The new Porsche 911 has been named World Performance Car 2012, with Volkswagen’s Up winning the overall World Car of the Year award.
An international jury panel of 64 automotive journalists from 25 countries votes on the awards: seven of whom are in the USA, where the Volkswagen Up is not sold.
Chosen from an entry list of nineteen vehicles, the 911 made it through a number of knock out rounds before being crowned the winner, beatoing the Aventador and McLaren MP4-12C to the crown.
There’s a particular serendipity to the 911’s win, given the loss of its devoted father yesterday. Butzi would be very proud of the team now maintaining his vision: well done to all.
Flicking through the latest on Porsche’s Newscast app in bed this morning, I found this 911 video. It features a 991 Cabriolet in white with red top: I would find the right names for both these things but the Porsche car configurator is crashed at the minute on both sides of the pond. Blame me.
As ever, the copywriter seems to have taken inspiration from an ’80s actualize-your-ultimate-potential self-help manual (“and naturally, it’s about dreams: immensely precious dreams”), but the car and the photography are just beautiful. I don’t think I’d change a thing before ordering this.
You can’t beat a nicely shot Porsche 911 video!
edit March 6, 2012: Had an email last night from a video mate. “That 911 cab vid on your blog is terrible pretentious clinical fluff. Don’t condone it!” I guess I am sentimentally attached to 911 Cabriolets – can I help my bad taste?!
Porsche Cars North America has a Porsche film contest running on its mydailymagic website at the minute. The competition is an offshoot of the ‘Porsche Everyday’ campaign, where we drivers (and erstwhile prospective purchasers) are encouraged to consider how Porsche fits the everyday routine, while also staying romantically stitched into our subconscious.
I’ve only just heard about this film competition, so I’m sad to say that entries are already closed. Sorry if that’s a blow to your pent-up creativity. The final ten films are on the site for you to watch and vote for. The winner gets some very nice exposure for their work andA 911 FOR A YEAR! Pretty cool by any film contest standard.
My inner critic started by watching Kristina Woo’s “The Ride”, then set to watching the rest of the films: all made by boys (I think). Disappointed with the predictability of most other offerings, I was almost certain that Kristina would whack the Classic Porsche Blog gong until – *HALLELUJAH* – I watched Michael Koerbel’s film.
Michael plainly gets the Porsche thing, with big fat knobs on, and a cherry on the top. So he gets my vote! Kristina is my runner up: I don’t feel as much flow, but it’s marginal and I get where she is coming from. I have two of those myself…
We all get a kick out of different things. Our votes only count for part of the results: the rest of the marks are for Porsche’s list of “overall appeal, originality and creativity, understanding and demonstration of “Porsche Daily Magic” and adherence to the creative assignment.” edit: 16/5/2015: sadly the original entries are gone now but Michael’s is still on his Vimeo, hence it is above.
The winning film premieres at a red carpet event at the Downtown Independent Theatre in LA on October 4th, and will show at Landmark Theatres across the USA later that week. Kudos to Porsche and all the contestants – top effort.
No doubt you’ve all seen plenty of cut-and-paste Porsche press releases on various websites about the 991. The new 911 is currently being driven by journalists and is bound to be well received. Pic tweeted by Chas Hallett from the Porsche museum media launch:
My main interest is the seven-speed manual transmission. Being a child of the four speed era, I struggle with six speeds, so seven should be suitably hilarious. Another Chas pic: no, he’s not a photographer, he’s the big boss editor of What Car.
New Porsche 911 991 Launched
Manufacturers fit multi-speed transmissions to lower emissions. The better matched each gear is to road speed, the less fuel you burn. Combine that with the stop-start technology fitted to the 991, and you get the lowest emissions yet seen on a Porsche sports car: 194 g/km. Panamera Hybrid makes 159 g/km, so the Porsche 911 emissions still have a way to go, but it’s reasonable progress.
