2014 Porsche 911 Carrera on 2040-cars

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Porsche 911 GT2 caught testing, is super bad

Look what spy photographers have spotted sprinting around the Nürburgring. Our shooters nabbed a few photos of the all-new Porsche 911 GT2 in its native habitat without any of the bulky camouflage or cladding we're used to seeing. The result is our first truly clear view at the upcoming successor to the GT2 throne. From the looks of it, the new model will boast wider fender arches front and rear, and hefty air intakes set into the machine's hips should help feed a beastly 3.8-liter flat six-cylinder engine. Early guesses put the engine output somewhere around 560 horsepower.
Mated to a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, the engine should propel this rear-engined heathen to 62 miles per hour in under three seconds. Top speed? Try somewhere around 200 mph. If that's true, the next-generation 911 GT2 will be the fastest 911 in Porsche history.

Remembering Porsche's illustrious Le Mans history

Not only does this weekend mark the running of the 82nd 24 Hours of Le Mans, it will also see the return of one of the race's most venerable brands to the top tiers of endurance racing. Porsche will campaign its first top-flight car since the 1998 911 GT1-98, the 919 Hybrid, at this weekend's race, in the hopes of knocking off its corporate rival, the dominant Audi team.
To understand just what a win for the 919 would mean, though, you need to look back on the intrinsic connection between the Circuit de la Sarthe and Porsche. It's a history that spans decades, dating back to the team's first win in 1970.
XCar has a great video on that history. At 25 minutes, it's a bit on the long side. Then again it is the Friday before Le Mans. Take a look below for the video.

Porsche Macan fails moose test, Stuttgart responds

Different countries have different safety standards, but most of them revolve around a similar set of tests: front impact, side impact, offset impact, rollover... the usual. But Sweden has its own test. It's called the Moose Test (or the Elk Test), and it's unique to Scandinavia: a car has to be able to avoid a theoretical antlered mammal on the road while traveling at 43.5 miles per hour and return to its previous course without flipping over. The Jeep Grand Cherokee ran afoul of the uniquely Nordic maneuver a couple of years ago, but even more surprising is the way the Porsche Macan has reacted.
Under testing by Sweden's Teknikens Värld, Porsche's downsized crossover - specifically the Macan S Diesel, for what it's worth - didn't flip over, but it skidded off course. In real-world conditions, it follows, the vehicle could run off the road or into oncoming traffic. The testers ran the test several times, and even removed excess weight from the vehicle, and each time it reacted the same way.
In response, Porsche has explained that the behavior is the result of its Active Rollover Protection system kicking in. When the system detects that the vehicle could drastically oversteer, flip over or lose its tire, it momentarily applies the brake on the front outside wheel, allowing the vehicle to shed the cornering forces without losing it completely.