Porsche Shootout: 911 Carrera 4 S vs. Cayenne Turbo

Even though the Cayenne has long been criticized by Porsche fans for not being a true sports car, it has proved again and again that it can definitely hang with the rest of the Porsche family.

The new Cayenne will be out soon and Porsche has promised it to be even better than the last. But really, every car company says that about their product, don’t they? Well Porsche says the Turbo version is so good, that it has an identical 0-100 time as the 911 Carrera 4 S and could even give it a run for its money on the track.

To find out if that is just blatant PR or the shocking truth, Autocar took both out to find out for themselves.

The results, I admit, are quick astonishing.

[Autocar via Youtube]

Boo! Porsche Turns Down Mini’s Challenge

As it turns out, Mini might be developing an attitude that it likely inherited from its parent, BMW. Just days ago, Mini took a fairly substantial jab at Porsche and challenged them to a race to see who made the better performance car: the Cooper S or the 911 Carrera S. In an open letter, Mini took a few swipes at the image that Porsche portrays and claimed that the extremely less pricey Mini could do what the 911 could do, and do it better without the snobby image. Apparently there was a catch of the race being on the track’s paddocks and not the actual tarmac. Something to give the advantage to Mini?

The challenge was dealt by Mini USA’s CEO Jim McDowell. Oddly enough, McDowell used to be a former employee of Porsche USA. So since a CEO challenged, a CEO responded. Detlev Von Platon, CEO for Porsche USA wrote this open letter back to McDowell:

16 Year Old Crashes $180,000 Porsche Press Vehicle

Peter Cheney, an automotive journalist for the Globe & Mail, was lucky enough to get the new Porsche 911 Turbo for a week. Cheney has a 16 year old son. Porsches and 16 year olds don’t mix at all, a fact that was proven as soon as Cheney brought the amazing 911 home.

To make sure nothing happened to the 911 while it was in Cheney’s possession, he parked it in his garage. When his son got home, Cheney told him what car he was reviewing for the week and naturally, his son had to take a closer look. Cheney told him it was parked in the garage and could go look at it.

Moments later, Cheney’s son came back inside the house, his eyes as “wide as dinner plates”. His son only managed to spit out “Dad, the Porsche….the Porsche”. Cheney thought it had been stolen so he rushed into the garage only to find it half in the garage and half out with a door wrapped around it. Turns out his son had more than just a look.

The resulting damage was $2800 to fix the garage door and $11,000 to fix damage to the 911. Needless to say, Cheney’s son got an earful from his dad, but strangely enough, not from Porsche.

Rick Bye, press fleet manager for Porsche Canada, was immediately contacted and he came out to survey the damage. All he said to Cheney’s son was “Stuff happens. We’re glad you’re okay. This is only a car. You don’t need a lecture. You already know.”

I’m glad no one was hurt either. I’d like to selfishly take this opportunity to let Mr. Bye know that Car Driven would very much welcome the opportunity to review a Porsche 911 Turbo and we don’t have any 16 year olds that will mess it up. Just sayin’.

[The Globe & Mail]

Black Beauty: 2010 Porsche 911 Techart G-Street R

Bad. Ass.

We are complete suckers for Porsche 911s. We are are especially suckers for black ones.

The one you see here is based on the incredible 911 Turbo except it has been tuned by Techart to produce 660 horsepower and 635 pound feet of torque! 0-100 is 3.5 seconds and top speed is 344 kph!

And it looks incredible. The body kit, along with the front splitter and 22 inch black rims really just complete the overall look. Don’t let that huge spoiler ruin it for you though because it’s apparently height adjustable so you can lower it to a less moronic height.

More pics are after the jump if your heart can handle more sexiness.

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World Car of the Year 2010: Top Ten Entries Revealed

What is the best car in the world? It’s all relative and subjective and thus, impossible to determine. But that doesn’t stop automotive journalists from trying.

52 automotive journalists representing each continent in the world (except Antarctica – Penguins can’t legally drive yet) have gotten together and submitted their top ten choices for World Car of the Year in two categories: Car of the Year and Performance Car of the Year. There will then be three finalists chosen for both categories.

Find out what car made the top ten and what our pics are for the finalists after the jump!

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Porsche 911 Turbo S

Okay.

The title should be enough to make you pass out,  but in case you somehow are still conscious, we’ll throw another stat at you to make sure it really sinks in.

530 horsepower.

Still with us?

Okay. 516 pound feet of torque. 19 inch wheels. Same fuel efficiency of the regular Turbo.

But here’s the thing. 0-100 in 3.3 seconds! That is biblically fast!

If, after all this, you are still sitting upright in your chair, then take a look at more pics.

This is a good time to mention that Car Driven is not responsible for personal injury  or health issues caused as a result of our reporting of awesome cars.

Next-Gen Porsche 911 Caught Cold Weather Testing – Don’t get too excited

The good folks over at Autoblog have obtained some spy shots of the next generation Porsche 911. The biggest news? It’s going to get LED turn indicators. Seriously, that’s it. There is also going to be some (very) subtle tweaks to the body such as some Panamara inspired mirrors and a slightly reworked front facia. Looks like we’ll have to wait a bit longer to hear about the engine specs.

This generation 911 is estimated to make it’s uncamouflaged debut at this year’s Geneva Auto show. Check out more pics over at Autoblog.