Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Porsche Chayenne

Ten years ago, the idea of a Porsche sport utility vehicle would have seemed absurd. And the reason is not that it lacks experience with off-road cars since their engineering have developed all-wheel-drive military vehicles. It’s more that, compared to General Motors, Toyota or Daimler-Chrysler, the automotive giants, Porsche represents a tiny fraction of the production volume. For 50 years, the company has produced quick, nimble, small sports car, or in other words, the opposite of the SUV’s. When Porsche decided to invest in an SUV and a new factory to build it, it became clear the times, as well as our taste, have changed.

And now, after creating the most anticipated new Porsche in decades, the company is proud that its SUV is what many expected it would be: technically slick and remarkably fast, with on-road handling that beliesits bulk. Also, the Cayenne delivers what most SUV buyers demand, including decent cargo space, more than enough capability for casual off-road use, and impressive towing capacity.

When it comes to pricing, Cayenne is a true Porsche. A very expensive Porsche. With tax and license, a loaded Cayenne Turbo can crack the $100,000 barrier, and that alone will knock it off most shopping lists. But for the connoisseurs, the Porsche Cayenne will be truly appreciated for its performance and driving satisfaction.

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Monday, September 29, 2008

Porsche Cayman

In comparison of the engine, The Porsche Cayman is positioned between the Boxster and 911. Still, it has its own different personality. It is snappier, easier, and not burdened by heavy weight hanging out the back and the need to manage the effect of that weight.

The Cayman is strictly a two-seater because the engine sits where the rear seats would otherwise be. This means that the engine is not quite readily accessible, although there's a way into the oil filler via the boot. Under that long tailgate, is revealed a generous luggage area to supplement the front 911/Boxster-sized boot. Like all other Porsche, the Cayman is not very big, which makes it very practical and usable. And for all its obvious Boxster genes, the Cayman is very much its own car with its curvaceous rear wine and neat fastback roof. As with other Porsches, there's a movable rear spoiler, which deploys above 120km/h.

Going back to were we started, the engine, the Cayman has 3.4 litres, a mix of the cylinder barrels of a 911 with the crankshaft of a Boxster. A 911 engine is of 3.6 or 3.8 liters and a Boxster S has a 3.2-litre engine. It's a strange thing, but even though today's Porsche engines are water-cooled, they still overlay their intake and exhaust notes with a breathy whine like that of the giant air-cooling fans of old.

Basically, the Cayman is a mix and it doesn’t have a huge number of new and unique parts. In short, the Cayman is a structure two and a half times stiffer because it’s just a Boxster with a roof. In turn, that means that the driving experience becomes much more focused because its suspension can have tauter, sportier setting.

Porsche Cayman reaches a maximum speed of 275 km/h and gets from zero to 100 km/h in 5.3 seconds, even if the fuel thirst is low for such pace. The Cayman is especially good with the optional Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM), but unlike a 911, it works well enough without it, thanks to a ride that's firm but seldom turbulent. PASM makes the Cayman sit 10mm lower, and in its Sport mode it tautens the damping. And it feels absolutely fantastic when you have the Chrono option (complete with stopwatch for timing your hot laps).

Bottom line, Porsche Cayman is a remarkable illustration of a rigid, solid-roofed bodyshell's advantages. The Cayman S has all the positive Porsche attributes you could want, and none of the snags. It's not the fastest Porsche, not the fiercest, not the most breathtaking. It is a pooling of other Porsche parts, which means that the Cayman is not expensive to develop but it will generate big profits. The new car, by the way, takes its name not from a tax-haven archipelago, but from a type of crocodile.

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Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Porsche Boxster

The Porsche Boxster and Boxster S are fast, powerful cars and most of all the best-handling production roadsters on the planet. Introduced in 1996, it remained essentially unchanged, other than moderate horsepower and interior-options tweaks. That’s what Porsche usually does with the successful models: it retains car look and configuration for ages.

