Just because you may have an interest in the environment or just plain ol’ saving some cash doesn’t mean that you have a disinterest in performance. Just ask the Prius driver jailed for racing.

Anyway, there are lots of performance oriented brands that have now offered up their version of a no-compromise hybrid. Infiniti is the latest with their brand new M35 hybrid. In fact, Infiniti is so confident that their new hybrid is a no nonsense performance sedan that they decided to put their money where their mouth is and stack it up against in a drag race against one of the most expensive hybrid offerings on the market: The Porsche Panamera S Hybrid.

First things first, the specs. The Porsche comes with 380 horsepower and a 0-100 km/h time of just 5.7 seconds all while returning 7.8 L/100 kms in fuel efficiency on the highway.

The M35 gets a 360 horsepower V6 which makes the dash in… your guess is as good as mine. Infiniti has not released official numbers yet. Perhaps this is why this video exists in the first place. In terms of efficiency, the M35 fairs better at 7.3 L/100 kms on the highway.

So without further ado, check out the drag race above. Since this is a video made by Infiniti I probably won’t ruin it for you by saying the M35 hybrid beat out the Porsche on this one, but in the same regard, since it is indeed made by Infiniti, take it with a grain of salt as there is probably lots of unaccounted variables that gives the M35 an edge (not least of which is not showing the drag race from the start line).

Still, the M35 hybrid does make a decent case for itself for those who want luxury and performance but who aren’t willing (or who aren’t able) to pay the Porsche’s $95,000 price tag.

[Youtube]

If you don’t know by now, Porsche has seen so much success with the once black sheep of the family, the Cayenne SUV, that they have decided to make a smaller version called the Cajun. This new compact Porsche ‘ute will be largely based on the Audi Q5. Since the Cayenne was met with strong opposal from Porsche purists who feel the 911 is really the only true Porsche and yet has been selling tremendously well, Porsche is betting that the Cajun will see similar success.

But Porsche is not stopping there. They are betting that a smaller version of the Panamera will help to fill profit margins, so a sedan, coupe, convertible and even shooting brake version of the Pamamera will be produced in junior form. The baby Panamera is going to be called the Pajun….for now. Let’s hope this is just a temporary moniker.  Anyway the Pajun is expected to share underpinnings from Bentley and Lamborghini so don’t worry, the Pajun will still be a performance bred Porsche.

Powertrains will range from V6′s, V8′s, diesels and plug-ins – pretty muhc everything. The top range Pajun is expected to make 600 horses!

What do you think of the idea of the Pajun? Do you think Porsche should stop expanding or will this be another success story for them?

[Car Magazine]

Have you ever wondered what would happen if someone pitted a drag race between a BMW 1-Series M, a Ford Mustang Boss 302 Laguna Seca, a Porsche 911 GT3 RS, a Chevy Corvette Z06, a Ferrari 458 Italia, a Nissan GT-R, an Audi R8 GT, a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, a Lexus LFA, a Porsche Cayman R, and a Lotus Evora S? Of course you have. And so apparently has Motor Trend because they actually had the pull to make it happen.

All 11 vehicles are definitely among the best of the best in terms of performance vehicles that are currently made. With that said, they all excel at different things. For instance, there’s no question that the 1-series M is going to lose to the 458 Italia. So, why bother doing it? Because each one of us has a 5 year old boy in us that’s why. Without giving too much away, it’s clear that Motor Trend arranged the obvious front runners to be in the middle of the starting line and then worked backwards. The result is a spectacular flying ‘V’ made up of American, Japanese and European brilliance. The symphonic notes coming from each of the exhausts comes together exquisitely.

Click the above video to see it all unfold.

[Youtube]

The next generation Porsche 911 has officially been revealed which means Porsche can spill the beans on one of its new, and rather more interesting features: the seven-speed manual transmission.

