Some of you may not have heard of Tuned, our new show on the DRIVE Network. Whereas here on The Smoking Tire we tend to focus on factory stock car reviews, Tuned is all about the best custom projects around, from street cars to trucks, offroad to land yachts. In our season premiere, we hit up our old friends at BBi Autosport, who said we absolutely must try their 650 horsepower Porsche 997 Turbo S PDK. The car isn’t just about horsepower, either; it’s got the chassis, suspension, and brake upgrades to match. And as you can imagine, I take it out, drive it hard, and put it away wet. Hit the jump for the video and see what Tuned is all about.

 Last week we sat down and looked at all the cars we had driven in 2011. It was a great year at The Smoking Tire. Though we hadn’t driven hundreds of cars with a team of only 1.5 journalists (Matt and Zack) we did pretty well, driving at least 60 cars. Some were used in episodes, some for written reviews and some were from Matt’s work on “The Car Show.” We decided to break them into 3 categories: Sedan of the Year, Truck/SUV of the Year, and Sports Car of the Year.

After coming to an agreement on the Sedan and Truck/SUV of the Year Matt chose the Sports Car of the Year. He drove everything, so he would be the best judge. LIES! We locked in our votes and then posted a contest for all of you: Whoever picked the same 3 cars we did before midnight on New Year’s Eve would win a t-shirt. It’s now January 1, 2012 which means it’s time to reveal our choices for Cars of the Year, as well as the contest winners.

Sedan of the Year: Mercedes Benz E350 Bluetec

Some of you were expecting the CLS63 AMG. Others lost their free shirt betting on the CTS-V wagon. We considered those, but a super-sedan is really a sports car wearing a fanny pack. You want a sports car, get a sports car. But if you want the best sedan on the market today, get a Mercedes E350 Bluetec.

We all fell for this car on a 1,600-mile drive to the California/Oregon border and back. The challenge was to drive from the Mexico border to Oregon in one day, the entire state of California, on one tank of diesel fuel. Clean diesel cars are fairly new to America and their fuel economy usually exceeds what’s advertised, so why not? The car had to fight stop-and-go traffic, 94-degree heat, mountains, several stops (for the camera truck to re-fuel), the weight of 3 full-grown man-boys, their camera gear and a slow-cooker plugged into an inverter that spent 6 hours roasting a brisket. Despite all that, we went 784 miles on a single, 21 gallon tank of dino juice, averaging 38.5 miles per gallon, better than the dismal Lexus CT200H Hybrid, a car so bland we completely forgot to put it on the list, even though we drove it just 3 weeks ago. A big part of its efficiency is the incredible 0.27 cD, which for the non-technical among us, means it’s just as aerodynamic as a Prius, and doesn’t look awful.

But it wasn’t just the fuel economy that hooked us; this car is the total package.

If it takes 100 miles to get to know a car, consider this a former spouse. You want to test an interior, spend 14 hours straight in one, then 10 hours the next day. It is one of the most comfortable we have sat in. The massage seats are better than those in the $400,000 Bentley Mulsanne. The engine is almost silent on the road yet has 402 torques that make accelerating or passing a breeze. It handles well for its size, the 7-speed transmission is repsonsive, the interior is nice looking and easy to use and it has a night-vision system which is as helpful as it is frigging awesome. I’m 5’11″ and after 10 hours in the back seat, I wasn’t the cranky, short-fused jackass I was expecting to be. Mercedes simply got many many things very right.

This car also brought us to the agreement that unless you’re getting an AMG (or similar performance car) and driving it, hard, all luxury cars should be diesel. People equate off-the-line torque with speed and it has that in spades. Few E550 owners ever use all the power and RPMs their cars can provide, so why not get something a little more frugal (something rich people secretly love). Stylish, aerodynamic, comfortable, silent, and efficient, the 2011 Mercedes E350 Bluetec is what a modern sedan should strive to be.

SUV/Truck of the Year: Ford F-150 EcoBoost

I’m betting a lot of you were expecting the Raptor to be here simply because we drive one all the time and love it very much, while writing in the review of the 2011 Raptor that it’s the best truck ever made. While the Raptor is our choice of transportation when the apocalypse comes in 2012,not to mention the one Matt wrote a check for, we’re objective enough to give credit where it’s due: The Ford F-150 EcoBoost is an incredible leap forward in the truck game. The 3.5L twin-turbo V-6 makes 365HP and 420 torques at only 2,500 RPM. Compare that to the Raptor’s 6.2L V-8; 411 HP and 435 torques, but not until 4,500RPM, which are on Premium fuel compared to the Ecoboost’s regular octane. Point: EcoBoost.

It also has the same towing capacity as the V-8 trucks, up to 11,300 pounds, so you can pull logs in slow motion through a muddy work site all day long. I don’t know why you would, that’s just what the commercials tell me you people are up to. And of course, the cream on top is the fuel economy: 21MPG highway. That’s only 1MPG less than the non-turbo V-6, and only in the 2WD trucks (the engines get the same MPG in the 4×4 trucks). With a 34 gallon tank, the range is 756 miles. That same trip means 2, more expensive, stops in the Raptor. Point: EcoBoost.

The EcoBoost outsold V-6 trucks from all of it’s competitors combined; more than 100,000 units. The last time Ford sold that many V-6 trucks was 1985. And lets not forget the comfortable, well-equipped interior. The seats in the top trim levels are nearly the same as our Raptor, and they are some of the best seats I’ve ever sat in, period. The media systems are great; Sync (at least the version the F150s and Mustangs get) is still best in the business, and there’s room and storage everywhere. Ford clearly thought things out, paying attention to every piece a person could use, touch or sit on. You put that interior onto a smart, powerful-yet-efficient platform and you cannot lose.

Bottom line: A tuned version of this engine in a Raptor would earn another check from Matt in 80,000 more miles. Raptors rock, 10 mpg doesn’t.

Sports Car of the Year: Porsche 997.5 GT3 RS

Of all the cars we’ve driven in the three categories, this one was the hardest to choose. I mean, just go back and look at that list of sports cars: Supercharged Lamborghini, 640 HP Corvette’s, a Mustang that handles like a German car, and the BMW 1M, the best car to come out of Munich in over a decade. All of them are incredible, and we’ve been very fortunate to get behind the wheel of these amazing machines. But I thought long and hard about this (read: the length of 1 massive Spider Wreck bong hit followed by 1 Camel Light cigarette), and one car stands out as being so completely over the top with driving excitement, it had to be recognized. We understand that this isn’t the newest, fastest version of the GT3 RS, as that honor goes to the new 4.0 version with 50 extra horsepower, but we’ve never even seen one of those in person, let alone drive one. Trust me, the 3.8 works just fine.

