Is this your Porsche? Because if so, you’re a douche that doesn’t deserve it. And you know who you are. You were racing a black Ferrari through the streets of Venice, CA today, lost it, crashed into a Mercedes, and had your car towed out of there before the cops showed up. Just for good measure, a close-up of the Porsche’s plate: California plate 6LjR555.
[Source: Yo! Venice]
The Bullrunners depart Chicago, in a mess of lost, for Omaha, Nebraska. There’s never a shortage of surprises on the Bullrun, and today doesn’t upset. We get lost and angry, drive the tires off our car, and finally figure out a good strategy.
The Smoking Tire heads out to Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch, where VF Engineering has provided us with an entire fleet of supercharged sports cars. Matt Farah takes a 510hp blown Porsche 911 and a 620 hp blown wide-body M3 out on the track to see what 30% more power does to two already great cars.
Video after the jump.
While everyone’s attention this past weekend at Pike’s Peak was focused primarily on the overall record attempts, some other records were actually broken, including one by Jeff Zwart, who destroyed Rhys Millen’s previous record time of 12:09.40, in his Hyundai Genesis Coupe, with a 11:31.095 in his Porsche 997 Cup. A friend of the site was fortunate enough to send over some in-car video from Zwart’s qualifying run. Watch how hard to control the Porsche looks once it hits the dirt!
Speed, lots of power and…. GREEN? The hottest cars on the market today push the envelope when it comes to performance, fuel economy, technology. With cars like the Porsche 918 Spyder looming on the horizon, promising rediculous performance figures (198 MPH, 0-60 in 3.2 seconds, 718 HP, all while giving us 78 MPG), the future of cars truly lies in the maximization of a cars efficiency as opposed to the old school approach of building a strong chassis, and then simply throwing power at it until it goes like hell. As evidenced by the 918 Spyder, along with the new GT3 R Hybrid and Cayenne Hybrid, Porsche has spearheaded the movement they like to call “Intelligent Performance”. There is no doubt that these new hybrid cars give us both performance and efficiency. But what if you can’t wait for a Hybrid Porsche and have a budget that is much, much smaller than the $800,000+ estimated price of the 918 Spyder, or even the Cayenne Hybrid’s $67,700? How about if all you can afford is a bicycle but you want the looks of a GT3 RS? Well, I’ve got the solution for you: The Ferdinand GT3 RS
Hit the jump for the build gallery and more information…
If you’ve ever damaged someone’s car, especially your parents’, you know the feeling it leaves in your stomach. Your stomach sprints out the back door, your lungs puncture themselves and your balls (if you have them) retract, leaving only your terrified heart and brain to take the inevitable verbal blows. Even if you have the volume at 11 in the car, if you simply scrape the car your “spidey sense” goes off, superman loans you his ears and you hear every molecule of paint being peeled off as if it was your own skin.
This moment is always followed by the phrase, “Oh shit.” In fact, archaeologists traced the root of that phrase back to Rome, when a young boy flipped his father’s newly built chariot.
It’s bad enough if you’re dad is an paper salesman, but what if he was an established automotive journalist?
What do you do when you’ve built yourself the perfect vintage 911, that you intended to keep forever, but times force you to sell? Well, you call us, because this car is just too nice to not go to a great home. This 1972 911 is restored and modified to really incorporate some of the best bits from all early 911′s, and has the go-juice to match. A 1987 3.2L ‘Carrera’ engine sits underhood, and with modern suspension, and 911 SC transmission, is ready to drive on the street or the track. It would take us all day to list all the work that went into this car, and the asking price of just $34,500 is significantly lower than what it would cost to build it yourself. And come on, what new car can you buy for $34,500 that is remotely as cool as this? The seller is a good friend of The Smoking Tire, and the car is so correct that it’s featured on one of the best vintage car sites around: Bring a Trailer.
If anyone’s interested in this car, please email Matt and he will put you in touch with the owner.
‘Perfect’ 911 Gallery and extensive build sheet after the jump.
Let’s say you’re hanging out with “Chunk” from the movie, The Goonies. “Chunk” is ugly. He’s a simple, good-hearted giant, but he has a face that looks like a Picasso painting. If you’re with “Chunk”, would having him take off his shirt make him more pleasing to the eye? No. Apparently Porsche believes that two negatives equal a positive, because these patent drawings indicate a convertible Panamera is in the works. Remember our review on the 370Z, and how it was a great-looking top up or down? That’s because Nissan planned to have a drop-top all along, and designed accordingly. I doubt that was the case with the Panamera. At least the roof gave it a slick profile, but with the top down it looks like a bathtub with a Porsche hood. Not good. C’mon Porsche, just quite while you’re ahea… mildly behind.
This is, simply, one of the greatest cars I’ve ever seen. It’s gorgeous, it’s fast, it’s powerful, it’s efficient and it’s technologically advanced. This is the Porsche 918 Spyder Concept, which made it’s appearance at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show. You may have read about it already, you may be seeing it for the first time, but hopefully we are seeing the future of automobiles. Click to read more, watch the video, and voice your opinion. (more…)
I go to Cars and Coffee in Irvine, CA, pretty much every Saturday morning, and come home to share photos with you all…. This Saturday was particularly awesome, with some of the best machinery I’ve ever seen in one parking lot. There was a $10 million Ferrari 250GTO, a Porsche 550 Spyder, Porsche Carrera6, Ferrari F50, an Iso Grifo, Toyota 2000GT, and an Intermeccanica Indra, one of only two examples of the “hybrid” Italian/American car ever brought to the US. Additionally, check out the bad-ass chopped Lincoln with the tiniest back window ever, and the white-on-cocaine-white Nissan GTR. The 80′s would be proud of you.
Cars and Coffee Mega-Gallery After the Jump! (more…)
Ferrari 599 on the move