Car Throttle

At the Los Angeles International Auto Show, Porsche showed off the new 911, but its big (literally) debut was the Panamera GTS. It sounds really expensive doesn't it? Well it is, but it isn't the top dog in the Panamera lineup. It takes its spot in third place. The most-expensive title goes to the Turbo S, which dings the register at $174,175. Ouch. That makes it $98,000 more expensive than the base model V-6. Next is the Turbo, at $137,675, then the $110,875 GTS. The GTS is the most powerful naturally-aspirated Panamera, generating 430 horsepower (up by 30). Porsche says its a Panamera for driving purists, with stiffer standard air suspension (normally optional), a widened rear track and suspension and brake hardware shared with the

I'm back in North Carolina now, where you can swing a dead cat without hitting a Bentley.  On one hand, it sucks.  I like seeing exotics constantly.  On the other, it's nice that exotics remain exotic. I walked around LA the whole time with my camera around my neck for you guys - so I'll continue now with day two and three of car spotting in LA.  Hope you enjoy it! Classic cars, especially older Japanese cars, seem to have a much longer shelf life in California's relatively mild, dry climate.  This 240Z would have a lot more rust bubbles over here in North Carolina.  I could do without the period window louvers, but YMMV. You could do worse for your commute than driving an

Porsche's moves that have antagonized brand purists are well-chronicled; the Cayenne and Panamera both have not been well-received by those enthusiasts. To us, the Panamera is definitely more of a Porsche than the Cayenne is. Regardless, the market has taken eagerly to both models, powering Porsche to new sales and profit heights. People like their four-hour Porsches! The car was born out of Porsche's realization that BMW and Mercedes-Benzes were parked next to their owners Cayennes in the driveway, leaving a huge untapped potential for the company. With that type of clientele, you wouldn't expect manual transmissions to be the most popular option. And they aren't - the take rate is so low in fact that Car and Driver reports the next-generation car will be losing

Continuing along with the rest of the new stuff at NYIAS this year, welcome to Part 2 of our "best of the rest" coverage, a sort of all-at-once splurt of information to keep you up to date on the latest developments, without boring you to death with new paint colors for the Kia Optima.  Here we go. 2012 Subaru Impreza Sedan/Hatchback Subaru has finally come to their senses with the Impreza.  While it's always been a relatively fun-to-drive car even in non-turbocharged form, it hasn't really experienced great sales in the economy-car market compared to more conventional rivals.  The biggest reason would be the big-car fuel economy in a small, unrefined package.  The current Impreza 2.5i makes a fairly impressive 173bhp from it's single-cam 2.5L horizontally

Hybrids.  Blech.  Sick of hearin' about em. I don't know if you are too.  Electric motors, like CVT's, don't do a whole lot for me.  I like gasoline engines, the sound of a working valvetrain, the ticking of injectors, the blare of quad exhaust pipes on the back of a Carrera S as it pulls off of a stoplight.  I doubt Porsche really likes hybrids either, which is why it's been doing them it's own way.  In the past few days, details have snuck out regarding two Porsches with electric motors, and both are interesting from an enthusiast perspective. First up is the Boxster E.  Oh, lord - an Electric Boxster?  That's just what we need.  Take the flat six out of the world's most

Now that the Porsche Panamera has been around for a while and now that I’ve seen a few running around town, I have to admit that I like how the car looks. It isn’t that ugly and it has real road presence, which is something lacking in most computer aided car designs these days which all look similar. However there are those that still cannot get the ‘Porsche Look’ – which nowadays seems to be very much like a toad, all low and hunched. Of course you can then try getting one of those performance tuners to give it a go and make it into something more palatable for most normal individuals. Or they may end up making things even more grotesque. Mansory comes to mind if

2009 wasn't exactly a good year for the automotive industry. Economic turmoil resulted in sales declines across the board, and the results were pretty painful at luxury automakers as well. Not exactly the best time to be launching an important, all-new luxury sedan. But that is the environment the Panamera launched in. Like its predecessor the Cayenne, it defied the wishes of purists - but still managed to do succeed. Since going on sale last year, 22,518 Panameras have been sold globally. No doubt that is an impressive figure, especially given the state of the global economy. Luxury sales are just starting to rebound now, which means it is likely the Panamera will post even higher figures in its second year of sales. It will be further aided

Polarizing designs and groundbreaking new introductions often result in very strong reactions. If there was ever a car that generated strong reactions, the Porsche Panamera would have to be one of the those cars. Firstly, it drew opposition from purists, who were still bent out of shape over the Cayenne. As for us, we would definitely say the Panamera fits the Porsche mission a whole lot more closely than the Cayenne. Secondly, its styling wasn't exactly given widespread praise (including here on CarThrottle). We think the design comes across a whole lot better in person - apparently, the public agrees. It appeared from first indications that the Panamera would be a big success, and that has happened on a pretty big scale for Porsche. The car went into production

Here at CarThrottle, we are big fans of the Porsche 928 - and indeed most all Porsches. The new Panamera four-door brings a suitable front-engined, rear-wheel drive platform to the table yet again. Why not use that platform to build a exciting new 928 GT, increasing economies of scale and profit margins at the same time? Give the fans something to be happy about as a result of the Panamera platform. Many reports have swirled about just that, and today a design has appeared online. Its just a sketch, and not necessarily a 928. But it looks like one.  You can tell we are desperate here! This design was spotted on Porsche Design Consulting's website, and it looks pretty good to us. Porsche had to know we

Often designs that are hated by a small section of the automotive community will go on to be big successes. This has happened with Porsche and the Cayenne. It looks like history is about to repeat itself with the Panamera, Porsche's first four-door. It has recently gone on sale in the United States and it is already making waves - as the brand's top seller. The Cayenne has been Porsche's top seller in our market for some time. The new Panamera has replaced it at the top for the month of April, selling 678 vehicles, an impressive tally that blows away all other Porsche models. Will this trend continue? It will be interesting to see. Porsche, along with other manufacturers, is getting ready for the 2011 model year.