A more powerful second-generation Boxster was introduced in 2005 and it keeps Porsche’s conservative evolutionary path. Like its precedent, it is a mid-engine, six-cylinder two-seater that looks like Porsche Spyder. Still, over half of Boxster`s structure and electronics are borrowed from the 911 Carrera.

The 2005 Boxster looks sprightlier than its 2004 equivalent, thanks to the revision of the torque and the 15 added hp and the extra power coming on strongly between 2000rpm and 4000 rpm. The 2005 Boxster S virtually equals the acceleration and top-speed performance of Porsche's expensive 911 Carrera. The Boxster exhaust has beentuned to play a distinctive tromboning wail like no other car. This is a amazing thing thinking that both engines are smaller versions of the six-cylinder in the Carrera.

The transmission for base Boxters is five-speed manual but the optional variant offers a six-speed. Both models can also be fitted with a five-speed Tiptronic, the superb Porsche-designed automatic transmissionthat began the trend toward manually shifted automatics.

The bodywork and the interior of the Boxster are of high quality, but considering that there’s noting tricky or purely decorative, we can definitely say that these are not opulent cars. Still, the interior has been improved since the old car was often criticized for being to cheap-looking. The center console has been upgraded with revised switch-gear and titanium look paneling. The seats are more supportive and body-shaped in the new version, making them look absolutely superb. Unlike other roadsters, the Boxster has no problem swallowing luggage for a long trip: it has two trunks, a small one in the rear and an amply deep one under the front hood.

One of The Boxster`s best qualities is the powered convertible top, very quick to retract or re-erect. In the new Boxster, the top can be operated at speeds up to 30 mph. The triple-layer padded cloth tops (with a heated-glass rear window) is as weather-tight and quiet as most metal roofs.

The Boxster is called a mid engine-car. The reason is that the sweet six-cylinder engine is mounted behind the seats, just fore of the rear axle. So if you wandto see what’s under the hood once in while, well…you can’t do that with The Boxster. The only way to see the engine is from underneath or by meticulously removing body panels, which mechanics must do to service the engine. But, the good news is that having the engine mounted closer to the center of the car makes for better weight distribution. And that’s what makes the car handle so well.

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Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Porsche Panamera 195

In 2009 is set to be launched a four-door, four-seat coupe, called Porsche Panamera. The car, powered by a modified version of the 4.5 L V8 found in the Cayenne, equipped with the FSI system will be front engined and rear wheel drive. Although it is extremely unlikely, rumors is that an option for the Panamera will be the V10 engine from Porsche's limited-run Carrera GT supercar.

Porsche Panamera will be produced in the new plant at Leipzig alongside the Cayenne. It is the first V8-engined sports car built by Porsche since 1995, when the 928 was discontinued and some consider it a suitable successor to the two-doored 928. The company built the new model as a direct competitor to the Mercedes-Benz CLS 55 AMG and Maserati Quattroporte and (to a lesser degree) a less expensive alternative to expensive vehicles such the, Ferrari 612 Scaglietti, Bentley Continental GTand Aston Martin Rapide.

Like Porsche Carrera`s name, the Panamera`s derives from the Carrera Panamerican race. Before it, there were other four-door sedans prototypes, such as the 1991 Porsche 989 prototype or the even earlier 4 door prototype based on the 911, but they never went into production.

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Sunday, September 21, 2008

Porsche the beginning

It`s hard to say exactly which is the beginning of Porsche story. It could be in 1950, when the famous Max Hoffman introduced the Porsche 356 to the United States. Or in 1948 when the first automobile to bear the name Porsche was introduced. But in order to understand Porsche’s heritage and its philosophy we need to go back to 1875, when, in September, at the home of a tinsmith in the Bohemian village of Haffersdorf, a son was born. His name was Ferdinand Porsche.

Since his adolescence, Ferdinand Porsche showed glimpses of technical genius: at the age of 18, he wired family's home for electricity in 1893. Still, he didn’t show many signs of disciplined engineering skills that will eventually become his trademark. Even if the “Doctor” is usually appended to his name, it is in essence honorary, since his only formal technical training was as a part-time engineering student in Vienna.