When you see a GT3 RS parked on the street, it looks like a full-on race car. And for good reason: it only weighs 220 pounds or so more than the actual 911 Cup cars, and most of that is mandatory street equipment and basic interior panels. There are no buttons on the steering wheel. The seats don’t recline, because if they did, you wouldn’t be driving properly. You’d think the radio would sound terrible, but it doesn’t. I know because I used it exactly one time. You may as well throw it out the window, because the 3.8L, 450 horsepower flat six sounds as close to its racing version as I’ve ever heard on a road car; add a basic cat-back exhaust and it sounds identical. It revs up like a literbike, and when it comes on cam, I just about came; on cam. I found the above picture by looking up “Direct Steering” on Google. Even on public roads, I found myself braking later into corners than I ever had in my life. The handling was so good, cameraman Tom Morningstar made a girl puke twice on a Sunday drive (thankfully she exited the car first). People use the term “bolt action rifle” to describe the perfect shifter. I’m convinced the gun was designed to mimic the car’s feel, not the other way around.

I was fortunate enough to spend a week with the GT3 RS while filming The Car Show back in May. We procured it for the purposes of running the Mojave Mile, where I went 166.3 mph. Just a few months beforehand, Richard Hammond of Top Gear used the exact same car for their American supercar road trip film, and nearly wrecked it at VIR, but he loved it.  We originally tried to get a Turbo S, which would have been the right decision for the film, as a Turbo S in attendance ran 182.7, but it wasn’t available, and I don’t care. Standing mile numbers notwithstanding, (the giant wing couldn’t have helped), this car was fast. 450 horsepower pushing around just 3020 pounds is ridiculous. Sure, the 4.2 second sprint to sixty may make you roll your eyes compared to Supercharged Lamborghinis or magical AWD computer-aided launches, but passing at highway speeds? Forget it. Every highway is the Mulsanne Straight when you’re in a GT3 RS.

That week was one of the best driving weeks of my life. I went 15 mph faster on the way to the runway than I did on it, and have never felt a car so planted at those speeds. Thank you, downforce. I spent 12 hours and 2 tanks of gas in the canyons one day. And I used the GT3 RS for daily driver errands, too. You’d think that the most hardcore, barely street legal race car available from Stuttgart would be rough, noisy, and generally unpleasant on the street, but the opposite was true. Even on rough pavement, the GT3 RS was totally bearable. The trunk and empty space normally filled with a hilariously un-usable back seat holds a surprising amount of stuff, provided it fits in between the (again, non-folding) seats to get there. The air conditioning, aforementioned radio, and ounce-shaving cloth door pulls do their jobs just fine. And it’s easy as pie to parallel park. Sure, the clutch and shifter are a bit heavy for the daily Los Angeles commute, but odds are, if you own, or are even considering owning a GT3 RS, you’ve got that situation handled.

Some of you may be disappointed that we didn’t choose everyone’s favorite, the BMW 1M Coupe. We loved that car, and I mean really had an amazing time driving it. It’s fantastic. But the GT3 RS is cut from the same cloth; a limited-edition, wider, faster, racier, yet somehow still practical version of an already high performance car. The difference is, the RS starts at a much higher level. These two cars are both incredibly brilliant. But at the end of the day, there has to be a winner. And the smile on my face while driving the Porsche at, frankly ludicrous speeds simply can’t be matched by a BMW 1-Series, even if it is the fastest, best handling, most fun 1-series ever made.

The Winners: Unfortunately, no one was able to guess the exact same cars as us. I know the list was long, but I thought someone might have. However, shoutout to user The Nik, who got two out of three, the Porsche and F-150 Ecoboost. For being the most right person in a sea of wrong people, The Nik, email Matt your address and we’ll send you a TST shirt.

You know how the Chinese have the Year of the Dragon, or Cat, or Dog? As Matt put it after SEMA, this was the Year of the LS Swap. Every project had an LS motor. Pro-touring cars, off-road machines, Japanese drift cars, shit, you can probably get an iPod case that has an LS motor in it. I know, I know; cheap, reliable, easy-to-find power. Yeah yeah, we get it. Logically it makes sense but I hate logic and nothing is immune from becoming over-played. After all, advancement and new ideas are what drive the entire automotive industry.

Then I saw this guy, 1dirtyZ, on the ls1 forums. He’s putting an LS1 into 996 Porsche. And there’s a video of it. Fine, one more, but then we’re at capacity.

The builder is 1dirtyZ, a fabricator living in Saudi Arabia. He had the idea for this swap for a while, and finally found a 996 Porsche that fit his needs. Originally he was going to get a regular 911, but the car he found happens to be 996 turbo. That means it has AWD, which he found out he can fit to the LS1. Awesssome. And he got it for about $10,000

A Turbo for $10,000?? What? How?

This is how:

Fires hurt resale value.

So it had had a small engine fire. Who cares? 1dirtyZ cleaned that out, bought new rear brakes, knuckles, control arms and found a way to shove the engine in. I wish I had this guy’s skills. I know some will say sacrilege, and I love how responsive the stock motor is to mods, but if your engine caught fire and you knew how to build a Frankencar like this, why not?

"It fits! The damn thing fits! And I thought there were no more spaces!"

His plan is to get this car into daily driver shape; NAV, stereo, A/C, all that noise. He also wants to put turbos on it at some point. I guess “daily driver” means something different over there. But if the roads are as straight and boring as they look on YouTube, that makes crazy-person-sense.

It’s still a ways off, but he was able to get it running last month and do a few pulls past his shop. The videos were taken in the dark, but it’s a fun exercise for your brain to try to see a Porsche turbo but hear a V-8. So here you have it; one of the most interesting and hopefully final LS engine swaps for a while.

- Zack K

According to the German Technical Inspection Agency, TÜV, the Porsche 911 is the most reliable and trouble-free car of this century. The century is only 11 years old, so I look at it as a decade, but that doesn’t take away the fact that a Porsche can show up to the Super Terrific Reliability Party*, hosted in Japan each year. The TÜV tested 8 million vehicles between June of 2010 and 2011 and concluded the 911 had the fewest number of reported defects since 2000. It doesn’t matter if the car had been driven 100 miles or 100,000. Make the jump for the year-to-year breakdown and to see what other cars will reliably take you to and from the….I actually have no idea what they do in Germany besides Nurburgringing.

The TÜV broke their report down into categories based on the car’s age. 2-3 years old, 4-5 years old, etc.  The percentages below represent the number of cars of those tested that were found to have faults. Shall we?
Out of all the cars 10-11 years old the Porsche 911 had the fewest number of faults reported at a rate of 8.3%. 2nd place went to the Toyota RAV4 (10.5%) and in 3rd was the Porsche Boxster(11.2%).

The 911 scored the same in the 8-9 year old category; 8.3%. The Boxster and RAV4 podium again, just reversed: 8.3% for the Boxster and 10.2% for the RAV4.

Of cars 6-7 years old, the 911 reported a 5.5% fault rate, with the Porsche Boxster in 2nd (7.1%) and the Subaru Forester in 3rd(7.3%).

Cars 4-5 years old had a 3-way tie for first place between the Porsche Boxster, Cayman and Toyota Corolla; All had a fault rate of 4.2%. The 911? A not-so-distant 3rd of 4.6%.