Porsche prides itself on its PDK automatic transmission which promises crisp, smooth and lightning quick shifts. While it is an impressive transmission to be sure, that sort of technology really only has an advantage on the track. For daily driving, which Porsche claims all its models can do without a fuss, it would likely make more sense to go for a manual transmission. But just because one (rightfully) wishes to row the gears themselves, doesn’t mean they can’t have a similar set-up to the PDK, which is what Porsche tried to emulate.

Basically Porsche stepped the gears for shorter ratios until you hit the seventh gear which is much longer. This is how the PDK transmission is set up. Another way to look at it is as a six-speed manual with overdrive. The gear set-up is also designed to improve fuel efficiency.

So, I would obviously take the seven-speed manual, but which would you prefer and why? Sound off in the comments.

[Porsche]

The internets were a buzz last month when rumours started to surface that Porsche was developing a seven-speed manual transmission for the iconic 911. The speculation was that the addition of a seventh gear would help out in the fuel efficiency department. Besides, automatics are now into the 8th gear realm and quite possibly beyond.

Well, now there is actually some evidence. Porsche has released a teaser video of the next gen 911 and one thing that almost went unnoticed was the gear shift during the shots of the cockpit.  It’s hard to make out, but if you look at the zoomed portion of the gear shift there’s actually an extra line going up and to the right.

In the current generation of row-the-gears-yourself 911s, the reverse gear is up and to the left. This would seem to suggest that the extra line to the right on the gear knob is indeed the rumoured seventh gear. And if it is indeed true, this could very well be the proverbial life saver that the manual transmission so desperately needs to stay alive past the next decade.

Click here to check out Porsche’s teaser video.

[Youtube]

Porsche has indeed confirmed rumours that it is working on a smaller version of their first ever SUV, the Cayenne. They have even let us in on a few more details.

The new baby Porsche SUV, to be called Cajun, will be based on the Audi Q5 (pictured above). While the Q5 is based on a front wheel drive platform, you can bet your knickers that Porsche’s iteration will not be front-wheel drive. The public may be able to tolerate a Porsche SUV, but front-wheel drive would surely cause riots in the streets even worse than in Vancouver. As such, Porsche has promised that the Cajun will be all-wheel drive only to tame the masses.

Power is expected to come from two engines: a 220 horsepower four cylinder and a 350 horsepower V6. Both diesels and hybrid versions are not out of the question either. A six-speed manual or a seven speed DSG will be transmission choices.

The Cajun is expected to go on sale in 2014 with its main competition being the Range Rover Evoque. In fact, Porsche hasn’t ruled out the possibility of a three-door Cajun being produced to battle the 3-door Evoque.

[Car and Driver]

This is amazing if it’s true.

Car & Driver is reporting that Porsche is busy working away at a 7-speed manual transmission to compliment the 7-speed automatic for the iconic 911. They apparently were able to extract this info with the reasoning that an extra gear would help out in the fuel efficiency department.

This would be the first 7-speed manual ever produced from Porsche for the 911. There may be a premium for it, which I’d gladly pay.

Sounds like Porsche has been paying attention to Car & Driver’s “save the manuals” campaign.

[Car & Driver]

Okay, so you’ve got a stupid amount of cash to spend on your next ride, but there are a few caveats. 1) It needs to be able to carry a bunch of stuff 2) It needs to be able to seat at least four people 3) It needs to be incredibly fast and 4) It needs to be able to handle like it’s on rails in the bends. What does that leave you?

Well, Motor Trend is convinced it has that list narrowed down to the Porsche Panamera Turbo, the BMW X6 M and the Cadillac CTS-V Wagon. All very impressive vehicles, yet all very different from one another and all are not necessarily competitors with each other. All the more reason to see how they compare!

Obviously they ended up loving them all but for different reasons. They did choose one in the end, but I won’t spoil that for you. Click the video above to see who came out on top.

I must say, if I had to choose, this would be a very tough choice. The Cadillac’s manual transmission, low price and decent looks for a wagon are all great selling points. BMW’s unreal ability to make a 5,100 pound SUV perform as if it’s a car is mind boggling. Porsche’s ability to make the fastest production 4-door/hatchback and make it rival actual supercars on the track is also incredibly impressive. Especially considering how big it is!

