1991 - Porsche 911 on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Porsche Cayenne shows a bit more face, plug-in spotted

Porsche was first rumored to be working on a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) version of the Cayenne over a year ago. However, we had never seen it, until now. The new model was caught almost completely undisguised while testing. In another stroke of luck, we got a glimpse of the upcoming facelift for Porsche's SUV (pictured above) as well.
According to the spy shooter, it was windy during the cars' cold weather testing. The cover blew off of the facelifted Cayenne, and there was enough time to snap these pictures before it could be hidden again. The changes are all quite minor but jive with what we saw the last time it was spied. The rear still wears some cladding but is expected to be hiding lights similar to the Macan.
The second gallery shows off the upcoming Cayenne PHEV. It looks nearly identical to the standard model, except for the extra panel on the driver's side of the car that hides the electric port. One image even shows the car plugged in. The new version is expected to use the same supercharged 3.0-liter V6 and 9.4-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack with a combined 416 horsepower and 435 pound-feet of torque from the Panamera S E-Hybrid. We enjoyed the system when we tested it last year. It's rumored to debut on the SUV sometime this year.

Muffler Man gets racing suit to mark progress on Porsche Experience Center

In a dramatic change of careers, a fiberglass Muffler Man statue on the side of a busy Los Angeles freeway, formerly known as "Golf Guy," traded in his clubs for a Porsche driver's suit a couple days ago. It's no coincidence, as he's standing on land that the German automaker bought from the Dominguez Hills Golf Course a couple years ago to build its west coast Porsche Experience Center - which will be complete with a test track, restoration and maintenance facilities, a cafe and restaurant, a home for Porsche Motorsports North America and more, when it's finished in the fourth quarter of 2014.
The Porsche Muffler Man will serve as the gatekeeper to the 53-acre center and overlook the test track on the side of the 405 freeway. We can't think of a better job for a fiberglass giant that used to watch golf all day than to watch Porsche road cars and racecars getting wrung out on a test track in the middle of LA. Since Muffler Men are quite adaptable, we're sure this one will fit into his new role in no time - just as easily as he can double as Paul Bunyan.
Check out the press release below for more information on the Muffler Man and the experience center, which could be the ultimate adult playground when it's finished.

Porsche 918 Spyder gets tiny recall for rear control arms

As the recent US recall of a single Koenigsegg Agera shows, even low-production supercars aren't immune from safety campaigns. Now, there's another example that even the fastest cars can have their faults. The Porsche 918 Spyder is a pretty fantastic vehicle for its ability to mix hybrid fuel economy and incredible amounts of power, but Porsche has a problem on a few units of its halo model.
According to the recall document from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Porsche needs to inspect and possibly repair five 918s in the US because the rear axle control arms may break, which could cause a loss of control while driving. In the full defect notice, Porsche says that it first noticed the problem on June 26 when the parts failed during "heavy duty durability testing (extreme race conditions)" at the Nardo test track in Italy. It transported the components back to the company's lab for inspection, and on July 18 it issued a stop-sale to inspect the suspension parts on the supercar. The automaker also contacted owners by phone to warn them not to use the car on track, until repaired.
The affected 918s will be inspected, and if the cars have the bad parts, the control arms are will be replaced. Obviously, this will be done at no cost to owners. According to a Porsche spokesperson speaking to Autoblog, in addition to the five US cars potentially affected, there were 45 worldwide. All of the cars have now been checked. Scroll down to read the report from the regulator or download the full defect notice as a PDF, here.