The final round was cars 2-3 years old. The Toyota Prius had the lowest report rate (2.2%), but the 911 was behind by only a tenth at 2.3%.

Each year the Porsche 911 had either the fewest faults or was in the top (or is it bottom?) 3. I’ve seen how Porsche tests their cars, and the extent to which they try to hurt them. I’ve seen them spray water on the car while driving it in sub-zero temperatures,  just to see how massive ice build-up would affect the engine, lights, cooling and every other system. If you build a car that can withstand all that, I’m not surprised it survives Germany’s fine roads with only the occasional “paper cut.”

So if you were cross-shopping between a Prius, Forester and Porsche 911 (happens all the time, right?), now you have your answer, as well as a failproof justification to explain to your sig. other why you bought a $90,000 Porsche instead of a hybrid. Although you could also use the excuse, “Because I don’t want to die inside.”

- Zack K

* This does not actually exist.

Welcome to the beautiful world of a street-legal race car. This is a street-legal Porsche 997 GT3  RS wearing the shoulder pads and muscles of a Porsche RSR race car and put together by Orbit Racing. Make the jump for pics and videos, and more information on this equally gorgeous and obnoxiously crazy street car.

Orbit Racing has been building Porsche race cars for years, so this wasn’t out of their wheel house. But they had always wanted to build one for the street. They assumed no one was crazy enough to justify building an even wider Porsche, especially in the curve-challenged Florida. They were wrong. Some guy- I’ll call him RICHard Awesome- brought them his 997 and said “go.”Orbit ordered parts, cut panels, made new wheel wells, added diffuser panels, kevlar fender liners, the list goes on. But because it’s a street car they added sound deadening to the fender and wheel wells. Race car fun with streetable “quiet.” Win. They didn’t just make this car, they built it with such a level of detail and care it could pass an inspection by Porsche themselves.

Using body panels from the RSR 24 Hour of Le Mans car- as well as the proper suspension, exhaust and wheels – they built one of the best-looking Porsches I’ve ever seen. Race car bodies are always covered with livery and stickers so you can’t relaly see the shape of the car. Here, in stunning Cobalt Blue Metallic, we can see the full form of the RSR body, and it is a stunner. I love how the fenders pop without looking ridiculous. The contrast of the yellow lights, black wing and white rear accent on the blue looks amazing. Somehow the sharp angles, race bits and even the massive wing seem calm on this car. Race cars usually look like a magnet dropped in a bucket of scrap metal, but this is just, sexy.

Many moons and pictures later, the project was finished. I won’t write a build book here, because it wouldn’t do the slide show at Orbit justice. But do yourself a favor and go over there and flip through the photos. You will get a new appreciation for project cars. So many times we go to car shows, see something we like, say “sweet” and walk away. Well this is no stick-on body kit. This didn’t bolt up with a few screws and some plastic fasteners. This car was built by true racing engineers, and they put the work in to ensure that if this car ever visits a track, the owner won’t feel like he’s driving a GT3 with some  and an extra side of wing.

The phrase “because race car” is the “That’s what she said” of the autophile world. “Why are there tubes welded together instead of soft animal pelts?” Because race car. “Why should I sleep with you!?” Because race car. I can imagine someone asked this guy, “Why are you chopping up your new Porsche and spending another bundle of money on it?”

Hopefully he simply replied, “Because race car.”

Check out the Orbit Racing GT3 RSR Project Log or video log.

Thanks to Blake Simon at F1Photography.net for taking pics of this car out of the shop. Fuck this car is good looking.

- Zack K

Let’s cut the fluff shall we? Best Motoring is cancelled, and for their last race, their lineup was awesome: Lexus LF-A vs. Porsche GT2 RS vs. Corvette ZR-1 vs. Nissan GTR vs. Ferrari F430 GT3. There’s street cars, super-cars and might-as-well-be-a race-cars. The price is all over the board, as are the cylinders and countries of origin. Each of our favorite countries is represented in a cool, if not the best, way. Thanks Best Motoring, for all your hard *cough* work over the years. You’ve put together some of the coolest and most expensive super-cars in wheel to wheel races.

Make the jump to see who won.

Text and Photos submitted by TST reader Nick Busato

Porsche 911 GT3 RS, F430 Scuderia, Corvette ZR1 and the M3 GTS are all names that will induce any automotive enthusiast’s mouth to water uncontrollably. Based on already ludicrously quick road cars, these thoroughbreds are seen as the ultimate track day toys. It seems to be an easy formula for any car manufacturer to follow; strip out unneeded bits, toss on some Brembos, coilovers and sticky tires, massage some more power out of the engine and for added bonus points put an “R” in the car’s badging. These are the speed machines that occupy the prised poster space of many car fanatics’ bedroom walls. If these cars are seen as the superior versions to their more limp wristed counterparts then surely an even more race bred car would be that much more illustrious.

Enter the realm of the American Le Mans Series GT2 class where you will find the dreamiest racing versions of road going sports cars. While other series like DTM, Nascar and Grand-Am may have fairly recognizable body shapes the cars actually share very little if any parts with their production counterparts. In contrast, the ALMS GT2 cars are based on their respective production variants and must use the same chassis and primary bodywork. What you are left with is a car with no comprises made in the interest of comfort, they have a single purpose: to go fast.

Doran Design Ford GT

The original GT40 was greenlit to serve a single purpose: beating Ferrari at the 24 hours of Le Mans. They did just that from 1966 to 1969. Forty some odd years later, a similar shaped machine would yet again be taking on Ferrari, only this time in the GT2 class. In a series dominated by cars who’s body shapes are determined by values found in the wind tunnel its shocking to see a car that has a body based on an artist’s impression of an iconic car from the 1960’s. What is more surprising is that this shape has somehow been honed into a possible race winning car without any real factory support.

Converting the Ford GT into GT2 specification was no easy task for Doran. Despite being one of the most capable production chassis ever, the GT2 spec car still required revised suspension, brakes and a roll cage. The largest departure for the production variant comes in terms of the power plant. The 5.4L supercharged engine is ditched in favour of a 5.0L Roush Yates unit coupled to a six speed Emco transmission. It may come as a surprise that the race engine actually makes less power than the supercharged unit, however the road car is not burdened with 29.1 mm restrictors or operating at near peak RPM for twenty four hours straight. Unfortunately, the car has limited success due the lack of factory involvement in the program, limited budget, and gentlemen (read: rich drivers who pay to race, as opposed to professionals paid to race) drivers.

Chevrolet Corvette C6.R

While many companies claim that their race car development eventually shows up in their road cars, the majority of the time they are speaking absolute rubbish. The Corvette team, on the other hand, allows their race car development to be directly applied to their production models. The lessons learned with the C5.R GT1 car were responsible for the shape, headlights and air management seen in the C6. The carryover of technology from the track to the road has unquestionably improved the Corvette.