By the age of 25, the young Ferdinand Porsche had entered the field of automotive design. His first car design was already accepted by Lohner & Co. of Vienna. Over the next 20 years, Ferdinand Porsche, the temperamental but brilliant engineer social in associating with every major automobile manufacturer in Germany. At the same time, he designed a dozen of the most
technically significant cars in history.

Working for Mercedes-Benz, he helped develop the most revered Mercedes-Benz cars of all time: the SSK series. For NSU, he designed Auto Union Wanderer and the Type 32, a precursor of the Volkswagen Beetle.

After being dismissed from Mercedes for disagreeing with the firm's staid engineering policies, Porsche decided to establish what later became Porsche A.G.: his own engineering consulting group. In a small office in Stuttgart, the senior Dr. Porsche gathered a select group of engineers to work under the dramatic name, "Doctor of Engineering Ferdinand Porsche, Inc., Construction Facility for Land, Air, and Sea Transportation." One of his employees was his youthful son, Ferry. His primary interest was one that any young man might select: sports and racing cars

The senior Dr. Porsche and his team were kept extremely busy. The consulting firm developed for Steyr (now the utility-vehicle wing of the Styler - Daimler-Puch combine), the Austria luxury sedan, but it did not progress beyond the prototype stage. They worked a lot for Auto Union, now Audi: the company developed the Front, the world's first front-drive economy car. They astonished Auto Union with the mid-engine Grand Prix cars and their supercharged V-12 and V-16 engines which, together with Mercedes- Benz racers, dominated European auto racing for nearly a decade.

After that, the firm created its best-known designs for NSU and Zundapp. The pair of prototypes was characterized by Dr. Porsche's patented torsion-bar suspension and a rear-mounted engine. Since neither company moved rapidly enough to manufacture the designs, Porsche sold the concept to the German government. Then, he oversaw the construction of a plant on Wolfsburg to manufacture the design. His drawings called the car the Type 60. The world came to know it as the Volkswagen Beetle

After the second World War, the Porsche Company started to create vehicles that beard its name, and so became knows world wide. Now, nearly a century later, Porsche became the marque and the family that created outstanding, often unique and surely lasting contributions to automotive engineering and design.

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Friday, September 19, 2008

Porsche turbo 1975 - now


In 1975 Porsche introduced the first Turbo. The engineers experienced this new engine and Chairman Ernst Fuhrman decided that they could use a turbo on a production car. The first prototype was displayed at several European shows in 1973. In 1974, “911 Turbo” went on sale and at the time it had a 3.0 liter 260 bhp engine.

The new Porsche was full of luxury. The standard Turbo had air-conditioning, electric windows, tinted glass, headlamp washers, a leather interior and Bilstein shocks. Originally, it was supposed
to be a limited edition, with only 500 models to be sold. However, the demand was so high that more than 1000 cars were sold. It was now clear that Turbo would have a secure future.

What attracted so many customers was its huge rear wing, widened wheel and big tires. This great look combined with the powerful engine made the Turbo look faster than any other 911.

In 1978, the model was improved by the increase of the engine capacity to 3.3 liter and some other modifications. Now the engine produce 40 bhp more. The rear wing was also revised: the two separate grilles were replaced by one larger smooth surface, placed a little higher in order to make room for an intercooler.

In 1979 though, the Turbo was withdrawn from US and Japan, as a response to the second energy crunch.

In 1986, Turbo became again available in the US. This was the first year Porsche used flares that were created in the stamping – process of the fenders. In 1992 Porsche showed the Turbo S at Geneva's Motorshow. It’s engine delivered 381 bhp. The car weighted 120 kg less then the standard Turbo and this helped making Turbo S really fast. There were built only 80 Turbo S.

In 1993, the engine capacity was increased again, now reaching 3.6 liter. It was easily recognized by the Turbo 3.6 badge. Also, there was a 93 Turbo 3.6 based 911 Turbo S built.