194 g/km is the same as the Lexus IS 250 and the Saab 93 2.0T. From a 3.4-litre 911. That’s lower than a BMW 335 and is easily lower than my ancient 911 or any of my other cars: factory numbers for both the ’02 Subaru Legacy Outback and my ’96 E36 M3 are both knocking on the door of 230 g/km. Legacy a little lower as I run it on LPG. Landcruiser is diesel, so a different kettle of fish, but God only knows what an early ’90s 4.2-litre turbo diesel manual throws out.
Fuel economy is unlikely to be a focal point in new 911 road tests, but it fascinates me. I managed almost 38 mpg from the Carrera 4S I took to Essen in May of this year, so if the new Carrera can top 40 mpg in sensible use, that’ll be quite a thing. Perhaps I could have seen 40 in a C2 to Essen: I’m sure colleagues have reported mid-40s on C2 economy drives in the past. Who knows – maybe I could wring the new one out to 50.
Fantasy land and not the point of the car I agree, but efficiency brings benefits across the platform. Lighter weight with lower emissions mean you can carry less fuel to go the same distance. Less energy is wasted controlling more mass through tyres and suspension, which makes the car more dynamic. No future 911 will ever leap back to the 1100-kilogram air-cooled benchmark, but the 45 kilos saved by the aluminium body versus the old one will make a difference to how it performs, and how much energy it needs to make you feel alive.
Here’s some nice 911 video in German. I like German videos: no understandable marketing speak.
A great orange RSR hillclimbing video has been doing the rounds of the ad-packed ‘German Car Scene’ blogs lately. It shows the Porsche 911 of Swiss hillclimb driver, Willi Jenni, competing on a number of national championship rounds. This is it:
My orange 911 Carrera 3.0 came from Switzerland, and was maintained out there by former Swiss hillclimb champion, Alain Pfefferle, who won the title in a Porsche 935. Here’s Alain driving Bergrennen Oberhallau 2010 in the car: note this is a real one!
Also note just how tidy these boys are on track: there’s very little opposite lock. Sideways might look fun, but tyres hooked up and pushing the car forwards is the fastest way to go.
Oberhallau 2011 will be held at the end of this month: 27/28 August. You can follow live web timings on the Bergrennen Oberhallau website here. I’m going to have to get myself to one of these events one day: they look absolutely superb.
No matter how many horror stories you hear about the Swiss speed camera obsession, Switzerland is a great place to go mountain climbing in a 911. The drive that little brother Sammy and I enjoyed at the start of the 2010 Bergmeister Tour was absolutely unforgettable. The fact that it was totally illegal might have had something to do with it, but who can tell with hindsight?!
Video for the new Cayman R is currently being rolled out across Porsche’s Youtube and Facebook pages. I like the look, especially in this wicked launch colour of Peridot Metallic, which is very reminiscent of Lind Green (on the Porsche 928 below).
Cayman R is an interesting car. This is the first Porsche Cayman with a power-to-weight ratio better than a current Porsche 911. With a 10bhp per tonne advantage compared to a 911 Carrera, its slower 0-60 time is a head scratcher. It’s not putting off the younger buyers: the next generation of Porsche buyers clearly prefers the Cayman to the older 911.
I was on a road trip with Autocar magazine this week, doing a two-day feature in Wales. On day two, the photographer shared his enthusiasm for Porsche cars, and how, together with his girlfriend, he was planning to buy a Cayman S: “the best car Porsche have ever made”, as he put it.
There’s no doubt that the current crop of new Porsche cars are the best in recent memory. Thing is, stars of the classic Porsche show have dropped all depreciation, and are offered at the same money as cars like the Cayman R, that have yet to turn a wheel.
UK prices start at £51,000 including current VAT at 17.5%, more or less the same price as the 33,000-mile 964 RS I have for sale on consignment at the minute.
Say you’re a slightly younger Porsche fan with £50k to spend. What do you choose – a Cayman R or a 964 RS? There’s a line in the sand. For old boys like me, it’s an easy decision to make, but for youngsters who only see the 964 bumpers and 20 years of wear and tear?
ps: First one to take me for a ride in their new Cayman R wins an Impact Bumpers t-shirt!
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