The C6.R may start its life on the same production line as the road car, but apart from its chassis, part of its cockpit bodywork, and the taillights, little is carried over. The result is a car that looks like a ZR1 on steroids with its enormous fender bulges just barely concealing the massive racing slicks. The ZR1’s double glazed polycarbonate window is tossed out in favour of a single massive vent that allows hot air from the radiators to be channelled out efficiently through the hood. This air management trend continues with additional ducts used to cool the rear transaxle and the air conditioning unit.

Like the Ford, the C6.R drops the larger production unit in favour of a smaller displacement naturally aspirated V8. A General Motors sourced 5.5L V8 is situated as low and far back as the aluminum hydro-formed chassis will allow. The power output is once again limited to a little under 500HP due to breathing through an asthmatic restrictor. Don’t let the massive power discrepancy fool you, despite the ZR1 having a 140 horsepower advantage, the C6.R will lap Laguna Seca a full twelve seconds quicker. Perhaps the best part of this heart transplant is the sound, as there has never been a deeper “I am going to eat you alive” burble since the Panoz LMP01. Unfortunately, the ZR1’s carbon ceramic brakes cannot be retained, so they are swapped out for the regulation cast iron units. This, however, is only a minor setback since the weight reduction and stickier slick tires will allow the C6.R will still come to a stop far quicker than the ZR1. The result of all this fat trimming, chassis refinement and the engine swap is a Corvette that will literally rip your face off and make you ears bleed.

Porsche 911 GT3 RSR

While many other teams spend endless amounts of money and time to develop a race worthy chassis, Porsche offers its customers the 911 GT3 RSR; a car capable of taking the top step of the podium right out of the box. The 911 has competed in the American Le Mans series since its inception and has not wasted any time taking home the hardware, winning nine of the possible twelve GT2 manufactures championships. Like the 911 road car, it has not been revolution but rather evolution that has enabled the (997) RSR to be completive well into its fifth year of competition.

Since the 997’s introduction in 2005, the car has undergone a form of spots car puberty with the wheel wells growing in size and its engine gaining the ever more important horsepower. The current iteration now sits on mammoth, C6 rear tire equalling, 12 inch wide front and 13 inch wide rear tires. The massive contact patches these tires provide enable the RSR to generate north of 1.5g in a turn. The traditional 911 boxer engine has gradually grown in size from the 3.6L in the 996 to the 4.0L unit found in the current 997. The engine location is retained from the road car as it offers nearly ideal weight distribution… perhaps Ferdinand Porsche was onto something all those years ago.  If perfection is the result of endless refinement then perhaps the 911 GT3 RSR is just that.

(Also noted here that the Porsche 911 RSR is the only race car on the ALMS grid that produces significantly more horsepower than its production counterpart.)

BMW M3 GT2

It would seem that developing a race car from a luxury two door coupe that shares the majority of its genes with a four door sedan would be like bringing a knife to a gunfight. While the M3 is a formidable production car, an ideal GT2 platform it is not. Fortunately, the BMW Motorsport division is the MacGyver of race car engineering and was able to hone the M3 into a genuine GT2 contender.

The M3 GT2 is perhaps the most modified racer in the GT2 field as nearly every detail of the road car sees some attention in its transformation into race car. The suspension and bodywork undergoes heavy modification to optimize the new larger racing slicks. The 4.0L engine is pushed as low and far back as possible with the X-Trac transmission located at the rear in the form of a transaxle. The lengths gone to improve weight distribution do not end there, the driving position is pushed lower and further back as well. The drivers head is essentially in line with the b-pillar, a position so far back that it requires a secondary dash and the steering wheel column to be extended. The result of all this hard work by the boys (and girls) in Munich was the 2010 ALMS GT2 Manufactures Championship, not too shabby for only their second season.

Ferrari F430GT

The Ferrari F430GT is perhaps the most feared, and without question the loudest, car in the GT2 paddock. While it may not have taken home as many manufacture championships as the 911, it has been the dominate force in the true endurance races. A single Risi Competizione F430GT chassis won Petit Le Mans 2008, Le Mans 2008, Sebring 2009 and Le Mans 2009 before being scavenged for parts to repair the sister car at Mosport 2009.

In contrast to the M3 GT2, the F430GT is the closest to the production car of all the cars in the GT2 field. While the obvious tire and brake upgrades have been made, a great deal of the original F430 architecture has been retained. The nose has been reworked in conjunction with the front splitter and rear wing in order to claw back some of the downforce lost due to regulation driven diffuser. The engine has been destroked to 4.0L in an aim to maximize the regulations regarding the displacement to weight ratio. Despite this smaller displacement, little horsepower is lost in comparison to its street sibling. It must be said that the most favourable aspect of GT2 spec engine, in terms of the race fans, is its noise. Never has there been a more beautiful sound from a GT car that screams high into the rpm range. Even when cruising down the pit lane F430GT backfires almost constantly sounding like the opening scene from Saving Private Ryan. The Ferrari really is a work of art in both the visual and audible sense.

Argument about which of these racing cars is best has raged on for years and will continue for as long as the world still has enough gas to go racing, but we feel the whole grid is well-worthy of inclusion into The Smoking Tire’s Dream Garage. Welcome!

The Smoking Tire was fortunate enough to be able to attend the first-ever “Cars and Cockpits” event at the Lyon Air Museum this past weekend. It was a great change of pace from the usual Cars and Coffee and Supercar Sunday, because not only were there several million dollars worth of metal in the parking lot, but also the museum opened its doors to us, so we could appreciate some fine vintage aircraft and military vehicles. Some highlights of the show included the famous “triple black” Ferrari Enzo (pictured above), many other Ferrari’s, Lamborghini’s, Aston’s Bentley’s, Nissan GTR’s, BMW’s, Porsches, and crazy tuner cars, including the world’s ugliest vehicle, the Mansory Panamera Turbo. In the gallery, check out the yellow F430 Spider, which isn’t special except that it’s fitted with carbon fiber hand controls so its wheelchair-bound owner can wind out the 4.3L V8 using his right hand. Inside the Lyon Air museum, we were treated to some elegantly restored World War II-era aircraft and vehicles, my favorite of which was the minimally restored and completely functional 1934 Mercedes 6-wheel parade car, formerly owned by Adolf Hitler. Hit the jump for the 80-image mega gallery of the event.

The Smoking Tire’s Tom Morningstar was fortunate enough to attend the coolest race ever that no one’s heard of: The 24 Hours of Dubai. Held at the Dubai Autodrome, surrounded by unfinished buildings and general nothingness, the endurance race features privateer racing teams fielding such cool race cars as the Audi R8 LMS, SLS AMG GT3, Porsche 911 Cup, Aston Martin Vantage GT3, and more. Check out the video to see Tom doing what he does best: getting great shots of cars.