In 1996 Porsche launched yet another Turbo, based on the 993 series. Its engine produced 408 bhp, featuring a six-speed gearbox and four-wheel drive. It looked more elegant thanks to the less evocative rear-wing. The wheels are 18 inch in diameter. It saves 20% of the weight because the five spokes are hollow. The front wing has air-ducts that lead extra cooling air to the brakes, making them more powerful than before. They can stop the Turbo from 100 hm/h in 2.6 seconds and from 200km/h in just 5 seconds, increasing car’s safety.

Porsche has recently introduced the 996 Turbo. The styling is different from the previous Turbo models. Its aerodynamics are improved, making it much faster than the 993 Turbo. It gets to 100 km/h in only 4.2 seconds and has a top speed of 305 km/h. The new Turbo has a few details that make it easy to recognize: bi-xenon headlights, air intakes behind the doors and a movable rear-spoiler.

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Thursday, September 18, 2008

Porsche vs Ferrari

Porsche and Ferrari are German and Italian sides of the same
coin, interpretations of the sports car idea. Both founded by a
dominant patriarch, both honed in racing, both more than 50

years old, both with engineering and styling integrity. Whether on
the track of Le Mains or on the streets, the two have always been
put head-to-head and compared. Even the most naive motorist
associates these two names with both performance and style.

We’ve decided to compare the methodical Porsche 911 Carrera
4S and the passionate Ferrari F430 because both of them astonish
with their performance while attempting to maintain a reasonable
amount of practicality but do not pretend to be anything other than
sports cars.

A modern sports car should feature these characteristics: it should be
started easily, maneuvered around town, blasted on a couple of
country roads, it looks and performs the part on a racetrack but at the
same time it is very safe.

The easier way to separate the two cars is by measuring figures since
both of them have mastered the modern sports car requirements and
basically there’s no other way to choose between these two phenomenal
cars.

What initially impresses is Ferrari's lightning fast 4-second 0-100km/h
acceleration and thrilling exhaust tone. As the occupants are pinned to
the seats, the new generation 4.3-litre V8 pushes out 368 snarling
kilowatts. Porsche’s acceleration also offers that kick in the pants a
super car should deliver, although it is 0.8 seconds slower at the 100 km/k
mark.

With such acceleration performance, it comes natural for both cars to
excel in the braking department. The two cars offer optional ceramic
discs for impressive stopping.

Porsche’s engine gets the upper hand as it is more refined and on
the economy rank leaps ahead Ferrari with a 11.8 liters per 100 km
as opposed to 18.3 liters. Both cars deliver the power through impressive
6-speed gearboxes and offer top rate handling performance.

Both F430 and Carrera4S offer great interior comfort and even if the
space is limited, the occupants don't feel claustrophobic and flustered.
Although an impressive mix of suede, carbon fiber and aluminum abound
in the Ferrari, the Italians stand no chance when it comes to the high finish
level attained by the Germans.

Speed and silence are key elements for any super car. The look and
appearance is the biggest draw card. The Carrera 4S is a typical Porsche,
despite the new proportions. It is a great looking car, like any other 911 but
somehow the styling no longer creates the jaw dropping reaction that the
Ferrari does. Indeed, traditionalists may say that Porsche pays homage to
its roots, but the truth is that Ferrari F430 simply draws the attention.

However, even if Ferrari F430 takes your breath away with its appearance,
the super car title goes to the Porsche Carrera 4S with a more complete all
round package.

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Sunday, September 7, 2008

2007 Hybrid Car Line Up

Getting to Know the 2007 Hybrid Car Line Up

More and more car manufacturers are developing "greener" versions of their well-known brands. The infusion of Hybrid technology has made a big splash in the motoring world and its popularity as well as the growing concern for the environment has added to the demand for this type of vehicles, urging more vehicle manufacturers to add more of their vehicles in the hybrid bandwagon to capture more potential consumers in the market.

