s press release doesn’t say anything about the new engines as the obvious first question is “what about diesel?”. The manufacturer has made a bit of a song and dance about supposedly dropping diesel in the wake of the Volkswagen scandal, but the Cayenne is still on course to receive a new diesel engine and Macan S Diesel is/was very much alive and kicking. UK registrations of Macan S diesel outnumber all other models combined (8.9k vs 7.1k since 2014 if you’re interested).

Porsche is unlikely to throw away sales potential like this for its baby SUV range, especially given that a hybrid version is probably not possible due to the bodyshell configuration. Perhaps the omission is related to current tensions between Porsche and Audi on diesel engine supply and the use of emissions cheat devices. A very soft launch may lie ahead for facelifted Macan oilburners.

The 2-litre petrol is still available and has a few more ponies to play with: up from 248 to 256 bhp, according to Greg Kable at Autocar, who also reveals that the V6 engines are being replaced with Porsche-Audi V6s. Expect more bhp from the Porsche applications to fit brand identities.

Tech-wise, the dash looks great with the 11-inch touchscreen and relocated air vents instantly making previous models less desirable. Macan.2 gets new options including the 911’s GT steering wheel with ‘Sports Response’ button (the contemporary equivalent of Knight Rider’s pursuit mode for anyone as old as me), as well as a cabin ioniser and a heated windscreen.

Porsche has also used the introduction of the new model as an opportunity to expand the range of assistance systems in the Macan. The new Traffic Jam Assist including adaptive cruise control enables more comfortable and relaxed driving behaviour at speeds up to 60 km/h. The system features partially automated acceleration and braking and also assists with steering in a traffic jam or in slow-moving traffic.

New Porsche Formula E car meets Mission E launch

New Porsche Formula E car meets Mission E launch

The FIA has confirmed Porsche’s entry into the 2019 Formula E championship. Porsche’s Formula E debut will coincide with the launch of the production version of the Mission E: Stuttgart’s first all-electric sport car and part of the six billion Euros being invested into electric mobility up to the end of 2022.

Former head of the 919 project, Andreas Seidl, will be responsible for the technical development and the execution of the Formula E programme. “The possibilities and performance of electric cars have been a central topic at Porsche for quite a while,” says the Team Principal. “The deeper our engineers get into the topic, the more fascinating the solutions become. We can’t wait to receive our first vehicle in early 2019 and to test our own powertrain in it.”

Porsche unveiled the Mission E Cross Turismo at this year’s Geneva Motor Show: another take on the 800-volt Mission E Concept car blessed with 600 horsepower giving more than 500 kilometres of range. The production version may end up with slightly lower numbers, but it definitely won’t be cheap so it will need plenty of toys to show for the money. Four-wheel drive and four-wheel steering with the usual electronic driver aids should still take the four door, four-seater to sixty in 3.5 seconds, which will obviously keep people entertained.

The Gen2 Formula E car will also create some added entertainment compared to the current model, as drivers will finally be able to run a complete race without needing a car change in the middle of it. As a motorsport fan who pays no attention to Formula E, the upgrade is unlikely to have any impact on my perception of the series or of the brands taking part, but for those marketing the new Mission E to a generation that links E with excitement rather than lean-running eco superminis, the connections are excellent.