(Sorry about the link before, we had to take the video down to fix the music credits and it disappeared)

The Group B rally series ran from 1982 to 1987 and featured some of the wildest and most powerful rally cars ever made. The regulations on the cars were simple: There were none. Manufacturers had free reign on power output, boost, weight, materials, and speed. This amazing series spawned cars like the Audi Quattro, one of the most dominant cars of its time and platform from which the current Audi cars have grown, it popularized new technology like all-wheel drive, and it brought into focus the limits of both man and machine on the rally stage. Watch videos of a Group B race, and it seems like the drivers are having to thread their way through crowds of spectators practically standing in the middle of the road as the cars hammer their way through.

The demise of Group B was caused by the very thing that made it so appealing; danger. After several fatal crashes, some involving both drivers and spectators, the FIA shutdown Group B racing in 1987. Since then, it has been succeeded by the WRC and other rallying series, but none have been able to match Group B for its outrageous machinery. If given the chance, here are the Group B cars we’d tuck into the TST Dream Garage.

Ford RS200

Many times in life, something great is born from failure. In the case of Ford and Group B racing, it was the 1700T, a failed automotive project whose lessons lead to the creation of a successful purpose built rally car: The Ford RS200.

The RS200 was mid-engined, four wheel drive, cranked out around 450 horsepower in racing trim, had a fiberglass body, and a chassis designed by former F1 engineers John Wheeler and Tony Southgate. Like several of the bat-shit crazy cars that competed in Group B, the RS200 was involved in several fatal crashes that helped contributed to the end of the Group B era. Following the end of Group B, the RS200 competed from 1986 to 1992 in the FIA European Championships, and some were even fielded as circuit racers.

Although it never achieved significant success on the Group B circuit, the road going “Evolution” version of the rally car was without doubt the most exciting flavor of the RS200. Around 24 of the 200 road cars were turned into the Evolution edition which used a modified version of the Ford/Cosworth engine found in the racecar, and rumor has power ranging from 550 to up to a staggering 815 hp. In the right form, the RS200 could put down a high 2 to low 3 second 0-60 time, ridiculous even by today’s standards, never mind the 1980’s. We want one.

Audi Quattro S1

Of all the Group B rally cars, the Audi Quattro S1 is without doubt one of the most iconic. Born from the Audi Sport Quattro of the early eighties, the S1 was introduced in 1985 and is widely regarded as the most powerful rally car ever fielded. Its inline 5-cylinder, turbocharged engine unleashed around 600 horsepower to all four wheels, shattering the 0-60 mph in the low 3 second range. Though brutally powerful, the S1 actually only won once race, the 1985 San Remo rally. Even so, the S1 and its predecessors were absolutely instrumental in helping create rally racing as we know it.

One of the most unique features of the S1 was the recalculating air system for the turbocharger. This ingenious system kept the turbo spinning at high rpm’s when the throttle was closed so that when the power came back on, power delivery would be crushing and nearly instantaneous. Later generations of this technology are still used today, known as “anti-lag.” The gearbox that iy used was the precursor to today’s DSG system.

Another distinct characteristic of the S1 was the sound. No, let me rephrase that. It was the S1’s SOUND. Think of a savage, un-muted exhaust, with one of the most intense wastegates ever. It reminds one of Top Gear from a few seasons back when Jeremy Clarkson tested the Prodrive P2. “It sounds like squirrels are being pushed into the engine.”

If you’ve never seen videos of the S1 in action, stop reading this and go find one. Many of the classic rally film clips from this area will be of the wide, square bodied S1 unleashing on some legendary course some where. Are you still reading?

Lancia 037 and Delta S4

The Lancia 037 made its Group B rally debut in 1982 at the Rally Costa Smeralda in Italy. Rear-wheel drive, with a supercharged 2.0 liter 4-cylinder engine making 300+ horsepower, the 037 it won the 1983 World Championships with the legendary Walter Rohl in the driver’s seat and Finnish Markku Alen as co-driver. Lancia fitted the car with Kevlar body panels, independent double wishbone suspension both front and rear and dual shock absorbers at the back to deal with the punishment rally racing could inflict.

But, the introduction of all-wheel drive and the dominance of machines like the Audi S1 and Peugeot’s 205 T16, forced Lancia to upgraded the 037 to an Evolution 2 model, and then introduce an entirely new car in the Delta S4.

One of the things that made the Delta 4 unique was its use of both turbocharging and supercharging to help churn out around 480 horsepower. Having both systems gave the car the benefits of each; low-end power with the supercharger, then top-end power from the turbo. When operating a peak performance, the S4 could make an enormous 32 psi of boost. This, combined with AWD, could propel the Delta S4 to a incredible 2.3 second 0-60 mph. On gravel. The S4’s first victory came at the 1985 RAC Rally.

The S4 featured a tubular spaceframe and fully detachable carbon fibre bodywork, so if the car was accidentally planted into a tree, at least changing the body panels wouldn’t be too complicated. Speaking of crashes, the S4’s legacy was tinged with tragedy as it was the car that really signaled the end of Group B. Driver Henri Toivonen and co-driver Sergio Cresto, overcooked a corner at the 1986 Tour de Corse and plunged over a cliff, killing both men. Group B racing continued on for a while longer after this accident, but it proved to be an accelerator for the decline of the series.

Peugeot 205 T16

Peugeot’s entry into Group B racing was the 205 T16, so named because of the car’s turbocharged, 1.8 liter 16 valve engine. In racing trim, this squat, boxy rally monster made around 450 horsepower, and it took the Manufacturer’s titles in 1985 and 1986. Watch videos of the 205 T16 catching air over rolling crests and getting seriously sideways around gravel roads, and it’s easy to see why some people look back on the Group B era as the golden age of rally racing. It was these early rally machines like the 205 T16, that gave birth to today’s rally inspired road rockets like the Subaru WRX STI and Mitsubishi Evolution.

After the end of Group B, Peugeot create the 405 T16, loosely based on the company’s 405 sedan. The 405 T16 competed in and won the famous Paris-Dakar rally, and set a Pike’s Peak hillclimb record that stood for several years before being broken by the legendary hillclimber Rod Millen. The record setting run by driver Ari Vatanen was documented in the award winning film, Climb Dance. Watching Climb Dance will give you an entirely new appreciation for not only Vatanen’s driving skills, but also the incredible road that climbs Pike’s Peak.

Peugeot also campaigned the 405’s for several years in the British Touring Car Championship during the 1990’s, as well as the French Supertourisme Championship, which it won in 1994 and 1995.

Porsche 959

Porsche’s original intent with the legendary 959 was to have it compete in Group B racing. Manufactured from 1986 to 1989, the car was first known as the “Gruppe B”, a pretty obvious hint as to what it purpose was. After the FIA pulled the plug on the series, Porsche turned its focus with the 959 to creating the world’s fastest street car (which it achieved in 1986), as well as a successful competitor in the Paris-Dakar rally and the Le Mans endurance race. There is no question that the 959 became one of the world’s most sought after road cars and it owes it all to Group B.