Which would you rather? Have your say in the comments section. Also check out a video of the trio in a drag race after the jump.

[Youtube]

Porsche has just released a new commercial designed to crush stereotypes of sports cars being fairly useless for daily driving duties.

Firstly, I will admit, if any super car company could make an argument for making daily drivers it’s definitely Porsche. However, in looking at this commercial there are a few things that should be pointed out:

• Porsche claims the 911 is like a snowmobile. Not so much. An all-wheel drive version may be able to make its way through snow, but that really depends on how much snow is on the ground. The 911 has a fairly low ride height after all and in most parts of Canada it’s not uncommon to see 40 cms+ of snow. And if we’re talking a rear wheel drive version, you’ll have tons of fun doing donuts, but getting decent traction will be quite challenging if you’re not used to rear wheel drive in the snow. To be fair, Porsche did state that proper winter tires are needed and they’re right.
• Then they liken the Cayman to a pick-up truck. A man puts, what looks like pillows but are surely bags of soil, into the trunk of a Cayman. Um, that doesn’t really make the Cayman a pick-up truck. I’m pretty sure any vehicle is capable of carrying a few bags of soil. I’d like to see a Cayman take on a tow or pay load that F-150′s take on on a daily basis before I believe that one.
• The next claim is that the 911 makes a great getaway car and I don’t think anyone would argue that one. My only gripe is that they don’t actually show the 911 getting away from anything. Plus, unless you’re a criminal, no normal person would need to “get away” from anyone/anything on a daily basis.
• Then they claim a 911 is also like a school bus. Since those rear seats are only useful for children (no adult would be comfortable back there) I’ll let that one pass too, though I will say that they conveniently cut away when the kids were actually getting in the back seats. Probably because that would’ve taken 10 takes. It’s no minivan after all.

What did you think of Porsche’s new marketing strategy?

[Porsche]

Porsche has just released this image of the production version of the 918 Spyder. Looks tremendous!

It will officially be a plug-in hybrid and will get a 4.0 litre V8 along with two electric motors that produces a combined 218 horsepower. That’s a total of 718 horsepower in a car that supposedly gets 3L/100 kms! Very impressive!

The 918 still hasn’t been rated yet by U.S efficiency standards, but we should still expect fairly impressive numbers. On top of that, it will have a 0-100 time of 3.1 seconds with top speed being 320 km/h. What’s even more imrpessive than that is the 918 Spyder can apparently run on both electric motors up to 150 kph before the gas engine kicks in.

If this all sounds good to you, get on the phone to your local Porsche dealer ASAP because Porsche also said they will only build 918 for the entire world. Yeah, very limited production. Oh, and it will also cost you about $845,000.

Rumours of Porsche building a smaller version of the Cayenne SUV (pictured above) have been flying around the internets for quite some time now and today Porsche officially confirmed production. Despite cries of blasphemy from Porsche purists, the Cayenne has been quite the success story for Porsche and has proven that it can hold its own with the rest of the Porsche family. So it makes sense that Porsche is willing to bank on a similar kind of success with a baby Cayenne.

For now the lil’ Cayenne will be dubbed the “Cajun” and let’s hope that idea dies off quite soon. Doesn’t that sound just as ridiculous as Cayenne? Maybe even more ridiculous?

Anyway, the Cajun is expected to be built alongside the Cayenne and the Panamera and is expected to create 1,000 more jobs at the plant.

Details beyond that are scarce at the moment, but production is slated to start near the end of this year.

[Porsche]

Can someone explain to me why so many automakers are now investing time and money into comparisons that don’t make any sense?

First Chevrolet did it when they compared their new Cruze to a previous generation Hyundai Elantra, then Audi did it when they compared their new A8 to a Mercedes-Benz S-class that is a 6 year old design and now Hennessey has done it.

They basically took a stock CTS-V wagon (which can hold its own as it is) and gave it 650 horsepower. They then brought it to a drag strip to take on a Porsche 911 Turbo.