One of the newest in the batch 2007 hybrid car lineup is the 2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid, the third in Toyota's Hybrid vehicles. The Camry hybrid boasts of a performance of a topnotch six-cylinder engine with the fuel economy of a four-cylinder engine. Although it is not as fuel efficient as the first Toyota hybrid, the Prius, the Camry hybrid is a whole lot better than the regular Camry.



Never to be left behind, giant Japanese car manufacture Honda, has also the Hybrid Accord and the Hybrid Civic. These two sedans offer what Hybrids are known for, less emission and less fuel consumption.

The 2007 Honda Accord Hybrid alone combines luxury and fuel efficiency that is truly environment friendly. Even with a V6 engine that generates 253 horsepower, you can be sure that you will get more miles to the gallon. It is a nice change knowing that you get the luxury and power that you want and still get the fuel economy that we all deserve.


Then there is the 2007 Civic Hybrid which continuously provides the true essence of hybrid technology. Its ingenious engineering has rightly earned it its Advanced Technology Partial Zero-Emission Vehicle (AT-PZEV) rating. What this means is that you don’t only get from point A to point B in less gas usage, but also save the environment by not adding to the air pollutants already swarming over it.


Joining the Hybrid car race in 2007 is General Motors second Hybrid vehicle, the 2007 Aura Hybrid sedan. This will be competing with other high-end hybrid cars such as the Toyota Camry Hybrid and the Honda Accord Hybrid. Sporting a V6 engine as well, the Aura Green Line is dedicated to providing utmost engine power with minimal gas consumption. Its engineers claim that it will be able to generate 20 percent savings in fuel economy over its conventional model.


Nissan has also announced that a 2007 Altima Hybrid will be offered and has offered test drives and a glimpse of its development vehicle. In a deal inked with Toyota, Nissan will be dedicating five years into the project with the Hybrid Technology developed by Toyota.


Rumored to be unveiling its first hybrid model, Volkswagen is said to be preparing a full-hybrid car for 2007 but it hasn’t disclosed yet which car model they will be infusing the technology. Latest rumors said that it would be on the Jetta for the upscale engine level or in the Passat for the four-cylinder class.

With more and more vehicle manufacturers realizing the potential of Hybrid vehicles, it wont be long before every car produced will be infused with the Hybrid technology. And as oil prices continue to soar and concerns for the environment are ever growing, we can all be sure that these vehicles will be welcomed with open arms.

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Thursday, September 4, 2008

Hybrid Sports Car

Hybrid Sports Cars: Fulfilling Your Need for Speed While Saving On Fuel

If you are a type of person who likes exotic high speed sports car, then you should prepare to spend a lot of money on gasoline. Sports cars are known to have large engines to achieve high amounts of speed. Having large engines mean that it will also consume large amounts of fuel.

For the typical person, this kind of car is definitely not something that they should drive everyday, especially because of the rising prices of gasoline. However, why do people still drool and save money to buy these expensive sports car? Maybe it's because of the high speed capability that they can take advantage of whenever they feel the need for speed, or maybe because it's because of the sleek and stylish look of these vehicles.

Hybrid technology is now being used to produce fuel efficient cars. These cars are designed to be lightweight, and aerodynamic with small engines to maximize fuel efficiency. However, hybrid cars are relatively slow because of the small engine. Hybrid cars existing today are designed for city or local driving where you don’t need to go on high speeds. You have to consider that these cars are designed to be fuel efficient.

However, car manufacturers today are now opening up a new line of hybrid cars. Some already built a prototype or a concept car to be shown to the public. These hybrid cars are designed to achieve high amounts of speed but at the same time, take advantage of the hybrid technology to save fuel.

High speed hybrid sports cars are being designed by car manufacturers today to satisfy consumers who like to go at high speeds and at the same time, save fuel. The gasoline-electric engine concept is so popular today that manufacturers, such as Toyota and Honda are now opening a new line in their factory that produces hybrid sports cars.