Besides being gorgeous, wickedly fast and wildly rare, the 959 was really a technological showcase. It was the first high performance vehicle to use an advanced all-wheel drive system, capable of managing the torque distribution between the front and rear wheels, a precursor to the systems that can be found on a lot of modern cars. The 2.5-liter flat six engine featured sequential turbochargers and made around 450 horsepower. The price in the crazy 80’s for this dream machine? About $225,000 for each of the 337 cars made, with several later examples made in the early 90’s selling for far more than that.

At the time it was launched, the 959 went head to head with iconic machines like the Ferrari F40. While the F40 was a pared down racecar for the road, the 959 was classically Porsche; it created staggering performance through exquisite engineering, precision, and state-of-the-art technology. The 959 became the platform for which much of the systems and technology found in Porsche’s 911 series came from. Das ist gut.

Lancia Stratos

Like the Porsche 959, the Lancia Stratos was never actually a Group B competitor, but it helped set the stage for the monstrous Group B machines by defining what rally racing had the potential to be.

Three years in a row, from 1974 to 1976, the Stratos took the rally championship crown. Its distinct wedge shape was powered by a mid-mounted Ferrari V6 and made roughly 300 horsepower in naturally aspirated form, and well north of 500 horsepower in forced induction guise. Unlike some other rally cars which began life as a street car and were reengineered into rally cars, the Stratos was the first car designed from the ground up to be a rally machine. Only 492 examples were originally built with numerous others produced by imitators as kit cars. But as the interwebs have thoroughly documented, the real Lancia Stratos is experiencing something of a revival.

Funded by wealthy German businessman Michael Stoschek, the new Stratos has the underpinnings (engine, chassis) of the Ferrari 430 Scuderia, and promises to be one exciting machine. Its design was started by Jason Castriota of Pininfarina and Stile Bertone fame, and pulls many of the elements of the old car into its fantastic design – the low stance, distinct shape, short front and rear overhangs. And like the old car, the new Stratos will have an exclusive limited production run and will very likely to be bought up by eager enthusiast and collectors quicker than it can make the sprint to 60 mph. Considering it accomplishes that in a shade over 3 seconds, the new car is almost guaranteed to make the Stratos name a legend for the second time.

Seeing the iconic Stratos brought back to life is incredibly exicting. That’s why we’d have the old and the new car in its green and white livery parked side by side in the Dream Garage. Now all we have to do is talk to Stoschek and convince him to give one up.

-Doran Dal Pra

I love Sir Mix-A-Lot. In addition to “Baby Got Back,” Mix had a track on the sountrack to Beavis and Butt-head Do America called “Monsta Mack” that cracks me up every time I hear it. But up until now I had no idea what a huge car enthusiast Mix was, and how he drops actual real car knowledge into his newest music video, “Carz.” Before you laugh and assume he’s talking about big rims, Escalades, and “Ice Cream Paint Jobs,” please take a minute to watch the video. This is, no joke, a fully comprehensive review of awesome sports cars in a rap video. Me and Tom just watched this shit like 3 times and we’re laughing every time.

And Mix, if you read this, can we please hang out? Video after the jump.

While we were unable to make it to the LA Auto Show’s press days this week because of our obligations to Top Gear, there were certainly a bit of unveiling worth discussing here, specifically two new, lightened models from Porsche and Lamborghini.

The Lamborghini Gallardo LP 570-4 Spyder Performante: Think of it as simply a Gallardo Superleggera with no roof. While some purists would call this idea proposterous, since serious sports car owners wouldn’t dare purchase a drop-top, we rather like it. Mainly, because Matt is 6’2″ and 245 lbs, and looks pretty damn silly stuffed into a Gallardo coupe. Plus, the Gallardo makes one of the most intoxicating noises known to man, except for maybe the sound Ke$ha would make while being beaten to death by cricket bats, but, you know, auto-tuned. This sound (the engine, not Ke$ha’s death) is best enjoyed with the top down anyway. As for lightness, the Spyder Performante sheds its pounds via liberal use of carbon fiber; the seatbacks, top cover, spoiler, diffuser, flat-undertray, transmission tunnel, and door panels are all made with the stuff. In total, it weighs 143 lbs less than it’s “normal” Spyder counterpart.

The Porsche Cayman R: Like the Boxster Spyder that was released last year, the Cayman R is a lightened version of the best car Porsche makes entry-level Cayman. It weighs 120 lbs less than a Cayman S, with 10 extra horsepowers. It can hit sixty in under 5 seconds and top out at 175 mph. The insides are made of Alcantara, Carbon, and Strappy door pulls. It’s lower and stiffer than the Cayman S too, and we’d bet our arses it’s the most fun car in Porsche’s current lineup. Look for the Cayman R to hit showrooms next year with a base price of $66,000.

[Images: Autoblog]

German newspaper Stern.de is reporting that the body of missing German tuner Uwe Gemballa has been found in South Africa, wrapped in cellophane, and apparently the victim of foul play. This extremely sad news comes over 6 months after his initial disappearance was reported.

Gemballa’s mysterious disappearance in South Africa was a debated topic for months in the auto-blogosphere, and professionals and amateurs alike debated back and forth about whether Uwe was alive, well, and in hiding, or kidnapped and murdered. Subsequent news reports told of his ailing tuner business, Gemballa GMBH, and some suspected that Uwe had arranged his own disappearance in order to use his own ransom to keep the company alive. Though the business closed briefly, it has now been re-opened under the guidance of new CEO Andreas Schwartz, who raised millions to keep the doors open and the horsepower flowing.

As sad as it is to learn of Uwe Gemballa’s death, at least his family, friends, and fans will at last have some closure as to what happened to him.

RIP Uwe Gemballa, your outlandish designs, will certainly be missed.

[Source: TeamSpeed]

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!

Thanks, Roger for the tip!

[Photo: Drew Phillips, Autoblog]

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…

Built from nothing more than a quad-cycle, PVC piping, packing tape, and dreams, the Ferdinand GT3 RS is the lifeblood of artist Hannes Langeder. Smitten by the curves of the original GT3 RS, Langeder used the Porsche as a muse for his interpretation of “speed”. While not exactly fast, it is definitely the most unique GT3 RS I have ever seen.

- Daniel Volz

Source: Stern

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?

Peter Cheney is an auto journalist for The Globe, a Canadian Newspaper, but that was only after spending 25+ years as a news reporter, spending time dodging bullets in Afghanistan hunting down stories. In his time as a writer he has won 3 National Newspaper Awards. I don’t know what that means, but I assume it’s a big deal in Canada.

You can read the whole story, through the voice of Peter himself, here (and you should, it’s very entertaining) but I’ll give you a synopsis:

It was the day after Peter’s 26th wedding anniversary. In his garage for the week sat a brand new, 500hp 2010 Porsche 997 Turbo. This was the most expensive car Peter had had the privilege of testing.
His son (Will) came home that afternoon, and wanted to show his friend the car (classic). Peter figured it was fine, since his son was mostly interested in stereos, but when he went downstairs he found his son with that all-too-familiar look of “I just seriously fucked up and am considering running south to America.” Peter soon had a similar look when he saw the car, halfway done tunneling out of the garage like a prisoner at Shawshank.