You can watch the video, but I’ll save you the trouble and just tell you that the hotted up Caddy wagon won. Shocker.

But here’s my problem with this comparison. Hennessey compared apples to oranges. The Porsche 911 that they used, according to them, had a tiptronic transmission. That, combined with the lack of LED tail lights, means they compared it to a previous generation 911 turbo.

What is the sense in doing that? Is it really all that cool to brag that your product is better than a product from a different era? That’s like me bragging that I could easily beat up a 10 year old. I mean, it’s true, but why would I ever do that? It just doesn’t make any sense. And on top of that, of course a tuned car would likely beat a stock car in a drag race. We’re talking close to a 200 horsepower difference between the two!

To all automakers: STOP DOING THESE STUPID COMPARISONS. By doing so you give the impression that you think we all somehow have the IQ of George W. Bush. And it really makes me want to not buy your product. If you’re going to do comparisons with your rivals, at least make them somewhat believable and fair.

[Youtube]

Nissan is starting to become the Japanese Audi when it comes to attacking other car brands. You may remember a while back when they took on the three biggest performance brands from Germany: Audi, BMW and Porsche. They also threw in an extra jab at Audi for good measure.

Now it seems Porsche is the next one to be singled out of the three in a new ad campaign promoting the GT-R. For the campaign, Nissan got two fairly attractive women to drive around in a GT-R looking for Porsche’s in Porsche saturated Germany. They then got out and put a picture of the GT-R’s tail lights right on the windshield, insinuating that their car is slower than the GT-R.

According to Nissan, the campaign worked as they received an uptake of 23% for requests of a test drive of the GT-R.

But if it were me, that would make me want to buy a GT-R less. Firstly, I don’t care how good the GT-R is, don’t touch my car! I don’t know what Nissan used to put the ad on the windshield and I don’t know how careful they were in putting it on. Surely the risk of scrapes dents and dings is a factor when doing that, and if I came back top find that on my Porsche because Nissan was trying to be cheeky I’d be livid.

[Youtube]

But don’t get too excited about it because you still won’t be able to afford one.

As a result of a strong Canadian dollar Porsche has adjusted its pricing accordingly. You may remember last year that Porsche was the first (and only) manufacturer to actually reduce its prices once the loony started to gain some ground.

Well, thankfully, Porsche is doing it again. Joe Lawrence, CEO of Porsche Canada had this to say about it:

““With this latest move, the relationship between Canadian and U.S. prices has improved by an average of 8% across the lineup. No competitive brand has Canadian prices so closely aligned, across the board, to U.S. prices.”

Very true. Have you ever spec’d out a car from pretty much any manufacturer only to find out that the exact same car spec’d out the exact same way is thousands (sometimes tens of thousands) of dollars cheaper in the States? Infuriating isn’t it?

Anyway, so now you can get a Panamera for $86,600 with the S variant now being $103,200. That’s a decrease of close to $12,000.

The biggest price drop is on the 911 Turbo S. The price has gone from $200,000 to $183,400.

Also the price of optional equipment has dropped too.

Even though I still can’t afford a Porsche with the price decrease it’s still very much appreciated, Porsche. Thanks for doing the right thing by not gouging hard working Canadians out of their money.

[Auto 123]

Just days after officially releasing images of the 1-series M, BMW was eager to see how it officially faired on the famous Nurburgring.

The official time of the 1-series M? 8 minutes and 12 seconds. That’s faster than Mercedes’ C63 AMG and even faster than a Porsche Cayman S! In fact that’s even faster than the outgoing BMW M5 and the previous generation E46 M3.

If you’re concerned that it’s faster than the current generation M3, no need to worry. The E92 can go around the ‘Ring in 8 minutes 5 seconds. Hardly surprising considering that big V8 under its hood.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, BMW’s other hotted versions of the M3 also were faster. The M3 CSL recorded a significantly quicker 7 minutes and 50 second lap time, while the M3 GTS did it in 7 minutes and 48 seconds.

[BimmerFile]