Major auto shows have shown different hybrid sports car concepts from different large car manufacturers. One is the high performance hybrid sports car from Mitsubishi called the Mitsubishi Eclipse Concept-E. This hybrid concept sports car is a very good example of what sports cars will look like in the near future.

Mitsubishi's Eclipse Concept-E takes advantage of the hybrid technology. The front wheels are driven by the parallel hybrid system. This means that the electric motor is integrated with the gasoline engine, which is a 3.8 liter V6. With the gasoline engine and the electric motor, it is able to have a power output of 270 horsepower.

The new generation of sports car like the Mitsubishi Eclipse Concept-E is only one of the concept hybrid sports cars that are now being talked about by sports car fanatics. With the hybrid technology integrated into sports cars, you will definitely save a lot of money on fuel while letting you combine fuel efficiency and power all in one package.

Hybrid sports car is definitely the sports car of the future. It is now possible to have a sports car that is able to save fuel and still give you maximum performance. With hybrid sports car, you can now own a luxury sports car that is able to cut fuel consumption. You can satisfy your speed urges without sacrificing big money for fuel.

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Hybrid Electric Car

Hybrid Electric Car: A Promising Technology for a Promising Future for the Environment

A hybrid-electric vehicle, or HEV, combines an electrical energy storage system with an occupied means of generating electrical energy, usually through the consumption of some type of fuel. Each type of HEV has its own operating quality and chosen design practices, as well as advantages and disadvantages.

The development of interior ignition engine vehicles, especially in automobiles, is one of the supreme achievements of modern technology as a new rising energy saving and environment -friendly vehicle, that’s why the hybrid-electric vehicles were created to give convenience to every human.

In the process of creating the hybrid electric car, the most important is the energy saving and the environmental protection. Wherein nowadays this are the common problems faced by the society.

Having the hybrid-electric car evolved from the electric car. However, the main disadvantage of the electric car is that it is mainly dependent on the batteries. Therefore, has limited range.

First of all, the hybrid electric car was supposed to be an electric vehicle with batteries for power storage and is also equipped with an on-board heat engine-powered generator. This means that this type of hybrid has an extended range.

The heat engine power and the battery power are specifically intended as an important scheme that constantly modulates the excess between the heat engine and the battery power systems. This will also depend on the driving schedule.

Since the beginning of the use of automobiles, electric cars have been already recognized and conceptualized. Even though the electric power train is better in various aspects, as an energy source, the battery was unequal to the superior-energy content, easiness in terms of the handling, and inexpensive and profuse supplies of motor fuel.

Now, it has almost been a century since the electric car has been popularly discussed, but recent developments in the HEV technology and the growing concerns for the environment has revived the drive for an HEV and this has become a realization today.

We can consider the personal means of transportation as a very important bond in the economic chain of today’s modern societies and that a private vehicle appears to be the popular choice.

Electric vehicles are more energy efficient than the contemporary vehicles wherein the electric vehicles operates at approximately 46 percent of effectiveness, while a contemporary vehicle operates at about 18 percent only.

There are studies that generally concludes that electric cars with batteries are approximately 10 to 30 percent more efficient with energy than the usual gasoline cars, depending on the exact assumptions of the vehicles energy usage and energy chain efficiency.

Certainly, the comparisons of the electric vehicles and the conventional vehicles are comparisons between an extremely developed power system that is nearly in the end of its research and development, and the innovative power system in the beginning stages of the development wherein important development can be expected as the new technology evolves.

Furthermore, the advantages of electric powered modes of transportation extends beyond the true outlook of economizing energy. Electric generation plants can use substitute fuels that are not adaptable to portable power systems.

Electric vehicles are the definitive alternative fuel vehicles because their power is taken from the source fuels utilized to produce electricity. Aside from that, the flexibility of the fuel alone can offer important useful and economic advantages especially in relation to a variety of energy resources.

The electric car is truly a promising technology that could transform one's means of transportation into a far more environmentally type of commodity. Through this innovation emission controls become more important, effective and economically beneficial.

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