Peter’s son turned the key just to turn on the stereo, but I guess forgot his own strength and turned it to “Start” at which point the 6-speed equipped car launched itself forward hard enough to blow through the garage door. It hit so hard it ripped the door rails off the house, squashing the rear fender and gouging the hood.

"Dad, are you mad at me?"

The deductible to fix the house? $750 (Which Will paid.) The deductible for the Porsche? $10,000, which Will did not pay. While Peter was figuring out what to do with his son (murder? organ harvest? Forcible viewing of Sex and the City 2?) the fleet manager sent him this photo:

Standing with the bandaged head is Porsche Canada’s PR Manager Laurence Yap. He was driving a Cayenne in the Siberian desert and accidentally tested its durability with a rollover. Everyone makes mistakes.

Obviously it’s a little more embarrassing and ironic for an accident like this to happen to a car journalist, especially since the whole world hears about it. But at the end of the day, kids are kids, people are people, and everyone accidentally plows through a garage at least once. I think the fleet manager-when he showed up at the scene- said it best, “Stuff happens. We’re glad you’re okay. This is only a car. You don’t need a lecture. You already know.” From personal experience I can attest, when you crunch your dad’s car, you definitely “already know.”

Zack K

If you have your own story of accidental automotive destruction, post it below.

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.

Chassis: 1972 sunroof coupe #531, black

Rust and hit-free chassis

Chassis modifications:

Removal of passenger side battery box to fit oil cooler (21-tube brass Porsche cooler)

Battery moved to ‘smuggler’s box’

SC fuel tank

Rear sway bar mounts updated and reinforced

1985 Carrera front and rear suspension with Carrera front brakes, SC rear brakes – all rotors, pads <3,000 miles

Rear torsion bars upgraded to 27mm, Neatrix bushings installed

Lowered and aligned with bump steer spacers

Bilstein sport shocks f & r

Weltmeister 19mm front and rear anti-sway bars with slider adjustment

Fuchs 7 & 9 X 16” wheels, polished rims, black centers. 225/50 and 245/45 Toyo Proxes RA-1 tires with 80% tread

Body:

‘S’ style front bumper with brake cooling vents

RS flares welded on

Steel RS type rear bumpers

Windows-out repaint by Automotive Innovations in 2004

Rechromed rear bumperettes

Hard oil lines to front fender cooler

Driving lights similar to factory TTG lights

All new turnsignal lenses with correct silver trim

Rear quarter windows use Lexan R-type inserts

Optional Lexan rear window with retaining straps comes with car

Transmission:

1981 911SC transmission

Factory short shift

Engine:

1987 Carrera engine with 12K miles on top end overhaul

1972 style heat exchangers & muffler with O2 sensor adapted for Motronic

WEVO mounts on transmission, sport mounts on engine

Interior:

1976 dash: no speaker or a/c vents – excellent condition

Gauges restored by North Hollywood Speedometer

Speedometer cosmetically matches ’72 instruments but is electronic

New carpet and side panel coverings (red perforated vinyl)

New black headliner

GTS Hockenheim seats with matching red perforated vinyl bolsters and black and white pepita (houndstooth) cushions Seats added March 2010.

Newer retracting seat belts (red)

Converted to power windows

Inner armrest/door handle from RHD 911 on left door

Nakamichi head unit, 6.5″ woofer + dome tweeter in each door

I built this car with no regard to cost because I never intended to sell it. If I were to keep it, I would replace the first gear syncro, which grinds a bit on downshifts over 5 MPH. And I might go to a 7:31 ring & pinion

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.

It’s the future because it is an amazing combination of performance and responsibility. It makes 718hp. It goes 198mph. It will go from 0-60 in under 4 seconds. It gets 78mpg.

What?! Whowhatwherehowwhywhen? I said the same thing when I read about this car, I couldn’t believe my eyes. How can it be so fast, yet achieve an mpg that makes a Prius look like a 1973 Ford F-250 with a fuel leak? It’s a hybrid. The mid-mounted 500hp V8 makes 500hp, and two electric motors in the front make 218hp. At the Geneva Motor Show Porsche showed off it’s new GT3 R HYBRID race car. It too has electric motors in the front, but the power can only be used in small bursts of speed, like that being developed for  F1 cars.

The 918 would have 4 driver selectable modes: E-Drive, Hybrid, Sport Hybrid and Race Hybrid. As you move up the ladder you get more power, better throttle response and, of course, fewer MPG. In E-Drive the car is an electric vehicle, with a small range of 16 miles. In Race mode both engines are at max output, and there’s even an E-Boost button for extra passing power. It’s like the green version of NOS. Awesome.

The technology alone is so exciting it could give Al Gore a personality, but then there’s the looks: it’s beautiful. This car places second only to the exquisite Carrera GT, and it’s a close 2nd. When you look at it you know it’s a Porsche, but it has flavors of SLR and Ferrari in it as well. Perhaps Porsche drove to Italy one night and kidnapped a struggling artist. Whatever they did, it works. It’s modern, but with classic sports car soul. It doesn’t look like a car from the Jetsons, even though the technology could have the “Spacely” name on it. Inside and out, from any view, it’s just a gorgeous car. People have complained about the plastic looking wheels, but that’s a waste of O2. I promise you, when the car comes out, it will be wearing normal shoes.

With a car like this, you don’t need much else. Maybe a wagon or tiny, fuel-efficient SUV for carrying kids or taking road trips, but that’s it. I can lay awake dreaming of a garage with as many cars as Baskin Robbins has ice cream flavors. I would have a car for every job, every mood, every craving. Be it a quiet commuter to save gas and get around, or a huge V8 to shake the ground and snap my neck back, the list was always huge. But the 918 covers so many categories, it leaves little room for anything else. Track car, luxury car, sports car, gorgeous to look at, 200MPH super car, responsible hybrid, loud V8, RWD, brand recognition, “romantic evening” magnet; it has it all.

When you add it all up, this is one of the best concepts ever made. It looks great, without going the fun-house way so many concepts do (Mazda). It’s a supercar, which we always love, but it’s also looking to the future. Instead of another 11MPG, 1000hp Mach 2 supercar from a company ran by 4 billionaires that is no more practical than using a loaded gun for dentistry, this is a car that is fitting for where our world is heading. This shows the world super-cars and hybrid efficiency are not mutually exclusive.  We can have our cake at eat it too. Up until now hybrids have been as exciting as grey wallpaper, and less alluring to look at. The  918 is like a window of hope, a spec of light when you thought you were buried in a cave. I hope this inspires other automakers, because if it does, the future looks bright.

Zack K

918 Promo Video

Tell us what you think below.

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!

We were having some technical issues, so we’re a little late uploading these pics, but better late than never! This past Sunday’s Supercar Sunday was a big hit, just like the first one before it. Some of the highlights included a trifecta of turbocharged Vipers, an Ultima GTR, a Lamborghini Gallardo Valentino Balboni, a beautiful Mercedes 300SL Gullwing, and a Porsche 911 that would easily qualify in the top 5 for ugliest Porsche’s of all time. Mega-gallery after the jump!

Supercar Sunday is the “other” weekend car show in Los Angeles, and this morning was the first Supercar Sunday to occur at the new location in Woodland Hills, CA. Over 150 cars showed up this morning, minus mine of course, as I (incorrectly) decided to take my motorcycle. It was freezing cold on the 6AM ride up, 35 miles north of my house, and raining on the way home, but that didn’t seem to stop LA’s exotic car owners. There were at least 5 each of the following, including variants: Ferrari 430, Ferrari 360, Lamborghini Gallardo, Lamborghini Murcielago, Chevrolet Corvette, Dodge Viper, Porsche 911. So I left most of those out of the photos, but I did snap a few real gems. Famed collector Bruce Meyer brought an amazing, silver 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa. There were 2 Ariel Atoms, 2 Porsche Carrera GT’s,  an AMG SL65 Black Series, a Lamborghini Murcielago SV, a Mercedes CLK DTM, a Ferrari 275 GTB LWB, 2 Ferrari 430 Scuderia Spider 16m’s, a flawless “Starsky and Hutch” Ford Torino, and a street-legal, home-built, Hyabusa-powered, passenger seat-equipped, Formula Race Car.

Photos of all my favorites after the jump.

Mark Wahlberg’s Porsche decided to piss oil all over the ground last night outside Madeo restaurant while he ran inside for takeout. I say that’s what you get for driving a base 996 Carrera with an awful body kit.

Thanks, Chris for the tip!

**Update: Our buddy Matt, head of Porsche service at an unnamed dealership, tells us that this is a main seal failure, and the car almost certainly needs a new engine, which costs around $12,500**

[Source: TMZ]

My buddy Roger Garbow from Full Throttle Marketing, who also represents the Carbon Fiber Club sent me over this video he shot of the left, rear wheel-well of a Porsche 997 RSR on the race track. It’s a great angle, as you can see all the suspension moving, the brakes getting red hot under threshold braking, and the crash. Wait, the crash? Ouch.

WorldCarFans is reporting that German Tuner 9ff has released the first photos and specs of their GT9-R Supercar, a car designed for one specific task: go faster than any other production car. According to 9ff, the GT9-R can reach sixty in 2.9 seconds en route to a 257 mph top speed, 1mph faster than the record-holding SSC Ultimate Aero TT ,hough still not as fast as the Keating TKR, which posted a “pending record” of 260 mph on the Salt Flats.

Only 20 units of the GT9-R will be available, with an endless list of customizeable options to ensure that no two cars are built alike. I don’t know exactly how much boost the 4.0L Flat-six makes, but I’m guessing it’s somewhere between 25 and 30 lbs.  If the GT9-R’s 1120-horsepower is a little too much for you to comprehend, 987 hp and 750 hp versions are also available, but I’d call you a pussy if you bought one.

Welcome to Ze Germans Know More Than Us, where we take advantage of the fact that Dan, our intern, speaks fluent German and can translate German news! This time, Autobild.de brings us the results of the latest Continental Tires/Autobild Tuner Challenge at the Nardo High-Speed Ring.

English Summary:

Once a year Auto Bild Sportscars and Continental Tires join forces to bring us one of the greatest automotive events known to enthusiasts. The High Performance Event at Nardo 2009. 18 cars from 13 different tuners in an all out balls-to-the-wall contest of speed. Together, 11,135 horsepower compete to smash all records. [Anyone do that math? That's an AVERAGE of 618 hp - Ed.]

Now, running 155 mph is something most high performance vehicles can easily do nowadays. However after 155, multiple factors come into play in the quest for speed. Not only engine power, wind resistance and vehicle weight come into play, but also little things like asphalt friction. To somewhat level the playing field, all cars were fitted with Continental tires. In the end, the biggest adversary of speed is Resistance. Did they have the power to fight it? Without further delay, this year’s list of cars and tuners after the jump:

We’re not surprised when a Twin-Turbo Corvette goes 213 mph, or when a 700 horsepower Audi RS6 can hit 208. Hell, the Americans can do that! And then, just when we got bored of high-speed testing, German psycho-tuner Brabus shows up with a v12-powered GLK (the stock form of which we tested, and hated, but there are few problems 700+ horsepower engine won’t solve), and proceeds to run 211 mph, securing themselves the record for the world’s fastest ugly SUV. In all honesty, I may have added the ugly part myself. Then, someone shows up with a VW Eurovan and runs 193 mph! Turns out it’s got a a Porsche 997 Turbo drivetrain swap. Nice.

ABT Audi RS6 – 700 hp – 335 km/h – 208 mph
ABT Audi R8 – 560 hp – 314 km/h – 196 mph
AC Schnitzer ACS3 3.5d – 310 hp – 700 Nm – 516 lb. ft. – 289 km/h – 179 mph
AC Schnitzer ACS4 3.0 – 380 hp – 303 km/h – 188 mph
Lorinser C LV8 313 km/h – 194 mph
Steinmetz OPC 395 hp – 287 km/h – 178 mph
Manhart M3 5.0 V10 – 550 hp – 317 km/h – 196 mph
9ff TR 1000 Fastest car at Nardo 2009 – 376 km/h – 233 mph
9ff Panamera PT 55 – 308 km/h – 191 mph
9ff Speed9 – 650 hp – 288 kmh/h – 178 mph
Hohenester A4 HS 50 G (Twin Turbo V6) – 650 hp – 353 km/h – 219 mph
Brabus GLK V12 – 750 hp – 337km/h – 211 mph
Techart Cayenne Turbo S 680 hp – 321 km/h – 199 mph
GeigerCars Corvette (Twin turbo) – 790 hp – 343 km/h – 213 mph
edo competion Gallardo – 600 hp – 339.8 km/h – 211 mph
edo competion Panamera – 305 km/h – 191 mph
MKB SL 65 Black Series – 751 hp – 1250 Nm – 921 lb. ft. – 330 km/h – 205 mph
TH2 RS (essentially VW Eurovan with a Turbo 911 engine in it)- 780 hp – 311 km/h – 193 mph

The Brabus GLK’s Special high speed wheel covers may be carbon fiber and add 20mph

on the top end, but they can’t fix ugly.

When you’re filming a 700 HP Porsche on a race track, you can’t exactly use a Volvo Wagon for a camera car, like we normally do. So we borrowed this from Switchcars.com

The Smoking Tire heads out to Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch once again, this time to check out the world’s first “Destination Dealership,” Switchcars.com. Switchcars’ owner, Doug Tabbutt gives us a tour of his collection and handpicks a few choice favorites to share with us on the road and track.

My short list of places to visit in Germany has now dropped by two, after last week’s Audi Museum Gallery. This week, we bring to you Zuffenhausen’s newest architectural masterpiece, the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart. Not only is the building itself beyond gorgeous, the machinery inside really reminds you how Porsche has led the way in sports and racing cars over the last sixty years.